Mike Williams

'Start' is a do-everything new tab page for Chrome

If you’re bored with Chrome’s standard "new tab" page, there are hundreds of free extensions to make it better. Whether you’re after gorgeous photos, better searching, more productivity tools, there’s something, somewhere that can help.

If you don’t have time to look, that doesn’t have to be a problem either -- just install something like Start -- A Better New Tab, which crams in just about every feature you could possibly want.

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cdrtfe is an open-source CD, DVD and BD burner

Veteran Windows disc burner cdrtfe has been updated to version 1.5.7. This is a maintenance release, though with some worthwhile tweaks, including smarter verification for ISO burning operations and a RAW writing mode for CUE files.

If you’ve not come across cdrtfe before, it’s is simple application for burning data discs, audio CDs, XCDs and (S)VCDs, as well as creating ISO images from discs or burning ISOs to disc.

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NirSoft unveils UninstallView 1.0

NirSoft has released UninstallView (32-bit here), a portable tool which collects and displays information on your stored applications.

Don’t be fooled by the name. UninstallView isn’t trying to compete with GeekUninstaller and has no program-removing abilities, it’s just a better version of the standard Windows Add/ Remove Programs applet.

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Ping multiple IPs simultaneously with Ping GUI

There are endless graphical Ping tools for Windows, and we’ve probably tried more than our share -- but could Ping GUI win us over, anyway?

The program offers plenty of plus points. It’s portable, open-source, and the creation of Peter Verbeek, the developer behind the popular Peace Equalizer.

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fman is a keyboard-powered file manager for desktops

Most Windows file managers sell themselves on working just like Explorer, but adding more features and functionality: more file previews, smarter searching, extra tools, whatever it might be.

Fman’s shareware dual-pane file manager ignores all of that. It’s smaller, has far less functionality than Explorer, is almost entirely powered by the keyboard rather than the mouse, and ignores most Windows conventions. So is there any reason why you might want to install it?

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How to increase your laptop volume above 100 percent

Laptop speakers can often be underpowered, and if you’re on the move it might not always be convenient to connect external speakers, or headphones. Another option is to install specialist audio processing software to amplify your system volume beyond the usual maximum.

How well this works depends on the individual device. Your usual volume limit isn’t some definitive physical barrier, and it’s likely you’ll be able to go a little further without any issues, but taking it too far will trash your audio quality.

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Schedule web pages to open automatically with Open Me Later! for Chrome

If you’re looking to revisit a website later then the obvious solution is to bookmark it. That’s easy, but won’t help much if you forget about the link, or where you saved it.

Open Me Later! is a free Chrome extension which enables scheduling a page to open automatically, as the date and time you specify.

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Capture, edit and share your desktop with Icecream Screen Recorder

Desktop recorders are common on the PC and we’ve regularly covered them here, but does Icecream Screen Recorder have enough to stand out from the crowd?

A handy set of capture types doesn’t stop with full screen, window and freehand rectangles. The program can also capture a fixed-size rectangle around your mouse cursor, very useful when you need to focus on a particular area of the screen.

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Dalenryder Password Generator is a versatile security toolkit

Dalenryder Password Generator is an interesting collection of simple security tools, nicely presented in a big-buttoned, touch-friendly interface.

Tap "Quick Password" and the program generates and displays a strong 12-character long password. You can optionally include symbols or change the password length to anything from 4 to 30 characters, then generate a password and copy it to the clipboard in a couple of clicks.

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Email This for Chrome sends articles to your inbox for later reading

Email This is a free Chrome extension and web service which sending web pages to your inbox for later reading.

If you’ve found a great article but there’s no time to read it now, tapping the "et" button on your Chrome address bar sends the trimmed-down ad-free essentials of the page to your registered email address.

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Inspect and manage Windows processes with Process Lister

Security vendor NoVirusThanks has released Process Lister, a sort-of task manager which displays running processes, their key data, and provides various ways to manipulate them.

The program opens with a familiar list of processes and their details: PID, name, session, command line, 32/ 64-bit, parent PID/ process/ command line, description, company, signer, user/ domain and more.

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Etcher burns images to USB keys, SD cards, more

Etcher is an open-source cross-platform tool for burning images to SD cards, USB drives and other removable devices.

The program keeps operations to the bare minimum, all of them clearly displayed on a simple interface. Choose your image, then your drive, and finally click the "Flash!" button.

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Search for animated GIFs from your desktop with AstroGif

AstroGif is an open-source menu bar app which allows you to search for animated GIFs and copy their URL, or the markdown equivalent, to the clipboard.

The program runs in the background on your PC. It can be launched by clicking its system tray icon, or pressing its (customizable) hotkey, Ctrl+Alt+Space.

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Add shortcuts to Control Panel with My Computer Manager

Windows makes it easy to place shortcuts in any folder, except of course system folders like Control Panel or My Computer (aka This PC), where for some reason none of the usual rules apply.

My Computer Manager is a free portable tool which helps out by displaying details of your existing Control Panel applets and enables adding custom items of your own.

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ImageDownloader batch downloads pics from Reddit, Imgur

ImageDownloader is a portable open-source tool which can batch download images from your favorite subreddit, or Imgur album.

The program arrives as a very compact 396KB download, so it’s no surprise that the interface is basic, just a few tabs and settings for each download task.

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