Category Archives: Software

Integrated WinSCP and PuTTY for SFTP and SSH

I had been using SSHTerm (now called UniTTY, see below) for a long time for my SSH and SFTP needs. The main reason was because it allows you to easily spawn an SFTP process form your current SSH session (and it puts it in a tab). This is SOOOOO handy – how many times do I SSH into my linux box then realize I need to transfer a file? Many times. SSHTerm lets me do both SSH and SFTP with one login.

The bad part: SSHTerm is in Java and is a memory HOG. I also don’t like the UI a whole lot. The buttons are not intuitive at all – even after using it for 2(?) years I still can’t remember what those icons do.

So I was playing with WinSCP the other day – I use it every now and then because I like the UI (in Norton mode) and it’s a native Windows app so it’s not a memory hog. Well, lo and behold, WinSCP has sort of an integration with PuTTY (a great, free, SSH client). Hit Ctrl-P while connected and it pops up a PuTTY terminal. You still have to enter your password but it’s quick. For commands that don’t require user interaction you can even use their built-in terminal by hitting Ctrl-T.

WinSCP just became my #1 SFTP client.

Oh yeah – all the programs I mentioned – SSHTerm, WinSCP, and PuTTY are freeware.

Hmmmmmm…..while getting the link for SSHTerm it looks like they have renamed it to UniTTY (cool name) and added/changed some features. I’ll update this once I’ve taken a look.

And yes I have tried FileZilla and it sucks (IMHO).

UPDATE: UniTTY is pretty nice. Fast startup times, nice GUI. Still takes up 40MB of RAM but it’s speedy. Still has crappy icons. I wish it had dual panes (local and remote).

[tags]geek, software, freeware, ssh, sftp, windows, tips, tricks[/tags]

Google AdSense preview tool

How have I not heard of this before? Google has a registry hack (for IE only, sadly), that allows you to see what ads Google would put on a site if AdSense were to be put on it – even if it currently has no ads. Very cool. If used on a site that does have AdSense, you can use it to get the links from the ads so you can visit the URLs without clicking on your own ads.

[tags]geek, webware, software, tips, tricks, google, adsense[/tags]

TipMonkies Lives!

TipMonkies, a great site for useful tip and tricks (and one that I write for every now and then) seemed to be dead for the last few months. Martin (the owner/editor) had some serious family problems, but he’s back now and ready to go. He’s already posted some great stuff in the last day or two. Check out TipMonkies if you haven’t already.

[tags]geek, windows, software, tips, tricks, webware, web, website, websites, tipmonkies[/tags]

Simple, small Windows CD player

I rarely need to listen to an actual audio (Redbook) CD any more since all my audio is in MP3 format, but today I did and I had no app to play it. I knew I had found a really small, non-installable CD player at one point and I found it again today. It’s only 10kb and requires no install. It’s fully functional and actually has a nice interface … amazing for only 10kb. Check it out at Robin Keir’s site. Lots of other cool little apps there too!

[tags]geek, windows, softwre, cd, player, cd player[/tags]

Cool Windows XP trick

If you are using Windows XP and haven’t turned on ClearType fonts, you need to try it – it’s amazing. (Yeah, I know it’s probably old news, but I didn’t know about it til today). Go to
Desktop –> Properties –> Appearance –> Effects
and change the second drop-down to ClearType. Hit OK then the next OK. Now be amazed at how much different the text now looks in XP.

Credit goes to Tom for pointing this out to me.

[tags]geek, windows, xp, windows xp, tip, tips, trick, tricks, tips and tricks[/tags]