What’s This About?

Starter is a portable program that will list all your startup programs, running processes and windows services in a simple and well laid out tabbed window. It allows startup programs to be disabled/enabled as well as editing and adding new programs to startup on system boot. All Windows Services are also shown and these can also be edited or details shown. Finally, you can also manage all running processes in a similar way to the Windows Taskmanager. The program is simple and the user interface is well thought out for simplicity combined with good features. As a bonus you also get real-time information on CPU (by core and total) and memory usage in the statusbar area.

Why Would You Want It?

Many Windows systems end up with a lot of programs added into the registry or Startup folder so that they are automatically run when the system ids first started (at system boot).  While this can be immensely useful and save time it can also slow down the boot process and the overall performance of the computer if too many programs and services are running. Often these programs are automatically added to be started by the installer (another good reason to use a portable program suite!). Quite often the program or service is really unnecessary for the day to day use of the compute and is just draining resources and slowing down everything else. Windows provides the msconfig utility to view and mange startup programs and you can also view or manage services through the Computer Management console. However, Startup provides a single, well thought out and easy to use utility to manage both of these as well as running processes.

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Identifies Startup programs in registry, startup folder and system ini files (win.ini, etc)
• Allows startup programs to be:
• disabled
• enabled
• edited
• Shows details of programs in Tooltip or separate window
• Identifies all Windows services
• Allows services to be edited
• Shows details of services in Tooltip or separate window
• Identifies all running processes
• Gives details of processes in main GUI (similar to Taskmanager)
• Allows process priorities to be changed
• Gives details of processes in separate window

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 85% [?]

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CyberShredder is another very small portable application which is designed to remove all traces of old file data from your hard disks. It does not touch any existing files or the files in the recycle bin. This is very useful to ensure that files that have not been securely deleted cannot be recovered.

Why Would You Want It?

As noted under the previous post Privacy – Use CyberShredder to Securely Delete Files & Folders :-

When Windows deletes files from your hard disk using the standard delete or cut/paste methods it does not erase all the file details, just the index entry. So the file is still there you just can’t see it. There are plenty of free, portable programs available to recover such files ( see Recuva - Easy and Quick Way to Recover Deleted Photos and Files). Over time the “deleted” file may be overwritten by new files but this could be slow and is a random process. If you need to make sure personal details or other sensitive information is erased, for instance if you want to sell a hard drive or your old computer, then you need a program like CyberShredder.

Disk Redactor provides the complimentary piece of software to CyberShredder by “wiping” the areas of the disk that may contain information from files not deleted by a secure method.

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Overwrites unused disk space
• Securely erase single or multiple folders
• Uses different methods depending on level of security

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 84% [?]

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CyberShredder is a very small portable application whose only purpose is to delete files and folders on your hard disk and remove all traces of the file. It does this by overwriting the file with other characters and changing the file entries in the system file  index.

Why Would You Want It?

When Windows deletes files from your hard disk using the standard delete or cut/paste methods it does not erase all the file details, just the index entry. So the file is still there you just can’t see it. There are plenty of free, portable programs available to recover such files ( see Recuva - Easy and Quick Way to Recover Deleted Photos and Files). Over time the “deleted” file may be overwritten by new files but this could be slow and is a random process. If you need to make sure personal details or other sensitive information is erased, for instance if you want to sell a hardrive or your old computer, then you need a program like CyberShredder.  However see the “Cons” and “What Could Make it Better” sections below.

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Securely erases single or multiple files
• Securely erase single or multiple folders
• Uses different methods depending on level of security

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 78% [?]

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ClipGuru is a semi Portable Application which monitors the clipboard and stores the information it finds there as text or images. This type of application is generally referred to as a “clipboard extender”. It stores this information in a database which provides a history of stored clips that can be reused. It has a variety of useful options for both storing and recalling the stored information

Why Would You Want It?

ClipGuru is a small, portable and light on resources. It allows you to store text clips or images (copied on there own without any text).So if you need to store text on it’s own, or images on their own, with the option to save different sets and paste multiple selections this could be very useful.

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Monitors the Clipboard for text or Images
• Stores information in a simple database
• Multiple storage sets
• Clip text searching
• Combine clips
• Combined pasting
• Manage clips

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 90% [?]

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DisplayFusion (Portable Freeware version*) provides the ability to move and resize windows between monitors in a multi-monitor setup. It also allows you to set wallpaper and backgrounds from photos on your computer or from Flickr. It is a great alternative to the shareware “Ultramon” program.

* There is a shareware upgrade to a Pro version however the Free version does everything that I need.

Why Would You Want It?

If you use a multi-monitor setup (and for a serious computer user the only reasons I think you shouldn’t is lack of money or space) then moving windows, particularly maximized windows between the monitors is something you wan to easily do. The ability of DisplayFusion to move a maximized window from one monitor to another by dragging and dropping makes it worth installing for just this one feature. The addition of hotkey window operations and wallpaper/background management are just an incredible bonus

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Drag Maximized Windows between monitors/screens
• Move, Size and Maximize Windows with Hotkeys
• Set Separate Images as Screen Background/Wallpaper
• Auto Snap Windows to Monitor edges

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 97% [?]

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Flexible Renamer is a portable program that will rename files and folders, change file attributes including dates, change tags for different file groups (music, photos, docs, etc.) It has very powerful rules and methods combined with a wide range of options, defined presets and methods as well as both simple and advanced ways of working.

Why Would You Want It?

The need to rename batches of files in collections of photos, music tracks, documents, archives, websites, etc. can be met by many programs. However, Flexible Renamer offers this and more in a small portable program which includes comprehensive renaming rules, changing dates, changing attributes, changing tag information for most common tagged files and the ability to create batches of prenamed files. Sometimes you just want to add something to a file name, for instance you may want to add a place and date to the name of all the photos you took on holiday. You might want to add  something to a batch of documents that all relate to the same project. As you can use the file date for sorting in many file explorer programs you may want to change dates as a method of indicating that older dated files are part of a “most recent” set on a particular subject. This, combined with the ability to also change the folder names and tag information makes Flexible Renamer very powerful

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Renames Files and Folders
• Provides comprehensive rules and rename methods
• Changes Attributes including dates
• Changes File Tag information for common tagged file types
  such as photos, music, documents, etc.
• Adds Shell Extensions for Context Menus (Optional)

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 100% [?]

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PicPick is a portable freeware screen capture program and a drawing program combined with some other useful drawing tools including a screen ruler, color picker on screen drawing and screen protractor. The capture and drawing utilities are very much like Faststone Capture which is no longer freeware.

I first saw this on winAddons.com a couple of days ago, since when it has “been doing the rounds” on many of the tech blogs. So read on if you are interested in some more detail and screenshots on the full potential of this great little portable program. The version reviewed here is PicPick 1.8

Why Would You Want It?

PicPick provides several tools in one small portable package, all integrated into a single main Manager window(GUI) and also accessible from the system tray menu.

The main functions can all be used independently of each other so you could still use it as a drawing and picture or photo annotation tool even if you don’t need screen capture. Of course you might just want it as a free, portable and very versatile screen capture tool. The fact that extra tools are included is a real bonus

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Captures Screen
  • Full Screen
  • Active Window
  • Window Control
  • Region
  • Fixed Region
  • Freehand
  • Repeat Last Capture
  • Autoscroll (for pages longer than the on screen window)
• Drawing Program/Image Editor with
  • Standard shapes, arrows, lines, etc.
  • Blur, opacity, hue, contrast, brightness, pixelate, etc.
  • Rotate, Flip, etc. (Whole or selected part of picture)
• On Screen Drawing Tools (Whiteboard)
• Color Picker
• Color Palette
• Screen Crosshair
• Screen Protractor

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware
• Portable

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Popularity: 63% [?]

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Winsock XP Fix is a tiny utility whose only purpose is to simply repair Winsock and TCP/IP errors from errors or corruption of the registry, etc. It also makes use of the Freeware ERDNT Registry Backup Program so that you can make a backup copy of the registry before changes are made.

Why Would You Want It?

Sometimes things just get messed up for no obvious reason, there are many reasons corruption of files and settings can occur. It may be a power failure or spike, a hardware malfunction or the action of some malware,virus or spyware. Maybe TCP/IP and Winsock settings are changed by mistake on the users part or installation/removal of software causes a problem. Firewall software may change settings or some sort of utility that needs proxy settings to work. The removal of Adware is a very common cause of these sort of problems. Whatever the cause it can be very difficult and time consuming to try and manually sort out the registry settings.

Winsock XP Fix provides a very simple and easy to use solution to the problem. It provides the means to backup the registry although, personally, I would prefer to create a Restore Point in Windows before applying.

So if you have Internet or Local Area Network Connection problems WinSock XP Fix is well worth a try

but create a Restore Point or backup your registry first

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Repairs Winsock and TCP/IP Registry Settings
• Provides Registry Backup Facilities
• Gives Access to System Information Dialogs

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 46% [?]

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FileTypesMan is a superior replacement for the standard Windows File Types dialog*. It allows you to quickly find the file type you are looking for, add new, edit existing, add or change actions, etc. in a simple but comprehensive way.

* To access File Types open Windows Explorer then go Tools-Folder Options from the menu and select the File Types tab

Why Would You Want It?

Perhaps files aren’t opening with the program you expect when double clicked in Windows Explorer and you need to find out why or change it back. Perhaps you want to just know what a particular file extension does, particularly if you are concerned about viruses, spyware or malware. Perhaps you need to change the program that a file type opens with. For example you may have a favorite freeware text editor that you wish top associate with .txt files or other text type files such as log and ini files. You may wish to add additional actions which appear under the context menu when the file is right clicked in explorer often you will see with document type files options such as Open, Print, New at the top of the context menu. These are all actions set in file types. More advanced users will also be able to add or change DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) information.

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Displays all File Type Associations
• Easy Sorting by multiple columns
• Add/Edit File Associations
• Add/Edit Actions for File Associations
•  

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 32% [?]

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ShellExView provides a detailed list of the shell extensions (in-process COM objects) that are used to display items in the Context Menu of Windows Explorer. These can then be individually disabled or enabled allowing you to have only those Context Menu Items that you really need.

Combined with a utility such as CMenuExtender which was reviewed here:

Create Your Own Explorer Context Menus with CMenuExtender

You can control your context menus to display only what you need and create commands to do what you want

Why Would You Want It?

MS Windows provides many shell extensions as part of the OS. Also lots of programs add their own commands to the Explore context menu, Internet Explorer, etc. when they are installed to help with using the program. This makes the right click context menu in the system applications very useful for carrying out all sorts of operations and commands, however they can become cluttered with commands you never need or use. This can make it difficult to find what you want. With ShellExView you an disable the menus you don’t need. ShellExView does not remove the shell extensions it just disables them so that you can always enable anything you need to get back. This also means that you can experiment using ShellExView to see whether you are making the right choice without any fear or permanently loosing any functions.

What Does It Do - The Essentials?

Summary:

• Lists all Shell Extension Objects on the PC
• Allows Enabling or Disabling of the Extensions
• Allows Details to be Copied to text or HTML files
• Opens Windows Registry at the Selected Object Entry
• Marks “Suspicious” Extensions
• Column Sorting of Display
• Highlight & Sort on Enabled/Disable Items

For more details about Shell Extensions and what they do go to ShellExView

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 25% [?]

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