UnxUtils is not an emulator like Cygwin. It is a freeware collection of approx 120 different executables that are only dependent on Microsoft C-runtime (msvcrt.dll).

1. Download UnxUtils.zip
2. Extract to a C:\UnxUtils (may I recommend 7-zip).
3. Download UnxUpdates.zip
4. Extract to C:\UnxUtils\usr\local\wbin

All the executables are located in C:\UnxUtils\usr\local\wbin folder so to make usage easier add “C:\UnxUtils\usr\local\wbin” to your PATH variable.

1. Click Start
2. Right click “My Computer” and select Properties
3. Click on “Advanced” tab
4. Click on “Environment Variables” (see screenshot)
5. Under “System Variables” select “Path” and then click “Edit” (see screenshot)
6. Append “;C:\UnxUtils\usr\local\wbin” to the end of Variable value. Note the semi-colon before C:\ (see screenshot)
7. Click OK. You will be returned to “Environment Variables” window.
8. Click OK. You will be returned to “System Properties” window.
9. Click OK

You should now be able to use UnxUtils. To give it a test open command prompt and run the following command. You should see a screen similar to one below.

ls -l c:/ | grep -i win

UnxUtils also includes a shell which can be handy if you want to do some shell scripting. To start the shell run c:\UnxUtils\bin\sh.exe (see screenshot) If you are frequently using the shell it is easier to create a shortcut on the desktop or quick launch bar.

The PC Decrapifier helps you uninstall these unwanted trailware (What it can remove). Using it is a very simple 4 step process.

1. Download the single executable file (there is no install process)
2. Execute the file
3. Create a Restore Point (in case you notice something wrong after the uninstall)
4. Select items to uninstall

The PC Decrapifier is free for personal use. A $5 donation subscription (not required to run the program) allows you to get future releases before other public users. Commercial subscription is also available.

FreePOPs is a small utility that allows you to use email applications like Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, and Evolution to download email from most famous WebMail like Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo, Mail.com etc. It also is very handy if you are behind a firewall that closes port 110. FreePOPs allows you to tunnel through using proxy server to read your mail.

FreePOPs is freeware and runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS. There are other similar utilities like MrPostman (freeware), Web2POP (paid) that I have used in the past. In last one and half year of usage FreePOPs has been impressive. There are frequent plugin updates which can easily be installed using the FreePOPs Updater. If you are adventurous FreePOPs also supports writing your custom plugin.

Note: FreePOPs only allows downloading mail. The FAQs provide good information on alternatives to send email like using your ISPs SMTP server or installing a tiny SMTP server on your machine.

7-Zip is a nifty utility from 7-Zip.org that supports packing and unpacking of ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR files.

If you are working on RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS then with the current version you can only unpack these files. In addition to these popular compression formats 7-Zip also has its own 7z format which has a very high compression ratio. Other cool features include Integration with Windows Shell, Powerful File Manager and Localizations for 69 languages

7-Zip works in Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista and is free for home and commercial use. Unofficial Linux ports are also available for download.