Software

All the software that we review are included in this category. If you want to look for a specific software, go through the sub-categories listed here.

July 8, 2013

4 Ways To Open Docx Document Files

Rahmeen Ahmad Khan File Management, List Office 2007, office 2010, word 2 Comments

In Office 2007, Microsoft introduced a file format called the Microsoft Open Office XML Format (.docx). This format is not compatible with older versions of Microsoft Word and with some other popular word processing software. Thus, Microsoft offers a list of compatibility packs for your older Office suite versions so that they can support the new format of .docx.

Today, we will look at the different options available to create, open and edit the .docx files without installing the Office Suite. We have solutions for the people with different tastes i.e. view your .docx files either using online tools or install an alternative suite. You may also think of converting your file to other formats. We have gathered all these options for you.

Use Online Viewers

Several online viewers can be used to view .docx documents. Gmail allows you to view attached docx document using Google Docs. Recently, Google Docs have been renamed to Google Drive which also comes as a desktop app.

Google Drive allows you to create and edit .docx files. You can also upload your files or folders which are stored on your PC. It provides all the basic features of word processing software. You can share your files with your friends and get them synchronized over the cloud using Google Drive.

Think Free Online is another online tool which enables you to view word files without opening them in the Office Suite. You need to create a free account on ThinkFree Online to receive more benefits. You may view your files, save them online and access them from anywhere. You can also use your Gmail credentials to use ThinkFree Online without signing up for an account.

Install Alternative Software

You may also install alternative software to the Office Suite which usually support the Word, Excel and the Powerpoint tools. Kingsoft Office is a free alternative to the costly Microsoft Office Suites. Kingsoft office can open the word documents which are stored using the .doc and .docx formats. It can also create .doc/.docx format files. Kingsoft Office is a lightweight alternative which offers Word, Excel and Powerpoint in its suite. Other alternative software include the Libre Office and Apache OpenOffice.

Install Browser Extensions

Another option is to install the browser extensions that could read the .docx format. Installing lightweight extensions will free you from installing any software and lets you view documents easily.

Docs Online Viewer is an extension for the Firefox users which uses API of Google docs and Zoho Viewer to open the files of different formats. It supports PDF, DOC, DOCX and some other formats.

Chrome Office Viewer (Beta) is an extension for chrome browser that lets you open the Microsoft Word, Excel and the PowerPoint files with a single click.

Convert file formats

Although, this option is not very handy. However, you may sometimes need to convert the .docx file into any other format. Zamzar is an online tool that converts your documents from one format to another. It is a simple 4-step process which including uploading file, selecting the desired format, entering email address and pressing the ‘Convert’ button. The converted file will be sent to your email address. You need to sign up for a free account on Zamzar to grab your converted files.

Docx-converter offers a portable solution for .docx format conversion. It is compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7. If you do not want to download any software, you may use the online converter to convert your files to other format quickly. The converted file is sent to your email address. It may strip out some formatting from your .docx document but it has fixed several issues, now. It also come as a desktop widget which is very helpful to convert the files from your desktop. It supports lesser several formats as compared to Zamzar, still, you may think of Docx Converter Desktop widget as an option.

Did you find today’s post helpful? Do share with us , if you have any other way to .docx document file without an Office suite.

July 7, 2013

SysMate: Replace System Files Without Restarting In Windows

UK File Management 0 Comments

System files in Windows can not be modified or deleted directly. The user can’t replace the system files without taking ownership of the files first. By default the ownership belongs to the System user. And even if the user does take ownership, it is not sure that the file is replaced because sometimes the file is being used by the Operating System.

SysMate System File Walker is a free portable tool which can replace system files without taking ownership of the files or even restarting the system. As a precaution, SysMate will save a copy of the file being replaced in a separate folder.

Since SysMate is a portable app, it does not need any installation. You will need to download the zip file and unzip it in a separate folder. There are two folders included in the zip file i.e., .NET 2.0 and .NET 4.0 client profile. You can run the executable SysMate – System File Walker.exe from any of the two folders.

SysMate requires administrative privileges to run properly. If you run it without administrative privileges, you will get the following error message:

To run it with administrative privileges, right click the executable and select “Run as administrator”.

The interface of SysMate is quite simple and self-explanatory. There are two fields. In one field, you will need to enter the path of original file location and in the second field, you will need to add the location of replacement file. You can always press the “…” button at the end of each field to browse to the required file.

Pressing the Start button will start the replacement process. There will be no need to restart the computer in order for the replacement to be successful. In fact, the replacement will take only a moment and the success message box will appear on screen.

Normally, the backup folder is located at the root of C:\ drive i.e., C:\SysMate_Backup. Unfortunately, there is no button to restore the backup automatically. You will need to replace the file using the same procedure discussed above.

SysMate works on all versions of Windows including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 on both 32-bit and 64-bit Operating Systems.

Download SysMate –> SysMate_System_File_Walker.zip

July 6, 2013

Download Skype 6.6 Offline Installers With Optimized Video Messaging

UK Communications, Microsoft Skype 0 Comments

If you remember that Skype 6.5 had been released with video messaging support. That was a major feature update. But now Microsoft has released Skype 6.6 which enhances the existing features. Video messaging feature has been optimized further.

Skype 6.6 is a minor update which concentrates on ensuring consistent user experience on every device Skype is installed. You can right-click any Skype contact and select “Send Video message” to record and send a video message. A maximum of 3 minutes of video message can be recorded.

Apart from the video messaging enhancement features, 7 issues have been resolved. Here’s the list of resolved features:

Screen share: Doesn’t work when restarted a second time for users on 6.1 version.

Video messaging: Cannot playback video on Windows XP

Hanging: Client hangs when hovering over heart emoticon

Crashing: Skype crashes when resuming PC from sleep

File sharing: After cancelling transfer by recipient, cancelled transfer is not shown to sender

Lync contacts: After adding phone number to a Lync contact, information is not shown in their profile

Video calling: Changing camera stops video call in progress

Skype 6.6.0.106 can be downloaded from the following direct download links:

Skype for Windows Desktop 6.6: SkypeSetup.exe

Skype for Mac 6.6: Skype_6.6.0.467.dmg

June 25, 2013

3 Tools To Merge JPG Images Into A PDF File

Rahmeen Ahmad Khan List, Software PDF, PDF Editor, productivity 2 Comments

Sometimes we needs to merge multiple JPG images into a single PDF document. This is usually the case when we want to create an e-book out of scanned images. In this article, we will discuss some free tools to create a PDF document of your images quickly. We will also see a solution using the Microsoft One Note 2013.

FM JPG to PDF Converter converts image files and folders to PDF

FM JPG to PDF converter is a tool that enables you to merge multiple JPEG images and save them in the form of a PDF file. It allows you to add, remove and arrange the image files. You can also add an entire folder containing the JPG images and you will be saved from adding the files one by one.

To create a PDF file :

Click the Add button and select the image files you want to merge.
Click on the up and down arrows to move images up or down.
It has a preview pane also, so that you may add or remove any file from the list by clicking on Remove button.
Set the output properties of the file.
Click the Start button.
If you want to create another file, click the Clear button to remove all files at once.

PDF Mate Merger merges multiple files into a single PDF

PDF Mate Merger is a free PDF merger that can be used to merge multiple files into a single PDF file. We can also merge the images in JPEG format and build a PDF file through it. It is completely free and you can start using it right away without any subscription or registration.

PDF Mate Merger sports an easy to use interface that allows you to add any number of files using the Add Files button. You can arrange these files or images in any order using the Up and Down button. Right click on any file name and you will the associated options in the context menu form. You may use Remove button to drop any image which is mistakenly added.

You may need to adjust the output settings according to your requirements using the ‘Output Settings’ options at the bottom. Oh wow! We can add a password to our file as well. Don’t forget to set the layout or it will be set automatically. Now, click the Build button and your PDF file is created.

Using OneNote 2013 to create PDF from Images

You may have used your OneNote to create and maintain your work diaries. How about using the One Note 2013 to merge your JPEG images into a PDF file? The trick is simple and gets you rid off any expensive PDF Merger tool.

Select the images that you want to merge.
Right click on it.
Select Send to One Note 2013.
Open your OneNote and see the images there. Arrange them as you like.
Go to File -> Export -> Select the ‘Section’. (I assume that your images are pasted in a section).
Select PDF format.
Click Export.
Specify the file name and location.
Click save.

If you are converting images to PDF files frequently then a dedicated tool like the two mentioned above would be more useful. For occasionally getting your task done, you can use OneNote which is also better suited for creating PDF files from different kinds of multimedia content and not images only.

Which tool do you support? List down your favorite tool for converting images into PDF files.

June 22, 2013

Download Java 7 Update 25 Offline Installers

UK Software Java, Offline Installer 1 Comment

Java 7 Update 25 has been released by Oracle. This is a critical patch update which includes 40 new security fixes of which 37 can be remotely exploited without authentication. 42 vulnerabilities were fixed in the last Java 7 Update 21.

The Java vulnerability saga continues and Adobe continues to strive to fix most of the security flaws in Java. Most of the experts have said that users should disable Java in their computers and devices until most of the vulnerabilities are fixed. But for some of the users, it is absolutely important to have Java installed in their system.

Why is Java required?

Java Runtime Environment has a virtual machine called JVM, runtime class libraries, and Java application launcher that are necessary to run programs written in the Java programming language. The programs include all types of utilities including Desktop based, mobile based and web-based apps.

Originally, Java became famous because of its portable nature. The programs developed in Java could be executed in many architectures and platforms without re-developing the program for each hardware architecture or Operating System.

Since Java is being used everywhere, it becomes necessary for the user to install Java in their system. You can read more about the latest update of Java on Oracle Security Assurance blog. You can also read the release notes about Java 7 Update 25.

Installing and updating the latest version of Java

If Java Runtime Environment is not installed in your computer, you can download the latest update from the below location and simply run the installer. It should install without any problems.

If you have already installed Java in your system and want to update it, here are the steps involved for updating Java in Windows 8.

Go to Windows Settings Search (Windows Key + W) and search for “java”.
Select Java (32-bit) from the search results. This will open Java Control Panel.
Go to the Update tab and press the Update now button. This will automatically update Java in your computer.

Download Java 7 Update 25 offline installers

Here are the direct download links for Java 7 Update 25 offline installers. You just need to download the file and install it without an Internet connection.

Java Runtime Environment 7 Update 25 (Windows 32-bit installer)

Java Runtime Environment 7 Update 25 (Windows 64-bit installer)

Mac OSX 10.7.3 or above

Java 7 Update 25 Linux 32-bit RPM installer

Java 7 Update 25 Linux 64-bit RPM installer

If you do not want to install Java in your system but want to run Java apps, you can use Portable Java Runtime Environment which has been updated to the latest Java 7 Update 25.

June 4, 2013

Snap Plus: Add Windows 8 Win+X Menu To Windows 7

UK Software, Windows 7 windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8 shortcut 2 Comments

Win + X menu can give you quick access to important tools and functions of the Operating System. This functionality was introduced in Windows 8. Snap Plus brings this menu to Windows 7.

We have already wrote about the Quick Admin menu introduced in Windows 8. The Quick Admin menu or Win + X menu is a quick access menu from which we can access many system tools and functions with a shortcut. For example, we can open the command prompt with administrative privileges using Windows Key + X + A. We have discussed all the shortcut keys in our useful Windows 8 shortcuts article.

Snap Plus is a nifty software which has been created to add more juice to the snap feature of Windows. The snap feature was introduced in Windows 7 but Windows 8 makes more use of the snap feature. It can also activate the quick admin menu in Windows 7 making it super easy to access important parts of the Operating System.

Once installed, you will be taken to the settings of Snap Plus. You can select the keyboard layout. Two keyboard layouts are supported, Default and Laptop. The default keyboard layout includes the number pad while the laptop keyboard layout doesn’t include it in the software functionality.

Next, you will need to select the hotkey modifiers which includes three keys Ctrl, Windows Key and Alt key. You should select a combination of two keys so that Snap Plus does not conflict with the system default shortcuts. By default, Windows Key and Ctrl are selected.

You can also change the tray color to black, gray or white.

If you have selected the default configuration, you can press the Ctrl + Windows Key and the numeric keys to snap the current window to any location on the screen. For example, if you press Ctrl + Windows Key + 5, this will snap the current window in the center of the screen. Pressing Ctrl + Windows Key + 1 will snap the window on the bottom left corner of the screen.

If you are using Windows 7, you can enable the Win+X menu by checking “Emulate Quick Link (Win+X)” on Snap Plus settings. This will enable you to open the quick admin menu by using Windows Key + X shortcut key.

Snap Plus is still in beta but when a stable version comes out, it will certainly enhance the functionality of Windows, whether it is Windows 7 or Windows 8. What are your views about Snap Plus?

Download Snap Plus from here.

May 15, 2013

System Level Spell Checkers For Windows

UK List, Software 0 Comments

Spell check was first introduced in Microsoft Word long ago but now spell and grammar checking has become a necessity for almost all applications that we use on any Operating System. Whether we are using a web browser or a notes taking application, we expect it to correct our spellings as we type. But there are still a lot of apps which do not offer integrated spell checking. I have used different spell checkers for different purposes. In this article, we will discuss some spell checkers which can be used for different tasks. Please note that I will list down all the spell checker apps that I have come across without considering a single Operating System but my focus will still be Windows-based spell checkers.

FreeSpell

If you are a Linux user, you must be familiar with command line spell checkers like Aspell and Ispell. FreeSpell is a Windows application based on Aspell engine. It works on a system level and you can use it with any application. You can use it with any application including Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, Firefox, a development program like Visual C++ and even Windows Explorer while renaming files and folders.

You can easily trigger FreeSpell for checking spellings using a shortcut key.

FreeSpell

tinySpell

tinySpell is another system level application for checking the spellings. It can be used with any application. The biggest benefit of tinySpell is that it will do spell check in real-time meaning that you will see the suggestions as you type. tinySpell can be triggered from the system tray.

tinySpell

Ginger

Ginger is the complete grammar checker and spell checker. This is my personal favorite because it can be used with popular browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. I like the grammar correction feature of Ginger. It includes proofreading with a single click. It can also trigger automatic checking with configuration. It also includes a text to speech reader.

Ginger is compatible with Windows, Mac OSX and can also be used online.

Ginger

Language Tool Style and Grammar Checker

Language Tool stands out from the rest because it can proofread in more than 20 different languages including English, French, German, Polish, Romanian, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Malayalam, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish and Spanish. It detects the grammar rules of any language as well as spell checking.

Language Tool Style and Grammar Checker

In my opinion, the spell checking feature should be added to the Operating Systems on a system level which can be used by any application. Do you use any stand alone spell checker other than the default ones which are application specific? I will be more interested to hear about any command line spell checker which can run on Windows 8.

May 15, 2013

DBCMan: Use Windows 8 Task Manager on Windows 7

Rahmeen Ahmad Khan Software, Windows 7 productivity, windows 7, Windows Task Manager 0 Comments

Windows 8 improves on Windows 7 in a many aspects including the re-designed task manager. Windows 8 task manager give a lot more details about processes and system. Windows 7 users may not be willing to switch to Windows 8 because of various reasons but now Windows 7 users can enjoy Windows 8 Task Manager without switching fully. ‘DBCTaskman’ is a task manager application that is similar to Windows 8 task manager and can run on Windows 7. This manager has more or less the same options as provided by the native task manager. It has the following tabs:

Processes: It displays information about processes like process name, status and consumption of disk, cpu , memory and network.

Performance: It represent the performance of hard drives, ethernet and CPU in the graphical form along with some information about the number of threads, handles, uptime, and number of running processes.

Users: It is useful for multiple users sharing one computer. It lets you know how much resource every individual is consuming.

Details: It tells process id, image type, user name, memory and description.

Services: Another list of stats for the services running on your system displaying id, status, start type and group.

Running DBC Task Manager on Windows 7

DBC Task Manager can be downloaded from Neowin. Since it is a portable app, you will only need to unzip and run DBCTaskman executable.

Unfortunately, DBC Task Manager does not have any option to replace the default task manager. So you will need to run it manually in order to run this task manager which is similar to Windows 8 Task Manager. If you are a keyboard junkie, you can always configure a keyboard shortcut for DBC Task Manager so that you may be able to run it directly from the keyboard.

The shortcut key can be configured as follows:

Right click on the application -> Select ‘Create Shortcut’.
Now, right-click on the shortcut -> Select ‘Properties’.
Set the shortcut key as : Ctrl + Alt+ T.

This is how your new task manager will look like. It does not consist of the ‘Networking’ tab, however, you can still see the list of processes, performance details, users, details and services. If you are a keen observer, you will note that it shows the same statistics as your native task manager. However, in my case, system uptime was not the same in both managers.

You can also open the Resource Monitor directly from the task manager to get in-depth knowledge about the resource utilization.

Click ‘Open Resource Monitor’ in the bottom.

Click on the Processes tab and enjoy a cleaner look and detailed information about background processes and the currently running apps. There is a loophole present in the processes. If you want to end a process, you will select a process and click ‘End Task’. You will be disappointed to see nothing happens. Since the task manager is still in work in progress, you will see these kinds of shortcomings. But certainly we’ll expect a more featureful Windows 8 task manager for Windows 7 in the coming versions.

If you are not interested in details about every process then you can click ‘Fewer Details’ option at the bottom. It will hide all the columns except the app and process name.

Note that ‘Switch To’ and ‘New Task’ tabs are not present in the Windows 8 Task Manager, but you can still run a new task by:

Go to File -> Run new task.
Type the task name.

DBC Task manager is not a complete replication of the Windows 8 Task Manager as it does not contain the start up and the app history tabs that made Windows 8 Task Manager powerful. We can expect the developer to add the ‘Startup’ tab so that the users can customize their Startup programs and apps directly through task manager. Although the app history is limited to the metro apps history in Windows 8, but it would certainly be a nice idea to include a history tab for the non-metro apps of Windows 7. DBC Task manager is still work in progress and we can hope that the bugs of the current task manager will be fixed in the next versions. All in all, this task manager won’t disappoint you and would serve you rightly as your native manager will.

May 9, 2013

Adobe Flash Player 11.8 Offline Installers Direct Download Links

UK Software Adobe Flash, download adobe flash player, Offline Installer 0 Comments

Adobe Flash Player 11.8 has been released. This is the first beta release at the time of this writing. Adobe intends to introduce a few enhancements to Flash Player in this release. The most visible feature of this release is the recursive stop on movie feature which we will discuss below.

Let’s go through the features and enhancements in Flash Player 11.8 one by one.

Sandboxing enhancements
This feature adds enhancements to the existing sandbox feature by better addressing application launches in protected mode
Recursive stop on MovieClip
For Flash Player, this feature allows a game developer to effectively pause/stop a running SWF without having to iterate through all of the objects on the DisplayList.
Datagram Socket (iOS & Android)
DatagramSocket APIs are now supported for iOS and Android also.
Server Socket (iOS & Android)
ServerSocket APIs are now supported for iOS and Android also.
LZMA SWF support (iOS & Android)
LZMA compressed swfs can now be packaged for iOS and Android targets and are supported.

These features and enhancements have been documented in the release notes for Flash Player 11.8.

If you are using Windows 8, you will not need to download or update this release of Flash Player. This is because Flash Player 11.8 is not compatible with Windows 8. Windows 8 comes with its own version of Flash Player pre-installed.

Download Links

We are providing direct download links to offline installers of Adobe Flash Player 11.8.

Download Flash Player 11.8 for Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera

Download Flash Player 11.8 for Internet Explorer

If you are having any problems with the beta version of Flash Player, you can always revert back by using Flash Player Uninstaller.

May 8, 2013

Avast 8 Free Antivirus Direct Download Links

UK Security, Software Antivirus, AVG, free antivirus, Offline Installer 0 Comments

Avast Free Antivirus is one of the very best antivirus programs. The latest version of Avast 8 Free adds a lot of new features to keep the system in good shape. The biggest benefit of Avast over other free antivirus like AVG or Avira is that it uses comparatively fewer resources. If you are using Windows 8, Microsoft has already included a free antivirus called Windows Defender. You will need to disable Windows Defender if you are installing any other antivirus.

Features and setup of Avast 8 free

The free version of Avast 8 blocks viruses and spyware and will allow help from a friend if your computer needs fixing. Avast 8 Free Antivirus also introduces add-on features like a software updater and browser cleanup tool. Software updater will check all installed software for new versions and let you download and automatically upgrade to the latest versions of installed software.

When you run the installation setup of Avast 8 Free antivirus, it will ask you whether you want to pursue an express install or install the program manually. I recommend installing the program manually because Avast will try to install some extra add-on software like browser plugins and toolbars which can make your system slow. You will need to un-check those add-on software so that only Avast antivirus is installed in the system.

Standalone full setup installers

Nowadays most software offer web-based installers instead of the full ones. There are pros and cons of this. The biggest advantage of web-based online installer is that it will always be updated and the latest software will be downloaded and installed. The disadvantage of this approach is that if a user want to install the software on many computers, it will be a huge waste of Internet bandwidth and time because the installer will download the setup as many times as it is run.

We are providing full standalone installers for Avast 8 free antivirus for the user’s ease so that you can download the latest free antivirus and install it even when you are offline.

Download Avast 8 Free Antivirus (Standalone installer direct download link)

This free antivirus is fully compatible with Windows 8. In fact, Avast 8 free is certified from Microsoft to run on Windows 8 although some users have reported BSODs when running the antivirus software.

Update (9-May-13): The latest version of Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1489 comes with the BOSD fix which it used to cause for Windows 8 users. You can either update Avast through the Avast updater inside the antivirus or download a fresh copy from the direct download link above.

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