50 hidden gems

9: Digsby www.snipurl.com/2c0s8
Organise your busy online life with Digsby. Three tools in one, this clever program enables you to chat with contacts on six popular instant messaging services, keep in touch with friends on social networking sites, and retrieve messages from Yahoo, Hotmail, Googlemail, AOL, POP3 and IMAP email accounts.

10: Driveimage XML (Windows XP only) www.snipurl.com/2c0sb
Back up your hard disk and everything on it using DriveImage XML. It’s a free rival to programs such as Acronis Trueimage and Norton Ghost, and includes many of the same features. Backups can be scheduled to run overnight and individual files can be restored from image archives.

11: Eraser www.snipurl.com/2c0sh
Eraser obliterates the traces of data that remain on a hard disk after files have been deleted. It can be set to erase unused disk space and left to run overnight, and is also able to shred individual files and folders, making them difficult, if not impossible, to recover.

12: Evernote www.snipurl.com/2c0sj
Evernote is a tool for taking and managing notes. Notes can be typed, pasted in from other programs or grabbed from web pages, and because everything is automatically indexed, items can be found in a flash. A paid-for version includes several extras, but this free version includes all the key features.

13: Filezilla www.snipurl.com/2c0sm
One of the trickiest parts of setting up a website is transferring the pages from your computer to the internet using File Transfer Protocol, or FTP for short. Filezilla makes this process simple: after entering your site details, you can simply drag the files from your computer to your website.

14: Filebox Extender www.snipurl.com/2c0sp
This simple, yet invaluable, time-saver adds a Favourites icon to Windows Explorer and to the File Open and File Save dialogue boxes of every program. This enables you to jump instantly to the locations you use most often without having to navigate through a maze of folders.

15: Firefox www.mozilla.com/firefox
Firefox is the web browser with everything: it’s easy to use, has a powerful bookmarking system and you can add new features by choosing from the vast range of free add-ons. There’s even a version that runs from a USB memory key if you need to surf on several PCs.

16: Flightgear www.flightgear.org
This complete flight simulator is good enough to rival expensive products from Microsoft and others. The basic program is a massive 172MB download, but it includes a choice of aircraft ­ from Sopwith Camels to jumbo jets ­ real airports, accurate scenery and real-time weather and astronomical conditions.

17: Gadwin Printscreen Freeware www.snipurl.com/2c0u8
If something goes wrong with a computer, it’s often handy to take a screengrab ­ a picture of what’s on the screen ­ to show other people or email to our No Problem section. This brilliant little tool allows you to take a screengrab by simply pressing the PrtScn key on your keyboard.

18: Gimp www.snipu rl.com/2c0ul
Yes, it has a silly name, but the GNU Image Manipulation Program can improve your photos with all the same features as expensive professional image editors. It has dozens of advanced functions for the avid photographer, and can be used to open and save just about any type of image file.