Windows/Mac: Unfortunately the iPhone and iPod touch lack the ability older iPods had to run in Disk Mode. That's where iPhone Explorer steps in, allowing you manually manage files on your device, or just use it as a flash drive, without jailbreaking.iPhone browser is a lightweight application that has an easy drag-and-drop interface that lets you browse the contents on your iPhone. You can manually transfer your photos, music or movies from your device back to your computer, or just add files to the iPhone and fill up the unused space as extra storage. There's even an image preview for transferring photos. The best part about the whole thing, though, is that you don't need to jailbreak to use it. If you do have a jailbroken device, though, iPhone Explorer becomes even more useful—It can access the root of jailbroken phones and browse the files inside, with no need for complicated SSH setups.

Windows only: LookInMyPC generates a complete report of what's going on in a computer—from hardware to software, and everything in between. After playing around with it, this writer wouldn't start troubleshooting a PC without it. I'm not kidding.Whether you're a tech guru who knows your way around your computer better than the company that built it, or a novice just getting acquainted with your system, LookInMyPC is a free app you'll want to download and run at least once, even before you need its diagnostic help. It's like a big verbal X-Ray of your PC, detailing everything from the brand of network adapter you have to the number of user accounts on your system.

Most of us remember Windows System Restore as a lame-duck feature from Windows XP; when it seemed we might benefit from using it, it never quite worked how we expected. That's no longer the case.Windows System Restore is an awesome system recovery tool, and it's included with Windows for free. It's the ideal solution for rolling back bad drivers, fixing when buggy software breaks your PC, or simply rolling you back to a previous point in time. If you've still got a bad taste in your mouth from the lackluster XP version of System Restore, it's time to take a look at it again if you've upgraded to Windows 7 or Vista.

Windows only: Spyware removal tool SUPERAntiSpyware has finally released an official portable version of their application, and, just like the installed version, it easily removes most infections on your PC in a single swipe.Once you've downloaded the application, the first thing you'll probably notice is the weird filename—each time you download it you'll be given a random filename, because most of the worst malware will prevent you from opening or installing any known malware removal tools. You'll be prompted for the language and a start screen, and then you can scan the infected PC immediately—the latest definition updates come with the download.

Windows only: The newest version of the popular Avast Antivirus is finally available for download. It's lighter, faster, and more feature-filled than ever, bringing a new behavior shield, heuristics engine, and code emulator to keep you protected at all times.Apart from its far easier-to-navigate interface, Avast has a few new features that make it hard to turn down. Its new code emulator can emulate a suspicious executable's code, isolated, for use in its new heuristics engine, designed to detect malware that would otherwise be undetectable with normal definitions—in other words, spotting malware by learning what the code does. If you use the pro version, you also get their new sandboxing feature for even further protection.

Windows only: The newest version of the popular Avast Antivirus is finally available for download. It's lighter, faster, and more feature-filled than ever, bringing a new behavior shield, heuristics engine, and code emulator to keep you protected at all times.Apart from its far easier-to-navigate interface, Avast has a few new features that make it hard to turn down. Its new code emulator can emulate a suspicious executable's code, isolated, for use in its new heuristics engine, designed to detect malware that would otherwise be undetectable with normal definitions—in other words, spotting malware by learning what the code does. If you use the pro version, you also get their new sandboxing feature for even further protection.

The shiny new Boxee Beta is out for every platform except Apple TV, the platform we first used to cut out a cable bill. Some intrepid hackers have, however, created an unofficial installation method for that shiny, slim box.Following the guide isn't a beginner's task—you'll need SFTP access to your Apple TV, an SSH-capable terminal to work through, and be comfortable enough with either of them to navigate to your /Users/frontrow directory to do the installation work. That said, the process itself is just a step-by-step process for any Apple TV that was already opened up by a previous Boxee installation, and it doesn't wipe out any media that you've got stored on your box at the moment.

If you sync your Google contacts between multiple devices or pull from multiple email accounts, you've probably got quite a few duplicate entries. Now your Google and Gmail contacts let you kill those dupes en masse with a single button. Hit up your contacts from Gmail, or head to google.com/contacts, and hit the "Find duplicates" button in the lower-right area. You'll be provided with the list of contacts with at least 2 entries each, which you can view in expanded form, and then either merge together or kill off. Not that this is some new-fangled tool or an advanced feature, but I know at least a few Google users' primary annoyances with contacts can be salved, if not cured, with this little button.

Firefox with Windows only: While traveling the internet, sometimes we don't realize how much memory our browser is hogging until it starts acting sluggish, hangs, or crashes altogether. Firefox extension Memory Fox optimizes your memory so you can surf without slowing down. Memory Fox keeps an eye on your browser's memory usage and notices when Firefox starts edging toward user-preset resource limits. When it does, the extension springs into action, automatically flushing your memory to recover space and keep your browser from slowing down.

Google today launched a new, free DNS service—called Google Public DNS—aimed at making your web browsing experience even faster. Here's how it works: For those of you who are unfamiliar with DNS (and it's cool if you are—as long as DNS is working, most people never need to know what's going on), Google offers an explanation: