Mailinator, a free and easy service that gives you a temporary, Web-accessible e-mail address.
What I like about Mailinator is that it requires no registration or setup of any kind. You just think up an e-mail address on the fly, tack on @mailinator.com, and then type it in. For example: TisI@mailinator.com.
To check your e-mail, just head to the Mailinator site, enter your invented address under "Check your inbox," and then click Go. Presto: there's your mail. There's no password required (meaning this is a highly non-secure system, so use it only for things that don't require absolute privacy).
This is a great little service, one that can really help cut down your spam.
Here's wishing you a Good Booy.
Showing posts with label Al's Favorite Freeware. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Al's Favorite Freeware. Show all posts
Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, May 05, 2011
ImgBurn - a lightweight CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray burning application
ImgBurn is a lightweight CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray burning application that has several modes, each for performing a different task: Read - read a disc to an image file; Build - creates an image file from files on your computer or network (you also can write the files directly to a disc); Write - write an image file to a disc; Verify - ensure that a disc is 100% readable (you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct); and Discovery - used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
FixWin: Solve Common Problems in Windows 7
FixWin is an amazing free application that can solve your common windows 7 within seconds. This is a must-have application for the users of windows 7. Some of its notable features are highlighted here.
FixWin has a system file checker that analyzes the system to detect corrupted or missing system files. If there is any such file, it automatically replaces it and installs a fresh copy.
FixWin can solve a lot of explorer problems. Some of the problems it can solve are:
* Missing Recycle Bin.
* Problems in games Explorer.
* Missing Folder Options from menu.
* Thumbnails not working.
* Unrecognized removable devices.
Similarly, it is really useful in solving internet and connectivity issues. Some of the issues it can solve are:
* Missing Internet Explorer icon.
* Missing Internet Options.
* Problem in changing the home page.
* Runtime error while browsing.
* Blurry font style and text of source code.
Besides these problems, it can solve lot more other issues related to System Tools and Windows Media Player.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot.
FixWin has a system file checker that analyzes the system to detect corrupted or missing system files. If there is any such file, it automatically replaces it and installs a fresh copy.
FixWin can solve a lot of explorer problems. Some of the problems it can solve are:
* Missing Recycle Bin.
* Problems in games Explorer.
* Missing Folder Options from menu.
* Thumbnails not working.
* Unrecognized removable devices.
Similarly, it is really useful in solving internet and connectivity issues. Some of the issues it can solve are:
* Missing Internet Explorer icon.
* Missing Internet Options.
* Problem in changing the home page.
* Runtime error while browsing.
* Blurry font style and text of source code.
Besides these problems, it can solve lot more other issues related to System Tools and Windows Media Player.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Ultimate Windows Tweaker
Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a freeware TweakUI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows 7 & Windows Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit. It can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application to customize your Windows to meet your requirements. With judicious tweaking, it can make your system faster, more stable, and more secure with just a few mouse clicks. The tweaker detects whether you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista installed and accordingly offers you the relevant tweaks only.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Paint.net
Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.
It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot.
It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot.
OpenOffice.org 3
OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
KarenWare Directory Printer
Print the names, and other information, of all folders and files on your computer.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
IrfanView
IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003 , 2008, Vista, Windows 7.
It is designed to be simple for beginners and powerful for professionals.
IrfanView seeks to create unique, new and interesting features, unlike some other graphic viewers, whose whole "creativity" is based on feature cloning, stealing of ideas and whole dialogs from ACDSee and/or IrfanView! (for example: XnView has been stealing/cloning features and whole dialogs from IrfanView, for 10+ years).
IrfanView was the first Windows graphic viewer WORLDWIDE with Multiple (animated) GIF support.
One of the first graphic viewers WORLDWIDE with Multipage TIF support.
The first graphic viewer WORLDWIDE with Multiple ICO support.
Some IrfanView features:
Many supported file formats (click here the list of formats)
Multi language support
Thumbnail/preview option
Paint option - to draw lines, circles, arrows, straighten image etc.
Toolbar skins option
Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)
Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.
Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters
Fast directory view (moving through directory)
Batch conversion (with image processing)
Multipage TIF editing
File search
Email option
Multimedia player
Print option
Support for embedded color profiles in JPG/TIF
Change color depth
Scan (batch scan) support
Cut/crop
IPTC editing
Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)
Screen Capturing
Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs
Lossless JPG rotation
Unicode support
Many hotkeys
Many command line options
Many PlugIns
Only one EXE-File, no DLLs, no Shareware messages like "I Agree" or "Evaluation expired"
No registry changes without user action/permission!
and much much more
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
It is designed to be simple for beginners and powerful for professionals.
IrfanView seeks to create unique, new and interesting features, unlike some other graphic viewers, whose whole "creativity" is based on feature cloning, stealing of ideas and whole dialogs from ACDSee and/or IrfanView! (for example: XnView has been stealing/cloning features and whole dialogs from IrfanView, for 10+ years).
IrfanView was the first Windows graphic viewer WORLDWIDE with Multiple (animated) GIF support.
One of the first graphic viewers WORLDWIDE with Multipage TIF support.
The first graphic viewer WORLDWIDE with Multiple ICO support.
Some IrfanView features:
Many supported file formats (click here the list of formats)
Multi language support
Thumbnail/preview option
Paint option - to draw lines, circles, arrows, straighten image etc.
Toolbar skins option
Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)
Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.
Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters
Fast directory view (moving through directory)
Batch conversion (with image processing)
Multipage TIF editing
File search
Email option
Multimedia player
Print option
Support for embedded color profiles in JPG/TIF
Change color depth
Scan (batch scan) support
Cut/crop
IPTC editing
Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)
Screen Capturing
Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs
Lossless JPG rotation
Unicode support
Many hotkeys
Many command line options
Many PlugIns
Only one EXE-File, no DLLs, no Shareware messages like "I Agree" or "Evaluation expired"
No registry changes without user action/permission!
and much much more
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
iCopy
When you're setting up a home office, chances are your budget doesn't include springing for a photocopier. But it may include a scanner and a printer. If so, an open source utility called iCopy can help you get the copy machine you've always wanted.
A tiny (554 KB) app, iCopy can either be installed on your PC or run off of a USB drive--no installation needed. It should find both your scanner and printer automatically, and with the click of a button, lets you scan pages and then print them back out. It's almost like a photocopier, albeit a bit slower.
You can choose to scan single or multiple pages, and can scan in color, grayscale, or text mode. iCopy also lets you adjust the resolution, brightness, and contrast of any images you scan, and lets you enlarge or shrink images, too.
Beyond simply printing pages back out, iCopy has additional uses. Once you scan documents or photos, you can print them to a file--and if you have a PDF writer like the free CutePDF, you can use it with iCopy to scan files and create PDFs, for free.
Despite its many good points, iCopy is not without its flaws. It didn't recognize my printer automatically; I had to manually direct the app to find it. And although it found my HP scanner and worked with it seamlessly, it's not compatible with all scanners. But since it works relatively well--and because it's free/donationware--iCopy is worth a try. Especially considering you don't even have to install it to take it for a test run, there's nothing to lose.
Note: This program is donationware. It is free to try, but the author accepts and encourages donations towards further development.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
A tiny (554 KB) app, iCopy can either be installed on your PC or run off of a USB drive--no installation needed. It should find both your scanner and printer automatically, and with the click of a button, lets you scan pages and then print them back out. It's almost like a photocopier, albeit a bit slower.
You can choose to scan single or multiple pages, and can scan in color, grayscale, or text mode. iCopy also lets you adjust the resolution, brightness, and contrast of any images you scan, and lets you enlarge or shrink images, too.
Beyond simply printing pages back out, iCopy has additional uses. Once you scan documents or photos, you can print them to a file--and if you have a PDF writer like the free CutePDF, you can use it with iCopy to scan files and create PDFs, for free.
Despite its many good points, iCopy is not without its flaws. It didn't recognize my printer automatically; I had to manually direct the app to find it. And although it found my HP scanner and worked with it seamlessly, it's not compatible with all scanners. But since it works relatively well--and because it's free/donationware--iCopy is worth a try. Especially considering you don't even have to install it to take it for a test run, there's nothing to lose.
Note: This program is donationware. It is free to try, but the author accepts and encourages donations towards further development.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
CCleaner
The freeware CCleaner hasn't seen many major revisions since Piriform launched it in 2004, so when you do see a major update, you can be assured that it's going to come with impressive new tools. CCleaner 3 doesn't disappoint on that front, introducing two major new features that make it worth the upgrade.
One is a drive wiping tool that can wipe all the data from your hard drive, but can also scrub only the available free space. As with many of the tools in CCleaner, it's fairly nuanced and allows for a simple one-pass overwrite, a Department of Defense-level three-pass option, a National Security Administration-level seven-pass cleaning, and a 35-pass Gutmann-level deep scrub. The more passes you select, the slower the deletion process.
Another key improvement to CCleaner 3 has been adding more options to pre-existing features. You can now select specific Internet cookies to keep, across all your browsers, while CCleaner deletes the rest in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. The benefit of this is to keep cookies for specific sites that you know to be safe, such as webmail, while getting rid of the rest that you don't want tracking you. Note that your browser must be closed for the cookie-deleting feature to work.
Other changes in version 3 include improvements to the internal scanning tech that powers CCleaner, and the interface received some minor tweaks to make icons more visible. If you're familiar with previous versions of the program, though, you'll be hard-pressed to find any differences between older CCleaners and the new one. Additional minor changes include a new native installer for 64-bit computers, and environment variables have been added for %SystemDirectory%, %SystemDirectory32%, and %SystemDirectory64%.
Version 3 supports more Windows programs than before, including added support for Microsoft Silverlight Isolated Storage, AVG 2011, Audacity, LogMeIn Hamachi, BitTorrent, and Windows Game Explorer. Pre-existing support has been improved for Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 9 beta, and the torrent managing client Vuze.
For users who are new to the program, in addition to browser tracks cleaning it will clean tracks from other programs, empty your recycle bin, delete temporary files, and clean your Registry, quickly scanning for invalid entries before removing them. CCleaner will also back up your Registry before you hit delete, in case it accidentally removes a crucial component. There's also a basic, somewhat rudimentary uninstaller for removing any program on your machine. What Registry entries it doesn't catch, the main Registry checker will, but it's a two-step process that dedicated uninstallers handle nicely on their own.
In empirical testing, CCleaner 3 appeared to be marginally faster than previous versions. This is probably system dependent, so users with older computers could likely see significantly faster scan and cleaning times than in previous versions.
Problems with CCleaner are minor at best, and it remains a highly-recommended, must-have weapon against system slowdowns, tracking cookies, and the multitudinous debris that can clutter your computer.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
One is a drive wiping tool that can wipe all the data from your hard drive, but can also scrub only the available free space. As with many of the tools in CCleaner, it's fairly nuanced and allows for a simple one-pass overwrite, a Department of Defense-level three-pass option, a National Security Administration-level seven-pass cleaning, and a 35-pass Gutmann-level deep scrub. The more passes you select, the slower the deletion process.
Another key improvement to CCleaner 3 has been adding more options to pre-existing features. You can now select specific Internet cookies to keep, across all your browsers, while CCleaner deletes the rest in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. The benefit of this is to keep cookies for specific sites that you know to be safe, such as webmail, while getting rid of the rest that you don't want tracking you. Note that your browser must be closed for the cookie-deleting feature to work.
Other changes in version 3 include improvements to the internal scanning tech that powers CCleaner, and the interface received some minor tweaks to make icons more visible. If you're familiar with previous versions of the program, though, you'll be hard-pressed to find any differences between older CCleaners and the new one. Additional minor changes include a new native installer for 64-bit computers, and environment variables have been added for %SystemDirectory%, %SystemDirectory32%, and %SystemDirectory64%.
Version 3 supports more Windows programs than before, including added support for Microsoft Silverlight Isolated Storage, AVG 2011, Audacity, LogMeIn Hamachi, BitTorrent, and Windows Game Explorer. Pre-existing support has been improved for Google Chrome, Internet Explorer 9 beta, and the torrent managing client Vuze.
For users who are new to the program, in addition to browser tracks cleaning it will clean tracks from other programs, empty your recycle bin, delete temporary files, and clean your Registry, quickly scanning for invalid entries before removing them. CCleaner will also back up your Registry before you hit delete, in case it accidentally removes a crucial component. There's also a basic, somewhat rudimentary uninstaller for removing any program on your machine. What Registry entries it doesn't catch, the main Registry checker will, but it's a two-step process that dedicated uninstallers handle nicely on their own.
In empirical testing, CCleaner 3 appeared to be marginally faster than previous versions. This is probably system dependent, so users with older computers could likely see significantly faster scan and cleaning times than in previous versions.
Problems with CCleaner are minor at best, and it remains a highly-recommended, must-have weapon against system slowdowns, tracking cookies, and the multitudinous debris that can clutter your computer.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
Sunday, March 27, 2011
CintaNotes
A free, lightweight and user-friendly personal notes manager - http://cintanotes.com/
CintaNotes is your essential assistant in the daily task of organizing information, such as your own thoughts and ideas, article excerpts, blog postings, quotes from famous people, research data, curious facts, Wikipedia entries, you name it.
Can clip text from anywhere.
Just select it and press the hotkey! It lets you quickly jot down and tag any useful text that you come across. Unlike browser-based tools like Google Notebook, CintaNotes does not require a web browser to work: the text-clipping "magic" works in any application that can copy text to clipboard!
Fast as-you-type searching. Retrieving information is also trivial: just open CintaNotes and start typing! Only notes containing the typed phrase remain in the list. More sophisticated search criteria are supported, like searching by title or by URL the note was taken from.
No sticky notes clutter. CintaNotes saves your screen real estate and does not clutter it with "sticky notes". All notes are neatly organized in an easily navigable list.
Run it from your flash drive. CintaNotes is a totally self-contained application, meaning that you can put it on a flash drive and run it directly from there. In this way, your notes will always be with you.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
CintaNotes is your essential assistant in the daily task of organizing information, such as your own thoughts and ideas, article excerpts, blog postings, quotes from famous people, research data, curious facts, Wikipedia entries, you name it.
Can clip text from anywhere.
Just select it and press the hotkey! It lets you quickly jot down and tag any useful text that you come across. Unlike browser-based tools like Google Notebook, CintaNotes does not require a web browser to work: the text-clipping "magic" works in any application that can copy text to clipboard!
Fast as-you-type searching. Retrieving information is also trivial: just open CintaNotes and start typing! Only notes containing the typed phrase remain in the list. More sophisticated search criteria are supported, like searching by title or by URL the note was taken from.
No sticky notes clutter. CintaNotes saves your screen real estate and does not clutter it with "sticky notes". All notes are neatly organized in an easily navigable list.
Run it from your flash drive. CintaNotes is a totally self-contained application, meaning that you can put it on a flash drive and run it directly from there. In this way, your notes will always be with you.
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
FreeCommander is an easy-to-use alternative to the standard windows file manager.
FreeCommander is an easy-to-use alternative to the standard windows file manager. The program helps you with daily work in Windows. Here you can find all the necessary functions to manage your data stock. You can take FreeCommander anywhere - just copy the installation directory on a CD or USB-Stick - and you can even work with this program on a foreign computer.
FreeCommander: www.freecommander.com
Significant features:
Dual-panel technology - horizontal and vertical
Tabbed interface
Optional tree view for each panel
Built in file viewer to view files in hex, binary, text or image format
File viewer inside archives too
Built in archive handling: ZIP (read, write), CAB (read, write), RAR (read)
Nested archive handling
Built in FTP client
Easy access to system folders, control panel, desktop and start menu
Copy, move, delete, rename files and folders
Multi rename tool
Wipe files
Create and verify MD5 checksums
File splitting
File properties and context menu
Calculation of folder size
Folder comparison / synchronization
Modification of file date and attributes
Folder / program favorites
File searching (inside archive too)
File filters for display
User defined columns for detailed view
DOS command line
Multiple language support
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
FreeCommander: www.freecommander.com
Significant features:
Dual-panel technology - horizontal and vertical
Tabbed interface
Optional tree view for each panel
Built in file viewer to view files in hex, binary, text or image format
File viewer inside archives too
Built in archive handling: ZIP (read, write), CAB (read, write), RAR (read)
Nested archive handling
Built in FTP client
Easy access to system folders, control panel, desktop and start menu
Copy, move, delete, rename files and folders
Multi rename tool
Wipe files
Create and verify MD5 checksums
File splitting
File properties and context menu
Calculation of folder size
Folder comparison / synchronization
Modification of file date and attributes
Folder / program favorites
File searching (inside archive too)
File filters for display
User defined columns for detailed view
DOS command line
Multiple language support
Here's wishing you a Good Boot
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Powerpoint Image Extractor
PowerpointImageExtractor is a freeware to extract pictures and wave files embedded in the MS PowerPoint presentations and slideshows (.PPT and .PPS files).
The pictures and sound files found are saved in a separate folder.
PowerpointImageExtractor runs under Windows 95-98-XP-NT-Vista - Windows 7
Almost every day I receive at least one e-mail with a PowerPoint attachment.
Many of the PowerPoint presentations contain extraordinary photos and/or music (wav files). Photos and music I extract from the PowerPoint presentation and relocate to my personal photo and music collection.
If you’d like to do the same, Google “Powerpoint Image Extractor v1.2" (be sure it’s version 1.2). Select the Google Download (English version) “PowerpointImageCopier will produce a jpg file with a much better image quality than the direct extraction with MS PowerPoint, as illustrated below : alainlecomte.free.fr/Download.htm”
Scroll down the Web site to Powerpoint Image Extractor v1.2, download it, unzip it and installit.
Powerpoint Image Extractor is a user friendly Windows XP - Vista and Windows 7 “freeware utility” that extracts picture and wave files embedded in PowerPoint presentations (.PPT) and sideshows (.PPS files).
Note: The Website does not list Powerpont Image Extractor as Windows 7 compatible, but it is compatible.
When Powerpoint Image Extractor opens there’s a “Load” button in the lower right of the panel. It’ll open your Windows Explorer. Scroll to where you’ve saved your PowerPoint files (.PPT and .PPS) and click on the appropriate file.
Powerpoint Image Extrator will extract the photos and sound files and copy them to a folder it creates in the same folder as the PowerPoint file. The photo and Wav files can then be relocated to your Pictures and Music folders.
Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.
The pictures and sound files found are saved in a separate folder.
PowerpointImageExtractor runs under Windows 95-98-XP-NT-Vista - Windows 7
Almost every day I receive at least one e-mail with a PowerPoint attachment.
Many of the PowerPoint presentations contain extraordinary photos and/or music (wav files). Photos and music I extract from the PowerPoint presentation and relocate to my personal photo and music collection.
If you’d like to do the same, Google “Powerpoint Image Extractor v1.2" (be sure it’s version 1.2). Select the Google Download (English version) “PowerpointImageCopier will produce a jpg file with a much better image quality than the direct extraction with MS PowerPoint, as illustrated below : alainlecomte.free.fr/Download.htm”
Scroll down the Web site to Powerpoint Image Extractor v1.2, download it, unzip it and installit.
Powerpoint Image Extractor is a user friendly Windows XP - Vista and Windows 7 “freeware utility” that extracts picture and wave files embedded in PowerPoint presentations (.PPT) and sideshows (.PPS files).
Note: The Website does not list Powerpont Image Extractor as Windows 7 compatible, but it is compatible.
When Powerpoint Image Extractor opens there’s a “Load” button in the lower right of the panel. It’ll open your Windows Explorer. Scroll to where you’ve saved your PowerPoint files (.PPT and .PPS) and click on the appropriate file.
Powerpoint Image Extrator will extract the photos and sound files and copy them to a folder it creates in the same folder as the PowerPoint file. The photo and Wav files can then be relocated to your Pictures and Music folders.
Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.
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