file

File compression is a method used to make files smaller. Most often file compression (sometimes referred to as "archiving") is used to take a collection of files and pack them into a single, smaller file. For a good analogy: compressing a series of ... files would be similar to packing a suit case of clothing before a vacation trip: it's smaller, easier to transport, and when you arrive at your destination, you can unpack it. Compressed files are often used to save storage and for sending files over email because they take up less space and travel faster when they are "packed. ... (view more)

One of my all-time favorite multi-purpose optimization utility programs just got a major update. Of course, I'm talking about the release of WinOptimizer Platinum version 3: and there's plenty to talk about. To recap: What is WinOptimizer Platinum? ... For years, millions of users have depended on Ashampoo's award-winning WinOptimizer series to keep their PCs clean and running smoothly and efficiently. As one user put it, "[WinOptimizer Platinum 3] gives you all the maintenance tools that should have been included with Windows in the first place. And it's all so easy to use, you don't need a ... (view more)

In my last column I talked about one very important thing you can do to help secure your e-mail . Though it could affect the appearance of some messages, turning off HTML in your e-mail program can go a long way toward protecting your computer. ... Having said that, one of the most useful features of e-mail is the ability to send and receive attachments. An attachment is simply a file that is appended to the e-mail message itself. This can be a data file, like a word processing document or spreadsheet, or can even be a full-blown application such as a disk cleanup tool, an icon changer, etc. ... (view more)

When you click your Start button, Windows XP by default, displays two columns. On the left, you see programs, etc. Then you see a faint horizontal bar, followed by a list of recently used programs. On the right, you see locations – Microsoft Office, M ...y Documents and lots of other “stuff.” Now if you’re an advanced Windows user, you might know that you can put any program you want at the top of the left side of the Start menu by navigating to the program, right-clicking on it and choosing Pin to Start Menu. This works no matter how you get to the program. Any way that ..."/news/1134/start-menu-goodies-windows-xp" class="more-link">view more)

Windows Defender Microsoft Windows Defender (Beta 2) is a free program that helps you stay productive by protecting your computer against pop-ups, slow performance and security threats caused by Spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Note ... that this software is still in the Beta Stage and may produce false positives! In other words: don't completely rely on it for "the truth". http://www.microsoft.com Handy File Tool Handy File Tool (HFT) is a very fast and simple file manager. It has some internal utilities such as Renamer, Replacer and Finder. HFT has utilities necessary ... (view more)

Icolorfolder Customize the color of each Windows XP folder. http://icolorfolder.sourceforge.net/ Fajo Xp File Security Extension Allows a user of Windows XP Home to view and change the access rights on file system objects of NTFS file systems. The ... extension provides the security tab known from Windows NT4, Windows 2000 and Windows XP Pro at the property page of file system objects. For faster access it adds an additional menu item to the context menu of such objects (optional). http://www.fajo.de/portal/index.php (view more)

Have you ever lost track of a file on your PC? I got sick of using Windows Search (and waiting forever for it to find anything) and started looking for an alternative. Unfortunately, most of the Search programs I came across either didn't do what I ... wanted them to, or had a lot of overhead. For example: overhead can result as some search tools index your entire hard drive (similar to a file system table). Among other reasons, indexing is performed so that searching is limited to 1 huge database file (rather than scouring through the entire hard drive, bouncing from file to file, as is the case ... (view more)

Ashampoo delivers once again with the highly anticipated Burning Studio 6! Known for maintaining functionality and without compromising ease-of-use, Ashampoo CD / DVD Burning Studio 6 incorporates many new and exciting features, including: NEW: ... Support for over 1,700 CD, DVD and Blu-ray burners (with up to 25GB of storage *per* layer)! NEW: Feature-rich file backup utility for CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, including: password protection, compression, spanning and restoration to original file locations! NEW: Integrated Audio CD ripper: extract CD audio tracks to WMA or WAV file format. NEW: ... (view more)

In the world of computing, especially home computing, one of the things we enjoy most is gathering new and interesting programs to make a difference in our lives. Generally, we go to a download site (you all know my favorites by now) and browse the ... lists looking for the one thing that will make the entire day. We find it and click the file we want. We get connected to the server that is storing the file and the file is transferred to our system. From there, well we know what goes on. It's really easy. The entire transaction usually involves two computer systems. The server and the client ( ... (view more)

BitTorrent is the name of a client application for the torrent peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution protocol created by programmer Bram Cohen. BitTorrent is designed to widely distribute large amounts of data without incurring the corresponding ... consumption in server and bandwidth resources (and typically, monetary fees attracted as a result of that). The original BitTorrent application is written in Python and its source code has been released under the BitTorrent Open Source License (a modified version of the Jabber Open Source License), as of version 4.0. The name "BitTorrent" refers to the ... (view more)