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Vertex42 Money Manager is a free Excel spreadsheet template configured as a personal financial tool. However, unlike most free Excel templates, it's more than a single page of preconfigured cells and formulas. In fact, it's a full-featured financial planning, recording, and reporting tool that can help you keep track of everything from gifts to retirement savings. To use it, you must have Microsoft Excel 2003 or better.

We unzipped Vertex42 Money Manager's download and clicked it. Excel opened in protected mode with the template displaying the first sheet, the Help page, which serves as both the introduction … Read more

BuduLock from Mouse Click Enterprises is a free security tool that adds password protection to any folder in your system, even those on portable devices like USB flash drives. It can also prevent USB flash drives from working on your PC without the correct password. It doesn't disable the flash drive but rather prevents USB drives from working on your system, meaning no one can come along, plug in a flash drive, and swipe your data, infect your computer, or both. Your flash drives will work normally in unprotected systems.

BuduLock's compact interface is tabbed Folder Lock, Flash … Read more

Let's see; iMacros for Chrome; wonder what that does? If you guessed that it adds macro capability to Google's free Chrome browser, you're right, but that's not all it does. It records and plays macros in Chrome, so you can use it to fill out forms and automate repetitious tasks. However, its master password feature securely manages online passwords via 256-bit AES encryption. And, like all Chrome extensions, it's free.

After we downloaded and installed iMacros for Chrome, we opened the extension's options page, which we accessed by clicking the toolbar's Wrench icon … Read more

Netflix has revolutionized the video rental industry, and many people put a lot of thought into managing their queues, whether they're trying to stay caught up on the latest releases or working their way through the classics. Netflix Queue is an add-on for Google Chrome that lets you view your queue with the click of a button. For those who find themselves logging into their Netflix accounts all the time, this extension will prove to be a very convenient addition.

Netflix Queue appears as an icon to the right of Chrome's address bar, and clicking on it opens … Read more

Light Downloader is a free download manager that claims to speed up downloads by 600 percent or more by splitting target files into several parts that it downloads separately and simultaneously. It can schedule downloads, automatically resume interrupted downloads, support proxy connections, and do the things similar free tools can do. What sets it apart is its easy drag-and-drop capability.

Light Downloader's three-panel interface has a familiar view, with a left-hand navigation panel and a main view divided horizontally into a listing of downloads above a log display. The tabbed navigation panel accesses Downloads, which is the primary view, … Read more

Windows PC owners who use Internet Explorer can give their systems a boost with TVcleaner from LT-Box. It's a small, simple, free tool that does one thing: it deletes temporary files held by Windows and IE that are supposed to speed up your system but can actually slow things down when they pile up. It's much quicker to use than running the Windows disk cleanup tool or manually deleting temporary files. TVcleaner runs in most versions of Windows up to Vista and 7, but only 32-bit editions.

TVcleaner has the sort of ultrabasic interface that makes for quick … Read more

Defragmenting your hard disk has always been a good idea, but now it's easier than ever, thanks to utilities like Auslogics Disk Defrag Screen Saver. It automatically defragments your disk when your system is idle, which helps keep your data from becoming fragmented in the first place. Not only that, but it also sports a cool, updated version of the old Windows defragmentation map that tracks the tool's progress in real time.

Disk Defrag Screen Saver shows up in your list of screensavers after installation, and you select it like any other. There's a Settings dialog with … Read more

Spot the Difference provides a challenging game for both kids and adults. This fun game demands that players pay attention and seek out differences between two pictures to beat the clock.

We like how easy the interface is to operate, though the lack of a real Help file is a letdown. We were personally never confused enough by Spot the Difference to need extra instructions, but it was still disappointing to find that the Help file is basically an advertisement for other products. The game itself functions well, and the play offers a nice challenge. We were in a race … Read more

ShowTheOffer helps you discover money-saving vouchers, coupons, and discounts on any Web site that offers them. While this program is not without its flaws, it could help you keep money in the bank.

ShowTheOffer's interface is a mixed bag, in our opinion. While it embedded itself neatly into our toolbar and was easy to navigate, its online Help file is more of a commercial than an instructional. Fortunately, the program is simple enough to use with common sense; in fact, ShowTheOffer requires almost no effort to use. While you surf online, a pop-up window appears whenever the program detects … Read more