This is a kind of swiss army knife of tools for working with file types and extensions. As you can see from the description above, it does more in Vista/Windows Seven environments than in XP. And since I am using Windows XP I will not cover DefaultPrograms’ ability to edit autoplay handler programs, no’r will I be using it to edit the registered default programs and their assigned types.

Instead, for this review I will go through two exercises that can (a) show what this program can do and just how cool itis in general, and (b) illustrate the user experience a little bit.

Exercise #1. Changing the default icon for PDF files on Windows XP.

I use PDF-XChange Viewer as my default PDF reader, and don’t particularly care for the default icon it uses for PDF’s. Here’s how DefaultPrograms can change the default used icon for a specific file type.

1. Click the "Icon" button in the interface
2. The next screen will display a list of file extensions
3. Filter by the desired extension ("PDF" in this case)
4. The next screen shows the current icon used. Click "Browse" to select a new icon
5. Select the new icon. You can point to executables, individual icon files, or icon libraries
6. Click "Save Icon" and you’re done

Exercise #2: Changing the context menu options a file type (.JPG).

You may have noticed that, at least in XP, when you right click an image file and click "Edit" in the context menu, the default program used to edit is MS Paint. Here’s how you can use DefaultPrograms to edit the context menu for JPG’s.

1. Click the "Icon" button in the interface
2. The next screen will display a list of file extensions
3. Typed "JP" in the filter then CTRL-selected four image types at once (see image to the right)
4. Next, in the list of context menu commands, select "Edit" and click "Edited Selected Command"
5. The next prompt shows the command name and program path
6. Change the path and parameters to the new program; in this case I will be using my favorite "PhotoScape"
7. That’s it (although you will need to do this for remaining image types).

The verdict: what I like about this program is the user interface, which is simple and intuitive, and the fact that it works and does exactly what it claims to do. I’ve seen and written about a number of programs whose functions intersect with this one (Types and Icon Phile come to mind) but DefaultPrograms is without a question the utility that I would prefer to use to perform these sorts of tasks. Highly recommended.

Version Tested: 2.4

Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7. MS .NET Framework 3.5 required.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 675K).

It happened to me a couple of weeks ago: my computer started acting flaky and unreliable, taking an unreasonably long time to boot (and sometimes failing do so), and driving me nuts in the process. In these situations most people I (believe), start wondering if they’ve contracted a virus or other malware, or puzzling over whether a recently added software might have caused the matter. All of these are plausible avenues of exploration, but if nothing seems to work you should check to see if your hard drive might have bad sectors on it that may be causing the problem. This is what Surface Scanner does and performs the job quite rapidly.

Surface Scanner vs. Windows’ check disk tool: the main reason why you would use this is for a quick diagnosis – it is considerably faster than Windows’ built in checker and the scan can be performed from within Windows without a reboot. However, it does not have a “repair” bad sectors option which the Windows utility offers.

A couple of quick notes:

• How to use: install then run; mount the hard drive you want to check then press “scan”. This can be done from within Windows, no need to reboot.
• Fast: it took about 10 minutes to scan my 5400 rpm 80-gig drive.
• If you encounter many errors: then stop the scan; you now have the information you need, and forcing the scan might further damage the drive and decrease the chances of salvaging your data.

The verdict: the scan is fast enough that its worth doing every once in a while if your system is acting weird, seeming to work fine in one instance and hanging up the next.

If you do find bad sectors: the first thing I would do is get my data out of there ASAP. Next you might try to run software that will attempt to apply fixes to the problem. Windows’ own check disk seems to have an option to do that. I am not sure if there are any good freeware tools that will attempt to fix bad sectors … if you know of any let me know in the comments. In any case fix or no fix if you have bad sectors you should start planning to replace the drive immediately. (Oh, and in the case I described above my hard drive turned out fine, to my relief!).

Version Tested: 1.0

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 1.78 megs).

I learned about this from a comment on the RocketDock post that read “best launcher ever – RUNit 2.0.1b!” (thanks to reader “rws”). So I searched for and found it and … I really, really like it.

As launchers go the unique aspect of RUNit is the way it is accessed, by right clicking on the upper edge of the screen (or alternately you can enable shift-right-clicking anywhere on the screen or simply ctrl+shift). Which isn’t quite revolutionary, except that it can be accessed extremely quickly and somehow delivers a really nice user experience. Here are more notes:

• Set up different lists: you can create wholly different lists of items and specify different shortcuts for accessing them. For example you can set it up such that right clicking the top edge of the screen can display your apps while right clicking the bottom edge displays favorite URLs or whatever.
• Drag and drop: to add items, simply drag shortcuts, files, URLs or pretty much anything from anywhere to the RUNit setup dialog. The setup has a button that can reconcile shortcuts automatically, though I am not sure why the user has to actually “press it” for this to take place.
• Customizable: you can select large or different icons, change the font used, edit the order of items, launch apps minimized or maximized, and even set the coordinated on screen where you want a particular app to be placed when launched.
• Cascading menu structure: is supported; use dividers and create folders and subfolders within your menu.
• Portable: unzip and run; does not write to the registry.
• Source code: is available for download.

The verdict: the RUNit site states that “no one who has ever tried it could live without it anymore”, and after trying it I can see that there’s a lot of truth to that statement. A very nice launcher indeed.

Version Tested: 2.1beta6a

Compatibility: WinAll; no info on Vista.

Go to program home page to download the latest version (approx 67K).

I have a soft spot for little apps that access to favorite items on-the-fly. JumpTo provides access to folders, files, apps, and URLs from anywhere and can be displayed in any program. It is very similar to previously mentioned Folder Menu, with some differences. Here’s a list of pros and cons.

PROS:

• Launch your favorite folders, files, apps, or URLs from anywhere: simply launch the app via its keyboard shortcut and you can be quickly on your way.
• Memos: JumpTo also includes a simple notes app. It can quickly
• Create your own submenus: which is to say it lets you create and organize the cascading menu entries as you like.
• Adding items: can be performed via the context menu entry, by highlighting an item and pressing Alt+shift+S, or by opening the add items dialog and dragging and dropping items into it.
• Less than 4 megs in memory: makes this program truly lightweight.
• Extra functions: via the "extra functions" context menu entry launch a run box, insert dates dynamically into your text, or strip any text in the clipboard from any formatting. You can also hide and display windows.
• Portable version: is available for download on the site.

CONS:

• Does not provide access to favorite folders in Windows open/save dialogs: unlike for example similar apps such as Folder Menu.
• Does not support icons: which is to say your app shortcuts and other shortcuts will be represented using text only. Not a big deal, but could have looked better with icons.

The verdict: a nice little app that and is truly lightweight. It has room for improvement in terms of accessing folders in open/save dialogs but as it is it can be extremely useful and a huge time saver.

JumpTo video Tutorial:

Version Tested: 1.0

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 787K).

Although I have a handful of folders designated for specific projects and topics, I notice that whenever I am working on something most of the files I am using invariably end up on the desktop. If this is your experience as well (or indeed if you download a lot of files into the desktop and have to sort them out later) then you should check this program out.

What DragTargets does is allow you to set up your frequently used favorite folders as buttons in a floating desktop widget. You can then drag and drop your files to the appropriate folder in the DragTargets window to copy or move them to the right place, or simply click on the folder button to open the folder. More notes on this program below:

• Copy or move: dragging files copies them by default; to move files instead check the little box next to the “stop” button.
• Open folders: click on the folder button to open it in explorer
• Portable: unzip and use, no install needed.
• Memory use: about 7 megs, which is fairly small.

Wish list (or how this program can be a lot better)

• Minimize to tray: essential, I think, for a program like this.
• Show and hide by hotkey: would make it so much more useful.
• The option to switch off semi-transparency

The verdict: a nice little program that can potentially be extremely useful. It can however be much improved with a few little tweaks though (see wish list above!).

Version Tested: 1.0

Compatibility: WinAll.

Click this link to download (approx 281K). Developer homepage here but does not provide any info. See this page for more info on this program.

This is one of those programs that are difficult to write about just because they contain so many functions and do many things. In some ways Signo is comparable to such automation tools as AutoHotkey, although it is less complex and more accessible. However, unlike AutoHotkey Signo does not have a scripting component so it is not a full fledged macro engine and development environment.

Aside from its accessibly what I also like about Signo is that it is very small (occupies a mere 9 megs in memory); I also like that it can give you a sort of "shortcut report" for your system that displays all of its keyboard shortcuts as well as ones that are used by other apps and by Windows (part of which is in fact pictured in the screenshot above).

Here are 7 (Seven!) cool things that this program can do:

1. Snap windows to the edges of the screen: in the style of Windows 7, using keyboard shortcuts (Alt+Win+Up/left/right/top/bottom).
2. Minimize to tray: (Ctrl+Win+T) will minimize the current window or app to the tray. Interestingly, you can minimize all windows to the tray in one fell swoop by pressing (Ctrl+Win+Z).
3. Launch apps and URLs: from the system tray or via hotkey.
4. Auto corrections (and abbreviations): we’ve seen this before with AutoHotkey; you can add frequently misspelled words to a list such that every time you type in a misspelling it is automatically corrected for you.
5. Insert predefined text: you can either set a custom hotkey that would insert a specified text, or define a "textkey" that you can type in and watch it magically being transformed to your predefined text (e.g. you can set "#sig" to automatically insert your signature/name/etc. inside the text you’re writing).
6. Optimize applications’ memory utilization: this program is by the same developer who released Minimem, an excellent memory optimization utility designed to reduce the memory footprint of individual programs. It would appear that they have incorporated that program’s functionality into Signo such that you could add any app from within Signo and create a shortcut that would optimize its memory use. Super cool!. For browsers use the predefined Shift+Win+B if your browser starts gobbling up large amounts of RAM.
7. Context menu of functions, anywhere: Ctrl+Alt+leftmouse will display a handy context menu of Signo functions anywhere you happen to be at that time.

Wish list: (or how this program can be even better)

• Disabling functions: although it is possible to delete functions you don’t want, I found myself wishing I could simply de-activate them without deleting (as it is you have the option to export them then delete, which keeps the option to re-import later if you want to).
• The screenshot function: needs to be improved. I was not able to capture a screenshot of a context menu (the program kept releasing it for me), wasn’t able to define a quality setting for my saved JPG, wasn’t able to attach a suffix or prefix to filenames. A "Repeat last capture" function would also be good.

The verdict: a nice program overall. If you find that it contains a bit too many functions and shortcuts you can always remove the ones that you don’t want and customize the keyboard shortcuts if needed. And at 9 megs in memory, Signo manages to be both powerful and small. Check it out.

Version Tested: 1.4

Compatibility: Windows 2003, Vista, Server 2008, 2000, XP, Windows 7.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 2.46 megs).

Do you want a cool application switching / Alt+Tab replacement app? Check out VistaSwitch. More notes on this one below:

• It looks pretty darn slick: don’t take my word for it, check out the screenshot.
• Preview thumbnails: see a thumbnail preview of the apps or windows as you scroll through them. Previews are available not just for maximized windows but for minimized windows in Vista and Windows 7 (but not in XP).
• Sticky: you can turn this mode on if you like. It will allow you to launch VistaSwitcher with Alt+Tab (or another shortcut), release the keys, and have the VistaSwitcher interface remain open. (Which I quite like actually)
• Windows operations: you can right click on an entry in the VistaSwitcher interface and perform some operations such as minimize, maximize, or close.
• Memory use: about 9 megs (which is fairly small).
• Native 64 bit version available.

The verdict: this app is the successor to TaskSwitchXP, which I am very fond of (they are both from the same developer). What I like about it is that it manages to be simultaneously slick, simple, and low on resources (and of course free). What more could you ask for?

Version Tested: 1.0.3

Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7. 32 bit and 64 bit versions available.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 271K).

This software is similar to Windows’ built in file search function (and different from other desktop search apps previously mentioned on Freewaregenius such as Everything, DKFinder, and Locate32) in two major ways; (1) it will perform searches on demand rather than pre-index your hard drive, and (2) it will look inside file contents and not just in file and folder names.

As such it is a direct replacement for Windows’ internal desktop search, with one major improvement: the file filtering and queries possible with FileSeek are simply a cut above the default Windows search. In fact, with its support for regular expressions you can perform searches such as the following: find me all files that contain the text "bla bla bla" or if the file path contains "internet", also look for text "blabity bla" excluding HTML and PHP files and excluding any files that have "bob" or "smith" anywhere in the title. You will have to be familiar with the regular expression query syntax to do this of course (see this link for a regex tutorial). More on regular expressions here.

More notes on this software:

• It integrates into Windows’ context menu: you can right click folders or files to quickly search inside. You can add or remove these from the settings.
• It has advanced filtering abilities: very handy even if you will never use sophisticated regular expression syntax.
• Regular Expressions: supports regular expressions
• It looks inside file contents: in contrast to the desktop search apps mentioned in the second paragraph above.
• You can easily exclude/include folder name or path matches from results
• Preview pane: displays the search results as found inside a file
• First instance or all instances: when your searched text is found inside a file, the program can list the first instance where it was found only as an entry in the list of results or it can list the same file multiple time showing all instances of the found text inside that file.
• Does not search/index files in the background: all processing is performed on-demand. It does not create databases and representations of your hard drives.
• Portable: no-install zipped version available for download.

Wish list (or how this program can be even better)

• The ability to switch searching inside files on/off: sometimes I just want to search for filenames and I do not want to search inside a file; I wish there was a simple checkbox I could use to switch searching file contents on/off.
• To not pester me about updates if I am offline: currently, if I use this offline I get a message that it wasn’t able to check for updates.

The verdict: as a replacement for Windows’ built in search function this is an excellent option. I particularly like the versatile filtering and the fact that it can search inside files.

The program has some very cool filtering options for filtering (including/excluding) file types even if you don’t know regular expression syntax. And although I personally am not a regular expressions expert I like that they are supported and that I could put together a sophisticated query if I need to. Recommended.

Version Tested: 1.8.3

Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista (x86/x64), Windows 7 (x86/64), 2000 SP4, 2003 and 2008.

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 390K).

I was looking for a simple tray-based launcher when I found this. I’ve reviewed similar launchers before (see the ’verdict’ section below), but wanted a simple system-tray based launcher with the ability to add apps and files by dragging and dropping icons. It also had to look good. MedalFolders delivers on both counts, even if its somewhat old and hasn’t been updated for a while.

Here’s a list of what this program can do:

• Interface: looks good. Displays the app of file icon in the list by default.
• Support: opens programs, files (including URLs), or folders
• Import/Export: allows exporting and importing menus, such that you could exchange your menus if need be or transport them to other computers.
• Drag and drop: open the program interface then add items by dragging and dropping icons.
• Reconciles shortcuts: i.e. if you add an item to the list by dragging and dropping a shortcut then remove that shortcut, Medalfolders will still find the original program or file that the shortcut points to.
• Ordering of items: alphabetical. No user control provided. MedalFolders will place apps in an "Applications" section and everything else in a "Files and Folders" section.
• Memory use: around 20 megs in memory. Seems like is should have been less, but not a whole lot of memory nonetheless.

What it does NOT do:

• Cascading menus: does not support cascading menus for folders. Clicking on a folder entry will
  simply open the folder in explorer.
• Custom folders/ordering: does not allow for manual ordering of items or creation of custom folders. Entries will either be in the "Applications" or "Files and Folders" sections, sorted alphabetically.

The verdict: a nice little launcher if you just want something simple and straightforward, and works great for launching URLs. For similar launchers with more bells and whistles check out Kana Launcher or LaunchOnFly.

Do you know of other system tray based launchers that you like? Let us know in the comments!

Version Tested: 2.0.0.503

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 2.74 megs).

A reader asked me about how he could launch a number of different apps using a single shortcut, and Lacuna Launcher is the small freeware program that I found that can do this. As an example, you may find that you always launch and work with your image editor, screen capturing program, and HTML editor together, and would like the ability to simply click on a single shortcut to launch all three simultaneously.

How to use this app: here’s an example that illustrates how Lacuna Launcher works.

1. Download and unzip: let’s say that the location is “D:\Lacuna Launcher”
2. Create a list of items: using your favorite text editor, enter the full path for each item you want to launch, one per line. Save it somewhere (say as “D:’Lacuna Launcher’newlist.txt’”
3. Create a shortcut for Lacuna Launcher: right-click on the executable (ll.exe) and select “create shortcut”.
4. Customize the new shortcut: right click properties, then edit the “target” field such that the path to the exe is followed by the path to your new text file. Both paths need to be inside quotes. You can (optionally) add two numbers after the paths; the first to specify the number of seconds to wait before the items should start running, and the second to specify the number of seconds to wait before running the next item. The following is an example where the apps launch immediately after and wait one second before each successive item (of course you can skip the numbers altogether for instant launches).
   • example: “D:\Lacuna Launcher\ll.exe” “D:\Lacuna Launcher\newlist.txt” 0 1
5. Modify the shortcut name and icon: if you want. Right click properties/change icon to change the icon in XP, rename the shortcut, then place it in the desired location (e.g. the desktop)
6. That’s it. Your new shortcut will now launch all the items on your list specified in your text file. Note that you can make as many lists and create as many shortcuts as you want.

Supported file types: Lacuna Launcher will launch executables (.exe’s), shortcuts (.lnk), internet shortcuts (.url), or anything that can be opened on your system (image files, music files, movies, etc.)

Usage from the command line interface: is supported.

The verdict: a nice, simple, freeware that gets the job done. What I like is that you can make as many lists as you like and as many shortcuts that all point to the single executable on your hard drive. Although a GUI for this where users could drag and drop shortcuts would be nice, as it is the program is very easy to use and you will be up and running within minutes of downloading. Recommended.

Version Tested: 1.0.0

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 234K).

This is a simple shell extension that allows you to copy the path for files and folder via the right click menu. Interestingly, there are at least two other utilities on the internet with the same exact name that do the same thing; also, this function is offered in other utilities bundled-in with other functions (see here, here, and here for example). It is also built into Vista if you press shift while right clicking on a file, but I nonetheless really like this program for several reasons:

1. Path, folderpath, or filename: you can specify whether to copy the entire path, the filename only, or the folder path only.
2. UNC: can generate a UNC (Uniform Naming Convention) path, which can be very useful. For example “\\YOURCOMPUTER\C$\File.txt” instead of “C:\File.txt”.
3. Multiple items: select multiple files and folders and copy the path for all at once into the clipboard.
4. I like that it’s an individual download not bundled with other functions.
5. Will display the path in the context menu itself (see screenshot above). Note that this is optional and can be switched off.

The verdict: really nice. Recommended.

Version Tested: 1.1

Compatibility: WinAll. There’s a fix that allows it to run on 64 bit machines. Read the comment section on the program page (read all the way to the end).

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 348K).

This software is designed to encrypt entire hard drives, storage devices, or CD/DVD media. It is similar to TrueCrypt, another notable software previously mentioned on this site; however DiskCryptor lays claim to several advantages:

1. It can encrypt partitions with existing data: without destroying the data. This is obviously very practical and useful and is a significant advantage.
2. It can create encrypted CD’s/DVD’s: through the use of .ISO images. DiskCryptor will encrypt these and the user can subsequently burn them to actual physical media.
3. “Truly” Open Source: purports to be “the only truly free solution provided under GNU General Public License” (in contrast to the “TrueCrypt Collective License” which apparently places restrictions on the modification of the source data).

Disadvantages vs. TrueCrypt:

1. Unlike TrueCrypt, DiskCryptor is not designed to create file containers that can be mounted as encrypted virtual drives. It will, in other words, encrypt a partition or an entire hard drive or flash drive, but strangely will not create an encrypted file that you can mount as a virtual drive. I personally find this omission very strange and I am sure will cause many to stick with TrueCrypt.
2. Lacks the “plausible deniability” feature (where if, say, you are “forced” to surrender a password you can give a decoy which displays innocuous files). Although I personally think this feature is unimportant.
3. Although it is designed to encrypt bootable system partitions, the version I tested (0.8.548.97) has a known limitation in that the partition will not boot after encryption. If you want to encrypt system/bootable partitions you have to either wait for a future version, use a bootable CD (such as BartPE), or … use TrueCrypt.

More on how DiskCryptor works:

• Mounting encrypted drives: DiskCryptor has to be running in memory. To use an encrypted flash drive or CD on, say, your work and home computers, you need to install the program in both places.
• Booting encrypted drives: fully support bootings encrypted system partitions (including support for different multi-boot scenarios). DiskCryptor can also be integrated into a BartPE bootable Livedisk; instructions here.
• Caching passwords: if you have this enabled, entering a password once will cache it in kernel memory so that it mounts automatically on next insert, which is really cool. You can disable caching if you want and of course you can clear all passwords from the cache at will.
• Performance: superfast. Your encrypted disks, in other words, will be as fast as regular disks for all practical purposes. You can perform any operation on mounted encrypted drives that you would on normal drives (such as defrag, etc.).
• Support: these are all quotes from the program site; “full support for dynamic disks”, support for “disk partition encryption of any configuration, including boot and system partitions”, “support for hardware cryptography found in VIA processors”, “support for disk devices with large sector sizes, which is important when working with hardware RAID”, “support for hardware cryptography found in VIA processors”, “full support for 3rd party boot loaders (LILO, GRUB, etc.)”
• Encryption modes: a wide range to choose from; AES, Twofish, Serpent, AES-Twofish, Twofish-Serpent, Serpent-AES or AES-Twofish-Serpent in XTS mode.
  Extended configuration possibilities of booting an encrypted OS. Support for different multi-boot scenarios.
• Command line version: available
• Hotkeys: although this did not seem to be active in the version I tested, you will in the future be able to use hotkeys to perform actions such as dismounting partitions, initiating an emergency system stop, etc.

The verdict: I think this is a very exciting software that has huge potential. DriveCrypt was conceived, according to the website, as a replacement for DriveCrypt Plus Pack and PGP Whole Disk Encryption (WDE). The aim has subsequently changed to “create the best product in its category”, and I think they are well underway to achieve this goal.

Having said that I really wish future versions of DriveCrypt encrypted file containers. I know that for many people (including myself) this is an indispensable feature and could be a significant barrier to using this program over a program such as TrueCrypt for example.

Version Tested: 0.8.548.97

Compatibility: Windows 2000 SP0-SP4, XP (x86, x64) SP0-SP3, Server 2003 (x86, x64) SP0-SP2, Vista (x86, x64) SP0-SP2, Server 2008 (x86, x64), Windows 7 (x86, x64) RC0, RC1.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 579K).

Imagine the following scenario: you’ve freshly re-installed Windows, installed your crucial security apps and a handful of essential programs that you use; that you installed all the security patches and updates and driver updates; the "perfect", unadulterated state that you would love to be able to go back to if problems arise or something happens that decreases your system’s performance.

Another scenario: you wake up one morning and find that your computer is not booting. After running your PC manufacturer’s built-in diagnostic utility, you are heartened to find that there is apparently nothing wrong with the hard drive surface and that the problem is software-related. You wish that you could go back to a previous state when things were working swimmingly.

What both scenarios above have in common, of course, is that you can use a disk-imaging app such as Easeus Todo backup to solve both situations by creating backup images of your hard drive partitions and restoring them later when you need to.

SEVEN things I like about this program:

1. Creates its own bootable disk: to enable booting into the program and restoring the active primary boot partitions. This is great because (a) it is so easy and quick, and (b) a number of freeware hard disk imaging programs that I’ve seen simply (and strangely) do not support boot partition restoration.
2. Mounts image files: for quick browsing of files/contents. Read only.
3. Offers file-by-file copying or sector-by-sector: unless you expressly want the latter, the former (file-by-file) is faster. It is also more user-friendly if restoring to a larger hard drive.
4. Backup straight to CD/DVD: and will split the image file by appropriately sized chunks.
5. Free for both personal and business use.
6. The help file: is excellent and informative beyond what I would have expected, and thus warrants a mention.
7. The interface design: simple, clean easy to use.

More features:

• Clone disk: very useful if you are upgrading to a larger hard drive and want to move all the data over.
• Compresses and/or password encrypts image files: optional.
• SupportsWindows server 03 and 08. I mention this because it is apparently a unique feature esp .among freeware programs of this kind.
• Supported file systems: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS.
• Supported partition sizes: minimum 2 gigs, max 1.5 TB.
• Supported hard drive types: IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB removable disk, and Firewire disks

The verdict: this program inspires confidence if only because it is from the same people that gave us the excellent EASEUS Partition Master (one of my favorite free disk partitioning programs). It manages to combine advanced features with a really simple interface design that both novices and advanced users will appreciate.

I also like the fact that this program can create bootable media quickly and that it can be easily booted into. No hunting around the internet to figure out how to install it into BartPE or something like it.

But the best thing about it is that it does the job and does it well. Recommended.

Version Tested: 1.0

Compatibility: Windows 2000 (SP4), XP (32 and 64 bit), Vista (32 and 64 bit), Server 2003 (32 and 64 bit), and Server 2008 (32 and 64 bit).

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 35.3 megs).

If you, like me, think that there’s something.. um, magical … about right clicking on a file and being able to quickly perform the operations on it then you might want check this program out. Explore and Burn is a simple CD/DVD burning program that is launched from Windows’ right-click context menu. More notes below.

• How to use: select a file or group of files and right click the Explore and Burn context menu. This will launch the program’s wizard-style file burning process.
• Burning images: Explore&Burn can burn .ISO and .IMG files to CD/DVD; it can also optionally associate itself with these file extensions.
• Supported media: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD-RAM discs including Dual Layer discs.
• Bugs on XP: I encountered a problem in XP whereby the program did not burn ISO images to disk and I got a "Cannot Complete the Disc Writing Wizard" message (regular files burned just fine though). Someone posted this issue in the forum; and although the prescribed fix did not work for me, there’s the promise that this will be addressed in future versions.

Wish list: (or how this program can be even better)

• For non disk image files, this program installs two context menu entries which offer exactly the same functionality, making one of them absolutely redundant (see image to the right). It would be nice to be able to keep only one of them.
• Fixing the disk-burning problem with XP mentioned above.

The verdict: for what it tries to achieve (which is quick, on-the-fly file burning from the desktop), Explore&Burn works beautifully (assuming of course that bugs are eventually dealt with). For most users, however, Explore&Burn is no replacement for a full-fledged, full-featured CD/DVD burning program (such as CDBurnerXP), and it does not claim to be.

Many users will like the quick spontaneity of this. Moreover, this program is perfect for non tech-savvy users who just want to burn files quickly (a perfect thing to install for your grandmother for example).

Version Tested: 1.2

Compatibility: Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista and Windows 7, 32bit and 64bit. XP and Server 2000 may require installing the KB932716 update package from Microsoft.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 2.7 megs)

Do you need a directory comparison and synchronization program with a lot of features and options? If so then you’ve just found one of the best free programs in its class. Before I continue I will point out that for this review I will use a mock question-and-answer format where I pretend I am being interviewed by someone else

Q: You’ve said that this is one of the best directory comparison apps. Why do you like it so much?
A: I like that it supports so many advanced options. But there are three real reasons:

1. The interface: this program’s Graphical User Interface is just tremendous. It looks good and delivers a great user experience in the way the items are compared are presented visually, and each entry has a little button that can be used for individual on-the-fly syncing.
2. Supports multiple folder comparisons simultaneously: which means you can perform all your folder comparisons and synchronizations at once and be done with it. You can also save your sessions (which the program calls "configurations"), to quickly re-do the comparisons at a future point in time.
3. Can create automated "batch files" for folder syncing: these can be run from the command line, and will allow you to specify folder(s) to compare, rules for syncing, file extension filters, and other details (see image to the right).

Q: How does this program determine which files are different and which files are the same?
A: It lets the user decide whether it should compare the actual content of the files or whether to simply compare the size and date of files.

Q: Does it support 2-way synchronization?
A: Yes. It supports "Mirror syncs" (right folder will exactly match the left, no matter what’s in it), "Update syncs" (new/updated files will be copied to the right folder), and "Two-way syncs" (both sides will be changed to reflect the new or updated files that are found on either side). Deletions ca an be performed via the Recycle Bin, which gives the user recourse to go and salvage them if need be, and copy errors can be ignored if necessary as well.

There is a also a so called custom sync option where users can create their own syncing rules, but it does not seem to be active as of the version I tested.

Q: Is it possible to only compare certain file extensions, or specify extensions that should NOT be compared?
A: Yes. You can do either one of the above, i.e. specify what to include or specify what to exclude (see image to the right for an example where I am excluding ZIP, RAR and JPG files from processing). You can also use the context menu for some quick, on-the fly file extension filtering. It is also very easy to hide or show filtered items from the main display interface.

Q: You mentioned other "advanced options" that this program supports. Can you list some of these?
A: Supports filesizes larger that 4GB, no limitations on number of files, "delete before copy" to avoid disc space shortages with large sync operations, handling of cloned files (i.e. symbolic links or junctures), UniCode and Network support.

Q: So what’s the verdict? Any last remarks.
A: Excellent Program. I was looking for a program that can compare two folders (and subfolders) when I found this and it was so much more that I expected. I highly recommend it.

I also would like to mention that there is a portable version available. Simply download the zipped version and extract it where you want it, even on a USB drive.

Version Tested: 2.1 build July 3 2009 Unicode

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.3 megs).

How would you like fairly capable text editor that nonetheless sports a minimalist, uncluttered interface? This about sums this program up. It sets out to combine some good features with a Firefox-like experience (Tabs, search/replace/go-to-line bars, crash recovery, and the ability to save and load entire sessions and multiple documents simultaneously). More notes below:

• Tabs: honestly, an indispensable feature. Although I will say that the tabbed interface looks better in the Visa environment (screenshot above) than in XP.
• Syntax highlighting: for INI, XML, HTML, PHP, & Java. Also gives you the ability to change the color scheme for each of the supported languages (see image to the right).
• Firefox-style search/replace: find-as-you-type. See the top screenshot above.
• Go-to-line bars: another indispensable feature.
• Session management: if you work with a number of documents at once, and would like to get all of them loaded simultaneously, Caderno allows you to load/save a group of documents at once.
• Unicode support.
• Crash recovery.

The verdict: the internet is not lacking for excellent freeware text editors to replace Notepad. Two of my personal favorites are PSPad and Notepad++, packed choc-full of features and options to satisfy every audience. However, I will say that many text-editors, probably as a consequence of being the primary tools of the trade for developers and programmers are becoming a tad too complicated and/or feature intensive, at least for the most of us who are either not programmers or would prefer a clean, straightforward interface. If this describes you then you will probably like this program. Recommended.

Version Tested: 1.08

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.46 megs).

This program can provide instant termination of a program or app that may have crashed or frozen on you. It is designed to always be running in the background should the need for it arise, wherein it can kick into action via hotkey.

You might wonder why you may want this since you could always press Alt+F4 or CTRL+ALT+Delete, get to the “Task Manager”, and terminate the app from there. The answer is that when doing it this way the program can refuse to quit; in this case, to quote the developer’s site “Windows essentially only asks the program to quit, and lets it decide for itself what to do”; SuperF4, on the other hand, will force the program to quit. Here are more notes on this program:

• Termination: SuperF4 is designed to terminate any program; note, however, that the terminated program will shut down immediately and will not give the option to save your work.
• Hotkeys: CTRL+ALT+F4 terminates active app;WIN+F4 will allow you to use
  click on a visible window to terminate it. You cannot change these hotkeys.
• Terminate by clicking on an app: once you press the hotkey (WIN+F4) they cursor will change its appearance to a skull and crossbones icon (see screenshot above). Press ESC if you change your mind and don’t want to terminate anything.
• Size in memory: approx. 7 megs. Which is rather small if you’re wondering.
• System tray icon: can be disabled if you do not want it to show.

The verdict: a very nice program. And while you may not have an immediate use for it when you first use it, you will really appreciate that its there when/if you encounter an obstinate program that previously would have required a reboot.

Check out previously mentioned AltDrag from the same author.

Version Tested: 1.0

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.15 megs).

Let me say from the start that this is without a doubt the best program in its class and at any rate the best freeware splitting program that I have ever seen.

I first started looking for a file splitting program when faced with the following problem: a colleague of mine had to split a 600 meg CSV file so that it could be uploaded into a customer’s database. These individual pieces, however, could only be a maximum number of rows each, and the integrity of the CSV files had to preserved. Our first inclination was to open this file using a text editor, MS Access. This, however, proved impossible: the file was way too large (at 21 million rows) and was simply impossible to read as a "normal" file. It was even impossible to split using Textwedge, a text-splitting app that I’d previously written about.

This is where Gsplit came to the rescue; unlike the other methods mentioned, Gsplit is able to process your desired file without trying to load the file into memory first. Aside from splitting files by specific-sized pieces or number of desired pieces (which many programs can perform), Gsplit is able to split files using the occurrences of a pattern or by number of lines per file (the pattern in the latter case being simply the occurrence of carriage returns). Thus we were finally able to split the file quickly and easily without crashes or problems, and without needing to load the entire file all at once into memory to do so.

Here are more notes on this program:

• More on splitting: in addition to what’s already mentioned above it is interesting to know that (a) Gsplit can span pieces across external media (i.e. it will wait for you to insert your disks or flash drive and create an appropriately-sized piece, then prompt for insertion of the next media, which could be very different in size, etc.). The other interesting thing is that the user can specify the size of output pieces uniformly in general OR manually specify the size of each individual piece.
• Split by number of lines: this is buried in the "I want to split after the nth occurrence of a specified pattern." section. Use the default pattern (0×0D0×0A) for splitting by individual lines.
• Note on splitting media files: while you can split and re-combine any kind of file (including media files) for distribution purposes, do not expect to be able to play the individual pieces (even if you rename the extensions). This is a general splitter not a media splitter.
• The user interface: is very well organized for a program with such a wide range of options; however I couldn’t help but wonder if it could have been made simpler and a bit more user friendly. This is especially true of splitting by number of lines (see above). They would have done 95% of users a big favor had they separated it from the "by pattern" splitting.
• Explorer integration: right click on any file and select "split with Gsplit"
• Merging: Gsplit can create a small exec (96K) that can re-merge output files, or can combine that into the first split piece so that the first piece is turned into an executable. In these cases other users do not need to have Gsplit installed to re-combine.
• Freeware for commercial use: and with no "donate" button that I could see on the program page you can donate to Freewaregenius instead .
• Profiles: allows you to save your desired splitting settings into profiles, so that you do not have to redefine them again if you need to perform the same kind of split again at a future point.
• Batch processing: you can select a number of files to split at once using the same settings.
• Customizing your output: you can add headers or footers to the resulting files; you can add blank space at the beginning or end of each piece; you can add tags (i.e. metadata) to the resulting pieces, you even customize the scheme used to name the individual file pieces, and you can even customize the message that the user will see when they run the self-uniting executable.
• Validation: Gsplit will perform three different integrity checks to ensure that your files are accurately combined.
• Portable: version available.

The verdict: did I mention this is the best file splitting utility I have ever seen? Oh, I guess I did .

Version Tested: 3.0

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.46 megs).

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Jason H. Check out his tech blog: 404techsupport.com].

Mouse Gestures serve much the same purpose as keyboard shortcuts; they’re supposed to make you faster, more productive, more efficient, and more comfortable. Instead of switching hands from mouse to keyboard and back or minimizing everything to the desktop, mouse gestures allow you to perform actions or start programs all from the mouse with a few swift movements. High Sign comes pre-loaded with a number of gestures, some work for all applications like closing or minimizing a window.

You can create your own gestures by entering a Training mode. High Sign starts in Training mode by default or right-click on the system tray icon to find the option to toggle. Anything you draw (by holding down the right-click) in training will prompt and ask what you drew. You can specify an existing gesture or create a new gesture. The prompt offers what it thinks the closest existing gesture is. This is a good function because it can let you know if the gestures are too much alike where a different action might occur because your gesturing was a little sloppy. For example, when I drew the number 4 below, it prompted with a pre-existing gesture ’H’. When you toggle out of Training Mode, it will just perform any actions that are associated with the gestures you’ve drawn.

High Sign seems to be very forgiving and very accurate when it comes to getting the correct gesture from what you drew. When you create a new gesture, you can specify the action that it takes to come from a list of preset functions like sending a hotkey, sending a keystroke, running a command, opening a web browser or others. You can choose to affect a select program by choosing from those processes running at the time. To send keystrokes, you use the Send Keys syntax. You can do a quick Google Search to find the Send Keys syntax. As an example, the keystroke Alt-D would be %D, Ctrl-C would be ^C, and taking a screenshot of the active window (Alt + Print Screen) would be %{PRTSC}. For some more tips on using High Sign, read the brief wiki article on the High Sign page.

High Sign, by default, does not start up with Windows. It has a system tray icon that allows you access to all the different functions. You can find the preferences and preconfigured actions and gestures. High Sign comes as 820 KB installer and a 50 MB process when running. You can’t easily toggle HighSign off or on, but you can close the program from the system tray.

The preferences allow you to customize a lot of the different options. You can change the color of your line and startup options. It also allows a sneak peak at some upcoming features that could be pretty cool like opacity control and an “Ignore” key option.

While High Sign is only a 2nd alpha preview release, it’s fully functional. If the program continues to see development time, I have to believe that it’s going to be made into one stellar program as far as mouse gesture programs can go. It was originally created as a StrokeIt replacement but the developer has changed his goals to be more ambitious than just recreating StrokeIt. High Sign is open source and hosted by CodePlex, a site and repository for open-source projects.

Version Tested: Alpha Preview 2

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 2.09 megs).

I recently needed to find a way around Vista’s blocking of my favorite desktop search app (Everything) which launches as a startup entry on my Windows XP machine but is perpetually blocked on startup on my wife’s Vista laptop. I was somewhat surprised to find that there was no easy way to simply override this and enable the item on startup. This is because of Windows Vista’s “User Account Control” (UAC) security infrastructure; and although it is possible to disable the UAC, this is not at all recommended. There is, however, a relatively simple method to get any app to launch on startup using Windows’ task scheduling feature. (A number of interventions that are mentioned on the internet that will NOT work, including allowing the program on Windows’ firewall.)

For the purposes of this post I will use the example of the “Everything” app mentioned above. The way we will do this is to remove the app from the startup items and schedule it to launch on log-on using Windows Vista’s task scheduler.

Step by step:

First we will remove the app from the startup items (”everything.exe” in this example). You can do this using some startup items’ management utilities or manually as follows:

1. Click on Vista’s start menu, and type “run” in the search box. Select the “run” program which should appear as the first entry in the set of results:
   
2. In the Run program dialog, type “msconfig” and press enter.
    
3. Once the system configuration program shows up, click on the “startup” tab. Find your app in the list (”everything.exe” in this example) and uncheck the box next to it so it no longer starts with windows. Note the path to the app, as you will need it later. Also note any arguments (”-startup” in this case). Click “Ok” to close; if you are prompted to restart the computer select “exit without restart” and continue with the steps below.
   

Next, we will need to create a scheduled event that will launch the app on logon, as follows:

1. Launch Vista’s “Task Scheduler” app. An easy way to do this is to type “task scheduler” in the search box in Vista’s start menu, then select “task scheduler” which should appear as the first entry in the set of results.
   
2. Once launched, click on “Create Task” in the right pane.
   
3. In the “general” tab, enter a name for your task and (optionally) a description. Click on “Run only when user is logged on” and check “Run with highest privileges”.
4. Next go to the “triggers” tab and click the “new” button to create a new trigger.
5. Once the “new trigger” dialog appears select “At logon” from the dropdown, “any user” in the settings, and “enabled” in the advanced settings.
6. Go to the “Actions” tab and click the “New..” button
7. In the “Edit Action” dialog that appears, select “Start a program” from the actions dropdown. Click “browse” and browse to your desired app, then type in any arguments in the “add arguments” field. Remember that this (the path to your app and any arguments used) is simply re-stating the path and arguments from step #3 above.
   
8. Go to the “Settings” tab. Make sure that the following are checked: “Allow task to be run on demand” , and “Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed”. If “stop the task if it runs longer than” is checked then uncheck it.
   
9. [This step only relevant on laptops]. Go to the “Conditions” tab and uncheck “Start the task only if the computer is on AC power”. (Unless you want the task to only start if the computer is plugged in, inwhich case keep it checked).
   
10. Click “Ok” then exit the Task Scheduler. Restart the computer or log off/log on.

That’s it! The next time you log on your app will launch without the dreaded (”Windows blocked some startup programs” message).