Software
PaperScan Free 2 (Type: Shareware, OS: Windows – all versions, Size: 9MB)
A powerhouse utility to tinker scanned objects, PaperScan withholds many OCR technologies under one hood. With this app you can perfect the scanned images and documents, as well as retrieve plethora of information from your camera, network scanner, and many other devices. The app also offers several image editing tools to adjust the quality and clarity of your media files. In addition, the app can decode the encrypted PDF files as well.
D7 10.1.35 (Type: Shareware, OS: Windows – all versions, Size: 9MB)
The tagline of the app is “d7 is a PC technician’s best kept secret”, and rightly so, the app does everything it advertises. The app offers plenty of testing and fixing tools covering all the possible problems you could encounter while working on a Windows running machine. Besides that, it is also a system tuning app which can help you clean junk, malware, redundant files and other unnecessary modules from your computer. Many advanced features are only available in paid-versions, but all in all, it is a must have app for every PC user.
PrivaZer (Type: Free, OS: Windows – all versions, Size: 7 MB)
PrivaZer is a nifty utility which removes all the traces and petty files from your computer. Surprisingly it is powerful than CCleaner and most cleaning utilities. Thorough scanning and cleaning may take a while depending how dense things are on your hard-drive.
Rainmeter 2.5 (Type: Free, PS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, Size: 2 MB)
If you are tired of the looks of your Windows OS, this app is your best bet to redesign almost everything. In addition, you can also install interactive widgets to check RSS Feeds, weather update, battery and memory power. Many skins offer to-do list and notes pane as well. All the skins are available for free on its website.
Revo Uninstaller Pro (Type: Commercial, $39.25, OS: Windows – all versions, Size: 7 MB)
Perhaps the best program uninstaller around, the app is famous for perfectly removing the leftovers of the software. It is a 3rd party alternative to the built-in Windows uninstaller. Once you have removed an app using Revo Uninstaller, the app lets you scan your computer to check for the leftovers.
Browser Extensions
ScriptBlock
ScriptBlock is a Chrome extension which blocks all the scripts present on a web-page. Not only it will save you some memory and bandwidth, it will also block adverts and prevent anyone from tracking your online activities.
Instant Dictionary
While reading things on the web, it is very common to come across new and unknown words. We all know that we can use a dictionary on our system, or simply do a Google search, but if you find that annoying, we finally have a solution for that. Once you have added this extension to your Chrome browser, you can get all the information about a word by just double clicking on it.
YouTube HTML5 Blocker
If you are using Opera, there are many videos on YouTube which still require Flash to run. To force the new coding standard HTML5 on such videos, this extension is what you will be needing. Once installed you won’t need Flash to run any video on YouTube.
Kikin
We just saw how you can get the definition of any word without leaving the page, now if you want to get the search results in the similar fashion, Kikin will help you with that. In order to get the search result of a word, click on it (don’t double click) and keep the mouse button pressed for 2-3 seconds, and the search result will pop-up at the right side of your page.
Software Updates
Skype
Skype got a major visual makeover this week. The interface looks crispy and has upped its contrast level. Other than that, the accessibility mode of the app has got some improvement as well.
StartW8
The popular tuning app for Windows 8 StartW8 got an update as well. The new update makes the app fully compatible with Microsoft’s upcoming OS Windows 8.1. It will also let you use custom images behind the start menu.
Free Download Manager
The update provides improvement in torrenting and brings support for magnetic link. The new version is fully compatible with Internet Explorer 11.
Tip of the week: The unwanted Start-up programs.
All of us are aware about the “msconfig” command that we can use to disable programs from running at the start-up. But, surprisingly which programs you should not remove hasn’t been talked about much. For that you can use PC Decrapifier, a tool which will analyze and inform you which programs you need to keep and which don’t deserve a place there.
