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BOOT CAMP 289 (26/08/03)
Shareware and Freeware, Part 3
This week’s collection of freeware shareware programs could
be loosely described as the bits Microsoft left out. These are tools and
utilities that can help to make your Windows PC more functional, easier to use
and dare we say, even prettier to look at...
For more information about downloading and installing
freeware and shareware refer to part 1, which also has details of WinZip, which
you will need to ‘unzip’ or decompress some of these programs. We believe them
all to be free of viruses spyware and adware but as usual you install these
programs entirely at your own risk.
RAINBOW FOLDERS, freeware, 331kb, Windows 98/SE/ME//XP
http://www.zwnet.bmj.net.pl/~aionel/
strony/rf/html/gb/wstep.htm
Fed up with those rows of little yellow folder icons? Rainbow
Folders lets you change the colours of your folder icons, any colour in fact, so
you can colour code directories to make them easier to identify or just make
them look more interesting of change them to XP 3D style. It doesn’t only work
in Windows Explorer either and your coloured folders show up in every program’s
Open and Save boxes. You can switch back to the standard colours just as easily
and it can add ‘pop-up’ text boxes with little messages or reminders, like
‘Don’t Delete Me!’
XP POWERTOYS, freeware, 370kb, Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/
(keyword ‘powertoys’)
Powertoys is an old favourite and comprises a suite of
utilities that let you make major changes to the way Windows looks and works
without touching the dreaded Registry. This latest version is for Windows XP but
it includes many of the features of the earlier releases for Windows 9x,
including of course Tweak UI for customising the user interface, Explorer,
Taskbar settings and mouse actions. There’s also a powerful calculator, image
resizer tool, CD Slideshow, Taskbar Magnifier and Webcam Timershot that lets you
take timed shots from a webcam and save the images in a location of your
choice.
OBJECTDOCK, freeware, 3.5Mb, Windows XP
http://www.stardock.com/products/
objectdock/
This neat animated task manager and program launcher replaces
the standard Windows Taskbar (easily reinstated if you want to keep it). The
icons react as you move the mouse pointer over them, running applications are
automatically included and it’s easy to add new objects and customise it with
downloadable ‘skins’.
RJH EXTENSIONS, freeware, 673kb, Windows
95/98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP
http://www.rjhsoftware.com/rjhextensions/
RJH Extensions is a simple add-on for Windows Explorer,
vastly improving upon the standard range of file management features. Just
right-click on a file or folder and a new expanded menu appears with nine extra
utilities. At the top of many Windows users wish lists is Print Directory that
does exactly what it says by printing out the contents of any folder. Two other
popular features are Shred, for permanently deleting a file, and Encrypt, which
uses a powerful encryption algorithm to scramble and password protect data so
that it cannot be read or opened.
AIDA32, freeware, 2.6Mb, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP
http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php
Aida32 is a powerful diagnostic tool that provides a detailed
analysis of your computer hardware, operating system and installed software.
There’s everything you could possibly want to know about the motherboard,
processor, memory and disc drives, it will also highlight faults and make
suggestions for possible performance tweaks. Benchmarks and system audits can be
saved and used to help troubleshoot problems that may arise in the future.
CONVERT, freeware, 152kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/2k/XP
http://www.joshmadison.com/
software/convert/
How often have wanted to know how many Petabytes there are in
a Yottabyte or Dyne-centimetres in a Kilopond-metre? Maybe you’ve been flummoxed
by microgram to pennyweight conversions? If so you need Convert, a simple little
self contained program that does instant numerical conversion in over twenty
different categories including temperature, speed, pressure, angles, area,
power, acceleration, density, torque, flow, force and light.
Next week – shareware and freeware 4, Multimedia
JARGON FILTER
SHRED
Deleting files in Windows doesn’t remove them from the hard
disc, the space they occupy is merely marked as available and the data can still
be retrieved. Shredding removes all traces of deleted files by overwriting them
with random or meaningless data
SKIN
The ‘look’ of a computer program -- cosmetics, colour and
graphical layout, buttons, menus and dialogue boxes etc. A growing number of
programs allow the skin to be changed -- like the cover of a mobile phone -- to
reflect the users mood or personality
YOTTABYTE
A yottabyte =
1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes and 1 petabyte = 1024 terabytes, or
1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes, since you asked…
TIP OF THE WEEK
This week’s bonus program is Dupelocator, a small freeware
program (176kb). It works on all versions of Windows and as the name suggests it
seeks out duplicate files on your computer – and you’ve probably got hundreds of
them -- which are probably just wasting space. It’s fast, easy to use and can be
downloaded from: http://www.midnightblue.com/dupelocater.htm
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