All in one

Ever wondered what Windows 98/ME really can do? Did you know that Windows 98 has many hidden applications? Now they are revealed! Uncover utilities you already have on your Windows 98 PC that aren't shown by the GUI. With this Windows 98 Utilities you are just a few clicks away from these hidden applications. CPR also contains a powerful optimization tool to revive your system's lost speed! This program is a lighter version of CPR 2000. 

CPR 2000 is a set of tools that will help you run and manage Windows 95/98/98SE/ME better integrated in one little handy window. Easily optimize your system to run faster and smoother. Optimize your internet download speed for up to 600%. Free up leaked RAM. Manage many of your system caches. Increase Windows performance. Find Windows little-known programs and learn keyboard shortcuts.

New in this version:

• Intergrated backup tool, SmartPCI BackTrack, added.

• User Settings Databse Submission tool added.

• Dial-up adapter selection option - Fixes the a bug that prevents your computer from accessing the Internet.

• Updated Self-Tune Express - CPR 2000 now allows you to select what to execute

• Updated Covert Programs Revealer - 5 new hidden programs added:

• Hardware Diagnostic Tool -- Command-Line Loader for Java -- ISDN Configuration Wizard -- Management Console -- Remote Automation Connection Manager

• CPR 2000: User Settings Database now available!

Change dozens of Windows System Variables, speed up the startmenu, smooth fonts, Windows Serial-Keys, Identification, BootUp Drives, System Directory Locations and MORE!

ItweakU LE lets you customize many aspects of Windows95/98/ME/2000.  ItweakU LE makes it a snap to change the appearance and behavior of Windows without resorting to tinkering with the Registry.

You can customize the Start Menu by choosing to show or hide various menu items, including the Favorites, Find Command, Run Command, Shut Down, Documents, and Windows Update icons. You can also have other icons appear at the top of the Start Menu, including the ones for Control Panel, URL History, Printers, Dial Up Networking, and Network Neighborhood. You can also change the menu delay time and automatically have the Documents folder cleared when you exit Windows.

Your Desktop can be customized as well. For example, you can tile wallpaper, display or hide the Internet Explorer and Network Neighborhood icons, view thumbnails of bitmaps as icons in Explorer, and display or hide the animated "Click here to Begin" message that appears on the Taskbar.

If you would like to make your PC more secure, you can lock the Desktop and prevent other users from performing certain actions, such as showing the File Menu, adding printers, changing the Start Menu, and right-clicking on the Taskbar or Desktop.

Other options let you: change the wallpaper, log application errors, disable autostart for audio and data CDs, remove and edit entries in the AutoRun area of the Registry, remove browser cookies, change entries in the New folder, and remove entries from the Add/Remove programs list.

Limitations: Some pages in ItweakU are disabled, the tab then says "Pro version only".

Nuts & Bolts is an integrated suite of utilities for Windows 95/98/ME. It incorporates popular tools and utilities in a single package, allowing users to gain system information, optimize their system, maximize its performance, monitor and analyze system and software behavior, prevent crashes, and recover from disasters. Tools can be accessed via an intuitive wizard, or through a more advanced user interface.

Super Tweak is a utility which reveals many hidden settings of Windows95/98/ME/2000 and of many other applications.

Some of the main feature:

• Reveals many hidden settings.

• Changes the icons of many items (like shortcut, hard disk, startmenu folder, etc.) instantly without restarting.

• Full context sensitive descriptive help.

• The provided dll 'Super Tweak.dll' contains many attractive icons to change the icons of the above given items.

• And much more.

   Bios

30k

BIOS allows you to save, delete, and restore your BIOS settings.

The program displays information about your BIOS, including BIOS extensions and beep codes; lets you find the BIOS passwords (Award and Ami); and discover the Award BIOS universal passwords.

In addition, you can:

• Switch the first and second level caches on or off, and turn off your PC (requires APM 1.2 or later).

• Display information about the BIOS, BIOS Extensions and BIOS beepcodes

• Find BIOS passwords for Award, Ami, Phoenix and AST BIOS

• Find BIOS universal passwords for Award BIOS

• Dump the whole BIOS segment to disk

• And more....

Assists in flash upgrading your system BIOS to a later version. BIOS Finder determines your system BIOS and when run, cross references Flash upgrade BIOS files you have downloaded from the manufactures web site. If a later version match is found this BIOS is placed into a directory for you to upgrade to. Great for Y2K issues and beyond, overcome that greater than 8.4 Gig limitation with your BIOS, resolve those video card glitches. Download, run and your on your way to a later BIOS version! (Award only).

New in this version:

• Now supports BIOS files in *.BIN, *.ZIP AND *.EXE: (*.ZIP, *.LHA & *.ARJ) formats.

• Better error handling support.

• More feedback to the user.

• Improved layout.

• More effective in it's decompression of compressed files.

CmosPwd is a CMOS BIOS password recovery tool.

It works with the following BIOS types:

• ACER/IBM BIOS

• AMI BIOS

• AMI WinBIOS 2.5

• Award 4.5x

• Compaq (1992)

• Compaq (New version)

• Bios DELL version A08, 1993

• IBM (PS/2, Activa)

• Packard Bell

• Phoenix 1.00.09.AC0 (1994)

• Phoenix 1.04

• Phoenix 1.10 A03/Dell GXi

• Phoenix 4 release 6 (User)

• Toshiba

• Zenith AMI

Editors note: If your new to this, download your latest BIOS so you can flash it in case of an error. You also want to find in your manual how to reset the CMOS. Typically, its as simple as moving a jumper from one position then back.

This program displays all SMBIOS/DMI information within the BIOS. It can be used to determine CPU types and speed, BIOS information, slot contents, memory cache, controller, and module types and configurations, system ports, system slots, onboard devices, and more. Complete source code (Intel assembler) is included.

This shareware program lets you tune your chipset, CPU and video card probably more than any 'real' BIOS. And using it is simple; you don't have to worry about 'flashing' your BIOS, you can run it from the DOS prompt! And you can change the settings on the fly! No need to reboot your machine!

This program can tune probably all computers (running DOS or Windows 95) with one of the following chipsets, CPUs or video cards, regardless of your BIOS:

• Intel chipsets: Triton 1, 2 & 3 (FX, HX, VX), 430TX, 440LX, 440BX, 440EX, 440FX (Natoma), 450KX/GX, 430MX, 430LX/NX (Mercury/Neptune), 420ZX (Saturn), 440GX

• VIA Chipsets: VP-1, VP-2 (AMD-640), VP-3 and MVP-3

• SiS Chipsets: 5511/12/13, 5571, 5581/2, 5591/2, 5595, 5596, 5597/8, 85C501/2/3

• OPTi Viper & Vendetta

• ALi Aladdin II, III, IV and V

• UMC 881

• Cyrix CPUs: 5x86, 6x86, 6x86MX

• Tseng Labs ET6000 based video cards

• Matrox Mystique video cards

• Hardware Monitoring

  Benchmarks

The program provides a variety of functions for monitoring network connectivity between two computers (point-to-point) on a LAN or on the Internet. It graphically displays its results (speeds and averages) and "cardiograph" history in a "cockpit style" interface. You also get an analysis of average Internet data throughput in kilobits per second.

ICB can determine your Internet connection speed and that of your Web server, verify that your Web server is online, and much more. It lets you select from a range of modem, ISDN, leased line, LAN and cable modem speeds. The program works optimally in over 100 countries worldwide using backbone detection.

ICB logs all measurements, and its small executable consumes minimal system resources. A built-in telnet server (with password protection) allows remote read-out and control.

Norton is more of an overall sytem benchmark. With the Norton name on it, its a tool to consider.

Unlike most benchmarking programs Dacris Benchmarks has the option to Generate a report about your PC. The report is in HTML format and includes detailed information about how your PC is/will perform in certain programs. It also includes a 3D games report which shows the frame rates in many 3D games such as World Cup 98, Need for Speed II/III, NHL 98, Madden NFL 98, Streets of Simcity, etc. Dacris Benchmarks has the option of loading/saving baselines which are reference systems to compare with yours. Send your baselines to feedback@dacris.com for evaluation. All baselines will be included in future versions of Dacris Benchmarks. The new version of Dacris Benchmarks now has an agent that helps you, providing tips and inside information. It also has a new skin interface.

Limitations: 15 uses. Cannot save.

3D WinBench measures the performance of a PC's 3D subsystem, which includes the Direct3D software, the monitor, the graphics adapter, the graphics driver, and the bus used to carry information between the graphics adapter and the processor subsystem. You can use 3D WinBench 2000 to test hardware graphics adapters, drivers, and the value of such enhancing technologies as MMX. What you can't test is Windows NT 4.0, because it doesn't support hardware acceleration of the Windows Direct3D interface that 3D WinBench 2000 uses; 3D WinBench 2000 runs only on Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, and Windows Me. 3D WinBench aims to measure both the current and future state of hardware 3D accelerator performance.

3D WinBench 2000 uses the DirectX 7.0 interface, which means you get to see the benefits and the performance of such features as hardware transformation and lighting up close and personal. Other highlights of the new version include a new processor test suite and new quality tests for the latest innovations in 3D rendering.

Audio WinBench performs benchmark tests on your PC's audio sound system. Audio WinBench 99 measures the performance of a PC's audio subsystem, which includes the sound card and its driver, the processor, the DirectSound and DirectSound 3D software, and the speakers

CD Speed is a CD-ROM benchmark which can test the most important features of a CD-ROM drive.

Tests include:

• Transfer rate

• Seek times

• CPU usage

• Burst rate

• DAE quality

• Transfer rate

• Spinup/spindown time

• Added Write Transfer Rate Test to measure the writing performance of recorders

DVD Speed is a DVD-ROM benchmark which can test the most important features of a DVD-ROM drive.

Tests include:

• Transfer rate

• Seek times

• CPU usage

• Transfer rate

• Spinup/spindown time

Passmark Performance Test is an award winning software benchmark tool that allows everybody to quickly assess the performance of his or her computer and compare it to a number of standard 'baseline' computer systems. This program is a little different to another benchmark programs because it designed to be small enough that it's possible to run from a floppy disk. This means you can take it with you when you go out shopping for a new or second hand PC. The other major advantage is the built in baseline results that enable a reasonable comparison to be made between computer systems.

The benchmark results are presented as easy to read bar charts so that you don't need to spend hours studying the numbers to know the result. Timing for the tests is done using high resolution timers, which are accurate to approximately 1 millionth of a second on most PC's.

New in this version:

• Work around for bug in AMD Duron processor that caused L3 cache to be reported as 1KB. See AMD technical document, "TN13 revision 3" for more details of the bug.

• Detection of Intel P4 CPU and new AMD chips

• Baseline version number is displayed in System info and baseline list

• New SSE and 3DNow! test added in MMX test suite.

• Correction of a minor display bug in the baseline selection window for CPU's faster than 1000Mhz

• New command line parameters for automation of the testing process. (eg /ah autoruntest.htm)

Limitations: You cannot use the downloadable 'baseline results' with the shareware version.

  Backup & Recover

Backup 2000 is a backup utility that makes securing your important files an easy process. You can create archives that mirror the original directory structure or save them as ZIP files. Defining the parts of the backup profile is such an intuitive process, you will probably never need to look at the online help. Just point and click your way through the setup. There are many options to provide for all of the needs that most users have.

Drive Image® Pro™ 4.0 provides IT professionals or just regular users with powerful cloning tools for fast, flawless system deployment. Whether the need is to distribute a new operating system, update an application suite, or simply move all of a user's personal files and settings from one computer to another, Drive Image® Pro provides the answer.

With TaskBuilder's user-friendly interface it's easy to create scripts for use within any framework. These scripts can automate such tasks as cloning and deploying systems. The PowerCast feature (SmartSector™ technology combined with TCP/IP multi-casting) makes deploying an image to multiple systems simultaneously fast and easy, while Delta Deploy can be used to deploy an upgrade for a single application. Drive Image® Pro even supports Microsoft RIS technology for installing or replacing operating systems. For added control, Drive Image Pro includes PartitionMagic® Pro - PowerQuest's premiere partitioning software. For added flexibility, Drive Image® Pro now supports Windows Me and Windows 2000 Professional. PowerQuest is committed to provide the complete data deployment solutions relied on by IT Professionals worldwide.

Key Benefits:

• CD-R and CD-R/W Support - Drive Image Pro now includes the ability to create an image directly to a SCSI or ATAPI CD-R or CD-R/W drive (MMC-2 compliant).

• Native 32-bit Windows PowerCast Server - Use SmartSector® technology combined with TCP/IP multi-casting to simultaneously deploy systems across the enterprise in minutes.

• TaskBuilder - Provides an easy-to-use interface to build custom deployment scripts for use with any framework.

• Enhanced Operating System Support - Drive Image® Pro now supports Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 Workstation, Millennium, 2000 Professional, or DOS (5.0 or later).

• SmartSector® Technology - Copy only the sectors containing data, which dramatically reduces creation and restoration times and ensures that disk space is not wasted cloning empty sectors.

• Exact Imaging - This not only ensures that the image you create for deployment is an exact duplicate of the original, it also ensures that any performance enhancements will also be preserved.

• PartitionMagic® Pro - Drive Image® Pro includes the world's best partition management solution-allowing you to create, resize, move or convert partitions before or after deployment.

• DeltaDeploy™ - Manage changing desktop environments from a central location, and distribute software updates and changes across the network and Internet.

• PQPrep - Provides a simple interface for creating, editing and testing Microsoft SysPrep answer files and for creating an image for deployment.

• NTFS Support - Ability to create/restore an image directly to/from an NTFS partition.

• Image File Editor - New Explorer-like interface for viewing image files and restoring individual files/folders from an image. Lets you selectively copy partitions to create a new customized image.

• Microsoft RIS Support - Supports Microsoft RIS technology for installing or replacing an operating system.

• Image Creation Scheduling - Lets you decide how often you want to be reminded to create an image.

• Image Integrity Checker - Verifies an image file is not corrupt.

• Bootable PQI CD - Drive Image® Pro provides an easy process for creating a bootable recovery CD of your hard disk that can be used for disaster recovery.

• Image Size Estimator - Estimates the image size and suggests how many units of selected media will be required prior to cloning.

Drive2Drive makes the process of copying the contents of one hard disk to another as easy as 1-2-3.

Drive2Drive runs entirely from within the Microsoft Windows environment. There is no need to create a special startup disk or waste time learning archaic DOS commands or computer jargon to use Drive2Drive. With its simple wizard-based design you will be copying everything from your old hard disk to your new one in a matter of minutes -- all without losing a single user preference or byte of data.

Some key feautres of Drive2Drive are: 

• Fast, easy-to-use wizard interface. 

• Quickly copies an entire hard disk or individual drives (partitions). Resizes drives during the copy to make full use of a new hard disk.

•  Automatically converts drives from FAT16 to FAT32 during the copy when running under Windows 98 or Windows 95 4.00.950B (OSR2) or later. 

• Seamlessly copies spanned drives created by DriveSpan. 

• Adds plug and play detection of new hard disks. 

• Creates and deletes drives too! Works with any hard disk. 

• The only hard disk copying utility that can seamlessly copy spanned drives! 

• Compatible with all versions of Windows 95 and Windows 98 and ME.

Smartalec CrashStop allows you to prevent fatal windows crashes from happening often as well as minimize the impact and occurence of application-specific crashes so it will have minimal impact on the user. Resides in your systray to protect your system. Includes a stylized system monitor taskbar for users to check statistics.

New in this version:

• Works in Windows95/98/ME/2000

• New crash protection engine updates for better crash protection

• New fail-safe features allow for faster crash recovery

• Uses less resources

You have emptied the recycle bin, but you want your files back. With this utility you can undelete your files

To recover files greater than 10K you have to register.

XpressBackUp is an easy-to-use, wizard-driven backup and restore utility.

The program includes automatic disk spanning, enabling you to back up your files to a specific number of disks. You can create a self-extractable backup file, include password protection, and restore your backups using XpressBackUp or any other ZIP-extracting utility. In addition, you can edit, rename, and delete your backup sets, and use wildcards and file exclusion lists.

Limitations: 30 day Trial