Screen capture tools are not only essential for bloggers because normal PC users can use it too! There are a lot of great screen capture software and one of them is Snagit which is actually my favorite but since it’s a bit expensive, not everyone can afford to buy it. So if you’re looking for an alternative for Snagit, lightweight yet powerful screen capture freeware, check out this list:

1. Liksoft Free Screen Capture

Software Description:

Liksoft Free Screen Capture is a freeware screenshot taker with professional quality. It can capture full screen, active windows, controls, any rectangular area or ellipse region from your desktop. It is an ideal tool for creating manuals, web pages, presentations, capturing online receipts, sharing error screens and more. Liksoft Free Screen Capture will capture for your immediate use in a few clicks. The captured image can be saved as a JPG, PNG, or Bitmap file.

It works on Windows (2000/XP/Vista)

Download Liksoft Free Screen Capture

2. SnapShot

Software Description:

SnapShot is a no nonsense screen grabber or screenshot taker that allows you to grab your desktop, window, or any part of the screen and save it as JPG or PNG (all the usual popular formats are available) or send it straight to your favorite editor, for further editing. You can also send screen captures as an attachment with the build-in e-mail engine, or upload them via FTP. Other features include global hotkeys, automatically save screen captures, automatic filename generation and support for external editors.

Runs on Windows 98/ME/2000/2003/XP/Vista/7

Download SnapShot

3. EasyCapture

Software Description:

EasyCapture Screen Capture is a powerful and easy-to-use  free screen capture software. It allows you to capture screen shot, include windows screen capture, scrolling windows screen capture, selected-regions screen capture. It also allow you to edit the screen captures and add balloon stamps.

It works on Windows (2000/XP/Vista)

Download EasyCapture

4. Screenshot Pilot

Screenshot Pilot lets you capture screens in variety of ways: active window, active client, full screen, screen region, selected object, window under cursor, menu under cursor, cursor, and background image.

The program allows you to derive graphic images from applications and libraries. You can easily send screenshots by e-mail, print them out, save them to Clipboard or your hard drive.

Download Screenshot Pilot

5. Annotation Pilot

This is the improved version of Screenshot Pilot because aside from taking screenshots, it also allows you to add texts and graphics to your screenshot.

Download Annotation Pilot

6. Capture-A-ScreenShot

Software Description:

Capture-A-ScreenShot  is a simple to use screen capture software utility that captures screenshots.   With Capture-A-ScreenShot, you can easily capture the last active screen, full screen, or selected area.

Download Capture-A-ScreenShot

7. MWSnap

Software Description:

MWSnap is a small yet powerful Windows program for snapping (capturing) images from selected parts of the screen. Current version is capable of capturing the whole desktop, a highlighted window, an active menu, a control, or a fixed or free rectangular part of the screen. MWSnap handles 5 most popular graphics formats and contains several graphical tools: a zoom, a ruler, a color picker and a window spy. It can be also used as a fast picture viewer or converter.

Download MWSnap

8. AndySnap

AndySnap is a free screen capture utility that supports multiple monitor configurations (enable using extended desktop) of up to 4 monitors. It remembers your previous capture regions to keep you moving forward with your task, and to give you the exact same screen area every time. It is also built-in mini-viewer that can quickly show the last capture you made, and all of the other images in your capture stream.

It works on Windows (2000/XP)

Download AndySnap

© 2010, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: alternatives, free utility, Freeware, screen capture tool, screenshot, Snagit, snapshot

Aside from the Windows XP Backup, there are other free softwares like Snap Backup that add bells and whistles you won’t find in the basic Windows XP Backup utility.

Software Description:

Snap Backup is The One-Click Backup Utility that makes it simple to protect your important work.  It is for individual computer users who need a simple and convenient way to backup their valuable files, and it’s free (open source).

Features of Snap Backup:

1. One click to perform a backup
2. Configurable settings
3. Runs on most platforms (including: Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, and Windows)
4. Supports multiple languages
5. It’s free!

How to use Snap Backup:

1. The first time you run Snap Backup, you configure where your data files reside and where to create backup files.

2. Specify an archive location, such as a USB flash drive (memory stick) or external hard drive, for storing backup files.

3. Snap Backup automatically puts the current date in the backup file name so you won’t have to rename it every time you backup. The backup file is a single compressed file that can be read by zip programs such as 7-Zip, The Unarchiver, and Mac’s built-in Archive Utility.

Snap Backup is 100% Java and designed to run on any computer with Java. It’s so easy to use and a must-have for every PC user!

Protect your important files with Snap Backup. Download it here.

© 2010, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: backup, free utility, Freeware, Linux, Mac, Windows

What are the five Ashampoo Utilities that Softonic is giving away for free?

1. MagicalSecurity ($19.99)Ashampoo MagicalSecurity encrypts your private data on your hard disc, CD or DVD. When you leave sensitive files on your computer or send them to your friends by email, you know that it’s risky. Encrypting your data is very important so that nobody can access the content unless you want them to. To encrypt or decrypt one or more files you just select them in the Windows® Explorer and then choose Encrypt or Decrypt. That’s it. As an added extra the program can also completely wipe files from your hard drive so their contents can never be found – even by data recovery experts.

2. Burning Studio 2010 ($49.99)Ashampoo Burning Studio 2010 is a major update that improves almost every aspect of the program, adding many new features and capabilities in every part of the program. It also introduces LightScribe burner support and a new Movie Editor for editing and combining your videos before burning them to DVD. The Movie Editor has functions for cutting, transitions, fades, subtitles, titles and more, plus a point-and-click DVD menu editor with animated themes for creating great-looking interfaces for your DVD movies.

3. PhotoCommander ($39.99)Ashampoo Photo Commander 6 is a perfect example of a new generation of programs that are genuinely intuitive easy to use. Almost everything is done with a couple of clicks – adding picture frames, correcting your photos, making greeting cards, collages and slide shows, sharing your pictures on CDs/DVDs or your website and much more. You organize and view your photo collection, edit and enhance your photos and use creative editing and project tools all in a single program. And it also manages your audio and video files!

4. UnInstaller 2010 ($49.99)Ashampoo UnInstaller 2010 completely uninstall an application. It lets you test software with confidence because you can be sure that no trace of programs you remove are left anywhere on your system. It does this by comparing compact “Before” and “After” snapshots that identify exactly where all program components and settings are located. Uninstalling is completely safe, with automatic backups and a special Reinstaller for quickly reinstalling programs with all their settings.

5. WinOptimizer 2010 ($49.99)Ashampoo WinOptimizer makes Windows maintenance fast and easy – and it works for Windows XP just as well as it does for Vista and Windows 7. The One-click Optimizer does what it says and you can even schedule it to run automatically so that you don’t need to think about it at all. It keeps your Windows computer running as fast and smoothly as on the first day you bought it.

How to get your free serial keys:

1. Before anything else, you must be a member of Softonic for you to claim your free serial keys. Signing up is easy and free.

2. Go to this website: http://xrl.in/44fv and download the softwares you want.

3. Install the software.

4. Your web browser will open and you’ll be directed to a website wherein you have to fill-up a form. Just complete it and follow the steps for you to claim your free serial keys.

You’re done! Enjoy using the Ashampoo Utilities.

UPDATE: The promo has ended already.

© 2009, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: Ashampoo, free serial number, free utility, optimize pc, photo commander, uninstall programs, Windows, winoptimizer

One of the new features of the Superbar is it uses large icons instead of showing text in application buttons. Previous Windows versions used to show icon as well as text in all application’s taskbar buttons.

This is how the Superbar looks like:

It’s cool right? Well if you are still using Windows XP or Vista, there’s a free utility that can “iconize” your taskbar like in Windows Seven.

Taskbar Iconizer is a small portable tool which uses the same registry trick to provide iconize taskbar feature in Windows XP and Vista. You just need to download the file, run it and it will show this window:

Simply click on the right-side image which shows Windows 7 Type “Iconized” and you’re done! You just need to log off or restart the system for it to take effect.

To restore the default settings, simply click on the left-side image.

Download Taskbar Iconizer

© 2009, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: application buttons, free utility, new features, superbar, taskbar iconizer, Windows Seven, windows vista, Windows XP

Nero General CleanTool is a free utility designed by Nero which lets you completely uninstall and remove all the entries of Nero 9 on your PC. It can also be used if you are having problems installing Nero 9 on your PC because it will remove all the conflicting Nero entries which are or were installed on your PC.

How to use the Nero General CleanTool:

1. Download the Nero General CleanTool to your desktop then unzip the downloaded ZIP file.

2. Double-click on the extracted Nero General CleanTool.exe file

3. The Nero General CleanTool window will open and the installed Nero products will be displayed.

4. Select the check boxes next to the Nero products that you want to remove then click the “Clean” button. This may take several minutes to finish.

5. Reboot your computer.

That’s it! The Nero General CleanTool have removed all the selected Nero entries from your computer.

© 2009, The content is copyrighted to The Heat Web blog by Christian Casino. Please refer to the license before using our content.
Permalink | Post tags: free utility, How-To, nero 9, nero general clean tool, remove from pc, uninstall nero