Useful Tools and Files

Useful Tools and Files

Often we locate tools and files that we feel would be useful to customers and visitors to our site. As we test these various tools and review the files, we will make them available here along with the relevant documentation for their installation and use.

Under certain circumstances we may post a brief description here along with a link to the URL rather than re-posting what has already been written. If we feel the information posted at the URL we refer you to is inadequate, we may make the clarifications here and post only the URL for the actual files. To read more about a particular item or to perform a download, from the link shown in blue.

Please review our disclaimer as it applies to files and downloads developed by or furnished by third parties. Disclaimer

	Disk and System Tools and Boot Managers
	Boot Disks: MS-DOS 6.22, Windows 9x, Windows ME, Windows NT and Windows 2000
	Is your PC Windows 2000 compatible? Have you checked the Hardware Compatibility List?
	You can’t remove that NTFS partition with Fdisk, but you can with DELPART
	Need to completely and thoroughly erase a hard drive for total security, try Dataeraser.
	Drive Image® Pro™ 4.0 is a powerful hard disk cloning tools for fast, flawless system deployment.
	The LegendOS Boot Manager v.92 is a neat, efficient little program for handling multiple boot situations between operating systems with very little muss or fuss. Not necessarily for the first-timer, as you have to pay close attention to the documentation and read it completely, but it is quick, efficient and free.
	MBRWork v.1.03 – Sometimes the Master Boot Record in Windows 9x will become damaged, rendering the computer unbootable. Sometimes this can be fixed by booting to the Windows 9x Startup Boot Disk and typing FDISK /MBR, but sometimes this will not work. There is a tool to help out, MBRWork version 1.03. This utility enables you to work with the MBR and EMBR, and allows you to perform both common and uncommon tasks with the MBR/EMBR of a hard drive.
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	Hardware Related Tools
	CPUCool v.6.09 Optimization of the CPU registers for Intel, AMD and Cyrix CPU’s for Windows 9x. Displays the motherboard temperatures, fans and voltages. It works with all chipset from Intel, ALI, VIA, AMD, and SIS 5595 motherboards.
	Need to readout the values programmed in the E2PROM of the SDRAM’s? This is the one and only program to read out the contents of E2PROM’s, and it does it with more than one chipset! You can see whether your SDRAM is PC100 compliant or not. You can see every timing parameter programmed into the E2PROM. In the shareware version you can only see the checksum.
	IDE/ATA Drive Diagnostics – Sometimes we need just a simple, yet small, application to test a hard drive, run some simple diagnostics, do a low-level scan or just verify drive letter assignments.
	MouseTool – We are always searching for application software that makes using computers easier and more effective. In recent years part of our search has been to focus on making computers more accessible to people with disabilities. When we learned about Jeff Roush and his development of MouseTool, we were elated that someone had finally developed some peripheral related software that makes using a mouse device easier. MouseTool is software that clicks the mouse buttons, so you don’t have to!
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	Security Related Tools
	FPORT v.1.33 – System intruders usually depend on vulnerable TCP/UDP ports being available for them to target, which means the more ports open, the greater the risk. Lock them down with FPort
	Snadboy Revelation  v2.0 W9x/NT/2K Free – This tool just might save you a heap of trouble some day. It’s a simple, one-function utility, but is free and easy to use. It enables you to retrieve long-forgotten passwords that Windows presents as a mysterious row of asterisks.
	LPS – Local Port Scanner V.1.0 – Is your computer a gracious host on the Internet? Have you left yourself wide open to an outsider hacking your computer? Just how wide open is your computer? Would you like to know? With the Local Port Scanner you’re able to check your computer for any open ports through which a malicious hacker or just some nosy busy-body could be accessing your PC. LPS is pre-programmed with most the commonly used hacker and Trojan port access information. There are 5 different scan modes which provide useful information on ports used, and all files are customizable for future security.
	RegistryProt – We often sit an wonder whether our computers have become infected by a Trojan or Worm, but we really never know when it happens. Now we can be alerted when an infection occurs. This app is a small, well written application that monitors your Windows registry just waiting for some insidious Trojan program to infect your computer and change the registry. This program is a 100% free, standalone, compact, low-level real time registry monitor and protector, that adds another dimension to Windows security and intrusion detection.
	Trojans and Worms, a new threat to your computer – Everyone knows where to purchase anti-virus programs, but what do you do about Trojans and Worms? What safeguards can be taken? Are there any preventative measures? The answer is Yes, Yes and Yes. Diamond Computer Systems PTY. LTD has assembled a neat and effect Anti-Trojan suite called TDS-3.
	Active Ports is an easy to use tool for Windows NT/2000/XP that enables you to monitor all open TCP/IP and UDP ports on the local computer. Active Ports maps ports to the owning application so you can watch which process has opened which port. It also displays a local and remote IP address for each connection and allows you to close any port. Active Ports can help you to detect trojans and other malicious programs.
A	Operating System Related Tools
	Wintop Kernel Toy: Wintop is one of the Microsoft Kernel Toys, and when it is installed and used correctly, it displays information on all of the devices that are running in the Windows environment, such as their CPU usage, threads etcetera.
	Tweak UI (all 3 versions) There are differences between the versions of Tweak UI! It wasn’t until we decided to do our own research regarding these differences that we discovered that Tweak UI 1.1 will work on Windows NT, while the later Windows 95 version will not, and in fact may do some damage. Of course our standard disclaimer applies here, in that Microsoft doesn’t support any of the power tools, nor do we. You are downloading and using them at your own risk!
	Tweak UI for Windows NT (and Windows 95)
	Tweak UI for Windows 98 Only!
	Tweak UI (Latest Release V.1.33) For Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98 or Windows 95.
	Windows Configurator – We are always looking for ways to manipulate and control Windows 95, 98 and ME without being a Windows guru. For the uninitiated, this is easier than Tweak UI. Windows Configurator is a registry tweaking program that lets you change different settings in the Windows 95/98/Me system, and it’s freeware!
	AutoIt v.2.51 is a simple tool that can simulate key presses, mouse movements and window commands (maximize, minimize, wait for, etc.) in order to automate any windows based task (or even windowed DOS tasks). AutoIt was designed to assist in automatically installing software that cannot be automatically installed by other means.
	ScanSys v1.1.116 – This is a handy tool to keep tabs on system file changes brought on by software installations. It doesn’t offer any safeguards or backups, but it can help you to track system file problems back to their source.
	TrayKiller is a simple application that resides in the system tray, and by double-clicking the icon you toggle between two states, an On state and an Off state for any given running application. When switching into the On state, it launches a set of programs you specify. When switching into the Off state, it searches for and terminates a set of running processes you specify.
	OptOut – Ever wonder what information some of these less the scrupulous Internet companies are collecting about you from your computer? Here’s your chance to find out.
	Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) Logon Program – Have you ever wanted to exert more control over how users operate your Windows 95 and Windows 98 computers? Have you ever wanted to make it perfectly clear to anyone who uses your computer or even a number of computers, exactly how you expected them to be used? Have you ever wanted to control who logs on to one of your computers and who doesn’t without spending thousands of dollars for special programming? Have you ever wanted to bar an errant user from logging on because they used the computer in a manner that violated established policies and practices? If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions, the AUP logon program is for you! This is useful at home, small business and even at school!
	RegCleaner, not to be confused with Microsoft’s® RegClean, is a neat and clean little program you can use to remove unwanted entries quite easily from your Windows registry. Unlike some of the other registry cleaners that we have reviewed, this one won’t shred your registry unless you tell it to! The interface is much friendlier than that of RegClean and your overall control over what is to be removed is decidedly better. This particular registry cleaning tool let’s you decide what to remove and when.
	Registrar Lite v1.01 W9x/NT/2k – This is new generation registry editor comes with a basic set of tools, making your registry editing life a lot easier. It makes an excellent replacement for the RegEdit tool that ships with Windows. You can browse, cut, copy, paste, move, delete, and rename keys & values as if you were in the Windows Explorer.
	This Registry Toolkit is really for advanced users, as it lets you search and replace within the Windows 95/98/NT/2000 registry, and while doing so, you can do a regular expression search, replace, specify data types to process, browse the registry, compare import versus existing data, select specific keys and values to copy, move or delete, and even export keys, use scripts, print, and more. This tool kit has a few more useful features than Registrar Lite above, but it is also not freeware, it is shareware. At $25, the cost is minor when compared to the usefulness.
	Regmon is a Registry monitoring utility that will show you which applications are accessing your Registry, which keys they are accessing, and the Registry data that they are reading and writing. All of this is presented in real-time. This is an advanced utility, and it takes you one step beyond what static registry tools are able to do by letting you see and understand exactly how programs use the Registry.
	ProcessSwitch v.1.0 – Power users will like this! Absolute control over how CPU resources are allocated to applications. It allows predefined programs (executables) of choice to run in a specified priority mode (Idle, High, Real-time, Normal). Manage just how much of your CPU resources are being used by program executables.
	DLL Show for Windows 9x is a small system utility that displays a list of all running processes and their DLL dependencies. By clicking your mouse on a task or process you can see the DLLs in use. The display is comprehensive and provides information about all running processes including memory load, priority and the DLLs they depend upon, as well as print a hardcopy report of a selected module’s dependencies.
	Process Viewer 2000 – Too often we try to sort out Windows 9x problems by trying to find out what is running in the background that is eating up so many of our processor and memory resources. The Ctrl + Alt + Del keys only bring up the Task Manager, which doesn’t tell us everything that is running on our computers. What we needed was a process viewer much like that of Windows NT to see what is running, and be able to terminate any active process.
	PrcView v.3.0 (Process Viewer for Windows 9x and Windows NT) This is similar to the process viewer utility above, and it displays detailed information about processes running under Windows. For each process it displays memory, threads and module usage. For each DLL it shows full path and version information. PrcView comes with a command line version that allows you to write scripts to check if a process is running, kill it, etc. In addition to Windows 9x support, it also supports Windows NT and Windows 2000, and provides both command line as well as GUI interfaces.
	Shutdown Launcher v.4.0.2 – Most people have one or two neat little applications to perform some task during the startup process, such as clearing the desktop, scandisk, defrag etcetera, but what about during the shutdown process? Now there’s an application to clean out all of those leftover temporary Internet files, dump the recycle bin or perform other tasks and then shutdown.
	SDM – Shut Down Manager v1.05 – This program is very much like the shutdown manager above, only this one will allow you to automate the tasks you want to perform before Windows actually shuts down. This one also has built in auto tasks as well as customizable tasks, and this version supports Windows NT. They both have unique features, so if you have Windows 9x, try both. If you have Windows NT 4.0, try this one.
	HobRes32 Video Card and Monitor Resolution Control – release 2 beta 6 – If you have you ever needed to control your video card and monitor resolutions without all of the grief associated with the Windows 16 bit “Quickres”, this one does exactly what it says, it allows you to control and manipulate resolutions, even in multi-monitor environments.
	OpenGL_Infos v1.09 is an open GL Information and Test Utility For Windows. If you have ever need a method by which to test your Open GL drivers or at the least obtain some information about them, this little C++ utility will do it.
	HOT! Rarely do we rave about an app, but this one is hot, hot, hot! RegShot is a small registry compare utility that allows you to quickly take a snapshot of your registry and then compare it with a second one – done after doing system changes or installing a new software product. The changes report can be produced in text or HTML format and contains a list of all modifications that have taken place between snapshot1 and snapshot2. In addition, you can also specify folders (with sub filders) to be scanned for changes as well.
	Registry Edits and Fixes
	Registry Fixes & Tools – Many of our customers have experienced problems with the Windows registry, such as “View as a Thumbnail” not working, Shortcuts becoming damaged, Task Scheduler stopping, “New” is missing when the user right clicks on the desktop or Cut and Paste doesn’t function any longer. You’ll find the fixes here.
	INI Info to Windows Registry Converter – Tired of all those INI files slowing down the boot process? This is a neat little utility for Windows 9x/NT that will read the contents of any INI file and then load that information into the Windows 9x or Windows NT registry. By doing this, programs which previously relied on INI files can read the former INI data from the registry.
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A	File Utilities
	Search and Replace – We all look for neat little utilities that make doing what we do easier. This is one of those programs, and aside from the fact that it is an award winning program, its an easy to use search and replace utility that programmers, webmasters, and novice computer users alike can benefit from.
	Directory Lister – If you’re working with allot of files in Windows, there will come a time when you find that you need to create an adequate list of all of the files in a given directory. Directory Lister lets you list all the files you have in selected directories on your hard disk, CD-Rom, floppy and wherever else you want, and it’s free.
	Vice Versa v.1.0 -Have you ever had a ton of documents or picture (or both) on your computer and wanted to make sure that you had “all” of them tucked safely away on a CD, floppy or another drive, but weren’t certain that you had them all? Or, if you do have second copies stored somewhere, are they identical to the originals? If you’re uncertain, this is the program for you!
	Widget’s Print Directory – Trying to print a directory or folder listing can be a pain in the neck, aside from the time consuming task to doing so. This little utility handles this task easily, along with a few others. You can target a given folder and its documents and set it to print out all of the documents (or a few) within the folder and it will set a land speed record for most documents printed in the shortest amount of time.
	MaxLister – If you have ever needed to create a listing of everything file on a hard drive, but running hundreds of “print Directories” just doesn’t make it, this little utility is for you. You can save the drive listing to a .MXL-file, a database file, and later browse, search, or import new folders/filenames. The MXL file contains file sizes, and a comment so that you can personalize your information about the drive.
	ShellNew Add/Remove – If you’ve installed any software packages like Adobe, Office 97, Office 2000, Print Shop Pro, WordPerfect or even WinZip, you probably noticed an item had been added to the “Right Click” New menu on your desktop. Some take advantage of these additions, and others go through gyrations to remove them via registry changes. This little program makes adding and removing the items a snap!
	RemoteHome2000: Version 1.01 – This is a light weight, full featured program to share files between home and office.It’s light enough not to require allot of system resources and robust enough to handle transfers in a secure environment. RemoteHome2000 makes your computer and data accessible over the Internet from any location. It’s also an ideal application for sharing data on your hard disk with your friends and co-workers. All that’s required is a valid Internet connection. High security with username, password and directory/file access.
	MaxSplitter File Splitting Utility – Many times we have a need to move a large file, such as a large executable, onto another machine and there’s no immediate method to do so as it doesn’t fit on a floppy or zip disk. This tool makes this easy.
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A	Networking Tools
	Advanced Subnet Calculator – Have you forgotten how to do those subnet calculations? Have you tried some of those down and dirty utilities that barely provide the basics? Well here’s a neat, full featured and free tool from SolarsWinds that does its job and more.
	Qcheck by netIQ – Have some networking problems, such as transfers and traffic taking forever? Trying to find the bottlenecks and problems can be troublesome, especially when “Ping” doesn’t provide the type of information you really need. Qcheck is a networking troubleshooting utility that not only replaces “Ping”, but adds an abundance of features that are helpful in locating network problems.
	Bandwidth Meter 2001 is a compact freeware program that monitors your TCP/IP network connections to provide averages of speed, and cumulative download reports from up to 8 network adapters simultaneously. Version 2.0 has a less bulky interface, and the ability to monitor every adapter in your system that has an IP address, including Cable, DSL, and LAN cards. Version 2.0 includes a built-in traceroute, and a TCP Connection Monitor.
A	Web Related Tools
	TidyGUI is a free Windows GUI Version of Dave Raggett’s HTML Tidy, a free utility application from the World Wide Web Consortium that helps you clean up your web pages. This is a powerful, efficient, multi-platform application that can be tuned with about 4 dozen options.
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A	Companion Applications
	Outback Plus For Outlook 97, 98 and 2000 V2.2 Rev 7 – Whether you’re a casual user or an IT professional, this little application will save you a ton of heartache in the event of Outlook data loss as the result of operating system corruption, drive failure or just plain and simple accidental data screw-ups. We haven’t found anything that specifically addresses a difficult every-day problem like this application does. This app preserves “all” of your Outlook data.
	Secure Outlook Express – The version of OE that comes with Windows is a great full featured email and newsgroup reader application. If you neglect to select the command “Exit and Log Off Identity”, when the next person opens Outlook they will be logged in as you. Secure Outlook gets around this problem, by launching Outlook for you. When it opens Outlook the default login is ignored, and when Outlook closes, the default login is ignored.
	Shortcut Map v.1.0 – If you’re accustomed to using keyboard shortcuts to do things rather than mouse-clicks, you may find this little mapping utility useful. Shortcuts Map will help you manage hotkeys assigned to Windows shortcuts on the desktop or in the Start menu hierarchy. You can easily to change or re-map a hotkey or find an unused hotkey.
	History Book for IE5 V.1.0 – This little app will condense your Internet Explorer History, the sites you visited, neatly into a format that you can review and understand and allot more. This app reads all the URL information in the Internet Explorer history database and then creates an HTML file which includes descriptions and URL links of your past visits.
	CT Cookie Spy – All those little cookies on your computer bothering you? Ever wondered how many cookies are on your computer and where they came from? This little utility will not only show you where they came from, but it also lets you delete the ones you don’t want.
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A	Miscellaneous Tools, Files and Software
	WEMedia Talking Browser v1.0 We support any developer who is willing to devote their time and energy into creating whatever software is necessary to level the playing field for those who do not have the full use of their eyesight, hearing or mobility. This is not another “screen reader”.
	OptOut – Ever wonder what information some of these less the scrupulous Internet companies are collecting about you from your computer? Here’s your chance to find out.
	RTF2HLP – If you have ever had the need to create simple Help files without the hassle of deploying the Windows® Help Compiler, then this little freebie is for you. Writing a help file is simple as this: A. Write your document using Microsoft® Word; B. Save it to RTF and C. Compile it to HLP using RTF2HLP.
	Pic2Pic – Sometimes you need to convert a graphic from one file format to another format quickly without the hassle of opening a BIG application to accomplish the task. Pic2Pic will do just that, and do it quickly. It also has another handy feature, it will allow you to convert and entire directory of graphics files from one format to another.
If you have an application or tool you feel that would be useful to someone, or that may make problem solving easier, tell us about it. Please make sure that you send us the URL so we can test and evaluate it!

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