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15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support

Lee Mathews — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:55:00 EST

Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Lists

The holiday season has always been a time for gathering -- but in recent years, it's also been a time when family and friends come bearing gifts of computer troubles. Their computer friends -- people like the Download Squad team and you, our readers -- get asked to do everything from installing RAM upgrades to the annual computer tune-up. We're happy to oblige, of course, because there's a decent chance someone will pay us in beer or baked goods. Cash is welcome too, but never seems to be offered quite as readily.

To make your holiday tech duties a bit easier, I've put together a list of some of my favorite troubleshooting apps for Windows.
Where download links for the files aren't on the application's main page, I've included a link to the appropriate download page. I've provided a handful of FileHippo links as well -- they're an excellent mirror site and they don't surround download links in advertisements or "recommendations."

Continue reading 15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support

15+ free Windows apps to help you tackle Thanksgiving tech support originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 21 Nov 2010 10:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two quick ways to read library e-books on your iPhone or iPad with Bluefire

Jay Hathaway — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, How-Tos, iPhone, Troubleshooting

The Bluefire e-reader for iPhone made a big splash last week because it's a free app that can read DRM-protected e-books, like the ones offered by many public libraries. We've reviewed Bluefire and shown you how to get borrowed e-books onto your iPhone, but there are two better and faster ways to accomplish this, without opening Adobe Digital Editions on your computer or syncing with iTunes. Whether these methods work depends on the e-book format your particular library uses, but they work with one of the most common formats, EPUB.

Continue reading Two quick ways to read library e-books on your iPhone or iPad with Bluefire

Two quick ways to read library e-books on your iPhone or iPad with Bluefire originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to Instapaper an entire multi-page article in just two clicks

Jay Hathaway — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Text, Productivity, Web services, Troubleshooting

Saving a multi-page article to Instapaper can be a pain. Caching each page individually takes several clicks, and some sites don't offer a single-page view of their articles. If you're using Safari 5, you can get around this problem with Safari Reader. When you activate Safari Reader, you'll get a highly readable text-only view that usually includes the entire article, all on one page.

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the Safari Reader version of your article, and then use your favorite bookmarklet or extension to send it to Instapaper, you'll save the whole thing. It's a brilliant way to avoid clicking save five times in one short article.

We tested this trick with Readability, the bookmarklet upon which Safari Reader was based, and it works the same way. If you're not using Safari, you can grab the Readability bookmarklet (or the Chrome extension) and take advantage of the same Instapaper trick. Take note, though, you'll have to save to Instapaper using Instapaper's own "Read Later" bookmarklet. The trick doesn't work with Instachrome (the Instapaper Chrome extension).

[via Forkbombr]

How to Instapaper an entire multi-page article in just two clicks originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost AIM access in Gmail chat? Check your language settings

Sebastian Anthony — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Troubleshooting

Did you know that you can chat with your AIM buddies using Gmail's built-in chat? It's actually been a feature since 2007, but at some stage it seems like Google hid it away. For some reason, if you're using any display language other than English (US), you can't use the AIM integration.

Fortunately, it's just a matter of hitting Settings in the top right of Gmail and changing the Gmail Display Language to English (US). You can then sign into AIM by clicking the little down arrow next to your Gmail chat status.

Of course, this doesn't help you if you want to use a non-American display language. It doesn't even work with British English! Crazy.

Lost AIM access in Gmail chat? Check your language settings originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SSDownloader fetches popular antivirus, antimalware, and firewall apps

Lee Mathews — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Troubleshooting

If you're constantly being called on by friends and family to provide tech support, troubleshooting, and computer advice, you've probably had to install security applications on other people's computers more than once. Heck, you may do it just about every day. If so, you might want to grab SSDownloader -- an open source app which makes downloading current versions of popular antivirus, antimalware, firewall, and utility software a snap.

When you launch the portable app, it automatically refreshes its database and presents an excellent selection of free security apps for Windows computers. Included are popular free apps like Avast!, Security Essentials, Malwarebytes, HiJack This, Comodo Firewall, CCleaner, AutoRuns, and Process Explorer -- as well as loads more.

Trial versions of programs like Nortonare also provided in case you're trying to appease someone who demands "name brand" protection (yes, there are still people like that -- and they're not all familiar with our go-to apps).

SSDownloader is an excellent way to make sure you've always got up-to-date installers at the ready. Need something with more options? Check out Anti-Malware Toolkit -- or Ketarin, if you'd rather go the DIY route.

SSDownloader fetches popular antivirus, antimalware, and firewall apps originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GSmartControl lets you monitor your hard drive's health in detail

Erez Zukerman — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Troubleshooting

S.M.A.R.T is an acronym that stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. It's a nice bit of intelligence that hard drive makers have been including into drive firmware for several years now. In simple terms, it's supposed to let you know that a drive is about to crash before the crash happens. You can then take measures to protect your data or, perhaps, return the drive to the manufacturer (if it's still under warranty).

One interesting thing is that, while drives have been making this information available for quite a while, I am not aware of any built-in Windows features that take it into account. In other words, I don't think I get an automatic pop-up saying "your hard drive is dying" when doom is impending.

Instead, to access that information and try to learn something, I need to use a standalone monitoring application. GSmartControl is one such application, and it seems very solid. It's open-source, free, and cross-platform (GTK-based, so it runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux).

It's aimed at power users and administrators. You won't find a large, green, anti-virus style button that says "Everything is Okay." Instead, you'll find a wealth of statistics with cryptic names like "Reallocation Event Count." When you hover over each, you'll get an extensive explanation of what it means.

GSmartControl also lets you test the drive. The shortest test takes two minutes and consists of a "collection of test routines that have the highest chance of detecting drive problems."

This isn't the only tool for doing this kind of thing, and it is utterly lacking in any type of visual flair. But it's free, solid, and open-source.

GSmartControl lets you monitor your hard drive's health in detail originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SUPERAntiSpyware goes native -- x64, that is

Lee Mathews — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Troubleshooting

Due in no small part to the popularity of Windows 7, 64-bit desktop computing is finally starting to take off. Some developers were quick to get on board, but we're still a long way away from seeing the disappearance of the 32-bit compatibility layer (if it ever disappears).

Mozilla recently started making x64 builds of Firefox available to Windows users, and now the popular anti-malware tool SUPERAntiSpyware has announced that their latest version is available in a 64-bit flavor.

Both the 32- and 64-bit builds are packed inside a single installer, which I like. Sometimes my clicking finger gets a little jumpy and I wind up with an incompatible binary -- then have to head back and re-download. And I never notice until after I've closed the browser, of course.

Beyond mere native compatibility, and a FANTASTIC name, SUPERAntiSpyware can actually remove 64-bit infections -- something other tools might not be able to do.

SUPERAntiSpyware goes native -- x64, that is originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Technician's friend SystemRescueCd now easier to run from USB flash drives

Lee Mathews — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Troubleshooting

SystemRescueCD is an incredibly useful, Linux-powered tool for troubleshooting and correcting problems on PCs that are in need of help. CDs and my workbench just aren't a good mix, though -- they tend to get forgotten in optical drives or sandwiched between case panels and scuffed beyond use.

While it's been possible to dump Sysresccd to a USB flash drive for a while, it's gotten a whole lot easier with the release of version 1.5.5 and a pair of new tools. There's a shell script provided for Linux users, while Windows users can download a standalone installer which will painlessly transfer the ISO to your thumbdrive.

Full instructions have been posted on the SystemRescueCd website.

[via The H]

Technician's friend SystemRescueCd now easier to run from USB flash drives originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Find out what Windows error codes mean with a free, portable program

Lee Mathews — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Troubleshooting

I don't have to look up Windows error codes often. You know the ones I mean -- they're those lovely hexadecimal heads-ups that sometimes pop up when a program acts up? When I do, however, it would be nice to have a simpler way to do it than sifting through Google or MSDN search results.

ErrMsg is a free, portable utility which makes decoding those messages about as simple as it can get. Launch the program, type in your code, and a window appears with a straightforward version of what the error means.

You can find the ErrMsg download on FavesSoft's website -- but save yourself some scrolling and use your browser's find function and input errmsg to jump to the right spot on the page.

[via Addictive Tips]

Find out what Windows error codes mean with a free, portable program originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 06 May 2010 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ReProfiler for Windows can fix your corrupt or unavailable user profile

Lee Mathews — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Troubleshooting

I don't often run into corrupt or unloadable user profiles on my workbench, but when I do they can be very tedious to repair. There's a lot of registry tweaking and permission setting that I'd love to be able to leave up to an application -- like ReProfiler, a free, portable tool designed to fix exactly this problem.

Highlight a user account, then click the properties button to see what details are attached to it. ReProfiler will display the user's name, domain, SID, and profile path. It'll also tell you if that account is currently logged on and advise you to log it off prior to attempt to performing any other actions.

Once it's logged off, you can use detach to disconnect a profile from a data folder or assign to re-attach. If you're getting a message when you log in that Windows was unable to load your profile due to some form of error, ReProfiler's assign button could very well provide an automated fix -- just make sure you log in as a different user first.

ReProfiler runs on Windows XP, Vista, and 7. It's a great tool to keep on a network share or your USB flash drive if you're an admin or technician.

ReProfiler for Windows can fix your corrupt or unavailable user profile originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 05 May 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Change file extensions to outsmart pesky malware

Lee Mathews — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:31:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Troubleshooting

One thing I've found with a number of the malware infections that come across my workbench is that they do their best to make it difficult to run cleanup tools like MalwareBytes and SmitFraudFix.

In typical malware author fashion, however, their application-blocking abilities are lazily programmed and pretty easy to sidestep. Here's what I do when an infection won't let me run my favorite tools: find the tool I need to run and change its extension from .EXE to .COM.

Windows still knows how to execute .COM files, but most malware isn't smart enough to intercept this less-used extension. Make the change, and you've got an easy workaround to let you run Malwarebytes and some of the other tools you need to clean even a heavily-infected system.

To change a file's extension, open any folder on your computer and go to tools -> folder options (you can also find Folder Options in the Control Panel). Click the view tab and remove the check mark next to hide extensions for known file types. You can now click on the file (mbam.exe above), replace the exe with com, and launch your app despite the malware's best efforts to stop you!

This won't work with every infection, of course, but it has helped me out of a jam on several occasions.

Got another malware-thwarting tip? Share it in the comments!

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Change file extensions to outsmart pesky malware originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft FixIt Center beta fixes Windows 7 and Vista errors automatically

Lee Mathews — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Windows, Troubleshooting

Just yesterday I wrote about FixWin, a free program which helps fix a number of Windows Vista and Windows 7 errors. It's a lot like Microsoft's web-based FixIt solutions. Today, there's another option and it comes straight from Microsoft.

Their new Fix It Center is a program you can download for free which provides automatic fixes for a wide range of bugs and annoyances. Choose the issue you need to fix, click run, and follow the prompts. The step-by-step instructions are very easy to understand -- even for your less-technical family and friends who typically rely on your expertise to correct these kinds of problems.

Loads of common errors can be fixed -- from broken Aero transparency to network adapter glitches to Windows Media Player library and DVD issues. There's even a system maintenance option which checks for broken shortcuts, date and time problems, disk volume errors, and more!

Once this baby is finalized, I'm pretty sure I'll be installing it on every system which lands on my workbench. Hey, if it means I can get my coworkers to tell customers 'run FixIt Center and click [...]' instead of doing a step-by-step walkthrough, it's worth it!

Fix It Center is a free download from Microsoft. It's a test release right now, but I didn't experience any crashes or strange behavior while testing.

As with other automated fix tools, I strongly recommend creating system restore points prior to running any of the repairs.

[via Into Windows]

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Microsoft FixIt Center beta fixes Windows 7 and Vista errors automatically originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FixWin offers one-click fixes for loads of Vista and Windows 7 annoyances

Lee Mathews — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Windows, Troubleshooting

Microsoft's FixIt solutions generally work well, but sometimes they just take way too long to run -- especially on Vista and Windows 7. Some of them also require a little more interaction than I'd prefer: I know where the registry key is to fix that stupid bug where DVD drives disappear from My Computer, I just want a point-and-click way to do it!

Fortunately, The Windows Club has a nice portable app which provides much of the same functionality as FixIt.

FixWin is a tiny download which packs loads of helpful registry fixes for Vista and Windows 7. Everything from a disabled Task Manager or RegEdit to replacing missing shortcuts and fixing that CD problem I mentioned above. FixWin can also tackle a handful of Windows Media Player glitches such as messed up file associations, sync problems, and messed-up libraries. In total, the 173KB program contains 50 fixes.

As with any one-click fix program, it's a good idea to create a system restore point prior to making any changes. FixWin's developer has thoughtfully included a button on the app's main tab to make things easy on us.

FixWin is available for download from The Windows Club -- scroll down about halfway and look for the glowy arrow pointing at a hard drive.

Need a program like this for Windows XP? Check out XP Quick Fix Plus!

FixWin offers one-click fixes for loads of Vista and Windows 7 annoyances originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Screenshot Tour: Process Explorer 12 is now out

Erez Zukerman — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Troubleshooting

Process Explorer is one of the staples of the hard-core Windows geek. It's a Task Manager replacement which does so much more; some would say it does too much. It's produced by Microsoft-acquired Sysinternals, which have been making some of the best in-depth system utilities for Windows even before Microsoft bought them out (years ago).

My favorite feature in the new update is that I can now hover the mouse over any "svchost.exe" entry and get a whole list of services running under that process ("Group Policy", "Task Scheduler", etc.). That's very useful for trying to narrow down on what specific service is taking resources, even though a single svchost process can contain several services.

However, the new update is not without bugs, apparently. When testing it, the Find feature simply did not work, and even caused it to freeze on my system. You can see what that looked like (plus other screenshots), after the jump.

[via: CybernetNews]

Continue reading Screenshot Tour: Process Explorer 12 is now out

Screenshot Tour: Process Explorer 12 is now out originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TeamViewer releases iPhone remote support app, and it rocks

Lee Mathews — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, iPhone, Troubleshooting

TeamViewer has always been a great, no-fuss way to connect to remote computer systems. With the (sort-of) recently added presentation features, voice and video chat, and improved window sharing options, version 5 of the desktop app is the best release so far.

And now -- despite what my pal Constantin at TeamViewer told me a bit over a year ago -- they've launched an iPhone app [iTunes web link]. When I asked if one was coming, he responded "at the moment, we don't have plans to offer our service on the iPhone. I am also not sure if the remote screen with a normal desktop resolution of 1920x1200 pixels or above will appear readable on the screen of an iPhone or smartphone."

Well, they've done it.

And despite initial concerns about how well the iPhone's diminutive screen, TeamViewer's app works incredibly well.

More screenshots after the break!

Continue reading TeamViewer releases iPhone remote support app, and it rocks

TeamViewer releases iPhone remote support app, and it rocks originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Get WinPatrol Plus for only 99 cents -- today only!

Lee Mathews — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Troubleshooting

WinPatrol has been a favorite with geeky types for quite some time. It's an amazing little tool to complement your antivirus software and keep tabs on what's going on inside your system. It also comes in two flavors: the basic version (free) and a 'plus' version with free lifetime upgrades ($29.95).

In what he's describing as an experiment, WinPatrol's developer Bill Pytlovany has decided to drop the price to 99 cents for today only.

As is usually the case when someone offers an insanely good deal on an equally insanely good piece of software, expect his site to be hammered non-stop by technicians and admins who want a piece of the action.

The 99 cent deal still gets you a lifetime of upgrades. Head over to the Winpatrol site now , grab the coupon code (or try the direct link to the Yahoo! store if that doesn't work), and support Bill's crazy experiment!

Get WinPatrol Plus for only 99 cents -- today only! originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to know if a toolbar (like Google's) is tracking you when it's disabled

Shane Kempton — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:04:00 EST

Filed under: Security, Troubleshooting

A recent tip suggested that even when disabled the Google Toolbar sends data to Google without the user knowing. After doing some digging I've found this is only the case if, while using IE8 the user fails to restart the browser after disabling the toolbar from the "Manage Add-ons" window.

This is certainly possible, but the browser does warn the user to restart immediately after saving the changes. In fact, going to the add-ons screen is the slow way to disable the toolbar -- the easiest way is to click Tools>Toolbars then uncheck the Google toolbar. This stops it from sending the information back to Google immediately.

So, while I don't believe Google is being nefarious, after the news of their recent hacking and some of the reasons it was possible, it's a good time to talk about how to monitor what sort of information is being sent through tools like the Google Toolbar.

Continue reading How to know if a toolbar (like Google's) is tracking you when it's disabled

How to know if a toolbar (like Google's) is tracking you when it's disabled originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For a limited time, download Easeus Partition Manager Pro for free!

Lee Mathews — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:01:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Troubleshooting

I've written about Easeus Partition Manager before - it's one of my two favorite post-install tech tools.

There's one downside to the free version, however: it doesn't support 64-bit operating systems. And that's kind of a bad thing. The majority of the customers I've seen purchase a new system in the last 6 months have wound up with either 64-bit Vista or Windows 7. On top of that, the free version doesn't support creating a bootable CD -- which is a must-have for disaster preparedness.

Fortunately, the folks at Easeus have decided to give away the Pro version absolutely free for a limited time. It works with any non-server Windows version and has a built-in utility for creating bootable media. EPM Pro is definitely a tool worth having, especially if they're going to let you keep the $40 it would normally cost.

You'll want to get in on the action quickly. Their web site doesn't specify how limited the amount of time will be - I've pinged Easeus to find out, though, and will update this post once they've given us an answer.

For a limited time, download Easeus Partition Manager Pro for free! originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Glary Utilities Pro for free - today only!

Lee Mathews — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:56:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Troubleshooting

Giveaway of the Day has done it again! The other day they were offering up Driver Magician Pro for free, and today they've gone one better. Until the end of the day, GOTD is providing a free download of Glary Utilities Pro - one of my favorite multi-purpose system maintenance programs.

I've mentioned Glary Utilities before. On top of the cleanup, tune-up, and repair options the free version provides, Glary Pro also handles scheduled maintenance jobs and automatic updates. It's a great, hands-free way to keep your system running smoothly.

As with Driver Magician, the download contains two executable files -- the installer and an activator. Run the installer first, then run the activator.

The activator doesn't do anything shady like install a toolbar or alter your default search engine, but it will open a GOTD web page once activation has completed. It's a small price to pay compared to the $39.95 you'd normally cough up for Glary Pro.

Download Glary Utilities Pro from GOTD now - you've got less than 20 hours to get in on the action!

Download Glary Utilities Pro for free - today only! originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Download Driver Magician for free, today only!

Lee Mathews — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:15:00 EST

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Commercial, Troubleshooting, Windows x64

It's not often that you find a decent commercial utility being given away for free. It's usually a marginally-useful app or a program for which there's a better (and often free!) alternative.

Today, however, you can score Driver Magician at no charge from Giveaway of the Day. It's a very good driver backup, restore, and removal utility - and there aren't a ton of good free programs that offer this level of functionality. You've got less than 18 hours to get in on the deal!

If this post happens to overwhelm the main page of their site, you can try heading directly to the download page or a mirror of the file.

Once it's downloaded, you'll need to run the setup first and then the activation file. Keep an eye on the activator - the last step will offer to bookmark and permatab GOTD in your browsers.

There are three details to be aware of about your free version (and they probably won't surprise any of you):

1) No free technical support

2) No free upgrades to future versions

3) Strictly non-commercial usage

Download Driver Magician for free, today only! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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