Crunch your JPG files down to size with JPGmini
Last week we wrote about PNGmini, a useful tool which can cut PNG file sizes without any loss in image quality.
Developer Voralent has now released JPGmini 1.0, which applies similar lossless compression technology to crunch down your JPEGs. (No relation to the commercial JPEGmini, apparently. We predict Voralent will be hearing from them soon.)
Find and uninstall junk programs -- from a batch file
As you’ll probably guess from its name, Crap Killer is a tool which scans your PC, trying to find browser toolbars and other junk, then offers to help you remove them.
This is all extremely basic, though. There’s no special detection of spyware here; if a program doesn’t appear in the Add/ Remove Programs applet then Crap Killer won’t find it. And there’s nothing to remove unwanted programs, either. All you can do is launch their official uninstaller.
Format, partition, back up, clone and manage your drives with CloneDisk
If you regularly troubleshoot other people’s PCs then you’ll know you can’t rely on them having the programs you need. It’s much better to build up a portable toolkit of your own, something you can take anywhere and which (hopefully) will help you cope with just about any situation.
Finding the right tools can be a challenge, of course -- most just don’t have the versatility you need -- but a quick glance at its feature list suggests CloneDisk could be a very good candidate.
CCleaner adds support for managing Opera start-up items, adds file content duplicate detection
Piriform has released CCleaner 4.11 and CCleaner Portable 4.11, its popular free and paid-for cleaning tool for Windows. Version 4.11 is a significant update with a number of interesting new features.
These include adding support for start-up item management to the new Opera browser, the ability to scan for duplicated files based on their content and various other tweaks and improvements. Unlike recent updates, the bulk of the changes apply to free and paid-for versions of CCleaner.
Screen2EXE is a powerful free screen recorder
At first glance, Screen2EXE seems much like any other free screen recorder. Set the program to record your desktop activity, edit the results, and save them as a video, ready to share with others. No great surprises.
Spend some time exploring what Screen2EXE has to offer, though, and you’ll uncover an array of powerful features.
WinPatrol 2014 'Second Release' squashes bugs and delivers more usage tips during setup
BillP Studios has released WinPatrol 30.1.2014, the "Second Release" of the 2014 version of its snapshot-based security tool. The new build contains a number of minor tweaks and refinements over the first release, which was billed as a "preview" when it debuted last month.
Version 30.1.2014 opens by improving the setup file to provide the user with more helpful information and tips on using WinPatrol that are displayed during the installation process.
Google Chrome 33 released, tightens security
Google has updated its cross-platform browser with the release of Google Chrome 33 FINAL. The new release proves controversial as Google tightens control over the browser to the anger of some users.
In terms of new features, version 33 is rather disappointing -- despite debuting in the beta channel a few weeks ago, Google Now notifications have yet to make their way across to the stable channel. In fact, version 33 is little more than a bug-fix release, with 28 security fixes the only notable highlight.
Password-protect your PDFs with Free PDF Protector
Saving a document as a PDF has several advantages, in particular that it’ll be accessible on just about every device and platform around.
If you need to control exactly who can access your file, though, and what they can do with it, then you might be interested in Free PDF Protector.
Cut SVG file size by 66%+ with SVG Cleaner
Scalable Vector Graphics is a powerful image format with support for scripting, filters, animation, interactivity and more. But it’s also XML-based, and not exactly efficient: SVG file sizes can be much larger than you expect, an issue if you’re putting them online.
SVG Cleaner is an open source tool which optimizes SVG images, stripping out unnecessary elements and attributes, compressing whatever’s left, and usually making a real difference to their file size.
RealPlayer Cloud gives you the best of all worlds when it comes to playing video
When it comes to playing video on your PC or mobile, the choices are vast and sometimes confusing. Do you restrict yourself to access from one device, or do you manually transfer media between devices as and when it’s required? Or do you invest in some cloud-based solution that gives you access wherever you have an internet connection?
You could try and combine a number of different solutions, or you could take a closer look at RealPlayer Cloud 17 and RealPlayer Cloud for Mobile, which offers a solution to all three scenarios in one app.
uTorrent adds smarter peer selection, integrated BitTorrent Bundle
BitTorrent has announced the availability of uTorrent 3.4, the latest edition of its popular file-sharing tool.
The most obvious change is the (optional) integration of BitTorrent Bundle. Click in the left-hand sidebar and you can browse licensed content from Moby, Madonna and more, downloading whatever you like for free (although you’ll probably need to provide your email address).
Back up all your browser profiles with Hekasoft Backup and Restore
Bookmarks, history, cookies, settings -- browsers store a great deal of valuable data, and backing this up occasionally could be a very good idea. But it’s not easy, as most browsers don’t provide any tools to help.
Hekasoft Backup and Restore provides a simple answer. It’s a straightforward free tool which makes it easy to back up and restore user profiles for all the main browsers, most of the minor ones, and a few other packages as well.
FlightGear 3 improves scenery and aircraft models, now faster, easier to use
The FlightGear team has announced the availability of FlightGear 3.0, the latest edition of its powerful open source flight simulator.
A host of scenery enhancements mean the program looks better than ever. Smarter atmosphere rendering delivers more natural haze and fog, a global sea map ensures that ocean color now changes with depth, there are improved random building textures, and the new Scenery 2.0 delivers improved road and terrain data.
Mount ISO, ZIP, CISO files as virtual drives with Pismo File Mount Audit Package
One small but welcome addition to Windows 8 is its support for ISO files. Right-click your image, select Mount, and it’s immediately available as a virtual drive, which you can browse, read or write like any other.
This is useful enough, but it’s a little basic. If you’d like more control, and support for many more file formats, then you might prefer the free Pismo File Mount Audit Package (PFMAP).
Panda releases Panda Cloud Antivirus Beta 2.9 ahead of final version 3 release
Panda Security has released Panda Cloud Antivirus Beta 2.9, a major revision of its popular cloud-based antivirus tool for Windows PCs.
The beta -- which will become version 3.0 on its final release -- includes a redesigned user interface based along Windows 8 lines as well as a new Wi-Fi Monitor module, and comes with the promise of improved protection and performance.
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