Do you work with .pdf files and need more horsepower than the freeware version of Adobe Acrobat provides?  Below are three products that might interest you with a description by the developers.  Find them at  ZDNet .

• PdfFactory. 

pdfFactory is a Windows printer driver that creates fully compatible Adobe PDF files. Documents can easily be combined using the pdfFactory preview and pages can be deleted and inserted easily. An e-mail button makes it easy to send your PDF files to others. Other features include full font embedding and image compression.

• PDF-Xchange. 

We have extensively improved compatibility with a number of Applications - AutoCad,Macromedia Fireworks, Delphi, Word, Excel, WordPerfect and many more. Resolved problems with some Long Fonts names and set compression defaults - as users were not setting these and thinking that the compression was faulty - this dramatically improves file sizes in the default mode and lots more. Also allows new licensing for Corporates and a new Academic Site License available for schools and colleges etc." This program costs $29.50 to register and there is a watermark displayed on image.

• DaVince Tools. 

DaVince Tools features a group of standalone applications that create PDF files. Other features included in these applications are file compression, text reflow, and large file support. You can run applications as command-line programs in a DOS window under Windows 9x. Tools include TIFF to PDF, text to PDF, and 2D Maze generation in PDF. The previous update enhanced the TIFF to PDF and text to PDF. Version 1.2 adds support for tiled TIFF files and comparability with Acrobat Capture for tiff2pdf. It also adds automatic removal of leading and trailing blank pages for txt2pdf.In addition to TIFF and text file support, version 1.3 adds support for JPEG to PDF conversion. Also, all converters now support one to one PDF conversion and use of a command file for batch conversion. This is a 30-day trial version and will leave a watermark on files until registered. The cost to register is $40.

Installing and uninstalling programs can be a problem for those of us who like to try new programs off the Internet.  How do you know all the files are actually removed?  Over the years I’ve formatted more than my share of hard drives because I couldn’t get rid of files.  Three programs listed below will help avoid hard drive dementia.  They can be located at ZDNet .

• Ashampoo UnInstaller 2000. 

This program monitors your system as software is installed, allowing complete removal of all traces of monitored apps from the system. The program also offers simple removal of existing applications not monitored by Ashampoo, as well as fast detection and deletion of duplicate files. You must register this shareware version in order to get a trial key to use the 30-day trial.
 
• Uninstall Manager. 

This application lets you check all new additions to your system (even those without installation monitoring), and easily remove unwanted software. Features include Check Overwrite and Quick Clean, as well as a Show File Icons option. Version 3.21 now supports Windows Me, and has made changes to the view panel. Shortcut to system restore has also been added. Files per drive were extended to 500,000 files. Also includes minor bug fixes. This download is a 30-day trial version. The cost to register is $12.95.
 
• InCtrl5. 

This is the fifth incarnation of one of the most popular PC Magazine utilities. By monitoring the changes made to your system when you install new software, it enables you to troubleshoot any unexpected problems that come up. Virtually every modern program uses an install utility that installs or updates files, and also may record data in the Registry, and update INI files or other essential text files. A companion uninstall utility should precisely reverse the effects of the install utility. When a newly installed program causes existing applications to fail, or when the supplied uninstall utility can't complete its task, to restore your system you need a record of exactly what the original install utility did. InCtrl5 can provide this record. This new version offers a variety of new features, including an attractive new interface, the ability to track changes to text files such as AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS, HTML reports, and command-line switches. If you are running Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 95, you will need Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher to preview HTML reports within the program. InCtrl5 was written by Neil J. Rubenking and first appeared in PC Magazine, December 5, 2000. Source code is included.