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Windows Explorer attempts to serve as the Swiss Army knife of file managers for Windows systems. While there's a lot that it can do, not everything can be accomplished easily. Sometimes add-on applications can help to extend Explorer's functionality in such a way that it becomes even more useful.

FileMenu Tools is one such application. You can do things like tweak the time stamps on files, change folder icons, delete locked files, and all sorts of other handy things. Synchronize folders, delete files without sending them to the Recycle bin, and even shred files to really, really get rid of them.

In addition, it's easy to configure the "Send To" menu, making it easier to open files and documents in non-default applications. Other context menu (right-click menu) items can be configured as well. There's really quite a list.

FileMenu Tools is a free Windows application.

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How many copies of [name of some file] do you have on your machine? We're forever running across some interesting file—program, PDF, MP3—and downloading it. Some time later—days, weeks, months—we grab it again. Now we've got several copies of the file, wasting space on a hard drive with too much data already. But who has time to dig around and find all these duplicates?

CloneSpy can give you a hand with de-cluttering your hard drive. It goes out and finds duplicate files, whether they have the same name or not. It finds files with duplicate names. It even finds zero-byte files on your system. Once these files are identified, CloneSpy can delete the duplicates, move them to a specific location (so you can verify them before they go away), export a list of duplicates, or even feed information into a batch file you've created to apply your own set of rules to these files.

While it may not leave your hard drive smelling "minty fresh", CloneSpy will help rid you of these pesky space-wasting duplicates.

CloneSpy is a Windows application, and runs on anything from Windows 98SE on up. In keeping with the notion of helping you to maintain a clean hard drive, it installs only a single executable on your system—no junk dropped into remote locations.

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How much extra junk do you have on your Windows system? Leftover keys in your Registry, old backup and temp files that aren't so temp, that sort of thing.

nCleaner is an all-in-one system cleaner and tune-up app that will help you to run a lean, mean, Windows machine. Along with cleaning up the leftovers, you can monitor your system for potential problems, and disable unnecessary features and services to shut down potential system vulnerabilities, as well as freeing up precious resources on your machine.

For added security, nCleaner includes a shredder that makes it impossible to restore deleted items and free space, making your system just that much more secure. Startup manager lets you see what apps and services are running at startup, and allows you to tweak or disable those that you really don't want running around unchecked. You can run cleanups at startup, shutdown, or at other specified intervals.

nCleaner is a Windows app that is free to use for non-commercial purposes. It runs under XP, 2003 Server, and Vista.

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No matter how fancy things get on your system, there's just some stuff that is best accomplished with a command line utility. Pretty GUI applications notwithstanding, being able to run commands as part of a batch file, for instance, can let you accomplish a lot without having to dig through a bunch of extra junk on your screen.

With NirCmd, you can read and write values to the System Registry, tweak INI files, mount or eject volumes, create shortcuts, show and hide windows, dump the contents of your clipboard to a file, the list just goes on and on. An extensive online help page gives you a huge list of the functionality you can invoke with this tool.

NirCmd is a Windows tool. It'll run on any 32-bit system from Win9x/ME up through Vista, although there is some functionality that is only available in NT/XP/Vista.

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Mom just got a new computer. Dad just upgraded to a new operating system. Kids at school can't figure out how to tweak their systems to work the the college's network. Sound familiar? And what about the panicked phone call asking you in all your glorious geekiness to fix their problem. Sure, you can try to talk them through the process, but what about the "picture worth a thousand words" thing? Wouldn't it be easier if you could just turn the crank for them, or at least watch over their shoulder while they do the work?

TeamViewer allows you to share a computer desktop, and even to drive a system by remote control. Now instead of having to rely on repeatedly asking the "what do you see now?" question, you can actually see what is happening on the remote system in real time.

TeamViewer is free for personal, non-commercial use. It is available for both Mac and Windows systems.

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You're a pretty savvy guy (or gal). You've got the latest gizmos, and you're not afraid to use them. You don't carry your laptop with you everywhere you go—you just grab your USB drive and use that to shuttle data from here to there. You're on top of the world.

Until you come back home. Take that thumb drive, plug it into your desktop or laptop system, and then start looking. Where the heck is it? You've got to fire up Windows Explorer and then start hunting for that drive. Not if you use Desk Drive.

Desk Drive is a cool little application that puts an icon on your desktop that automatically points to your portable drive. Plug the drive in, and the icon appears; eject the drive, and the icon goes away. You can also use it with other removable media like CD-ROMs, or even network drives, so you'll always have a clear indication as to which devices are mounted, and you'll be able to get to them pronto, without having to dig through Explorer.

Desk Drive is a free Windows application. It requires WinXP or later, and requires version 2.0 of the .NET Framework.

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Whether you call it a flash drive, a thumb drive, or some other name, those little removable USB drives are handy to have around. With one of those little portable wonders, you can carry data, or even programs with you where ever you go. Unlike a CD-ROM, you can easily stick one in your pocket; in addition, you can both read and write with them. That means you can take your email program or a spreadsheet with you, update it on a different machine, and then save those changes.

Of course, if you're making changes, you may need to download those back onto your main computer as well. You'll want to be sure to do that as soon as you plug the USB drive back in, lest you make changes in your main computer, and now have two different versions of your mailbox, document, or what have you. USB Autorunner is a tool that may help make that easier.

You can create a configuration that will automatically sync your remote- and local versions of files, for example. Plug the drive in, and it will start the synchronization process, or you can launch a ToDo list, or anything else. No more having to dig through things to remember to keep your system updated with changes you made while you were out.

USB Autorunner is a Windows app and will run on any Win32 platform, from Win95 through Vista.

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Are you always looking to streamline your operation? With the pressure to get more done faster, we're always looking to make things more efficient. Some changes make a big difference—putting the phone on Do Not Disturb, for instance—but there are smaller things that you can do also.

Over the course of the day, how many times do you suppose you move your hand from you computer's mouse to its keyboard? A couple of times? A lot of times? Either way, you might be just a little more efficient if your didn't have to do that at all.

StrokeIt is a clever tool that can translate mouse movements into commands. By "drawing" a "C" on your desktop with the mouse, you can close the current window. That may be faster than moving to and clicking the Close button, and it's certainly faster than hitting [Control] + W on the keyboard.

While it comes with a bunch of pre-configured actions, you can create your own mouse gestures and train StrokeIt to work in ways that make the most sense to you.

StrokeIt is a Windows application. It's free for individuals and not-for-profits.

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Can't get enough YouTube? Whether it's the latest viral video, some slick "how-to" program, or any of a zillion other types of content, we've all grown addicted to YouTube. Here's a tool that helps you download YouTube videos to your machine, so that you can enjoy them again and again.

Free YouTube Downloader does exactly what the name suggests: it enables you to grab those videos and save them locally. Just copy and paste the URL of the content you want, and press the button. It couldn't be easier. It supports multiple downloads as well—just type several addresses into the box, each on a separate line.

Free YouTube Downloader is a Java application, which means that it will run on Linux, Macintosh, Windows, or just about any other platform that has Java Runtime Environment Standard Edition, with Java version 1.5 or better.

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You've got to move files from here to there. Whether it's creating or updating your latest website, or just getting that report back to the guys at headquarters, you're going to have to use an FTP tool. Problem is, they're not always the friendliest applications out there. They don't always work intuitively, they're confusing, and just no fun to work with.

Tango DropBox does FTP, but in a way that makes sense. Yes, you do have to set up your transfer information, but having done that once (what is Port 21 anyway?), file transfers are now a simple drag-and-drop process. Configuration is easy, with a menu sitting in the System Tray. Once you're set up, you literally just drag your files onto the Tango DropBox icon on your desktop, and it does its magic in the background.

Tango DropBox is a free Windows tool, and runs on Windows 2000 or later. It also requires Version 2.0 of the .NET Framework. If you want to create multiple dropboxes, or do more advanced things like Secure FTP, you'll need to upgrade to their Professional version for $35.

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