Free Software

UserIdleStarter is a Windows console program which runs an application when your system is idle, maybe to back up files, launch or close an application, anything you like.

The program syntax is fairly straightforward. An example command might look like this.

XnShell is a handy Explorer shell extension which makes it easier to view, process and generally work with images.

The program allows you to preview any picture, in just about any format, directly from its right-click menu. No need to turn on Icon View, enable the preview pane or open the full image (which may not work, anyway, if it's not supported by your default viewer): just right-click, select XnShell, and you'll see a thumbnail in the context menu.

You’re looking at two copies of a text file. They’re different sizes, so you know something has changed. But what?

Text Compare is a tiny (<50KB download), free and portable tool which should be able to tell you more.

If Notepad isn’t enough for your text editing needs then there’s no shortage of possible replacements (we’ve covered plenty before). But most developers seem to focus on functionality above all else, cramming in as many features as they can, which means the end results aren’t always easy to use.

BowPad is a refreshing change. It doesn’t try to do everything, but for many people it’ll do enough, and a well-designed interface ensures the program is a comfortable place to work.

It used to be feeble in the extreme, but these days Windows Calculator is a relatively capable tool. With its Scientific mode, statistics and other options, it can handle most of the math that the average user will ever need.

Of course, if you’re not an average user -- if you’re regularly running complex scientific or engineering calculations -- then it’s a different story. You’ll need something far more powerful, maybe along the lines of the free SMath Studio.

Managing networks is a tedious, time-consuming business, and if your needs are simple then it might be best not to bother. If a network device goes offline, so what? You can just deal with any problems as they crop up.

If several others are using your network, though, you might want to take a more proactive approach, and keep an eye on your hardware. Enter PingView, a free tool for monitoring selected devices -- or domains -- and checking they’re still online.

Task management software should be all about making you more productive, saving you time, but it doesn't always work out that way. Especially if the software is so complex that you waste most of your time just trying to figure out how it works.

SChecklist isn't that kind of package. You won't spend an age figuring out how to set up sub-tasks, time requirements, dependencies or web sync because it can't do any of that. It's just about creating lists of item names, with checkboxes, and there's absolutely nothing else.

Task management software should be all about making you more productive, saving you time, but it doesn't always work out that way. Especially if the software is so complex that you waste most of your time just trying to figure out how it works.

SChecklist isn't that kind of package. You won't spend an age figuring out how to set up sub-tasks, time requirements, dependencies or web sync because it can't do any of that. It's just about creating lists of item names, with checkboxes, and there's absolutely nothing else.

Trend Micro may not always make the headlines, but it produces some great antivirus products which are loved by the independent testing labs (the company came top of the list in AV-Comparatives' December 2014 Real-World Protection Test).

Detection rates aren't everything, of course, and you might prefer something else. But if your system gets infected anyway, you can try out the company's technology for free with Trend Micro Anti-Threat Toolkit.

Dropbox has unveiled Dropbox 3.2.4 FINAL, the first stable build in its 3.2 series for Windows, Mac and Linux. The cloud backup and sync tool gains a number of new features and improvements with this latest release, which needs to be manually installed on some platforms.

The update’s headline feature is support for opening files locally directly from the web. Windows users also get a new File Explorer shell implementation, while OS X users gain improved network proxies.

If you need to find images which fit into some predefined web or document layout, you’ll probably need to consider their aspect ratio. But that might require some manual calculations, especially if your pictures aren’t in standard sizes.

Alternatively, you could just use Arti -- "Aspect Ratio Tool for Images", the latest release from prolific freeware developer Jody Holes, aka skwire -- to handle everything for you.

Windows Event Logs can be a great troubleshooting resource, packed as they are with a host of essential low-level system details. But the bulky, underpowered Windows Event Viewer means all this data isn’t nearly as easy to access as it could be, and so many people avoid it just as much as they can.

TailExpert is a free-for-personal-use alternative, a powerful tool for viewing, analyzing and monitoring Windows Event and plain text logs.

Quizzes have been used to test our knowledge since the dawn of schooling, and they’re still just as effective today.

They're not just for teachers, either. A well-designed quiz can help anyone find out more about themselves, learn about something that interests them, maybe compete with friends.

Benjamin Leclerc has announced that TaskUnifier Pro, his comprehensive task manager for Windows, Mac and Linux, is now available for free.

Unfortunately this isn’t quite as good as it sounds, because the reason is the program will no longer be maintained.

If you suspect your PC has been infected by malware, but your regular security package hasn't raised an alert, then you could try to locate the threat yourself. It's sometimes easier than you might expect.

One strategy is to search your system for recently changed or modified executables. If you find an EXE file created yesterday on your desktop, maybe an SCR file in a temporary folder, and you’re not sure how they got there, then they might deserve further investigation.