BO Clean 4.25

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP
Type freeware
Manufacturer Comodo Group
Size 1.22MB
Free download

Internet trojan horse programs, spyware, keyloggers, rootkits, pseudorootkits, hijackers, adware, annoyware, email relays, spam proxies, spam relays, scam downloads and email/spam robots ("bots") are perhaps the greatest security threat to individuals and institutional networks in existence. By installing malware (short for MALicious softWARE) on a machine, computer crackers can go anywhere, see and do anything they want with your computer, including banking records and your most intimate and personal documents.

Antivirus software frequently fails to detect, and more often fails to effectively clean most malware. BOClean runs automatically in the background without interfering with your work and kills malwares INSTANTLY the moment they activate without giving them the chance to invade your machine. BOClean also eliminates the need to stop what you're doing to secure your machine after it's too late. BOClean works with all versions of Windows. Unlike antivirus programs, BOClean will actually shut them down and destroy them without the need for you to seek out the method of removal or risking dangerous editing of your system's innermost configurations. BOClean requires no technical skills and handles detection, removal and repair of your system automatically.

BOClean was designed by Kevin McAleavey, creator of NSClean - the original anticookie software - and IEClean internet privacy software and consultant in counterespionage technology since 1974. BOClean now protects schools, universities, corporations, government and individuals across the world. Our anti-malware technology can protect you as well.

Fresh Diagnose 7.64

Platform Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP
Type freeware
Manufacturer Freshdevices
Size 1.50MB
Free download

Find out exactly what your PC is doing with this diagnosis tool.

It will analyse the PC and the tasks that are currently running, and will benchmark, or speed-test, the computer's performance in several categories.

Much of the information may be of use if your computer is running oddly and you need to call technical support.

Note: This latest version features SM/DMI and CMOS module enhancements and bug fixes.

doPDF 5.2.228

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Softland
Size 1.3MB
Free download


Free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use. Using doPDF you can create searchable PDF files by selecting the "Print" command from virtually any application. With one click you can convert your Microsoft Excel, Word or PowerPoint documents or your emails and favourite web sites to PDF files.

doPDF installs itself as a virtual printer driver so after a successful installation will appear in your Printers and Faxes list. To create PDF files, you just have to print your documents to the doPDF pdf converter. Open a document (with Microsoft Word, WordPad, NotePad or any other software), choose Print and select doPDF. It will ask you where to save the PDF file and when finished, the PDF file will be automatically opened in your default PDF viewer.

Note that this free PDF tool does not use Ghostscript. The license will also enable you to produce PDFs for both personal and commercial use.

The latest v5.2 contains a few new features, including support for 64Bit operating systems and the facility to create a .pdf extension automatically, when saving your PDF documents.

Apple iTunes 7.3.2

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Apple
Size 47.69MB
Free Download

It's been long coming, but iTunes 7 is a major upgrade to iTunes and the iTunes music store. Mainly due to the inclusion of full movie downloads (currently US only) and other improvements.

The popular iTunes has been one of the best audio players on the market. However, its vast music store now gives holders of the video iPod the opportunity to preview and download music videos, TV programmes and now full movies, all at very reasonable prices.

If you want to share your music, iTunes will look for other copies running across a network and you can then listen to other people's music. An Internet radio option is available for broadband users.

Video support comes in the form of an embedded QuickTime player which supports all the video formats that QuickTime supports (AVI, MPEG, Flash etc.). Note that QuickTime 7.1.5 is included within the iTunes installer.

Audio can be encoded in the Apple Lossless format, which lets you import music into iTunes at half the original size with no loss of quality. Podcast support is included so that you can subscribe to podcasts from within iTunes and have them automatically synced to your iPod.

Apple iTunes 7.x now supports 'iTunes Plus', songs available for download with no DRM and a higher-quality bitrate.

This is the latest 7.3 which contains support for the new iPhone, amongst other minor fixes and enhancements.

Note that the Mac OS X version is available to download from the Apple iTunes website.

Portable Thunderbird 2.0.0.6

Platform Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Mozilla Corporation & John Haller
Size 6.75MB
Free Download

Mozilla Thunderbird, Portable Edition is the popular Mozilla Thunderbird email client bundled with a PortableApps.com launcher as a portable app, so you can take your email, address book and account settings with you. You can also add in GPG and Enigmail to encrypt and sign your email.

Mozilla Thunderbird is the safe, fast email client that's easy to use. It has lots of great features including quick message search, customizable views, support for IMAP/POP, RSS support and more. Plus, the portable version leaves no personal information behind on the machine you run it on, so you can take your email and address book with you wherever you go.

RealPlayer 11 6.0.14.543

Platform Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Real Networks
Size 13.21MB
Free Download

RealPlayer is the behemoth of the media player arena. It's been around a long time and has a wide range of features and functionality.

The player's file support is huge and it can cope with practically anything you throw at it, both in terms of video and audio. It also has its own proprietary RealAudio Lossless format for encoding audio without any loss of quality.

Like iTunes, RealPlayer comes with a digital music store built-in, but the options in terms of number of songs and the artists available are not as impressive.

As you would expect, CD burning is integrated and includes all the usual features such as normalisation of track volumes, crossfades and the removal of gaps between tracks.

You can also generate analog recordings from external sources, such as your own voice (via a microphone) and your old record or tape collection.

And you can transfer audio directly onto your portable MP3 player thanks to the built-in support for numerous devices including Palm, Nomad Zen and the iPod.

The latest RealPlayer 11 (still in beta) supports the option to download video to your computer, amongst other new features.

Winpatrol 12.0.2007

Platform Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP
Type freeware
Manufacturer BillP Studios
Size 670KB
Free Download

When we install software onto our computers, most of us don't know what the software is actually doing to our system.

What is the application installing on your PC? Is it adding information to the Registry, and could it be adding spyware to the system which reports back to the software supplier?

WinPatrol enables you to sniff out problematic software that would normally be classed as spyware, adware, a worm or Trojan horse.

These are applications that install on your computer with the sole purpose of performing a hidden task, such as trying to find loopholes in your system, logging keystrokes when you surf the internet and much more.

This application is different from other security applications in that it won't scan your hard drive looking for previously installed threats.

It's a proactive not re-active application which will constantly examine your current system and warn you if any changes have occurred without your permission.

Mozilla Firefox Portable 2.0.0.6

Platform Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Rare Ideas LLC
Size 6.06MB
Free Download

If you’re used to working in different departments, you’ll soon find the biggest restriction is that most operating systems are based around multi-user technology and you won’t want to browse personal information, on the web, through someone else’s computer. Sure, you could ask them to set you up with your own account, but if you only want to use their computer for a few minutes, perhaps to check your email, there’s little point.

Mozilla Firefox Portable edition is a transportable version of the popular web browser. You could ‘install’ this to an external USB key and then take this USB key with you, connect to a computer, then use Firefox Portable without leaving any trace of your web use on their machine.

Mozilla Firefox Portable is self-contained software which means that all your browsing history, bookmarks and other cookie information is taken with you, on external USB key. When you browse the web using Firefox Portable, the data is written back to the key. This makes is very useful for taking your own personalised version of the web browser with you, wherever you work or travel.

Ad-Aware 2007 Free 7.0.1.6

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP
Type freeware
Manufacturer Lavasoft
Size 17.33MB
Free Download

This free utility scans your PC to identify and remove any adware or spyware components.

For the uninitiated, adware or spyware is unwanted software that can be installed on your PC, either with other software or when you visit websites (cookies etc).

They can track your surfing habits, push aggressive advertising at you, and generally abuse your privacy.

This new version completely overhauls the scanning engine, which results in more accurate scanning methods and an all-new program architecture. This new version now supports the detection of embedded malware, including known and emerging threats.

The new TrackSweep module will control privacy by erasing tracks left behind while surfing the web through Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera, with one easy click.

You decide exactly what is scanned on your PC, from a single folder to the complete system. Files larger than a specified size can be skipped, making for a quicker scan. Flagged components can be quarantined, letting you restore them if their removal causes problems.

Note that the free version is for personal-use only. This is not Vista-ready.

TaskInfo 7.1.0.230

Platform Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type shareware
Manufacturer Igor Arsenin
Size 2.11MB
Free Download

The Windows Task Manager is a basic tool that enables you to see what applications are running on your system and, if they are proving problematic, you can choose to shut down the application or change the priority. If you find that your system is running slowly, you can also see which processes are using the majority of your processor time.

In addition to this information, you can find out how much of your physical memory is being used by open applications and utilisation of your network bandwidth. If your net connection is really slow, click on the ‘Networking’ tab to see if the bandwidth is being saturated 100%. You can also see the users logged in to your system.

However, it only goes so far. TaskInfo is a powerful utility that combines and improves features of Task Manager and the Windows system information tools. You can use the tool to monitor all current system activity. This activity can include processes that might remain invisible to Task Manager, such as spyware. It goes far further, showing the current libraries (DLLs) in use and much more.