Taekwindow – adding another feature to windows that should already be there

Simply hold alt and you can move a window by left-clicking on it anywhere, or resize it by right-clicking on it anywhere.

Just think about that frustrating time a window opened up off the top of the screen and you couldn’t move your mouse to the title area to move it down. Think about how frustrating it can be to get the mouse to hover over the edges of the window, painfully searching for the double arrows that let you resize it.

I love programs like this. No installation necessary, just run it and it works without eating up the computer’s resources.  It makes those “Windows 7 was my idea” adverts even more frustrating… what they should say is “I’m a PC and I have to rely on freeware programmers to add great usability”.

http://taekwindow.sourceforge.net/

Change the system tray icon of your old software

I love the Canon ScanGear Toolbox CS for my scanner but it’s a bit old and the icon that sits in the system tray is UGLY. So, using IcoFX (Tools>Resource Editor) I deleted the old icon and replaced it with a nicer scanner icon.  Simples.
I used an icon from the Vista Icons Pack 3.0

Customise your XP

If you’re bored of the way your XP looks, check out these pages:

http://www.sizlopedia.com/2007/09/24/how-to-add-shadow-and-transparency-effects-to-windows-borders/

http://www.studio7designs.com/windows-themes/

http://www.freewaregenius.com/2009/06/23/forty-three-of-the-best-free-windows-enhancements-that-you-should-know-about/

http://customize.org/

NetPeeker – Taking back the internet

It’s about time we took back the internet from the software, spyware, malware and other ‘wares.  NetPeeker‘s feature-packed firewall has a nifty bandwidth monitor.

Freeware Genius – my new favourite website

I found this website which is exactly what I need, a run through of tonnes of good freeware out there.

http://www.freewaregenius.com/

My favourites:

• Desktop Media
  
• Explorer Breadcrumbs (unlock toolbars to position it where you want)
• WinFlip
• Copy Handler
• Everything

(Note – it can be hard to find the link to download the software – it’s very small at the bottom – see this image)

Free Antivirus

I didn’t like the new AVG 8 so I did a bit of research and found the best scoring free Anti-Virus freeware is AntiVir by Avira which nicely includes a custom install for switching off parts of the software.

Network Scanner – See who’s using your Wi-fi

With everyone going wireless it’s a good idea to keep an eye on who is using your network, this great little app does the job brilliantly and as it’s a stand-alone piece of software it doesn’t require installing.

http://www.softperfect.com/products/networkscanner/

Before you hit “Start Scanning” you will want to choose Options > Auto Detect Local IP Range and select the network adapter which is connected to the net.

Don’t forget the Router will show up in the list also!

Real Desktop

While I’m waiting for BumpTop Desktop to be released (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ) there is a fun free imitation found at Real Desktop

Unfortunately, the free version is limited… and its definitely not good enough to pay for.

RocketDock – who needs a mac?

I can’t believe this little app is free!  Have you very own fluid toolbar like the one found on a Mac.

Has to be seen to be believed:

http://rocketdock.com/download

PC Tools I use

Undeleting, Anti-virus/spyware, Registry Cleaning…