Ninite installer in action

Here’s a great tip to save time and effort if you want to install or update your regular (freeware) apps all in one go: try Ninite!

Ninite is a free service that offers one simple installer for your selected apps, all in one installer. No questions asked, no hassle, no unwanted adware or spyware.

You can download it from Ninite.com, where there’s even a Linux version available.

They encourage users to send in tips about more free software to add to the Ninite installer, so if your app isn’t on the list right now, it might be if you let them know about it.

Download Richcopy Now

Many are already familiar with the Robocopy command line utility from Microsoft, bundled with all recent versions of Windows. Robocopy basically provides a good level of granular control over folder copy operations. Since Windows 7 and Server 2008, Robocopy even supports multithreaded copying.

Robocopy has its limitations, however, and I would most times prefer to use a tool with a user interface. This has actually existed since 2006, when Microsoft engineer Derk Benisch created “Robocopy GUI”, but there is an even better alternative around these days…

Richcopy Options

Richcopy is not based on Robocopy, and that’s a good thing, because it provides a plethora of new options for a whole new level of granular control. For regular copy/backup jobs there’s an option to create different profiles with different settings, and the option to pause and resume copy jobs can come in handy when something unexpected happens on your network, or if you suddenly need some extra bandwidth/performance.

What makes Richcopy really stand out though, is not the GUI or the sheer number of options available, but its support for multithreaded copying. Multithreaded support means faster copying, as files can be copied in parallel instead of just one at a time.

The multithreaded support in Richcopy is as good as it gets, as explained in the help file:

“Most of tools support up to 64 per thread. This limitation comes from known WIN32 thread management API.

RichCopy version 4.0 does not have such limitation with sufficient original thread management mechanism as long as system resource allows. For example, you could run more than 256 threads.”

Download Richcopy Now

(direct download link to Microsoft’s original installation source – a self-extracting archive with installers inside)

A few months ago, Futuremark announced their next generation benchmarking tool 3DMark Vantage. Today it has finally arrived.

I like 3DMark because it gives good indicators on where you could improve your system if its not quite up to par, and because its easy to compare your system performance with the performance of other systems like it.

The tests are all new based on DirectX 10, and take physics more seriously than earlier incarnations – which means owners of an Ageia PhysX card could see a boost in their score. I don’t have one, and I doubt you do either, but I still managed to get a score of P5308, which I hope is good. There was only one similar system to mine, not enough to get a detailed report! Time will tell as more results tick in …

Head on over to the 3DMark Vantage website for more information about Futuremark 3DMark Vantage.

When getting into overclocking your rig – whether you just want more frames per second out of your old 6600 GT in Call of Duty 4, or to be able to brag about a score above 20k in 3DMark06 – you’ll need the right tools for the job.

Here’s an introduction to some of the most used overclocking and monitoring tools!

RivaTuner

Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / 2003 / XP / Vista / Windows 7
This application lets you overclock your NVIDIA graphics card. It was originally just a registry tweaking application for NVIDIAs old Riva TNT graphics card, but has since evolved into a much more useful tool. The most common use of RivaTuner is to set higher clock speeds on the core, shaders and memory of your graphics card(s), as well as letting you control fan thresholds and other settings. The registry tweaking is still an option however, shall you feel tempted.

ATITool

Windows XP / 2003 / 2000 (incl. 64-bit)
You guessed it – ATITool was made to overclock your ATI graphics card. However, today this application also works with NVIDIA graphics cards. If you have problems with RivaTuner, try this little bugger instead.

Prime95

Windows (incl. Windows 3.1) | Linux | FreeBSD | OS/2
This number crunching application lets you push your CPU to its limit of stability. The latest version supports multi-core processors using multiple threads. Tip: If you want to test only your CPU for stability, choose the “Small TTFs” torture test, and select “Round off checking” under the “Advanced” menu. This test uses the least amount of system memory, reducing the likelihood of your RAM being the culprit in case of failure, (but it will still be a factor).

External link: Guide to using Prime95 effectively.

SpeedFan

Windows 9x / NT / 2000 / 2003 / XP (incl. 64-bit) / Vista / Windows 7
This handy tool lets you monitor temperatures, voltages and fan speeds, and can even monitor hard disks with S.M.A.R.T. enabled. As a bonus feature it can adjust the FSB speed on some motherboards, but primarily I use SpeedFan to monitor the temperatures and voltages when overclocking. Tip: Disable SpeedStep (Intel) or Cool’n'Quiet (AMD) features in the BIOS to get accurate readings after OC’ing.

Core Temp

Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 / Vista / Windows 7
A simple, yet useful utility that lets you monitor the temperatures of your processor cores. A nice feature of Core Temp is that all CPU core temperatures can be displayed in your system tray at all times.

CPU-Z

Windows
One of the most widely used tools for overclockers. CPU-Z gathers information about your CPU, motherboard and memory timings (including SPD values).

GPU-Z

Windows 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows 7
As the name suggests, this tool is much like CPU-Z, only for graphics cards. GPU-Z gives you detailed information about your accelerator card, from make and model to clock speed and driver version. If you click the “Sensors” tab, you can handily monitor the GPU and PCB temperatures, fan speed (in per cent and RPM), and current core and memory clock speeds.

You just formatted your Dell laptop and popped in that nice little Recovery CD, only to find your computer full of all kinds of crap you never asked for?

Maybe you will like PC Decrapifier – a handy little app that picks up the trash and takes it out for you too.

PC Decrapifier scans your computer and presents you with a list of highly lightly candidates for removal. You select what you want to remove and what you want to keep, and just like that – the crap is gone!

Click here to download PC Decrapifier (external link).