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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

10 minor Windows utilities I can't do without


Sept. 2, 2001


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2001, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2001, The Syracuse Newspapers

   I've written many articles in the last decade about my favorite little Windows utilities -- programs that perform small tasks or make little improvements to the way Windows works. Here's an updated list.
   1. Tweak UI, from www.pcforrest.freeserve.co.uk/tweakui.htm. (This site has a download link as well as a very important description of how to install Tweak UI. Please read it.) Tweak UI, created by Microsoft, fixes the user interface (the "UI") of Windows so it behaves better. It's a must. The program is free. (But why didn't Microsoft install these functions in Windows? Doesn't it care?)
   2. TclockEx, from http://users.iafrica.com/d/da/dalen. TclockEx turns the talentless clock in the Windows Taskbar tray into a clock that can show the time and the date at the same time. A single click on the clock opens a calendar. Because of a horrific time-and-date bug in Windows, the standard time-and-date display should never be opened casually. TclockEx, which has no such bug, is an essential replacement. It's free.
   3. Cookie Pal, from www.kburra.com/cpal.html. Cookie Pal learns which Web-browser cookies you want to permit and which you want to turn down, and within a few weeks of Web surfing it's learned enough to automate just about everything. It's very easy to use, and it even lets you block cookies forever from an entire domain. It costs $15.
   4. NotepadEx, from www.notepadex.cjb.net. This easy-to-use and well behaved text editor does everything a text editor should do. There are dozens of good replacements for Notepad, Microsoft's incompetent text editor, and some have a lot more features than NotepadEx. But this one is free and works well.
   5. List, from www.buerg.com. Vernon Buerg's file viewer and directory lister could be essential if you deal with a lot of standard text files (files that strictly texts, not word-processor documents), because List is the fastest way to view texts on a PC. It's also a wonderful file and directory tool, for copying, moving and deleting files within Windows and DOS. (List is a DOS program, but runs just fine under all versions of Windows also.) There are two versions, List Plus and List Enhanced. Prices start at $18.
   6. Intellipoint mouse software, from www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse/driver/. If you have a Microsoft Intellimouse (a Microsoft mouse that has a little wheel in the middle), be sure to get this software. It's the best mouse software around. If you don't have a Microsoft Intellimouse but have a mouse with a wheel, install this software anyway; chances are it will work with your mouse. Be sure to try out my personal trick with the Intellimouse: I use the mouse software to turn the wheel into a double-click button. The software is free.
   7. Shove-It, from www.phord.com/shoveit.html. Shove-It makes program windows behave by keeping them from going off the screen. It also keeps them from slipping under the Taskbar when you have the Taskbar at the top, where it surely belongs. Cost: $15.
   8. Internet Explorer Web Accessories, from www.microsoft.com/Windows/IE/WebAccess/ie5tools.asp. I find this set of enhancements for IE 5 essential each time I battle with a Web-page frame; it lets me open the frame in a separate window with a single click. But there are other helpful enhancements, too. The software is free.
   9. Hot Key Detective, from ftp://ftp.zdnet.com/pcmag/1996/0611/hkd.zip. (That's a direct download link, not a Web page.) Hot Key Detective does what Microsoft failed to do: It shows you all your Windows shortcut keys. If you know what a shortcut key is, you need this utility; it's the only way to see all your key assignments quickly and change any of them in an instant. The program is free.
   10. Transparent, from http://people.ne.mediaone.net/jguerette/transparent. Transparent fixes a stupid design flaw in Windows so that the names, or captions, of your desktop icons can have a transparent background. Windows normally places an ugly band of color behind all icon captions. Transparent is wonderfully configurable. Icon captions can be white, black or any color in between. It's free.