[Back to the Review Archive]  [See the newsletter archives]

TransURL - Filter goofy Hotmail URL's

While you are at the Hotmail websites, Hotmail makes the links in your emails appear inside an MSN window by adding a bunch of crap to the addy. And when they think you have been on that email too long you can't even use the link! Boy does that tick me off. I keep this program open when I view my Hotmail. It's a life saver. Website - Download - Freeware Quote from the website - This is a free utility to translate escape codes (those three character sequences beginning with %) commonly found in URLs. Many times you will click on a link in your browser and find a strange looking mess in the address box which may look like the following... http://64.4.8.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=&lah=06a9b8d78f4c4dd1fc74161a7cad31da&lat=961288797&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fpwp%2estarnetdial%2enet%2ftswirsky It may work, but then again, it may not.  And if you bookmark the URL by saving it to your Favorites folder, there are reasons why it may not work now or at a later time.  And if you want to copy the link to a text document, you will certainly want to translate it first. My program turns the above link into what it should be by translating all the escape codes.

 Clif Notes Freeware and Website Reviews