TeraCopy is truly the best way of copying files in Windows

Overview:

TeraCopy is a compact program designed to copy and move files at the maximum possible speed, providing the user a lot of features.


Features:

* Copy files faster. TeraCopy uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives.

* Pause and resume file transfers. Pause copy process at any time to free up system resources and continue with a single click.

* Error recovery. In case of copy error, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case just skips the file, not terminating the entire transfer.

* Interactive file list. TeraCopy shows failed file transfers and lets you fix the problem and recopy only problem files.

* Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual.

* Full Unicode support.


Review:

Copying large files in Windows XP just sucks, a lot. Not only do you get subpar speeds most of the time, the damn remaining time fluctuates so much that you wonder how nobody at Microsoft could come up with something better. Thankfully there is a much more competent alternative in the form of TeraCopy. Not only TeraCopy is faster that the standard explorer copy it can also pause and resume transfers, skip bad files without canceling the whole copying process, add files to the queu in an already started copying process and completely replace the standard Windows explorer copy which is something truly awesome and handy. Teracopy also shows accurate progress reports in the form of percentage of copying so far, time remaining, numbers of files to be copied and did i mention it's portable? For all this reasons i truly suggest you ditch the old crappy way of copying files in Windows and use TeraCopy. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.codesector.com/teracopy.php

GPU-Z shows you all you need to know about your video card

GPU-Z is the perfect companion to CPU-Z since the latter can`t give information about your video card, with GPU-Z you will know everything there is to know about your video card like its name, default clocks, display information, driver name, Etc.
in addition you can upload your results to an online database showing all the results uploaded so far, unfortunately i couldn`t run the program because of the crappy savage integrated card that i have in my computer, but don`t let that let you down since the program supports most mainstream cards from ATI and Nvidia plus since its being constantly updated you can be sure it will support future cards too.
GPU-Z is a great little utility for windows 2000/XP/Vista.

Features

* Support NVIDIA and ATI cards
* Displays adapter, GPU and display information
* Displays overclock, default clocks and 3D clocks (if available)
* Validation of results
* No installation required
* Support for Windows 2000 / XP / Vista (both 32 and 64 bit versions are supported)

get it at http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

WinMD5Sum will check and compare the MD5 sums of files

Overview:

WinMD5 is a small utility for the checking and comparing of MD5 sums.

Review:

Checking the integrity of a downloaded file its not easy but it could be with winMD5sum. Some websites give the MD5 checksum of a file for verification purposes, with winMd5sum you can compare the checksum of the file you have downloaded versus the checksum given at the site, if they match your file has been downloaded correctly, if its not a match then your download is corrupt. Using winMd5 is very easy and straightforward, it evens adds a sendto menu entry for easy checking of files. In conclusion WinMD5sum is a simple way of checking if you have downloaded something correctly.


Get it at http://www.nullriver.com/products/winmd5sum

Add shortcuts on your desktop automatically when inserting drives or media with Desk Drive

Overview:

Desk Drive™ solves a really annoying problem. You pop a USB thumb drive or DVD into your computer and then you have to open Window's Explorer and find the mapped drive or folder. Desk Drive adds a desktop icon pointing to the drive automatically. Remove the media and the shortcut goes away. Brilliantly simple and effective.

Desk Drive sits quietly in the system tray. Configuration image at right is just a click away and allows you to specify which types of media to monitor. So simple, it just works. Download it today!


System Requirements:

Windows XP/Vista

.Net Framework 2.0


Review:

So one of the cool things that ubuntu had over windows when i tried it was something so simple like adding a shortcut to a recently inserted media like a CDROM or pendrive, it made knowing what stuff you had inserted in your PC very easy and in addition you could access your stuff without opening the ubuntu explorer. Anyway this functionality can be replicated in windows by using desk drive, it will sit on the system tray and will add a shortcut to whatever stuff you insert in your PC , these shortcuts will disappear once you remove whatever you have put in, you can choose with drives will be monitored and btw i suggest you remove your floppy drive otherwise desk drive will search for inserted floppies constantly which will cause a constant and annoying sound, at least that is what happened to me. In my system desk drive used between 10MB to 20MB which is ok i guess for those rich people that have like a gig of ram and more (yes i am bitter because i only 256MB, oh wait i mean 224MB after you subtract the shared memory that the integrated video uses....i hate my PC).
So in conclusion use desk drive if you feel interested in having a shortcut for every media that you inserted. Available for Windows XP/Vista.


Get at it http://blueonionsoftware.com/DeskDrive.aspx

Multiple Image Resizer .NET is an excellent batch image processor

Overview:

With Multiple Image Resizer .NET, you can resize, add borders, add text, overlay images, crop, rotate and flip - with a few simple mouse clicks.


Features:

Batch Image Processing Features


* Resize images

* Rotate images

* Flip images

* Add borders to images

* Add text to images including file and Exif information

* Crop images

* Overlay / Watermark images with another image


Other Features


* Flexible command line batch image processing scripting engine

* Preview of unprocessed and processed images

* Ability to save and load image processing settings

* Ability to alter the order in which batch processing features are applied to images

* Customisable user interface

* Fully integrated help documentation

* Check for updates feature

* Multi-language - English, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, French, Portuguese, Czech, Galician, German, Italian and Hungarian



Supported Image Files


Multiple Image Resizer .NET can open images in 28 image formats, and save processed images in 16 image formats:


* Windows Bitmap .bmp - [Open and Save]

* Dr. Halo .cut - [Open]

* DirectDraw Surface .dds - [Open]

* Enhanced Windows Metafile .emf - [Open and Save]

* Exchangeable Image File .exif - [Open and Save]

* Graphics Interchange Format .gif - [Open and Save]

* High Dynamic Range .hdr - [Open and Save]

* Windows Icon .ico - [Open and Save]

* Amiga IFF .iff - [Open]

* Deluxe Paint .lbm - [Open]

* JPEG Network Graphics .jng - [Open]

* JPEG Format .jpg, .jpeg, .jif, .jpe - [Open and Save]

* Commodore 64 Koala .koa - [Open]

* Multiple Network Graphics .mng - [Open]

* Portable Bitmap ASCII & Binary .pbm - [Open and Save]

* Kodak PhotoCD .pcd - [Open]

* Zsoft Paintbrush PCX Bitmap .pcx - [Open]

* Portable Graymap ASCII & Binary .pgm - [Open and Save]

* Portable Network Graphics .png - [Open and Save]

* Portable Pixelmap ASCII & Binary .ppm - [Open and Save]

* Adobe Photoshop .psd - [Open]

* Sun Rasterfile .ras - [Open]

* Truevision Targa .tga, .targa - [Open and Save]

* Tagged Image File Format .tif, .tiff - [Open and Save]

* Wireless Bitmap .wbmp - [Open and Save]

* Windows Metafile .wmf - [Open and Save]

* X11 Bitmap Format .xbm - [Open]

* X11 Pixmap Format .xpm - [Open and Save]


Review:

Some people have a constant need of resizing their pictures , now i am not of those people but if you are then i suggest you use multiple image resizer .NET. Like the name says it will resize your pictures but its capable of doing so much more like crop; rotate; flip; add text; add borders and add images, all of these processing options can be carried out together with a batch of images which makes this program very versatile in my opinion. If there is a downsize to all of the awesomeness (Is that even a word?) found in this package then it must be the time it takes to start when you run multiple it, its only a few seconds but i could notice it in my system which is kinda disappointing...anyway this is still a great program that could come in handy to all of you photographers or other people in need of image manipulation. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.multipleimageresizer.net/

Merge lots of PDFs into a single file with PDFMerge

Overview:

PdfMerge was written to fill the need for producing large PDF documents from multiple sources in an automated way.


Features:

• Allows the split and merge process to be driven from a list file
• Allows the creation of bookmark trees by specifying bookmarks to be added (bookmarks are also called outlines)
• Allows the import of bookmarks from the merged documents.
• Supports merging of large documents quickly
• Allows population of document title fields

Review:

If for some reason you need to be able to merge several PDFs together then PDFMerge is just what you are looking for. like the name says you can take any number of PDF documents and merge them into a single file. you can select the pages and bookmarks that will be merged which is very useful in keeping control of the output. Unfortunately it appears that this program can't merge password protected files which is a shame but i guess its understandable. PDFMerge is a great program for the merging of PDF files that just works. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfmerge/

Reduce the size of attached pictures without losing too much quality using Shrink Pic

Overview:

Today's high resolution digital cameras produce multi Megabyte photos. These are great for printing but cause a heavy burden when sending over the Internet.

Shrink Pic allows you to send dozens of photos as email attachments - quickly and with no effort at all!

All you need to do is install Shrink Pic. It automatically detects when you're sending large photo files and compresses them in the background.

There's no setup, no operating instructions, nothing, nada. Just send your photos normally and Shrink Pic takes care of shrinking them.


Review:

If you have a slow internet connection sending large pictures to someone can be a pain in the ass since uploading big pictures can take awhile. But thanks to Shrink Pic this problem can be solved very easily. This program will automatically compress the size of a picture when you try to attach it to an email, blog post or when sending it trough MSN messenger. The original picture remains untouched of course since Shrink Pic makes a temporary copy of the original pic. You can select from various compression levels but the one that worked for me the most was the "medium" setting that while it reduced the size and quality of the picture a little it still managed to keep the look of the picture while reducing the size aggressively as you can see in the screenshot above. Shrink Pic only uses between 5 to 6Mb in my system which is great considering that you will probably want to keep on the system tray at all times, also you can make a portable installation from the settings menu that you will allow you to launch Shrink Pic directly from the pendrive making this a very handy tool to carry around. Shrink Pic is just great for those of you that constantly send large pictures to other people and want to keep the attachments light. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.onthegosoft.com/shrink_pic.htm

Create a PDF with only images using Graphics2PDF

Overview:

Free PDF file creator. Convert your images to PDF document. Supported formats: BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF.

Drag'n'drop your image files into Graphics2PDF, then click "Save as PDF". That's it.

Review:

If for some reason you need to put only images into a PDF then Graphics2PDF is just the program for the task at hand. Simply drag and drop the images that you desire inside Graphics2PDF's window and rearrange them using the arrows located below them. Then simply click" save as pdf" to get your PDF document with the images you selected. Graphics2PDF is very easy to use and just works as it should so if you are ever in the need for making a PDF full of images then Graphics2PDF is what you are looking for.

Get it at http://www.imposant.com/products/image2pdf.htm

UpdateStar will find updates for your installed programs

Overview:

UpdateStar is free software that lets you stay up-to-date with the personal software installations on your computer. It eases your life as a software user and makes sure you always have the most up-to-date software versions. UpdateStar covers all of your freeware, shareware, demos, commercial software, and includes special offers.


Review:

Going to a program's website to check if there is a new version can be a bother, specially if you have a large quantity of software installed in your machine. Thankfully with UpdateStar you can solve this. UpdateStar will search for all the paid and free software currently installed in your computer and will let you know if there are any updates available, if there are you can quickly go to the program's page and download the new version. In my computer UpdateStar managed to recognize most of my installed software and most of the current updates available too which is great. Of course there was some instances in which UpdateStar didn't know about a certain program or the latest update wasn't listed and this is where you can help if you have some free time. You see UpdateStar relies heavily on user contributions for information about programs and updates, so if you have some free time help fill information about your favorite programs in the UpdateStar website. You can keep UpdateStar running on the system tray so that it can look for software updates daily,weekly or monthly. Also it can work as basic program uninstaller which is a little handy if you ask me.
UpdateStar works well most of the time and is easy to use, tough i had some problems with the system tray icon not showing up. Maybe it's because i have too many system tray icons, anyway UpdateStar still worked well regardless. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.updatestar.com/

Backup and restore your Windows drivers using Double Driver

Overview:

With Double Driver you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the drivers list, and more.


Features:

• View installed drivers
• Backup drivers
• Restore drivers
• Save drivers list
• Print drivers list

Review:

Double Driver is a program for the backup and restoring of Windows drivers. To backup a driver just do a scan and either select all the results or using the "provider" option you can quickly choose important drivers for Windows, video card, printers, Etc. Double Driver is pretty fast and is very easy to use. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

JkDefrag is a simple but powerful hard drive defragmenter

Overview:

JkDefrag is a disk defragmenter and optimizer for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/2008/X64. Completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies, USB disks, memory sticks, and anything else that looks like a disk to Windows. Included are a Windows version, a commandline version (for scheduling by the task scheduler or for use from administrator scripts), a screensaver version, a DLL library (for use from programming languages), versions for Windows X64, and the complete sources.


Review:

JkDefrag is a lightweight defragmenter that focuses on speed and simplicity. Jkdefrag by default will analize, defragment and optimize all the mountable hard drives that it can find, it does all of this without any user input which is handy if you want a fully automated process. Of course you can make some adjustments by using command line options that will allow you for example to defrag a specific hard drive or folder. In conclusion Jkdefrag is a fast, simple and just great defragmenter, tough having to use the command line to access extra options may prove too hard for newbie users. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.kessels.com/Jkdefrag/

Print files into PDFs with DoPDF

Overview:

doPDF is a free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use. Using doPDF you can create PDF files by selecting the "Print" command from virtually any application. With one click you can convert your Microsoft Excel, Word or PowerPoint documents or your emails and favorite web sites to PDF files.


Review:

doPDF is a simple utility that will install a virtual PDF printer in Windows allowing to pretty much print any file into the PDF format. Using doPDF is extremely easy since all you have to do is to open a file and select "print..." from the file menu and print the file using the doPDF virtual printer. doPDF justs works so get it if you need it. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.dopdf.com/

FairStars CD Ripper is a simple but effective CD ripper

Overview:

FairStars CD Ripper is a free powerful software for ripping audio CD tracks to WMA, MP3, OGG, VQF, FLAC, APE and WAV formats files on-the-fly. Free CDDB is supported(Querying & Submiting). It supports normalization when ripping, and also support ID3 tag. FairStars CD Ripper also supports playback with its built-in player.


Features:

• Rips CD to WMA, MP3, OGG, VQF, FLAC, APE and WAV on-the-fly.
• Supports automatic volume adjustment(normalization) during ripping.
• Supports multiple CD/DVD drivers.
• ID3 tag support.
• Support automatic saving ID3 Tags when converting, and also support ID3 tags display and edit.
• Query and submit CD disc information from/to the freedb(the Internet Compact Disc Database).
• Audio Playback control function Support.
• Easy-to-use user-friendly interface(skin support).

Review:

I had to rip a CD recently and the programs that i tried were not up to the task for several reasons. Either i had to download a library or the interface was too complicated so i made the decision to look for something more efficient and after a while i came across FairStars CD Ripper. This program comes with all the required libraries for ripping tracks into the most common formats and has a simple interface. All you have to do is to introduce your music CD, select a destination folder, output type and click extract. ID3 tag support, volume adjustment and querying CD information from the freedb database to fill out missing details are among the other features that FairStars CD Ripper has. As you can see FairStars CD Ripper is fully featured and should suffice most standards need like the one that i had. Available for Windows 2000/XP/XP MCE/2003/Vista/2008.


Get it at http://www.fairstars.com/cdripper/index.htm

FileHippo.com Update Checker can let you know if your programs have updates available

Overview:

The Update Checker will scan your computer for installed software, check the versions and then send this information to FileHippo.com to see if there are any newer releases. These are then neatly displayed in your browser for you to download.


Review:

FileHippo.com is a great place to find free programs (some of the programs featured in this blog have come from there) so if you have programs that you download from there then FileHippo.com Update Checker is a pretty good way to keep them up to date. Just download the installer or the portable version and run it so that it can check your installed programs, a browser window will be opened with direct links to download the newest versions of your software. Unfortunately FileHippo.com Update Checker can only check programs that are added to the website so if you have programs that are not there you are out of luck. You could try Updatestar tough which is another software update utility with a larger software database but it's not portable.
In conclusion if you only have programs that are on the FileHippo.com website then this update checker is a good way to keep them up to date. Available for Windows 98/ME/2004/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

Diagram Designer is a powerful tool for creating flowcharts and other types of diagrams

Overview:

Simple vector graphics editor for creating flowcharts, UML class diagrams, illustrations and slide shows.


Features:

• Customizable template object palette.
• Spellchecker (see below about dictionaries).
• Import/export WMF, EMF, BMP, JPEG, PNG, MNG, ICO, GIF and PCX images.
• Slide show viewer.
• Simple graph plotter to plot mathematical expressions.
• Advanced "pocket" calculator with equation solver.
• MeeSoft Image Analyzer integration for bitmap image editing and extended file format support.
• Uses compressed file format for minimizing drawing file size.

Review:

Diagram Designer is an amazing open source program for creating diagrams. You can easily create flowcharts, UML class diagrams, illustrations and slide shows using a simple drag and drop interface. You can customize your diagrams with all sorts of colors and text formatting codes which makes Diagram Designer very powerful. You can optionally download dictionaries for spellchecking , use a simple calculator for advanced operations and export files into several types of image files, Oh and did i mention Diagram Designer is fully portable? In conclusion Diagram Designer should be the program that you use whenever you are making some diagrams. Available for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista.

Get it at http://logicnet.dk/DiagramDesigner/

Benchmark your applications with AppTimer

Overview:

AppTimer will run an executable a number of times and time how long it takes for the application to reach a state where user input is being accepted before exiting the application.

After each run of the application AppTimer will attempt to close the application in an automated fashion while logging the time measurements to a log file.

It's main use is in benchmarking an application's startup time.


Review:

Have you ever wondered how much time a program takes to launch? if the answer if yes then you may be interested in AppTimer. With this lightweight and portable program you can launch applications to time their startup time and put the results into a text file. You can choose how many program executions and delay between launches you would like. The window detection method and the window close method are important because is the way Apptimer detects a windows and closes it respectively, i would pay special attention to the window close method since some programs don't like to be closed a certain way which is something that i experienced.
AppTimer worked pretty well and should suffice people that need an app like it. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.passmark.com/products/apptimer.htm