manage it somehow. Luckily, this free utility makes recovery a snack. http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/ToolbarRepair.Exe Locate Required DLLs This free utility can be a lifesaver. It identifies all the DLL and OCX support files required to operate any Windows 32 bit executable file. http://linos-software.com:23/Depend.html Free NFO Viewer Many freeware files are distributed with descriptive NFO and DIZ files as part of the distribution package. These are just plain text files so you can view them with Notepad or other text editor but often the formatting is lost. Try this tiny little viewer that's built for the job. It's free and once associated with the NFO and DIZ file types, works seamlessly, a true "install and forget" product. http://www.damn.to/software/nfoviewer.html Lock Down Your Icons Sick of Windows moving your icons around on the desktop? Lock them down with this nifty free utility. (400KB) http://www.sillysot.com/ Monitor Your User's Backup Needs BackupWatcher is a free tool that allows LAN administrators to measure the backup requirements of network users. It does this by monitoring the file churn rate on each PC since last backup. Full reporting facilities are provided that allow problem areas to be easily identified. Quite a neat way of reducing unnecessary backups and ensuring necessary ones are actually carried out. (2.57MB) http://bw.rippletech.com/ Free Utility Kills Instant Messaging Viruses If you use IRC or instant messaging then you should check out SOFTWIN, a company that provides a number of totally free anti-virus utilities than scan all data transfers associated with IM products. All the utilities make use of the virus signature databases from the BitDefender Professional anti-virus product so signature file updating is simple. There are versions for MSN Messenger, NetMeeting, ICQ, mIRC, and Yahoo! Messenger. http://www.bitdefender.com/html/instant_messaging.php Photoshop Replacement for Nix Updated Oriens Enhancer is a graphics processing program similar in function to Photoshop and Paintshop. The big difference is that it's free, the others cost big bucks. But don't think free means limited. On the contrary this product can read more than 40 file formats, has filters, textures and color effects to burn and can even handle layers. On my XP PC it was both fast and reliable though I have known folks with other PC configurations that have had stability problems. (4.05MB) If you have problems with Oriens, then try the open source program called "The Gimp." The latest version is excellent. http://www.oriens-solution.com/downloads/oe.htm (4.05MB) http://www.gimp.org Free Utility Stops Browser Hijacking There's a browser hijacking plague at the moment. All it takes is a visit to a pushy web site or a loaded shareware install and next minute your Internet Explorer homepage has been changed, your default search setting altered or phantom bookmarks added to your favorites. This free monitor will let you know when something's trying to change your settings and pass control back to you. (394KB) http://www.wilderssecurity.com/bhblaster.html Hides Personal Files from the Boss Camouflage is a free utility that will hide your personal or confidential files within another file. The neat thing is that the container file looks and works like a normal file of that format. So, by way of example, you could embed a secret message in a Word file which could be opened by anyone and appear to be just a normal Word file. The intended recipient could use their copy of Camouflage to open the file, enter the password and extract the embedded information. This free program is not intended to provide military strength protection but rather a convenient way to sneak information past unnecessarily prying eyes. Note: It looks like the author's web site is down, however you can download Camouflage from the other links below. (2.65MB) http://arxspace.com/Camouflage/ http://camouflage.unfiction.com/ http://webmasterfree.com/software/996.html Outlook Add-in Gives Email Account Flexibility RealAccount is a freeware plug-in for MS Outlook 2002 that allows you to designate a default email account and signature for any Outlook Folder. The program is a late beta but has proved totally stable on my Windows XP Pro PC. Yet another free utility that provides functionality that should have been included in the original product. (338K) http://www.realpopup.it/realaccount/ Share Bookmarks between Browsers BookMarkBridge is a free open source utility that allows you to share and synchronize your bookmarks between several browsers. I've got 3 browsers installed at the moment: IE 6, Mozilla-FireFox and Netscape 4.7. BookMarkBridge correctly identified and synchronized the first two but it couldn't cope with the old version of Netscape.(2.69MB) http://bookmarkbridge.sourceforge.net/ Protect Your Defenses Most users are not aware that their anti-virus scanner, firewall, spyware monitor and other defenses can easily be pulled and/or destroyed by trojan horses and other hostile programs. Process Guard is a unique program that prevents this from happening by protecting each individual defensive program. Process Guard itself cannot be pulled down because it runs as a kernel level service not a normal application. Process Guard is a commercial product but the demo version rather handily allows you to protect one process (such as your firewall) without time limit. It's not the simplest program to install but the extra layer of protection makes the effort definitely worthwhile. http://www.diamondcs.com.au/processguard/ SofoTex.com weekly newsletter New software downloads for week ending Feb-07-2005 http://www.sofotex.com The source for best software downloads ************************************************** ** CONTENTS - Freeware of the week - This weeks new freeware downloads - This weeks new shareware downloads ************** Freeware of the week ************ Blaiz Chimer See and hear time through antique Chimer. A clock with all the flavours of yesteryear, and today's modern technology. http://www.sofotex.com/Blaiz-Chimer-download_L4048.html ************************************************** ****** This weeks Freeware downloads Inbit Messenger Is secure instant messaging software that allows your enterprise to reach new levels of collaboration with http://www.sofotex.com/Inbit-Messenger-download_L27355.html ************************************************** ****** Folder Tag This program adds the new document "Folder tag" to Windows Explorer "File|New" menu. Tag - small file with text http://www.sofotex.com/Folder-Tag-download_L27370.html ************************************************** ****** HDDlife Worried about a hard drive failure? Get HDDLife - a real-time hard drive monitoring utility with alerts, malfunction protection http://www.sofotex.com/HDDlife-download_L27371.html ************************************************** ****** DeluxeFTP Unlike other Free FTP clients, DeluxeFTP does not force you to view ads, registration reminders or unwanted e-mail http://www.sofotex.com/DeluxeFTP-download_L27372.html ************************************************** ****** Desktop Fun Do you like jokes or to fool others? Then, this program is for you. Choose deskop effect - it will be shown in preview window. http://www.sofotex.com/Desktop-Fun-download_L27330.html ************************************************** ****** Magnifying Glass The program magnifies part of screen, pointed by cursor. Magnification range: 1 x - 10 x.Keys 'Q' and 'S' - increase / http://www.sofotex.com/Magnifying-Glass-download_L27329.html ************************************************** ****** Flower Power Screensaver Let grow colorful flowering meadows on your desktop! Customize rate and density of the flowers, whether a new screen will be http://www.sofotex.com/Flower-Power-Screensaver-download_L27324.html ************************************************** ****** CF Rollover WIzard Is a program that allows you to create a rollover or link effect in about a minute(depending on your typing http://www.sofotex.com/CF-Rollover-WIzard-download_L27328.html ************************************************** ****** Book of 5 Rings Screen Saver Scenes of Japanese castles and quotes from Samurai Miyamoto Musashi's Book of 5 Rings. . executable file. http://linos-software.com:23/Depend.html Free NFO Viewer Many freeware files are distributed with descriptive NFO and DIZ files as part of the distribution package. These. should check out SOFTWIN, a company that provides a number of totally free anti-virus utilities than scan all data transfers associated with IM products. All the utilities make use of the virus. http://arxspace.com/Camouflage/ http://camouflage.unfiction.com/ http://webmasterfree.com/software /99 6.html Outlook Add-in Gives Email Account Flexibility RealAccount is a freeware plug-in