Cheap and Free Tools to Put Zip Back in Your PC

This program promises to speed up your DSL or cable modem connection through what it calls "traffic shaping"--the prioritizing of certain data packets. You won't have to know anything about data packets or TCP/IP to use this utility, because it learns as you use the Internet, silently determining the best way to "shape" your traffic to boost performance. It then makes adjustments accordingly, and as a result you should see faster page loads and download times.

Note that the program can't improve your actual total bandwidth (that's something only your ISP can do); instead, it makes the most efficient use of your bandwidth so that you get an effective speed boost. The program also has some nice extras, such as a real-time bandwidth monitor.

Dedicated fans of file and media downloads face one frustration above all: slow download speeds. Though you can't increase your total bandwidth without�switching to a faster ISP,�you can download files more quickly by using the BitTorrent protocol, which is far�faster than traditional methods. When you use the BitTorrent protocol, you retrieve pieces of a file simultaneously from multiple locations, significantly speeding up downloads.

There's one problem with the BitTorrent client, though: It's not a particularly good piece of software. The solution is to use uTorrent, a superior client. You can easily search for files from directly within the program, track and manage your downloads, and create your own files to distribute via the BitTorrent protocol. Among other good features in the program are a configurable bandwidth scheduler and global and per-torrent speed limiting.

Application Boosters

Sometimes only an application needs speeding up. The next two downloads will help with Microsoft Excel and with Adobe Acrobat Reader, respectively.

Excel jockeys know that building and using spreadsheets can be a long, tough slog at times. If you're looking to cut down on the time�needed to perform repetitive (and not-so-repetitive) tasks, give Worksheet Booster a try. It�provides nearly two dozen new commands that speed up various tasks, such as creating a new worksheet from existing data. Instead of taking several steps to complete an action yourself, just choose a command from�Worksheet Booster's drop-down list, and it does the rest. It works with Excel 2000, Excel XP, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.

Few programs on the planet are more annoying than the Adobe Acrobat Reader. It's slow, it's buggy, and it seems to drag down entire systems whenever it's loaded. This freebie eliminates most of the program's annoyances, disabling the splash screen, killing the piped-in ads in the upper-right corner of the toolbar, turning off the invisible updates feature that sucks up RAM and system resources, and preventing plug-ins from loading, among other things.

Using the program is as simple as can be: Just click the Optimize button, and it does its work. To bring back your original settings, click Restore. You can also customize exactly which features it optimizes. The program works with versions 3 through 7 of Adobe Acrobat Reader.