Users looking for rescue systems distributed on CDs or DVDs have really no shortage of finding one. The major problem that inexperienced users face is the same that they face when asked to pick a Linux distribution for their system. To much choice can lead to severe confusion for the user. Despite the fact Avira decided to produce a Rescue System which is probably a good choice if you suspect that the computer does not boot anymore because of a virus, trojan or other malicious code.

The Avira AntiVir Rescue System gives the user three options on how to handle the situation. It can try to repair a damaged system, rescue data and scan the system for virus infections. The Rescue System file can be burned to a CD by double-clicking the downloaded file.

The Rescue System CD does come in handy as well when a computer needs to be checked for viruses before it boots into the operating system. The virus definition files can be updated after booting from the CD. So, this is not your usual Recovery CD that comes with all sorts of tools but one for a very special purpose only. Still nice to have at hand in case the computer gets infected.

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Private Bittorrent Sites are the Holy Grail of the Bittorrent scene. While some are invite only others close their doors for new registrations when they reach a certain member count and open them again once that count drops to a lower level. Keeping track of all those websites - or even one - can be quite time consuming because you have to be there at the right moment. When registration opens again the spots are usually taken in a matter of minutes or hours and not days.

I did cover the Open Registrations Checker before here at Ghacks and I just read the article over at Torrentfreak that explains how they pimped it up to contain the hottest Bittorrent sites around. You do need the Open Registration Reminder software and an updated sites file that contains the Bittorrent websites.

Download the Open Registration Reminder [link] from the developers homepage and the trackers.rar as well. The zip file has to be unpacked and put into two locations on your hard drive. For one in the installation directory of the Registration Checker and two C:\Documents and Settings\ [Your Computer Name].

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Idle Backup is a convenient easy to use backup solution for Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista. The main selling point - if you can speak of one for free software - is definitely the ease of use. You pick one or multiple folders that should be backed up when the computer is idle and pick a destination directory on another hard drive or network drive.

A 120 second countdown is initiated and the backup begins automatically when the Automatic On option has been checked and the computer had been idle for that time. Rather interesting is the fact that a backup will be interrupted if a user moves the mouse for instance. The backups are incremental meaning that only new or edited files are copied to the destination.

The next backup will then be started after a certain amount of minutes that can be specified in the options as well. Idle Backup is rather minimalistic which might be appealing to some users, many more will probably miss some basic features and options that would make it a great application. There is no restore function, this is not a huge problem because it’s possible to simply copy the files from the backup destination to the original path on the hard drive.

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TweakNow WinSecret Professional is a Windows tweaker that is free for personal use. You could say oh no, not another tweaker and I partially think you are right. There is definitely no shortage when it comes to programs that tweak Windows settings. This one however comes with a nice clean interface and auto backups that allow you to revert all changes with two clicks.

Eleven categories are available after starting TweakNow WinSecret Professional ranging from User Accounts to Windows Core and Control Panel. Each category opens up in a new window that uses tabs to further categorize the tweaks. Windows Core for instance offers the following five tabs: Windows XP Prefetch, Windows Time Out, Cache, Misc and Security.

It takes a while to click through all categories and tabs but it’s well worth it in my opinion. Some of the features that not every Windows tweaker offers are the option to relocate the special folders, manage desctop icons, hiding drive icons and changing user passwords right from the application.

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Have you ever asked yourself if it is possible to add another horizontal or vertical barrier to the screen in Windows ? With another I mean that the taskbar is already something that is always visible unless you start a full screen application. It might be useful to create another area on the screen that is a no-go area for windows of all kind. Could be useful for instance if you want to display widgets in that area, information, to-do lists or everything else that makes sense to be always on top of the screen.

Mouser from Donation Coder created the application Desktop Coral [via Cybernet News] which can reserve part of the screen so that no other window can place itself over that area. Everything gets pushed away from that area once the bar gets docked to the screen and only information that are displayed on the desktop remain.

Even shortcuts are moved from the area. As I said the main use is for widgets or other kind of information that are displayed right on the desktop without windows.

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