I have been using various free CD & DVD burning softwares, but somehow yearned for more familiar and convenient interface just like NERO . And when I found out about this software, I knew that this was the one that I’ve been looking for a long time.
Ashampoo Burning Studio Free 6.61 is Free CD / DVD / Blu-ray Disc burning software. This is a free version according to Download.com (shown below image) but I was not able to find this product on Ashampoo.com website.
You can
Burn files into CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc
Backup files into mutiple CD, DVD, and Blu-ray
Burn music CD from music files such as mp3
Burn DVD , VCD, and SVCD movies
Copy disks
Create or burn disc from image file
Wow, that’s more than what I needed and with the familiar friendly easy-to-use screens!
My search for the free CD/DVD burning software has finally ended.
At work, I have to write many emails and record work history. But frequently I forget the day’s date and have to move mouse over the task bar clock and wait for the tooltip to appear with the date or double click to access default windows calendar when I get impatient with the tooltip.
But here is my little freeware solution that helps me a lot! Now I know the date by just looking at the task bar clock. No more mouse hovering is needed!
Here is the original task bar clock
And this is the task bar after TClock was turned on with custom date & time format string.
Of course you can set the font type and size. In fact TClock has more functions that you can play with (Alarm clock and addtional options that can change Taskbar’s look) Below is the properties dialog screen shot.
Just unzip the downloaded file to a folder and drag the executable to your startup folder. So whenever the computer boots , TClock would show you the date information.
I have been reading lots of blog articles lately from various GTD (Get things done) and DIY (Do it yourself) websites. I found some of them actually useful for me.
Lifehacker.com is one of the popular GTD/DIY website with the frequent introductions on the nice freeware softwares.
DVD Rip is in fact an AutoHotKey script compiled program by Lifehacker. It can be run without any setup but needs ‘DVD Shrink’ installed prior the execution since it is just a script program that automates the DVD copying process. DVD Shrink is a free software that is able to decrypt and copy most DVD’s.
I have tried and found it very easy and convenient. I think it’s the most convenient FREE DVD copying software. Please visit lifehacker.com for more details.
There are some personal secret data in my hard disk that I don’t want anybody to see - such as diary. This is a perfect solution for me that once I create an encrypted volume data file, I can mount it as a virtual hard drive. Whenever I write or read the data into or out from the virtual disk, the TrueCrypt will encrypt or decrypt the data on the fly.
I used to think those softwares that encrypt or decrypt files are slow and would be uncomfortable to access data easily. But TrueCrypt is surprisingly fast, a lot more than what I expected. Probably, because it is using the physical memory space to do the calculation. I have saved a large movie file and played directly from the virtual drive, I was unable to notice any differences from when it was played from the normal hard drive.
Pros
The reading and writing speed is more than satisfactory as an encryption software.
Support all three major OS. Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
Portable so you can copy it into your USB and move all the data into the encrypted volume data. So even if you loose your USB stick, you won’t have to worry that someone might access your confidential data.
Cons
It takes a little time to learn how to use the software. Creating a volume data file may not be easy for a computer novice.
When you want to access the secret files, you need to mount the volume data file to access from the virtual drive. The process could be shortened somehow making it much simpler.
Make sure to visit Tutorial Page to start with TrueCrypt. It is necessary to read the webpage to learn how to create and mount volume data file as virtual hard disk.
Here is another Flip 3D emulator for your XP.
This one is actually better than Shock Aero. (Here is my previous posting on Shock Aero. The Shock Aero has become too heavy and slow. It also requires serial number that you can get from the developer’s homepages. But it’s just an unnecessary extra step as a freeware.)
WinFlip is light and fast, it requires DirectX9.0c. But you should already have it in your XP.
Pros
It doesn’t require setup. You can execute after unzip.
WinFlip is light and fast.
Showing Alphabet letter besides each window to directly access it.
The short cut is Window + Tab but you can also trigger the Flip screen by mouse movement. If you make a circle movement with your mouse, the Flip screen is shown. That is very neat and kind of addictive. These setup can be changed from the options.
Cons
It’s unstable. If you open lots of windows and application, WinFlip becomes unstable and crashes.
If you love Vista’s Flip 3D, WinFlip maybe the best freeware solution for you but note that it becomes unstable after several hours. But let’s hope that they fix this problem soon. Until then, I decided to remove the winflip from the startup menu.
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