Archive for the ‘Software’ Category

Making a bootable USB flash drive for Windows Vista and Windows 7 isn’t all that tricky, but it’s always nice to find an app that simplifies things. Not only does WinToFlash make the process about as easy as it can get, but it can also create Windows XP, Server 2003, and Server 2008 installers.
The default options make it easy to roll a silent Windows install, or you can flip the custom switch and specify the exact setup parameters you want to use.
The handy app also has one more trick up its sleeve: moving Windows Preinstall environments. PE discs can be extremely handy for troubleshooting and repairs, and being able to painlessly zap them over to a USB flash drive means not having to burn a new copy every time someone’s haggard old optical drive decides to chew up your CD.
WinToFlash is a free download and is totally portable. It’s an excellent tool to add to your USB-related utilities.

If you need a good launcher for apps, files, folders or URLs and would like the option to organize your files and shortcuts into tabs then check this one out. FLS Launcher is a free, tabbed launcher activated by clicking on the top left corner of the screen with the mouse. It supports the dragging and dropping of icons into the interface and allows for a range of useability customizations.

Another nice launcher. I’ve been using this one for a few days and am very pleased with it. I like that it can easily be used as an organizing tool; for example, you can easily organize your desktop icons into tabs you create in FSL Launcher and get rid of desktop clutter. I also like that it automatically reconciles shortcuts you drag to it and links to the original icon (you can, for example, drag a shortcut on the desktop to FSL Launcher and then delete that shortcut, the icon in FSL Launcher will still work).

FLS Launcher

FSL Launcher: a tabbed, mouse-activated launcher | freewaregenius.com

Windows only: Free application Portable Ubuntu for Windows runs an entire Linux operating system as a Windows application. As if that weren’t cool enough, it’s portable, so you can carry it on your thumb drive.

Built from the same guts as the andLinux system that lets you seamlessly run Linux apps on your Windows desktop, Portable Ubuntu is a stand-alone package that runs a fairly standard (i.e. orange-colored, GNOME-based) version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. It just doesn’t bother creating its own desktop, and puts all its windows inside your Windows, er, windows.

The coolest parts about Portable Ubuntu are:

• It actually works (in most cases, on most systems).
• It fits on a (larger) thumb drive and can run entirely from it.
• It can work on, and save to, your Windows folders and files.
• It’s persistent, so changes you make and apps you install are carried around with you.
• It’s easily manageable from Windows, and works great on dual monitors.

Wanna give it a go? Grab the latest Portable Ubuntu package (about 438MB as of this writing), then double-click to unpack it to a folder. On Vista or Windows 7, you’ll have to open your command prompt as an administrator (hit Windows key, type in cmd, then right-click on the "Command Prompt" option that appears and select "Run as Administrator"); on XP, you’ll probably just have to launch a command prompt. Head to the folder where you extracted your Portable Ubuntu, and enter run_portable_ubuntu and hit Enter to launch the .bat script.

Your machine will whir and decompress for a while, and you’ll likely get a few prompts to "Unblock" coLinux and a few other apps’ abilities on your system. Unblock all of them, and you’ll eventually get a small, move-able menu bar on your desktop, as seen in the top screenshot. Drag this wherever it’s comfortable to keep it, and you’re on your way.

From those three pop-out menus—Applications, Places, and System—you can accomplish pretty much the same thing as any Linux user can, just without the full desktop. Launch a program, and it appears in a window that looks like any other on your Windows system. Open a file browser from "Places," and you can get to your Windows files by heading to /mnt/C (or substitute your drive name/letter for "C"). Feel free to carry around Audacity, GIMP, or any other editing programs that lack a Windows equivalent and start getting creative with them.

Whatever changes you make to your system stick with it. So if you, say, want to install VLC media player for some on-the-go media, you can install it from the Add/Remove dialog or tackle it manually in Accessories->Terminal, and it’ll be planted right in the Sound & Video menu. The same goes for system tweaks or startup apps you add to your little Ubuntu package.

Update: For those who miss it over at the Portable Ubuntu page, the default root password is 123456.

Portable Ubuntu makes for a great place to test out your more cutting-edge stuff, without having to worry about messing up your working Windows system. The latest beta of Firefox 3.1/3.5? Even easier to run than the portable solution, and you can keep both your Windows and Portable-Ubuntu-launched Firefox browsers open at once.

When you’re running Portable Ubuntu, Windows treats it like any other program. You can close down individual app windows from your taskbar, and pop it onto and off your desktop with little hassle.

Portable Ubuntu is a free, portable download that runs from Windows systems only. Drop your Linux-inside-Windows ideas and other geeky stuff in the comments.

Portable Ubuntu Runs Ubuntu Inside Windows – Portable Ubuntu – Lifehacker

This little app works so well, it is a little scary.  It is a good thing to run to see just how exposed your PC is.

IE PassView is a small password management utility that reveals the passwords stored by Internet Explorer Web browser, and allows you to delete passwords that you don’t need anymore. It supports all versions of Internet Explorer, from version 4.0 and up to 8.0.
For each password that is stored by Internet Explorer, the following information is displayed: Web address, Password Type (AutoComplete, Password-Protected Web Site, or FTP), Storage Location (Registry, Credentials File, or Protected Storage), and the user name/password pair. You can select one or more items from the passwords list and export them into text/html/csv/xml file.

You can find many other cool tools at the site.

IE PassView – Password Manager Program for Internet Explorer

Windows: Application launchers can speed up your computer experience, but they aren’t always pleasant to look at. Krento is not only easy to configure, but it adds some serious 3D eye candy to your desktop, with little impact on resources.

Krento runs in the background from the system tray, and can be launched by either right-clicking the icon, clicking your mouse’s scroll wheel, hitting Windows + C, or double-clicking a toggled "pulsar"—basically a small, semi-transparent animated icon—in the corner of your screen. To launch an program, just click on it’s box (or "stone", as Krento calls it). Or, if you don’t want to move from the keyboard, you can also hit ctrl + the function key that corresponds to the program. In the above-pictured case, for example, Ctrl + F5 for the Command Prompt.

To add programs to the launcher, just drag and drop them onto a stone. You can even create multiple "circles" for different categories of programs, so you’re not just limited to 12. Krento is also skinnable,and takes up very little RAM and CPU, which is always nice—especially for something that looks this good.

Krento is a free download, Windows only.

Krento

Krento, Free Desktop Organizer

gDoc Creator is a free program that can perform a number of document format conversions, including converting PDF to Word (.DOC) format. It can convert PDF, XPS, or any MS Office format (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) into any of three formats: DOC, PDF, or XPS. It also can optionally install add-ins for MS Office that enable saving directly to PDF or XPS and will install ’virtual printers’ that enable converting any printable document into either PDF or XPS.

 

I

Free gDoc Creator for PDF and XPS Creation

  SharePod is a lightweight iTunes alternative you can. In addition to basic music playback and playlist management, Sharepod can back up and restore your entire iPod or simply copy individual tracks to and from the device. Note: Run Sharepod for the first time on a computer where you have administrative privileges to ensure it will run properly on computers where you have limited access. For more tips and tricks to get the most of your iPod, check out Adam’s excellent 20 Best iPod Utilities feature. Sharepod is a free, Windows only, portable application for managing your iPod music collection. Its free, but you should always donate for software you use.

 Thanks LifeHacker.com

SharePod

Vitamin D is a three-step piece of software. You point it at a webcam on your network (it’s compatible with a few models right now) and tell it what to do when it sees evil people encroaching on your turf. Be they the UPS guy or brain-eating zombies, the system will record a clip of their activity and can even notify you via email and an audible chime when it senses movement. In short, it allows you to create a very powerful security system in a few minutes.

You can add multiple cameras and the system grabs only the most important parts of the day, ensuring you don’t miss a single entry or exit. Because it’s compatible a number of webcams, including webcams over a network.

It’s free right now and you can download the beta here. A subscription version will be sold in early 2010. 

– From  Crunchgear.com

vitamin d : download

>Transporting your data is probably the most common use for a USB flash drive. But there’s a world of other things you can do with these handy pocket-size drives. Here are 10 ways you can use that USB flash drive to do more than just move data.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Run portable applications

In addition to storing your data, you can run portable applications from a USB flash drive. For example, OpenOffice, which is a complete office suite that includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, drawing package, and database, is available as a portable application. Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are also available as portable applications. When you combine the office suite with the ability to surf the Web and check email, you’ll be able to take your most vital computing applications with you wherever you go — right in your pocket.

If that’s not enough, you can choose other applications to install on your USB flash drive from PortableApps.com (Figure A). You can even install an entire prepackaged suite of applications that includes such things as an audio player, games, an antivirus utility, and a handy menu system.

Figure A

The PortableApps.com suite comes with a menu system to allow you to easily access your portable applications.

2: Boot an operating system

If you want to do more than just run your own applications, you might want to consider booting an entire operating system from your USB flash drive. You can boot either Windows or Linux from a USB flash drive; however, the process is not an exact science and you may be in for a technical adventure.

Fortunately, there are some guides you can follow. To learn how to boot Windows XP from a USB flash drive, see the article Creating a bootable USB flash drive for Windows XP. To learn how to boot a version of Linux from a USB flash drive, see the article Puppy Linux teaches an old dog new tricks.

3: Connect to a wireless network

If you have a wireless network, you can use the Wireless Network Setup Wizard in Windows XP or the Windows Connect Now (WCN) feature built into Vista to save wireless network configuration information to a USB flash drive. You can then use your drive to quickly and easily connect another computer or a WCN-compatible device, such as a router or printer, to your wireless network. To learn more about using the Wireless Network Setup Wizard, see the Help And Support Center, which is accessible from Windows XP’s Start menu. To learn more about using the Windows Connect Now feature, see Windows Help And Support, which is accessible from Windows Vista’s Start menu.

4: Create a password reset disk

A password reset disk can really come in handy if you forget the password to your user account on a Windows system that is not a part of a domain. If you find yourself in that situation, you can use the password reset disk to reset your password and quickly get back into your user account. In Windows Vista, you can use USB flash drive rather than a floppy disk as a password reset disk (Figure B). For details on how to do so, see the article Create a Vista password reset disk using a USB flash drive.

Figure B

You can use your USB flash drive as a password reset disk.

5: Boost performance

If you’re running Windows Vista, you can use a USB flash drive to speed up your system with the ReadyBoost technology. ReadyBoost can use the storage space on a USB Flash drive as an additional memory cache to aid the memory cache on your hard disk. And because flash memory is more responsive than a hard disk, with its physical moving parts, the memory cache provided by ReadyBoost can significantly improve system responsiveness.

Using ReadyBoost is easy. You just insert your USB flash drive into your Vista system and follow the onscreen prompts to configure and use ReadyBoost. If you want more details, check out the article How SuperFetch and ReadyBoost work together.

6: Manage it

If all you really want to do with your USB flash drive is transport data, and you’re running Windows XP, you can do so more efficiently with the Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager (Figure C). Once you have installed this manager, you can easily copy files to and from your drive, back up and restore the entire flash drive to and from your hard disk, change the drive label, and even create an autorun.inf file to launch Drive Manager automatically when you plug in the drive. To learn more about and download the USB Flash Drive Manager visit the Microsoft TechNet Magazine site.

Figure C

The Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager provides you with a host of features, such as drive backup.

7: Use it as an MP3 player

Would you like to be listening to music when you’re using a computer at the office, but you don’t have an MP3 player? If so, you can use a USB flash drive as an MP3 player along with Windows Media Player and a set of headphones. Just copy your MP3 files to your USB flash drive, plug it into your computer, and direct Windows Media Player to build a library of the songs on your drive. You can use all of Windows Media Player’s playback features, such as playlists and favorites, to easily customize your music listening experience. And best of all, you won’t have to worry about running low on battery power.

8: Password-protect it

If you use a USB flash drive to transport sensitive data that you would prefer to protect from prying eyes, should you lose the drive, Rohos Mini Drive (Figure D) can safeguard that data. This security tool allows you to create a secret partition on the drive and then password-protect/encrypt that partition, thus protecting any documents you copy to that partition via the utility’s file manager. You can download (and read a review of) Rohos Mini Drive at Download.com.

Figure D

Using Rohos Mini Drive, you can secure sensitive files on your USB flash drive.

9: Run a Web site from it

If you are a Web developer, you may be interested to know that with Server2Go, you can easily run a Web server that supports Apache, PHP, MySQL, and Perl right from a USB flash drive. You can use Server2Go right out of the box without any installation. It runs on all versions of Windows, supports most common browsers, and is completely free. To a developer, the benefits of having a portable Web server on a USB drive are numerous. For example, imagine being able to carry a live Web site demo into a sales pitch meeting. For more information about this package, visit the Server2Go site.

10: Lock your PC

Have you ever seen a movie in which a person in some secret government installation simply inserts and remov
es a card to log in and log out of a PC? If you thought that idea was cool, you’ll definitely want to investigate Predator (Figure E). Once installed and configured, this little freeware utility will allow you to turn a USB flash drive into a key you can use to lock and unlock your computer.

Figure E

With Predator, you can use a USB flash drive as a key to lock and unlock your computer.

While the USB flash drive is connected to your computer, everything works as it normally would. Once you remove the USB flash drive, your computer is locked down — the keyboard and mouse are disabled and the screen darkens. To unlock your computer, you just plug in the USB flash drive and the computer will be unlocked and you can begin using it. To learn more about Predator, and/or to download it

10 cool things you can do with a USB flash drive | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com

From onten.net: There’s a new application that integrates the Windows Live SkyDrive service into Windows Explorer. Simply called “SkyDrive Explorer,” this software turns your SkyDrive folder into just another location you can access directly from Windows. Once installed, as with local folders, you can drag-and-drop files into your SkyDrive folder or you can copy files hosted in SkyDrive back to your PC.

Using SkyDrive Explorer

After running the downloadable executable, you have to connect to SkyDrive by clicking on the icon that appears in your Windows Explorer window and signing in with your Windows Live ID.

After that’s complete, you can then navigate through your SkyDrive folders and move content around through copy and paste operations. You can also rename or delete groups of objects – something that’s much easier to do from within an Explorer window than on the web. 

Another handy feature is the ability to right-click on SkyDrive files or folders to access the SkyDrive URL which points to its online location. This URL can then be shared with anyone you choose.

The complete list of features in this application include the following, according the the SkyDrive Explorer website:

• View the structure and contents of folders in SkyDrive
• View files information (type, size, creation date in GMT format)
• Create new root folders and subfolders
• Copy files into the storage
• Delete files and folders
• Copy files from the storage to the computer
• Copy folders and subfolders from the storage to the computer keeping their structure
• Use Drag & Drop for files operations
• Rename files and folders
• Create links to SkyDrive™ folders on your computer
• Copy URL of the selected object(s) to the Clipboard
• Automatic check for the latest version
• Bidirectional languages support

SkyDrive Explorer is a free download for Windows XP, Vista, Windows Server 2003/2008, and Windows 7 PCs (32-bit and 64-bit versions). However, the software is still in beta, so all the typical caveats apply.

http://on10.net/blogs/sarahintampa/New-App-Links-SkyDrive-to-Windows-Explorer/

Windows only: Paint.NET is a free, fast, and powerful image editor for Windows. It’s a giant leap above Microsoft Paint, and a serious alternative to bigger, bloated (for most users, at least) image editors like Photoshop or GIMP.

We’ve highlighted Paint.NET in the past, but it just released its first significant update in years, so we’d recommend grabbing the latest. Paint.NET handles most of the basics you’d expect from advanced image editors, and the update has added new effects (including new blurs and distortions), better performance (though Paint.NET has always been really light and fast), and a complete refresh of the user interface (enhanced for Aero/glass).

Paint.NET Releases Big Update, Still a Killer Photoshop Alternative – paint.net – Lifehacker

One of the best new products in Microsoft’s newly revamped online store (store.microsoft.com) is the USB/DVD Download Tool. When you purchase a copy of Windows 7 from the store, you have the option to download an ISO file. With this tool, you can create a copy of that ISO file on a USB flash drive or DVD.

The DVD option is for those folks seeking instant gratification and can’t want to wait for a boxed product to ship. However, the USB option is for people with netbook computers – the mini laptops that have become all the rage as of late. Because these small PCs typically don’t have an optical drive, installing Windows via a CD/DVD isn’t an option, but installing via a USB flash drive is.

With the new Download Tool, you’re able to create a bootable USB drive which can then be used to install Windows 7 on any computer… even if there’s no operating system currently installed on the machine.

In order to use this tool, you’ll need a USB flash drive with at least 4 GB of free space. Also, there should be no other files on the drive when it’s used to install Windows.

You’ll be given the option to use this tool when you purchase a copy of Windows 7 here and then choose one of the download options as your delivery method.

If you already have a Windows 7 ISO and just want to download the tool, you can click here (.exe file) to install it on your PC now.

Microsoft’s Official USB/DVD Download Tool Helps you Upgrade Netbooks to Windows 7 | Sarah In Tampa | Channel 10

The “Spark” series of programs are initiatives that deliver free Microsoft software and support to individuals and organizations. The program lineup currently includes DreamSpark, which offers tons of free software tools for students, and BizSpark, which gives startups the tools and support they need to get off the ground. Now comes a third entry, “WebsiteSpark.”

As you may imagine, this new program provides web developers and designers with copies of Microsoft web design and development software. The list includes Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition, Expression Studio 3, Expression Web 3 as well as processor licenses for Windows Web Server 2008 or R2 (when available), SQL Server 2008 and DotNetPanel, a third-party web site control panel.

To qualify, web development and design companies with up to 10 employees and owners can participate for three years with no up-front cost on their part. At the end of the term, only a $100 fee is due, but there are no other costs or obligations. So in other words, you’re getting a ton of software for only $100.

That on its own would be great, but the program also provides professional support and training during the three year period. Of course the end goal here is to sell potential customers on the Microsoft platform, but as TechCrunch recently noted: “Who cares” because “frankly, their developer tools have long been the best available.”

Those interested in learning more or enrolling can do so here: http://www.microsoft.com/web/websitespark.

WebsiteSpark Launches: Free Software for Web Developers | Sarah In Tampa | Channel 10

Microsoft is releasing Security Essentials, the final version of the new Microsoft-built antivirus software which provides free malware protection for Windows PCs. Designed to replace the now-discontinued OneCare product, Security Essentials requires no registration, trials, or renewals. It’s completely free, no strings attached.

As we noted earlier this summer when the program went into public beta, the software has several features which make it a good alternative to store-bought AV software on the market today including its rootkit protection, one-click fixes, dynamic signature service and more. The software is also designed to run quietly in the background not eating up CPU and memory use like many AV programs have done in the past.

Another nice thing about the Security Essentials is its interface. Previously, I’ve used a handful of free AV programs on my PCs including Avast and AVG and I always felt like I was getting what I was paying for (nada) when it came to UI design. The programs were often ugly and confusing. That’s why it’s refreshing to see a free product like Security Essentials which has such a clean, minimalist interface. There are only four tabs at the top to navigate through (Home, Update, History, and Settings) and none of the pages are cluttered with content, allowing you to focus on what’s important.

The program also makes it very clear when you need to take action. When the AV is up-to-date and the system is protected, for example, the bar at the top is green and an icon of a computer with a white check on a green screen is displayed. If, however, something is wrong, the bar turns red and the computer icon’s screen is red with a white “X”. It couldn’t be more obvious.

In the event that you actually get a virus, the software immediately addresses the threat without confusing the end user with too many choices of what to do next. That’s great for the non-tech savvy end users who don’t know when they should choose “quarantine” versus “remove threat.” Instead, a small “show details” link is provided so advanced users can learn more about what happened while a “clean computer” button lets you simply remove the malware from your machine, if desired. 

Security Essentials runs unobtrusively in the background, never prompting you to run a scan or download updates – that all occurs in the background without user intervention. And it does so when the computer is idle, too, so as not to slow things down.

Best of all, the software is completely free, as long as you are running a legal copy of windows. You can download your copy of Security Essentials from here as of now: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials.

Microsoft Security Essentials: Free Anti-Virus Arrives | Sarah In Tampa | Channel 10

related file tcpip.sys which has a half connection limit in itself, which doesn’t allow more than 10 half open connections to be made simultaneously.

 

This has been designed to make your connections more stable and your network more responsive to all computers attached to it.

 

However if you are frequent p2p & bittorent user or surfing the internet heavily, then this limit may create connection errors or result in connection dropping. TCP-Z is the only program which automatically patches tcpip.sys file to remove TCP connection limit.

Here are the latest builds that I could find:

Universal Theme Patcher

Latest Update: V1.5.0.22, Build 20090409
* Allow UniversalThemePatcher-x86.exe to patch the 32bit files in \windows\syswow64.
Download Link 1: UniversalThemePatcher_20090409.zip (ZIP, 81 KB)
Download Link 2: UniversalThemePatcher_20090409.zip (ZIP, 81 KB)
Download Link 3: UniversalThemePatcher_20090409.zip (ZIP, 81 KB) (Click to download)