Once you’ve finished working with a USB flash drive then it’s easy just to unplug it right away, but of course that’s usually not a good idea. If the Windows cache contains changes which haven’t yet been written to the drive then removing it may result in lost data, so it’s always best to eject the drive first.

And if you find the standard Windows eject option isn’t as easy as you’d like, then there are plenty of capable alternatives around. RemoveDrive, for instance, which we wrote about back in November, makes it easy to eject drives from a shortcut or a custom script.

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You have undoubtedly noticed that an ever-increasing amount of the time you spend using your computer is spent online. The same is true of your phone, and when you’re out and about it is quite usual to use dedicated apps to access services such as Facebook and Twitter. But when using a desktop or laptop, the vast majority of people will head straight to the web site of various online services. Thanks to Pokki this may change.

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When a favourite USB mouse stopped working last week, I tried all the usual techniques to try and get it running again: so I unplugged and reconnected it, looked for driver updates, checked Device Manager for clues, and so on – but with no success.

Could the problem be something more fundamental? I downloaded BusDog, an open source USB traffic sniffer to help me find out.

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Staying on top of software updates can be tricky, particularly if your favourite apps have no means of telling you a newer version is available. What feature updates, performance tweaks and bug fixes could you be missing out on?

This is where the Downloadcrew UpdateScanner comes into play, giving you a single, convenient location for software update checking – and we’ve just released version 2.0, packed with lots more useful features too.

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In the world according to Microsoft, the Windows Games Explorer should provide everything you need to organise, update and manage your favourite games. And it’s not too bad: with a little work you can get a display which includes game information, ratings, cover art and more.

If Game Explorer just isn’t powerful enough for your needs, though, you might find the free Game Manager useful. It also provides a database of your games which you can organise and view in several ways, but can do this via a Media Centre-style full-screen interface, and includes plenty of extra functionality as well.

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We’re only just through the second week of January, but the number of software releases is just as fast as ever. There have been so many applications hitting the servers over the last seven days, we wouldn’t be surprised if you had missed some here and there. This is why we have put together this handy roundup to get you back up to speed. If you want to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues, look no further than Skype for Windows 5.7.0.137 Beta. The latest beta version of this chat client fixes a number of problems that have been found, but Mac users have more to look forward to in Skype for Mac Beta 5.5. The latest beta includes an improve call interface that makes it easier to mute calls, add new people to a conversation, and share files and video.

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Managing even just the day-to-day basics of your online life can be a challenge, these days, with work and personal email accounts to monitor, Facebook and Twitter to check, calendars, task lists and more to be monitored.

But if you’re tired of navigating a raft of interfaces just to do essentially the same thing – check for, or send messages – then the free Zimbra Desktop may be able to help, as it integrates many useful services into a single application.

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If you want to view the created, accessed or last modified dates of a file from Explorer then that’s easy enough (right-click, select Properties).

Windows doesn’t provide any easy way to directly modify these values, though. Which can be a problem, as they’ll sometimes reveal more information than you might like. So if you don’t want your boss to know that the presentation you’re about to hand in was actually completed in a panic only 10 minutes earlier, say, then you’ll need a little third-party assistance – and SKTimeStamp could be the ideal choice.

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Digiarty Software Inc has launched the first public beta of an Android client of AirPlay It, its free media-streaming solution. The set of tools, which includes AirPlayit Server for Windows and Mac, allows users to stream media content from their computer to compatible mobile devices over wi-fi, 3G and 4G networks.

Digiarty has also updated its iOS clients. Air Playit 1.8.0 for iPhone/iPod touch and Air Playit HD 1.8.0 for iPad both add support for CUDA hardware encoding on Air Playit Server to reduce CPU usage and reduce the server’s load on the host computer. The clients also now support multi-tasking background playback of music and allows the user to download music tracks directly to the mobile for playback later while offline.

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While there are a lot of claims made about how tablet computers such as the iPad could be used as complete replacement for desktop computers, there are a number of obstacles that get in the way of this. There are a number of mobile versions of well-known desktop applications available, but these tend to be far more limited than the software you are used to using and there is also the problem of transferring files between devices to bear in min. These are problems that OnLive Desktop can help with, providing iPad users with a fully functional version of Microsoft Office to work with.

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January is traditional some of a tight month for finances after all of the expense of Christmas, but it is also the time of year when there are great bargains to be grabbed. Head over to the Downloadcrew store and you’ll find all manner of great deals with huge savings to be made on big name software. You may have decided to put yourself through a new health regime for 2012 and there’s no reason your computer shouldn’t be given the same treatment. Look no further than TuneUp Utilities 2012 [3-PC, 1-Year] which will help you to keep your system optimized and you can save 62% off the MSRP when you buy the software for just $18.95. Small businesses can make an even greater 75% saving when buying TuneUp Utilities Business Edition 2012 [5-PC, 1-Year] for just $19.95.

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