The most recent Software articles from Computeract!ve

Ubuntu 8.04.1

Tim Smith — 2008-07-05T17:04:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Saturday 5 July 2008 at 17:04:00

Complete Linux distribution, with support

Ubuntu Linux is a very popular distribution ideal for both newcomers and seasoned Linux fans. It is easy to set up and comes with all of the software you are...

Gallery: Add a weather gadget to Firefox or Vista

Matt Andrews — 2008-07-04T13:01:00.000Z

Matt Andrews, Computeract!ve, Friday 4 July 2008 at 13:01:00

This Met Office free gizmo is the last word in climate reporting, with charts and aerial photographs

Gadwin Print Screen

Tim Smith — 2008-07-04T00:00:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Friday 4 July 2008 at 00:00:00

Make screen shots easy

The Gadwin Print Screen utility gives far more control over screenshots than is possible with Windows on its own. Screen shots are shown in a preview window and can then...

Changing the home page in Internet Explorer and Firefox

2008-07-03T16:11:00.000Z

Computeract!ve, Thursday 3 July 2008 at 16:11:00

Customise these browsers to show your favourite website when they start

Many manufacturers supply computers with the internet browser home page set to their own website, presumably in the hope that you will buy something more from them....

Filezilla FTP Server

Tim Smith — 2008-07-03T11:56:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Thursday 3 July 2008 at 11:56:00

Access and receive files from your computer

FTP is one of the best ways of sharing large files from a computer on the internet, but Windows does not have this built in....

PC help: Add timestamps to Notepad documents

Scott Colvey — 2008-07-03T10:00:00.000Z

Scott Colvey, Computeract!ve, Thursday 3 July 2008 at 10:00:00

Make Notepad add a time and date to a document automatically

It’s possible to make the Notepad program, which comes free with Windows, add timestamps to information. I use this feature to keep track of messages and notes when surfing....

Review: Squirrelsave backup software

Andrew Zarkesh — 2008-07-02T14:48:00.000Z

Andrew Zarkesh, Computeract!ve, Wednesday 2 July 2008 at 14:48:00

Keep your files safe online

Backup is always important, and backing up files online can be easier than having to sort out your own hard disk archives, and thanks to higher broadband speeds it can...

MP3-Check

Tim Smith — 2008-07-02T12:20:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Wednesday 2 July 2008 at 12:20:00

Check for missing information in MP3 tags

It doesn't take long to amass an MP3 collection of thousands of tracks. Finding tracks is helped by tags that can contain information on the artist, genre and album....

Fix Windows XP with the Recovery Console

Scott Colvey — 2008-07-02T10:00:00.000Z

Scott Colvey, Computeract!ve, Wednesday 2 July 2008 at 10:00:00

If you have a problem with XP, System Restore is not the only solution

Windows XP is generally reliable and with technical safety nets such as System Restore, it’s uncommon these days for a PC user to get into an irretrievable mess....

Workshop: Calculate areas with an Excel spreadsheet

Paul Wardley — 2008-07-02T10:00:00.000Z

Paul Wardley, Computeract!ve, Wednesday 2 July 2008 at 10:00:00

Find out the true size of building plots, gardens, rooms or any unusual shape

Calculating the area of a rectangle or square is easy and hardly needs the help of a spreadsheet: just multiply length by breadth....

OOIntegrator Openoffice plug-in

Tim Smith — 2008-07-01T14:28:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Tuesday 1 July 2008 at 14:28:00

Edit online documents with Openoffice

Online office suites are great tools when accessing documents from different computers, but online editors are still no match for a specific program on a computer....

Workshop: Write better letters with Word templates

Rob Beattie — 2008-07-01T10:00:00.000Z

Rob Beattie, Computeract!ve, Tuesday 1 July 2008 at 10:00:00

Stuck for the right word or turn of phrase? Solve the problem with free Microsoft Word templates

Writing letters hardly warrants a Workshop, but there are occasions when a helping hand could make all the difference. For example, if there is legal or technical jargon involved, or...

PC help: Save space by switching off Vista features

Scott Colvey — 2008-06-30T17:32:00.000Z

Scott Colvey, Computeract!ve, Monday 30 June 2008 at 17:32:00

Free up space in Windows for something more useful

There are a number of features in Windows Vista that you may never use. Why not turn them off and save space for something more important? To do this, click...

Organise your ideas with mind mapping

Tim Smith — 2008-06-30T16:51:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Monday 30 June 2008 at 16:51:00

Arrange your thoughts and add pictures to plans with Freemind

If you have ever wished for a more visual way of organising ideas than simple lists, mind mapping could be the answer....

BGInfo 4.13

Tim Smith — 2008-06-30T15:12:00.000Z

Tim Smith, Computeract!ve, Monday 30 June 2008 at 15:12:00

Display important information on the Desktop

If you use more than one computer with a keyboard, video and Mouse (KVM) switch, it can be easy to get confused between the different systems....