Get a free one year license for USB Safely Remove 4.0

If you have lots of USB that you connect to your PC then pay attention. Safelyremove.com is giving away a one year license for their USB Safely Remove 4.0 program. USB Safely Remove 4.0 has several features over the standard Windows USB removal interface like hot-keys, real USB devices names and detailed information about why you can't extract a device like for example opened program and files. USB Safely Remove 4.0 is actually pretty good and i could see myself buying a copy if i had a credit card and more USB devices to plugin in my PC. Anyway to get the one year license go to the giveaway page and put your real name and email along with some comments if you like. You should get an email within a day. If for some reason you can't access the giveaway page then try this anonymouse link which is the one i had to use. The giveaway started on november 27 and will end on december 3 so hurry up if you are interested on the program.

Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe is a tactical shooter set in WWII

Overview:

Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe contains the original award-winning Hidden & Dangerous game, the Devil's Bridge expansion pack, the game editor, all the patches, updates, etc.


Review:

Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe is a tactical shooter set in World War II. It was originally a commercial product but it was released for free in order to promote the sequel. Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe puts you in direct control of 4 SAS soldiers and will give you several missions that range from rescuing allied soldiers to blowing enemy facilities. The game is ugly with it's blocky models and can be frustating as hell, be prepared to die a lot. However i found the game to be addictive and when it everything goes as planned it's very rewarding. The game doesn't require an internet connection to be played and when you exit to Windows you will see an ad for the sequel which is something i found a little annoying.Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe is an interesting title with a bunch of missions that should keep you busy for a while. Available for Windows.


Site with info about the Hidden & Dangerous series

Download mirrors:

Gamers Hell

File Planet

File Shack

Free MP3 to CD Converter & Burner is a super simple way to burn audio CDs

Overview:

Free MP3 to CD Converter & Burner can burn audio CD from mp3, wma, wmv, asf files with the best quality and it's completely Free! Now you can enjoy your favorite MP3s on CD discman or car CD player!


Features:

* Convert MP3 to CD, Convert WMA to CD, Convert WMV to CD, Convert ASF to CD.
* Directly burn WMA, WMV, ASF, MP3 to CD, no need to convert to WAV.
* Burn audio CD from mp3 collection with the best quality of the original.
* Beautiful and easy-to-use user interface.
* Arrange files as you like.
* Play audio files with build-in audio player.
* Edit ID3 tag of the audio files.
* Burn MP3, WMA, WMV, ASF to audio CD in a high speed.
* Completely FREE!



Review:

Most CD/DVD burners today have an option to burn audio CDs but if you only burn music CDs or you want a easy to use burner for your dad then Free MP3 to CD Converter & Burner is a pretty good choice. With it you can burn mp3,WMA,WMV and ASF files to an audio CD. Optionally you can edit the artist and track tags and change the position of any song using the right side arrows. Unfortunately the built-in player doesn't work and instead will launch your default audio player which sucks. Anyway Free MP3 to CD Converter & Burner worked for me and should make a simpler alternative compared to other CD burning programs. Available for all versions of Windows.


Get it at http://www.minidvdsoft.com/mp3tocd/

Unlock and delete hard to remove files with FileASSASSIN

Overview:

FileASSASSIN is an application that can delete any type of locked files that are on your computer. Whether the files are from a malware infection or just a particular file that will not delete - FileASSASSIN can remove it. The program uses advanced programming techniques to unload modules, close remote handles, and terminate processes to remove the particular locked file. Please use with caution as deleting critical system files may cause system errors.


Review:

FileASSASSIN is a file unlocker tool that can be used to remove hard to delete files that can't be erased because Windows gives an error. All you have to do is to select a file and FileASSASIN will try to unlock it and optionally delete it either right away or on reboot. FileASSASSIN is pretty similar to the previously reviewed Unlocker however FileASSASSIN is portable so i would go with this program if you like your apps on the go. Available for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php

Winamp is a powerful media player

Overview:

Winamp is a multimedia player.


Features:

• iPod Support: Play and manage music on your iPod
• Album Art: Retrieve and view Album Art
• Auto-Tag: Automatically update your song information
• Dynamic Song Recommendations
• Remote Media: Access your media remotely
• Thousands of skins and plug-ins to make Winamp even better
• Free videos, radio stations, MP3 downloads and more

Review:

Winamp is one of the oldest and more widely known media players out there but i haven't written about it in my blog so what the hell. It comes with a lot of features that can come handy for people with a large music collection like for example auto-tagging and Ipod support. The default Bento skin can get a little a choppy if you have a slow PC but you can go back to the classic and ugly Winamp 2 skin which works without a hitch. Winamp is powerful and has a lot features tough most of the most useful ones can only be found in the pro version (like full speed CD burning and ripping). In conclusion if you haven't heard about Winamp then give it a try, it's pretty good. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.winamp.com/

FileHippo.com Update Checker can let you know if your programs have updates available

Overview:

The Update Checker will scan your computer for installed software, check the versions and then send this information to FileHippo.com to see if there are any newer releases. These are then neatly displayed in your browser for you to download.


Review:

FileHippo.com is a great place to find free programs (some of the programs featured in this blog have come from there) so if you have programs that you download from there then FileHippo.com Update Checker is a pretty good way to keep them up to date. Just download the installer or the portable version and run it so that it can check your installed programs, a browser window will be opened with direct links to download the newest versions of your software. Unfortunately FileHippo.com Update Checker can only check programs that are added to the website so if you have programs that are not there you are out of luck. You could try Updatestar tough which is another software update utility with a larger software database but it's not portable.
In conclusion if you only have programs that are on the FileHippo.com website then this update checker is a good way to keep them up to date. Available for Windows 98/ME/2004/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

FairStars CD Ripper is a simple but effective CD ripper

Overview:

FairStars CD Ripper is a free powerful software for ripping audio CD tracks to WMA, MP3, OGG, VQF, FLAC, APE and WAV formats files on-the-fly. Free CDDB is supported(Querying & Submiting). It supports normalization when ripping, and also support ID3 tag. FairStars CD Ripper also supports playback with its built-in player.


Features:

• Rips CD to WMA, MP3, OGG, VQF, FLAC, APE and WAV on-the-fly.
• Supports automatic volume adjustment(normalization) during ripping.
• Supports multiple CD/DVD drivers.
• ID3 tag support.
• Support automatic saving ID3 Tags when converting, and also support ID3 tags display and edit.
• Query and submit CD disc information from/to the freedb(the Internet Compact Disc Database).
• Audio Playback control function Support.
• Easy-to-use user-friendly interface(skin support).

Review:

I had to rip a CD recently and the programs that i tried were not up to the task for several reasons. Either i had to download a library or the interface was too complicated so i made the decision to look for something more efficient and after a while i came across FairStars CD Ripper. This program comes with all the required libraries for ripping tracks into the most common formats and has a simple interface. All you have to do is to introduce your music CD, select a destination folder, output type and click extract. ID3 tag support, volume adjustment and querying CD information from the freedb database to fill out missing details are among the other features that FairStars CD Ripper has. As you can see FairStars CD Ripper is fully featured and should suffice most standards need like the one that i had. Available for Windows 2000/XP/XP MCE/2003/Vista/2008.


Get it at http://www.fairstars.com/cdripper/index.htm

JetStart can launch your programs, rearrange your taskbar buttons and more

Overview:

Tired of digging into crowded Start Menu? JetStart offers you a quick access to categorized Start Menu shortcuts, recently launched programs and system commands.


Review:

JetStart is a powerful application launcher with some interesting features. For starters you can organize your favorite programs into five categories (Tools, Internet, Office, Games, Other) to launch them more easily, JetStart will also automatically list all your recently used programs which is neat. Of course all of this is pretty standard but JetStart has a unique way of launching programs. A small menu can appear if you hover your mouse over the Windows start bar showing all currently added programs a long with shutting down options and active internet connections. If that isn't enough you can make use of the "edge menu" that can allow you to launch programs when you place your mouse on the top,down,left and right edges of the screen. Oh and JetStart can also help you to rearrange your taskbar buttons and to quickly add programs into the Windows startup. JetStart used between 8 to 16MB in my system which is okay for all the stuff it can do. There is a more powerful pro version that adds the ability to create your own categories and a startup manager among other things tough i found the free version pretty good as it is.
In conclusion if you are looking for a new application launcher then it wouldn't hurt to give JetStart a look. Available for Windows 98/NT/2K/XP.


Get it at http://www.codesector.com/jetstart.php

Print files into PDFs with DoPDF

Overview:

doPDF is a free PDF converter for both personal and commercial use. Using doPDF you can create 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 favorite web sites to PDF files.


Review:

doPDF is a simple utility that will install a virtual PDF printer in Windows allowing to pretty much print any file into the PDF format. Using doPDF is extremely easy since all you have to do is to open a file and select "print..." from the file menu and print the file using the doPDF virtual printer. doPDF justs works so get it if you need it. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.dopdf.com/

Create ISOs from files and folders with Free ISO Creator

Overview:

Free ISO Creator is a tool to create ISO image from your files and folders.

With Free ISO Creator, you can easily create ISO image from any files and folders (with the subfolders). Free ISO Creator is one of the best solution to create ISO file and it's completely FREE.


Features:

* Create ISO image from files and folders.
* Create UDF/ISO CD DVD image file.
* Create ISO file at super high speed.
* Easy to use, only 3 steps to create ISO image.
* Completely FREE!



Review:

If for whatever reason you need to create ISO images from files and folders then Free ISO Creator is an excellent choice. You can add any file or folder that you want and make an image with a maximum size of 18GB which is plenty, you can even make an image bootable if you need to.
In conclusion Free ISO Creator does it's job and is pretty easy to use. Available for all versions of Windows.


Get it at http://www.minidvdsoft.com/isocreator/index.html

Foxit Reader will read your PDFs efficiently

Overview:

Foxit Reader is a free PDF document viewer.


Review:

Foxit Reader is a very straightforward PDF viewer that is very fast. Besides viewing you can also make annotations, figures, text fields,Etc but these functions are not free and will leave an ugly watermark on the PDF that you use them on. PDF-Xchange Viewer would be a better choice if you need that sort of tools since it allows you to use them without restrictions.
In conclusion if you need a basic PDF viewer (like me) then Foxit Reader is a pretty good choice, however if you need extra tools then PDF-Xchange Viewer is probably better for you. Available for Windows Me/2000/XP/2003/Vista.


Get it at http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Full Spectrum Warrior is a free tactical shooter

Overview:

Based On A Training Aid Developed For The U.S. Army, Full Spectrum Warrior is a squad-based real-time combat game that allows players to experience the intensity and gritty realism of urban combat warfare. As Squad Leader, take command and coordinate the actions of two infantry squads (Alpha and Bravo) leading them through a hostile urban warzone.


Review:

Full Spectrum Warrior was originally a commercial game released in 2004 but apparently it was released for free thanks to the sponsorship of the United States army. Full Spectrum Warrior puts you in the task of commanding two four man units in the tiny nation of Zekistan (think Iraq). You don't directly control your soldiers tough, you give them commands trough cursors for everything to moving to firing. This is the aspect of the game that makes Full Spectrum Warrior a very unique game. The game is very tactical and death can come very easily unless you keep your units in cover at all times, it can be frustating but it's also very rewarding to kill and enemy soldier by simply flanking them. The game download is a massive 1.6 GB and requires an internet connection to be played. Suppossedly this game is ad-supported but i have never seen any ads inside the game, maybe is because i live in chile but this is something that you should keep in mind before downloading. In conclusion Full Spectrum Warrior is a very interesting titke that should provide lots of fun if you like tactical shooters. Available for Windows.


Official site (Doesn't provide a link to the full game)

Mirror #1

Mirror #2

Mirror #3

Quickly change the default windows browser with BrowserTraySwitch

Overview:

BrowserTraySwitch is a super tiny little system tray utility (only 90k) to help you quickly change your default browser.


Review:

BrowserTraySwitch can change the Windows default browser on demand with simply the click of a mouse. This is useful if you want to open URL pages that are in your hard drive on a specific web browser. You can add extra internet browser by editing the INI file of BrowserTraySwitch. Unfortunately i would like to say this program worked well but in the interest of disclosure i have to reveal that i couldn't make BrowserTraySwitch work as intended. It's probably my system that it's at fault but is dissapointing nonetheless. In conclusion if you feel that you need an app like this one then give BrowserTraySwitch a try, hopefully it will work better than it did for me. Available for Windows 98/2000/XP.


Get it at http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/browsertray/index.html

JkDefrag is a simple but powerful hard drive defragmenter

Overview:

JkDefrag is a disk defragmenter and optimizer for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/2008/X64. Completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies, USB disks, memory sticks, and anything else that looks like a disk to Windows. Included are a Windows version, a commandline version (for scheduling by the task scheduler or for use from administrator scripts), a screensaver version, a DLL library (for use from programming languages), versions for Windows X64, and the complete sources.


Review:

JkDefrag is a lightweight defragmenter that focuses on speed and simplicity. Jkdefrag by default will analize, defragment and optimize all the mountable hard drives that it can find, it does all of this without any user input which is handy if you want a fully automated process. Of course you can make some adjustments by using command line options that will allow you for example to defrag a specific hard drive or folder. In conclusion Jkdefrag is a fast, simple and just great defragmenter, tough having to use the command line to access extra options may prove too hard for newbie users. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.kessels.com/Jkdefrag/

EasyShutdown can quickly shutdown your PC

Overview:

EasyShutdown is a freeware windows utility for easy instant or delayed restarting, powering down and suspension of your pc. Fast session locking and logging off through the EasyShutdown tray menu prevents unauthorized access to your machine when your system is left unattended.


Review:

EasyShutdown is a program that gathers all of the Windows shutting down options into a single place. With it you can shutdown,reboot,suspend,log off and lock down Windows. Even tough you can do all of those things pretty easily in Windows having them all into a single menu can be handy, in addition you can delay any order by any number of minutes if you want to. In my system EasyShutdown used between 10 to 15MB which is a little high if you ask me, also i would have liked to have some hot key support for an even faster operation. In conclusion EasyShutdown is a good but not a great way of shutting down your PC faster. EasyShutdown is available for Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista and requires the .Net Framework v2.0 or greater.


Get it at http://www.fictionsoftware.com/software/easyshutdown/

MRU-Blaster will clean up the usage tracks that Windows makes

Overview:

MRU-Blaster is a program made to do one large task - detect and clean MRU (most recently used) lists on your computer.

These MRU lists contain information such as the names and/or locations of the last files you have accessed. They are located ALL OVER your registry, and for almost ANY file type.

By looking at these MRU lists, someone could determine what files you opened/saved/looked at, what their file names were, and much more! (And, in many cases, the lists are displayed in drop-down menus automatically.)


Review:

MRU-Blaster is a lightweight utility that can clean up the MRU (most recently used) lists that Windows makes all the time. MRU-Blaster is pretty easy to use and you can use it either manually or you can set it up to run in the system tray deleting MRU list between time intervals. You can even run it silently without any configuration when booting into Windows . In conclusion if want to have a little bit of extra privacy when using Windows then MRU-Blaster is a good choice. Available for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, or Vista.


Get it at http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/mrublaster.html

Like anime and golf? then Albatross18 may interest you

Overview:

Set in the beautiful backdrop of a fantasy world where reality stops and magic abounds, Albatross18: Season Three presents a unique experience to the game of golf - mixing elements of classic golf play with the popularity of fantasy role-playing games.


Review:

Albatross18 is one of the games that caught my eye a long time ago when i got interested in online gaming right after i got an internet connection. It mixes the game of golf with the style of anime so if you are looking for something realistic then you might wanna look elsewhere, here you will find powershots, strange creatures for caddies and fantastic courses. The game is really fun and playing it online with people provides a really good challenge. However be prepared to spend significant amounts of time if you want to improve your level and earn money to buy stuff. In conclusion Albatross18 is a good way to waste time. Available Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP/VISTA.


Get it at http://a18.ogplanet.com/main.og

Polyglot 3000 is a useful language identification program

Overview:

Polyglot 3000 is an automatic language identifier that can quick recognize language of some text, phrase and even single word.


Features:

• Recognize more than 400 languages (see list below).
• Supports Unicode texts.
• Nice user interface.
• True-Coloured icons in menu and toolbar.
• Quick and correct language identification.
• Recognize language just among popular languages.
• Multilingual interface (English, Russian, Ukrainian).

Review:

Polyglot 3000 is a tool for identifying the language of any given text. All you have to do is to paste text into Polyglot 3000 and click "recognize language" to make the program guess the text's language. Keep in mind that the larger the text the better the chance that Polyglot 3000 can recognize the language accurately, paragraphs worked best in my tests. Polyglot 3000 worked pretty well and is very easy to use so if you want to the check the language of some weird text that you found online then i would suggest that you try Polyglot 3000. Available Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000/XP.


Get it at http://www.emulator3000.emuita.it/language-identifier/index.htm

Bugmenot.com will spare you from registering in web sites

Bugmenot.com is a website that specializes on giving free usernames and passwords of popular websites. This will save you the hassle of registering when you just want a quick look at the content of a webpage. For a more faster way of using bugmenot you can optionally use a bookmarklet for the quick viewing of password of any given page and an even more useful Firefox extension. So if you are tired of registering from dozens of websites then bugmenot.com is a pretty good option.


http://www.bugmenot.com

The Political Machine 2008 Express will let you play the 2008 U.S. election campaign

Overview:

The Political Machine is a PC strategy game in which players run for President. Players can choose an existing candidate or can design their own from scratch, then choose a map/scenario to campaign in. From there, players must tackle the issues and battle against their ideological opponent for victory on election day.

Review:

Since the U.S. election is taking place right now i though i would bring you a political themed post, so therefore meet The Political Machine 2008 Express. This turn based game is based around the 2008 U.S. campaign and in it you can lead either Obama or MaCcain to victory, you can even create your own custom candidates. This "Express" version lacks several features from it 's paid big brother like for exampling saving (Thankfully a standard game doesn't last too long) and a wide variety of candidates but it's still pretty fun regardless. Before you can play tough you must create an account with StarDock's impulse service, it's annoying but a small price to pay for a free game. In conclusion if you would like to know what it's like to handle a presidential campaign or just want to make your candidate the winner then The Political Machine 2008 Express is a pretty decent choice.Available for Windows XP/Vista.

Get it at http://www.politicalmachine.com/express/

Pismo File Mount Audit Package will mount your ISO images without having to install a special driver

Overview:

Pismo File Mount Audit Package is a Windows application that allows users to mount the contents of ZIP, ISO, Compact ISO, Compact File Set and Private Folder files to the file system as virtual folders.


Features:

• ZIP reader

  Most zip archive files can be mounted as read-only folders to allow access to contents, including the ability to execute contained applications.

• CD/DVD image file reader

  DVD and CD images can be mounted in place as a read-only folder to allow access to contents. ISO, CISO, ISZ, and DAA image formats are supported.

• Compact File Set reader

  CFS files can be mounted in place as read-only folders to allow access to contents, including the ability to execute contained applications.

• Private Folders

  Private Folders can be created and used to store sensitive data files and applications in an encrypted and compressed container file. Private folders are created using a password to generate the encryption key. Once the password is provided at mount time, the protected contents become accessible in place through the file system.

• Explorer integration

  Most functionality is available in the shell using context menus and drag-drop operations.

• Full file system support

  All built-in Windows file systems and 3rd party file systems are supported. Files on local, removable, and network devices, can be mounted.

• Command line interface

  All functionality is available through the command line, allowing scripting and automation.

Review:

Pismo File Mount is an interesting application for the mounting of CD/DVD images. Unlike other programs Pismo File Mount doesn't require a special driver to be installed in windows before it can be used making this a specially lightweight program. Pismo File Mount will mount an image by default in it's own special folder without having to use a virtual drive making the process much faster in my opinion, optionally you can select to mount an image in an unused map drive. The selected image will show up in the network drives section of "my PC". Besides mounting images you can also set up private folders that can only opened with password and even mount zip files making Pismo File Mount just a little more versatile.
Unfortunately Pismo File Mount has a limited support of image formats since it can only mount ISO, CISO, ISZ, and DAA images. So unless you work exclusively in those formats Pismo File mount may not be as handy as you would wish it to be.
In conclusion while Pismo File Mount provides easy and simple mounting of images files it's lack of support for more image formats makes it a little bit less useful that i would like. Available for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista.


Get it at http://www.pismotechnic.com/pfm/ap/

Make physics fun with Phun

Overview:

Phun is a free game like 2D physics sandbox where you can play with physics like never before. The playful synergy of science and art is novel, and makes Phun as educational as it is entertaining.


Review:

I have always hated physics, ok not really but let's just say i strongly dislike them. If anything can depress me it has to be calculating physics problems. Anyway Phun can make you ( and me) appreciate physics a little more by providing a sandbox in which you can make all sort of wacky contraptions using real world physics. For example you can something as simple as a catapult or go insane with walking robots. It's all up to you how much time you waste invest in a invention. Thankfully the user interface is easy to use but using the tools available to make something that works will probably take you some time.
In conclusion Phun is fun once you get the hang of it. Available for Windows , Linux and Mac OSX.


Get it at http://www.phunland.com/wiki/Home