Both the iPhone and iPod Touch are great tools to have your favorite music and videos always with you, but what if you also want to carry files or documents?

The solution is then DiskAid, a simple tool that lets you manage the contents of your Apple device as if it was just another removable drive plugged into your computer. DiskAid doesn't require any special drives or difficult configuration at all; just connect the iPhone or iPod Touch to the PC and you're good to go.

DiskAid lets you browse the contents of the device in a neatly organized folder structure, drag and drop these contents to and from the PC and also perform some file management tasks like creating new folders or renaming others.

On the downside, you'll find that the folder structure is not easy to recognize, that is, folders' and files' names do not always correspond to the apps and files you have in your device. For example, while checking my music collection, I saw that all the MP3 files were renamed to strange character sets instead of their regular names.

With DiskAid you can easily use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a storage unit for files and documents, and also transfer them to and from the PC. You'll have to guess what their real names are though.

Download DiskAid 1.2 in Softonic

If you don’t like the standard Windows keyboard shortcuts, move a step ahead and create your own with HotKeyMan.

This simple tool enables you to create personalized shortcuts by combining the Windows, Alt, Ctrl and Shift keys with any other characters in your keyboard and then assigning this combination to a variety of functions. These may include opening files (documents or applications), taking screenshots, sending keystrokes to any given program and maximizing or minimizing windows.

HotKeyMan already includes lots of default shortcuts you can keep, delete or edit at will. You can add as many new combinations as you want, always making sure they don't ovewrite other previously existent shortcuts – something the program doesn't warn you about.

The only problem will then be remembering them all, though you can always take a look at the crib sheet you can open from the program's icon in the system tray.

If you're more of a keyboard user than a mouse one you're going to like HotKeyMan: a program that lets you assign keyboard shortcuts to almost anything in Windows.

Download HotKeyMan 01.00.01.00 in Softonic

VSO Inspector is a free add-on to report various information about your hardware configuration. Using this freeware, you can check the listed CD and DVD readers and writers connected to your computer, check the firmware used, the details about the media used and the speed supported by a given writer with this media. You can also scan a burnt media for read errors and be confident about the readibility of your fresh backup.

Here's what VSO Inspector can do for you:

Detect and list the features of your CD/DVD writers

Supported formats

Region details

Firmware versions

Buffer size

Region Code

Read and Write modes

Detect and list information about the inserted media

Media type

Capacity

Media ID (manufacturer and/or model)

Number of layers

Supported speeds (with current writer)

Media Analysis

Sector reading

Definition of the area to check

Definition of the read direction

Download VSO Inspector 1.4.2 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted to remove some Windows components like Media Player, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, MSN Explorer, Messenger. How about not even to install them with Windows?

nLite is a GUI for permanent Windows component removal by your choice. After removal there is an option to make bootable image ready for burning on cd or testing in virtual machines. With nLite you will be able to have Windows installation which on install doesn't include, or even contain on cd, unwanted components.

Download nLite 1.4.7 Final in Softonic

Xplorer2 is a file and information manager that adheres to the philosophy "efficiency through simplicity". Without reinventing the wheel, it integrates the best features of Windows' shell architecture in a small, resource efficient package that's instantly familiar to work with. But look a little closer and you'll discover a whole new world under the surface that offers power, precision and flexibility, and will boost your everyday productivity no end!

All the shell goodies from windows explorer — none of the hassle! Plus all the features you would expect from a powerful tabbed dual-pane file manager, including Omni-Finder, a find files module that simply outclasses all known search tools. Don't take our word for it, seeing is believing!

Shell namespace explorer

Xplorer2 will browse and manage all your folders including virtual ones folders like zipfolders, webfolders, even FTP, as long as these services are available in your system. If you extend your shell namespace with new folder types, Xplorer2 will read them too, in a familiar tree/view window format.

Tabbed dual-pane interface

Can't decide between dual pane and tabbed browsing? No worries, Xplorer2 does them all. The traditional dual-pane format, handy for comparisons and file transfers, is augmented so that each pane can hold more than one folder. Hopping from one folder to another is just a tab click away.

Instant preview of files

Xplorer2 can preview most text, graphics, audio/video, and html & office documents — and does so in nearly all folder types including zipfolders etc. Wherever it finds file-like content it offers file-like access!

Browsing flexibility

You can browse your content in most useful view modes supported by explorer, including thumbnails. Within large folders you will appreciate the organization capabilities offered by arranging in groups and multi-way sort. Xplorer2 will remember your favorite mode for each folder.

Download Xplorer2 1.7.1.4 Beta in Softonic

A system analyzer is often overlooked as the toy of PC modding fanatics, but the reality is that these applications are very effective at dissecting your PC and giving you the hard truth about its performance. PC Wizard aims to explore the insides of your system and give you the complete low down on its strengths and weaknesses.

Once you launch PC Wizard you’ll notice it takes some time to detect all the hardware installed on your PC. Use the left side of the interface to navigate through the different categories. PC Wizard reveals all the basic details of your hardware, like ports, drivers and processors, but you’ll soon realize there’s much more to it, like analyzing system files or investigating the configuration of elements such as your Internet connection or your Control Panel. Over-sized icons make it fairly obvious what you can inspect, however we would have appreciated an explorer type window to navigate through components and select exactly what to analyze.

The core of any self-respecting system analyzer is the benchmarking tool and that is where PC Wizard excels. The application lets you inspect everything from processors to cache, RAM and multimedia like DirectX, MP3 compression and video. Benchmarks provide the results as a list of information or via comprehensible graphs. These will show you straight away where you’re PC stands and the “compare with” button will let you measure your processor up against well known models. We have to warn beginners though that the information is fairly technical and will be more relevant to experienced users. Just for fun, test out the video benchmark to obtain a swarm of multicoloured balls and lines all over your screen.

That’s the only bit of excitement you’ll get with this application though. PC Wizard is not here for fun it's here to be effective. The detailed information and thorough benchmarking tests give you reliable data on all the characteristics and components of your PC. The complexity of this type of application means beginners are best kept away from it altogether, however advanced users will revel in the wealth of knowledge it will uncover on their PC’s performances.

Download PC Wizard 2008 1.85 in Softonic

Fresh UI is a fresh solution for configuring and optimizing Windows. Loaded with hundreds of useful hidden settings in Windows XP/2000/NT/ 98/95/Me, this software covers the customizing and optimizing techniques that you'll be glad to know, such as:

• Customizing Windows User Interface (UI)
• Optimizing system settings
• Optimizing hardware settings
• Customizing Windows application settings
• Controlling user environment with policies

Fresh UI is organized by section for easy navigation and is complete with detailed descriptions for easy reference.

Download Fresh UI 8.09 in Softonic

It's not only the world that's getting warmer - PC's, by virtue of the fact that they are becoming increasingly more powerful, are literally warming up too.

Most good PCs and laptops have a fan which automatically controls overheating and regulates temperature but this is not always 100% reliable, especially when you've got lots of external devices connected. The good thing about HWMonitor is that it gives you an instant overview of your PC's vital power and heat stats while at the same time, remaining very light and not adding to the problem. In fact, it doesn't require any installation at all and can be run simply from the .EXE file. The program does not copy any files into the directory or edit the registry in any way. The program probably shows you far more stats that it needs to in reality - I mean, who really needs to know the temperature of their graphics card? It would have been useful if the program had included some kind of basic and advanced view to prevent you getting overwhelmed with data but at least the info is there if you really need it.

If you're worried that you're fan is not doing it's job properly or your PC is getting disconcertingly hot, then HWMonitor is the ultimate monitoring tool.

Download HWMonitor 1.10 in Softonic

SUMo, short for Software Update Monitor, scans your system and finds out whether there are newer versions for all the applications installed on your PC. The whole process is fully automated and doesn't hardly require any user intervention. A couple of clicks is all you'll need to always enjoy the latest versions of your favorite software tools.

SUMo is, therefore, very easy to use. Both the system scanning and version checking are also quite fast. Once finished, you'll see a list with all the apps installed on your PC and the ones that need updating marked with a special icon.

However, the actual update process isn't that easy. The program displays a "Get update" button but instead of downloading the file or at least taking you to the developer's website, it only links to SUMo's website and a Google link to find the update by yourself.

Have your software always up to date with SUMo.

Download SUMo 1.10.0.47 in Softonic

ReactOS is an interesting open source project which offers a completely free operating system on your PC based on Windows NT format. It is completely compatible with drivers and controllers so you won't have any problems getting your internal and external components to function that previously worked with NT.

The operating system has the traditional look of Windows and is based around the concept of a desktop, toolbar, start menu etc. You can install and run all the applications that are supported in NT and the developers plan to support Windows 2000 and XP in the future. They stress however that at the moment, ReactOS is still in alpha stage, meaning it is not feature complete and is not recommended for everyday use.

This is one of the problems you will find on using it as it still prone to bugs and crashes especially when installing software. Nevertheless, this is an exciting project and gives hope to all those who are tired of using Windows.

Download ReactOS 0.3.5 in Softonic

Registry errors are one of the main reasons for the slow operation of your PC or frequent crashes. Baku can ensure that if your registry does have malicious entries, they can be removed safely. Baku also deletes empty folders, 'History' folder contents, 'Recent documents' folder contents, 'Temp' folder contents and temporary internet files. It can also search Windows log files, shortcuts to missing files and folders and user specified file types. The registry scan itself aims to remove unused and obsolete keys, including ActiveX, Application Paths, Fonts, Help files, Icon files and pesky uninstallers.

Like all such programs, it backs up your registry in case of any wrongful changes although I found that this wasn't exactly easy to restore. Probably the most useful function is the registry compacting facility which does seem to make a notable difference to the running speed of your PC. The developers claim the program uniquely works by recreating each registry hive "from scratch", thus removing any slack space that may be left from previously modified or deleted keys. Note that this function does NOT change the contents of the registry in any way, nor does it physically defrag the registry files on the drive. Be warned though that it takes a little longer than programs such as CCleaner and you'll have to wait more than few minutes for the registry backup to be made.

Download Baku 3.6.3083.31921 in Softonic

It's a little known fact that deleting files or formatting your hard drive doesn't actually remove the data from your PC. This can leave you vulnerable to attacks from hackers and identity thieves looking for credit card numbers, bank account statements, passwords, and other personal information that still resides on your drive.

Recent studies show that 74% of hard drives sold or given away contain data that can be easily read and recovered - and 36% of those hard drives had even been reformatted.* Avoid this danger by permanently wiping your hard drive using DriveScrubber to ensure that sensitive information cannot be recovered.

Features:

• Permanently erases all traces of data from your hard drive
• Restores your hard drive to its original condition, just like it was new
• Eliminates all remnants of even the most stubborn viruses and spyware
• Includes bootable CD-ROM and floppy disk creator for full-drive wipes
• Drive security analysis displays a graphical representation of your drives' current risk levels
• Offers a wide range of advanced wiping options and techniques
• Easy-to-use interface
• Support for multiple hard drives and partitions
• Unlimited email, phone, and web support
• For up to three PCs

Download DriveScrubber 3.5.5 in Softonic

If you're bored of Windows Explorer or would like to experiment with something a little different, then NexusFile may be your answer.

NexusFile is a powerful and fast file manager that allows you to browse through the contents of your hard drive with great ease. The vast majority of its functions can be controlled by keyboard shortcuts, which makes it quicker and more convenient than other programs especially Explorer. The program also includes integrated utilities that let you go beyond just file browsing and exploring such as a file extractor for compressed files in ZIP, RAR and ACE and it also allows you to create ZIP files, rename multiple files and directories simultaneously, add a description to your personal files and directories, and much more. The program features a very intuitive interface also can be customized completely, using colour coding to better distinguish the various elements, changing fonts and so on.

This is a neat little alternative to Explorer although it takes some getting used to but if you invest the time, you might find yourself sticking with it.

Download NexusFile 5 in Softonic

Copying DVDs (for your own use, of course) is becoming increasingly difficult as manufacturers improve the security encoding on DVDs. AnyDVD however claims to be able to crack any DVD encryption code and judging by the number of downloads, Softonic users are certainly endorsing it too.

The beauty of AnyDVD is that it simply works in the background to automatically remove the copy protection of a DVD movie as soon as it's inserted into the drive. In this way, it can decrypt data without actually saving it to your hard-disk. You can watch the DVD at the same time or just insert a disk and let AnyDVD do its stuff. When you insert a disk, you are automatically prompted whether you want to decrypt it. When it has finished inspecting the disk, the program prompts you to backup the DVD using your preferred backup tool such as CloneDVD or Power DVD Copy.

The programme goes much further than this though. A handy bonus is that you can also remove the RPC region code, thereby making the movie region free and viewable on any DVD player. This is especially useful for those who buy many of their disks abroad or travel a lot. If you want to create a stripped-down version of a DVD, it can also remove unwanted movie features, including subtitles and extras for example. The programme also moves beyond decryption and allows you to control the speed of your DVD drive. This is useful if you’re having trouble playing a DVD properly or if the noise of your drive is causing annoyance. Finally, there’s also an option to display the frequency of your monitor for both NTSC and PAL displays although you probably won’t use this unless you’re having serious display issues.

The only drawback of AnyDVD is the number of daily updates that are released. Whilst this is obviously a good thing in terms of keeping it up-to-date with the latest encryption methods, the update alerts can be rather annoying and are prone to slowing your computer down.

However, this is a small price to pay for a programme that seems able to crack all but the toughest disks and for anyone who likes to create backups of their favourite DVDs, it’s an essential addition to your software collection.

Download AnyDVD HD 6.4.5.0 in Softonic

Power users often find the standard Windows File Explorer too limited and need a more complete file manager to suit their needs. If you're among them look no further because we've got the right app for you.

Q-Dir is a multi-pane file manager for Windows that makes file management more convenient and above all, far more comfortable for you. Having several windows pointing to different locations on your hard drive makes it much easier to move or copy data from one folder to another, and also makes browsing faster. Q-Dir supports different layouts with 2, 3 o 4 panes and each one of them can be configured separately.

The program doesn't really add any extra function to the ones already featured in Windows Explorer, but there's one special feature I did like: the possibility to show files in different colors according to the file type, such as blue for images, red for music and so on. Plus, this color code is totally customizable.

Q-Dir doesn't require installation and can even been run from a USB stick.

Though it doesn't feature any special tool, Q-Dir is still a more complete file manager with multiple panes and customizable color codes for file types.

Download Q-Dir 3.16 in Softonic

If you have to decompress files regularly, especially image files, you may find Zipeg interesting. It's definitely one of the nicest image decompressors I've used in a while and best of all, there's no registration or payment required.

The key feature of this program is a cool preview function which allows you to see what you are going to decompress before you do it. This is great if you can't remember what's in a file or are suspicious about its contents. It supports a huge variety of archive formats including:
ZIP, RAR, ARJ, LHA/LZH, 7z, TAR, GZ, TGZ, BZIP2, CPIO, RPM, ISO, CHM, Z, CBR, CBZ, WAR and EAR.

You can extract/unzip items simply by dragging them and the interface is remarkably easy to use and good looking. It can process archives in the background whilst you work, sorts content of folders by name, size or date and automatically checks for the latest updates.

This is one of the best image compression utilities out there although the thumbnails can take some time to appear when you select a file.

Download Zipeg 2.4 in Softonic

Neutron is a very simple and small time synchronizing program that retrieves the accurate time from one of several specialized time servers on the Internet. Once the network time has been retrieved the program can set your computer's clock to match it.

Options in the program enable you to automatically obtain the time from the time server and set your clock appropriately at program startup. It is also possible to have the program automatically exit after the time has been set and so is ideal for placing a shortcut in your Startup folder to sync your clock when your computer is started.

Neutron uses the standard Time protocol (TCP or UDP port 37). See RFC 868 for more details. The time retrieved from the network time server is given as the number of seconds since midnight on January 1st 1900. Since the protocol only allows accuracy down to the second you may not get the most accurate time possible but it is usually good enough to always be within about half a second of "true" time. Network latency is accommodated in the calculations involved in setting your computer clock.

Download Neutron 1.07 in Softonic

Think about it: during a complete working day on your computer you hardly use more than three of four folders, always the same ones, to open and save your documents. Wouldn't it be a good idea then to always have those folders at hand?

With PlacesBar Editor you can easily customize the standard Windows Open/Save dialogs and add your most frequently used folders to the left-side pane (the so called Places bar). This means that you'll be able to access your folders in just one click, instead of having to browse the whole disk structure every time you want to open or save a file. In other words, your workflow will be faster, easier and more productive.

The program lets you choose system folders (Desktop, My PC, My Documents and so on) and also any other folder on your hard drive. There's also a special area for Office shortcuts which you can configure if you use any Office suite app. I liked the "Defaults" function that lets you revert changes very easily, and also the "Test" function that enables you to check how your new places bar will look like. Just one thing: remember to click on "Save" before testing the new places bar; otherwise the changes you've made won't show up.

With PlacesBar Editor you can customize Windows dialogs with your most frequently used folders, thus improving your workflow and making it more productive.

Download Melloware PlacesBar Editor 1.0.9.59 in Softonic

Need to burn a CD or burn a DVD fast? Download and try Burn My Files: it's the one click CD and DVD burning software solution.

Burn My Files integrates with Windows Explorer. Select your file or folder, right click, and burn a CD or burn DVD. It's that simple. CD burning software and DVD burning software has never been made so easy. No more wasting time creating image files before your burn. Burn My Files writes directly to the CD or DVD.

Many DVD burning and CD burning software programs are unnecessarily complicated. If you don’t know what a ISO image is, or if CD Mastering is not your idea of a good time, then you can leave your troubles behind with Burn My Files. With just one click you can have your file or your folder burnt to CD or DVD straight from Windows Explorer.

Burn My Files does not waste time or system resources writing temporary files to the computer hard drive before the CD burn or DVD burn takes place. It writes data directly to the CD or DVD giving you an error free burn in the fastest possible time. This is new CD burning technology that was developed for our range of data recovery products where writing to the hard drive is not an option.

Download Burn My Files 3.0.1.77 in Softonic

With Vista becoming ever more widespread, users are demanding more control over how it is installed. vLite allows you to remove unwanted components in order to make Vista run faster and to your liking. Note that this is not a hacking tool - all files and registry entries are protected as they would be if you installed the unedited version only with the changes you select.

The program works by configuring the installation directly before the installation itself, meaning you'll have to remake the ISO and reinstall it. This method is much cleaner, not to mention easier and more logical than doing it after installation on every reinstall. You can select which components to remove but note that unchecking a component will not remove it. The developers say this has been done because not all components are supported by the program and disabling the check boxes removes any confusion. Be very careful when removing components however because they cannot be reinstalled afterwards. The program warns you to be careful with major components by displaying a "Caution!" warning label when you hover over it.

This is a great tool for Vista users but use it with care because if you remove something you didn't mean to, you'll end up doing the whole Vista installation over again.

Download vLite 1.2 Beta in Softonic