Software I use to collect, organize, sort, de-duplicate, store, check data, and more (for Windows). Most of these have multiple uses, but I ordered them into categories in ways I use them most for.
Last update: 2026/11/11 - Added VirusTotal and Microsoft Defender, for antimalware solutions.
Protecting the files you acquire and where you store them; this is probably the most important category for a data hoarder/archivist
Open-source HDD/SSD utility for monitoring S.M.A.R.T. values, disk temperature and other information.
Got to keep track of the storage devices stats. I've recently (as of November 2026) read that it bundles adware now; you need to decide on your own if you want to bother with it or not.
It differs from other defrag tools on the market, by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive. You can defrag only if the computer is idle for a definable time, so Defraggler does not slow down the computer if you...
People say this app isn't updated anymore, which might be true but at least on Win 10 as of 2026 it still works like a charm. This is required because constantly downloading/shuffling files around will cause fragmentation.
FileGriffon is a local file integrity monitor, watching folders of any scope or even single files for silent corruption: it hashes files, re-checks them on a schedule, reports anything corrupted, missing or moved, with optional PAR2 repair, duplicate detection, SMART drive health.
To protect files, folders, drives from decay. Integrates well with Teracopy. Also has par2 protection. Automates a lot of things regarding the protection of file integrities.
Windows Security (known as Windows Defender Antivirus before Windows 10 May 2020 Update, Windows Defender before Windows 10 Creators Update, or Microsoft Defender Antivirus before Windows 11) is an anti-malware component of Microsoft Windows.
You got to have at least one proper antimalware solution, that runs live checks on your system, at least on Windows. Microsoft's own Defender does a good enough job for that.
Though console applications are open source (PAR clients are GPL), GUI application is closed source. Console applications and some UI resource are open source.
Used to be my go-to for parity creation, but nowadays I don't use as much.
This is a fork of par2cmdline which replaces core computation routines with ParPar’s processing backend, improving par2cmdline’s performance on x86/ARM platforms.
Command line tool for par2, when more bulky tools aren't really needed. But requires careful use.
SeaTools is a diagnostic tool that helps you determine the condition of the disk drive in your external hard drive, desktop or laptop computer.
Another tool to check drive health.
Analyse suspicious files, domains, IPs and URLs to detect malware and other breaches, automatically share them with the security community.
This is for uploading or checking files that you are unsure of how safe they are. IMPORTANT is to keep in mind, one needs to treat this as uploading to a public source, as the file is ingested by many sources. So, no personal or sensitive files go there. Otherwise very useful online tool, not just for Windows.
This is second in importance only to integrity protection, because backing up broken/wrong files doesn't mean much.
Securely backup data, clone and image disks using local, network, or USB drives with a subscription model accommodating personal and commercial needs.
Using this to image disks, I haven't found anything else that can take images of system disks faster than this.
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows and Veeam Agent for Linux work with Veeam Availability Suite to deliver Availability for ALL workloads — virtual, physical and cloud — from a single management console, extending Veeam’s leadership position from being the best for VMware vSphere...
Using this to create snapshots of computers, free, but is a bit cumbersome to use.
VMware Workstation Player builds on the industry leading foundation of Workstation Pro, and delivers a streamlined user interface for creating and running operating systems and applications in a virtual machine.
Free and good enough to play virtual machines.
These are rarely used to transfer files from some place to another, but more for general organization of files.
Efficient file archiver offering superior compression and encryption. Supports multiple formats such as TAR, ZIP, with a unique self-extracting feature.
For archiving/compressing I don't think there's anything better for Windows
Find and remove duplicate files! Find and hardlink duplicate files! Find and shortcut duplicate files! Find similar files!.
Excellent file de-duplication too, I use this interchangeably with dupeguru. Either one shines in various tasks. I think this one was fully free though, so there's that.
dupeGuru is a free and open source tool to find duplicate files on your computer. It can scan either filenames or contents. The filename scan features a fuzzy matching algorithm that can find duplicate filenames even when they are not exactly the same.
This is my go-to app when I have to find and remove duplicates in different folders/drives. It isn't perfect but among similar tools does the best job, unfortunately not free.
Locate files and folders by filename on Windows instantly, displaying all items on NTFS volumes and mapped network drives. Supports 19 languages.
Ever tried to find something on your computer using the default windows search feature? This is what you need.
Dual-panel manager with tabbed interface, built-in viewer, ZIP/RAR/7z archive support, folder sync, batch rename, search and customizable shortcuts.
One of the better file/folder explorers, although the free version is only 32bit and not very fast, its feature rich and does the job.
I mostly use this to keep track of media files, but this is one where I need to try to find a better alternative.
Disk analysis tool with treemap views, duplicate file detection, and cleanup actions. Works offline and ad-free on Windows as an open-source project.
Similar to WizTree, simpler. Main drawback is that it takes more time to scan usually. But is free, no ads, no premium etc.
Ultra-fast disk space analyzer for Windows, showing largest files and folders according to space usage by utilizing the NTFS file system's Master File Table for unmatched speed.
To see which files are taking most space in any given folder or drive. Ideal to find stale/unneeded files that take too much space.
VVV is an application that catalogs the content of removable volumes like CD and DVD disks for off-line searching. Folders and files can also be arranged in a single, virtual file system. Each folder of this virtual file system can contain files from many disks so you can...
To keep a full list of files and folders of all storage, but I'm using it less and less these days.
Software to use when downloading.
gallery-dl is a command-line program to download image galleries and collections from several image hosting sites (see https://codeberg.org/mikf/gallery-dl/src/branch/master/docs/supportedsites.md for full list).
To download media from social media platforms.
JDownloader is a download manager, written in Java, which allows automatic download of groups of files from one-click hosting sites.
Old school downloader I rarely use anymore, but for some specific platforms it is sometimes still useful.
Open-source, ad-free torrent client offering a polished user interface, integrated multi-site search, RSS support, remote web control, and cross-platform availability.
My go-to app for torrenting, for years.
Command line program that's a 
youtube-dl fork that downloads videos from YouTube and over 1000 sites. The main focus of this project is adding new features and patches while also keeping up to date with the original project.
To download anything from most websites.
Apps to use when transferring files from one device to another (usually on the internal network or between disks/folders)
FreeFileSync is a folder comparison and synchronization software that creates and manages backup copies of all your important files. Instead of copying every file every time, FreeFileSync determines the differences between a source and a target folder and transfers only the...
Another app to transfer files, I use this more when merging folders or keeping folders in sync, as the name suggests. Otherwise I use TeraCopy
Free open-source tool offers secure, end-to-end encrypted file and message sharing over local networks across major desktop and mobile operating systems.
This is the simplest and best when it comes to sharing files among various devices in the same network. Supports windows, linux, android and probably ios and macos too.
SyncTrayzor is a wrapper for Syncthing which allows Syncthing's window to be hidden in the tray area. SyncTrayzor has a built-in web browser to manage Syncthing without opening your browser. SyncTrayzor can be configured to automatically start at PC startup.
Built on syncthing, for syncing data over the network among multiple computers.
TeraCopy is a utility software for efficient and reliable file copying. It verifies copied files by comparing their hashes and can skip bad files during the process to avoid terminating the entire transfer.
To copy files from one location to another, and making sure they arrive at the target intact. It has the option of saving a hash file with the transfer (you need to enable verification after transfers), that is helpful to check integrity of files later.
If all else goes wrong...
DMDE (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery Software) is a data recovery and disk management tool for Windows, macOS, Linux and DOS.
Demo version is free but is limited. But a very capable software.
Recover deleted files with free trial and protect data using Recovery Vault. Supports diverse drives and file types, offering advanced scanning modes.
This is considered as one of the best apps for file recovery but the actual recovery process is paid. I never used it to recover files, but to discover.
PhotoRec is file data recovery software designed to recover lost files including video, documents and archives from hard disks, CD-ROMs, and lost pictures.
One of the best for individual file recovery.
Retrieve lost files from your PC, recycle bin, or portable devices with a free and user-friendly tool offering deep scans and secure overwrites.
Good free solution to find files but I never had much luck recovering files fully intact with this.
Free command-line tool for recovering lost partitions, repairing non-booting disks, supporting multiple file systems and converting disks to basic format.
Goes hand in hand with PhotoRec. This one is helpful when you think your filesystem is intact.
This is a work in progress, as I'm always striving to find the best data hoarding and data archival tools for Windows. If you have any suggestions or corrections please contact me.
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