Windows desktop search

On my office laptop, soon after OS (Windows) installation, immediate software I install after that is “Windows Desktop Search”. I have compared with other desktop search tools Google Desktop Search, Copernic desktop search. Windows desktop search stands out with some very good features. Two most important features are – search results display and search keywords support. Only thing I like about Google Desktop search is the ‘Ctrl-Ctrl’ to get the search strip to type. That is cool.

I would recommend this software to anyone who are lazy to create folders (emails, documents, etc) and whose computer has 1GB or more RAM.

If you use Microsoft Outlook (for official purposes) on your computer, recommend you to add your GMail, Yahoo accounts to Outlook. Then you can search all your email communication using Windows desktop search. For those Yahoo users who don’t have POP3 access free, please refer to my earlier post – FreePOPs. Easy to use and effective.

Will add examples of search keywords and use of Windows Desktop Search in another post later.

DeepBurner

CD and DVD burner freeware that can burn content in multiple sessions. Interface is simple and you can drag and drop files from Windows Explorer to burn CD/DVD.

DeepBurner has capability to burn CD/DVD, create an Audio CD or burn from iso. If the content you want to burn is less than capacity of CD / DVD, choose the option of multi session disk. If the CD/DVD is already burnt with some content, be careful to choose ‘Append session’.

Taskbar Calculator

Simple calculator in the task bar that appears as simple text field. You can enable and disable appearance in taskbar, by right clicking taskbar, choose ‘Taskbar Calculator’ in the ‘Toolbar’ menu item.

Mathematical functions supported are, basic arithmetic, square root, Inverse, percentage, Decimal to hex conversion. Refer to README for special keys and mapping to function.

Screenshot of taskbar calculator. My taskbar is vertical and to the left of the screen. I have an analog clock instead of default Windows digital clock.

Folder Guide

Microsoft Windows creates ‘My Documents’ folder for each user and sub-folders like ‘My Pictures’, ‘My Templates’, etc. Usually users might have different directory to store files, which necessarily not be under ‘My Documents’. For operations such as ‘Open’ a folder and ‘Save As’, users needs to navigate to sub-folder deep inside.

For example, my frequently accessed directory could be:

D:\JANARDAN\DOWNLOADS\TORRENTS\BOOKS\

You can see that every time I need to access my sub-folder BOOKS, I need to navigate in GUI from D:, then JANARDAN, then DOWNLOADS, then TORRENTS, then BOOKS.

Instead with Folder Guide, you can right click in Windows Explorer the sub-folder BOOKs and ‘Add to Folder Guide’. Folder Guide software helps you to make ‘BOOKS’ folder available quickly either right clicking on Desktop or right click in ‘Save As’ window to select ‘BOOKS’ folder.

Very useful and convenient software. I recommend users to try it.

dirLock

This freeware help you keep your password files, personal pictures, confidential folders well protected. There are many other uses for boys, but I will stick to utility of the program :-)

This program can make folders ‘locked’ and even ‘hidden’ with password protection. You can Lock/Unlock folders from Windows Explorer context menu. Small and simple.

Blaze – Automated Desktop Experience

This freeware is an enhancement over the Launchy. This is much more superior in functionality. The key feature is to launch a program, just by typing few key strokes. No need to use mouse. Press the short-cut key, default is CTRL-ALT-SPACE. You will get a small pop-up window of Blaze. Type “Inter” to launch “Internet Explorer”. Blaze is smart. It will remember history and can suggest you “Internet Explorer”, just even by typing “I”. It will expect to application “Internet Explorer” if that is the most used.

Second biggest feature is the ‘File Search’ functionality. It not only suggests programs, but also file name. You can choose to ‘catalog’ a directory where you store your documents. By typing few characters, Blaze will suggest you set of files that you may want to open. Best match should more probably what you want to open. This could be your miniature program if you do not want the overhead of dedicated desktop search applications like ‘Windows Desktop Search’ and ‘Google Desktop Search’.

Now comes the cool feature. The program helps you type frequently types text with a short cut. For example, I type my post address in most emails to my family or friends, I can use Blaze to remember that text. I can store is under keyword (say) ‘address’. To type that text in any window next time, I press the key combination CTRL-ALT-SPACE to invoke Blaze. Then type ‘insert address’. insert is a command followed by the keyword. In the window I am in, say Notepad or Email, it will insert my address. Many other cases you will find it useful are for storing frequently typed phone numbers, or template in emails. I write lot of complaint letters to telecom and utility service providers. Most of the times I forget to add my account number or phone number. So, I prepare a template including my signature and contact number.

Next is the coolest of features. It is still not it perfect shape, but a leap towards ‘intelligent’ applications. Blaze keeps monitoring of key strokes you are pressing. If it sees a pattern or a cycle. For example, in an Excel sheet you are deleting every third row. So, you press ‘down arrow’ twice and press ‘delete’ a cell. Blaze recognizes and the tray icons becomes YELLOW. It is an indication, it sensed a pattern. You can press CAPS-LOCK twice and a window pops-up giving sequence and number of times you want to repeat it.

It is not easy to find Blaze EXE with simple google searches. You will get all except this application. Directly go to below link and start BLAZING !!

http://blaze-wins.sourceforge.net/

Tata Photon+ - High Speed Internet (EV-DO)

I purchased recently the Tata Photon+ High Speed Internet broadband Device. The product vendor is Huawei and service provider is Tata Tele Services. The device cost now is around Rs.2,499/- They have various plans based on time limit and download limit.

Speeds:

• At home I get signal strength (93% - 99%). The speeds I am getting are 300 kbps to 1200 kbps download. I was able to download  105 MB of puppy linux in around 20 minutes. Average download speed would have been around 660 kbps.
• Overall browsing speed and experience is great.
• Since the device is USB based, the power problems at home are isolated with this device. Normally external broadband modems will need power.

Cons:

• I have tried the Photon TV trial offer of watching TV using Photon+ device. I would rate the experience as poor. Though the device is theoretically capable of 3.2 Mbps download, I still experience buffering problem like my broadband.
• Watching YouTube. There is some weird problem with this device. I use Opera for browsing. When I visit YouTube to experience high-speed, I see serious problems. The video does not play at all. This may be specific to my setup and may not be device problem. But I will check again and update this blog. If anyone else faced the problem, please comment.
• I use broadband for voice over IP calls connecting to office network. There is a real serious problem here. When I am in conference call, I can hear other talk very clear. But when I speak they hear my voice breaking. This has been the case last one week. As a technology EV-DO has higher download rate than upload. But it is hard for me to understand that uplink is not even capable of taking voice clearly.