Not everyone is a fan of changing the looks of an operating system. Some users are perfectly happy with the default skin it shipped with and would never think of changing the interface. There is however a kind of user who likes to change the appearance of a computer system. From changing themes to adding gadgets, wallpapers and fonts.

ViOrb Remastered is one small tool that might be one of those that this user groups loves. It does not do more than to replace the Windows XP start button with the Windows vista’s start button. That’s pretty straightforward with no configuration needed at all. The user simply has to execute the file after unzipping it and it will automatically replace the start button for as long as it is running.

The software is currently available as a pre-beta build in the forum of the developer after registration. While it does not throw any error messages during usage the author still has some annoyances to sort out before releasing the software program.

continue reading "Windows Vista Start Button For XP"

Glary Utilities is set of tools that can be used to clean and optimize Windows. The free version of the software program comes with a 1-click maintenance mode that can be used to fix system problems with minimal interaction. It consists of a Registry cleaner, shortcuts fixer, startup manager, temporary files cleaner, track eraser and spyware remover.

Besides that quick maintenance mode it also comes with lots of additional modules that are divided up into the five categories Clean Up & Repair, Optimize & Improve, Privacy & Security, Files & Folders and System Tools. All of them with three to four modules that start various tools to maintain the operating system.

The Privacy & Security category for example contains a Tracks Eraser, File Shredder, File Undelete and File Encryption / Decryption tool. Having said that it should be obvious that the software combines the features of various popular utilities in one application. While it can replace many applications it does not come close to some of the top applications in their fields. Taking Eraser for example. Eraser lets users deleted unused hard drive space so that the data cannot be recovered anymore. Glary Utilities on the other hand can only delete files so that they cannot be restored anymore.

continue reading "All In One System Maintenance Tool Glary Utilities"

Being noise sensitive can have a huge impact on a daily work routine. Having to use a noisy computer can be a distraction and it might even cause sickness in the long run. One of the components that still gets neglected quite a bit when it comes to noise reduction is the computer’s hard drive. That’s understandable because it usually is not the loudest component of the computer.

That honor would be reserved for the fans of the video card, processor, power unit and case. You might not even hear the noise of the hard drive until you decide to lower down the noise of the other components. Hard drives on the other hand can cause a very high distracting pitching noise.

One possibility to lower the noise of the hard drive would be to use special hard drive cases and other hardware to reduce the noise. Software solutions on the other hand are rare, most are outdated and some even require the creation of a boot disk before they can be run.

WinAAM is a refreshing change. It is compatible with all Windows NT operating systems including the popular Windows XP and Windows Vista. It requires no installation and can be started right after the download has finished.

continue reading "Hard Drive Noise Reduction"

If you have to pay per Megabyte transferred or only have a limited amount of free traffic until you have to pay for additional Megabytes transferred then you might want to use a network bandwidth monitor to always have up to date traffic figures to avoid having to pay more than needed.

ShaPlus Bandwidth Meter is a small lightweight network bandwidth monitor for Windows operating systems that monitors the traffic of selected network adapters in real-time. The bandwidth monitor displays a small always on top window by default which displays the the current bandwidth usage as well as that of the day and the month in either Megabyte or Gigabyte.

The transparency of the window can be changed and it can be moved freely around on the computer screen. The last available option is a window that is showing the bandwidth usage per month separated into download, upload and total.

continue reading "Network Bandwidth Monitor"

The Windows 7 M3 build that Microsoft distributed at the Professional Developers Conference 2008 in Los Angeles made its way to various P2P networks less than 24 hours after the distribution. It became known shortly thereafter that Microsoft did lock some of the features of the upcoming operating system in that build including the new Taskbar or the Desktop Wallpaper Changer.

Patches were created to unlock some of the features but until then no one did create a patch that could be applied to unlock all locked features in the build.

That wait is over now because Rafael Rivera created the Blue Badge tool to patch nine Windows 7 system files and unlock all locked features. It has to be noted that the files will not be backed up before the patches are applied.

A user wanting to apply the patch should make sure that they backup the files before applying the patch. Some of the features that will be unlocked are the new Taskbar and the wallpaper changer.

continue reading "Unlock Windows 7 M3 Build Locked Features"