Technodorm » Software

Automatically delete all empty folders using Folder Vanity Remover

Fahad — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:00:01 +0000

If you use your computer a lot for storing files such as music, shows, personal files, etc, you would have surely found yourself in a situation where you would have lots of empty folders sitting idle on your hard drive. I myself have come across this situation several times and end up wasting precious time in locating and deleting all empty folders. Another source of empty folders is if you install and uninstall lots of applications over a period of time. Some applications, although deleting all the files, fail to delete all the folders associated with their program and hence leave empty folders in the users hard drive. This is where Folder Vanity Remover comes in and automates the job of having to delete all empty folders.

Folder Vanity Remover is able to locate and automatically delete all empty folders within a specified directory or drive of your choice. To test this software, I used it to on a folder that contained 2 empty folders and a third folder containing 2 files. It was able to successfully delete the empty folders and leave the third folder alone. This could be quite a timesaver in certain situations for many people. I know I will end up using it from time to time.

Note: If the selected directory itself does not contain any files then it will be deleted as well.

[Via Blogsdna]

Improve Battery Life of your Laptop Battery with BatteryCare

Fahad — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:19:23 +0000

If you frequently use a laptop to manage your work then you will definitely want to increase its mobility performance by optimizing the usage of its battery. One such software that can help you with this task is BatteryCare. BatteryCare can help you to optimize the usage and performance of your laptop battery resulting in an improved battery life. It offers many useful features which you can utilize with the help of a button through its interface. Many laptops on the market come with some sort of a pre-installed software to manage your battery usage but lack one thing or another. With BatteryCare you can choose to pause services or disable the Aero theme altogether, when laptop battery is being used, to maximize the timing of your battery. Another advantage of BatteryCare is that it is updated regularly with more tweaks and performance upgrades to ensure greater improvement for your laptop battery.

Some of the features of BatteryCare are:

Battery’s discharge cycles monitoring: The advanced algorithm within the program accurately calculates when a complete discharge cycle is performed and promptly reminds you when a full discharge is required.

Complete battery information: BatteryCare is able to calculate the statistical remaining time in laptops that do not support the battery time left information and only show the charge percentage remaining. It also shows all the information pertaining to the battery such as wear level, consumption, capacities, manufacturer, etc.

Notification area information: The remaining time and charge level are shown on the notification area when the laptop is in battery mode.
Automatic power plans switching: Pre-defined settings can be automatically initiated depending on the power source of the computer.
Control over Windows Aero and demanding Services: Aero Theme, as well as other demanding services, can be automatically configured to be stopped when the laptop enters battery mode. Once a power source is used, all stopped services are automatically run again. This helps to improve battery life of your laptop computer as well as to provide convinience to you so you dont have to stop/start the services yourself.
Auto-updates: The program updates itself whenever a new version is released.
Lightweight in the system: To help with the effort of battery performance, BatteryCare uses a minute amount of system resources so it does not negatively affect battery time nor does it slow down your pc whatsoever.

Download BatteryCare to improve battery life

How to Transfer DVD Movies to your iPod

Fahad — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:58:10 +0000

If you have an iPod Video device, then you know how exciting it can be when you are able to store your favourite music and movies on this powerful piece of technology. Having a selection of movies on your iPod provides you with quick access to them wherever you are and whenever you want. The reasons for wanting to have DVD movies on your iPod may differ but many of us don’t know how to make this possible. If you are one of these unsuspecting individuals, then below is a small guide on how to transfer your beloved movies to your iPod with ease.

I bought an iPod Touch recently and was able to put some DVD movies in it for my own entertainment. Believe me when I say that you would be surprised to know the amount of people (including total strangers) who are curious to know how I succeeded in getting movies onto my IPOD. So let me tell you “the secret”. The process simply involves converting a movie from the DVD format to the video format suitable for iPod’s. As you may know, iPods use MPEG-4 video format along with H.264 codec – so this is the video format that you need for your DVD movies. Also, you will need a good converting program (from DVD to iPod) to guarantee that the conversion process goes as it should.

You can be playing the movie on your iPod after completing the following two steps:

Convert the DVD to MPEG-4 format using Free DVD to iPod
Upload the videos on your iPod by utilizing iTUNES

There are some important aspects that you should look out for when you choose a DVD converting program. They are: speed, audio and video quality, that the software installation process is straightforward, etc. You should make sure that the program converts ALL types of DVD formats and if you can convert other format types so that you can make full use of it with other converting tasks that you may want to do. It is beneficial to download movies in other formats from P2P networks or YouTube for the purpose of uploading movies to your iPod. You are allowed to download various programs for free but be sure to check if they work for your particular converting needs.

To accomplish our task of converting a DVD movie to iPod format, we will be using Free DVD to iPod, which is an easy to use program that will handle our task easily. Following is a screenshot for this software. You can view the authors website by clicking here and you can download the software by clicking here.

After you convert the DVD format into the iPod format, you should then select and add the video to your iTUNES Library. From here, simply upload it on your iPod. The next thing you need to do is get ready to watch your favourite movies! The notion of uploading your DVD movies on to an iPod is just the process of converting them into the iPod format and that’s all it takes. Once completed, you will be able to enjoy movies on your iPod, wherever you go!

Get Free 1 Year BitDefender Internet Security 2009 Genuine License Key

Fahad — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 09:52:01 +0000

There aren’t many Internet Security tools out there that can match the performance and reliability of BitDefender Internet Security. BitDefender Internet Security 2009 provides amazing proactive state of the art protection against threats ranging from viruses to spywares to hackers and to phishing attacks. In short, BitDefender Internet Security provides you with the protection you need to securely surf the internet without having to worry about the precussions. Your valuable information such as credit card info, email credentials, personal files, will remain safe if you have an effective tool to protect you. Registering BitDefender Internet Security 2009 will give you free hourly updates as well as free 24/7 customer support.

Raymond has shared a very useful way by which anyone can get a free genuine BitDefender Internet Security 2009 serial key. I will be briefly mentioning the steps that you need to get your very own genuine license key.

1. Go to this page: http://www.securitasdirect.es/antivirus_gratis.html

2. On the left side of the webpage, you will see a small grey text box with two textboxes. See the following image that I am talking about.

3. In the first text box, enter your name. In the second box, enter your email and then click the “Enviar Solicitud” button.

4. Check your email. You should have received an email from ENVIARAUNAMIGO.COM (infoafiliados@securitasdirect.es) with the subject Licencia antivirus de regalo. Your license key is also in that email, so search for it and copy it to a safer location.

5. You need to download the BitDefender Internet Security 2009 software now. You can download it by clicking here(Thanks to Raymond for providing the direct link).

6. The rest should be pretty simple. Install BitDefender Internet Security 2009 and when it asks for a license key, just copy and paste it and you should be good to go.

I am not sure how long this promotion offer will remain up so hurry up and get your free BitDefender Internet Security 2009 license key. Once again, thanks to Raymond for sharing this promotional offer.

Download Free Data Recovery Software to Recover Deleted Files

Fahad — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:20:51 +0000

Everyone has the need for data recovery software at one time or another. You may have deleted a file by mistake or a virus may have trashed your important files. I myself have used data recovery software in the past to recover several gigabytes of crucial data after a hard drive format. It is a tedious and time consuming work but if the data is important to you than it must be done. Recovering data from hard drives is made easier if you use a good data recovery software. There are lots of data recovery software on the market but choosing the right one amongst them can be a hard choice. I shall be discussing with you a free data recovery software called TestDisk which is one of the better data recovery software available right now.

TestDisk is an open source data recovery software which is able to recover lost files or lost partitions. As I said earlier, data recovery should be used when you have accidentally deleted a file by mistake or a virus deleted your files. Due to its nature, data recovery does not yield 100% recovery rate but you should still be able to recover important data and use it when needed. Some features of TestDisk are listed below:

It is able to fix partition table and recover a deleted partition
Recover FAT32 boot sector from backup
Rebuild FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector
Fix FAT tables
Rebuild boot sector for NTFS
Recover boot sector of NTFS from backup
Fix MFT using MFT mirror
Locate ext2/ext3 Backup SuperBlock
Recover and restore files from FAT, NTFS and ext2 filesystem
Copy files from deleted FAT, NTFS and ext2/ext3 partitions.

Download TestDisk from the official site. TestDisk is an advanced and powerful data recovery software although helpful step-by-step instructions at the official TestDisk site should provide a novice user with ample amount of help to succeed in recovering lost data. To undelete files from an NTFS system, check these instructions or for FAT file system, use these instructions. If you want to do something else, like recovering partition tables or fixing FAT tables, check out their documentation as it is an invaluable source of help.

Convert Word DOC and DOCX to PDF Online

Fahad — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:21:42 +0000

Today I came across a situation where I needed to convert a doc file to pdf because Microsoft Office wasn’t installed on the computer I was workind on and wordpad wouldn’t open the file either. I quickly asked a friend and he referred me to an online doc to pdf converter at DOC2PDF. I used the site to convert approximately 20 DOC/DOCX files to PDF format. I was very impressed with the service due to several factors:

Quality: The quality of the converted document was excellent and only required minimum changes.
File Support: DOC2PDF supports many formats and I was surprised to see they supported DOCX format which is the new format that Word saves documents in Office 2007. Excel and PowerPoint can also be converted to PDF format.
Images: Embedded images in the original DOC file did not lose much quality during the conversion.
Speed: The files were converted quite quickly by their server which was an added bonus and saved me quite a bit of time!

In conclusion, I was quite impressed with their service and will definitely be using it again when the need arises.

Download Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1

Fahad — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:52:59 +0000

One of the things lacking in Windows 7 is a buggy Internet Explorer 8. Windows 7 contains Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 which has seemed very buggy to anyone who has used it for a lengthy period of time. I myself have used it and I can tell you that surfing the web is not fun with it. Not to worry though, Microsoft just recently announced the release of Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 which should improve upon the stability and reliability of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. Although the official version of Internet Explorer RC1 is scheduled to be released within a few days, we have been able to get our hands on its leaked version, thanks to Haris from Sizzled Core. Only versions for Windows XP and Windows Vista have been released so far, so WIndows 7 users will have to wait a couple of days to enjoy a more stable browser.

Download Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1

Download Internet Explorer 8 RC1 for Windows XP

Download Internet Explorer 8 RC1 for Windows Vista

Internet Explorer 8 adds a ton of new features and promises to be a great piece of software. The IE team has added many features that people enjoy in firefox and other browsers. A brief list of new features in Internet Explorer 8 are:

Smart Address Bar
Tab Grouping
InPrivate Browsing
Suggested Sites
Tab Crash Resolution

For a full list of the new features in Internet Explorer 8 and their explanations, head on over to lifehacker.

Kaspersky Antivirus Technical Preview Released for Windows 7

Fahad — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:14:06 +0000

Kaspersky Antivirus recently announced the release of Kaspersky Antivirus 8.0.0.1015 which will be available for Windows 7. This release is only meant as a technical preview but it will be able to provide sufficient protection against malicious viruses once Windows 7 Public Beta is released. As stated in the Kaspersky Press-Release, the technical preview is a complex solution for securing computers running under Windows 7. The prototype includes not only an antivirus component but an effective and fully functional firewall and anti-spam filter.

Here is the full-press release from Kaspersky:

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content management systems, announces the release of a technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7.

Windows 7 is the next release of the Microsoft Windows operating system which will replace Windows Vista and is a step forward in the development of Microsoft operating systems. The new OS will incorporate enhanced reliability, greater efficiency, an improved interface and extended working features both in global and local information networks.

The technical preview is a complex solution for securing computers running under Windows 7. The prototype includes not only an antivirus component but an effective and fully functional firewall and anti-spam filter.

At the heart of the new technical prototype is Kaspersky Lab’s new antivirus engine which is even more effective at detecting malicious programs than its predecessor. The new engine dramatically increases system scanning speed thanks to improved processing of objects and optimized use of system resources, particularly on dual- and quad-core processor platforms. The unique product architecture ensures high productivity and one of the lowest uses of system resources in the industry.

The technical preview includes a highly effective heuristic analyzer. The heuristic analyzer detects and blocks as yet unknown malicious programs. If a program signature is not included in the antivirus databases, i.e., the malicious program is unknown, the heuristic analyzer will safely launch the program in an isolated virtual environment, analyze the program’s actions and conclude with a high degree of probability whether it is potentially harmful before it is launched in a live environment.

In addition, the technical prototype includes a new user interface developed to meet the needs of both inexperienced and advanced users.

You can download Kaspersky Antivirus for Windows 7 by clicking here.

[Via Sizzled Core]

Play Games for PS2 on PC using PCSX2 Emulator

Fahad — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:16:42 +0000

You must have played NES or SEGA games on your pc at one time another. I remember when i used to spend many hours on my pc playing Nintendo 64 games or Gameboy Advance games. And now it is possible to play games for PS2 on pc using emulator called PCSX2. There is a limitation though as Playstation 2 has much better graphics compared to gameboy advance or NES, so your computer needs to be powerful to play games at proper speed with good graphics. Here is a rough indication of the recommended specifications:

Windows XP or Windows Vista
Core 2 Duo Processor 2 Ghz or better
1GB RAM (2GB for vista)
512MB Graphics Card (8600GT or better)

You can download the emulator from here. The emulator doesn’t support 4 cores so the results wont differentiate too much between 2 cores and 4 cores. The emulator is able to play many games properly but there are still many games which are not fully playable. You should check the Compatibility list for your desired game to see if it can be played properly to the end. Probably the most hardest thing to do is to configure your PCSX2 Emulator but luckily for us, there is a very nice guide that can help you with each step.

Also, while configuring your emulator, you will need bios for ps2. You can only get them legally from your own ps2 although you can find them on torrents as well. Search for them. I cannot provide them. You may also want to read the information on the PCSX2 forums to fully maximize your playing experience. I have tried a couple of games on my computer and they worked quite well although you really need to have a gamepad connected to your pc to enjoy playing the games.

If you have any questions, just leave a comment here and I will try to help you, or you can try the PCSX2 forums where many people with greater knowledge of the emulator will assist you readily!

Now, I will leave you with some screenshots of ps2 games being played on pc(click for full size image).

Download Google Chrome Browser

Fahad — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:54:40 +0000

Google recently announced the releasing of the beta version of their browser called Google Chrome. Google Chrome is an open-source web browser based on Apple’s Webkit Engine. It has only been released for windows so far but google intends to release the mac and linux versions soon as well. I have personally not used chrome so far, but I intend to try it out for a couple of days to see how it is. This is the very first public beta release so there are bound to be bugs and security holes. Google has however made quite an effort to enhance the security of the browser. You can read more about Google Chromes features and security protection here and here.

You can download Google Chrome from the download page located here. If you try it out, do share your experiences!

Reorganize your Taskbar Buttons using Taskbar Shuffle

Fahad — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:23:28 +0000

Just a couple of days ago, I was working on the new theme for this blog as well as a couple of other sites of mine. Doing work like this means you will be working between many different applications. I remember I had various different browsers opened to preview my site in all of them, as well as having photoshop and different folders of my hard disk open. It was a complete mess! The various frequently used applications were at opposite ends of my taskbar and it really is frustrating to switch between them. I then realized the need for rearranging the windows in my taskbar. After searching in google, I came across a wonderful free app called Taskbar Shuffle via #0092FF Tech Blog(weird name, i know!).

With Taskbar Shuffle you can easily drag and drop different buttons to change the position of any application. So you could arrange them from order of most used to least used so its efficient. I am making good use of this little app and it does the job well. You can also close an application quickly by clicking the middle button of your mouse, just like you can close any tab in firefox.

Top 10 Best P2P File Sharing Software

Fahad — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:58:21 +0000

Today, I will be sharing with you guys a list of the 10 Best P2P File Sharing Software. I recently had a person contact me inquiring about which p2p software he should use. I personally don’t use P2P software that much but there are some files that you will only find there so it does become necessary from time to time. At first, I would suggest any person to use Bittorent but if they dont find their required files there, then p2p becomes an option. When it comes to P2P software, you need to be really careful as to which ones to use or else you can easily clog your computer with adware and spyware. This list should help those people who are looking to use a trustworthy p2p software which will fulfill their needs.

1. Limewire

Limewire is probably the best p2p software available right now. LimeWire is a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, which uses the Gnutella network to search and transfer files among users. Limewire is a free software, released under the GNU License, but it also has a Pro version which enables better optimized search results, faster downloads, tech support, etc.

2. Ares

Ares is a free open source p2p file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file. Some features that set it apart from other p2p softwares is its powerful library organizer, chat rooms, built-in audio and video player. Ares automatically finds new sources and downloads files from many users at once making it one of the fastest p2p program. Ares also has support for BitTorrent protocol and Shoutcast radio stations.

3. Bearshare

Bearshare lets you share files and download from everyone on the global Gnutella peer-to-peer information network, just like limewire. You can download the latest mp3 music, movies and much more. What sets Bearshare apart from other P2P networks is its Instant Messaging system. You can have your own profile picture and interact with other people.

4. Shareaza

Shareaza is a peer-to-peer client for Windows that allows you to download any type of file available for sharing by its users. Shareaza can connect to up to 4 separate Peer-to-Peer networks, providing access to hundreds of thousands of diverse users and making it one of the largest P2P networks around. It also has many great features with a skinnable interface and support for plugins.

5. Soulseek

Soulseek is a unique ad-free, spyware free, and just plain free file sharing application. Its unique feature is that it has virtual rooms based on p2p technology, that allow users of common interests to chat with each other. It is a great way to make new friends online.

6. Frostwire

Frostwire s a free open source p2p file sharing software. It is an open source program which means it has no spyware or adware. Some of its unique features include bittorent support, itunes integration, proxy support, and community chat rooms.

7. KCeasy

Kceasy is a safe and completely free p2p program that supports gnutella, ares, and openFT networks. KCeasy is an open source project so you can rest assured that its spyware and adware free. It currently supports only WIndows OS but you can try Poisoned for MacOS.

8.iMesh

iMesh is probably the best p2p software for downloading music and videos. It boasts of having over 15 million free songs and videos. It comes in 9 different languages which include english, french, dutch, spanish among others. It also has a mini player which allows you to play music and video files from within iMesh.

9. Kazaa

Kazaa is one of the oldest p2p program and its still kicking! Kazaa has been around for a long time meaning they have many loyal users and lots of files being shared among users. It also features built-in virus protection as well as filters to avoid adult and dangerous files from being shown. You can also customize the toolbars to your liking.

10. StrongDC++

StrongDC++ is another open source p2p software. It shares files through the Direct Connect Network. It is a modification of the program DC++ although it incorporates many other features not found in DC++. Its main features include Segmented File downloading, partial file sharing, download/upload limiter, and customization to the look and feel of the program.

If you use another p2p software, then let us know through the comments. I will also be making a list of the best bittorent clients and best bittorent sites soon. You wouldn’t want to miss it, so subscribe now.

Download Pwnage Tool 2.0 to Unlock iPhone 2.0

Fahad — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:15:24 +0000

The much awaited Pwnage Tool 2.0 has just been released a few hours ago! Pwnage Tool 2.0 is the name of the software which allows for the unlocking of iPhone of versions 2.0 firmware. So you can use this software to unlock the 2.0 firmware for iPhone 3G, iPhone, and iPod Touch!

You can view the official blog entry posted by iPhone Dev Blog by clicking here. As you can see, their server crashed over the heavy load of downloads, so mirror links are being sought after. I have provided various mirror links from rapidshare to megaupload to torrents.

Note: This release is only for Mac users but windows users can also install and use this tool. For the tutorial click here.

Also Note: If at anytime, you get an error 1600. Following is the extract from iPhone Dev Blog:

If you get Error 1600 from iTunes (or if you see in your log a failure to prepare x12220000_4_Recovery.ipsw), try: mkdir “~/Library/iTunes/Device Support” ; if that directory already exists, remove any files in it. Then re-run PwnageTool.

Download Links

Download Pwnage Tool 2.0 from Rapidshare

Download Pwnage Tool 2.0 from Rapidshare #2

Download Pwnage Tool 2.0 from Megaupload

Download Pwnage Tool 2.0 from Torrent

Download Pwnage Tool 2.0 from Mirror Link

Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta – Download Now

Fahad — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:31:06 +0000

Opera software have released beta of their much awaited iPhone safari “killer” web browser Opera mobile 9.5. The beta is named “9.51b1? and is available on opera mobile website as a download. The browser though in beta is far better than the aging internet explorer web browser. The beta currently available only for touch based devices has been tested on all HTC make pocket PCs, though it is said to work on others too. Some features are currently disabled and would be released in next version of the beta. Also the beta is available only in English language.

According to opera software, known issues are:

ActiveX is disabled – Flash plug-ins and embedded video streaming do not work.
Custom IME’s (like HTC’s IME) will be buggy at best, not working at worst.
Not multilingual build – Only English is supported. Problems with other languages (and input methods) are not unexpected.
Installation on memory cards may cause problems.
Text wraps in overview mode.
Main testing has been done on English HTC devices (Touch Diamond, Touch Pro, Touch, Touch Dual, Touch Cruise, TyTN and Wizard) and Samsung i900.
We have got reports from some users that this build will disable the phones sounds/notifications.

To download Opera Mobile 9.5, click here.
This post by Maverick. Check out his website at SoundMobiles.com.

Free ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware & Firewall License Key Valid For 5 Months

Fahad — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:43:03 +0000

ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware detects and removes most stubborn spyware. It consists of multi-layered network operating system and firewall based on trusted ZoneAlarm technology to block any intrusion attack. Other features of ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware with Firewall includes spy site blocking, rootkit blocking OSFirewall, game mode to temporarily hold back most security alerts interruption, email scanning, wireless PC protection from hackers and SmartDefense with DefenseNet service for real-time security updates and early warning system.

To get a Free ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware & Firewall License Key Valid For 5 Months, all you have to do is fill a short little form. ZoneAlarm actually started this promotion back in November 2007 called Patch Tuesday Promotion and despite the promotion being expired, the system is still running and giving out genuine licenses. To get to the promotion page, click the following link:
http://download.zonealarm.com/bin/free/sum/index.html

Once you are on the promotion page, just ignore the message saying “Sorry, you missed it”.

Next, fill the form (name, last name, email address) shown on the right side of the page and submit it. After you submit it with the correct information, you will see the following page.

After that, just download the software by clicking here and install it. Follow the instructions that are sent to you through email to activate your Free ZoneAlarm Anti-Spyware & Firewall License Key Valid For 5 Months.

This license key given to you is valid up till 11/12/08 for use on one computer.

Firefox 3 Beta 3 Coming on February 4

Fahad — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 16:29:14 +0000

Firefox has announced that it will release the new Beta 3 version of Firefox 3 this coming Monday. Apparently there are two new features that will be included in this release. The first feature is a new windows theme for Firefox that has been under development for quite some time now. Vista users however will not be seeing any new Vista theme because the work hasn’t been completed yet on a Vista-specific theme. For the time being, Vista users will be using the same XP theme for their Firefox. The second feature is really worth talking about though. It is an addition to the Add-ons Manager window. Users will now be able to search for add-ons and download and install them through the add-ons manager. This will surely make it easier and faster to download add-ons when you need them. This newly added feature will also direct the new users of Firefox towards using add-ons. You can see the actual screenshot of these new features below. Screenshot taken from Cybernet.

5 Best Applications to Watch Free Live TV on Your PC

Fahad — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:02:57 +0000

There must have been one time or another, when you have moved to a faraway city or to a different country all together and you are deprived of your favorite TV channels and your favorite TV shows. Or if you travel a lot, then again you will be missing your favorite TV channels like Star Sports, ESPN, CCTV5, SHTV, Fox, ABC, CBS, GolTV, NBA TV and many more. Luckily, there are several nice P2P(peer-to-peer) software that let you watch live TV on your pc for free!

I am compiling a list of the 5 best applications that let you watch free live TV on your pc. I will be posting the distinctive features of each player as well, so that will help you to decide which one best fits your needs. If you need any help then contact me by commenting here or by using the contact page(link at top).

1. TVU Player

TVU Player is my favorite out of all the applications because it is a no-hassle program which is backed up with great channels that you can enjoy at rather good quality. The player uses p2p to broadcast the channels so if more users are watching a certain channel then it will work very nicely. Even I had no problems with the buffering, and I have a slow internet connection(384k). Some of the more notable channels are Star Gamers TV, Sci fi Channel, CBS, Bloomberg, NASA TV, Fox News, Spike TV, ABC7 News, Fox News, CCTV5, SHTV, Star Sports, GolTV and many more! You will surely find something that you like there. From their site: “In the first year of service, the TVUPlayer has already been downloaded over 7 million times.” I highly recommend this to all users who wish to watch tv on their pc.

2. Sopcast

My second most favorite player, and sometimes even my first choice due to the great list of channels that it has. It also uses peer-to-peer technology to broadcast. So just like TVU, you will get awesome quality if more users are connected to a given channel. One of its main advantage is that it has a very fast buffering system(unlike TVU). Also, it has a very nice list of tv channels from all the different categories like sports, news, comedy, cartoons, movies, etc. Another great distinctive feature to the sopcast player is the VOD(Video on Demand) function, meaning you can select from a range of different movies and shows and it will play them from the very first minute!

3. JLC Internet TV

JLC Internet TV has a huge database of channels(2000+) but as you would expect, not all these channels work. But to counter that, the program has a built in rating system. Users are able to submit, rate and flag channels. And with this new flagging and rating system you’ll easily be able to see which channels work and which don’t. Raymond from Raymond.cc has written a good article on JLC Internet TV.

4. TVAnts

Although I don’t use it often myself, TVAnts is a good option to watch tv. It mainly consists of asian channels though. Some of the channels that you will find on TVAnts include: BBC world, Espn, Al-jazeera, Star sports, Discovery channel, National Geographic channel, Truesports, Guandong, SHTV, CCTV5, Eurosport, Eurosport 2, CableSoccer, CableSports and more. For a basic user guide for TVAnts, click here. The TVAnts website is not in english so to download the program, click here. The program however is 100% in english.
5. TVKoo

TVKoo contains a lot of nice channels. NBA TV is one of them. I primarily use it for that but there are also many other chanels as well for movies, cartoons, tv series, and sports. The loading is fast, the streaming is very nice as well.

Although there are many more programs that let you watch tv on your pc like CoolStreaming, PPStream, AnyTV, PPLive and more but they are sometimes not in english and for the most part, will have the same content as the above mentioned programs.

Also, if you enjoy sports then I will also suggest MyP2P to you. It is a site that has a very nice schedule for sports related streams and links to streams. It also has a very active community that you can be a part of.

Comment posted by Weasle
at 1/26/2008 6:44:43 PM

It seems to me that every time I download one of these programs that advertise all these great channels they turn out to be 12 American channels and 1000 channels with worthless programs and languages i don’t know

Comment posted by Mathias
at 1/26/2008 6:40:06 PM

Nice list of programs to watch TV. I didn’t know there were that many. Installing a couple at the moment

Comment posted by Jacob Share
at 2/3/2008 1:12:41 PM

I’m surprised that you didn’t mention Miro

Comment posted by Wanna watch free tv on your PC? Here you go!
at 2/6/2008 12:03:31 PM

[…] days ago, one of my friends posted an excellent list of applications for watching free TV over the internet and got huge amount of traffic on that post. […]

Comment posted by Freaksword
at 1/31/2008 12:32:15 PM

Nice List, I’ll be downloading a few of these to try out myself now.

@Weasle, So that would be 1012 channel’s of worthless program’s then ^_^

Comment posted by avinash2585337
at 1/31/2008 7:44:15 PM

Great, Best application I have seen. I give it a try.

Comment posted by Vide brander
at 1/31/2008 7:48:12 PM

I like second one, great applicatioin. Must try for everyone

Comment posted by hjays » Blog Archive » links for 2008-01-27
at 1/27/2008 4:08:42 PM

[…] 5 Best Applications to Watch Free Live TV on Your PC Top 5 applications for watching live TV on your PC. (tags: cool tv application television internet technology) […]

Comment posted by hjays » Blog Archive » Cuz AFB don’t want to be below the Links
at 1/28/2008 7:06:16 AM

[…] 5 Best Applications to Watch Free Live TV on Your PC Top 5 applications for watching live TV on your PC. (tags: cool tv application television internet technology) […]

Comment posted by Chris Nystrom
at 2/7/2008 8:16:24 AM

What operating system do these programs work on? Do the work on linux?

How about non-live TV? Say I want to watch Hogan’s Heroes?

Comment posted by Fahad
at 2/7/2008 1:39:58 PM

@Chris
Sopcast has a version for linux so you can try that out. I didn’t see a linux version for TVU or JLC though.

Also, if you want to watch a certain show, then you will need to find the channel its on and at what time. It is not available on demand, as you are asking.

@Jacob
I have never heard about Miro before. I am only hearing it from you right now. I will give it a try to see if its good. Thanks for recommending.

Hide or Password Protect your files and folders

Fahad — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:21:56 +0000

Today, I will be posting on a nice little utility program that will more then likely interest most of you. The ability to hide or password protect a file or folder is something not found in the windows default features. But it is one of the more useful feature which many people will want to have. This is a proper application that hides the folders, not just have a blank file name(using ALT+0160 trick) with no icon and making it invisible but accessible . That trick is easily foiled if you refresh the folder, that hidden file or folder will become visible for a millisecond or two and will be noticed by the user. But with this piece of software you wont need to use that trick anymore!

Hide Files and Folders is a great easy-to-use password-protected security utility working at Windows kernel level that you can use to password-protect certain files and folders, or to hide them securely from viewing and searching just with a click of mouse. Upon accessing any protected file or folder, a dialog box querying password appears on the screen. If a valid password is entered, the user gets access to the file or folder, otherwise an error message appears. Hide Files and Folders does not modify your media: in protecting your files or folders, it just uses a high-reliability VXD driver working at Windows kernel level. This guarantees that Hide Files and Folders will never lose your data, as may happen if you use other file and folder protecting software. Due to unique technology, the program also lets you protect system files and folders such as the Windows System, Registry and Swap files. Go ahead! Download the program right now! You will find it very easy to use.

(Click the Picture for the full-sized user interface screenshot)

This program is not only able to hide any specified file, but it is also able to password-protect it, or make it read-only so that it is not editable. So you can select whichever method of protection you desire of. So download this program now. You can download this program by clicking here! Enjoy the application, and post here if you have any questions or comments.

Comment posted by Fahad
at 12/18/2007 11:07:50 AM

@rodeo
I am not sure about that. Sorry.

Comment posted by r0de0
at 12/18/2007 8:45:50 AM

Does it work over a peer to peer Microsoft network?
Cheers.

Comment posted by Haris
at 11/24/2007 7:40:37 AM

I knew the ALT+0160 trick, but never tried the application. Thanks for sharing it!

Comment posted by Fahad
at 11/23/2007 10:41:12 AM

Yes, its a very handy program.

Comment posted by Alfred
at 11/23/2007 8:23:53 AM

I have been using this for many years, very useful program