Snagit -- capture videos as well as screens
Screen capture can be as simple as hitting the Print Screen key on your keyboard, but if you’re slightly more demanding you’re going to have to look elsewhere for a more advanced tool than those built into your operating system.
Snagit is one such a screen capture tool that has carved out something of a name for itself on both Mac and PC, and can be used to grab entire screens, individual windows, capture on a delay and much more. The release of Snagit 11 and Snagit for Mac 2.0 sees a major new feature, the ability to capture video as well as stills, added to the Mac version, while Windows users have a number of key improvements and new features to enjoy.
Celebrate Leap Day with WinISO for free
ISO disc images are an increasingly popular way of distributing software, but the standard tools for working with them aren’t particularly useful. Windows 7 can burn ISO images to disc, for instance, but that’s about it, and disc burning packages typically don’t do very much more.
Turn to a specialist tool, though, and it’s a very different story. WinISO in particular is one of the most powerful image management packages around, providing everything you need to create, open, edit, extract, convert and otherwise work with a variety of CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc image formats. And while it’s normally priced at $29.95, this Wednesday you can obtain a full copy of your own for no charge at all.
Want hands-free software updates? Try Secunia PSI 3 beta
Security vendor Secunia has released the first public beta of its Personal Software Inspector (PSI) 3, an excellent tool that now makes it easier than ever to keep your installed applications up-to-date.
The key change this time comes in what the company calls the program’s “dramatically simplified user interface”.
System Explorer 3.8 supports 64-bit Windows
System Explorer has for some time been a real contender to Process Explorer when it comes to PC monitoring. The program’s security scan, its ability to permanently set process priority and affinity, its VirusTotal and VirusScan.Jotti.Org integration, easy links to online libraries for quick process information, and a handy History tab logging exactly what’s been happening on your system are all good reasons to give the tool a try.
And the latest release provides yet another, with the introduction of full 64-bit Windows support.
Use CCleaner? CCEnhancer 3.0 makes it better
Just as with your home, it is a good idea to have a spring clean of your computer from time to time. By sifting through the buildup of files that accumulates on your hard drives, you can easily free up significant amounts of disk space and help to boost not only performance but also privacy and security.
Anyone looking to automate the process of clearing up the crud that accumulates over can turn to CCleaner to delete file usage histories, remove superfluous registry entries and more. CCEnhancer 3.0 is a free third-party extension to the program that provides support for even more applications.
Hit 'Enter' and get one of these 23 exciting software downloads
February may be the shortest month of the year, but the list of software releases over the past seven days is just as long as ever. This week we have collected together 23 key releases that may have escaped your attention, and as no roundup would be complete without at least one security tool, what better place to start that with Avast! Internet Security 7 FINAL.
Offering virus protection, a firewall, web filtering and remote assistance, this is a very comprehensive suite, but there is also Avast! 7 Free FINAL for anyone who would like a decent level of protection without having to part with any money.
Put the Windows 7 Start button where you want it
There are many different ways and means of customizing the Windows 7 desktop, both using tools built into the OS itself, and third-party apps. But they all seem to make one assumption: that the default location for the Start menu’s button -- the left or top of the Taskbar depending on its position -- is the right one.
In many cases, this might feel right or natural, but what if you disagree? What if you’d like the Start button to be placed to the right of, or below, the Taskbar’s Notification area? If the idea interests you, then take a look at Start Orb Mover 1.0.
We'd like to give you IObit Advanced SystemCare PRO 5 for free
When it comes to keeping your Windows setup lean and mean, you don’t need to look much further than Advanced SystemCare PRO 5. IObit’s flagship system tuneup utility has come on leaps and bounds since its initial release, and now offers comprehensive maintenance and optimization options for keeping your PC in tip-top condition.
With new Active Boost technology maintaining your computer’s key resources in real-time, improved malware detection and extra maintenance and optimization tools, ASC PRO 5 is an essential tool for all PCs. But get this, for a limited period ending at 23:59 Central European Time on February 22, you’ll be able to pick up a free single-license copy worth $19.95, complete with all the additional features and functionality over the free version.
mRemoteNG -- your client for RDP, VNC, ICA, SSH, Telnet and more
Launching your various remote network connections normally requires a host of different tools: Remote Desktop, VNC Client, Citrix ISA, SSH, Telnet, Rlogin and RAW clients and a whole lot more.
But if you prefer a simpler life then installing mRemoteNG (a fork of the mRemote project) could make a lot of sense.
Take command of Microsoft Office Outlook
If last week’s Outlook Configuration Analyzer hasn’t helped to sort out your Outlook problems then you’ll probably need to resort to the usual manual troubleshooting approach, which for instance might involve launching the program with one of its command line switches.
You’ll first need to figure out which switch is appropriate, though, and then manually apply it to your copy of Outlook, which isn’t exactly convenient. But fortunately the free and portable OutlookParameterGUI does a good job of simplifying the whole process.
Keep your hardware's software up to date with DriverIdentifier
If you’re looking for an application that can locate driver updates for you then there’s plenty of competition around. Much of this is from commercial packages, but if you’d prefer a free option then DriverIdentifier could be a reasonable choice.
Installation only takes a moment, for instance. And while we’ve seen reports that DriverIdentifier has installed browser toolbars by default in the past, our version (3.9) did nothing of the kind, just launching the program when setup was complete.
What's in a week? 23 downloads you may have missed
There has been a great deal of activity in the security software department this week, starting with the release of Avast! 7 Free (beta2), a preview of what to expect from the upcoming antivirus tool. Interesting features such as the Reputation Service to check the safety of files and websites, and Remote Assistance for remote problem fixing, mean that this is worthy of your attention. From the same company comes another beta tool in the form of Avast! Internet Security 7 (beta2) which takes the security of your computer even more seriously.
Norton is a well-known name in the security arena and Norton 360 v6 FINAL is a complete suite of tools including a firewall, password manager and phishing protection as well as handy bonus features such as backup and system optimization.
Process Explorer 15.13 adds 'Background priority' setting
Microsoft Sysinternals has released a new version of its excellent system monitoring tool, Process Explorer 15.13, which this time gains a useful new Background priority setting.
As before, if you’re faced with a runaway program and would like to reduce its impact on your system, without closing it entirely, then you can right-click the process, browse to Set Priority, and choose something like Below Normal or Idle. Windows will then give the process a lower priority when it comes to allocating CPU time, which may help your other programs to run more normally.
You probably need Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool
Microsoft Outlook is a large and complex application, so if your copy starts misbehaving then it may not always be obvious where to start looking for a solution. But don’t worry, help is finally at hand. Two Microsoft engineers with more than 30 years of combined experience in supporting Office, Outlook and Exchange Server have produced the Outlook Configuration Analyzer Tool (OCAT), a useful program that will scan your Outlook 2007/ 2010 profile for common issues and report on anything it finds.
OCAT isn’t portable, unfortunately, so you’ll need to install it first. But with that done, it’s easy enough to use: make sure Outlook is running, launch the program, click Start a scan > Start scanning, and around 20 seconds later (if our test PC is typical) you’ll be looking at a detailed report.
Who owns that Explorer folder? NTFS Permissions Reporter knows
If you’ve ever tried to figure out your PC’s NTFS folder permissions with the standard Explorer tools then you’ll know it can take a while. The basic details are a few clicks away, even the advanced tools don’t tell you everything you need to know, and if you need to check several folders then you’ll have to right-click each one of them individually: very tedious.
Fortunately there is now an interesting alternative, though, in the NTFS Permissions Reporter.
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