Although everyone uses a web browser to access the Internet and download files, you ought to have an FTP client installed as you can download multiple applications from FTP sites, resume paused downloads and go back and download again if a download fails. Even better, an FTP client can be used to upload files to your homepage or any remote server. However, you need an FTP client and there have been three updates to popular clients this week.

Wise-FTP 3 is a full commercial download which we made available recently. Another popular choice is SmartFTP 3.0.1021.5, which is free for non-commercial use now shareware. CoreFTP LE 2.1 is another free FTP client, whilst WinSCP 4.1.6 is popular.

Whilst many of us have switched to a third-party tool to maintain our PC, we're still using the old Add/Remove programs preferences panel to remove software from our computer. This is fine for some software, but most applications leave remnants all over your system. This might include information in your Registry, temporary installation files and filetype references. However, you might not even understand which applications you should remove from your computer.

MyUninstaller 1.42 is a simple and effective software removal tool that will examine your system and give you feedback in regards to the software you can remove. It will let you make a more informed choice of the software you should be removing.

MyUninstaller link.

There's little point having a calendar and then keeping the information to yourself. If you're lucky to have your own PA, then other people can consult on your availability with your PC. Otherwise they simply have to guess or ask colleagues where you are located. If someone is located outside your office, they might make a wasted trip when coming to visit your for a potential meeting. The solution is a calendar which enables you to share information with other users.

Chandler 1.0 RC1 is a free opensource calendar which enables you to store all your 'to do' items, your files associated with projects, as well as sharing your calendar with other users, online. Simply set up a Chandler online account and publish your information online when you update.

Chandler link.

There is a problem with every operating system, whether it's a Mac or a PC, where the majority of video and audio files will not play back through your system, unless you download the relevant media player. It's annoying as this means it's difficult to play Windows Media Player files on your Mac and QuickTime files on your PC, without additional software. One solution is to install an independent media player such as the VLC Media Player. The other is to install the relevant codec which will enable playback through your existing media player.

K-Lite Codec Pack 4.1 is a comprehensive free collection of codecs that will enable you to play most regular media types. Install the collection from this pack and you may find that you do not need to find another media player ever again.

K-Lite Codec Pack link.

Most corporate websites require input from multiple sources. Whether it's a group of people updating the latest news or someone responsible for keeping company information up-to-date, these people need access to your site and/or server. It's made far worse if the contributors are situated outside of your office and, thus, outside of your firewall. One solution is a content management system, which enables you to give access rights to various people and allow them to access your server from outside your company.

Joomla 1.5.5 is free content management opensource software that enables you to upload a content management system (CMS) to your server and then open up access to particular users. It needs access to a database, so check the requirements before implementing the software.

Joomla 1.5.5 link.

External hard drives are rather cheap these days. I'm using the external 1TB Apple Time Capsule, with a difference. It's used for storing media files and can be accessed by any computer on the network, irrespective of operating system. It's also used for backing up files from both the Mac and PC. However, you need backup software on your PC to make incremental backups to the drive.

Acronis True Image 11.0.8101 is now available and is our choice for drive backup software. However, the latest v11 now enables you to backup individual files and folders, as well as your entire drive or partition. Best of all, we have a promo where you can get 20% off the latest Acronis True Image 11 and also get Acronis Disk Director 10 for free. Both products for around £21!

Acronis True Image 11 and Disk Director 10 links.

With numerous free and commercial applications offering to provide protection from spyware, where do you begin to look? Ok, there are plenty of free applications out there, most of which offer reasonable protection and there are also many commercial applications available, all varying in performance and price. A good place to start is with a trusted commercial developer, someone who specialises in PC protection and who have been doing so for number of years.

PC Tools Spyware Doctor 6 Starter Edition is full commercial anti-spyware technology and available as a world exclusive download from vnunet.com. Best of all, it  ships with unlimited definition updates, so you're always protected from the latest threats. The latest v6 has had a user-interface re-design and includes additional protection against the latest threats.

PC Tools Spyware Doctor 6 Starter Edition link.

If you own a fast Intel-based Apple Mac, you can quite easily run a Windows virtualisation tool such as VMware Fusion and you'll find that Windows runs very smoothly and efficiently alongside your existing OS X installation. With Unity support, you're able to run Windows applications right on top of OS X, as if they were a native OS X application.

VMware Fusion 2 Preview 2 is now available and this contains a host of new features. Unity 2 now enables you to run Windows on your Mac desktop without seeing any reference to Windows. For example, if you prefer Microsoft Outlook to Apple Mail, you can arrange your Mac desktop to launch Microsoft Outlook as your default email client, natively. You can also share your Documents folder from both the Mac and Windows. There are many many more new features and we suggest you read through the Fusion 2 Preview 2 new features list for more information.

VMware Fusion 2 Preview 2 link.

Sadly, Apple iTunes has caused a fair amount of negative press recently. With the recent release of iTunes 7.7, Windows Vista users found that Apple had forced a MobileMe preferences icon to be installed in your Control Panel, without even asking whether you wanted to install MobileMe or not. MobileMe enables you to synchronise your contacts between applications such as Microsoft Outlook and your MobileMe account.

Apple iTunes 7.7.1 has now been made available for download and this new version contains fixes to help with stablility and security. Nothing has been mentioned about the MobileMe preferences icon within Windows, so we can't determine whether this still exists or not.

Apple iTunes 7.7.1 link.

If you're a song writer, particularly a writer who has to produce lyrics for pop songs, the problem is that you need to find rhyming words to fit your melody. This isn't easy and it is the primary reason why you hear some cheesy words when lyric writers simply can't find a decent word to fit both the song and to rhyme with a word in the previous verse.

Rhymesaurus Free v2 is a free tool that will enable you to enter a word and be given a number of rhyming examples that you can use for your lyrics. It's also useful for people who like to write poems or similar where the words need to rhyme through the prose.

Rhymesaurus link.

Few people seem to be aware of this, but Internet Explorer is 'built in' to Windows. Well, the web core components are certainly integrated. In the same way Safari's web core is built in to OS X. This enables software developer's to use the engine to drive their HTML-based help documentation and to display web content within the app. iTunes is a good example. That uses the IE engine to render the interface.

IE Tab 1.5 is an add-on for Firefox that enables you to open a tab that will display a page using the Internet Explorer rendering engine, rather than Firefox. This is good for sites that only require IE or for developers who need to test the odd page in IE, without actually opening IE. The latest IE Tab 1.5.x now supports Firefox 3.

IE Tab link.

If you own a Mac and run OS X, you're probably proud of the fact that it's almost impossible for your machine to be infected by a virus or a trojan. However, it's not completely impossible. The more popular the Mac becomes, the more likely it will happen. If you do not have an anti-virus client installed, you'll be the first to be infected.

PC Tools iAntiVirus is both a free and paid-for anti-virus client from a reputable software developer, designed to protect your Mac from the latest threats. It's completely free for personal and non-commercial use and there's a paid-for version with support and a commercial license.

PC Tools iAntiVirus link.

We've received a few emails about this subject and, although it rarely happens, we have had to temporarily remove the Webroot range of products from our website. Webroot contacted us and said that have decided that they need to update further before they can release the forthcoming 5.8 range of software. As we spent time putting all this information online last week - promoting it in our weekly newsletter and other locations - this isn't something we're too pleased about. However, we're looking forward to the 5.8 release of Spy Sweeper and Personal Firewall and will get them back up again immediately.

For now, keep an eye on the Webroot website for the re-release which will be soon. Spy Sweeper 5.8 was a big release and widely anticipated.

Webroot homepage.

Windows is highly customisable. Indeed, there are visual themes that enable you to turn your Windows installation in to something resembling a Mac OS X operating system. These themes replace your user-interface, colour scheme, desktop background, icons and much more. However, there are many situations where you either like a visual theme, but want to make your own minor adjustments, or simply cannot find a theme that you desire.

Stardock SkinStudio 6 is a visual theme designer that enables you to either change and improve an existing theme or design a brand new theme from scratch. Once finished, you can use on your PC and share with other users, online. Bear in mind that there is a free version and a pro version (paid for product) which contains additional features.

Stardock SkinStudio 6 link.

Back in early 2007 we put the first version of Firefox 3 online, expecting it to reach beta stage fairly quickly. It didn't. At the end of 2007 we were still posting previews online and this ended up confusing many general Internet users. Of course, Firefox 3 did enable you to install and use it without affecting your Firefox 2 installation, but it also installed separate versions for each beta and each new version affected your previous working add-ons and extensions.

Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 codenamed 'Shiretoko' is now available to download, although we're going to hold off putting it on vnunet.com/downloads until it reaches beta stage. This new version brings a host of minor new features that didn't have time to get in to the original 3.0 release. These include support for the latest Gecko rendering engine, improvements to the Smart Location Bar and a brand new tab system that enables you to browse through a visual film strip of your previous opened tabs.

Firefox 3.1 Alpha 1 link.

Install Windows on your PC and most users would never realise that only the basic vanilla drivers are being used to control your components. This means that you are not getting the most from your computer and it could even lead to conflict. By installing the latest up-date-drivers, the manufacturer will have worked out most issues based around the latest Windows operating system.

Uniblue DriverScanner 1.0.0.192 is a driver tool that you can use to scan your computer, check your current drivers, check against an online database and then update if necessary. However, you can also backup your drivers, so if you ever need to re-install Windows, you can quickly get the latest drivers back on your PC immediately.

Uniblue DriverScanner link.

It's easily done, especially when more than one person uses the same computer. Drop an important work file to your desktop, someone else decides to clean up the desktop and wipes the file from Trash. As there is no recovery software built in to Windows, your first decision is how you are going to recover the lost file.

Recuva 1.17 is free recovery software that will scan your computer seeking deleted and so-called lost files. Most files can be recovered easily as, unless you've written a lot of new data to your drive, the chances are the remnants of the original data is still on your drive. You can also use Recuva to find lost digital photos from memory cards or examine external hard drives.

Recuva link.

There are plenty of free image and photo management tools, that enable you to categorise and store your photos, as well as basic image manipulation and enhancement. However, if you've recently upgraded to a semi-professional digital camera, it could be the time to take your photos more seriously. For this, you need a professional level photo manager and two of the most popular products are Apple Aperture and Adobe Lightroom.

Adobe Lightroom 2 is now available and it's a cross-platform product, so you can use it on both a PC and a Mac, whereas Apple's Aperture is a Mac OS X only photo manager. The latest Adobe Lightroom 2 contains a number of new features, including improved image enhancement tools and more.

Adobe Lightroom 2 link.

If you use a local calendar such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Sunbird or iCal on OS X, then you'll know it's an ideal tool for monitoring your tasks and forthcoming events, whilst also sharing the information with other users. However, unless you use a third-party synchronisation tool, it was never easy to publish your calendar online and then keep both updated. However, the latest version of the online Google Calendar now supports CalDav support, which means that you can now automate how your calendar appears locally and remotely, without a third-party interface.

Google Calendar is part of an online suite of tools from Google that enable you to edit and publish work information online.

Google Calendar link.

The problem for any laptop user is that you may need to move between different networks, depending on your location. In the office, you can connect to the local network, whereas out of the office you may need to rely on a slower 3G card. Worse, the 3G network may limit your bandwidth so you can only download 50MB/day. For this reason, you may want to surf the web without images, stop your email client downloading large attachments and more. However, you need to be able to switch between profiles, depending on the network.

Avanquest Connection Manager is free full commercial software that recently retailed for £20. It's a tool that enables you to either create a new profile or remember a profile you used previously, when you connected to a network. You can then switch your settings when you move to a different network, including configuring your favourite installed apps, automatically.

Avanquest Connection Manager link.

There are many advantages to using portable applications, they are often lightweight and they don't require you to installation. For example, your work computer may not be equipped with certain applications and it may not enable you to install any new applications without certain permissions. This is where portable applications are most effective, simply keep your apps on a portable drive such as a USB stick and you can take them on the road to use whenever you require.

VLC Media Player Portable 0.8.6i is a highly portable version of the standard media player. It's capable of playing numerous video and audio formats, so not only can you take your audio and video files with you, you have something to play them on, without installing any software.

VLC Media Player Portable 0.8.6i link.    

Trying to keep up-to-date and staying organised in business can be difficult, it can sometimes feel as though you're not in control. Applications for staying organised have been around for a number of years now but many can be more hassle than they are worth, especially if they aren't integrated with any other software you may use, such as your email client. However, if you work within a small business or larger organisation, enabling staff with such applications could help improve productivity.

Daylight 3.7.4 is a comprehensive organisation suite for business designed for your Mac that enables you to manage information using a system called linking. Projects, contacts and tasks can all be linked and stored, so you can relate projects and all other relevant information. You can also integrate the software with Apple Mail quickly and easily.

Daylight 3.7.4 link. 

What's happening with PC Tools? Most software developers are lucky if they release a new app every few months. With PC Tools, we've seen Spyware Doctor 6, Registry Mechanic 8, Personal Firewall 4 and a brand new Disk Suite 2009, in the last four weeks. This can only be a good thing and, as users get free updates within their subscription period, no-one can complain they have to pay for an upgrade.

PC Tools Internet Security 2009 is a complete suite of security software designed to protect your PC from the latest threats. Using technology from their popular software, it contains anti-spyware, anti-virus, a powerful firewall and anti-spam modules. Of course, this means you need to choose whether you want a complete suite or just the individual apps.

PC Tools Internet Security 2009 link.

Lately there has been some welcome competition in the disk and system optimisation market. There are existing tools from Iolo, and the latest System Mechanic 8 is rather superb, as well as the excellent Tune-Up Utilities 2008 (we're giving away Tune-Up Utilities 2007 with Computeractive magazine), which will enable you to optimise and tweak just about every aspect of your PC. However, there is another tool on the market from a well-resepected software developer, which was know as PC Tools.

PC Tools Disk Suite 2009 is a brand new disk and system optimisation suite that combines some of their existing technology with backup, partitioning and defragmentation tools that will keep every aspect of your PC in check. It has been released as a public beta preview, so use it with an element of caution.

PC Tools Disk Suite 2009 link.

New users may be unaware, but the Windows Registry has remained unchanged for years and acts as a database of information about your PC. Every application installed on your computer, the file type associations, location of files and much more. Snag is, the more you use your computer, the larger your Registry will become, which means your system can slow and take longer to boot. Uninstall software and you may find that the information remains in your Registry which means that it can conflict with other installed software.

PC Tools Registry Mechanic 8 is a solution and is one of the most popular Registry optimisation and defragmentation tools. This is a major update and has received a brand new interface, system optimisation tools, a new plugin architecture and much more.

PC Tools Registry Mechanic 8 link.

In this day and age, having your own website is a must. Unfortunately, paying someone to create and host a website can be extremely expensive, and creating your own can be daunting. Even though most professional web building tools will enable you to create a web site from a template, everything that comes after can be just as confusing, such as hosting and maintaining the site. So what do you do if you still want to create a website, but have no knowledge of programming?

TOWeb 2.0 enables inexperienced users to easily create and maintain your own website. You can add text, images and other content and TOWeb will assist you with the rest, keeping your site looking good and working well. 

TOWeb 2.0 link

Many of us are not allow to use our company email for personal correspondence. For that reason, we tend to read and access our email through our Google Mail account or via Facebook. Google Mail has the advantage in that it can obtain email from other accounts, enabling you to pool email from multiple sources in to one mailbox. However, you need to open a web browser to keep checking your mail and this isn't alway convenient.

Gmail Notifier 0.6.3.6 is an add-on for Firefox that enables you to check multiple Gmail accounts and will display a simple blue icon when you have new mail. You only need to check your mail folder when you see the red envelope swap to a blue image. Simple and a basic way of checking your mail.

Gmail Notifier link.

Open source software is improving all the time and as they improve, the number of users increases. Some applications however are used so widely, providing an open source version can cause compatibility issues. There are a number of open-source word processing applications available that that enable you to open and create Microsoft Word documents. That's great for those that use the software, but what if you want to open or create an open format document in Word?   

OpenOffice Plugin for Microsoft Office 1.2 is a useful tool that enables users to open Word, Excel and PowerPoint file formats. Using a toolbar for Word and Excel, you can import and export documents easily. You can even set Word to use the ODT format by default.

OpenOffice Plugin for Microsoft Office 1.2 link.

File synchronisation is the way forward. Apple saw this and decided to upgrade their old Mac toolkit to support file synchronisation with the new MobileMe. Unfortunately the plan has gone to pot and the file synchronisation part has been temporarily excluded.

Evernote 3 has finally reached open beta, so anyone can now sign up for an account and get started. It's superb media and note sharing software. You can cut and paste information from a website, email and other sources, then paste as a new note. These notes are synchronised with your online account and, if you have installed Evernote on another computer, you can sync the same notes back to the other PC.

In the future, it would be great to enable other users to share your information. For instance, if you wanted to share blog notes, interesting data and other points of interest, you could create an area in your account which was open for other users. This would be ideal for a development team who wanted to share ideas and notes regarding a current or future project.

Evernote 3 public beta link.

From time to time you stumble across software that goes way beyond your expectations. The problem with system maintenance or optimisation software is, quite frankly, that they only do a fraction of what you might expect. We've already discussed the advantages of System Mechanic 8, which we're giving away on the October PCW magazine, but with the latest edition of Computeractive magazine, issue 272, on-sale from tomorrow, we're giving away something equally as good.

Tune-Up Utilties 2007 is a complete all-in-one system optimisation and maintenance suite, along the lines of System Mechanic. We suggest you compare both and evaluate which one is more effective for your PC.

Computeractive 272 magazine link.

There are so many tweaking, optimisation and system boosting tools that you can end up with multiple installed software, just to keep your system in check. However, it would be far more effective to use a single suite of software that contained all the tweaking, system maintenance and optimisation tools within one interface. System Mechanic 8 is a popular choice and it's free with the October edition of PCW magazine, on-sale now.

System Mechanic 8 will enable you to check for drive errors, defrag your drive, defrag your Registry, check startup applications, optimise your memory and much more. The latest version of System Mechanic is very polished. We've had it installed for the last few weeks, without issues. If you were disappointed with previous version, it's worth considering trying the latest revision. If you already own System Mechanic 7, you receive a free upgrade to v8.

October PCW magazine link.

When you install many different applications on your PC, you may be equipped to perform almost any task but unfortunately, even if you don't use the software it could be doing more harm than good. Every time you install an application, you submit data to your registry, which could automatically open applications when your machine boots, hindering the time it takes for your machine to start. Another issue is identifying and removing registry entries, as you may find they remain even after software is removed.   

Autoruns 9.31 is a too that enables you to view a complete list of all items launched when your PC boots. Use it to locate hidden files that are associated with installed applications as well as disable problematic start-up items. 

Autoruns 9.31 link.

Anyone who has used the Internet has downloaded a file, even if they may not have been aware. However, if you do download files on a regular basis, whether for work or in your own time, you will recognise the importance of not only the speed of downloads, but a reliable connection. A decent download manager will help you maintain speed and connection as well as give you more control over bandwidth and even accelerate your downloads. One problem with some managers though is that they can be a bit bulky, when all you really need is a simple, easy-to-use application.  

Orbit Downloader 2.7.2 is a simple but lightweight download manager based on multi-source download technology. It supports multiple protocols and will enable you to maximise download speeds. You can even use it to stream from web pages and download flash videos.

Orbit Downloader 2.7.2 link.

A few short years ago, Webroot Spy Sweeper was arguably the biggest anti-spyware application available. However, Webroot migrated in to the corporate market and, apart from within the US, they left few resources for promoting their products to consumers. They also have a rather obscure way revising their products. The original Spy Sweeper 5.0 was released over two years ago, when PC Tools were still promoting Spyware Doctor 4. Since then, they've moved to 5.3, 5.5 and now 5.8. Although it appears to be a minor number revision, this new version does contain a number of new features and is the biggest update for a year.

Webroot Spy Sweeper 5.8 is commercial anti-spyware software and this new version includes enhanced support for detecting spyware, the ability to check and scan your computer in the background whilst you play a game in the foreground and protection for the latest Vista PCs.

Webroot Desktop Firewall 5.8 was also released, with a number of improvements. It's a free firewall for home use.

Only a few years ago, you could walk in to your office stationary cupboard, to find stacks of post-it notes, waiting for you to write reminders and stick them all over your desk or computer monitor. Snag is, their stickiness reduces over time and it's too easy for the office cleaner to cleanse your desk with your most important notes. The answer is to to stick post-it notes on your computer desktop, so you are reminded as soon as you switch on your PC.

PinNotes 1.3 is another free sticky notes tool that enables you to place notes across your desktop. You can hide them, make sure they are always on top, make the notes transparent and much more.

PinNotes link.

If you want to produce a simple but effective website, Mac owners are overwhelmed with options, including Rapidweaver, iWeb and many others. These tools enable you to take a pre-designed template, add the text, photos and other media files you want on your site and then publish to your homepage. There aren't too many similar apps on the Windows platform.

Template Shaker 2.4 is a free WYSIWYG tool that will enable you to edit and create template based sites using just your mouse to produce the pages. It's all based around CSS, which means the same look-and-feel will be transposed across your site.

Template Shaker link.

If you use certain freeware or shareware applications, you often find they are updated fairly often, monthly or sometimes even weekly. These 'updates' may not be major, but they make software more stable. If you don't regularly visit download sites or software publisher's sites, it may be more difficult to recognise newer versions of installed software. A useful and convenient way of keeping software updated is to use an auto-update tool, so you don't have to check manually.

UpdateStar 2.2.614 Beta is auto-update tool that will find updates for applications installed on your PC. Inevitably, it's not likely to find updates for all software installed on your machine, but this will improve as we see newer versions of the software. It also looks good, borrowing the ribbon interface from Office 2007.

UpdateStar 2.2.614 Beta link.

Spam filters are available in many varieties, usually designed to work with a particular email client such as Outlook. Although Outlook may have a spam filter of its own, spammers have developed more ingenious ways of distributing malicious mail and many emails may still slip through the net. The advantage of using a separate filter with your email client is that many tend to benefit from regular updates, so they recognise the very latest threats.

SpamBully 4.2.0.7 is a spam filter for Outlook that identifies a huge number of malicious or potentially malicious emails. You can also use SpamBully on a mobile device if you're on the road, and it will only make legitimate emails available. There are also versions available for Outlook Express and Windows Mail. 

SpamBully 4.2.0.7 link.