Sarasota PC Monitor
Review Chairmans Industry Comments (8/05)
The Computer Buffet
by Herb Goldstein, Review Editor
E-mail comments, suggestions, etc. to Herb Goldstein at: revieweditor@spcug.org
USB FLASH DRIVES. Gobs of products are available that can help you send, store, and transport your data, but few can match the simplicity and sheer portability of a tiny USB flash drive. Like an old-school floppy disk re-tailored for the twenty-first century, USB flash drives offer the capacity of a modest hard drive, the portability of a cigarette lighter, and the plug-and-play simplicity of a modern peripheral.
These portable devices go by a colorful assortment of names-keychain drives, memory sticks, iDucks, and so on-but they all work pretty much the same way. Plug one into a USB port on the back of your PC, and it'll show up like any other hard drive. Drag and drop your data onto it from your PC at work, pull out the drive, and plug it into your computer at home. These portable drives are perfect for people who regularly work on two or more different PCs-particularly students and businesspeople-and need a dependable way to transport data.
A 256MB flash drive can hold a surprising amount of data: dozens of digital pictures, a couple of hours of MP3s, or hundreds of Microsoft Word documents. While they come in a variety of capacities, ranging from 64MB to 2GB, the 256MB and 512MB models hit the sweet spot. Lesser capacities fill up quickly, especially if you're loading photos and music, and larger capacities are still quite expensive (2GB drives run about $200). Still, prices will continue to come down, though capacities seem to have topped out at 2GB for now, at least from the major manufacturers.
USB drives are pricey storage devices when you consider the cost per megabyte. You can buy a 40GB mini USB hard drive for $150 to $200, which works out to between $3 to $5 per gigabyte, whereas a 1GB flash drive runs about $140. If you're using an older operating system, take note: if you're still using Windows 98, you'll need to download a driver before you can use the drive.
SURE DELETE V5.1.1 Sometimes "delete" means "kinda sorta delete." When you drag a file to the Recycle Bin, you only move it to a new location. Even when you empty the bin, your files are still retrievable by Undelete utilities. Sure Delete permanently deletes that data from your drive. Whether you want to shred sensitive information or free up resources on your hard drive, this program ensures that it's done permanently. Rather than simply deleting file references on your computer, the program actually destroys the data itself. Sure Delete offers a wizard-style interface that guides you through the process of deleting files, cleaning up your hard drive in minutes. Sure Delete supports the FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS disk formats. www.wizard-industries.com/sdel.html
ACTIVICONS. Tired of your yellow folders and your uninspiring, pale-gray Recycle Bin? Express your individuality with custom Windows icons. ActivIcons is one of the most popular icon managers. This free program shows you the typical icons on your desktop, such as the Recycle Bin, the My Computer icons, Briefcase, Network Neighborhood, and your folders. It then allows you to select the icon you want to change. You can change icon groups or specific icons. You can also change the Windows mouse pointers, make the text labels transparent, alter the color of the text, or change the icon cache. The program also lets you restore your default Windows icons, in case the novelty of custom icons wears off. www.cursorarts.com/ca_ai_d.html
REAL ALTERNATIVE. Many audio and video files are offered only in Real Networks' formats. If you like the files, but you don't like being tied to Real, you may prefer Real Alternative. This player plays RealAudio (.ra and .rpm) and RealMedia (.rm, .ram, .rmvb, .rpx) files just like RealPlayer and RealOne Player do-but without the hassles of dealing with Real. It offers limited support for Real's .smi and .smil formats. Real Alternative's RealMedia browser plug-in supports Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape, and Opera. http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/finalbuilds.htm
FIREANT is a free RSS video aggregator and media player that can automatically download media content for you to watch and listen to. FireANT lets you subscribe to any RSS 2.0 feed that supports enclosures by adding the URL of the channel manually, browsing FireANT's Directory, or search for video on the web using Yahoo! Video Search. Requires major video players like Windows Media, QuickTime and RealPlayer for playback. www.antisnottv.net/
MAXTHON INTERNET BROWSER free software is a powerful tabbed browser with a highly customizable interface. It is based on the Internet Explorer browser engine which means that what works in the IE browser will work the same in Maxthon tabbed browser with additional features like: Mouse Gestures, Super Drag&Drop, Privacy Protection, AD Hunter, RSS Reader, IE Extensions Support, External Utility Bar, and Skinning. www.maxthon.com/
PROCESS EXPLORER. Windows Task Manager tells you what applications and processes are running, but some process names aren't very clear to the casual reader. Process Explorer helps you get to the bottom of things by digging down to see which application started a process and which resources that app is currently using. This excavation can be a big help when you're trying to figure out which background processes you dare shut down. It can even help sniff out spyware, too. And it's free. www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html
IESPELL. Of course you use a spellchecker on your word documents...you may even use one on your e-mail...but what about when you enter data on the web? IeSpell checks the spelling on text you enter into boxes on the web. If you're using web mail, posting to a newsgroup, or blogging, you could make your point come across more clearly-and save yourself a lot of embarrassment-by making sure you've spelled everything in good English.
IeSpell stores your own personal word list across all your applications, so you don't need to teach every web app you use how to spell your unusual name. ieSpell is free for personal use. www.iespell.com/ CLIP ART can enliven any document or presentation. But you can spend hours hunting it down on the Internet. Well, Microsoft's put together a generous collection of free clip art. There are photos, drawings and animations.
They'll add a little pizzazz to whatever you're working on. Browse through the categories - there are almost 50! Or you can do a search. Enter your keywords and then select the type of file you want. When you see something you want, simply select it. You can continue browsing and download them all at once. There are hundreds of clips available. For example, a search for photos of dogs returned eight pages of results. The clips are free, but you must agree to Microsoft's terms. You may also be prompted to download additional controls. tinyurl.com/4gof9 VOICES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. There are countless blogs, or Web logs, on the Internet. Some are serious, some are funny and some even rival traditional journalism. And then there are the others. If you've looked at personal blogs, you know many are, um, trivial. Others are boring or childish. But don't judge blogging by the bad bloggers. Instead, find the good ones. Global Voices will help you do just that. As the name suggests, it features links to blogs from around the world. Read about daily life in Kenya or Hong Kong. Learn about economic issues in India. You can even listen to podcasts, or downloadable audio clips. The bloggers featured on Global Voices are diverse. But the thing they have in common is they have something interesting to say. It might even inspire you to start your own blog! http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices/ BEST FREE ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE. There are two equal recommendations in this category. First there is AVG Antivirus 7.0 Free Edition. This product has been continuously refined since it was first released in 1991 and now offers very impressive protection capabilities. Additionally, it's relatively small, light on resources, has regular automatic updates and handles email scanning. There is a free and a pro version, the only difference being that the free version has a few non-critical features disabled and has no direct technical support. Even so, it's an impressive package and offers the financially challenged a real alternative to the major anti-virus suites. Equally impressive is the free Avast! scanner though its funky media player style interface is not to everyone's taste. Avast! also required periodic re-registration while AVG does does not. (5MB) http://free.grisoft.com http://www.avast.com
OUTLOOK EXPRESS USERS will find a gold mine of useful information, problem solutions and lots more at http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/ If you use Outlook Express make this a must!
MAKE A USB FLASH DRIVE BOOTABLE. This detailed guide not only shows you how, it also shows you some clever things you can do with your bootable USB. www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid =1676&page=1
DISPOSABLE EMAIL ADDRESSES. This is a neat idea. Create a valid email address by simply making-up the first part of the address and then adding the suffix "@mailinator.com." You can then go this site and collect any mail. It's free and you don't need to open an account as it's created when mail arrives to the inbox of your made-up email address. www.mailinater.com/mailinator/Welcome.do
FREE PDF READER LOADS LIGHTNING FAST. Sick to death of Adobe's slow, bloated PDF Reader? If so then check out the Foxit Reader. It's small, loads in a flash, supports bookmarks, has search capability, offers many views and runs on any version of Windows. On top of that it can print PDFs as well. It runs without installation too, so it's ideal for your toolkit CD or USB flash drive. www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
YAHOO PHOTO SHARING. PhotoShare is a useful add-in for Yahoo! Mail that provides a clever solution to sharing photos by email. In essence it allows you to easily insert thumbnails of photos in your email. If the recipient clicks any thumbnail, a larger photo stored at Yahoo! Photos is displayed. Recipients can use any email client including web mail. As Yahoo! Photos offers free unlimited storage for your photos, it's quite an attractive solution for the perennial problem of emailing snaps. MANAGING YOUR PHOTOS IS ESSENTIAL. You can't enjoy the memories if you can't find the files. Well, StudioLine will help you take control of your photos. This free program helps you organize and tag photos, add descriptions to your photos and then search by keyword. Arrange them in folders and create slide shows. Then use the backup utility to archive your photos to CD or DVD. It also helps you create Web archives.
There are also editing features to help you crop, rotate and adjust images. And don't worry about making mistakes - the originals are preserved! The program will take a while to download, even on a broadband connection. But it's worth it. You must register within 30 days, but registration is free. tinyurl.com/7dsaa
ENCRYPT XP FOLDERS FOR PRIVACY. If you are using Windows XP Professional or 2000, you have a built-in encryption system at your disposal. Your hard drive must be formatted as NTFS. To check your formatting, click Start>>My Computer. Right- click your hard drive (probably C:) and click Properties. Look for File System: NTFS.
Your hard drive also could be formatted as FAT32 or FAT. Change that to NTFS. Always encrypt the folder, not just the file. Anything added to the folder will automatically be encrypted. To encrypt the folder, go to Windows Explorer. (Start>>All Programs>>Accessories>>Windows Explorer.) Find the folder in the left panel, and right-click it. Select Properties. Click Advanced on the General tab. Select "Encrypt contents to secure data" and click OK>>OK.
PC INSPECTOR FILE RECOVERY. Depending on how your files were lost, it may be hard to recover them. This data recovery program recovers lost files and finds partitions automatically, even when the boot sector of your machine has become damaged or erased.
Even when a file's header entry is no longer available, PC Inspector File Recovery can recover the file. The program lets you save recovered files on network drives. It recovers files with the original time and date stamp, so maybe it'll be like nothing ever happened. www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm
PC WIZARD. It's hard to keep up with all the hardware on your PC-just ask your PC. If you want it to have the right answers, install PC Wizard 2005. This utility detects all kinds of hardware, from the obvious Bluetooth devices to the boards in the guts of your PC. PC Wizard 2005 updates its lists monthly to make sure your PC recognizes the newest devices. Not only does PC Wizard tell you about your peripherals components, it can benchmark your system so you see how it's doing with all that hardware. www.cpuid.org/pcw.php
FREEUNDELETE V1.0. Ever hit "delete" and wished you could undo it? FreeUndelete helps you rescue data that would otherwise be lost. It works on any NTFS file system, the default file system used by Windows NT, 2000, and XP. FreeUndelete lives up to both halves of its name, undeleting your files and doing it for free: free of charge, free of adware, free of spyware. Before using this program, please read the Proper Usage Techniques at the vendor's Web site. It will help you avoid further damage to lost data. http://officerecovery.com/freeundelete/
JR DIRECTORY PRINTER UTILITY. Sometimes you don't need to open every file in a folder-just to have a list of the titles. JR Directory Printer lets you make a text file that lists those file names. Simple checkboxes let you choose the bells and whistles you want. You can choose to include or ignore the files in subdirectories. JR Directory Printer can pull in extra information-such as Display Size, DateTime, and Attributes-if you need it, or can omit it if you don't. If you prefer, you can instruct JR Directory Printer to limit the file name length or to make all file names lowercase. www.spadixbd.com/index.htm
TRAVELLING WEATHER? The Weather Channel's Web site offers a solution to the problem. Before you travel, visit its travel tool. Put in your departure city and your destination. Then, specify the dates of travel. You'll get a forecast for your travel dates. Along with the forecast, you're given tips on what to pack. For example, it might tell you to pack short sleeves and shorts. It even reminds you if you need to bring an umbrella. You can also check the weather at an airport. Or, you can check on a flight status. If you travel frequently, bookmark this site - it's super handy! www.weather.com/activities/travel/businesstraveler
AUCTION EXPLORER FOR EBAY. Auction Explorer is the first and only Internet Explorer Add-on for eBay. Now you have access to the advanced eBay search features right from within Internet Explorer. Easily save and navigate searches on your terms. You can even sync your eBay Watches and Bids with one click access! Stay on top of your auctions with Auction Explorer for eBay. www.auction-explorer.com/
SLIM BROWSER is a tabbed multiple-site browser with popup killer, skinned window frame, form filler, site group, quick-search, auto login, hidden sites, built-in commands and scripting, online translation, script error suppression, blacklist / whitelist filtering, URL alias, spell checker, RSS reader, Active X filter, and other features. Another contender in the browser wars, and a free download. www.flashpeak.com/sbrowser/
DATETRAC allows you to set reminders for upcoming events. These reminders pop up on the day scheduled and the preceding date. If you haven't had your computer on for several days (gasp!) the reminders will pop up as late reminders. Download free . www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Horizon/6424/filetrac.html
WORDPERFECT UNIVERSE. If WordPerfect is your word processing program of choice, you can't go wrong with the extensive information contained at this site. www.wpuniverse.com/
BOOKMARK/BRIDGE is a free, small, easy to use, multi-platform, GUI-based utility that allows the user to share bookmarks between all their browsers. The user runs it periodically to synchronize between the browsers http://bookmarkbridge.sourceforge.net/.
X-SETUP PRO. Tweak more than 1500 functions in Windows, Internet Explorer, and other common programs with simple button clicks. Free X-Setup allows you to change the appearance of your desktop or browser, modify memory settings, or bump your security up a notch. The Windows Explorer-like interface makes navigating the tweak options a snap. Optional Record Mode and log files make it easy to retrace your steps and even reproduce your work on thousands of computers. You can view the source code of every plug-in before installing it, or you can set X-Setup to automatically update with new plug-ins. www.x-setup.net/
SMARTCLOSE is a free smart addition that should have been included with Windows in the first place. It allows you to close all currently running programs. Doing this the long way can seem like a lot of work. SmartClose makes it simple and easy, though.
With just a few clicks, you can go to no programs running and back to the way things were when all your programs were running. The program is very customizable and once you start learning how to tweak it, you will never know what you did without it. www.bm-productions.tk/
DOWNLOAD ACCELERATOR MANAGER (Free Edition) is a download manager that integrates with Internet Explorer (and IE based variations), and also works with any other browser including Firefox, by using a drop target to initiate downloads. It enables you to pause and resume downloads, save them for later and sort them into categories. The program supports password protected sites, cookies, HTTP, HTTPS and FTP protocols as well as proxy connections, firewalls and URL redirections. www.tensons.com/
ACUBIX PICOBACKUP FOR OUTLOOK EXPRESS enables you to backup all your Outlook Express email folders and settings. This free program can perform the backups as needed, or automatically on a regular schedule. It supports full and incremental backups, as well as optional 256-bit encryption and zip compression. The backups can be stored to local or removable drives, remote FTP account or burned to CD or DVD. www.picobackup.com/pboe/index.html
POSTERIZA enables you to create poster or banner size prints from your digital images. The program slices the images into multiple parts and makes them fit into a number of regular size pages (A4, A3, letter, etc.), which can then be assembled after printing. It automatically includes margins to overlap and glue the pages. In addition, you can add up to 4 lines of text, as well as a frame to enhance the looks. The program is easy to use, and offers easy configuration and previews of the results. You can create regular size posters, wall posters or anything in between, although you should use a high resolution image for larger printouts in order to produce quality results.
The program can also save the output as JPG files, allowing you to use 3rd party printing services instead of your own printer. www.posteriza.com/es/index.php?lang=en_US
RENAME MASTER is a free utility for renaming large groups of files with a few clicks. Anyone that has worked with websites, file archives, or collections of music, videos, or pictures has probably spent way too much time renaming hundreds of files. The program provides an easy to use interface that allows you to perform simple and advanced rename operations, very easily. You can even preview the to-be-renamed file names before you finalize it and apply any changes. Advanced renaming features include adding, removing from the original file name, replacing characters (name or extension) and support for several meta variables, that allow you to perform renaming based on the files size, date and several other criteria. Renaming operations can be saved as scripts, so they can easily be reused at a later time. Additional features include optional Explorer integration, uppercase/lowercase conversion, file filters and more. A powerful, yet easy to use renaming utility! www.joejoesoft.com/
ROBOFORM V6.3.6 Ever think of how many hours and how much energy you've wasted entering your personal information to register at Web sites? AI RoboForm makes the process automatic: All you have to do is right-click on the form, and the utility inputs your name, e-mail address, mailing address, and more. Best of all, the program works inside your browser.
You must first create an identity by providing the program with your name, birthdate, address, phone numbers, and any other information you want it to store. You can establish any number of identities and switch between them, saving you the inconvenience of trying to remember which identity you used at which site. To fill out a form, hit the 'Fill Forms' button and the program will fill in any blanks using the information you've provided. "Passcards" store your login names and passwords. However, you still have to remember a password to access and change your information.
AI RoboForm securely stores your passwords and, if you like, credit card numbers and other personal information. Use the random password generator to make it harder for anyone to guess your password. You also can set up the program so it only fills out part of a form-leaving you flexibility to manually enter values for a few fields. Finally, the program also saves your User IDs and passwords.
The program's basic features are free for personal users who have 10 logins or less. However, business users must pay $30.00 to register; also, you must register if you'd like to use advanced features, like using an unlimited number of identities, custom fields, or the login command. www.roboform.com/index.html
Some years ago when surfing the Internet began posing serious privacy problems, we began featuring in this column a look at software applications devoted to restoring your privacy. In fact, as some of you may remember, we labeled it, "Privacy Restored." From the many emails I have received from you it appears that your loss of privacy on your computer is a common prime concern. Consequently, we will pay more attention to informing you about current software that will do the best job in protecting your privacy.
We actually began the task in last month's Monitor by introducing an excellent application, GhostSurf, to maintain your anonymity while you were online and surfing the Web. We continue in this issue with a superb follow-up:
From the very moment you turn your computer on you start to accumulate junk you either don't need except perhaps momentarily. The junk doesn't know it is no longer welcome and will hang around using up precious hard drive space, interfering perhaps with the running of various programs, or serving as a billboard for where you have been and what you have been doing with your computer.
There is a large variety of software designed to clean up the garbage in certain areas. But if you are looking for something that does the job completely and quickly in all the necessary areas, nothing can compare with Webroot's Window Washer. In fact it is the "Editor's Choice" in all the popular computer publications like PC Magazine. I have been using it for years and from its very inception. I would not think of running my computer without it.
When you install Window Washer it thoroughly examines your computer and determines what it needs do in performing a "wash." Many of the items it selects are those that Microsoft suggests you cleanup regularly like your browser cache and cookies, temporary
Internet Files, other temporary files, a wide variety of history files, memory dump files, recycle bin, media players, log files and other common junk collectors. In addition, it includes other applications which maintain garbage folders. It will permit you to add or remove very easily whatever you choose. Once your wash list has been created, you can modify it however you wish. Additionally, you can choose to either do a routine wash or add "bleach." The latter shreds files beyond recovery. You have complete control over what gets washed and to what extent. Making changes and selections is a piece of cake! Washing a comprehensive list of your choices is lightening fast, taking only a few seconds.
If you elect to do so, Window Washer will also clean up your hard drive free space thereby removing any evidence of previously deleted files. In fact, you can safely erase your entire hard drive if you desire. After a wash, nobody can track where you have been and what you have been doing. You can do a wash any time you wish and can schedule automatic washing at startup, shutdown, or any other time and day you choose. You can also permit the software to automatically update itself.
Window Washer has a built in safety feature to prevent accidental deletion of system files. It sports an attractive interface that even a rank novice will appreciate and handle with ease. The interface and increased speed are improvements in the current version 6. Webroot provides outstanding free customer support.
The software lists for $29.95 at webroot.com. You may find discounted prices on the Net. You can download a free trial copy at Webroot's site. When you see for yourself what a great job this outstanding utility does you probably won't want to part with it! :
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Copyright 2005. This article is from the August 2005 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
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