So, please be aware that any comments left since the beginning of September and any further comments left until I sought things out may be lost.

Apologies to any one who has been inconvenienced.

The good news is that there will soon be some new posts mostly based on running Freeware (portable and otherwise) under the Windows 7 operating system which I have been experiementing with over the last couple of months

Barry

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What’s This About?

MultiRes by Entech has been around for quite a while. It allows the screen display settings to be quickly and easily changed from the system tray or from the command line. The settings provided in the system tray are for supported values* for the screen and graphics adapter however non-standard or not supported values can be set from the command line which means batch files can be written to quickly change between different settings.

* The “supported” values are presumably obtained from the combination of the graphics card and monitor settings held by the system. If appears if the system only has a default monitor that some display settings may not actually be supported by the monitor.

Why Would You Want It?

There are lots of reasons why you may want to change the screen resolution and other graphics related settings for different applications such as  changing from office types applications to graphics, video, games, etc.

Another possible reason is to fit fixed sized windows onto a small display. I recently purchased a Samsung NC10 Netbook (great piece of kit which I would recommend to anyone wanting a small ultraportable solution). A small problem I experienced quite early on was that the display resolution of 1024 X 600 pixels. This meant that some of the standard software I use has fixed size “Option” screens which are deeper than 600 pixels so that some options and buttons were off the bottom of the display. I needed a solution that would allow me to quickly change the display settings to a non-standard size so that I could manage these types of windows before switching back to the standard (native) resolution. While MultiRes won’t display non-standard (supported) resolutions it would allow changing to them using the command line.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Changes Display resolutions
• Supports multi-monitor setups
• Changes other display settings e.g contrast, colour settings
• Comprehensive command line values

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

• Easy to use
• Good Options
• Remembers previous settings for “Restore”
• Allows Refresh rates to be locked
• Good Documentation

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Only displays “supported” settings in system tray
• Installer Version only

More About What it Does in Detail:

Go to Page 2 for details and screenshots

Go to Page 3 for ProReviewer Summary

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Run Multiple Instances of Firefox Portable

to Several Good Reasons for Using Portable Firefox

What is This all About?

The post Run Multiple Instances of Firefox Portable provided some excellent reasons for using different versions of Firefox portable to meet your varying needs. For example you could have versions with lots of add-ons or versions with add-ons that meet particular requirements, or you could set up versions for dealing with mail or RSS feeds or managing sessions for favourite sites.

The main problem was that Firefox Portable can only run a single instance (that is only one version of the portable program) at a time. So you could not have a Firefox Window and multiple tabs for say your email running at the same time as another version dedicated to RSS feed or favourite sites. (Note you can run multiple windows each with its own tabs but these will have the same add-ons, bookmarks and layout)

However a very simple change using a text editor, such as notebook, and moving a file from one folder to another can allow you to run multiple different versions  (instances) of Firefox Portable at the same time! i.e. different main Firefox executable files and the associated portable package of profile, bookmarks, add-ons, etc.

Update – N.B Since starting this tip I have found that there is information out on other blogs so this is not original

What Do You Need to Do?

Firstly you need a version of Firefox Portable- if you don’t have it you can download it here:

portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

In my main PC I have already downloaded both Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 portable versions.

(I still use Firefox 2 for one particular add-on  that has not been upgraded for use with Firefox 3)

Here is an example folder setup on a PC:

(Click on Screenshots to enlarge where necessary)

(For anyone not familiar with the freeware I use to extend Windows Explorer the above shows toolbars and tabs from QTTabBar and QTAddressBar

- see: QuizoApps: QTTabBar )

In order to run multiple instances a simple change needs to be made to the FirefoxPortable.ini file and it then need to be moved to the first level directory of the Firefox Portable folders. This is quite easy to do as will be explained using screenshots below.

Changing the Preferences File

First you need to locate the preferences file. It is named FirefoxPortable.ini (NOT FirefoxPortableSettings.ini) and is found in the Other/Source folder in the Firefox Portable folder structure:

In this example the path is – C:\FirefoxPortable3\Other\Source

Another way to find it is to use Search in Windows Explorer, here I have searched for all preference or ini files (*.ini) so you can see there are several ini files in the Firefox Portable folders:

Having located the correct file double clicking on it will open it in Notepad (or you can use your favourite plain text editor).

You now need to locate the line

AllowMultipleInstances=false

and change false to true

Now save the file:

Finally you need to copy or move the file to the top level folder which in this example is FirefoxPortable3:

Now do the same for other FirefoxPortable folders you are using for different setups (you just need to copy the ini file you have already changed) and you are now ready to run multiple Firefox Portable version (setups/instances) at the same time.

In the above example the lower version in the screenshot is identical to the top except for the Brief plug-in having been disabled. (I do this because Brief can significantly slow Firefox at start-up).

ProReviewer Summary

I find this a very useful tip so that I can use different setups at the same time. Particularly using a fast cut down version to quickly access sites I need to lookup while still having a full version with all the add-ons available. It is also useful if you have more than one Google Mail account you want to view at the same time.

What Other Post are Relevant?

TIP – Use Firefox Portable for Multiple Profiles and Backups

Brief 1.1 – Firefox Add-on – Simple BUT Very Effective RSS Reader

Backup – Identify Where the Data Is – Find the Location of Your Information on a Windows Based PC?

Firefox Add-on – Statusbars – Get Your Statusbars Organized

Firefox Beta 3 – Use Extension List Dumper Add-on to Find Compatible Extensions

Firefox Add-ons – 5 Things “Clear Private Data” is Useful For

See the Firefox Add-ons Category for even more Tips and Reviews -

Firefox Add-ons

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What’s This About?

Starter is a portable program that will list all your startup programs, running processes and windows services in a simple and well laid out tabbed window. It allows startup programs to be disabled/enabled as well as editing and adding new programs to startup on system boot. All Windows Services are also shown and these can also be edited or details shown. Finally, you can also manage all running processes in a similar way to the Windows Taskmanager. The program is simple and the user interface is well thought out for simplicity combined with good features. As a bonus you also get real-time information on CPU (by core and total) and memory usage in the statusbar area.

Why Would You Want It?

Many Windows systems end up with a lot of programs added into the registry or Startup folder so that they are automatically run when the system ids first started (at system boot).  While this can be immensely useful and save time it can also slow down the boot process and the overall performance of the computer if too many programs and services are running. Often these programs are automatically added to be started by the installer (another good reason to use a portable program suite!). Quite often the program or service is really unnecessary for the day to day use of the compute and is just draining resources and slowing down everything else. Windows provides the msconfig utility to view and mange startup programs and you can also view or manage services through the Computer Management console. However, Startup provides a single, well thought out and easy to use utility to manage both of these as well as running processes.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Identifies Startup programs in registry, startup folder and system ini files (win.ini, etc)
• Allows startup programs to be:
• disabled
• enabled
• edited
• Shows details of programs in Tooltip or separate window
• Identifies all Windows services
• Allows services to be edited
• Shows details of services in Tooltip or separate window
• Identifies all running processes
• Gives details of processes in main GUI (similar to Taskmanager)
• Allows process priorities to be changed
• Gives details of processes in separate window

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

• Portable
• Easy to use
• Good information provided
• Simple options

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Lack of help*

* There is absolutely no direct help for the program either with the download or on a website. While the program is simple and intuitive the very minimum should be a list f the available options and functions

More About What it Does in Detail:

Go to Page 2 for details and screenshots

Go to Page 3 for ProReviewer Summary

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What’s This About?

CyberShredder is another very small portable application which is designed to remove all traces of old file data from your hard disks. It does not touch any existing files or the files in the recycle bin. This is very useful to ensure that files that have not been securely deleted cannot be recovered.

Why Would You Want It?

As noted under the previous post Privacy – Use CyberShredder to Securely Delete Files & Folders :-

When Windows deletes files from your hard disk using the standard delete or cut/paste methods it does not erase all the file details, just the index entry. So the file is still there you just can’t see it. There are plenty of free, portable programs available to recover such files ( see Recuva – Easy and Quick Way to Recover Deleted Photos and Files). Over time the “deleted” file may be overwritten by new files but this could be slow and is a random process. If you need to make sure personal details or other sensitive information is erased, for instance if you want to sell a hard drive or your old computer, then you need a program like CyberShredder.

Disk Redactor provides the complimentary piece of software to CyberShredder by “wiping” the areas of the disk that may contain information from files not deleted by a secure method.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Overwrites unused disk space
• Securely erase single or multiple folders
• Uses different methods depending on level of security

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

• Portable
• Easy to Use

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Installer only download
• Options are not available “grayed out” **
• Can’t select multiple drives

** This was not a problem in an earlier version – see post for more details

More About What it Does in Detail:

Go to Page 2 for details and screenshots

Go to Page 3 for ProReviewer Summary

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CyberShredder is a very small portable application whose only purpose is to delete files and folders on your hard disk and remove all traces of the file. It does this by overwriting the file with other characters and changing the file entries in the system file  index.

Why Would You Want It?

When Windows deletes files from your hard disk using the standard delete or cut/paste methods it does not erase all the file details, just the index entry. So the file is still there you just can’t see it. There are plenty of free, portable programs available to recover such files ( see Recuva – Easy and Quick Way to Recover Deleted Photos and Files). Over time the “deleted” file may be overwritten by new files but this could be slow and is a random process. If you need to make sure personal details or other sensitive information is erased, for instance if you want to sell a hardrive or your old computer, then you need a program like CyberShredder.  However see the “Cons” and “What Could Make it Better” sections below.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Securely erases single or multiple files
• Securely erase single or multiple folders
• Uses different methods depending on level of security

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

• Portable
• Easy to Use
• Good Options
• Installer Option

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Only drag and drop addition of files or folders
• Does not wipe previously deleted file space on hard disk

This means that if you have deleted files with the Windows OS CyberShredder can’t be used to overwrite the areas of the hardisk which may still contain sensitive information. However there are other programs that will do this for you

More About What it Does in Detail:

Go to Page 2 for details and screenshots

Go to Page 3 for ProReviewer Summary

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So I couldn’t think of a really good title that describes the recent “technical” problems that have resulted in no new ProReviewer posts for the last couple of weeks

Soon after I finished the post on ClipGuru a couple of weeks ago, as I was about to start on the next post, in fact at just after 5pm Saturday 8th November, we had a local power cut. No idea what caused it but after a few seconds the switchgear somewhere on the main grid automatically tried to reconnect the power twice in succession. No big deal you think, happens 2 or 3 times a year.

bigfoto.com

When the power was eventually restored a little later I found that my server PC wouldn’t start up, my Windows Home Server was dead and my main XP desktop, which I use for all my work and blogging, had some data corruption (or so I thought).

What Next?

Well I started off with the dead machines checking al the usual things like fuses on the mains and then working into opening up the machines and checking connections, boards and memory properly seated, etc. To cut a long story short over I pinned it down to the power supplies having failed by taking an old power supply from another machine and trying it on the dead ones. This all sounds fairly straight forward but lack of time and pressure of other things at home and work meant this took until the middle of the week to sort out.

In the mean time my main working desktop and started to behave ever more strangely. Crashing, freezing and the graphics display working intermittently. I thought it was the graphics card as I could connect remotely and al seemed to be working normally. A new graphics card and power supplies were ordered. However, the main desktop just got worse and worse. In the end I decided it could only be the motherboard.

What Now?

Well I sorted out the server PC and WHS machine power supplies and they are all working properly. I have a motherboard/processor/memory bundle coming tomorrow (the old mobo/cpu/memory were over 3 years old, therefore well out of date, so I decided to replace the lot).

I have used part of the available time to transfer data and install programs to my Vista machine, which I am using now to write this post. It also means I have been able to move the computers around in the study so it will now be possible to switch between my main desktop with XP and the Vista PC which should help with posts including more Vista programs.

So I hope to resume normal service over the next week to 10 days with 3 to 4 posts a week

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What’s This About?

ClipGuru is a semi Portable Application which monitors the clipboard and stores the information it finds there as text or images. This type of application is generally referred to as a “clipboard extender”. It stores this information in a database which provides a history of stored clips that can be reused. It has a variety of useful options for both storing and recalling the stored information

Why Would You Want It?

ClipGuru is a small, portable and light on resources. It allows you to store text clips or images (copied on there own without any text).So if you need to store text on it’s own, or images on their own, with the option to save different sets and paste multiple selections this could be very useful.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Monitors the Clipboard for text or Images
• Stores information in a simple database
• Multiple storage sets
• Clip text searching
• Combine clips
• Combined pasting
• Manage clips

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

• Portable
• Versatile
• Good Options
• Good information through Tooltips

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Limited format saving
• Can’t save combined text and images
• Can’t save HTML
• Limited format retention as rich text

More About What it Does in Detail:

Go to Page 2 for details and screenshots

Go to Page 3 for ProReviewer Summary

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What’s This About?

DisplayFusion (Portable Freeware version*) provides the ability to move and resize windows between monitors in a multi-monitor setup. It also allows you to set wallpaper and backgrounds from photos on your computer or from Flickr. It is a great alternative to the shareware “Ultramon” program.

* There is a shareware upgrade to a Pro version however the Free version does everything that I need.

Why Would You Want It?

If you use a multi-monitor setup (and for a serious computer user the only reasons I think you shouldn’t is lack of money or space) then moving windows, particularly maximized windows between the monitors is something you wan to easily do. The ability of DisplayFusion to move a maximized window from one monitor to another by dragging and dropping makes it worth installing for just this one feature. The addition of hotkey window operations and wallpaper/background management are just an incredible bonus

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Drag Maximized Windows between monitors/screens
• Move, Size and Maximize Windows with Hotkeys
• Set Separate Images as Screen Background/Wallpaper
• Auto Snap Windows to Monitor edges

Pros: What’s Good?

Features & Benefits

• Freeware

• Portable
• Installer version also available
• Easy to Use
• Good Options

Cons:What’s Not So Good?

• Lack of Titlebar buttons to move or stretch windows

More About What it Does in Detail:

Go to Page 2 for details and screenshots

Go to Page 3 for ProReviewer Summary

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What Is It?

Statusable provides a second statusbar in Firefox that displays the “progress bar” and some standard text

Why Would You Want It?

Numerous add-ons in Firefox use the statusbar to display information. Statusable provides a second statusbar displaying progress and some standard text. This frees up the standard statusbar to display other information. This is very useful, particularly when combined with other add-ons which help with displaying the information that you need or using add-ons options to limit what is displayed in the statusbar. So if you need a bit more room in your statusbars this certainly helps.

ProReviewer has previously reviewed Statusbars by Marius Gunderson which did a great job in helping to organize what is displayed in multiple statusbars for Firefox 2. Unfortunately this has not been updated for Firefox 3.

What Does It Do – The Essentials?

Summary:

• Provides a second statusbar
• Shows Progress and some standard text

Pros: What’s Good?

• Freeware

• Simple to Use
• Provides extra statusbar space for other add-ons

Cons: What’s Not So Good?

• Limited functionality

More About What it Does in Detail:

Go to Page 2 for details and screenshots

Go to Page 3 for ProReviewer Summary

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