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Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery.
10 Super-Duper (and Free) Tools
In This Issue
[Click a link to jump to the topic]
Tools You Can Use
Greased Lightning Finds
Wizmo -- Steve Gibson's Nifty Tool
Capture and Record any Sound
Multi Monitor Mouse
Tech Tip of the Week: Stop Errors
Product of the Week: Genius Portable USB Speakers
Holy Mackerel
Time Wasters
Don't Miss This
Tools You Can Use
I've been bingeing on free tools for the last week. Here are a bunch of the best I found.
Greased Lightning Finds
I want you to download and try the Everything search tool. It installs in a minute, and indexes your drive in another minute -- and the speed of its finds will blow you away. No, really, this is the fastest thing I've ever seen.
My friend Darryl said, "Everything's search engine only searches file names and folders -- it doesn't index file contents like Windows Desktop Search does. Instead, it indexes the entire hard drive by using the hard disk's existing USN Change Journal. The result is a tiny program that uses very little resources, is deadly simple to use, and is astonishingly fast. You can find any file virtually instantly." The question is why Microsoft didn't use the USN functionality in the Search function built into XP and Vista. (Don't you love these rhetorical questions for Microsoft?)
About the only downside is that Everything won't run on a drive using a FAT32 file system. (What, you don't know the difference? Read this: FAT32 vs. NTFS and then consider the painless conversion to NTFS.)
Everything is a good tool, but there are two other search tools you could use. Play around with Agent Ransack. It's slower than Everything, yet it's a versatile, dweeby kind of program that lets you search within files using complex rules. You might like Copernic Desktop Search, too, because it not only does smart searches of file contents, it also lets you launch the program associated with the file. The downside? It's ad sponsored. Of course, I'll get a ton of e-mail if I don't mention Google Desktop, even though I don't like the way it displays search results in a browser.
"Everything" is fast, even on your creaky, old '486
Wizmo -- Steve Gibson's Nifty Tool
Steve Gibson is famous for small, free, smart tools. One that I'm using is Wizmo -- Steve's Windows Gizmo -- and it does things some of you can use. For instance, Wizmo gives you a quick one-click way to blank the screen or put it into low power mode; lock the workstation; or set the PC in any one of several states, including standby, hibernate, log off, reboot, or shutdown.
Wizmo isn't difficult to use, but it could be an adventure for beginners. That's because the tool doesn't have an installation program: You'll have to create a desktop shortcut and modify the shortcut's Properties. However, the instructions are clear and easy to follow. And while you're looking at Wizmo, poke around Gibson's site -- it's a marvelous jaunt into technology.
Quick aside: My buddy Leo uses Wizmo to put his monitor in low power mode Since moving to Vista Business x64 from XP, using "wizmo.exe monoff" on his two-monitor system has given him trouble. Both monitors went into sleep mode, but only the secondary analog monitor would wake up with the mouse; the primary LCD would stay asleep, and he needed to power off the desktop to recover. He used Monoff 4 to fix the problem.
Use Wizmo for quick one-click commands
Capture and Record any Sound [top]
In last week's newsletter, I talked about ripping the music from YouTube videos. This week I've got two powerful tools with a wide array of features for grabbing and manipulating sounds you hear on your PC, including MP3s.
Audacity is free and easy to use. Just click the red button to start recording and the orange one to stop it. Then from Files, choose Export as MP3. Plenty of editing tools are built in, so you can, say, remove silence. One drawback: It also records PC sounds, so if you're not careful, you'll hear error sounds and new-message "dings." For that, download SoundOff, a freebie that temporarily turns system sounds off and on with a quick right-click.
I also like Total Recorder, which has some useful features Audacity doesn't have. For instance, it lets you set up multiple daily and weekly recording schedules. The standard edition is $18, and the $36 Pro version has extra goodies, such as automating everything -- it opens the browser to a designated URL, starts and stops recording, saves the file, and closes the browser. And yes, the program is smart enough to not record system sounds.
Multi Monitor Mouse
You have two or more monitors and you're tired of moving your mouse from one monitor to the last one in the array? You'll like Multi Monitor Mouse, because it gooses your mouse cursor so it makes the jump across monitors without scrolling. The tool is especially valuable if your monitors aren't the same size or resolution, if you're using, say, a 23-incher and a notebook. You'll need to be geek-savvy as this freebie doesn't come with documentation.
Multi-Mouse lets your cursor jump across monitors
Monitor arrays at Bass International (LOL)
Tech Tip of the Week: Stop Errors [top]
Pop quiz: It's fast, it's blue, and it stops your computer cold. I get one every so often -- a blue screen loaded with dire warnings, a list of letters and numbers, and an obscure stop error. (see one here.) Actually, the stop error codes offer valuable info about what caused your system to come to a complete halt. The message might let you know your RAM is on its last legs, a driver is missing, or a hard drive is infected with spyware or damaged. Microsoft has a list of stop errors, along with an explanation and details that are written in somewhat readable English.
Resolving a stop error can be an enjoyable weekend project (ha!). My favorite stop (sorry) for help is UpdateXP, run by Microsoft Windows MVP Marc Liron. The site has the most commonly seen stop errors with possible resolutions.
Seen one of these lately? It's a stop error that's likely to ruin your entire day.
Product of the Week: Genius Portable USB Speakers
The last time Judy and I traveled, we ordered a pizza and watched a Netflix DVD on my notebook in our motel room. Nice viewing, and a nice evening, except for the awful sound. That's not surprising: Notebooks aren't designed for titillating sound.
Our next trip will be different: Now I've got a pair of portable USB digital speakers from Genius that cost me about $30 and are small enough to throw into my notebook case (each speaker is 2 inches by 7 inches by about 1 inch deep). The pair come in a travel case and are powered by the USB port (2 watts RMS) or 3 AAA batteries (6 watts RMS). The sound? LOL -- not home theater, but decent enough so that I'm not kvetching. [You'll find something else to complain about. --Editor.]
Small, sleek, and perfect for your notebook
Holy Mackerel
You think you've seen outrageous phishing e-mails? No way. Jesse Crawford sent me a copy of one that's sure to make the record books. The subject line was Federal Bureau of Investigation Help Stop Scams On Internet. You can see the entire gem on Alex's blog.
Time Wasters [top]
Playboy archives, a mouse that mirrors your moves, Fireballs, and a surprise at the doggy door. Dig in...
Do you remember the first time you opened an issue of Playboy? I might have been 14 and it was a breathtaking experience. Now you can relive those days with Playboy's archives -- every issue and every page, all on a searchable site. The viewer makes scrolling and zooming in a pleasure. Make sure you browse some of the early ads and interviews. [Thanks to Jeff Hammer, Bruce, and the dozens of others who sent links.] (Important note: You'll need to download and install Microsoft's free Silverlight in order to view the site; Like Adobe's Flash, Silverlight is a valuable browser accessory to have on your PC. Many thanks to Kenneth Wolf for this catch.)
You know you're going to visit Playboy -- probably for the, um, articles.
This is one amusing and creative video: Watch the face of the conductor and later in the video, the woman singing when the treble is, well, I don't want to give it all away. Make sure to turn down the volume before you start the video and click the "full screen" button in the lower right corner of the video control box.
It's a complete waste of time -- no, really -- but I know you'll click on Mirror Mouse just to see what it does. Make sure to use the scroll wheel and then double-click the left mouse button a couple of times. [Thanks to Tim Fitzpatrick.]
The Extreme Sheep LED Art video is the ultimate form of sheep herding, and it's utterly brilliant, if true. [Thanks, Judy B.]
Kim, my copyeditor, said she got "sucked into a sensational story about a "cosmic hand" discovered in outer space. Check out the story -- and cue up the Twilight Zone theme.
You need a game to keep you busy? Fireballs is loud, fast, and enough of a challenge to keep you busy for half an hour.
Watch who comes in the doggy door -- sorry, kitty door. Surprised, no? (I know you're going to watch this twice.)
Don't Miss This
Well, you probably could, but before you shut down your computer and pick up a good book, do me a favor and forward this newsletter to your next-door neighbor, your dog walker, and everyone else who's interested in stop errors, free tools, and silly time wasters. Be sure to give them the subscription URL, too: http://www.techbite.com
Steve Bass is the publisher and self-appointed Chief Content Officer at TechBite; he continues to experience the cool feeling having of his own newsletter. Send him your feedback at TechBite. To sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter, head for our signup page.
Steve's also the author of "PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer," available on Amazon. You haven't purchased your copy today yet, have you? Don't wait, supplies are limited...
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