USB Disk Ejector

USB Disk Ejector is a small program which safely removes flash drives and other USB divices.

It has a simple user interface that displays drive letters and labels.
It also has some good command line options which are especially useful if you use it on a flash drive with a menu like PStart or the Portable Apps launcher.

The command line options can do the following:
- Eject the drive that the program is running from.
- Eject a drive by specifying a drive letter.
- Eject a drive by specifying a drive name.
- Eject a drive by specifying a partial drive name.

It is a good replacement for Microsoft's "Safely Remove Hardware" feature.

(USB Disk Ejector runs on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista)

TClock Light - An Extended Clock

TClock Light is a program that replaces the clock in your system tray with a better one.

Some of its features are as follows:
- Customizable time and date format.
- A flexible alarm which can run programs like a scheduler.
- A timer.
- Customizable click shortcuts. (For example you can make the clock open the recycle bin when you middle-click it.)
- It is portable. (All its settings are kept in its program folder.)

I use TClock all the time and cannot imagine using windows without it.

(TClock Light runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 2003 Server, and Vista)

Pitaschio - A Useful Utility

Pitaschio is a program that gives you many handy settings to customize windows.

Some of its features are as follows:
- Make a window stay above all other windows.
- Minimize a window by middle-clicking its title bar.
- Restrict all window positions to inside of the screen.
- Disable Windows key, Insert key, Alt key, etc.
- Disable the mouse or keyboard to clean them.
- Take statistics about mouse and keyboard.
- It is portable. (All its settings are kept in its program folder.)

It is a very handy program.

(Pitaschio runs on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista)

Autorun for USB Memory Drives

Portable/USB DriveYou might have noticed that Windows does not allow 'Autorun' on USB memory drives the way it does on CDs. Instead, it displays a menu asking you what to do. To add the autorun feature to memory drives, use USBDLM.

USBDLM is a Windows service which allows programs to be run whenever a memory drive is inserted in the computer. I use it to start PStart from my memory drive. (You can read more about PStart here.) USBDLM also has advanced letter assigning features. For security purposes, you can use the password feature to prevent unauthorized memory drives from having the autorun feature.

USBDLM can be a little confusing when you first set it up but once you get it running, it is a very useful tool.

(USBDLM runs on Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista)

Portable Programs

If have a USB memory drive, you can put portable programs on that drive and use them on any computer with a USB port. Even if your drive is not U3 enabled, you can still put portable programs on it. You can find a good selection of portable programs (not for U3) on PortableApps.com. Here are some programs (and games) that I have come across and am using on my memory drive.

7-Zip - Fire Archiver
ClamWin - Virus Scanner
EssentialPIM Free Portable - Calendar, Notepad, and To-Do List
Firefox - Internet Browser
Thunderbird - Email Client
Games - Castle of the Winds, Sudoku, WinRisk.

If you want your programs listed on a portable menu (like the U3 Launchpad), I recommend PStart.

Free Web Browser

My favorite web browser is Mozilla Firefox.
It can be installed on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Some of Firefox's features include the following:

- A tabbed interface.
- Very customizable.
- Very good secure.
- A good bookmark manager.
- The ability to download add-ons.
- Updates as problems arise.

Some of my favorite Firefox extensions are as follows:

Adblock Plus - Removes ads from websites.
Adblock Filterset.G Updater - Extra Adblock filters.
CustomizeGoogle - Enhance Google search results and remove ads and spam.
FlashGot - Send download links to an external download manager.
Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer - Keep your Firefox bookmarks synchronized between computers.
Image Zoom - Adds zoom functionality for images.
McAfee SiteAdvisor - Warns against malicious websites.
MR Tech Local Install - (Advanced users only!) Extra options for installing extentions and editing configuration files.
Personal Menu - Compact menus.
Tab Mix Plus - Tab browsing with an added boost.

See post comments for more extensions.
(Post last edited on 5-02-2008)

Free Computer Help

Hello. I made this blog so I could share my knowledge of useful (and almost always free) programs, websites, and computer tips. For my first tip, I am going to praise my favorite online forum, Computer Hope.

Computer Hope is a free website with a very good forum for solving computer problems. It has over 20,000 members and an extensive FAQ section. I have had a few computer problems over the years and Computer Hope has been a great help. I have learned a lot just by reading other members' questions and the responses to their questions.

If you have any computer related questions, I recommend you visit Computer Hope.

Links:
Computer Hope Homepage
Computer Hope Forums