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Free Portable Software to Carry with you on a USB Flash Drive Reviewed and categorized Free Portable Software , Portable Freeware , and Open Source Portable Applications that can be stored and run directly from a USB Flash Drive. Bring your office applications, email, web browser, instant messaging software, games, graphical editors, media player, anti virus software, recovery tools, encryption utilities, P2P file sharing utilities and more with you. Most, but not all of these third party portable apps were created by their authors with the ability to be run entirely from the portable device, saving your personal settings and changes back to the same device. http://www.pendriveapps.com/

Free Portable Software USB Flash Drive Applications | Pendriveapps

Over the years, we’ve written about loads of ways to disable features, tweak things that don’t work the way you want, and remove other things entirely. Here’s the list of the 50 best ways to do just that. After you start installing a bunch of software, you’ll notice your context menu starts filling up with more and more items, becoming bloated, slow, and even more annoying—it starts taking up the whole screen. Here’s how to get rid of some of those items and trim it back down to size. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/40559/the-50-best-ways-to-disable-built-in-windows-features-you-dont-want/

The 50 Best Ways to Disable Built-in Windows Features You Don’t Want - How-To Geek

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/maximum_pcs_32_totally_essential_apps?page=0,0

Maximum PC | The 32 Totally Essential (and Free) Apps for Every New PC - Page 1

You have to admit, Windows is a pretty barebones operating system, feature-wise. After a fresh install of XP or Vista (perhaps following a Clean Start ), you're faced with a barren Start Menu and an empty desktop that's beaming with limitless potential. The problem is that it's up to you to hunt and download those applications that you really need in your day-to-day computing experience. And chances are, it's often difficult to find good software that's also free. That's where this guide comes in.
If you’re in college, check out these eight lesser known, but still indispensable software applications for your computer. We bet these will be as useful as Dropbox and Evernote! Connectify lets you share your laptop’s internet connection with others nearby. Connectify can create a Wifi hotspot out of any Windows 7 computer in a matter of seconds. The app shows up in the system tray once you install it.

Free Software for College Students

http://www.killertechtips.com/2011/03/07/software-for-college/

This Is Lifehacker's Evil Episode: Cracking Windows Passwords, Padlocks, and Wi-Fi

On episode five of Lifehacker, we're turning to the dark side, focusing on "evil" hacks for cracking Windows passwords, padlock combinations, Wi-Fi passwords, and a whole lot more. Knowledge is power, and it's up to you to decide how to use it. Be safe out there! http://lifehacker.com/5792861/this-is-lifehackers-evil-episode-cracking-windows-passwords-padlocks-and-wi+fi

Best Free Ways to Protect Your Private Files

When you're saving sensitive files on your computer meant for your eyes only, make sure you've got the right tools on hand to keep them private. Whether you want to shield your brilliant startup business plan from the Pointy Haired Boss, or hide your stash of Gillian Anderson photos from the kids, there are several free tools that can encrypt, password-protect, or obscure files and folders from others who might use your computer. Let's take a look at various methods, tools, and levels of privacy and security you can use to lock up your sensitive data. The strongest and most bulletproof consumer encryption tool out there is the free, cross-platform, open source TrueCrypt . http://lifehacker.com/391555/best-free-ways-to-protect-your-private-files
http://allmyapps.com/ 1-minute PC setup Pick and install your favorite apps on a new device with just a few clicks. No clunky installers, no wasted time. Just click "go" and we'll do the rest.

App Store Allmyapps - Windows Application Store for Desktop and Web Apps

http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/60-best-free-pc-software-downloads-from-microsoft-914749 Chances are, you know that alongside Windows and Office, Microsoft makes a number of apps that are free for all. But the actual number might just surprise you. When we started counting up all the best free Microsoft apps, we thought we'd find 20 or 30. In the end, by the time we'd reached 60, we realised we'd have to stop, just to fit them all in. And because this is Microsoft, these apps aren't just OK, they're good. Great, even.

48 best free software downloads from Microsoft | News | TechRadar UK

Over the last several years working in IT for various companies as a Systems Administrator, Network Administrator, and Help Desk professional, I’ve written and learned about many ways to increase the performance of not only my PC, but also of the many PCs on my networks ranging from Windows 98 to Windows Vista. In this article, I hope to compile a complete list of all the different methods and tricks that I’ve used to get the last bit of juice out of a slow PC. Whether you are using an old PC or the latest and greatest in hardware, you can still use some of these to make your PC run faster. Note that since I write two blogs, Help Desk Geek and Online Tech Tips, I have previously written about many performance tips already which I will link back to throughout. If I have not written about it, I’ve throw in a link to a relevant article from some of my other favorite sites. This list is in no particular order, just written in the order that I could think of them.

99 ways to make your computer blazingly fast

http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-xp-tips/99-ways-to-make-your-computer-blazingly-fast/
Windows only: LookInMyPC generates a complete report of what's going on in a computer—from hardware to software, and everything in between. After playing around with it, this writer wouldn't start troubleshooting a PC without it. I'm not kidding. Whether you're a tech guru who knows your way around your computer better than the company that built it, or a novice just getting acquainted with your system, LookInMyPC is a free app you'll want to download and run at least once, even before you need its diagnostic help. It's like a big verbal X-Ray of your PC, detailing everything from the brand of network adapter you have to the number of user accounts on your system. http://lifehacker.com/5468742/lookinmypc-is-a-must+have-tool-for-computer-troubleshooting

LookInMyPC Is a Must-Have Tool for Computer Troubleshooting

software - What are the essential tools you always have handy when attempting to fix someone's PC problem? - Super User

Nirsoft's tools. Nearly all of them, but especially things to grab passwords like MailPassView. ComboFix is a good all-purpose utility for knocking out a whole swath of malware. It's updated VERY frequently, however, so be sure your stick is always up-to-date.
Twist cap carefully. Only pour into Maximum PC-approved computer tanks. After installing a new OS, most people just jump right in and start driving it through all their favorite applications and games. Makes sense, right? The operating system, after all, should be a background player in the computing experience—a means to an end, with the end being web surfing, content editing, and wanton destruction in the first-person shooter of one’s choice. The problem, however, is that most people, even a lot of self-described power users, never take the time to really tune the new OS, exploring its menus and setting up the interface for the fastest, most convenient operation based on personal preferences.

19 Tips Every Windows 7 User Needs to Know | Maximum PC

The Best Of: Windows Software

On this page you will find the best 117 free Windows programs for all your needs. We’ve taken the effort to categorize the apps and picked only those we believe to be the best ones and which will most likely be useful to you. DriveImage XML Easily Backup or copy entire disks block-for-block directly to another drive without the need to reboot your computer to run the cloning process.
Use your Computer, Not your Wallet The recession is hitting everyone hard and money is tight. That doesn’t mean that can’t get the most out of your computer. There are so many great free applications that can help you do just about anything. I’m going to take a look at 22 applications that I use all the time with wonderful results. I’m going to identify the free applications that I use in the following categories:

22 Most Useful Free Applications for your PC

Painting by Numbers - Microsoft Malware Protection Center - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

The MMPC came across an interesting piece of social engineering today that embeds a malicious script, which has been observed circulating on 4chan message boards. On further investigation, it became apparent that this is the next stage in the evolution of a threat known as 4chan.js that has been around since 2008. This scenario relies on a user's trust of image file formats and an unfamiliarity of the .HTA format (by the way, HTA stands for HTML Application). The .PNG file stores the data in a compressed format that is quite innocuous. Did you notice the fuzz at the bottom of the images shown above? This is actually compressed data that is stored in the image.