DefaultPrograms is a small, free utility that can manage and edit the way windows works with filetypes, such as editing their context menu items, their icons, description, and the associated file type for an extension. For Vista and Windows Seven it can also manage and edit autoplay handlers, as well as edit, add, or remove the default registered programs associated with file types.

Windows Surface Scanner is a free, fast utility that scans your hard drive(s) for physical errors. It will examine each sector on your hard drive for read errors and reports them if found. It is purely diagnostic and will not fix or “mark” bad sectors or recover data.

JumpTo is a free menu-based launcher that provides access to favorite folders, files, apps, or URLs in the form of a hotkey-enabled context menu. It can be accessed on the fly at any time on the desktop or via the system tray icon. In addition it provides on-the-fly note taking functionality as well as a few other functions such as hiding and showing windows, stripping formatting from the clipboard, and others.

DragTargets is a free app designed to make it easy to drag and drop your files into frequently used folders. Shortcuts to favorite folders (including folders on external drives) can be placed as buttons on a semi-transparent floating widget, and can be used to quickly move or copy files or access these folders.

The concept behind this free program is to "automate repetitive tasks". It presents a wide range of functions involving text insertion and automation, launching apps or URLs, manipulating windows on the desktop, grabbing screenshots, and optimizing programs in memory. You can launch functions via keyboard shortcuts or in many cases from the program’s icon in the system tray.

VistaSwitcher is a free application switcher/Alt+Tab replacement for (despite the name) Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It features a slick interface, application preview thumbnails, and the ability to perform operations such as minimizing, maximizing and closing windows or apps from the VistaSwitcher interface.

Lacuna Launcher is a tiny, free app that can launch multiple programs and/or files with one click. It allows users to assign the order of the launched apps, to assign an optional delay before the apps start running (useful for programs launched on startup), as well as an optional wait time between each of the successive items launched.

Copy Path is a small, free Windows shell extension that adds the ability to copy the path, folder path, or filename within the right click shell extension. Works on individual or multiple selected files and folders.

SuperF4 is a free utility that resides in memory and delivers instant, quick termination of apps or processes via hotkey. It is designed to forcibly terminate any running program effectively and instantly, but without notifications or prompts to save your work. This is done by pressing CTRL+ALT+F4 for terminating the active app, while WIN+F4 will allow you to use the mouse to click on any visible Window to terminate that app or process.

In this post I will review “High Sign”, an excellent freeware mouse gesture program. While Samer has previously reviewed gMote, another mouse gesture program, I planned on reviewing StrokeIt which has been around for a long while now and is almost the founding father of freeware mouse gesture software. Unfortunately, when I installed StrokeIt, it did not leave a very good impression, with the software not working fully and with unclear implementation step. I therefore began a search for a better alternative, and High Sign is the program that I found.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Jason H. Check out his tech blog: 404techsupport.com].

If you’ve ever encountered a blocked startup app in Vista and would like a work-around that can bypass it then read on. This posting will describe how to launch an app on startup as a scheduled task, which will circumvent the startup apps list altogether. Ultimately you will be able to get your app to launch without seeing the notice in the screenshot and without having to shut down Vista’s User Account Control security infrastructure.

BumpTop is a cool little addition that can make your Windows desktop a little more organized and add a bit of pizazz to the experience. It adds physics and depth to your normal, boring desktop. You can slide files and icons around on the “floor” or pin them to any of the four walls that BumpTop creates. It makes for an impressive desktop and is somewhat comparable to Compiz on Linux, but is there much practical application for it?

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Jason H. Check out his tech blog: 404techsupport.com].