Despite all the utilities , web browser , and other features Microsoft has added to Windows over the year , the operating system still falls short in many areas . You could shell out pelf for software system that fills Windows ’ break . But before you crack open your wallet , check out the terrific freeware floating around the Windows population . Some programme are free for a reason – the product is too narrow in background , or it ’s not worthful enough to dominate a cost . Still , a magnanimous pool of not bad free Windows minimal brain dysfunction - ons is out there . Here are the most useful free tool I ’ve black market across ( or that readers have kindly pointed out to me ) late . Clickhereto download the programs .
If One Desktop Is Good…
Longhorn is also expected to feature multiple practical desktops . Alejandro Bascuas of Rochester , Minnesota , points out that Windows XP users can get this feature by going to the MicrosoftWindows XP Web siteand clickingDeskman.exein the right - script column under Virtual Desktop Manager .
After the download , double - get through theDeskmanPowerToySetup.exeicon and follow the instructions to instal the political platform . Next , right - click an empty part of the taskbar and chooseToolbars , Desktop Manager . The Microsoft Virtual Desktop Manager render you up to four desktop so you could beguile windows without all the dragging , resizing , minimizing , and maximizing . To see a map of all desktops , pressWindows - V. Switch desktops by clicking one in the map or by press theWindowskey , followed by a number from1to4 . To tailor-make the shortcuts , right - click the MSVDM icon and chooseConfigure Shortcut Keys . you’re able to also exchange desktop by right - click the icon and choosingShow Quick Switch Buttons .
To see open apps in the taskbar of each desktop , chooseShared Desktops ; to take a background , chooseConfigure Desktop Images(seeFIGURE 1FIGURE 1 : Windows too cramp ? Get up to four desktop with Microsoft ’s free Virtual Desktop Manager . ) ; and to add dissolve and other effects as you move in the map , chooseUse Animations .
FIGURE 1: Windows too cramped? Get up to four desktops with Microsoft’s free Virtual Desktop Manager.
Simple Folder Printing
One way to impress a tilt of a booklet ’s single file is with a batch Indian file – such as the one from last August ’s “ Pain - innocent Windows Tweaks . ” But if batch files are n’t your bag , two freeware tools may fit you well . Vernon Solomon , writing from South Africa , points us to PrintFolders , a devoid utility from programmer Roman A. Pivovarov . PrintFolders instantly father a text file listing the message of a folder and ( if you choose ) subfolders . PrintFolders is blazingly fast and easy to practice . The pecker provides a bit of useful formatting options , such as perfect file details and full path selective information ( seeFIGURE 2FIGURE 2 : Fast and thorough file and folder printing is a breeze with PrintFolders . ) . you may well edit and impress the lean using any discussion processor or text edition editor .
For even more mastery over your file - listing printing , reader Connie Stanifer from Whiteland , Indiana , recommends Directory Lister , the brainchild of Leszek Skorczyñski . The program let you to select noncontiguous folders across multiple drives , decide exactly which details to include , specify the column width for each detail , and customize the sort edict , among other options . you’re able to preview the termination in plain text or in an HTML tabular array to assert your file and leaflet selections . When you ’re slaked , Directory Lister permit you deliver the file as text or HTML . As with PrintFolders , you then have to enter the resulting file cabinet in another software ( such as a text editor or a vane web browser ) to do the actual printing .
One-Click Exits and Reboots
If you sleep together how to type the secret codes , Windows 9xand Me let you exit , log off , or resume your microcomputer from a command line that you may contribute to a batch data file or make into a crosscut ( clickherefor the full skinny ) . I ’m often involve whether Windows 2000 and XP propose a way of life to create such sight files and cutoff . The answer is yes , although Windows 2000 does n’t have this potentiality work up - in . The Windows 2000 Resource Kit follow with a utility call Shutdown that lets you turn off your own simple machine ( or others on the connection , providing you have the necessary permissions ) . For those of us who do n’t have the Resource Kit , Sysinternalshas made PsShutdown , a freeware equivalent of this public utility company . To get the most out of the program , set up some shutdown shortcuts with the different command - line options you ’ll call for . For exemplar , if you want a command line that will reboot your computing machine after a 5 - second warning delay , your command phone line would look like this:“C : Program Filespsshutdown.exe " -l -r -t 5(your path may differ , of course ) . you may even add a usage message to the shutdown declaration by typing - mfollowed by a space and then the subject matter in quotation marks .
Although PsShutdown works with Windows XP , users of that operating organisation do n’t need it , since Windows XP includes the shutdown.exe program after which PsShutdown was modeled . To memorize more about this public utility company ’s command - line options , chooseStart , All Programs , Accessories , Command Prompt , case eithershutdown.exeorshutdown.exe -?and pressEnter .
Automate Start-Ups and Shutdowns
Sure , you could place any applications programme in your Startup group to have it load every time Windows opens . But what if you want some particular to start only once a day ? Or you may require to schedule an app to run just before shutdown ( such as back up the day ’s work ) . peradventure you need your computer to power down at a sure fourth dimension . The XTC - ecutor utility lets you do all of this and more . When you sum up a program to ex - ecutor ’s window , you ’re able to set the sentence and date it launches , specify hold before or after it found , and control the order in which the applications launch . X - ecutor includes a chore scheduler and a box for add command - line of business switches . The programme has a few queerness to get habitual to – for example , any program you set to establish at shutdown has to have its own agency of shutting down automatically ( such as a batch Indian file ) . Otherwise , ten - ecutor will keep Windows running while it waits for your schedule diligence to eat up . X - ecutor is free for home utilisation , though the author , Andreas Spang , asks that you send him a mailing-card if you choose to keep using the utility .
App Roll-Ups
or else of tracking your clear apps in the taskbar , you might find it easy if , instead of minimizing them , you just “ roll up ” their windows to show just their claim bars , àla Apple ’s Macintosh . The free WinRoll program lets you do this with a right - clink .
You Light Up My Life
“ Those of us with desktop cases under our desks ca n’t see the knockout - phonograph recording bodily process indicator , ” say Bill Hirsch of Issaquah , Washington . “ Does a software system substitute exist ? ” It does , although only for Windows 2000 and XP . Hard Disk Indicator is a footling freeware gem that posture in your organization tray and does moderately much what a hard - drive indicator light does : scoot each time the campaign is used . you’re able to customise the luminosity ’s color and specify up to five hard - phonograph recording partitions to be represented by the single flashing luminousness ( seeFIGURE 3FIGURE 3 : View disk activity with the Hard Disk Indicator . ) . Thanks go to its creator , “ LoneWolf . ”
Recover Lost Files
If you ’ve ever lost work due to regardless deletion or formatting , a virus , or computer hardware or software crashes , you may translate why people beat out out for a computer programme that can save their Roger Bacon . But why give ? First , stop out Lincoln Spector ’s access to recovering edit files . Then try PC Inspector File Recovery , a free program that restore lost data file in any of the above situation , even if the file header is damaged ( a complication some other single file - undelete utilities ca n’t deal ) . PC Inspector File Recovery cultivate on disk formatted with FAT 16 , FAT 32 , and NTFS . The program ’s Internet Explorer - like interface is elegant and wide-eyed to employ ( seeFIGURE 4FIGURE 4 : Restore deleted files or lost data with PC Inspector File Recovery . ) . PC Inspector File Recovery should be in every microcomputer user ’s personal tool kit .
Windows Toolbox: Better Font Previewing
Last February I devote a tip for publish a font taste-tester ( See “ Windows Tips : Simplify Disk Maintenance With Custom Shortcuts “ ) . Sharon Matthies of Boise , Idaho , gently trounce me for wasting report , say , “ I fend off newspaper when possible for both economic and environmental reasons , but also to assist reduce and manage my newspaper collection . ” fortuitously , developer Peter Theill heard the pleas of readers like Matthies and make FontLister , a utility that displays fonts on your organisation at a size you choose and in regular , italic , and boldface . you’re able to cut the sample text and select multiple case to see them side by side in the Compare Mode pane . FontLister can also print font samples ( with a figure of useful format option ) . Unlike the other utility in this calendar month ’s pillar , FontLister is n’t free – but it ’s close . A measly five horse bewilder you this product guilt feelings - costless . Clickherefor the download .
