Software That Makes Computers Easier to Use; CPAs Should Find This List of Utilities Helpful for All Tasks Performed on Hardware
Computers are complex machines, often challenging even knowledgeable users. In response, software companies have developed a wide assortment of inexpensive software tools, called utilities, designed to make computers easier and safer to operate and more productive. Utility software programs do a variety of important chore. Some ferret out and solve hardware and software problems. Others make loading application programs easy. Still others simplify the cumbersome job of moving or copying files from one directory to another. Some speed up and automate data backups or retrieve lost documents. A handful even secure a computer against unauthorized people or simply restrict people from gaining access to a specified set of files. This article describes the various types of utilities that accountants might find useful when working on their own computers or on clients' systems. Many of the program perform several utility functions; thus they are listed in more than one function category. All of the programs included in this article are available from local software retailers or through software mail-order companies. MANAGING FILES AND PROGRAMS DOS shells are one of the most popular utilities. They are called shells because they provide a separation from the disk operating system (DOS), the complex software that every computer needs to function. Because DOS shells all come with a simple menu to call up programs or to perform file and disk management, the user never has to ideal with DOS directly. With most shells, a simple keystroke or a mouse click triggers an order; under DOS, on the other hand, a batch of keystrokes would be required to evoke a command. Loading a DOS shell for the first time is easy because the installation process usually is automatic. Equally easy is customizing the menu of application programs to a user's needs. Available products: Automenu, DOS 5, DR DOS, File Director, Magellan, Norton Commander, PC Tools, Power Panel, TakeCharge!, XTree Gold. HARDWARE DIAGNOSTICS Occasionally accountants need to know what hardware components are inside a computer without actually removing the cover. This information is very important when installing additional hardware, such as tape backups or network cards or when an application program reports that it is out of memory. A hardware diagnostic utility can provide a report on an assortment of technical details, offering recommended solutions to hardware and memory problems. In addition, these programs can run series of diagnostics, checking that the hardware and software are in good working order. As a result, they often provide an early warning of an impending failure. Available products: CheckIt, Disk Technician Pro, System Sleuth. RECOVERING LOST DATA Few computer accidents are more upsetting then an unintentionally erased file. Several utilities are effective in fully restoring such files. In some cases, utilities can recover a file even after an accidental hard disk format, which is a programming step that first clears the hard disk's magnetic surface and then prepares it to receive new data. Formats usually are done only when a disk is new, but a keystroke error in DOS can wipe a hard disk clean. Most file-recovery utilities also can evaluate both the physical and data integrity of a disk without disturbing data already on the disk. In some cases, they can even reformat the disk without disturbing the existing data. And under some circumstances, they can repair an unbootable (defective) disk so that all the data it contains can be recovered. But sometimes users not only want to erase a file but also want to be sure no one can recover it. Just as paper files can be shredded for confidentiality, so can some utilities provide certainty that erased electronic files cannot be reconstructed. This may be especially important before selling a computer Available products: DOS 5, DR DOS, Norton Utilities, Mace utilities, PC Tools. …