killer

Navigating your hard drive using Windows Explorer is pretty straightforward. Double-clicking a directory like My Documents brings up a list of items you have in that folder. You're given a couple of options for how you view the contents of a folder, such as arranging by date or by name. You also can view your documents using icons or tiles. The Windows Explorer window shares some of the features of Internet Explorer as well, like Favorites and toolbars. Clearly, this is nothing new to anyone who has used a Windows machine, and like many of you, I have my own ideas of how it could be made better.

We can probably agree that the options available with Explorer are adequate for navigating your hard drive, but a little more information and flexibility would go a long way. I found a few programs that add much more to file navigation, such as tabbed and paned directories for drag-and-drop file transfers and document previews so you know what you're opening before you open it. These Windows Explorer replacements offer tons of information about your files at a glance, like expanded properties and sorting capabilities not available with the default Windows setup. Some also feature much more intuitive methods for moving files around.… Read more

It's a curse of life in the 'burbs: Every year you swear your holiday lights will outshine the rest of the neighborhood, and every year the Joneses humiliate you with something new. No more.

We guarantee that they won't find anything like the "ETree" at Wal-Mart, K-mart, or any other mart in the United States. This bizarre floor lamp, created by designers of U.K.-based Nimble Critters, features 10 branches that can be contorted into whatever shape you wish, according to Technabob.

You'll pay a hefty price for originality, however, as a lamp like … Read more

When I bought a gaming PC for home use a little over a year ago, I bought a middle-of-the-road machine that had everything I needed with a little room to upgrade later on down the line. I got a 2.2GHz processor, a high-end (at the time) video card so I could play the latest games, 2 gigs of RAM (on the advice of a gamer friend), and I opted for a 120GB hard drive to save a little money.

At the time, it seemed like 120GB would be more than enough. After all, I can remember when a 1GB hard drive was the pinnacle of storage capacity--120GB ought to be able to hold anything right? Games these days generally take up a few gigs each so I thought I would never run out of space. I now know I was wrong. If you wait long enough, even the biggest hard drives will fill up.… Read more

With Thanksgiving only two days away, people are bringing out their favorite recipes for turkey, gravy, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. How do you keep your recipes from year to year? My father's method was to put his favorite recipes into notebooks that would be brought out every year. But even with laminated pages, eventually his notebooks got pretty messy. My mother used index cards to store recipes, but over time the ingredients would fade, especially if the recipe was popular with the family.

In the search for a better method through software, I discovered some good recipe database programs anyone can use. These handy apps let you store all your favorite Thanksgiving recipes (along with all your other recipes) in a searchable database which you can quickly print out for easy access in the kitchen. You can also catalog things like spices and ingredients on hand, and then search for results using those and other parameters. Some of these apps let you explore other databases online with countless recipe variations and varieties of foods to choose from.… Read more

As an Internet worker, I surf hundreds of different Web sites daily. A good portion of those--including online e-mail services, Web-based work tools, and members-only message boards--require a log-in information before I can gain access. In addition to sites and services that require only a login and password, I also occasionally need to fill out forms when I register for software, sign-up for a new service, or buy something online.

You might think it's not a huge amount of trouble to fill in log-in information, but if you're like most people, you use the same password (or a … Read more

As a frequent downloader of new software, I test and review a ton of programs on my PC at work. But after installing and uninstalling so many programs, it doesn't take long for my registry to become a complete mess, which causes errors, sluggishness, and sometimes even crashes. The problem is that not all programs uninstall as easily as they install and often registry entries are left to stagnate in your system and may eventually cause problems.… Read more

Whether you're in college, work a 40-hour work week, or are a stay-at-home parent, keeping track of everything in your life is never easy. Whether it's meetings, appointments, keeping track of contacts, or even what time to pick up your daughter after soccer practice, without some help, it's difficult to keep track of it all.

Fortunately, there's a whole genre of software dedicated to reining in all your appointments, contacts, and important responsibilities. Personal Info Managers are designed to keep all your important information in one place. You can keep track of recurring meetings and appointments, special dates like birthdays and anniversaries, and contact information for friends, coworkers, and business clients. Though it takes some time to enter all this information, once your Personal Info Manager is up to speed, you'll never have to worry about forgetting a phone number or being late to a meeting again.… Read more

With so many potential threats on the Internet, it is an absolute necessity to prepare your computer for the Web. Whenever I get a new computer, the first programs I download include antivirus, antispyware, and firewall software. Frankly, if you don't have at least these three types of programs running on your computer, it's like driving at night without your lights on--sure it's possible, but don't be surprised if it ends in a crash (har har).

Fortunately, there are a lot of great security programs available at Download.com. Recently I've written Killer Downloads about both the best firewalls and the top antivirus programs. This week I'm doing a software roundup of a different type. In recent scouting of new (and new to me) software I came across some great Windows programs that work behind the scenes to keep your computer running smoothly and also keep your data secure.… Read more

Anybody who downloads software knows that the size of the file is going to effect the time it takes to download. The bigger the file the longer you wait, right? For those of you who are on a dial-up connection (I know you're still out there), the size of the file can be the difference between downloading and moving on to something else. Even with a fast connection, some of the popular game demos and larger software apps can mean an all-night download party for your computer--particularly when that download is in high demand.… Read more