Not many people these days keep audio CD’s.  For most of us, all of the CD’s we owned have been ripped to our computers, stored on backups, and/or moved to cloud storage.  In our house we began ripping all of our CD’s years ago and then selling the discs to a music shop that dealt in used discs.  It saved us a lot of shelf space and made listening to our music a lot easier as well.   However, in the early days, I elected to use WMA (Windows Media Audio) as my format of choice, although I wave since switched to MP3.  Nothing wrong with that, it’s a great format for music.  However, it’s also not compatible with all services, like Amazon Cloud Player.  So, what do you do if you have a large bunch of music that needs to be converted to another audio type?

One solution is a free program called Switch, from NCH Software.  That’s what we’re going to be trying out here today.  Once you have downloaded the app and begun the installation you will be asked if you would like to install any of the extras that come along with it.  This isn’t anything nefarious, but a couple of them are checked by default (like the Ask.com toolbar) so be careful here.

The user interface is pretty spartan by today’s software standards, and that’s a good thing.  You can add files or folders, play songs to get a sample or make sure it’s the file you wanted, and choose from a few options.  At the bottom of the screen you can choose the audio format you want to output and the folder where you want the new files sent to.

Select your music, or a folder full of it, by browsing your PC or network and then choose what format you would like it converted to.  Now choose the folder that you want your new files placed in and click the big “Convert” button at the bottom right of the screen.

The conversion goes fairly quickly and I am testing it with Switch installed on a Laptop (on 802.11n) and the files I converted were on a computer with an ethernet connection to the the router.

You can choose, in the options, to delete the source file upon conversion (this isn’t set by default), but I would recommend making sure your new files are good and then using them to replace the old format ones.

In my tests Switch worked flawlessly.   It’s a small file and doesn’t come with bloatware, although as I said earlier, watch the installation to make sure you only get what you want.  It handles a LOT of audio file formats and converts music quickly.  The interface is straight-forward to use.  The app is free as well, although there is a paid version that adds a few more features.  You can get a copy by visiting NCH Software.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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If you watch, and more importantly collect, TV shows then you are probably looking for an easy way to keep track of your collection.  As with all collections, having a database to manage it is the most logical way to go.  TvDB is a free app that will keep track of all of your TV shows, including cartoons and anime.  It does more than just keep track of your TV shows.  It also gives you such extras as plot synopsis, cast, episode guide, cover art, and related videos.

Once you have downloaded and installed the app, you can open it and begin by entering a TV show title into the search box.  You will find a series of tabs to the right that allow you to view specific information on that TV show.  There is an Episode tab, Cast tab, Posters tab, and more.  You can mark a series or episode as watched or unwatched.  All of the information comes from the Free TvDB database online and is downloaded into the app.  Some of the latest features include:

- automatic data download (info / cast / images) from thetvdb.com
- multi-language series info (up to 23 languages)
- poster and fanart galleries (automatically downloaded!)
- keep track of the series you have watched
- proxy support
- automatic database backup
- export database to txt, csv and xml format
… and more!

TvDB is currently in version 1.6.  This latest version added the ability to export your database as a txt, csv, or xml file, and also changed the background color.  You can download TvDB for free from MyPortableSoftware.  It’s a great way to combine TV with a database to make your life a little more manageable.  It’s compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, and requires .NET Framework 2.0.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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We are getting very close to Windows 8.  Microsoft plans to show off the Beta at CES next week during CEO Steve Ballmer’s keynote address.  A public Beta is expected sometime in February.  Now it seems that software makers are starting to get on the ball with updating their products for the future operating system.  Today Laplink announced that they would be releasing their PCmover software with new enhancements that make it compatible with for forthcoming Windows 8 Beta.

PCmover is an app designed to automatically move files, settings, user accounts, applications, and a lot more from one PC to another or even one OS to another.  The maker, Laplink, announced that it will be releasing a new version that is compatible with Windows 8 tomorrow, January 5th.  The new program isn’t actually called PCmover, but is based on it, and will be called Windows 8 Beta Assistant.

The new program will make life a lot easier for IT pros and users who just want to test the new Windows 8 Beta by upgrading from Windows 7.  The app will be available beginning January 5th and you can use it for an unlimited number of moves to Windows 8 for no charge until July of 2012.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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You may have at least seen screenshots of the next version of Windows Explorer, even if you haven’t tried out the Windows 8 Developer Preview.  The next version of Windows Explorer will have the ribbon interface that was debuted in Microsoft Office and, while many users didn’t initially like it, has become popular over the past couple of years.  It’s something that may initially seem too different, but once you get some experience with it you will find it much more useful.

Better Explorer brings the ribbon interface, and several other features, to Windows as a replacement for Windows Explorer.  Other features include tabs and extra jumplist options.  The program doesn’t replace Windows Explorer, and it’s not an add-on, but it’s a completely separate stand-alone program.  It’s an open-source project hosted over at Codeplex.

Features of the latest version, include:

The main goals of this project are:

The program is compatible with Windows 7 and is still in Alpha release, but is very stable.  If you want more functionality out of Windows Explorer than it currently has, and you like the ribbon interface for Windows 8 and the current Office, then you may want to try this out.  It’s a free download, but appears to only work with Windows 7.

Download: Codeplex Better Explorer

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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The portable USB drive, or thumb drive as it’s also known, has become common, not just with geeks and tech people, but with everyone from kids using them to turn in homework assignments to grandparents carrying photos of children and grandchildren to show off.  With large amounts of storage space that can clip to a key ring the USB drive is the portable storage device of choice.  They also make great stocking stuffers because of the size and cheap price, so many of you probably received one this holiday season.

With all of that said, while photos and homework are great uses for your new USB drive, there are many apps you can also run directly from these tiny devices.  That’s great when you’re out and about without your laptop or tablet and you want to use a public computer or a friends’ PC.  From both a privacy and security standpoint portable apps are winners.  You can run them without leaving any trace behind on the computer you used – no user names, passwords, or browsing history.  Log into your home computer to access a file, check your email from the web, or do a Google search.  Here are 5 portable apps that I find indispensable on my USB Drive.

Google Chrome Portable

Version 16 of the Google Chrome browser is now available.  The portable version is super small and super fast.  Use it to check your web-based email, search, and browse without installing anything on the computer you’re using.  Better, it doesn’t leave any trace of what you did behind on that computer.

FileZilla Portable

FileZilla is one of my favorite apps for the computer, and the portable version is just as useful.  Set it up to access a home computer or server so that can upload and download files from a remote location via FTP.

Skype Portable

Skype is far and away the most popular IP-based communication program in the world.  You can use it to chat, send messages, or make audio and video phone calls.  You can call people via their PC or land line phone.

OpenOffice Portable

OpenOffice is a free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office from Oracle.  It comes with alternatives to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more.  Use it for easy access and editing of documents from any computer.  OpenOffice is compatible with DocX which means documents are interchangeable between it and Microsoft Office.

Dropbox Portable

Access and share all of your Dropbox files.  This isn’t an official portable app from Dropbox, but it works just as well.  It provides complete control of your Dropbox, just as your computer app does.

You can find many more portable apps available for free download over at the Portable Apps website.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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So this morning you awoke to find that brand new Windows 7 computer you have been wanting and now you’re wondering what to do first.  Well, aside from the usual setup process that a first boot-up puts you through – setting a user name, password, internet access, etc, there are some apps I consider to be my top priority on every new computer.  Of course there are things like Office, which most all of us need at least from time to time, but let’s look at free apps, because not everyone wants to, or can, shell out money for this stuff.  And besides, there’s a free alternative to that piece of Microsoft flagship software as well.

Let’s focus on apps that are free, easy to install and use, and will make your new PC more functional in your everyday life.  We will also make sure that these are hardware-independent, meaning they have a low minimum hardware requirement and that they are just as useful on a desktop or laptop computer.  With that in mind here are five apps to take a look at.

Open Office

Since I brought up the Microsoft product back there this is the top free alternative.  There are others available, but Open Office seems to do the best job as a stand-in for the Microsoft version.  It’s free and it’s not a resource hog.  Best of all, files are compatible between the two programs.

Windows Live

Yes, Microsoft makes it on a list of free software as well.  Actually, stay tuned, they make it twice.  Windows Live is a suite of apps, many of which used to come pre-installed in Windows back in the XP days.  There’s Windows Live Mail (basically Hotmail, but this replaces the outdated Outlook Express), Messenger, Movie Maker (vastly improved over the old, useless version), Photo Gallery, Live Mesh, and Live Writer.

Dropbox

There is no better way to share, sync, and store your files than with a Dropbox account.  They provide free storage, or reasonably priced upgrades to higher amounts of storage if you need it.  All of your files, regardless of file type, can be stored in their cloud, shared with friends, and synced between computers.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Yes, Microsoft makes the list a second time.  Before you pay for that copy of Norton or McAfee that came pre-installed on your computer, stop!  This free security suite will do every bit as much to protect your PC as those over-blown, over-priced apps can do.  It doesn’t use up as much system resources and, because it’s made by the people who also made your operating system, it integrates better and has less chance of hitting a false positive.

Firefox or Chrome

Okay, this may be a bit of a cop out to name two web browsers, but both are good and either one will work great for you.  I honestly prefer, and mostly use, Firefox, but I have both installed on every PC.  Firefox feels more customizable with it’s massive add-on library and it’s personas.  On the other hand, Chrome has a minimalist look and super-fast speed.  This one is up to the individual user.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Windows 7 went a long way towards eliminating the dreaded “blue screen of death”.  If you are unfortunate enough to have Windows crash and produce a blue screen of death then you will quickly find a couple of problems (aside from the system crash itself).  One is that the screen sometimes zips past pretty quickly and two is that information presented is frequently a foreign language to average users, and probably most advanced users.

There is a free utility called BlueScreenView which can help you out.  In order to get the utility working though, you will need to do a little setting up in Windows.  You will need to do this before you get a blue screen of death, because afterwards is too late.  It’s just a few simple steps to follow.

In Windows 7 click Start, right-click on Computer and choose Properties.  On the left side of the screen click on “Advanced system settings”.  Now choose the “Advanced” tab and under “Startup and Recovery” click the “Settings” button.

Make sure that the box to the left of “Write an event to the system log” is checked.  It’s under “System Failure”.

On the system I am writing this on, this box was already checked.  You may find yours is as well, but not all systems come configured the same way.  If you have to change this by clicking the box then Windows may need to restart for the change to take effect.

Now you can install BlueScreenView and be ready the next time Windows gets a blue screen of death.  According NirSoft, the makers, “For each crash displayed in the upper pane, you can view the details of the device drivers loaded during the crash in the lower pane. BlueScreenView also mark the drivers that their addresses found in the crash stack, so you can easily locate the suspected drivers that possibly caused the crash. “  Just open the program after a blue screen of death crash to get the information.  You may be wise to boot into safe mode after a crash and view the utility from there.

BlueScreen View is free and works with Windows versions XP, Vista, 7, Server 2003, and Server 2008.  You can download it from Nirsoft.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Did you ever download a PDF file with the intent of editing it to use it for a separate purpose, only to find it encrypted and thereby “locked” from editing?  Not only can’t you edit, but you can’t even copy or print these encrypted PDF files .  In the past we have looked at many online solutions for converting files from DOC to PDF files (see Convert Word to PDF Online for free or this review of PDF Converter) which are Microsoft Word compatible.  This time however, we are looking at a desktop solution and it’s for converting files in the opposite direction.  It’s called PDF to Word Converter.

PDF to Word Converter decrypts your PDF files and makes them editable in Microsoft Word.  It simple to use and retains all text and graphics contained in the PDF file.  It decrypts the file on the fly and can convert multiple PDF documents at one time.  Once you have downloaded and installed the app you can get started.

Once you start up PDF to Word Converter you will be greeted with a screen that has one prominent feature, which is a large button at the bottom that says “Add a PDF File Now!”.

The main screen has options for  Add A PDF File, Add PDF Files From A Folder, Remove Files From List, Start Converting and Settings buttons at the top.  The Options panel and Output Folder are available to the right and the Start Converting Now button is at the bottom right corner of the screen.

PDF to  Word Converter automatically outputs your newly converted files to an “Output”folder which it creates during setup.  You can find the folder in your Windows My Documents folder.

PDF to Word Converter is a free app.  You can download it from PDFWordConverter.net.  It’s compatible with all versions of Windows.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Recently Evernote released a new version for Windows Phone, now they have just announced a new update for Windows.  Version 4.5.2 of the Windows desktop app brings several new features along with it, one of which has been available for the Mac version of the software for a while now.  Evernote is one of the most popular mobile apps available today for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone devices.  The desktop version goes hand-in-hand with the mobile apps by syncing up with all of the your saved files from all of your devices.  In addition, the desktop app adds extra functionality that can add to the whole Evernote experience.

The Favorites Bar, which was already available on the Apple version, adds a menu bar just above your note list.  It provides quick access to other parts of your account, like web clips, tags, and notebooks.  From within tags you can filter your list of notes by tag name.

Evernote for Windows version 4.5.2 also added search.  Just click on Tags or Notebooks and you will get a handy search box at the top of the list.  If you have a long list of tags or notebooks then searching for the name can save you a lot of time.

Finally, Evernote for Windows has added pinning.  According to the announcement, “There’s one more powerful feature of the Favorites Bar: you can pin things to it. Have a note that you access a lot? Drag it to the Favorites Bar. Have a Saved Search that you run frequently? Drag it in. The same goes for notebooks, tags and just about anything else.”

If you are already using the Evernote Windows desktop app then you should get the update automatically.  If not, then head over to Evernote for Windows to download and install it.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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Microsoft is about to release a beta version of their Security Essentials tool.  The Security Essentials software was released on September 29th, 2009 is now the most popular security software in North America, and one of the most popular worldwide.  Part of it’s popularity is it’s price – it’s free.  Part is that it just works really well and doesn’t bog down your computer like other (Norton and McAfee) security suites that are simply in the game of who can have the most features.

Microsoft has announced they are about to begin beta testing the next version of Security Essentials.  The beta program, which was announced today on the Microsoft Technet blog, is only open to a limited number of people, although Microsoft didn’t release the number of beta versions they will distribute.  During the first beta test in 2009 Microsoft limited distribution to 75,000 users.

Features in the Microsoft Security Essentials Beta will include:

• Enhanced protection through automatic malware remediation – The Beta will clean high-impact malware infections automatically, with no required user interaction.
• Enhanced performance – The Beta includes many performance improvements to make sure your PC performance isn’t negatively impacted.
• Simplified UI – Simplified UI makes Microsoft Security Essentials Beta easier to use.
• New and improved protection engine – The updated engine offers enhanced detection and cleanup capabilities.

With Microsoft stating that the beta will be limited, users may want to sign up now by visiting the Microsoft Connect site.  The Security Essentials beta is not yet out.  Microsoft will be emailing testers when the beta is ready for download.

Alan

Alan is the owner and editor of Making Windows Easy. In addition to writing about technology he is also an avid distance runner and hiker. Read More

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