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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

VHD Attach enables right-click mounting and dismounting of VHD files in Windows 7

One of Windows 7's slick new features is its handling of VHD (virtual hard disk) files. You can use them for a number of handy functions - from discreetly archiving files and folders to booting a full-fledged Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 install via your Windows 7 boot.ini.

But VHDs aren't as easy to work with out-of-the-box as they could be. To mount and unmount, you've got to head over to the Disk Management snap-in (diskmgmt.msc), wait for the screen to populate, go to actions->attach (or detach), browse for your VHD, and then wait some more.

VhdAttach speeds the process up by adding two entries to your context menu. Mouse over a .VHD file, right-click it, and you can mount and dismount right from Windows Explorer. Left click attach, and your VHD will pop up alongside your physical hard disks. When you're all done, detaching is just as simple.

The control app (inset in screenshot) which can open your VHDs and display information about them. You can also attach and detach from this screen.

VhdAttach is a free download and works with both Windows 7 and Server 2008.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Moo0 Right Clicker Powers up Your Context Menu

My mouse has two buttons, and dammit, I'm going to use them both. The Windows context menu is a trusted tool, and I rely on it heavily.

Moo0's Right Clicker makes several welcome additions to the default options. I particularly like the folder bookmarking feature, which makes it a snap to navigate between folders in any explorer view. Couple it with the copy to and move to features, and managing files and folders in Explorer is much simpler.

It also adds a "go up" option to the menu - much quicker than mousing up to the Explorer toolbar - and the ability to copy a file's name or full path to the clipboard. Right Clicker's duplicate feature will spawn a new window with the current location (even from a file dialog). I find this particularly useful when I'm uploading or editing something and notice some file system untidiness that needs to be addressed immediately.

Right Clicker is available in free and paid versions, and my only real gripe is that the advanced options are all visible but grayed out. You know, just to remind us what we're missing out on. Still, it provides a nice set of functions that context menu aficionados are sure to welcome.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware

SendTo - Amp up your Windows SendTo context menu

SendToOne of my favorite Windows features is the SendTo menu, but it can also be one of the most frustrating ones. Until you get it set up to your liking, an new install of Windows can be a real pain in the rear. Also, you never seem to realize exactly how you'll need it configured until you reach a point where you're trying to use it to copy or move a file or folder, and realize that the destination you need simply isn't there.

SendTo from trogladite software is a little utility that extends the functionality of your SendTo menu in Windows. It allows you to navigate anywhere on your system when you want to copy or move a file. It also gives you the ability to manage the shortcuts that are included on your default Windows Explorer SendTo context menu.

One tip - out of the box, SendTo is configured to open to My Computer, which can be very slow to load. I suggest unchecking the option to always open to My Computer, which has the effect of opening SendTo to your last used folder.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Office, Productivity, Freeware

PowerMenu - added options for running programs

Power MenuPowerMenu is a small utility that adds a few options to the system menu on any application. This is the menu you get when you click on the icon on the top left of the application's window, or if you right-click on the system's entry in the taskbar. What options do you get? Well, for me the most interesting one is the ability to set the priority of the running program without having to go through the task manager. Other options include setting window transparencies, setting a window to be Always on Top, and the ability to minimize programs to the system tray.

All of these functions have been done in other apps, but this is a nice small little utility that has them all together. If you're looking for a way to do all or some of these things, PowerMenu just might be the way to go. Note that it doesn't appear to have been actively developed since 2002, so any problems you discover with it likely won't be getting fixed any time soon. So far I've had no troubles with it, but you never know, right?

Note that many of the download sites listed don't work, but I was able to use the Veridicus site (which is the domain that the page is hosted under) with no problems.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Mmm Free - Clean Up Context Menus

If you’ve been running on the same installation of Windows for any length of time, you may have noticed that some of the software you install adds options into the right-click menu, otherwise known as the context menu. While this can be handy, it can get out of hand when there are a lot of entries, particularly when you rarely use the vast majority of them. Windows can also take some time to render a complex menu, particularly when the menu items have icons associated with them.

Mmm Free helps you deal with this problem by allowing you to completely remove any context menu items that you never use, and move those that you rarely use onto a Rarely Used sub-menu. This can significantly speed up the rendering of the context menu, and make it much more convenient to find those menu items that you actually do use often.

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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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