Boss Key Explained

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What is Boss Key?

Boss Key is a screen privacy application that has the purpose to protect the privacy of a computer user by instantly hiding applications without loosing data and without closing them.

Which issues does Boss Key solve?

Nowadays the offices are crowded and it is difficult to find a place where one can use a computer in private. Writing a confidential email or entering sensitive information on a web site could be a problem in the crowded office with inquisitive colleagues and a patronizing boss or at home with over-caring and curious relatives. The Boss Key application can solve this issue instantly.

How does Boss Key work?

Boss Key is an application that is loaded automatically when Windows starts and stays invisible in the system. The only way to view it is to use a secret key combination in order to activate it or view its settings. The settings can be password protected too so even if one manages to guess the shortcut the settings will be still hidden. Pressing the secret Boss Key combination the application hides all windows from the screen. At the same time the tool can mute the sound, hide system tray icons, task bar, desktop icons and even switch the display resolution. Once the threat is gone a single key stroke restores everything back to the state before the point of interruption.

Below is a demonstration video on how this works.

Folder Size Windows 7 – Resolved

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Windows 7 Folder Size

Windows 7 Folder Size

Recently I came across some posts on forums from people complaining that there is no Folder Size column in Windows 7. While this is true there is a pretty good reason for it.

First of all none of the files systems support such option by design, which means that it is not available to the operating system. Why is that? Imagine for a moment how this should work at all and the reasons will be quite clear. If folder size information is updated it means that on every file operation the system must update this information. While this may not be a heavy operation if you save or delete a few files just think if you copy or move millions of files? Such operation will take ages. On the other hand you have at least 500 files open in your operating system at any given time (including ones used by the operating system itself) so all those have to be constantly tracked.

Such tracking will lead to immense system slow-down and if it was really implemented the people from those forums that complain about the folder size column not being implemented would be complaining against it. ;)

What do you personally prefer – a constantly slow system because of a feature that you use rarely or just to look for an alternative to scan your folder sizes under Widows 7?

Folder Size is not available not only in Windows 7, but also in Windows 8, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows NT, Linux, Mac OS or any other operating system because of the performance issues mentioned above.

I hope I have managed to explain this clear enough. I personally like the thinks they are and I use this FREE Folder Size application whenever I need it. It is very lightweight and fast and has a beautiful interface resembling the one of Windows Explorer with plenty of charts. This is my personal favorite in the disk cleanup process.

Watch this video tutorial:

Windows 7 Duplicate File Finder Explained

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Windows 7 Duplicate Finder

Windows 7 Duplicate Finder

There is a lot of information about duplicate finding on the web, but I am going to guide you to the best FREE tools to do that.

Finding duplicates is not an easy task and we have to first choose a duplicate finder tool to do this. There are plenty of tools out there, but most of them either do not work properly or they install some nasty spam stuff on your computer. Even the reputable ones install some tool bars and crap that you can not easily get rid of. This is really annoying as you was supposed to clean up hard disks not install extra stuff.

So the Windows 7 Duplicate Finder that I finally found is named Fast Duplicate File Finder and works like a charm:


The tools is very fast and finds all the duplicates properly. Some of the other tools that I tested missed duplicates or displayed incorrect results. Make sure to run this in 100% mode for duplicate detection as it has also a mode where it can find similar or duplicate file names.

This tools has also a PRO version, but all you need is available in its FREE version too. Of course if you need to do fancy stuff like export to XML or add some special filters to the search you will have to go PRO. For all of the rest of us the FREE version works just fine as it can find 100% duplicate files and also search for similar or duplicate file names. The tools supports all Windows operating systems including the latest Windows 7 and Windows 8 versions.

Oh did I forget to mention that FDFF has an internal preview? A very neat feature that displays most of the common file formats including images, video, text files, binary files and many more. This makes it very easy to review the results and compare them right inside the application.

Do not forget to check also the disk analysis tool by the same company as it is also FREE.

Anything to share except spam? Drop in the comments. ;)

Print Directory

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Printing directory is something that everyone has needed now or then. This simple-looking task unfortunately turns to be a bit hard as there is no built-in support to do that in Windows.

I recently found this cool tool that can Print Directory tree easily.

There is a video tutorial on how to print directory her:

The main goal of this free tool is the disk cleanup task, and printing a directory is just a tiny feature from all the things it can do. With its Explore style interface you can start using the tool right away without the need of checking the documentation. The application can scan certain folders or entire hard drives and present the results sorted by size in a neat report. This makes it easy to determine the space hogs immediately. The distribution of disk space is also visualized with nice pie and bar charts that can be interactively used for navigation too.

I will focus on the options to print the contents of a folder here rather than discussing the many fancy features of Folder Size. So in short there is a Windows Explorer context menu “Scan with Folder Size” and all you have to do is to navigate to the folder that you want to print and use it. This will start the application which will scan the corresponding folder and list all the files and sub-folders of the selected item.

In order to print the results use the File->Print option. This will display the Print Preview dialog where you can choose multiple options. Folder Size prints to many formats including the proprietary PPV (Print Preview), PDF, EMF or multi-page TIFF, of course it will print to the printer too.

Download this FREE tool and save valuable disk space by organizing your files.

Printing directories is easy as pie with the help of the Folder Size application.

You can view the Folder Size tutorial here.

5 Desktop Enhancers

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Desktop Enhancer

5 Desktop Enhancers

Not everyone was cut out to follow in the footsteps of others. Some desktop users march to the beat of their own drums, and for these rebels we recommend looking into desktop customization software. These programs allow to you configure and organize your docks and home screens in ways that best suit your workflow. Here are the top five on the market:

Fences—Developed by Stardock, this Windows software creates translucent boundaries on your desktop that helps you to organize your icons. It offers the ability to customize your desktop. The user can double-click on the screen in order to hide the selected icons. A Pro edition allows you to create categories for the fences and there is also a free version available. Fences has over 3 million downloads.

ObjectDock—Another Stardock product, this dock also comes in free and Pro editions and was offered for the last several Windows released. ObjectDock creates shortcuts for users in their docks and simulates Mac OS X in functionality. It is utilized as a program launcher or as a taskbar replacement and can be optimized by plugins for a variety of additional functions. A recent version supports Vista, a resources search engine, and improved features all around.

RocketDock—PolyVector and Skunkie of Punk Labs released this application launcher under a creative commons license. Borrowing from ObjectDock’s Docket API, the animated, alpha-blended software can also be used to show updates of live windows. It is compatible with multiple skins, easily customizable and features multiple monitor support, unicode compliance, bilingual users, and positioning and layering options.

Winstep Nexus Dock—A hot desktop customization utility, Winstep prides itself on its versatility, offering icons for a variety of functions, including CPU and RAM meters, time and date, and a Screen Capture Tool. There are also many options for tabs, the highlights of which are Position and Behavior, Appearance, Effects, and others. The newest version is enhanced by a weather module, new ‘launch’ and ‘attention’ features, a Flip3D command, and new language files. Winstep has garnered over 800,000 downloads and is considered a rising star.

VistaGlazz—Simple but essential for Windows Vista users,VistaGlazz allows you to alter your Vista setup in whatever way you choose. With a basic, no frills interface and no skins to confuse you, this app will help you to configure your desktop so that it’s optimal to your workflow. The last download count had VistaGlazz inching closer to 2 million.

These are the top picks for desktop utility software. They are by no means the only options, but for customizing your Windows desktop these five pieces of software can be extremely useful.

Find Similar Files – Fast Duplicate File Finder Professional

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Free Duplicate File Finder

Find Similar Files

MindGems Inc. has released a Professional version of the famous Free Fast Duplicate File Finder. The new version can find similar files regardless of their file types, beside finding 100% duplicate files. Such feature is very handy for finding multiple versions of the same word or excel document, for finding similar text documents, archives or any other type of file.

You can scan local files, removable media such as USB drives, flash cards, optical discs, external drives, and network drives with Fast Duplicate File Finder.

There are a lot of useful feature like the option to automatically mark the older of the two duplicate files as the one that will be deleted or moved. Shortcut to immediately jump to the actual folder where a duplicate you’d like to examine is residing is also available. The protection of system and program files will grantee the you will not end up with a blue screen by accidentally deleting a system file.

The in-program preview lets you easily check the duplicate image, video, music, text and binary files. The duplicate files can be dumped into the recycle bin, deleted permanently, or moved to a folder preserving their folder structure until you’re certain you want them permanently deleted.

Fast Duplicate File Finder has a very low resource requirements and will work smooth even on a Windows 98 system with a Pentium-233 MHz processor. In addition to that it supports: Windows 7/Vista/XP/NT/ME/2000/2003/98

If you are looking for a free way to easily find duplicate files on your computer or network, Fast Duplicate File Finder is definitely the right application for you.

More Information:
Duplicate File Finder
Find Similar Files
Duplicate File Finder

Direct Download Link:
Find Similar Files

DVD copy and Blu-ray copy software reviews

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DVD Cloner

DVD Cloner

Nowadays, DVD software are very popular on the market for their common use and availability. Faced with varieties of DVD products, customers are now at a loss about how to choose the best and right DVD copy software.
The ideal DVD copy software should not only design for experts. In fact, the most ideal DVD copy software should provide more suitable for beginners. Software installation should be no dispute and DVD copy software installation should be simple and easy.
DVD-Cloner is the latest version of the world’s most reliable DVD/Blu-ray copying software. This easy-to-use yet powerful burning software, gives you the freedom to make perfect 1:1 DVD copy, movie-only copy and customized copy, whatever you want. DVD-Cloner VII will be released soon, with its innovative ERT technology, you can backup of the latest movies with ease. For beginners, its intuitive and wizard-style interface provides easy, guided steps for DVD copy. For more information, you can go to http://www.dvd-cloner.com/ . If you are using a Mac computer, there is DVD-Cloner for Mac for your convenience. DVD-Cloner for Mac is the definitive DVD copy software for the Mac operating system. Based on the award-winning current DVD-Cloner platform, it is the most powerful and versatile burning application available for Mac.
During the high definition optical disc format war, Blu-ray disc finally gains more support from media companies. For this, there is Blue-Cloner. Blue-Cloner is a professional Blu-ray too, to make quality Blu-ray backups easily. It can copy Blu-ray movies to BD-R/REs or to the hard disk drive with absolutely the same quality. Its fast copying speed and friendly user interface makes the Blu-ray copy easier than ever. You can go to http://www.blue-cloner.com/ for more information. Moreover, there are Blu-ray to DVD Pro for you to copy your Blu-ray movies to DVD or AVCHD with only one click and Blu-ray to HDD for you to convert Blu-ray movies to mkv or ts files. With it, you can enjoy any Blu-ray movie on PC with software player (like KMplayer, Mplayer and PowerDVD), or on TV with a HDD player (MVIX, TVIX).
If you want to enjoy your movie on your iPod, you can an iPod-Cloner. iPod-Cloner is a one-click solution to convert all kinds of DVD to iPod compatible format. Or you can have a DVD-Cloner Platinum. It has all the features of DVD-Cloner plus the ability to convert all your DVD movies to iPod Nano, Classic and Touch. It’s a user-friendly program with excellent output quality, but costs a little more than DVD-Cloner. If these still can’t satisfy you, you can go to http://www.opencloner.com/ to choose your favorites.

Duplicate Photo Finder Reviews And Comparison Table

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A lot of applications are available on the market and claim to be able to find similar and duplicate images. Most of those applications are just variations of standard byte-to-byte duplicate finders that can find only 100% identical files.

We did some performance tests choosing only the applications that can find similar images besides finding duplicates. We tested the applications on AMD X2 5000+, 2GB RAM which is an average machine and scanned 5000 files as some of the applications could not handle large volumes.

The results that we achieved were varied.

Which Duplicate Photo Finder To Choose?

Which Duplicate Photo Finder To Choose?

A nice surprise was the application at the top of the list which is our choice in this review. Besides the performance Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder gave accurate results and did not have issues with large volumes of images. It also has a corporate version that is used in online stock photography web sites – we are not surprised by that fact as it managed to scan 50 000 images in several minutes. The PRO version also provides support for 300+ RAW camera image formats.

Download Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder for free.

Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder -Search For Images By Content

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Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder-Search For Images By Content

Find And Delete Duplicate Pictures and Photographs

Find And Delete Duplicate Pictures and Photographs

In our digital era shooting and editing digital photos is part of our daily life. Unfortunately we rarely keep a well organized database. We copy images to temporary locations in different formats that we needed at certain points of our work and forget to delete them. Searching for a photograph by its content was an impossible task for a computer so soon we are going out of storage. In such situations what comes extremely handy is a product developed by MindGems Inc.

I am going to introduce you here – Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder. Though a bit long, the name of the product describes it perfectly well. The product will find similar images regardless of the file name, format, image size and bit depth. Image processing is a heavy task and the performance achieved by this application is incredible. It manages to scan thousands of images in few minutes. I got also some information from the company about a new feature that will be available in the upcoming version. A photo search option. It will let you search for images by a sample. You will no longer have to search for your wedding photos. Do you remember that photo you mailed to John? Just load it in Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder and it will find the rest of the images for you. A very nice feature that will let you find the rest of the images from the set by loading a single sample.

Many professionals and also advanced photographers take images in RAW format. The quality of the RAW images is much better compared to JPEG, but the drawback is the size and the fact that very small amount of products supports it. The good news here is that Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder will provide also a RAW support soon for all the popular camera brands available on the market.

I must admit also the vast variety of image formats that it supports. Here is a complete list:

  • JPEG Bitmap (*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.jpe)
  • Compuserve Bitmap (*.gif)
  • Portable Network Graphics (*.png)
  • TIFF Bitmap (*.tif;*.tiff;*.fax;*.g3n;*.g3f)
  • JPEG2000 Files (*.jp2)
  • JPEG2000 Code Stream (*.j2k;*.jpc;*.j2c)
  • Targa (*.tga;*.targa;*.vda;*.icb;*.vst;*.pix)
  • Paintbrush (*.pcx)
  • Windows Bitmap (*.bmp;*.dib;*.rle)
  • Windows Metafile (*.wmf)
  • Enhanced Windows Metafile (*.emf)
  • Windows Icon (*.ico)
  • Windows Cursor (*.cur)
  • Wireless Bitmap (*.wbmp)
  • Portable Pixmap (*.pxm;*.ppm)
  • Adobe Photoshop (*.psd)

You can download a fully functional demo at the company web site – Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder.

Also do not miss to check out the detailed Visual Similarity Duplicate Image Finder tutorial page