Free Software Workshop » system tweaking

Clear Internet browsing footprints with ClearProg

admin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:47:21 +0000

Deleting browsing footprints is becoming more and more important because of the risks posed by malicious software. ClearProg 1.5.0 protects your privacy against indiscreet eyes by deleting browser files that enclose sensitive information like passwords, surfing habits or other personal details.

When installing this freeware application, ClearProg will prompt you to create some shortcuts. Besides the usual Desktop and Quicklaunch shortcut, two more will appear; those point to eBay, but you can easily deselect them, thus preventing them from being created.

After you start ClearProg, select the browser that you use and the type of browsing footprints that need to be deleted, including the Typed URLs and AutoComplete entries in webforms. You must activate the empty of the “index.dat” file option because confidential information is also saved here. ClearProg supports 3 file deletion method: normal deletion, moving the files to the Recycle Bin or secure deletion by overwriting the files.

ClearProg features:

supported browsers: Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla Firefox and Opera
delete cookies (you choose which ones)
delete history
delete temporary internet files (cache)
empty the Recycle Bin
delete windows temp files

The download is less than 1MB. Available for Windows XP and Vista.

Download linkDownload ClearProg

ClearProg website: http://www.clearprog.de/downloads.php?lang=en

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Manage startup programs with AutoRuns

admin — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:00:18 +0000

In a previous article, we’ve talked about Startup Optimizer, a great freeware program for managing startup applications. Startup Optimizer is good for the average user because it only displays the basic programs and also labels them as safe or harmful (although not 100% accurate). If you are an advanced user, then you will need to know even more programs that start at the same time with Windows. This is when AutoRuns comes in handy.

AutoRuns is a free of charge startup manager that will display all startup applications. The program doesn’t require installation, just a simple double-click on autoruns.exe.

You are able to see the applications in your startup folder, Services, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. In fact, you can enable/disable each driver, DLL file, Internet Explorer add-on and more.

Activate the Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option to hide images that are signed by Microsoft; those don’t pose any threat. After some tweaking and tuning, restart your PC. Your computer’s bootup time should improve.

AutoRunsc is the command-line version of AutoRuns.

The download is less than 1MB. Available for all Windows versions.

Download AutoRuns

Download AutoRuns and AutoRunsc

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RadarSync – update drivers for free

admin — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:45:28 +0000

About two weeks ago, I’ve written an article about another program used for updating drivers called DriverMax. Although I haven’t fully tested the application, I must say that the product found some driver updates. DriverMax’ strong point is its driver backup feature. Paul commented on the article about DriverMax and informed me about another driver updating software, RadarSync.

RadarSync screenshot

RadarSync is a freeware application that will help you update your PC’s essential drivers. Besides drivers, the program will also look for updates for other software installed on your computer. In order to make the most out of your hardware devices, it is important to use the latest drivers available. After downloading and installing RadarSync, the program will perform a scan on your system. If there are any available updates, the application will list them.

The developers of RadarSync declare that the downloads are directly from the vendor’s website. I recommend creating a restore point before updating any drivers. Safety first!

The applications interface is easy-to-use and professional looking at the same time.

Below is a screenshot where you can see RadarSync updating 7-zip-file archiver:

RadarSync in action...

I must say that if you have some spare time, you should manually check that the update exists; no program is perfect. RadarSync told me that there is a new release of the Safari browser, when it turned out that I’ve already had the latest version.

Overall, RadarSync is an useful program for updating drivers and other applications for free. Try it out and leave your opinion in the comment section below.

The download is less than 2MB. Available for: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista

Download RadarSync

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CrystalDiskMark – hard disk benchmark software

admin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:11:25 +0000

If you’ve recently acquired a hard disk drive or wish to test the current one, you can use CrystalDiskMark.

The application performs data reading/writing tests so you can get an idea about the device’s performances. This very easy-to-use freeware lets you choose the number of reading/writing cycles and the size of memory that will be used (50MB, 100MB, 500MB or 1000MB). Data can be read/written sequentially or as random packages of 512kb and 4Kb.

When CrystalDiskMark is done, you can see your driver’s performance measured in Mb/s.

Note that you can save the test results. In order to do this, select Edit and Copy from CrystalDiskMark’s interface. Create a new text document and paste the content of the clipboard.

CrystalDiskMark compatible Operating Systems:

x86 : Vista/2003/XP/2000/NT4/Me/98
x64 : Vista/2003/XP

Download CrystalDiskMark

Optimize Windows startup with Startup Optimizer

admin — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:18:47 +0000

Assigning applications to run at Windows startup is advantageous, because you can quickly start working with your most frequent used programs. Some applications register to autorun without notifying the user. You may experience a slow startup if too many programs are set to autorun.

Startup Optimizer is a freeware that lets you manage the applications that have started at the same time as Windows. After installing the program, you will be given a list with the startup programs. Disable the ones that you obviously don’t need, like “Winamp Agent” with the help of the “Delete” button. Startup Optimizer will label each program name with “Harmful”, “Unknown”, “Not Required”, “User’s Choice” and “Required”. If you are not sure what a startup program does, click on it and Startup Optimizer will display a brief description. Press the “Start” button and you should immediately see what the program does. If that doesn’t work, then press “Open” and you will see the folder in which the program is located. If the program is useless, go ahead and delete it.

After selecting a program, you will also see a Google link. Click it to see what other websites have to say about the application. This freeware lets you backup and restore your current list of startup programs.

Unfortunately, Startup Optimizer might incorrectly label some processes. Ctfmon.exe (MS Office XP file) is one of them.

Download Startup Optimizer

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Delete empty or duplicate files with Duplicate File Finder

admin — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:12:13 +0000

Files with 0 bits tend to deceive/mislead the user; the duplicate ones take up space on your hard drive. Solution: delete them.

Duplicate File Finder 3.4 is a freeware utility that will scan your hard drive for empty or duplicate files.

Start the application by double-clicking on the executable; Duplicate File Finder doesn’t require installation. Now you have to select which partition the program should scan; click “Add path” and write “C:\”, for example. Check the Include Empty Files in Search so you can also remove the empty files. Start the scan on the desired hard disks with “Start Search”. This process will take a considerable amount of time.

You can get rid of all duplicate files with the “Delete all duplicates” command, if you are not messing with protected system files.

Now, you should delete empty files using View and delete empty files. It’s true that you won’t save space, but why should you have empty files on your system?

Features of Duplicate File Finder:

very fast program – uses multithreading
search for specific file types
delete empty files
fast search – scans only the first and last 10 MB of a larger file
the first created file is considered original
it’s free!

Available for Windows 98/XP/Vista.

Download Duplicate File Finder

Download Mirror of Duplicate File Finder

Duplicate File Finder’s website

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Revo Uninstaller – correctly uninstall your software

admin — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:44:34 +0000

If you know one or two things about the Windows Operating System, then you’ll know that you should uninstall your programs using the built-in Add/Remove Programs function in Windows, right? Well, this doesn’t always work because some files or registry entries might still remain after the uninstall process.

Revo Uninstaller is a freeware utility that lets you uninstall and delete all the files and registry entries that a particular program is using. The download is less than 2MB. As soon as you run the program you will enter Uninstaller mode where you are able to see all the installed software on your computer. Simply click an icon, then press the “Uninstall” button on the toolbar; you can now choose from 4 types of uninstall modes:

Built-in: simply runs the uninstaller of the selected program
Safe: Built-in mode + registry scans + hard drive scan
Moderate: Safe mode + extended scans to find other application files – my personal favorite
Advanced: Moderate mode + deep scans (slow)

Revo Uninstaller screenshot

Revo Uninstallers features:

Hunter Mode – this is a great feature that lets you uninstall or stop a program by dragging an icon (Hunter icon) on a program shortcut that can be located on the desktop, system tray, quick launch bar and other locations
Autorun Manager – enable/disable start-up programs
Evidence Remover – previously “deleted” files remain deleted
Unrecoverable Delete – permanently delete files
Windows/Browsers/MS Office Cleaner – lets you delete unnecessary history files and more (I recommend you use CCleaner for these tasks)

What’s new in Revo Uninstaller version 1.75:

Improved listing of the installed programs
Improved user interface of the uninstalling wizard
Improved scanning for leftover shortcuts
Extended “Exclude” list of the junk files cleaner
Fixed minor bugs

What’s new in Revo Uninstaller version 1.80:

VeriSign Inc has digitally signed and certified Revo Uninstaller
Revo Uninstaller’s setup package is faster and much smaller
The freeware uninstaller starts faster
The safety and accuracy of the scanning for leftover items after uninstall has been improved
Some bugs have been fixed and other languages have been added

Compatible with Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista

Download link for Revo UninstallerDownload Revo Uninstaller

Publisher’s homepage

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NTRegOpt – optimize your Windows registry

admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:59:36 +0000

NTRegOpt (NT Registry Optimizer) is a free registry optimizer that will compact compact your system registry. After you’ve installed/uninstalled a program or used a registry cleaner like CCleaner, unused space will be left inside the registry; NTRegOpt will help you compress the registry by reconstructing the hives, therefore optimizing it’s access.

The application is safe to utilize, because it doesn’t actually modify the registry entries, just takes care of unused space.

It’s very easy to start the program, just click OK after installing and the optimization process will begin.

Don’t worry if your computer might “freeze” for a second, just let NTRegOpt do its job. If everything goes well, you will pe promted to reboot your computer. All the waiting will be rewarded, your system will run faster.

What’s new in version v1.1j:

Some compatibility issues were fixed with the 64-bit Windows
Enhanced error messages

Available for Windows NT/Win 2000/Win 2003/Windows XP/Vista

Download NTRegOpt – NT Registry Optimizer

Download NTRegOpt – NT Registry Optimizer – alternative download link

Publishers website

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Clean your PC with CCleaner

admin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:27:06 +0000

If your PC is acting sluggish, then you must have all kinds of unused temporary files, log files, registry entries and so on. Those files are called “crap”. Yes, you’ve heard me. After some time we all have crap on our computer. Stay calm, there’s a solution for everything.

CCleaner (also known as Crap Cleaner) is a free of charge software that gets rid of all those useless files on your computer. Sometimes, when your computer is running slow, you might need to format your HDD and reinstall your OS. After that, you have to reinstall all the important software (browsers, office suite, messengers…). This of course takes a lot of time. CCleaner helps you in your quest for optimizing your system. This freeware is fast and efficient. Most of the applications create temporary files and log files that are not important. CCleaner will free up space, repair registry errors and more.

CCleaner screenshot

Supported OS: all Windows versions

Whats new in version 2.13.720:

Added support for Firefox 3.1.
Added right-click cleaning and analysis for individual items in the tree.
Added icons to tree parent items.
Added cleaning for Windows Error Reporting files.
Added Include/Exclude list editing.
Improved TypeLib registry cleaning.
Fixed Index.dat bug that could cause a crash.
Fixed bug with INI warning messages.
Internal architecture improvements.
Fixed minor GUI errors.

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