ryanspicks (freeware reviews)

7-zip (file archiver)

2007-08-07T13:46:00.000-07:00

7-zip is an open-source file archiver with high compression ratio. It can compress your files using a variety of methods, such as 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR. It can also extract RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO and NSIS archives.

Like other file archives you may be used to, 7-zip can integrate into the windows shell and it also has a command-line version. 7-ZIP also offers some advantages over other windows based archive programs such as winzip and winrar:

Open-source - You can read and modify the program source code.

Cross-platform - You can run 7-zip on any modern operating system (Windows, Linux, OS X, and so on)

No registration - There are no annoying splash screens or nagging registration pop-ups

Provides a compression ratio that is 2-10% better than PKZIP and WINZIP provide for ZIP and GZIP archives.

Note that you can register 7-zip if you want to support it by clicking Help->About 7-Zip->register in the 7-Zip File manager but it’s not a requirement and it will never bug you to.

There are two basic ways you can associate certain file types with 7-zip. The easiest way is to open up the 7-zip file manager and choose Tools->Options and in the System tab choose the file extensions you want to associate with 7-zip. This will make it so files ending in those extensions are automatically opened in the 7-Zip file manager for extraction. If you choose to add the associations manually by the standard MS Windows way of right-clicking on a file, choosing “open with”, selecting the “always open files of this type with this program” and then browse for the 7-zip program then make sure you select C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7zFM.exe. There are two other binaries in the 7-Zip installation folder that could confuse you and they are called 7z.exe and 7zG.exe; so make sure to use 7zFM.exe (FM means File Manager)

It is possible that 7-Zip can handle all your file archiving needs but you may run into some files that were compressed using Winzip and they won’t always be compatible with 7-Zip. I personally haven’t came across this issue but just be aware of it.

To extract all the files of an archive first click Edit->Select All and then click the 'Extract' Button.

TortoiseSVN (source code control system)

2007-08-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

TortoiseSVN can be thought of as a Win32 GUI front end to the source code control system Subversion, which is an open-source software engineering tool to allow developers to easily maintain their projects.

Once you install Subversion via Windows Installer, grab the TortoiseSNV Installer. You can of course just use the svn command-line tool that comes with Subversion but there are some benefits for using TortoiseSVN instead. For one, TortoiseSVN allows you to work completely in a Graphical User Interface to manage your projects, but it does more than that; TortoiseSVN is basically a shell add-on to the windows shell, which means you can right-click on any file/folder in windows–be it on the Desktop or from within Windows Explorer–and you will have access to TortoiseSVN via the pop-up menu. What’s more is, only commands that make sense for the selected file/folder are shown. You won’t see any commands that you can’t use in your situation!

Here’s a couple hints to make your life easier:

When you install Subversion note that the client runs on Win9x/Me but the server does not. If you use Win9x/Me then add the following line to your autoexec.bat:
SET APR_ICONV_PATH=”C:\Program Files\Subversion\iconv” (or whatever your path to it is if not this)
(Don’t forget to reboot windows for the changes to take effect after you edit your autoexec.bat)

When you install Subversion it comes with documentation, which is actually the official book on Subversion. It will be in .chm format (Compiled HTML) but you can get other versions, like PDF (if you want to print it out) or both single page or multi-page HTML versions to download for off-line viewing from here. Trust me, you will want to read this if you’re new to Subversion–at least chapters 2, 3, and 1–in that order. That site also has dead-tree versions for sale.

If you’re not a programmer but still want to use TortoiseSVN then check out this tutorial.

imgv (image viewer)

2006-06-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

imgv is a unique and feature rich Image Viewer. It is released as free software with full sourcecode.

Features include a GUI that doesn't get in the way of viewing your images, a file browser, slideshows, zooming, rotating, on-the-fly Exif viewing, histograms, fullscreen support, wallpaper setting, the ability to view 4 images on the screen at once, adjustable thumbnail sizes, playlists, view and download images from Web sites, movie playing, file searching/filtering, multiple directory loading, transitional effects, image hiding and more.

I actually wrote this program myself and have been working on it since the summer of 2001. It's the only image viewer I use because it's fast, has features that other image viewers don't support that I like and it can run on other operating systems besides just Windows.

Here's a screenshot of imgv I took where I'm using it to view a picture of my old cat with it:

Check out the documentation to quickly learn how to use it.

http://imgv.sourceforge.net

KeePass (password manager)

2006-05-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

KeePass is a free, light-weight and easy to use password safe. You have many passwords to remember these days but you don't want to use easy to memorize passwords because they're easy to crack. This program allows you to generate very secure passwords and not have to remember any of them except one master password. It also highly encrypts your passwords (and usernames) so you won't have to worry about anyone getting ahold of them.

I've tried many "password safes" and KeePass is by far my favorite. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish) and it uses SHA-256 as the master password hash. It also protects you from keyloggers by never making you type out your password. It even has in-memory password protection so physical password scanners won't reveal your passwords. It has a host of great features that you should read up on its Web site.

Some people rely on saving all their passwords in their Web browser but the problem with this is that they're extremely easy to find if anyone has access to your system and it encourages you to choose bad passwords. Plus if you reinstall your operating system or try to access your accounts from another computer you'll be out of luck. So a good password manager is the right way to go.h You can configure KeePass to always sit minimized in your system tray and whenever you need to sign onto an account just pop it open and drag the appropriate password into the password field to log in to your accounts.

http://keepass.sourceforge.net/

EZBack-it-up (personal file backup utility)

2006-05-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

EZBack-it-up is a personal file backup utility. It is designed to be very easy to learn and use. It is not an archival tool that compresses all your files and folders into one file, but instead, it copies your data to a destination of your choice where you can readily access your backed up files any time you need. All directory structure is preserved and you can optionally choose to delete files from the target that are not in the source. EZBack-it-up includes a built-in scheduler, command-line switches, logging functionality, and more.

Features:
:: Fast. Compares over 3500 files in less than 3 seconds! (1.2 GHz Athlon under XP)
:: Efficient. Incremental style backup - only backs up files if they were created or modified since the previous backup.
:: Full logging. Detailed logs provide you with peace of mind about your data's safety.
:: Scheduler. Built-in scheduler allows for scheduled backups. Command-line switches give additional flexibility.
:: Free. No nags, no registration, just free.
:: All Windows platforms. 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP

This utility makes it so easy to backup my files that I no longer have any excuse to not do it.

http://www.rdcomp.net/ezbackitup/

Wake-on-Lan (remotely wake up a computer)

2006-05-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

Wake-on-Lan (WoL) is both a hardware and software solution to allow a computer to be woken up remotely.

Much like a modern television set, a computer that is Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI) compliant can be turned on remotely, note that while you can currently only turn your television set on from within a certain distance WoL allows you to remotely start a computer from anywhere in the world, that is as long as it has an internet connection.

WoL works by sending what's called a "magic packet" (no joke). When your PC shuts down, the NIC still gets power, and keeps listening on the network for a 'magic' packet to arrive. The basic premise is that a specifically formatted packet send over a network is send to every network card and identifying features in this packet allow the network card to identify that the magic packet is intended for it. All the other cards therefore reject or rather dispose of the packet. It is analogous to standing in a crowded room of people and shouting out somebody's name, where nobody in the room has the same name, although everybody would hear you hopefully the only person to answer would be the person who's name you have just called out.

This only works with network cards and motherboards that are Wake on LAN compliant. For more information on this and links to download the software check out:

http://www.depicus.com/wake-on-lan/wake-on-lan-gui.aspx
http://www.depicus.com/wake-on-lan/what-is-wake-on-lan.aspx
http://www.hackernotcracker.com/2006-04/wol-wake-on-lan-tutorial
http://gsd.di.uminho.pt/jpo/software/wakeonlan/mini-howto/

Foxit Reader (freeware PDF reader)

2006-05-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

Foxit Reader is a great alternative to Adobe Reader for reading and printing your PDF files because it's much lighter, faster and friendlier.

Foxit Reader is very fast, it loads up in a second and without any splash screens. Foxit doesn't even require you to install it, you just run the standalone .exe, so it's perfect for putting on a disk and using on other computers.

It's also a lot easier to configure than Adobe Reader. For example, in Adobe Reader if wanted to change the background color of the reader from the default white, to another color, you would have to go into 'Edit->Preferences->Accessibility' and replace the document colors that way; this isn't very intuitive and took me a while to figure out. However, in Foxit Reader all you have to do is go to 'Edit->preferences->Document Colors'.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

SIW (freeware system information display tool)

2006-05-09T22:50:00.000-07:00

SIW is my favorite Windows System Information display program.

SIW (System Information for Windows) is a program that performs computer configuration analysis and diagnostics. It gives detailed information about your computer properties and settings, detailed specs for CPU, motherboard, chipset, BIOS, CPU, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP devices, memory, monitor, video card, disk drives, CD/DVD devices, SCSI devices, S.M.A.R.T., ports, network cards, printers, operating system, installed programs and hotfixes, processes, services, serial numbers (CD keys), users, open files, system uptime, network, network shares, as well as real-time monitors for CPU, memory, page file usage and network traffic. It displays currently active network connections, passwords hidden behind asterisks, installed codecs, and more.

This program also creates a report file, and is able to run in batch mode.

Everest - Home Edition used to be my favorite system information tool but the company that makes it decided to stop developing the free version. I've also tried other ones like Fresh Diagnose but I like SIW much better; and it doesn't require installation or registration either.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/about_siw.html

SpywareBlaster, Ad-Aware, Spybot-S&D, Windows Defender (freeware anti-spyware software)

2006-05-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

I'm recommending all four of these anti-spyware tools because they make a great team to keep you spyware/adware free.

Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet fight very well. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you don't see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behavior to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies.

SpywareBlaster

SpywareBlaster doesn't scan for and clean spyware--it prevents it from being installed in the first place. SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted programs. It can also block spyware/tracking cookies in IE and Mozilla/Firefox, and restrict the actions of spyware/ad/tracking sites. With the built-in Check for Updates feature, you can help ensure your protection is up-to-date. SpywareBlaster also includes a System Snapshot feature, which lets you take a snapshot of your computer in its clean state and later revert, undoing many changes made by spyware and browser hijackers.
To use SpywareBlaster:
1) Open SpywareBlaster
2) Click on the "Enable All Protection" link under Quick Tasks on the main screen.
3) Exit the program - you're done!

SpywareBlaster does not need to remain open for its protection to be active!

You might be thinkng that SpywareBlaster should be enough since it prevents spyware but it's goal is to prevent you attaining spyware while surfing the Web--and there's more ways to get spyware than just the web--plus there's no way to be sure it can truly prevent all web based spyware. So also scan your system with the programs mentioned below.

Ad-Aware

Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware Personal provides advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components.

:: Scans fixed and removable drives, memory and Windows registry.
:: Detects known and unknown variants of malware by using the Code Sequence Identification (CSI) technology.
:: Removes aggressive spyware and malicious content.
:: Logs information about scans and malicious content removals.

Spybot-S&D

Spybot-S&D (Search & Destroy) can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. To see a list of threats that Spybot-S&D can remove, click on Support in the navigation bar at the left, and there on Threats.

Spybot-S&D can start in two modes: Easy mode for new users who want just the basic features, and Advanced mode for professional users and those who want more control. Both modes are available in the free version. For a list of the features that are available in the different modes click here

Windows Defender

Windows Defender is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected, and a new streamlined interface that minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive.

Tips

If you can't see a download link for Windows Defender on its web site it's because you have to use the Internet Explorer web browser, since it's on microsoft.com and Microsoft doesn't want to support other browsers than their own. I am proud of Microsoft for finally caring enough about security to provide this fine and free security tool.

These four programs, along with using Firefox when you surf the web--and being careful of programs you download and install--should be more than enough to keep you adware/spyware free. Beyond them you can manually check if you have any spyware with a process probing tool such as Process Explorer; doing an online virus/spyware scan with Housecall (note: this scans very slowly); using an anti-malware tool such as Ewido; and if you're more advanced, definitely check out Hijack This (Read this and this tutorial first)

I also highly recommend that you use a program called DropMyRights which is a tool that allows administrators to run internet-facing applications (such as email clients and web browsers) as a non-administrator.

If your system is already totally infested with spyware and you're not a Windows expert I recommend that you backup your important files, format your harddrive and reinstall--then use these tools from a fresh system. Unfortunately, you can't just rely on anti-spyware applications to completely save you from all the evils of the world.

Read this article if you use FireFox.

Remember that security is all about having the latest updates and patches for your security software--so make sure to update these things all the time!

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware
http://www.spybot.info
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software

EvilLyrics (freeware lyrics search and play tool)

2006-05-04T16:28:00.000-07:00

EvilLyrics automatically searches for lyrics as your song is played in your player (supports: Foobar2000, Winamp, Windows Media Player, iTunes, Real Player, MusicMatch or QCD)

EvilLyric's Features

:: Searches over 15,000,000 lyrics and INCREDIBLY FAST.
:: Karaoke: create & share timestamps.
:: Stores lyrics for offline viewing.
:: Translates lyrics.
:: Allows searching for guitar chords, AMG profiles, album covers arts, posters etc.
:: Only 300 kB installation file.
:: Contains no spyware or adware and is free.

This program is anything but "Evil". Going to most lyrics websites is evil because they bombard you with popup ads and this puppy is ad and spyware free. EvilLyrics isn't the prettiest lyrics program yet, but it's free to use unlike others like minilyrics.

You can use EvilLyrics as a stand-alone program and just manually type artist names and song titles into it to have it instantly find and display the lyrics or you can have it automatically load lyrics as you're playing songs in your audio player.

Tips for Using EvilLyrics with foobar2000

If you've been reading my blog then you know foobar2000 is my favorite audio player, so naturally I'm going to tell you how to get EvilLyrics to work with it ;)

When you install EvilLyrics and tell it to install the foobar2000 plugin during the install it may say that it couldn't find the foobar2000 folder on your system. That's okay, just continue the installation.

All I needed to do to get EvilLyrics working with foobar2000 0.9 was to install the special Winamp API file foo_winamp_spam.dll into the folder: C:\Program Files\foobar2000\Components\ Read more here if you want. The recommended things they say to do here weren't necessary. However, you may want to play around with it anyway if it's still not working for you or your version.

The file foo_winamp_spam.dll mimics basic Winamp API behavior so that EvilLyrics plugin can work right with foobar2000. If you go into "File->Preferences->Components" you'll see it listed as "Winamp API Emulator, module: foo_winamp_spam." Note that winamp does not need to be installed for this to work and I recommend not having winamp installed for foobar2000 to work properly anyway.

Once foo_winamp_spam.dll is installed in foobar2000's components folder you're set. Just load foobar2000 and EvilLyrics and start playing songs. The lyrics for the curerrently playing song will automatically be found and played in EvilLyrics. See my screenshot below:

(click to enlarge)

http://www.evillabs.sk/evillyrics/

Foobar2000 (freeware audio player)

2006-05-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

Foobar2000 is an awsome audio player that can play MP3, Ogg Vorbis, MP2, AAC, WAV, AIFF, Musepack, VOC and SND out-of-the-box. Through supported plugins it can also play TTA, FLAC, Monkey's Audio, WavPack, Speex, Mod, SPC, TFMX, Shorten, OptimFROG, LPAC, WMA, AC3, PSF, NSF, XID, XA and Matroska. It can not only play, it can also make a library, transcode files, rip CDs, ... the list goes on and on.

I was a Winamp fan for a long time but I wanted something less bloated, with a better interface and more powerful playlist features--and I definitely found it in foobar2000! This is by far the best mp3 player, in my opinion, and it's only in fairly early development (as I write this the latest version is v0.9.1) so it's only gonna get better and better and it's already great.

Unlike Winamp, foobar2000 won't try to install other software when you install it or ask you to pay for a "pro" version, nor will it try to break your ear drums by playing a sound file when you first load it, and it has more powerful playlist options. It currently can't play movies like Winamp can but there are much better movie players out there than Winamp anyway) If you wanted a bloated, all-in-one app to play movies, music, etc, then you're better off with using something like Media Jukebox.

Foobar's Main Features

:: Full unicode support.
:: Play music directly from compressed RAR, ZIP and 7-Zip archives without requiring the user to extract the files prior to playing.
:: Multiple playlists in tabbed windows.
:: Import .m3u (winamp) playlists.
:: Low memory footprint, efficient handling of really large playlists.
:: Music library.
:: Auto-play your CD's when you insert them into your CD-ROM drive.
:: Advanced file info processing capabilities (generic file info box and masstagger) - advanced tagging capabilities.
:: Support for transcoding all supported audio formats using the Converter component (requires external commandline encoder executables for different output formats).
:: ReplayGain support - both playback and calculation.
:: Customizable keyboard shortcuts.
:: Open component architecture allowing third-party developers to extend functionality of the player.
:: Highly customizable playlist display.
:: DSP components.
:: Streaming Support.
:: Gapless playback.

To give you an idea of how light foobar2000 is compared to something like Winamp look at the system requirements for Winamp:

:: CPU: 500MHz Pentium III or comparable (1.5 GHz Pentium IV or comparable recommended)
:: RAM: 64MB (128MB recommended)
:: 15MB to 30MB Hard Disk Space

And now the requirements for foobar2000:

:: CPU: 200 MHz, AMD K5 or Pentium or equivalent (500MHz Athlon or Pentium III recommended)
:: RAM: 32 MB
:: 5MB Hard Disk Space

Screenshot of me using foobar2000 (click to enlarge):

Notice by default there's no Winamp like skins that get in the way of being able to see the song titles and navigate the interface. You can make it look beautiful with custom color schemes and if you want, there are some skinnable interface plugins in development.

Some Tips

You can use the scroll-wheel on your mouse if you have one, to adjust the volume by hovering over the volume control (located on the bottom/right where it shows the dB (decibels).

If you want to be able to right-click on your files from within Windows Explorer to bring up a menu with an option that says "Play in foobar2000" or "Enqueue in foobar2000" then uninstall Winamp. Winamp seems to conflict and try to fight to even let you load files into foobar2000 even after you've associated your audio files with foobar2000. Once you've tried foobar2000 you probably won't see a need for Winamp anyway.

You can't currently enqueue a folder into foobar2000 from a right-click menu in Windows Explorer but you can just simply drag the folder into foobar2000 normally or, if you have your windows all maximized, you can drag the folder to the foobar2000 button on your task bar--making sure not to release the mouse button until foobar2000 automatically brings its main window into view--then release your cursor over the window to drop the files into queue. If foobar2000 isn't already open you can use this same idea by dragging the folder onto a blank area of the Windows toolbar and holding it there for a second, which auto loads the desktop, then drop the files over foobar2000's desktop icon.

You can download some equalizer presets here or here. Then just load them by clicking "View->Equalizer->Load Preset" from within foobar2000.

http://www.foobar2000.org/

VirtualDub (free video editing and capturing software) and XviD (mpeg-4 video codec)

2006-05-03T17:42:00.000-07:00

VirtualDub is a freeware video capture/processing utility for Windows. It isn't as powerful as a non-linear video editor such as Adobe Premiere, but is streamlined for fast linear operations over video--and well, it's free! It has batch-processing capabilities for processing large numbers of files and can be extended with third-party video filters. VirtualDub is mainly geared toward processing AVI files, although it can read (not write) MPEG-1 (but check out VirtualDubMod below) and also handle sets of BMP images.

If you have a digital camera that can make AVI format movies, VirtualDub can allow you to enhance them with its filters such as making them brighter with the levels filter and much more. You can also delete unwanted frames from the video easily with VirtualDub.

I highly recommand that you get the XviD codec. XviD is an open-source ISO MPEG-4 compliant video codec, designed to compress/decompress digital video. To use XviD with VirtualDub click "Video->Compression" and choose "XviD MPEG-4 Codec" from the list where it says "Select video compression". Make sure you do this before you save your edits with "File->Save as AVI". When you save with the XviD codec your AVI file sizes will be much smaller and will still be high quality!

Once you get the hang of VirtualDub you might want to try VirtualDubMod, for more specialized operations. VirtualDubMod is a unification of several popular modifications of the VirtualDub. Unification of three projects, VirtualDubMPeg2 (MPEG-2 support for SVCD, DVD, VOB, AC3, OGG Vorbis, VBR MP3 and experimental ASF/WMV parsing), VirtualDubOGM, VirtualDubAVS and more (such as Matroska support, multiple (>2) audio stream support for all output formats, and improved AviSynth integration).

With VirtualDubMod you can do cool things like change framerate and match video and audio durations if your sound is out of sync with the video. You can also multiplex AC3 audio into XviD or DivX movies. Read the FAQ for more info.

If you want a Smart Bitrate Control (SBC) method of encoding DivX (DivX3.11a) check out nandub for more specialized AVI editing--but read this first.

http://www.virtualdub.org/
http://www.xvid.org/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualdubmod
http://ndub.sourceforge.net/

EphPod (ipod software)

2006-05-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

If you dislike the bloated iTunes application you've probably wondered what a good alternative is...

EphPod is a full-featured, easy-to-use Windows (and Linux) application that connects with Apple's iPod. With a FireWire card and EphPod on a PC, it takes under 30 minutes to transfer 1,000 songs to an iPod. In addition, EphPod supports standard WinAmp (.M3U) playlists, includes powerful playlist creation features, and will synchronize an entire music collection with one click. It imports Microsoft Outlook contacts, in addition to allowing users to create and edit their own contacts. EphPod can also download the latest news, weather, e-books, and movie listings to an iPod. You can also easily add songs to EphPod playlists from within it by having it pop open a file browser dialog so you're not forced to drag-n-drop files into it.

EphPod is compatible with all iPods, either Mac* or Windows formatted, through firewire and USB connectors.

I was looking for an iTunes alternative and stumbled across Songbird Media Player, which is a pretty nice app, but it currently requires weird hacks and plugins to make it import playlists and work with iPods. EphPod is less bloated and works better out of the box. EphPod doesn't have any ads and its playlist features are greater than iTunes. Some people like YamiPod and it would be nice if it actually worked, but it's super slow and didn't work for me at all when I tried to import a playlist it just stalled forever and when I tried to drag files to the playlist it somehow copied the wrong ones and then it pops up windows asking for donations. You could also use Winamp but it requires the 3rd party plugin ml_ipod but I prefer not to have Winamp installed because it's bloated and conflicts with my favorite audio player for Windows.

That all being said I still wouldn't rush to uninstall iTunes because the alternatives aren't perfect either and you may find you still need it once in a while.

http://www.ephpod.com/

CCleaner (junk file cleaner and privacy tool)

2006-05-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

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. It's 100% spyware/adware/virus free too.

CCleaner stands for "Crap Cleaner" and it really just gets rid of your crap files, nothing you really need, so it's safe to use. This program is just so much better than anything else I've used, including software that cost money. It can let you set up custom folders to delete, remove files from 3rd party programs, remove programs that autoatically start when windows starts, uninstall programs you currently have, and even clean your windows registry safely.

Read the Quick Tour to see how cool and easy this program is.

What more could you ask for in a free program than for it to free up hard-drive space and protect your privacy--and do it super quickily, easily and safely? I love this thing and you will too :)

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Memtest86+ (memory tester)

2006-05-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Memtest86+ is a thorough, stand alone memory tester.

This program is an excellent way to find out if your RAM is bad--and needs to be replaced. Your memory can go bad, or even already be bad when you first bought it if it's cheap memory. So if you get blue screens, constant crashing of your software, and so forth, then you need to run memtest86 to find out if it's being caused by bad memory. Often, programs won't crash until the memory has hit a bad spot in your memory stick.

Memtest86+ isn't technically a Windows program because, since it's a standalone program, it doesn't require any operating system support for execution. It can be used with any PC (x86 platform) regardless of what operating system, if any, is installed. I'm mentioning this program on my blog because it's something that every computer user needs in my opinion. Running this diagnostic program can save you the time and money of paying someone in a repair shop to run this program for you, and since memtest86 is so easy to use, that would be a silly thing to do!

How to use Memtest86+
All you need to do is download memtest86+ and extract the ISO (image) file from the ZIP file. Then, using any CD-burning software you have, burn the image to a CD. Then just reboot with the CD in your drive and it will boot and run Memtest86 from the CD automatically. If the CD doesn't boot automatically then go into your system's BIOS and make sure you have CD-ROM to boot before your Hard drive. If it still doesn't boot then try making another boot image; I actually had this happen and had to burn it again for it to work because of a bad burn.

Once memtest86+ boots itself it will run automatically and start testing your memory. It will do 10 tests and then start over again, continuing forever until you stop it by hitting the Escape key. One complete test, called a pass, is all you really need to do. A complete test will take about 20-30 minutes.

I've made a screen shot of memtest86 running on my system so you can see how easy it works:

I drew black circles around the main things for you to notice while memtest86 is running. In my screen shot memtest86 is currently on Test #8 (8 out of 10) and there were 0 errors so far.

Remember, once you've completed Test #10, memtest86 will loop over and over forever until you hit the Escape key to stop it. Once you've exited the memtest86 just take the CD out of your drive and reboot Windows.

If memtest86 reports even just one error it probably means it's time to replace your memory stick(s). Don't get cheap memory! it's not worth trying to save money on memory, even good memory is cheap these days. Get a good brand like Crucial, Kingston, Corsair or Mushkin.

You might also want to consider getting a different freeware package called the Ultimate Boot CD because it comes with memtest, and memtest+ as well as a ton of other great programs that diagnose your machine and help fix it if you're crashing or locked out.

http://www.memtest.org/
http://www.memtest86.com/

Gaim (multi-protocol instant messaging client)

2006-04-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client.

I mainly use Gaim for AIM and Yahoo! messaging. It beats having two instances of the bloated standard AIM and Yahoo! clients running and it is just better than them for the reasons listed below.

Gaim is totally free (unlike DeadAIM) and is better than other Windows AIM clients because Gaim doesn't have ads, spyware, and let's you use multiple protocols such as Yahoo!, IRC, MSN, ICQ, Jabber and others (unlike AIM Triton); it has a very simple interface that supports themes; it has tabbed messaging windows that actually work right (unlike Trillian); and Gaim has many other great features that other clients like Miranda don't have, plus Gaim runs on more than just Windows so you don't have to learn and use a different IM client when you're using other operating systems.

To enable certain features in Gaim you need to go to "Tools->Preferences->Plugins" and check "Load" next to any plugin you want to use. Gaim comes with some standard plugins so you don't have to download them, just load them and you're good to go. Once you've loaded the plugin click its name in the preferences panel and then you can adjust its options.

Gaim's Features

Multiple Protocol Support
To use other protocols with Gaim such as MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber, ICQ, etc, just go to "Tools->Accounts" and add the account of the appropriate messaging service. Use the checkbox in the account editor to sign online. You will now see yourself logged onto multiple protocols in the buddylist.

Buddy Pounce
Gaim has a feature called Buddy Pounce whch is a like an event alert you can set on indidivual buddies and assign certain actions to take when these events occur. For example, you can make Gaim play a certain sound everytime your friend John signs on (kinda like ring tones). Buddy pounces can do more than play sounds though; read the manual for more info.

Finding
You can search for text in your conversations easily by clicking 'Conversation->Find' (or typing Ctrl+F) and entering a search string. Now you don't have to scroll up looking all over for things that were said in a conversation!

Spell Checking
Gaim has an optional spell checker.

Buddy Icons
To set your buddy icon go to the Account Editor (Tools->Accounts from the buddy list), and click to "Modify" the AIM/ICQ account you wish to have an icon. Enter the full path to the image you wish to use in the box labeled "Buddy Icon File." The file must be smaller than 4KB. It can have any dimensions, and can be in any format. However, if you wish Windows users to see it, it must be in a format Windows understands, such as .bmp, .gif, and .jpg.

Privacy
Gaim has many privacy settings, including invisibility. To go invisible click "Tools->Away->account->Invisible."

Transparent Buddylist and IM Windows
If you load the transparency plugin that comes with Gaim you can adjust the alpha (transparency/opacity) of both your buddylist and your IM window. You can also choose whether you want to show others that you've been idle based on your IM activity or your Operating System activity.

Plugin and Scripting Support
If you're a programmer you can write your own plugins and scripts for Gaim. Plus, since Gaim is open source you can even modify gaim itself. If you're not a programmer you can still download and use other peoples' plugins and scripts.

There are many more features but listing them would take forever but they're all in the gaim documentation.

So to summarize, Gaim is in my opinion the best IM client, not because it's perfect (file transfers don't work most of the time), but because it has more pros for me than any other IM client--mainly because it meets all the qualifications of being free, open-source, cross-platform, programmable, multi-protocol, has tabbed IM windows, is ad and spyware free, easy to use, is customizable and has good privacy settings. If you care about these things then you can't beat Gaim.

Oh yeah, there's also an IRC channel where you can talk to other users of gaim and the developers of it to ask questions about how to use it and make feature requests.

http://gaim.sourceforge.net/

EAC (free CD ripper) and Monkey's Audio (lossless audio compressor)

2006-04-29T16:51:00.000-07:00

EAC (Exact Audio Copy) is an audio grabber for CD-ROM drives. The main differences between EAC and most other audio grabbers is that it works with a new technology, reading audio CDs almost perfectly. If there are any errors that can't be corrected, it will tell you on which time position the (possible) distortion occurred, so you could easily control it with e.g. the media player.

I used to just use CDex but I find EAC much faster and able to rip CD's with scratches better, and it just does a lot of stuff that other rippers don't to ensure a perfect copy. If you care about quality then use EAC.

Depending on what you want, EAC can provide several modes. You could choose between speed and accuracy.

Monkey's Audio is a fast and easy way to compress digital music. Unlike traditional methods such as mp3, ogg, or lqt that permanently discard quality to save space, Monkey’s Audio only makes perfect, bit-for-bit copies of your music. That means it always sounds perfect – exactly the same as the original. Even though the sound is perfect, it still saves a lot of space. (think of it as a beefed-up Winzip for your music) The other great thing is that you can always decompress your Monkey's Audio files back to the exact, original files. That way, you'll never have to recopy your CD collection to switch formats, and you'll always be able to recreate the original music CD if something ever happens to yours.

The newest EAC has built in support for Monkey's Audio, so you just need to pick "Monkey's Audio Lossless Encoder" as the parameter passing scheme for the external selection, then locate MAC.exe, pick the compression mode, and the other options, and off you go.

EAC can also decompress Monkey's Audio APE files into a WAV file ('Tools->Decompress') and it can split individual tracks of the file into multiple WAV files, based on its cue sheet. This means that you can have perfect sound by ripping a CD album into an APE file with EAC using the Monkey's Audio compressor, and then later decompress the APE inside of EAC into a WAV file--then, by clicking "Tools->Split WAV By CUE Sheet", you can split the WAV into multiple WAV's, based on the track numbers of the album. So, you won't have to listen to just the single APE or WAV file as one continuosly running file.

If you get an error in EAC when you choose "Tools->Split WAV by CUE Sheet" then open up the .cue file inside of notepad and make sure it looks like this:

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
http://www.monkeysaudio.com/

Audacity (free audio editor and recorder)

2006-04-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

Audacity is free software for recording and editing sounds. Downloading Audacity is a great alternative to purchasing expensive audio editing packages such as Sound Forge and Adobe Audition, as well as being easier to use.

Note that if you want to export mp3s you will have to download the LAME MP3 Encoder called Lamenc.dll by doing the following:
1. Go to the LAME download page.
2. Click on any link from the list of links.
3. When you have finished downloading LAME, unzip it and save the file lame_enc.dll anywhere on your computer.
4. The first time you use the "Export as MP3" command, Audacity will ask you where lame_enc.dll is saved.

Audacity's Features

Editing:
:: Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete.
:: Use unlimited Undo (and Redo) to go back any number of steps.
:: Very fast editing of large files.
:: Edit and mix an unlimited number of tracks.
:: Use the Drawing tool to alter individual sample points.
:: Fade the volume up or down smoothly with the Envelope tool.

Recording:
:: Record from microphone, line input, or other sources.
:: Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
:: Record up to 16 channels at once (requires multi-channel hardware).
:: Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during, and after recording.

Effects:
:: Change the pitch without altering the tempo, or vice-versa.
:: Remove static, hiss, hum, or other constant background noises.
:: Alter frequencies with Equalization, FFT Filter, and Bass Boost effects.
:: Adjust volumes with Compressor, Amplify, and Normalize effects.
:: Other built-in effects include:
:::: Echo
:::: Phaser
:::: Wahwah
:::: Reverse

Plug-ins:
:: Add new effects with LADSPA plugins.
:: Audacity includes some sample plugins by Steve Harris.
:: Load VST plugins for Windows and Mac, with the optional VST Enabler.
:: Write new effects with the built-in Nyquist programming language.

Sound Quality:
:: Record and edit 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit (floating point) samples.
:: Record at up to 96 KHz.
:: Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering.
:: Mix tracks with different sample rates or formats, and Audacity will convert them automatically in realtime.

Analysis:
:: Spectrogram mode for visualizing frequencies.
:: "Plot Spectrum" command for detailed frequency analysis.

Import and Export
:: Import and export WAV, AIFF, AU, and Ogg Vorbis files.
:: Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) with libmad.
:: Export MP3s with the optional LAME encoder library.
:: Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to CD.
:: Import and export all file formats supported by libsndfile.
:: Open raw (headerless) audio files using the "Import Raw" command.

Using Audacity as a freeware MIDI to MP3 converter

I like to convert my MIDI files to mp3 with audacity for use in my SWF files. It works well and is actually a good free way to do it. All you have to basically do is play the .mid file in your audio player then hit the record button in Audacity (for the Web use 22050Hz, at 32-bit float, Mono) then export as mp3.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Firefox (web browser)

2006-04-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

Firefox is a web browser that blocks viruses, spyware, and popup ads--making it much safer to use than Internet Explorer. It has useful features like tabbed browsing, Live Bookmarks, and an integrated Search bar. There are tons of free extensions and plugins you can download to enhance Firefox even further. Most Web pages work in firefox; it is very rare when I really need to open IE. I find that microsoft.com is about the only site that I visit where I'm required to use IE. I also find that Firefox also has more useful features and a more intuitive interface than the Opera web browser.

There are many great extensiosn for Firefox but my absolute favorite is Tab Mix Plus because it enhances Firefox's tab browsing abilities with features like undoing closed tabs and windows and other useful tab options. It also has a session manager with crash recovery that can save and restore combinations of opened tabs and windows. So, with this extension installed you'll never have to worry about renavigating to the web pages you last viewing after the browser is closed.

You have to be careful not to just go installing every extension that looks good because a lot of them contain memory leaks and things that will end up crashing firefox. Tab Mix Plus has been tested as safe and free from memory leaks unlike other tab/session extensions.

And for the rare times when you'll need to use IE, check out this article.

To download Firefox please click the "Browse the Web faster. Get Firefox with Google Toolbar" button on the right side panel of this blog (on the main page). Downloading it this way helps support this blog. Thank you.

xplorer2 lite (freeware filemanager)

2006-04-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's time to put away Windows Explorer for good. xplorer2 lite is a very fast and innovative freeware file manager for Windows. Unlike Windows Explorer it has a tabbed interface--so you will no longer need to have multiple Windows Explorer's open!

What's also great is that it remembers what folders/tabs you had open the last time you used it; so you won't have to renavigate to them every time you start the program. xplorer2 lite has many other features such as favorites, file previews, mass renaming and many other features you can find listed on its homepage.

I used to use ExplorerXP but it's buggy and doesn't seem to be developed on very often. Dragging files often didn't work, renaming by the typical 2-slow-clicks on a filename didn't work, and it didn't show my Gmail Drive, plus it seems to take twice the RAM to run than xplorer2 lite. I also tried other freeware file managers like FreeCommander, A43, JExplorer and others, but they either didn't support tabs or just didn't work as well as xplorer2 lite.

http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm

AntiVir (Free anti-virus software)

2006-04-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

For anti-virus software I use AntiVir. AntiVir "PersonalEdition Classic" is free (no registration is necessary either) and protects you from viruses and malware. I like it better than other free antivirus programs like AVG, ClamWin and Avast and better than even non-free programs like Norton AV.

AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic features

• Control Center for monitoring, administration and control of the entire program.
• Central configuration with user-friendly standard and default configurations and context-sensitive help.
• Scanner (on-demand scan) with profile-based and configurable scanning for all known virus and malware types.
• On-access scan for constant monitoring of all file accesses.
• Integrated quarantine management for containment and handling of suspicious files.
• Direct access to detailed information on found viruses and malware via the Internet.
• Quick and easy updating of the program, the virus definitions (VDF) and the search engine via Single File Update from the Internet.
• Integrated scheduler for the scheduling of single or recurring tasks such as updates and scan jobs.
• Extremely high rate of virus and malware detection thanks to innovative scanning technologies (search engine) with heuristic scanning.
• Detection of all common archive types including detection of nested archives and smart extension detection.
• High performance via multi-threading capability (simultaneous scanning of many files at high speed).

Monitoring active files (on-access scan)

By default, AntiVir Guard scans files for viruses and malware on access before they are opened, read or executed or after they have been written to.
AntiVir Guard should be active continuously for effective protection of your computer from viruses and malware.

Targeted scan for viruses and malware (direct scan)

You have the following options for a targeted virus and malware scan:
• Via a scan profile - If you want to check a specific selection of drives.
• Via drag & drop - If you want to check individual files which you have placed on your desktop, for example.
• Via the pop-up menu - If, for example, you want to check individual files in Windows Explorer and do not want to start the Control Center first.
• Automated - If you want drives to be checked automatically on a regular basis.

When using different virus protection programs with the reasoning the more the better, the following rules must be followed:
- Use only one on-access scanner (also called Guard).
- Before installing a second software package, decide which on-access scanner you want to trust. If you decide on a new on-access scanner, deactivate the on-access scanner currently in use. Serious errors can occur otherwise.
The parallel installation of scanners with which scans are started manually is usually possible. Under certain circumstances, error messages can arise if an anti-virus program uses unencrypted search strings for detection or has repaired a file only partially.

While AntiVir Guard monitors your system constantly (via on-access scan) you should still do a manual scan regularly for optimal security.

http://www.free-av.com/

About this blog

2006-04-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

My name is Ryan Kulla and I've been a computer enthusiast and programmer for over 10 years.

This page is about me sharing the software for Windows that I use. These tools are what I recommend to my friends and family. I will also be offering some tips. All of the software I'll be discussing are freeware, which means it's software that is totally free to download and use.

I have spent a lot of time researching and trying out various tools over the years and I think you will save yourself a lot of time and energy by using this page as a reference point for finding the best of the best in software for Windows.

Of course, defining the "best" is hard to do but these are just my opinions. Feel free to comment if you agree or disagree. This is all about learning and sharing useful tools.

Note that a lot of the software I'll be discussing runs on more than just Windows. So even if you use Linux, Mac OS X, or whatever, you may still want to visit the Web pages for the software posted here to see if there's a version for your particular Operating System.

I will be adding new software to this page very often so check back often for updates.