While I was trying to lessen the burden of my computer by deleting some programs, I deleted by mistake my calculator. If you’re an XP user, you might already be familiar that running a calculator is as easy as going to run and typing in “calc” to get the calculator running. Now that’s all gone, I squandered to look for a calculator that can run in my computer. Lucky I landed in Microsoft XP’s site that offers free software called the PowerToys. Not only did I found a calculator, there are other free software programs that I also downloaded. These are pretty simple programs as some size of the files is less than 1MB.

Here are some of the PowerToys and these softwares only work in XP:

ClearType Tuner

The main reason why you want to download ClearType is because of its ability to adjust the screen to make the letters clearer. This is applicable for some XP users who have trouble looking at the sites especially in their browser. This tuner is installed in your control panel and once it is, you’ll be able to adjust the screen’s resolution manually until you get the resolution that you want. Although this program is not the answer for those who can’t clearly see the text because of eye problems, ClearType makes reading a lot easier for general users.

Alt-Tab Replacement

When you press ALT and taps on the TAB, you’ll be able to see the icons of programs that run in your computer. Once you install this program, that experience will definitely change. Properly called the Task Switch, instead of getting previews by the icons of the programs running, you’ll be able to see a small screenshot of the page. This is perfect for multiple documents that run in one program. Instead of guessing what’s under number one file, you’ll be able to see what’s in it.

Power Calculator

Power Calculator actually has a grid. You can plot X and Y intersections and create formulas. But if you just downloaded the file only to figure out the difference between two whole numbers you can still do that. You enter the numbers manually and the screen will show the process and the result. However, the fonts maybe too small to read for some.

HTML Slide Show

This program lets you create a slide show for all your pictures. For example, if you have website that feature pictures, you can just create a simple HTML page with all the pictures that you like to share. It will be viewed as a slide show if successfully uploaded to your site.

If you like the slide show then you should love the webcam timer show. You can set your webcam to take pictures in a specific time interval. It’s recommended for computers with higher than normal speed. Compile pictures of yourself during the day as you work in your computer.