Software Reviews by VideoJockey

The reviews and opinions below are posted by SnapFiles visitors. They do not necessarily reflect our opinion, and they are solely based upon the experience of individual users.
Home Key Logger screenshot

Home Key Logger Home Key Logger

Family version didn't hide ... you must pay. 3 stars
I tried the family version as suggested at the author's web site. It was a major disappointement because the free version won't hide the system tray icon at boot up. You can put put it in stealth mode during your current session but that doesn't permanently hide the system tray icon. So, it's only good if someone uses your computer before you reboot or shut down. As soon as the computer reboots or restarts, the icon appears along with a gigantic balloon notice telling you about itself. What good is that? The freeware version is only useful, I guess, if you want to log your own keystrokes. What good would that be? I don't know. One other problem, you can easily find the program running in task manager even when the program is in stealth mode though most people wouldn't know what to look for, I guess. Price: Free
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Image for Windows screenshot

Image for Windows Image for Windows

Image validation that is reliable! 4 stars
Comes with a Linux and a DOS version also. I like the Linux version on a bootable CD that it creates for you. It images everything (Windows, Linux, DOS, Data) so don't let the word Linux scare you away. You can image the drive while it's not being used for anything else. It doesn't "fake" validation of an image that might be corrupt. During imaging, it will check byte-for-byte to let you know if something is wrong so you can fix it and that's the feature that has sold me. The DOS version won't work with a USB keyboard if you use a USB hard disk or USB optical disc in the process. The Linux version does not have this limitation. When operating from the bootable CD, the interface is graphically crude and there's no mouse functionality but that diverts power to the process so that it is fast and reliable. All you need can be done from the keyboard alone. All imaging software packages require intimate computer knowledge. Price: Free Trial ($49.98)
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Acronis True Image screenshot

Acronis True Image Acronis True Image

Corrupt backups are validated as okay. 2 stars
This program will do a "validation" when you make an image but the validation is useless. It's a weak checksum or hash of some sort. I have tried it many times and I give up. Sometimes it restores properly but sometimes during restoration the images are deemed corrupt even though they were validated when created. Corrupt images are non-recoverable. We need a byte-for-byte validation to be sure that an image will function when needed. Look for this feature. It's available in at least one imaging program listed here at SnapFiles. PowerQuest DriveImage (PQDI) is what I've been using because it did a true bit-for-bit validation. It's aged, discontinued, and has disc size limitations that will soon impose problems for me. PQDI spoiled me. It not only validated byte-for-byte but it also verified disc writes during imaging and restoration. Symantec killed PQDI. Price: Free Trial ($49.99)
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AceMoney Lite screenshot

AceMoney Lite AceMoney Lite

It's free: expect some flaws as okay 3 stars
Print engine has been flawed for some time. They know this. Hide certain columns from view and try to print in WinXP and it will crash. The version for Win2K doesn't crash. In both XP and 2K, however, if you choose a range of pages to print, AceMoney ignores the choice and prints all. Several months of transactions can be many pages. You must manually halt unwanted page prints in the Windows spooler or your printer software. AceMoney does a good job of exporting to a standard comma delimited file (CSV) for importation into a spreadsheet program. That's what I do: Import AceMoney's exported CSV to Excel and print the range I want. Presently, that is the recommended method from AceMoney's user forum. It does a good job of importing the standards: Microsoft's Open Financial Exchange (OFX) and Quicken's format (QFX) files. All data is saved in a *.mnw file that you can store in an encrypted virtual drive. Price: Free
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PWSMoney Lite screenshot

PWSMoney Lite PWSMoney Lite

Won`t import csv,iif,ofx,qbo,qfx,qif 2 stars
Nice program but it wouldn't accept any of the formats I mentioned. It stalled at the date field and rejected it. I just wanted a program that would print an Open Financial Exchange (OFX) file. I'd buy the full version if it would import and print a report from the OFX file. I like that his program is small and runs from its own directory. There's lots of data in an OFX file that even Microsoft Money and Quicken don't show you--especially for electronic transactions (EFT). I discovered this after trialing several financial software packages. Some programs display this hidden data and some don't. I was hoping PWSMoney would display and print it all. Unfortunately, it never got past the date field. I hear there's an OFX 1.0 and and OFX 2.0. Maybe my bank is 2.0 and PWSMoney expects 1.0? Price: Free
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STOIK Capturer screenshot

STOIK Capturer STOIK Capturer

Drops my capture card requiring re-launch. 2 stars
There's a major problem I can't overcome. STOIK loses connection with the video card if I make any STOIK GUI selection changes prior to capture. Each launch forgets previous settings so I'm forced to re-select all the compression and capture settings at each launch. Making just one selection change can cause STOIK to lose the card most of the time. To avoid a reboot, I've discovered that I can regain access to the video card using VirtualDub to release and reconnect to the card. Then I can launch STOIK again and have access to the card. About every 5th or so launch of STOIK, I can make the needed 6 or 8 GUI selections changes and successfully initiate a capture. That one successful capture, however, often ignores my 640x480 selection and captures erroneously in 352x240. Maybe your experience will differ. It's free. Worth a try. Price: Free
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Visual CD screenshot

Visual CD Visual CD

Can't make it work as intended. 2 stars
I've tried VisualCD for a couple of years. Disc catalogs are called "favorites." Searching actually searches "favorites." Removing an indexed disc from the "favorites" must be done manually by navigating to the directory you choose for the favorites. It takes too much manual effort to utilize VisualCD. I can't make it work. I'm not a genius but I can manage search strings, delimiters, and Boolean logic. VisualCD escapes me. The "favorites" aren't properly updated as I index a new disc. Disc indexing is often incomplete. Searches aren't reliable--it misses too many things. I like the guy based on his web site. I think I'd like him if we met. I just can't make VisualCD work as intended. Version 1 was rather stable. Version 2 crashes unless I shut down some functions through the program's GUI. Price: Free
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