easy

Don't let its name fool you; this little utility comes with a wide range of options for not only shutting down, but also for hibernating and restarting your computer at times specified by you.

Easy ShutDown has a very basic user interface. We were disappointed to find that it didn't include a Help feature, but we were able to navigate the program very easily. Using either the menu options or toolbar commands, you can add multiple shutdown actions. When adding a new action, you can opt to activate the action after a certain amount of time, at a … Read more

It takes just an instant to lock, hide or disallow autorun on any or all of your drives with this simple, effective tool. Easy Disk Drive Safeguard's simple, check box heavy interface cleanly displays all program options on one screen. This app is so easy to use, only the most novice users will need the short Help manual.

All 26 possible drives are listed, each with check boxes to hide, lock, or disallow autorun. Click a box and press apply or Ctrl-A and you've tightened security of the selected drive. A pair of additional options round out the … Read more

For Vista users not happy with Vista's built-in tools, this suite of optimizing and maintenance tools offers an easy-to-use alternative. The tools don't necessarily work better than their Vista counterparts, but they come in one easy-to-understand package.

Infibia Easy Tools for Vista launches a colorful, nicely designed palette of icons, each of which represents a tool for performing system maintenance and enhancement. The provided tools include the usual suspects for this type of performance toolbox, including a disk cleaner, memory optimizer, defrag utility, and a registry fixer.

The utility performed well in our tests. Some of the tools, … Read more

This free privacy programs lets you hide and lock your most sensitive files and folders, but we found its user interface counterintuitive and lacking password protection.

Easy File Locker has a very plain user interface. The black-on-white command buttons aren't the least bit eye-appealing. But more importantly, the large blank window gives the impression that you can drag and drop files, but that proved not to be the case when we tried it. When we selected the add file button, a window appeared with boxes already checked to allow access and visibility to files, as well as the capability … Read more