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The article recommends a Web site for free computer software for portable document format (PDF) files applications. The service at the Create Adobe PDF Online limits each PDF to 100 megabyte and 50 uploaded pages and it times out after 10 minutes of processing per file. One can also combine or extract PDF and add backgrounds, letterheads and forms to them. CutePDF lacks many of Acrobat's advanced tools, such as integration with Microsoft Word, print and copy controls and a Send to PDF option for right-click menu. Jaws PDF Creator adds 128-bit encryption of the files and provides some control over printing and editing.

Reviews the Thunderbird 1. 0 free e-mail computer software from Mozilla Foundation.

Provides information on Grisoft's free AVG 6 Anti-Virus System, which is available on the Internet. Use of the software to detect viruses in a computer system.

The article looks at the ten best Windows freebies of 2005. They include the StripFile program from Nuetools, the Picasa image service from Google, Nikolay Avrionov's ExplorerXP program, the CutePDF Writer from Acro Software, the ObjectDock utility from Stardock, FileWare's LastChance utility, Tim Taylor's Icon Restore utility, the TaskArrange program from Elias Fotinis, the Tray Pilot Lite utility from Two Pilots, and the ClocX alarm program.

This section presents several free downloadable software solutions that can be used to fix imperfections in Windows applications. There are many backup programs, but few as elegant and powerful as SyncBack from 2BrightSparks. As its name suggests, Syncback has two primary functions; backing up and restoring data (copying in one direction), and synchronizing folders (copying in both directions to make the contents of two folders identical). Transbar from AKSoftware lets users make the taskbar wholly or partially transparent in 1 percent increments. Another is TaskbarHide, which instantly pops the taskbar on or off screen (minus the ugly line) whenever a user moves his mouse over or away from it. GeoShell is a free open-source taskbar replacement consisting of modular floating toolbars that users can group and rearrange to their heart's content. Their desktop will be cleaner because its icons go into a menu instead of cluttering the screen. Despite some quirks in its interface, the DoubleKiller program can search various drives for the file types specified by users, hunting for files of the same name, size, date, and/or CRC32-checksums. After completing the search, DoubleKiller gives users tools for launching, moving, or deleting the duplicate files it finds. And the utility's Help tab provides a brief instruction manual to get users started.

This article illustrates how to remove unsolicited commands from context menus or right-click menus in the computer. Right-click menus are called context menus because the commands they list change depending on where you click. File utilities, various freeware programs and other applications add commands and submenus to some context menus to make using the programs easier. Unfortunately, the more this happens, the more cluttered and less useful the right-click menus become. Some utilities that add commands to the content menus also provide easy ways to customize or remove items. This is the best and safest approach to tossing context menu junk. If no such option is available, you can usually alter the menus in all versions of Windows via the Registry. For WinZip menus, go to WinZip Classic, choose Options Configurations and uncheck Display context menu items in the a submenu to avoid the hassle of clicking a submenu for these commands, or check and uncheck items in the Content Menu command box. To remove Winamp commands, go the Options Preferences, select File types under the General Preferences branch and uncheck Show Winamp in folder context menus in Windows Explorer or Directory context menus. INSET: Soup Up Send To With Send To Toys.

Offers ideas on several free Windows add-on programs. Feature added to Longhorn, Microsoft Corporation's next version of Windows; Steps involved in downloading a multiple virtual desktops feature; Way to print a list of folder's files.