Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

1.6

Unremarkable calendar

Calendar and to-do list applications are incredibly common, so a program of this type has to be really special to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, SimBust Calendar Manager Lite doesn't do much to distinguish itself. The program works just fine, but there's nothing about it that really impressed us.

The program's interface is plain and a little dated, with standard-issue menus and icons across the top. The main pane displays a calendar view. Another pane displays a to-do list, and a third lists folders that to-do items are stored in. The only thing remotely useful or … Read more

Power file lister

File Lister from SnakeByte Studios is compact, free, portable, extremely flexible, and capable of doing lots of cool things. But it's not for everybody; it's a powerful tool for the more advanced user. Frustration with file listers that wouldn't traverse subdirectories led to the development of File Lister. Like its competitors, File Lister creates lists of files that you can save and process with other applications, but File Lister not only traverses subdirectories but also renames files, changes their attributes, matches files, generates hashes, and more.

File Lister's compact interface has a basic but logical and … Read more

Damn good video converter

Let's see, a portable version of DamnVid, the free video downloader and converter that "sucks less"? From PortableApps.com, providers of high-quality portable versions of fine open-source freeware like DamnVid? Well, ding, dang, doodly; we just couldn't find the best word to describe the prospect of trying out DamnVid Portable.

As the name indicates, DamnVid Portable is a portable, standalone executable that runs DamnVid without requiring installation, which means you can carry it with you on a USB drive and run it on any compatible device or system. It doesn't alter the registry or file … Read more

Better disk cleaner

Windows' built-in Disk Cleanup tool does a pretty good job, but it's designed to be as easy and harmless as possible, and many users prefer a third-party tool. Disk Cleaner is a free, open-source, standalone hard-disk cleaning utility that's designed to be fast and easy to use yet thorough in its operation.

We ran the Windows Disk Cleanup tool before running Disk Cleaner to better gauge Disk Cleaner's supposed advantages. Amazingly, the Windows utility quit working during the cleanup process, despite a robust system that was fairly clean to begin with. We then ran Disk Cleaner, which … Read more

A stone's throw away

It has been our experience that many Windows desktop enhancements are more trouble than they're worth; they tend to slow down our system's performance, have unintuitive interfaces, and make the things they set out to enhance more complicated than ever. Krento is among the better desktop enhancements we've seen, but it's still far from perfect.

Krento sets out to combine two things with which we're familiar from our experience as a Mac user: a dock and widgets. When not in use, Krento appears as an attractive, gently pulsing orb in the bottom corner of the … Read more

Icons on the go

Need to make icons on the go? Look no further than IcoFX Portable. This lightweight program packs a well-designed interface and plenty of features into a package that will fit on your USB drive. This program would be pretty great even if it weren't small enough to carry around with us, but its portability makes it a real stand-out.

IcoFX Portable has an attractive, intuitive appearance that will be easy to navigate for anyone who's used a graphics program of any sort, even Microsoft Paint. When users create a new icon, the program has them set the dimensions … Read more

Registry optimizing without tears

There's no shortage of registry cleaning tools, most of which offer free system scans that promise to boost your PC's performance, but only if you buy something. Many do more harm than good if you're not careful about how you use them. Then there's Eusing Free Registry Defrag, a free tool that cleans up the Windows Registry by removing blank spaces left behind by daily computing and when you add and remove software. Compacting the registry saves RAM, reducing boot and shutdown times and improving overall performance. Free Registry Defrag doesn't change the contents of … Read more

Super searches

The built-in Windows search feature often leaves a lot to be desired; it's slow, clunky, and not always very thorough. For occasional or inconsequential searches it's not bad, but users who are serious about finding particular files on their computers often turn to a third-party search application. If you're in the market for such a program, Super Finder XT is a great choice. This powerful program makes quick work of serious searches.

The program's interface is attractive and intuitive, with a design that's reminiscent of recent versions of Microsoft Office. We liked that Super Finder … Read more

Outdated updates

Occasionally we'll be in the middle of doing something with a seldom-used program and will be interrupted--always when we're in a hurry, of course--by a software update that must be downloaded before we can proceed. We love the idea of a program that will let us check for and download updates for all our programs at once, and that's what Update Notifier attempts to do. Unfortunately, this program works better in theory than in practice.

Update Notifier's interface is pretty easy to understand; there are three tabs that list up-to-date programs, programs on the watch list (… Read more