I Love Free Software

ControlPad: Launch Programs from Numeric Keypad

Ishan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:30:19 +0000

ControlPad is a free software that turns your keypad into program launcher. You can configure programs to launch when you press numbers on your keypad. This makes it extremely easy to launch any program easily.

ControlPad lets you configure any command to your chosen sequence of numbers. You can open a program, open a document, or even open a website.

To use ControlPad:

Press and hold * key for about 1 second.
A small text box window will pop-up. In this window, just type the number for your command and hit Enter.
This will immediately launch the command associated with that number.

You can configure commands in a similar manner.

While I was reading about ControlPad, I was kinda feeling bad as I have a laptop, and that does not have a numeric keypad. Then I saw that ControlPad has a special Laptop mode for laptop users. In that mode, you can use F12, instead of *, so even laptop users can easily use it.

Personally, I would prefer to use Launchy, as that has a similar operation, but you do not need to remember any command. For more ease, you can also check out out:

15 Best Free Application Launchers for Windows

Nevertheless, this is a good free software that is easy to use. [via]

Wondershare Time Freeze: Free Virtual System Software

Ishan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:30:38 +0000

Wondershare Time Freeze Free is a free virtual system software. It creates a virtual protection around your actual system. Then, any activity that you do on your system does not impacts the actual system. You can surf the web, and run programs. When you reboot your computer, it will wipe out everything that you did. So, any malicious software that might have infected your system or any virus that might have come in – all are gone. This works a lot like Returnil Virtual System Free.

Wondershare Time Freeze is the best way to surf those websites that try to download all sort of stuff on your computer. I face this problem especially with online video streaming sites. They are already filled with ads, and still try to download all type of malicious software. Till now, I have been relying on Microsoft Security Essentials, and “Incognito Mode” in Google Chrome to keep me safe. Wondershare Time Freeze will be my new savior.

Here are some of the features of Wondershare Time Freeze:

Virtual System:Wondershare Time Freeze creates a virtual system for your own private browsing. You can anytime switch from virtual system to actual system, without rebooting your system.

Protect your Folders: Wondershare Time Freeze lets you protect your folders so that no one can edit the contents of those. You can use My LockBox also for that.

Apart from this, you can password protect Wondershare Time Freeze so that no one can change your settings.

If you want a free virtualization software, you can try VirtualBox, and other alternatives for VMWare.

pHiSearch: Free Text Search Software to Search Inside Files of All Types

Ishan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:30:16 +0000

pHiSearch is a free text search software that can search inside all type of files. This free text search utility comes really handy for programmers as this can search inside any type of ASCII and Unicode files.

Being a programmer myself, sometimes I am really frustrated with the search function in Windows. It does not search inside file extensions like .aspx, .vb, .js, and more. That’s where pHiSearch shines.

pHiSearch comes with a nice algorithm that can read text inside all type of files irrespective of file extension. So, pHiSearch can search in .Html, .cs, .sql, .xml, .vb, and more. Only feature that I find missing in pHiSearch is text replace feature. You can use Text Crawler for that.

Here are some of the features of pHiSearch:

You can search using regular expressions.
Use wildcards to filter files
You can use an external viewer like Notepad++ to preview the content of the files.
It can be integrated with Windows explorer.

pHiSearch is a really useful searchc utility for everyone, whether you are a programmer or not. If you need some desktop search software, you can try Windows Search, Google Desktop Search, or Hulbee Desktop.

KeepNote: Free Notes Taking Software to Easily Organize Notes

Ishan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:54 +0000

KeepNote is free note taking software. This program allows you to take notes on multiple systems so that you can keep your notes together. No matter what type of system you have, you can use this program to organize and keep all of your notes in one place. They are saved in a tree-like structure for easy reference as well as viewing, going between notebooks and using tools. This reminds me of personal wiki software like Zim and Linked Notes that provide similar feature.

This KeepNote free notes management software includes quite a bit of features. You can edit notes, go to them, open them and view them. You can also use certain tools to spell check for example. This program runs on Linux, Windows and Mac. Your help menu can be a big help here with the ability to change settings. Backing up this program is ideal for keeping your notes together. Export of notes into HTML format is another good feature to use. The idea here is to keep your notes together and keep them organized in a more organized fashion.

How to Use KeepNote:

So how do you use KeepNote? It is very easy to use. Simply install the program and begin taking notes. You can do this by simply creating a new notebook first, then creating empty pages within that same notebook. Once you are finished, the notebooks will be saved for later review. You can open folders to view both in File Explorer and in text. Moving between these folders is easy. Just click go and it will collapse and expand notes. The help menu gives you all the help that you need to operate this program.

Features of KeepNote:

Tools – Spell Check
GO function – moves between notes and notebooks
View notes – Opening and viewing notes in several different connotations
Saves notes in tree form for easier organization
Help menu – Changing preferences

Some other notes taking software that you can also try are Notebox Disorganizer, and CintaNotes.

Directory Diff: Free Software to Compare Directories

Ishan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:00:07 +0000

Directory Diff is a free and open source software to compare two directories. It can show you the complete directory tree side by side. You can then use expand and collapse options to see the similarities and differences between directories.

Directory Diff makes it extremely easy to compare directories. You can go till file level with this. It can show you same files in both directories, files that are present in one and not other, and differences between the files.

Directory Diff is extremely easy to use, small in size (less than 1MB), and completely free. Another free software to compare files is WinMerge. You can use Compare Sheets to compare Excel sheets.

ClipboardFusion: Free Clipboard Management Software

Ishan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:30:46 +0000

ClipboardFusion is a free software to enhance Windows clipboard. This is a way of managing text that has been pasted or copied to Windows. Using different features such as text replace will replace characters with copied text. Copy can also be extended to colors and visuals. Macros allow the user to either use the pre-formatted macros or develop their own and test them for use. Scrubbing can also strip areas of text leaving areas of white. For users of Windows, this can indeed be a godsend to use. Managing a clipboard has never been easier.

Also Read: 4 Free Windows Clipboard Replacement Software

ClipboardFusion is one unique free computer software program in that it helps to manage the Windows clipboard. This keeps the Clipboard clean and ready to use. By using different features such as copy to see the preview of a color as well as using Text Replace to replace text easily without having to make so many keystrokes. This makes using a clipboard so much easier to do. No matter what you do with a clipboard, this program can help you to do it better. The full version offers more than the freeware version does however, including feature to manage your cliboard online. However, you can use iClippy also for that.

Using ClipboardFusion free computer software is very easy. Installing only take a minute or two and then you can get started managing your clipboard in Windows. Replacing text, scrubbing and using macros are all easy to do. Now this program will run on all Windows post 2000. It will also require the use of Microsoft .Net Framework V2.0. So it is indeed easy to use and allows for management of things stuck to and taken off of a Windows clipboard. This makes the clipboard easier to use and work with.

Features of ClipboardFusion:

Macros – use your own or use pre-programmed
Copy – for colors and text
Text Scubbing – Removing html and white space from clipboard
Text Replace – Replaces text in any copied text

Some other clipboard managers that we reviewed earlier include OrangeNote, YC3, and MemoClip.

InSight Desktop Search – Free Search Tool

danny — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:30:20 +0000

InSight Desktop Search is a simple free file search engine that helps you find files for free on your computer. InSight Desktop Search has a beautiful, intuitive and robust interface that should please everyone.

Also, according to the developers, InSight Desktop Search finds the file you’re looking for before you end typing. As if that is not enough, this free search tool also searches Wikipedia articles and has its own built-in jukebox. The list of amazing features this free file search engine has could go on and on so download it and find out how incredible this software truly is.

InSight Desktop Search is certainly the best replacement for Windows’ default search system, beating its competitors like Hulbee Desktop. As a matter of fact after downloading this great software one can simply toggle off Windows search.

How to Use InSight Desktop Search:

The first thing you need to do after downloading and installing InSight Desktop Search ree file search engine is choose what parts of your hard drive you want to index. To do so just click on the icon on the upper right side of the window and choose which partitions you want to index. Indexing your files might take a few minutes depending on the amount of files you have.

After the indexing process is concluded you can already use InSight Desktop Search. In order to use the free search tool, just hover your mouse over the clock which should show up after you install the program. When the window shows up you can easily find files for free.

As you might have noticed, InSight Desktop Search has several filters. If you are looking for an specific file and want to narrow down your results, simply use the corresponding filter. Another nice feature is the built in jukebox. Whenever you search for a mp3 file you can listen to it right from InSight Desktop Search by clicking on “play”.

Features of InSight Desktop Search:

Quickly find millions of files in your computer.
Built in jukebox.
Robust yet simple interface.

InSight Desktop Search is probably the best of the free desktop search tools we have seen, but the alternatives have benefits to. For document searching, it is well worth giving DocFetcher a try and if simplicity is what you want, then Everything Search Engine is good for you.

Free Software to Organize Notes: Notebox Disorganizer

Ishan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:30:52 +0000

Notebox Disorganizer is a free computer software program that is used to organize your notes. It uses different ideas such as spreadsheets note areas and cells to organize your notes.

Notebox Disorganizer is divided into editor and note grid. To access them all you do is click on the notes in question. There are many different aspects that can be of help with this particular program. Exploded notes will save notes and allow them to be used outside of the Notes Disorganizer. Bookmarks so that you know where certain notes are at is a big help.

When it comes to using the Notebox Disorganizer free computer software program, it is easy to use. Organization of notes couldn’t be easier. Using different manipulation controls, you can organize your notes easily. It is a simple matter of drop down or click to access the note that you want.

Also Read: 5 Free Post It Notes Software

With the many different organizational tools, it is easy to get and keep notes together as well as being able to find them when you want them. Using the features that come with this program make it easy for you to get your notes organized. For some of us that is a major improvement!

Using Notebox Disorganizer free software program is very easy to do. Install the program into your computer, double click and you are on your way. This is a very small program at less than 1MB. You can use it and carry it with you. This unusual freeware is great for keeping notes organized as well as being able to jot notes when you need to. The controls work like a dream and there are really few controls for the mouse or keyboard with this software. This makes it easier for those of use to use who are a little challenged.

Features of Notebox Disorganizer:

Outbox- saving notes for use as well as semi formatted files of text
Bookmarks – Easy way to find notes that you need
Keywords – using these to mark notes
Exploded notes – allows for notation to exist outside of Disorganizer
And much more

Notebox Disorganizer follows a pretty different concept of organizing notes. However, I prefer to organize notes in a Wiki style by using a personal wiki software like Linked Notes, or Zim.

Paessler Site Inspector: Free Web Page Analyzing Software

Ishan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:00:24 +0000

Paessler Site Inspector is a free website analyzing browser that can be used to analyze the performance of a website in web browser.

This free site inspector combines rendering engines of both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox into one program. So users can compare the rendering of a page in both the browser. Its sophisticated web page analysis functions make analyzing and debugging of web sites easy. Browsershots is another free software to test web pages in multiple browsers.

How to use it Paessler Site Inspector:

Paessler Site Inspector runs on any Window operating system and requires about 30 MB of free disk space. Its analysis functions can be accessed right inside the Analyzing Browser. Using this analysis features user can mark any HTML tag with a colored border inside the rendered web page. Also users can copy the page URL, page title, page source, list of URLs, and even the page as a bitmap to the clipboard.

Also Read: 4 Best Free FTP Software

In this free site inspector web developers will find a wealth of analysis functions in the toolbars and menus.

It allows user to access lists of the images, forms, links, frames, metatags, or the scripts of a web page for any given URL.
Its Highlight function allows user to mark any HTML tag with a colored border inside the rendered web page (e.g., to show all TD tags in a page).
It can show both pixel grid and guide lines in a web page.
It can also show all image tags and link URLs inside a web page.
It shows HTML sources and JavaScript files using syntax highlighting.
It allows user to copy the page URL, page title, page source, list of URLs, and a bitmap to the clipboard.
Its browser window can be resized to various standard screen sizes. And it allows user to zoom into a web page.
It also includes features like CSS/HTML validation, link checking, ping the server and W3C markup validation.

So Paessler Site Inspector with its advanced web page analysis features can be an indispensable tool for every web developer. Some other good programming tools for web developers include free IDE for PHP, Firebug for IE, and free IDE for Ruby Rails.

SoundOff: Turn Off All System Sounds while Listening to Music

Ishan — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 06:00:08 +0000

SoundOff is a useful free software that lets you quickly turn off all the system sounds while you are listening to music or watching videos. Windows really does not provides an easy way to just turn off system sounds in one click, and then turn them back on. SoundOff comes handy for that.

Apart from turning off system sounds with one click, SoundOff also provides options to rename your sound schemes, and even delete sound schemes. This program performs a very specific function, but that is pretty helpful.

Some other good software from this developer include PowerLink, Tiler, and RBTray.