Sarasota PC Monitor
Review Chairmans Industry Comments (7/06)
The Computer Buffet
by Herb Goldstein, Review Editor
E-mail comments, suggestions, etc. to Herb Goldstein at: revieweditor@spcug.org
BAD HYPERLINK?? Occasionally for reasons beyond our control, a hyperlink provided here will not work. After carefully checking your typing (needs to be 100% accurate), the only suggestion we can offer is that you go to Google and enter the name of the software. If a more current hyperlink is available, this is the best place to look for it.
Please also note: Most of the software mentioned below is freeware. It is gathered through researching usually reliable sources. I do not personally try most references, time being the obvious factor.
'SECRET' NUMBERS. Kim Komando offers this great tip: "I'll admit that I think twice before I disclose my personal phone number. I don't want people calling and disrupting my precious private time. But I don't understand why some companies make their telephone number difficult to find. I suppose it is cheaper to rely on the Internet or e-mail for communication. But I think that's bad customer service. That's why this Cool Site, Hard to Find 800 Numbers, is so great. It lists the "secret" 800 numbers for companies, along with notes on each one.
When I found this site, I didn't need to call anyone. But I knew that I would use it in the future, so I bookmarked it.
I've returned several times. It's so much easier to find a phone number here than on most Web sites!" To visit this cool site, go to www.hardtofind800numbers.com
END OF SUPPORT FOR WINDOWS 98 AND WINDOWS ME. Effective July 11, 2006, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me will transition to a non-supported status. After this date, Microsoft will no longer provide any incident support options or security updates. Existing support documents, however, will continue to be available through the Microsoft Support Product Solution Center Web site.
ADVANCED LOOK AT VISTA. The second beta of Microsoft Windows Vista features a fantastic new start menu that lets you easily find programs, files, and e-mails with its integrated search. The much-anticipated OS also includes improved versions of bundled apps like Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Media Player 11-and now you can try it for free. www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1974261,00.asp
MOTHERBOARD MONITOR. An overheated computer is an unhappy computer. This handy program reads temperature and fan RPM data collected by your system's BIOS, displays it in the Windows system tray, and alerts you when there's trouble. You can use this application to manage your resources and alarms by doing things like setting an alarm to go off, or having an email sent to another computer, when your motherboard starts to overheat. You could even have programs start and stop when your CPU reaches predetermined temperatures. http://mbm.livewiredev.com/
ADVANCED GOOGLE. Google can do much more than search. For example to convert 150 Euros to US dollars just type in "150 Euros in USD." To see some of Google's other amazing capabilities check out this cheat sheet. www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html
ICQ LITE has all the essential features of the full version of ICQ. You can message people, exchange files, send SMS messages, do voice chat, and meet people. It also includes multilingual support, the ability to save your chat histories, and a typing indicator that shows when a contact is typing you a message. In addition to familiar features such as chat, SMS messaging, and file-transfer capabilities, ICQ also includes Xtraz, which allow you to send personalized greeting cards, apply custom icons to your buddies, play online games, and customize your shortcuts panel for one-click access to all your favorite features. The ICQ Xtraz platform enables ICQ to present users with a selection of new services as they are created, without the need for you to download a new client.
Xtraz also supports the creation of new ICQ features that can be built separately from the core ICQ client and then delivered and automatically updated over time. The new interface also is clean and intuitive, so you can start chatting quickly and easily. www.icq.com
AUTO HOTKEY. This open-source utility can automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write macros by hand or use the macro recorder. You can also create hotkeys for keyboard, mouse, joystick, and handheld remote controls. Virtually any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey. Similarly, you can define abbreviations that expand as you type them. For example, typing btw can automatically produce by the way. Finally, you can create custom data entry forms, user interfaces, and menu bars. Other features: change soundcard settings (like volume or mute); use a joystick or keyboard as a mouse; remap keys; launch programs/documents; make any window transparent, always-on-top, or alter its shape; manipulate the clipboard; customize the tray menu's icon and menu items; run existing AutoIt v2 scripts; and convert any script into an EXE file that can be run on any computer. www.autohotkey.com
SUPERCOPY is an Easy-To-Use software. It can backup a selected disk folder and filter out all the unnecessary files in this folder like *.bak or *.tmp. SuperCopy provides several filter setting templates. Users can use these predefined templates or define their own filter setting templates. www.xcoolsoft.com/en/index.htm
MEDLINE PLUS does not pretend to have all the answers. Most of the information you get comes from links to hundreds of reliable sites. Search under health topics to find information on any illness imaginable. If you want to research medication, search the Drugs & Supplements category. A medical encyclopedia and dictionary help you understand unfamiliar terms. A notable feature is intended for low vision users. It offers video on numerous health topics. People with normal vision will appreciate it as well. Medline Plus does not pretend to have all the answers. www.medicineplus.com
BCARCHIVE. Why not make your sensitive data smaller as well as making it a smaller target? BCArchive compresses files and folders while encrypting them. (Of course, to extract the data, you or the data's recipient must extract the data with BCArchive.)
The interface window is small, but you have several advanced options, such as choosing your encryption algorithm. Supported algorithms include Blowfish, Blowfish 448, CAST5, GOST, IDEA, RIJNDAEL, Triple-DES, and TWOFISH. If you prefer, you can go for plaintext or unencrypted data, relying on just a password to protect your files. www.jetico.com/
CHAOS SHREDDER deletes selected files and folders, freespace, recycled bin, temporary data, temporary internet files, cookie, history, last documents list. According to the wipe-level the files, freespace or internet traces wipes up to 9 times. Windows does not physically remove deleted files from your hard disk. Emptying your Recycle Bin does NOT protect you at all. Your sensitive files can be recovered, even after you format your hard disk! When you delete a file from Windows, Windows just mark the file as deleted in file allocation table, but the data of the file is still on your hard disk, there are many tools available which can let others easily recover your sensitive files even after you have formatted the hard disk.
Sensitive data can easily fall into the wrong hands. And because Windows is not capable of deleting information beyond recovery, you are at risk! Passwords, financial documents, even those "about last night" e-mails are fair game for the IT professionals, computer technicians or hackers. CHAOS Shredder allows you to purge, wipe and erase data with methods that far exceed US Department of Defense standards for file deletion (DOD 5220.22). By overwriting the portion on the hard drive that was previously allocated to the files several times with junk data, CHAOS Shredder will completely erase files from your disk, without the possibility to recover it by any practical software or hardware methods. www.safechaos.com/cs.htm
ASTERISK KEY. Don't you hate it when you forget a password? I guess that is one of the prices you pay for security. What if you could view what is behind those asterisks? Here's a freeware program that will let you do just that. Asterisk Key will show you those random letters and numbers you used for your password. That is about as easy as it gets when you want to do some password recovery. Here is what the developers of the program have to say about it: "Asterisk Key shows passwords hidden under asterisks. The tool works both with password dialog boxes and web pages. The software is easy to use - press "Recover" button to recover all the passwords. Asterisk Key has online help, full install/uninstall support."
Some of the features include: Uncovers hidden passwords on password dialog boxes and web pages, State of the art password recovery engine - all passwords are recovered instantly, Multilingual passwords are supported; and full install/uninstall support.
So if you have a few passwords you need to recover, give this program a shot. www.lostpassword.com/asterisk.htm
SCREENHUNTER Screen captures are something we take for granted. They are easy to do, but there has to be a way of making them better. The programmers behind ScreenHunter must have had the same idea. ScreenHunter is a free supercharge to your screen capturing ways. Here is what the developers of ScreenHunter have to say about it: "ScreenHunter 4.0 Free is a completely free screen capture tool for you to easily take screenshots. Its part of ScreenHunter 4.0 family which includes ScreenHunter 4.0 Free, Plus and Pro." Some of the capturing features include: rectangle area, any window, full screen, timed capture, mouse pointer, hot key F1 to F12 or print screen key, zoom box for easy capture, automatic naming and save to files (so you don't have to stop each time you capture and you can capture as many as you like), save as good quality JPEG, BMP and GIF, Small memory usage, System tray icon and much more. The best thing about ScreenHunter is it is totally free. There are more advanced versions of the program available as well, if you feel like paying for more features. For the basic user, the free version should give more than enough tools. Check out the comparison chart if you want to see what features come with what version. www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter_free.htm
FREERAM XP PRO. When ill-mannered programs don't release your computer's RAM after you run them, FreeRAM can do the job. FreeRAM XP Pro is a freeware application that frees and defragments your computer's random access memory. As you use your computer, open applications, surf the Internet, and navigate Windows, your system's memory usually decreases. FreeRAM XP Pro frees up this memory, thereby increasing system response time, stability, speed, and efficiency. www.yourwaresolutions.com/
IRENE IS A RENAMING WIZARD to process single or multiple files and rename them based on specific criteria. Select renaming criteria and then let Irene process files. You can review changes before accepting them. Supports ID3 tagging, EXTINF and M3U data in addition to adding prefixes or suffixes, file properties, case changing, keyword replacement, and sequential numbering. www.gomiller.com/downloads/irene.html
STARTRIGHT. When Windows boots, the OS starts all of your autoloading programs almost simultaneously. The autostart app that appears to load last is probably the one that takes the longest time. You need something that lets you control the order and insert pauses between programs. That way, you can eliminate conflicts caused by multiple programs loading simultaneously, and you can choose which program welcomes you when you start your day.
StartRight lets you reorder Windows' autoloading programs and set delays for each. The utility lacks a help file, but it's not too difficult to figure out how to use it. Rather than run an installation program, you save the StartRight.exe file in a convenient location on your system, double-click the file to launch the program, and click the Install button. StartRight then takes control of your autoloading apps. Click the Edit button to bring up a dialog box where you can change the order in which the programs load and set the pause (in nanoseconds) between program loads. www.joejoesoft.com/vcms/113/
REGMON. The Windows Registry is one of the more mysterious parts of your OS. Though the Registry is essential to the way Windows runs, programs alter it in the background, without your knowledge or permission. Regmon sheds some light on the mystery by showing you which applications are accessing your Registry and which keys they are accessing. It shows you all of the Registry data your programs are reading and writing. And Regmon does all this in real-time: Unlike other tools, which show you after the fact what values and keys have changed, Regmon shows you the changes while they are happening. One thing is certain-after using this tool, you'll never think of your OS in the same way. Note: For Windows 95, 98, or Me, use Regmon 9x. For Windows 2000, NT, or XP, use Regmon NT. These are easily identified and downloaded at the vendor's site. The following link takes you there. www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Regmon.html
INFOTIP EXTENSION. Windows's own pop-up info tips are less than a font of information. You can beef them up with the utility InfoTip Extension, which add to the information you see when you hover over a file icon. This tiny program customizes the information that appears, and even displays the entire contents of a text file. Since this utility was designed for older versions of Windows, a few of its features don't work in XP. Also, it provides no extra information for MP3, WMA, WMV, and other music and video files (which some say already have pretty good info tips). But it's still faster than opening a file's Properties dialog box. www.na.rim.or.jp/~norio/index-e.shtml
IT'S A DRAG! Instead of dragging with the left mouse button, drag with the right mouse button. Then, when you get the file to where you want it and let go of the button, you will see a new menu pop up. You have a choice:
- You can copy - so the file will remain in the old location, and also be in the new location.
- You can move - the file will no longer be in the old location, only in the new location.
- You can create a shortcut - the file will remain in the old location, and the new location will only have an icon (shortcut) that points to the file.
- You can cancel the whole operation and start over.
TIME TRAVEL V1.0. Time Travel is a free date calculator that allows you to calculate the differences between two dates in days, weeks, months, or years. It offers advanced options that let you skip certain days of the week, and include or exclude weekdays or weekends. You can calculate retroactive dates (e.g. how many days since you were born, how many days you have worked, etc.) or input the number of days, weeks, or months to figure out the corresponding date in the future. Simple interface, easy to use. www.snapfilespro.com/gnomeapp.php?id=109950
SYSTEM INFORMATION FOR WINDOWS. It lets you know just about everything about your computer. The best part about this program is it is totally free to use. So what is SIW all about? "This program perform computer configuration analysis and diagnostics.
It gives detailed information about your computer properties and settings, detailed specs for CPU, motherboard, chipset, BIOS, CPU, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP devices, memory, monitor, video card, disk drives, CD/DVD devices, SCSI devices, S.M.A.R.T., ports, network cards, printers, operating system, installed programs and hot fixes, processes, services, serial numbers (CD keys), users, open files, system uptime, network, network shares, as well as real-time monitors for CPU, memory, page file usage and network traffic. It displays currently active network connections, passwords hidden behind asterisks, installed codecs, and more." Having a tool like this one is always useful for looking to see what is going on under the hood of Windows and your computer. One of my favorite features of this program is the interface is really easy to understand. Usually with these programs, you don't know where to click or what you are reading. For being such a small download, this program gives you a lot. www.www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/about_siw.html
SMARTCAPS. Caps Lock and Num Lock have their uses, but those uses aren't apparent when you accidentally bump them. Avoid these ambushes with Smartcaps. This keyboard utility automatically puts a delay on Caps Lock and Num Lock so you have to hold them down for a few seconds. Smartcaps lets you enable sounds, system tray icons, and/or desktop icons to tell you whether these keys are off or on. It also includes options for making your PC more like a Mac or your beloved typewriter. The "Simulate Apple/Macintosh" check box disables the Shift key when Caps Lock is on, and "Simulate typewriter" option turns the Caps Lock off with the Shift key. With Smartcaps, you can even disable the Caps Lock and/or Num Lock keys completely. Free trial; $15 to purchase. www.phoebusllc.com/index.htm
GOOGLE SKETCHUP is a free, easy-to-learn 3D-modeling program with a few simple tools to let you create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects, and even space ships. You can add details, textures, and glass to your models, and design with dimensional accuracy. You can place your finished models in Google Earth, share them with others by posting them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies. Google SketchUp is a great way to discover if 3D modeling is right for you. Google SketchUp is free for personal use. No registration is required. www.download.com/Google-SketchUp/3000-6677_4-10257337.html?tag=nl.e415
CHEETAH CD BURNER provides an interface for burning audio and data CDs. It also includes the ability to burn and make ISO files. Enhanced features include shortcuts to your favorite folders, as well as different file-view settings such as thumbnails for viewing photos. You can burn CD-R and CD-RW discs, burn audio CDs (WAV, MP3, MP2, AVI, OGG, and WMA), burn data CDs and ISO images, create ISO images, erase CD-RW discs, rip audio from music CDs, retrieve album information from audio CDs, copy data CDs, copy audio CDs, and automatically verify data. www.cheetahburner.com
TRILLIAN is a fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC. It provides capabilities not possible with original network clients, while supporting standard features such as audio chat, file transfers, group chats, chat rooms, buddy icons, multiple simultaneous connections to the same network, server-side contact importing, typing notification, direct connection (AIM), proxy support, encrypted messaging (AIM/ICQ), SMS support, and privacy settings.
Without stealing your home page and with no other included software, pop-ups, or spyware, Trillian provides unique functionality such as contact message history, a powerful skinning language, tabbed messaging, global status changes (set all networks away at once), Instant Lookup (automatic Wikipedia integration), contact alerts, an advanced automation system to trigger events based on anything happening in the client, docking, hundreds of emoticons, emotisounds, shell extensions for file transfers, and systray notifications. www.ceruleanstudios.com
SPYWAREBLASTER doesn't scan for and clean spyware-it prevents it from being installed in the first place.
SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted programs. It can also block spyware/tracking cookies in IE and Mozilla/Firefox, and restrict the actions of spyware/ad/tracking sites. With the built-in Check for Updates feature, you can help ensure your protection is up-to-date. SpywareBlaster also includes a System Snapshot feature, which lets you take a snapshot of your computer in its clean state and later revert, undoing many changes made by spyware and browser hijackers. www.javacoolsoftware.com
BEINSYNC securely and seamlessly keep your files in sync and backed up across your computers, making sure your data is available to you anytime, anywhere. Additionally, BeInSync lets you easily share any size file with colleagues, partners, family, and friends. www.beinsync.com
FREERAM XP PRO includes automatic memory monitoring and optimization; advanced tray support; fast, threaded freeing with a stop option; multiple system-metric monitors; a simple and attractive GUI; memory reporting and diagnostic logging; and real-time memory information. FreeRAM XP Pro's AutoFree feature intelligently scales how much RAM is freed with your current system status, thus optimizing RAM without slowing down your computer.
Additionally, FreeRAM XP Pro's unique Global Memory Compression technology frees memory instantly in a way that is completely unlike other memory managers. FreeRAM XP Pro has been designed to be easy to use yet highly customizable by computer novices and experts alike. www.yourwaresolutions.com
OMNIFORMAT. Want to convert that unwieldy bitmap image to a JPEG? Or that Word document to a TIF image file? How about converting that GIF file to a handsome PDF? If you can tolerate some ads, OmniFormat can do it for free. To use this handy utility, you create a target folder, called a "Watch" folder. OmniFormat watches the folder and converts anything sent to it. We found that converting files was generally as fast as copying files into that folder. It supports more than 75 file formats, according to the vendor. It also allows you to create PDF files by selecting the "print" command from within most applications. www.omniformat.com/
SUBJECT SEARCH SUMMARIZER saves your time and increases your productivity by creating brief summaries of virtually any document or Web page you are reading, and translating them into the language of your choice.
SSSummarizer generates and displays summaries as a list of key sentences the product extracts from documents using Kryloff's proprietary Subject Search technology. By presenting and translating sentences which reflect the subject of a given document most of all, SSSummarizer allows you to spend considerably less time understanding the general meaning of documents, getting familiar with their structure, and reading without missing key information. www.kryltech.com/summarizer.htm
GOOGLE EARTH. Whether you want the world or just a tiny corner of it, Google Earth gives it all to you. You can twirl the planet like a globe and turn it every which way. Once you're done tossing the planet around, zoom in for a better look at what interests you. The images-none more than three years old-show every landmark and every urban center in exquisite detail. You even can find your own house. http://earth.google.com/
ROBOFORM. 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: Just 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.
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. www.roboform.com/index.html
CLIPBOARD VIEWER. For some unexplainable reason, Windows XP didn't automatically provide the Clipboard Viewer as did earlier Windows versions. The Clipboard Viewer is useful if you need to know what you currently have saved in your Clipboard, without having to open some application and paste the contents. You can easily add Clipboard Viewer to Windows XP if you think it's useful. Right click on a blank area of your desktop, click on New, then click on Shortcut. In the location field, type (without the quotes) "C:WINDOWS\system32\clipbrd.exe"
Click Next, give the new shortcut a name such as Clipboard Viewer, then click Finish. If you want still easier access to the Clipboard Viewer, consider placing it on your Startup list. You can do this by simply clicking on the shortcut icon and, while holding your left mouse key down, drag the icon to the Start button in the lower left corner of your screen, then release.
CLIPBOARD BUDDY. If you use the same text over and over, you probably have it in a Word file that you have to open so you can cut and paste it elsewhere. Clipboard Buddy removes a step by letting you save data directly to your Clipboard. Even if you shut down your system, your saved text (or rich text or images) stays put on the Clipboard. Clipboard Buddy saves up to twenty of your most recent Clipboard items-the digital equivalent of adding more pages to a physical clipboard. www.iquesoft-online.com/clipbuddy.htm
VOLUMOUSE provides you a quick and easy way to control the sound volume on your system - simply by rolling the wheel of your wheel mouse. It allows you to define a set of rules for determining when the wheel will be used for changing the sound volume. For example: You can configure Volumouse to use your mouse wheel for volume control when the Alt key is hold down, when the left mouse button is down, when the mouse cursor is over the taskbar, and so on. When the conditions that you define are not satisfied, your mouse wheel will be used for the regular scrolling tasks, exactly as before. www.nirsoft.net/utils/volumouse.html
STORURL. How many times have you looked at your list of bookmarks and thought that you needed a better way of managing them all? There aren't too many bookmark managers that are not integrated with the browser in some way, shape, or form. StorURL is one of the few that are not, and it is worth a look. Here is what the developer of the program has to say about it: "StorURL is a utility that allows you to store all your favorite Web site URLs with a descriptive title to go along with the URL. It can: import/export Internet Explorer Favorites, load Web pages directly from within StorURL, store and sort sites in different categories, generate HTML "home" pages containing links from one or all categories. "If you like to keep a lot of Web sites bookmarked, but you dont want to clutter your favorites menu, then this program is one that you will appreciate." StorURL doesn't just work with one browser either. It works with Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, and Opera, all four of the major players in the browser wars. Now why would you want to use a bookmark manager that isn't so integrated with the browser? Well that way you don't have to slow down your browsing experience with it loading in the background. With more than a few features to keep you coming back, StorURL is a great freeware product for any PC user out there today. www.haztek-software.com/index.php?page=storurl
O'REILLY BOOKS IN PDF. O'Reilly Publishing, source of so many excellent computer manuals, has taken to publishing a variety of books in PDF format. You can now download them at considerably less cost than purchasing the in-print edition if the title appeals to you. For more info, check http://pdfs.oreilly.com
WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 11 BETA FOR WINDOWS XP is now available in the U.S. Windows Media Player 11 helps you see your digital music, video, and photos in entirely new ways. Discover and download new music with the URGE music service from MTV and easily sync to a variety of portable devices.
TASKSWITCHXP. Similar to Microsoft's Alt-Tab Replacement Power Toy, this free program provides a thumbnail preview of the program you're switching to. It also makes it easy to close windows individually or in application groups. www.ntwind.com/software/taskswitchxp.html
ALT-TAB THINGY. If you're tired of guessing which Alt-Tab window you want to jump to, try this freebie, which presents you with a thumbnail of the selected window, as well as a list of all open windows. You can show your open windows as icons, or as text links. Switching between tasks has never been faster! www.nymtec.com/?q=att
FASTER GOOGLEING. If you follow this tip from Scott Johnson, The Computer Tutor, you will able to view a lot more websites in a shorter time (if you are unfortunately still on a dialup connection, you definitely want to take note of this). Let's say you
are considering a new hobby - genealogy - and you want to do some Google research on it. Just typing the word "genealogy" in Google brings back over 72 million results. That's a lot of websites to look at, so you better get busy. As you see the list of Google results on your screen, there are two ways you can go about looking at each of those websites: the slow way, and the fast way.
The Slow Way: Click on the first link. The website opens and you view it. When you are done, click the Back button, and wait for the page of Google results to load again. * yawn *
The Fast Way: While looking at the Google page, do a RIGHT click on the first website listed, and in the new menu choose "Open link in new window". As expected, the website opens in its own window. You can look at it as long as you want, and when you are finished, just close that window. The page of Google results is right there, waiting for you to right-click on the next one.
When you figure the time you would have to wait for the same original page to re-load every time you come back to it, that's a lot of time wasted. Surf the internet the fast way, and get more done in less time. :
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Copyright 2006. This article is from the July 2006 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/
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