Thilmera7 is a very configurable PC monitor
Thilmera7 is a PC monitor which can help you track CPU and RAM usage, processes, threads, network traffic, hard drive activity, hardware temperatures and more, all in a free and portable desktop tool.
Launch the program and a tiny window appears with basic system details: free RAM, CPU usage, the number of processes/ threads/ handles, disk and network activity. This is presented in a horribly basic way, mostly text with a few feeble graphical touches, but it does at least give you some useful feedback on what your PC is doing.
Chrome 32 gains tab indicators, automatic blocking of malware files
Google has released Google Chrome 32 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux, a worthwhile update with a good mix of new and extended features.
Chrome’s tabs can now include indicator icons to let you know when they’re playing audio, using your webcam or being cast to your TV. And so the next time a Flash video ad kicks in, you’ll be able to see at a glance where the noise is coming from.
VarieDrop resizes multiple images by dragging and dropping
Resizing one image is easy -- even Windows Paint can do it -- but working with multiple images is a little more challenging. Even specialist batch processing tools can require a little work to get them set up correctly.
VarieDrop tries to simplify this process by allowing you to define up to four "drag and drop areas", each of which have their target size, file format, output folder and so on. Once it’s set up, just select your target images, drag and drop them onto that area, and they’ll be converted and resized accordingly.
Rankaware checks your site’s ranking on Google, Bing, Yahoo
If you have a website then you can spend a very long time optimizing it to get the best possible search engine rankings. But it’s a complicated process. Other sites will be doing the same thing, and search engines are tweaking their algorithms all the time, which makes it difficult to assess how well you’re really doing.
Rankaware is a free tool which can help by checking your site’s rankings for multiple keywords on Google, Yahoo and Bing, compiling an attractive report to show how this is changing over time.
Identify unknown PC hardware with PCI-Z
If you need to know more about your PC’s hardware then running any system information program -- or even just Device Manager -- will usually point you in the right direction. But sometimes it doesn’t quite work, and you’ll find some devices are referred to as "unknown", or perhaps by their PCI identifier ("PCI\VEN_1B21& DEV_1080& SUBSYS_78161462& REV_03", or something similarly cryptic).
PCI-Z is a tiny portable tool which tries to get around this problem by querying the PCI ID Repository -- a public database of device ID codes -- and returning readable names, rather than meaningless codes.
Instantly enhance the Windows clipboard with Clipjump
The Windows clipboard makes it very easy to transfer data; Ctrl+C to copy here, Ctrl+V to paste there, and you’re usually done. But there are also has plenty of limitations. In particular, the clipboard can hold only one item of any given type: copy in something else and the previous item will be lost.
We’ve covered various clipboard managers which can help you get around this problem -- Save.Me is an especially powerful example -- but these usually require that you learn a new way of working, a significant issue with something as fundamental as the clipboard.
View, convert and save web maps with Terra Incognita
You need to quickly check a map? It’s never been easier. Launch the relevant app -- or just open a browser on any device -- and you’ll have all the information you need, within seconds.
Maybe your needs are a little more complex, though? Perhaps you want to compare maps from different providers; convert them from one format to another; add tracks, or waypoints? Then you may get better results from the open source Terra Incognita.
oCam is a very configurable screen recorder
Screen recorders are great for creating tutorials, saving streaming videos and otherwise recording your desktop activities. There are plenty to choose from, each with their own advantages, but if you’re new to the technology then oCam could be a very good way to start.
After a simple installation (just look out for the option to change your browser homepage, and clear that checkbox), the program launches with a floating, re-sizable frame, and a toolbar. At its simplest you can manually reposition the frame to whatever area you’d like to record, then click Capture to grab a single image, or Record to begin recording a desktop video (clicking the button again to stop). Clicking Open then opens the Explorer folder containing your captures, ready for review.
Avira reveals stand-alone Avira PC Cleaner
Avira has announced the availability of the Avira PC Cleaner, a simple stand-alone antivirus scanner.
The program is a mere 2.17MB download and doesn’t require any installation, reducing the chance of any conflicts with existing security tools. It scanned our test system quickly, detecting and removing a malware sample.
Pafwert generates strong passwords you can actually remember
If all the regular high-profile website hacks have persuaded you that using "password" as your password is a bad idea, then you could use a password generator to produce something more cryptic. There’s a problem, though. Most generators create random passwords like "dml&$s2j" or "lBH6-aa5", which are secure, but also very difficult to remember.
Pafwert is a password generator with a difference. Instead of churning out random text strings, it uses a far more intelligent algorithm to produce passwords which are both secure and memorable.
Unchecky now helps you avoid even more adware
Unchecky, the clever tool which adjusts setup programs so they don’t install adware by default, has been upgraded to version 0.2.
Core improvements start with support for many more installers. There have also been more than 20 issues resolved, some significant, which means this release is far more stable.
Sound Valley adds audio scene composer
Last November we took a look at Sound Valley, a fun program which plays the sounds of nature -- birdsong, rain, wind in the trees and more -- in the background, while you just sit back and relax.
We suggested at the time that it really needed a way to customize the existing scenes, perhaps create new ones, and it appears that the developer was listening: an update has just appeared with the beta of a new Scene Composer tool.
Check your PC's RAM for errors with MemTest86+
If your PC is very unstable -- perhaps with blue-screen crashes or regular file corruption -- and all your usual troubleshooting tricks have failed, then it’s often a good idea to check for RAM issues. The Windows Memory Diagnostic tool does a reasonable job of identifying these, but you’ll probably get better results from a specialist third-party tool, like the open source MemTest86+.
Now almost ten years old, this fork of Chris Brady’s original MemTest86 has been regularly updated to support new hardware, and the most recent version saw some major additions (handles up to 2TB RAM, SMT support for up to 32 cores). It’s still ridiculously small, though, arriving as a 58KB download which unpacks a tiny 1.75MB ISO file.
Alternate QR Code Generator lets you design QR codes on your desktop
While they were originally designed for extremely dull automotive applications, QR codes have gone very mainstream in the past few years, and now appear just about everywhere. It’s easy to see why, as they’re just so convenient: scan one with your smartphone and you can immediately head off to whatever link they contain.
Creating QR codes for your own purposes is also very straightforward. Websites such as goQR.me will do it for free, or you could use Alternate QR Code Generator to create codes on your PC.
LibreCAD 2.0 now available
After almost two years in the planning, alpha and beta stages, open source 2D drawing tool LibreCAD 2.0 has just been formally released.
The official LibreCAD blog details some of the additions and improvements that have been made along the way: an extended DXF library, new circle drawing methods, the ability to filters layers with regular expressions, hatching of ellipses, a quadratic form engine for intersections, SVG export, and more.
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