Foxmarks 2.0.46.9

• Type: freeware
• Platform: Windows 98/ME, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X, Linux
• Manufacturer: Foxmarks Inc.
• Size: 275KB

Download

Sometimes, for whatever reason, those of us who spend most of our time working on computers may need to use another machine. This may be due to technical difficulties or, we may be working from home or even using a laptop whilst on the train or away on business. The trouble is that we tend to have a particular machine that’s used more regularly, and because of this, it’s probably equipped with all the tools you need, not just the programs we regularly use, but important bookmarks we need for specific websites.

Ever tried accessing a particular web page from a different computer without the URL? It’s almost impossible to remember exact web addresses when you’re using a number of different sites on a daily basis.

Foxmarks is an ideal solution for such a scenario. It’s a Firefox 2 add-on which enables a user to access their bookmarks from any machine they are using via my.foxmarks.com, which constantly keeps your bookmarks synchronised whilst running in the background. You can manage your bookmarks from any computer, and in doing so, enables you to work as efficiently on any machine you happen to be using whether in the office or on the move.

This now works with Firefox 3.

Mozilla Firefox Portable 3.0 RC2

• Type: freeware
• Platform: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
• Manufacturer: Portable Apps
• Size: 8MB

Download

With the forthcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0, now planned for mid 2008, the web graphics rendering engine will receive a completely new upgrade. Dubbed ‘ Cairo’, the new graphics rendering engine should improve the output across different platforms, as it’s being developed as an open-standard (see http://wiki.mozilla.org/Cairo). Mozilla Firefox 3.0 will also be based around the forthcoming Gecko 1.9 rendering engine.

With other improvements in the way that pages are ‘painted’ on screen, improved SVG support and CSS enhancements, the general improvements for Firefox 3.0 are based around the way it will render web pages through the browser.

Note that further improvements and new features will be included within Firefox 3.0 as it is being developed. This 3.0 beta 5 (dubbed “Gran Paradiso”) is the fourth public preview.

This beta 5 contains limited additional features and fixes issues found within the previous release.

Note That this is the portable version of Firefox 3.0 RC2.

Opera 9.5

• Type: freeware
• Platform: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
• Manufacturer: Opera
• Size: 8.5MB

Download

This is the final and official release of Opera 9.5 and it's much faster, the user-interface has been updated and the search bar includes immediate feedback.

DownThemAll 1.0.3

• Type: freeware
• Platform: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
• Manufacturer: Federico Parodi and Stefano Verna
• Size: 448Kb

Download

With the rise of online photo album storage sites and media portals such as YouTube, we’re now able to browse the web and view other people’s home movies and digital photos. However, downloading more than one of these files isn’t easy. For instance, head over to your favourite digital photo site or simply a photo album of one of your friends and you might be presented with hundreds of photos to download. Do you spend hours surfing for your favourites or simply download them all and choose later? Worse, the photos on the web page are only thumbnails, so you’d have to preview every photo before you can download.

DownThemAll 1.0.3 is a Firefox extension that enables you to download everything from a web site with one click. You can choose to download links on a web page, automatically. You could simply select the pages you want to download from and then DownTheAll 1.0 will go through the links and download the files

Latest version works with Firefox 3.

Avant Browser 11.6 Build 17

• Type: freeware
• Platform: Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP
• Manufacturer: Anderson Che
• Size: 1.93MB

Download.

Internet Explorer might come bundled with Windows but it lacks many features. A number of these can be found in Avant Browser.

Avant Browser is a quick download even for dial-up users. The interface is very similar to Internet Explorer, but open some of the menus and the differences are quickly obvious.

It is possible to deactivate different parts of a web page, such as pictures, sounds and flasgh animations. If you have a slow connection, this can make a huge difference.

Avant Browser can also block advertisements (including pop-ups), translate web pages, display web pages in full screen mode, and has full support for skins.

Any favorites or recently viewed pages from Internet Explorer can be easily imported, making migrating to this browser a doddle.

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Release Candidate 3

• Type: freeware
• Platform: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
• Manufacturer: Mozilla
• Size: 7MB

Download.

With the forthcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0, now planned for mid 2008, the web graphics rendering engine will receive a completely new upgrade. Dubbed ‘ Cairo’, the new graphics rendering engine should improve the output across different platforms, as it’s being developed as an open-standard (see http://wiki.mozilla.org/Cairo). Mozilla Firefox 3.0 will also be based around the forthcoming Gecko 1.9 rendering engine.

With other improvements in the way that pages are ‘painted’ on screen, improved SVG support and CSS enhancements, the general improvements for Firefox 3.0 are based around the way it will render web pages through the browser.

Note that further improvements and new features will be included within Firefox 3.0 as it is being developed.

This is Release Candidate 3 and is code complete.

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 beta 2

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Mozilla
Size 6.4MB
Free Download

Some users were disappointed with the release of Mozilla Firefox 2.0. After months of betas, release candidates and previews, the new features weren’t as spectacular as people expected. However, there is only so much you can do to improve a web browser.

With the forthcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3.0, now planned for 2008, the web graphics rendering engine will receive a completely new upgrade. Dubbed ‘ Cairo’, the new graphics rendering engine should improve the output across different platforms, as it’s being developed as an open-standard (see http://wiki.mozilla.org/Cairo). Mozilla Firefox 3.0 will also be based around the forthcoming Gecko 1.9 rendering engine.

With other improvements in the way that pages are ‘painted’ on screen, improved SVG support and CSS enhancements, the general improvements for Firefox 3.0 are based around the way it will render web pages through the browser.

Note that further improvements and new features will be included within Firefox 3.0 as it is being developed. This 3.0 beta 2 (dubbed “Gran Paradiso”) is the second public preview.

Damn Small Linux 4.2.1

Platform Linux
Type freeware
Manufacturer Damn Small Linux
Size 48.21MB
Free Download

As the demands of all operating systems increase, Damn Small Linux (DSL) is a refreshing change and worth considering by anyone with an old computer. This latest version, 4.2.1, has some updated software and new drivers, while still keeping within the 50MB limit.

The subject of the Computeractive feature introducing Linux, DSL was designed with a strict 50MB limit. This means that many of the familiar programs are not installed by default and an older version of Linux is used, but this is a comprimise worth making.

There are several ways of using DSL. This download can be burnt to a CD and used as a Live CD. Simply reboot the computer with this CD in the drive and DSL will load but without making any changes to the hard disk. Once started in this way it can be installed to the hard disk or a USB key.

A very interesting alternative is a version that works from within Windows. In this mode it can use the network connection of the computer, avoiding the need to set up a modem. This version can also be saved to a USB key so you can always have your own operating system wherever you go.

Extra software can be installed over the internet from a list of specially prepared files. These include favourites such as Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office. These do take up more space than the goal of 50MB.

Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.9

Platform Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Mozilla Corporation
Size 5.55MB
Free Download

Mozilla Firefox, the popular web browser, caused a stir with the original release, but apart from minor changes, visual improvements and security fixes, there haven’t been a wide range of new features since the original 1.x release. This is all about to change, with the release of Firefox 2.0. Windows version available to download from this page.

Current new 2.0 features include anti-phishing support, useful for acknowledging the difference between a legitimate website and a fake site set up for the purposes of obtaining your personal information.

Other new features include enhanced tabbed browsing, the ability to open tabs closed accidentally, spell checking within web forms, a search plugin manager, combined and enhanced Add-Ons manager and much more, including support for new web standards.

You can download other language editions of the Windows Firefox 2.0, as well as Linux and Mac OS X versions from the Mozilla website.

CCleaner 2.02.527

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer www.ccleaner.com
Size 2.51MB
Free Download

Just as regular exercise is good for your health, a regular workout for your hard disk is recommended. Windows has its own tools for doing this, but CCleaner makes a slightly better job of it.

The application is free to use and shows the door to all kinds of temporary files, from temporary internet files to old automatic back-ups from application such as Office XP and file sharing software. It also shakes out old entries from your computer's registry, such as unistallers and invalid shortcuts. The makers guarantee that it contains no apyware or adware.

CCleaner is one of the more popular system cleansing and optimisation tools available. This is the major v2 release incorporating a number of new enhancements. For instance, the new version is completely re-written and is much faster and analysing and cleansing your system. It ships with a brand new user-interface and is available in a compact version, so you could take it with you on a portable USB stick and use it to cleanse a PC that you've used in a web cafe or other location. Of course, there are also a number of other tweaks and improvements.

AntiVir Personal Edition 7.06.00.270

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Avira
Size 21MB
Free Download

Virus attacks are all too common and Avira AntiVir can protect against these menaces and others including worms, trojans and dialers.

The AntiVir Guard is constantly working in the background and checks every file as it is used by Windows or other software. This includes heuristic scanning to check for viruses that have not been formally identified.

Scans can also be started manually or scheduled at daily or weekly intervals.

Should a virus be found, it can either be removed or moved to a quarantine area.

This download will only work with Windows 2000/XP/Vista. A separate program for Windows 98 and ME can be downloaded from the AntiVir website.

Maxthon 2.0.5.7845

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Maxthon International Limited
Size 2.46MB
Free Download

In the past, Internet Explorer has received a lot of bad press for lack of updates, security issues, poor CSS support and more. However, since the release of Internet Explorer 7, we now have a web browser that offers tabbed browser, a much improved web engine and enhanced security features.

When you install Internet Explorer 7 on your system, the installed HTML web core is built in to Windows (and this element is very hard to remove), there have been a number of attempts to create a replacement for Internet Explorer that take this core HTML engine and add additional features to produce a even better web browser.

Maxthon is one of the more popular Internet Explorer replacement browsers and is constantly updated.

The newest version Maxthon 2 contains a new streamlined interface, which looks a bit like a mix of the Mac OS X Safari web browser and Firefox. Other features include multi-user support from the same web browser, so each user has their own preferences. There are tons of other minor updates, too.

Opera 9.5 beta

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Opera
Size 4.98MB
Free Download

Since the release of Opera 9 earlier this year, Opera have been working hard fixing little bugs, making minor improvements and turning Opera in to a serious rival to Internet Explorer. Now at 9.5, albeit a second early preview, it's worth downloading if you've not used this browser before.

The new speed dial feature is a new view in new tabs. It shows live thumbnails of up to nine websites. Click on one to open the site, or enter a new address as normal. It's certainly more useful than a blank tab.

Opera also supports BitTorrent downloads. These type of downloads make best use of available bandwidth by splitting files up and downloading the different bits from several locations at the same time.

The principle of the system is that files downloaded onto your computer should be accessible to others but Opera can turn this off to conserve bandwidth quotas.

An improved content blocker allows individual elements of a webpage to be blocked to avoid adverts. The pop up blocker has also been improved.

Widgets are a small programs for showing news feeds or other information, some of which can be taken from the web. They are accessed with a single keypress and are written by the Opera community rather than the company itself.

The tabbed browsing has also been improved with a small preview of the webpages.

This is the first beta release of the forthcoming Opera 9.5 and it's worth downloading if you're an Opera user. It's much faster, the user-interface has been updated and the search bar includes immediate feedback.

Auslogics Disk Defrag 1.4.10.249

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Auslogics Pty Ltd
Size 1.5MB
Free Download

Auslogics Disk Defrag is designed for fast optimisation of today's modern hard disks. Get the maximum performance out of your expensive hardware investment.

The latest version includes support for defragmenting removable drives, such as a USB stick and other devices. Other improvements for Vista and general program stability.

IObit SmartDefrag beta 4

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer IObit.com
Size 1.61MB
Free Download

Obit SmartDefrag is a free defragging tool and worth investigating. It’s also rather fast. However, remember that when you defragment your drive that it’s advisable not to be running applications at the same time.

Note that SmartDefrag is still in beta so should be used with an element of caution. Also displays Google Ads (adware) within the application. This new version includes support for Windows Vista.

Defraggler 1.00.031

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Piriform Ltd
Size 400Kb
Free Download

Your old system might appear to need an upgrade, if you’ve been using your computer for over a year. It just seems to become slower, over time. Windows takes longer to boot, applications take a few more seconds to start and your system can feel a lot more sluggish. One option is simply to purchase a brand new and faster hard drive. Re-install Windows and your favourite applications and you’ll suddenly find everything is a lot more snappy. However, after a few months of using the new drive, your system will be sluggish again.

Why does this happen? Simply as the more applications you install and remove from your computer, the more likely your drive will become fragmented. This occurs when files are stored in different locations on your drive and your drive has to spin more than usual to load Windows and your applications. Defragment your drive and the contents will be stored in one continuous block, so you’ll find your system starts more quickly and your PC appears to be running more smoothly.

The Windows defragmentation tool isn’t the best available. It’s rather slow, so if you have a huge hard drive it can take hours to finish defragmenting your drive. Worse, you can’t really do anything whilst it’s performing the defragmentation process.

Defraggler is a new tool from the developers who brought you CCleaner. It’s small and compact and will enable you to defragment a collection of files, as well as your entire drive.

Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.8

Platform Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Mozilla Corporation
Size 5.55MB
Free Download

Mozilla Firefox, the popular web browser, caused a stir with the original release, but apart from minor changes, visual improvements and security fixes, there haven’t been a wide range of new features since the original 1.x release. This is all about to change, with the release of Firefox 2.0. Windows version available to download from this page.

Current new 2.0 features include anti-phishing support, useful for acknowledging the difference between a legitimate website and a fake site set up for the purposes of obtaining your personal information.

Other new features include enhanced tabbed browsing, the ability to open tabs closed accidentally, spell checking within web forms, a search plugin manager, combined and enhanced Add-Ons manager and much more, including support for new web standards.

You can download other language editions of the Windows Firefox 2.0, as well as Linux and Mac OS X versions from the Mozilla website.

Opera 9.5 Preview (build 9594)

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Opera
Size 5MB
Free download

Since the release of Opera 9 earlier this year, Opera have been working hard fixing little bugs, making minor improvements and turning Opera in to a serious rival to Internet Explorer. Now at 9.5, albeit a second early preview, it's worth downloading if you've not used this browser before.

The new speed dial feature is a new view in new tabs. It shows live thumbnails of up to nine websites. Click on one to open the site, or enter a new address as normal. It's certainly more useful than a blank tab.

Opera also supports BitTorrent downloads. These type of downloads make best use of available bandwidth by splitting files up and downloading the different bits from several locations at the same time.

The principle of the system is that files downloaded onto your computer should be accessible to others but Opera can turn this off to conserve bandwidth quotas.

An improved content blocker allows individual elements of a webpage to be blocked to avoid adverts. The pop up blocker has also been improved.

Widgets are a small programs for showing news feeds or other information, some of which can be taken from the web. They are accessed with a single keypress and are written by the Opera community rather than the company itself.

The tabbed browsing has also been improved with a small preview of the webpages.

DownThemAll 1.0 Beta 2

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP
Type freeware
Manufacturer Federico Parodi and Stefano Verna
Size 425Kb
Free Download

With the rise of online photo album storage sites and media portals such as YouTube, we’re now able to browse the web and view other people’s home movies and digital photos. However, downloading more than one of these files isn’t easy. For instance, head over to your favourite digital photo site or simply a photo album of one of your friends and you might be presented with hundreds of photos to download. Do you spend hours surfing for your favourites or simply download them all and choose later? Worse, the photos on the web page are only thumbnails, so you’d have to preview every photo before you can download.

DownThemAll 1.0 Beta 2 is a Firefox extension that enables you to download everything from a web site with one click. You can choose to download links on a web page, automatically. You could simply select the pages you want to download from and then DownTheAll 1.0 will go through the links and download the files.

Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool 1.34

Platform Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Microsoft
Size 8.30MB
Free Download

Security must be becoming an important issue for Microsoft, as this is the second release in almost as many days, coming hot on the heels of its AntiSpyware software.

Download this small tool and your PC will be scanned and checked for malicious software. Should any be found it is automatically removed, and a full report displayed on-screen at the end of the scan.

A new version of this tool will be released every second Tuesday of the month, and the download link above takes you to the Microsoft download page to ensure you get the most up-to-date version.

You must have administrator access in order to run this software on your PC.

MediaCoder 0.6.0.3905

Platform Windows XP
Type freeware
Manufacturer Stanley Huang
Size 16.92MB
Free Download

Working with video and audio codecs can be a real pain, for the professional media designer and for the home user who wants to playback old video they’ve downloaded from the Internet. For the professional media designer, if they’ve been given video and audio to create a DVD, the media isn’t always presented in the format required to produce the DVD – the media needs to be decoded before it can be encoded to the correct format.

There are plenty of open-source codecs available. For instance the K-Lite Codec Pack collates a number of old and new codecs within one package which you can use to encode/decode and play your media. However, some of these codecs require you to use multiple media encoders/decoders and who wants to install these packages on one computer?

MediaCoder is a tool that collates the use of these codecs in to one interface. From the single interface, you can import your audio and video, quickly see the codecs used to encode them and then convert them to another format, where required. MediaCoder goes much further than simple conversion though. You can take DVD-quality video and then reduce this to a format that will be playable on a portable media device.

KeePass 2.03

Platform Windows 98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type freeware
Manufacturer Dominik Reichl
Size 1.43MB
Free Download

Today you need to remember many passwords. You need a password for the Windows network logon, your email account, your homepage's ftp password, online passwords (like CodeProject member account) etc. The list is endless.

Often people keep the same password for multiple accounts but this could prove a serious problem. If someone else finds this password they then have access to your various online accounts. It's like giving someone your PIN for your credit card.

KeePass is a password manager, or safe, which will enable you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key-disk. You only have to remember one single master password or insert the key-disk to unlock the whole database.

The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish).