51 Best Free Time Correction Utility A lot of folks have difficulty getting time correction software to work on their PC. If that's you then you should try Dimension 4, a free utility that gives you the choice of connecting to a time server either by standard TCP protocol or by the more common (and more problem-prone) SNTP protocol. If you haven't yet got a time correction utility, this is the one. It's free, it’s easy to use, and it has every function that you could conceivably want. Because it works from both the command line and Windows, it's ideal for batch files, too.
52 Best Free Startup Manager Everyone needs a startup program utility so they can exercise control over what third party programs start automatically with Windows. There are several fine choices: The first is Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel [1]. It’s small, and easy to use yet has powerful features including the ability to edit or add entries. A second and equally good choice is Nir Sofer's StartupRun [2]. Unlike Startup Control Panel it lists all startup programs in a single list rather than in tabs according to location. It also has a lot more information on each program and has extensive editing features as well which means that it's definitely not for Newbies. Then there's Starter [3]. It combines many of the strengths of the other products and additionally includes a first rate process viewer. As a bonus, it can be run directly from the executable without installation which makes it a handy item to have on your toolkit CD or flash drive. Folks you are truly spoiled by choice here, each one of these products is a winner. NOTE: It appears Starter has become so popular that the author's website has exceeded its download limit so I've given an alternative [4] download link.
53 Best Free Wi-Fi Network Finder Utility NetStumbler is a free packet sniffer utility used to locate Wi-Fi networks. It's one of the first tools of its kind and arguably still the best. So much so that it is the standard product used by war-drivers in their perpetual search for free bandwidth via unsecured Wi-Fi networks as well as road- warriors looking to connect their laptops back to the office. Basically it's a wireless packet sniffer that lists all networks available at a given geographical location. For each network it displays over 20 different parameters including the signal strength, noise level, encryption method used, GPS coordinates and more. It's a great product with a couple of caveats: first, it only works with specific wireless card chipsets and if yours is not one these then you are out of luck. However, most Centrino-based laptops work fine including many Dells and IBMs. Second, the program won't connect you to a network; you have to do that by other means. That said, NetStumbler is a valuable product for any laptop user who accesses Wi-Fi systems while on the road. It's also a standard tool in trade for IT security workers who need to audit Wi-Fi security.
54 Best Free NFO Viewer Many freeware files are distributed with descriptive NFO and DIZ files as part of the distribution package. These are just plain text files so you can view them with Notepad or other text editor but often the formatting is lost. Try this tiny little viewer that's built for the job. It's free and once associated with the NFO and DIZ file types, works seamlessly, a true "install and forget" product.
55 Best Free Data Recovery Utility PC Inspector File Recovery 4 is a free utility that does an impressive job recovering accidentally deleted files or files lost through corruption of the file system. It works with the FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS file systems which pretty well covers all Windows installations. It has some nice features, like the ability to recover files with lost headers, and to recover partitions even when the boot sector has been lost or damaged. It even supports the saving of recovered files on network drives. Experienced users will find the product relatively easy to use but novices may be challenged. Data recovery by its very nature is a demanding task and cannot be reduced to simply pushing a button. This is no home written utility - it is a serious product from a reputable German company with a long history in commercial data recovery. PC Inspector is the ideal product for those who want the security of a data recovery program but are not prepared to fork our big bucks for the extra features of high end products.
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56 Best Free Remote Access Software There are several good choices here all of which are variants of the classic AT&T VNC program. A short list would include RealVNC, TightVNC, EsVNC and Ultr@VNC. Each has its merits but my top pick goes to Ultr@VNC as because of its active development, good forum support and an excellent encryption plug-in. Ultr@VNC [1] is a client/server package that allows remote control of another PC using any TCP/IP connection. It works with Windows W9x/NT/2K/XP and offers all the features you need including auto-configuration, easy user interface, extensive hotkeys and embedded file transfer. Add to that the fact that it's free, secure, reliable and reasonably speedy and you have a winner. Just the thing for accessing your home PC while traveling, off-site troubleshooting or general network administration. An alternative to VNC based products is the free version of the commercial remote access product LogMeIn [2]. This is a web based service that's extremely easy to set up and use and can be accessed from any PC with a browser. The free version won't allow file transfer and remote printing but is a great solution for accessing your remote data as well as file sharing. Registration is required.
57 Best Free PIM If you needs are basic there's Sunbird [1]. It's a small, resource efficient calendaring application and has a really neat feature that displays your to-do list for the day on your desktop . However it really is a bit minimal. Users of the Thunderbird email client would be better off with the Lightning extension [2] rather than Sunbird as it integrates calendaring features directly into the Thunderbird interface. If you want more features, check out EssentialPIM [3]. It does many of the same things as Outlook and will import your Outlook data as well. Abassis Work Desktop [4] is a $59 commercial PIM and project manager that's available to individuals for non-commercial use. It's a pretty impressive product that offers contact management, calendaring, to-lists, reminders, document filing and simple project management. Backup is built into the product. The only thing I could see that was missing was an integrated email client. Yet another alternative is the PalmOne Desktop program [5]. The program is designed specifically for use with Palm devices but it works perfectly well all by itself. It's an excellent full function PIM; if you think Microsoft Outlook without the email client you'll get the general idea. I only did a quick check-out rather than a full review but what I saw seemed pretty solid. Naturally a few things such as "Synchronize" don't work without an attached Palm device but most functions work just fine. I also checked the licensing agreement and while it's a little ambiguous I suspect its OK for personal use. Indeed, I can't see Palm objecting as it may well encourage you to buy one of their hand-helds. ;>)
58 Best Free Windows Driver Backup DoubleDriver allows you to view, backup and restore you Windows drivers. It also allows you to print out a driver list. It doesn't seem to have been updated recently but works fine on my XP SP2 PC. Before backing up it's a good idea to use Windows Device Manager to check that all your drivers are working properly.
59 Best Free Program Un-installer This group of programs has two sub classes: Windows uninstaller replacements and application uninstallers. The Windows Add/Remove Programs applet in the control panel constantly annoys users with its limitations. MyUninstaller [1] is a free program that works just like the Windows Add or Remove Programs applet but is a more capable product than the Windows version. It gives you much more information about each installed program including product name, company, version, uninstall string, installation folder and Windows Registry details. It also allows you to delete orphaned and obsolete entries from the list as well as the ability to save a list of all installed applications into a text file or HTML. My favorite feature though is the ability to sort programs by the date installed which is great for quickly uninstalling programs you are just trying out. As no installation is required, it can be run from a CD or USB drive which makes it an excellent addition to your diagnostic toolkit. An alternative to MyUninstaller that offers similar functionality is Safarp [2], a free Open Source program. It's great strength is its speed - it loads in a flash. Safarp can be be run as a stand alone program or installed and integrated into the Control Panel. MyUninstaller [3] is a free utility from Microsoft that supplements rather than replaces the Windows Add/Remove Programs applet It cleans up dead entries in the Windows Add/Remove programs panel and tidies up the corresponding Windows uninstaller registry entries. None of these programs can of course, remove leftover registry entries, DLLs and files that belong to defunct programs. To do this you need an application uninstaller i.e. a program that monitors the original install so that it can work out exactly what changes are made during installation. The only free program I'm aware of that does monitored installs and uninstalls is the last free version of the commercial product Total Uninstall 2 which is still available from some download sites [4]. It doesn't offer the impressive features of the latest commercial version but is quite capable. Somewhat less less capable is InstallWatch [5], a former commercial utility that is now offered for free. It logs the registry and file changes made when you install software and hardware but unlike Total Uninstall, it cannot automatically uninstall products. None-the-less it is a handy utility to have in your toolkit.
60 Best Free Internet Accelerator In a surprise move Google released in early May 2005 a beta version of a new product called the Google Web Accelerator (GWA). Unlike most other accelerators which provide caching on your own PC, the GWA utilizes caching on Google's own dedicated web servers to accelerate browsing. On top of that it uses a number of other techniques to speed thing up including compressing html pages and pre-fetching links. The WGA program automatically installs itself into the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers and can be manually configured to work with other browsers. To protect user privacy the accelerator does not function during connections to secure sites such as internet banking. Does it work? You bet with most users myself included, reporting improvements of 10-40% in browsing speeds. There are however some caveats: First the product is only available for Windows XP or Windows 2000 SP3+. Second the product is optimized for broadband use and modem users may experience little or no gain. Third the system is currently working best within the USA and Europe and users located in other areas will only receive a partial benefit. Fourth there are some potential privacy issues involved so all users should closely read what Google has documented on the subject. Personally I don't have a problem but others mileage may vary. Finally some webmasters have been scare mongering with reports that the GWA pre-fetching function can cause all buttons on a web page to be automatically pressed including things like "delete my subscription." I've looked it this and frankly, every case I've seen has been due to very sloppy web coding. However if you want to be super cautious then I suggest you simply disable the GWA for any page that uses forms and buttons. Personally I think it's a storm in a tea cup. These reservations aside this is a terrific product. It provides for nix almost all of the benefits of expensive commercial web acceleration services like Propel.
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Enjoy ;)
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