Hidden XP Utilities
Sometimes a little program crosses my path that I just can’t ignore and that is the case with this week’s download. What if I told you I found a program that can take a lot of the Windows tools you use, some you may not and some you may not even know about, and situate them in one easy to use centralized interface? And what if I… Continue reading
DriverMax
Drivers, in respect to personal computers, are the software that enables a hardware device, such as a printer or a scanner for instance, to properly communicate with the system. Driver incompatibility, corruption and conflict are usually the problems that I run across when I have to troubleshoot some uncooperative device.
Installing drivers is also one of the procedures that can take considerable time when, for instance… Continue reading
On my desktop alone, I have 150 icons at any given moment. It’s like a sea of manila icons, scattered from one end of the monitor to the other. Sometimes, finding the things I need can turn into a hunting expedition. I do try to organize my folders, so they are not in the way so much. I move them to other drives and folders in an attempt to categorize… Continue reading
Hamachi
I’m going to go ahead and say it. This the coolest software ever! It just came out on January 15th and look who’s got it for you to download! That’s right, Chad. The free download man and if you have ever wanted to set up a Virtual Private Network (or VPN, as us nerds refer to it), this is your chance!
All kidding aside, Hamachi is a Virtual… Continue reading
RegScrub XP
Everyone who ownsNe a PC needs a good registry cleaner. They can be invaluable tools for cleaning up your system’s registry, freeing up space and helping your whole system run more efficiently. Junk files, such as fragments left behind like forgotten souls from long uninstalled programs, hinder your system’s speed with their unnecessary presence.
Well, I used to have a registry cleaner here that I ran as… Continue reading
Civil Netizens
Hello all my fellow Netizens! I am Chad and welcome to another edition of WorldStart’s Downloads of the Week. Netizens is a term coined by Civil Netizen, an online parcel service for large files, meaning citizens of the Web or NET, thus Netizens. What Civil Netizens has to offer is a great program or Web service that allows users to send large files over the Internet with very… Continue reading
More 2006 Downloads
Well, can you believe it? The holidays are almost over already and a new year is pretty much upon us. It’s a time to remember the all the good times you’ve had in 2006 and to pass around some good cheer. In this season of giving, I decided it would be nice to spread even more cheer with a few more downloads that I have showcased over… Continue reading
Celestia
I just finished testing Celestia, a space simulation program, and boy do I feel small and insignificant!
Did you ever wish that you could fly through space? Take a closer look at the celestial bodies that majestically occupy our universe? From the surreal rings of Saturn to the minute detail of an impact creator on the surface of some moon, this week’s download will not only take you… Continue reading
Virtual CD Drive
In my opinion, this week’s download is really cool and I have a lot of information to give you, so I’m going to go through the description rather quickly so I can get down to the meat of the article.
Have you ever had a program that, even after you installed it, would not run without the disk in your PC? This used to be a common… Continue reading
Spurl
Keeping your bookmarks/favorites synchronized across multiple PCs can be a chore and it seems as though it is never exactly right on. You’re always missing a bookmark that you want to use at home, but you only have it at work. Sure, there are portable browsers you can use, but you still have to carry arounWantd a thumb drive everywhere you go in order to use it.
This… Continue reading
AssessTree
I clean my PC out a lot. I clean my parent’s PC, I clean my uncle’s PC, I clean my neighbor’s PC, I clean my neighbor’s friend’s PCs, etc., etc. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I end up cleaning a lot of PCs. This is a normal part of maintaining a healthy PC and it should be done often if you expect top performance from… Continue reading
SpeeDefrag
As I’m sure all of you know, defragging your PC is a maintenance procedure that can vastly improve you system’s efficiency performance. As I’m also sure most of you know by now, defragging your system is a long uneventful procedure that can tie up you PC for three to four hours, easily. I believe that it is for this reason that a lot of people (myself… Continue reading
GOM Multimedia Player
Do you ever watch videos on your computer? I do! They’re usually AVI/MPG files that I have downloaded or uploaded from my camera. Heck, I’ll watch movies on my laptop while I’m working on my PC. One thing I have never really liked about the whole video player scene is downloading and installing codecs that you need in order to play certain types of… Continue reading
ARP++
I’m just going to come out and say it, “Everyone can benefit from this week’s download.” Let’s put it this way, who reading this, has ever had a program uninstall or has had their system go bad? For example, has anyone tried to uninstall Norton AntiVirus lately? That can eat up a better part of your day, only to find that it’s left orphaned bits of itself all over… Continue reading
WordMorph
Have you tried to get a domain name lately? How about a new IM handle or even a new e-mail address? It’s tough finding a name you are willing to deal with, because you know you’re not getting the one you want. Instead, what you get is something that kind of looked like what you had in mind with 30 numbers behind it. So, you end up with something… Continue reading
Google Browser Sync
I don’t know about you, but I usually work with about three PCs on any average day. I know I’m somewhat of a geek, but I figure it’s a safe bet that a lot of you out there put your time in to at least two different PCs. If you do, I’m sure you know how tedious it can be to keep your favorites or bookmarks the… Continue reading
CatSpy
Web cams have been a very popular item for us in our online store over the past year or so. People just seem to really love them. The thought of video conferencing with friends and family over the Internet for free or even just capturing some video or still shots is all very fun and exciting. Well, I think they are a blast as well. You can really have… Continue reading
A.S. Football Editor
Yesterday, one of our staff asked me if I knew of any software that a football coach could use to draw out plays. I had really never had the need myself to create and edit football plays, but I decided to take a look for her. I had no idea of what to expect. I knew it needed to be easy to use and something you could… Continue reading
MouseImp
I never really had any problems with the functionality of my mouse; that is, until I found out what I was missing. For instance, I was happy with my wired, two-button roller ball mouse until I got my big bad two-button scroll mouse. Wow, what a difference! And the story goes on. After the scroll-wheel came the optical and of course, I now have a wireless mouse with 75… Continue reading
Man am I tired. I just learned a cool new skill today and in an effort to entertain you fine folks, I exercised this new talent by creating a little Text Art for your enjoyment. What do you think?
You would not believe how long that took me. I must have spent at least five seconds on it.
With this… Continue reading
Windows Media Player 11 Beta
It seems like only yesterday I was saying goodbye to Windows Media Player 9 (WMP 9) and now WMP 11 is out in beta. They grow up so fast, don’t they? I know WMP takes a lot of heat compared to iTunes, Winamp and even MusicMatch as far as digital players go, but I have always liked WMP and I like this new version as… Continue reading
Gadwin Printscreen
I use screenshots for everything. I use them in articles to illustrate some element of what I am discussing and they are also great for helping to describe and fix technical support issues. There is almost no limit to the usefulness of screenshots. However, I wish I could say the same for the integrated screen capture application that is included with the Windows operating systems.
Windows’ printscreen… Continue reading
2006 Downloads Revisited
We get a lot of e-mail around here at WorldStart all with varying subjects. Some that ask for tech help and even some that are just looking for an old tip or download that we featured in a newsletter at an earlier time. The e-mails are of course routed off to their appropriate destinations where we, the WorldStart employees, receive them and attempt to reply with the… Continue reading
Personal Finance Manager
I don’t know about you, but when it comes to handling money and finances, I’m about as organized as an Enron accountant. Bills constantly catch me off guard, I have a real hard time saving up for anything huge and not to mention, all the fan mail I get from credit card companies and banks.
This was how it was until I got organized, made a plan… Continue reading
Gpedometer
Attention all runners, cyclists, rollerbladers, walkers or anyone who routinely likes to take jaunts around the park or neighborhood and would like to get a little geeky about it. By geeky, I mean streamline your excursions and suck all the data you can from the experience. “That’s the way I roll” and with this week’s download, you can too!
This program, called Gpedometer, was written by a runner who… Continue reading
BeInSync
Working with copies of the same files on more than one PC can get pretty complicated, pretty quick. Sure you can use the old Windows briefcase, but it can be a little awkward to use and the data isn’t always available.
Did you ever attempt to bring some work home with you only to forget the important documents you need? Or even worse, what if you brought the… Continue reading
AM Notebook
This week’s download should help you keep all your little chores, daily duties and random notes in order with extreme efficiency. The program that will help you do this is called AM Notebook and as the name suggests, it is like a small notebook.
AM Notebook is a small, powerful tabbed notebook application that allows you to store notes and spreadsheets in a convenient, centralized manner. The AM… Continue reading
