All Amazing Articles

There are many clipboard managers out there but only a few that do what I want, the way I want.

Clipx [1] and Clipomatic [2] are excellent. They are both fast, lightweight, easy to use and use few system resources. When you press a programmable hotkey they launch a pop-up menu of clips to select. The clip selection can be made via mouse or keyboard shortcut thus enabling completion of the entire copy/select/paste process to be made by keyboard alone. They have options to record and display a variable number of clips, as well as to store permanent clips such as text snippets. Both use less than 1MB memory so any system can afford to have them running continuously.

Clipomatic is a bit slicker to use and has more robust permanent item functionality but its real limitation is that it is text only. ClipX will do everything Clipomatic will (although you need to add a plug-in to enable the permanent clip function, available from the same site as ClipX) plus copy images.

The only reason I’ve stopped using those two is because they only keep a limited number of clips. They can hold 30+ but everything they hold is displayed on the hotkey popup and if you set them high the popup gets pretty big and cluttered. If you keep the popup slim and small, you only get to keep a limited clip history.

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\\ tags: Clipboard, Freeware, Software, Utility

I checked out six utilities: QuickZip, ICEOWS, IZArc, TUGZip, ZipGenius and 7-Zip. The product that impressed me the most was the Open Source program 7-Zip. It was the only product in the group that could unpack a multi-part RAR volume embedded in a ZIP archive and the only product to give a meaningful error message when an attempt was made to unpack a 256bit encrypted WinZip archive.

My only reservation is that it handles fewer archive types than some of the other products; it only supports 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB . If that’s really important to you than I’d recommend IZArc. It can read nearly 50 archive types including media formats like ISO, BIN and IMG and can write (and convert) to 12. Furthermore it can handle multi-part zip files while 7-Zip can’t.

You couldn’t go wrong with either product. 7-Zip is a little more robust while IZArc is a little more flexible. If you already use WinZip you’ll find either 7-Zip or IZArc make excellent companion products. They can can read just about all the major archive formats WinZip can’t, including the widely used RAR.

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\\ tags: Freeware, Software, Utility, zip

For macho macro power you can’t beat AutoHotkey [1]. It can automate just about anything by capturing keystrokes, mouse clicks and even joystick movements and linking them to just about any action you want including application launching, surfing to a particular website or inserting text or code snippets. Combined this with a powerful scripting language and you have a product of awesome capability. Indeed calling this product a mere “hotkey” utility is like calling Westminster Cathedral a chapel. This power does come at a cost; AutoHotkey is no product for beginners. That said, it is the product I use and an easy first choice for the technically literate.

A good choice for average users is PS Hot Launch VVL [2] is a free utility that allows you to define your own hotkeys so that a single key press can launch an application, insert commonly used text, change your audio volume, or just about anything else. Hotkeycontrol works on all versions of Windows and is an excellent performer even on slow machines.

A second alternative for average users is qliner’s free Open Source “hotkeys” utility [3]. It’s strength is ease of use, wide support for international keyboard layouts plus a handy reminder key that flashes up your current hotkey assignments. On the minus side, it’s not quite as flexible as PS Hot Launch and it’s only available for Windows XP.

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\\ tags: Freeware, Software, Utility

This is getting scary. First I recommend Microsoft Defender and now I’m going to recommend another Microsoft product as the best in this category. Well, equal best. It’s called SyncToy for Windows XP [1] and, as the name implies, is only for XP SP2. This program is more than a syncing program; it can copy, move, rename, and delete files between any number of folders and even computers. The program operates on the principal of pre-defined folder pairs. You define and name these pairs and then when you want to perform a sync or other task, you recall one of these pairs and carry out the operation. Syncing can be in either direction and covers all options from complete sync to updating newer files only. The handling of files with changed file names is exceptional as is the backup of overwritten files. Overall, pretty well everything you ever wanted in a sync utility providing you have Windows XP or Vista. Note that SyncToy requires V2.0 of Microsoft’s .NET framework.

Also highly recommended is 2brightspark’s SyncBack [2]. It works for Windows 98 through to Vista and has a number of features that SyncToy lacks such as the ability to sync to a remote FTP server.

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\\ tags: Freeware, Software, Utility

Three recommendations here: The first is PrintScreen [1]. It’s a prime example of the KISS principle. It does exactly what I want, in the way I want while avoiding the trap of providing lots of useless and confusing features. It’s the little things that count like making the hot key PrtSc so I don’t have to remember it, and automatically sequentially naming the output files for multiple screen shots.

A second recommendation is Screen Hunter [2]. It’s a commercial product but the “lite” free version is excellent, offering more features than Gadwin at the cost of a little added complexity. It can save in .jpg, .bmp or .gif formats.

Also highly recommended is FastStone’s Screen Capture [3] It doesn’t require installation and yet has more features than you could ever want including the ability to capture scrolling screen shots across more than one screen page. It can also save in BMP, JPEG, JPEG2000, PNG, GIF, TIFF and TGA formats. In many ways it’s like the full commercial version of ScreenHunter except that it’s free for personal use.

NOTE: Since version 5.4 Screencapture has become commercial shareware. You can however get the last free version from here [4]

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\\ tags: Freeware, Software, Utility

Some people hate these programs others swear they can’t work effectively without them. I used to be in the first category but with so many things on my plate these days, I’m slowly being converted. The function that I find really useful is the reminder that pops up at a designated time and date. I use it for simple things like “put up the latest issue on the web site.” ATnotes is a neat implementation that features configurable alarms, resizable windows, variable fonts and a host of other useful features. The product is remarkably similar to the class-leading commercial sticky notes utility called, TurboNotes, a case perhaps of imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

NOTE: As of the 30th of May 2005, development work has ceased and the author’s site pulled down. However someone has built a mirror of the author’s site [1] where you can read about ATnotes and download the final version. You can also download ATNotes from a number of other sites including the second link below.

If you want an alternative that is still being developed try StickyPad. Some folks actually prefer it to ATnotes and I must admit the interface is very slick but I find the alarm function to be rather inflexible. It cannot for example handle recurring events such as birthdays.

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\\ tags: Freeware, Software, Utility

Eraser [1] is a free, GNU license utility that will securely erase files, folders or even whole disks from any Windows or DOS PC. Eraser overwrites data area with selectable random data patterns and also wipes data in the paging file, Internet cache, temporary files, Internet cookies, unused disk space and a number of other places where data can secretly lurk. It handles FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS partitions as well. Erasing files with high security will always be a difficult and time consuming task and can never offer absolute 100% safety. However Eraser makes the task about as easy as it be, with a security level beyond most conceivable requirements. The author’s site is sometimes unavailable but you can find Eraser at numerous download sites including MajorGeeks [2].

If Eraser is overkill for your needs try UltraShredder[3]. It’s not as comprehensive a solution to secure deletion as Eraser but it’s much easier to use. It’s also small and will work from a USB flash drive.

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\\ tags: Freeware, Software, Utility

The freeware utility AIDA32 was the best system information / inventorying tool ever, regardless of price. It documented just about every aspect of your hardware and software configuration as well as checking networks and providing memory benchmarks. However the developer announced in March 2004 that the free product had been frozen and development work shifted to another organization where AIDA32 was re-launched as a commercial product called Everest [1]. You can however still find the old AIDA32 at the second link below [2] and the non-discontinued free version of Everest called Everest Home here [3]. The old AIDA32 works better across networks while Everest Home covers more modern hardware than AIDA32.

Another inventory utility for networks is Spiceworks [4]. It’s a browser based inventory program that allows LAN managers to quickly discover and document the hardware, software and patch status of their network PCs.

That rather bland description seriously under-sells the usefulness of this product. It’s got a terrific filter system that allows you to target your inventory request plus a highly customizable reporting system. On top of that it has a great interface, is easy to use, can handle Linux and Mac OS X workstations and uses standard network protocols. It’s free but is discreetly advertising supported.

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\\ tags: Software, Utility

Many programs have a search and replace function that allows you to replace text in the file you are currently editing. However search and replace utilities allow you to replace text across multiple files or folders.The most powerful free program in this class is BK ReplaceEm [1]. It will carry out replacements in individual files, in a group of selected files, in a set of files determined by a file mask or indeed every file in a folder. Replacement can be by text string or by using regular expressions. You can even replace text within a nominated range such as html tags. The interface is both logical and powerful but it does take a little getting used so read the Help file before using. Power users need look no further than this product.

A little less powerful but a tad easier for normal users is A.F.9 from Fauland [2]. It allows multiple search and replace operations in the one pass, can save search and replace operations for later re-use and has full drag and drop support.

Note that these programs are designed for use on text based files such as .txt and .html and must not be used on binary files or proprietary formats such as Microsoft Word. If you want to search and replace these kind of files then check out InfoRapid Search and Replace [3]. It’s not as powerful as the best binary editors but with suitable add-ins it can handle certain Microsoft Office file types plus .rtf and .pdf

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\\ tags: Software, Utility

If you want industrial strength file renaming there are several great choices: First there’s  Lupas Rename 2000 [1]. This is a small utility for Win 98 and later that globally renames all the files in a directory and its subdirectories. It can convert names to upper/lower case, change the case of the first letter, add text, left crop, right crop and just about anything else you can think of. And unlike DOS based utilities, it will work on hidden files as well. Add in a nice GUI interface, an undo feature, full preview of changes, MP3 tag renaming, support for regular expressions and the fact that it’s free and you have an outstanding product.

The second and equally attractive option is Flexible Renamer [2]. It’s quite similar to Lupas and choosing between them is not easy.  Lupas seems to me to be easier to use for simply renaming files while Flexible Renamer has the edge with MP3 tags. Flexible Renamer can also can bulk change file attributes while Lupas can’t. It also runs without installation, a definite plus.

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\\ tags: Software, Utility