August 11th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
In a recent article, we discussed a program named gSharkDown, a GTK downloader for the Grooveshark music streaming service. It allows users to both listen to and download music, all without needing to access the standard web interface. There are quite a few available options for doing the same thing in Windows, and while the [...]
August 10th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Changing the volume in Windows isn’t a difficult task, to be sure. Click the volume control icon in the System Tray, wait for the volume indicator to appear, then drag it up or down. And if your computer has multimedia keys, you likely have volume up and down buttons (and probably a mute button as [...]
August 3rd, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
We have previously written about a free tool, called Ownership Changer, that allows you to easily take ownership of files and folders so they can be modified by programs. Windows 7 and Vista have additional security for files and folders to prevent Windows users from accidentally modifying critical files and folders, and possibly damaging the [...]
July 27th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
If you must use Windows but you prefer the look and feel of Ubuntu Linux, we found a customization pack, called Ubuntu Skin Pack 4.0, that makes Windows 7 look like Ubuntu 11.04. This customization pack changes the login screen, boot screen, wallpaper, theme, Start button, icons, etc. The pack even provides some Ubuntu functionality [...]
July 6th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Gadgets are small, useful tools available on your desktop providing information, utilities, and even games and entertainment. They were introduced in Windows Vista and displayed in a sidebar. Gadgets are also available in Windows 7 and were changed to be available anywhere on the desktop instead of only in a sidebar. There are many gadgets [...]
July 5th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
If you run multiple applications simultaneously in Windows for long periods of time, you probably notice that your system’s performance gradually decreases over time. When you close an application either from within the application or by using the Task Manager, the tasks or threads associated with the application may not all be completely released. This [...]
July 3rd, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
The transparent glass look of Aero Glass in Windows 7 and Vista may look nice, but it also may slow down computers that don’t have powerful video adapters. If the performance of your computer is being adversely affected by the Aero Glass feature, you can speed up Windows and still benefit from the Aero features, [...]
June 25th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Even though Windows 7 offers the ability to group applications windows in the taskbar, it’s still possible that with a good number of open applications, taskbar “real estate” will become scarce. And unfortunately, although many programs will minimize to the system tray, not all will. Fortunately, HideIt, a free application built for Windows 7, takes [...]
June 15th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
The navigation pane in Windows Explorer provides quick access to items such as Libraries, Favorites, and Computer. There may be items you don’t use much in the navigation pane. You can use the registry to remove seldom-used items from the navigation pane. However, we found a free tool, called Windows 7 Navigation Pane Customizer, that [...]
June 12th, 2011 by Aseem Kishore
Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) is a Help program that runs .hlp formatted files and has been included with Microsoft Windows versions starting with Windows 3.1. However, Microsoft stopped shipping the Windows Help program in Windows Vista and Windows 7 because it has not had a major update for many releases and no longer meets Microsoft’s standards. [...]