If you're on the move regularly or your hard drive is accessible by third parties, it's always vulnerable to attack.

One way to prevent possible compromises of your security is by encrypting data. TrueCrypt aims to do this by allowing you to encrypt data "on-the-fly". This means that data is automatically encrypted or decrypted immediately before they are loaded or saved without any input required from you. Nothing can be encrypted or decrypted without using the correct password or encryption keys. This encryption extends to entire file systems such as file names, folder names, file contents, free disk space etc. The good thing about this particular program is that it doesn't get in the way of you dragging and dropping files. Some encryption programmes that work on-the-fly prevent you from doing so easily or add a delay to the transfer but that's not the case with TrueCrypt. The other good thing is that TrueCrypt never saves any decrypted data to a disk – it only stores them temporarily in your RAM which is far more secure because when you restart Windows or turn off your computer, the volume will be dismounted and files stored in it will be inaccessible and still encrypted. The interface is a bit bland but at least it's simple enough to follow and not full of complicated encryption jargon.

A very solid encryption tool although the fact that it's open source means that it's vulnerable to modification which could compromise encryptions.

Download TrueCrypt 6.0a in Softonic

Few can dispute the fact that Apple created a flawless product when it built the iPod. However, the company did omit to include one feature that still bothers me. The legally-aware developer made it so that you couldn't copy tunes from your iPod onto another computer. OK, so it means everything is above board, but it also means that if you get a new computer or your hard drive fails, you have to build up your MP3 collection all over again. Luckily, there are now several programs available that let you copy your iPod tunes to any machine, and CopyTrans is a good example of one of these.

The process of synchronising your music with CopyTrans is a simple one and you can choose to archive your collection or import it into a new iTunes library. All you need to do is connect your iPod, wait for the program to scan the device, choose your transfer settings then wait for CopyTrans to work its magic.

It does take quite a long time to copy across the music, but the operation works very well and I experienced no problems other than that it didn't reproduce all of the album art I had. The program boasts some nice features such as selective transfers, incremental back-ups, and repair to damaged iPod databases.

If you're scared of losing all your iPod data then install CopyTrans and erase your worries with ease.

Download CopyTrans 2.590 in Softonic

The default Windows Task Manager has often been criticized for offering very scarce information about the currently active processes and apps on your system. This is why Task Manager Extension comes in very handy, chiefly for the most tech-savvy users.

Task Manager Extension is a standalone application – no installation required – that adds a bunch of new data to the Task Manager window, you know, the one you open by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del. As soon as you launch it, you'll notice some slight differences when comparing to the default task manager.

To begin with, each process is identified with the program's icon, which makes the list easy to browse. If you right click on any entry, a context menu opens up with a wide variety of commands: from a Properties window with highly detailed information about the selected process to the possibility to see associated threads, loaded drivers and other data.

Like I said before, while Task Manager Extension is certainly a very useful add-on for power users, it may be a bit too technical for more computer-challenged people. A good way to solve this gap would be to have two modes or interface types in the program: one for beginners, one for advanced users.

With Task Manager Extension you can power up the Windows default Task Manager, adding more functionality and information to it.

Download Task Manager Extension 2.1 in Softonic

VoptXP is an effective utility to defragment your disk drives with no need to use the tool incorporated in your operating system. The defragmenting of a hard disk is a slow process and VoptXP does not perform miracles but it is certainly quicker than Windows own defrag tool.

It works by re-alligning the data that is totally safe and making a new copy of it before doing so in case of any interruption during the process that could ruin it. In addition, you can program it so that it acts once a week or moves archives bigger than a certain amount or to even exclude smaller files. A smarter way to defrag your drive.

Download VoptXP 9.05 in Softonic

SQLyog is an easy-to-use, compact and very fast graphical tool to manage your MySQL database anywhere in the world. There are a number of features designed to help you speed up your database development.

Top tools include:

• Shortcuts to quickly generate SQL statements and paste object names
• Learn MySQL by looking at the SQL generated by SQLyog
• Multi-tab query editor and result-set editor
• Multiple Query Execution
• Multi-threaded query execution with option to stop long running queries
• SQL templates
• Excel-style grid interface to view/update resultsets
• Multi-format blob editor
• View data in grid/text mode
• Support for all MySQL table handlers

Download SQLyog 7.11 in Softonic

Tor is one of the most widely used anonymous surfing proxy servers used on the web and as the name suggests, OperaTor is designed for the specific needs of the Opera browser.

OperaTor is a portable software bundle which allows you to browse the web anonymously and actually combines Opera, Tor and Polipo. The developers assure that no privacy data is stored on the computer that you plug your OperaTor pendrive into. You'll experience no difference in browsing other than every HTTP request will be conducted from an anonymous IP - great if you want to hide surfing habits or prevent yourself being tracked.

The application is pretty much a plug-and-play design although note that the only protocols which OperaTor anonymizes are HTTP and HTTPS. This means that it's wise to turn off other Opera features such as Java, JavaScript and other integrated elements. In addition, some sites simply won't accept anonymous surfing via Tor. This is obviously a real pain if you want a to visit a Java enabled website and something that should definitely be fixed in future releases.

If you use Opera regularly but want to ensure your privacy then OperaTor is a quick, easy and portable solution.

Download OperaTor 3.2 in Softonic

It hasn't taken long for developers to embrace Google Chrome and ChromePass is a small password recovery tool that allows you to view the user names and passwords stored by the Google Chrome Web browser.

For each password entry information is displayed about the Origin URL, the Action URL, the User Name Field, the Password Field, the User Name, Password, and Created Time. There's not much more to it than that. You do have the option to save the data however - simply select one or more items and then save them into a text, HTML or XML file or alternatively, copy them to the clipboard.

The handy thing is that ChromePass doesn't need any kind of installation - you can simply run the executable file and the main window will display all passwords that are currently stored in your Google Chrome browser. This obviously means it can fit on a USB stick easily too.

ChromePass can be used as a handy backup tool for your usernames and passwords but in the wrong hands, it could also seriously compromise your security.

Download ChromePass 1.0 in Softonic

Over the years Nero has evolved from being a simple CD burner in its earlier versions to becoming the complete multimedia suite we find in its latest version, Nero 9.

As well as the classic Nero Burning ROM tool – which now includes support for Blu-Ray – Nero 9 includes pretty much everything you need to make the most of your music, photos, videos and creativity. You'll be able to carry out complete multimedia projects, from ripping your favorite audio CDs and mixing the tracks with Nero SoundTrax to creating videos with your photos, and even design CD artwork (top and back covers, booklet and CD sticker) by yourself with Nero CoverDesigner.

All these tools are conveniently available from Nero StartSmart, a handy app launcher with two main toolbars: on top of the window, shortcuts to Nero's apps; on the left-side menu, direct access to the most frequent tasks (data burning, audio burning, copy disc, etc.) than open right on StartSmart's main area.

Nero 9 features other interesting tools that try to cover even more areas. You can use the built-in Nero Backup tool to make safety copies of your most important data, for example. Nero also includes an embedded video player and a photo editor (known as Nero PhotoSnap) though these two apps are quite basic and could have probably been left out without much remorse for the user.

Talking about extra apps, Nero has often been accused of being bloatware, and this version won't change that. It does include a large array of tools, though to be honest they're all quite straightforward and easy to use. I guess the discussion about complexity versus simplicity will still go on, but my view is that Nero 9 is no longer a simple burning tool: it's a full-featured suite that happens to include a burning app, plus many other features that make it an excellent application for all your multimedia projects.

Nero 9 follows the trend of previous versions and adds even more features. If you only need a DVD burning tool, look elsewhere; but if you're looking for a complete multimedia suite, this is your program.

Download Nero 9.0.9.4b in Softonic

For anyone involved in software reviewing like the team at Softonic, annotations of screenshots and other data are essential in day-to-day work.

The same goes for anyone who regularly has to use presentations and other graphical displays to share information. ZoomIt aims to make presentations and annotations easy enough for anyone to illustrate and add comments and annotations to their presentations and screenshots. The first time you run ZoomIt, you're presented with a configuration dialog that gives you some tips on what the program can do and how it should be used. During this time, you're also offered the chance to specify alternate hotkeys for zooming in and out and for entering drawing mode without zooming. In addition, you can customise the drawing pen color and size although this is one aspect where ZoomIt could do with some work as both the sizes and colour palette is rather limited. There's also what the program calls a "break timer" that remains active even when you tab away from the timer window but then allows you to return to the timer window by clicking on the ZoomIt tray icon.

This is by no means the most advanced screen annotation utility you'll ever use but for simple arrow pointing and circling of certain facts and figures, it does a quick and efficient job.

Download ZoomIt 2.11 in Softonic

GetDataBack will recover your data if the hard drive's partition table, boot record, FAT/MTF or root directory are lost or damaged, data is lost due to a virus attack, the drive was formatted, fdisk has been run, a power failure has caused a system crash, files were lost due to a software failure, files were accidentally deleted.

Advanced algorithms will make sure that all directories and sub directories are put together as they were, and that long file names are reconstructed correctly. GetDataBack is read-only, meaning the program will never attempt to write to the drive you are about to recover.

Download GetDataBack for NTFS 3.63 in Softonic

GetDataBack will recover your data if the hard drive's partition table, boot record, FAT/MTF or root directory are lost or damaged, data lost due to a virus attack, the drive was formatted, fdisk has been run, a power failure has caused a system crash, files were lost due to a software failure, files were accidentally deleted.

GetDataBack can even recover your data when the drive is no longer recognized by Windows. It can likewise be used even if all directory information - not just the root directory- is missing.

The software enables the regular user to conduct his own data recovery by guiding him through five easy to understand steps, thus gives the advanced user the possibility to interfere with the recovery and improve the results, by examining the scan log, the file system details, file and directory information, by selecting the sector range to be scanned, by choosing excessive search for file systems or search for lost files, by calling Runtime's DiskExplorer.

Download GetDataBack for FAT 3.63 in Softonic

Stealing the crown from WinZip, the previously undisputed king of file compression apps, WinRAR is a must-have in any modern-day PC toolkit. The application not only includes support for extracting virtually any kind of file compression format, it also boasts a no-nonsense approach to reducing file sizes.

Some will argue that the application isn’t as quick as WinZip at compressing files. However, for the small lag in time difference, you end up with a significantly smaller archived file at the end of the process with WinRAR. What’s more, the application allows you to save files into both ZIP and RAR formats, with a multitude of options for speeding up compression times, or reducing file sizes at the expense of a few more seconds.

Although many newcomers might be put off by the sheer range of features and settings within the program, the interface doesn’t take long to get accustomed to, and if you’re still really stuck there’s a simple wizard-based system that walks you through the process of extracting or compressing. All this adds up to make WinRAR a dependable utility that performs better than any other tool in its class.

Download WinRAR 3.80 in Softonic

Have you ever wanted to LoadScout is a smart program designed to help you browse the web and FTP sites.

If so, then you'll need LoadScout which allows you to access information from any remote media or archive without the need to download it. Basically, it works by downloading only a small part of a file and then extracting the required data. It works very well in Internet Explorer although unfortunately it doesn't integrate into Firefox at all.

So what are the practical uses of LoadScout? Well, if you want to download an Mp3 or image from a sever, you can use it to preview exactly what it is before downloading the whole thing saving you a hell of a lot of time. LoadScout also includes it's own FTP client and download manager so you can use it to download the full file if you want. Finally, it also supports all types of proxy: FTP, HTTP and SOCKS and will let you save frequently visited sites into the favorites folder.

LoadScout is a great way to preview files on FTP servers without the need to download them whole.

Download LoadScout 2.0 in Softonic

As mobile phones become ever smarter, more and more of us are using our devices as mini computers. But how easy do you find it to share data from your Windows machine with your mobile? Not very, I reckon.

Until now, only Windows Mobile users have really had any kind of standardized platform for transferring files and synchronizing contacts between a PC and a handheld device: using Microsoft ActiveSync. Not any more though, because Microsoft Phone Data Manger enables data sharing between Windows and a wide variety of different phones and PDAs.

Microsoft Phone Data Manger is specifically designed to transfer contacts, photos, music and video from your device to your PC, and to synchronize your phone's contacts with your Windows Live contacts. This is great for users of the service, as it ensures you have access to your phone book when you don't have it to hand, and means that your contacts are kept safe in the vent of you losing your mobile. Of course, this is only good if you use Windows Live, because Microsoft Phone Data Manager doesn't support GMail, Yahoo! or any other webmail provider.

The key to Microsoft Phone Data Manager lies in its simplicity. The application detects any device connected, provided it supports the SyncML standard - check the Microsoft website to see if your device does. You'll need to connect via Bluetooth or USB cable in order to perform syncs. Syncing in Phone Data Manager is a real breeze. You simply double-click on the device you wish to hook up to, then choose whether you want to sync your contacts or back up your files. Enter your Windows Live (or Hotmail) ID and the program will automatically share your contacts between your phone and the email service.

Microsoft Phone Data Manager is still in beta, so it isn't perfect. There are a few interface glitches, such as the screwy Live ID entry screen, and the fact that there aren't any advanced features like a proper file explorer.

On the whole, however, Microsoft Phone Data Manager provides a fast and reliable way of syncing contacts and backing up files.

Download Microsoft Phone Data Manager Beta in Softonic

We're not always as careful as we should be with out secret data. Some people even have the bad habit of jotting down usernames, passwords, PIN numbers and other sensitive data on a post-it note that they just leave lying around.

If this sounds like you, you'd better take a look at LockCrypt right away. This app can handle all your private data and keep it safe and sound in an encrypted database, either based on a TXT file or a MySQL document (which makes it suitable for both the beginner and the advanced user).

LockCrypt features a bunch of different categories for your information: credit card numbers, login data for websites, email accounts, doctor's prescriptions, etc. What's more, you can easily create your own categories and thus tailor the program to suit your needs. It also lets you export information to several different formats, as well as sync the database with and Windows Mobile and Java-enabled handheld devices.

As you can see, LockCrypt is not just a password manager; in fact its password management feature seems quite basic when compared to other similar tools. But the program makes up for it by offering you an additional Firefox add-on that enables LockCrypt to work better with the browser.

LockCrypt is a safe vault for any kind of confidential data. Plus you can manage your passwords in Firefox, and sync data with your mobile device.

Download LockCrypt 1.83 in Softonic

MSD Tasks Multiuser is a graphics work planner that allows you to visually schedule work tasks. The difference between this and the standard MSD Tasks program is that this version allows several users to share information in a local area network with user access control. It's great for bosses, managers and staff that need to collaborate, organise a rota or working schedule. The program can be used as an electronic appointment calendar, administer customer contacts or help project manager when organizing the activities of a team.

The developers assure that security is guaranteed as all data can be protected and encrypted by password. You can assign it to automatically manage work order numbers and print work order reports. All the records in the program can contain an unlimited history meaning you need never lose another rota or shift pattern.

The software is basically based on two concepts - the working groups on one hand and their tasks on the other hand. It does not however play a role as to whether a team works together on a project or individual coworkers separate tasks. The progress of individual projects can be pursued in detail and so in a glance, you can see how well a team is doing. All data is presented in graphical form and to leave despite innumerable factors clearly to present itself.

MSD Tasks Multiuser is a great tool for those that have to manage sizable teams or want to find a better way of tracking employee progress.

Download MSD Organizer Multiuser 9.10 in Softonic

MSD Tasks Multiuser is a graphics work planner that allows you to visually schedule work tasks. It's great for bosses, managers and staff that need to collaborate, organise a rota or working schedule. The program can be used as an electronic appointment calendar, administer customer contacts or help project manager when organizing the activities of a team.

The developers assure that security is guaranteed as all data can be protected and encrypted by password. You can assign it to automatically manage work order numbers and print work order reports. All the records in the program can contain an unlimited history meaning you need never lose another rota or shift pattern.

The software is basically based on two concepts - the working groups on one hand and their tasks on the other hand. It does not however play a role as to whether a team works together on a project or individual coworkers separate tasks. The progress of individual projects can be pursued in detail and so in a glance, you can see how well a team is doing. All data is presented in graphical form and to leave despite innumerable factors clearly to present itself.

MSD Tasks Multiuser is a great tool for those that have to manage sizable teams or want to find a better way of tracking employee progress.

Download MSD Tasks Multiuser 5.10 in Softonic

The worst part of buying a new computer is the fact that you have to backup your stuff in the old PC and move it all to the new one. Luckily there are some software apps that can help you with that.

One of them is FEBE, which stands for Firefox Environment Backup Extension. As it name states, this Firefox add-on lets you create a backup copy of all the important information in your browser (bookmarks, extensions, preferences, themes, cookies and more) and restore it in a different location, all in a very easy way.

With FEBE you can then have a perfectly synchronized copy of Firefox in each one of your computers, be it your desktop and laptop or home and office computers. It's also a great tool to have a backup copy of your browser just in case it crashes or if you want to test new versions without taking any risks. And if you can't be bothered creating a backup copy by yourself, use FEBE's scheduling tool and let the extension take care of it.

FEBE is seamlessly integrated into Firefox interface: open the Tools menu and you'll be able to access the extension's options menu and main functions. The only drawback we could find to the extension is the sounds played by the program when displaying any warning: they're a bit annoying so remember to turn them off in the settings menu.

If you want to have a complete backup copy of all your Firefox data or need to move Firefox settings from one PC to another, this is the tool you're looking for.

Download FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) 6.0.3 in Softonic

When Google suddenly entered the battle of the browsers with Chrome, many users expressed their concern about security and privacy issues. If you're among them, you'll be happy to learn about the launch of Iron.

Iron is a modified version of Chrome's source code that removes all the components in the original browser that collect usage data. This means that Iron blocks the unique user ID, doesn't send user-specific data to Google, disables the report-on-crash feature and doesn't connect to Google to check for updates.

Personally I don't see that much danger in leaving those features enabled, but I can understand there are people who might be worried about their privacy when surfing the web. As for the rest, Iron remains pretty much a Chrome clone, with the same clean interface, the Omnibar, the thumbnails homepage and even the Incognito function. In fact, the only problem you may find with Iron is language: the program runs in English, but the developer's website, installation and documentation are all in German.

If you don't agree with Chrome's privacy policy, get Iron: a web browser with Chrome's look and feel but without all the data-collecting elements.

Download SRWare Iron 0.2.152.0 in Softonic

PFrank is simple but convenient way to change and alter multiple files in one go without having to go through them one by one.

The developer claims to have been motivated by the lack of a decent renaming program as most have to be run with multiple passes using different sets of renaming sequences until finally getting the required names. PFrank allows you to rename everything you want to in one go using a Windows Explorer style interface. However, it does have a lot of options for deciding how and what type of files you want to rename which can be a bit tricky. For this reason, the developer has started a forum which deals with most of the main problems. Particularly with the new features that have been added, you may experience problems. These include the new plugin for insertion of meta data from raw image files (e.g. cr2, nef, sr2) and a much improved undo facility, new filters, new positioning controls and the ability for users to plug in their own renaming commands. There's also a recently added custom list manager for managing any number of custom lists for repeat file changing.

For those that do a lot of file changing and renaming, PFrank is an excellent mass file name changer that will ensure you save time.

Download PFrank 2.24 in Softonic