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The Tech-pert: Free Software - 4 Windows Utilities You Need Now
By Rick.BroidaGuest Blogger(view all posts by Rick.Broida)
at 7:56AM Thursday May 26, 2011
under
Stuff We Like
As a general rule, I try to install as little software as possible. The more apps I force down Windows' throat, the slower my system will run, and the greater the potential for problems. (What, me cynical?)
That said, over the years I've amassed a handful of small tools I consider essential to the computing experience. Below I've shared four of my favorites, all of them free, all of them designed to solve a particular problem. You can thank me in the comments.
BatteryBar
You'd think that by now Windows would provide laptop users with a more useful battery gauge. But that System Tray meter has barely changed over the years. Enter BatteryBar, a free, easy, and so-smart-it-should-be-built-in power gauge that's compatible with XP, Vista and Windows 7.
The program adds a full-time, at-a-glance gauge to the right side of the taskbar, which by itself is handy. Mouse over the gauge, however, and you get a wealth of additional information, including total battery capacity, charge/discharge rate, AC status, and even a lifetime estimate based on historical charge/discharge data.
Bottom line: If you own a laptop, you should have BatteryBar.
Soluto
Does your PC take a week to boot up? Are you constantly hearing "My computer is slow!" complaints from friends, family members, and your own mouth?
Before you spend all kinds of money on a new computer, try installing Soluto. This ingenious free utility makes PCs boot faster. I'm running it myself on my desktop and laptop, and it has greatly improved the boot times on both.
What's more, the latest version of the program can "lighten" your Web browser by finding and removing unwanted, unnecessary toolbars and add-ons, and help you "heal" application crashes (unlike Microsoft's lame "Send Error Report") by diagnosing the actual causes of them. Great stuff.
SUPERAntiSpyware Portable
SUPERAntiSpyware sounds like one of those bogus programs that hackers use in those fake virus-alert pop-ups. In reality it's one of the best malware killers around, often ridding systems of infections that other programs can't heal.
All you need is a SUPERAntiSpyware Portable and a USB flash drive. (Newegg has a 4GB Wintec drive for just $6.99, plus a buck for shipping.) Just copy the program to the drive (there's nothing to install), then hope you never need it. If you do (i.e. your PC gets infected), plug the drive in and run the software. It'll immediately scan your system and, most likely, send the spyware packing.
Definitely a must-have too.
WizMouse
Yo, Microsoft! How come after all these years, my mouse wheel still doesn't work wherever I point my cursor? Instead, a Windows window must have "focus" (meaning I've clicked somewhere inside it to make it the selected window) for the mouse wheel to function. That's insane! Fortunately, there's WizMouse, which enables the scroll wheel to work in whatever window is under your cursor, plain and simple. It's free, it works, and it makes your Windows world a lot more pleasant.
That said, over the years I've amassed a handful of small tools I consider essential to the computing experience. Below I've shared four of my favorites, all of them free, all of them designed to solve a particular problem. You can thank me in the comments.
You'd think that by now Windows would provide laptop users with a more useful battery gauge. But that System Tray meter has barely changed over the years. Enter BatteryBar, a free, easy, and so-smart-it-should-be-built-in power gauge that's compatible with XP, Vista and Windows 7.
The program adds a full-time, at-a-glance gauge to the right side of the taskbar, which by itself is handy. Mouse over the gauge, however, and you get a wealth of additional information, including total battery capacity, charge/discharge rate, AC status, and even a lifetime estimate based on historical charge/discharge data.
Bottom line: If you own a laptop, you should have BatteryBar.
Does your PC take a week to boot up? Are you constantly hearing "My computer is slow!" complaints from friends, family members, and your own mouth?
Before you spend all kinds of money on a new computer, try installing Soluto. This ingenious free utility makes PCs boot faster. I'm running it myself on my desktop and laptop, and it has greatly improved the boot times on both.
What's more, the latest version of the program can "lighten" your Web browser by finding and removing unwanted, unnecessary toolbars and add-ons, and help you "heal" application crashes (unlike Microsoft's lame "Send Error Report") by diagnosing the actual causes of them. Great stuff.
SUPERAntiSpyware sounds like one of those bogus programs that hackers use in those fake virus-alert pop-ups. In reality it's one of the best malware killers around, often ridding systems of infections that other programs can't heal.
All you need is a SUPERAntiSpyware Portable and a USB flash drive. (Newegg has a 4GB Wintec drive for just $6.99, plus a buck for shipping.) Just copy the program to the drive (there's nothing to install), then hope you never need it. If you do (i.e. your PC gets infected), plug the drive in and run the software. It'll immediately scan your system and, most likely, send the spyware packing.
Definitely a must-have too.
WizMouse
Yo, Microsoft! How come after all these years, my mouse wheel still doesn't work wherever I point my cursor? Instead, a Windows window must have "focus" (meaning I've clicked somewhere inside it to make it the selected window) for the mouse wheel to function. That's insane! Fortunately, there's WizMouse, which enables the scroll wheel to work in whatever window is under your cursor, plain and simple. It's free, it works, and it makes your Windows world a lot more pleasant.
Self-proclaimed cheapskate Rick Broida has been a technology writer for over 20 years. He has authored over a dozen books, including, most recently, "How to Do Everything: Palm Pre." Currently he writes the Cheapskate blog.
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