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).

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.

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).

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].You can focus on a wall by double-clicking it. This will cause you to fly-in so you only look at that wall. You’ll be able to see the edges of the adjacent walls and the floor while you’re focused on one wall, so you can double click on the edge to move from one wall to the next. Don’t worry! The four walls and the floor makes your desktop seem more like diorama than another cubicle. You can throw icons on to the wall to hang them there or slide them across the floor and they’ll bump into other icons. You can use this to throw files to the recycle bin or into some of the desktop widgets that integrates E-mail, Facebook, or Twitter. These widgets will allow you to throw a file into them and then start a new message with the file attached. You can also pin sticky notes to the walls so you can write down notes to yourself. You’re limited to two (2) notes in the free version. Double click to edit a sticky note or right-click to add one.

Your normal right-click context menu is replaced with an easy to use circle menu where you can choose different features of BumpTop. You can still access the normal right-click menu (with some additions) under the More… selection. All of these selections, as you can see, also come with keyboard shortcuts so you can really work how you do.

One great feature of BumpTop is the ability to increase or decrease icon size. If you use something frequently, why not make it bigger so it’s an easier target to hit? You can increase the size of icons to make them easier to access. With the physics that are implemented by BumpTop, this also increases their weight and they won’t get bumped out of the way so easily. It could also make the Recycle Bin an easier target if you want to throw files away.

Some of the practical uses of BumpTop include searching and piling. You can search your desktop for a file just by typing and any matching icons will be highlighted. You can also access the search through the right-click menu. You can also pile icons together to tag them as related and to keep them physically together. To pile icons, you just highlight them and go to the pile icon. This will move all the icons on to a stack and you can then double-click on the pile to spread them out in a separated grid or right-click and fan them out.

Your mileage may vary, but BumpTop measured in as a 60-75 MB process for me and was a 10.7MB download for the installer. You can optionally configure BumpTop to start with Windows. Otherwise you can start it manually and close it with a system tray icon. It will remember your icon layout each time it starts up.

I used BB Flashback Express to record a video of going through the opening tutorial, so you can see some of the animations in action in the below video.

You can configure a number of settings: icons physics, photo frame cycling, and the desk widgets which allow integration to e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also change some of the visuals and graphic card usage. If you have multiple monitors, it looks like BumpTop can only be used on one desktop at a time. You can change the theme that BumpTop uses or just specify individual images for each wall/floor. You can have your current Windows background be the floor and then specify images for each wall or leave it with the theme defaults. You can see how to install a theme and browse the growing number of themes to really customize it to your liking. There are some really cool themes out there!

Another cool thing that BumpTop adds to your desktop comes in the form of Photoframes. Photoframes allow you to run a slide show from a local directory or an online source like a Flickr RSS feed. They can be configured with how frequently they update their source and how often they change images.

If you’re curious for more info you can watch a TED talk on the software.

Version tested: 1.0 build 3038

Compatibility: A 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, with latest service packs. Intel 915 integrated graphics or Nvidia GeForce 6200 or ATI X300 or better with updated drivers. OpenGL 2.0 driver support required (may require additional drivers available at the bumptop drivers page).

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 10.73 megs).

There is an impressive range of excellent freeware Windows enhancements and tweaks. This posting will present forty three excellent additions to Windows that you will like.

When I first thought of this post, I more or less knew what programs I wanted to list here. The common theme that brought these together was that they were all really cool Windows “enhancements”: i.e. apps that tweak or change the way we work with files, folders, applications, or the system environment itself (or, apps that brings functionality to the Windows environment that could or should have been a built-in option in Windows ).

Two more things to say before presenting the list itself; the first is that this list might not include some well known titles because in some cases I shied away from Windows enhancement apps that try to do many things at once in favor of simpler, more straightforward ones. The second is to be aware that many of these have overlapping functions and hotkeys that you wouldn’t necessarily want installed on the same system at the same time (you also dont want to overburden your PC, so install selectively).

Note: this post took a long time to write, so please Stumble or Digg!

Here’s the list:

1- Fences: do you ever wish that there was some way to organize your icons into general, clearly-labeled areas on your desktop that you could move or organize without needing to deal with each icon individually? If so, you’re in luck, as this is exactly what Fences does. You can create floating areas on your desktop, label them, and move icons of any type into them; you can then re-arrange these by moving entire units around, etc. Fences will do two more things for you (1) it will preserve/save icon locations on your screen, and (2) it will allow you to double click an empty area on the desktop to hide all icons.

Note that Fences is still in beta and seems to exhibit some bugs on some machines. It works fine on my XP (with XP’s Dr. Watson debugger disabled).

2- QTTabbar: ever imagined using explorer windows in a Firefox style tabbed interface? This is essentially what this (terrific) freeware does, but it also manages to deliver a range of nice functions, including the ability to browse contents of folders without clicking into them (see screenshot), the option to bookmark groups of open tabs, a searchbox for filtering files, image previews on mouse-hover, as well as a slew of others.

QTTabbar is extendible through a handful of plugins that provide extra functionality, including a “folder memo” plugin to add notes to folders.

3- Filebox Extender: this one adds new buttons on the title bar next to the minimize, maximize, and close buttons that provide favorite folders and recent folders access anywhere (including file open/save dialogs). Other functions: a “stay on top” pushpin button, and a window roll-up button that hides all but the title bar of a window.

There are many apps that are designed to access favorite folders and files, but this one is one of the most original and innovative.

4- Desktop Media: this may be familiar to you if you’ve worked with Liunx. Desktop Media is a free program that creates automatic shortcuts on the desktop whenever you plug in a USB drive, CD, or other media. The shortcuts will automatically disappear when the media is ejected.

This program also provides an interesting option whereby hardlink rather than shortcuts can be (optionally) created on NTFS drives (see “Link Shell Extension” below for more on hardlinks).

5- Sizer: allows you to you right click on the “maximize”button on the title bar in order to quickly change the size and/or placement of the active Window using a selection of pre-set profiles. You can add your own user-defined sizes and placements.

While this function hardly sounds revolutionary, I will tell you that once you start using this one you will wonder how you managed without it. Sizer will prove to be very useful and is in fact one of my first installs on a new machine.

6- Folder Menu: this is a terrific little free app that displays favorite folders anywhere on Middle mouse click or using a hotkey. It can even invoke favorite folders in Windows and MS Office open/save dialogs.

This is a new Autohotkey-based program that deserves to be more well known; since installing it it’s become one of my favorites, and I am betting that you will like it as well.

7- Folder Size: ever noticed that Windows’ detail folder view does not display sizes for folders? Well guess what, this free Windows extension adds a column to Windows’ “detailed” view that displays folder sizes. Check out my review for how to get this set up.

The latest information as I write this is that a new version 2.5 is about to be released, so watch out for that.

8- WinSplit Revolution: a freeware program that brings instant, versatile docking and resizing of windows to the sides of the and/or corners of the screen. But what is really nice is that the program allows you to control the placement of your windows by using hotkeys, by using a “virtual numpad” control that is prompted by clicking on the app’s icon in the system tray, or by so-called “drag’n go”, which involves moving your window around the screen while pressing Ctrl+Alt (whereupon it will display visual previews of the resize area as you move your window around – see screenshot).

For another interesting program that offers a similar function check out PowerResizer, which is also excellent.

9- Q-Dir: is a free dual-pane file manager that is simply terrific. It offers a slew of nice functions, including bookmarking favorite folders, a search box for filtering files and folders, the ability to save configurations of open panes and folders, and a whole host of other nifty options. What is quite innovative about Q-Dir are the nifty buttons on the toolbar that let the user access multiple configurations of file panes, quickly and easily.

I personally use Q-Dir as a replacement for Windows explorer, such that clicking on a folder in Windows will open it using Q-Dir; In that sense it is the ultimate Windows enhancement. (See my original review of the program for instructions on how to do this, find favorite feature #6).

10- Taskbar shuffle: this freeware Windows extension gives you the ability to reorder the tabs in your taskbar (on the bottom of your desktop) by dragging them at will. Very cool!

11- Standalone Stack: this freeware allows you to create folder shortcuts that, when clicked, open up as Mac-style hovering icon stacks. It supports two styles of icons “grid” and “fan”. The screenshot here depicts a grid-style such shortcut that I strategically placed in the “Quick Launch” area.

12- TaskSwitchXP: this is a freeware Alt+Tab replacement. It’s my favorite because it is straightforward and simply scrolls across the different open apps and windows while (reliably) displaying a screenshot of the selected app. It strength is function rather than form, and I like the fact that it bucks the 3D vista-style and the Mac Expose trends (but if you must have these, check out WinFlip, Shock Aero, and DExpose2).

13- Link Shell Extension: is a freeware app that allows you to right click on files and folders and create instant (and effortless) hardlinked clones, with the single stipulation that your hard drive should be NTFS formatted.

A clone is NOT a copy. A little known piece of information is that a file in Windows XP and Vista can be in two places at once (as long as the hard drive is NTFS formatted and not FAT). Suppose that you keep videos of “The Sopranos” in their “Sopranos” folder, but that you had set up a “Favorite TV shows” folder where you wanted to keep a list of some of the TV-show episodes you like the most. If your hard drive is NTFS formatted, you can keep a clone of that video in that folder that does not occupy extra space on your hard drive (rather than create a duplicate copy.

14- Launchy: this is a freeware launcher for apps and files where, instead of clicking on shortcuts or icons of the programs or files you want to open, you type in the name of the program you are seeking in a search box and select it from a list of results (the program will refine the list of selections as-you-type, which is a very nice effect).

By default this program will monitor (index) the execs and shortcuts in your start menu but can be configured to look anywhere for any file type you want. Lastly I will say that once you start using this I guarantee you will not want to use your computer without it. Some good Launchy alternatives (also free): Find and Run Robot, Key Launch and Keybreeze.

15- Freesnap: ever wanted to snap just one or two edges of your window that you’re working with right to the side of the screen? Freesnap is a freeware that lets you do just that (see screenshot). It will also let you use hotkeys to quickly send your window to any of the 4 corners of the screen (or the center), and perform a number of window-resizing operations.

16- Everything: this one is a free desktop file search program that works ONLY on NTFS formatted drives. The reason: it relies on the Master File Table of the NTFS volume to build its index of files, rather than constantly scanning and scouring the hard drive. What this means is that Everything will always be up to date with all file changes that occur on your hard drive.

The reason this one is included in this post is that more than any other program it has changed the way I work with Windows (with the possible exception of Launchy, above). I now find myself constantly right-clicking “Search Everything” on folders in order to locate the files that I am working with. Being able to right click on my computer in order to find a file or files anywhere on my drives is an extremely powerful thing to be able to do.

17- 3RVX: this freeware allows you to control your system’s volume (up/down/mute) through hotkeys. Its not the most feature-packed utility of its kind (Volumouse might have that distinction), but it just may be the most pleasant to use, looks really pretty (emulates the MacOSX volume bezel, but is skinnable and comes with many other cool skins).

This is another one of those apps I have to have installed on my machine.

18- OSD Mute: a very simple free app that does a very simple thing: displays a “Mute On” message on your desktop near the system tray when the system volume is muted. While this is not quite revolutionary, it is so useful that I install it on all my machine, and is really an option that should have come built into Windows.

19- Dexpot: this is without a doubt the best, most feature rich and advanced freeware virtual desktop program for Windows. It doesn’t offer some of the eye candy that you might find in some others (animated 3D cube transitions between desktops, for example), but what it lacks in style in makes up for in substance (e.g. rules, hotkeys, icon placements on different desktops). If you are unfamiliar with virtual desktops imagine being able to work on, say, your Office applications in one desktop, then flipping to another that has your browser/webmail, and then flipping to a third that displays, say, your media player.

One thing you can do with Dexpot that I have not found anywhere else is to actually designate different icons to different desktops. This alone makes it the undisputed number one virtual desktop app as far as I am concerned.

20- Infotag Magic: a freeware shell extension that tweaks Windows to display informational tooltips when hovering over a range of filetypes, including audio files, text files, shortcuts, and executables (see screenshot).

File extension types supported: wp3, wma, ape, and Ogg Vorbis (for audio), txt, ini, log, bat, diz, bak, and que files (for text files), exe, dll, ocx and lnk (for executables/shortcuts). I would have liked to have tooltips support for video files; if that’s something you want it is provided in the latest beta of MediaInfo.

21- AudioShell: a freeware shell extension that allows you to view and edit audio files tags directly in Windows Explorer (for individual files or groups of files). It adds tabs in the audio file’s right-click “properties” dialog that enable you to edit tag information on the fly. (Including album art, which you can easily import into the Audioshell tab and save it into the audio file itself.)

Audioshell will also display your audio file tag information inside tooltips when you mouse-over your audio files, and will add additional audio related columns that can be displayed in Windows explorer’s folder “detail” view (e.g. Title, Album, Artist, etc.)

22- Stick: is an interesting freeware app that places dockable tabs on the sides of your screen that can contain a variety of functions, such as notes, RSS feeds, shortcuts for apps or favorite folders, etc.

The nice thing about this one is that the “dockable tab” effect works really well, and its a very interesting innovation on the typical Windows user interface.

23- Xentient Thumbnails: a freeware that automatically changes the icons for image files to appear as little thumbnail previews of the images themselves.

This means that the even in icon or tile view each individual image will display a thumbnail for its icon that reflects a preview of the image itself. It also means that your image files will display little thumbnails for their icons even when placed on the desktop (a nifty and rather unusual effect).

24- Thumbview: you might have noticed that some image file types (e.g. JPG, GIF, BMP and a few others). display preview thumbnails in Windows Explorer while others do not . What Thumbview does is provide support for 19 additional image file types such that Explorer is able to provide thumbnail previews for those as well. It also adds tooltips for image files in Explorer such that hovering over an image file displays its type, dimension, bitdepth, and filesize.

25- WinCDemu: a small, free, extension that adds to Windows the ability to mount disk images as virtual drives simply by double clicking on the image files. Supports .ISO, .IMG, .CUE, .BIN and .RAW disk images and an unlimited number of virtual drives.

Runs in the background with no user interface, and seamlessly integrates disk image files into Windows.

26- Allsnap: imagine that your windows had a little “magnetic field” around them such that if they came sufficiently close to each other they would simply snap together. This effect, which we have all seen employed by various apps (such as Winamp for example) is exactly what this freeware does. Very cool, and also configurable so that you could set exactly how many pixels around each window this “magnetic field ” should be in effect.

There is also, interestingly, a portable version of this app which I just discovered.

27- TeraCopy: this free program integrates itself with Windows to deliver accelerated file copying in many instances as well as the ability to pause and resume copy operations. It comes especially handy when copying or moving a large number of files such that the entire process will not break down if it encounters, say, a file error.

You have the option to set whether to have TeraCopy perform all file copy operations by default (which is what I do), just when invoked by the user, or only when the “Caps Lock” key is on.

28- HOBComment: this free Windows extension adds a context menu entry that allows users to instantly add a comment to files and folders (yes, folders, which normally you wouldn’t be able to add comments to in Windows). I’ve been looking for a long time and this remains my favorite way to add comments to files and folders (despite relatively sophisticated freeware general file tagging apps such as Tag2Find and Taggedfrog.

The one conspicuous drawback that afflicts HOBComment though is that it is sometimes unable to add comments to some file types, such as .MSI and MS Office files (forcing me to resort to right clicking properties/summary/comment in Windows to do so).

29- StyleFolder: this freeware adds a simple entry to the Windows context menu that makes it possible to change folder icons. And while there are a handful such apps, I like StyleFolder because it is simple and unassuming; but, more importantly, it saves the icon info within the folder rather than simply pointing to it, which means that folders retain their new, customized icons when they are moved to portable media or across the network, etc.

30- Unlocker: have you ever tried to move, delete, or perform other operations on a file or folder only to be notified that it is locked because it is being used by another process? Enter freeware Unlocker to the rescue. This software can (a) identify the process(es) that are using your files/folders and holding them hostage, and (b) will let you “unlock” these or optionally to kill the offending process so its no longer running.

Unlocker installs a convenient entry in the Windows context menu that can be used to right click any file or folder and investigate the processes that might be working with it, if any.

31- Send To Toys: this app will breathe new life into the “send to” entry in Windows’ context menu by making it extremely useful and customizable. There are a number of commands that “Send To Toys” can introduce into the send to menu, including send to clipboard, send to command prompt, send to run, send to trash, and send to quicklaunch. But what makes this program really useful is the ability to add your favorite folders to the send to menu, whereby you can quickly copy or move any item to them (pressing Shift as you use the send to folder command will move your files/items rather than copy them, while pressing ctrl+shift will copy a shortcut).

32- RBTray: minimize any window to the system tray by right-clicking on the “minimize” button. Simple with fairly low resource consumption.

What I like about this one is that is coexists very well with other Windows enhancements (aforementioned Sizer, for example), when some other apps like it do not.

33- Trayconizer: this interesting free app is for those programs that you use that you wished would simply minimize to the system tray every time by default. Trayconizer can create special, modified shortcuts to these apps that, when run, will make these always minimize to the system tray without any further intervention by the user.

34- Flashfolder: this freeware apps makes it easy to access your favorite folders in Windows’ open/save dialog (as well as that of MS Office). What is notable about FlashFolder, aside from it being extremely useful, is that in terms of coolness/form factor alone it scores extremely high points with me (check out the toolbar that add overlays on top of the open/save dialog in the screenshot to the right).

Aside from favorite folders, Flashfolder can also quickly access recently used folders and a number of other functions.

35- Folder Guide: this freeware lets you right click to access your favorite folders. Works on the desktop, in Windows’ open/save dialog, as well as the MS Office open/save dialog.

There are two ways to add your favorite folders to “Folder Guide”; from the settings, you could browse to the folder of your choice, or simply right click on the folder you want to add and use the “Folder Guide” context menu entry.

36- Shock Bookmark: another freeware app that, similar to Folder Guide above installs your favorite folders in your right click context menu and enables quick access to these on your desktop and in the Windows open/save dialog (but, interestingly, not in the MS Office open/save dialog for this one). Shock Bookmark goes one further in that it lets you access favorite apps as well as favorite files in the context menu in addition to folders.

Like Folder Guide, Shock Bookmark allows you to right click on a folder in order to add it to the app’s context menu. However, it also features “copy to” and “move to” functions on right click for quickly moving or copying your files to your bookmarked folders (similar to “Send to Toys” above).

37-Open Target Shell Extension: [XP only]. This extension adds a right click context menu entry to Windows that shows up when you right-click on shortcut files, giving the option to instantly open the target folder where the item actually resides. This saves the user a few steps that would otherwise be required right-clicking properties then “find target” on XP.

Vista users do not need this as this functionality is already built into that OS.

38- MenuApp: this tiny free app lets you create shortcuts to folders that, when clicked on, display a browsable, cascading-style menu similar to the Windows Start menu. You can create a shortcut folder any folder(s) you like and place them in all sorts of convenient places, such as the quick launch menu area, on your desktop, or within your favorite launcher app, etc.

39- Visual Subst: this freeware presents an interesting way to access favorite folders by mapping them as virtual drives that you could access from “My Computer”.

The idea is that this makes it easier to access these using on or two clicks from open/save dialogs or by navigating from anywhere all the way back to the root drive.

40- Visual Task Tips: [XP only] a lightweight freeware utility that brings thumbnail previews to minimized task bar items in Windows XP. Simply hover over a minimized taskbar button to display a preview pop-up (Windows Vista already has this functionality built in).

Check out my original Freewaregenius site design template in the screenshot!

41- Explorer BreadCrumbs: [XP only] a free Windows explorer extension that add a “breadcrumbs navigation” toolbar for folders in XP. The breadcrumb navigation method is already built into Windows Vista; it comprises a flat path structure whereby each “node” in the path is interactive and can be navigated at will in order to quickly move back and forth across the folder structure.

Note: QT Address Bar is another freeware that delivers the same functionality.

42- VSO Image Resizer: delivers image conversion and resizing as a function within the Windows explorer context menu. What is interesting about VSO Image resizer, aside from the fact that it does a great job, is that it allows for the creation of different size/format/quality profiles that make it easy for the user to right click and quickly perform multiple, different resizing operation while accessing their commonly used settings. Also allows for image processing in batch.

43- XnView Shell Extension: freeware that embeds a number of image-related operations into the Windows context menu, including an interesting image preview inside the right click menu. Other functions include the ability to edit image IPTC metadata and to resize image and/or convert them to other image formats on-the-fly

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There are many excellent freeware programs that can mount disk images into virtual drives. What is interesting about this one, however, is that it is completely integrated into Windows explorer, such that mounting an image file becomes a simple matter of double clicking on the disk image file (as you would any other file), and – voila! it is mounted.

If you don’t know what mounting a disk image means, here’s a quick description: a disk image file (of which .ISO files are the most common) is a CD or DVD saved locally on the hard drive as a single file, and which can be burned to a CD or DVD with a program like Imgburn. “Mounting” this file to a virtual drive means that your system will behave as if a real, physical CD or DVD was inserted into a real drive. Virtual drives are much faster than physical drives.

More notes below:

• Image formats supported: I’m quoting the website; “supports ISO, CUE, BIN/RAW/IMG file formats as well as SMB network shares and includes a workaround for Windows cache bug“
• Number of drives supported: unlimited.
• Supports network shares.

The verdict: there are many freeware disk image mounting options but I like the fact that this one is invisibly integrated into Windows explorer and that it supports such a wide range of image formats. I reviewed MagicDisc previously which has the added option of creating image files from CDs/DVD, but if you do not want that functionality (or if you already have it via your CD/DVD burning program), the WinCDEmu may be a more attractive option.

Version tested: 2.2

Compatibility: Windows XP and Vista, 32 and 64 bit.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 783K).

Is there anything more useful than an app that can instantly open your favorite folders or files or launch your favorite apps or websites? It’s possible, I suppose, but either way this favorite-folders at your fingertips app is pretty darn handy.

Folder Menu provides a number of interesting features; for example it can display a list of recently-opened folders, and it allows you to browse your files and folders within the interface if you like. It works within Windows explorer as well as inside many other apps, and provides the possibility of manually adding any apps that are not supported by default. More notes below:

• My favorite Folder Menu functions: (1) Favorite folders; (2) Browsing folders within the interface; (3) Launching favorite apps, and (4) Opening selected path/URL by hotkey (see “open selected text” below).
• How it works: the middle mouse button will bring up the Folder Menu by default. For those who are keyboard-inclined (or, like me, use a laptop) Win+W can invoke the app as well.
• Entities supported: you can launch folders, files, URLs, as well as registry keys.
• Browsing: bring Folder Menu on screen, then press CTRL and left-click on your folders. This allows you to browse your folders quickly and freely. CTRL+Shift will display files as well as folders. Also, CAPS LOCK will toggle browsing if its on (this behavior can be switched off in the settings).
• Filtering (for vista): a handy function where you can filter open folders by your desired file type. Sadly does not work on XP, so I couldn’t see it in action.
• Open selected text: select/highlight a URL or path (or registry key) then press
  Win+J to open it. Pretty cool.
• Adding favorites: go to options/favorites, and then drag and drop the folder you want to add. To change the display order use shift+arrows; to delete press “delete”.
• System tray icon: you can access Folder Menu from the system tray. Note that it is possible to hid the system tray icon from the settings if you want to.
• Memory use: approx. 11 megs in memory, which is reasonable though not lightweight.
• Installation: portable, no installation needed. Place the .exe in an appropriate folder and run; it will create a config file when first run.

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

• Support for Open/Save dialogs: while the program states that it supports open/save dialogs in Windows and MS Office, I couldn’t get this to work when I tested on XP (using both ver. 1.20 and 2.0 beta).

The verdict: a great little app which can be extremely useful. The interface (for setting up your favorite folders and customizing the app) could be more user friendly, but overall the program works really well. I remain continually amazed with the kind of cool apps that are made using Autohotkey.

Version Tested: 2.00 b5

Compatibility: Windows All.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 267K).

One way to describe what a document management system is to consider the filtering functions available in, say, modern media players: you can filter songs by genre, artist, album, and even tags (for some), etc, in order to find a correct set of results. Benubird PDF allows you to do something similar for documents and files; you can create a "library" of documents/files, organize them in virtual folders, add tags and metadata, and filter the documents according to the criteria you need.

Note that the program title (Benubird PDF) elevates its presumed ability to convert any type of document to PDF (presumably because of PDF’s status as a "standard" document format). The only problem with this is that it actually does NOT convert other documents to PDFs, at least not in the free version that I tested. It seems that for PDF conversions it is designed to use a shareware virtual PDF printer called NovoPDF, but it doesn’t seem to install this properly. This really is no big deal though, since you can use the program to manage any document or file type. If you need PDF conversions, use the free PDFCreator, PrimoPDF, or doPDF (all very capable freeware virtual PDF printers).

Here are more notes on this program:

• Creating a library: you can add documents and files to the library by specifying a file or folder (or zip archive) or by drag and drop; however you can use a set of rules to filter exactly the file types to add, whether to include subfolders, which virtual folders (called "collections") you might want them to be automatically added to, and even filter by metadata (e.g. all documents from author x to be added to collection y).
• Virtual folders: you can create a set of hierarchical folders/subfolders (collections) and organize your files in them. This is virtual and completely independent of where they reside on the hard drive. One cool option is the ability to select a bunch of documents/files and right click to add them to a collection or create a collection out of them.
• Documents: any filetype can be added. The program is designed to display previews of some filetypes including Office files, PDFs (if you use Adobe Reader), image files, and some media files.
• Windows context menu: want to add file(s) or folder(s) to the library? You can do this quickly by right clicking on them in explorer and using Benubird PDF’s context menu entry.
• Metadata: there are 5 fields that can be used as metadata for any file type: Title, Author, Subject, Categories, and Comments. At times there will be overlap between these and any metadata that is already defined in your files (e.g. most Office documents will have a Title and author by default, but will not necessarily be correct).
• Tags: in addition to the metadata fields discussed above, you can add tags to any file(s) at will, and filter by these in the right hand pane. To filter by tags, click (or ctrl+click) on the tags; to un-filter, click anywhere on the white space in the tag pane. To add tags, you will have to define them first in the "Library tags" section (they cannot be defined on the fly).
• Folder monitoring: if using this option, the program will monitor folders you specify according to certain rules you set for file extension types, metadata, checking frequency, etc. (A process names "Benubird assistant will run in the background at all times, but it only consumes 6 megs or so, which is quite light).
• User interface: is quite good (employs the ribbon-style interface popularized by Office 2007). The media-player like filters section on top is both powerful and will be familiar to most people. You can view your files as icons or list and sort by column names, etc.
• The search function: a powerful, quick and easy way to hone in on what you want.
• "Smart" playlists: actually smart "collections" (i.e. virtual folders). Three of these: last modified files, last added, and an "incomplete properties" collection that can

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

• Mass metadata editing by user defined rules: for example, a way to populate"Title" metadata (or other fields) from the filename or some section(s) of the filename or path.

The verdict: Benubird PDF provides a very simple and easy way to categorize, and organize your documents and folders, and with its folder-monitoring option it may be one of the best solutions for general, system-wide file tagging.

this is a well thought out, powerful, and professional program that has a lot of potential. The program’s web page states that Benubird PDF is "guaranteed to save you time and revolutionize the way you work with your documents", and at least for some I think this might turn out to be the case.

Version Tested: 1.4.0.1

Compatibility: Windows 2000, XP, Vista.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 10.56 megs).

This program takes some of the most frequently used file and folder functions and installs them as buttons on your Windows explorer folder toolbar (see screenshot). Here’s a quick summary of these.

• The filter box: type anything in the filter box and it will instantly filter your files and folders as-you-type. A great way to, say, only display the MP3 files in a folder (by typing “.mp3″ in the filter box) or, for example, only fetching those files or folders that have, say, “urgent” in their names. This is an excellent feature that is sorely missing in XP; however, if you have vista and do not want the filter box to be displayed simply disable it in the settings.
• Copy names/Copy paths: selecting a number of files and folders and pressing these buttons on the toolbar will copy the names, or the path+name, respectively, to the clipboard. (Multiple items will be copied as a list).
• Show system files: a toolbar button that can turn viewing system files and folders on and off in a single click. Very cool, albeit it kind of takes its time switching on and off for some reason.
• Rename: press this to rename all files and folders in your folders (or otherwise select the ones you want). The rename function is based on finding and replacing characters using regular expressions, which gives it more power that you might originally assume (for example, its easy to add a prefix or suffix or rename all digits). I would say that the rename function is perfect for most on-the-fly mass-renaming needs, but there are times when you will probably find that you need something more powerful or versatile such as Bulk Rename Utility.
• Create folder: quick and easy in 1 click. Or using the hotkey: Ctrl-Shift-N.
• Console: this is a run of the mill command line console that can be opened at the current folder in a single click.

Adding custom commands: provided you have an executable or script, StExBar allows you to add as many custom commands as you want. In the example shown to the right I was able to add PSPad, my preferred text editor, as a button on the toolbar that I could click on to use that program to open whatever files I have selected.

I could also specify a hotkey in addition to (or instead of) having a toolbar button. See the image to the right for an idea of the mechanics of adding custom functions.

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

• Toggle files/folders/all view: although I suppose you could think up any number of functions to add this one seems especially useful and would make a nice addition to this program.

Note on installation: once installed, on XP you need to open a folder, go to “view”, “toolbars”, and then check “StExBar” for the toolbar to be visible in your folder view. In Vista you may need to either activate the menu first, or hit the ALT key.

The verdict: very nice and rather useful. This is definitely a case of the whole being more than the sum of it’s parts; these functions together on the Windows toolbar provide a menu of options that will surely come in handy. The option to add your own functions to the toolbar is also very useful. In my case I found it especially useful in the case of adding an app that is not the default handler of certain file extensions that I liked to occasionally use to open certain files.

Version Tested: 1.6.0.187

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

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 377K).

File tagging is one of those simple, straightforward ideas that make me wonder why it is not simply built into the operating system to begin with. Of late we have seen some progress made on the photo tagging front, with many image viewers now incorporating tagging as part of their default set of features. TaggedFrog will tag images but goes further to tagging any and every file on your hard drive.

If you still need some examples as to how this could be useful consider the following two examples.

• You are working on two projects that relate to multiple clients. You could tag every file that is connected to these (such as PDF’s, “Office” files, images, etc.) such as to be able to easily and instantly retrieve all files relating to “Project A” or”client X” (or both) for example.
• I download a lot of software. I can now tag the downloaded files by their perceived review priority (high/med/low), by their subject matter “PDF editors”, “Image Viewer”, etc, and other tags such as “Featured Article”, etc.

Here are more notes on this program:

• The user interface: looks very polished and sleek but takes a little getting used to. Should have been more user friendly, really, but you will soon get the hang of it. TaggedFrog is a standalone program that does not integrate into the context menu or the filesystem.
• What is tagged: you can tag any type of file, irrespective of where it resides on your hard drive. Tagging is done by dragging and dropping your files into the interface (or dragging already-tagged-files back to the upper pane to tag them further). Folders cannot be tagged.
• The tags: can be anything that you type in. If you type in multiple words TaggedFrog will assume each word is a distinct tag unless you surround them with quotes (e.g. “project alpha” with the quotes is a single tag).
• Filters: these are groups of file extensions (e.g. “.zip, .rar, .cab, .7z”) that can be used to further filter your results. So for example say you click on “ebooks” then “comics” in your tag cloud, you could then filter the resulting set further by, say, PDF or “.CBZ, .CBR” if you are looking for that particular type of ebook.
• Favorites: are merely a collection of tags. You could set these up so you could quickly access them in the sidebar.
• Tag cloud: note that the size of the labels in the tag cloud by default is dependent on your most commonly used tags (i.e. the tags you click on the most will grow largest). You could change this in the settings to reflect the number of entries that exists for each tag instead.
• Memory consumption: takes up anywhere between 30 to 40 megs but this program uses the .NET framework and therefore its memory consumption is
  inflated as a consequence.
• Portable version: is available (although the program requires the .NET framework to be installed in order to run).

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

• Context Menu integration: it would be cool if you could right-click on a file or files and select “tag these”, prompting a little dialog where you could type in or check the tags you want.
• Adding a “tags” column in Windows Explorer: so you could see the tags for your files straight from the “details” Explorer files view.
• The ability to drag a folder to tag all of its contents: currently, you have to go inside the folder, select all, then drag the individual files to the program interface to tag them.

The verdict: this is a very nice program that performs a function that is very needed and delivers what it sets out to do quite competently.

I would have liked a more streamlined interface and more little more Windows Explorer integration, although ironically I might prefer this program to previously reviewed Tag2Find (another freeware tagging program) precisely because the latter pushes itself a little too much into Windows Explorer and the desktop environment.

Depending on how you organize your files this program may be very useful. Check it out!

Version Tested: 0.6 beta

Compatibility: Windows XP SP2 or Vista. Requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or newer. (This is already pre-installed in Vista).

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 860K).

A quick and easy way to access your favorite folders, apps, and websites, Shock Bookmark allows you to install and launch these in your right click menu. Here are more notes on this program:

• The what: gives right-click access to files of any type, folders, program shortcuts, internet favorites.
• The where: works on the desktop or within Windows open/save dialogs
• Adding objects: simply right click on an object and select “Bookmark Add/Delete” in the Shock Bookmark context menu. This will immediately add the object to Shock Bookmark’s list or, if the object is already there, will prompt the program to ask if you want that object deleted. You can add shortcuts to files and folders and it will automatically find and bookmark the actual object, which is very useful.
• Organizing objects: you can create sub-folders and organize your bookmarks into them from the options screen; however only one folder level is supported (you cannot place folders inside other folders). You can change the order of your objects at will, which is cool. The program also allows for saving your configuration of folders and objects to a file (for backup purposes, presumably?).
• Copy/Move: select files and folders and right click to quickly copy them to your favorite folders (see screenshot to the right). Very cool.
• Memory consumption: was somewhat hard to determine, but I believe it is somewhere between 250K-500K in memory. Someone please correct me if I am wrong (used the wonderful System Explorer to investigate this).

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

• Preserving file/folder icons: the version I tested does not preserve file or folder icons, and instead uses its own generic icons for folders, files, and browser favorites. These look ok but the ability to preserve and/or customize the icons used for various objects would have been better.

The verdict: I must say I really like being able to right-click to access my favorite folders and apps – a device which is quite frequently employed in alternative shell replacement software like (e.g Emerge desktop). Shock Bookmark is very similar to another freeware title, the previously reviewed Folder Guide, except it goes a couple of steps further in that it supports files, apps, and internet bookmarks when Folder Guide is restricted to favorite folders only, and it also adds the “move/copy to folder” function as well, which I personally found very useful. Overall a very nice program.

Version Tested: 3.0

Compatibility: Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 590K).

I’ve tried a great many freeware dual pane file managers and I will say that this nifty little program has three main strengths: (a) it manages to deliver a number of essential file management options while managing not to suffer from feature overload, (b) it features an economical-looking interface that is quite intuitive and provides an excellent user experience, and (c) it is very quick and responsive.

Here are my top EIGHT favorite features that Q-Dir provides:

1- Manage your files across multiple panes: all programs of this type offer this, but Q-Dir gets the prize for most intuitive implementation whereby it allows you to select the arrangement of panes that you want by clicking on small icons in the toolbar. The Q Dir people deserve credit for this interface which works extremely well.

2- Access frequently used folders (quicklinks): you can have instant access to your favorite folders and organize them within a folder structure. Note that this is different from saving ‘favorites’ (see next point).

3- Save “Favorites”: as in, save a view comprising multiple folders across a particular distribution of panes. So let’s say that for a project you like to work with the “deskop” folder in the left hand pane and two panes on the right hand side showing “Folder A” on top and “Folder B” on the bottom; Q Dir allows you to save this entire configuration as a favorite. You can also save this as an object on the desktop, whereby double clicking this file will immediately open all of these folders in the configuration they were saved.

4- Filter box: you can access a filter box in the lower right hand corner of each pane in order to hone in on a file or group of files that you want to work with. The version I reviewed recently implemented an “always wildcard” option whereby anything you type is wildcarded (i.e. type in .mp3 and the program assumes *.mp3*) – very cool.

5- Installs an “open with QDir” shell extension: optional (see screenshot). From the “Extras” menu go to “System” then check “Add Q-Dir to the shell context menu”.

6- Works very well as a direct replacement to Explorer: I am now using Q-Dir in place of the default Windows Explorer and am extremely happy with it. Like Windows Explorer you can set Q-Dir to open to a single pane by default and to list the folder name in the title bar. One thing to consider, though, is that Q-Dir takes up approx 10-12 megs in memory, and opening multiple windows will launch multiple instances of the program whose overall memory use can add up.

If you want to use Q-Dir as a replacement to Explorer do the following: add Q-Dir to the context menu (see point#5 above) then open any folder normally in Windows Explorer; next go to Tools, Folder Options, ‘File Types’ tab then scroll down to “Folder” in the list. Once highlighted click advanced, select “*Q-Dir” and then click on “Set Default”. Q-Dir will now be the default program used to open any folder. Note: to revert back to Explorer, go through the same process and re-select “open” as default.

7- Uses the default Explorer context menu and column views: I like this as I am pretty invested in what I install in my PCs right click context menu and am sometimes dismayed when a “file manager” type apps takes over with it’s own context menu. I also like that it will use the columns enabled in explorer, which means that it will work with some Explorer extensions such as Folder Size and HobComment that customize column views.

8- Portable: either run the installer then check “portable-install” or simply rename Q-Dir_Installer.exe to Q-Dir.exe if you want a portable version.

Other features:

• Color filters: you can optionally define a standard font color for each displayed file type or for folders (e.g. list all .zip files in red, .mp3 files in blue, etc.). Q-Dir comes with a pre-defined color scheme that you can change at will, or switch off color coding altogether (which is my preference).
• Media file previews: Q-Dir supports (optional) previews for media files (including video, audio, and images) and PDF. Two caveats here (1) you will need to have the appropriate codec installed to see video, and (2) you apparently need Adobe Reader installed to preview PDF (I have PDF-Exchange Viewer and PDF previews do not display).
• Zip files: Q-Dir provides the ability to browse and perform file operations on zip folders seamless just as you would a normal folder.
• Export: files and directory structure to XLS, CSV, TXT, and HTML.
• Other features: keyboard shortcuts for most functions, quick online searches for selected files or objects, an on-screen magnifier, and others.

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

• Calculating folder sizes: for all folders by default or for selected folders (in the absence of this you could use the Folder Size extension in conjunction with Q-Dir to get this.
• The ability to “swap” visible folders between panes: this is a mainstay of most programs like this one, strangely absent here.

The verdict: this is definitely one of my favorite file management/explorer replacement programs. I have been using Q-Dir to replace Windows explorer for about a week now and am very happy with the functionality that it provides as well as it’s speed and responsiveness. Previously I had been using the excellent UltraExplorer, and while you cannot compare the two programs directly (UltraExplorer is much more feature rich and a more complex program overall), I found Q-Dir more suitable as a direct replacement for windows explorer because it was in fact much more responsive.

Overall I can say that Q-Dir manages to strike a perfect balance between providing a host of excellent features and functions while maintaining a very good interface design and a good user experience. Highly recommended!

Version Tested: 3.33

Compatibility: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 190K).

This program will allow you to copy multiple items at once, and then paste whichever item you had previously copied at will later on.

I often have an internal debate as to whether or not I will post a certain program. What I do in these cases (and xNeat Clipboard Manager was such a case) is install on my computer for a few days in order to gauge its usefulness and/or its user experience. I now decided I like this one enough to keep, and will go through the pros and cons of this software below.

But before I do let me describe how it works; anything you copy will be added to the xNeat Clipboard Manager history. Next, instead of pasting the clipboard contents as normal (CTRL+V) pressing (CTRL+Shift+V) will display the small program dialog that lists all items retained in history. At that point you could either click on the item you want to past it or otherwise perform a number of functions on any of the displayed items, such as searching for any entry in Google, launching a Google translation (for some two dozen languages), or making an entry “sticky”. If the clipped text is a URL you have the option to open that URL in the browser.

PROS:

• Make sticky: anything you clip can be “made sticky” in the sense that it will always be there, similar to the basic functionality provided by a program such as PhraseExpress.
• Items captured: maintains a history of clipped text and copied files/folders. The latter enables you to use this program as a kind of file basket; all you have to do is copy a file, folder, or executable and then make it sticky. Next you can invoke the program dialog and use it to access the file/folder by right clicking “open” (remember though that the default action is “paste”).
• Search Google: clip some text and open the program dialog, then right click on “search Google”. Works from all apps/locations.
• Translate: a very handy way to translate text; simply clip it and launch a Google translation (from a choice of 24 languages) from the xNeat Clipboard Manager dialog (see first screenshot above). On the flip side, the text has to be re-pasted into the form once the Google translate page opens, and you will have to determine what the language the original text is in yourself.User can determine # of items to hold: a very useful option to have; 10 items default on install but you can change this according to what you feel works best for you.
• Launch URL: if the clipped text looks like a URL you can open it in the browser using the “browse” right click entry. URLs seem to require that they begin with “http://” though; the program does not recognize text beginning with “www.” as a URL.
• Memory use: less that 1 meg (approx 500K) in memory. Pretty darn amazing.

CONS:

• Translation: will open the Google tranlsate page
• Does not handle images copied into the clipboard. Somewhat puzzling this, as most other free programs that perform a similar function do.
• Program will call home when installed, and will refuse to install when offline. The author states that this is to ensure that the latest version is being used, keep track of number of installations (using hardware signature), and that no personal info is sent. He states that this is verifiable using any packet sniffer, since all info is sent using the http protocol.
• Bugs: the program seems not to offer the standard functions if the clipped entry is “xNeat Clipboard Manager”. No biggie, but somewhat strange.

Wish list

• Support for image clips
• Translation: automatically paste the text to be translated into the form in the Google translate page.
• The ability to customize the default action for files/folders that are in the sticky area (I would like “open” instead of “paste”).

The verdict: I really like this program. It is somewhat similar to other freeware clipboard manager, of which I will mention ClipDiary, CLCL, YC3, and Clipboard CC. However, what I like about xNeat Clipboard Manager is the innovative collection of functions that can be performed such as Google search and translate, as well a the pop-up interface which is really practical. I also like the remarkable low memory usage. A good job overall!

Version Tested: 1.0.0.5

Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista (32 bit).

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 560K).

I’ve come across many programs that provide shortcuts to favorite folders in various places; what sets Folder View apart is that is sets out to make your favorite folders available pretty much everywhere you can imagine. Specifically, Folder View can be accessed from (1) Windows’ Folders Toolbar, (2) the normal open/save file dialog, (3) through an icon in the System tray, (5) the left hand placesbar on the open save dialog, and (5) from a shortcut on the desktop. Another nice function is the easy copying or moving of files into your favorite directories from the context menu.

Note that you can (mostly) pick and choose where you want your favorites folders to be displayed. You can easily remove Folder View from the Windows folders toolbars, you can remove the shortcut from the desktop, and you can remove it from the open/save dialogs through the settings. However, it does not seem that you can remove it from the tray icon or remove the Folder View entries from the contextual menu. Here are more notes on this program:

• How it works: the first thing you will do is point Folder View to your main folder that you work with and it will grab all subfolders as folders shortcuts. The best thing to do in my opinion is to point it to a blank folder somewhere (say on the root directory) then add shortcuts to your desired folders inside that folder. You can add any folder from within explorer by right clicking on it and using “Add to Folder View” in the context menu (see image to the right).
• Browse recent folders: aside from your favorite folders, Folder View will always provide an browsable entry for any recently accessed folders, which can come really handy. Note that you can disable this in the settings if you do not want it.
• Access in folders’ toolbars: this is my favorite (see first screenshot above). Open any windows folder and your defined favorite folders will be embedded as buttons in the toolbar (you will have to enable this the first time you use it though either from the program options or by right clicking on a folder toolbar and checking “Folder View”). What is cool is that hovering over the folder buttons will make them open, cascading menu style, and allow you to navigate the directory structure. Note: although this is the case here it does not seem possible to do this cascading menu folder browsing in the other places Folder View installs itself.
• Access in open/save dialogs: another place where accessing your favorite folders can be really valuable. Works anywhere where the default Windows open/save dialog is used, which should be approx 75% of applications (not MS Office open/save dialogs, unfortunately). It can also add your favorites on the left hand placesbar column, but you will have to enable that in the settings; this will ensure that your favorite folders are uniformly added everywhere although for myself I prefer to customize the placesbar separately with an app such as Melloware Placesbar Editor.
• Access in the system tray: a nice place to access favorite folders. Unfortunately it does not let you browse your folders cascading-menu style from there (although it seems like a very good place to have that ability).
• Access from a desktop shortcut: self-explanatory, this one. This is pictured above in the “browse recent folders” bullet point.
• Moving/copying files to favorite folders: this can be done from the context menu using cascading menu-style folder browsing and is very cool. I always used Send to Toys to do this personally but will consider switching to this for the sake of favorite-folder uniformity.
• Memory consumption: approx 10 megs, which seems reasonable for all that this app can do for you.

Wish list:

• Customizing Folders View so that is shows in the open/save dialog of MS Office (other apps provide plugins for MS Office).
• Providing the ability to browse directory structures in cascading menu style from the system tray, the open/save dialog, and the desktop shortcut. Currently you can do this from the folder toolbar only.
• Providing a browsable favorites entry in the context menu (similar to Folder Guide). Not that they don’t provide favorites in enough places as it is but if they’re covering all other conceivable places they might go for this one.
• The ability to remove the context menu entries and the Folder View system tray icon.

The verdict: while there are a lot of different freeware apps that provide favorite folders in open save dialogs (e.g. FlashFolder, DM2, CFD Button), and freeware such as Filebox Extender and Folder Guide provide favorite folder access to open windows and the context menu, respectively; what I like about Folder View is that it can use a single list of favorite folders and provide it to the user in a wide variety of places. The copy/move files in the context menu is also a very nice added bonus. Overall a very nice app that can be very useful. The program can be better (see wish list) but as it is it is very good indeed. Try it you will like it.

Version Tested: 2.1

Compatibility: Windows XP/2000/ME or 98/95 with Internet Explorer 5 or above installed. No info on VISTA.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.12 megs).

There’s no way to avoid creating duplicate files: it will happen invisibly when you build up a music or media collection, when you create copies of your files for whatever reason and then lose track of the originals or the copies, or when you download programs or media files from the internet, etc. Which is why you need a program like Duplicate Cleaner.

Two programs in one: it is worth noting that Duplicate Cleaner is really two different programs rolled into one; on the one hand it is a generic duplicates scanner that works on any file type; on the other hand it is an audio file duplicates scanner that will identify audio file dupes based on the information in the audio file tags (assuming that the tag data is accurate in the first place).

There are three main reasons why I like this program:

1. Different methods: lets you search for duplicates using a number of different methods. It can look at the file content (by calculating its unique CRC value), looking at file names, file size, file date, or any combination of these (e.g. matching both file name and size).
2. Reads audio tags: the program is able to detect music file duplicates by reading audio tags.
3. Managing the results list: offers a number of excellent options for what to do with the results after they are found, including smart criteria for selecting and deleting dupes (including user-defined patterns), viewing or opening any file in the results list, exporting and importing results, the option to create hard links, etc. In fact it is the versatility of what you can do after you get your list of dupes that attracts me to this folder

Here are more notes on this program:

• What to search for: you can specify which filetypes to scan for (for example entering *.zip;*.exe will look for zip files and executables only; note that a semicolon not a comma is used in the syntax). The program provides 6 presets: image/picture files, music data, movies, text files, office documents, and "everything". You can also specify filters for minimum and maximum file sizes to take into consideration.
• The user interface: is one of the nicer things about this program. It employs a tabbed interface and is generally very intuitive. Aside from the main search tab and the "Duplicate Files" tab which contains the dupe file results, a "Zero Size Files" tab lists all dupes with zero size, and an "All Files Scanned" tab will display all files scanned for reference. You can click on the column headers for any list of files in order to sort by the contents of that column. The program will identify each group of duplicate files by a group number, useful for keeping track of which files are duplicates of which.
• Music search: search by (a) same artist, (b) same title, and (c) same album, or any combination of the above. Will scan mp3, wma, flac, ape, and ogg audio formats.
• The results list: right clicking on any file displays a context menu with options that include opening the file in explorer, executing it, and previewing it in the case of image files. Or you can run the "Selection Assistant", to manage file selections in bulk (see below). You are also able to export results to CSV and import them later on when you are ready to work with them, which is another great feature.
• The selection Assistant: allows you to process a large list of results to select duplicates while leaving a single original untouched. It can select the oldest/newest/largest or smallest files in each duplicate group, or otherwise use the order in your list to select all but the first entry for each group of duplicates. Alternately you can select using a pattern in the filename or the path (the latter being useful if you know that all the dupes are in a certain folder structure).
• Action options: once you have your files selected, you can either delete them to the recycle bin or move them to a specific directory (with the interesting option to re-create the directory structure of the moved files when transferred to the new directory). You also have the very unique interesting option to create hard links for the duplicate files. More on this below.
• Creating hard links: this is an option if you are running Windows 2000, XP, or Vista on an NTFS file system. Also termed "cloned files", this is where you have two different files in the file system that actually point to the same data (such that they do not occupy space twice on the hard drive, and changing one of them actually changes both). I am not sure if this option is ready for prime time, though, as hard links created with Duplicate Cleaner have no way of being distinguished from normal files in explorer, which is a problem that the developer promises to address; moreover the program will detect hardlinked files as dupes in subsequent scans, which is also not ideal. (See Link Shell Extension for a fantastic program to create and manage hard links).
• Performance: will depend on many factors (e.g. the your hardware specs, the size of the data you are scanning and number of files as well as the filters you set); however I will say that after using this program for a while, and from a purely subjective perspective, it offers excellent speed (Audio tag searches are a tad slower).
• Protection for system files: system files are protected and not scanned by default. You can change this if you want these files included, but this is generally not recommended unless you know what you’re doing.

Wish list:

• To specify "or" in the search criteria: currently, you can require results to meet multiple search criteria (e.g. same size and same name both); it would be nice to be able to specify "or" criteria (e.g. same size ro same name).
• To specify "excluding" in the user-defined selection assistant: e.g. select dupes in all folders except for the following. Currently, you are only able to set the path to select dupes from.

The verdict: there are a number of free programs that detect duplicate files, but they mostly seem to focus on getting reliable and/or quick results and lag behind in terms of the tools to manage results after your get them.Where I think this program really distinguishes itself is in what you can do with your duplicate results and its general ease of use and user-friendly interface. I recommend it highly.

Version Tested: 1.2.0

Compatibility: Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.7 megs).

There are many ways to get access to your favorite folders, files, and apps, and WinExt can do this in the form of a docking bar that can be placed topmost on your screen or on the bottom above the Windows taskbar. What the screenshots might not at first convey is the depth and versatility of this program, and the extent to which WinExt allows for customization. Here are more notes:

• Folders on the WinExt bar: you can do 3 different things with folders placed on the bar; (1) create a cascading menu from a folder; (2) place a folder icon on the dock itself that you click on in order to open that folder in Explorer; and (3) place a so-called expanded folder, whereby the contents of the folder are displayed as clickable icons on the bar itself (as for example the contents of the quicklaunch folder in the screenshot). Personally for many folders I like to put up both a folder icon that opens the folder itself as well as a cascading menu from the folder right next to it.
• Always visible: WinExt will “nudge” your desktop down, so to speak, and Windows will maximize such that they will touch the bottom of the bar so that it is always visible.
• The infobar: an additional bar that is placed adjacent to the original and contains gauges that display status indicators for CPU, memory, battery, and hard disk drive usage, etc. I don’t care much for this, personally, but I can see how it can be useful (I use Systraymeter for some of these and am very happy with it).
• Customizability: WinExt is highly customizable; however, I will also say that the interface used to tweak and change the settings is not very user friendly and, in my view, is a lot more work than it could be (why can’t I just go into some sort of edit mode and right click on elements to change them?) It will take some work to get this app configured exactly the way you want it.
• Skins: comes with 2 skin choices (pictured in the thumbnails on this page). Customizable variables include alpha blending, changing the color of every single element, etc. Keeping my fingers crossed that more will be provided in the future.
• Hotkeys: comes with a system-wide hotkeys manager that can launch a file or maximize, minimize, or close windows. I honestly couldn’t figure out how to get it to work, but didn’t try that hard as I am not that interested in this functionality personally.
• Marquee: the right hand side of the bar can display information such as the time, memory use, battery consumption, Winamp track information, etc. It will scroll these in succession, and you can click to scroll through the different messages. The kind of info displayed is customizable and you can switch it off altogether if you like.
• Memory consumption: consumes a rather large 30 megs of memory.
• URLs: a built in tab provides for quick IE
• Notes: one of the built in tabs functions as a simple notes organizer. Won’t replace my favorite notes program (Tobu) anytime soon, but I’m sure many will find such a notes-right-on-your-desktop tab very useful. Somewhat buggy in the version I looked at (see wish list section below).

Wish list:

• Enabling right-clicking on the items in the cascading menus: as it is at the moment, you are unable to right click on an item in the menus and perform context menu operations (e.g. renaming, deleting, etc) in the same way you can, say, in Windows’ start menu or quick launch. It would be great if WinExt allowed for this as well.
• Bugfixes: program stopped responding and displayed an error message on at least three occasions within a 24 hour period, and had to be shut down and restarted. The built-in notes tab also presented an error whereby it seems to automatically save notes as you type them in, and then one you are done and click “ok” an error message appears informing you that the note is already there (?).
• Opening folders in the cascading menus by double-clicking on them: seems like a no-brainer; would greatly enhance this program’s functionality.

The verdict: I am posting this program for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is a great way to always have your favorite folders on-screen and access them both as cascading menus or easily open them in explorer. Secondly, I am intrigued by the possibilities it presents for those who like customizing their desktop experience and/or experimenting with Windows shell replacements. I don’t much care for the infobar or the hotkeys but if you are interested in these you will find them to be solid components.

This is not a perfect program by any means, but I am hoping that it will get better in future releases. It’s (relatively) high memory use is somewhat of a drawback and will probably put some people off (I know the Freewaregenius audience is a tough crowd!); however if you put the time into customizing this program initially you can arrive at the perfectly customized docking bar that delivers access to your favorite folders, apps, and files quickly and easily.

Version Tested: 1.03

Compatibility: Windows 2000, XP, Vista.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 1.08 megs).

If you read the description above and did not understand what this program does, consider the following:

1. The function in question is clicking "f2" while a file is selected (and assuming the file extension is visible and not hidden). In XP this will select the file name including the extension to allow easy renaming (try it and see). In Vista it behaves a little differently whereby the file name is selected but the extension is not, making it possible to type in a new name without over-writing the extension.
2. Phlox provides this same behavior as in Vista when pressing f2 in XP.

More notes on this program:

• Can be enabled and disabled through the program’s icon in the system tray.
• While it works really well in general, I noticed at times that it becomes less responsive and might stop working and require a program restart (a bug, perhaps?)
• Memory use: approx 5 megs. Not a lot, but it seems that something like this should have been smaller.

Wish list:

• The ability to hide the program icon in the system tray.
• Bugfix: for those occasions where it seems to stop working, mentioned above.

The verdict: if you’ve known about this function in Vista, (or Mac or Linux OS’s) and thought that it would be useful, well… there you have it. My only criticism is the 5 megs in memory, not because it is a lot necessarily but because it may be big enough for many people to choose to opt out. (If you use Autohotkey, you might want to look into the Autohotkey script mentioned here that does the same thing as Phlox).

I’ve had this program installed on my machine for 24 hours now and I must say that after a while using f2 starts becoming second nature (and is rather useful).

Version Tested: 1.0

Compatibility: Windows XP.

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 461K).

The problem: say you have a portable app that in a folder on a USB drive with, for example, a path such as “F:\EjectUSB\EjectUSB.exe”. Say, moreover, that you would like to create a shortcut to “EjectUSB.exe” and place it on the root folder of your USB (”F:\”, in this case). You might be tempted to simply copy a shortcut and place it on the root folder; except for one thing: that shortcut will always refer to “F:\EjectUSB\EjectUSB.exe”, and should you plug your USB drive into a computer that assigns a different letter to the USB drive (i.e. a letter than is not “F”) the shortcut will break down and not work. Hence the need for a shortcut with a relative path.

The solution:

• Windows does not support relative paths in shortcuts. Instead, this article will describe a solution based on creating a so-called batch (.BAT) file and converting that into an executable (which nonetheless displays the original program’s icon).
• I will use the example outlined above (”F:\EjectUSB\EjectUSB.exe”).

Step by step:

1. Create a new text document (to create a text document right click anywhere on your desktop, select new, then select “Text Document” from the context menu). Open it and type in the path for the executable, between quotes, without the drive letter and colon (e.g. “\EjectUSB\EjectUSB.exe” – with the quotes). Save and exit. It does not matter what you name the file at this point, but let’s say you named it shortcut.txt for reference.
2. Rename the text file and change the extension to .BAT instead of .TXT.
3. Before we go further we have to extract the icon from the original app and save it as an ICO file. To do this use a program such as “BecyIconGrabber“. Download, extract, and run, then point to the original executable (”F:\EjectUSB\EjectUSB.exe” in this case). Right click on the icon when it appears (it doesn’t matter which size icon you are looking at) and save it as an ICO file.
4. Download and unzip the free “Bat To Exe Converter” and run it. In the program dialog, point to the batch file you created (shortcut.bat) for the”batchfile” field and to the extracted ICO file for the “Iconfile” field. Use the “Compile” button to complete the operation.
5. Two more things left to do (1) rename the new executable if you want to, and (2) move it to the root folder of your USB device.
6. That’s it. You can now run the new exe file from the USB’s root folder to launch your program; it will always preserve the relative path, no matter what letter Windows assigns the USB device.