I work as an IT desktop support and one of the constant problems I come across is a hard disk drive with bad sectors and data loss.

I tried a lot of programs and the most efficient for me is Dmitry Postrigans MHDD. It’s a DOS application which has a lot of functions. Basically it scans the hard drive for bad sectors and writing delays. You can remap the bad sectors or erase them permanently. The good thing is that if you want to clone the disk to save the data, and save time, there are no bad sectors to report an error and end the clone operation. Still everything depends on the state of the disk. If it has up to 100 bad sectors you can delete them and still use the disk. If it’s above 100 all you can do is save your data and buy a new disk. You can also delete the whole disk down to the sectors low level format so all the sectors that have a response time over 3ms get restored to 3ms so the disk works faster. The program has a lot other options. You can cut the disk form one sector to another, work with the MBR, etc.

Cain is a leading security tool to scan your local network and your own PC for passwords.

It runs under Windows so the installation is quite simple. Furthermore, it comes with a detailed user guide to help you get started. You can configure Cain to intercept passwords for e-mail, Internet, database passwords and so on. What’s more, Cain is able to record VOIP, or telephone calls made over the Internet. It’s a very handy tool since you can use Cain to crack your own password protected files, such as Word or Access. It’s most powerful feature is the so-called “man in the middle” attack whereby you can intercept any traffic floating on your local area network. Combined with a powerful password intercepting technique, all you have to do is to sit back and watch the passwords appear of other users inside your network as well as the websites they visit.