Ever thought about pounding your computer with a hammer hoping it starts moving slightly faster than the current snail’s pace? Well we’d say don’t rush for the hammer just yet; try this collection of smart utility software instead. Here are tools that provide all the help you need to control, tweak and manipulate the looks and functionality of Windows. 

Tweak UI:

URL: www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx 

Here is a utility from Microsoft which is termed as the ultimate user interface (UI) tweaker for XP. This utility will let you twist and manipulate, and sometime even override, the way your Windows interface should look. An indispensable tool that offers multiple UI tweaks under a single interface. 

DoubleKiller: URL: www.bigbangenterprises.de/en/doublekiller 

A cluttered hard disk can really slow down your PC, and what adds to the clutter the most is duplicate files that hog space for no reason. This utility, as the name implies, brings you help on this front. It locates duplicate files on your computer and kills one, leaving you with just a single file. 

FreeCommander: URL:www.freecommander.com 

This is an easy-to-use alternative to the standard Windows file manager. Here you can find all the necessary functions to manage your data stock. The best part is that you can put this utility on a USB key—even a floppy disk if you can find one—and take it with you to control files on any PC. 

Taskbar Shuffle 2.2: 

URL: www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.htm 

So you think the Windows taskbar controls you? Here is one utility that will let you turn the tables. It lets you move the buttons for open applications anywhere you want on the taskbar, or group open documents together. And yes, it works with Windows versions all the way back to Windows 95. 

Pitaschio: URL: www.pitaschio.ara3.net 

This is another utility that could come in handy to mould Windows to match your style of working. This background utility minimizes windows to the tray, snaps them together as you drag, and disables specific keys (such as the numlock key) if you like. It also provides stats on how much you use your keyboard. 

Defraggler: URL: www.defraggler.com 

Fragmentation of the disk is another big culprit that can slow down your computer. This utility is a handy one that will help you clean up the mess. It not only defragments your hard disk but also claims to defragment individual files. If you’re not sure what needs defragging, it also provides a list of files that need it. And yes, this one is tiny enough to go on a USB drive too. 

WinDirStat: URL: www.windirstat.info 

If your hard disk seems bloated and you have no idea what exactly is taking up all that much space, here is something you should look at. Short for Windows Directory Statistics, this programme presents your hard drive’s directory in multiple views, some resembling Windows Explorer—files represented by 3D boxes in full colour. One look and you’d soon know what’s taking up space. 

WinPatrol 2007: URL: www.winpatrol.com 

You might not even notice but there are umpteen number of useless programs that come pre-installed with your Windows, which end up eating plenty of CPU cycles. Put Scotty, the Win-Patrol mascot, to work keeping an eye on your system. Scotty will come up with warnings about new programs that plan to run at startup and detection of other system changes, trusted or not. It will also delay the start of programs to improve boot-up speed in any version. 

Absolute Uninstaller: URL: www.glarysoft.com 

You might have uninstalled a particular program, but unfortunately it still leaves a lot of junk in its wake. One way to be sure that a program is all gone is the absolute uninstaller. This replaces the default Add/Remove Programs control panel in Windows, checks for extra stuff to delete after an uninstall (such as Start menu entries and useless Registry keys), and, best of all, does batch removal of multiple programmes at one time. 

Eraser: URL: www.heidi.ie/eraser 

With more and more sophisticated recovery tools, it can be disastrous to get rid of an old computer without making sure the hard drive is wiped clean. This doesn’t mean just reformatting it, but actually annihilating all data by overwriting disk sectors multiple times. Open-source Eraser that fits a USB drive is a great candidate for the job. 

Google Desktop 5: URL: www.desktop.google.com 

Finally if you think searching files on your computer takes an eternity, Google desktop can come to the rescue. This software does more than just search. Google Desktop indexes all of your data files—including email and instant messages—so you can find it fast. The interface includes multiple search-box configurations and an advanced search option. You can search and find your own files along with your internet search results. 

See below in the pic for the last two commands. the commands are same but it worked second time only..

Q. What if your Dad loses his car keys?
A. ‘Parent keys not found!’

Q. What if your old girl friend spots you with your new one?
A. ‘Duplicate value on index!’

Q. What if the golf ball doesn’t get into the hole at all?
A. ‘Value larger than specified precision!’

Q. What if you try to have fun with somebody else’s girlfriend and get kicked out?
A. ‘Insufficient privileges on the specified object!’

Q. What if you don’t get any response from the girl next door?
A. ‘No data found!’ or ‘ Query caused no rows retrieved !’

Q. What if you get response from the girl next door and her Mom too?
A. ‘SELECT INTO returns too many rows!’

Q. What if you dial a wrong number?
A. ‘Invalid number’ or ‘ Object doesn’t exist!’

Q. What if you try to beat your own trumpet?
A. ‘Object is found mutating!’

Q. What if you are too late to office and the boss catches you?
A. ‘Discrete transaction failed!’

Q. What if you see ‘theatre full’ when you go to a movie?
A. ‘Maximum number of users exceeded!’

Q. What if you don’t get table in the lunch room?
A. ‘System out of tablespace!’

% cat "food in cans"
cat: can't open food in cans

% nice man woman
No manual entry for woman.

% "How would you rate Quayle's incompetence?
Unmatched ".

% Unmatched ".
Unmatched ".

% [Where is Jimmy Hoffa?
Missing ].

% ^How did the sex change operation go?^
Modifier failed.

% If I had a ( for every $ the Congress spent, what would I have?
Too many ('s.

% make love
Make: Don't know how to make love. Stop.

% sleep with me
bad character

% got a light?
No match.

% man: why did you get a divorce?
man:: Too many arguments.

% !:say, what is saccharine?
Bad substitute.

% %blow
%blow: No such job.

% \(-
(-: Command not found.

$ PATH=pretending! /usr/ucb/which sense
no sense in pretending!

$ drink matter
matter: cannot create

via

Today at my work i found out a very weird thing. It took me some hours to identify that this was the Windows XP limitation. Actually My project has long nested  folder hierarchy ( Organised java Packages ) . Today i faced problem that i couldn’t create a .java file in a package which had a long hierarchy and along with the .java file name it was exceeding 260 character limit and some kind of error was thrown. Later i found it was not my mistake but was a Windows XP limitation.

For Example say you have folders inside folder inside folder…. then a file. like C:\LongFolderName\LongFolderName\LongFolderName…..\afileName and if this exceeds 260 total character u will not be able to create the file name.

or else try creating a txt file having file name which is 260 character long. You wont be able to create it.

At the end of the day i was little happy and relieved but little tensed that i have to change the package names ( or remove some of them ) or put my project folder in C:\ .

I dont know how many of you knew this but i found it worth sharing.