ShareX is an ultra-configurable screengrab tool
It’s easy to capture screens in Windows: just press PrtSc, Alt+PrtSc or Win+PrtSc (which saves a grab to disc in Windows 8). Unfortunately, the capture is just the beginning, and you’ll then have to spend quite some time editing, annotating, uploading, sharing and otherwise handling your image.
If you’re looking for an easier life, then, we would forget about the standard Windows tools, and install the open source ShareX, instead. Not only does it have many more features, but most of them can be entirely automated, so you can get your captures finished with no hassles at all.
Darik’s Boot and Nuke lets you securely wipe all your PC’s hard drives
When you sell or scrap a PC it’s important to consider your data security. The hard drive will almost certainly have contained confidential information at some point -- user names, passwords, financial details -- and even it seems empty now, it’s worth making sure that none of this can ever be recovered.
Darik’s Boot and Nuke is an open-source tool which offers one possible solution. Burn its ISO image to disc, use this to boot your PC, and it’ll securely wipe your hard drive with the minimum of hassle.
O&O releases AutoBackup 3, adds real-time file sync
Berlin-based utilities developer O&O Software has announced the availability of O&O AutoBackup 3.
The big addition in this release is support for real-time synchronization. As soon as file is created or changed in your specified folders, AutoBackup 3 will copy it to the destination drive.
AlwaysMouseWheel -- point at a window and scroll it, no clicks required
If you need to scroll an application window on a PC then spinning the mouse wheel is probably the simplest route. This only works on the foreground window, though, the one where you’re currently working. And so if you want to scroll some other window, you must click it first.
AlwaysMouseWheel is a tiny portable tool which changes all this. Once running, you can switch to and scroll any window Ubuntu-style just by moving the mouse cursor over it, and spinning the wheel -- no extra click required. It’s a small improvement, but if you regularly work with a lot of open applications then it can make a real difference.
EXESlide creates photo slideshows as EXE, SCR, SWF, AVI, GIF -- and more
Alternate Pic View EXESlide is a lightweight free tool which helps you build extremely basic slideshows. And we really do mean "basic": you can’t annotate an image, add captions or apply effects, and there’s no support for transitions at all.
EXESlide does excel in one area, though -- export formats. The program's slideshows may be limited, but once built they can be saved as self-launching EXEs, screensavers (SCR), Flash animations (SWF), AVI videos and animated GIFs. There are even bonus tools to present individual images as simple games.
Helicon Photo Safe is not just another free photo manager
Your digital photo collection is a mess? You could install a free photo manager to help you out, but don’t expect too much: they’re often just identikit "me too" apps which provide little more than you’ll get with Explorer.
There are occasional exceptions, though, and Helicon Photo Safe is a great example, with a host of genuinely useful functions and features helping it stand out from the crowd.
Measure your PC’s gaming performance with Catzilla
Is your PC up to playing the latest games? It’s not always easy to tell, but if you’re looking to find out then the Catzilla benchmark could give you some useful information.
Launch the program and it runs some in-depth OpenGL and DirectX tests, directly assessing your CPU and GPU speeds. That’s not quite as it dull as it sounds, though, because Catzilla does this by rendering real-time battle scenes of giant cats causing havoc across a city. (No, we’re not making this up.)
BatchPurifier LITE quickly strips JPEG metadata
Take a picture with a digital camera and your JPEG will usually have plenty of metadata attached: camera name, model, date taken, flash mode, ISO speed and more. You might then add a title, author, comments maybe, and this can be a great way to ensure you can find particular photos later.
Share the image later, though, and the metadata goes with it, potentially revealing all kinds of personal data (even your home address, if the picture is geo-tagged). Unless, that is, you use BatchPurifier LITE to remove any tags first.
Batch convert PDFs to image formats with PDF to JPEG Expert
PDFs are great for distributing information, but not so convenient when you need to reuse their content elsewhere. Fortunately there’s now a host of free tools able to convert PDFs into other formats, and the latest is the entirely free 4dots Software’s PDF to JPEG Expert.
The program is simple to use. At a minimum you might import one document or an entire folder; choose your preferred image dimensions and resolution, then click Convert and wait for the results.
Open files of any size with wxHexEditor
The PC world has plenty of hex editors; does it really need another? Our first thought was probably not, but that was before we’d spent a little time with the fast, feature-packed and extremely capable wxHexEditor.
Some hex editors have annoying limits on file sizes, for instance. But not this one. WxHexEditor can handle files up to 2^64 in size, that’s 16 billion gigabytes, which will probably be enough for the foreseeable future.
IObit releases Advanced SystemCare Ultimate 7
System utilities developer IObit has announced the release of Advanced SystemCare Ultimate 7, its all-in-one security and system optimization suite.
The new version sees IObit’s antivirus engine enhanced, with more scheduling options and an expanded malware database for better protection (and as before, you get the Bitdefender engine as well).
Install multiple programs automatically with Silent Install Helper
When you need to install several programs, perhaps because you’re configuring a new PC, then the obvious approach is just to run one setup program after another. It’s simple, straightforward, and will work. But it also takes a while, as you’re forced to repeat more or less the same tedious procedure each time: look at the splash screen, choose an installation folder, agree to the license, and so on.
Silent Install Helper can make this very much easier, by running any supported installers silently. Point the program at 1, 10 or a hundred setup programs, it’s not a problem -- they can all then be installed automatically, no user interaction required, the applications will just appear on your hard drive with their default settings.
TeamViewer 9 adds Wake-on-Lan, tabbed interface, easier file transfer
Remote access tool TeamViewer has left beta and been officially upgraded to version 9 with a host of time-saving tweaks and tools.
The new release makes it much easier to start work. A Wake-on-LAN feature allows you to wake up computers remotely; desktop shortcuts for any computer can get you connected with a double-click; and you can carry out simple file transfers without having to first establish a connection.
Wavosaur now available in 64-bit
Tiny, yet powerful audio editor Wavosaur has been updated to version 1.1.0.0.
This release introduces a native 64-bit edition, which allows the program to access all your RAM, and load 64-bit VST plugins. A bug fix with the 1.0.9.0 VST host means Izotope and similar plugins should now work properly.
Biscuit deletes unwanted Firefox cookies, keeps everything else
If you’d like to preserve your online privacy then it can be a good idea to clear your Firefox cookies, but there’s usually a price to pay. Even if you’re careful, the chances are you’ll delete genuinely useful cookies, and be forced to manually log in when you revisit some of your favorite sites.
Install the Firefox add-on Biscuit, though, and cookie management becomes much easier. It allows you to mark particular items for preservation, which means you’re then able to delete just the unwanted cookies while keeping everything else.
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