The following article about Notebook Battery Monitor is from our content partner Ghacks
Windows XP users - or those with even older versions of Windows - who have the operating system installed on a notebook might have noticed that the battery meter icon in the system tray is not really the best way of displaying the current battery level. Hoovering over it would display the information needed but that always involved moving the mouse into that area to find out about the current battery status of the notebook. Some hardware developers like IBM, well when they developed notebooks at least, included their own software programs for the matter which where usually bulky and resource hungry.

A better notebook battery monitor is Power Meter Plus. The software is completely free for private use. It can be installed or used as a portable application and runs fine on all Windows operating systems prior to Windows Vista. So every Microsoft operating system that has been released after Windows 3.11 and before Windows Vista should be able to run this little application without problems.

Power Meter Plus will display a battery monitor in the left and / or right corner of the computer screen. That power meter appears gradually over time as the power levels drop and will be more prominent the less it gets. The meter will automatically move to the left or right side of the screen depending on the position of the computer mouse.

A few settings are provided that can be used to configure the notebook battery monitor. The critical battery level and the level when it is seen as full can be defined. It is furthermore possible to change the drain and charging colors and to display messages when the critical battery level is reached or when the power source is switched.

Image Smith 1.0.6
License - Shareware
Publisher - Koingo Software

Image Smith is a powerful batch image processing tool. With a variety of features you can easily scale, reorient, recolorize, convert, and flatten images. Image Smith can open numerous different picture file types, and output in the most common industry standard formats like JPEG, GIF, and PNG.
Image Smith is available for both Macintosh and Windows, and ensures you get the same experience on whichever computer you are on. Download the free fifteen day trial, and take the redundancy out of image editing!

Key Features
1 - Scale image widths and/or heights
2 - Output as JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, and a variety of other formats
3 - Preserve GIF animation
4 - Change JPEG output quality
5 - Rotate by one of 360 degrees
6 - Flip image horizontally
7 - Flip image vertically
8 - Change image hue, saturation, and brightness levels, and so on.



Features-★★★★
Operation-★★★★
Security-★★★★★
User Interface-★★★★★
CPU/Mem usage-★★★★★

Download Image Smith NOW! Read the rest of this entry »

Those of you who have tried Pictomio 1.0 beta build 6 will be glad to know that Pictomio 1.2.26 has been released.

What is Pictomio?
If you do not know what is Pictomio, read on this section to get acquainted with this superb utility. Pictomio lets you M-O-A your collection of photos. M-O-A means managing, organizing and archiving an array of photos. Photos are a storehouse of our cherished moments and memories. They should be kept in an aesthetic form. Now you can keep your digital photos in a systematic and attractive form by converting them into elaborate slideshows. Pictomio empowers you with the facility of searching photos stored locally in the hard drive of your system. Interestingly, the techniques and effects that were earlier attributed only to the game development are present in Pictomio, thanks to the modern 3D graphics card.

Pictomio 1.2.25 Highlights
Before learning about the latest version, let us look at the features of immediate predecessor Pictomio 1.2.25. The functionality of putting images in a 3D view makes the images appear really cool. It seems like the images get enliven with the animation. In the older versions, the visualizer in Pictomio exhibited the photos along with their EXIF information and histograms whereas the 1.2.25 version made it possible to rotate them. The software boasts of its 3D models for albums and categories. It has enhanced models for drives. For quick navigation it is provided with album/category sidebar and a filter drop down menu. Automatic upgrade checker lets you keep your software updated.

Upgraded Features in the new Pictomio 1.2.26
NL language support along with the possibility to create and use trial keys has been added.

Problems like Slideshow crash when changing the slide duration, white skin and skin dialog trouble have been resolved.

The bug of reduced memory usage while dragging files has also been fixed in the new Pictomio. Read the rest of this entry »

Recuva 1.22.384
License - Freeware
Publisher - Piriform

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

New version
1 - Improved messages when cancelling large file recovery.
2 - Secure delete is now greyed for non-deleted files.
3 - Improved recovery of .TIF files from FAT32 drives.
4 - Filter category text now updates dynamically when changing languages.
5 - Fixed 'Check for updates' position in Vista.
6 - Various minor tweaks and improvements.



Features-★★★★
Operation-★★★★★
Security-★★★★★
User Interface-★★★★★
CPU/Mem usage-★★★★★

Download Recuva NOW! Read the rest of this entry »

This blog is from our content partner Raymond
Do you still remember about SmartClose? It is very useful when you need to install a program that requires you to close all running programs and then automatically restoring all the running programs back after installation. If you are a hardcore gamer that wouldn't want any other running process to disturb the performance of your computer, you can also use SmartClose to terminate all running programs, play your game and restore them back when you're done playing. The only problem with SmartClose is it was last updated on March 2005 and is not fully Vista compatible.

If you're looking for something similar that works in Windows Vista, I'd suggest AlacrityPC which previously known as FSAutoStart. FSAutoStart used to only work on Flight Simulator but has evolved to a point where it can be used for any game or application, and the author wanted to have a name that reflects this.

AlacrityPC is a utility designed to help you get the most performance out of your computer when running resource intensive applications, like modern games. It does this by shutting down unnecessary services and programs before starting your application. When you finish your application, those services and programs can be automatically restarted.

AlacrityPC also provides some additional optimizations, like memory defragmenting, removing your desktop background, shutting down the desktop shell and Vista Sidebar, and forcing background tasks to execute. Read the rest of this entry »

All My Movies 5.2
License - Shareware
Publisher - Bolide Software, Inc

All My Movies is a personal movie database and intended for those who are tired of managing their movie collection manually or using difficult-to-use software programs. It is an easy-to-use DVD catalog program. You can use it to catalogue your personal collection of DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, etc… You do not need to type all movie details, All My Movies will download all the details from the internet movie database automatically!
All My Movies is really a multilingual movie organizer application. It now supports English, Russian, Greek, Dutch, French, Belorussian, Latvian, Polish, Serbian, Italian, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish, Spanish, Korean, Danish, Chinese, Slovak and German languages. You can help us to translate it to your native language!

Key Features
1 - Extended cast details. Automatic lookup for actor photos, birthdays, filmography and biography.
2 - TV Series support. Auto filling episode title and descriptions.
3 - Ability to print collection using any existing report. Or you can create your own report with the built-in report editor.
4 - Ability to save your collection to mobile devices like PDA or smartphone
5 - Supports DACAL DC-300 CD Library II device
6 - Ability to play movies directly from the program. Can be used as video playlister



Features-★★★★★
Operation-★★★★★
Security-★★★★★
User Interface-★★★★
CPU/Mem usage-★★★★

Download All My Movies NOW! Read the rest of this entry »

One of the main benefits of the Linux operating system is the ability to install software updates automatically. Windows on the other hand does not come with a native software program that checks for update and updates all installed applications.

It usually means for the user to visit the homepages of the software developers to find out if a new update has been released. Some applications, like the web browser Firefox, inform the user when a new update has been released but that's an exception to the rule.

The last two years have seen the rise of several applications that scan the computer for installed software programs and check a database on the Internet if that is the latest version.

One of the applications is SUMo. SUMo stands for Software Updates Monitor. It will automatically scan the computer system and display all discovered applications in a list. A click on the Check button will initiate a search on the Internet if the latest version of the software program is installed on the computer system.

The list of software products that are currently installed will contain the name, company that developed it and the current version. Clicking on Check will gradually add information to the Update column which will signal if the application is up to date or if an update is available.

It will also display if an available update is considered a minor or major update which is an additional help when prioritizing the updates. The updates will be automatically sorted this way once the check for updates has been finished. Read the rest of this entry »

Super Utilities Vista Version 8.6
License - Shareware
Publisher - SuperLogix.net

When you run Super Utilities, your Windows system will run faster, will crash less often, and will be more private and secure. This suite of 29 powerful utilities to make your PC run faster, safer, with greater privacy and security.
Super Utilities will erase your Internet tracks, hide your sensitive files and folders, lock your important applications, and give you the tools that you need to fine-tune your computer to your personal needs.
 
System Cleaner - Make your PC faster, more stable, and more efficient by cleaning and optimizing your hard drive, memory, software, and Windows Registry.
Security Doctor - Protect your PC from thousands of potential spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers and tracking threats.
Privacy Protector - Keep your sensitive information safe from prying eyes.
System Maintenance - Easily perform complicated system maintenance tasks, and keep your computer running quickly and smoothly.
Special Tools - More easy-to-use tools that make your computing safer and more efficient.



Features-★★★★★
Operation-★★★★★
Security-★★★
User Interface-★★★★
CPU/Mem usage-★★★★

Download Super Utilities Vista Version NOW! Read the rest of this entry »

One of the major reasons why a computer might feel sluggish or slow is a high number of startup programs. Startup programs are those applications that get started in the computer boot process. This can be advantageous in cases where an application is needed right after start: Think of antivirus security programs or desktop firewalls.

It can however have the opposite effect if the application is not needed on a regular basis. Many applications are added to the list of startup programs automatically during program installation. Would it make sense to load quick starters for applications like Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop or Java if those applications are not used on a regular basis?

The programs loaded at startup will use up system resources and slow down the computer start. Some users install the Windows operating system every six months or so to counter this effect.

Two things are needed to speed up the computer by getting rid of startup programs. The first is a software program that displays all startup items and the second the means to identify the programs.

Starter is a free software that is compatible with most versions of Windows including Windows XP and Windows Vista. It has been translated to quite a few languages including German, Russian and Traditional Chinese.

The software will automatically display all startup programs of the current operating system upon execution. Experienced users know that there are more than 30 locations in Windows that can be used to autostart applications. This software covers them all and displays them in an organized interface.

Information like the name of the application, the location, a description and the company that created it will be displayed in the main interface. These information can be used to identify the programs to come to a decision whether autostarting them makes sense.

The easiest way to handle the autostart items would be to disable all of them and see if you are missing any programs at system startup. Windows will start as usual as it does not place system applications in those autostart locations.

Many users would probably like to analyze the startup programs before they disable them. This is understandable. The first option is to look at the name and the location of the application. This can give a clue if the application is needed or not. Read the rest of this entry »

The following article about Flickr Download is from our content partner Ghacks
If you want to download the full sized images at Flickr you soon notice that this involves clicking your way through quite a few pages before you can finally do so. Many Flickr images are protected by a transparent image called spaceball.gif which is used as rudimentary means of protection. It is therefor not easy and comfortable to download Flickr images from the image host.

Enter Flickr Original. A currently experimental Firefox add-on that takes lots of the burden away from the process. It basically provides the means to download Flickr images by right-clicking on a thumbnail. If you visit Flickr you notice that thumbnails are located on the first page that you visit if you perform a search or browse images.

All that needs to be done is to right-click a thumbnail on Flickr and select the Download Original Flickr Image option in the context menu. A download dialog will open with the choice to save the full sized image on the computer's hard drive. If multiple versions of the image are available then the largest image will be downloaded.

The second available option is to view the full sized image immediately on Flickr. The add-on is not working on all Flickr images. Images with disabled downloads and the flag "all rights reserved" cannot be download this way. A error message will appear telling the user that the image is not available for download.

Oh, and before you ask. That typo is there on purpose.