Utilities

Norton Utilities 2000 for Windows 95/98 Compressed Size 43,343,443 bytes Symantec/Peter Norton Product Group If you decide to buy, click here for Norton Utilities 2000 free, after rebate.

Many people won't run their PCs without the latest copy of Norton Utilities. What do they know that you don't? This suite of 32-bit tools lets you find and fix problems, improve performance, run preventive maintenance, and troubleshoot your system. Norton WinDoctor lets you check your system for problems, Norton CrashGuard lets you monitor and recover from crashes, and Norton Disk Doctor can diagnose and repair problems with your disk. You can also recover deleted files with the UnErase Wizard, compare different versions of files with Norton File Compare, optimize your PC's disk performance with Speed Disk, fine-tune your system to make applications load faster with Norton Optimization Wizard, create more disk space by finding unneeded files with Space Wizard, continuously monitor your computer for problems with Norton System Doctor, and save a snapshot of your disk's critical information with Image. Norton Registry Tracker lets you track and restore changes made to critical files, System Information lets you review useful information about your computer, and Norton Registry Editor lets you navigate and edit the Windows Registry. Finally, Norton Web Services are Internet-based utilities that can enhance your PC. Interactive demonstrations of five of the programs are included. Other than the Rescue Disk mod

Great PC Utilities from McAfee

PowerDesk is a powerful and versatile file-management utility that's everything Windows Explorer should have been and then some. It is without a doubt one of the finest free software packages you'll ever see. In addition to all that Explorer offers, PowerDesk offers the powerful menus and toolbars that old-timers got accustomed to with File Manager. You can choose to use the familiar Explorer-style interface or opt for a double-pane view. A total of six customizable toolbars are available (including your own custom launch bar), which you can show or hide as you like. A fully integrated archive manager treats every major compression format as folders, with automatic spanning of oversized files across multiple disks. A powerful File Finder offers enhanced features such as text content searches, logical search operators, and multiple-disk searches. Other features include secure file wipes, encryption/decryption, folder comparisons, and email client integration. A separate Dialog Helper adds recently used file and folder lists to all Open and Save dialog boxes. A professional version with FTP support, folder synchronization, and powerful integrated file viewers is also available.

Wintune 98 (Compressed Size 1,759,744 bytes ) is a free diagnostic testing and benchmark program for Windows 95/98 and NT systems. It performs a series of seven tests, including CPU, memory, video, and disk speed tests, and provides suggestions for improving your system's performance. To make sure you're receiving reliable results, you can choose to automatically repeat the tests up to nine times. Test results are written to an HTML file, which you can easily access right from your desktop. The HTML file also provides a link that enables you to add your results to a central database and compare them with those from similar machines. Although it's easy to use, this version of Wintune 98 isn't as slick and sophisticated as prior versions.

FreeMeter is a system-tray utility that shows you lots of information about your computer. It's attractive, informative, and best of all -- free. It shows total and free space for all available hard drives, memory usage statistics, and real-time graphs that depict network traffic and disk transfer rates. You can customize the display to show just the information you're interested in. You have the option of placing icon meters in the system tray that depict CPU usage, memory information, and free space on individual hard drives. You can also establish low free-space levels for each drive and have FreeMeter provide an audible warning when that level is reached. You can even have FreeMeter break down your hard-disk usage into a treeview folder analysis

KillWin* is a system-tray-based freebie that lets you automatically exit Windows at a specific time. Decide if you want Windows to reboot, log off, or shut down. You can force termination and have the computer display a warning message a minute or longer before exiting. You can also allow only users with the valid password to cancel the termination sequence. If you need to get out of Windows sooner, it's easy to access manual exit commands from the tray icon's right-click menu.

ATnotes* is a pleasant sticky notes program -- and it's absolutely free. Like many similar apps, it's based in your system tray. Double-click on its icon to begin composing a new note. Created notes automatically size to fit the text typed. You can have a different font and color scheme for each note. Easily open URLs, email addresses, and file shortcuts in notes with associated programs. Other nice features include single or repeated alarms for each note, with a visual and/or audio alarm signal; customizable system-wide hotkeys; and the ability to hide notes until manually activated or until a specified date/time. You can also minimize notes so that just the first line of the text shows.

E-Icons 98* allows you to change the icons for nearly anything, customizing your Desktop, Start Menu and others such as any folder icon, any drive icon, and any other file type! Using this program, you can assign a custom icon to any folder on your computer. Comes with several pre-built icon sets, and it allows you to design your own icon themes.

NetNak* is a small system-tray utility that graphically displays the data transfer rate of your modem. This ad-sponsored software is attractive, easy to use, and best of all -- free. You see real-time graphs and text for both sent and received data. If you wish, you can set the display to dock to the top or bottom of your screen. You can also set it to display only when an active connection is detected, and to autohide -- much like the Windows taskbar. NetNak provides a separate display that shows online time as well as accumulated connection statistics (hourly, daily, monthly, or just the last 5 minutes). Other features include custom warnings and an automatic disconnect feature.

Hardware-Lynx* is a simple little program you can use to keep your computer hardware drivers current. It includes a simple Web browser, based on Internet Explorer, and a fine link collection of hardware-related Websites. Just about any major supplier of computer hardware is included in this collection, which is well organized according to category. Available categories include Bios, CD-ROM, Digital Cameras, Modems, Monitors, Mouse, Printers, Scanners, Sound Cards, Video, and more. Hardware-Lynx also enables you to conduct Internet searches and organize your favorite sites. It's convenient, easy to use, and best of all -- free.

Chroma is an advanced windows theming and user-interface engine; it allows you to completely customize the "look and feel" of your Microsft Windows environment. Using Chroma, you can replace Windows' drab rectangular controls with a variety of industrial, sci-fi, designer and miscellaneous other themes featuring pulsing scrollbars, free-form window-frames, glowing buttons and much more.

Super System Info 1.5.6 Need to see some info about your computer? Then this is the program you need. This baby shows everything. There are ten different categories ranging from your operating system to your printer to your network connection to your memory. It displays very thorough information for each category. All this is displayed in a simple easy to use interface.

DiskState Get a very detailed overview of your hard disk space. Eliminate wasted disk space by safely removing old and temporary files, and tidy up duplicate files. Capture disk states and compare, generate reports, schedule cleanup, extract, boot blocks for multiboot, cover you tracks after surfing the web, and much more.

System Mechanic 3.5(1.40mb) is a general-purpose utility for maintaining the integrity of your PC. This fine suite is a snap to use and is packed with valuable tools. It offers an easy way to find and remove duplicate files and a variety of waste files. You can specify which drives and/or folders to scan, and edit the built-in waste-file list. When the scans are complete, System Mechanic provides a list of files that meet the criteria, allowing you to eliminate them as you see fit. It also allows you to repair or eliminate broken shortcuts, remove errant Registry entries, and eliminate invalid uninstaller info. Additional tools let you see and edit which programs are slated to load when Windows starts and monitor program installations. You can take a system snapshot for later comparison or get a report that details any system changes for a particular install. Secure file wipes, desktop tweaks, and Internet connection optimization and security features are included. Finally, a scheduler is available for hands-free PC maintenance.

NoteTab Light* is a friendly, free text editor that puts Windows' Notepad to shame. It can open several large documents at once, each in its own tabbed window. It offers a clean, highly customizable interface, complete with tool and status bars. The often-imitated Editor Clipbook tool lets you easily insert any kind of boilerplate text (such as acronyms, HTML tags, glossaries, and "smilies") into your documents. NoteTab Light is Internet-friendly, too -- it can open links or view documents directly in your Web browser. Conversion functions include stripping HTML tags, converting text to HTML, sorting lines, and changing case. You'll also find search-and-replace, calculation of mathematical expressions, text macros, full font support, shortcut menus, and the ability to easily reopen favorite files and folders. This free "Light" edition is nearly identical to NoteTab Standard. However, you can try all of the standard version's features (such as Clipbars and Editable Outline files) for 30 days.

Agent Ransack*is a tool for finding files and information on your hard drive with lightning fast efficiency. Agent Ransack provides compelling advantages over similar search tools: Regular expressions that allow complex rule based searches. Immediate contents results view. And various wizards to walk the user through the searching process. Agent Ransack can be used as a replacement or a companion to the standard Windows Find. Agent Ransack provides both a basic interface, similar to Windows Find, and a more advanced interface (the default) for the 'Expert user'. Both interfaces provide Wizards to walk the user through the searching process.

WallMaster(1.11mb)*helps take away the desktop blahs you get from staring at the same background every day. This exceptional (and free) tray-based utility lets you compile savable lists of background images in .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png, .pcx, .tga, .pcd, .tif, and/or .ico formats. Then, it automatically sets your system's wallpaper at preprogrammed intervals. Decide if you want each image to tile, center, fit to screen, auto fit, or use a custom position. You can play a .wav file when the wallpaper changes; use a different background color for each image; and set timer thread priority and default wallpaper resolution. Other nice features include the abilities to hide your desktop icons, preview your wallpaper images, manually control wallpaper switching directly from the system tray, get automatic detection of bad graphics files, and take advantage of gamma correction support to fix dark images.

TurboNote(510kb) Searching for a versatile sticky notes program but have zero cash? TurboNote just might make your day. It's sponsored, so there's no charge to use it. Use its small colored notes for reminders, messages, phone numbers, to-do lists, and more. You can modify the color and size of your notes at will and temporarily move notes off the screen by minimizing them. Because the notes automatically save, they'll be there when you turn your computer back on. One especially nice touch: You can open Web addresses, programs, and files that appear in notes just by double-clicking on them. Other cool features include alarms, printing, configurable hotkeys, mousewheel support, the ability to send notes across a TCP/IP network, and many advanced appearance options. TurboNote is a great way to stay organized without having to put real sticky notes on your monitor.

Calendar+(4.22mb) Get your life in order with Calendar+. Thanks to fairly non-obtrusive ads displayed in the title bar of your Web browser by the Web3000 network, this versatile PIM is free. It can hold information on more than 65,000 appointments and to-do items. Appointments, tasks, and holidays are graphically displayed on its calendar. A window next to the calendar shows only those items that relate to the calendar date. Uncompleted tasks automatically carry over to the next day's list. Double-click on any calendar date to launch the Day At A Glance view. Or, drag a task or appointment into the calendar to start or edit it. You can also maintain a journal and project notes. Plus, you'll find tray-icon access, full network support, and several options to customize the program's look and behavior.

Enfish Onespace(5.63mb) is a gem of a desktop application that you could very nearly use as a productive shell replacement for Explorer. It's highly configurable and attractive, and it brings an astonishing range of features and functionality to the table. As it opens, it presents a list of scheduled appointments and tasks, current news, weather, and a consolidated list of inbound and outbound email from all of your email accounts and clients. Exploring the treeview menu exposes a host of additional features. You can access Internet Favorites in the integrated Web browser, access local files and folders in the integrated file manager, search your contact list, and send email messages. Another impressive feature is its support for remote and local searches. Enter a keyword or search phrase, and Enfish Onespace returns a list of Web pages and/or local files so fast it will make your head spin. Searches are based in part on local drive and remote Website indexing (you can even index ZIP file contents), and are easily confined to local documents, email messages, music, books, news, sports, and more. There are plenty of other features -- you'll need to download Enfish Onespace for yourself to explore them all. Note: Enfish Onespace is tightly integrated with MS Outlook, and you'll need to set Outlook as your default email client to appreciate all that it has to offer.

Task Plus(1.60mb)* is an easy-to-use freebie that lets you keep track of an unlimited number of personal tasks or to-do items, along with repeating events (such as birthdays and holidays). For each task, you can list a date, time, category, description, and alarm field. Because Task Plus can run continuously in the system tray, it can play a .wav file whenever a task is due. You can easily drag and drop tasks from one date to another or drag tasks between the program's windows. Other nice features include more than 230 preprogrammed international holidays from more than 20 countries, the ability to publish a monthly Web page of all your tasks, and an English language spelling checker for the note portion of the task.

BigFix(2.22mb) is an interesting application you can use to stay abreast of the latest updates and potential system problems that are relevant to your particular PC. It's actually a specialized Web browser that enables you to subscribe to sites that publish this type of information and provide fixes. Each free subscription results in more items added to a list for your perusal. Selecting an item displays the particular message and either offers to cure the problem directly or sends you to a relevant Website. Some potential problems are detected and handled internally, such as your security settings for Internet Explorer. The BigFix interface is a pleasure to use, the information is sound, and the solutions may prevent a myriad of future headaches.

Cobasoft Clock(68kb)* is a tiny, icon-sized clock that lives in your system tray. Along with showing the current time in analog format (complete with a sweep second hand of sorts), this versatile freebie can produce text-based reports that can track projects and system activity. It can also copy the current time and date to the Clipboard, plus offers multiple alarms and six timers. We really liked the alarm and timer functions, especially the method used to set them. Several customization options are provided.

Shareware: TransMac* has done it !! The two worlds have collided and are now communicating. I am talking about Mac & Windows. Yes you heard me right. TransMac allows Window PCs to read, write and format Macintosh high density diskettes, CDROMs, and SCSI drives. This program gives you the "Best of BOTH Worlds". A must for any PC user to have. You'll be amazed at how great it works! Macintosh programs are no longer just for Macs.

Clipboard Pile(1.04mb)* can grab and store for future use any item you send to the Windows Clipboard. It has a good deal of power with its multiformat support and is free as a result of banner ads that use your Internet connection for updating. The multiwindow interface shows content in the bottom window with an index in the top, in either text or thumbnail form. Icons in the upper window also reveal the formats in which the clipped items are available -- including text, .rtf, bitmap, HDROP, meta file, and Delphi components. You can return items to the Clipboard in formatted or unformatted formats and search your collection. Additional tabs are created to hold user-defined collections. Clipboard Pile includes many shortcut keys, including four that can be user-defined, and it has a toolbar and context menus for easy access to operations. Note: You can optionally register Clipboard Pile for $15 in order to remove the ad banners.

Sensiva Version Number: 2.0 Revision Date: May 1st, 2000 Byte Size: 1.9 MB License: Freeware Home Page: http://www.sensiva.com/ Description: Sensiva simplifies your application interface by allowing you to draw symbols with your mouse or any other pointing device, such as a graphic tablet or a touchpad! Sensiva runs silently in the background. Just hold down the right mouse button to draw a symbol. Your command executes as soon as you release the button! Sensiva unifies your applications! You no longer need to remember and use many hotkeys or menus across different applications. Just draw the same symbols for the same actions everywhere. For example, drawing a Z will always perform a zoom in any application.

Metapad* Anyone who hates Notepad should click the Metapad download button now. In just a few seconds you'll have a great little (just 33 KB) Notepad replacement. Metapad offers a toolbar and status bar, the ability to open files of unlimited size, multiple levels of undo/redo, and hyperlink support. It's nimble too -- just like Notepad, it was created in pure ANSI C with the Win32 API. Persistent window placement lets you choose to save the position and size of the program between sessions. Dirty file notification puts an asterisk in the caption for any unsaved file. You'll also find intelligent find and replace, external viewer support, usable accelerator keys, dual customizable fonts, and a configurable tab-stop setting. You can even set the program up to quickly exit when you hit the Escape key. While Metapad can only open one file at a time, it's a great choice for those who like their text editors small, fast, and free.

Hot! OptiX Version Number: 3.19 Revision Date: May 31st, 2000 Byte Size: 1.6 MB License: Freeware Home Page: http://my.tele2.ee/ Description: OptiX is a set of components developed to help you control your system resources. It includes almost all the needed tools to keep Windows performance optimal, OptiMem, OptiLaunch, and OptiStartUp. OptiMem uses a wizard-like interface to configure your memory cache. OptiLaunch allows you to get a better look at running tasks than Windows does, with CTRL-ALT-DEL. This allows you to close tasks that are unneccesary at the time. Then there is OptiStartUp which is a great utility to configure which programs get started when Windows Boots.

PC Accelerator 5000 v2.3 06-06-00 Easily accelerate your PC Company: SmartAlec Co. Version: 2.3 Size: 2.14 MB Downloads: 149,851 Requirements: Windows 9x, NT, or 2000 Purchase Information: Shareware: Free to try, $5-$25 if you decide to keep it. PC Accelerator 5000 allows easy access to some Registry settings that affect the overall speed of your PC. It's attractive, easy to use, and includes documentation to explain the significance of many of the settings. You can accelerate 3D effects and TCP/IP settings by simply making the appropriate selection for your hardware. Advanced users can choose from individual settings. You can also optimize the overall performance of your PC by choosing from advanced BIOS and file system settings. In addition, you can apply a number of security settings. You can disable Registry editing, password caching, several Control Panel applets, and more. Other settings allow you to remove IE5 branding, disable Windows animation, and optimize file system and CD-ROM speed. The trial version of the program has many of the settings disabled. A separate program that backs up and restores the Windows Registry is also included.

WatchCat* Version Number: 2.0 Revision Date: December 12th,1999 Byte Size: 146.9 KB License: Freeware Home Page: http://vbourdo.cjb.net/ Description: WatchCat lets you hide any running application from view. WatchCat is convenient if you need to keep applications running, but you don't want them to be obtrusive. Application windows that are hidden by WatchCat not only disappear from your Windows desktop, but they also disappear from the Taskbar and from the list of running tasks displayed by ALT-TAB. To hide or unhide any application, simply right-click on WatchCat's System Tray icon, and select an application from the menu that appears. Applications that appear on the bottom of the menu are ones that are currently hidden. There are options to hide and show all windows, and to hide or show your desktop icons. Other options let you hide and unhide programs using hotkeys, or by right-clicking on any application's "minimize" icon. You can even set up timers which automatically hide or close windows after a specified period of time. You can also minimize applications to the System Tray, and protect hidden windows with a password. This newest release lets you minimize applications to the System Tray, and protect hidden windows with a password.

AppPlus v1.0.6* 06-08-00 Grab a free program & Internet launcher Company: AppPlus Version: 1.0.6 Size: 4.28 MB Downloads: 3,566 Requirements: Windows 95, 98, or NT Purchase Information: Free AppPlus is a free menu bar that docks to the top edge of your desktop. (It can auto-hide, if desired.) You can create up to 10 text-based buttons that launch programs, Websites, or email addresses. A tray-based icon gives you access to instant activation of your screen saver and Windows shutdown commands. Plenty of options are available. Decide if you want to launch items with a single or double click. Use the crisp sound effects provided or your own .wav files. You can also set the startup position, choose the font used for shortcuts, and have AppPlus start when Windows boots up.

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