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Monday, December 16, 2002
Downloads

Monitor what your child does on the Net
Raman Mohan

ALL computer users sooner or later require utilities that clean their disks. Most such programs, however, do not execute a perfect job. This fortnight, we feature a program that makes disk management easier and through. The other featured program is a must for all parents who are worried what their children are doing on the Net. Spector is ideal software for them. It uses a VCR-type interface that is unique.

Safe Clean Utilities 3.0

A Windows system is never perfect. You have to work hard to optimise it and keep it running smoothly. A hard drive can be a place full of garbage and you may not even know about it nor have time to care. SafeClean Utilities are a package of handy tools that simplify your work to clean and optimise the Windows system. You can use it to reclaim wasted disk space, clean tracks from the Internet browsing or analyse the hard drive usage. All components are under a clean, intuitive user interface and are easy to start. Most Windows programs need to use some forms of temporary files to store temporary information. For instance, WinZip extracts a ZIP file to the Windows Temp folder before calling the Setup application. In most cases, these temporary files are cleaned by creators, but in many situations, they are left on the hard drive. When you surf the Internet, you are not aware that all information about where you have been is saved on the local hard drive. Also Web pages that you visit are stored locally in order to increase the loading speed next time you surf. If you download shareware programs from the Internet, install and test and after a few days, you feel that you don’t like it, uninstall and think the program is now completely gone. In most cases, it is true, but not always. Some programs create new files after the installation, and the uninstall-program is not aware of it. To clean up these things manually is time-consuming and boring. SafeClean Utilities are designed to help you do the task without lifting a finger. Download available at www.ministars.com/safeclean

Spector

Spector records and plays back PC and the Internet activity. Spector does this by taking hundreds of screen snapshots per hour, automatically and undetected. You might think of Spector as a VCR for your computer’s monitor. All you need is a Pentium-100 or faster PC with 32M of RAM with Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0 or higher or Windows 2000 installed. Spector does not require any special hardware. It automatically takes a picture of the computer screen’s contents every 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 seconds and saves it on the local or network disk drive. You choose how often it takes the pictures. Then, when you are ready to take a look at what has been recorded, you press the Spector Hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S) and start replaying saved images. You can play forward, move forward or backward one screen at a time, go to the beginning of the saved pictures, to the end, or anywhere in between. Spector is ideal for parents who are concerned about how their children are using the PC, or what they are doing while on the Internet. Download from www.spectorsoft.com.