Screenshots: Five tools to beef up your tech emergency toolkit

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition

Let's face it, at some point you're going to run into a machine that only has Internet Explorer and the browser simply won't work. When that machine can't browse the web, you might not be able to get the specific tool you need (one you don't have with you) or you won't be able to gain access to the solution for the problem. When that time comes, you'll be glad you have Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition.

Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition

What's great about this tool is that it looks and feels exactly like the standard edition desktop browser. As a bonus, if you use the browser with the

Portable Apps Platform, the portable edition of Firefox will always run in private mode, so you don't leave any information behind.

FileZilla Portable

There will be times when you either need to download or upload data from a troubled PC via FTP. When that happens, you'll want to have the portable edition of FileZilla on hand.

FileZilla Portable

Although you might be able to download from an FTP site with your favorite browser, uploading can be an issue. And what happens when the browser is misbehaving and you simply need to snag some data? That's when a portable FTP client can come in handy. Like the portable version of Firefox, FileZilla Portable behaves exactly like the desktop iteration of the app.

McAfee Stinger

McAfee Stinger is a standalone application that does a great job of removing more than 6,000 "fake alert" malware threats. This version also includes a beta of Raptor (a real-time behavior detection that monitors suspicious activity on an endpoint).

McAfee Stinger

This is not to be considered a substitution for a full-blown antivirus solution, as Stinger only looks for specific threats. And while it isn't the fastest scanner you'll ever use, it is certainly effective. Once run, it will isolate suspicious and infected files to C:\Quarantine\Stinger.

EditPad Lite

At some point, you're going to need to manually edit a config file and the installed tools simply won't work. When that happens, you'll be glad you have the likes of EditPad Lite in your toolkit. Editpad Lite offers plenty of features. With it you can do simple text file edits or even programming (although it doesn't include all the features you'd want in a programming editor).

EditPad Lite

EditPad also features a built-in clipboard tool, search and replace, and plenty of configuration options.

MBRtool

If you're looking for a tool to manage or recover your PC's master book record (MBR), MBRtool might be just what you need. It lets you verify, back up, and restore the MBR, as well as edit or wipe the partition table and blank or remove the boot code. MBRtool supports the first four hard drives present on a system.

MBRtool

The only caveat to using this tool is that it presumes you have backed up the MBR to a location outside the C drive (preferably on a portable drive you have access to) so you can then restore the MBR back to the corrupted system. Also note that MBRtool is an app that works with DOS, so there is no fancy GUI to help guide you through the process. You'll want to take a careful look at the MBRTool User Guide.