What’s This About?

MMM Free is a utility that runs in the background that automatically alters the Explorer context menu to a configuration that you can choose. MMM Free is a cut down version of a shareware product but it does a very good job of moving items that you use infrequently to a “Rarely Used” Submenu. It is a good alternative to using ShellExView which was reviewed earlier. Control Your Context Menu Items with ShellExView

Why Would You Want It?

When ShellExView was reviewed I said:

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.

MMM Free allows you to still have all the context menu items available but in a sub menu to the single line “Rarely Used” in the context menu rather than switching them off permanently (or until you enable them again using the ShellExView program). So MMM Free gives you the option of always having all the context menu items but in a more user friendly and manageable arrangement.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Wakes up your computer from Standby or Hibernation
•  

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 28% [?]

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What’s This About?

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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What’s This All About?

Windows Seizer is a quick and easy to use portable application that lists all the program Windows that exist on the system including hidden and “no caption” ones.  Not only does it list the windows but it allows them to be closed individually or in groups, off screen (lost) windows to be moved on screen and processes to be killed. It also provides details of the windows size and class as well as some process details like a task manager

Why Do You Want It?

I wrote the other day in Recover Hidden & Off-screen Windows with this Simple Tip and Freeware Program ForceWindowVisible –

Sometimes Windows just disappear off of your computer monitor. There are several reasons why this may occur:

• Changing Screen Resolution
• Using a Single Monitor after using a Dual Monitor Display
• Corruption of Registry or “ini” file data
• Programming Errors
• Program Conflicts

When this happens you need a simple and reliable method to get them back onto your screen.

Windows Seizer not only does this in a quick, easy and intuitive way, it also provides some very useful additional functions as detailed below.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Displays a list of all current windows
• Displays or hides the window
• Moves the window to the top left of the monitor
• Closes Groups of Windows
• Shows the Desktop
• Kill Processes

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 18% [?]

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What’s This All About?

A simple way to find hidden and off-screen windows using a tiny freeware program and a quick way to move “visible” windows back on screen.

Why Do You Need to Know?

Sometimes Windows just disappear off of your computer monitor. There are several reasons why this may occur:

• Changing Screen Resolution
• Using a Single Monitor after using a Dual Monitor Display
• Corruption of Registry or “ini” file data
• Programming Errors
• Program Conflicts

When this happens you need a simple and reliable method to get them back onto your screen.

Using Windows Standard Move Function

Sometimes you will see the “lost” window in the Taskbar and right clicking will allow you to carry out the normal windows functions. What has happened is that the coordinates the system has for the window (for whatever reason) make the system think the window should be displayed somewhere off of your actual monitor screen.

This standard Move function tip is available from many sites offering advice, hints and tips – this is what you need to do:

Right Clicking on the Taskbar Icon

This displays the standard windows controls and in this instance we are interested in Move

Click on Move and the move cursor will be displayed in the middle of the title bar for the window (although obviously you can’t see it on an offscreen window).

The important thing now is to press one of the cursor (up/down/right/left arrow) keys on the keyboard to attach the window to the mouse. If you don’t do this you can move the Move cursor onto the visible screen and click with the mouse but nothing happens (Why? It would have been simple and obvious for MS to have programmed it to work this way )

When you click on any one of the arrow keys it attaches the Window to the mouse cursor and you can drag it back to the visible area. Of course if you don’t know where it is and it is a long way off your actual screen this can be a bit of a hit and miss process.

Actually when you hit the arrow key it also moves the window in the direction of the arrow so you can use the arrows to get the window back but this can be even more long winded and frustrating if you don’t know where the window is in relation to your screen.

What is clear is that this solution works but can be difficult when you don’t know where the window is. Also if the window is “hidden” it will not show in the taskbar so you can’t use the above method,  so what is a better solution?

Useing ForceWindowsVisible

This is a very simple, very small portable executable file which will list all the windows currently created on your PC by the operating systema nd the programs you are running.

However a word of caution. Windows and the programs you run may create many “hidden” windows that you are never meant to see. Take care if you display these windows, which may not have any visible information, as closing them may cause problems or crashes of programs and the system.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Displays a list of all current windows
• Displays or hides the window
• Moves the window to the top left of the monitor
• Resizes the window to fit on the screen

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 34% [?]

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What Are They?

The Freecom ToughDrive 2.5″ is a mobile 2.5″ hard drive from Freecom with Anti-Shock mechanism contained in a durable, soft silicon cover. It has an integral USB 2.0 cable and plug and is USB 2.0, buspowered so you don’t need an additional power supply. It works with Win & Mac as well as other digital products with a suitable USB interface.

Why Would You Want One?

I could have written something here but the Freecom site has some text that I think covers what I would say anyway:

The toughest drive there is!
In today’s world mobility has become a key factor. People who are on the road carry their whole office with them. Notebook, mobile phone, PDA, external hard drive… Imagine what can happen when you’re late for a flight, running to the gate, and your external hard drive accidentally falls from your notebook case or out of your jacket pocket onto the floor… it breaks. Hundreds of hours of work, gigabytes of spreadsheets, documents, photo’s… all gone. Not anymore! Freecom introduces the ToughDrive. The ideal external storage solution for people on the move. Fitted with an internal anti-shock frame and a unique soft silicon cover, it can withstand bumps and drops so your drive is still fully functional after it has dropped. The ToughDrive ensures you can still access your valuable files.

What Are The Essentials?

Specification:

Product Short Spec – 250GB:
Compatibility: PC, Mac
Hard drive size: 250 GB
Interface type: Hi-Speed USB
Form factor: 2.5″
Buffer size: 8 MB
Average seek time: 12 ms
Spindle speed: 5400 rpm

View datasheet (PDF)

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Durable, soft silicon cover
• Internal anti-shock mechanism – Withstand falling from 2 meters
• Integrated USB 2.0 cable
• Buspowered
• High quality, slimline design
• Fanless design thus no noise
• Including award-winning NTI Shadow backup software for PC and Mac,automatically & continuously protects your photo, music, video and other data files
• 2 years warranty

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Short integrated USB cable

(An extension is provided but it is one more thing to have to carry around)

Why Do I Use Them and

What is the ProReviewer Experience?

I have used 3 different Toughdrives over the past 2 years. an 80GB, a 160GB and my most recent purchase a 250GB. I bought the first one because I needed some lightweight portable storage as my Laptop only had a 30GB internal drive. I wanted something I could take on overseas trips and holidays with confidence that it was unlikely to fail due to being bumped about in the laptop bag or rucksack. The later purchases were to be able to carry more data and take some multimedia files for entertainment on my travels. The first drives also came with Acronis Backup software which is excellent. The latest drives come with NTI Shadow backup software which I haven’t tried.

The first two drives (80GB & 160GB) were called ToughDrive Pro but Freecom have now used this for a newer model which has both USB and FireWire connections. However you will see that both reviews in the “Useful Links” section below refer to the original model and describe them as the ToughDrive Pro so watch out for this inconsistency if you intend to purchase and don’t need the extra FireWire connection.

I have not been disappointed. Not a single problem with any of them which is more than I can say for 2 other drives I have used from other manufacturers. Acknowledging just 3 drives is a small sample to comment on overall reliability I have been very pleased with them and would recommend them to anyone. While a little more expensive the extra security and confidence you can get to your data when you need it is well worth it. The soft cases have not scuffed or marked with use despite being regularly carried in the front pocket of a rucksack with several items. Needless to say I keep a full copy of all my portable applications on all of them

Useful Links

Freecom

250 GB Drive – More info

View datasheet

PC Pro Review – Freecom ToughDrive Pro

Amazon.com – Freecom ToughDrive Pro – Hard drive – 250 GB

ZDNet Freecom ToughDrive Pro hard drive – 250 GB – Hi-Speed USB … (see Spec Tab)

What Other Posts are Relevant?

TIP – Format a USB Flash Drive for Speed or File Size – What’s Best and How to Overcome Some Problems

Data Rescue Tip – Use MS Utilities to Repair Outlook Files

Backup – Identify Where the Data Is – Find the Location of Your Information on a Windows Based PC?

Why You Want to Use Portable Freeware Applications

Why I decided to Write This Blog

What are the Tags?

Popularity: 17% [?]

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What Is It?

A utility that monitors the files accessed by any specified process or program. For the selected process it provides the filename and extension, last handle, last error, Opening module and address, the number of times that the file was opened and closed, number of read/write calls, total number of read/write bytes, the dll that made the last open-file call.

Why Would You Want It?

Ever wondered why a particular process is reading or writing to files so often or wondered what all the disk activity is about. Using Windows Task Manager and selecting the Read, Write and Other columns will show the overall activity but not which files or where they are located. This utility allows you to find out this information quickly and easily.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Provides details of files accessed by a selected process

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 14% [?]

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What Is It?

A POP3 and IMAP4 email viewer and manager. It will allow you to review emails on your email servers for multiple accounts in a tabbed interface. You can then choose to view the full text (but not HTML*) or delete the emails without full download.

*You can view the text portion of the HTML code.

Why Would You Want It?

To check, monitor and delete emails on your email account servers without having to download the complete email or using your email client. This can reduce the load on your Internet connection which can be useful if you are on a capped package or having to use a limited connection, particularly when travelling.

Why Do I Use It?

I use it mainly for quickly monitoring emails when I am away from home. The fact that I can carry it on a USB stick or removable drive or transfer it to another PC/Laptop makes it very useful to me. As removal of SPAM by ISP’s and the major web based mail providers is so good I don’t bother with defining rules, I simply delete manually anything that gets through.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Provides access to email on servers
• Allows email text to be viewed
• Allows emails to be deleted on the servers

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 21% [?]

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What Is It?

Zonesize is a simple utility whose sole purpose is to predefine window sizing templates on your monitor. These zones can be defined by pixel position or as a percentage of the screen size and they can overlap which is what makes the utility really useful. You simply drag the window over the zone and it automatically resizes to fit. It is one of the many “1 Hour Software” utilities from Skrommel at DonationCoder.

Why Would You Want It?

There are often times when you need to have 2 or more windows displayed on the same screen where you are using both programs at once. For instance you may be viewing a browser window while writing to another document. In these situations you may also want to drag and drop text or graphics from one window to the other. Zonesize allows you to have a predefined set of window sizes or zones to suit your working pattern

How Do You Use it?

Having defined the zones you wish to use you simply drag the window over the zone and allow it to resize automatically within a predefined time (user definable). You can drag the window from one zone to another to suit your required working arrangements.

Why Do I Want It?

I generally manage quite well with a 2 monitor “multi-monitor setup but there are times when I need access to more windows. Zonesize not only allows me to predefine some windows sizes for my working area across both monitors, it also allows for overlapping zones and zones within zones as you will see later. The benefits of overlapping zones, as is demonstrated in the example below, is the ability to quickly make windows active by clicking on the non-overlapped areas. Using a utility to keep windows “always on top” such as DeskPins – Help to Stop Other Windows Stealing Focus further enhances the use of Zonesize so that you can keep a smaller windows always on top within another larger window.

Note: In carrying out this review I have also come across:

Auto Window Manager from Eusing Software

Gridmove from JGPaiva at DonationCoder

which may be even better,I will check them out shortly.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Resizes Windows to predefined “Zone” sizes by dragging

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

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Popularity: 21% [?]

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A ProReviewer Mini-me Review

What Is It?

Laptop Alarm is a simple application that emits a loud sound when certain actions are taken with an unattended laptop.

Why Would You Want It?

Are you concerned about the security of your laptop? Laptop Alarm provides a useful way of deterring casual theft or interference and snooping by co-workers, fellow students etc. when you leave your laptop or PC unattended. However it is easily and quickly turned off and should be considered only as a simple deterrent and not a solution to such problems.

However there are also some other simple steps that you can take to prevent such things.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Emits a very loud sound when:

• The mouse is moved
• The mouse is removed
• The power supply is removed
• Shutdown/Suspend
• Requires a password to deactivate*

*See Cons below

Pros: What’s Good?

• Freeware

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Popularity: 23% [?]

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What Is It?

A simple and very versatile program to encrypt and decrypt text or files (less than 10mb in size).

Why Would You Want It?

To quickly and simply encrypt some text within a text file, word document etc. or to encrypt a small(ish) file.

Finding this utility started the other day, I needed to quickly encrypt a small amount of text. Full file encryption and attaching to an email seemed like a lot of work so I thought it would be useful just to encrypt the text. I then thought that quite often I send files to other people where we are developing the text but I don’t want some of them them to see all of it. So rather than cut out the text and send this to some of the group and then send a different file to others with all of the text, then have to get back different files and cut/paste the text into a master file, it would be better if I could just encrypt the sensitive information and send one file to everyone along with the password to reveal the hidden text to those who need to see it. This set me off on a mission to see if there was a suitable utility available. So I “Googled” using some of my essential keywords at the start of such a search which include “Freeware” and “Portable” – CliipSecure came up in the results so I downloaded it and tried it out. I was delighted with what I found .

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Encrypts/Decrypts Text
• Encrypts/Decrypts Files (smallish)

So that is a pretty short list but the way it does it and the options available are what makes it so impressive.

Pros: What’s Good?

• Freeware

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Popularity: 27% [?]

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