0.0 EDITORIAL

Yesterday morning I was in my kitchen reading the Saturday newspaper while casually relaxing with a cup of coffee.

Then a headline just jumped off the page.

"Rootkits on the Rampage" it read.

I quickly read the article. It was the usual sensationalist stuff: hospital computers rendered useless, pensioners' life savings stolen and worse.

But behind the hype there was an element of truth in the story. Rootkits are becoming more common. However, what the tabloid story didn't mention is the fact that rootkits are not only becoming more common; they are also becoming much more sophisticated. Furthermore they are only part of a much greater problem of ever-escalating malware sophistication and the increasing prevalence of blended threats.

A blended threat is the malevolent equivalent of a layered defense. Such threats use multiple means to defeat your computer security programs. They consist of bundles of different products and different techniques acting together to enhance the potency of the payload products.

Hiding a spyware program by a rootkit is a simple example of a blended malware threat but they come much more sophisticated than that.

Recently I encountered one that used three different retro routines to try to pull down my anti-malware and anti-rootkit defenses. It then installed a rootkit to mask a trojan downloader and then forced a system reboot. On reboot the stealthed trojan downloader then downloaded two different keyloggers one of which was further stealthed with another quite different rootkit. When the keyloggers phoned home with their payload of captured keystrokes they tried to bypass my Kerio firewall using an obscure vulnerability in that product.

In this particular case there were no obvious signs of infection. No blatantly obvious browser toolbars or popup ads. The folks who produced this nasty wanted the product to remain undiscovered.

Worse still, the rootkit stealthing meant that many security programs would report the infected computer as malware free even though every keystroke I made was being recorded and uploaded to a foreign site.

Thankfully, there are some rootkit detectors such as IceSword and Sysinternals' Rootkit Revealer that can still pick even the cleverest rootkits currently in use.

Thankfully, too, many security programs are well hardened against attack by retro routines. Kaspersky AV and NOD32 are examples and there are quite a few others as well.

But quite a few security programs are not up to the task of defending against modern blended threats. An example is the popular SpyBot Search and Destroy anti-spyware program. It can't detect rootkits and can be pulled down with ease. The equally popular Ad-aware fares little better. And you can add to these a whole lot more.

These programs were great in their day but the rapid escalation of spyware sophistication has left them trailing behind. Sure they will still pick up many malevolent programs but frankly they are just not up to the task of detecting the latest generation of threats.

So what are we to do?

I can see two ways forward: The first is to reduce your chance of infection. The second is to only use the best security products available.

These are not exclusive choices; both should be pursued.

Neither path is easy but both can be navigated.

Next month I'll start a multi-part series of articles to show you how. It will pull together all the material I've covered over the last year on layered security protection and safe browsing into a set of specific recommendations how to protect your computer.

Furthermore I'm going to tell you the security programs I've tested that cut the mustard and those that don't. I know this won't make me any friends in the industry but frankly the computer security situation has become so serious that it's time for some straight talking.

See you next month.

Gizmo
editor@techsupportalert.com

PS This month I'm giving away six free copies of the the top rated Anti virus NOD32 plus lots of Google GMail invites. For details, see below.

Support Alert relies on paid subscriptions to survive. If you feel that you've benefited from reading this newsletter perhaps you would like to consider donating by subscribing to the premium "Supporters' Edition" of this newsletter.

The Premium SE Edition contains almost twice the number of great tech sites, free utilities, tips and other content as the free edition. It's also ad-free.

You'll also get immediate access to the archive of all past issues of the Premium Supporters' Edition of the newsletter where you can catch up on the hundreds of great utilities you missed in the free edition. The SE Edition is a great deal and at $10 per year it's a bargain.

This month I'm giving away to new subscribers, six free copies of the the top rated Anti virus NOD32.

NOD32 is a brilliant program for protecting your PC yet it only consumes a modest amount of your computing resources. That's why I use it on my key work computers. At $39 it's good value but it's even better value when you can get it for free.

The six copies I'm giving away will be allocated at random but your chances of scoring one are actually quite good. So if you have been thinking of subscribing, now's the time.

I'm also giving away invites to Google Gmail to new SE subscribers. Last month everyone who wanted one got one and I expect the same to happen this month. Just email me at editor@techsupportalert.com after subscribing to the Premium SE Edition and I'll send your invitation.

Even if you don't win anything you'll still get my special report "Gizmo's Desert Island Utilities" which outlines the software I use myself, including many free product

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PREMIUM SE EDITION

12 months subscription to the Supporters' Edition costs $10 which can be made by check or credit card using either ClickBank or PayPal or simply send cash.

Use the link below to subscribe:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/se-edition.htm

1.0 TOP TECH SITES AND RESOURCES

1.1 Major Update for the 46 Best-Ever Freeware Utilities

Yes, another update, the biggest ever, so if you haven't checked the list for a while, now is the time. I've also added an index at the top so you can find things quickly though I still think you'll get the most out of the list by browsing it at leisure. The Best-Ever freeware list is an important source of new subscribers to this newsletter and these in turn help secure the newsletter's survival. Here I'd really like your help. Please tell everybody you know about the list; post it to any forums or user groups and you belong to, mention it in your publications. Indeed, tell everybody and anybody. If you can post it to Digg, SlashDot, Furl, Delicious, the LangaList, LockerGnome and other popular spots that would be really great. If you can do any of these things I'd consider it a real favor. Let me know if you do, I'd love to hear.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

1.2 New Additions to the "Extended List" of freebies

The "Extended List" consists of my latest freeware discoveries that are reserved just for subscribers to this newsletter. I've just added eight new items, updated many more and added an index at the top as well. Remember to bookmark the page as I don't publish the link elsewhere. May I request you don't publicly post this link?
http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm

1.3 New Name for This Newsletter

Thanks to the thousands who voted for the new name for this newsletter. The clear winner was "GizmoGold." I won't be making the change until later this year as there is a lot of behind-the- scenes work that has to be done but I'll let you know well in advance. Thanks to Jenny O'Neill from Orange County, L.A. who actually suggested the name. Jenny has landed the big prize I offered while five other subscribers who suggested the name after Jenny will each get a lifetime free subscription to the premium SE edition. Thanks guys.

1.4 Which Browser is the Fastest?

I've long felt that Opera 9 and K-Meleon were the two fastest browsers that I've used but this was purely subjective. At this site they put 24 Windows browsers to the test and the clear winner for speed is Opera. Well behind are IE 6 and Firefox, who overall perform rather similarly. Most of the browsers that use the IE shell such as Maxthon actually run a little slower than IE itself. Interesting stuff.
http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/browserSpeed.html#winspeed

1.5 New Google Services

Google has announced new additions to its seemingly never ending product array. Perhaps the most interesting is Google Trends [1] which adds a trend timeline to Google Zeitgeist. It looks very useful for research. Try a search on "spyware, spam" and you'll see what I mean. Also of note is Google Co-op [2] which allows users to subscribe to third party services that provide annotations to Google search results. For example, I subscribed to the Digg service so now when I search I see Digg listings for that search term at the top of the Google search results page. Also new is a Widget service [3] similar to Yahoo's Konfabulator. It's available as part of an upgraded Google Desktop V4.
[1] http://www.google.com/trends
[2] http://www.google.com/coop
[3] http://desktop.google.com

1.6 The Best Online To-Do Lists

In this comparative review [1] they look at Bla Bla, Ta-da, Tudu, Remember The Milk and Voo2Do. I've found the to-do feature at BackPack [2] to meet my needs better than any of them even though it's part of a web calendar rather than a dedicated to-do service. As ever, your mileage may vary.
[1] http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/
[2] http://www.backpackit.com/

1.7 Free Programs That Run From Your USB Flash Drive

Nice list from SnapFiles [1] including quite a few five star rated utilities. If you want more, try the other two links [2], [3].
[1] http://www.snapfiles.com/features/ed_usb_software.html
[2] http://portableapps.com/
[3] http://www.portablefreeware.com/

1.8 One Thousand Free Icons, Free Favicon Service

This is quite special; a free set of 1000 beautiful 16 by 16 icons. Every programmer and web developer should grab these little gems now [1]. Good too, for webmasters looking for favicons for their site. If you want to create your own favicon try the second link [2]. I used this service to create the "46" favicon now used at techsupportalert.com
[1] http://www.famfamfam.com/
[2] http://www.htmlkit.com/services/favicon/

1.9 Windows Command Line Reference Site

Simply the best of site of its kind I've seen. Everyone who visits this site will learn something useful, I certainly did. A gem.
http://commandwindows.com/

** Additional Items in the Premium SE Edition **

1.10 Free Online Storage Services

1.11 The Importance of Naming Your Drives Correctly

1.12 How to Backup Outlook and Outlook Express

Got some great tech sites to suggest? Send them to: editor@techsupportalert.com

2.0 TOP FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE UTILITIES

2.1 Free Utilities That Record Streaming Media

Sick of just watching streamed videos and audio tracks but not being able to save them? So are many other folks and this demand has given rise to nearly a dozen utilities that will record them to your PC. The bad news is that the best products in this category are shareware not freeware with Replay Video and RM Recorder the standout choices. There are, however, several solid, if not outstanding, freeware choices. The easiest to use is StreamBox VCR [1]. It handles many major video and audio formats including MS and RealMedia though support for QuickTime and the latest formats is limited. It also can't handle more than 5 simultaneous streams. The Japanese program GetASFStream [2] handles virtually all MS video and audio streaming protocols with ease. There's a catch though: there's no English translation! Thankfully, usage is dead simple; once you have installed the product just paste the streaming file URL into the products address box and hit enter. You can find a machine translation of the Japanese FAQ here [3]. Another option is SDP, a free video player [4] that allows you to save most streamed MS video protocols except RTSP. The later format will be handled in the next release. Be aware, though, that there are media rights issues with a lot of streamed broadcasts, so be prudent in what you chose to record.
[1] http://p082.ezboard.com/7.topic
[2] http://www.urltrim.com/ct/t.php?l=77 Freeware, 697KB
[3] http://tinyurl.com/fwvzq
[4] http://sdp.ppona.com/ Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 2.77MB

2.2 Free Excel Add-in Monitors Your Stocks

Tikr is "a free Excel add-in application that allows you to get, monitor and analyze stock quotes and live market data directly in Excel." For a freebie it's surprisingly sophisticated. It allows you to set up your own portfolio, create watch lists and set up quite sophisticated alerts. For each stock you can report a huge array of statistics from simple P/E through to departures from various moving averages. You can also track market gainers and losers and fast moving stocks. All your personal information is held on your own PC rather than a server and nothing is transmitted back to Tikr. On the minus side, the company reserves the right to include advertising at a future date but that would seem like a small price to pay for such a slick product. I don't currently play the market but if I did I'd be using Tikr. Thanks to subscriber Satyendra Dhingra for letting me know about this one. Freeware, Windows 2000 and later with Excel 2000 and later, 3.7MB.
http://www.etikr.com

2.3 Help for Carpel Tunnel and RSI Sufferers

Regular contributor A.K. recently wrote, "Gizmo, I've got a recommendation for laptop touchpad users with carpal tunnel woes. Using my touchpad for now even a short period of time causes wrist discomfort and nerve problems, especially in my right ring finger. There are several Firefox extensions designed to minimize mouse use. Of all these, the one I would currently recommend is Mouseless Browsing [1]. Mouseless Browsing has plenty of help both in its Mozilla add-ons page and in the developer's website and allows configurable shortcuts. It enables easy mouseless/touchpadless scrolling, moving back- and-forth in history, moving to the tab of your choice and selecting text boxes. Given that it is only in version 0.4.1 Beta, this already well-done extension shows much promise. Some current negatives: first, because keyboard numbers (or "ids") need to be assigned next to each link, pages with many links/ids load up noticeably slower. Second, there is no current support for bookmarks, no shortcut to open a new tab nor a shortcut to close a specific tab. Third, a very rare number of sites may have their top menus scrambled although, by using a configurable shortcut, you can quickly and temporarily disable Mouseless Browsing for those sites." Thanks A.K. for the excellent suggestion to help overcome a common problem. If any subscribers are aware of other solutions to work around RSI and Carpel Tunnel problems please email me [2] and I'll mention your suggestion(s) in a future issue.
[1] http://www.rudolf-noe.de/MouselessBrowsing.htm
[2] editor@techsupporalert.com

2.4 Simple Way to Scan Photo Prints

Subscriber Bill Roberts writes, "Gizmo, a friend wanted to scan a number of old 4x6 prints into her PC as digital images. She was trying to use the difficult software that came with her multifunction printer/scanner and asked me for help. Knowing she had MS Office, I suggested she use MS PhotoEditor but was surprised to find that utility was not available in Office 2003 and has been replaced by Photo Management software that is useless to her for that job. With a bit of Googling I was able to find a download site [1] for the old MS PhotoEditor. The result is a small, standalone program perfect for her level of expertise. Now she can easily scan, crop, and 'Save As' where SHE wants to, in the format of choice (jpg)! No installation is required and it's easy to make a shortcut on the desktop to the 'exe' file. I hope this may be helpful to someone else in that position." Nice find Bill. It's a very good example of two different tech principles: first, new versions of software are not always better and second, small, specialized utilities will usually do the job more efficiently than large multi-function suites. (825KB)
[1] http://www.weboffice.uwa.edu.au/

2.5 Add Process Information to Windows Task Manager

Most users know that they can find out what programs are currently running on their PC by hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del and bringing up the Windows Task Manager. That's the simple bit; making sense of the processes listed can be tough going. The utility company Uniblue has just released a free program called Quick Access Infobar [1] that allows users to click on any process shown in the Windows Task Manager and get an explanation of what that process actually does along with an assessment of its security status. The information is displayed in your browser using data from Uniblue's online Process Library Database. I tried it out and it works well. The information provided is clear and useful though the online database has quite a few plugs for Uniblue's products. Also a number of processes related to some of the obscure utilities I use on my PC were not listed in the database. You can of course also access the Uniblue Process Library without installing Quick Access Infobar by simply surfing to the Uniblue site [2] or similar sites [3] and looking up the process. Still, many average users will appreciate the convenience of a single click lookup provided by Quick Access. Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 316KB.
[1] http://www.processlibrary.com/quickaccess/
[2] http://www.processlibrary.com/
[3] http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/index.html

** Additional Items in the Premium SE Edition **

2.6 Free Utility Keeps Track of Project Hours Worked

2.7 ICal Calendar for Windows

2.8 How to Automate Your CD Ripping

Got some top utilities to suggest? Send them to
editor@techsupportalert.com

3.0 SECURITY PATCHES, SERVICE RELEASES AND UPDATES

3.1 Microsoft Security News

Another bad month for Microsoft. In addition to the identification of two new unpatched flaws in Internet Explorer (see item 3.2) it turns out that three of the five updates released on "patch Tuesday" April 11, created serious problems for users.

MS06-016 created major problems for some Outlook Express users who found they couldn't open their address books. The patch has since been corrected and re-distributed as part of an out-of- course series of releases distributed via Microsoft Update on the 25th of April.

MS06-015 broke some specific applications including Hewlett Packard's Share-to-Web software, nVidia shell extension GUID's, Kerio Personal Firewall, Roxio DragToDisc / Adaptec DirectCD shell extension and SolidWorks 3D CAD products shell extension. Again the patch has since been updated and re-distributed through the Windows Update service.

The third patch, MS06-013, a massive Internet Explorer update, created problems with some web sites. This is not really Microsoft's fault; they had given webmasters many months warning of the proposed changes and can't be held to blame for their inaction. This though, was cold comfort for surfers who suddenly found they couldn't use some of their favorite sites.

The out-of-course series of updates released on the 25th of April to patch the April 11 patches has in itself become a source of controversy as it surreptitiously included a new version of Windows Genuine Advantage that takes a much tougher approach to non genuine versions of Windows. Hmmm and we thought the Windows Update service was only for critical security updates.

Microsoft's May "Patch Tuesday" [1] produced only two critical rated patches. The first covers a flaw in Exchange Server 2000 and Exchange Server 2003 and is not relevant to workstations and home PCs. The second covers a known problem with older versions of Adobe/Macromedia Flash. This flaw was fixed in March by Adobe but the Microsoft patch prevents the flaw being exploited in computers still running Flash versions 8.0.22.0 and older. That's fine but the best solution is to ensure you are running the latest Flash version. You can upgrade to the latest version from the Adobe site [2].

All Windows updates are distributed automatically by Microsoft Update Service. Users who do not have automatic updates enabled should visit the Update Service [3] now.
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/
[2] http://www.macromedia.com/
[3] http://update.microsoft.com (Requires IE5 or later)

3.2 More Unpatched Flaws in Internet Explorer

Just days after MS released the massive April cumulative Internet Explorer update, security specialist Michal Zalewski discovered a serious flaw in IE involving the way the browser handles nested OBJECT tags in web pages. A specially crafted web page could be used by attackers to crash the browser and potentially compromise the PC. Rated "Extremely Serious" by security firm Secunia, it even affects fully patched IE 6 versions running under Windows XP SP2. While investigating the flaw Secunia researchers discovered another flaw that's equally serious. No work-arounds are available but MS is working on patches. Until these are available, users should be cautious about visiting fringe web sites or use another browser. http://secunia.com/advisories/19762/

3.3 Another Firefox Security Release

An updated version 1.5.0.3 of the Firefox browser has been released to address a newly discovered flaw [1] that could cause a system crash or potentially allow a security compromise. The patch is proactive; no instances of malicious exploitation have been reported. Users of V1.5x will have the updated version automatically downloaded via the update service. All other users should download the latest version from the Mozilla site [2].
[1] http://www.mozilla.org/security/announce/
[2] http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

3.4 GriSoft Buys Ewido, Intel Invests in GriSoft

The Czech security company GriSoft, makers of the popular AVG Anti-Virus scanner, has acquired anti-malware vendor Ewido Networks [1]. According to GriSoft, Ewido's products, including the popular free version of its anti-trojan scanner, would be continued and further developed. Indeed a beta of a new version 4, has just been released [2]. Within weeks of the Ewido deal, Intel announced the purchase of a $16 million stake in GriSoft along with investment company Capital and Enterprise Investors who have paid $26 million. [3]. Looks like the smart money thinks Ewido is a good deal. I agree.
[1] http://www.ewido.net/en/press/20060419a/
[2] http://www.ewido.net/en/
[3] http://www.grisoft.com/doc/314/lng/us/tpl/tpl01

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If you use Ad-aware or SpyBot you will be surprised just how more effectively SpySweeper detects and protects your PC from Adware, Spyware, Trojans and other malicious products. It's also one of the few anti-spyware programs that can reliably detect rootkits. Try the free evaluation copy of the new Version 4.5 and see for yourself.
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4.0 OTHER USEFUL STUFF

4.1 How to Automatically Download Your Favorite TV Programs

Actually its' quite easy as there's a free open source program called Ted that's designed just for this task. It combines with your BitTorrent client to allow automatic downloads of all episodes of your chosen programs. Of course you may be violating copyright laws just like when you record a TV program to videotape. But hey, you've never done that have you?
http://www.urltrim.com/ct/t.php?l=81

4.2 Get All Your Web Info from One Site

Here's good news for those who aren't yet into RSS. At this site you can read the latest feeds from Digg, Del.icious, Furl, Youtube, Fark, Slashdot, Wired and more. It's a lot to digest but it's convenient to have it all in one spot. Thanks to subscriber David Shortman for the suggestion.
http://popurls.com/

4.3 Fix Your iPod Yourself

Why pay money when you can probably fix it yourself by using the free guides at this site?
http://www.methodshop.com/mp3/articles/iPodSupport.shtml

4.4 Stunning Sidewalk Drawings

Don't yawn at the idea. I'm not talking about yet another Mona Lisa reproduction but stunning, original 3D trompe d'oiel works. Truly amazing.
http://www.compfused.com/directlink/1272/

4.5 Install windows XP on a USB Flash Drive

At this site you can get details how to install a full Windows XP installation on your thumb drive. The drive has to be at least 1GB but that's no problem these days. To see the instructions click the "Tutorial" tag at the top of the screen. Be aware that this site runs slow.
http://www.winusb.de/index_en.html

4.6 Useless Waste of Time Department

I successfully managed to waste an entire hour at this fascinating site [1] which allowed me simulate road traffic flow in a variety of situations. Actually, it provided an answer to a lot of traffic questions about which I'd long wondered. OK, OK, I am a geek but at least I admit it. If simulation doesn't interest you try this riddle site [2]. It's not for kids but for kids-at-heart and is well worth a visit. If you need yet another pointless diversion then visit this Soduku site [3]. Now that's another geek thing; I don't find doing Soduku puzzles at all interesting but I find the algorithms for solving them fascinating. Hmmm, maybe I am a worry.
[1] http://vwisb7.vkw.tu-dresden.de/~treiber/MicroApplet/130406
[2] http://www.onlyriddles.com/
[3] http://www.sudokucraving.com/game.php

** Additional Items in the Premium SE Edition **

4.7 Convert Your Photos into ASCII

4.8 Good Collection of Computer Jokes

4.9 Lots of Free Print Utilities

4.10 Free Utility Identifies Which of Your Programs Need Updating

5.0 TIP OF THE MONTH

5.1 How to Re-organize the Windows Start Menu

In issue #127 I showed how you can use the Quick Launch Toolbar to reduce the number of icons on your desktop.

It was a simple technique that entailed the creation of categorized folders in the Toolbar and then moving desktop icons into the appropriate folders.

Using the technique you can dramatically reduce the number of icons on your desktop thus making everything quicker to find.

You can apply a similar technique to the Windows Start Menu.

Many users have very long start menus, often with dozens of items in the "All Programs" listing. Some can be so long they even run off the screen.

This needn't be so; it's reasonably simple to organize the "All Programs" section of the Start Menu into your own category folders. Here's how:

Right-click on the Start Menu then click Explore. This will open Windows Explorer within the start menu folder for the current user. If you then click "Programs" on the left hand pane you should see all the programs for the current user listed in your Start Menu.

These names are, for the most part, in one big list. What we want to do is create some category folders then move individual programs into those folders.

The categories you create are up to you. I created three: security, maintenance and utilities. These are the same categories I use for my Quick Launch Menu. Keeping them the same makes my filing consistent.

To create the folders, right click in the any white space in the right hand Explorer pane and select New/Folder. Name your folder appropriately, for example "Security."

Then just drag and drop the appropriate programs into the folder you have created. In my case I moved NOD32, Ewido, SpySweeper and seven other programs into the "Security" folder.

Repeat this procedure for other category folders you want to create. That completes the job for the Start Menu for the current user.

At this stage you may have noticed that some of the programs listed when you hit "All Programs" from the Windows Start Menu are missing from the start menu folder. That's because these programs have been installed for all users not just the current user.

To locate these programs, navigate using the left hand Windows Explorer pane to the start menu folder listed under "All Users." Repeat the procedure of creating folders and moving programs making sure you create the exact same folder names as you did for the current user start menu folder.

When completed, click the Windows Start Menu button in the lower left hand side of your screen and you will see all your new category folders at the end of the All Programs list. Click any folder and you'll see the programs you moved to each folder.

It's a good idea to move these category folders to the top of your Start Menu. You can do this simply by dragging and dropping the folders from within the "All Programs" listing.

You may also want to change the folder icons to something a bit different to the other folders in your "All Programs" list. You can do this by right-clicking on each category folder and selecting Properties / Customize / Change icon, then selecting your icon and pressing Apply.

In the end you'll end up with a Start Menu "All Programs" listing with far fewer items together with a series of category folders. Finding programs using this system is way quicker than selecting from a long list.

If sorting out your Start Menu this way sounds a little daunting, don't worry; there's a free utility that will do it for you more simply. It's called Tidy Start Menu and you can get it here:

http://www.tidystartmenu.com/index.shtml (0.98MB)

There's a free and a paid version but the free will do the job just fine. The main restriction in the free version is that the categories folders are pre-defined rather than user selectable. You can, however, just access the Start Menu folder using the method above and re-name the categories to whatever you want. But hey, I didn't tell you that did I?

6.0 FREEBIE OF THE MONTH

6.1 Best Free File Manager

My long time recommendation has been xplorer² [1] however I've been using another product called XYPlorer [2] for the last few weeks and have concluded that it may be even better.

It's not a two pane manager like xplorer² but rather uses a tabbed view which is both more flexible and more powerful. It's packed with features such as batch rename, address bar search, a filter that takes wildcards, colored visual filters, multiple views and a highly configurable and extremely useful "new items" menu. Its killer feature though is the file search which just has to be one of the most powerful in the business and it's really fast, too.

When you start using the product you'll discover lots of additional hidden gems like the ability to copy a directory tree structure without the files or the ability to print a directory. Indeed, after a month of use I'm still discovering new features and usage tricks.

XYPlorer is clearly aimed to meet the needs of advanced users and succeeds brilliantly. Xplorer² however is still a better choice for average users who will be overwhelmed by XYPlorer's power.

XYPlorer was free but on the 21 March 2006 it morphed to shareware. However, the last free version is still available from the vendor's site [3] and various freeware sites [4].

[1] http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm All Windows versions, Free for private use, 867KB
[2] http://www.xyplorer.com
[3] http://www.xyplorer.com/ All Windows versions, Free for private use, 633KB
[4] http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/

** Bonus Freebie in the Premium SE Edition **

6.2 The Best Free Backup Program

I've spent the last two weeks trying to locate a decent free data backup program as part of a major makeover of my site www.backup-software-reviews.com. For some time I've wanted to offer some free alternatives to the commercial data backup programs listed at that site so I've been scouring the web for candidates.

It's been a pretty depressing experience. It's hard to find decent commercial backup programs let alone free ones. Most products have glaring deficiencies, the most common being difficulty of use and lack of CD/DVD support.

Difficulty of use is a real deal-breaker for me. If a product doesn't allow an average user to easily set up an effective backup then as far as I'm concerned it's pretty well useless.

Let me explain why by example. Most users want to backup their email but have no idea where on their computer their email is stored. Good backup programs provide check boxes for "back up my Outlook mail" and similar options for other popular email clients. The same comment applies to backing up bookmarks or the Windows Registry. Again, most users simply don't know where these files are located. Well designed backup programs understand this and make it easy by providing check boxes.

But most backup programs are not well designed. They require the user to specify the exact location of files to be backed up and most users don't know where they are located. It's just dumb.

Of the 14 free products I looked at I've only found one program that I feel happy to recommend to average users. It's not perfect but is easily the best of the products I tried and is as good as a number of commercial products selling for up to $49. Indeed most average users will find it to be exactly what they are looking for to backup their vital data. And it's free!

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47 Best Free Digital Image Stitcher
I use an impressive $59 commercial product called PhotoVista Panorama to stitch together my digital images into panoramas. I'm very happy with it but must admit to feeling a little despondent when I discovered this utility that works just as well and is free. It's called AutoStitch and is the product Matthew Brown, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia. No, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of PhotoVista but the stitching to my eye, is actually better. The way it automatically aligns haphazard mosaics of photos without any human intervention borders on the miraculous. The author is currently looking for a commercial backer but in the interim, the product is free for personal use. (1MB)
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/

48  Best Free PDF Writer
The top choice here is PDFCreator, an open source program from SourceForge that works by setting up a pseudo printer in your system. To create a PDF you just select the PDF "printer" and write to it. This means you can create PDFs from Word, Excel or indeed any program that allows you to print. A good second choice is CutePDF Writer a which is cut-down version of the commercial CutePDF product. It works in a similar way to PDFCreator and it's  free for both personal and commercial use.
http://sourceforge.net/ ( 2.6MB)

http://www.cutepdf.com/ (1.04MB)

49  Best Free File Comparison Utility
WinMerge is a free Windows utility that compares two files and identifies the differences. The differences can then be merged from one file into the other. This is the sort of product that is ideal when you have several different versions of a file and are not sure of how they differ. The product is geared to text files so it won't be much use to you with Word Processing or other complex formatted documents But for text reports or computer programs, WinMerge is ideal. (514KB)
http://winmerge.sourceforge.net/

50  Best Free Tabbed Internet Explorer Variant
Tabbed IE variants seem to be proliferating wildly and with good reason. The one that I like most is a freeware product called Maxthon (formerlyMyIE2). It works as a small efficient shell that uses the IE rendering engine. After using Maxthon for a while, Internet Explorer seem totally out-of-date and painfully cumbersome. Don't expect a lot of documentation but if you read the FAQ (see below) you'll have no problems. Some folks prefer the free Avant browser to Maxthon. It's a close call; Avant has a cleaner look while Maxthon is more full featured. In the last analysis it's Maxthon's ability to accept Internet Explorer plug-ins that put it a nose in front.
http://www.maxthon.com/en/index.htm (1.51MB)
http://maxthon.cafedeux.com/faq/
http://forum.maxthon.com/forum/index.php
http://www.avantbrowser.com/ (1.32MB)

51  Best Free Time Correction Utility
A lot of folks have difficulty getting time correction software to work on their PC. If that's you then you should try Dimension 4, a free utility that gives you the choice of connecting to a time server either by standard TCP protocol or by the more common (and more problem-prone) SNTP protocol. If you haven't yet got a time correction utility, this is the one. It's free, it’s easy to use, and it has every function that you could conceivably want. Because it works from both the command line and Windows, it's ideal for batch files, too. (292KB)
http://www.thinkman.com/dimension4/

52   Best Free Startup Manager
Everyone needs a startup program utility so they can exercise control over what third party programs start automatically with Windows. There are several fine choices: The first is Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel [1]. It’s small, and easy to use yet has powerful features including the ability to edit or add entries. A second and equally good choice is Nir Sofer's StartupRun [2]. Unlike Startup Control Panel it lists all startup programs in a single list rather than in tabs according to location. It also has a lot more information on each program and has extensive editing features as well which means that it's definitely not for Newbies. Then there's Starter [3]. It combines many of the strengths of the other products and additionally includes a first rate process viewer. As a bonus, it can be run directly from the executable without installation which makes it a handy item to have on your toolkit CD or flash drive. Folks you are truly spoiled by choice here, each one of these products is a winner. NOTE: It appears Starter has become so popular that the author's website has exceeded its download limit so I've given an alternative [4] download link.
[1] http://www.mlin.net/ (59KB)
[2] http://www.nirsoft.net/ (68KB)
[3] http://codestuff.netfirms.com/ (466KB)
[4] http://www.snapfiles.com/ (468KB) <= Alternate Starter download site

53   Best Free File Backup Program  
Karen's Replicator is a straight-forward backup utility that copies individual files, folders and even entire drives to another location. The backup can be on another partition, local drive, network drive or removable device. Its key feature is the ability to schedule automatic backups so that you can make regular automatic backups of critical files. I use it to make hourly backups of the file containing my notes for future issues of my newsletter. Simple, effective and free. It can't be compared though to the best commercial backup programs which offer many more features combined with more robust performance. (1.4MB)
http://www.karenware.com/
http://www.backup-software-reviews.com/ <= reviews of commercial backup programs

54  Best Free NFO Viewer
Many freeware files are distributed with descriptive NFO and DIZ files as part of the distribution package. These are just plain text files so you can view them with Notepad or other text editor but often the formatting is lost. Try this tiny little viewer that's built for the job. It's free and once associated with the NFO and DIZ file types, works seamlessly, a true "install and forget" product.
http://www.softpedia.com/

55  Best Free Data Recovery Utility
PC Inspector File Recovery 3 is a free utility that does an impressive job recovering accidentally deleted files or files lost through corruption of the file system. It has some nice features, like the ability to recover files with lost headers, and to recover partitions even when the boot sector has been lost or damaged. It works with the FAT16/FAT32 and NTFS file systems. This is no home written utility - it is a serious product from a reputable German company with a long history in commercial data recovery. PCI is the ideal product for those who want the security of a data recovery program but are not prepared to fork our big bucks for the extra features of high end products. (2.8MB)
http://www.pcinspector.de/

56  Best Free Remote Access Software
There are several good choices here all of which are variants of the classic AT&T VNC program. A short list would include  RealVNC, TightVNC, EsVNC and Ultr@VNC. Each has its merits but my top pick goes to Ultr@VNC as because of its active development, good forum support and an excellent encryption plug-in. Ultr@VNC [1] is a client/server package that allows remote control of another PC using any TCP/IP connection. It works with Windows W9x/NT/2K/XP and offers all the features you need including auto-configuration, easy user interface, extensive hotkeys and embedded file transfer. Add to that the fact that it's free, secure, reliable and reasonably speedy and you have a winner. Just the thing for accessing your home PC while traveling, off-site troubleshooting or general network administration.  An alternative to VNC based products is the free version of the commercial remote access product LogMeIn [2]. This is a web based service that's extremely easy to set up and use and can be accessed from any PC with a browser. The free version won't allow file transfer and remote printing but is a great solution for accessing your remote data as well as file sharing. Registration is required.
[1] http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/
[2] https://secure.logmein.com

57  Best Free PIM
I don't think there's anything outstanding in this category but there are still some solid choices. First, there's Sunbird. It's small, resource efficient and has a really neat feature that displays on your desktop your to-do list for the day. If you want more features still, check out EssentialPIM. It does many of the same things as Outlook and will import your Outlook data as well. Linux/Gnome users of course have an excellent free PIM in the form of Evolution. The good news is Evolution is being ported to Windows. Personally, I can't wait.
http://www.mozilla.org/ (6.5MB)
http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/ (717KB)
http://www.essentialpim.com/ (1.2MB)
http://www.gnome.org/

58  Best Free Windows Driver Backup 
I used to recommend WinDriversBackup for this task but it has now, unfortunately, morphed into shareware. The last freeware version is however, still available [1] and it works well. As an alternative you could consider WinRet [2]. It will not only back up your drivers but also your system registry, program settings and preferences, shortcuts, Favorites, Outlook Express folders, accounts and message filters as well. As a bonus, it allows you to tweak some of your system settings. I didn't try the latter but can report that the driver backup and restore worked well. It's not quite as simple to use as WindriversBackup but, then again, it has much more functionality. (227KB)
[1] http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/
[2]  http://winret.sourceforge.net/

59  Best Free Program Un-installer  Updated May 3, 2006
The Windows Add/Remove Programs applet in the control panel constantly annoys me with its limitations. I've been looking around for some time for a replacement that provides more information about installed programs and more functionality. Well I've hit the jackpot. MyUninstaller [1] is a free program that works just like the Windows Add or Remove Programs applet but is a more capable product than the Windows version. It gives you much more information about each installed program including product name, company, version, uninstall string, installation folder and Windows Registry details. It also allows you to delete orphaned and obsolete entries from the list as well as the ability to save a list of all installed applications into a text file or HTML. My favorite feature though is the ability to sort programs by the date installed which is great for quickly uninstalling programs you are just trying out.  As no installation is required, it can be run from a CD or USB drive which makes it an excellent addition to your diagnostic toolkit.  An alternative to MyUninstaller is a free utility from Microsoft [2] . It too cleans up dead entries in the Windows Add/Remove programs panel and tidies up the corresponding Windows uninstaller registry entries.  Nether it nor MyUninstaller  can of course, remove leftover registry entries, DLLs and files that belong to defunct programs. To remove theset automatically you need a program that monitors the original install so that it can work out exactly what changes are made during installation.  The only free program I'm aware of that does monitored installs and uninstalls is the last free version of the commercial product Total Uninstall 2 which is still available from some download sites [3].
[1] http://www.nirsoft.net/  Windows 98 and later, 40KB
[2] http://support.microsoft.com/ All Windows versions, 1.23MB.
[3] http://freeware4u.com/ All Windows Versions, 684KB.

60  Best Free Internet Accelerator 
In a surprise move Google released in early May 2005  a beta version of a new product called the Google Web Accelerator (GWA). Unlike most other accelerators which provide caching on your own PC, the GWA utilizes caching on Google's own dedicated web servers to accelerate browsing. On top of that it uses a number of other techniques to speed thing up including compressing html pages and pre-fetching links. The WGA program automatically installs itself into the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers and can be manually configured to work with other browsers. To protect user privacy the accelerator does not function during connections to secure sites such as internet banking. Does it work? You bet with most users myself included, reporting improvements of 10-40% in browsing speeds. There are however some caveats: First the product is only available for Windows XP or Windows 2000 SP3+. Second the product is optimized for broadband use and modem users may experience little or no gain. Third the system is currently working best within the USA and Europe and users located in other areas will only receive a partial benefit. Fourth there are some potential privacy issues involved so all users should closely read what Google has documented on the subject. Personally I don't have a problem but others mileage may vary. Finally some webmasters have been scare mongering with reports that the GWA pre-fetching function can cause all buttons on a web page to be automatically pressed including things like "delete my subscription." I've looked it this and frankly, every case I've seen has been due to very sloppy web coding. However if you want to be super cautious then I suggest you simply disable the GWA for any page that uses forms and buttons. Personally I think it's a storm in a tea cup. These reservations aside this is a terrific product. It provides for nix almost all of the benefits of expensive commercial web acceleration services like Propel.
http://webaccelerator.google.com/
http://webaccelerator.google.com/2 <= FAQ

61  Best Free Windows Toolbar Backup
Inexperienced PC users just always seem to be losing their Windows and Internet Explorer toolbars. I've never quite worked out exactly how they do it but they sure manage it somehow. Luckily, this free utility makes recovery a snap.
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/ToolbarRepair.Exe

62  Best Free Encryption Utility for Personal Use at Work
Camouflage is a free utility that will hide your personal or confidential files within another file. The neat thing is that the container file looks and works like a normal file of that format. So, by way of example, you could embed a secret message in a Word file which could be opened by anyone and appear to be just a normal Word file. The intended recipient could use their copy of Camouflage to open the file, enter the password and extract the embedded information. This free program is not intended to provide military strength protection but rather a convenient way to sneak information past unnecessarily prying eyes. Note: It looks like the author's web site is down, however you can download Camouflage from the other links below. (2.65MB)
http://arxspace.com/Camouflage/
http://camouflage.unfiction.com/
http://webmasterfree.com/software/996.html

63  Best Free CD Catalogue Organizer
I don't really have a need for this kind of product but if you do then you'll be interested in this excellent suggestion from subscriber David Killian Woods. "Disclib is a terrific utility. I archive all of my projects to CD/DVD and keep them in a fireproof box for storage. But there are over 30 full discs now (half are DVDs), and many of them have multiple versions of the same project. Disclib keeps an index of the file/directory structure of every disc, so I can search through them all without having to swap 30 discs in my drive! Invaluable! Thanks for that David, nice find. (1.75MB.)
http://www.lyrasoftware.com/disclib/

64 Best Free File Encryption Utility
This is what the web site says: "dsCrypt is AES/Rijndael file encryption software with simple, multi-file, drag-and-drop operations. It features optimal implementation, performance and  safety measures. dsCrypt uses an advanced encryption algorithm and offers unique options for enhanced security." To that I'll add the fact that it's tiny, easy to use, has open code, employs proven techniques that are essentially unbreakable and comes from a highly reputable source. In summary, dsCrypt offers the average user everything they want in a simple file encryption program and it's free. That's why I use it myself.  Equally impressive is an Open Source program called AxCrypt. It t provides secure AES-128 encryption using passwords or key-files, which AxCrypt can generate. Usage is wonderfully simple; to encrypt files or folders just right-click them and select "encrypt." while double clicking on encrypted files lets you edit or view them with the program of your choice. Closing any open files automatically re-encrypts.
http://freezip.cjb.net/freeware/   <=dsCrypt (25KB)
http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net/  <=AxCrypt (1.02MB).

65 Best Free Drive Encryption Utility 
TrueCrypt is an open-source utility which enables you to create encrypted "virtual drives" of almost unlimited size, where you can securely store files and keep them away from prying
eyes. TrueCrypt offers a wide range of encryption algorithms, including the option to encrypt with multiple algorithms, as well as "plausible deniability" for the benefit of the truly paranoid. The program is very stable (although backups are obviously recommended). Newbies might find the program a bit daunting at first; however, more experienced users who want serious virtual drive encryption would be hard-put to find a better program. Great for protecting your data on USB flash drives too.  Freeware, Windows XP, 641KB.
http://www.truecrypt.org/

66 Best Free Non-Adobe PDF Reader 
Sick to death of Adobe's slow, bloated PDF Reader? If so then check out the Foxit Reader. It's small, loads in flash, supports bookmarks, has search capability, offers many views and runs on any version of Windows. On top of that it can print PDFs as well. It runs without installation too, so it's ideal for your toolkit CD or USB flash drive. Freeware, all Windows versions, 915KB.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

67 Best Free Disk De-fragmenter
My top recommendation here is Diskeeper Lite [1], an older free version of Executive Software's current commercial Diskeeper product. It works very well indeed given that it is V7 while the current commercial product is at V10  but I've had a few complaints from subscribers about the annoying nag screen. I have no magic fix for this but there are other free defraggers worth considering. SysInternals, for example, offers "Contig" [2], a robust, free, command line utility which defrags one file at a time. It's a pain to use but eXcessive software has built an excellent user interface [3] for Contig that turns it into a thoroughly usable product. Also to be considered is "BuzzSaw" [4], a real-time defragger that works away in the background to ensure your files are always defragged. Personally I think this is overkill and not as effective as a total disk defrag. To this end, the folks who wrote BuzzSaw offer another utility, "DirMS" [4], that does a full defrag. This can be used periodically in concert with BuzzSaw to provide excellent defragmentation. It can be used alone though the free version is a command line utility that's not very user friendly. "AutoIt 3"[5], a free utility that provides a graphic free interface for DirMS. It works very well indeed though note that it requires version 1.2.20 of DirMS. All products here are for Windows NT and later. Update: Thanks to Vashek Weis for letting me know about how you can get version 9 of Diskeeper Lite. It forms part of Intel's large (89MB) Desktop Utilities package which is available from the Intel site [6]. If you unzip the file you'll find Diskeeper V9 Lite in the folder ../3rdparty/Diskeeper/.  Neither the readme file or the License Agreement prohibit downloading and using this program on a single computer so it appears to be a perfectly legitimate way to obtain the program.
[1] http://www.majorgeeks.com/Diskeeper (12.1MB)
[2] http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/ (26KB)
[3] http://www.excessive-software.tk/" (397KB)
[4] http://www.dirms.com/ (37KB), DirMS (81KB)
[5] http://www.wolfgang-fuehrer.de/ (125KB)
[6] http://www.intel.com/

68 Best Free Dictionary/Thesaurus Utility
I've been using WordWeb [1] for a while now and have seen enough to say this will be one of the rare utilities I review that ends up staying on my PC. So what does it do? Well, it's not a spellchecker so let's get that out of the way. If that's what you want, check the next item below. Rather, WordWeb is an enhanced dictionary and thesaurus. I say "enhanced" because it does some tricky extra things like showing only the relevant synonyms and related words according to whether they are noun, verb, adjective or adverb. It can also find words by pattern match or dictionary adjacency. Usage is simple; just select a word in any document and click the WordWeb tray icon. Immediately you'll get a popup with the word's meaning and synonyms. Overall, it works efficiently and elegantly to help you find the just right word to use in your written reports. WordWeb is free for personal use and a Pro version with an enhanced dictionary costs a mere $19 and is well worth buying. An equally attractive alternative to WordWeb is TheSage [2] from Sequence Publishing. Like WordWeb, it's a comprehensive dictionary with over 140,000 references together with a powerful thesaurus. It differs in that it is free even for commercial use and offers a couple of features missing from the free version of WordPro such as anagram solving and wildcard word matches. On the minus side, WordPro allows you to find meanings and synonyms in any application just by double clicking the word; with TheSage you have to cut and paste it into the application after you've launched it from its task bar icon. Picking a winner here is too hard. Try both and decide for yourself. Both products work with Windows 95 and later.
[1] http://wordweb.info/ (6.96MB)
[2] http://www.sequencepublishing.com/thesage.html (8.3MB)

69 Best Free Spell-Checker
This is an impressive little utility that checks individual words on a correct-as-you-type basis, from clipboard contents or from a query box. The provided dictionary is not enormous but more than adequate for normal usage and you can also add words to the dictionary as needed. Resource usage seems modest and the product can be easily enabled/disenabled from the taskbar icon. It has one odd feature; the dictionary has both American and English spelling so words like "color" and "colour" both show as correct. Overall, it's quite a solid product and an excellent companion to WordWeb. Freeware, Win98 and later, 547KB.
http://tinyspell.m6.net/

70 Best Free Audio Editing Software Updated May 3, 2006
Thanks to subscriber Jay Eitelman for this suggestion: "Gizmo, I've switched from using $349 Adobe Audition to using Audacity [1]. It does all the recording and editing I need, and is much simpler/faster to use. Check out the noise reduction - it even allows you to select a noise profile - then remove the profile - just like Audition. " Thanks Jay. I note that, according to the web site, Audacity will also "record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files, cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together and change the speed or pitch of a recording." Subscriber Brandon Tanner however differs: "Audacity is good but you should check out Kristal; I think it might have Audacity's number! To start with, Kristal has an ASIO driver while Audacity doesn't. That means that you can monitor your pre-recorded tracks in real-time while you're overdubbing new ones, mandatory when multi-track recording. You can't do that in Audacity as the latency is too high. Second, Kristal supports VST plug-ins. There are tons of quality VST effects and instruments floating around the net, a lot of them free. Audacity's effects are not quite up to par with some of the better VST ones. Not to bash Audacity but I have to give credit where credit's due. Third, Kristal has a 'proper' multi-track mixer, with a lot more options for routing individual tracks, effects, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like Audacity and I think it's a good program as long as your needs are basic. But Kristal definitely has more 'pro' features." Great suggestion, Brandon. Kristal is based on a 32-bit floating point audio engine that can handle sample rates of 44 to 192 kHz with word sizes of 16, 24 or 32 bit. It comes with a three band parametric EQ and supports WAVE, AIFF, FLAC, OGG Vorbis file formats. It can only handle a maximum of 16 audio tracks, though the web site mentions an upcoming version 2 that will handle more tracks as well as support for MIDI, virtual instruments, and a wider range of VST plugins. Like all media editing programs, Kristal requires a modern fast PC. Don't even think about using it with a sub 1Ghz machine.
[1] http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Free Open Source, Windows 98 and later (plus MAC and Linux), 2.4 MB
[2] http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/ Free for personal use, Win 98/ME with IE6, Win2K, XP, 3.51MB.

71 Best Free Web Form Filler/Password Manager
Products in this class are among the most useful of all PC utilities because they allow you to complete the common task of filling in web forms and logins by simply clicking a button. They work by saving user IDs, passwords and other information needed for individual sites in encrypted form for later retrieval. To login to a site you only have to type in a single master password to allow retrieval of the specific password information for that site. This information is then used by the program to automatically login. This greatly improves security by allowing different passwords to be assigned to individual sites without the need to be remembered while at the same time making logging in easier and quicker. There's no doubt that RoboForm [1] is the stand-out product in the category; it's full featured, easy to use, seamlessly integrated into both Internet Explorer and FireFox browsers and is constantly being enhanced by the developer. It also allows your saved passwords to be moved between PCs which is very convenient when using multiple machines or upgrading. I do have a major reservation though: The free version allows only 10 forms or passwords to be stored. This used to be 30 in earlier versions which was adequate but 10 is way too few for most users and they will be eventually forced to shell out $29.99 to buy the full product. This reservation aside, it is a fabulous product that saves me time every day. Try it. You'll be amazed how much time it will
save you, too. Note: If you use Internet Explorer, there's some good news: the last free version of RoboForm (V4.6.8) that allowed 30 passwords is still floating around the web [2] and works perfectly well. FireFox users are out of luck as you can't use this version with the current FireFox. Don't despair, though you have two other alternatives. First there is the open source program Keepass [3]. It's not nearly as well integrated into your browser as RoboForm but it's a very good product that works without any limitations at all. Yet another possibility is KeyWallet [4]  which is superior to KeePass in the way you can drag and drop saved information directly into web forms. Not quite as neat as RoboForm’s click and fill system but still highly effective. KeyWallet can also automatically save form data, handle difficult Java based forms and is skinable.
[1] http://www.roboform.com/
[2] http://www.321download.com/
[3] http://keepass.sourceforge.net/ (857KB)
[4] http://www.keywallet.com/ (1.4MB)

72 Best Free File Un-delete Utility
I'm recommending two utilities here, each covering a different situation. The best freeware program I've found for recovering already deleted files is Brian Kato's Restoration [1]. It works with FAT and NTFS file structures and runs on any version of Windows from 95 onwards. As a bonus, it requires no installation which means you can run it from a USB drive, CD or floppy. In fact, that's exactly where you should run it from as installing it on your hard drive will reduce your chance of successfully recovering your deleted files. Below you'll find a link to Brian's web site in Japan but I've also give a direct download link [2] from the Snapfiles download site.  If you want to protect your computer from future accidental deletions, check out SysInternals' Fundelete. It overcomes the annoying limitation in the Windows Recycle Bin that only allows you to recover files deleted from within Windows Explorer. Fundelete allows you to recover just about all deleted files including files deleted in applications.
[1] http://www.geocities.jp/br_kato/ 162KB)
[2] http://www.snapfiles.com/ <= Alternate link to[1] above
[2] http://www.sysinternals.com/ (994KB)

73 Best Free Outlook Express Backup
This free utility allows you to do a full or selective backup of OE's critical files including mail folders, newsgroups, address book and identity settings. Simple, effective ... neat.  (2.1MB)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx

74 Best Free Outlook Add-in
I hate opening HTML email. Despite multiple layers of protection I just know that one day some cunning new exploit is going to get me. That's why I'm so enthusiastic about PocketKnife Peek, a small free Outlook 2002 add-in that allows you to preview your HTML email as text. RealAccount is another freeware add-in for MS Outlook 2002 and later that allows you to designate a default email account and signature for any Outlook Folder. The program is a late beta but has proved totally stable on my Windows XP Pro PC. Yet another free utility that provides functionality that should have been included in the original product.
http://www.xintercept.com/pkpeek.htm  (520KB)
http://www.realpopup.it/realaccount/   (338K)

75 Best Free Timesheet Program
This is a very lucrative class of programs and consequently the very best programs are unfortunately, commercial products. The best of the free programs is "Timesheets Lite" [1] from Moving Target Software. It's actually an older "lite" version of that company's full featured $29 shareware product. Its main limitation is that only one person can be connected to the
program's database at any one time. That aside, Timesheets Lite has all the features needed for anyone who bills on a time or project basis. It can also export timesheet data to Excel for
easy invoicing. I found much to like in this product and can give it my hearty recommendation.  If you want an alternative consider Timesheets Express Free. The free version is limited to a single account but if you can live with this it's worth checking out. The vendors web site [2] doesn't currently offer the free version but it's readily available from a number of download sites [3].
[1] http://www.timesheetsmts.com/ 4.68MB
[2] http://www.acksen.com/
[3] http://www.download.com/ (5.1MB)

76 Best Free CD Recovery Utility
It's pretty common to encounter unreadable CDs. The causes are many, ranging from simple scratches through to partially written sessions. ISOBuster is free utility that will allow you extract any usable information on the CD (or DVD) to your hard drive. It works by bypassing Windows and talking directly to the hardware. As an added bonus it can read old sessions, decode multiple image file formats, recover data from quick formatted DVDs and a host of other useful data recovery features. You can use most of the functions in ISOBuster for free but it will cost you $25.96 to enable some of the advanced functions such as recovering data from MAC UDF or HFS(+) file systems. Windows 95 and later, 2.5MB.
http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/

77 Best Free Application  Minimizer  
TrayIt! impressed me with its combination of simplicity and effectiveness. First, it requires no installation; just double click the program file and it's up and running. Second, it can minimize open windows to the tray either temporarily or permanently with just one click. Third, it handles "difficult" windows such as skins, with ease. Fourth, it works with all versions of Windows. Fifth, it's a tiny 45KB! Finally, it's free. A little gem.
http://www.teamcti.com/trayit/trayit.htm

78 Best Free Parental Filter Updated May 3, 2006
The stand-out choice in this category is K9 Web Protection [1] by Blue Coat Systems.  It's a web based service that uses a special driver installed on your PC to redirect all your browsing through K9's servers where it is filtered for content. This means that the filtering works for any browser installed on your PC. The actual filtering itself is highly customizable from a password protected control panel at K9's web site with over 15 selectable categories plus the ability to restrict or permit individual sites. Full reports on sites visited are also available from the control panel. The filtering seems quite accurate; I only found one site in an hour of browsing which I felt should not have been blocked. I also liked the optional blocking of Spyware and Adware sites. I tried a few obvious ways of crippling the filter such as uninstalling the product or disenabling the driver, with no success, which is comforting to parents. I suspect though, that a determined tech-savvy teenager might eventually find a solution. The only real downside was the slight slowing down of my browsing as a result of it being re-routed through the K9 servers. This will mainly be of concern to dial-up users. If that's you then you might like to try Naomi [2] that has the advantage  of filtering locally. In my tests it caught all the offensive sites I tried though occasionally it caught an innocent site as well. Like K9, it's also difficult to disable. As with K9 I tried the obvious tricks of defeating the filter by terminating the Naomi service and deleting the autostart entry without success. Naomi also works with any browser on your system not just Internet Explorer. On the downside, it filters by terminating the browser session without warning whenever a banned site is encountered. I found this a real pain especially when I had several browser tabs open and lost the lot! Naomi is certainly a very capable parental filter but on balance I preferred K9's smarter logic, greater configurability and friendlier behavior. Modem users will however, appreciate Naomi's speed advantage.
[1] http://www.k9webprotection.com/
[2] http://www.radiance.m6.net/

79 Best Free Route Tracer
3D Traceroute  graphically displays  Internet route information. You can use it for technical tasks such as diagnosing slow connections or for general purpose snooping like determining the location and owner of a web site or tracing spammers. (1.6MB)
http://www.d3tr.de/

80 Best Free Browser Scrubber
There's no doubt that when you browse the web you accumulate huge amount of stored data. The sheer quantity is surprising; often gigabytes. A lot of this is just junk while other parts can be useful. Just what is and what isn't junk is a personal decision. For example, I regard the information stored in my browser's history as a valuable resource but I know a lot folks see it as clutter or even an embarrassment. That's why the flexibility to choose exactly what you want to keep or delete is a key requirement in any browser cleaning utility. It's in this area that CleanCache excels. Yes, there are a few other cleaner programs that also offer this but when you take into account CleanCache's speed, ease of use, automation features, near- forensic thoroughness and the fact that it works with Internet Explorer, IE Clones such as Avant, Firefox and Opera, then you have a clear winner in this category. Note that it requires the 26MB Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on your PC. Freeware, Windows 2000 and later, 1.3 MB
http://www.buttuglysoftware.com/

81 Best Free Instant Messaging Client Updated May 4, 2006
If you're like me, then you probably have friends and family using a variety of IM networks. One way to talk with people on each one of these networks is to open an account for each and then download and install each IM client on your computer. However, running four different IM applications on your computer uses a lot of system resources, is difficult to manage, and broadens your attack surface. Therefore, I would recommend using a multi-protocol IM client. These applications not only allow you to connect to multiple IM networks, but they are also advertisement free, more secure, and have features that allow you to easily manage your various IM accounts. For many Gaim [1] would be the first choice. It supports AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and Zephyr IM networks and is available for multiple platform as as well. It's a solid choice but it's not by cup of tea. I've found it resource heavy and the interface confusing though I must admit the customizability though Guifications [2] is an attractive feature.  Trillian Basic [3] is easier to use than Gaim, is less resource greedy and easier on the eye as well . It supports the AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN, and Yahoo networks. Now, if you're a power user and want support for more networks and the ability to add features via plug-ins, then definitely check out Miranda Instant Messenger [4]. In addition to the networks supported by Trillian, it has native support for Gadu-Gadu and Jabber (it also will connect to the Google Talk network with a little plug-in tweaking). Its interface is minimalist, but the application is very extensible through the use of plug-ins. Miranda IM is now my IM client of choice
[1] http://www.sourceforge.net/gaim All Windows, 8MB.
[2] http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/guifications
[3  http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/learn/ Windows 98 and later, 8.6MB
[4] http://www.miranda-im.org/ Windows 95 and later, 943 KB+

82 Best Free Video Editor
Subscriber Jim Nix writes "Gizmo this Christmas season I became in need of a video editor. I discovered my copy of Adobe Premiere 5.1 LE did not allow for gamma, brightness or contrast adjustment. I checked your “Best 46 Freeware” listings and found no video editor. If you have considered adding such a category I suggest you consider VirtualDub [1] which is outstanding. The package is however not complete without the additional filters. A comprehensive collection of third party filters is available from an Italian site [2] - just click on the “TELECHARGER ICI” button to download the complete set of filters (RAR pack). Once all the filters are installed, delete the “PCVideo Image Processor” filter as the installation instructions are missing a step. Thank you Jim. I'm not a video sort of guy but I've checked out VirtualDub and it's an impressive Open source package that is regularly updated by its author. Note however that it won't handle DVD or MP4 and like all video software, needs a pretty fast PC. Freeware, Windows 95 or later, 958KB.
[1] http://www.virtualdub.org/
[2] http://milafat.free.fr/vdfilters.htm
[3] http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualdub <= download link

83 Best Free CD Ripper  New! Added May 3, 2006
I recently started the long task of ripping my 1200 CDs to my hard disk. I knew it was a huge job and one I certainly wanted to do only once. So, before I started, I was determined made sure I did it right. There are lots of rippers available. All media players including Windows Media Player can rip. There are also some great freebies plus a host of commercial rippers. Most will rip to WAV, MP3 and usually several other formats. After a lot of experimentation I ended up with three rippers to evaluate in detail: CDEX [1], Exact Audio Copy [2] and AudioGrabber [3]. All are free. If your CDs are like mine then some will be scratched or have lots of finger-marks. These can cause pops and crackles in the ripped file. Rippers vary greatly in their ability to handle these problems. Some will simply get stuck; others will skip forward over the problem or even create a silent gap. The best programs will try repeatedly to fix the problem with no audible effects. Of the three products I tested, one product was outstanding in its ability to handle CD imperfections. That product was Exact Audio Copy.
I'm now two thirds of the way through my ripping exercise. Of the 800 or so CDs ripped I've only had 7 tracks that EAC couldn't rip perfectly. Given the condition of some of my CDs, that's a mighty impressive performance. EAC can rip to WAV, MP3 (using the excellent LAME encoder), OGG, FLAC, APE and more. CD rippers interact strongly with your CD hardware so it's possible EAC may not work with your particular CD drive. If that's the case, try CDEX and AudioGrabber. While their performance with scratched CDs is not as good as EAC they are both outstanding freeware products.
[1] http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos/ (1.91MB)
[2] http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ (1.18MB)
[3] http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/ (1.6MB)

84 Best Free Video Conversion Program New! Added May 3, 2006
Wouldn't it be neat to be able to convert any kind of video files to a format you can use on your PSP, iPod or mobile phone? "Super" is a free utility that allows you to do pretty well all of these things and more. It has two great strengths: first it's relatively easy to use and secondly it handles a large number of different file formats. It handles 3gp/3g2 (Nokia, Siemens, Sony, Ericsson), asf, avi (DivX, H263, H263+, H264, Xvid, MPEG4, MSmpeg4 etc), dat, fli, flc, flv (used in Flash), mkv, mpg (Mpeg I, Mpeg II), mov (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4 etc), mp4 (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4), ogg, qt, rm, ram, rmvb, str (Play Station), swf (Flash), ts (HDTV), viv, vob, and wmv. It also handles audio file format conversion including ac3, amr, mp2, mp3, mp4, ogg, ra, wav, and wma. Am I impressed? You bet; I've seen commercial software with fewer features selling for over$100. Be aware though, that video conversion by its very nature requires a lot of processing power and can be very slow on older PCs. Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 18MB.
http://www.erightsoft.com/Superdt.html

85 Best Free Reminder/To-Do Program New! Added May 3, 2006
There are literally dozens of free stand-alone reminder programs. Even more if you include sticky notes utilities and calendaring programs that offer reminder features. Many, I can assure you, are not worth installing. Of the nine programs I looked at, two impressed me for their ease of use of their reminder and "to-do" features. "Easy To-Do" [1] has the starkest interface of any of the products I reviewed yet it is among the most effective in use. It has all the features you need but no more, including unlimited task lists, task categories, recurring reminders, audible and visual alarms, adjustable snooze, configurable reports and more. It's been really well thought through with lots of nice touches like the ability to add a new task or reminder by simply right-clicking the tray icon. Rainlender [2] by contrast, is a much slicker product but a tad more difficult to use. Rainlender is not only a reminder program but a very capable iCal "compatible" desktop calendar, though the calendar feature can be turned off. Used as a reminder and "to do" program it's very feature rich with a really snazzy interface employing things like variable windows transparency, impressive mouse-over effects, hotkeys and easy skinning. It also has several features missing from Easy To-Do such as the ability to synchronize events between clients as well as Outlook appointment integration. I liked, too, the way the tray icon shows the current date, a feature that Easy To-Do could well emulate. Either of these programs will meet the reminder needs of most users. Some will prefer Easy To-Do for its simple but effective approach while others will be won over by Rainlender's optional desktop calendar, impressive interface and powerful features. Firefox and Thunderbird users also have the option of using the free ReminderFox and Mozilla Calendar extensions which together provide similar functionality. They offer the advantage of avoiding the need for running a separate reminder application but at the cost of not having reminders available when Firefox or Thunderbird aren't running.
[1] http://www.xanadutools.com/ Freeware, all Windows versions, 1.2MB.
[2] http://ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=projects&project=rainlendar Free GPL software, all Windows versions, 948KB
[3] http://reminderfox.mozdev.org/ Free Open Source, requires Firefox and/or Thunderbird
[4] http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/ Free, Open Source, available as Firefox and/or Thunderbird extension or in stand- alone form as Sunbird.

86 Best Free CD Burning Software New! Added May 3, 2006
Locating quality freeware burning applications for this review proved challenging, even though there are plenty of contenders. My short list included: AVS Disc Creator, burnatonce, Burn to the Brim, CDBurnerXP Pro, CDR Tools Front End, CommandBurner, DeepBurner Free, Easy Burning, Express Burn, and HT Fireman CD/DVD Burner. I was also attracted to two other programs, Burn4Free and Artisan (a.k.a. Sun), but they were packaged with adware and/or spyware and were discarded. Of all the products, the most impressive was CDBurnerXP Pro [1]. It possesses all of the core features you need including an intuitive interface, the ability to author data discs, create audio CDs playable in a regular CD player, create bootable discs, copy discs, and create and burn image files (e.g. ISO). It passed every test I was able to throw at it including adding to a multi-session disc created on another drive with another burning application and creating a functional slip-streamed Windows XP installation CD! In addition to the core features, CDBurnerXP Pro also has a several additional features including: customizable boot disc options (lacking in DeepBurner), integrated cover printing utility, integrated audio player and audio, and the ability to rip audio CDs to various formats including MP3 (with CDDB lookup). Lastly, those familiar with Nero will be right at home as CDBurnerXP's interface is very much like Nero's. All up, CDBurnerXP is a good choice for both basic and advanced users. DeepBurner Free [2] is a close second to CDBurnerXP Pro. If you don't author bootable CDs or care about the additional multimedia features, then DeepBurner Free might be the one for you. It has all of the core functionality, but is a much smaller download package and has a smaller installation footprint. It also offers a portable version that can be run stand-alone from a USB drive. In addition to these products, there are several free burners that are extremely small and specialize in just one or two features. For example, Burrrn [3] is for authoring audio CDs, CreateCD [4] and CommandBurner [5] offer command line burning capabilities, DVDShrink [6] is meant for creating DVD backups, and ImgBrn [7] and ISO Recorder [8] are for burning images to disc with a couple clicks of the mouse. For general users, though, CDBurnerXP Pro or DeepBurner Free are the clear winners. Editor's note: many thanks to regular contributor Craig Vollmar for taking the time to prepare this excellent review.
[1] http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ Windows 98 and later, 11.02 MB
[2] http://www.deepburner.com/ Windows 98 and later, 2.60 MB
[3] http://www.burrrn.net/ Windows 98 and later, 2.02 MB
[4] http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/CreateCD.htm Windows XP and 2003, 63 KB
[5] http://www.commandburner.com/ Windows NT and later, 2.71 MB
[6] http://www.dvdshrink.org/ Windows 9x/2000/XP, 1.06 MB
[7] http://www.imgburn.com/ Windows 98 and later, 860 KB
[8] http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm Windows XP and 2003 (64-bit available), 320 KB

87 Best Free Notes Organizer New! Added May 3, 2006
Evernote is designed to help you organize all those random bits of information hanging around your PC: bookmarks, articles, bits of text, interesting web links, shopping lists, to-do lists, recipes, tips, etc. It's a common problem but a difficult one to solve as the information is so disparate. Some folks have tried to solve the problem by using free form databases while others use beefed up text editors or multi-media snippet managers. Evernote approaches the problem by allowing you to store your notes on an endless "roll" of virtual paper. You can create notes on the roll, drag and drop them or cut and paste them. Images can be stored as well as text. You can access the stored information several different ways: by searching for keywords, by using a category classification such as "recipes", by the date it was created or any combination of these. Toolbars for Internet Explorer and Firefox allow web site information to be highlighted and moved directly to Evernote together with a hyperlink back to the web site. A similar capability is provided for Outlook email. Sure, all this sounds nice but does it work? I evaluated Evernote for a month by using it to collect information for this newsletter. In this demanding task, I found it effective in doing the job and to work just about as well as anything else I've tried including Microsoft's OneNote. It's got a few annoying weaknesses though. If you move an email message to another folder after you have posted the information to Evernote, it loses the link. This is a fatal flaw for me as I only have two mail folders - my inbox for unread mail and the deleted folder for everything else - so everything gets moved after I've read it. Additionally, the category system is weak. What is needed is the ability to assign tags not categories and to be able to search using those tags in the same manner as you can at del.icio.us and similar sites. That said, Evernote is an outstanding free product and will provide many folks with an excellent solution to note, snippet and general information management problems. Tablet computer users may want to check out the $34.95 "Plus" version that also handles hand-written notes. Freeware, Windows 2000 and later, 8.4MB
http://www.evernote.com/en/

88 Best Free Virtual Desktop Manager New! Added May 3, 2006
This review was prepared by regular contributor A.K. "I looked at a whole batch of free VDMs including VirtuaWin [1], Microdesk [2], Dexpot [3] and Virtual Desktop Toolbox [4]. VirtuaWin is a competent but basic product that depends on third-party modules for extra features but unfortunately there aren't many around. Microdesk comes with more standard features such as 99 desktops, configurability of each desktop (name, password, wallpaper and icons), an attractive interface and a configurable transparent menu above the tray bar to navigate between desktops. However, there is no detailed FAQ and no forum. Dexpot allows even more configurability for each of its 20 possible desktops with its well-organized interface and enables easy switching between desktops and quick movement of windows. However, the online documentation is very incomplete and the most active section of the online forum is in German. Virtual Desktop Toolbox is loaded with features which the other three lack. The negative is that it takes a little longer to learn. However, the pain is eased by the very thorough user's guide and tips and tricks folder included in the installation and also available online [5], [6]. Note that to unlock some time and feature restrictions to Virtual Desktop Toolbox's evaluation version you need to take out a free registration. The four VDMs I reviewed are all very capable products but I recommend Virtual Desktop Toolbox because of its outstanding features list and excellent support. Once you have learned how to use it you will improve your organization and productivity, perhaps drastically so."
[1] http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/
[2] http://www.download.com/
[3] http://www.dexpot.de/en/index2.html
[4] http://www.r2d2-software.com/
[5] http://www.r2d2-software.com/VDT/
[6] http://www.activeboard.com/

89 Best Free Duplicate File Detector  New! Added May 3, 2006
I must confess that I'm not a great fan of the practice of routinely deleting duplicate files from PCs. Sure it can free up some disk space but it can also get inexperienced users into a great deal of trouble. There are quite a few duplicate file detection utilities around but CloneSpy is the one that impresses me the most. It's certainly not the fastest program in its class but it's definitely the smartest. First, you can specifically select what is to be scanned and this can include multiple drives, multiple folders or just individual folders. Second, it has the ability to detect duplicates by CRC, by file name, by CRC and file name and by file name and size. Third, it will also detect zero length files. Fourth, the program does not need to be installed but can be run from the executable so it's a good candidate for your USB Flash drive toolkit. Finally, it throws up duplicates to the user in a way that at least makes you think about what you are deleting. Click-happy users may find this latter feature an annoyance; to me it's a safety feature. Safety feature or not, please read the help file and use with care. In particular do NOT include your Windows folder in your scan unless you are a knowledgeable technical user. Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 608KB.
http://www.clonespy.com/cms/index.php

90 Best Free Program Launcher New! Added May 3, 2006
The are many free application launchers. Commonly these employ a dockable toolbar containing shortcuts to various programs on the PC. The toolbar can usually be hidden so it doesn't take up desktop space. I've never been keen on these things as often they achieve little more than what's available from the Windows Start menu. However, I've found an application launcher that actually really works. It's called Find&Run Robot. It doesn't use a launch bar approach but rather allows you to locate an application by simply typing its name into a query box. You rarely even have to type the full name; mostly all you need do is just type a couple of letters. Find&Run Robot instantly displays any program that contains the letters you typed in. Its power lies in the fact that it's lightning fast. It works on a find-as-you-type basis. Let's say I'm looking for Excel. When I type the letter "E" I instantly see all programs whose name contains the letter E. There are quite a few as you can imagine. If I then type in the second letter "X" the list shortens immediately to only those programs that contain "EX". By the time I type in the "C" the list is down to one program, Excel itself. Double clicking then executes the program. The whole thing takes less than 2 seconds. I've seen a few programs that work like this but Find&Run Robot works the best of any I've tried. To start with, you can bring up the search box instantly using either a hotkey or by clicking the tray icon. Second, the program search area is totally configurable. Even the scoring system that determines the list order is configurable. Third, it's only visible when you need it and that's the way it ought to be. Users of Microsoft Desktop Search don't need Find&Run Robot as they already have the same capabilities direct from the search box. Find&Run is free but only available under a rather strange license system, see the web site for full details. Freeware, all Windows versions, 1.57MB
http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/findrun/index.html

(End of the extended list.)