WallMaster is another free program for rotating wallpaper automatically on your desktop. The rotation is either every X minutes (e.g. every 5 minutes) or every Windows startup, and it lets you to play your own sound for a sort of notification every time a rotation takes place. The developer's site doesn't inform the whole of its features, so read the following features if you want a quick glance of what you actually can get from this freeware.

• Screen resolution - here you can choose which screen resolution you want the wallpapers to be displayed (automatic, 16 or 256 colors, or 24 bits).
• Wallpaper position - tired of manually setting up different position for diffferent wallpaper through the Dekstop properties every time one is displayed? In WallMaster you can pre-configure the position of each or all of the wallpapers (tile, center, fit to screen, custom, autofit).
• Random rotation - besides rotating wallpapers orderly, it also enables you to rotate wallpapers in random order.
• Invalid wallpaper checker - this feature, if enabled, commands the program to automatically check for any invalid wallpaper and remove it from the list.
• Duplicate wallpaper management - whether you want to allow duplicates on the list or not is up to you.
• Suspend - the wallpaper rotation can automatically be suspended if a screensaver is running.

Note that you can only add up to 50 wallpapers in a single list. Luckily, it allows you to create multiple lists so you still can insert all of your wallpapers. The images it supports are BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIF, PCX, TGA, and WMF, and it works on Windows platform.

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Files copied from CD are typically marked as read-only files. Every time a file is about to be renamed, moved, or deleted, Windows asks you to confirm the actions. Now, what if you have just copied thousand files that many need to be renamed?



Windows XP does allow you to change all the attributes at once through the folder's properties. This, however, involves several clicks (around 5 clicks) to get it done. With Croa you only need to right-click the folders and select the command "Clear Read-Only Attributes". It will then scan all of the files within the folder and subfolders in a relatively faster speed and it gives information in real-time like how many files are found, how many that have read-only attributes, and how many that are successfully changed (see the screenshot).

I personally think it is really a time saver application. At least I don't have to deal with the "confirm attribute changes" window over and over again.

Croa works on Windows 98, ME, 2000 (Professional or Server), XP (Home or Professional), Server 2003, NT 4.0 (Workstation or Server).

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If you ever want to move your wallpaper anywhere on the desktop for whatever reason I can't even think of, you should give Aligner a try. You can move wallpaper to left, right, bottom, or top of the screen simply by using the sliders in the program. How the wallpaper will be look like on the desktop can be seen in the preview pane without delay. It is a dead easy program to use.

Though this freeware integrates itself with Desktop properties and Control Panel's Display properties, you don't have to always open either of them to launch it since the program can also be run separately.

Aligner supports Microsoft Windows Vista, XP Home and Professional, and 2000.

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Nothing looks like this free word processor program before. Beside able to open DOCX file, the user interface design really wow me when I launched it the first time. Clean, intuitive, nice menu placement, tabbed documents, eye catching buttons and texture, the perfect combination from all of these form a truly pleasant look while keeping you focus on the main document you're working on. And I can't say how glad I am to have this free to download.



Jarte has all the basic operations you need when working with a document. Inserting tables, spell checking, font and paragraph formatting, printing configurations, you name it. And it has some unique features that are hardly found in other similar programs, especially among the free ones.

User Interface

The Compact is the default view where only several small glossy buttons displayed. Most of the options are hidden behind them. It is just like the clean look of notepad but with some extra juicy appearances like the replaceable texture and the totally different style of the menu placement. Not all functions can be activated by hotkeys, so prepare yourself to struggle with your mouse.

In the Classic view most of the document formatting options are displayed in front, so the memory strength level to remember where an option is located or what hotkey to launch a specific command is fairly reduced. The interesting part of this view is that the side panel contains every command of the formatting which are displayed accordingly when you hover mouse over a button (the formatting menus are grouped on the top left).

And the Minimal view undoubtedly mimics the notepad look.

Some of The Features

• It is both a text and word processor allowing you to open several documents in one window (tabbed-browsing).
• Clickless Operation - instead of clicking, you can display all menus within a button and activate the command selected only by hovering your mouse over it. How long a hover should open a menu or command is configurable as well, from slow to fast timing.
• Text can easily be resized by highlighting it and press the Ctrl+Shift+the down/up arrows.
• Clip List Manager - save your copied items to be re-selected and re-pasted later. This doesn't provide advanced clip saving like ClipMagic, though.
• The Reference Bar enables you to do a word lookup directly to online dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia. If you have the great WordWeb dictionary installed, Jarte automatically integrates itself with the program.
• Flexible Font Management - Have favorite fonts you use frequently, or use different fonts in a document? Group them as your favorite ones to place them on the very top of the font list for easy picking. Need more fonts? Find it online using its built-in font finder. Have a font manager program installed? Integrate it with Jarte.
• Fast Paste Action - paste copied items using mouse middle button.
• Paste Plain - automatically strips HTML and RTF formatting before pasting to get a free-from-formatting text.
• Jump from a bookmarked line to another line within a page by pressing F2.
• Optionally minimized to tray.

Jarte doubtlessly is a very good free alternative to Microsoft Word with the whole functions it throws in. It is resources friendly as well, small-size to download, and the startup loading time is relatively fast. However, a few of the advanced features are locked (I don't mention them here). To unlock it you need to buy the Plus version. The free is already top-notch, though.

Jarte works on Windows 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, or Vista (fully compatible with Vista).

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A free program to achieve the maximum typing speed with a sequence of training materials in a simple and straightforward yet pleasing user interface combined with an optionally animated screen. That is Rapid Typing Tutor.



The first time you see the interface design you probably think that this is perfectly suitable for kids only. I can't blame you for think so because, in fact, I did think the same way. But when I tried to use it, learn all the features offered, it managed to change my mind. And perhaps you will, too.

Yes, the skin is eye-catching as you can see it for yourself right now. There is another skin in its configuration panel, and more to download for free at the author's homepage. The screen is on the right side with a colorful, animated underwater world background, which is resizable if later you find it not large enough. While on the left side, you can access all the training materials and your typing statistics.

By default it hides the virtual keyboard. To display it press the little arrow on the bottom right corner. This virtual keyboard is accompanied with virtual hands helping you to know exactly which fingers should be used when typing a character. Before you type, the appropriate finger will be hovering over the character button, letting you know that it is the best finger you should use to get the fastest speed in typing.

Let's check out the other features:

• The lessons are divided into six sections from the simplest to the complicated: Letters, Syllables, Capitals, Words, Digits and Symbols, and Texts. Each has its own materials. You can pick any of them, and, additionally, you can create your own typing material.
• The animation can be turned off if it slows down your computer.
• The keyboard scheme can be replaced by others.
• The program's functions can be activated by hotkeys.
• Supports multiple users with different personal settings, and multi-language interface.
• Automatically pause the typing timer if you move to another pogram, and auto save every uncompleted typing task on exit.

I love how it looks like, but the typing report desperately needs improvement. Yes, you still can compare today's record with yesterday's. However, the compared items are only three elements (speed in CPM/WPM, accuracy, and the finishing time) with very little information for each. You can compare today's speed with yesterday's speed, but if it doesn't display the words amount of both how one can accurately know that today's achievement is better than another day's for the same words quantity? Moreover, the file name of the finished material isn't displayed either so there isn't any clue of whether you compare the same or different materials. Comparison by dates only?

Nonetheless, this freeware is relatively a good choice for you who need simplicity in the process but with a pleasant view to get a sort of fun typing lesson. Especially perfect for the very beginner typers as most of the materials (letters, syllables, capitals, words, digits and symbols) are made to "train" your fingers to be used to on the right place. When you're ready, you can pick any more-complex documents from outside the program.

By the way, there is a portable version so you don't need to do any installation. It supports Windows 2000/XP/Vista.

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How many times you have asked it to yourself after you send an email to someone but no reply for days? Isn't it nice to have the ability to check the status of your email if it has been read so you can stop asking that over and over again to yourself without answer? But how can you know if your email has been read?

SpyPig makes it happens for you. It notifies you by email as soon as your friend, or the recipient, opens your email.

All steps are displayed in one page with detailed instruction from entering your email address to receive the notification, give a title to the message to be able to identify it later among other messages sent, pick one image available (these images contain the tracking code) which must be inserted into your message.

It works with Gmail, Outlook, Eudora, Yahoo Email, and others. Note that since it uses images as the tracking facilitator the sender and the recipient are required to use HTML format when creating and reading the message. Select the white blank image if you plan to send a sort of an official message or if simply you don't comfortable with the other images options. I wish someday it will let us to pick our own image.

This service makes me wonder why those popular free email services don't include this function. To some extent, for an important message like sending an application letter to a company, this kind of function should be very useful to check if your email has been read. If it hasn't for weeks, then you probably can send another new letter or perhaps you take different approach to let the company knows about your sent application.

It is free to use. Nice.

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When you hover your mouse over a minimized window only a standard info tips is displayed. Visual Task Tips totally replaces it by displaying a thumbnail snapshot of the minimized window. A little bit more informative, I guess.



The thumbnail size, the popup delay, the refresh rate, all of them can be configured to your own preferences. The configuration panel can be opened by double-clicking the program's icon which resides in tray. This is a sort of do-one-task program that does its task well. Free for non-commercial use, and support Windows XP or Vista (Classic theme).

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Think ClipMagic as a big clip storage. Contrary to the standard Windows clipboard that can only store one item, ClipMagic freeware saves all the clips whether it is text or an image. Categorize each, add personal information if necessary, view the whole clips anytime, and pick any of them to be pasted into any application. Not enough? Well, it has more.

To make clip management easier, it lets you to define rules and filters so each clip will be automatically moved to a specific category everytime you copy an item. The most interesting feature, probably, is that each clip can have its own hotkey. It can benefit you a lot if you have a special word or image, or whatever it is, that you very often use. Or, instead of remembering hotkeys for the clips, you can just press a single custom hotkey to open the simple and effective clip list under your mouse.

When I explore the ClipMagic's features the first time I've never expected that clips can be managed in such so many ways that help me speed up my typing. If you think this program is nothing but a clipboard viewer, download and install it, and see yourself if you still stick to your first assumption. It still has much more than what I've written here.

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Digital Video Repair is a freeware enabling you to fix broken AVI file that can't be played, is only partially downloaded from internet or copied from external drives, or unable to be fast forwarded.

When first you insert your AVI file, this program will automatically detect if there is any error within the file without having to press the "Check Errors" button. But it always suggests you to press it since the automatic detection is only done in a flash.

It won't replace your original file with the fixed one, so you can always have the original in your hand and try to repair it with another similar program in case you find the result doesn't satisfy you.

Digital Video Repair can be used under Windows and completely free with no nag screen at all.

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MP3 Album Maker is a freeware letting you to join multiple MP3 files as many as you want into a single large file. You can play the album created with any MP3 player and it still compatible with any tag editor, or unpack them back whenever you need to.



It is a very simple program, so there is nothing much you can do with it except choosing the files to be merged, name the album, rearrange the files order or randomize it, and set the destination folder. Ability to include an image as the cover of the album perhaps can be said a bonus feature.

This is definitely not the exact tool to be used if what you need is to create an album with advanced configurations, but the few features it has makes it the perfect utility to make a simple album. And the most important above everything is that it manages to do its task well. It is always better to choose a simple program with less functions but can deliver the result as it promises than a rich-features software but sucks, isn't it?

Unfortunately you have to install Net Framework to be able to use it. The OS supported is only Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP.

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Want to convert your flash based video to a screensaver? InstantStorm is a nifty freeware that enables you to do it to be used in your own computer or to distribute it as an installer (.exe).



Using this program will wipe out your assumption that creating a personal screensaver is difficult if you ever think so. As you can see from the screenshot above, InstantStorm categorizes its functions into separate tabs. Each tab is named appropriately based the features included within. For example, inside the General tab you can browse and select a flash file and give your screensaver a title, while in the Publishing tab the creation process can be completed.

The main interface lets you to fully customize the appearance of the screensaver's installer and the behaviour of the screensaver itself. It is all up to you whether you want to use your own image as the installer's background or icon as the installer's icon, change the default text inside the installer so you can use your own language, set a screen resolution, etc. It even allows you to insert your self-created license agreement and readme documents, and moves furthermore by enabling you to protect your creation by password.

There is also option to create a screensaver using its Wizard page. Here you can finish all the process in only three easy steps. This function is perhaps the best option for you who just want to install the created screensaver within your computer only or to distribute it only to your closest friends and not to to the mass public.

InstantStorm is completely free to use even for a commercial purpose and can be operated under Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista.

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If you prefer to make a static HTML photo gallery instead of a flash slideshow to publicize on your website, you may like AAA Photo Album as I do. It is by default has already produced a stylish gallery without you need to make any modification to the page created.



You can add pictures as many as you want, select one template from the 18 cool templates or frames for them and make some necessary customizations (like the frame's thickness, roundness, 3D look strength and texture), configure how many of them should appear in one page, arrange their orders (which should appear first, second, and so on), do some rotations, insert image copyright, limit the JPEG quality, rename each image's title, etc. And when everything is already set up, the result can be uploaded directly using its built-in upload client to your FTP server.

This program is perfect for creating a HTML photo gallery without having to write any HTML code. Of course you are still able to completely modify the page if you know HTML and CSS codes. All in all, you will find no complicated steps in finishing all the steps required, which already speaks for itself why there isn't any help documentation included in the program.

It is a freeware and works on Windows Vista / XP / 98 / Me / NT / 2000.

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While offering usage simplicity in creating an animated style of a slideshow with music support, Flash Slideshow Maker Professional offers up to 68 unique transition effects to apply to your pictures randomly or set different effect for each picture. The so many effects included along with the flexibility to configure each effect duration applied to an image is to give power as much as possible to the user in order to be able to create a not-monotone and beautiful slideshow.

Check out some of the features below:

• Besides one of the 68 free transition effects, you can also apply animation effects like dropping leaves, snow dropping, camera shot, etc.
• Add single or multiple images into a slideshow album
• Add music to slideshows
• Create slideshow cd/dvd with its integrated burner
• Specify JPEG quality
• Specify background music sample rate and the quality
• Optionally add EXIF information of each image as its description
• Output will be in .swf, .html, and .xml
• Each picture can be edited like rotate clockwise or counterclockwise 90 degree, add custom text, and insert artclip from the ones already available or from your own collection
• Optionally upload slideshow directly to SkyAlbum.com and embed it in your website or blog, MySpace, Xanga, etc.
• Over 20 customizable themes

OS supported: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista

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Don't delete your sensitive files using the normal deletion procedure as they can be recovered. One doesn't even need to learn a special programming language to be able to do that since there are many applications that are specifically designed to undelete deleted data simply by pressing a button.

The reason above is the main factor why we really need a program like Eraser. It enables you to erase files/folders with special deletion patterns to prevent or at least to minimize the possibility of a file to be recovered in good condition. Beside able to securely remove the content of the recycle bin, it can also clean internet cookies, paging (swap) files, internet cache, and index.dat permanently on both an individual or a network computer. You can even delete the entire hard drives if necessary.

It provides convenient ways to do the task as well like ability to erase files/folders using its function from the right-click menu, to run single or multiple automatic scheduled deletion tasks with different settings for each, and to drag-and-drop files/folders onto the on-demand interface.

It works on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, 2003, XP & Vista and supports FAT32 and NTFS Files Systems.

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How do you know your computer system changes because of a malicious program? You can wait until the system gives you error every time you want to execute a certain task, or you can detect the attacks earlier before it becomes a serious problem by downloading and installing WinPatrol.

WinPatrol is a free program that sits in your tray area to monitor your system condition in repetition every X minutes and alert you whenever a change is detected on your internet host and critical system files. It can also be set to check if your default browser home page and search pages has been changed by any malicious program. If it alerts you that your homepage or search pages has been hijacked, you can view the running processes in its Active Task section to check if there is any suspicious program being active in the background.

It allows you to check and review the cookies being stored by your web browser, too. Manage cookies to keep what you want and to remove or disable the ones you don't need becomes much easier with WinPatrol for it lets you to delete cookies either manually, or automatically based on your designated keyword in the Cookie Filters list.

Besides giving you power to monitor your start-up list, you can improve the speed of the system startup time by disable or remove the ones unnecessary, or by delaying the activation in case you still need some programs to launch automatically on startup but don't want them to be started immediately. Great feature if you have many programs in your startup list.

Other functions lends you the ability to manage hidden files, lock file association to prevent any new program try to take over the control out of your hand (it can be configured to restore the file association whenever it detects any change attempts), manage installed services, watch scheduled tasks, and alert you whenever a new Browser Helper Object or Toolbar Add-On is installed and associated with your web browser.

This freeware works on Windows XP, Vista, NT/2000, ME, 98, and 95.

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LCD PixelsOK is a free checker to look for, if any, dead or defective pixel on your LCD monitor. It works by filling the screen with one of the colors that make up a pixel which makes you easy to check if there is a spot on screen that doesn't display the color correctly.

You can either download and install it into your computer, or you can download the portable version so you can keep it within your flash drive or other external storage drives to, for example, check a monitor condition you're about to buy. It is very easy to use even for a novice as you only have to click it to start operating the program, pick the color and moving from one to another by clicking the color you want, and look at the LCD screen to ensure that there is no any area that display the selected color incorrectly.

LCD PixelsOK is another simple-but-helpful free program for dealing with one of hardware common problems, which in this case is the color stability of LCD monitor screen.

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This error message may be caused by a virus, spyware, trojan, or the like if it appears on your screen while you do nothing to your system. An experienced person who already very familiar with his or her computer can digg deeply the registry to fix the problem manually. But how about the others who happen to be still newbies or just don't want to mess up the registry?

This tiny program, Task Manager Fix, which is only around 76K and doesn't need to be installed, designed specifically intended to enable the task manager that won't start or open because of a virus or other malicious programs' infection in an easy way. All you need to do is only click it once to make it back to work again. Simple and helpful.

It is a free program, so no need to pay anything for it. But if you feel it helps you a lot, you can donate some so that the maker can create another useful tool. Go to the page to download the Task Manager Fix now. It doesn't mention clearly which Windows versions it supports, but the screenshot at the website definitely shows that this program works on Windows XP.

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