Utilities - March '98

This month we bring you the latest trial versions from our Anti-Virus and utilities feature, plus our comprehensive pick of older ones, with the latest available versions for all.

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.

Windows 95

New
CleanSweep Deluxe Cybermedia Uninstaller Norton Uninstall DeluxeDr Solomon Anti-Virus Norton AntiVirus 4.0 McAfee VirusScan Norman Virus Control Thunderbyte 8.04 Anti-Virus Pro (AVP) Norton CrashGuard Deluxe 3.0 Windows 95 Collection One ClipPlus WebTurbo ThumbsPlus 3.10

Old
Recent Documents Password Tracker Deluxe Any97 1.1 WinSpace DFM-95 (Directory File Manager) FileNotes 3.1a QuickShell v1.04 Visual Copy 2.0 Panorama 32 Flashview QuikLink Explorer Gold Calypso Pumpkin DeskBrain v.40 Elbow Room CoolEdit Microsoft RegClean 4.1  Stiletto 98a  Square One   SmartBoard32 Clipboard Extender Add/Remove Cleaner Turbo Browser 98Second Copy 97 Fix-It for Windows 95 Resource Monitor Allfile Notes TurboZIP 97 SmilerShell 95Windows Commander 32 Desk Tidy for Windows 95Powermarks File Fission Wizard File-Ex for Windows 95 More Space 95 PowerDesk Utilities ZTreeWin Super NoteTab PaintShop Pro WinZip 6.3 QuickTime 2.1.2 for Windows

CleanSweep from Quarterdeck is a heavy-duty system cleaner that does much more than just uninstall programs. It certainly does that, with the aid of a background program that analyses every program as it's installed. Already installed programs can also be examined exhaustively; there's an option to be extra thorough at the expense of extra time – minutes well spent, as you'll only need to do it when you first clean up your system.

It's a complete and comprehensive uninstaller that removes everything associated with a program up to and including Directory entries. It has an active 'safety catch' that you can set so that only guaranteed safe items are removed or taken off, so that you can use your own judgement – except for active system files, which are Untouchable, and rightly so, too.

Like Uninstaller, CleanSweep knows about the desktop and non-standard Start menus, and can be set to remove every program in a Start menu sub-folder without having to select one shortcut at a time.

Complete programs can be uninstalled and archived, just archived, just uninstalled, moved or transported and the same applies to individual files. CleanSweep has powerful filters for finding orphans as well as under-used, unused and redundant files of many types and can display the links joining program modules. Again like Uninstaller, it misses system links and you need to do some research of your own to make sure before you delete something that is listed as 'surplus to requirements'.

When it comes to removing rubbish from the Registry, I have to hand the crown to CleanSweep; it found 168 dead Registry references on my system after all the other programs (including stablemate WinProbe95) had had a go. Because it's less conservative, it needs to be handled with greater care; because it's more thorough, it's slower – but if it's deep down clean you want, CleanSweep is for you.

CleanSweep has dial-up upgrading via the Internet, which worked without a hitch and fully automatically.

The Registry Genie is a full Registry editor, and like the others, it's powerful but doesn't explain a lot and it's up to the user to find out what the codes mean.

This 14-day trial of UnInstaller empowers you to safely delete the junk files that accumulate on your PC. UnInstaller is the ideal cleaner for a messy PC. When your trial period is complete, you can pick up a full copy of UnInstaller online or at your local retailer.

Here's what UnInstaller can do for you:

• Uninstalls any application -- even those that Windows can't.
• Identifies duplicate and junk files that can be safely deleted.
• Moves applications to another folder, drive or computer -- with all links intact.
• Updates itself with exclusive Oil Change technology.
• It's the only software in its category that won't delete critical files.

System Requirements:
IBM PC or 100% compatible; Intel 486 DX or higher, Pentium recommended; Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0; 8 MB free hard disk space; Minimum 8 MB RAM for Windows 95, 16 MB RAM for NT 4.0; VGA or higher resolution video adapter Internet connection enhances certain features

Key Features of Norton Uninstall Deluxe for Windows 95/NT 4.0:

• InstallGuard™ -- unique to Norton Uninstall Deluxe - enables you to remove the last installation
  and return your system to its original state. All files that were overwritten or changed will be replaced with the original files. This unique "undo" feature gives users a risk-free test drive for any new installation.
• SafetyScan ensures accurate knowledge of your system and configuration for a safe and complete
• Remove, Move, Copy and Store of all applications and files -- even those that were on the system before Norton Uninstall Deluxe.
• System Monitor provides the ability to monitor installations so you can safely and thoroughly remove them with InstallGuard if you encounter any problems.
• Folder Selection -- unique to Norton Uninstall Deluxe - allows you to Remove, Move, Copy and Store by sub folders, not just application group, application or file. This makes it especially easy to remove suite components, or data files that are stored in a folder within an application group
• Autoclean -- unique to Norton Uninstall Deluxe - provides a fast, easy way to automatically free up space on the hard disk by removing unnecessary files (e.g., recycle bin files, temp files, zero byte files, etc.) each time you boot up your computer. 
• Automatic Backup provides an extra safety net by automatically saving a compressed backup for every removal Norton Uninstall Deluxe makes. If you choose, you can deselect Automatic Backup.
• Disk Data and Reports provide graphic views of the scanned drives and Norton Uninstall Deluxe
  activities to help users monitor their space usage and plan their cleanup activities.

System Requirements:
256 color VGA or better video; IBM PC or 100% compatible; Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0; 80486 or higher; 8MB of RAM for Win 95, 16MB of RAM for Win NT; 10MB hard disk space required; CD-ROM Drive

Note: PC User recommends you install only one of these virus scanners at a time as they may interfere with one another. If you want to try them all out we suggest you uninstall any previous one before installing another

This version of Norton AntiVirus 4.0 for Windows 95 features new Electronic Unlocking technology which allows you to purchase the full version of Norton AntiVirus 4.0 without further downloads,or having to wait for full boxed product. This is a 30-day "locked" version of Norton AntiVirus 4.0 for Windows 95.

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.

Another of the better Anti-Virus programs around. This 30-day EVALUATION copy of AntiViral Toolkit Pro by Eugene Kaspersky has a limited lifespan! and has been especially provided for PC User Readers

After expiry the program will work ONLY as a demonstration copy ... file cleaning, virus disinfection, internal scanning of archived and packed files, heuristic analysis, and some other features will be disabled.

To license AVP in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific region, or South East Asia, see the textfiles ORDER.TXT and PRICE.LST files after installation

Finds and fixes problems before they cause your system to crash. Recovers from application crashes and freezes, so you can save your work.  Works behind the scenes, to protect you and your system.

After 30-days, follow the instructions for purchase to unlock the product, and receive a coupon for 6 months' free subscription to Norton Web Services, featuring LiveUpdate Pro.

Note: Multimedia videos not included in the online version of Norton CrashGuard Deluxe

If you're bored with Windows 95, this freeware collection of goodies gives you lots of ways to enhance your desktop. Included are desktop themes, wallpapers, Web and Internet tips, new startup and shutdown logos and much more. You'll even find instructions on how to create your own desktop themes.

ClipPlus is a simple but powerful program that basically stores everything you send to the clipboard. It's very handy if you're adding boilerplate text to documents or working on the Internet. You can save clips with aliases so that they're available to you as long as the program is running.

WebTurbo is a great freeware addition to the Netscape Navigator browser. It provides a separate window in which you can search using the major search engines; when you choose a site, WebTurbo will provide an expandable outline of the entire site, with information on what each page contains. This saves you a lot of wasted time, because you no longer have to look at each page individually.
This update contains several new features, expanding on ways in which you can save the information that you've found.

ThumbsPlus is a popular graphic file viewer and organiser, and this new version corrects some deficiencies and offers new features. Basically the program simplifies finding and maintaining graphics files, fonts and animations. It will scan entire disks or the directories of your choice, then display thumbnails of the files. Options include: browsing, viewing, editing, and cropping image files, as well as launching external editors and more. You can also use drag-and-drop to create your own albums of graphics.

Latest versions of our pick of Older Utilities

The Documents option on the Windows 95 Start menu is so inadequate, you probably never bother with it. Recent Documents enhances and replaces the Documents menu. The program allows you to view your documents in various formats, group them into groups you define, maintain document histories, and filter them (by date, category etc). Initially the program works automatically, much as the Documents menu does, however you can modify this using various options.

Password Tracker Deluxe does what its name suggests. However, it also does a lot more. For example, it will automatically generate passwords for you, and it will also prompt you to change your passwords every thirty days. The program is very easy to use, because password-creation is handled by a wizard, which asks you for input throughout the process. To enter a password, you can simply select the alias from a list. As well as storing your passwords, the program will also send text to program dialogue boxes, and it can even launch a program or an URL.

Theoretically, Windows 95 makes it easy to share information between applications. In practice, it's not that easy. Copy and paste from one application to another and what you end up with may be a weird mish-mash that takes time to set right. Any97 lets you pick up data, and transfer it (formatted in the destination application's style), to that application. You can send the material to documents, to e-mail, or to a printer, and sending the information is as simple as selecting it, and clicking your mouse. The information may be text, numbers, or images. For example, you can select stock prices from a Web page, and paste them into an Excel worksheet, already formatted for Excel. As well as making the sharing of information easier, Any97 has lots of other features.

Unlike other virtual-screen programs, WinSpace doesn't create extra monitor screens; it extends your single screen into virtual space.

The program's interface provides a map of your screen. Open some programs then drag a program's thumbnail into an empty area on the map. Do the same with the others. If you want to access the programs you have open, you can either click on a thumbnail on the map, or just move your mouse pointer to the edge of your screen, and the screen scrolls until the other program comes into view.

This is an excellent program for you if you have a small monitor. Even if your monitor is large, it gives you a much more useful working area.

This program is a file manager for Windows 95. It's more flexible than Explorer, and some of the interesting features include: a drive useage window; a custom program launcher with a command line; drive scanning for selected files; tagging files for processing; a text editor; hex browser; and a picture viewer.

If you've ever wanted to scrawl a note beside a file to tell you exactly what it's for and why you bothered creating it, this is the program for you. Use it to keep notes on all your Windows 95 files and folders. It integrates with Explorer, so you can browse through your notes whenever you open it by selecting a file, right-clicking and selecting Properties. There are two applets included with the program: Monitor, which sits in your system tray and ensures that your notes stay with your files even when you move or copy them; and FileNotes Explorer, which provides a way of viewing all the files on your disks which have notes attached, and managing and finding files and notes quickly.

Just as its name suggests, this program is an extremely small but powerful way of managing your Windows 95 files. It runs continually in the system tray, and you can access it with a click, or via a hot key. QuickShell includes all the usual file management options. Its unique features include: many filters accessed with a single click; Navigator interface — "bookmark" your favourite hard drive and folder locations; built-in viewers for text and multimedia; and auto load at system startup.

Visual Copy is a simple utility which makes copying groups of files much simpler. Whether you copy files for backup purposes, or whether you're trying to sync files between various machines, Visual Copy is handy because it allows you to see precisely what's happening. The interface provides two panes; you can select the source files you want to copy or move in the left pane, and the right pane shows the destination. Radio buttons provide additional options.

You've got beautiful art on your computer, but you've been staring at the same dull photo for a month -- you just don't have time to tinker with changing wallpaper. This free gem of a program scans your hard disk for graphics files, then changes your wallpaper at intervals which you select, varying from every second to each 24 hours. You can of course hand-select the images you want to use. Many graphics formats are supported. You also have the option to tile images under a certain size.

Flashview is useful because it handles so many multimedia formats. Among them: ART, BMP, CUT, DIB, EFF, GEM, GIF, HRZ, IFF, IMG, JPG, LMB, MAC, MSP, PCX, PIC, PNG, RAS, RLE, TGA, TIF, WMF, WPG, WAV and MID.
It's also very easy to use. The program has a familiar Explorer-like interface, so you simply select files, and the right pane of the split window shows a thumbnail view -- or you can view images full size. You can also opt to use another viewer, if you wish. If you're browsing through Explorer itself, you can access Flashview with a right-click of your mouse button.

This new version also offers enhancements such as animated GIF and AVI movie supports.

QuikLink Explorer Gold is an Internet information manager for Windows 95. It comes in various versions, including a freeware, advertiser-supported edition. Basically, the program is a bookmark manager. Its interface is similar to Windows Explorer. You organise your favourite sites by creating and nesting folders: reorganising them is simple, you can drag-and-drop, or you can cut and paste. You can import your bookmarks' lists from any of the popular browsers, keeping the organisation system which you already have.

Clever features include: double-click to open a site in your default browser; right-click pop-up menu; assign specific browsers to specific sites; property sheets for your sites with user-defined labels; search on any or all of the defined properties; integrate the program with your browsers with a hot-link button, and much more.

Calypso is a sophisticated file manager, with an Office 97 look, and an impressive array of features, including multithreading capabilities --you'll like being able to select files from several directories on various disks, and move them to another directory. The program offers support for huge partitions, multimedia viewers and players, compression, directory-level security, a built-in file finder, CD-ROM caching, as well as comprehensive file and disk management. Especially valuable is the Tag Wizard, a macro program which lets you repeat operations you perform periodically on directories and files.

DeskBrain is a handy toolkit for Windows 95 users. The utilities include: define up to 30 applications to start at a click; one click access to all drives, plus My Computer, and Control Panel; create 10 user-defined Quick Folders; WipeDisk to erase everything on a floppy; a password manager and many more items, including a contacts manager. You can run DeskBrain at startup, and uses no desk space -- it runs as a tiny icon in your system tray. The nice thing about this program is that all the included utilities are very useful.

Elbow Room gives you more space on your desktop. The program lets you create multiple sessions, so that you can load all the applications you want to work with in one session, load other applications in another session, and switch between them. You no longer have the hassle of maximising and minimising windows, and trying to resize them so that you can see more than one at a time. Great features include the ability to save a session of applications in a window and open at another time; move applications among windows; multiple sessions; add and remove sessions easily, and more. Lets you concentrate on your work, rather than your tools.

CoolEdit will play just about any sound file format, but it's key application is as a sound file editor -- and it's one of the best in the business, allowing you edit clips and add all sorts of special effects easily. And just released is Cool Edit Pro for power users wanting a multi-track recorder.

Cool Edit Pro
There is a time limit of 30 minutes per session.
The Demo has no Save or Windows clipboard support.
There is no RealAudio support.
Integration with Cakewalk is not implemented.

Tired of traces of programs lurking on your system, especially in the Windows 95 and OLE Registries? Clear them out once and for all with this free utility from Microsoft.

Stiletto is the ultimate Windows 95 toolbar: if you're tired of a desktop cluttered with icons, Stiletto lets you manage all your programs, documents, and utilities from a tiny strip of icons located anywhere on your screen. Stiletto crams a lot into a little by giving you not only a buttonbar to configure to your requirements, but also a full system of menus, accessed from three mouse buttons. If you have a two-button mouse, you access the third mouse button by pressing left and right buttons together. You can also shrink Stiletteo to a system-tray icon.

Stiletto also comes with its own utilities: my favourite is the Process Close utility, which tells you which hidden Windows 95 processes are running, and allows you to close them if you wish.

This is a 30 day trial version.

Square One is a Windows 95 toolbar with a host of interesting features. It will launch selected applications, documents and folders. You can have up to 10 toolbars open at once, with up to 256 buttons on a toolbar. Creating toolbars is easy using the program's Toolbar Wizard. Features include: drag objects onto buttons to launch applications with a given file, copy files to a folder, or print documents; have separate recent file lists for each application on your toolbars; click and hold on a folder in a toolbar to see a menu of the contents; launch all buttons on a toolbar at once; protect toolbars from being edited, and many more.

Square One even contains an Explorer Utility, which allows you to easily find shell objects, programs and documents, and then add them to a toolbar.

SmartBoard32 turns your clipboard into a storage department for the information you want to transfer between programs. The program collects only text, bitmaps and Windows metafiles by default, however you can configure it to collect whatever data you wish. No data is lost when you switch off your computer, the program stores the data for as long as you want it to: you can store longterm data in an hierarchical format which makes it easy to find it again. Interesting features include: the ability to assign keyboard shortcuts and nicknames to clips, text editing and templates, printing and saving copies of information, plugin viewers for esoteric formats, mulitcapture/ merging mode, and passwords for categories.

Sometimes when you remove a program from your system, it remains in your Add/ Remove Programs box in Windows Settings. This is annoying. Now you can eliminate these pests via this freeware utility.

Turbo Browser gives you complete control over your files, whether they are on your computer, your network, or on the Internet. It combines Explorer-style file and disk management with viewing capabilities. Time-saving features include backing up selected files with one click, printing files in many formats (without the program which created them), converting graphics files and autoview files (like a slide show) with ActiveX, and much more.

This utility is the fastest no-hassle backup you'll ever use. It copies data files from your disk to another folder, disk or network drive. At the same time, it automatically updates changed files, compresses files and synchronises directories. There's even a Wizard to automatically create backup profiles which allows you to choose which files you want backed up in each profile, when you want them backed up (hourly, daily etc) and where you want them backed up to.

URL: www.quarterdeck.com/qdeck/demosoft/
Registered price: $75
Rating:

Fix-It is a comprehensive troubleshooting utility for Windows 95. It does most of its job automatically. All you need to do is click on an icon, and it will solve application conflicts and hardware configuration errors. As well as saving you downtime, you save money because you don't require technical support. The handiest feature of the program is its ability to prevent data loss, by intercepting fatal program errors before they cause a crash.

The program consists of several modules, including Problem Preventer (alerts you to Windows system elements which could lead to problems); Problem Agent (continually monitors your system); Crash Defender (if an application causes a fatal error, Defender intercepts the problem so that you have time to save your data); and Performance Optimizer.

Check you system resouces instantly with this free utility from the makers of Ramgate.

Allfile Notes gives you the ability to store up to 64Kb of text notes with your files. It's also handy for the mystery files you collect: you can store notes with sound files, graphics, video, photos etc. When you're not using it, Allfile Notes rolls up into its titlebar and uses minimal space on your desktop.

TurboZIP is a powerful ZIP archiver for common Internet compressed file formats (ZIP, EXE, GZ, Z, TAR, TAZ, TGZ), as well as e-mail formats like UUEncode (UUE), MIME (MME, B64) and Binhex (HQX). You can launch, print, search and view files within archives without expanding them. Built-in viewers are included, as are ActiveX controls. It also includes a convenient automatic backup function so that you can backup your work files each day into compressed archives. One of the best features is the 'fuzzy search'-which finds files by the closest match.

SmilerShell is a control centre for your Windows desktop, which takes up hardly any room -- a tiny icon in the title bar of your active window. You can launch and find files and applications, and change directories by typing a few letters of the directory's name. You can also run commands: just type the command and press Tab -- if the command is ambiguous, the program asks for more input.

Windows Commander is a handy file manager which features hotkey support, drag and drop, archives handled like subdirectories, a Start menu with user-defined commands, a command line option, an enhanced Search function across all drives, and internal ZIP and unzip without calling an external program.

Save your desktop layout and never lose your customised settings again with Desk Tidy for Windows 95. It also cleans out your Documents list, Temp directory, runs your screen saver, lets you configure hotkeys and more.

Powermarks is a simple but powerful utility which offers a solution to the Internet bookmarks problem. It works with both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. You add your bookmarks with a Fast Add option, which saves the current page, or an Add and edit option, which allows you to fill in various fields. When you want to retrieve a bookmark, just type a few letters of the name, and the appropriate bookmark appears.

File Fission Wizard is a great utility for splitting large files so that you can fit them onto diskettes or send them via e-mail. You're led through the entire process with a Wizard so the utility is very easy to use.

File-Ex is an excellent addition to your Windows 95 toolkit. This utility adds file management functions like Find, Copy, Delete, Rename and MakeDir to the Open and Save dialogues of most Windows applications automatically, whether they're 32-bit or 16-bit applications. You'll save time because you can do most of your file management tasks within your applications as you work.

More Space 95 helps you free up disk space by targeting large, obsolete or duplicated files on your system and deleting them. The program scans multiple disk drives and allows you to selectively delete the file/s or move them to a diskette. It also offers a large range of reports with various kinds of statistics.

PowerDesk is a brilliant collection of tools and utilities, which make doing your everyday tasks in Windows 95 much easier. The package contains four utilities: PowerDesk Toolbar which provides QuickLaunch and gives one-click access to files and folders, Start menu, virtual desktops and more; PowerDesk Explorer Plus which offers enhanced file management, file navigation and more; PowerDesk File Finder; and PowerDesk Size Manager.

You use Windows 95 but have fond memories of DOS's XTreeGold? If so, this program will take you down memory lane and it may become your favourite Explorer alternative. It mimics the original but it's full 32-bit. You'll find that you have all XTreeGold's features, however, there's no internal editor. Nor is there mouse support -- but you don't need it! If you insisted on using a mouse, you would lose much of the speed and convenience of this program.

Super NoteTab is a terrific freeware replacement for Windows 95's wimpy Notepad. This program offers lots of great productivity features you won't find anywhere else. For example, you can open as many files as you have system resources; the files are displayed with tabs called the Document Selector, so that you can switch between them easily. It's Web-enabled -- simply click on a URL in a document, and it opens your browser. It also comes with a Clipbook window with templates for HTML tags, acronyms etc, search and replace through all open documents, plus much more.

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.

This shareware utility is our perennial favourite for unzipping and zipping just about every type of compressed file, as well as for decoding Internet file formats, such as UUencode, BinHex and MIME.

This new version features an updated zip/unzip engine with automatic support for multi-disk ZIP files, plus a number of Windows Explorer menu enhancements. But perhaps the best new feature is the free WinZip Internet Browser Support Add-On. Using this free add-on, you can download and open archives from the Internet with one click via Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

This free player from Apple allows PC users to play Quicktime .MOV files -- the standard movie file format for the Macintosh, and used by many cross-platform multimedia CD-ROMs.

Windows 3.1x

That's because every time you install a program, download a file, upgrade to a new version, or perform even the most mundane disk operations, your computer dribbles a trail of digital debris all over - clogging up valuable hard disk space. It's time you called in the world's #1 choice for safe file
removal: CleanSweep - from Quarterdeck.

CleanSweep tidies up your hard drive by clearing away that digital mess. It tracks down disk junk of every type - duplicate files, redundant DLLs, orphan files, even infrequently-used files, quickly and easily.

Just activate our automated wizards to determine which files are clogging up your system, then sweep them all away automatically. Or confirm each action yourself. Best of all, CleanSweep safely uninstalls both 16- and 32-bit programs.

System requirements:
IBM PC or 100% compatible with Intel 80386 or higher processor;Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 or Windows NT (version 3.51 or higher);  12 MB hard disk space required
4 MB RAM required (Windows NT Workstation requires 12 MB, Server requires 16MB)

This version of Norton AntiVirus 4.0 for Windows 95 features new Electronic Unlocking technology which allows you to purchase the full version of Norton AntiVirus 4.0 without further downloads,or having to wait for full boxed product. This is a 30-day "locked" version of Norton AntiVirus 4.0 for Windows 95.

ScratchPad is a simple program. As its name suggests, it enables you to take notes while you're working in other programs. It's free, and it has a couple of unique features: it minimises at a click, and it also inserts Wingding symbols if you choose that option. Unlike other such programs, it allows you to save each of your notes in a separate file if you wish.

If you're making your own Christmas cards this year, try out this TrueType font. It's designed to look like black type etched on white Christmas Tree ornaments. You need to use large point sizes to see the letters clearly, but it's a very cute effect.

I-Search 1.0
Registered Price: $35
Rating:
URL: www.wizzardsoftware.com

I-Search allows you to find information wherever it happens to be: on your computer, or on the Internet. Simply enter up to three terms (using logical operators if necessary), and select Local PC Files, or Bookmark URLs, and click Start. A local search allows you to scan any drive, including floppies, hard disks, CD-ROMs, network drive etc. The results appear in a window, and you can view any of the files. For World Wide Web searches, start your connection, and I-Search will search all the files contained in your list of bookmarks.

CoolEdit will play just about any sound file format, but it's key application is as a sound file editor -- and it's one of the best in the business, allowing you edit clips and add all sorts of special effects easily. And just released is Cool Edit Pro for power users wanting a multi-track recorder.

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.

This shareware utility is our perennial favourite for unzipping and zipping just about every type of compressed file, as well as for decoding Internet file formats, such as UUencode, BinHex and MIME.

This new version features an updated zip/unzip engine with automatic support for multi-disk ZIP files, plus a number of Windows Explorer menu enhancements. But perhaps the best new feature is the free WinZip Internet Browser Support Add-On. Using this free add-on, you can download and open archives from the Internet with one click via Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.

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.

This free player from Apple allows PC users to play Quicktime. MOV files -- the standard movie file format for the Macintosh, and used by many cross-platform multimedia CD-ROMs.

Windows NT 4.0

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.

DOS

McAfee's world proven solutions are used by over 25 million people, 80% of the Fortune 1000 and more than 40,000 organizations worldwide. Why have millions chosen McAfee VirusScan for their security? VirusScan offers superior virus detection, removal and customer service.

This is the last version of Bobby as freeware, so if you haven't tried this amazing DOS graphical file manager, do it now. Bobby includes all the usual file management features: copy, move, delete etc, at a click of a button. Special features in Bobby include a file finder, viewing graphics (GIF, PCX, BMP, JPEG), playing sound files, viewing text files, archiving to ZIP, unloading from DOS to free up memory, hotkeys to run your favourite programs, a complete online manual and much more. The program is very easy to install and use.

This evaluation of the popular DOS X-Tree file manager is shareware: if you register, you're provided with the Gold version of the program. Included with the shareware version is a utility to configure the screen colours and a full manual of 82 pages.

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.