Work smarter, freely
To wives and sweethearts. May they never meet! quips Captain Jack Aubrey in that entralling film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Yet on tech side of the world, far removed from wives and sweethearts, it’s time we became masters and commanders of our PCs with the itsy bitsy freeware that Windows lacks. There are thousands of free downloadable programmes and online web tools can help PC users work faster, more efficiently and more effectively on an everyday basis. Here’s a look at some of them.
A clipboard on steroids
Now the Windows clipboard that stores whatever you Ctrl-C (copy) before you Ctrl-V (paste) is hopelessly inadequate. Clipboard Help+Spell (http://is.gd/e9Nlo) is like a clipboard on steroids. It can not only keep every entry you copy, but you can also modify, view, search and sort through the available list. You can filter entries by text, date of modification or last view. And you can treat it like a mini notepad to edit and organise your quick notes — in different folders too — without exiting the programme. To top this, a built-in spellcheck ensures that typos are contained.
Smart drives
If you have a number of drives on your PC and need to access them regularly, there could hardly be a better free application than Drive Manager (http://is.gd/e9NpD). Unlike Windows where you need to wade through menus to get to various drives, DM lets you to view all active drives simultaneously. This includes network drives, USB sticks, and folders mapped as drives. It also displays details (like label, type, disk properties, size, used/free space, NTFS/FAT/ FAT32 formats etc.) at a glance. If you have a SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) drive, you can check drive models, serial numbers and temperatures, etc.
Cure the access denied malady
“Cannot delete Folder: It is being used by another person or programme. Close any programmes that might be using the file and try again.” Or “Cannot delete file: Access is denied” are error message that most of us have witness at some point or the other in our life and times with a Windows PC. You can fix it if you have Unlocker (http://is.gd/-e9RpQ) installed. This utility is triggered via your right-click context menu to perform a number of tasks. Similarly, you can also try out OpenFiles View (http://is.gd/e9SFw) to cure this “access denied” malady.
Enhance the system
Lastly, if you’re still sticking to Windows Vista, you should be getting this 350KB download called Ultimate Windows Tweaker (http://is.gd/e9UGl) that doesn’t even need to be installed. Run the executable file and you can avail of over 150 Vista tune-ups, shortcuts and settings that serve to improve and enhance the operating system. Ranging from Personalisation to Security, Network to System Performance and more, the utility encompasses almost all areas and works well. Best of all, using UWT means you don’t have to tamper with your PC’s delicate Registry setting. Please note, however, absolute newbies should look before they leap.
The writer is a part-time publishing consultant and a full-time devotee of all things tech. He can be contacted at ashishone@gmail.com
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