For me, one of the biggest annoyances of Microsoft Windows has always been the Clipboard utility. Well, it has for me at least.
Why? Because it can only remember the contents of the last “Copy” or “Cut” and if the computer crashes or gets shut down for any reason, whatever is on the Clipboard at the time is lost forever. If you do a lot of Copying, Cutting and Pasting like I do that gets really old in a hurry.
There are a number of good Clipboard replacement programs out there, but the one I like the best is called Ditto. This little gem runs as a stand alone program. It runs in the background, waiting patiently for you to call it up by clicking on its icon in the System Tray. I’m pretty picky about which programs I allow to load automatically every time Windows boots up, and this is one of them.
How does Ditto work?
Ditto is extremely easy to use. You simply “Copy” or “Cut” something the same way you always have and the text, image or HTML fragment that you copied or cut is instantly stored in Ditto’s database. You can then paste that info wherever you want it in the usual way (either by pressing CTRL-P or by right-clicking and then clicking “Paste”) or leave it stored in Ditto for later use. Perform another “Copy” or “Cut” and that info is stored in the database as well right above the first item you stored.
When you want to paste one of the entries stored in Ditto, simply click the Ditto icon that’s sitting in the System Tray. You’ll see a list of your previous snippets displayed with the newest entry on top. Simply click on the item you want to paste, then press CTRL-C (or right-click and then click “Paste”).
Best of all, you won’t lose your Clipboard items when your computer is shut down. The next time you start up your PC they’ll still be there waiting for you to paste away!
You can download Ditto for free at http://ditto-cp.sourceforge.net. Click the Download link in the right-hand column, then click the link labeled direct link on the next page.
