Get O&O's SSD Migration Kit for free
Hard drive specialist O&O Software has released a free license for its labs-based SSD Migration Kit. The program is a straightforward tool that makes it easy to migrate your system partition from a regular hard drive to an SSD.
You could of course do something similar with many hard drive copying tools, but the SSD Migration Kit does have a couple of advantages. In particular, it makes sure that your partition is properly aligned on the SSD, which, the company says, improves SSD write speed by as much as 40 percent when compared with a misaligned drive. And the program also allows you to exclude unwanted files from the copy, useful if your SSD doesn’t have the space to hold all the files on your system partition.
Take control of Windows sounds with Volumouse 2
When you need to tweak the volume on your PC then the standard Windows sound applet will get the job done, but it’s a little basic. You’ll have to click it first, and if you want to adjust anything other than the full volume for all your channels then you’ll need to explore the Mixer settings, too.
If that just doesn’t suit your needs then you may prefer NirSoft’s Volumouse 2, a powerful tool that comes packed with time-saving volume control options.
Make Windows System Restore work better for you
System Restore is an excellent Windows technology, one that’s saved our PCs many times -- but it’s not exactly flexible. You can restore an entire system point, or maybe a shadow copy or two (right-click a folder, select Properties > Previous Versions), but that’s about it.
So it’s good to see System Restore Explorer offering an alternative approach. Launch the program and it’ll display a list of restore points, but when you choose one of these it’ll be mounted and displayed in an Explorer window. So you can now manually browse through the restore point, and if you locate a file which you need, then retrieval is as easy as a drag and drop.
BitTorrent releases 'Plus' version with annual fee
BitTorrent has released the first premium version of its compact file sharing client, uTorrent. And so, if you’re happy to accept the $24.95 annual subscription, then you, too, can unlock a pile of high-end additional features.
Integrated BitDefender-based antivirus will scan your downloads for threats. An integrated HD media player displays videos in their full high-definition glory. If the file you’ve found isn’t in a convenient format, then uTorrent Plus will quickly transcode it to something else. Initial support for the MPEG-4, H.264, Theora, and VP8 video codecs, and MP3, AAC and AC-3 audio codecs should make it easy to convert the file to something Apple, Android or just generally mobile device-friendly.
Build a portable toolkit with Platform 10
PortableApps.com has announced the first public release of Platform 10, a powerful framework for building a customised portable toolkit that you can carry around on a USB drive with you.
And if you’ve always liked the idea of doing something along those lines, but never quite managed to make it happen, then Platform 10 could be very useful way to make it happen.
Put TouchWiz Care inside your PC toolkit
Does the world really need another PC maintenance suite? Probably not, but they keep coming anyway. And at first glance, the latest, Toolwiz Care, didn’t look like it would exactly break new ground. The program includes a Registry cleaner, for instance. A module to free up a little hard drive space (though not as much as if we’d just installed CCleaner). And another to help control our Windows startup programs: it all seemed very ordinary.
When we took a closer look, though, some interesting differences emerged. So the Startup Programs module didn’t simply provide a list of applications and leave us to make the difficult decisions. It actually makes sensible recommendations about what you should disable or remove to accelerate your boot time. And provides figures to help put your boot time in context in the first place: our boot time is apparently 30-percent faster than the average of other Toolwiz Care users, which tells us it’s probably not worth expending a great deal of effort in trying to improve it further.
Are all your workstations up to date? Network Software Scanner can tell you
Managing even the smallest home network can be something of a challenge. Not least because however much you might prefer your users to install particular software for major tasks -- security, say -- they’ll continue to install whatever they like, while expecting you to resolve the situation if conflicts arise.
You can’t easily stop this, so the next best approach is simply to monitor your systems occasionally with a tool like EMCO’s new Network Software Scanner. Allow the program to scan your workgroup or domain, and it’ll uncover the software installed on each connected system, as well as their updates, storing the result in a database.
Our holiday gift to you: 75% off AVG LiveKive cloud storage
As long as you have a fast Internet connection, then nothing quite beats the convenience of online backups. There are no network issues to worry about, no discs to prepare: just set up the backup client and it’ll automatically transfer whatever files you’ve specified at the appropriate time. And better still, by backing them up offsite you’ll guarantee their survival, even if your home is hit by a disaster like a burglary, or a fire.
Of course most online backup services fully realise their advantages, and so will charge sizeable amounts of money to open an account for anything other than the most trivial amount of server space. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And if you’re looking for an online backup bargain, then we just might have one in the shape of AVG’s LiveKive 2012.
Recover stolen mobile devices with Prey
If you’re worried about your phone or tablet being lost or stolen then it’s generally very easy to get some help. Just check a box in your iPad settings, or install a suitable app, and if your device goes astray you may be able to track its location, send messages to the thief, even remotely lock or wipe the device to prevent anyone accessing your files.
If you’d like the same protection for your Windows laptop, though -- or, even more conveniently, want to use the same service to cover all your devices -- then the choice is considerably more limited. Although, fortunately, there is one strong contender in the Prey Project.
Review: IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5
There are two things that almost every computer owner is concerned with -- security and performance. When it comes to security there are all manner of tools that you can install from firewalls and antivirus to spyware and malware checkers, and there is certainly no shortage of tweaking tools available to help boost system performance.
Those that are more adept with computers are likely to feel comfortable with editing the registry to apply their own tweaks, but this is not a course of action that suits everyone. IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 is an advanced suite of tools that has both performance security covered.
That was fast -- TeamViewer 7 goes from beta to gold in a week
It’s barely a week since the first public beta, but the Windows version of TeamViewer 7 was still released in full earlier today. And this is no cosmetic upgrade. The popular remote access tool has been revitalized with some major features that open it up to an entirely new audience.
Top of the list is TeamViewer’s new ability to hold online meetings for up to 25 people. Despatch email invitations to your prospective attendees, and when the time arrives they’ll be able to join you via smartphones, tablets or computers. The program provides just about all the functionality you’d expect from this kind of group collaboration tool, with everyone at the meeting able to view the same screen, see and hear everything you’re doing, exchange text chat, use a white board and share files. And it’s even possible to record a video of the event for convenient reference later.
Snap2HTML: Record Windows file and folder trees
When you’re trying to troubleshoot a friend’s PC then it’s often useful to know more about what’s on their hard drive: installed programs, the \Windows folder, temporary folders maybe, and more. If you’re sitting in front of the system then you can just launch Explorer and take a look. When the friend is far away, though, this becomes rather more difficult, as Explorer provides no way to for your friend to, say, save a report on the contents of the \Windows folder.
And while you could try a command line trick or two – dir c:\windows /s > \report.txt, maybe – that won’t exactly produce the most readable of file listings. Fortunately this isn’t necessary, though -- not if you have a copy of the free Snap2HTML, which makes it very simple to record the contents of any folder tree.
Monitor Windows Registry changes in real time
Observing Registry activity on your PC can be very useful when you’re troubleshooting odd problems. There are some great tools around to help. Sysinternals Process Monitor is probably the best: set it running and it’ll record exactly which Registry keys your processes are reading and writing (amongst other details), and browsing the report later will usually give you a much better idea of what’s going on.
Of course this approach really only works when you have some specific event you’d like to monitor, such as the launch of an application. If you’re experiencing some intermittent problem then what might be more useful is a program that tells you which Registry keys have changed in the last 5 minutes, say. And that’s where NirSoft’s RegScanner comes in.
Find files faster on your NTFS drive
German developer JAM Software has released the latest version of its speedy MFT-based file search tool, UltraSearch 1.60.
The program makes use of the NTFS Master File Table to enable very fast searches, without having to spend valuable time and system resources in building any indexes. So you can just launch UltraSearch, type a keyword, and any matching files or folders will appear almost immediately.
Get a better command line with Gnu on Windows
Open the Windows command line and you’ll get instant access to a reasonable set of utilities, which can then help you to analyze, troubleshoot and generally manage your PC.
Even the most enthusiastic Microsoft fan would have to agree that the Linux command line offers considerably more power, of course. But that doesn’t have to be a problem, as installing Gnu on Windows will make over 130 essential open-source Unix tools instantly accessible from your PC command prompt.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.