Data Converter can easily decode cryptic Registry values
When a Windows application is misbehaving then it can be useful to check its Registry settings, and these are often very easy to understand. When you see that 7-Zip has PATH value set to C:\Program Files\7-Zip, for instance, it’s not difficult to figure out what this means. And if you find Paint.NET’s CheckForUpdates value is now zero then, again, you won’t need a degree in Computer Science to understand the consequences.
Binary values can be rather more cryptic, though. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Migration, for instance, and you’ll see a REG_BINARY value “IE Installed Date”, which on our test PC was 86cde7a6cf66ce01. Uh, right. If you want to decode that, you’ll need help from a tool like Data Converter.
Microsoft’s EMET 4 adds even more malware-blocking power
Microsoft has announced the final release of version 4.0 of the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (better known as EMET, fortunately), a powerful tool which can help to block exploits malware will commonly use to infect your PC.
The most immediately obvious change is a new focus on ease of use. EMET still isn’t for PC novices, but a new Configuration Wizard does help to get the program set up quickly, while an extended interface gives speedy access to the program’s various features.
Sandboxie adds full 64-bit protection, improves compatibility
Sandboxie 4.02 is the latest edition of the powerful shareware sandbox, which allows you to run programs in an isolated environment where they’re unable to affect your main system.
The new build enhances security by dropping the use of unofficial kernel hooks. Programs running under Sandboxie now have no permissions and can’t access or manipulate any objects out of their own memory space.
Caesium can batch compress JPEGS by up to 90%
When you save a JPEG it’s easy to just accept your default image options, click File > Save and get on with your next task. But that probably means you’ll always be using the same JPEG compression level, and unless you’ve tuned this to an optimum figure, your final images could be anything up to ten times larger than they need to be.
Could this be a problem for you? The open source Caesium provides an easy way to find out. Point the program at a selection of images (PNG, BMP and WMF are supported, as well as JPG) or an entire folder, and it can quickly recompress them all with a lower quality setting, before reporting on any savings it’s achieved.
Find out how safe your PC is with OPSWAT Security Score
OPSWAT has released the final version of its free Security Score product, a simple tool which scans your PC, reports on any security issues it finds, and provides basic advice on how to resolve them.
The program is exceptionally easy to use. There’s no complex interface to figure out, no settings to consider, almost nothing to do at all: just launch Security Score, it scans your PC, and returns with the details in just a few seconds.
Lock out autorun viruses with NTFS Drive Protection
USB keys are a cheap and convenient way to carry important files around. Unfortunately they’re also common carriers of autorun viruses, which write themselves to the drive in an attempt to infect other systems. The risk can be reduced by turning off autorun, if it’s not disabled already (and it will be on most modern PCs), but for extra security you might prefer NTFS Drive Protection, which prevents anyone writing to the drive at all.
The program is compact (a 642K download), portable and easy to use. Launch Ntfs Drive Protection, select your USB drive in the "Target Drive" box, click "Start Protection" -- and that’s it. In just a few seconds the program will change your file and folder permissions, and no-one (not even you) will be able to add new files to the drive, or edit what’s already there.
z33k lets you search for, listen to, download and convert music with ease
Software developers face many challenges, but perhaps the greatest of all is figuring out how to make their program stand out from the crowd.
You could focus on a single key function, for instance, and make that just as good as it can be. But if that’s a problem, then you can always follow the example of do-everything MP3 tool z33k, and cram it with as many features as you can think of (and then a few more, for good measure).
HotShots is not just another screen grab tool
One small but welcome addition to Windows 8 is its new extended screen capture feature. Press Win+PrtSc and you’ll both grab the current screen, and save it directly to disk, which means there’s no longer any need to do the Alt+Tab, Edit > Paste, File > Save shuffle for every single image.
This is only a very small step forward, of course: the chances are you’ll still need to spend plenty of time editing your grabs before they’re ready for use. And so a better approach might be to install a tool like the free HotShots, which not only captures screens for you, but also provides some excellent editing tools to help you get them ready for prime time.
nomacs is a free image viewer with some unusual extras
Does the world really need another image viewer? It’s tempting to say no, as even Windows Explorer does a reasonable job of helping you browse your pictures, but nomacs is a cross-platform viewer which is aiming to change your mind. And it just might be good enough to succeed.
The program opens much like any other image viewer. You can display individual files or complete folders, for instance (there’s support for viewing all the main formats, including many RAW file types). A thumbnail browser helps you manually navigate to the images you need, or you can use the Player to create an automatic slideshow.
Hands on with Office Mobile for Office 365 Subscribers
As you’ll know by now, Microsoft today announced the launch of Office Mobile for Office 365, an iOS app which allows users to access, view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents -- provided you have an Office 365 subscription.
We took it for a spin and despite the limitations, were actually pleasantly surprised. There’s plenty of functionality in the app to explore. The app can view Office documents stored on SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, or SharePoint, for instance, as well as documents which arrive as email attachments. It syncs with your other Office 365 devices, too, so documents you’ve read elsewhere will appear on your phone’s Recent Documents panel, and when you open one it’ll resume at whatever point you left off.
RightToClick lets you restore the right-click menu and fix other web page annoyances
Most web pages work just as you expect. You can browse them, left-click here, right-click there, and leave whenever you like -- which is just as it should be.
Other sites aren’t quite so straightforward, unfortunately. They might disable the right-click menu. Prevent you copying text. Maybe even try to stop you leaving a particular page. It’s annoying, but the Firefox add-on RightToClick does at least give you a very effective way to fight back.
qMetro helps you travel the world’s subways like a local
Subways can be a great way to get around a big city, but of course you have to understand their layout, first. That can be a challenge, particularly if you leave it until the last minute, and are left peering at a huge map on a tiny smartphone screen (that’s if you can get a signal at all). But plan ahead with a little help from qMetro and your life could be very much easier.
An open source tool available for Windows, Linux, OS X and more, qMetro comes bundled with 23 maps covering subways in many big cities: Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Tokyo and others. But if that’s not enough, there are something like 200 maps available online (and in theory, at least, you can even create more yourself).
NirSoft’s TurnedOnTimesView reports when a PC was turned on or shut down
It’s only a couple of weeks since NirSoft’s last release, but the unstoppable freeware machine has just announced another addition to its lineup. TurnedOnTimesView is a simple tool for reporting when a PC was turned on, restarted, or shut down.
This has some obvious applications for system monitoring. If you’re wondering whether someone’s been using the family PC in the middle of the night, for instance, TurnedOnTimesView may be able to tell you more.
ESET releases new betas for NOD32 Antivirus and Smart Security
ESET has unveiled the first public betas of its NOD32 Antivirus 7 and Smart Security 7 products.
The Smart Security suite now includes a Vulnerability Shield to better protect your PC from known network issues, while its Anti-Theft service gains the ability to track what’s happening on your stolen hardware via regular screen captures.
AV Audio Editor lets you easily tweak and convert your music files
What makes a good audio editor? Many developers seem to think it’s all down to the length of the feature list, and so they’ll try to cram in just as much functionality as they possibly can. That can have its appeal, too, but there’s often a usability price to pay.
AV Audio Editor takes a very different approach. Its feature list is fairly basic, just the usual cut, copy and paste options, along with a few effects (volume tweaks, an equalizer and so on). But that’s still more than enough for many situations, and the real plus here is that AV Audio Editor takes these basics and implements them very well indeed.
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