Windows Live SkyDrive is a free service from Microsoft that gives you an impressive 25 gigabytes of cloud storage space on their servers. Folders and files can be private, shared with a group, or completely public.

The space alone makes this worth the sign-up. This service becomes truly Elite when you mount it on your PC as a virtual hard drive.

The Gladinet client allows you to mount cloud storage from SkyDrive (as well as from Amazon S3 and Google) as a virtual folder from within Windows Vista and XP.

The process is so simple that it doesn’t even require instructions. Just download & install it, enter your credentials, and then add your files.

Download the free Gladinet client here.

IcoFX is a tiny (1.46mb) freeware icon editor.  This program is used by developers at PortableApps, and I consider it to be superior to competing icon editing freeware.

Notable features:
• Create icons for Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP / Vista / Macintosh
• Support for Vista icons with PNG compression
• Support for alpha channel (transparency)
• Batch processing for handling multiple files
• Built in resource editor for creating icon libraries or changing icons inside exe files
• Zoom icons up to 10000% for increased precision
• Import image dialog, for creating icons from images
• Convert Macintosh icons to Windows icons and vice versa
• Extract Macintosh icons from resource files
• Snapshot window for creating overviews of the icons
• More than 40 built in effects, including Drop Shadow
• Use custom filters to create your own customized effects
• Resolutions up to 256×256
• Extract icons (including Vista icons) from 32 bit exe and dll
• Import / export images (transparency also) from bmp, jpg, gif, png, jp2
• Many useful drawing tools like brush, line, rectangle and more
• Transparent, Brighten/Darken, Blur/Sharpen tools for retouching
• Create icon from an image with a single click
• Adjust the contrast, brightness, hue, saturation, transparency and color balance of icons
• Change the dimension of images
• Images can be faded using the fadeout dialog
• Increase / decrease the opacity of an image
• Easy shadow handling
• RGB and HSB color modes
• Possibility to store favorite colors
• Capture image from the desktop
• Grid for precision work
• Blur the edge of the brush
• Rotate the image at any angle

Download IcoFx from here.

There is also a portable version available.

Access Your iPod Without Using iTunes

I found two free and efficient replacements for the 800lb gorilla of music programs called iTunes.

When I’m in rush the last thing I want to do is spend 10 minutes loading music onto my iPod. Opening iTunes takes forever, its a huge program. Then it doesn’t already contain the new music I want to put on my iPod, so I must hunt around and load it. Then it searches for album art…

It is a choice between YamiPod and SharePod, both free, tiny, and easy to use. Both applications offer the integration of an iPod without the restrictions of the iTunes environment.

Both programs can be loaded onto your iPod and executed without copying it back onto a PC. This is perfect for corporate workers who do not have administrative access to their desktop. This is also good news for support technicians who can now refuse to install iTunes with a clean conscience!

YamiPod features:
• stand alone program, no installation required
• mp3 and AAC files can be copied to/from iPod
• read/write access to mp3 id3 and AAC infos
• playlist support (On-The-Go included)
• auto-download new versions
• advanced song import/export settings
• 2 restore features
• built in music player
• iPod information
• 2 search features
• remove duplicated tracks
• find lost music files
• easy ratings edit
• PC to iPod synchronization
• create and edit notes
• automatically update song playcounts
• News RSS and podcasts to iPod upload
• export song lists to HTML or plain text files
• multiple iPods support
• Last.fm support

SharePod features:
• Add & remove music and videos from your iPod
• Add, remove and edit playlists
• Add & remove album art
• Copy music, videos and playlists from your iPod to PC
• Import music/videos into your iTunes library, including playlists and ratings
• Built-in music player
• Tag editing
• Drag n’ drop to and from Explorer
• Backup and restore music library
• Simple, clean interface

Between the two, SharePod is the Elite choice despite its smaller feature set. In this case simple is better.

Download SharePod here.

Another useful iPod tool: MP3 to IPod Audio Book Converter

If you are searching for an application to mount un-burned CD images as drives, do not use shady software like Daemon Tools. Get a simple control panel from Microsoft that does the same, for free, without any viruses or spyware.

Get Microsoft’s Virtual ISO Drive

The installation and user interface are Spartan. Here’s a quick run through on how to install the control panel:

1. Copy VCdRom.sys to your %systemroot%system32drivers folder.

2. Execute VCdControlTool.exe

3. Click "Driver control"

4. If the "Install Driver" button is available, click it. Navigate to the %systemroot%system32drivers folder, select VCdRom.sys, and click Open.

5. Click "Start"

6. Click OK

7. Click "Add Drive" to add a drive to the drive list. Ensure that the drive added is not a local drive. If it is, continue to click "Add Drive" until an unused drive letter is available.

8. Select an unused drive letter from the drive list and click "Mount".

9. Navigate to the image file, select it, and click "OK". UNC naming conventions should not be used, however mapped network drives should be OK.

You may now use the drive letter as if it were a local CD-ROM device. When you are finished you may unmount, stop, and remove the driver from memory using the driver control.