Software

BulkRenameUtility.zip

Some of my projects have different naming schemes, such as metric drawings having the letter "M" at the end to distinguish them from standard drawings. This was once the standard at my work. This caused much headache and was since removed. Renaming each file one by one was a painful task. SolidWorks allows batch renaming when saving a copy of an entire assembly, or when performing a Pack and Go. Why make it so hard? This was a simple and free solution. Keep in mind renaming drawings has no negative effect to the parts or assembly references, but using this program or windows to rename parts and assemblies will break references within the parts and assemblies.

Website: http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php

WinRAR.zip

This is an excellent alternative to the popular winzip. It supports many more file types then winzip or windows supports. Completely free and portable.

Website: http://www.rarlab.com/

UltraCompare.zip - Free to try, $49.95 to buy

In some occasions, I will find myself updating drawing dimensions as per the machinists request, or fixing assemblies when an error is spotted. A fellow designer might be doing the same. Now we have gotten ourselves into a mess. Since the project is on both of our computers, we have each an updated copy to be transferred to the sever. Solution? Sync them. it is a last resort to save all the important changes. This mistake should never have been made in the first place, but sometimes it happens. Ultra Compare will find the necessary files to be copied left and right in order to maintain the most up to date project. It can be used to sync a project being worked on locally to a server, and set to update at a given interval. The software is very versatile and personally, I believe it is well worth the $49.95.

Website: http://www.ultraedit.com/store/home.php?cat=268

FirefoxPortable.zip

Simply the best internet browser available. Fast, secure, simple. It syncs my bookmarks using firefox sync. Does not cache or save any information on the computer. I cannot work without it. I have it on my USB key and take it wherever I go.

Website: http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable

Convert.zip

This is a nifty little tool I use to simply and accurately convert literally anything to anything. It performs conversions for all sorts of units.

Website: http://joshmadison.com/convert-for-windows/