gHacks technology news » portable software

Windows Application Switcher

Martin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:06:45 +0000

If you ask Windows users how they switch between applications then a majority will likely state they they use the Windows taskbar to do so. But there are others who prefer a keyboard shortcut like Alt-Tab to quickly bring another running program or window to the front. The free software Switcher offers another possibility. The now abandoned program was initially designed to be compatible with Windows Vista but tests have shown that it is fully compatible with Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7 as well. Best of all, the application is available as a portable version as well.

Switcher will display a configuration menu after installation which can be used to configure the program. This starts by choosing one of three view modes, animation and appearance settings or the window style over filters, keyboard shortcuts and detailed advanced settings.

The user should take a close look at the view modes available and at the keyboard shortcuts and adjust them for better personalization. A total of three view modes are available: Tile, Dock and Grid with Tile being the default view mode.

Tile will simply place all windows on the screen whereas dock places them on top and grid ordered and next to each other.

The settings window can be hidden afterwards and the application itself controlled by the keyboard shortcuts. All windows will be displayed in the selected view mode after the corresponding keyboard shortcut is put into action. The same key is then used to switch through the windows. The enter key will bring the selected window to the front.

All windows are numbered and it is also possible to press a number to bring the window to the front immediately without having to flip through individual windows first.

Another interesting feature is the multi-monitor support that is enabled by default. Switcher can be downloaded from the developer’s website where it is available as an installer and portable version.

Auslogics Disk Defrag

Martin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:28:59 +0000

Auslogics Disk Defrag is a hard disk defragmentation software for the Windows operating system. Recently version 3 of the software program has been released; Reason enough for us to take a look at the improvements in this new version. At its core stands the option to defragment all connected hard drives of the computer system. The hard drives can be analyzed before the defragmentation to ensure that it is necessary to start the process at all. Hard drives can be unselected which is helpful in several cases including connected solid state drives or encrypted partitions that are not mounted.

The analysis will display the total number of files and the number of fragmented files on the PC system. Auslogics Disk Defrag can then defragment the selected hard drives. A new feature is the option to optimize the fragmentation by consolidating free space by placing all files on the disk contiguously.

The top menu contains several additional options, namely the option to defragment a file or folder and to change the process priority of the defragmentation.

The defragmentation can be paused and resumed anytime. One interesting option is the defragmented file view which makes it possible to take a look at all defragmented files of the selected hard drive. Most changes have been made to the core including performance improvements to the defragmentation process, better tie-ins with the Windows Task Scheduler or better processing of files that are locked by the computer system.

Auslogics Disk Defrag is available as an installer or portable version. It can be downloaded from the developer’s website where it is available for all Microsoft operating systems that have been released since Windows XP including Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Interested users can take a closer look at the release notes to read about all of the changes that have been added to the disk defragmentation software. (via Download Squad)

Tags: auslogics disk defrag, Defragmenting Software, disk defragmentation, portable software, windows software

FastStone Image Viewer 4.0

Martin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:29:47 +0000

A new version of the image viewer FastStone Image Viewer has been released today by the developers. Version 4.0 introduces several new and enhanced features including better Windows 7 compatibility, improved performance in network folders, display of GPS information with a link to Google Earth, favorite folders and several minor improvements and bug fixes.

The image viewer is available in several editions including a portable version and an installer. It supports multiple languages and is completely free for personal use. The main interface of the software looks a bit cluttered and very colorful at first glance. Especially the two icon bars at the top of the window can cause some confusion at the beginning. It is possible to make changes to the skin but not the the interface itself. The designs itself looks professionally done and the three program windows for browsing folders, previewing images and thumbnails are intuitive to use after all.

A click on a thumbnail image will display a larger preview of that image in the preview window in the left sidebar. A left-click in that preview window will zoom in on the image. It is even possible to move around with the mouse as long as the left mouse button is pressed.

FastStone Image Viewer comes with an assortment of image editing tools. Not as much as image editing software programs like Paint.net, Gimp or even Adobe Photoshop offer but enough to perform the most common image editing operations like resizing, rotating, cropping, changing colors, brightness or contrasts or removing red eye effects.

There are also options to perform batch operations like converting or resizing multiple image formats at once. A handful of other interesting modules are available that include the ability to create slideshows, remove JPEG metadata, change timestamps or compare images. The program supports file tagging and is a solid program for these kinds of tasks.

FastStone Image Viewer 4.0 is a fast comfortable image viewer that can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Tags: faststone image viewer, image viewer, images, photos, portable software, windwos software

Create Desktop Icons With Simply Icon

Martin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:32:25 +0000

Desktop icons, or icons in general, come in handy in several situations but mainly to replace existing icons on the computer desktop or in applications. It is for instance relatively easy to replace an existing icon in the Windows operating system with another although it depends on the data type. System icons can for example be changed by right-clicking on the computer desktop and selecting Properties (or Personalize) from the menu.

Windows ships with a limited amount of desktop icons and some users might prefer to create their own icons for a more personal experience. Simply Icon is a lightweight software program to create desktop icons. All the user needs to do is to drag and drop an image into the applications interface. The application will automatically created four different icons in the sizes 128×128, 64×64, 32×32 and 16×16.

The newly created icons will be stored in one file in the same directory as the original file that was dropped into the application. Best suitable images for a conversion into icons are images that have the same height and width.

Simply Icon can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It does require the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 which needs to be installed before the application can be executed.

Tags: desktop icons, icons, portable software, simply icon, windows software

Sumatra PDF Reader 1.0 Released

Martin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:40:40 +0000

We reviewed the Adobe Reader alternative Sumatra back in the beginning of 2008 and came to the conclusion back then that Sumatra was a lightweight and fast replacement that was ideal for viewing PDF documents. Version 1.0 of Sumatra was released yesterday which actually was one of the two updates that the developer of the pdf reader has published this year. The main changes since our last review are better pdf reading compatibilities, bug fixes, other compatibility fixes and additional features that have been added by the developer or contributors. Contributors you may ask? Sumatra is Open Source and it is therefor possible for others to contribute to the program.

Sumatra concentrates on pdf viewing only but does that very well. Pdf documents are opened blazingly fast and the program does not require lots of computer memory or resources in general to operate. It is offered as an installer or portable version and it’s size of 1.1 Megabytes make it an ideal candidate for mobile usage.

We had some complaints about Sumatra which are still valid. It is for example not possible to mark and copy text from the documents. Not everyone might need that feature but those that do need to find another pdf viewer that comes with that option.

The main interface language of Sumatra (English) can be easily changed to several dozens others that are included in the download. The installer and portable version as well as the source code can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Tags: adobe pdf, pdf, pdf reader, portable software, sumatra, windows software

Windows Clipboard Manager PasteCopy

Martin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:16:48 +0000

It is not really clear why Microsoft never improved the default behavior of the Windows Clipboard. The biggest flaw in the eyes of most users is the inability to store more than one entry in the clipboard. So called clipboard managers are designed by third party developers to provide this and additional functionality. PasteCopy.net is but one of those Windows clipboard managers. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 as the name suggests but is otherwise portable and available in multiple languages.

The software program will monitor the Windows clipboard by default and memorize any contents that are copied by the user. Contents that have been copied are displayed in the program’s interface. The length of text and the type of the contents are displayed there with a handy preview feature to preview image or text right in the interface. Images can also be zoomed in case they had to be resized to fit in the interface.

The copied contents in the interface can be saved so that they are available after a restart of the program. That’s handy for entries that need to be copied frequently. The settings contain two handy options to convert rft and html text that is copied to the clipboard manager. These are disabled by default but can be activated so that these formats get converted automatically. Good for uses who do not want to include html or rtf formatting when pasting contents they previously copied.

Contents that are stored in the clipboard manager can either be pasted by left-clicking on them and using the keyboard shortcut [Ctrl V], right-clicking the mouse button and selecting Paste or dragging and dropping them from the PasteCopy interface into another application.

PasteCopy is a small Windows clipboard manager that offers some interesting features. An option to use keyboard shortcuts for pasting various clipboard entries would be a good addition to the program though. The software program is compatible with most Windows operating systems including Windows 7. It can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Tags: clipboard, clipboard manager, pastecopy, portable software, windows software, windows-clipboard

Portable Free Stopwatch Program

Martin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:36:41 +0000

Need a stopwatch because you want to know how long it takes to write an article, signup at an online service, write an email or load a certain website with your favorite web browser? The stopwatch should also be free, portable and absolutely lightweight? Then Only Stop Watch might be the application that you have been looking for. The 13 Kilobyte program can be run from any location after it is unpacked, ideal for mobile usage especially since it does not use lots of storage space.

The program will display the stopwatch window after startup. First start might be a bit confusing as the program starts to count right away. The F5 key on the keyboard will stop the count. Another press on the same button will start a new countdown while F6 will continue where the last count was stopped.

That’s actually the whole stopwatch program. The only settings that are available can be used to switch the language from English to German, to remove the milliseconds and to prevent the stopwatch program from automatically starting the count after program startup.

Only Stop Watch is ideal for users who need a lightweight tiny and free stopwatch program. The software program uses less than 1 Megabyte of computer memory while running actively on the computer desktop.

Only Stop Watch can be downloaded from the developer’s website. It is compatible with most versions of the Windows operating system.

Tags: portable software, stop watch, stopwatch, stopwatch program, windows software

Fix Dead Or Stuck Pixels

Martin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:06:15 +0000

It can happen that you notice a pixel or a number of pixels on your LCD monitor that appear to be stuck or dead. It is sometimes hard to notice depending on the location of the stuck pixels but an indicator is that the computer monitor does not change the color anymore in this location. An easy way to locate dead or stuck pixels is to use a software program that can fill the computer screen with one solid color which makes it that easier to locate stuck pixels.

UDPixel is such a software. The free software program can not only aid the user in locating stuck pixels but does come with the means to fix dead or stuck pixels as well. There is no guarantee for success but it cannot hurt either to give this program a try.

UDPixel, which is short for undead pixel, comes with two main options. The first is to display the computer screen in one solid color. Available are standard colors like red, white, black and blue with the option to pick custom colors from the Windows color palette.

The second option will try to fix dead or stuck pixels by rapidly changing the color of the stuck pixel or stuck pixels for some time. The user can configure the number of flash windows (one for each stuck pixel), the size of the window and the flash interval (should be set to the monitor’s refresh rate). The selected number of flash windows (small pixels actually) will appear on the screen after pressing Start. These now have to be moved to the right location (that is the location of the stuck pixel) with the mouse.

The developer suggests to keep the program running for several hours. The stuck pixels might have been fixed after that time which can be verified again with the first option of the program.

UDPixels is available as a portable version and installer at the developer’s website. It is compatible with most Microsoft Windows operating systems including Windows 7. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2 to be installed on the computer system.

Tags: dead pixels, fix dead pixels, fix stuck pixels, portable software, stuck pixels, udpixels, windows software

PC Hardware System Information Software Speccy

Martin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:28:11 +0000

Speccy is a – currently in beta software – by popular developer Piriform that is known for software programs like CCleaner, Recuva or Defraggler. The program is a PC hardware system information tool that analyses the hardware that is installed or connected to the PC the software is running on. The software program comes as a portable software and installer. Either way, it will display a summary of the most important PC hardware after startup.

This includes information about the cpu, computer memory, motherboard (including manufacturer, type, socket and chipset, graphics, hard drives, optical drives and audio.

A sidebar like menu contains links to sections that contain detailed reports about the selected hardware that has been listed in the summary.

These sections contain very detailed reports on the PC hardware. The computer memory section for example contains information about the type, size, channels, DRAM frequency, command rate, frequencies and dozens of additional parameters that go into extreme details.

The program provides excellent information for users who want to find out detailed information about connected and installed PC hardware. The beta version had problems identifying the Ati Radeon 4870 video card that was installed in the test PC system.

Speccy is available as a beta for most Microsoft operating systems including the latest Windows 7. It is available as a portable software and installer.

Tags: pc, pc hardware, portable software, speccy, system information, windows software

Exif Metadata Editor Jhead

Martin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:18:04 +0000

So called exif metadata – or exif data – is automatically added to photos taken by digital cameras. The data that is added to the photo depends largely on the digital camera used but it usually includes information such as the time and date the photo was taken, the camera model, resolution and other technical information. They also contain preview thumbnails of the photos in their header. The information contained in the exif header can pose a privacy risk. Think of cutting an image but keeping the exif data of the original image. The thumbnail image could show more of a photo than desired.

Exif data can also contain comments and other information that many users might not want to distribute with their photos.

Jhead is a command line application that can display the contents of the exif file for one or multiple jpeg images. More powerful than revealing the contents of the exif data is the use as an exif metadata editor. Jhead can edit, add and remove data from selected jpeg photos easily. The huge list of commands is available at the developer’s website. It ranges from replacing exif data with data from another photo, manipulating date, time, thumbnails and general data.

The default command jhead filename will output the exif metadata of the selected file or files (wildcards are possible, e.g. jhead *.jpg) in the command line

Jhead is available for Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. It can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Tags: exif data, exif data editor, exif metadata editor, jhead, linux software, portable software, windows software

Google Chrome Cache Viewer

Martin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:01:34 +0000

Chrome Cache View is one of those applications that is not really needed to perform a given task but it makes that task way more comfortable. Like ever web browser Google Chrome uses a cache on the hard disk to save data so that it opens faster on the next time the website is loaded in the browser. It is possible to access the cache manually on the hard drive but that would require knowledge of the location of the cache on the hard drive.

Chrome Cache Viewer is a portable software program for Windows that will list the contents of the Google Chrome browser’s cache in its interface. The program uses the standard Nirsoft layout that displays the data in sortable columns. It is for instance possible to sort the data by name, size, content type, url or server time.

The cache viewer has options to copy the selected cache files to another directory. This makes it easy to copy files like images or videos from the cache to another location on the hard drive to be able to access them at a later time.

It is furthermore possible to create html or text reports for further analysis and open links in the default web browser. Chrome Cache View is available for most Windows operating systems at the Nirsoft website.

Tags: chrome cache view, google browser, google chrome, nirsoft, portable software, windows software

iRingtones Creates And Adds iPhone Ringtones To iTunes

Martin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:03:44 +0000

Are you a cell phone owner who pays for ringtones? Are you someone who recently searched for answers to questions like “how to use iTunes ringtones” or “how to find free iPhone ringtunes”? If you do you might like the following comfortable way of creating and adding new ringtunes automatically to Apple’s iTunes software. The first release of iRingtones makes that possible. The software program uses the freely available Nero AAC Encoder to convert a standard WAV file into an iPhone compliant M4R ringtone. It will also add the created ringtone automatically to the user’s iTunes library and copy it to the ringtones folder of that library.

The process requires some manual work at the beginning as the program will only accept wav audio files for input. This means that the user either needs to have a wav file of the future ringtone or convert an audio file into wav format before the creation can commence.

The user needs to add the paths to the Nero AAC Encoder executable and the iTunes library to the portable program upon startup. The program will then check the locations and if they are valid open a file browser to select a wav audio file from the computer system. That wav file will then automatically be converted into the m4r ringtone format. It is then copied to the iTunes library and the ringtone folder of that library.

The process is fine for users who want to created iPhone ringtones every now and then. It could be made more user friendly by adding support for mp3 files and the creation of multiple ringtones at once. It is – as of now – only possible to select one wav file at a time. Not very handy for users who want to create several ringtones for their iPhone. The portable software iRingtones is available for download at the Codeplex website. It is compatible with most versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system and requires the Microsoft .net Framework.

Tags: free iphone ringtones, iphone ringtones, iringtones, itones, itunes ringtones, portable software

Install Missing Runtimes With All In One Runtime

Martin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:39:24 +0000

Many programs for the Windows operating system need so called runtimes so that they can execute correctly on the computer system. Two of the most popular runtimes are the Microsoft .net Framework and the Java Runtime Environment. Some programs check for missing runtimes and provide options to install them while others do not which usually leads to some research in the readme or on the developer’s homepage to find out if the program has any dependencies that need to be installed on the PC before the software can be used.

All In One Runtime offers an efficient (critics would probably call it unnecessary or overkill) solution to the problem. The program checks the installed runtimes of the Windows operating system and will automatically display and install the runtimes that are not installed on the PC system.

The supported runtimes are:

Microsoft .net Frameworks
.net language packs
System runtimes
Visual C++ runtimes
Microsoft Visual J#
Adobe Flash Player
Microsoft Silverlight
Shockwave Player
Java Runtime Environment
DirectX

The program will display the runtimes that it intends to install. A 30 second countdown will be displayed allowing the user to pause and cancel the installation or remove runtimes from the installation. All In One Runtime is a portable software program for Microsoft Windows operating systems. Supported are 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The download is available on a German website. The developer’s website is also only available in German.

Tags: all in one runtime, microsoft .net framework, portable software, runtimes, system runtimes, windows software

Windows 7 Taskbar Tweaker

Martin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:02:37 +0000

One of the most prominent features of Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7 is the taskbar which its new functionality. The new features include the ability to pin programs to the taskbar, display thumbnail previews of open windows and tabs (for example from Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer or the latest version of the Firefox web browser) and jumplists that offer quick links to application specific features.

The free software program Windows 7 Taskbar Tweaker is a portable application for the Windows 7 operating system. It can be used to modify several of the default options of the Windows 7 taskbar to speed up Windows 7, to be precise:

Right-click on a taskbar item to either display jumplists (default) or the standard window menu
Change grouping from grouping applications to not grouping them
Change dropping items to the taskbar from pinning them to opening them
Change the middle-click behavior from opening a new program instance to either closing the window or focusing the window
Change left-click on grouped item button from opening the thumbnail preview to cycling through the windows.
Disable the thumbnail preview

The new settings become available after clicking on the apply button in the program window. The software program is available for download at the developer’s website for both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows 7 operating system.

Tags: portable software, windows 7, windows 7 software, windows 7 taskbar, windows 7 taskbar tweaker

CD DVD Data Recovery Software

Martin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:58:15 +0000

Data on CDs and DVDs can become unreadable like data on hard drives and other storage devices. And basically the same set of data recovery programs are available for attempting to restore the data on those optical discs. The reasons why data on CD or DVD discs become unreadable are usually different from the reasons why hard drives and other storage devices fail. The main reasons are scratches on the disc and other problems with the physical structure of the disc.

DataMiner is a portable software program for the Windows operating system that can be used to recover data from optical media such as CD or DVD. The program will analyse the data on the disc using heuristic detection algorithms. The analysis of the data on the disc is highly influenced by the type of disc, the data and the type of error that is encountered when trying to access the data.

Dataminer will analyze the whole disc, a process that can be terminated at any point. The files that have been found up to this point are then displayed in the interface. The display is basic as it will only list the file name (if it was discovered), the size, type and offset of the file on the disc.

It is possible to extract selected files or files of a certain file extension to a local storage device. Other options include a basic search to find a specific file name and saving project related information to continue working on the project at a later time. the CD and DVD data recovery software can also create and load images of physical discs which is obviously the safer way to go as it is then possible to analyze the disc image instead of the disc itself which will reduce the chance to further damage the disc.

The data recovery software is available at the Greenfish website. It is compatible with most versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system including Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.

Tags: cd data recovery, data recovery software, data-recovery, dataminer, dvd data recovery, portable software, windows software

Repair Microsoft Security Essentials

Martin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:38:07 +0000

Microsoft’s new security software Microsoft Security Essentials has been getting some good reviews since the first public beta version got released by Microsoft. The security application is now available as a final version to protect computer systems from malicious software. The security program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Some users have reported Microsoft Security Essentials crashes and other errors that prevent the tool from protecting the computer system. The Fix MSE Utility has been designed for those users. It can repair a Microsoft Security Essentials installation by resetting all Registry and other settings to their default values. The same could be achieved by uninstalling and installing the software program but the benefit of using the Fix MSE Utility is speed.

The portable software program is compatible with the same operating systems that Microsoft Security Essentials is compatible with. It will display a small program window upon startup that looks like the following:

The window contains a small description of the program’s functionality as well as a Fix MSE button which will start the repair of the Microsoft Security Essentials installation. The Microsoft Security Essentials program itself has to be closed during that process to avoid further complications.

The Fix MSE Utility is available at the Windows Club forum.

Tags: fix mse utility, microsoft security essentials, portable software, windows software

Windows Explorer Alternative Ultra Explorer

Martin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:58:22 +0000

Microsoft’s Windows Explorer is the basic file explorer for the Windows operating system. It’s functionality has not changed a lot since its early days and Windows Explorer alternatives have been thriving ever since it was introduced by Microsoft. Ultra Explorer is a free Windows Explorer replacement that can be downloaded as a portable version or as one that needs to be installed. It is compatible with most Microsoft operating systems including the recently released Windows 7.

Like every good Windows Explorer replacement Ultra Explorer offers many features and options that make file management in Windows a lot easier. Some of the highlights that it introduces are favorite folders and files that can be defined and accessed more quickly, a history to open recently opened files and folders faster or tabs to open multiple folders in its interface without spawning multiple windows.

Ultra Explorer feature list:

Breadcrumb Bar to quickly move back up through the folder path
Fast Access to Common Tasks through Detachable Toolbars
Task Window – The Task window accepts plug in DLLs to extend UltraExplorer beyond its powerful built in capablilites
Tabbed Folders
Listview Window – A secondary listview window that can be used identical to the fixed listview. Allows for a dual listview display if desired.
History Window
Folders Window – Ultra fast Folder treeview that is positionable anywhere in the application.
Filter Window
Command Line Window
Favorites Window
Drop Stack Window

Keyboard shortcuts are available to launch selected actions even faster. Hundreds of shortcuts can be mapped to keyboard shortcuts with dozens already available by default. It is for example possible to create folders and new tabs or to copy and move files with keyboard shortcuts. The interface can be customized by dragging and dropping menus with the mouse. Additional customizations are available in the menus and options to display only the menus and options that the user wants to use.

It certainly takes some time to get accustomed to the new options and possibilities that Ultra Explorer offers. Even experienced users may need their time to use the full potential of the software program. Ultra Explorer can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Tags: portable software, ultra explorer, windows software, windows-explorer

Completely Remove Windows Live Messenger From The Computer System

Martin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:55:50 +0000

There are situations where users are stuck with a version of Windows Live Messenger on their computer system that they cannot uninstall or update. This might have been caused by data corruption, a computer virus or other malicious software or the deletion of files or configuration entries. Manual removal is usually a solution but it requires lots of time with the danger of deleting data that is still needed on the system.

There are a few programs that can completely remove Windows Live Messenger from a computer system. These programs work in a similar fashion like the antivirus software removers that remove files and Registry entries from installed antivirus solutions from the computers system.

Here are the programs that can completely remove Windows Live Messenger:

Zap Messenger

Zap Messenger is a portable software program for the Windows operating system. It can not only uninstall Windows Live Messenger but also MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger 5.x. Zap Messenger requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0.

With all this in mind, I developed ZapMessenger – the one step tool to completely remove Windows Live Messenger, MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger 5.x. The first thing ZapMessenger will do is attempt to cleanly uninstall Messenger normally and if that fails for any reason, it will forcibly remove Messenger from the Windows Installer engine allowing you to reinstall at your leisure without hindrance.

Windows Live Messenger Uninstaller

Windows Live Messenger Uninstaller is another software program to remove Windows Live Messenger from the computer system. The portable program supports Windows Live Messenger and MSN Messenger installations which it can uninstall from the system.

Windows Live Messenger Deep Clean

The third program that can remove Windows Live Messenger is a tiny script which can be downloaded from Rapidshare. It will uninstall Windows Live Messenger and the Sign In Assistant including data and program folders, objects, contact store data, temp files and Registry keys.

Tags: portable software, windows live, windows live messenger, windows live messenger uninstaller, windows software, wlm deepclean, zap messenger

Privacy Software CCleaner 2.25 Released

Martin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:22:19 +0000

The privacy software CCleaner is one of the most popular programs to clean traces on a computer system left by applications, the user and the operating system itself. The program was recently released in version 2.25 adding support for Windows Server 2008 R2, better Windows 7 support (jumplist and thumbnail cache cleaning), better 64-bit support and performance and several other interesting features. the complete changelog for this version of CCleaner is available below:

Improved Windows 7 jump list cleaning.
Improved Windows 7 thumbnail cache cleaning.
Added support for Windows Server 2008 R2.
Improved 64-bit support and performance.
Fixed issue with Windows 7 task scheduler.
Fixed issue with Startup tool, displaying incorrect folder contents.
Added support for AVG Antivirus 9.0.
Added support for ExcludeKey in INI files.
Improved support for wildcards and RECURSE/REMOVESELF.
Fixed minor GUI bugs in non-English versions.
Fixed minor GUI usability issues.
Improved input validation.
Lots of minor bugs fixed.

The new version of CCleaner is as usual available as an installer (which tries to add the Yahoo toolbar), a portable version and a slim version which both come without the toolbar. The program can be downloaded directly from the homepage of the developers where it is available for all supported operating systems.

Tags: ccleaner, portable software, privacy software, windows software

Windows Device Manager Alternative

Martin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:31:08 +0000

DevManView is a Device Manager alternative for the Windows operating system. Regulars might already have noticed that the program is another Nirsoft application. The program comes with the usual traits of every Nirsoft programs including portability, the usual table layout and export options. The Windows Device Manager works but does not offer a good overview or exporting features which might be needed in certain situations. There is for example no option to change the tree-view to another view mode.

The portable application offers a flat view mode for all devices that are currently connected to the operating system. The data can be sorted in various ways by clicking on one of the columns of the table. Listed are information like the device name, manufacturer, service, device type code, the driver version, description, date or inf file.

Another option that is not available in the standard Windows Device Manager is the ability to enable, disable or uninstall multiple devices at once. DevManView can also list the devices of a remote computer if the current user has administrator rights on that computer system as well.

All or selected devices can be saved to a text file. Another option is the generation of an html report which will create a html file with detailed information about all or selected devices.

DevManView is an alternative to the Windows Device Manger. It is fully portable, supports 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows and compatible with most Windows operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It can be downloaded from the Nirsoft website.

Tags: device-manager, devmanview, nirsoft, portable software, windows software

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