MORE FREEWARE
SHELL ENHANCEMENTS
Last Updated March 20, 2006
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I DO NOT USE ANY SOFTWARE ON THIS PAGE (except those in the My Favorite Freeware box). These pages are for freeware suggestions site visitors have made for which I, personally, have no need and no interest. I can’t (and don’t) vouch for anything here. | ||
| If you don’t find what you need here, I recommend Pricelessware, a very sound, clean freeware site based on recommendations of alt.comp.freeware participants. | ||
| My Favorite Freeware |
DirGraph & Disk Usage Show number of files / space occupied for any folder Irfan View My favorite graphic-file viewer — but so much more! Letter Assigner Reassign drive letters at will - other drive mgmt features Locate32 Very fast filename searches on your computer PrintFolder Shell enhancement - adds print the contents of any folder QuickRes NT A QuickRes PowerToy, but for NT versions of Windows Restoration Restore deleted files no longer in the Recycle Bin ShortKeys Lite Text-replacement or macro utility Shutdown.exe Win XP utility - log off, shutdown, restart, hibernate, stand-by TweakUI The best of all the PowerToys! Everyone should have it! Web Accessories Add new functionality to IE5 and 6 Windows PowerToys Should have been part of Windows from the start Win XP PowerToys More PowerToys created just for Windows XP Windows Kernel Toys Like PowerToys but geekier WinKey Program the Windows Key to launch any folder or executable file |
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ActiveIcons Added 8/14/05 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “People with a desire to tweak their desktop now have a simple GUI-based tool to set some options that otherwise would require elaborate third-party tools. This freeware tool allows easy changes to icon text label color, transparancy features and other sides of your desktop in a friendly fashion.” By CursorArts. (Recommended by MS-MVP Bill Castner) |
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Agent Ransack Added 2/14/02 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “This is a file searching tool. I use it with XP with no problems. Highly configurable. Adds itself to the context menu in Explorer to make searching in any location easy. My favorite feature: When searching for text, search results will show list of files in one column. Select one, and the relative text is displayed on the right-hand side. I find this particularly useful for locating the exact snippet of text that I'm looking for.” By David Vest. (Recommended by MS-MVP Sharon Fink) |
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AutoHotkey Added 10/4/04 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP/2003. “Since you praise ShortKeys as a favorite, I thought you might consider giving this a try. The latest version has a flexible text-replacement engine described here. In addition, AutoHotkey is a powerful automation tool. It can remap keys and buttons, and make virtually any key, joystick button, or mouse button into a hotkey (shortcut key). Includes a quick-start tutorial, automatic script writer (macro recorder), and a comprehensive help file. Open source scripting language backward compatible with AutoIt v2.” By Chris Mallett. (Recommended by the author) |
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Batchrun Added 4/26/02 |
For Win9x/NT/2K/XP. “Batchrun lets you create batch files using a graphical interface. In the good old days, DOS .BAT files took care of this task. They still do, but they’re not exactly user friendly. Batchrun .BRS files can launch any number of programs or dialup connections with one click. Control the starting process with properties like Priority or Run Mode. Built-in file management includes Copy, Rename, MakeDir, Delete, and End Process.” By Outer Technologies. (Recommended by Bob Erkamp) |
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Clipomatic Added 11/4/04 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “A really useful add-on to Windows that gives the features of the Office XP/2003 clipboard in any application, and a lot more. There is a lot more that just clipboarding to this.” By Mike Lin. (Recommended by Christian Wickham) |
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Date/Time Added 11/28/03 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “A free shell extension, very small download. Adds a new Date/Time tab to File and folder Properties have — which lets you easily set new date or time properties.” By Berger Laurent. (Recommended by Duncan McCormack) |
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FileAnt Added 9/30/04 |
For 98SE/2K/XP/2003 (maybe more; but needs IE4 or later). “FileAnt is a Windows file manager (like Windows Explorer) on tabs (like UltraEdit-32). It is also a cool FTP client (like LeechFTP) and has nice features such as folder pie charts, and a viewer for commonly used file formats. It loads quickly from the tray and uses very little memory to achieve what it does. The FTP client is multi-download (you can keep browsing while downloading lots of files). The Pie Chart features 2D telescopic browsing. Advanced tools let you modify file dates, sync folders, and change file attributes en masse. There is also a nice little MP3 player in the tray.” By Will Wheelahan. (Recommended by the author)
Mr. E.’s Note: There has been some confusion about whether this really is freeware. Will Wheelahan wrote this month clarifying that the program is now freeware (with a donation option) but he has had difficulty getting Tucows and other sites to update their listings.(9/30/04) |
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FileNote Added 11/6/04 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “FileNote is a little shell extension that allows you to add textual descriptions to your files. It adds one command to the shell context menu of a file object. This command lets you easily edit or create a text file that has the same name as the initial file, but with the extension .TXT. I couldn’t live without this little program. Anytime I download a file, I right-click in my file manager and choose the “filenote” option. It opens my text editor and I can paste any info about the file that I want, e.g., URL, description, features, personal notes, etc. When, a month later, I wonder what the heck that file does, I just open the .TXT file of the same name and there’s all the info! For a guy who’s losing brain cells at the speed of light, this is a God-send.” By MoonSoftware. (Recommended by Gregory Warga) |
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Folder Size Added 11/28/03 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “Very small, free shell extension. Properties of any folder now have a new Size tab, and you can sort on, say, Size Descending — and see where all your disk space is being used. Other sort options are handy too. ” By Berger Laurent. (Recommended by Duncan McCormack)
Mr. E.’s Note: Shane Beatson, a long-time friend of this site, reports that, at least on Windows ME, “If you install Folder Size then right-click the My Documents desktop icon and select Properties, you get Explorer has caused an error in shell32.dll. Explorer will now close. ...Uninstall Folder Size and the menu item no longer returns an error, it works as intended.” (12/18/03) |
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Gadwin PrintScreen Added 11/18/03 |
For 98/ME/NT 4 SP6/2K/XP. “Gadwin PrintScreen captures the contents of the screen with a single keystroke. The captured screen can then be sent to the printer, or saved to disk as a file in 6 different graphics file formats. It can capture the entire Windows screen, the active window, or a specified area, when the hot key is pressed. The hot key defaults to the PrintScreen key, but users may also define other keys to initiate a capture. Allows you to e-mail the captured images to recipients of your choice.” By Gadwin Systems, Inc. (Recommended by Lode Vlayen) |
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GiPo@MoveOnBoot Added 8/14/05 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “Copies, moves or deletes files and folders on the next system boot. The utility is very useful when the user needs to replace or delete files which are locked by other applications, loaded into the memory or just cannot be changed until next system boot. I also think it could remove a nasty trojan that is tough to get rid of and that gets embedded when you restart your system.” (The link is to the older freeware version. There is also a newer payware version.) By Artemov T. Kopaneva. (Recommended by John David) |
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Gyula’s Navigator Added 10/1/04 |
“A free-to-use Norton Commander clone, with lot of features. Multiple language support. Not only brings you back to the MS-DOS console, but is also much easier to use for moving or copying files then Windows Explorer. No string attached for the use off this application.” By Wanari Software Dev. Ltd. (Recommended by Henri Hoenderboom) |
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H-Menu 6.0 Added 8/14/05 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP/2003. “ A fully configurable launcher, invisible until activated with the mouse. Have everything you need just a click away and say goodbye to the Start button and a cluttered Desktop. Animated Toolbars appear on contact with the screen’s edge, up to two per side. Also supports use of cascading menus. Screen settings can be changed as you launch programs, or use the tray icon, where you can also access menu-bars, dial-up connections, sound controls, end Windows session, change screen with a single click. Customise H-Menu with animation effects and separators to group items. Many more cusotmization options. Multilingual — you can even create your own language module.” By Hans de Vries. (Recommended by the author) |
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HDCopy Added 6/21/04 |
For 95/98/ME. “I haven’t had the chance to try this yet — but it looks look a valuable recommendation. Simply put, it copies one hard drive to another, particularly with hard drive migrations in mind. People ask for something like this all the time — I think it may be worth a look.” By Kurt Zimmermann. (Recommended by Arthur Russell) |
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KeyTweak Added 6/21/04 |
For 2K/XP. “Custom key-mapping for Windows 2000 and XP. This replaces, and goes way beyond, the Win95 Kernel Toys keymapper, and is designed for the latest NT-based Windows versions.” By Travis Krumsick. (Recommended by Arthur Russell) |
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PowerPro Revised Entry 6/8/03 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “Can control and automate most aspects of your Windows experience... customize, enhance, or even replace Explorer, and replace a lot of popular utilities. Has its own scripting language... can be extended with plugins. The possibilities are limitless. PowerPro has quite a learning curve and doesn’t do much out of the box: You have to configure it. Most users end up doing something unique with this program. If you are a heavy Windows user, and especially if you are a control freak or a programmer, you owe it to yourself to try this gem.” By Bruce Switzer. (Recommended by Julien Pierrehumbert) |
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Quick Folders Added 7/16/02 |
For Win95/98/NT4, maybe others. “Keeps track of most recently used folders in file dialogs. Most Windows applications use system-supplied dialog boxes for open and save operations. When your folder tree has a lot of nested subfolders it may take a long time to navigate. Quick Folders adds a small button to these dialogs which give you access to a menu of most recently used folders. Every time you open or save using common file dialog, the file location is added to the list. For me, this should be a standard Windows feature. Integration with dialog boxes is nice, you don’t even notice there is another program running. I’ve noticed one problem (with Word97, where the small button doesn’t appear — it’s the only exception, it works with all other programs on my PC).” By Alexey Rubtsov. (Recommended by Pierre Griffet) |
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Rainbow Folders Added 8/14/05 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “ Color any folder icon. Hundreds of customizable colors. Makes navigating directories so much easier. Similar to “Labels” in Mac OS, where you can apply coloring to any icon for soting and categorizing (an indispensible tool). I looked for something like this for Windows for many long years, it should have been a part of the Windows OS. This little proggy allows you to colorize any folder. Although it does not allow for sorting, searching or categorizing it is still a mighty useful tool. It has an extremely small footprint and doesn’t modify any system files or Registry. Thanks Piotr!” Postcardware by Piotr Chodziński. (Recommended by Twohawks) |
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Renamer Added 3/8/05 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP/2003. “Renamer is a program that can rename and move files, create directories from filenames, and set file attributes. You can save, make changes in, and view the created list of files.” By EatMe. (Recommended by EatMe) |
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ReplaceEm Added 3/8/05 |
“Why did I not find this before? It'’ an application that can do multiple replace actions on multiple files. I use it to change a folder full of HTML files to use stylesheets all at once — it saves having to open multiple files to make lots of changes, only to find that you forgot to make one of the changes to one file.” By Boolean Dream, Inc. (Recommended by Christian Wickham) |
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rjhExtensions Added 4/26/02 |
For 95/98/NT/2K. “A full-featured Windows Shell Extension with file crypting, shredding, renaming; directory printing (and saving to file); directory DOS prompt; and much more. A must!” More information here. By RJH Software. (Recommended by Raffaele Morgese) |
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Scanner Added 4/26/02 |
For 9x/NT/2K. “Media usage visualization tool. Displays a special pie chart, including all major files and folders. Outer segments represent deeper directory levels. Angle and area size correspond to the space used by the clusters an object covers. Information on a particular object is available by moving the cursor over. Click on a folder segment to zoom into. Supports all media types (hard disk, floppy, CD-ROM, Network, ZIP).” By Steffen Gerlach. (Recommended by Bob Erkamp) |
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Scaven Added 2/12/02 |
For DOS (or DOS on Win9x). “Might be of use to those concerned with data recovery operations. I’ve not tried this out personally, but... thought it might be pretty useful if it works as advertised.” By Piotr J. Walczak. (Recommended by MS-MVP Jim Byrd) |
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Send To Toys Added 11/28/03 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “Send to Menu manager. Allows you to easily add or remove items from the Send To context menu by right-clicking the target and selecting ‘Add to Send To’ or ‘Remove From Send To.’ It comes complete with several handy shortcuts built in. Most of the shortcuts are similar to those provided by the Microsoft SendTo Powertoy.” By Gabriele Ponti. (Recommended by MS-MVP George Gedye) |
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SequoiaView Added 3/1/02 |
“The best disk visualization tool I've ever seen.” By the Visualization Section of the Faculty of Mathematics & Computer Science at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. (Recommended by Richard C. VanNorman)
Mr. E.’s Review: This program does substantially what Disk Usage does, and I like Disk Usage a whole lot better! Some people will really like the visual layout of SequoiaView, though. For me, it’s a blur that provides less actual information than the simple sorted analog output of Disk Usage, or even the more graphical display of DirGraph. To each their own, eh?! (3/1/02, rev. 8/9/03) |
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Screensaver Druid Added 11/4/04 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “Finally found a complete screensaver program. It will locate them, preview them, access the settings, select just the ones you want in the rotations, rotate them as required, and, most rare, delete them. It also, of course, allows enable/disable and start from the icon near the clock. What more could you ask?” By XemiComputers. (Recommended by Brian M. McCarthy) |
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SpaceMonger Added 9/30/04 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “Gives an intuitive graphical representation of disk space usage. Displays folders and files on a 2D ‘map’ display, the displayed surface area of the files on the 2D map is proportional to their size on the disk. Very similar in principle to DirGraph, but looks a lot more polished IMHO. Program file is only 212 KB. Does not require installation, so will not clutter the Registry. Can be run direct from CD or Floppy.” By Sean Werkema. (Recommended by David Corbett) |
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Startup Control Panel Added 2/12/02 |
For 9x/NT/2000/XP. “...The best tool around for controlling what gets started when. (Also, read and print out and save MSKB Q179365, which will tell you the order in which things get loaded.)” By Mike Lin. (Recommended by MS-MVP Jim Byrd) |
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Traybar Added 11/4/04 |
For 9x/2K/XP. “Task launcher for applications and opens folders. Sits in the tray and can be opened by any style click. It works. This is how I can have only four icons on the desktop. What else to say?” By Yoran Bosman. (Recommended by Brian M. McCarthy) |
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Tse’s Startup Schedule Launcher Added 3/8/05 |
“There are many startup launchers and editors available. However, many of them only let you enable or disable an item. What makes this Startup Schedule Launcher handy is that it allows you to schedule which applications you want started by days of the week, and even by hour. For example, if you only want to run AIM on startup on Thursday, and your organizer every Sunday after 5:00 PM, that’s when it will start. You don’t need to let it load on days and times you don’t need it. Useful if you don’t leave your PC turned on all the time.” By S. Tse. (Recommended by S. Tse) |
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TweakAll Updated 9/12/043 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “Good all round tweaker. Easy to use” By Abton’s Shed. (Recommended by Tony Denvir) |
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Type Parser Added 11/4/04 |
“You have a couple of programs showing files on a drive by folder. Here’s one that shows files by file extension (.MP3, for example), then shows the folders where they’re located. For me, that’s a lot more valuable. The program is small (390 KB) and free.” Windows versions not specified, but submitter has used it on Win XP. By Xarka Software. (Recommended by Brian M. McCarthy) |
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VirtuaWin Added 11/28/03 |
For 9x/NT/2K/XP. “A very small and efficient virtual desktop manager, i.e., a way of creating the illusion of having several desktops avaliable to run applications on. A really great way of organizing one’s computer work and really hard to live without when used to it.” By Johan Piculell. (Recommended by the author) |
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Wallpaper Positioner Added 6/21/04 |
For XP. “Windows allows only two types of Wallpaper placement settings, Tiled and Centered. If you want to place your image in the right-corner of the screen, you will need to edit the registry and set the WallpaperOriginX and WallpaperOriginY in pixels. This utility Wallpaper Positioner automates the same and provides the user an easier method to set the Wallpaper positions.” By Ramesh Srinivasan. (Recommended by the author.) |