Sites of the week

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. Sometimes I don’t want my laptop to go to sleep, or want it to stay awake for a few hours while I’m watching a movie or show. Caffeine solves this problem handily.

Lighthead offers Caffeine as a free app for Mac OS X which puts an icon in your menu bar which gives you one-click access to sleepless computing. Command-click the icon to get the menu options. Yes, you could muck about in the Energy Saver panel in System Preferences, but Caffeine is just a click away.

• Look into Caffeine for Macintosh

Upgrades and replacements are a part of PC life. Every two to four years, most of my friends find themselves with a new PC, copying all their files, recreating bookmarks and shortcuts. It’s a painful process, and data usually gets lost. E-mail and preferences are tucked away in hidden folders, and using the Export tools for each application can eat plenty of time. Microsoft has a tool to help you with those all-too-often transitions; the User State Migration Tool.

The current version, 3.0.1, is only for XP and Vista, but the 2.6 version will help transfer data from Windows 95 and later.

• USMT 3.0.1 on the Microsoft Download Center
• USMT 2.6 on the Microsoft Download Center
• See the USMT on Microsoft TechNet