Software
Review of: |
| Another
utility issue. Ho hum. Seen one, seen em' all. Right? Maybe not. Besides,
with the constant evolution of the computer industry, and the Internet,
a useful utility today is useless tomorrow. One used under Windows does
not work under Linux, etc. Even a great tool under Windows 95/98 is probably
a poor one under Windows 2000, if it works at all. If you use utilities,
and almost everyone does, it is necessary to keep them upgraded, or replaced.
I have a few that are the traditional type that you will be familiar with, and others that I call utilities because they have become as useful and indispensable as the normal ones. The standard ones include file managers, Windows manipulators, security, and Internat helpers. Non standard ones are informational based. They are useful for Internat security, new products, desktop design, network operations and security, and just plain ole help! File management, as with almost everything Windows, can use some improvement.
Let's start with a golden oldie, right from Microsoft, Regclean.
Perhaps the single most problem area in Windows is the Registry. Think
of it as the index, or table of contents. If those are scrambled, try to
find your way around. As you use Windows, it adulterates the Registry with
references to applications no longer present, and incorrectly references
existing applications. When I installed Windows 95 some years ago, I spent
some $18.00 on a long distance phone call to an individual (who shall remain
unnamed) who worked on the original programming for the Registry. I had
traced a problem I believed was in the Registry, and he agreed. I will
not go into all we discussed here (I might save that for another article,
as it was very informative!), but that is when I learned about Regclean.
He said it was to be included in Windows, but they were so far behind with
deployment, many parts were left to a "patch kit". Regclean attempts to
remove unneeded entries, along with potentially problematic items. The
results are not as good as Norton, but then this one is free.
As long as you are there, you might as well get Powertoys. These are also items that should have been included in WIndows, but were not. Powertoys allow you to manipulate a number of Windows functions. If these are in Windows 98, please excuse me. I do not have, nor am I going to buy another Microsoft alleged operating system. For those still running 95, get these two MS tools. Download them from <http://www.microsoft.com> (use the search function on the web site, as they have been moved from time to time). Powerarchiver is like PKZIP, or Winzip. It compresses and uncompressed files, and allows manipulating those files just as the other two do. The difference is it is free. Download from <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads> (use the site search and look for Powerarchiver v 5.5) It is approximately 1.9MB in download size. HDValet is next up. Ever notice all the .bak, .chk, .tmp, etc. files on your drive? New installs leave these all the time. With HDValet, just tell it to clean all the files with those extensions. Neat and clean. It is about 616KB in download size. Download it from: <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads>. Search for HDValet v1.1. It is also free. A tool I use probably more than any other is another ZDNET Free utility called Dupeless. (Many of these were written by Neil Rubenking). Dupeless searches all drives and partitions for duplicate files. It is the best of this type I have tried. It searches by name, file size, date, etc., and is pretty accurate. When finished searching, it displays the results in a chart style format that is easy to read. It allows you to remove the files quickly, and provides a backup in case you remove the wrong file. Neat tool! Download from <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads>. Search for Dupeless v1.2. Need a utility to make a large size file fit on a floppy, and a compression utility doesn't help? Try Slice and Splice, another ZDNET freebie. This will split a file into a size that will fit onto multiple disks, and reassemble it later. I used it to send a birthday photo I had used Metacreations tools on. The resulting image was too large to place in the e-mail box of the recipient, so I split it up into multiple chunks, and sent it over a couple of days. Worked great. It is about 11KB in download size. Download v1.3: <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads>. Powerquest has a terrific tool to move an application from one partition or drive to another, called Magicmover. A similar tool that is free is called Change of Address. It has fewer frills, but software is expensive, and any help is welcome. COA moves an application easily, allowing more room on a drive. This is useful because most applications install on drive (partition) C:. This results in filling up the root drive. COA is about 296KB in download size. Download v1.01 from: <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads>. Last of the file/drive managers, is BCWipe. For those unaware, when you delete a file, you only remove the reference to that file from the FAT (File Allocation Table). The actual file remains on the drive until overwritten. That is how file recovery tools are able to recover data. To be sure you remove a file permanently, you need a utility to nuke it. BCWipe will overwrite the file many times, and effectively render it unusable. Another ZDNET freeebie, it is about 509KB to download. Download v2.28 from: <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads>. Ever run into something on a web site and wonder what the heck it is? How about an interactive helper that sits in the background and only needs a right click on the item to pop up that help. Try a goodie called Gurunet. It is free for download from: <http://www.gurunet.com/try.html>. Having problems with unruly items during startup? Some of the offending items can be very difficult to find. Startup Cop to the rescue. Crank it up and locate the items loading during startup. This allows you to try removing the potential offenders one at a time, until you find the one causing the problem. Like all the other utilities I have mentioned so far, it is easy to use, and effective. Download about 528KB of v1.01 from: <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads>. With all the name search engines available, why use anything else? The main search engines don't work very well! They tend to refer you to paid sites instead of finding your answer. Try a free utility called Ferret. It is actually several search engines in a suite. called Ferret Power Pak, comprised of Web Ferret, E-Mail Ferret, File Ferret, Info Ferret, IRC Ferret, News Ferret, and Phone Ferret. They are customizable, and effective. Download 4165KB from: <http://www.zdnet.com/downloads>. Last of the standard utilities is Winamp. I know some of you are thinking this is a player, not a utility. I say otherwise. With all the problems I have had with MS Media player, I wanted something that will play the various media types without crashing and trashing. Winamp fills the bill. Easy to use, and in my experience, far less trouble than Media Player. Download 2060KB of the latest version for free from: <http://www.winamp.com>. If ZDNET is busy, you can also download many if not all of these from either: <http://www.tucows.com>, or <http://www.jumbo.com>. Now lets try the non standard utilities. Need to find information about the chipset or BIOS on your motherboard for an upgrade? There is a web site that can help. It can appear confusing, but really isn't. Go to: <http://www.ping.be/bios/index.html?http://www.ping.be/bios/numbers.shtml>. How many times have you seen something and asked "what is that"? Simply go to the web site and ask. Got to: < http://www.whatis.com>. Would you like to get in on trying some beta software? There is a site that carries the latest news along with available beta tests. Try: <http://betanews.com>. A nice site that provides help for the asking, and does it for free
with volunteers (like Alamo PC), is NoWonder. Go to their web site
and type in your question. They will answer by e-mail, and the answers
are better than you get from many computer and software companies. Go to:
<http://www.nowonder.com>.
Tired of the boring desktop? How about a different wallpaper everyday?
You can download a free application that will download different photos
that you choose from their web site. The photos are spectacular and varied.
Easily set up, it even reminds you to get new photos. Download from: <http://webshots.com>.
With the slow integration of the so called broadband access systems, namely
cable and ADSL, I found a useful site. I have ADSL, so the site I check
out is directed tow that system. It contains information in depth on ADSL.
Go to: <http://www.dslprime.com>.
The last group is all on security. Computer security is becoming a daily struggle to keep intruders out, and your privacy private. I have a list of sites to look at that might appear to be nothing more than a list of "hackersites". You know, those people causing all the security problems. Maybe so, maybe not. The reason you should take a look, is to educate yourself on all the potential methods used to infiltrate and infect computer systems. Major companies, like the Fortune 500 companies check out these sites regularly. These are valuable sites, as they display information you can use to protect your home and business systems. If you are a systems administrator for your company, you especially should check these and others out to stay up to date on what is happening in the computer industry. They contain a wealth of information on both problems and solutions. Two of the well known sites are LOPHT, and Cult of the Dead Cow. You may have seen both these on television, including LOPHT testifying before Congress. The others are not as well known to the general public, but are well known to the industry. The list follows.
Hope some of these help. If nothing else, if you're not real careful, you might learn something.
I learned my lesson about losing my temper with inanimate object frustration some years ago when I drove my fist into a VCR that had eaten a favorite tape. Every time I feel like doing likewise to my computer, dollar signs flash in my mind. Russell Albach |