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IN THIS
FREE EDITION:
0. EDITORIAL - End of year
reflections
Call for Help: Try Your Hand at
Reviewing - Please read
1. BEST TECH SITES AND RESOURCES FOR
2007
1.1 Two
Christmas Gift Ideas
1.2 Converting Movie Clips to Send Via
Email
1.3 How to
Find a File on the Web
1.4 Vista
Driver Site
1.5 Great
Site for Removing Spyware Infection
1.6 Test
Suspicious Files for Malware
1.7 Website Identifies Mystery
Files
1.8 Check
Web Link Safety
1.9 Recovering Data from a Corrupted
Hard Drive
1.10 Make
Firefox Look like Internet Explorer
1.11 How
to Select the Best File Compression
Program
1.12 How
to Permanently Wipe a Hard Drive
1.13 Portable Software
Lists
1.14 How
Does Your Firewall Rate?
1.15 See
How Your Anti-virus Program Stacks
Up
1.16 More
Free Software from Microsoft
1.17 How
to Save YouTube and Other Streamed Video
Files
1.18 More
Free Support Sites
The Best Registry Cleaner
Yet (Sponsored link)
**
Additional items only in the Premium Edition
**
1.19 How
to Convert Normal Programs to Portable
Software
1.20 Free
Security Tools
1.21 How
to Improve Your Wi-Fi Security
1.22 How
to Download MP3 Audio from Youtube
Videos
1.23 Thousands of Free
Fonts
1.24 Free
.ISO file burners from Microsoft
1.25 How
to Generate a New Identity
1.26 The
Best Collection of Free Software
1.27 How
to Check Your Surfing Anonymity
1.28 Free
Tutorials from Microsoft
1.29 How
to Create Self-Destructing Email
1.30 Repair or Upgrade Your Laptop
Yourself
1.31 Free
Open Source Programs That Can Replace Commercial
Software
1.32 Outstanding Site for Free Digital
Photo Software
2. BEST FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE UTILITIES
FOR 2007
2.1 Add
Sticky Notes to Web Pages or Anything
Else
2.2 Free
Program Removes Ugly Wires from Your Digital
Photos
2.3 Secunia Inspector Available as a
Free Stand-alone Program
2.4 The
Uninstaller You Have Been Waiting
For
2.5 Free
Remote Control Utility Offers Ease of
Use
2.6 Recover Deleted Files from Digital
Cameras and MP3 Players
2.7 Free
Utility Copies Un-copyable Files
2.8 A
Simple and Cheap Way to Get a Multi-Monitor
Setup
2.9 Free
Utility Removes Ads From Internet Explorer and
More
2.10 Free
Utility Preserves Desktop Icon
Layout
2.11 Free
Utility Backs Up Frequently Changed
Files
2.12 Add
Paste and Go Feature to Firefox
2.13 Better Manage Windows
Startup
2.14 The
Fastest BitTorrent Client Yet
2.15 The
Best Free Program Launcher for Flash
Drives
** Additional items only in the
Premium Edition **
2.16 Free
Vista Features for XP Users
2.17 More
Vista Features for XP Users
2.18 Excellent Free Program
Minimizer
2.19 Nifty Free Tray Clock Solves
Calendar Problem
2.20 The
Best Free Audio and Video File Conversion
Program
2.21 Free
Audio File Tag Editor
2.22 Free
CAD Software
2.23 Free
Suite of Portable Data Recovery
Tools
2.24 The
Best Way to Surf Anonymously
2.25 Freeware Replacements for Excel and
Visio
2.26 Free
Utility Converts Video Files for iPod
Use
2.27 Free
Utility Lets You Easily Edit MP3
Files
2.28 Portable Games for Your USB Flash
Drive
2.29 How
to Get RoboForm Pro and ZoneAlarm Pro Suite for
Free
2.30 Free
Utility Hides Folders
2.31 Learn to Type While Playing
Computer Games
2.32 Free
Utilities That Make Your PC Run
Faster
2.33 Free
Utility Makes You Look More Attractive in
Photos
3.0 MANAGING YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
0. EDITORIAL
This is the special end of year
edition of Support Alert. It features my pick of
the very best tech sites and utilities that have
appeared in the newsletter throughout the
year.
And what a year it has been for this
newsletter. Subscriptions have now reached an amazing
145,000 for the combined free and paid versions. This
is an extraordinary total for a one man newsletter
though to be honest, this "one man" is now pretty much
at the limit of his capacity.
The success of this newsletter is due
to you dear subscribers. Not only have you offered your
support by subscribing but by sending in hundreds of
excellent software suggestions during the year many of
which have which have filled the columns of this
newsletter. I thank you all.
Finally at this time of year let us all
give thanks to the Web's freeware authors. They, in the
true spirit of the internet, do what they do simply for
the pleasure of their craft and the pleasure of
sharing. We are the beneficiaries.
To all of you, I wish peace,
happiness and prosperity for 2008.
See you next month.
Gizmo
Ian Richards
editor@techsupportalert.com
P.S. In producing this newsletter during the
year I have willingly and with pleasure given you
hundreds of hours of my time. May I ask for a few
seconds of yours in return?
Support Alert relies on voluntary donations to
survive. If you feel that you've benefited from reading
this newsletter during the year perhaps you might
consider donating by subscribing to the premium
"Supporters' Edition" of this newsletter.
The premium SE Edition contains almost twice the
number of great tech sites, free utilities, tips and
other content as the standard edition. It's also
ad-free.
In fact, now is a GREAT time to subscribe as I'm
offering a Christmas bonus. This month I'm giving away
a free commercial software product to every fifth
person who subscribes, while stocks last. I've got
quite a pile here to give away so your chances of
scoring a copy are excellent. Here's what's on
offer:
Subscribe this month and if you get in early you'll
have a 20% chance of winning one of the
following:
- 3 copies of WebRoot SpySweeper V5.5 (Retail
$29.95)
- 3 Copies of PC Tools Registry Mechanic V 7.0
(Retail $29.95)
- 6 copies of Eset NOD32 (Retail $39.00)
I use all of these outstanding products myself and
consider them to be among the best in their
class.
It's first-in, first served so subscribe now
because once these products are gone, that's
it.
Even if you don't win a prize you'll still get my
special report "Gizmo's Desert Island Utilities" which
outlines the software I consider most useful, including
many free products. You'll also get the benefit of a
12-months subscription to the special enhanced Premium
SE edition of this newsletter which contains almost
twice the number of great tech sites and free utilities
as the standard edition.
Use the link below to subscribe now:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/se-edition.htm
Call for
Help: Try Your Hand at
Reviewing
I'm
looking for experienced users to help with the "46
Best-ever Freeware" list.
The plan is to convert the list into
a Wiki and allow site visitors to make suggestions and
alterations along the line of WikiPedia.
For this to work, each software
category needs an editor to moderate user comments, so
I'm looking for experienced individuals to fill these
roles.
If you feel that you are
knowledgeable about a particular software category such
as "program editors" or "disk encryption" then why not
share your knowledge by becoming the editor for that
category in the "46 Best-ever Freeware
list."
As a category editor you will be
fully credited for your efforts, unless, of course, you
wish to remain anonymous. It's a great way to
get your 15 minutes of fame. It's also a way of
becoming an internet "giver" rather than just a
"taker". And you will be surprised at just how much you
will learn from the suggestions of others; I certainly
have.
Already nearly 30 subscribers have
volunteered but more are needed. If you are interested
check out the list of still-vacant categories here [1]
and select the categories that you would like to
edit.
Then email me at editor@techsupportalert.com
with your selections plus a very short description of
your background and experience. If you have any
commercial affiliations related to any of the
categories, please state them.
Feel free to select as many
categories as you like or to suggest a new software
category if you feel it is needed.
Thanks guys.
[1] http://techsupportalert.com/allocation.htm
1. BEST TECH SITES AND RESOURCES FOR
2007
1.1 Two Christmas Gift
Ideas
If you enjoy your Support Alert
subscription why not share the good news and send a
friend a gift subscription to the Premium Edition? At
$10 it's an economical Christmas gift and one the
receiver will thank you for every time they receive a
monthly issue. You can set up your gift subscription
here [1] in a couple of minutes.
And here's another low cost gift.
Subscriber Amber Carvan operates a wonderful children's
craft site featuring simple projects that small
children can make using common household materials.
Amber offers this information for free but you can
support her efforts by buying her printable $5
mini-book [2] filled with tons of craft ideas. Projects
include advent calendars, Christmas cards, gift tags,
decorations, fun and games and more. It's a perfect way
to creatively amuse children over the holiday period
and it's in support of an excellent cause.
[1] http://www.techsupportalert.com/gift-subscription.htm
[2] http://kidscraftweekly.com/christmas_craft.html
1.2 Converting Movie Clips to Send
Via Email
Subscriber Joe Morice recently wrote
asking how he could convert a 40 MB .avi video file to
one less than 5MB for emailing. I replied that I didn't
think it be done without serious loss in quality. Joe
proved me wrong. He converted his 40 MB .avi to a 3.2
MB .mp4 using the free online conversion service at
Zamzar [1] with little loss in quality when viewed on a
PC. He even sent me links to the original and
compressed files to prove it. Nice find, Joe. The
Zamzar site is going from strength and is now a
mandatory first stop when converting any file format to
another.
[1] http://www.zamzar.com
1.3 How to Find a File on the
Web
Sometimes you need to find a specific
file on the web such as abcdef.zip. Google is always a
good starting point but I usually have more luck with
these FTP search engines.
http://www.filewatcher.com
http://www.metaftp.com/
1.4 Vista Driver
Site
Here's a nice find: a site that list
all Vista drivers as they become available, with direct
download links to the drivers. It's free and updated
daily.
http://www.radarsync.com/vista
1.5 Great Site for Removing Spyware
Infection
If
you suspect you have a spyware infection you should
download the free HiJackThis! utility from here [1],
then run it and paste the generated log to a security
forum where experienced users can help you interpret
the results. I normally recommend the Tom Coyote forums
[2] for this purpose, but subscriber "John" suggests a
smaller site run by Tom Mercado because: "if a user
posts their HiJackThis! log in this forum [3] they get
help within minutes or hours compared to the bigger
sites that can take days." I tried it out anonymously
and John is totally correct. Better bookmark this site,
you might need it.
[1] http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/programs.php
[2] http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
[3] http://temerc.com/phpBB2
1.6 Test Suspicious Files for
Malware
It's a good practice to run any file
you download (or borrow) through a free web based file
testing service that will check it for malware using
multiple anti-virus and spyware engines. Here are two
of my favorites: Jotti [1] currently uses 20 different
anti-virus scanners, while Virus Total [2] uses 32!
Using one of these services can't guarantee that a file
is 100% free of malware, but it's a lot safer than
installing an unknown program on the blind faith that
it's OK.
[1] http://virusscan.jotti.org/
[2] http://www.virustotal.com/flash/index_en.html
1.7 Website Identifies Mystery
Files
Usually you can identify the program
you need to open a file by the file type, but what if
it hasn't got one? This free service allows you to
upload the file and have it identified. I tied it with
a PDF file with the .pdf extension removed and it
worked just fine. Thanks to subscriber Christian
Dorfmair for the suggestion.
http://mark0.net/onlinetrid.aspx
1.8 Check Web Link
Safety
Type in a web link at this site and
they will scan to see if the website is hostile. Use
this free service when someone sends you a link that
you don't quite trust.
http://linkscanner.explabs.com/linkscanner/checkstep.asp
1.9 Recovering Data from a
Corrupted Hard Drive
Data recovery is a very complex issue
with many different kinds of problems and many possible
solutions. However I was impressed by this detailed
guide that shows you how you can use a Knoppix live CD
to recover data from a Windows disk. It's not the only
solution of its kind but the excellent instructions
make it worth bookmarking.
http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/
1.10 Make Firefox Look like
Internet Explorer
Why
would you want to do this? Because it's a clever way to
wean change-resistant users away from IE.
http://johnhaller.com/jh/mozilla/firefox_internet_explorer/
1.11 How to Select the Best File
Compression Program
In
issue #186 [1] I mentioned KGB, an archiving program
that can compress text files down much smaller than
many popular archivers though it takes a lot time and
computing power in the process. This prompted
subscriber Erik Wasberg to write in about a site called
maximumcompression.com [2] that compares dozens of
different archivers on the basis of compression
efficiency, resource usage and time taken across
various file types. This outstanding site is essential
reading for those who needs to archive large amounts of
data or indeed, anyone who has a general interest in
file compression.
[1] http://techsupportalert.com/issues/issue146.htm#Section_2.2
[2] http://www.maximumcompression.com
1.12 How to Permanently Wipe a Hard
Drive
Most users are aware they can
securely erase files and drives using free utilities
like "Eraser" [1] and "Boot and Nuke" [2] that
overwrite the data multiple times. At this site [3],
suggested by subscriber Chris Price, they show how you
can securely wipe a drive using a little-known feature
built into many hard drives.
[1] http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
[2] http://dban.sourceforge.net/
[3] http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=129&tag=nl.e622
1.13 Portable Software
Lists
There are lots of these lists; none
is complete but here are two of the best. The first
covers free software while the second includes
commercial products as well.
http://www.portablefreeware.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portable_software
1.14 How Does Your Firewall
Rate?
At
this site they test all the major firewalls using
leak-tests. Now outbound leak-testing is only one
criterion for assessing firewall performance indeed
some would argue that inbound protection is more
important. My view is that both are important as are
user friendliness, resource usage, software
compatibility and resistance to termination by hostile
agents. That said Online Armor, Comodo, Jetico and
ZoneAlarm Pro top he list while the Microsoft XP SP2
firewall get the wooden spoon. ZoneAlarm free was
another notable poor performer.
http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php
1.15 See How Your Anti-virus
Program Stacks Up
In
my April 2007 Editorial [1] I rated some of the most
popular free and commercial AV scanners. Since then
I've located an excellent additional data source [2]
for assessing AV performance. It's a near real-time
listing of how well the major scanners detect new
threats identified by the Malware Incident Reporting
& Termination (MIRT) team. The results support my
previous findings namely the class-leading new threat
detection rate of AntiVir and the relatively poor
performance of AVG and Avast! with Kaspersky and NOD32
falling in the middle. Perhaps more important than the
product ranking, is the relatively poor performance of
ALL products in detecting new threats. This reinforces
the point I have been making in recent issues that you
can no longer rely exclusively on signature based anti
malware products to protect you from the current
onslaught of new threats. That said, it should be noted
that the detection of new threats is only one of
several criteria you need to consider when assessing
the performance of AV products. See my April [1]
editorial for more details.
[1] http://techsupportalert.com/issues/issue144.htm#Section_0
[2] http://winnow.oitc.com/malewarestats.php
1.16 More Free Software from
Microsoft
Blogger Blake Handler has sent me two
interesting links. The first is to a set of free Vista
programs and accessories from Microsoft [1] and the
second to free Office 2007 software [2]. There is some
nice stuff listed.
[1]
http://bhandler.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!70F64BC910C9F7F3!1844.entry
[2]
http://bhandler.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!70F64BC910C9F7F3!1822.entry
1.17 How to Save YouTube and
Other Streamed Video Files
There are lots of ways to do this but
one of the easiest is to use the free KeepVid web
service. Just paste the video link into the KeepVid
site [1] and then download the video to your PC as an
avi file, Flash file (flv) or as an MP4 for your iPod
or PSP. Firefox users have another easy option by using
the free DownloadHelper extension [2] that allows you
to save YouTube, MySpace, Google videos, DailyMotion,
Porkolt, iFilm, DreamHost and many other streams by
simply clicking the special DownloadHelper toolbar
icon. Thanks to Hopper for the latter suggestion.
[1] http://keepvid.com/
[2] http://www.downloadhelper.net/
1.18 More Free Support
Sites
Subscriber Richard Yores writes,
"Gizmo, just about the friendliest tech support forum
I've seen on the net is CyberTechHelp [1]. Most user
problems are answered quickly including analysis of
HijackThis logs." I agree, Richard. It's both friendly
and active. So too is D-A-L Computer Help [2], another
forum-based support site. I suggest you try both the
next time you have a PC problem.
[1] http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/
[2] http://www.d-a-l.com/index.php
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** Additional items only in the Premium
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1.19
How to Convert Normal Programs to Portable
Software
1.20
Free Security Tools
1.21
How to Improve Your Wi-Fi Security
1.22
How to Download MP3 Audio from Youtube Videos
1.23
Thousands of Free Fonts
1.24
Free .ISO file burners from Microsoft
1.25
How to Generate a New Identity
1.26
The Best Collection of Free Software
1.27
How to Check Your Surfing Anonymity
1.28
Free Tutorials from Microsoft
1.29
How to Create Self-Destructing Email
1.30
Repair or Upgrade Your Laptop Yourself
1.31
Free Open Source Programs That Can Replace Commercial
Software
1.32
Outstanding Site for Free Digital Photo
Software
2. BEST FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE
UTILITIES FOR 2007
2.1 Add Sticky Notes to Web
Pages or Anything Else
Subscriber Christian Hess Araya
writes "Gizmo in issue #149 you mentioned the Firefox
extension Internote that allows you to attach notes to
webpages so that when you revisit the page the sticky
note is automatically displayed. I'd like to let you
know about Stickies [1], a free utility, will let you
do the very same thing, not limited to webpages but to
*any* open window. That makes it so much more useful,
IMHO." When I first received this message from
Christian I wasn't sure that Stickies would display a
note when you re-visited a webpage but it sure does -
it remembers the window title. Freeware, Windows 95 and
later, 953KB
http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/
2.2 Free Program Removes Ugly Wires
from Your Digital Photos
If
you take a lot of digital photos you will really
appreciate this free utility suggested by subscriber
Ken De Pree. Wire Pilot is photo retouching software,
available as a stand-alone program or Photoshop
plug-in, that's specially designed to allow the easy
removal of unsightly wires, poles, antennas and other
linear objects from your digital photos. I found it
worked particularly well where the background behind
the wire or pole you wanted to remove was sky, snow or
other untextured surface. In these circumstances Wire
Pilot was quicker to use than Photoshop's own tools and
the results were just as good. The results with
textured backgrounds were not quite as acceptable and
clearly looked "processed." That reservation aside,
this is a really useful free tool that can greatly
improve the appearance of some of your favorite digital
snapshots. You can either download the stand-alone
program or a plug-in that works with Photoshop,
Photoshop Elements 4, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, Corel
PHOTO-PAINT, Macromedia Fireworks or XnView. Freeware,
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, 1.9MB.
http://www.colorpilot.com/wire.html
2.3 Secunia Inspector now Available
as a Free Stand-alone Program
In
recent months I've urged all readers to scan their PCs
regularly using the free Secunia online Software
Inspector Service [1]. It's a terrific product that
identifies software with known security defects on your
PC and tells you where you can get the latest patches
and updates. Now Secunia has released a downloadable
version that runs on your PC rather than from their
website. According to Secunia, it looks for and checks
"4,200 different applications", while "the web-based
Secunia Software Inspector only detected around 40."
Unlike the online service, it also checks for products
that have reached the end of their life and are no
longer being supported. It's currently only a beta and
has a few bugs. On my PC it detected several products
that had already been patched and insisted on evoking
Internet Explorer for update downloads rather than my
default browser Firefox. That aside, it detected nine
software packages with flaws and another eleven that
were obsolete, all of which were missed by the online
service. Am I impressed? You bet! This is a mandatory
download even though there are bugs. Many readers will
be shocked by the number of flawed software packages on
their PC which are revealed by this product. Beta
software free for non-commercial uses, Windows 2000
SP4, XP SP2, 2003, 5.3MB.
[1] http://secunia.com/software_inspector/
[2] https://psi.secunia.com/
2.4 The Uninstaller You Have Been
Waiting For
Sooner or later every user encounters
the situation where they try a program, decide they
don't want it, and proceed to uninstall it only to find
the uninstall goes wrong, or worse still, no uninstall
program was included with the original
program.
Normal uninstall utilities are of
little help in this situation. That's because they work
by taking a snapshot of your system before and after
installing a software product and use the difference to
uninstall that product if required. This is a useful
capability but its weakness is that the uninstaller
program must actively monitor every software product
you install. Often this is not the case.
Revo is an uninstaller that works
differently. It can uninstall a program without the
need to monitor its installation. It works by
automatically doing what an experienced user would do
manually. It removes all the program's files, autostart
entries and removes all obvious registry
entries.
This process can never be better than
an inspired guess, but it's sure better than nothing at
all. I ran some tests by getting Revo to uninstall a
product whose installation I had monitored using ZSoft
Uninstaller, a before and after uninstaller.
By
and large Revo did a fine job, though not quite as good
as a skilled user would do manually. There were still
some remains left over, notably files stored in the
user/local settings folder.
That said, the leftover files did no
harm other than take up disk space, and they certainly
would not interfere with the normal operation of the
PC.
Note that when you ask Revo to
uninstall a program, it first looks for the product's
uninstall program and will run that program if it is
found. Only if the search fails will it try to remove
files and registry entries itself.
Note, too, that Revo can also act as
a before and after uninstaller, but frankly this is not
its forte. The freeware utility ZSoft Uninstaller [2]
is a better choice for this particular
application.
Overall I was very impressed by Revo.
It is the only freeware product I know of that will
make a decent job of cleaning up a failed install. It's
not perfect in its un-installation, but it does a fine
job in the circumstances and offers a lifeline to
average users. Next time you encounter a failed
uninstall, remember Revo. You will be glad you did.
Thanks to subscriber Dieter Callens for the suggestion.
Freeware, Windows 2000-Vista, 1.27MB.
[1] http://www.revouninstaller.com/
[2] http://www.zsoft.dk/
2.5 Free Remote Control Utility
Offers Ease of Use
I'm
impressed with CrossLoop. It's the easiest way yet to
remotely control a distant PC. Before you get your
hopes up, let me say that it is no substitute for
products like LogMeIn or PCAnywhere, both of which
allow you to login to a remote PC without anyone in
attendance. By contrast, CrossLoop absolutely requires
someone at the other end. If you can live with that
limitation, CrossLoop may just what you have been
looking for. It works like this: The user on the remote
PC runs CrossLoop and generates a random 12 digit key
which they send to you by email, phone, whatever. You
plug this key into a copy of CrossLoop running on your
own PC and request a connection with the remote. If the
remote user accepts the connection you then can take
control of the remote PC and operate it through your
keyboard and screen. At all times the user at the
remote sees on his screen exactly what is happening.
That's pretty much standard remote computing, but it is
the ease of use that makes CrossLoop different. No
complex commands or firewall configuration are needed,
just the ability to follow simple on-screen
instructions. CrossLoop is really a smart front-end to
the open source utility TightVNC. It supports 128 bit
Blowfish encrypted connections and unlike the free
version of LogMeIn, allows for two-way file transfers
between the client and host PCs. Unlike Windows Remote
Desktop, it will run on any PC from Windows 98 onwards.
Just the thing for helping a friend with a PC problem,
remote support or remote user training. Thanks to
subscriber Mike Pasternack for the suggestion.
Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 2.28MB
http://www.crossloop.com
2.6 Recover Deleted Files from
Digital Cameras and MP3 Players
There are several free utilities that
can recover files accidentally deleted from hard drives
but I've long been seeking one that works with files
accidentally deleted from flash memory in digital
cameras, MP3 players or USB drives.
Thanks to a suggestion from
subscriber Adam Smithee that search is now over. Recuva
is a free utility from the makers of the highly
regarded CCleaner. Not only does it recover files
deleted from flash memory it also works for hard drives
as well.
Recuva of course cannot undelete
files that have been written over or are stored in
physically damaged sectors. However its ideal for
recovering those precious holiday photos immediately
after you accidentally erased them. Free beta, Windows
98-Vista, 211KB.
http://www.recuva.com/
2.7 Free Utility Copies Un-copyable
Files
Recent I had to transfer several
hundred megabytes of media files from one large
external drive to another. With Windows Copy the job
just kept crashing. I tried the venerable but still
effective XXCopy [1] but it fared no better. I then
remembered a utility called Unstoppable Copier that had
been recommended by subscriber George Rakocsi that I
had never got around to checking out. It seemed the
perfect tool for the job. According to the website
Unstoppable Copier "allows you to copy files from disks
with problems such as bad sectors, scratches or that
just give errors when reading data. The program will
attempt to recover every readable piece of a file and
put the pieces together. Using this method most types
of files can be made useable even if some parts were
not recoverable in the end." Well I'm pleased to say
Unstoppable Copier worked perfectly. As it turns out
just one file was corrupted out of the 2700 files on
the disk and that's what was causing Windows Copy to
fail. After that incident do you think I'm going to
recommend Unstoppable Copier? You bet and not only for
problem copying but for recovering partly corrupted
files as well. It's just the thing for getting your
information off scratched CDs and DVDs, aging floppies
and failing hard drives. Don't expect it to perform
miracles though; some disks are just too physically
damaged to allow data recovery. Freeware, All Windows
versions, 67KB.
[1]
http://www.xxcopy.com/index.htm
[2] http://www.roadkil.net/unstopcp.html
2.8 A Simple and Cheap Way to Get a
Multi-Monitor Setup
Imagine working on a spreadsheet and
you want more width to see the whole spreadsheet.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could drag the right hand
side of the spreadsheet window all the way to the right
onto a second monitor alongside your main monitor? Well
that's exactly what you can do with a neat shareware
program called MaxiVista [1]. Regular contributor Lex
Davidson has prepared an excellent review and this now
available online [2]. He's really impressed and so am
I. I use a multi-monitor / multi-PC setup all the time
and can attest that it really improves my productivity.
If you have an old PC lying around this could be the
perfect use for it. Commercial software, from $29.95,
free 14 day limited feature trial, Windows 2000, XP,
1.81MB
[1] http://www.maxivista.com/
[2] http://www.techsupportalert.com/review-maxvista.htm
2.9 Free Utility Removes Ads From
Internet Explorer and More
Firefox users can effectively remove
ads from web pages using the excellent free Ad-Block
extension but there has been no comparable free add-on
for Internet Explorer. Until now, that is.
IE7Pro not only provides ad blocking
but tab management, proxy switching, mouse gestures and
more including a very valuable crash recovery feature.
There's even a Firefox GreaseMonkey-like scripting
feature that allows you to add more functionality such
as a rather neat skin for Gmail.
Hey
with all these additional features you can convert IE7
into an almost passable alternative to Firefox
;>)
Seriously, IE7Pro is a terrific
product and a must for all IE7 users. In fact it's so
good that I suspect the pressure to convert it to a
commercial product may well prove irresistible so
download it now while it's free.
http://www.ie7pro.com/ Freeware,
Internet Explorer 7, 985KB.
2.10 Free Utility Preserves Desktop
Icon Layout
Ever installed a new program or
changed your screen resolution only to discover your
precious desktop icon layout has been scrambled?
Restore Desktop 2.0 is a tiny little utility that
allows you to easily reset you desktop back to your
preferred layout. Just select the restore option from
the right click context menu and all your icons will be
instantly returned to where they belong. It will even
restore your icons to their correct position relative
to the screen edges when you change screen resolution.
Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 78KB. NOTE: After I
published this newsletter it looks like the developers
have switched the link below [1] to a sales page for
one of their shareware products. However I managed to
find an alternative link [2] Click on the file size to
download.
[1] http://www.softwarium.com/rdwin.html
[2] http://web.archive.org/web/20060127002359/www.softwarium.com/windownloads.html
2.11 Free Utility Backs Up
Frequently Changed Files
Most users have learned to regularly
save documents while they are creating them. While this
prevents you from losing your work, it has the
disadvantage that each time you save you write over the
previous version and so can't go back to an early
revision. You can get around this by using different
file names each time you save but an easier way is to
use the free FileHampster program that automatically
time stamps and stores copies each time you save.
Furthermore, it allows you to annotate each copy so
that your revision versions are fully documented. I
tried it and it works well though I suggest you watch
the quick start tutorial before using. There are some
nice plug-ins too, including one that allows you to use
a third party dif program such as WinMerge to view the
differences between versions. Overall I was quite
impressed. Yes, there are other programs around that
perform a similar task but FileHampster is as powerful
as any yet is among the easiest to use. Freeware,
Windows 2000 and later with .NET V2.0 Framework,
1.1MB
http://www.mogware.com/FileHamster/
2.12 Add Paste and Go Feature to
Firefox
One
of the many great features in the Opera Browser is the
way it loads a site automatically when you paste the
URL into the address box. The same applies to search,
just paste the search term and the search runs
automatically without the need to hit "Enter" or the
Search button. Paste and Go [1] is a Firefox extension
that gives you similar functionality in Firefox. It's
not quite as elegant as the Opera implementation in
that you need to use Shift Ctrl V to paste and go
rather than just Ctrl V but, nonetheless, it will save
you time every day. A related Firefox extension is
Linkification. This allows you to highlight a text-only
link in a web page and then use the right click context
menu to open the link in a new tab or window.
[1]
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3035/
[2] https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/190/
2.13 Better Manage Windows
Startup
Startup Delayer is a free utility
that allows you to speed up your Windows startup by
delaying the startup of non essential programs until
Windows has loaded. The idea is quite sound. At startup
many application programs try to run in a short period
of time and in the process push your CPU to the limit.
By delaying the onset of non-essential programs,
resources are freed and thus Windows itself can start
more quickly. That means your desktop comes up quicker
and you can get on with your work with less delay. I
tried it on my PC and managed to reduce the time for
the desktop to be usable from 85 seconds to around 65
seconds. Not a lot but worthwhile if you reboot often.
Thanks to subscriber Steven Hodge for the suggestion.
Freeware, Windows 98->XP, 1.1MB
http://www.r2.com.au/software.php?page=2&show=startdelay
2.14 The Fastest BitTorrent Client
Yet
BitTyrant V1.1 is a hot-rodded
version of the popular Open Source BitTorrent client
Azureus V2.5.
The
modification is fiendishly clever. While most clients
only consider the number of peers available for
downloading, BitTyrant also considers the capacity of
each peer and the data rate required to ensure
reciprocation. It then utilizes this information using
a dynamic algorithm to send only to the highest
capacity peers data at the minimum rate for them to
reciprocate.
In plain English this translates to
your downloads running faster, much faster; around 65%
on my tests.
Now, the standard Azureus client may
be one of the most full featured clients available but
it's certainly not the fastest kid on the block. With
the BitTyrant mods, though, it's a speed demon. In
fact, it's the fastest client I've tried.
Here's the downside:
First, this kind of mod breaks down
some of the fairness characteristics of the BitTorrent
protocol. If you are not comfortable with that then
don't use BitTyrant.
Second, the standard Azureus client
is updated regularly but there is no guarantee that
BitTyrant will be kept up-to-date with the latest
version. The authors of Azureus may even knobble the
product to prevent the mod.
That said, the current V1.1 version
of BitTyrant based on Azureus V2.5 is the fastest
BitTorrent client yet.
Freeware, all Windows versions plus
other operating systems, 8.11MB.
http://bittyrant.cs.washington.edu/
2.15 The Best Free Program Launcher
for Flash Drives
When I mentioned in a previous issue
that I use the PortableApps program launcher [1] for my
USB drive I received a whole batch of emails from
subscribers suggesting PStart [2] as an alternative
launcher. I tied it and it is an excellent product.
It's far more configurable than the PortableApps
launcher and more like a full replacement for the
Windows Start menu than simply a flash drive program
launcher. It has many useful features, including full
support for relative paths. This notable feature allows
some semi-portable apps to work correctly when used on
various PCs on which the assigned USB flash drive
letter is different than the drive letter the
application expects. PStart also supports symbolic
place-holders, such as %windows%, that allow you to
start an application installed on the host, such as
Notepad, even though you don't know exactly where
Windows is installed on that PC. PStart also supports
program launch parameters, backup and restore,
customizable icons, PStart's own appearance and much
more. It's all very impressive and I have no hesitation
in saying PStart is a much more powerful and fully
featured product than the Portable Apps launcher.
Frankly, though, this is not of much use to average
users. To use most of PStart's many features you need a
degree of technical knowledge. Without that you won't
benefit from PStart's capabilities. Indeed, you may
well be inconvenienced. For example, the Portable Apps
launcher allows an application that has been downloaded
from the Portable Apps site to be installed more or
less automatically. Not so with PStart; each program
has to be configured individually. These qualifications
aside, Pstart is a top recommendation for experienced
users and those who are technically minded. Other users
will be better served by Portable Apps. PStart:
Freeware, Windows 2000->XP, U3 and non-U3 versions
available, 768KB
[1] http://portableapps.com/
[2] http://www.pegtop.net/start/
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We are in the process of updating all the backup
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The Best
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In this race there are really only two runners worth
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------------- end of sponsored links
--------------------------
** Additional items only in the
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2.16
Free Vista Features for XP
Users
2.17
More Vista Features for XP Users
2.18
Excellent Free Program Minimizer
2.19
Nifty Free Tray Clock Solves Calendar Problem
2.20
The Best Free Audio and Video File Conversion
Program
2.21
Free Audio File Tag Editor
2.22
Free CAD Software
2.23
Free Suite of Portable Data Recovery Tools
2.24
The Best Way to Surf Anonymously
2.25
Freeware Replacements for Excel and Visio
2.26
Free Utility Converts Video Files for iPod Use
2.27
Free Utility Lets You Easily Edit MP3 Files
2.28
Portable Games for Your USB Flash Drive
2.29
How to Get RoboForm Pro and ZoneAlarm Pro Suite for
Free
2.30
Free Utility Hides Folders
2.31
Learn to Type While Playing Computer Games
2.32
Free Utilities That Make Your PC Run
Faster
2.33
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Thanks to subscriber
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For convenience North American
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serial publication ISSN 1448-7020. Content of this
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2007
See you next
issue. It will be published on Thursday the
24th of January 2008.
Gizmo
Ian Richards
editor@techsupportalert.com
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