Well, there is one program I can’t envision myself having to manage a blog or website without: IrfanView.

IrfanView is what people might consider a “universal” viewer program as it allows you to view pretty much anything – but please remember, IrfanView is really supposed to be a graphic viewer. When you install this application, it takes over from Windows’ default image handler and provides you with powerful tools to manipulate your images with.

This amazing application allows you to view, convert, optimize, batch process…and do much, much more to files of a surprisingly large number of different types.

If the default supported filetypes isn’t enough for you, you can always take a look at the plugins available for IrfanView.

What do I primarily use IrfanView for? Well, apart from allowing it to replace the Windows default graphic viewer, I am constantly using IrfanView to resize images to post on this blog.

License Type
IrfanView is completely free for non-commercial use! If you do find IrfanView useful, I suggest looking into donating to its developer.

System Requirements
Windows is required in order for this application to function.

Installation

1. Download IrfanView.
2. Run the setup program you downloaded and follow the on screen instructions

Uninstallation

1. Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall it just like any other application.

Download: IrfanView.
Info: Check out IrfanView’s website.

For me, Flashnote was the application I used all the time to write up forum posts or news articles prior to submitting them until I found Microsoft Office OneNote (which is like this program on steroids).

I can’t even remember the number of times I have lost a reply I was writing on a forum when my browser crashed, I submitted it and the server had issues or I accidentally pressed the back button on my mouse. If this sounds like you, this program is truly a godsend.

Flashnote, created by SoftVoile, is a fast, easily accessible (through a click on the disableable system tray icon or by pressing alt+S) way to take notes.

License Type
Flashnote is a completely free application!

System Requirements
Windows 2000, Windows 2003,  Windows XP or  Windows Vista is required for this program to function.

Installation

1. Download Flashnote.
2. Run the setup program you downloaded and follow the on screen instructions

Uninstallation

1. Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall it just like any other application.

Download: Flashnote.
Info: Check out Flashnote’s website.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve copied something only to find it overwritten by my responding to what someone said in IRC (since I usually quote them before replying to keep the conversation in context).

Or just plain forgot something important was in my clipboard until I overwrote it with a new item.

In fact, I’ve had to use it a few times just writing this Curious Finding.

Clipdiary is a necessary replacement for the built-in clipboard Windows provides because it has no limit to the size of its history (well, it’s limited to the size of your hard drive obviously…).

The main reason why I was looking for this application in the first place was because I had to email everyone from a previous IRC network which had just shutdown about the move to my IRC network. Clipdiary made this process much easier and kept me sane.

Clipdiary is easy to use: either click on its system tray icon (which can be disabled in Clipdiary’s options) or press ctrl+D.

License Type
Clipdiary is a completely free application!

System Requirements
I believe this application works with any version of Windows, but I might be wrong.

Installation

1. Download Clipdiary.
2. Run the setup program you downloaded and follow the on screen instructions

Uninstallation

1. Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall it just like any other application.

Download: Clipdiary.
Info: Check out Clipdiary’s website.

HotKeyz, created by Skynergy, is a surprisingly (small and) powerful program. Not only does it allow you to disable the default Windows hotkeys (requires a restart) but it lets you remap your keyboard too.

Believe it or not, that’s not all this application does but in order to fully grasp what it is capable of, I suggest you download the application and try it out for yourself. It could triple your productivity on your computer.

HotKeyz does add an icon to your system tray, but thankfully, it can be disabled in its options (and you can show the list with a definable hot key too since it would be really odd if a hot key program doesn’t let you define its own hot keys ).

License Type
HotKeyz is a completely free application!

System Requirements
I’ll quote the System Requirements from HotKeyz’s manual:

HotKeyz only needs 8MB RAM and 1MB SPACE.

But I have not tested it on Windows Vista yet.

Installation

1. Download HotKeyz.
2. Run the setup program you downloaded and follow the on screen instructions

Uninstallation

1. Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall it just like any other application.

Download: HotKeyz.
Info: Check out HotKeyz’s website.
Info: Check out HotKeyz’s manual.

Note:
You can also disable the Windows key shortcuts by making a regedit (but ONLY if you are comfortable using regedit, notice I don’t give detailed instructions as to how to do this):

1. Run regedit.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. Create a new DWORD called “NoWinKeys” (if it doesn’t exist already)
4. Set its value to 1 to disable the Windows key shortcuts or 0 to enable them

This disables most of the Windows key shortcuts except Windows key+L and Windows key+U.

If you’re an organization freak like me (at least when it comes to my computer…) then you’ll love this program. It brings browser-tab like functionality to your taskbar. If your programs are not opened in the right order, just click on one and drag and drop it to the right place. It is that simple.

That’s not all this program enables you to do though. You can also re-order your system tray icons by holding down ctrl (hotkey is configurable) and then clicking and dragging them wherever you want, close buttons with the middle mouse button and change the way your taskbar behaves.

Taskbar Shuffle adds a new icon to your system tray, but you can easily disable it in its settings.

License Type
Thankfully, this application is completely free! If you do like this application, I encourage you to donate to Jay Elaraj by clicking the Paypal button on this page.

System Requirements
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows NT, Windows 98 or  Windows 95 (32-bit ONLY at the time of posting) is required for this program to function.

Installation

1. Download Taskbar Shuffle.
2. Run the setup program you downloaded and follow the on screen instructions

Uninstallation

1. Use Add or Remove Programs to uninstall it just like any other application (or delete it if you decided to download the standalone version)

Download: Taskbar Shuffle.
Download: Taskbar Shuffle (files only, no installer).
Info: Check out Taskbar Shuffle’s website.

Where do I begin? There really is just that much added by this amazing (and surprisingly small) program.

Prevent windows from being off the screen.
Ever open up a window on Windows only to have it so far off the screen you can no longer access it? Yea. Me too.

Well, this feature from Pitaschio allows you to prevent this from happening. Ever. That’s right, the only downside to this application is that you can no longer drag windows (any side of them) outside of the screen.

For me, this wasn’t a good thing as I enjoy my space on my screen (and often move applications like a notepad out of the way with only the text showing). but maybe you’ll find this interesting.

Snap windows together.
This feature is for those space conscious users who want to easily arrange windows in such a way that the windows don’t overlap but are side by side with as little space between them as possible.

Personally, I don’t find this a necessity but use it anyway since it applies to your monitor’s edges too.

Minimize windows to the system tray.
If you’re the kind of person that hates clutter in their taskbar, then this feature is for you. It allows you to minimize your windows to the system tray instead of the taskbar.

I’ve not been able to get this to work though, so I can’t offer advice as to how to use it just yet.

Disable certain window functions.
Always accidentally pressing that darn maximize button?

Well, I have the answer for you. Disable it! Pitaschio gives you the option of disabling the minimize button, maximize button and the close button (separately).

Keep windows proportionate.
If you’re the kind of person who constantly resizes their windows, then you might like this feature.

Where you had to previously resize each and every corner of the window, Pitaschio allows you to change this behaviour and resize the whole window proportionally as if you were holding down shift when resizing a picture in Microsoft Paint.

Quick access to window transparency.
I’ve saved the best for last. This is by far the feature I use the most. On the fly transparency adjustment for most windows (I say most because there are possibly some windows that don’t like being forced transparent but I haven’t come across any yet).

Not only is this feature useful it is also very easy to use: you simply place your mouse cursor over the title bar of a window and scroll the mouse wheel. Up for less transparent, down for more transparent. And to prevent windows getting lost, Pitaschio includes a transparency limit but even then the window is very hard to see.

Desktop icon transparency.
Not an unheard of feature since Windows XP comes with some limited support for it, but it’s here if you need it. It allows you to remove the background colour of the desktop icons which usually appears if you change the system colour scheme. If you don’t know what this is, you probably have no need for this feature

Use small icons on the desktop.
Got a lot of icons on your desktop (or Explorer)? This feature is for you as it allows you to have Explorers List View on your desktop. All your desktop icons will be listed just as they would in Explorer if you were to change the view style to List View.

Change the icon text colour on the desktop.
What more is there to say? It lets you change the text colour of icons on the desktop. I haven’t gotten this to work on my system yet not that I need it or anything.

Easy volume control.
This feature would be useful for me if I ever saw my desktop, but I never do. I usually have mIRC open up all the time (so I guess it’d be safe to call THAT my desktop) but I have it enabled anyway. This feature allows you to easily change the system volume by placing your cursor over the desktop and scrolling the mouse wheel.

Change mouse wheel behaviour.
By default, the mouse wheel sends a message to the ACTIVE window (meaning, the window that has your systems attention on the screen). This doesn’t really seem like an intuitive way to do things and Ara, Pitaschio’s developer, agrees.

So he’s included an option that allows Pitaschio to modify the message so that it is sent to the window under your mouse’s cursor. Much more intuitive and useful.

Another feature he’s included is to activate the window that is under your mouse’s cursor when you scroll the wheel. Try it, maybe you’ll like it.

Hide/show Pitaschio system tray icon.
Pitaschio comes with a system tray icon but there are some people out there who hate system tray clutter, so this allows you to disable the system tray icon. Note, however, that some functionality can only be accessed through the system try icon.

Lock the taskbar.
This allows you to lock the taskbar. Not too sure why it is here..since Windows does the same (not sure if it is in every Windows in existence though).

Virtual desktop functionality.
You’ve positioned all your windows nicely for a certain task..but then you need to open a new one or do something else. Solution? Try pitaschio’s virtual desktop functionality.

Place your cursor on the taskbar and scroll the mouse wheel to switch through two virtual desktops. One gripe I have about this feature is how it is done: all your windows are moved, minimized etc. to the position they were saved in…and this gets annoying after awhile. But you never know until you try, so go ahead and see if it suits you.

Disable certain keys.
If you, like me, keep accidentally pressing that damn Menu key(the one beside the Windows key) or that damn insert key, then this feature is for you. Pitaschio lets you disable those keys as well as the Windows key, Alt key, Caps Lock key and the Kanji key (what is this anyway?).

Explorer modifications.
If you, like me, always find yourself moving the mouse to the “Up” one folder button, then you’ll like this feature. Once enabled, this feature allows you to simply double click a white space in Explorer to go to the parent folder (same functionality that the “Up” one folder button provides).

The reason I like this feature, though, is that it doesn’t just apply to Explorer but to a host of other applications that use Explorer’s controls (to name some: WinRAR and CuteFTP).

Another feature is the “extended rename” feature. Now this feature is a weird one and could take a while to get used to (I’m still not used to it).

Usually when you start renaming a file, the whole filename and its extension is selected for editing, with this feature turned on, only the filename is selected. I guess I could see where this could be useful, but man is it hard to get used to. Along with this feature, you can now press F2 to select either the filename, the extension or the whole thing (it cycles through it, not necessarily in that order).

Then you have the arrow key support that allows you to easily move to renaming the next or previous files which I find useful to use when managing my picture libraries.

Display a volume bar on screen.
This adds an On Screen Display that shows you your volume level. I’m not too sure how this works or when it applies though as I use a Microsoft keyboard with IntelliType and IntelliPoint and they include this functionality already. You also have the option of specifying how long you would like the volume bar to display.

Software laser pointer.
Don’t have a laser pointer handy? Not a problem. Combine your mouse with Pitaschio and you have a software version of a laser pointer. Just press Control + Shift + F9 to toggle the laser pointer on and off.

System tray icon functionality
Cleaning your keyboard or mouse? You should disable it with Pitaschio first! Pitaschio’s system tray icon gives you easy access to some features that allow you to disable your keyboard or mouse for cleaning and it works great too.

Need a secure password for something? Pitaschio includes a decent password generator that can be accessed through its system tray icon.

Mouse shortcuts.
I believe this is the most useful feature that Pitaschio provides.

This feature provides so much…I haven’t even been able to properly use all of it yet. There are a large number of actions that you can set and you can trigger them in as many ways as is feasible (for example, you can’t set an action to occur when you double click the title bar because that is used to change the Window size (max/restore) in many applications).

Here’s a list of what you can do:

• Start the Screen Saver
• Turn off the Monitor
• Standby the System
• Hibernate the System
• Log Off the System
• Restart the Computer
• Turn off the Computer
• Run the Task Manager
• Adjust the Time/Date
• Open Display Properties
• Open System Properties
• Open My Computer
• Open My Network
• Open My Documents
• Open the Recycle Bin
• Open the Control Panel
• Start Safely Remove
• Change to the other Virtual Desktop
• Open a Command Prompt
• Mute/Unmute Sound
• Show the Desktop
• …and many more

If all I wanted was for you to see a list of the things this program can do, I’d have linked you to the manual. Instead, I’ll tell you how I use this wonderfully useful feature.

The most useful feature, in my opinion, is the ability to toggle the topmost state of a window (i.e. set a window to always be on top or not) and I have the shortcut for this option set to Ctrl + Wheel click or Shift + Wheel click on the title bar. So all I have to do to make a window stay on top of all the other windows is hold down ctrl or shift and press the mouse wheel on that windows title bar and there I have it – it will stay on top of all other windows.

Another way I use this feature is to have ctrl + shift + wheel click on the taskbar open up My Computer. This saves me a lot of time as I no longer have to click on Start -> My Computer (and I *really* use My Computer a lot). Then I have it set up so that a simple right click of the title bar will close that window or program.

This is but the tip of the iceberg of what the mouse shortcuts are capable of so I invite you to try it out yourself before you pass judgment.

Autoraise support.
This feature allows you to make the window under your cursor become the active window, as with every other feature, this one also allows you to set how long you need to keep the cursor over a window to make it active. I personally don’t have a use for this feature and, in fact, would find it quite annoying but maybe you will.

Window management.
Window management allows you complete control over a window and its makeup, you can change the position, move the window, change its size and best of all, there is no transparency limit so if you want to have disappearing windows (or hide a window from someone) then you can use this to do it as they will probably not know that you can hide windows or how to undo it.

Did I mention this program is small? Yep, just 60kb zipped, 869kb uncompressed at the time of posting.

Thanks Ara, this is one program I just can’t use Windows without anymore!

License Type
I’m really happy to say this application is completely free! If you do like this application, I encourage you to donate to Ara by clicking the Paypal on this page.

System Requirements
Windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows Vista is required for this program to function.

Installation

1. Download Pitaschio.
2. Extract the ZIP.
3. Run Pitaschio.exe and configure it to your liking

Uninstallation

1. End the pitaschio.exe process after right clicking on its tray icon (if you set it to have one) and clicking on disable.
2. Delete all the Pitaschio related files.

Download: Pitaschio.
Info: Check out Pitaschio’s website.
Info: Check out Pitaschio’s manual (semi-outdated but really useful).

Specifically speaking for the Curious Findings or Quest for the Holy Grail series, I’ll probably be updating my posts with further information on the software I post about, so I suggest you check them regularly even if you’ve already read them.

I hope you’re all enjoying reading my posts and just wanted to leave a hint here that you should watch this space because I’ll be filling it with a lot of interesting things that you may find useful.

Thanks for “subscribing” to my writings.

Although I initially began this series as a way for myself to be reminded of the programs I have found to be interesting, useful or just plain cool, it seems I have a sort of audience now and so it is only logical if I cater to that audience as well as myself.

My good friend x3sphere inadvertently brought it to my attention that my Curious Finding posts are not informative enough and I agree. As such, I’ll now be writing system requirements, installation instructions etc. on the front page and the rest of the article after the jump. To make it easier to understand and become familiar with, I’ll also be trying to stick to a familiar template on all my Curious Finding posts.

I hope you find this change useful and welcome any feedback you may have about this series or just my blog. If you have any, please don’t hesitate to post them in the comments. Thanks!

Update:
Sorry, I’ve changed my mind. You’ll see what template I’ll follow soon enough.

QTTabBar brings a popular feature usually found on web browsers (like Opera) – tabs – to Explorer. This is a great feature on its own as it reduces the clutter in the taskbar but that isn’t the only feature this program provides as you’ll see when you try this program out.

I think it is safe to say that these are two of the first applications I’ll be installing on a fresh install of Windows. QuizoApps’ have really provided us with some quality programs that increase productivity and make things easier to use and find with Explorer.

I can’t see me using a Windows install without these two applications unless they come out of the box. Thanks QuizoApps!

The many features QTTabBar provides not enough for you? No problem! Check here for some useful plugins for QTTabBar and if you don’t find something to your taste, you can easily make your own.

Don’t like the way the buttons look on the QT Tab Standard Buttons toolbar? No problem. QTTabBar has skin support.

License Type
I’m happy to tell you that this program is completely free. If you find this program useful, please consider donating to its developer by clicking on the Donate button on this page.

System Requirements
Windows XP (only been tested with 32bit) with .NET Framework 2.0 or higher OR Windows Vista is required for this program to function.

Installation

1. Download QTTabBar.
2. Extract the ZIP.
3. Run QTTabBar.exe and follow the onscreen instructions.
4. Restart Windows or Log out and log back into Windows.
5. Open Explorer
6. Right click the part of the Address Bar that says “Address”
7. Click on “Lock The Toolbars” to unlock it if there is a tick beside it.
8. Right click the part of the Address Bar that says “Address”
9. Click on “QT TabBar” and re-arrange it in a nice spot (I have it under the QT Breadcrumbs Address Bar)
10. Right click the part of the Address Bar that says “Address”
11. (OPTIONAL) Click on “QT Standard Buttons”. If you want, you can disable the normal Standard Buttons toolbar by going through the same processing and clicking on “Standard Buttons” so that it is unticked. Then reposition the QT Tab Standard Buttons toolbar so that it is in the same place where the normal Standard Buttons toolbar was (this is how I have mine setup).

Uninstallation

1. Run QTTabBar.exe and follow the onscreen instructions.
2. Restart Windows or Log out and log back into Windows.

Download: QTTabBar by QuizoApps.
Info: Check out other QuizoApps.

Suffice to say, these are two applications I simply can’t use Explorer without. First, we’ll take a look at the before and after pictures:

Here we have a video showing off QTTabBar’s Search feature (a feature I find to be very useful and one I really can’t live without):

Check out the video here if the one above doesn’t work.

More videos showcasing the many features that QuizoApps’ QTAddressBar and QTTabBar adds to Explorer may follow.

Personally, I used to find Windows Vista’s address bar a hindrance to my productivity on my computer…but that may have just been me. One thing I thought you couldn’t do was access an easy way to copy and paste the location you are currently at (like with Windows XP’s Explorer’s address bar) but I was wrong.

My good friend, x3sphere, showed me that Vista’s address bar does allow you to easily copy the current folder’s path, and so I no longer find Windows Vista’s address bar a hindrance. Note: I have only used Vista for a short amount of time, my hard drive died with it on it.

Anyway, this Curious Finding, made possible by QuizoApps, allows you to have Windows Vista’s address bar functionality on Windows XP.

Notes:
Con: You need to logout and back in to Windows XP. Can’t you just soft-restart explorer by killing it in task manager? Hmm.

I couldn’t get this working on my current system but could in the past, I think it might be due to my having .NET Framework 3.0

License Type
I’m happy to tell you that this program is completely free. If you find this program useful, please consider donating to its developer by clicking on the Donate button on this page.

System Requirements
Windows XP (only been tested with 32bit) with .NET Framework 2.0 or higher is required for this program to function.

Installation

1. Download QTAddressBar.
2. Extract the ZIP.
3. Run QTAddressBar.exe and follow the onscreen instructions.
4. Restart Windows or Log out and log back into Windows.
5. Open Explorer
6. Right click the part of the Address Bar that says “Address”
7. Click on “Lock The Toolbars” to unlock it if there is a tick beside it.
8. Right click the part of the Address Bar that says “Address”
9. Click on “QT Breadcrumbs Address Bar”
10. If you want, you can disable the normal Address Bar by going through the same processing and cliking on “Address Bar” so that it is unticked. Then reposition the QT Breadcrumbs Address Bar so that it is in the same place where the normal Address Bar was.

Uninstallation

1. Run QTAddressBar.exe and follow the onscreen instructions.
2. Restart Windows or Log out and log back into Windows.

Download: QTAddressBar by QuizoApps.
Info: Check out other QuizoApps.

Update:
Finally got it working again thanks to Pedr0_F19.

You need to right click the toolbar to enable QTAddressBar and, if you like, replace the normal address bar by disabling it. I tried this before posting but it didn’t work. For some reason, it works now. Thanks again Pedr0_F19!