• Print Queue Manager
  • Stalker
  • Time Is Money
  • MonitorThis

Able2Extract Professional 11

 Investintech PDF Solutions have just launched Able2Extract Professional 11 and even if you tried it before it is time for another look.

In early 2015 I reviewed Able2Extract PDF 9.0 which excelled in it's ability to convert PDFs back to word, excel, powerpoint, publisher, autocad, image formats and open document formats. I still use it regularly to turn the many PDFs I receive into usable documents.

At that time the ability to create PDFs had been launched with some basic editing capabilities that worked but didn't wow, but the PDF OCR engine was amazing and able to convert text and images whether native or scanned with ease.

Now with version 11 Able2Extract has matured into a complete PDF creation, editing and conversion tool that replaces the many individual applications I use for editing, splitting and merging, redacting, resizing and annotating PDFs. Somehow they have done this while keeping it affordable for home or office use.

So what's new?

  • PDF Annotation with great edit and review options
  • Selective redacting of sensitive information
  • The ability to add and update content including
    • images (jpg, bmp, png, gif and tiff)
    • vector shapes
    • text
  • Improved PDF content editor with drawing properties and image manipulation
  • More precise AUTOCAD conversion for complex images
  • Enhanced PDF security options
  • Improved OCR Engine (I didn't think it could get better, but it did)

Read more: Able2Extract Professional 11

Packet for Windows released!

Packet, a JSON web packet sending tool perfect for System Administrators, Web developers, system integrators and IOT afficianados has now been released.

Packet and IFTTT allows you to automate nearly anything including skype conversations, posting to twitter, linked in or facebook or turning on my lights.

Packet provides the flexibility to send JSON packets to any WEB API including Yo and the IFTTT Maker service. The application can be run silently from the command line or as an interactive application and requires no installation on any machine with .Net 3.5 installed.

I am a big user of IFTTT (if this then that) as an online API that allows me to automate the interaction of many services. While testing the new Maker functionality I identified that I had a program built for a different purpose that would be the simplest way to test and use this service in Windows. I also realised how many APIs these days are based on REST functionality and use JSON packets to transmit data. 

So now that I have built it I am giving it away. If you have a little bit of experience with JSON (or can follow the documentation on your preferred REST API) and love to tinker then this is a great little testing or automation tool for windows.

You can get Packet here.

How Packet Works

Packet allows you to send a JSON packet to any web API by specifying a URL and also the JSON content. You can do this from the command line or interactively.

The user interface is self explanatory with fields for the URL and JSON.

You will receive a confirmation of successful requests and your data is saved in the application to speed up data entry when you next open it.

That's it!

You can get Packet here.

So now the only question is what to automate? I think setting the WeMo CoffeeMaker to make me another coffee every 50 emails is probably a good start....

PDFtoExcel - 100% free online conversion

PDFtoExcel.com is a totally unique approach to PDF conversion online:

  • No need to provide email or any other personal information
  • Import PDFs directly from your Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive
  • Really quick conversion (1 minute for average file sizes)
  • Files are kept on our servers only 6 hours
  • Converts scanned PDFs as well
  • Absolutely free service, no hidden costs
  • No ads whatsoever

 

 

I found this a refreshing new entry to this market. While there are now a plethora of conversion tools available on the market on mobile, online and offline most are ad-supported or require some form of registration or in-app purchase to get fast, reliable conversions.

Not only could PDF to Excel convert files direct from my desktop I could select files directly from One Drive, Google Drive and DropBox for conversion. No personal information needed to be provided and my file would only be retained on the cloud service for 6 hours before being totally deleted.

During my testing I found most tables within my PDF documents were extracted accurately into their original row and column structure - but in Excel - and now editable.

If you are looking for a fast, easy and 100% free solution for converting PDF files to Excel I recommend giving this a try.

Find out more here: http://www.pdftoexcel.com/

 

 

Upgrade in Progress

I would like to thank everyone who has discovered my site, software and services in the last 19 years since first inception!

This is not a goodbye message but a welcome to a revitalised www.chris.dunn.name and to a lot of new users, members and visitors. 

This site is currently undergoing a major transformation making it easier for you to find and download great software, get great insights into IT, administration and system monitoring and to provide additional value to my members.

I apologise for any inconvenience as I work through reviewing and updating my software catalogue and thank you for your patience. If you can't find what you are looking for or I could make it easier for you - Let me know!!

Christian

 

Print Terminator is now FREE

It is not uncommon that printer problems can require System Administrators to manually clear jammed jobs from print queues.

Print Terminator makes this easy by allowing you to select any printers on a system and in one click terminate all print jobs. You can also specify an aged time to only terminate jobs that are older than a specified number of minutes ensuring new print jobs are not affected.

Print Terminator can be scheduled using the Windows Task Scheduler and can send an email notification when jobs are purged from any printer.

Print Terminator is now free! Find out more about Print Terminator.

Lookup is now FREE for members

Lookup 8 is a powerful search client for Microsoft Access databases.

Lookup is a simple yet powerful client for searching Microsoft Access databases. Lookup includes links to the most commonly used windows tools and allows you to add 10 of your most commonly used programs as well. These programs can be sorted by you and will link to the function keys across the top of your keyboard (F1-F12) as shortcuts. Our database even comes with the Australian postcode database included as sample data.

Lookup is now free - find out more about Lookup. A full licence is available in the members section of www.chrisdunn.name. Registration is free.

CometDocs - PDF To Word

 CometDocs has released a new upgraded version of PDF To Word for both Android and iOS.

 This app is free with no limits on file size or number of conversions but does include in-app purchases.

 Here are some of the new features of PDF to Word:

  • No limits on file size or number of converted files
  • Converting files from online services such as Gmail, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.
  • Word documents are optimized for fast viewing and reuse
  • Layout, formatting, tables, images and text look exactly like the original
  • Your file is deleted from servers right after the conversion ends

The user interface of PDF to Word may not be as slick as some of the others but it will convert nearly anything you can throw at it!

Free conversions take approximately 1 hour but an affordable in-app purchase allows you to upgrade to immediate conversions. Conversion is done online so minimal impact on batter usage. I recommend forking out for the in-app purchase to get the benefit of immediate mobile conversion but otherwise a simple but effective app.

Personally I prefer the Android version but don't take my word, try it out yourself...

You can find PDF to Word in the Apple App Store or in the Google Play Store.

 

FREE Lookup 8 Licence

As I no longer actively develop Lookup I have decided to give it away for FREE!

Lookup is a powerful search tool for Microsoft Access databases allowing complex, fast searching and analysis.

Become a member of www.chrisdunn.name to get your free Lookup licence.

For More Information on Lookup see here.

MonitorThis passes 150,000 hours!

MonitorThis has now passed 150,000 monitoring hours (that I am aware of) and is there any better way to celebrate than to add more functionality.

MonitorThis is an enterprise focused monitoring service configured from a single XML file which includes a suite of monitors that can be configured to perform environmental monitoring checks.

New to MonitorThis is Windows Event Log Monitoring allowing you to configure checks for specific types of events or applications allowing you to proactively identify and resolve any issues before your users do.

 

Xsemmel MT is a customised version of Xsemmel designed for validating and configuring MonitorThis XML files.

Based on XSemmel by Frank Schnitzer this great XML editor has been further enhanced to assist you in validating your MonitorThis configuration before deployment.

 Find out more about Xsemmel MT and MonitorThis.

XSemmel MT for MonitorThis Released

 

Xsemmel MT is a customised version of Xsemmel designed for validating and configuring MonitorThis XML files.

Based on XSemmel by Frank Schnitzer this great XML editor has now been enhanced to assist you in validating your MonitorThis configuration before deployment.

 Find out more about Xsemmel MT and MonitorThis.

Print Queue Manager 6.0.0.24

Print Queue Manager 6 has now been updated to 6.0.0.24.

This update resolves an issue where some HP Printer drivers can send incorrect page counts to the print queue manager logs while printing. An enhancement has been implemented to allow sending a job to print by double clicking a job in the print queue when AutoQueue is enabled.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated and always helps to enhance this product further.

Members can add, update or view previous requests through the Support page.

Print Queue Manager 6.0.0.23

Print Queue Manager 6 has now been updated to 6.0.0.23.

The latest updates improve application performance, remove 'ghost' print jobs and resolves an issue with MyQueue failing to load. This update has been made mandatory for all previous users of Print Queue Manager 6 and will be received on next launch.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated and always helps to enhance this product further.

Members can add, update or view previous requests through the Support page.

MonitorThis Released

MonitorThis has now been released!!

MonitorThis is an enterprise focused monitoring service configured from a single XML file which includes a suite of monitors that can be configured to perform environmental monitoring checks.

I prefer to describe it as a task scheduling service on steriods. It has no user interface and is designed to run as a silent background service which can run tasks regularly at predefined intervals or at scheduled times. It can be installed from the command line, automatically updates regularly from a network share and can save alerts to a network location, posts alerts to a web portal or send email notifications. I have included a basic Classic ASP portal to help you get started.

Read more: MonitorThis Released

FREE Online PDF to Word Converter

I have reviewed many of Investintech's products previously but as you expect the best features always come in premium products. 

Not anymore! Their online PDF to Word converter now allows you to get access to one of the best features of Able2Extract for free and online. Simply select a PDF to have it converted to Word and emailed to you.

What sets it apart from the competition?

  • It converts both scanned (image) and standard PDFs to Word. 
  • It is free to use without limitations.
  • It accurately converts even complex PDF files. 

I attacked it with a few PDFs of different complexity and found it gave almost the same results as Able2Extract and from my earlier reviews you will see how impressed I was. But don't believe my, try it for yourself.

The Desktop is Dead. Long Live the Desktop!

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Mark Twain

 

30 years ago business computing required a server and a collection of dumb terminals. As the personal computer became prevalent on the coat tails of the Apple II we began to see personal computers become a cornerstone of the office and by the late 90s nearly every office was running personal computers in a loosely connected workgroup. For those running Windows NT or 2000 you may have been big enough to setup a domain tying it together but it wasn't until Small Business Servers started appearing in the 2000s that this became common place. This led to a proliferation of small business networks setup to provide the services an office needed. Then there was internet...

Read more: The Desktop is Dead. Long Live the Desktop!