Windows Tools, Help & Guides

While cleaning up old posts, I found this one, written by Stu some time ago. I’ve updated all the download links, added a few links to related articles, and thought I’d share his list with you. Rich.

When I recently posted an article which shows how to Install Windows 7 without bootable media, I obviously went through the Windows 7 installation process several times.  In then end, when everything went correctly, I had 2 brand-new Windows 7 operating systems to work with.  After installing updates, what else do you do?  Install some cool freeware!

Here’s a list of my favourite 25 freeware applications.  There are paid-for alternatives of some of my favourites but the free versions do a sterling job.  So in no particular order:

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Windows Forums is a community for users—from beginners to experts—who learn and share knowledge about Windows and PC’s.

You can get great help and advice from our resident team of super-geeks, browse our community art and tools sections, or let it all out in the Shoutbox.  It’s entirely up to you.

Here’re some interesting topics you may want to check out.  Feel free to jump in on the discussion!

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A while back we looked at how could disable IE9’s GPU rendering abilities.

As other browsers in the market are yet to fully catch up to Microsoft in this arena, GPU rendering or acceleration will likely not be enabled by default.

If you use Google Chrome and it’s at version 8 or above (Wrench > About Google Chrome) and your hardware can support it, GPU acceleration and rendering can be enabled.

This Quick Tip is going to show you how.

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Windows Guides’ Rating	Compatible with	System
5 out of 5

PROS: Easy installation, in-browser, free, open-source, cross-platform, detailed history reports, built-in RSS feed, transfer calculator, plug-ins. CONS: None VERDICT:  BitMeter OS from Codebox Software is an exceptional way to keep tabs on your bandwidth consumption. Its built in tools which allow you to query the data it collects, send alerts if you reach a certain amount of data, calculate a transfer and build an hourly or daily RSS report (and more) coupled with a sophisticated web interface are a god-send to anyone who requires to keep an eye on their bandwidth. PRICE: Free VERSION REVIEWED: v0.7.2

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Its been a long wait for some of us but it’s officially here, finally!

Microsoft have released Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 bringing notable new features such as Dynamic Memory, Remote FX and improved HDMI audio device performance. Security updates and hotfixes have also been rolled up into the SP.

Before you dive in to downloading and installing, please check out all the documentation to ensure your install goes smoothly.

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So InPrivate Filtering has had a dose of steroids and changed its name (confusingly) to Tracking Protection. Tracking Protection helps protect users from being tracked online by blocking third-party content such as images, text & cookies. By importing a Tracking Protection List (much in the same way we used to import .xml files with pre-defined filters in IPF for IE8) we can better lock down our privacy and rid ourselves of ads.

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