System Purification Tool

PureRa is a simple portable tool that does a simple computer maintenance task. However, this program has special features, giving an extra functionality in comparison with other computer cleaning utilities: it removes files from your computer that other cleaning programs tend to oversee. Some of the target files are simply removed to create additional valuable space while other files (that are able to recreate themselves) are removed in an attempt to repair certain system configuration issues.

Targets that are currently removed by PureRa are:

- Config.msi Folder [The Config.msi folder contains backup of that are being installed or updated during an install. Sometimes a Windows Installer package is sloppy and doesn’t automatically remove unpacked setup files and the Config.msi folder can get cluttered with useless files]

- Thumbs.db [when you view the contents of a folder in ’Thumbnail’ or ’Filmstrip’ view a system file called Thumbs.db is generated automatically by Windows XP. Thumbs.db contains a copy of each of the tiny preview images generated for image files in that folder so that they load up quickly the next time you browse that folder. Thumbs.db also stores your settings with regard to thumbnail and filmstrip view. Though they are small they may annoy you because there may be hundreds of them]

- Iconcache.db [The icons used in Windows are saved in an icon cache. These can become corrupted and lead to garbled/fuzzy icons. Deleting the Iconcache.db file will force Windows to re-create itself flawlessly]

- .sqm-files [sqm-files are created by MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. It is rumored that they are created to become the reports that these programs will send if you turn on the option to allow Microsoft to gather information about your use of MSN Live Messenger (read surfing behavior). These reports are still being generated (as sqm-files) but not send]

- Desktop.ini [Desktop.ini is used to tell Windows how to display a folder. For example, enabling Thumbnail view creates a desktop.ini file in that folder which amongst other things, tells Windows to add an extra item to the View menu for that folder. Desktop.ini files are also used when you customize folders, change their icons etc.]

This program is absolutely free for any use; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation.

The utility is small (175 Kb), fast, portable, easy to use, and does not consume significant system resources.

Developers’ website: http://raproducts.org/purera.html

Enhancing Computer Performance with CloneSpy

Why was CloneSpy written?

Do you often download files from the Internet? Is your hard drive crowded with these files? Have you ever asked yourself which files you have downloaded more than once? Perhaps you have burned files to a CD and retrieved them again? Do you want to find these files and eliminate the duplicates? Maybe you want to find duplicate files without checking your entire collection of backup CDs every time? Then CloneSpy is the right tool for you!

What can CloneSpy do?

CloneSpy can help you free up hard drive space by detecting and removing duplicate files. Duplicate files have exactly the same contents regardless of their name, date, time and location. Also, CloneSpy is able to find files that are not exactly identical, but have the same file name. Perhaps you have different versions of a file and you want to find all of them and remove the older versions. CloneSpy can also find zero length files. These are files that have no content.

With CloneSpy you can process files which

* are duplicates
* are duplicates and have the same file name
* have the same file name
* have the same file name and (approximately) the same size
* are zero bytes long

CloneSpy offers you a complete mechanism for determining which duplicate or same-name files should be removed. It is also possible to leave this decision up to the individual user.

CloneSpy can handle equal files by:

* deleting redundant files
* moving redundant files to a specific folder
* exporting a list of all equal files without removing any files
* deferring file operations on redundant files to a batch file where you can apply arbitrary file operations

With CloneSpy you can build checksum files from files on CDs (or even on hard drives, etc.) and use them to check whether these files already exist on your system.

Who can benefit from CloneSpy?

This free portable and light utility will be useful for any computer users, especially advanced computer geeks and software addicts. It is not recommended to the newbies, as deletion of the files that are essential for your computer operation can lead to the severe damage of the operation system or the important utilities installed on your hard Drive. While you are absolutely personally control the process of the files removal, be careful making any decisions. With all that, cleaning your system might bring huge benefits to improve your system performance. I absolutely recommend keeping the software a part of your PC maintenance “toolbox”, as it can be executed from USB external drive and does not require installation on your Hard Drive.

Developers’ website: http://www.clonespy.com/

Direct downloading link: http://www.clonespy.com/english/download/cspy304.exe

Free Software Song by Richard Stallman

Free Software Song

The Free Software Song is a filk song by Richard M. Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the GNU operating system, sings a song about free software. The song is set to the melody of the Bulgarian "Sadi Moma".

This song is used by both Stallman’s supporters and critics to support their positions. Jamie Zawinski has used this song as an explanation for why he thinks co-operation with Stallman is impossible. A version of this song is also performed by a band (the GNU/Stallmans) during the credits of the documentary Revolution OS.

Video Clip

This clip was recorded at the UAB - Bellaterra (Barcelona) on April 7, 2008.

Free Software Song by Richard Stallman

Text

Join us now and share the software;
You’ll be free, hackers, you’ll be free.
You’ll be free, hackers, you’ll be free.


Hoarders can get piles of money,
That is true, hackers, that is true.
But they cannot help their neighbors;
That’s not good, hackers, that’s not good.


When we have enough free software
At our call, hackers, at our call,
We’ll kick out those dirty licenses.
Ever more, hackers, ever more.


Join us now and share the software;
You’ll be free, hackers, you’ll be free.
You’ll be free, hackers, you’ll be free.

Story of Writing the Song (by Richard Stallman)

I wrote the free software song at a filksinging session at a science fiction convention. It was a "bardic circle" session, which means each person in turn around the hall had the chance to either sing or ask someone else to sing. I had just had my turn, and there were 20 or more people there, so I knew it would be a long time before I had another turn. I decided to pass the time writing a filksong. This meant I was not starting with any particular inspiration in mind. I had to look for what to write about and how.

So first I asked myself, what topic should it be about? I realized I had never written a filksong relating to free software, so I figured it was time I did.

Then I asked myself, what tune should I use? I realized I had never written a filksong using Bulgarian dance music, so I figured that would be a good thing to do for once. I chose Sadi Moma because it is not too fast or complicated, and is easy to sing.

By the time it was my turn again, the song was ready. After I sang it, someone else in the room said, "That has an anthem-like quality. You should show it to Richard Stallman." (That year was the time I was a little famous and I was a guest at the convention.)

I said, "I am Richard Stallman."

She said, "Oh, I’m sorry!"

I responded, "Don’t be sorry, it’s fun when that happens."

Freeware Software Update Monitor

Little-by-little, the amount of the software you install on your computer, or execute from your USB (portable utilities) is growing. Some of the programs might be years old, and you might not be aware that the new versions are already available. In most cases, the new software versions bring more functionality and clean the bugs, generated in earlier releases. So, by upgrading you soft, you might benefit a lot and make your computer performance more stable. But visiting software developer Web pages just to check if there are no updates is not very attracting option for busy professional. Here comes SUMo to help you.


SUMo, which stands for Software Update Monitor, will assist you to keep your PC up-to-date by using the most recent version of the software, installed on your computer. Unlike build-in auto update features (where available), SUMo tells you if updates are available before you even need to use this software.

Main Features

* Automatic detection of installed software.
* Detects required updates / patches for your software.
* Filter / authorizing Beta versions updates (user setting).
* Ignore list: Setup to track the software you want to track.
* Internationalization support: English, French, Dutch, Danish, Turkish, Romanian, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, and Russian.
* The utility is absolutely free to use with no limitations.

Developers Website: http://www.kcsoftwares.com/index.php?sumo

Free ColorPicker Utility

Sometimes you see a web page or graphic, and think that color is just what you need for your own design, but you don’t know exactly what color is used on the page. ColorPic is a really handy free tool that will show you the color code of anything you hover your mouse over. Just start the software and point your mouse to the exact part of the screen you want, and ColorPic displays all the relevant color codes for you. The color picker has a magnifier attached. Grab palettes of up to 16 colors at once and use four advanced color mixers to select a spectrum of possibilities.

Main Features:

• Easily pick any color from the screen
• Totally 100% Free!
• No popup adverts or spyware, it really is free
• Colors shown in hex and decimal
• Adjust Hue, Saturation, Value, Red, Green and Blue values
• Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black percentages shown
• Easy to use with any other program
• Resizable magnification area
• Overlay a grid for quick colorpicker alignment
• Use arrow keys to nudge mouse pointer
• Save multiple palettes of colors automatically
• WebSafe Colors and names displayed
• Snap to nearest WebSafe color
• Point sample, 3x3 or 5x5 pixel color sampling
• Adjust color with four advanced color mixers
• Edit colorpicker values after selection easily
• Easy to use collapsible sections
• Works with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Photoshop and any other application

Developers Website: http://www.iconico.com/colorpic/

Advanced AdSense Statistics Utility

Shock AdSense is a freeware utility allowing checking your Google AdSense account statistics at the convenience of your desktop. It can generate reports containing eCPM, impressions, daily revenue, CTR and other related information. Shock AdSense will also be able to prepare different visually enhanced graphic performance presentation as diagrams that will enable you to analyze your AdSense accounts long-term behavior.

The utility represents one-step upper level of report than that can be provided by an official AdSense site. It is helpful for user to monitor the program activity on a daily basis and conveniently optimize your website performance.

Portable version is available, so you can run it from the external USB device with no need to install on your hard drive.

Language interface options: English and Korean.

Shock AdSense carries rating 4 of 5 on the RateItAll Rating List of 24 Freeware Utilities for AdSense.

Developers Web Site: http://www.docs.kr/entry/Download-Shock-AdSense-en

Free Download Readon TV Movie Radio Player

Readon Technology, a fresh startup company from New Zealand, presents new freeware Windows based utility (Vista supported): Readon TV Movie Radio Player. The developers announced is as “revolutionary new software that allows you to watch Live Satellite TV broadcasts and latest movies directly on your computer. This new technology, called TV over IP, requires no additional equipment and gives you access to a brand new world of digital entertainment”.

While the technology cannot be considered absolutely new, and there are already multiple utilities on the market, Readon managed to introduce a new flavor to the competition. The software is well-built, with nice graphic interface, and easy operation. Porn lovers might enjoy adult channels included in the application, while family-style users have the ability to disable or password-protect the adult content.

Main Features

* Thousands of TV and radio channels from all around the world.
* Watch latest movies (even those showing in the cinema now!)
* A large variety of genres including movies, comedy, news, general TV, kids, music, pop, jazz, classic etc.
* Includes adult porn TV channels and videos on demand.
* Record online music to MP3 audio files.
* Record TV into ASF format video files.
* Adult videos search engine
* User password protected to disable viewing of adult content.
* Free to use.
* Auto updatable channel lists.
* Auto shut down.

Developers Website: http://www.readontech.com/aboutinternettv.html

Direct Downloading Link: http://www.readonplayer.com/download/setupTV7.zip

How to Convert DVD to iPod Format

Do you have a ton of DVD’s? Are you interesting in watching them on your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV? The free multi-platform open-source software Handbrake is everything you need to rip DVD’s into MPEG-4 video files for these purposes.

System Requirements:

• An iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.
• 500 MHz processor or better with at least 16MB of video RAM.
• QuickTime 7.0.3 or later.
• iTunes 6.0.1 or later.

1) Download and install HandBrake. If you download version 0.9.2 you must be running Leopard. If you are using Tiger or older, you should download 0.9.1

To download installation files for other operating systems, go to the developers Website: http://handbrake.fr/

2) Place the DVD you wish to rip into your DVD drive and open HandBrake you just installed. If your computer tries to play the DVD automatically, close the program so that only HandBrake is accessing the DVD.

3) Click the Source button in the top left corner. Then choose your DVD drive and click Open. At this point HandBrake will begin to scan the DVD. This could take a couple minutes.

4) Click the drop down box next to Title and choose the longest title if you wish to copy the entire DVD (this does not apply to Episode based DVDs).

5) The default Destination is the Desktop. Change this to wherever you wish to save the DVD file.

6) If the presets are not already displayed on the right side of the window, click the Toggle Presets button in the upper right corner to display them.

7) For the iPhone and iPod Touch you should choose iPhone / iPod Touch.
If you have an iPod video or iPod classic and want high resolution (much larger file size, good for 160GB versions) choose iPod High-Rez.

Lastly, if you have an iPod Video or iPod classic and want smaller files (good for 80GB versions) choose iPod Low-Rez.

TIP: For better quality, choose 2-pass encoding. This will take longer to encode but will look better.

8.) Click the Audio & Subtitles tab. Here you should choose the language you prefer under “Track 1:”. Also, be sure toset Subtitles to None. The Sample rate should be between 32 and 48 while the Bitrate should be set between 112 and 160.

9) At this point you should be ready to begin ripping your DVD. Click Start to begin.

10) Once your DVD is finished ripping all you need to do is add it to your iTunes library (or whatever iPod manager you use) and then transfer it to your iPod.

Troubleshooting 

If you have trouble with the video and audio settings from the presets, you should try the following settings instead. These settings are more strict and should work on any iPod with video capabilities.

File format: MP4 file Codecs: MPEG-4 Video/AAC Audio Average bitrate (kbps): 700 (again lower numbers mean less quality and smaller files) Check 2-pass encoding Picture settings -> set Width: 320 and the height will auto adjust to something close to 240 (will be lower for widescreen movies).

Once you find the settings that work the best for you, you can save them as a custom preset.

Additional Reading:
http://wlmtips.com/2008/06/02/how-to-rip-dvds-to-your-ipod-using-handbrake-mac-monday/
http://ipod.about.com/od/addingvideotoyouripod/ss/ipod_dvd_ih.htm
http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/tutorials/handbrake/index.shtml

Video Tutorial:

Free Utility for Easy Hard Drive Cloning

PC INSPECTOR Clone Maxx is the new professional DOS-based hard drive copying program from CONVAR. Using the new direct DMA support, data can be copied from hard drives in high speed mode with speeds up to 3.3 GB per minute.

This high speed is achieved by PC INSPECTOR™ clone maxx through intelligent inspection of the PC motherboard and the hard drive controller. The software independently determines the fastest data transmission rate and achieves these exceptional speeds through optimal utilization of the DMA chipset on the motherboard of your PC.

PC INSPECTOR™ clone maxx can be started directly from a boot diskette. The copying process is always based on the physical drive and is independent of the file system (e.g. FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, HPFS, NTFS, Ext2, Reiser, etc.) or the number of partitions. It also can be downloaded as ISO image file and needs to be burned to a CD, witch you will be able to boot for the drives copy session.

If you have chosen to download the program for boot up floppy creation, launch the executable file. The software will create a bootable disk. Now, you can restart the PC with the it. After the PC has booted, you can start the program by entering cmaxx. You can choose your operational language by starting the program with the following parameters:

cmaxx -Language

Utility supports the following languages:

-DE German
-SP Spanish
-FR French
-IT Italian
-DU Dutch
-US English

You can also select the language after booting the program, from the menu list.

Note that you cannot copy separate partitions, directories, or individual files, as it is designed exclusively for the entire Hard Drive cloning. It also does not work for External Hard Drives.

Developers Website: http://www.pcinspector.de/CloneMaxx/info.htm?language=2

Google Hard Drive on your PC

Google Desktop uses the power of Google’s search capabilities, developed for online searches, but instead of searching the web, you search the files stored on your own computer.

Windows already provides you with built-in capabilities to search for files and folders, scanning your PC, but the functionality of this feature is basic, and the time of search is significant. Google Desktop is lightening fast, and allows you to display the search results in order of either date or relevancy.

Google Desktop can index several different types of data, including email, web browsing history from Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, office documents in the Open Document and Microsoft Office formats, instant messenger transcripts from AOL, Google, MSN, Skype, Tencent QQ, and several multimedia file types. Additional file types can be indexed through the use of plug-ins. Google Desktop allows the user to control which types of data are indexed by the program.

After you install the application, Google Desktop starts indexing the email, files and web history stored on your computer. This one-time indexing occurs only when your computer is idle for more than 30 seconds, so it shouldn’t slow down your machine’s performance, but depending on the number of items, this process can take a total of several hours. Desktop also makes sure your index stays up to date by adding new email as you receive it, files as you update them and web pages as you view them.

A prominent feature of Google Desktop is the Sidebar, which holds several common Gadgets and resides off to one side of the desktop. The Sidebar is available with the Microsoft Windows version of Google Desktop only. The Sidebar comes pre-installed with the following gadgets:

• Email - a panel which lets one view one’s Gmail messages.
• Scratch Pad - here one can store random notes; they are saved automatically
• Photos - displays a slideshow of photos from the "My Pictures" folder (address can be changed)
• News - shows the latest headlines from Google News, and how long ago they were written. The News panel is personalized depending on the type of news you read.
• Weather - shows the current weather for a location specified by the user.
• Web Clips - shows recent posts from RSS news feeds.
• Google Talk - If Google Talk is installed, double clicking the window title will dock it to one’s sidebar.

Like the Windows Taskbar, the Google Desktop sidebar can be set to Auto-Hide mode, where it will only appear once the user moves the mouse cursor towards the side where it resides. If not on auto-hide, by default the sidebar will always take up about 1/6 - 1/9 of one’s screen (depending on the screen resolution), and other windows are forced to resize. However, the sidebar can be resized to take less space, and you can disable the "always on top" feature in the options. With the auto-hide feature on, the sidebar temporarily overlaps maximized windows.

Another feature that comes with the Sidebar is alerts. When the Sidebar is minimized, new e-mail and news can be displayed on a pop-up window above the Windows Taskbar.

While there are several alternatives on the market for the desktop searching, no utility can beat the Google Desktop, so this software is highly recommended for all users.

Developers Web Site: http://desktop.google.com/

Additional Reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Desktop
http://www.businessbrainwaves.com/blog/2006/06/useful-free-software/google-desktop
http://googledesktop.blogspot.com/
http://www.cnet.com.au/software/office/0,239035383,240056887,00.htm

Digital Images Printing Program

Couple of years ago, I was looking on the freeware software market for convenient application for the pictures printing. With quality paper being quite expensive, it is not a bad idea to reorganize pictures for the most optimal paper usage. At the time, I could not find an application, which fitted my modest needs.

It seems that the Pos Multiple Image Printing Wizard is exactly what I was looking. It is a simple free computer utility allowing printing easily multiple images on a single paper page in various ways and in multiple formats. The software comes with many build in templates and effects you can select from. With Pos Multiple Image Printing Wizard you can also create impressive photo albums, artworks, posters, collages and much more. Software is designed for all versions of Windows Operating System Windows 98 and higher, including support for Windows Vista.

Developers Website:
http://www.image-editor.net/Pos-Multiple-Image-Printing-Wizard.asp

Free Avast Anti Virus

We have a guest blogger today! It is Rudy, my virtual friend from YouSayToo Community. He will present the article on the very useful free antivirus program - Avast!

After having a little problem with AVG 8 free edition, I thought it was a good chance for me to try a new free antivirus from ALWIL Software based in Prague, Czech Republic. As a matter of fact, I was very happy with AVG 8 until it displayed a warning box telling me that "avgscanx.exe" had a problem during full scan. The scanning itself was stopped or interrupted and not completed. I could not find why this happened whenever a full scan was executed.

The brand new replacement was Avast Antivirus 4 Home Edition which is free for non commercial and home use only. The package already includes anti-spyware protection and anti-rootkit detection as explained in its home website athttp://www.avast.com/. But you have to register and get a licence key in order to use it for one year period. After one year, it will expire and you have to re-register again.

The product has On-Access Scanner with 7 "providers" as follows:

1. Instant Messaging: "While chat itself would not impose any serious security risks in terms of viruses, today’s IM applications are far from being just chatting tools: most of them support more or less sophisticated file sharing methods - which may quite easily lead to virus infections, if not properly monitored."
   
2. Internet Mail: It is supposed to scan all incoming and outcoming e-mail when I use Outlook Express as explain in their website, ie: "it is a generic scanner working on the SMTP/POP3/IMAP4/NNTP protocol level. It is capable of protecting any existing e-mail client that uses these protocols". But it seems that I cannot get my Outlook Express working well. You can see from Comodo Firewall Active Connection List depicted below that there are 4 open ports for these feature, ie: 12025 (SMTP), 12110 (POP3), 12119 and 12143. I use Gmail and Yahoo Mail which use SSL with port 465 (SMTP) and 995 (POP3) to connect to their servers. I try to use 12025 and 12110 for connection between Outlook Express and Avast but it fails. So that is the end. I cannot find alternatives. Maybe someone on the net can tell me :-)
   
3. Network Shield: "This module provides protection against known Internet worms/attacks. It analyses all network traffic and scans it for malicious contents. It can be viewed as a lightweight firewall (or more precisely, an IDS - Intrusion Detection System)."
   
4. P2P Shield: "The P2P protection module doesn’t need much explanation - on today’s P2P networks (such as Kazaa) there are thousands of infected files, and an effective protection is a must."
   
5. Standard Shield: "File system protection ensures that no virus will be started on the computer. It offers a wide range of settings, such as the possibility to specify that files will be scanned during copying, or that the scanning will include files with given set of extensions only."
   
6. Web Shield: "Web Shield is a unique feature of avast! that enables it to monitor and filter all HTTP traffic coming from the Web sites on the Internet. Since an increasing number of viruses (and other malware, such as adware, spyware and dialers) are being distributed via the World Wide Web, the need for an effective countermeasures has also increased. The Web Shield acts as a transparent HTTP proxy and is compatible with all major web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, FireFox, Mozilla and Opera." It is good to have this feature but if you set its sensitivity to "high", the performance of web browser will be low. It shows the pages slowly. Therefore I set it to "normal" in order to show web pages faster. All HTTP connections at port 80 are intercepted and scanned by Avast. I still set the proxy setting in Firefox to "No Proxy"and the interception stil works.
   
7. (Microsoft) Outlook / Exchange: I turn it off. It only works for Microsoft Outlook (not Outlook Express) and Microsoft Exchange only.

Conclusion: I like all the features available in Avast with some setting adjustment but unfortunately its e-mail scanner cannot work with SSL for Gmail or Yahoo Mail. Therefore I rely completely on Gmail and Yahoo virus scanner to do that (if only the Gmail or Yahoo virus scanner is also active for their POP mail?). Because Avast e-mail scanner is useless for me, I would turn it off later.
That’s it for now. Please let me know your comments or suggestion to share with us... Thanks!

The article originally was published on Rudy’s blog Dummy Review.

Advanced Free Download Manager

As defined by Wikipedia, download manager is a computer program dedicated to the task of downloading possibly unrelated stand-alone files from the Internet for storage. The modern operating systems are equipped with built-in downloading capabilities, however, since they lack any advanced functional features, market is filled with the better alternatives. Most of the downloader managers are free and can be considered as valid replacement to enhance the downloading abilities for the computer users.

One of the descent representatives of the download manager utilities is Free Download Manager (FDM), formally known as 3wGet, supporting all Windows Operating systems, including Windows Vista. Although the FDM website claims it only runs on 32-bit releases of Windows, testing has proved that it also runs on 64-bit releases of Windows (in 32-bit mode).

Main Features:

Download acceleration

Free Download Manager splits files into several sections and downloads them simultaneously, allowing you to use any type of connection at the maximum available speed. With FDM download speed increases, or even more!

Resuming broken downloads

When the downloading process is interrupted, you needn’t start from the beginning again. Free Download Manager can resume broken download from where it was interrupted saving your time, nerves and money.

Smart file management and powerful scheduler

With FDM you can easily organize downloaded files by their type, placing them in predefined folders. A smart scheduler allows you to start and pause downloading files, as well as perform other actions (launch other applications, establish or hang up connection, etc.) at the set time.

Adjusting traffic usage

There are several traffic usage modes. You can adjust traffic usage for browsing the Internet and downloading files at the same time.

Site Explorer

Site Explorer lets you view the folders structure of a web site and easily download necessary files or folders.

HTML Spider

You can download whole web pages or even whole web sites with HTML Spider. The tool can be adjusted to download files with specified extensions only.

Simultaneous downloading from several mirrors

Free Download Manager is able to download files from several mirrors simultaneously.

Zip files partial download

Free Download Manager lets you download only the necessary part of a zip file.

Active spyware and adware protection through active communication among users

You can read what other community members say about the file you are going to download, right in the program window, and also leave your own opinion about the file you downloaded. In this way FDM users are always warned against useless or malicious files.

Automatic files format conversion

You can automatically download Flash Videos from YouTube and other similar video hosting services and convert to the more suitable formats on the fly.

Multi language support

Free Download Manager is translated into 30 languages. Supported languages are: Macedonian, Serbian, Albanian, Croatian, Korean, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese Traditional, Chinese, Czech, German, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese-Brazil, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Uzbek, Greek, Vietnamese, Slovenian, Persian.

Option for portability

Download the installer and install to the default folder. Run the program and select File, Create Portable Version to copy the portable version to a folder of your choice. Finally uninstall the program. Launch fdm.exe.

Developers Website: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/index.htm

Direct downloading link: http://files.freedownloadmanager.org/fdminst.exe

Free Download Manager is rated 4.5 out of 5 on the Rating list of the 47 (as of today) freeware download managers at RateItAll.

If are are familiar with this software you can add your rating and review directly at the widget below:

Download Managers - Freeware Reviews on RateItAll

Portable Freeware Flash Files Converter

FLV files are commonly used in the Internet by YouTube, Google Video and other video services as regular streaming formats. These files formats are not supported by Windows Media Player and some other popular media players. In order to review downloaded videos on your computer you need to convert that file into more common format, such as AVI or MPG.


Pazera Free FLV to AVI Converter is an absolutely free application that converts Flash Video files (FLV, SWF) into AVI or MPG (MPEG-1, MPEG-2).

The utility can be useful for both newbies and experienced users. The program has a number of predefined settings (profiles), that could be used “as is” with no settings changes, specially designed for novice users. While more advanced users can enjoy software advanced capabilities, customizing video and audio encoding parameters: audio and video codec, audio and video bitrate, fps, sampling frequency, resolution, volume and other.

The software is 100% freeware for private and for commercial use with no limitations, watermarks, adware, spyware etc.

One more nice thing is that this application is distributed within a ZIP file and does not require installation. To use it, just extract archive and run flvtoavi.exe file. This program doesn't use system registry and can be run from portable devices. All settings are written to INI file.

Program website: http://www.pazera-software.com/products/flv-to-avi-converter/

Direct Downloading Link (portable version): http://www.pazera-software.com/files/Pazera_Free_FLV_to_AVI_Converter_PORTABLE.zip

1400 Free Channels on your Desktop

JLCґs Internet TV is a free program for watching and browsing thousands of TV channels available online. There are about 1400 channels available at the moment, and users are able to submit, rate and flag channels. As an extra feature presented in the utility, users can also subscribe to adult content for only 11$ a year and get 50+ adult channels. A good thing in the software is the new flagging system, since you can easily see which channels work the best.

Main Features:
* User maintained online database with thousands of channels.
* Adult content for subscribers (50+ channels) for extra fee.
* Rating and flagging system.
* Your own personal favorite list.
* Search function to easily find any channel.
* Program-updates are automatically downloaded.
* Absolutely NO spyware/adware or malware included!

Developer Website: http://jlc-software.com/index.php?page=internet_tv.html

Direct downloading link: http://jlc-software.com/programs/JLCs_Internet_TV_Setup.exe

RarmaRadio - listen and record Worldwide Radio Stations

RarmaRadio allows you to listen to and record radio stations from around the world. While listening to your favorite radio station you can record it anytime you want. Browse through the radio stations or just select a random station and enjoy Internet radio!

You have total control over your radio stations allowing you to add or delete a station anytime you want. Need to play a station from another application then just enable global hotkeys and control it anytime.

Program is completely portable and does not require installation. When you run it for the first time, it will create application folder in the same directory, and will write all the settings there.

Key Features

• Listen to and record multiple stations simultaneously
• Create a schedule for automatic recording
• Show cover art and lyrics for each song
• Save tag information to music files
• Ability to add more stations
• Add or update stations in the online database
• Store your favorites online
• Play random station
• Last.fm support
• TV support
• Multi Language support
  

Developers website: http://www.raimersoft.com/rarmaradio.aspx

Direct Downloading Link: http://www.raimersoft.com/downloads/Rarmaradio_setup.exe

Note: When I run it for the first time, some of the menu labels were missing. Fix that easily, choosing again the preferable language from the service menu View >> Languages.

Compress Photos on the Fly!

There are not many people left, who do not use digital images for storing and sharing with friends. It is so convenient and easy to do. However, the default settings on the modern digital cameras create big image files for the better resolution. It is good, as your pic quality is high. However, when you need to share the image through web interface, mobile communication, email, or messenger, your submission size is a problem. It might also create an issue to your recipient, if, for example, huge attachment, consisting from your pictures, is clogging the email account with limited reception capabilities.

Now, finally, you can attach dozens of photos to emails without any problems without making any resizing or cropping. You can upload to your blog or website in seconds, and share with your friends instantly! The magic free resizing tool, Shrink Pic, automatically detects when you send photos by email, Instant Messenger or web browser and compresses them for you. There’s no need to make duplicates and resize - it all happens instantly, when you send photos.

Shrink Pic runs in the background. It has a taskbar icon which tells you it’s waiting for photos to be sent.

Then, when it detects that you’re sending a large photo, it automatically creates a temporary copy, resizes it and sends it instead. It gives you a notice message, so you’ll know the photo you sent was resized. Of course, the original photo doesn’t change, only the temporary copy.

You can control how Shrink Pic resizes your photos. Select between three automatic resize levels or enter your own custom sizes. Shrink Pic also recognizes rotated photos (portrait layout) and resizes them intelligently, so you don’t need to worry about that too.

The software is free, small, portable, and fast. We can be better than that! Yes, Shrink Pic now fully supports portable mode. This means, it can run without being installed. It can copy itself to any USB memory, including your digital camera or a memory stick.

Developers Website: http://www.onthegosoft.com/shrink_pic.htm

Direct Downloading Link: http://d272qlliangiah.cloudfront.net/shrink_pic18.exe

Remote desktop access with CrossLoop

CrossLoop simplifies the process of securely working with friends located in different physical locations and across different network environments. CrossLoop enables you to see the screen and control the mouse and keyboard on a remote computer. It is as if you are working side by side at the same PC.

You can get up and running with CrossLoop in under 2 minutes. Simply download and install the application and it will automatically configure itself to your network environment.

After installation, your PC will be assigned a 12-digit access code each time you start the program. You then give that number to another user to virtually share your desktop. Once connected, that user will have full access to your machine.

As a technical support specialist you will find many useful features in CrossLoop, including file transfer support, and switch control feature. Crossloop Marketpace adds creation of a free CrossLoop accounts to create a dynamic public profile page, reserve your custom CrossLoop URL, view your session history, as well as widgets to promote yourself as a tech support specialist.

Developers Website: http://www.crossloop.com/

Brief Video Presentation:

CrossLoop means remote PC control

Xenon Portable Freeware File Manager

Xenon File Manager is an open source file manager written in AutoIt. It is packaged as a portable application so you can open files easily wherever you go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.

Main Features:

• Portable File Associations
• Tabbed browsing
• Bookmarks
• Folder view for an overview of the file system.
• Folder size monitoring.
• Multi-language interface available (6 languages included in the package: English, German, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Polish, Italian, and Russian).
• Two great looking themes plus additional downloadable themes.

Developer Website: http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/xenon_portable

Xenon is rated 4 of 5 on the rating list of the 44 freeware file managers at RateItAll.

Birthday Reminder to make your life easier

The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once. In some cases, very simple software utilities can improve significantly daily life, reduce amount of stress and tension. For example, free portable application Birthday Reminder will do exactly, what you can imagine according to its clear title.

Birthday reminder will alert you to birthdays you need to remember, in advance of those dates.

The software is easy to configure. Clicking the Options button allows you to manage the birthdays, choose how far in advance you want to be reminded for each, which icon you’d like to use for that person, and set other options.

You’ll ask is that is all software can do for you? Yes, it is. Definitely, this feature can be setup as part of the regular reminder program, or part of the email program (Outlook, for example) operations. But, do we really need to mix all our appointments and dates to remember at the same location? I prefer to keep birthdays separate. Especially, since the software is very small, fast, does not need to be installed, and can be easily carried on USB drive.

Developers Web Site: http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/bday/index.html

Direct link for downloading (portable version): http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/bday/BirthdayReminderPortable.exe

Avidemix - Free Portable Video Editor

Avidemux offers simple video editing for your PC, but packs many more features than that. This open source project is great for DVD/DivX converting and editing. Avidemux also has scripting support for automation - and even offers DVD authoring (this requires 3rd party, but still open source software e.g. dvdauthor).

It is an ultimately free portable video editor designed for cutting, filtering and encoding tasks for your video projects. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs. Software is available for Linux, BSD, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows under the GNU GPL license. It is a completely stand alone program that does not require any other programs to read, decode, or encode video files other than itself.

The software can be considered as valid freeware alternative to the following commercial products: Adobe Premiere Pro CS3, Microsoft Movie Maker 2.1, Final Cut Pro 5, and Apple iMovie.

Developers Web Site: http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/

Free software for site backup and offline browsing

HTTrack is a free and easy-to-use offline browser utility, copying Web sites from the Internet for offline browsing.

It allows you to download the entire World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack arranges the original site’s relative link-structure. Simply open a page of the "mirrored" website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable, and has an integrated help system. The interface is very simple and is characterized by a high degree of functionality.

The software can be very useful as by beginners as by experienced computer users.

Developers Web site: http://www.httrack.com/

Downloading page: http://www.httrack.com/page/2/

The software is highly recommended. I am using it personally for offline browsing and full web sites backups. It has the highest rating 5 of 5 on the list of the freeware download managers:

http://www.rateitall.com/t-27138-download-managers--freeware-reviews.aspx

xVideoServiceThief - All-in-One Portable Downloader and Converter

xVideoServiceThief is an Open Source freeware all in one downloader and converter, allowing to download videos from many popular sites and to convert the video files to any format without having to use any other programs.

Websites supported:

General Video Websites:

* 123video * 5min * aBum * Aniboom * Bebo * Blip * Boingboing TV * Break * Broadcaster * Caught On Video * Ceknito * CinemaVIP * Clip4e * Dailymotion * Dumpalink * GameSpot * GameTrailers * Glumbert * Google Video * LiveVideo * Lulu TV * Metacafe * MySpaceTv * MySpass * Sclipo * Spike * Stage6 * Tu.tv * Tudou * Video.ca * VideoLeak * Yahoo Video * Yikers * YourFileHost * YouTube * YouTubeIslam * Zaable * ZanyVideos * ZappInternet * Zedge * ZippyVideos * Zuuble

Adult Video Websites: * Badjojo * DaleAlPlay * DesiSexTube * PornoTube * Shufuni * TuPorno * XTube * YouPorn * Yuvutu

Music Website: * Mp3Tube

General Features:

Cross-Platform: Available for multiple platforms: Microsoft Windows Vista™, Server 2003, XP, 2000, NT 4, Me/98, Mac® OS X, 10.3 and 10.4, Linux®, Solaris®, HP-UX, IRIX, AIX, many other Unix variants.
Multi-format conversion: Ability to convert each video in most popular formats: AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, WMV, MP4, 3GP, MP3 file formats.
Simultaneous downloads: Download more than one video at same time.
Pause and resume your downloads (some servers do not support pause/resume functions, for example YouTube).
Drag & Drop functions: Drag and Drop the video link directly to the software interface.
Session Manager: Save and Restore your download lists.
Download’s Log: Save a list with all downloaded vide (Date + Title + URL).
Children protection: Disable adult website support.
Customizable websites: Select which websites are allowed and which websites must be blocked
Tray Icon functions: xVideoServiceThief can work in background mode.
Portable: Does not require installation.

Video Presentation and Tutorial:

Developer Website: http://xviservicethief.sourceforge.net/

Your Boss Will Never Find Out!

Dexpot is simple, free for personal use, portable virtual desktop manager. The idea behind dexpot is clear and straightforward. Your desktop became too small for you, or you want organize your different activities by choosing different desktops. For example, as a blogger, I need one set of icons and programs, readily available for my use, as MBA student, I need another set of utilities, and as weekend relaxed computer user, I would need completely different applications.

Huge advantage of creating virtual desktops even more visible if you share your computer with other family members, and you do not want to create different access accounts.

Dexpot offers up to 19 additional work spaces to spread out your work. Instead of one desktop you get 20! And it is without changing any computer settings, and with no additional load on the computer resources.

Platforms: Windows 95/98/ME and NT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista Beta (incl. x64).

Implementation environment: Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 SP6.

Product is Free for Personal Use only.

Developers Web site: http://dexpot.de/index.php?id=home

One more advantage of using Dexpot in the office is presented in the clip below:

Using Dexpot to hide your activities

Portable Synchronizer for Files and Directories

SyncEXP is a small and powerful piece of Windows application that can synchronize files and folders within a LAN or a single PC on the fly. It works fast and provides multiple synchronization options. It is free from dll and can be run from USB disk. No installation to the client computer is ever required. It works even if software installs are prohibited. When USB disk is pulled out, the synchronizer detaches from the computer.

Software is characterized by functions of checking existence/time/date/size of items, optimized file comparison algorithm, automatic activity log, progress report window, and ability to preview of the action. And, as you understand, the software is ultimate freeware.

Operating system supported for SyncEXP include Win9x, ME, 2000 , NT and XP.

Visit Developer Website: http://syncexp.com/

Direct Downloading Link: http://bit.ly/syncing

Safe USB Drive Removal with EjectUSB

I am in love with portable applications, and I use them whenever available. However, there is one inconvenience in their use. You cannot just remove your USB drive from the computer; you need to disconnect it first. And this small step occasionally causes headache, especially if you have multiple USB devices connected to you computer. First, you need to identify which one you need to request from Windows to be disconnected. And than you might get refusal by ask you “to come later”. It is annoying and unpleasant step.

EjectUSB is a simple utility that can be used to quickly close all running programs from a USB device and then eject the drive for safe removal. Eject USB will automatically attempt to close all running applications on the drive it was launched from. In addition EjectUSB will close explorer windows and remove registry entries and recent document shortcuts referencing a specific USB device or folder. This tool makes for a great way to ensure your drive is safely un-mounted and programs are completely closed before physical removal.

Watch Flash Video, demonstrating the utility operation here.

Get more details on the newly released software version 1.3 from the developer Website: http://www.pocketappreview.com/main/item/17

Floola - Freeware Portable iPod Manager

Floola is a freeware application dedicated to the efficient management of your iPod or your Motorola mobile phone (any model supporting iTunes) under Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows Operating systems. Floola application is portable, and it can be used directly from your iPod and needs no installation.

Floola supports all common used iPod features including photos, artwork, podcasts and smart playlists. It automatically converts any incompatible for the mobile device audio or video file, so that you can copy almost any file to it. It even allows adding Youtube and Myspace videos with a single click to the device.

Main features:

• Works on any Windows (from Windows98 to Windows Vista), any Mac and any Linux distribution with GTK installed.
• Do not require installation, and can be executed directly from iPod or any PC.
• Copy, add and extract songs to and from iPod.
• Easily manage, import and export playlists (m3u, pls).
• Works with podcasts and Last.fm.
• Add video files to iPod just copying the page URL address.
• Multilanguage support.
• Lyric support iPods (3G and above).
• Easily find duplicated and lost songs on iPod.
• Add artwork to your songs.
• Convert audio and video incompatible formats.
• Create HTML files containing list of your iPod files.
• Add pictures to your iPod, and much more…
  

Website: http://www.floola.com/home/

Direct download (iPod): http://www.floola.com/home/download_win

Direct download (Windows): http://www.floola.com/home/download_desktopwin

Advanced Freeware Quick PDF Reader Review

Adobe Acrobat Reader and Editor were first…

Than, a great amount of the competitors rushed to catch up. And… they succeeded. When I tried using Adobe Acrobat Reader on one of the customers’ computers yesterday, I realized how far they are behind.

One of the Adobe Acrobat Reader’s competitors is PDF Quick Reader. Utility is very quick, light, and rich in features. For example, you can export pages from PDF file as the images (BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and Metafile) with different resolutions. There is also a possibility to fill forms and to save filled file.

Here are some key features of what the program can do for you:

• Opening, reading, and displaying any PDF files.
• Printing PDF documents.
• Exporting PDF as a plain text.
• Exporting PDF by the page as images.
• Providing great number of navigation and display modes, zoom.
• Rotating pages.
• Sending PDF file via email directly from the program.
• Extracting text and images for copy-and-paste actions.
• Saving to clipboard.
• Providing advanced search function with appropriate options.
• Filling, saving and sending PDF forms.
• Making digital signatures.
• Providing Live updates.

_________________

Update: The product has eventually evolved into Perfect PDF Reader, which is also advanced freeware and deserves being listed here.

Website: http://en.soft-xpansion.eu/products/freeware/reader/

Automatic Downloading from Rapidshare with RapGet

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Photobie - Freeware Substitute for Photoshop

Photobie is absolutely free image editing software that would be attractive as to the fresh users as the professional photographers, if they do not need to perform extremely difficult tasks. This editor is having most features similar to what available in Photoshop, adding to the set advanced screen capture and photo frame editing. With photobie screen capture you can prepare presentation very simply.

Photobie has simple and user-friendly interface and supports multiple-layer image retouching for advanced image editing. Starting at version 2.8, Photobie even supports thousands of Photoshop filter plugins (format .8BF).

Main Features:

• General Photo editing tool - resize, rotate, flip, color balance adjustment; copy, cut, paste, crop; selection (includes rectangle, square, oval, circle, polygon, free hand, Magic Wand; complex region using selection modes such as Single, Union, Exclude, Intersect and XOR)
• Flash Player - Fancy player allows to play list of flash files (.swf) repeatedly and selectively.
• Gif animation - Simply create gif animation with/without transparency.
• Image format supported: Bmp, Png, TIF, Gif, Ico, Jpg --- support various encoding quality, and Pob - Photobie specific multi-layer image format, used to keep the work in progress for future retouching.
• Multi-layer features - support unlimited layers; layer merge, flatten; whole layer copy, paste, clone within current image or cross images; etc.
• Painting features - draw shapes as rectangle, square, oval, circle, line, dash line, polygon, free hand, curve, it support gradient color; fill shapes as rectangle, square, oval, circle, polygon, free hand, it support gradient color, etc.
• Text editing - Support most system fonts; High quality text; Gradient color support; 3D text effect.
• Screen Capture - Support Screen Capture hotkeys, you can setup up to 8 hotkeys for screen capture, you can set the hotkey to capture full screen or active window.
• Framing - Photobie simplifies the digital photo framing process. You can design your favorite frame template and then apply to other photos quickly.

Developers Website: http://www.photobie.com/

Direct Downloading Link: http://www.photobie.com/download/download_photobie.php

Music Collection Manager and Organizer - All-in-One - TheGodFather

The GodFather freeware music collection management software will bring order for the audio files scattered on your Hard Drive. You are able to rename tracks, update tags, restructure files on hard disk, create or merge play lists, encode-decode with various codecs, such as LAME/Ogg Vorbis/MpcEnc, export/import to/from file, play music, use freedb.org & allmusic.com databases, catalog your collection in a structured library ...

Among the software features are:

1. Batch files renaming
   -User defined Formats using Tag fields, File/Folder name or Tokens, Mpeg bitrate/mode as variables.
   -Powerful case conversion.
   -Replacement matrix.
   -Smart filters enable you to have only the files that are potentially wrong listed for renaming.
   -Undo function present.
   
2. Batch Tag update.
   -Supports both ID3v1 & ID3v2.
   -Supports Ogg Vorbis comments.
   -Supports APEv2 tags.
   -Select specific fields to be updated.
   -Use File/Folder tokens, Tag variables to create tag information.
   -Filter files by the existence of tags or even by the existence of specific fields.
   -Update either Tag or all of them.
   -Use of the replacement matrix.
   -Update tags by copying/moving or auto synchronizing one to the other.
   -Batch process of pictures/lyrics (export, delete or both).

3. Manual / single file editor.

4. Organize.
   -Easily create/merge play lists with preview support or simply find and listen to your favorite music.
   -Encode/decode your files with LAME,Ogg Vorbis or mpcenc.
   -Restructure the files on your hard disk (copy, move, or create shortcuts).
   -Find duplicate files using smart and aggressive detection.

5. Play your mp3’s.
   -Internal player with 16 band equalizer.
   -Display tag info/lyrics/pictures while playing, option to display pictures from folders.
   -Automatically search @allmusic.com.

6. Album/filename rename & update using freedb.org or www.allmusic.com, Amazon, and custom sites.
   -Full text search support (freeDb), Disk ID generated from the files in the folder or usage of the original CD-ROM supported.
   -Album/Artist filters (freeDb, text search).
   -Auto sort according to duration.
   -Auto match according to Tag/Filename.
   -Amazon image grabber.

7. Catalog your files in a powerful library.
   -Store cover art and up to 4 pictures per album.
   -Store detailed info for each artist like bio, and misc other info, pictures etc.
   -Use allmusic to retrieve the above data effortlessly.
   -Export to xls, HTML, play list files.

8. General
   -Search in local or network locations.
   -File mask support including wildcards (*?).
   -Sub folder support.
   -Smart ID3 Tag detection in case of both being present.

Download (from CNET): http://download.cnet.com/The-GodFather/3000-2141_4-10232548.html

Music, images and videos for your Mobile Phone

ToneThis desktop software allows users creating MP3 ringtones, truetones, realtones, cellphone wallpapers, and mobile video ringtones using any available audio files from CD, MP3, WAV, iTunes, image files in the formats JPEG, GIF, BMP, and video files in formats AVI and MPEG. The current software version 3.5 allows also sending content from the Web directly to the mobile phone - such as music, images on a Web page, or Flash video on a Web site.

There is a bonus feature - you can download even free mobile games as well.

You can embed ToneThis into MySpace page, your Blog or website. The Web SDK allows you to add ringtone, wallpaper and mobile video support to your website. By prefixing any link to online mobile content with "tonethis:", clicking the link will automatically launch the ToneThis app and open the file in editing mode, allowing the end-user to personalize and send that file to their phone as a ringtone, wallpaper or video.

Developers Website: http://www.tonethis.com/

Download page: http://www.tonethis.com/index.php?page=download2

UlimateDefrag Freeware to Defragment and Optimize your Hard Drive

UltimateDefrag is one of the best freeware defragmenters on the market, but is even more than a mere defragmenter - is also a hard drive file placement optimizer that enables to defrag and place files in the areas on the hard drive, where they are considered to achieve maximum performance. It is common fact, that most of the time you primarily use just 20% of the files on your hard drive. UltimateDefrag places your rarely used files out of the way and onto the slower performing areas of your hard drive, significantly boosting your Hard Drive performance. The software is highly configurable - it can relocate files based on five different factors.

Even more - you can make this freeware completely portable and carry it around on your USB stick, defragmenting all computers on your way. To make the software portable, follow the simple instructions:

1. Download and run the Ultimate Defrag Setup executable file, installing to the default path.
2. Copy the UltimateDefrag folder from C:\Program Files\DiskTrix to your USB device.
3. Uninstall the software through Add/Remove program, if you do not need it on your desktop (optional).
4. Launch UDefrag.exe from the UltimateDefrag folder to run the program

Website (portable, at PenDriveApps): http://www.pendriveapps.com/ultimate-defrag-defragmenter/

Save maximum data from corrupted media with CopyCat

Some time ago, I have presented a Free CD Recovery toolbox as descent solution for the data recovery from different types of the Storage Media. Another approach for the data copy from the severely damaged and scratched disks is offered by CopyCat software.

Copy Cat actually is able to skip the bytes, which are not readable from file, and copy all other data; therefore it extracts maximum recoverable information. Copy Cat is particularly helpful at times when you want to copy a scratched and deformed CD or DVD, when you want to copy data from partially corrupted hard disk, or in any similar situations.

Software features and applications:

• Copies your oldest collection of CDs and DVDs.
• Copies a highly damaged media byte by byte.
• Option to skip the bytes if bad area found.
• Fast and efficient data recovery.

Developers Website: http://www.vcsoftwares.com/cc.html

License: Freeware

Platform: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8

Direct Link for downloading: http://www.vcsoftwares.com/dcc.html

Uncovers hidden passwords on password dialog boxes and web pages

There are so many activities online! There are so many Websites, requiring registration! There are so many passwords and logins to keep and remember! There is so much frustration, when we cannot login to the necessary resource.

Here is a fast, small, free, but quite an efficient assistant to recover forgotten and lost passwords hidden under asterisks. Unlike most similar utilities, this program works both with password dialog boxes and web page login forms. Asterisk Key is easy to use, just press a button, while the dialog or web page is open and it will detect and reveal all masked passwords.

Developers Website: http://www.lostpassword.com/asterisk.htm

Direct Downloading Link: http://www.lostpassword.com/f/downloads/ariskkey/ariskkey.exe

YamiPod - free portable iPod Manager

YamiPod is a FREE stand alone portable iPod manager that allows user to manage the content of the iPod without even having iTunes installed. This allows copuing mp3 and ACC files to and from iPod. You can also remove duplicate song entries, import or export play-lists etc.

Here is a brief description of the features in YamiPod:

• Stand alone portable program, with no installation required.
• Supports Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux Operating Systems.
• Automatic iPod recognition.
• Mp3 and AAC files can be easily copied to/from iPod.
• Read and write access to mp3 id3 and AAC information.
• Playlist support (On-The-Go included).
• Playlists import and export (PLS,M3U)
• Full Unicode support.
• Auto-recognition and auto-downloading new versions and updates.
• Advanced song import/export settings.
• Restore features.
• Built-in music player.
• Advanced search capabilities.
• Ability to remove duplicated tracks.
• Easy ratings edit.
• PC to iPod synchronization.
• Creating and editing notes (with Unicode support).
• Uploading news RSS and podcasts to iPod.
• Growl support (Apple only).
• Exporting song lists to HTML or plain text files.
• Supports multiple iPod devices.
• Last.fm support.

Developers Website: http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/home/

Direct Link for the software downloading (for Windows): http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/yam-win.torrent

Freeware professional consultant for your PC - BelArc Advisor

Belarc Advisor can be considered as a free for personal use professional computer-security consultant for your PC.

The application performs a detailed investigation of the computer hardware and software and analyzes a machine’s weak points, looking at elements such as whether antivirus software is up to date, or whether all the security flaws in Windows have been patched. It uses the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmark test to give the computer a score showing its overall security level, and produces a report that can be viewed in a Web browser.

Not only does it analyze software and operating system components and tell you where problems are, but in its comprehensive report software tells you what your computer’s physical components are: not just how much RAM you have, for example, but what kind of RAM and which slots are occupied.

This program does not fix the problems itself, but gives clear advice on how to address each issue. The software is recommended for all home PC users as a first step in securing their computers, or for those considering a hardware upgrade, and need a detailed overview of the current system configuration. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any Web server.

Developers Web Site: http://www.belarc.com/

Direct download: http://www.belarc.com/Programs/advisorinstaller.exe

Free portable Savage Full Enhancement

Time for play?

Enjoy SFE – Savage Full Enhancement – free, portable (does not require installation and can be run from your USB stick in your office), multiplayer online real time strategy game. Based on the famous Savage, the game is played online with other human players. It consists of two or more teams and each team has one commander. The first player who selects the command button has the opportunity to be the team’s commander. The commander designates weapons, places buildings to be built, and commands the entire team. The team can vote to eject the current commander and can vote in a new commander if they choose. The rest of the players play the game like a first or third person shooter, they can also help build buildings and gather resources.

Game requires roughly 163MB of free space on your external or internal Hard Drive.

Developers Web Site: http://notforidiots.com/SFE/

Direct Link for downloading: http://notforidiots.com/SFE/SFE-Standalone.zip

Free CD Recovery Toolbox

CD and DVD disks are one of the most popular means for data and media storage. They are rather capacious, all-purpose, durable, and inexpensive. The only problem with their use is in its relatively low reliability. A small scratch or dirt can result in a failure to read the information recorded on the disk. Disk might be damaged by careless handling or storage, overheating, or sun lights exposure. That is why practical tools for emergency recovering information from CD and DVD disks are of high demand on the market.

The CD Recovery Toolbox Free tool has a complete set of data recovery features for all types of disks on the market: CD, DVD, HD DVD, and even newcomers Blu-Ray. You can recover inaccessible information lost as a result of some mechanical damage of the disk (scratches, chips, different spots on the surface) or as a result of incorrect recording. Software scans any CD and DVD disks and redefines recorded data structure - finds files and folders located there. Definitely, the damage might be too severe and there can be some information on the disk that cannot be recovered. Therefore, the CD Recovery Toolbox Free tool finds the possible maximum amount of information. After that, it shows a list of all files and folders available for recovery. Now the user can select the files and folders to be recovered. Those specific objects will be recovered while the others will be ignored.

Program features:

• Recovering information from any CD and DVD disks.
• Recovering files larger than 4 GB.
• Detecting possible lack of free space on the hard disk for storing the recovered files.
• Compatible with any Windows Operating system Windows 98 and higher, including Windows Vista.
• Software is very user-friendly. The program interface is designed as a step-by step wizard, where the user has to perform a single action on each page of the wizard.

Developers Web Site: http://www.oemailrecovery.com/cd_recovery.html

Direct download: http://www.oemailrecovery.com/downloads/CDRecoveryToolboxFreeSetup.exe

Check your Hard Drive with CheckDisk

Following the hard Operating System crashes and incorrect computer shutdown, it is recommended to test Hard Drive for the possible corruption of the informational clusters.

CheckDisk is a powerful, fast, and portable application for searching and repairing disk errors. It does not require installation and can be run from small external USB drive for easy operations with multiple computers. It is quite similar to the ScanDisk tool or chkdsk.exe, supplied with the Windows operating systems, however, per experts’ feedback, its operational speed and processing quality is quite higher. Software can be used for the Windows Operating systems 2000 and higher, and is able to run on Vista as well.

You can select either standard or full tests, depending on problem character and time available. Software is capable of finding bad sectors on your disk and marking them as such to avoid their use to record data from now on.

The program works with hard disks (including SCSI and RAID), removable media, and CDs as well. This software can be used with no limitations as for private, as for commercial use.

Download from MajorGeeks website: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/checkdisk.html

Imagicon - change icons to spice your Windows look

If you want to change look of your Windows, the small freeware program will assist you in replacing standard generic icons with those you will prepare personally from favorite clip-art or your pics.

Imagicon is a graphics utility designed to convert multiple image files from BMP, JPG or PNG image formats into any of the following image formats (24-bit): Windows or OS/2 Bitmap (BMP), Independent JPEG Group (JPG), Portable Network Graphics (PNG) and Windows Icon (ICO). Options are available to transform images (Scale, flip, etc.) and enable alpha transparency of icons. The interface window of Imagicon can be personalized with custom designs. The user can select to save icons with the following dimensions in pixels: 16 x 16, 32 x 32, 48 x 48, 64 x 64 and 128 x 128. Imagicon also features the ability to drag ’n’ drop multiple images in the program window for faster processing.

Full instructions are included with the software, explaining each of the possible settings and the function that they perform. Program is user friendly and instructions are easy to follow.

For those, who prefer to use portable versions of the software, might be useful the instructions on how to make this installation version portable:

• Download the installer and install to the default folder C:/Program Files/Devious Codeworks/Imagicon.
  
• Then copy all files (except Uninstall.exe) to a folder of your choice.
  
• Uninstall the program.
  
• Launch the program by double-clicking on Imagicon.exe. Your portable version is ready and can be moved to any other location.

Authors: Devious Codeworks

Direct Downloading Link: http://www.deviouscodeworks.co.uk/download/ImagiconSetup.exe

Freeware PDF Creator - PrimoPDF

There are many occasions in the office when it is necessary to provide document that will be viewed by recipient “as is” with no relation to the viewer software settings. Regular Word document does not work, since it might depend on the software version, fonts installed, etc. Besides, recipient might edit the document you sent, and even see the history of changes, that is completely inadvisable in the touchy corporate environment.

So, you are looking for a quick, easy, and definitely, free way to convert Word files to PDFs for screen viewing, printing, ebooks, and even pre-press use? PrimoPDF will provide a suitable solution, for free, and with some nice extras such as security options. PrimoPDF resides in your printer list as a virtual printer driver, and when you "print" a document to it, the main PrimoPDF window comes up. The options are simply laid out: You can create a PDF for screen viewing, print, ebook, or pre-press (which embeds your fonts). You can include document properties like author name and keywords. You can encrypt your PDF using 40-bit and 128-bit encryption - useful if you are publishing ebook you would like to protect from free distribution or an internal document you only want certain people to see. Then select the destination, where you want to save your new PDF to, and click OK.

After PrimoPDF creates the PDF file, it can be opened by any PDF reader software, and it goes to your default PDF viewer unless you set the options to do otherwise.

The security features are indeed a strongest trait of the program. You can choose whether users can print, copy text and graphics from the PDF, add comments, and make changes to the PDF. Since virtual printer should be integrated in the system structure, the portable version of this program does not exist.

More information you can obtain on the developer’s site: www.primopdf.com/

Unlock files and folders with Unlocker

Sometimes, when you want to delete unneeded file or folder, you get some annoying messages from your Windows Operating System. I am sure you are already familiar with this error message:

But related error messages might be quite different. For example:

• Cannot delete file: Access is denied.
• There has been a sharing violation.
• The source or destination file may be in use.
• The file is in use by another program or user.
• Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

In some cases, the reasons, Windows do not allow you to perform this legitimate operations, are making sense, and can be considered as a safety precaution. But, in other cases, user has already closed all windows, and the file and folder is not practically employed in the drives and software scheme. However, for some reason, Windows does not releasing the file for the future operations. You try again and again…

Unlocker is freeware software that will solve the problem. This is the list of actions, among others, performed by this utility:

• Close handle.
• Kill process.
• Unload DLL.
• Delete index.dat.
• Delete Rename / Move command.
• Reset invalid names operations.

Why this software use is important for computer well-being? If you cannot delete locked file or folder, you leave it as is. Later, you forget about it, and eventually your Hard Drive becomes a cemetery of unneeded blocks of data, clogging the drive and capturing valuable space.

Website: http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/

Recovering Corrupted MS Word Files

One of the worst nightmares of the modern computer user is the situation, when the backup files cannot be opened. Some common error messages which can prevent user from proper opening a Microsoft Word document include:

• "The document name or path is not valid. Try these suggestions. Check the file permissions for the document or drive. Use the File Open dialog box to locate the document."
• "Word cannot open the document."
• "Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges."
• When you attempt to open a Microsoft Word 97 document into Microsoft Word version 6.x or 7.x, the document contains garbage characters.

Repair My Word is a data recovery program designed, as you might see according to the name, particularly for Microsoft Word documents recovery. It can restore text from damaged or corrupt Word files (.doc files) that cannot be opened through the normal procedure. The recovered text can then be saved as an error free Microsoft Word document. Note that the text file restoration approach determines saving it in rich-text format, therefore, the original document formatting will be removed. Graphics, tables, numbering/bullets and text formatting is lost during the recovery process. But, you do not need to recreate the text again, which can cause a lot of complications.

Repair My Word can be used successfully for the following software versions: Microsoft Word 6.0, Word 95, 97, 2000, XP, and 2003 for Windows. It is completely portable, and a single executable file can run from any small USB stick. Operation is extremely simple: open the corrupt file, preview, and save it again with easy recognizable name a repaired file.

Did I forget to mention that the utility is unconditional freeware?

Developer Web Site: http://www.repairmyword.com/

Direct Downloading Link: http://download.getdata.com/WordRepair.exe

VDownloader - Online Video Download Manager and Converter

On the hot market of the online clips finders and download managers, VDownloader from Spain provides a simple and competitive solution. In fact, the site offers to pieces of the portable freeware, available for downloading. One is a regular download manager - actually called VDownloader - offers search and video files capturing and conversion on the fly from the most popular sites as Youtube, Google Video, DailyMotion, MySpace, Veoh, GoFish, Porkolt, Metacafe, Break.com, 123 Video, Bolt VSocial, Lulu TV, Guba, HideBehind, and Dale al Play.

The second - VxDownloader - represents adult version of the download manager, covering the following free porn video sites as PornoTube, Yuvutu, YouPorn, Shufuni, XVideoHost, Pornkolt, PacoPorn, Pornhub.

Each utility is able to:

• Save videos in many formats, including AVI, MPG, iPOD, PSP, 3GP, VCD, SVCD, DVD, FLV and MP3 (audio only).
• Search and find videos in many sites with just one click. Its integrated search engine can search for videos in several sites at the same time.
• Browse videos. Its web browser allows you to visit video sites and download videos directly from the browser.
• Supports batch downloading and clipboard monitoring.
• Does not require installation and can be run from the portable USB Drive. Each download manager occupies just 3.5 MB of disk space.

VDownloader website: http://vdownloader.com/

VxDownloader website: http://vxdownloader.gooofull.net/

Screamer Brings Free Internet Radio to your PC

In comparison with traditional FM radio anymore, Internet steaming radio provides huge advantages, because of the much higher variety of the programs, not clogged with radio advertising. With wide spreading of the broadband Internet around the World, the quality and the interruption-free streaming got an additional boost. However, locate the set of the favorite radio stations can be quite a hassle. There are several developers that brought the users freeware convenient solution, making use of the Internet Radio simple and effective.

One of the best programs of this type is one, developed by David Zidar. It is Screamer Radio. The main features of this utility:

1. It is very user friendly, with simple, easily operational interface, with preset, but expandable, list of stations.
2. The utility is ads-free and spyware-free.
3. It has a huge built-in database of the Internet stations.
4. You can record the favorite tracks on your Hard Drive in the MP3 format.
5. It is compatible for almost every sound card on the modern market.
6. The freeware is portable, and does not require installation. It can be carried between your computers on a tiny USB external drive.
7. Supported Stream Types:

• Shoutcast and Icecast MP3 Streaming
• Icecast OGG Vorbis Streaming
• WMA Streaming
• AAC Streaming

8. The software is light on using the computer resources.

Developer Web Site: http://www.screamer-radio.com/

Direct Download (portable version): http://www.screamer-radio.com/download/file/screamer044.zip