I prefer testing software under dispassionate circumstances, but today's review of Recuva was performed with beads of sweat running down my forehead: My photos were missing! Could Recuva get them back?

BumpTop is an alternative desktop that aims at adding functionality and fun to the Windows experience. While it succeeds on many levels, I won't be using it on my workhorse PC.

In an age of bloated utility suites, I've noticed that too often performance tends to get cut, not enhanced by jack-of-all-trades packages. The once indespensible Norton Utilities have been banned from my computers for several years now. So have most of the others. Diskeeper remains as one of the first programs I install on every new computer I build.