Get organized with WikiPad
Wikis are normally all about group collaboration, but it doesn’t have to be that way. WikidPad is a simple text editor that allows you to construct a custom personal wiki on your own PC, perfect for organizing thoughts, ideas, to-do lists, contacts and more.
How does it work? Suppose you need to buy a few birthday presents for someone. Just enter BirthdayPresents in the start page, and because that’s a mixed-case “wikiword” it’ll be automatically underlined; double-click it and a new page called “BirthdayPresents” will appear in the navigation pane. You can click this and enter new text there; you might add subpages below that one with, perhaps, possible present ideas; and if you type BirthdayPresents on some other page then it’ll automatically act as a link to your new page.
Web Page Saver lives up to its name
A couple of weeks ago we wrote about wpic, a console tool that could easily save a complete webpage as an image. But while this works well, it seemed a little basic, and is probably best used within scripts if you needed to automate the saving process. If you were also interested in the core idea, but wished wpic had more features, though, Web Page Saver might appeal: it can also save webpages for you, but takes the idea to the next level.
The program’s simple GUI allows you to enter up to five URLs, for instance, which can then all be saved in the same operation. (You need to enter the protocol, though -- http://my.domain.com, not just my.domain.com -- for this to work properly.) And it can also import URLs from text or CSV files, which may be handy if you often need to capture the same groups of sites.
Total Commander 8 goes 64-bit, but old plugins won't work
In beta since September 2011, Ghisler Software has finally announced the release of the plainly very thoroughly tested Total Commander 8.0, the company’s flagship file manager.
The big news in this release is the availability of a native 64-bit version of the program, which has a very real impact on functionality. Total Commander has been able to compare files by their content for a very long time, for instance, but version 8.0 x64 is the first release to support this for files greater than 2GB in size.
Rogue Applications Remover finds malware your security software misses
ESET has released Rogue Applications Remover, a stand-alone console tool that tries to remove rogue antivirus and similar unwanted malware which regular security tools might miss.
The program is very basic, with minimal options. There’s no real-time protection here, no options beyond a few command line switches, it’s really just about running on-demand scans and watching as your system is checked for threats.
Free USB Guard leaves no drives behind
It’s easily done. You’ve finished working on a friend’s PC, close it down and walk away, completely forgetting about the USB key you plugged in a little earlier. Or maybe you’re at home, closing down your own PC, even though there’s a CD or DVD in the drive that you’ll need later. And then, once you realize, you’re perhaps forced to restart the system before you can eject it.
They’re both common problems, but easy to address with a little help from Free USB Guard. Just launch the program, and if you log off or shut down later then it checks for leftover discs or forgotten external drives, stops the shutdown process if any are found, and displays a suitable warning message to let you know.
Secure your data with US military-developed Encryption Wizard
When you need to carry sensitive data on a USB key then it’s easy to find an encryption tool which will help to keep it safe. But life gets a little more complicated when you need to transfer your files from a PC to a Mac, or maybe a Linux system: now you’ll need a cross-platform solution, and we have the perfect candidate in mind.
Encryption Wizard is an easy-to-use, yet surprisingly powerful Java-based encryption tool. Developed by the US military (a plus point or a problem, depending on your point of view) but available for all, the program provides a straightforward way to protect confidential files on USB keys (or anywhere else, really).
System Security Guard warns but doesn't protect
When you’re manually hunting for malware on a PC then you might start by launching Task Manager, Process Explorer, Process Hacker or a similar tool to see exactly what’s running. But these programs generally won’t directly tell you which processes are safe, and which might be dubious: you’ll have to look at what they’re doing and try to figure this out for yourself.
If this seems a little too much like hard work, though (or you’d just like some pointers to tell you where to look first), then you might be interested in System Security Guard, a very simple tool which can check your running processes for known threats.
Xara Photo & Graphic Designer MX 8.1 review
Equipping your PC for professional graphics work normally involves buying several different applications, learning their various interfaces and hoping they’ll somehow all work together.
Xara’s philosophy is a little different, though: their new Photo & Graphic Designer MX 8.1 can handle photo editing, illustration, vector drawing, DTP, web graphics, even simple Flash animation, and all in a single $89 application.
Now in beta, ESET Smart Security 6 and NOD32 Antivirus 6
ESET has released NOD32 Antivirus 6 and Smart Security 6 to public beta, and is attempting to lure early adopters by offering a chance to win one of 500 one-year licences for Smart Security.
Top of the new feature list must be Anti-Theft, a web service which aims to help you locate missing devices. If you’ve enabled anything similar on your phone or tablet then you’ll know what to expect – you can log on with a browser, perhaps see the position of your device on a map, view grabs of the laptop’s screen, and so on but it’s still a welcome addition to the packages. (Although it’s in NOD32 solely for the beta: normally Anti-Theft will be in Smart Security only.)
Turns text files into 3D-animated ebooks
Plain, ordinary text files aren’t normally the most interesting ways to convey information, but if you’d like to change that then Toolwiz FlipBook may be able to help.
Just point the program at a particular TXT file, and in a click it’ll be converted into an executable file. And launching this on any Windows PC will display your file’s contents in a 3D book. Readers can navigate the book via keyboard or mouse, and will see an animated flipping effect as the pages turn.
Ditch Windows Explorer, go retro with XFile
If you used PCs back in the 1980s then you’ll probably remember that file management was, well, a little basic. To put it politely. But that all changed in 1985 with the arrival of XTree, a powerful file manager that came packed with functionality: the geeks of the day loved its feature set, speed and extensive list of keyboard shortcuts.
It didn’t last, of course -- the program was essentially killed off by the arrival of Windows Explorer. Which, while nothing like as powerful as XTree, was free and included with every PC. But if you still have fond memories of those early file managers then there could be a way to recapture them, as XTree Gold clone XFile has just been released as freeware.
When WHOIS isn't enough, there's DomainHostingView
When you need to know more about a web domain, then your first instinct will probably be to visit your favorite WHOIS site. But while that’s quick and easy, there could be an even more convenient solution in NirSoft’s DomainHostingView.
As ever with NirSoft tools, the program is portable and extremely small (just 219KB including documentation), and it’s very straightforward to use: just type the name in question in the Domain box, click Go, then wait as DomainHostingView uses a variety of DNS and WHOIS queries to assemble the data you need.
MiTeC InfoBar is one of the most versatile, useful desktop tools we’ve ever seen
At first glance, MiTeC InfoBar looks much like a host of other desktop tools. There’s a display of your CPU utilization here, your free RAM there -- not exactly the most interesting or essential of applications. But wait. There’s much more here than you might think, and on closer exploration, InfoBar just might be one of the most versatile and feature-packed desktop accessories we’ve ever seen.
Launch the program, for instance, and a small horizontal toolbar will appear at the top of your screen, displaying the date, time, free memory, CPU utilization, power status (mains/ on battery, if applicable), system up time, current weather conditions and scrolling headlines from Reuters.
Easily change your Windows DNS settings
Troubleshooting, security, performance, there are lots of different reasons why you might want to change your PC’s DNS settings. But Windows doesn’t exactly make this easy. And even when you’ve figured out where you need to be (Network and Sharing Center > click the Internet connection > Properties > TCP/IP > Properties) you’ll still need to look up the address of whatever alternative Domain Name Service you’d prefer to use.
DNS Jumper, though, is a free and portable tool which offers a far simpler solution. The program provides a lengthy list of free DNS options, and all you have to do is choose one and click “Apply DNS”. (Although clicking “Flush DNS” to flush your DNS cache might also help, as it’ll allow the new service will take effect right away.)
Xara releases Photo and Graphic Designer MX 8, Designer Pro X 8
Xara unveiled the latest versions of the Designer family, Photo and Graphic Designer MX 8 and Designer Pro X 8. (Which, if the names mean nothing to you, are the packages formerly known as Xara Xtreme and Xara Xtreme Pro.)
As usual with these particular applications, Xara aims for maximum versatility. So both programs can handle most photo-editing, illustration, basic Flash animation and web graphics tasks, while Xara Designer Pro X 8 can also create complete websites and online presentations and has support for a stack of high-end design features (PANTONE, colour separation, PDF/X, XPS and more).