Charlie's Useful Tools Collection

Monday, May 23, 2011

Looking for a Shell Explorer Replacement?

Exponential growth in the file
management productivity

Windows Explorer not enough for you? Want a tabbed file manager? Feel like you need more settings? xplorer² lite might be the solution for you.

Yet again, the net book. So with such a limited screen space it soon became too much of a hassle to have tons of windows open when programming. So I found this program.

xplorer² lite is simple. It didn't take me long to understand how to use it. Quick look over and I was on my way. Tabs were the best benefit. There are more features for the pay version, but I'm OK with the free version.

As always there's one small thing that bugs me. It has an option to act as a complete explorer replacement. Great option, but it can't handle things like network connections and stuff. Also, I feel like auto refresh should be in every version. Also would like to have a format tool built in.

Long story short, few minor fall backs, but a great alternative.

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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Want to Use Your Android as a PC Input Device?

Unified Remote
Easily, the most feature
filled Android-PC remote.

Got a nice android phone you love? Want to control your computer from across the room? Keyboard or mouse broken and you need a temporary fix? Just throw up Unified Remote and keep going.

So my laptop's keyboard has been dead for some time. Something spilled on it or it got stepped on, who knows. I figured I could just use the same wireless mouse and keyboard I've been using. But I'm limited to 2 usb ports at that point. So a friend recommended this program to me.

At first glance I was overwhelmed with how many different "remotes" Unified has. I figured out the basic input for quickly getting the keyboard and mouse to work. Was simple and can use hardware or software keyboards. Simple and easy.

Although Unified has tons of great features, I wish it had a shortcut to go straight to keyboard/mouse remote. And it might not effect many users, I don't have .Net up to date. It requires 4 and it's too much work.

Unified Remote gets my pick, install it today.

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Time to Clean Up Those Installs?

UnClean 2.0

Ever try to uninstall a program and can't find the shortcut? What if the program doesn't show up in the add or remove programs control? UnClean 2.0 is an excellent replacement.

Windows XP can be unbearably slow on certain machines. My net book only has 8GB of storage and I started receiving the "running low on space" crap. The control panel was taking too long to load. So another trip to Google and I found UnClean 2.0.

UnClean was pretty easy to use. I opened it up and checked out the menu. Pretty simple. The best thing about it is it sees more than XP's default remove programs option. I started cleaning up my computer by just removing things I never used any more or just didn't want. Took a good while to check out everything. Also used it to clean up another computer. Great for cleaning up after too much has been done.

Although the ability to see all installs was nice, I'd like the option to hide things like security patches and updates. There might have been an option somewhere, but I feel that should be a simple button click, not a small search.

Overall, clean up with UnClean 2.0

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Looking for a Faster Copy Utility?

TeraCopy
Copy your files faster and easier

Copying mass amounts of files? Corrupted files stopping a transfer? Microsofts copy tool not good enough? Just replace it with TeraCopy.

When I was heavy into Counter-Strike Source my room mate was playing with the server files too. He found this program and shared it with me.

TeraCopy is fast. It also audibly notifies you when the current transfer is complete. It provide a U.I. that much surpasses the default.

This program leaves me with out much to complain about. I would like a tray icon or something to hide and check on it during large copies. That's really it.

If there's a better method, give it a shot!

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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Need More Desktop Space?

DeskView

Ever think icons take too much space? Tired of feeling cluttered? Prefer a list view on your desktop? DeskView is the right tool for you.

So as most of my posts go, my net book had an issue. The screen resolution was too small and icons take too much space. The solution was DeskView.

DeskView's simplicity is the trick here. Just double click and the magic happens. Drop a shortcut in the startup folder and you're good to go. With Vista/7 you may need to resize the thumbnails, which is done by holding "CTRL" and the mouse wheel.

Although DeskView is simple, I think its a little too simple. Its a rewrite of a windows 2000 program somebody wrote, so there's no U.I. There is little to no documentation and the original author seems to be unknown.

Simple task, simple tool.

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Friday, May 13, 2011

Want a More Organized Environment?

AllSnap
Make all windows snap

Ever want to line up two windows perfectly? Like the way Winamp or Photoshop snap to the edges? With allSnap all windows can do so.

Yet again with my netbook I was in a conundrum. The resolution is small and I want all the windows to fit the same. So google and research revealed to me a program called allSnap. Simple install and I was ready to go.

AllSnap has the simplest use. The demonstration video included explains it best. Put it in startup, and all windows will now snap together. Quick and works on XP and Vista/7.

AllSnap was wonderful. Easiest and integrated the best. In the past though I had issues with the Windows 7 Aero theme. I don't think that issue persists, but bugs do get worked out.

Make all windows snap! They said it best.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Accidentally Lost a File?

Recuva
File Recovery

Accidently deleted a file? Time to see what you've deleted? Want to restore old pictures? Recuva might be a good option for you.

So programs work with files on the hard drive and I got curious how much they did. When the program creates a temp file and deletes it, Recuva can still see that file because it was removed from the drives table, not erased. I had a cd-key for an old game on my hdd before it crashed. I couldn't get it again because an online friend gave it to me, so Recuva was my only choice.

Recuva, as always with Piriform, is simple to use. It has a search box to find specific files and it's easy to look for certain file types as well. It's quick and you'll be surprised at how much crap it finds.

Although Recuva is free and works great, my situation failed. My external hdd went corrupt(thanks linux) and I lost everything. Since then I think it's had 2 reformats and now Recuva doesn't see the file. Had I done a deep scan after the first reformat, I should have found it.

Great if you want to filter through the emptied Recycle Bin, but don't let any time go before recovering that important file!

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