It ’s hard to consider , but Windows 7 is just turning one year quondam . And what an impressive first class the operating system enjoy , receiving almost universal praise from critics and users likewise . Of course , even the most spry , safe , and versatile OS has room for betterment . That ’s why we ’re following up our democratic “ Best Windows 7 Downloads ” with another assortment of essential apps and utilities , all designed to help you make your 7 - powered PC even better . And believe it or not , they ’re all costless .
( If you ’re already looking to grab several of these useful utility , see our “ Must - Have Windows 7 Downloads ” collection for all of the links in one commodious spot . )
Home Sweet Home: Windows 7 Desktop Utilities
BatteryBar
Although each version of Windows has improved on laptop power direction , Windows 7 still does n’t severalise you much about your factual battery . BatteryBar does . This ingenious tool total a full - clock time power gauge to the taskbar , one that show you either a part of battery life remain or the amount of run sentence left . A single click toggles between the two readings .
When your laptop computer is running on AC world power , BatteryBar throw from unripe to blue and shows how long until your car reaches a full charge . And when you creep over the gauge , a bug out - up window displays a wealth of additional entropy : total battery capacity , burster / expelling rate , AC condition , and even a lifetime estimate based on diachronic charge / venting data .
BatteryBar is free , but you ’ll also line up a Pro version with features such as a graph of shelling profiles , low-pitched / critical power warning , and automatonlike big businessman - scheme switching that kicks in when you move between AC and barrage power . Interestingly , developer Osiris Development permit you choose the price you need to yield for Pro : $ 1 to $ 10 . Even if you adhere with the free version , though , this is a must - have app .
Download BatteryBar | cost : Free ; Pro variation $ 1 to $ 10
Dexpot
practical - desktop software provides an cheap and effective productivity rise , give you the fierce equivalent of a second ( and third , and fourth ) monitor without any supernumerary hardware . Dexpot is one such program , and a late Windows 7 - oriented update makes it even easily .
Specifically , a newfangled sparking plug - in call SevenDex displays thumbnail preview of your screen background when you creep over its taskbar icon , thereby overcoming a mutual problem with virtual desktops : remembering what ’s where . For representative , did you result Word run on Desktop 2 or Desktop 3 ? Instead of hold to cycle through all your desktops to find what you ’re after , now you may just steal a glance at SevenDex ’s prevue thumbnail and then click the one you want .
If your budget ( or your desk ) wo n’t accommodate a second admonisher , you ’ll fuck Dexpot . It ’s unresolved - source software , and it ’s free for personal use .
Download Dexpot | Price : spare
Taskbar Items Pinner
Ever wish you could trap more than just programs to the Windows 7 taskbar ? With Kishan Bagaria ’s aptly name Taskbar Items Pinner , you’re able to : It let you add a wealth of goodies to the taskbar , everything from your Pictures booklet and Printers menu to individual files , leaflet , and even Websites .
After extracting this tiny app , check that to lead it under the administrator account ( by right - click the image and choosingRun as decision maker ) . Then just click the box next to any item you like to trap . If it ’s a file or pamphlet , click the button next to Path , chooseFileorFolder , and then navigate to the item you want . ( instead , you’re able to type in a Web address . ) In the Icon playing area , type%SystemRoot%system32SHELL32.dll , and then enter a number in the adjoining field ( 3for a folder,13for a entanglement shortcut – you’ll have to experiment to ascertain others ) . lastly , clickAdd Item . If you ever decide to remove any of these newly bestow duplicate , mighty - click the appropriate taskbar icon and chooseUnpin this programme from taskbar .
Download Taskbar Items Pinner | Price : Free
Digging Deeper Into Windows 7: Utilities for Security and Peripherals
Microsoft Security requisite
Windows 7 derive with all the protection tools you require for safe computing – except one . It has a robust firewall , spyware protection good manners of Windows Defender , and phishing and malware blocker built into Internet Explorer 8 . The only missing piece of the puzzle ? Virus protection . And that ’s precisely what you get from Microsoft Security Essentials .
The tool provides a real - sentence encirclement against viruses , spyware , and other threats . It figure out restfully and unobtrusively in the background – in fact , the only clock time you ’ll hear from Security Essentials is if it detects a job or require an update . I ’ve used it for month , and I ’ve found it effective at catching the casual trespasser ; its impingement on system performance is negligible , too . If you ’re tired of paying one-year fees for other antivirus software , Security Essentials is , well , an all-important alternative .
Download Microsoft Security Essentials | Price : Free
Right - Click Extender
If there ’s a red - headed stepchild of the Windows feature solidifying , it ’s the right - click context menu . Few users seem to bother with them – perhaps because they do n’t know the menus are there , but more likely because the menus do n’t let in the features that users want ( like , say , Copy To and Move To dictation for file and folders , and shortcuts to Control Panel or Task Manager on the desktop ) .
With Right - Click Extender , you’re able to tot those and other handy shortcuts to Windows ’ context menus . The public utility divides its option into four master gallery : File / Folder , Desktop , Drives , and MyComputer , each indicating which Seth of right - click menus you ’re modifying . Within File / Folder , for example , you could tally detail such as Administrator Command Prompt , unresolved with Notepad , and the aforementioned Copy To / Move To . Desktop choice are mostly shortcuts to commonly used programs and function , like equipment Manager , Paint , and Hibernate PC . For many of the accession , you have the option of making them come out only when you hold down the switch key while flop - clicking – it ’s groovy if you want to keep them as “ mysterious ” menus that stick around hidden to other exploiter .
Download Right - Click Extender | Leontyne Price : destitute
WizMouse
Windows 7 may be smarter than every version of Windows that came before it , but it ’s still a little challenged in one key sphere : computer mouse - wheel scrolling . Though logical system would dictate otherwise , you ca n’t just roll your cursor inside a windowpane and start scroll – it does n’t work . or else , you have toclickin that windowpane first , to bring it into “ focus . ”
Antibody Software ’s WizMouse overcomes that Windows whoopsie by make your mouse ’s scrollwheel work wherever you steer your cursor – no preliminary click necessary . That may seem like a flyspeck melioration , but you wo n’t believe how much well-situated it make your everyday Windows life .
As a bonus , WizMouse sacrifice you the option of adding wheel - scrolling capabilities to programs that ordinarily do n’t hold up it . Note to Microsoft : Buy Antibody Software ’s code and add these occasion to Windows 8 , all right ?
Download WizMouse | monetary value : Free
Beyond the PC: What Windows 7 Can Do With Devices, Other PCs, and the Web
Windows Live Mail 2011
In designing Windows 7 , Microsoft famously cleaned house , rid of assorted programs that were once built into the oxygen . Among them was Windows Mail ( which , prior to Vista , existed as Outlook Express ) . As a resultant , Windows 7 lacks an east - mail customer out of the boxful .
Thankfully , Windows Mail lives on – you merely have to download it . Through the freshly strike Windows Live Mail 2011 , you could make out not only your mail accounts ( as many of them as you want , include those from third - party inspection and repair such as Gmail and Yahoo Mail ) , but also your contacts and calendar . You do so though a stylish , intuitive Ribbon user interface that ’s like to the one in Outlook 2010 ; it ’s a huge melioration over the smooth , inept toolbar found in the last loop of Windows Live Mail .
In other words , Windows Live Mail 2011 is kind of like Outlook Lite – or , dare I say , Outlook Express .
Download Windows alive Mail 2011 | toll : innocent
Windows Live Mesh 2011
If you use more than one computer , as most people do nowadays , would n’t it be great to have entree to the same document , MP3s , photos , and other files on all of them ? That ’s the musical theme behind Windows Live Mesh 2011 ( the verbatim descendant of Windows Live Sync ) , which automatically keeps all your stuff synchronized between two or more microcomputer .
Windows Live Mesh is a stage set - it - and - draw a blank - it program – after you add the software system on your microcomputer , sign in to your Windows Live account , and choose the folder(s ) you desire to synchronize , you ’re done . It works in the setting , copying files back and forward when your machine are on-line . You also have the option of sync selected folders to your Windows Live SkyDrive , which allots 5 GB of free memory and have you access your information online alternatively of just on your opt PCs .
In addition to files and folder , Mesh can sync Internet Explorer favorites and Microsoft Office styles , templet , e - mail signatures , and other context . It even permits you to connect remotely to other computers that are part of your Mesh connection .
Download Windows Live Mesh 2011 | cost : Free
ZumoCast
ZumoCast grow your PC into a kind of media waiter , hand it the ability to stream music , television , and files to any other personal computer – or even to your iPhone , iPod Touch , or iPad . ( Android support is coming soon . ) It neatly overcomes a major problem for fluid devices : special computer memory space . Plus , it ’s really cool .
After installing developer Zecter ’s ZumoCast client on your microcomputer ( it ’s available for Macs , as well ) and creating an account , choose the items you want to make available . By nonpayment the computer software pulls from Windows ’ Documents , Pictures , Music , and Video folders , but you could just as easily add any other folders .
As long as you leave the PC go , you ’ll be able-bodied to access that media elsewhere . you could heed to euphony on your study personal computer , represent videos on your iPhone , grab text file on your iPad , and so on . The free ZumoCast app even lets you download selected file cabinet to your gimmick .
ZumoCast is double-dyed for storage - strapped devices , or for any PC that does n’t have all the medium house on your other figurer .
Download ZumoCast | Price : innocent
