Dynamite Downloads

Utilities/Add-Ons

Think of these handy utilities and program add-ons as the tonic your PC needs to acquire some performance verve.

Back It Up

Handy Backup, 1.36MB, $30

Everyone should back up data on a regular basis, but it's such a Herculean task that we tend to put it off. Enter Handy Backup, an easy-to-use utility that employs a nifty wizard to guide you through the process. You can back up to your hard drive, to another computer on a LAN, to your CD-RW drive, or to an FTP site. You can set the program to back up daily, weekly, or monthly at a specific time. You can even instruct the program to encrypt your data using 128-bit encryption. The simple interface is so user-friendly, you might actually find yourself backing up your PC regularly.

--Kalpana Narayanamurthi

Stay Healthy

AntiVir Personal Edition, 3.45MB, free

Antivirus software has become an essential utility that every PC needs to have installed. For the best protection and easiest controls, we recommend Symantec's Norton AntiVirus ($50). If your budget is tight, however, you'll want to consider AntiVir Personal Edition. This simple but very effective antivirus application provides real-time protection by scanning a file every time it gets accessed. The program also lets you scan entire drives--but not individual files or folders--on demand. With AntiVir's basic scheduler and a little tinkering, you can also set up regularly occurring program updates, though not automatic drive scans (as you can with Norton AntiVirus).

--Seán Captain

Antivirus Fire Drill

EICAR Standard Anti-Virus Test File, 68KB, free

The best time to learn how your antivirus scanner works most assuredly isn't in the middle of an attack. Fortunately, you can run your PC through a test using the EICAR Anti-Virus Test File, a small program that antivirus vendors list in their virus definition databases. The Test File shows you how your scanner will react to a bona fide infection and lets you familiarize yourself with the warning messages and dialog boxes you'll have to navigate. Once you know the ropes, you won't be caught off-guard when forced to deal with a real virus attack.

--Seán Captain

Make Photos Feel Manipulated

SuperBladePro, 4.1MB, $30

All image editing applications come with vast assortments of filters for jazzing up photos. But many of them don't allow you to tweak the filters. Though SuperBladePro is really a surface and texture generator plug-in, it can work as a self-contained image editor. Start it from within your image editing app (it works with any image editing program that accepts Adobe Photoshop-compatible plug-ins, including Photoshop Elements, Jasc Paint Shop Pro, and Ulead PhotoImpact), and you can bend, twist, and color-shift for hours. Play with settings like Glassiness, Iridescence, and Glare; induce Rain, Evaporation, and Grit. A collection of single-function plug-ins capable of doing all this would definitely cost a mint.

--Alan Stafford

Shoo, Ads, Don't Bother Me

AdsGone Pop Up Killer, 2.53MB, $19

Pop-up ads can drive you crazy, especially when you spend more time closing them than perusing the Web page you intended to visit. AdsGone runs while you browse the Web with either Internet Explorer or AOL, and it blocks pop-ups before they appear. You can configure the program to block banner ads, too, and you can alter settings by adding ad servers to or removing them from the blocking list. The easy-to-use interface has a status bar that lists how many ads have been blocked, as well as a logging button that provides information about each ad. Not having to scoot your pointer around the screen closing unwanted windows will make you a much happier Web surfer.

--Kalpana Narayanamurthi

Spinning Images

PanoStitcher, 6.2MB, $30

Pixtra's PanoStitcher is the best of several inexpensive applications you can use to create 360-degree panoramic images. (Better, more-sophisticated programs typically cost hundreds of dollars.) PanoStitcher doesn't have all the features the pricey packages do; but it's fast and relatively easy to use, and it produces acceptable results. Use PanoStitcher to create QuickTime VR panoramas that you can spin and zoom in on with your mouse, or to stitch together a composite .jpg image, as well as a Web page to display either. A special tripod head will improve your panoramas, but PanoStitcher works with freehand shots, too. The demo version is fully functional, except that it watermarks "Pixtra"over the entire image. The $30 version omits the watermark.

--Alan Stafford

Go Online, Offline

WinHTTrack Website Copier 3.15, 2.4MB, free

Whether you want to preserve a copy of some research information or back up your own Web site, this handy utility can do the trick. WinHTTrack Website Copier lets you copy or mirror entire Web sites; and while the interface isn't particularly inviting or user-friendly (neophytes may wish to consult the instructive online help), it does suffice to walk you through how to copy a site or pages. You can set various parameters (say, whether to include images; whether to exclude specific URLs; and whether to stay within the URL domain). The efficient software notifies you of problems it encounters, and it handled with aplomb the JavaScript code on one of the sites we downloaded.

--Melissa J. Perenson

Log Me In, Please

AI RoboForm, 609KB, free

If you find yourself writing down all your log-in names and passwords on little pieces of paper so you won't forget them, AI RoboForm can put your house in order. In your browser, RoboForm installs various hot buttons that you can click to automatically fill in Web-based forms and to enter log-in names and passwords instantly. You must supply the program with your name, date of birth, address, phone numbers, and any other date you want to store. To fill out a form, click the Fill Forms button; the program will fill in the blanks using the information you've provided. RoboForm uses Passcards to store your log-in names and passwords. The program can manage multiple users because each Passcard is password-protected; to access and change your information, you must remember your Passcard password.

--Kalpana Narayanamurthi

Play Music Your Way

MP3 WAV Converter 2.6, 2.6MB, $20

When it comes to digital music, sometimes you want the compactness of MP3s, and sometimes you want the quality of a CD. MP3 WAV Converter makes it easy to have both. By changing .wav music files into .mp3 files, the program reduces them to roughly a tenth of their original size; it converts MP3s to .wav format for playback on standard CD players. MP3 WAV Converter also doubles as an audio player, minus the fancy skins and light shows most players have these days. The program completes its conversions in seconds, and it allows you to convert and play batches of files at the same time. Any .wav files converted into .mp3 format are automatically normalized to a consistent volume level.

--Dennis O'Reilly

Mood Music

MoodLogic 2.0, 3MB, $30

It doesn't take much to throw your MP3 collection into disarray. A download here, a ripped CD there--and before you know it, your library is full of files with misspelled song titles and recordings attributed variously to "Simon and Garfunkel" and to "Simon & Garfunkel." MoodLogic automates the process of fixing ID3 tags and organizing digital music (MP3, WMA, and .wav) in bulk. Once the files are organized, you can sort your music by genre, artist, tempo, or mood (aggressive, mellow, upbeat, happy, romantic, sad), and create playlists accordingly. Musical mood information is culled from MoodLogic's database, which is populated by songs profiled by users. If your songs aren't already profiled, though, you must manually complete the five-screen profiling process to add each song to a MoodLogic playlist.

--Melissa J. Perenson

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