Note: PC User provides these programs on an as is basis, and they should be used with extreme care. While they have all worked fine in testing, we cannot promise that they will work as expected on all systems. In rare cases they may even cause some damage.

Angela Booth finds shareware and freeware for Windows 95, 3.1 and DOS to suit all tastes.

Windows 95
Windows NT 4.0
Windows 3.1

Showcalc
URL: http://www.ganggang.com.au
Registered price: Freeware
Rating:

If you're tired of the wimpy Windows calculator, try this great free Australian product. Showcalc offers complete calculating power and also creates a printable adding machine-style tape so that you have a complete record of your calculations. You can either print the tape or copy it into other Windows programs.

StepUp 98
URL: www.winability.com
Registered price: $45
Rating:

StepUp 98 is a suite of utilities designed to enhance Windows 95. The utilities include: StepUp Menu, accessed via the context or taskbar menu, which contains commands to process files or folders, run programs, access items on the Internet and more; Folder Navigator, which allows you to quickly access recently-used folders; File Handler, which has many operations similar to Windows Explorer; and Taskbar Icon Handler, which allows you to access all the icons on your desktop from the System Tray. You can use StepUp 98 both on a single machine or on a network — if it's used on a network, each machine can have its own privately configured version of StepUp 98.

Blanch
URL: http://www.cam.org/~oneguy
Registered price: $27
Rating:

Blanch is a small, simple, but very powerful toolbar. It's a breeze to drag executable files, their associated documents, and folders etc onto the toolbar to create new buttons. The buttons you create may be grouped in 'pages'. Blanch can be run as a floating toolbar or you can hide it.

Powerdesk Utilities 98
URL: www.mijenix.com
Registered price: $70
Rating:

This is the latest version of the Powerdesk Utilities, a superb suite of products to enhance your desktop. Included are Powerdesk itself, which is a file manager with many improvements over Windows Explorer, such as a drive bar, launch bar, archive management and more. Also included is the Powerdesk Toolbar, which allows you to create as many customised toolbars as you need; the Folder Synchronizer, which allows you to compare and synchronise the files in two or more folders; the Size Manager, which shows you where and how the space on each of your drives is being used; the File Finder, similar to the native Windows product of the same name but with added features; and the Dialog Helper, which enhances dialogue boxes for you.

ScreamSaver
URL: www.infinn.com
Registered price: $30
Rating:

ScreamSaver encourages you to take breaks from your computer. You configure the program to give you prompts at set periods (such as each half-hour). At these breaks the program prompts you to exercise and it includes many useful exercises for you to do. A great program which ensures that you stay healthy while you use your computer.

Clip Cache
URL: http://www.xrayz.demon.co.uk
Registered price: Freeware
Rating:

Although it's free, Clip Cache is a big improvement on other clipboard extenders because it has the standard Windows 95 look and feel, with drag and drop, property pages and right-click context menus. The three-pane Explorer-like interface lets you manage your clips easily by sorting them into categories and groups. You can paste your clips via hotkeys or by accessing the program's window from the system tray.

CD-Quick Cache for Windows 95
URL: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/circuitsys
Registered price: $45
Rating:

If your CD drive is slow and irritating, this program provides the cure. The program stores data frequently accessed from your CD-ROM in RAM or in a combination of RAM and hard disk space. Additionally, the cache remembers data from CD-ROMs from session to session so that you can swap CD-ROMs and get right to work. The program is compatible with almost all CD-ROM drives and works seamlessly so that you don't even know that you're using it — all you will notice is the dramatic improvement in the way your CD-ROMs work. You can configure the program so that it works optimally with your system and it includes various additional utilities to make your use of the program as easy as possible.

The fixer fixed
In addition to Regedit, the registry editor that is automatically installed with Windows 95, Microsoft early in the piece released a piece of freeware for automatic repairs to the Registry. This was Regclean. It fell into disuse when it was realised that it was not compatible with Internet Explorer 4 and did serious damage to the registry in systems with IE4.

Well, that's been fixed now. Microsoft has released version 4.1a, which is compatible with IE4 and indeed also handles the different Registry structure of Windows 98. Regclean is available for downloading from Microsoft's Web site and you'll also find it on our cover CD. Regclean is not a 'magic bullet'. It will not repair a corrupt Registry but it will fix many if not all incorrect entries and delete a lot of redundant lines to trim the Registry file size.

Thunderbyte 8.05
Registered price: $POA
From: Thunderbyte Australia (07) 3204 5000, http://www.thunderbyte.com
Rating:

From our experience, one of the most reliable virus scanners around. Thunderbyte will detect all known viruses, plus guard against new and unknown viruses. For full protection and virus cleaning capabilities you will need to register, but the shareware version will alert you to any virus you may have and offer several options to getting rid of it.

PaintShop Pro 5
Registered price: $110
From: Communique (02) 9622 5624, http://www.comm-unique.com.au/
Rating:

PaintShop Pro has always been our favourite graphic file viewer and converter, but in this latest version, this shareware program is now a comprehensive graphics package. As well as providing a Browse utility for managing graphics files, it lets you create and save graphics in the GIF and JPG formats common on the Web. It also provides image manipulation tools that'll let you grab an image and edit it to your heart's content.

Thunderbyte 8.05
Registered price: $POA
From: Thunderbyte Australia (07) 3204 5000, http://www.thunderbyte.com
Rating:

From our experience, one of the most reliable virus scanners around. Thunderbyte will detect all known viruses, plus guard against new and unknown viruses. For full protection and virus cleaning capabilities you will need to register, but the shareware version will alert you to any virus you may have and offer several options to getting rid of it.

Global TimePiece
URL: www.hotfiles.com
Registered price: $35
Rating:

Global TimePiece gives you an easy way to find the date and time anywhere on the globe; it also tells you whether Daylight Savings Time is in operation. It covers cities located in 200 countries. Just select your location city from the list of 1250. You also get the exchange rate, however, you should use this as a guide only; check with your bank for the current rate.

Thunderbyte 8.05
Registered price: $POA
From: Thunderbyte Australia (07) 3204 5000, http://www.thunderbyte.com
Rating:

From our experience, one of the most reliable virus scanners around. Thunderbyte will detect all known viruses, plus guard against new and unknown viruses. For full protection and virus cleaning capabilities you will need to register, but the shareware version will alert you to any virus you may have and offer several options to getting rid of it.