Microsoft Corp. has announced acquired Winternals Software LP, a privately held company based in Austin, Texas, that provides Windows-based enterprises with systems recovery and data protection solutions in addition to offering a freeware tools Web site called Sysinternals.

The company says the addition of Winternals is a significant advance in Microsoft’s promise to lower customers’ total cost of ownership of the Microsoft Windows platform. Customers will be able to continue building on Sysinternals’ advanced utilities, technical information and source code for utilities related to Windows. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Winternals was established in 1996 by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell. Russinovich will join the Microsoft Platforms & Services Division as a technical fellow, working with numerous technology teams across Microsoft, and Cogswell will join the Windows Component Platform Team in the role of software architect.

Winternals products support IT professionals in numerous ways, providing enterprise recovery solutions, network defragmentation solutions and system tools, all focused on reducing the total cost of ownership for Microsoft-based businesses. Sysinternals enjoys a strong and active community of systems administrators and support personnel, averaging about a million visitors per month.