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Use a Windows 7-style Sidebar in Vista and XP [How To]

Posted by Rich On January - 22 - 20102 COMMENTS

Windows Guides’ Rating	Compatible with
3.5 out of 5

thoosje sidebar03 Use a Windows 7 style Sidebar in Vista and XP [How To]

PROS: This program does an excellent job of putting useful widgets on your desktop that give you system information, news, the time, notes, and more. The program is free and, from my experience, bug free.

CONS: I really don’t want to install toolbars with software, so I didn’t appreciate the offer. Also, there are a few “Vista” references still in the program code, but I’m sure these will be cleaned up as the program progresses.

VERDICT: If you’ve always wanted the Windows 7 sidebar but currently use Windows XP or Vista, download this program! You wont be disappointed! If you’re like me (and dislike bells and whistles on your PC–I don’t wish to imply bells and whistles are bad), you may want to skip this one.

PRICE: Free

VERSION REVIEWED: 1.0

DOWNLOAD: Thoosje’s Windows 7 Sidebar

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SevenShutdownControl Portable Now Available

Posted by Rich On January - 21 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

bevl1v SevenShutdownControl Portable Now Available Windows Forums member, Batu, has created a nifty little tool that you can use to schedule a shutdown on your Windows 7 machine. You may want to schedule a shutdown for the following reasons:

You’re about to head to work but you want your virus scan to finish.
It’s bed time, but your computer needs to be on for 30 more minutes to finish a download.
You have homework to do and you want to set a limit for time spent on the PC before you start.
Your child is on the computer and you don’t want them on all night.
You want to show your friends this cool tool.
The list can go on…

This tool does work with XP and Vista, but it’s not designed to, so use at your own risk :) Download SevenShutdownControl Portable.

TagScanner Organises Your Music Collection

Posted by Stu On January - 21 - 20103 COMMENTS

Windows Guides’ Rating	Compatible with
4 out of 5

PROS: A simple yet effective interface. Seemingly frequent updates to an already good program. Free. Finds music tags very quickly from several sources. Light on resources. Small download. Installer and portable version available. Built in music player. Multilanguage interface. Support for embedded lyrics and cover art.

CONS: Untested on 64-bit. Pulling tags from servers returns errors (infrequent). If you are you are working in the 5th column of the page and drag-select, it snaps back to 1st column (very annoying). Dragging a music folder into TagScanner sometimes returns errors, opening within TagScanner or restarting is the only workaround. Frequent recoverable hangs. No help documentation.

VERDICT: This program will become an invaluable tool to anyone who has an unorganised music collection and wants to whip it into shape. It will take a little while to get used to the interface but once you’re au fait with it you’ll love it. It’s completely free but unfortunately comes with no help documentation. Working with large music folders (i found 10GB +) and trying to edit all of the tags at once frequently hangs (“not responding”) TagScanner, nearly all of which it recovers from and resumes. I recommend working with folders under 10GB at any one time. All in all, a decent program for your music tagging needs.

PRICE: Free.

VERSION REVIEWED: 5.1.555

DOWNLOAD: TagScanner

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Todo Backup Protects and Restores Your Data

Posted by Rich On January - 18 - 2010ADD COMMENTS

Windows Guides’ Rating	Compatible with
3.5 out of 5

th todo backup01 Todo Backup Protects and Restores Your Data

PROS: Some backup software is outright scary–with complicated expressions and words (AES, synchronization, encryption etc.)–this program is not scary at all. EASUES Todo Backup is simple to use and, although limited with options, does the job.

CONS: Version 1.1 is a lot more polished. I had some problems getting version 1.0 to work. Although I praise this program for being simple, I would like to see better support for network backups, online backup (Amazon S3, SkyDrive etc.), and automation. Windows Backup can perform most of the functions this program can.

VERDICT: If you’re looking for a free backup solution and find Windows Backup doesn’t do what you need, you should give this program a try.

PRICE: Free

VERSION REVIEWED: 1.0 & 1.1

DOWNLOAD: EASEUS Todo Backup

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Photovisi Creates Collages of Your Photos

Posted by Rich On January - 15 - 20106 COMMENTS

Windows Guides’ Rating	Compatible with
4.5 out of 5

photovisi01 Photovisi Creates Collages of Your Photos

PROS: Creates free collages and is simple. This tool does what it claims and does it well.

CONS: I love the simplicity of this tool, but I find it a little too simple. It would be nice to crop and edit the individual images right there on the site, but I realize this isn’t the intention of the tool.

VERDICT: This free tool is great. I’d give it a try.

PRICE: Free. Option to buy items with your collage printed on them.

TRY: Photovisi

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SSH into your (Jailbroken) device [How To]

Posted by Stu On January - 13 - 20108 COMMENTS

iphone unlocked SSH into your (Jailbroken) device [How To]

“Secure Shell or SSH is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged using a secure channel between two networked devices. Used primarily on Linux and Unix based systems to access shell accounts, SSH was designed as a replacement for Telnet and other insecure remote shells, which send information, notably passwords, in plaintext, leaving them open for interception. The encryption used by SSH provides confidentiality and integrity of data over an insecure network, such as the Internet.”

What SSH’ing your device will allow, is customizing almost every part of your device.

A working Wi-Fi connection will be required for this guide.

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