gHacks technology news » system http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:31:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Computer System Monitor GKrellM http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/29/computer-system-monitor-gkrellm/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/29/computer-system-monitor-gkrellm/#comments Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:20:51 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/29/computer-system-monitor-gkrellm/ gkrellm logoComputer system monitors come in all shapes and sizes. Most of them run on the computer desktop where they provide quick access to realtime system information like the computer’s cpu, computer memory and hard drive usage. GKrellM for Windows is a computer system monitor that can display this and many more information in a compact window that can be moved around freely on the computer desktop.

computer system monitor

GKrellM can also display the current date and time, Internet connection and network speed, file system information, battery display, uptime and email account information besides the already mentioned cpu, computer memory and hard drive usage. Each of the available information can be disabled in case they are not needed to reduce the overall size of the system monitor.

There are several settings which can be changed for every system component that is monitored. This ranges from layout changes for the time and date to different charts but also options that can be configured. Options are for example alerts if the system load or computer memory usage reaches a limit or to select a different animation for incoming emails.

A reduction of modules that are displayed in the computer system monitor reduces the memory and cpu usage of the program as well which many will find beneficial. The program with all options and modules enabled uses roughly 20 Megabytes of computer memory. The software program is available for both the Windows and Linux operating system (Linux system monitor review by Jack)

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/29/computer-system-monitor-gkrellm/feed/ 6 Display The Installed Codecs On A System http://www.ghacks.net/2008/06/25/display-the-installed-codecs-on-a-system/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/06/25/display-the-installed-codecs-on-a-system/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:24:48 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=5108 Normally users check video files and their required codecs to make sure the file plays properly on their system. But there are some users – including myself – who want to know the codecs that are installed on a system. This is useful for compatibility and playback reasons, for example to make sure that a video is always using a specific codec for playback.

Installed Codec (via Shell Extension City) is another fine NirSoft tool that displays all installed codecs of a Windows 2000, 2003, XP or Vista system in a table. All meaning all Codec drivers and DirectShow but not binary codecs which are used by some applications like MPlayer.

The software lists the name of the codec, its installation path and file, the company that developed it and if it is enabled on the system. Each codec in the list can be disabled which has the effect that this codec will not be used to play the supported multimedia files. Excellent if you want to make sure that a specific codec is playing certain videos.

installed codec

Removing some of the installed codecs can be achieved by disabling the codecs first and checking if the videos still play fine. If that is the case I would temporarily move them to another directory and if nothing bad happens delete them from the system. Most of the codecs installed on my Windows XP system are from Nero 8 which is kinda strange because I have not installed all those additional converters and tools that come with it. The codecs seem to get installed nevertheless.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/06/25/display-the-installed-codecs-on-a-system/feed/ 6 Icon Search Engine http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/23/icon-search-engine/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/23/icon-search-engine/#comments Fri, 23 May 2008 15:48:37 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=4241 If you do not like to create your own icons with a program like IcoFX Icon Editor you can use the Icon Look search engine instead which provides an easy to use interface and search. The main interface consists of a search form and three links in the footer. The search results are quickly displayed after entering a search term and hitting enter or clicking on the Look button.

By default icons of all supported sizes (12×12 16×16 22×22 32×32 48×48 64×64 128×128) are selected and displayed in the search results. Each size can be unchecked so that only those icons are displayed that have the desired size. Many icons are available in several sizes.

A click on an icon loads a detailed profile page of that icon displaying it in all available sizes. The license and the website of the developer is listed on that page as well.

iconlook

Iconlook offers two additional search options. The first is the random search which displays random icons on the result page. The second is a tag cloud which is huge and kinda confusing.

Still if you are looking for icons you will definitely find a great selection at Iconlook.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/23/icon-search-engine/feed/ 3 Forget the Windows Start Menu Use Toolbox instead. http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/25/forget-the-windows-start-menu-use-toolbox-instead/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/25/forget-the-windows-start-menu-use-toolbox-instead/#comments Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:18:46 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/25/forget-the-windows-start-menu-use-toolbox-instead/ The Windows start menu is not really excellent when you want to find something fast. It always takes some clicks to reach the destination – be it a program, the control panel or a drive that is connected to your computer. Toolbox was designed as a application launcher that makes it easier to access drives, folders and applications in Windows. It uses an intuitive way to display toolboxes that contain links to everything that you can think off. You can link to drives and display their size, launch applications with one click and open folders with another. Access to those elements can’t be faster in Windows.

The best thing is that you customize the toolboxes anyway you want. Add icons, make the toolbox transparent, let it remain always on top, use background images and much more to make it look the way you want it. I’m using it to display all of my drives and their free space in the left corner of my desktop. Clicking on a drive opens the root folder of that drive and displays the contents.

toolbox

Toolbox is free and does not need to be installed at all. Just unpack it into a folder of your choice and run it from there. You can create two toolboxes that use predefined elements using the Wizard. One creates a toolbox with all of your drives and the other one with all your personal folders. If you do not want to use those you can create a new toolbox, change its size and add elements to it.

Looks good, feels good, one of the applications that I can recommend to every Windows user.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2007/03/25/forget-the-windows-start-menu-use-toolbox-instead/feed/ 5 Auto Window Manager http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/08/auto-window-manager/ http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/08/auto-window-manager/#comments Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:07:17 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/08/auto-window-manager/ The freeware Auto Window Manager adds additional functionality to the way windows manages the windows it displays. You could for instance customize that whenever a program opens it opens in maximized, minimized or default state. This setting should work with most programs and windows, i tried it with firefox and thunderbird for example.

That is of course not all that auto window manager can do. It is able to change the way windows reacts when you click on the minimize button. You may send minimized windows to the tray instead of sending them to the task bar. This is great if you want to run a program in the background and don’t want that it wastes some space in the task bar. You may also configure windows to stay on top all of the time.

Another nice option is the transparency one that gives you a similar transparency effect that windows vista ships with. You may choose a transparency rate between 0% which means no transparency to 100% which means absolutely transparent.

Last but not least you may specify a location where the windows should appear on your desktop. All options are accessible when you right-click the window.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2006/11/08/auto-window-manager/feed/ 4 Crap Cleaner Freeware http://www.ghacks.net/2005/11/26/crap-cleaner-freeware/ http://www.ghacks.net/2005/11/26/crap-cleaner-freeware/#comments Sat, 26 Nov 2005 09:50:29 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=179 CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system – allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less that a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware.

A new version was released yesterday which added support for Open Office and Nero Burning Rom Cleaning, this is a great tool, make sure you try it out.

crap cleaner delete files system manage secure spy privacy crap cleaner delete files system manage secure spy privacy

Cleans:

* Internet Explorer Cache, History, Cookies, Index.dat.
* Recycle Bin, Temporary files and Log files.
* Recently opened URLs and files.
* Third-party application temp files and recent file lists (MRUs). Including: Firefox, Opera, Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Office XP, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and more…
* Advanced Registry scanner and cleaner to remove unused and old entries. Including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more… Backup for registry clean.
* Windows Startup tool.

link to homepage

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