Fresh UI is a fresh solution for configuring and optimizing Windows. Loaded with hundreds of useful hidden settings in Windows XP/2000/NT/ 98/95/Me, this software covers the customizing and optimizing techniques that you’ll be glad to know, such as:
Customizing Windows User Interface (UI)
Optimizing system settings
Optimizing hardware settings
Customizing Windows application settings
Controlling user environment with policies>
Config Inspector is a nice little freeware application for windows operating systems that could be described as an advanced task manager. Besides offering more information about loaded applications and processes it also displays vital information about memory and cpu usage, network utilization and general windows information.
A nice handy utility which is only 125K zipped. Just unpack and run, no installation required.
HostsMan is a freeware application that lets you manage your Hosts file with ease. In computing, a host file, stored on the computer’s filesystem, is used to look up the Internet Protocol address of a device connected to a computer network. The host file describes a many-to-one mapping of device names to IP addresses. When accessing a device by name, the networking system will attempt to locate the name within the host file if it exists. Typically, this is used as a first means of locating the address of a system, before accessing the Internet domain name system.
The reason for this is that the host file is stored on the computer itself and does not require any network access to be used, whereas DNS requires access to an external system, which is typically slower.
Most Windows users discover it with time: right after Windows is installed, or when one gets a new PC, the machine is “clean”. Startup and shutdown are fast, the system directories are not crowded with files that contain God knows what, no useless program is wasting your CPU 24/24, etc. Then, things start deteriorating…
Windows does not provide an easy way to keep its system clean.
For example, there are many different ways for a program to install itself so that it is run automatically, so it is not easy for you to track down which application decided “by itself” to use your system’s resources in the way it wants.
PeToUSB is a Win32 GUI application for formatting and making bootable, USB Flash Memory Drives and USB HardDisks and optionally copying the output from a successful BartPE/WinPE build to the device. There are options to backup/restore the MBR on a device.
Boot your BartPE/WinPE from a USB Flash Disk Drive!