I'll only post the most useful utility programs here.

(note: some images will reflect my Windows Blinds theme)

RB-Joy is a great little program that allows you to assign keyboard buttons to your game  controller and a whole lot more. I use it with the Ferrari and Force RS wheels in Nascar 3 and Grand Prix Legends and more. And it's only about 8KB small!

Once you've programmed your button, don't forget to check the On and Send buttons !

Download it here Version 2.7  or visit RBSoft and check out their other fine utilities at www.rbsoft.de . Best of all, it's charity ware. If you like it, send money to your favorite charity. If you're looking for a favorite charity, email me and I'll send you my address ;)

GameBar is a program launcher with a special feature. Sure, you can change it's looks, change it's shape, dock it, free float it and all the other good things. But, it will also change your video properties, run a program, then change them back when you exit the program.

I run my desktop at 1024 x 768 and 32 bit color. But the SoS 1937 demo will only launch at 800 x 600 in 16 bit color. My kids' computer is set up at 1024  also, but they have some oldies but goodies that run only at 640 x 480 and 256 colors. Get the idea? Get GameBar. It's easy to use and it's free! Get GameBar 2.0 here or visit the site to get the new version called LaunchMate (does more and it's still free) at http://tdrware.virtualave.net/LaunchMate/ . Hmm, I suppose I'll have to upgrade someday.

Gary Peterson's Voodoo3 overclocker Version: 2.4.0.0  is a great utility. It also let's you disable vsync and set your refresh rates, including locking your color depths to set them faster.

Get version 2.4 here, or visit the Voodoo Extreme web site for the latest version. I know that Ver 3.2 is out and I think it works with Win2000, but the video filter is missing so I still use Ver 2.4.

Act Labs RS Shifter patch. Here it is. Julien's RS Shifter patch. This patch adds free shifting support to many games like GPL and NFS:PU and several others. The latest version as of  Sept 9, 2000 is here. Check out the Act Labs web site for another version of this utility and for updates.

Rain by Leading Wintech. This is a valuable little utility that keeps your computer running cool. It makes a huge difference. Does a better job of cooling than CPU Idle or any other utility of it's kind. It takes up virtually no overhead and you don't even know it's there.

Best of all, it's freeware. I was checking to see if there was an update, and noticed that their web site seems to be down. I also tried emailing the author but didn't get a response. For this reason, I'm making it available for download here. This little program is just too valuable to be without. It's only 120KB long so download it now by clicking the picture.

Themebar by Microgarden let's you skin your toolbar buttons, spinning logo and background in IE and Explorer windows. When installed, you reach it's menu through the "View" / "Explorer Bar" menu at the top of your window.

(pictures also reflect my Windows Blinds skin)

    I know that this won't make your games or computer run any better, but it'll sure make them look better. I've never understood why MS made the toolbar button icons gray by default and colored with a mouse-over instead of the other way around.

    Follow the instructions for installing and pay attention that you close all open windows when the instructions tell you to. You can get this little gem (and some skins) at Microgarden,  www.microgarden.com/themebar/index.htm and it's free. If you want my GTX skin you can get it here.