With over 90 million downloads and 180,312 online users, Camfrog stands top in ‘Webcam Software’ list. Camfrog has a wide range of features that allows video chat rooms where you can chat with several people at once in real stream (live stream). It can also be utilized as a video conferencing tool which works with almost all firewalls and routers. The multi-user video conferencing holds a chat room of about 1000 users and with just a single ‘user name’, you can join the chat easily.



The social networking rapidly mounting to new levels, video chat softwares are withstanding their position with the latest features, stability and performance. Many people still believe that chat tools are similar to social websites that ensure close communication among people of same interests. Camfrog lets you interact with other people easily with modern chatting and video functions on top of high quality audio and video broadcasting/streaming.

Key Features:

• Free Video Chat Rooms.
• Create your own free webcam chat rooms.
• Private Free Video & Audio Calls.
• Watch and Broadcast Super Fast High Quality Video Streams.
• Share Files with People in Chat Rooms Easily.
• Find New People and Invite them to Chat with Camfrog’s ‘User Directory’.
• ‘Take Snapshots’ with Webcam that can be sent from one person to another.
• Only people above age 16 can create profile pages.
• ‘Multi-user Video Conferencing’ allows you to join chat room with up to 1000 users with just a single username.
• Allows ‘Instant Messaging’ and ‘One-to-One Audio Calls’.
• Users should accept the ‘Terms of Service’ mandatorily who are monitored by operators of 18+ old in chat rooms.
• Available for Windows Mobile, iPhone, and Android.
• No Webcam is needed to see other people.
• Works perfectly behind all routers, firewalls, and wireless networks.

The latest version Camfrog 6.5.285 has added some language packs to the previous version. Unfortunately, this tool is ad-supported displaying unnecessary advertising material, ad banners, etc. The installation changes the web browser functionality like modifying the homepage, default search engine, and installing toolbars which are not required for users. To run Camfrog application, you need to have at least a 1GHz processor with mandatory internet connection.

How to Use Camfrog?

1) As soon as you download and install Camfrog application, the first windows appears will be your “contact list”. Exactly at the bottom of the window lies the “Video Chat Rooms” icon. By clicking on it a new window emerges with all available video chat rooms. Click the available username to join the chat room.

2) The webcam you’ve connected shows you to everyone on the chat room. Press “talk” button to speak with someone. Be sure that you can only talk when a person is not talking already. Adjust the recording level in “Audio Settings”.

3) If you wish to send instant messages to any user, right-click on their name and choose “IM User”. You can block users, share files, take snapshots, view online profiles, add to contact list and call them, if online. If you want to ignore someone, just right-click on their name and click “Ignore User”.

4)Click “Search for Camfrog Users” icon in the contact list to view online users. You can discover users to speak to one-to-one in the user directory, if you don’t want to involve in multi-user video conferencing.

5) If any user who annoys or irritates repeatedly, then press “block” icon to stop the user bothering you.

6) To stop getting IM’s from anonymous people in your contact list, just go to the Camfrog menu in your contact list and enable “IM Catcher”.


Camfrog 6.5 is undoubtedly one of the popular chat applications in the market, but experts advise that this is not a program that kids and should use only in adult supervision. Camfrog provides “Parental Controls” that can block video viewing, broadcast video/audio, audio listening, text chat, IM, and joining rooms outside hosted by Camfrog.

Download Camfrog 6.5, the latest free version which takes you to a new world with a wide range of chat rooms which includes many topics. Users who want more advanced features can opt to Camfrog Pro, a paid version.
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You need a system utility which defragments files of your hard disk drives easily and quickly without any difficulty. There are many of them available in the market but, Auslogics Disk Defrag comes on top when improving PC performance more than other tools. It takes care of everything right from analyzing, defragging, and optimizing your disk drives faster than ever. Just select one or more disks to perform the above operations.



The defragmentation process includes consolidating free space and moving system files to the faster part of the disk. The latest version Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.6.1 had fixed several bugs and corrected errors in language files. The interface is straightforward without any awful color combinations or icons. The hard disk drives are listed with their name, size, free space, file system, and fragmented status. Select the disk(s) you want and click the ‘Defrag’ drop-down button to Analyze, Defrag or Defrag & Optimize. You can check for errors for the selected disk drives.

Key Features:

• File System Optimization
• Free Space Consolidation
• Single File Defragmentation
• Auto-Defragmentation
• File Clusters Viewer
• VSS Compatible Mode

Defragment & Optimize:

The last thing you expect from your computer is low performance. To overcome this problem, Auslogics Disk Defrag not only defragments files in disks but, improves PC performance by optimizing your hard drive’s file system. The optimization process embraces defragmenting free space, moving system files to the quickest part of the disk, and clears the MFT (Master File Table) Reserved Zone from regular files. The powerful engine defragment large multi-terabyte volumes effortlessly.

Auto-Defragmentation:

The ‘Auto-Defragmentation’ works in real time while your system is idle, consuming very less system resources to defragment files. The activity acts silently in the background without the user interference. You can customize and control the auto-defrag mode by enabling it. You can set the option to ‘Do not auto-defrag when laptop is in battery power mode’ when your laptop is charging.


Free Space Consolidation:

The normal defragmentation of data files puts down fragmented free space. These spaces are filled by Windows OS with newly created or extended files. When the free space is more, more fragmented new files will be. Disk Defrag joins free space into a large contiguous block while optimizing disks which prevents file fragmentation.


System Files Smart Placement:

The system files that are dispersed all over the disk while performing the OS tasks are defragmented and moved to the fastest part of the disk by enabling option “Move system files to the beginning of the disk” in the ‘Algorithms’ section in Auslogics Settings. Disk Defrag smartly puts them in order and improves overall computer performance and reduces the time needed to access system files.


You can skip fragments larger than 10MB which are taking longer time in reading. You could delete temporary files before defragmenting to speed up the process.

Single File or Folder Defragmentation:

If you are an experienced Windows user, then Disk Defrag lets you defragment frequently used files only instead of the entire disk. It saves your time making the task simpler and effective. You can either defragment a single file, a number of files or an entire folder.


Customizing Disk Defrag:

It is easy to customize your Disk Defrag settings that are integrated into the Windows Explorer context menu. Set the auto-defragmentation mode to run the application when your computer is idle. You can set the cluster map style and color themes for easy recognition while the task is performed.


Keeping the MFT Reserved Zone Clear:

The NTFS file system normally reserves about 12.5% of the disk space for the MFT records which stores regular files. The remaining disk space gets low which may lead to MFT fragmentation. Disk Defrag moves normal data files to another location, so that NTFS can allocate contiguous space for the MFT records.


List of Fragmented Files:

Disk Defrag shows the list of fragmented files after the completion of data analysis. The fragmented file list includes the fragment’s location on the cluster map and their paths. You can skip the files added to the list and defragment the rest. You can just right-click on the selected list and click “Defrag Highlighted” option.


Disk Defrag requires less than 25 MB HDD space and 32 MB RAM. It supports Windows 8, 7 (32 and 64-bit), Vista and XP (32-bit only). You can download the regular setup version or portable version which requires no installation and is absolutely free to use for home and commercial purposes. Download Disk Defrag from CNET website for free.
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The ‘IObit Malware Fighter’ comes with a complete new interface and more useful tools. The 2.0 version has a comprehensive solution for removing malware and its related threats from your computer. The new ‘Dual-Core’ anti-malware engine removes malware and other threats more effectively compared to other malware removing tools.

The modern look which is inspired from Windows 8 Metro-style looks great and much cleaner compared to its prior version. As it has inclusive support for Windows 8 (touch screens), the navigation also is undoubtedly more intuitive. The interface has three action buttons – Scan, Protect, Update and one Action Center. The ‘Scan’ categories include Smart, Full and Custom looks into your PC for spyware, adware, Trojans, keyloggers, bots, worms, and many more threats.

The ‘Real-time Protection’ safeguards your browser, network, files/documents, processes, USB, and Startup items. You can set enable or disable them anytime you want. If you wish to repair or neutralize all threats and install updates of the product at once, the ‘Fix All’ button will do it easily and quickly without disturbing your regular work. The ‘Cloud Security’ provides a mode to upload files to IObit cloud which are suspicious to you.

New Features:

• More intuitive user interface and flawless user experience.
• The innovative ‘Dual-Core’ anti-malware engine is improved which provides deeper protection and fasten the process.
• The 'Real-time protection' intelligently protects your PC without disturbing your normal work.
• The one-click 'Fix All' offers smart solution all problems ranging from threat removal to installing product updates and virus-definitions.
• The ‘Cloud Security’ analyzes suspicious files better.
• Easy to install and customize.
• Supports Windows 8.

IObit removes many complex threats that are infected to deeper locations using DOG (Digital Original Gene) technique, a new heuristic malware detection process. The frequent updates that are downloaded and installed frequently will remove emerging threats when working online.

IObit Malware Fighter 2.0 comes with two editions – Free and PRO. The PRO version includes several modules such as Process Guard, USB Disk Guard, Malicious Action Guard, etc. are disabled in ‘Free’ version. The Scheduled Scan also is offline in free version, but for normal computer users, the free edition is more than enough.

There are some limitations for IObit Malware Fighter 2.0 such as the ‘Fix All’ button installs IObit’s product offerings without the user interference. It is recommended to uncheck the options to change the homepage, default search engine and install toolbars for web browsers which are not useful. The IObit Malware Fighter 2.0 takes 256MB RAM and 30MB hard disk space to run the application which is completely acceptable. Download

We capture our life’s most memorable moments in photos, but fail to make them special and stunning with digital effects. A tool like Photo Story 3 can bring life to your digital photos with soundtracks, slides, effects, titles, captions, etc. Using Photo Story 3, you can edit all your photos with a single-click. You can create slideshow presentations, add background music to them, convert them to WMV file format, and share them on social media or email easily.



Photo Story 3 supports only Windows XP, and this is a very big limitation for modern users. The interface is of a traditional Microsoft kind, which lets you to create a new project, edit it, or play a story. The ‘Help’ file explains the procedure to create a photo story, and tips and tricks to make them easier and better. The beginners would be benefited more with the program’s step-by-step wizard.

Features:

• Can rotate, crop, correct red eye or colors.
• Personalize them with captions and titles.
• Add sound effects, background music, zoom effects, and text.
• You can save your presentations as WMV files or convert them using a third-party video converter.
• The ‘Auto Fix’ feature automatically corrects contrast, color, and red eye, too.
• The ‘Remove Black Borders’ removes black borders from images to improve the screen appearance.
• The ‘Selection Tool’ makes sure that the right section of your photo is preserved.
• A great tool to create photo slideshows for birthdays, weddings, and the friend’s hangouts.
• You can import pictures from your camera or a website.
• Correct color levels, red eye, contrast, rotate the image clockwise or counterclockwise.
• The original photo is kept preserved, making no changes.
• Preview edited images before saving them.

Microsoft Photo Story 3 supports many file formats making the best available digital photo tool for Windows XP. It requires Windows XP, Media Player 10, DirectX 9.0b drivers, minimum 256MB RAM, 400MB hard disk space, microphone to record narration. You can download Photo Story 3 from Microsoft’s official website or below link.
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There are dozens of firewalls out there to ensure computer’s security, but Comodo Firewall is more capable of protecting your data from both computer and network attacks with its prevention-based security mechanism, attractive GUI, huge configuration options, and personalized protection. It offers advanced features which the default Windows operating system doesn’t. This tool monitors all incoming/outgoing connections and blocks malicious threats before they infect your system.


Comodo Firewall secures all connections while you are online, keeping away hackers and other intruders effectively. It converts your DNS servers to Comodo SecureDNS servers and allows “Cloud Based Behavior Analysis” of unknown programs as soon as it installs on your PC.

The latest version 6.1 has user-friendly interface with a variety of options and controls to examine your PC status. The main interface shows the security, update, and the realtime protection status. Down the window, you can view the important tools such as Scan, Update, Virtual Disk, Shared Space, Task Manager, etc. You can drag-n-drop programs or applications which are needed to be filtered in ‘Sandbox Objects’ section. You could also enable ‘Game Mode’ by which the Comodo Firewall utilizes less system resources while playing games.

The ‘Tasks’ button shows you the Comodo’s General, Firewall, Sandbox, and Advanced Tasks and also has the input-text field to search tasks right away. It installs a desktop widget that shows the system security status as well as the download/upload speed and current running applications.

Key Features:

• DDP (Default Deny Protection) ensures only recognized PC-safe applications are executed.
• Prevent viruses and malware before they infect or access your computer using ‘Prevention-based Security’.
• Auto Sandbox Technology virtually creates an isolated environment for unreliable programs such that no malicious software can reach your computer.
• Get timely alerts when any software is allowed to create/operate system files.
• Detects zero-day malware automatically with ‘Cloud-based Behavior Analysis’.
• Cloud Based Whitelisting identifies safe files/documents that are from trusted publishers and vendors.
• Application Control provides the ability to run only trusted applications and the rest can be locked for PC’s safety.
• The ‘Game Mode’ restrains alerts, database updates, and scheduled scans so that the user’s gaming experience could be smooth without any freezes or hangs.
• The interface is user-friendly and organized well to navigate through various Comodo Firewall’s protection features and options.
• Get Automatic Updates from Comodo’s cloud server.
• View actions performed such as add/move/remove/block files in a log file.

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The significant improvements made to the Windows 8 operating system enhanced the user experience on many modern devices such as Tablets, Mobiles, Home Theatre PCs and of course desktop computers. The advanced technologies like USB 3.0, cloud computing, low-power ARM architecture, near field communications, 4Kn Advanced Format, and antivirus capabilities made Windows 8 a must-have tech-possession. Windows 8 App Store is flourishing which began to produce high-quality apps from developers. But, many users think that the app store is of less use and won’t add much value to the OS.

You have different apps in the app store, some would improve Windows 8 performance and some make your work easier. Here, I give you ‘Top 5 Windows 8 Apps for your PC or Laptop’ in 2013 that can be downloaded for free.

Toolbox


Toolbox is an essential app for unlimited productivity that offers more than 12 different tools such as Web Browser, Facebook, Notes, Twitter, Notifier, World Clock, etc. and you can interact with six different tools at once. With ‘Snap View’ you can access all the tools to felicitate your primary application you’re working on. You can even customize your workspace, save your favorite layout, and dock Toolbox. This app is free to download from Windows 8 App Store.

Fhotoroom


Love to edit your favorite photos and share them on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr? Then, Fhotoroom is a must-have app in your favorites list. It is an award-winning photo app which is a combination of photo sharing network and photo editor where you could add 24 beautiful styles, 28 light leaks, and 23 picture frames and borders. The 18 Editing Tools like Rotate, Sharpen, Crop, Exposure, Flip, Mirror, Saturation, etc. will give you complete control over photo-editing.

It offers more than 75 powerful image editing, photo styles, light leaks, and frames which bring out the best output. Download Fhotoroom from its official website or from windows 8 app store for free.

News Bento


News Bento is one of the coolest Windows 8 app developed, if you a regular news reader. Since its arrival, it has been considered as the ‘Best News Reader App’ in the store and recommended by top technology news and review websites. There are six categories available – News, Business, Tech, Photo & Design, Entertainment, and Sports. It offers smooth and fluid user interface with seamless roam feed tiles and integrated Google Reader.

It has a beautiful magazine view but you also outlook in portrait mode and snapping as well. News Bento is optimized for touch, mouse, and keyboard input devices. The browsing interface is top-quality with article pictures with light and dark themes available. News Bento app is free to download from Windows 8 app store.

Skype


No introduction is necessary for this app. Skype has always been an excellent application for communicating and connecting with hundreds of people together via video/audio conferencing and IM. Skype is one of the rare apps which supports almost every modern device such as Tablet, iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, PC, Mac, etc. which helps you to stay connected with your family, friends and colleagues.

The video and voice calls are free from Skype-to-Skype contacts. You could share files of any size over Skype without any trouble. You can also share photos, videos easily with the simple UI.

Wikipedia


Windows 8 compatible Wikipedia comes with a complete new look with full of valuable resources and featured topics with beautiful pictures. The internet encyclopedia of useful information contains more than 20 million articles in 280+ languages. It is widely compiled for humans to read easily without any complications. It is open-source and developers who are good at JavaScript/HTML5 can freely develop and share code with friends, co-workers, and others in https://github.com/wikimedia/WikipediaMobile portal.

People who have little knowledge in Photoshop end up making creative image make-ups in their imaginative area. They apply specific filters to create such effects and the photos are then uploaded to web to impress others. It is difficult to find image editing tools like Photoshop, which are effective in applying visual effects and faster in performing. FotoSketcher is one of these types which convert your photos into drawings, paintings, and cartoons.


FotoSketcher is a simple image editing tool that offers wide-range of options, and filters with a user-friendly interface and controls. The Split Screen will instantly show you the edited and the original photo so that it is easy to modify. The latest version 2.42 is free to download that has fixed bug concerning frames.

The interface of FotoSketcher is impressive which allows users to preview their original photos and the developed version. The toolbar is well-rendered with complete features like zoom, drawing parameters, adding text, image drag-n-drop, changing the texture, etc. You can load, save or reset drawing parameters and adjust the color & edge intensity, drawing style, contrast level, etc. of the image. The Batch processing is another feature using which you could apply the same effect on multiple images simultaneously.

Key Features:

• A perfect image editing tool for beginners who wants to create imaginative art from photos with no artistic skill needed.
• Includes more than 20 effects to apply.
• Enhance your original photos effortlessly with simple tools such as color saturation, augment contrast, sharpen, increase luminosity, and many more.
• Add simple or pragmatic frames and text.
• Offers 20 different styles from pencil sketches to watercolor or oil paintings, pen & ink drawings and cartoons.
• Works with three popular image formats – JPG, BMP and PNG.
• Image Preview lets you to watch the modifications instantaneously.
• Absolutely free to download and easy to use.
• Available in 18 languages.
• Runs on Windows 8, 7, XP and Vista operating systems.

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Here comes a dedicated system cleaning and optimizing tool for Windows 7 developed by ‘Yamicsoft’. With Windows 7 Manager, you can completely optimize, repair, tweak and clean up Windows 7 easily than before. It will boost your system speed, removes redundant data, enhances security and fix network issues. It comes as a 15-day trial shareware tool and after that you need to purchase it for $29.95. You can download the latest version 4.2.6 from its official website.

Accomplishing most of the day-to-day tasks successfully in an operating system like Windows 7 is quite difficult. You require an optimization tool like ‘Windows 7 Manager’ to achieve everyday tasks very easily and safely. More than 30 unique utilities are provided in Windows 7 Manager to make your system stable and work better.

Note: Windows 7 Manager may be the best maintenance tool for experienced users, but when it comes to regular and naïve users, the task is tricky. It is difficult for inexperienced to access the tools and sometimes they a wrong fix or tweak could lead to serious problems. But if used well, Windows 7 Manager is the much recommended optimization tool Windows 7.


Key Features:

• Get Detailed Information – Windows 7 Manager helps you to acquire complete system and hardware information such as running processes, threads, etc. You can even obtain the installation key of Windows and Office products. The 1-click Cleaner cleans your computer automatically and the Repair Center will fix most of the system problems.
• Tweak and Optimize – Increase the windows boot time and performance, repair malicious startup items, tune up, optimize system services, schedule tasks, and disable unnecessary services and tasks.
• Clean up PC – It provides the list of files/folders that consume more disk space, you can remove them easily. The Smart Uninstaller can completely delete installed programs including registry entries; the Duplicate Files Finder scans your computer for files with the same name, size and modification time; Desktop Cleaner cleans up unnecessary icons and files on the desktop.
• Registry Defrag – Improves the application responsiveness by re-indexing the registry to lessen the registry authorization time.
• Registry Cleaner – Examines and repairs improperly linked registry entries.
• Customize your System – Set the preferences of your System Explorer, Desktop, Start Menu, Taskbar and notification area to tweak them. Using Jump List launcher, you can create the quick startup items on taskbar.
• Visual Customizer – Customize the logon background and change the system and file type icons easily.
• Improves System Security – Tweak system components, UAC (User Account Control) settings, Restrict access to customize drives and programs, Encrypt/Decrypt files and folders, Restore deleted files when disk is formatted.
• Privacy Protector – You can maintain your personal identity by removing the traces while browsing or running applications. You can hide, add or delete the Control Panel entries.
• Optimize your internet connection speed.
• IP Switcher – It can switch your IP address with no trouble on different networks.
• And other miscellaneous tools.

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PerformanceTest 8.0 is one of the system diagnostic tools, which allows you to test computer performance against other users PCs and statistics. In that way, you can analyze your computer’s strong and weak points and tweak them easily. PerformanceTest is developed by ‘Passmark Software’ which puts your system through thrity-two unique tests that covers all phases of computing performance.


The new version 8.0 has included baseline ID search to advanced search options and fixed few bugs. It comes with huge built-in baselines for machine comparison. You can evaluate the PerformanceTest 8.0 product for 30 days and then go for purchasing. It is supported by Windows 8, 7, 2008, Vista, XP SP3 and 2003 Server operating systems. The android version is also available which can be downloaded via Google Play.

The main objective of Passmark PerformanceTest is to offer different speed tests and judge against the other computers results. Once you purchase the product, you could freely shift the software between as many machines as required and most importantly there is no online activation, expiry or annual fee.


Key Features:

• Tests your PC for best performance.
• Compare the results with other machines.
• Calculate the consequence of configuration changes and upgrades.
• Create your own benchmark scenarios using the advanced tests.
• Five test suites are available that includes 32 standard benchmark tests.
• Seven advanced testing windows for custom benchmarking i.e. which are configurable such as Advanced Disk, CD/DVD, 3D graphics, Networking, Memory, Visualized Physics and DirectCompute.
• Comprehensive Online Help.
• To store your own information alongside the saved benchmark result, you can have a customizable “Notes” field.
• The resultant system information includes CPU type, speed, Total RAM, Video Hardware, Cluster size, etc.
• You can export outcome to Text, HTML, GIF, and BMP formats easily.
• Each test suite has a summary ‘Mark’ figure along with the calculation of the Passmark Rating.
• The standard test results of PerformanceTest 8.0 contains CPU Tests with encryption, 2D graphics tests such as bitmaps, GUI elements, etc., 3D graphics tests such as complex DirectX 3D graphics & animations, Disk Tests, and Memory Tests.

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B1 Free Archiver is an excellent and simple free file archiver which works faster on all platforms and supports most popular file formats. It is used for creating and extracting archives easily than stop file compression softwares such as Winrar, WinZip, 7-Zip, etc. Of course they have their own unique features and compression techniques but B1 Free Archiver is one of the rare unzipping software that has spectacular reviews from CNET, Softpedia, Topshareware, and other top software review websites.
The latest version B1 Free Archiver v1.0.37 has got many improved and new features such as creating a password encrypted archive, Repair Mode for broken archives, improved stability, set default open action, and so forth.

Upon launching after installation, a well-organized layout interface appears which is different from other file compression tools where you can discover the explorer-based folder structure to utilize all its functions. You can change the language options as well. The interface has mainly three important buttons – Create, Open, and Extract for imperative operations.


How to Use?

1. If you wish to Create a new archive using B1 Free Archiver, simply set the target directory and format (B1 or ZIP). A B1 archive format includes high speed and compression ratio compared to others. 

2. Add a password to protect it, if any.

3. You can split the desired archive into multiple pieces of fixed size, using ‘Split Archive’ option.

4. Select the ‘Compression Mode’ to Ultra or Store and select the ‘Start!’ button. You’re done.

5. In the ‘Settings’ section, you can customize the languages, Default Open Action, File Associations, and other miscellaneous settings. For experienced users, it provides an ‘Expert’ option for launching terminal, external viewer, and external editor applications using specific commands.

• Supports several formats such as B1, ZIP, RAR, 7Z, ZIPX, CAB and JAR.
• Safe and Secure Compression or Extraction with zero risk of external exposure and never collects personal information from you.
• Simple to use and Quick to operate even with large archives without any guides or manuals.
• Password protection with 256 bit AES encryption algorithm to protect your data so that no one will be able to explore the original files/documents.
• Best Compression Ratio and Speed with B1 archive format.
• Includes Classic LZMA compression algorithm.
• Create a Separate Archive for each folder.
• Test the reliability of an archive.
• Repair broken or corrupted archives easily.
• Open files in an External Viewer or Editor.
• Open source software, as a result anyone can use its code especially programmers.
• Tools and Libraries with b1 archives for Developers community.
• User-friendly Interface.
• Available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS platforms.
• 100% Free File Archive Manager.

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