Sarasota PC Monitor
Review Chairmans Industry Comments (09/07)
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.
ROXIO MEDIATICKER. Desktop widgets and gadgets are usually only fun for about five minutes. Then you notice how much of a distraction they are and turn them off. Roxio's MediaTicker might be an exception to that rule. It is functional and nice to look at.
The only question you probably have is: What is it? On the Roxio Web site, it pitches this program to the viewers as the ultimate RSS media reader. Here are a few more details: "MediaTicker 2 is more than just a photo browser or newsreader -- it's the ultimate RSS media reader. Its unique scrolling format provides you with access to unlimited news headlines, photos, articles, and forums while keeping itself neatly out of the way so you can actually get on with your day. RSS feeds with thumbnails and full-size images are displayed right in the ticker, so instead of clicking on a text link for "Giants Win Superbowl LX," you can click on a photo of the winning touchdown!" I do have to admit this is a very unique way to view some of your favorite RSS feeds right on your desktop. Since it is using RSS on the back end, that means the customizing possibilities of this program are endless. The ticker can also be put on the top, bottom, left or right of your screen. If you are looking for a new way to view your favorite media RSS feeds, then this might be the freeware application made for your desktop. http://tinyurl.com/vb734
TONETHIS. ToneThis desktop software allows you to create MP3 ringtones, truetones, realtones, cellphone wallpaper, and mobile video ringtones using your CD, MP3, WAV, iTunes, image (JPEG, GIF, BMP), and video (AVI, MPEG) collection. Create an unlimited number of cellphone ringtones, wallpapers, and videos. Access to mobile music, image, and video content. Access to mobile games. Almost all US/Canada/EU/AU carriers supported. Version 3 adds mobile video support, better editing tools, and support for multiple user profiles. www.tonethis.com/
IPOD TO COMPUTER TRANSFER. iPod to Computer Transfer is a tool that, in a rather self-explanatory way, transfers music from an iPod to a PC. Sometimes, when you reinstall your system or you just want to copy music from iPod to your laptop PC, or back up all your music from your iPod to a new computer, you need iPod to Computer Transfer.www.ipod2computer.com
PRINTKEY 2000. Sometimes you just need to do a simple thing-like making a hard-copy printout of your screen. But if you hit the Print Screen key in Windows, it won't actually print the screen to a printer. Instead, it will copy the screen into the clipboard, from where you have to paste it into a graphics-capable program and then print it.
Print Screen (as the name suggests) cuts out the middleman: once the small, free program is installed and the No Dialog mode is enabled, it will print out the computer screen to the default printer whenever you hit the print screen key. It can also enhance the normal function of the print screen key by allowing you to capture the screen and do some simple editing on captured screens, such as turning it into grayscale (useful if you are printing to a black and white printer), rotating the screen or changing the color scheme. www.blssoftware.com/downloads.htm
DESKTOP BEAUTIFIER. Once you get a few dozen or a few hundred desktop wallpapers downloaded, it is hard to find time to use them all and manage them all. Sure, you could go in and do all of this work manually. You could try to remember to change it and do so daily, hourly, or weekly. Why work when you can get the Desktop Beautifier to do it for you? DesktopBeautifier automatically streams beautiful wallpapers to your desktop. Select the themes that interest you and allow it to work its magic. Here are a few words about Desktop Beautifier from the developer: "DesktopBeautifier is a simple tool that automatically changes your desktop wallpaper every few hours or every day, by downloading from a hand-picked selection of high quality images." You see, it takes all the hard work out of the picture for you. It finds and downloads the wallpaper you want and changes it for you. I do wish there was an option to plug in your own wallpaper folder -- but maybe they will include that in a future release. www.desktopbeautifier.com/Main/
SNARFER. Snarfer is an easy, fast, and free approach to enjoying RSS, ATOM, and XML feeds. Snarfer comes with hundreds of feeds to choose from, includes a tabbed browser, and has wizards to help you construct complex searches for eBay and craigslist that update as new results become available. Snarfer can synchronize with the free Bloglines service so you can access your feeds from another location (like the office or an Internet cafe) with a browser. http://www.snarfware.com/
BEINSYNC. BeInSync provides a simple, all-in-one solution for accessing, sharing, and protecting your data. Using secure private network technology, BeInSync lets you automatically sync documents, photos, videos, and music across your computers, share files too large for e-mail with colleagues, friends, or family, access your files from anywhere, and back up your valuable files and memories to secure online storage. 1GB free storage is included. EDSPEC. www.beinsync.com/
TASKCLERK. TaskClerk will change the way you capture your time, providing users with a simple-to-use timekeeping tool perfect for computer users who have to account for their time to managers or customers. With its intuitive interface and instant access menu (Alt-F12) it records the time as you change between tasks. Note: TaskClerk needs your input to know when you are changing tasks; at any time you can then review, change, or export your data. Version 1.0.1.104 includes new iCal exporter. www.taskclerk.com
PHOTOPLUS 6 is the amazing image editing software that enables you to fix and enhance photographs, bitmap graphics and even create web animations - completely free! Adjust brightness and contrast, colour balance, remove red-eye and make numerous other image adjustments and enhancements, achieving fantastic results time after time.
All the tools and features you need are laid out in a convenient toolbar and effects and filters are accessed via user-friendly drop-down menus. Help is on hand with tips that appear on-screen while you work, so that you get the very most from PhotoPlus 6.
Whether you're new to image editing or a digital imaging enthusiast, PhotoPlus 6 has a wide range of easy-to-use tools and features that will help transform your digital photo collection and create professional looking images for print, multimedia and the web. http://freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp
SPYCATCHER EXPRESS. Antivirus software usually won't protect you against spyware, which is where SpyCatcher Express comes in. This freebie scans your system for spyware, and removes what it finds. Better yet, it offers live protection, just as popular freebies like Ad Aware SE Personal and Spybot Search & Destroy do, so that it stops spyware from infecting your PC in the first place. When you first run it, it does a system scan to check for spyware, and then delete any it finds. After that, you configure it by setting your level of protection, as well as deciding when to do automated scans. SpyCatcher Express will also download new antispyware signatures automatically, so that you always have up-to-date protection.
In addition, SpyCatcher Express includes a variety of other unique tools, such as a System Explorer, which offers a detailed list of all the applications running on your system, as well as ActiveX components and an Internet Explorer plug-in. It also lists all the programs that run on startup. www.tenebril.com/consumer/spyware/spycatcher-express.php
A-SQUARED HIJACKFREE. No matter how much antispyware protection you've got on your PC, it's not enough. Spyware is notorious for being able to slip through the cracks of antimalware programs, and you're best off if you have more than one such tool on your PC. That's where this freebie comes in. Use it as a backup to your main antispyware utility, for extra protection. It doesn't offer "live" protection like SpyCatcher Express. Instead, use it to examine your system, to see if it's been infected, and then kill the malware. It's a surprisingly powerful tool, and with far more features than we can cover here. But these are the basics: Run it and click the Online Analysis button; it will then check your system for malware and issue a report online.
If it finds any nasties, it will tell you. You can then use the program to delete the malware. There are also tools for viewing what programs are using your TCP ports, and for examining programs that run on startup. For a free program, it's surprisingly powerful. www.emsisoft.com/en/software/download/
VISTAFIREWALLCONTROL. Microsoft has been touting the new Windows Firewall in Windows Vista, which it says for the first time includes an outbound filter as well as an inbound filter. Outbound filters are important, because if you've been infected with a
Trojan horse or similar software, it makes an outbound connection without your knowledge, letting someone else take control of your PC. Some malware can also turn your PC into a spam-spewing robot, sending out e-mail without your knowledge. Unfortunately, the outbound filter in Windows Vista is, in essence, turned off by default. And as a practical matter, it's impossible to manually configure it to block malware from making outbound connections. That's where the free VistaFirewallControl comes in. Install it, and whenever an application tries to access the Internet, a screen pops up with the application name, the publisher, and similar information, as well its path and file name. You can enable or disable the inbound or outbound connections it tries to make, either permanently or just this one time. If you're not sure if the program is malware or not, go to www.processlibrary.com and do a search for the file name, for details. All in all, VistaFirewallControl is a great way to make sure your PC isn't making unwanted outbound connections. www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/
TOR. Browsing the Web makes your life an open book. Web sites can track your online activities, know what operating system and browser you're running, find out your machine name, uncover the last sites you've visited, examine your history list, delve into your cache, examine your IP address, and use it to learn basic information about you such as your geographic location-and more as well. How to protect yourself?
Use Tor, which protects your anonymity as you surf and use the Internet. With Tor, all your communications (not just Web surfing, but also instant messaging and other applications) are in essence bounced around a giant network of Tor servers called "onion routers," until it's impossible for sites or people to be able to track your activities.
When you download Tor, you get other software that works in concert with it, including Privoxy, a proxy program. All the software is self-configuring, so you won't need to muck around with port settings or the like. Tor runs as a small icon in your system tray. To start Tor, right-click it and choose Start from the menu that appears; to stop it, right-click it and choose Stop. Once it starts, simply use the Internet as you normally would. If you're somewhat paranoid, you can regularly change your Tor "identity," to make it even harder for anyone to track your travels. Tor also includes a nice bandwidth tool that graphs your bandwidth use. http://tor.eff.org/
WHAT'S RUNNING. So you want to know about every single process and every single service, view every single IP connection, find out the details of every driver-and even then you're still not satisfied? Then you'll love this program. In a simple, tabbed interface, you'll find out all those things, and plenty more as well, such as a list of all the programs that run on startup, and a comprehensive listing of your system hardware and software. The program does more than peer into your system, though. It also lets you take actions, such as stopping and starting processes and services, and halting unwanted programs from running on startup. www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx
EUSING FREE REGISTRY CLEANER. The more software and hardware you install and uninstall, the more full your Windows Registry gets. A great deal of software doesn't clean up after itself, and leaves behind old and obsolete Registry entries, or upon install creates invalid ones. There will be pointers to missing DLLs, listings of no-longer-valid file extensions, invalid paths, invalid ActiveX Controls, and much more. The more your Registry fills with this junk, the slower your PC gets-and the more often you'll have system crashes.
Eusing Free Registry Cleaner fixes the problem neatly, in a simple, two-step process. Tell it to scan your Registry, and it does so, finding whatever problematic items and junk there may be. Then tell it to repair the Registry, and it tidies things up.
Making changes to the Registry can be dangerous, and isn't for the faint of heart, so this program has a few extras to cover you. If you want, you can first look at the problems it finds and tell the program to fix only some of them. Better yet, the program also lets you restore the previous version of the Registry, if for some reason its changes have undesirable effects. www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm
SYSTEM INFORMATION FOR WINDOWS. Think you know the innards of your Windows system? Well, think again. Download and run this program, and you'll realize just how little you know. It's probably the most comprehensive free system analyzer you'll find anywhere. It gives you a complete rundown of all your hardware and software, your system setup, your audio and video codecs, your motherboard, your network cards, your system slots-and that's just the beginning. It also includes real-time monitors for things such as network, RAM, and CPU usage.
How much detail does it give? Consider these few bits of data. It will tell you the temperature of your CPU-and if you've got a dual-core processor, it will show you the temperature of each. It'll even tell you the temperature of your hard disk. And it somehow also manages to report on your software license keys as well, including the ones for Windows and subsequently installed software.
Note that this program is significantly different from What's Running. The latter shows the system processes and programs that are currently operating on your PC, but it won't analyze your hardware or peer deep into your system. System Information for Windows, on the other hand, is a system analyzer that shows you information about your hardware and installed software. www.gtopala.com/
PHOTOZIG ALBUMS EXPRESS. If you've got a surfeit of photos, you'll appreciate this freebie, which organizes your pictures, along with short videos and songs, into albums. You'll be able to create multiple albums, organized the way you want, and easily search and browse for photos with tools such as keyword searching and filters. You'll also find photo editing tools built in, such as red-eye fix, resizing and cropping, changing the contrast and brightness, and so on. There's also a full set of tools for sharing photos, including burning them to CD, sharing them on the Web, or easily sending them via e-mail.
One of the program's nicer features is its customizable interface. Select beginner, intermediate, or advanced, and the interface changes. At a beginner level, it's all graphically based; intermediate and advanced offer the ability to browse via a Windows Explorer-like interface, and to see hidden files and folders. www.photozig.com/
GOOGLE SKETCHUP. Have you always wanted to be an architect? Or perhaps you are one? Or do you just want to design something as simple as a backyard deck? Then you'll want to give this freebie from Google a try. It's a 3D modeling program that lets you create three dimensional models of decks, houses, buildings, your own home woodworking projects, and much more. It comes with a full set of sophisticated modeling and design tools, and it includes very good advice for getting started. Unless you've used 3D modeling software before, you'll need the help, because this program can be fairly difficult to use. But follow the interactive help, and you'll go a long way toward getting started.
You can do more than just print your models. You'll be able to actually place them in Google Earth. And if you want to share them with others, or to be able to use models that others have created, you can post them to Google's 3D Warehouse. In fact, if you don't have artistic inclinations, you may want to go to the 3D Warehouse as soon as you download the program, and grab models from there. http://sketchup.google.com/
IMGBURN. Looking to copy a homemade DVD? That's just one of the many tasks you can accomplish with ImgBurn. It's a combination disk-burner and disk-reader that's about as simple a program as you'll find, but will tackle pretty much whatever disk-burning task you throw at it. How's this for simple: Put a CD or DVD in your drive, and select Mode -> Read, and the program reads the disc. Then click the Read button, and it will create an .iso image file on your PC, which is an image of the disc. And to burn that image to a CD or DVD, you need only click a few buttons.
Even if you don't need to back up CDs or DVDs, you'll find the program useful, because some programs are distributed as .iso files that need to be burned before they can be used. For example, beta versions of Windows Vista were commonly made available online as .iso files. www.imgburn.com/
PRINTFOLDER. Perhaps you have thousands of personal files on your hard drive. It can be difficult keeping track of them. And, sometimes, you want to print a list of files in a particular folder. You can refer to the list later if you're having trouble finding something. Or, maybe you just want to put a list of files in a document. This can be handy for training purposes. Unfortunately, it isn't easy to print a list of files in a folder. But this cool site changes that. Just download PrintFolder. It will create a list of files in a folder for you. It's a snap! http://no-nonsense-software.com/freeware/
DRIVERS FOR VISTA. Don't waste your time searching dozens of vendor websites every month for the driver updates you need. Just bookmark this page and come back whenever you need a new driver. This FREE page lists the latest Windows Vista drivers and provides direct links to the files for downloads. We're offering this as a free service to the community, to help you all get through this challenging period of Vista-transitioning. www.radarsync.com/vista/
DVD SHRINK. If you've ever tried to make a backup copy of a DVD movie to a DVD-R, you've probably discovered that you can't do it because DVD movie discs are dual layer and have more data than can fit on a recordable. DVD Shrink compresses the DVD data, allowing you to make the copy. www.dvdshrink.org/
MY EBOOK LIBRARY. Like to download eBooks in your spare time? No matter if you like novels or help books, there is an eBook out there for anybody and everybody. My Ebook Library is a freeware application that make managing your eBook collection a breeze. Here is a little more about the application from the developers: "My Ebook Library enables you to organize and catalog your collection of e-books in a searchable library. It automatically categorizes your e-books by author, last read and status, and you can also create custom collection using topics of your choice. The program can automatically scan multiple folders for compatible e-book formats and you can drag and drop them into your categories." This program handles many popular file types including PDF, CHM, LIT, DOC, HTM, HTML, RTF, TXT, DJV, DJVU, PDB, and PRC. So if you need better management options over your eBook collection and you want a free application to do it for you, My Ebook Library would be a great way to go. www.myebooklibrary.co.uk/
XNEAT WINDOWS MANAGER. Ever wanted a super tool for your Windows taskbar? Sure "super" might cover a lot of bases - but thankfully so does the XNeat Windows Manager. It gives your taskbar a boost in just about every which way imaginable. This download includes many tools people are not even seeing in Vista as well. So maybe you are still asking, "Where does the super come into the picture?" This freeware download enables you to minimize any window to an icon in the system tray (instead of the taskbar), keep any window on top, set a custom transparency level, and also hide any window or tray icon. Here are some other features it includes:--Allows you to rearrange the order of the taskbar buttons by simply dragging them around--It integrates into the right-click menu of the taskbar and system tray--Lets you hide the Start button, system clock, and other elementsFor the user interface takers out there, this is a tool you have to at least try out. www.xneat.com/windows_manager/
MULTI VIRUS CLEANER 2007 is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove major viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when cleaning infected systems. Multi Virus Cleaner is regularly updated and can detect hundreds of common viruses, worms, Trojans, and dialers (including all variants of the Sober, MyDoom, Nyxem, and Bagle viruses). The program offers a scanner that requires minimal processing power for repairing a compromised system. Multi Virus Cleaner detects over 5,500 viruses variants. Multi Virus Cleaner can also scan memory (active processes). Version 7.5 includes the latest definitions. www.viruskeeper.com/us/
DRIVER MAGICIAN LITE identifies all the hardware in the system, extracts their associated drivers from the hard disk, and backs them up to a location of your choice. Then when you format and reinstall/upgrade your operating system, you can restore all the saved drivers just as if you had the original driver diskettes in your hands. Version 3.24 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes. HEDSPEC. www.drivermagician.com
ADVANCED WINDOWSCARE PERSONAL. Slow down, freeze, crash and security threats are over. Advanced WindowsCare Personal is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes a one-click approach to help protect, repair, and optimize your computer. It provides an all-in-one and super convenient solution for PC maintenance and protection. All work will be done with 1 click and 1 minute. This fantastic program is available free of charge. Compared with its nearest competitor, Advanced WindowsCare Personal provides the more essential and practical formula for Windows: Removing Spyware and Adware, Preventing Security Threats, Privacy Protection, Fixing Registry Errors, Temporary Files Cleanup, Startup Cleanup, Repairing Windows, Speeding up System and 1-click Mechanism. Version 2.4.0.784 adds a new registration and activation mechanism along with a new hardware detection module and bug fixes. www.iobit.com/
UTORRENT. The BitTorrent standard is the best protocol for sharing files, but the uTorrent client is better than the BitTorrent client: It has lots of extras, such as a configurable bandwidth scheduler and global and per-torrent speed limiting. www.utorrent.com/
TWEAK UI. Tweak UI allows you to change the way Windows looks and works. For instance, you can change things like the speed at which the mouse wheel scrolls and if a specific user should be automatically logged in whenever you start up Windows (a big timesaver if you are the only person to use a PC, and hate having to type your password every time you reboot). www.microsoft.com/downloads/
FOOBAR2000. This straightforward audio player won't take up much RAM or system resources, and plays a wide variety of audio formats. www.foobar2000.org/
FREEZIP. Lacking a stand-alone interface, FreeZip adds a collection of useful archive-management commands to Explorer's context menus. Right-clicking a file or archive then choosing one of the commands, such as Zip, UnZip here, ListZip, or TestZip, launches a command-line tool that does the specified action. http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/
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
RESTORATION. We've all done it: accidentally deleted a vital file a few minutes before an urgent deadline-and then couldn't find it in the Recycle Bin. Fortunately, there's no need to panic, yet. Restoration is a free program that can scan your hard drive, floppy diskette or USB thumb drive and find files that have been deleted (Windows doesn't actually destroy files that you delete: it just marks the space they occupy as being available). It can then recover any recently deleted files it finds with a single mouse click. www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
ACER DISAPPOINTED BY VISTA. The president of Acer has expressed disappointment with Vista. And he says the sentiment is felt by all PC manufacturers. He cites instability and sluggishness as major problems with the operating system. Many consumers are opting to buy machines running Windows XP.:
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Copyright 2007. This article is from the September 2007 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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