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

Bring order to the XP, Vista start menu with Winstep Organize


While manually sorting your start menu using Explorer isn't the most annoying task confronting a Windows user, it's not all that fun, either.

Winstep Start Menu Organizer makes the process much simpler. Install it, fire it up, and you're presented with three panes to help sort things out easily: categories, items in the current category, and uncategorized items. Within about 20 seconds I managed to drag my folders into Winstep's default categories and streamline my previously chaotic menu.

Also included is a handy start menu backup and restore feature, which makes rolling back to your intial Windows default setup a painless procedure.

The free version does have some serious limitations: you can't create your own categories or subcategories, which could be a major inconvenience for some users. Still, the included default catgories are general enough to help just about anyone compact and bring order to their start menu quickly and easily.

[ via Life Rocks 2.0 ]

Do you already have a preferred app to tackle this task? Share it with other DS readers in the comments!

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Better Windows task management with MKN TaskExplorer


Windows' built in Task Manager is good enough to get by, but it's not really changed much since NT. If you're looking for a better alternative, MKN TaskExplorer is an option worth downloading.

The program window's default view provides a good amount of information without being overwhelming. Double clicking any task brings up a detailed view of its activity including CPU, memory, disk, and network utilization, handle, thread, and file information, and more.

Want to replace Task Manager with TaskExplorer? Hit the tools menu, click options, and check the box. It works like a charm, and launches just as quickly.

In addition to being able to terminate or pause, there's also an option to "page out" a selected process, forcing it out of physical memory. While there might not be many situations where this is necessary, it's still an interesting option to have at your disposal.

You can also launch standalone memory and performance monitors from Task Explorer. Both provide graphical and numerical information about your computer's activity. The Memory Monitor can perform automatic memory optimizations as well, either when your PC is idle or when the amount of free memory falls below a certain percentage. It works fairly well, and didn't destabilize my Windows XP Pro machine during testing.

TaskExplorer is freeware for Windows only.

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

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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