I Love Free Software

Free Task Timer to Record Duration of a Task: Light Tasks
Scan Hard Disk for Lost Space: MeinPlatz
Calculate and Compare Running Costs of Electrical Appliances: EncalcE
Find Missing Hardware Drivers with Driver Pack Solution
How To Control Windows Media Player, iTunes With Android
Find Empty Folders And Delete Empty Folders: Fast Empty Folder Finder
Free Drawing Tool to Create Pixel Images: Pixel Art
5 Chrome Extensions To Zoom Facebook, Picasa, Google Plus Images
Voice Controlled Web Browser: Voice Browser
Free File Encryption Tool to Encrypt and Decrypt Files: Ghost Puzzle

Free Task Timer to Record Duration of a Task: Light Tasks

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 06:30 PM PDT

Light Tasks is a very simple yet handy, free task timer for your system which acts as a timer to record the duration of a particular task which you might be carrying on. You may use to set predefined activities or things which you need to take a note of. For all those people who are working on their systems throughout the day it would surely help them record particular tasks and events which they wish to be performed at a particular day and time.

Installing this free task timer

For installing the free task timer, you need to visit the site here and click on the download button. Once you do so the download starts and the zipped file gets downloaded on your computer. You need to unzip the file and launch the task timing utility by clicking on the .exe file from the unzipped folder. People interested to try some more task timing apps can check out WatchMe, TimeSheet freeware and Work time logger.

Using this free task timer

Once Light Tasks is launched on your system you would see a new window on the screen. The screen looks blank with a big tab at the bottom with ''Add new Task'' written on it. This is the tab which would help you to add the tasks and events which you wish to be kept as reminders. You may add as many tasks you wish to add in the program window. For adding a new task click on the ''Add new Task'' option after which a white screen would appear at the top where you need to type in the name of the task you wish to be saved. Once you do so just press the enter key and that particular task would get recorded in the program window. You need to repeat the same steps again for adding a new task which you might be performing sometime or later.

The moment a task gets saved in the program window a big red button with the task name on it appears. In order to activate the task record process just click on the process and it would turn green with the timer being started. So you can carry out the process while the timer records the duration it takes. You may start multiple tasks at once and the recording would be done at the same time.

There are a few options which you can modify or add a few changes to the functionalities of this program and the record process. In order to access that you need to right click on a particular task and select the option you are looking for. The options presented to you once you click on right click are:

Move Up
Move Down
Rename
Set Time
Reset
Delete

So, with the options above you may change the order of the particular process listed in the program window, set a particular time which you wish to insert in the record process, rename the particular task, and much more. In order to delete a particular task you just need to click on the delete option and it would be deleted.

So for carrying out tasks with perfection and increasing the efficiency of your operations you need to keep a track of the activities you perform. Keeping a track of the manner and time each activity takes you could easily plan out you listed activities from before. Download Light Tasks free.

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Free Task Timer to Record Duration of a Task: Light Tasks was originally published at I Love Free Software

Scan Hard Disk for Lost Space: MeinPlatz

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 05:00 PM PDT

MeinPlatz is a simple yet powerful, free file management application which scans your hard disk for lost disk space. You can think of this software as a great, free lost space finder.

Considerable amount of hard disk space cannot be used to save files. Using MeinPlatz, you can scan the hard disk and locate lost disk space. Also you can use the scan results data to manage the space effectively. Once you are done locating the lost space, you can use Disk Space Monitor to monitor your disk space or use Acronis Drive Monitor, and HDD Health to keep an eye on health of your hard drive.

Features of this scan hard disk tool

Scanning: With a single click MeinPlatz can scan the selected hard disk partition for lost space. You can include or exclude files using their extensions like *.jpg, *.bmp, *.mp3 etc.,
Scan Results: Meinplatz at the end of the scan draws up a result list which includes size, percentage of its size, number of files and folders, path or directory and last modified date and time. You can remove the one which you don't want at any time.
Grouping: The scan results can be grouped and shown according to the comfort of the user. They can be grouped as per path, size, modified time and file extension.
Export: The scan results can be exported to a .txt, .csv, .xls, .html or .doc file so that you can maintain and store the results.
Print: The scan results can be printed directly from the interface with just a single click. Also at your disposal are print preview option and changing aspect ratios option.
Magnifier: MeinPlatz also has a built in magnifier just like the one available in windows so that you clearly distinguish in the small fonts.

Why MeinPlatz?

MeinPlatz is a easy to use application which scans your hard disk at very fast rates. This saves your valuable time.
You can search for lost disk space conveniently just by comparing MeinPlatz results and the space shown by windows.
It is a handy tool which doesn't consume the system resources too much.

MeinPlatz boasts a simple user friendly interface. The application is easy to understand and use. A separate help is seldom required. The application installs smoothly and works efficiently without posing any problems when tested. All in all, MeinPlatz is the ultimate solution if you are on the look out for a simple yet powerful piece of software to scan your hard disk!

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Scan Hard Disk for Lost Space: MeinPlatz was originally published at I Love Free Software

Calculate and Compare Running Costs of Electrical Appliances: EncalcE

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 03:30 PM PDT

EnCalce is a free utility which is designed to manage and monitor electricity bills that allows you to calculate the cost of using electrical appliances and most importantly comparing 2 electrical appliances under similar conditions. This utility tool might be quite useful as it might help you in cutting down your electricity. Whatever results you get can be saved in a log file and analyzed later if required. EnCalce is an innovative tool in today's times and the fact that it is available for free serves as an add-on.

Installation and How to Manage Electricity Bills with EnCalcE:

You can download EnCalce from the website.
Once the download is complete, you need to unzip the installer and click on it to install.
The installation is simple and all you need to do is follow the instructions while it takes a couple of minutes to complete.
In order to run the program, you need to obtain the registration code. For this, you need to click on Register link on the website.
The registration code is mailed to you on the specified e-mail address. Next, you need to open the application and enter the registration code to run it.

Interface

The interface of EnCalce is far from impressive as it is quite simple and straightforward. You need to simply fill the information and accordingly you can calculate as per your requirement. You can compute the cost on the basis of hours used daily or compare two appliances. Hence the interface is really simple if you have the complete details since you simply need to enter the required information and the rest of the task becomes simpler.

Check out free online unit converters.

Key Features:

Compute the cost of electrical appliances and monitor electricity bills.

Comparing two electrical appliances under similar conditions.
Calculation of CO2 generated.
Recording the results in a log file for future analysis.

Calculations can be done anytime and also may take into consideration the present rate of inflation and payback period.

You can also check out free software to reduce power consumption of PC.

Requirements

EnCalce has been designed for the windows platform and is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Vista64/7/7×64. It has very minimal requirements and all it requires is a 1GHz CPU and 512MB RAM.

Check out how much Carbon you produce.

Verdict

EnCalce is a great free utility tool for managing electricity bills which can help you perform complex computations taking different factors into consideration. The application is simple to use and user-friendly. If you are a person who believes in energy conservation, then this software is the right one for you. Though this application is available for free, yet it brings you sufficient features that can be tried and used. Hence this free software won't let you down as far as it is restricted to personal non-commercial use. The functions are simple and if you are well aware of the electrical terminologies, you won't face any issue while using this software. It is also advised to use the latest version as some minor changes have been done to the software. These changes pertain to the format and also the improvements which have been brought in the new release. So you can certainly go for this amazing free software utility!

Download EnCalcE here.

Calculate and Compare Running Costs of Electrical Appliances: EncalcE was originally published at I Love Free Software

Find Missing Hardware Drivers with Driver Pack Solution

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 02:00 PM PDT

Driver Pack Solution is the dream come true for every computer techy who’s involved with computer assembling or repair, because Driver Pack Solution will scan the computer, search for any hardware drivers that might be missing in the Device Manager and of course install those that are missing, it will also update the ones that require updating.

Driver Pack Solution comes in two different versions, Lite and Full. What you see above is the Lite version which next to being a driver scanner, also offers several other tools and utilities which are very useful when it comes to computer diagnostics. The main difference between the Lite version of Driver Pack Solution and the Full version would be in the fact that Lite version doesn’t have the entire driver database with it, which is, believe it or not 3GB in size.

Similar software: DriverZone.

Scan for missing hardware drivers with Driver Pack Solution

Hardware Drivers are one of the hardest things to setup once that you have installed the Windows system. Truth be told, in a lot of situations you will receive a driver CD or in newer times maybe even a DVD which you can then use to install drivers necessary for proper functioning of the system. Sometimes, and this happens with laptops more frequently, you get squat, the manufacturers do not ship proper drivers, they expect us to find them on our own.

Here’s an example of how not having drivers installed looks like. Drivers for laptops can be found online, on the manufacturers website, but for every device there’s several different drivers to choose from, because manufacturer used several network cards, for example, in their computer, and you will have to guess which card your laptop is using.

With Driver Pack Solution you can scan computer or laptop devices and of course check whether or not there are drivers installed for them. Image above shows you the Drivers tab, where you will be notified about all the drivers that are currently missing from your computer. You’re also notified that in order to update the drivers, you’re gonna have to download the entire download database, the entire previously mentioned 3GB download.

Once that you download the full database of drivers, you’ll be able to see what you see on the image above, missing drivers and drivers which can be updated will be displayed and you can easily mark them all, go to the left sidebar and select install. Driver Pack Solution will then take care of everything and install missing hardware drivers for you automatically.

Conclusion

If you are in the position to download the entire 3GB driver database which Driver Pack Solution offers then you can save a lot of time and effort when installing drivers. Drawback of the program would be the fact that such a large download is necessary, which not everyone will be able to go through with. Go to a friend’s computer to download Driver Pack Solution Full, and you can then simply bring them to your computer, install hardware drivers in a few clicks, all that completely free.

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Find Missing Hardware Drivers with Driver Pack Solution was originally published at I Love Free Software

How To Control Windows Media Player, iTunes With Android

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 12:30 PM PDT

Here is a quick tutorial to control iTunes and Windows Media Player with Android phone. For Apple fans, iTunes is the option to use as their default music player on computer. For normal users, windows media player is commonly used player on computer. Now users with Android phone can control iTunes or Windows media player installed on their computer with just their Android phone. Android users can use their Android phone as remote control for iTunes and Windows media player.

To use your Android phone as remote control, we will use the tool named "iRemote iTunes & WMP". You have to download and install "iRemote iTunes & WMP" on your computer as well as on your Android phone. The application for Android is available in Google Play Store, and is completely free.

Controlling Windows media player and iTunes via Android makes it easy and convenient to work and listen to music. So follow the below steps and control iTunes and Windows media player via Android phone.

Steps To Use Android Phone as Remote Control for WMP and iTunes:

Step 1: Download and install "iRemote iTunes & WMP" on your PC.

Step 2: Download and install "iRemote iTunes & WMP" on your Android phone.

Step 3: Connect both your PC and Android phone on same Wi-Fi network.

Step 4: Launch iRemote iTunes & WMP on your PC as well as on your Android.

Step 5: Now, go to the settings menu of iRemote iTunes & WMP Android app and select "iTunes or WMP" which ever media player is installed on your PC. If both media players are installed, then enable the music player in the settings menu of Android app which you want to control.

iRemote iTunes & WMP

Step 6: Tap on "Connect Wi-Fi" option on your Android.

Step 7: Your Android phone will scan for the server and will be connected with your PC on Wi-Fi network.

iRemote iTunes & WMP Device Scan

Step 8: iRemote iTunes & WMP app on your Android phone will import all the music from your PC.

Step 9: You can then control play/pause, next/previous, and volume up/down of iTunes or Windows media player via Android phone.

iRemote iTunes & WMP app also allows you to establish a wireless connection through Bluetooth. You can get connected and control iTunes and Windows media player on Bluetooth network. iRemote iTunes & WMP works great on PC as well as on Android phone.

You can check a short tutorial on how to remotely control PC from Android phone. Also, take a look on how to use Android phone as a mouse and remote.

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How To Control Windows Media Player, iTunes With Android was originally published at I Love Free Software

Find Empty Folders And Delete Empty Folders: Fast Empty Folder Finder

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Fast empty Folder Finder is a free software to find empty folders and delete empty folders. This easy to use folder finder does not require any kind of installation, as you simply need to download it and run the exe file to launch it.

This zero byte folder deletion software comes with a plain interface with options like List, Options, Help and About in the tool bar and includes an option of Scan Locations on the main window. You can even easily exclude a folder from the scan even if it is empty. In order to exclude a folder, you need to simply click the Options and select Exclusions and choose a folder which you want to exclude from the scan.

For using this software to find empty folders, you need to launch this software and click the Scan Locations option on the main interface. Now within the Scan Locations window, you need to click the Browse button in order to choose a folder. You can choose multiple scan locations one after the another. After selecting the scan locations, you need to simply hit the OK button below. You will be directed back to the main interface in which you need click the Scan Now button and wait for few seconds for the scan to complete. This will display a list of all empty folders within a scan location that you selected. Now, you need to select the empty folder which you want to delete, click the delete checked drop down menu and select permanently delete(fast). That's it, you have deleted empty folders on your computer.

When you right click an empty folder that appears in the result, it gives you options like Add to scan locations, open in explorer, exclude, exclude edited and remove (from results). With the help of Exclude option you can exclude any empty folder from the results. Try this empty folder finder for free.

Don't forget to check out Empty Folder Remover reviewed by us.

Some Key Features Of This Software To Find Empty Folders:

Open an empty folder in the explorer.
Exclude an Empty folder from the result.
Choose either to permanently delete or send empty folders to recycle bin.
Export the empty folder list as CVS or FEFF.
Lightweight software with a file size of 42.13 KB.
Plain user-interface.

Also, check out Remove Empty Directories reviewed by us.

Fast Empty Folder Finder is a straight-forward and small in size software that let's you easily find empty folders on your system. Try Fast Empty Folder Finder For Free.

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Find Empty Folders And Delete Empty Folders: Fast Empty Folder Finder was originally published at I Love Free Software

Free Drawing Tool to Create Pixel Images: Pixel Art

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 09:30 AM PDT

Pixel Art is a simple, free drawing tool using which you can create pixel images in a simple way. It is absolutely free to download and use.

Every single image and picture in your computer is stored in the form of pixels. Customarily you can edit these pixels so that you can ultimately modify the image or picture as you wish. Have you ever thought of defining and creating pixels so that you can draw in a different way? If you have, Pixel Art can help you do that. People interested to try some more pixel drawing can try Piq, FlowPaint (for tablets) and Online Favicon Generator.

Two Modes

Pixel Art is an intuitive application which is available in two different modes or frames.

400 square window (20 x 20)
900 square window (30 x 30)

What you can do with this drawing tool Pixel Art?

Create pixel images easily: First choose any of the two frames available depending on your drawing size. This is your board on which you are about to draw images you wish to. You can easily switch between the two frames with a single click. The frame is in the form of a grid which you can hide if you want.
Use a wide variety of colours: You can use a wide variety of colors for your drawing. You can choose from the list of predefined colours or you can choose a custom colour. After choosing you can start drawing!
Save your drawing: After you have completed your image you can save it. Using Pixel Art you can save your drawing as a BMP, PNG, GIF or JPG file.

Pixel Art is a extremely easy to use, simple and convenient application. It boasts a simple user interface which lacks any menus or commands which makes drawing amazingly simple and easy. You can choose between various skins so that you get a pleasant look of Pixel Art! The application when tested functioned well without crashes and bugs. All in all, if you are on the look out of a simple piece of drawing tool then you should give Pixel Art a try!

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Free Drawing Tool to Create Pixel Images: Pixel Art was originally published at I Love Free Software

5 Chrome Extensions To Zoom Facebook, Picasa, Google Plus Images

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Here, are 5 free Chrome extensions to zoom images on Chrome browser. Zooming images makes it easy for you to view then clearly with better resolution. Chrome Web Store has multiple image zooming extensions to zoom images on webpage on Chrome browser.

In this article, we will discuss about Hover Zoom extension, FB Zoom; to zoom images on Facebook, +Photos Zoom extension; specially designed to zoom Google+ images, and more.

Hover Zoom:

Hover Zoom is a free Chrome extension to zoom images on different websites accessed on Google Chrome browser. The extension is simple and easy to use on Google Chrome browser. You just have to hover the mouse cursor over the image and the extension will automatically zoom the image in such a way that it looks as if you have switched the image to its full size. After installing the extension, you will not get any extension icon in the extension bar of the Google Chrome browser.

Websites include 4chan, Baidu, deviantART, eBay, Facebook, Amazon, Flickr, Google (Google Images, Google+), Picasa Web, Imgur, Albums, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, VKontakte (ВКонтакте), YouTube, Wikipedia, Windows Live Photos, Reddit, WordPress, Yahoo, MySpace.

FB Photo Zoom:

FB Zoom

FB Photo Zoom is a free Chrome extension for Facebook to zoom images when Facebook is accessed on Google Chrome browser. This extension is one of the most popular extension for Facebook to zoom images on Google Chrome browser. The extension works same as the above extension. You just have to hover the mouse cursor on the image in your photo album or any other image on your Facebook. The extension automatically identifies the image and zooms it to the size set in the extension. You can easily set the size of zoom in the options menu of the extension from Settings→Tools→Extensions→FB Photo Zoom→Options.

FB Photo Zoom extension works same as Hover Over Chrome extension as discussed above. I have mentioned about this extension because the extension is very popular in Chrome web store and is specially to zoom only Facebook images on Chrome browser. However, personally I would prefer Hover Over Chrome extension as it zooms images over lot more websites.

+Photo Zoom:

+Photo Zoom is a free Chrome extension to zoom the images on Google+ automatically. You just have to hover over the mouse icon on any image on your Google+ account and the extension will automatically zoom the images on Chrome browser.

The extension allows you to select a hotkey. Only on pressing the hotkey selected, the extension will zoom the image on Google+ by hovering the mouse cursor over the image. You can select to zoom profile icons, pictures from Picasa, and external pictures from the options menu of the extension.

ImageZoom:

Image Zoom

ImageZoom is a free Chrome extension to zoom images on any webpage on Chrome browser. This Chrome extension to zoom images is a bit different extension which zoom images with the help of the middle button of your PC mouse. To zoom an image, take the mouse cursor on the image. After that, press the middle button of the mouse. Now move the mouse left or right to resize the image. Moving the mouse to the left shrinks the image or you can say "zooms out" the image. Moving the mouse to the Right enlarges the image or say "zoom in" the image. To keep the custom image size, release the middle button of the mouse and you are done.

The extension won't work on laptop without the middle mouse button.

ImageZoomer:

ImageZoomer

ImageZoomer is a free Chrome extension to zoom images on any webpage on Chrome browser. To zoom any image on a webpage, you need to press and hold the right key of your mouse and then scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and zoom out the images on the webpage. To zoom in the image, scroll the mouse to up; and to zoom out the image, scroll the mouse wheel to down.

If you have an Android phone with you, then check out tutorial to zoom webpages and other files on Android.

5 Chrome Extensions To Zoom Facebook, Picasa, Google Plus Images was originally published at I Love Free Software

Voice Controlled Web Browser: Voice Browser

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 06:30 AM PDT

Voice Browser is an Internet Explorer front-end with the addition of a voice recognition module which you can use in order to control the basic browser activities like bookmarks access and navigation. This voice command browser is written in .NET, and you’ll need to have both .NET and Internet Explorer installed on your computer in order to use Voice Browser.

This is the default window that waits for you after launching Voice Browser. Notice that this application is ad supported, ads are present in the top left corner, but they are not very invasive and your browsing experience shouldn’t suffer because of it. Browser isn’t rich with features, as you can see it’s pretty basic, but great thing about it would be the fact that each one of the options that you see above can be voice activated and used.

Similar software: Speechfy, FireSay, Dspeech.

Browse the web with voice commands

Two parts of the Voice Browser can be controlled via voice commands, the bookmarks and basic navigational options like forward, back, refresh, stop and so on. Before you can start using these, you’re gonna have to configure the commands, assign them with the activator words, which are words that once you speak them into the microphone will perform a specific command, the one that has been “attached” to that word. All of this is done in Settings, which can be accessed by clicking on the headphone icon, it can be seen on the image above.

Once that you open up the Settings window, you’ll see everything which can be controlled with the help of Voice Browser. Full list of browser features which can be voice activated is as follows:

Bookmarks – you can save and voice activate up to 9 bookmarks
New Window – opens a new window where you can browse
Refresh – for Facebook, to see updates
Navigation – go back, forward, stop

It might not seem like much, but it’s more than enough for basic browsing. Start off by creating a list of 9 of your favorite websites. Make sure to place a search engine as one of your bookmarks, so that you can easily open up other websites, which didn’t fit in the 9 reserved spots.

Two things need to be entered in order for the Bookmarks to become active, a Speech Command, and the URL which this particular speech command will recognize.

Same thing goes for the rest of the options which can be configured, decide which word you want to use for each of these commands:

and then change them, or just leave them the way they are but in either case make sure to remember the words which are written here, because they will be the ones that you will use later on when controlling applications.

Conclusion

After you’re done setting everything up you can start browsing, simply say the activate command for a bookmark into your microphone and that page will open up. Voice Browser is a great free tool for all those who are having problems with accessibility, they can use their voice to control the browser. Download it free.

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Voice Controlled Web Browser: Voice Browser was originally published at I Love Free Software

Free File Encryption Tool to Encrypt and Decrypt Files: Ghost Puzzle

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 05:00 AM PDT

Ghost Puzzle is very efficient, free file encryption software which has been designed for encrypting and decrypting files in order to ensure they are safe enough from unauthorized access. The program is quite simple in terms of its functions whereby the user friendly interface makes the process much simpler and easier. The program is based on C# language and can be used on all Windows OS starting from Vista to Windows 8. Ghost Puzzle comes with a drag and drop option which means you need not make efforts to locate a file and then locate the other file on which you wish to encrypt. You can use this software for encrypting files or decrypting files to secure important files easily.

Installing this file encryption software

In order to install Ghost Puzzle on your system you need to follow the traditional download method which you had been so used to for other software that you might have downloaded. The first step is to download the installation file from the Developer's website. Once you download the setup file the next step is to run the installer by launching the .exe file. It opens up a step by step process which guides you to install the program on your system. So after you are done installing the program, just click on the shortcut on your desktop and launch the program to start using. If you are not satisfied with this software, you can also try Conceal, Sophos Free Encryption and SafeHouse Explorer.

Using this file encryption software

After you launch the program you would see a white new window appear on your screen. The display and interface looks quite intuitive and simple to understand. So to start the process of encrypting a file you can first visit the location where you have saved it and then drag it to the main screen of the software. You may drag multiple files in the space of the main window for which you wish to keep the same passwords. Enter the passwords twice in the space provided below and press the Start Encryption button. Once you press that a new window with the process bar appears on the screen and takes a few seconds to encrypt your file. When you see the icon of tick which represents done, click on it and the encryption process would be completed.

In order to decrypt an already encrypted file you need to click on Decrypt right at the top of the main screen beside the Encrypt option. Once you do so you just need to drag the encrypted file in the white space and enter the password you had set while encrypting. You may check the option of deleting the encrypted file in case you want it to be deleted. Now press the Start Decryption tab at the bottom and the decryption process would be initiated. Same as above the new window appears and decrypts the file saving the place you are encrypting.

You may even encrypt/decrypt a folder by choosing dragging an entire folder or selecting the folder icon on the right side of your software window. If you wish to delete a file appearing in the main window you need to click on it and select the recycle bin option at the right side of the main screen.

You may even change out preferences or settings for using this software which could be accessed directly from clicking the preferences tab at the top of the screen beside the close option. This would give you several options of using the software such as starting the application automatically once the window starts. You also have the option of installing or repairing the application entries which means the registry options would get refreshed. A few more options are available in the preferences window which you could play around.

Now that you know all about Ghost Puzzle, you can use this software to encrypt and decrypt files easily.

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Free File Encryption Tool to Encrypt and Decrypt Files: Ghost Puzzle was originally published at I Love Free Software

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