61 Best Free Windows Toolbar Backup

Inexperienced PC users just always seem to be losing their Windows and Internet Explorer toolbars. I've never quite worked out exactly how they do it but they sure manage it somehow. Luckily, this free utility makes recovery a snap.

Code:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/ToolbarRepair.Exe

62 Best Free Encryption Utility for Personal Use at Work

Camouflage is a free utility that will hide your personal or confidential files within another file. The neat thing is that the container file looks and works like a normal file of that format. So, by way of example, you could embed a secret message in a Word file which could be opened by anyone and appear to be just a normal Word file. The intended recipient could use their copy of Camouflage to open the file, enter the password and extract the embedded information. This free program is not intended to provide military strength protection but rather a convenient way to sneak information past unnecessarily prying eyes. Note: It looks like the author's web site is down, however you can download Camouflage from the other links below.

Code:

http://arxspace.com/Camouflage/ (2.65mb) http://camouflage.unfiction.com/ http://webmasterfree.com/software/996.html

63 Best Free CD Catalogue Organizer

I don't really have a need for this kind of product but if you do then you'll be interested in this excellent suggestion from subscriber David Killian Woods. "Disclib is a terrific utility. I archive all of my projects to CD/DVD and keep them in a fireproof box for storage. But there are over 30 full discs now (half are DVDs), and many of them have multiple versions of the same project. Disclib keeps an index of the file/directory structure of every disc, so I can search through them all without having to swap 30 discs in my drive! Invaluable! Thanks for that David, nice find.

Code:

http://www.lyrasoftware.com/disclib/ (1.75mb)

64 Best Free File Encryption Utility

This is what the web site says: "dsCrypt is AES/Rijndael file encryption software with simple, multi-file, drag-and-drop operations. It features optimal implementation, performance and safety measures. dsCrypt uses an advanced encryption algorithm and offers unique options for enhanced security." To that I'll add the fact that it's tiny, easy to use, has open code, employs proven techniques that are essentially unbreakable and comes from a highly reputable source. In summary, dsCrypt offers the average user everything they want in a simple file encryption program and it's free. That's why I use it myself. Equally impressive is an Open Source program called AxCrypt. It t provides secure AES-128 encryption using passwords or key-files, which AxCrypt can generate. Usage is wonderfully simple; to encrypt files or folders just right-click them and select "encrypt." while double clicking on encrypted files lets you edit or view them with the program of your choice. Closing any open files automatically re-encrypts.

Code:

http://freezip.cjb.net/freeware/ <=dsCrypt (25KB) http://axcrypt.sourceforge.net/ <=AxCrypt (1.02MB).

65 Best Free Drive Encryption Utility

TrueCrypt is an open-source utility which enables you to create encrypted "virtual drives" of almost unlimited size, where you can securely store files and keep them away from prying
eyes. TrueCrypt offers a wide range of encryption algorithms, including the option to encrypt with multiple algorithms, as well as "plausible deniability" for the benefit of the truly paranoid. The program is very stable (although backups are obviously recommended). Newbies might find the program a bit daunting at first; however, more experienced users who want serious virtual drive encryption would be hard-put to find a better program. Great for protecting your data on USB flash drives too.

Code:

http://www.truecrypt.org/ Freeware, Windows XP, 641KB.

66 Best Free Non-Adobe PDF Reader

Sick to death of Adobe's slow, bloated PDF Reader? If so then check out the Foxit Reader. It's small, loads in flash, supports bookmarks, has search capability, offers many views and runs on any version of Windows. On top of that it can print PDFs as well. It runs without installation too, so it's ideal for your toolkit CD or USB flash drive.

Code:

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php Freeware, all Windows versions, 915KB.

67 Best Free Disk De-fragmenter

My top recommendation here is Diskeeper Lite [1], an older free version of Executive Software's current commercial Diskeeper product. It works very well indeed given that it is V7 while the current commercial product is at V10 but I've had a few complaints from subscribers about the annoying nag screen. I have no magic fix for this but there are other free defraggers worth considering.

Auslogics Desk Defrag [2] is fast, has a nice disk map, lots of stats and is really easy to use. It's pretty basic but its simplicity and speed make it a good choice for many users.

Even simpler is IObit SmartDefrag [3]. It works away in the background to keep your PC constantly defragged. It's only a beta at the moment but the feedback I've received has been excellent. A true "set and forget solution."

Another possibility is "Contig" [4] from SysInternals, a robust, free, command line utility which defrags one file at a time. It's fast, and safe but is a pain to use however eXcessive software has built an excellent user interface for Contig called "Power Defragmenter" [5] that turns Contig into a really usable product.

Update: Thanks to Vashek Weis for letting me know about how you can get version 9 of Diskeeper Lite. It forms part of Intel's large (89MB) Desktop Utilities package which is available from the Intel site [6]. If you unzip the file you'll find Diskeeper V9 Lite in the folder ../3rdparty/Diskeeper/. Neither the read-me file or the License Agreement prohibit downloading and using this program on a single computer so it appears to be a perfectly legitimate way to obtain the program.

Code:

[1] http://www.majorgeeks.com/Diskeeper_Lite_d1207.html Freeware, all Windows versions,12.1MB [2] http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/index.php Freeware, all Windows versions, 1.4MB [3] http://www.iobit.com/SmartDefrag/index.html Freeware, all Windows versions, 4.3MB [4] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/Contig.mspx Freeware, NT and later, 55KB [5] http://www.excessive-software.tk/" Freeware, NT and later, 397KB [6] http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/software/idu/

68 Best Free Dictionary/Thesaurus Utility

I've been using WordWeb [1] for a while now and have seen enough to say this will be one of the rare utilities I review that ends up staying on my PC. So what does it do? Well, it's not a spellchecker so let's get that out of the way. If that's what you want, check the next item below. Rather, WordWeb is an enhanced dictionary and thesaurus. I say "enhanced" because it does some tricky extra things like showing only the relevant synonyms and related words according to whether they are noun, verb, adjective or adverb. It can also find words by pattern match or dictionary adjacency. Usage is simple; just select a word in any document and click the WordWeb tray icon. Immediately you'll get a popup with the word's meaning and synonyms. Overall, it works efficiently and elegantly to help you find the just right word to use in your written reports. WordWeb is free for personal use and a Pro version with an enhanced dictionary costs a mere $19 and is well worth buying. An equally attractive alternative to WordWeb is TheSage [2] from Sequence Publishing. Like WordWeb, it's a comprehensive dictionary with over 140,000 references together with a powerful thesaurus. It differs in that it is free even for commercial use and offers a couple of features missing from the free version of WordPro such as anagram solving and wildcard word matches. On the minus side, WordPro allows you to find meanings and synonyms in any application just by double clicking the word; with TheSage you have to cut and paste it into the application after you've launched it from its task bar icon. Picking a winner here is too hard. Try both and decide for yourself. Both products work with Windows 95 and later.

Code:

[1] http://wordweb.info/ (6.96MB) [2] http://www.sequencepublishing.com/thesage.html (8.3MB)

69 Best Free Spell-Checker

This is an impressive little utility that checks individual words on a correct-as-you-type basis, from clipboard contents or from a query box. The provided dictionary is not enormous but more than adequate for normal usage and you can also add words to the dictionary as needed. Resource usage seems modest and the product can be easily enabled/disenabled from the taskbar icon. It has one odd feature; the dictionary has both American and English spelling so words like "color" and "colour" both show as correct. Overall, it's quite a solid product and an excellent companion to WordWeb.

Code:

http://tinyspell.m6.net/ Freeware, Win98 and later, 547KB.

70 Best Free Audio Editing Software

Thanks to subscriber Jay Eitelman for this suggestion: "Gizmo, I've switched from using $349 Adobe Audition to using Audacity [1]. It does all the recording and editing I need, and is much simpler/faster to use. Check out the noise reduction - it even allows you to select a noise profile - then remove the profile - just like Audition. " Thanks Jay. I note that, according to the web site, Audacity will also "record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files, cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together and change the speed or pitch of a recording."

Subscriber Brandon Tanner however differs: "Audacity is good but you should check out Kristal; I think it might have Audacity's number! To start with, Kristal has an ASIO driver while Audacity doesn't. That means that you can monitor your pre-recorded tracks in real-time while you're overdubbing new ones, mandatory when multi-track recording. You can't do that in Audacity as the latency is too high. Second, Kristal supports VST plug-ins. There are tons of quality VST effects and instruments floating around the net, a lot of them free. Audacity's effects are not quite up to par with some of the better VST ones. Not to bash Audacity but I have to give credit where credit's due. Third, Kristal has a 'proper' multi-track mixer, with a lot more options for routing individual tracks, effects, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like Audacity and I think it's a good program as long as your needs are basic. But Kristal definitely has more 'pro' features."

Rinchen Tsepal takes a different view: "Audacity can support VST plugins but this support is not "built-in" because the code is not 100% open source and must be kept separate for licensing reasons. The "VST Enabler" is available for download from the Audacity website, and is available for Windows, Mac OS-X and for Linux (as a LADSPA bridge apparently). They do claim that support is limited for the time being - but also that full support is coming. Additionally real-time monitoring can be enabled through preferences - although it's not selected by default."

Kristal is based on a 32-bit floating point audio engine that can handle sample rates of 44 to 192 kHz with word sizes of 16, 24 or 32 bit. It comes with a three band parametric EQ and supports WAVE, AIFF, FLAC, OGG Vorbis file formats. It can only handle a maximum of 16 audio tracks, though the web site mentions an upcoming version 2 that will handle more tracks as well as support for MIDI, virtual instruments, and a wider range of VST plugins. Like all media editing programs, Kristal requires a modern fast PC. Don't even think about using it with a sub 1Ghz machine.

Code:

[1] http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ Free Open Source, Windows 98 and later (plus MAC and Linux), 2.4 MB [2] http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/ Free for personal use, Win 98/ME with IE6, Win2K, XP, 3.51MB.