Favorite Files

1. Ace Utilities
2. Alcohol 120%
3. AMD Catalyst Drivers for Windows
4. CCleaner for Windows
5. Directory Opus
6. Diskeeper 2011 Professional
7. DVD Decrypter
8. ESET NOD32 Antivirus for Windows (32-bit)
9. IrfanView
10. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack
11. mIRC
12. NewsLeecher
13. NoNameScript
14. Opera for Windows
15. WinRAR (32-bit)

Recent Posts

1. 
   Review - Maxthon (v3)

   3.0.19.2800 Beta (Jan 1, 2011)

   I used to use this back in the days of MyIE1 and somewhat MyIE2, tried this Maxthon 3 couple of weeks ago, just awful.
   
   More hassle than it's worth. Looks horrible, and takes a lot of memory.
   
   Been using Opera around last 4 years, I just install it, apply fanboy adblock list and that's pretty much it. (With v11 have to move around the bookmarks toolbar and set it to display full url in address field) these other browsers you have waste so much time setting it up to work exactly as you wish. I also used to use Firefox v1/v2 and needed like 20 extensions to do what I wanted, with Opera I didn't miss any of them (except maybe bugmenot login).

2. 
   Review - Diskeeper 2011 Professional

   14.0 Build 909-t (Oct 27, 2010)

   Reviewing Diskeeper 2010 Premier Pro v14.0.909.0 on Windows XP SP3 (32bit/x86)
   
   I've been a user of mstDefrag for the last 3-4 years and have also used O&O Professional, PerfectDisk, myDefrag, UltraDefrag, and Defraggler but I think this is the best.
   
   Advantages:
   1. The automatic defrag and proactive defrag prevention actually work (unlike other programs that claim to do it) set it and forget it.
   2. Ability to defrag Windows system files, boot files, and Hard Disk MFT.
   3. Quite fast at a full manual defrag compared to others I have used.
   4. Lots of options, features, and config settings.
   5. Noticeable increase in system performance.
   
   Disadvantages:
   1. Bloated GUI.
   2. Memory usage on the Diskeeper Service (DkService.exe) [which facilitates the automatic defrag etc] is 52,000k+ regardless of whether program is running or not. The program itself (mmc.exe) takes around 16,000k when running.
   3. The "Volume Health and Recommendations" are well off the mark, and overly sensitive.
   4. Troublesome to activate.
   
   I am not an expert by any means, just thought I would share my thoughts.

3. 
   Review - Microsoft Windows Defender (32-bit)

   1.0.509 Beta 1 (Mar 30, 2005)

   I tried this on the recommendation of a friend and after installing and disabling all the real time protection and spynet and automatic detection crap I ran a scan, it was much faster compared to other programs such as Spybot Search and Destroy, Adaware and Spyware Sweeper and picked up some adware that none of them detected. I am impressed with this program. A nice job from MS.

4. 
   Review - CCleaner for Windows

   1.16.082 (Dec 15, 2004)

   Not bloated with fancy graphics, pop-up ads and other crap. Its free and does its job of cleaning up crap exquisitely, offering intergration with many applications and saves a lot of time overall, you can remove cookies/cache/temporary internet files/prefetch/temporary files all with the click of one button. The registry cleaner it offers is also very good and picks up changes and inconsistencies in your registry very well, far superior to WinGuide's Registry Mechanic which takes a long time to scan and the "issues" it finds are really not even problems.

5. 
   Review - K-Lite Codec Pack Full

   2.34 (Dec 15, 2004)

   I've been using Kazaa Lite's Codec pack for over 18 months and I have never had one problem with video playback with BSPlayer and with the Real/QuickTime Alternatives. The encoding also has also not caused any problems for me using Gordian Knot. Also I've never had a problem with the upgrading of a new version directly without uninstalling the previous one, although they do recommend it.
   
   Overall a well made codec pack which does it job very well.

6. Comment - Trillian 3 to Enter Beta Testing

   2.34 (Aug 29, 2004 - 6:35 AM)

   Bugs in Trillian 2.013 Pro like the "jim is typing a message" appear randomly even when the other person is not typing a message. And also if you type a message and backspace it to delete it and end it, it still shows your typing a message. Also their is a bug with the display pictures, sometimes they refuse to update or even show old ones randomly. Also I have experienced various problems with sending files through Yahoo and AIM, not sure whether these are bugs or not.
   
   If they get it together in Trillian 3 it should be even better.