Looking Beyond CCleaner: 5 Great Alternatives

CCleaner is a great all round system cleaning utility that works as advertised. It cleans browser history, removes cookies and cache, deletes temporary files, uninstalls programs, deletes file usage history of Windows and many Windows’ programs. It also helps manage startup programs, find duplicate files and shreds files. For many, this is the only tool that is needed to keep the system well oiled and tuned. But sometimes it is necessary to find out what other developers are offering, because if you don’t try and experiment, one day you might discover that you’ve been using the wrong tools. You cannot go wrong with CCleaner, but should you wish to change, here is small list to help you get started.

BleachBit

BleachBit is one of the prime candidate that can easily replace CCleaner. The program helps you recover disk space by deleting unwanted files such as browser cache, cookies, temporary files, backup files, log files, broken shortcuts etc. BleachBit can clean temporary files created by over 90 applications by default. This can be extended to include over 1200 more applications by updating an INI file online.

Aside from cleaning, BleachBit can shred files to prevent recovery and wipe free disk space to hide traces of files deleted by other applications. BleachBit is free, open source and is available for both Windows and Linux.

DrivePurge

DrivePurge is one of the most powerful and through junk file cleaner out there finds and removes unnecessary files and user tracks from more than 750 applications and system components. It is also one of the smallest of the lot, weighing just 171KB in download size which expands to some 700KB when extracted.

DrivePurge’s file cleaning functions are categorized under three groups - System Cleanup, Drive Cleanup, and User Tracks Cleanup. The System Cleanup tab lists all common locations where temporary and unneeded files are known to reside. This include Windows locations such as Cached fonts, ChkDsk files, Error reports, Temporary folders, Memory Dumps, Media Center Album Art Cache, Thumbnail Cache, HTML help files etc. Junk files created by popular programs like Adobe, Mozilla Firefox, and Sun Java can also be removed through this tool.

The User Tracks Cleanup section is for removing file history. This includes Windows explorer MRUs, folder settings, recent documents, run history, msconfig entries, Microsoft Games statistics, and application specific history.

In the Drive Cleanup tab are search filters that lets you scan your entire hard drive or selected partitions for waste files. This is where DrivePurge shines through. The program has an extensive list of file type filters that will hunt down any kind of files that are of little use – old files, automatically created backup files, repair files, error files, empty files, and temporary files.

DrivePurge is an amazingly powerful program, but if used carelessly can easily screw up your system.

SlimCleaner

SlimCleaner is a system cleaning and maintenance utility for Windows that makes use of user ratings to help you decide which items should be removed and which kept.

The program’s primary tool is the cleaner. This tool takes care of Windows temporary files, history logs, lists of recently opened documents and other unnecessary elements. It can also clean files from locations used by popular Windows applications to store logs and document history. A wide variety of Windows programs such as media players, productivity tools, browsers and anti-malware software are supported.

SlimCleaner also features an optimization tool to analyze start-up items and active services, and an uninstaller and a shredder that helps you get rid of files securely. This is where the program employs the crowd to help you decide. Against each startup entry and installed program is a colored bar that shows the rating of the program as rated by the program's users.

There are three level of ratings. A rating of Good indicates the program is trustworthy; Optional indicates that the program is not critical and can be removed while Unwanted indicates harmful applications and or programs that serve no good purpose. Programs that aren’t rated by the community are shown as Unrated.

You can also give back to the community by adding your own ratings.

Other tools include file shredder, disk wiper, disk defragmenter, duplicate file finder and a tool that can generate a Hijack Log that displays a list of toolbars, browser helper objects, ActiveX plug-ins and other items installed on the machine. Again from the user rating you can decide whether these programs are really necessary or junk.

FileCleaner

FileCleaner is a Windows cleanup and speedup tool that will delete junk files like temporary Internet files, browser history, system temp files and other debris that accumulates on a computer after prolonged use. It also cleans usage history of many Windows application but the support is not that extensive as that of CCleaner.

FileCleaner can also remove toolbars and browser plugins, but use this feature with caution because it identifies all browser extensions as toolbars/plugins, and may irrecoverably remove them.

FileCleaner’s primary selling point is its’ real-time browser history cleaner. When enabled, the program can clean logs and temporary files as soon as the user closes the web browser or the IM program such as Yahoo messenger, and Google Talk.

KCleaner

KCleaner is more of a disk cleaner than a history eraser. You can’t remove browser history, but you can do delete browser caches, cookies and anything that consumes disk space. This includes temporary files, Windows installer duplicates, various application’s installer cache such as Adobe Reader, Skype and Apple’s installer cache, Windows hotfix uninstallers etc.

Rather than replacing CCleaner, KCleaner should be used together with CCleaner for the maximum effectiveness.

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Fun Windows 8 Games for Kids

One good thing about computer games is their wide user base, irrespective of age or culture, especially among kids. That is why when Microsoft released Windows 8 with its Apps store and applications, it became an instant hit. Since then, developers have built various free game apps that kids will not only enjoy playing, but will also teach and help them in their learning process. Even better, Windows 8 RT tablets optimized for all of windows 8’s best features are now also available in many online retailers like Newegg. As a parent, if you are considering giving your children gifts that they will appreciate, here are the must have list of Windows 8 apps that you can download.

Paint 4 Kids

Just as the name suggests, Paint 4 Kids is a great app that will teach your kids how to mix colors, draw, and paint using virtual art tools. It contains in-built images and drawing objects that your kids can use to color pictures of their own. As a parent you would have noticed that one of the favorite subjects of your child is coloring. The great thing about this app is that, while your kid gets to play and enjoy his favorite chore, you have less ink-soaked, body and clothes to wash. Let them release their creativity and imagination wholeheartedly; you just sit down and enjoy watching them do it.

Number Magic

Number Magic is one of the most popular computer games for children. Developed by Metro Gems, Number Magic is educational, and with it, kids can learn how to perform and practice basic arithmetic tasks like addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. And of course, this application is very simple to learn and it can be installed within seconds.

Bubble Star

There is no doubt about it; all kids will enjoy playing this game. It is educative, easy to learn and just down-right fun. The game is played by matching 3 bubbles of the same color together and once matched; they then get “popped out” in a colorful way. Furthermore, the visuals are clear and crisp, and the music goes particularly well with the lighthearted mood of the game. To be a winner and starred player, all the bubbles need to be cleared away from the board.

Bubble Shooter

This is yet another great app game that you can get for your kid. What makes it different is the combination of its creative design, exciting game plot and wonderful jungle soundtrack. A player must match 3 of the same characters together, toss them around, and then pop them in a batch. The concept is simple; however this app game has that factor most people look for in puzzle games: a challenge. Kids will definitely enjoy playing through progressively challenging levels of Bubble Shooter while having a great time “popping away” colorful creatures.

My Pet Piano

A musical teacher at your fingertips; this is a popular musical game that every kid will enjoy playing. It is a specially designed app to teach kids the fundamentals of piano playing and musical key recognition. It has two fun animal sounds and six inbuilt children songs learning and practice—engaging children to expand their musical talents.

Angry Birds Star Wars

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… a group of very angry Jedi birds had to face off against their galactic nemesis--- the evil Empire’s Pigtroopers. Angry Birds Star Wars is an interactive touch game that features breathtaking graphics, over 80 levels of gameplay, and incorporates music from the original Star Wars score. Fans of A New Hope will find their favorite characters like Luke Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Darth Vader, and much more in this recreated Angry Birds game as well as killer fighting “skills” from each bird. The basic gameplay is as follows: players would launch birds across the screen to knock over Bad Piggies. Players will be rewarded stars based on how well they successfully destroy all the pigs, (depending on the number of birds remaining after all pigs are destroyed). Players will need to complete consecutive levels in order to advance in the game. Price: $4.99.

Cut the Rope

Which kid doesn’t adore a cute little green creature who loves candy? In Cut the Rope, players must feed candy to Om Nom by cutting ropes and using anti-gravity buttons, floating bubbles, bouncy cushions, magic hats, suction cups, and other interactive items. If they fail to feed Om Nom by either dropping or shattering the candy, Om Nom will be extremely sad and groan in disappointment. Each level introduces new challenges and gradually increases in difficulty. To advance, players must strategically manoeuvre the candy around obstacles to get to Om Nom while collecting as many stars as they can.

Sticker Tales

Sticker Tales is a fun and educational game that lets kids create and paste images onto illustrated backgrounds. The application includes 40+ corresponding stickers and 6+ engaging backgrounds to select from—so that kids can create and expand their creativity to the fullest. In addition to customizing backgrounds, Sticker Tales includes mini games children will certainly find engaging and rewarding. These games include arranging patterns, completing mazes, and matching shapes.

Learning Blocks

Another educational app suitable for children, Learning Blocks can teach your child the alphabet in a fun and interactive way. Kids are encouraged to swipe and touch each block to hear each alphabet sound. In addition to alphabets, this app also features uppercased and lowercased letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. A great app appropriate for kids ages 2-5 years. Price: $1.99.

YouTube Junior

Although YouTube Junior isn’t a game, it is nevertheless an application kids will surely enjoy. The app compiles popular children-friendly shows like Tom and Jerry, My Little Pony, Garfield, Mickey Mouse, and Blues Clues -- just to name a few. These shows are capable of being played right in the app’s interface and include multiple episodes so that children can continuously watch one show after another. To top it all off, parents can finally rest assure that their children will not be exposed to any adult or offensive content while surfing YouTube.

Now is a great time to come to terms with the fact that not all computer games are bad. In fact, there are educative and learning inducing games out there that you can purchase for your children. This is a great approach that will not only aid in their personal development, but also keep them mentally stimulated with activities ranging from arithmetic practice to learning an instrument. But of course, equally important, it is good for your own peace of mind and much needed nap.

This is a guest article by Courtney. Homeschooling and tutoring her kids in mathematics, English, and music helped Courtney contribute this article for fellow moms and tech-readers. Finding the perfect apps for kids is never easy, but with the release of Windows 8, users can now download a variety of applications to try.

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7 Best Free Wardrobe Organizer Apps for Android

Two years ago we looked at some of the solutions that were available at that time for cataloguing the contents of our wardrobe and managing the same from our computer, creating matches, deciding what to wear etc. There were no good wardrobe organizing apps for Android at that time. Today, we have a handful, and we are going to find out which works best.

ClosetVirtual

ClosetVirtual is a wardrobe organizer that lets you manage your clothing from your Android phone. Decide what clothes to wear, or mix and match without walking into your closet, or opening a drawer.

The home screen of the app has six buttons – Closet, Camera, Outfit, Calendar, Wishlist and Search.

 

 

The Closet is where all your clothes goes into and this may include shoes, accessories and any other thing that you wear when you go out. To add your wearable items, whip out your phone camera (the camera button in the home screen is for this purpose) and shoot pictures of them. Then go to Closet and add them by category (top, bottom, shoes etc). You are allowed to add a short description, tags, brand name, season to wear and color. These information will come handy later when you use the Search feature.

If you can’t get a clean picture with your camera (poor light, clothes in laundry or even poor camera), you can search for images on the web from within the app. Once you’ve added all your clothes, you can now create outfits by matching and mixing. You can pre-decide what to wear and associate it with a date in the calendar. This also lets you keep track of what you wore during the previous days so that you can avoid wearing the same outfit too often.

Personal Closet Lite

Personal Closet Lite offers a huge array of tools to manage your wardrobe in your phone. Like ClosetVirtual you begin by adding items to your closet. This you can do that by taking pictures with your phone, adding pictures already present on your phone or searching for images on the Internet. You can crop the picture, straighten, rotate and even flip it horizontally or vertically. This is useful if you take picture of yourself in the mirror. You can add two pictures for each item – one from the front and another from the back.

 

Add name, description, category, sub-category, style (casual, evening, work etc), color, season to wear, brand, size and even price, date of purchase and availability (laundry, lent out etc ) among other things. To create outfits you actually drag and drop your clothes on a virtual mannequin. You can decide what to wear on a certain day and add your outfits to the calendar.

Additional tools include easy access to several fashion magazines, shopping sites, reminders etc.

ClosetLovin

ClosetLovin is simple and very easy to use. It’s designed for women, but men can use it too if they don’t mind adding shirts to the “tops” section and trousers to the “bottoms”.

 

There are only three categories available, hardcoded into the app – tops, bottoms and accessories. There are however multiple sub-categories available which you can edit.

To add your clothes, use the built in camera app to take a picture and with one touch add them to the collection. Adding subcategories, title, season and style are optional, but adding them will allow you to sort through your clothes easily when your collection grows large.

To create outfits, scroll through the images and select the ones you wish to mix.

iDressUp

iDressUp provide a simple and clear interface to mix and match your clothes, shoes, accessories in your mobile or tablet and schedule your daily outfits. You can plan what you wear tomorrow, next week, month and even year with iDressUp, and track your outfits history to avoid repeating them too frequently.

 

There are two tabs on the program - Calendar and Wardrobe. The wardrobe is where you add your clothes and the calendar is where you plan your outfits. Unlike, other programs where you have a separate outfit section to mix and match, in iDressUp this has been merged with the calendar. So you have to create outfits and immediately assign it to a particular date. An outfit maintenance page is scheduled for the next version.

The wardrobe is similar to those of other apps. You can arrange your clothes by category, color, brand, and season, and then use filters when you browse through your virtual wardrobe.

ANDress 2

ANDress 2 has one of the cleanest interface and it’s pretty rich on features too.

 

With just a few taps you add pictures of your clothes and file them under a type or category and subcategory. Choose a color from a large palate and assign a 5-star rating, which is optional. The rest of the details such as brand and season non-essential are optional too. Once you have added all your garments you can view them under ‘Clothes’ nicely listed by type, name and rating, and of course, a thumbnail picture.

To create outfits, scroll through the various thumbnails until you have found the perfect match. Then name and save the outfit. If you can’t decide what to wear, let the app generate an outfit for you. All you have to do is tell what the weather is like (hot, cold, any) and ANDress 2 will generate a random outfit by matching top, bottoms, shoes and other accessories.

Stylish Girl and Cool Guy

Stylish Girl and Cool Guy are two similar apps from the same developer for the different sexes. Both apps function as a virtual closet organizer as well as fashion assistant, on-line shopping portal, a bag packer for vacation trips, and an outfit album. Stylish Girl and Cool Guy have a well designed interface that looks actually fashionable on your phone.

 

 

Explore your closet and take pictures of your clothes. Once you have added them to Stylish Girl or Cool Guy you can create outfits by mixing and matching pictures of your clothes on a white canvas. The app displays all your clothes simultaneously. Just scroll the categories and pick stuff for your outfits. A filtering option lets you quickly navigate fast by filtering your results (e.g. search for summer clothes only).

The Calendar tool lets you save outfits for a specific dates and decide in advance what you will year the coming or even the coming month. The Suitcase tool is like a virtual baggage packer where you pick outfits from your closet to take with you on trips.

Also included is a shopping portal (shopstyle.com) where you can browse tons of fashion items from the biggest fashion retailers. You can compare prices and looks, and mix the things you want to buy with your own clothes to see if they match, before you actually buy them. Finally, there is a share feature that lets you share pictures of your clothes with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

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7 Third Party Software You Won’t Need on Windows 8

After more than a year talking about Windows 8, Microsoft has officially released the latest iteration of the operating system last weekend. Windows 8 sports a bold new interface melding together the worlds of tablets and desktop computer with lots of new changes and a big boost in performance. While the interface is the first change users will notice it’s not the only major one. Windows 8 boasts of several new features and capabilities, but we will not discuss them here – enough articles have been written about them already. Here we will look at only those new features that makes or have the potential to make certain third party tools redundant and even obsolete.

Antivirus Software

Windows Defender that ships with Windows 8 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Although still called Windows Defender, this new anti-malware tool is anything but Windows Defender.

Windows Defender on Windows 8 is based on the excellent Microsoft Security Essentials, the anti-virus solution from Microsoft, that offers virus protection capabilities alongside malware protection. In addition to Windows Defender, SmartScreen filtering integrated into the desktop and support for the Secure Boot functionality on UEFI systems creates a formidable fortress around your computer that will keep most malware away. (Read: Add Windows Defender to Desktop Context Menu.)

SmartScreen is a phishing and malware filter that was originally implemented in Internet Explorer 8, and ended up being integrated with the Windows 8 desktop. SmartScreen protect users against attacks by performing reputation checks on any file or application downloaded from the internet against a server-based blacklist of websites containing known threats. Secure Boot, on the other hand, requires operating systems to be signed by Microsoft or the OEM before they are allowed to load on the system. This prevents unauthorized programs such as bootkits from infecting the device. Of course, Secure Boot will take effect only if you have UEFI enabled PCs.

Microsoft has also changed how an anti-virus program on Windows 8 protects the computer from malware attacks. The new approach called the “Early Launch Anti Malware” provides a mechanism that allows anti-malware software to start before all other third-party components, even drivers. This basically means that the first software driver to be loaded into the Windows 8 OS when the computer boots is the user’s antivirus product, be that Windows Defender or any other.

Should you wish to install a third-party anti-virus product, you still can. Windows 8 will quietly disable its own protection and defer entirely to the third-party product. But if you fail to keep your anti-virus software up-to-date, Windows Defender will spring back into action.

Cloud Backup and Syncing Software

If you use the ‘cloud’ to backup your personal files or keep all of your devices in sync, it’s time to say goodbye to Dropbox or Google Drive or enter_your_favorite_cloud_storage_here. The cloud takes center stage in Windows 8, driven by your Microsoft account and hosted by SkyDrive.

Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud service is tightly integrated with Windows 8. Your address book, photos, Internet Explorer 10 history, preferences and bookmarks, desktop options such as log-in, lock screen, and colors, search preferences, language preferences, and keyboard and mouse settings, and even data within third-party apps can sync up to the cloud, and to any Windows 8 device. If you own multiple Windows 8 PCs, this is an awesome feature. Files in SkyDrive can be accessed via more devices than Windows 8 - SkyDrive includes apps for Mac OS X, iOS, and Android as well.

Everyone who’s created a Microsoft account gets a SkyDrive account with 7GB of free storage, as opposed to 2GB from Dropbox and 5GB from Google Drive. If you’re a long time SkyDrive user and have acted on time, you should have 25GB of free storage. Additional storage comes cheap - you can add 20GB for $10 a year, and 100GB for $50. Again when you compare this to Dropbox ($100 for 100GB) and Google Drive ($60 for 100GB) pricing, you’ll notice that you get the most bang for the buck with SkyDrive.

Disk Imaging and Recovery Software

With Windows 8 you probably won’t ever have to touch your installation disk again, or use disk imaging and recovery software such as Easeus ToDo Backup. Aside from the hard disk imaging capabilities that Microsoft added to Windows 7, Windows 8 has two unique features - Reset and Refresh.

Reset will restore a Windows 8 PC to its stock, factory state while Refresh will reinstall Windows 8, but keep your documents and installed Metro apps intact. Basically, Reset allows you to reformat the system drive and reinstall the operating system from scratch without needing the installation media. Refresh is useful when you need to preserve user profiles, settings, and apps. Be aware that, Refresh only preserves Metro apps and settings – desktop applications will be wiped clean. (Read: Reinstall Windows 8 Without Losing Installed Programs and Files.)

Both Reset and Refresh are surprisingly quick – the former takes about six minutes, and Refresh takes less than ten minutes. (Read: How To Reset or Refresh Your PC)

Reset is also useful when you want to sell your old PC. When Resetting, you have the option to perform a thorough wipe of the disk thereby deleting all your personal files in irrecoverable way. That’s another third party software you won’t need.

Virtual Drive / Disk Mounting Software

On Windows 8, it’s possible to mount disk images via explorer without using third party applications such as the popular Daemon Tools that creates virtual disk drives where you can mount disk images and access them like physical drives. Windows 7 already allows mounting of Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) files through the Disk Management applet of the Computer Management tool. On Windows 8, this is much simpler as it is now integrated with explorer. Additionally, Windows 8 natively support optical disk ISO and IMG image files, allowing users to mount them as virtual optical drives and access contains within it through Windows 8 Explorer.

When ISO files are detected, the context sensitive ribbon menu in Windows Explorer will display the “mount” action. Just click on it and Windows seamlessly creates a “virtual” CDROM or DVD drive. A new drive letter appears indicating that the contents are now readily accessible. The contents of the ISO are accessible just as they would have been had you inserted the CD/DVD media into a physical optical drive.

File Backup and Versioning Software

With Windows 8 Microsoft introduced a new back up and restore tool called File History. It replaces the "Previous Versions" and Backup and Restore features on Windows Vista and Windows 7 with a more powerful backup and file versioning tool. File History is capable of restoring your files to a specific date and time, thus allowing users to turn the clock back in time and retrieve data and files that have been previously edited or deleted using the "History" functions in File Explorer. (Read: How to use File History)

But File History is not without limitations and still has some rough edges that need smoothing. It can back only your Library files, not any folders, but that’s easy to fix – just add the folder or drive you want to back up to your library. In doing so, however, you run the risk of making your libraries a mess. Aside from libraries, File History will back files on your desktop, your favorite web URLs and locations and contacts in your Windows’ contact book.

Currently, File History can backup only to external drives, either external hard drives or flash drives – not local drives but that is another quick fix.

File Copy Managers

You probably shouldn’t use file copy accelerators/managers such as TeraCopy and others on Windows 7, but if you do, you are probably looking for control rather than speed. Well, Windows 8 offers more control on the file copy operation than previous version of Windows did. Among some of the impressive things Windows does during file copy operation, the most useful one is the ability to pause a file copy job. Not only that – you can pause a copy operation and send the system to sleep or hibernation and when the machine wakes, you can choose to resume the copy by clicking the depressed pause button.

Windows 8 also consolidates multiple file copy dialog boxes for several file copy jobs into a single consolidated dialog box where users can review and control all the Explorer copy jobs currently executing. Users also have the ability to pause, resume, and stop each copy operation currently underway. You can also click any of the source or destination folders while the copy operation is taking place and open up those folders. With such powerful features, why anyone will need TeraCopy?

Screenshot Capturing Software

All Windows keyboards have a dedicated PrintScreen button whose purpose is to capture the screen as an image. One would hit this key and then open an image editor, usually Microsoft Paint, paste the image from the clipboard into a blank document and save the file to the disk. The process is too cumbersome which is why there is a proliferation of screenshot capturing tool in the market. Windows 7 tried to make the job easier by introducing the Snipping tool. While useful in some situations one still misses the automatic image saving capability that third party tools give us.

Windows 8 can take screenshots and automatically save them to the disk as PNG files without a third party software. All you have to do is press PrintScreen with the Win key depressed. Unfortunately, PrintScreen+Alt cannot be used together with the Win key to take screenshot of the active window and save the same to the disk. If you wish to capture the active window, you’ll still have to paste the image into Microsoft Paint and manually save the image.

Conclusion

Microsoft adds new features and tools to every new Windows that gets the users excited, but third party vendors always manage to win the users back with their superior products. Most built-in Windows tools are deliberately kept simple and spartan such that they appeal to a wider audience. Power users will always want more features and this is supplied by third party developers.

To be honest, among the seven new features/programs discussed above only some are really compelling and complete in itself. No matter how great Windows Defender turns out to be, users will start looking for antivirus software, either because they are unaware of Windows Defender’s existence and capabilities or they simply don’t trust in-house protection. Dropbox users would probably swear by its name and refuse to budge, but personally I think SkyDrive is better. Daemon Tools and similar software are seriously dead, unless they are capable of doing something that Windows 8 cannot. The only reason why someone may want to use a file copy manager is for queue control and CRC checks. File History is good but not great and there is ample space for third party tools to fill in. Screen capturing software will exist as before.

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The Best Online Shopping Websites in India: A List of 60+ Sites

It took quite a few years for e-commerce to find acceptance among the incredulous shoppers of India. While not actually flourishing, the Indian public is slowly warming up to the idea of shopping through an online portal without seeing or feeling the product prior to purchasing.

With the rise in Internet adoption customers have become aware of the wide range of products available on the world wide web which are simply not available on their local store. Improvement in the Indian Postal Service and the launch of dozens of courier services have made product delivery reliable, and reduced logistic headache for operators. To further woo the Indian customers, e-commerce websites in India introduced the popular Cash-on-delivery model where customers pay only after the product is delivered to their doorstep.

Photo credit

There are literally hundreds of e-commerce sites in India that caters to everyone selling everything from safety pins to air-conditioners. Some websites are very niche, selling only one particular product such as toys or perfumes. The websites below are mostly jack of all trades, but I’ve also included some niche sites at the end. If you don’t know where to begin, here is our exhaustive list of shopping websites that you can trust.

All-in-one Megamall Stores

Flipkart

Arguably the most popular e-commerce site in India and one that played a big role in popularizing online shopping in the country. Like most e-commerce websites in India, Flipkart started by offering books at deep discount. It has since expanded into various segments such as electronics and gadgets, mobiles, computers, games, home appliances, beauty and health care products, toys and baby products and more. Flipkart also offers digital music (MP3) download for as low as Rs 15 per song. Recently, Flipkart added clothing to their repertory with a decent collection of men’s and women's wear.

Most of the products offered on Flipkart are at discounts, although the prices tend to be somewhat higher than those offered by other shopping sites. Flipkart makes up for the relatively higher price with fast shipping and excellent customer service. Flipkart is currently the only Indian shopping site with in-house delivery service (as opposed to using third-party courier services).

Infibeam

This is another popular e-commerce website indulging in diverse goods such as books, electronics, mobiles, home and lifestyle products, computers and cameras, clothing, baby products, flowers and gifts, and even automobiles such as bikes- new or used. Discounts are available on almost every product, and each day new deals are posted.

What I like about Infibeam the most is its competitive pricing; compared to other e-commerce sites, Infibeam tends to be cheaper. The other thing that I love about this site is their second-hand (used) book market. Infibeam sources used book from sellers abroad at reduced price. These sellers are the same ones selling used books on Amazon and often at the same price. The advantage of buying through Infibeam is you don’t have to pay for shipping. I’ve bought a couple of used books from Infibeam and they are in such good conditions that you wouldn’t know they are used.

Ebay

The internationally famous ebay is another big place to shop. This is a place where you’ll find anything and everything. For those who aren’t aware, Ebay is not a retail site, it’s a marketplace for sellers and buyers to get together. Individual sellers list their products for sale and buyers bid on them or buy. The sellers are responsible for shipping and logistic, but payments are handled by Ebay and this is meant to protect buyers from fraud.

If you are buying from Ebay, watch out for seller reputation and their returns policy. Also check the prices against other websites selling the same product, and even prices by your local seller. Sometimes the price turn out to be higher than the street price. There are lot more things that you should be aware of when you are shopping at ebay, but these are beyond the scope of this article.

Homeshop18

Homeshop18 deals in pretty much everything from books, electronics and mobiles, to jewellery, home appliances and clothing. Prices are very competitive and a majority of products are offered at big discounts. Homeshop18 is worth checking out for their lucrative deals on home appliances, books, mobiles and clothing. Homeshop18 is also the only e-commerce site in India to have its own 24hour TV channel that showcases different products available on the site.

Yebhi

This is another popular e-commerce site founded in 2009. They started by selling multi-brand footwear and later expanded into other categories like apparels, accessories, bags, jewellery and other lifestyle products. Aside from lifestyle, Yebhi also includes electronics goods, home appliances, computer peripherals, mobiles, home furnishing, watches and more.

In comparison to other retailers, who offer a 30 days return policy, Yebhi offers a 100-days return policy. And if that isn’t enough, Yebhi recently introduced a "try and buy" feature where shoppers can actually try the clothes and shoes they buy on the portal when it is delivered to them and return it if they are not satisfied.

Indiaplaza

Indiaplaza was the first e-commerce website of India. Launched in 1999, the website was earlier known as Fabmall after which the company acquired US-based online shopping firm Indiaplaza.com and rebranded itself as Indiaplaza.in in India. Later, both websites were merged into a single website.

Despite being the first to set up shop in India, Indiaplaza allowed competitors to slip ahead and is currently playing second fiddle to more popular sites such as Flipkart and Infibeam. This doesn’t mean Indiaplaza is anything less. It has a respectable collection of good spread over multiple segments – apparels, electronics, books, baby products, handicrafts and gifts, cakes and cookies, jewellery, footwear, and home appliances and gym equipment.

Future Bazaar

Futurebazaar is an e-commerce website from Future Group who own famous retail stores like Big Bazaar and Pantaloons. This site is mainly for home appliances which is further divided into various categories like bed and bath, kitchen and dining, office, sports, jewellery and entertainment. Futurebazaar has a clearance section where you’ll find products selling at heavy discounts. Do lookout for the prices though, they are not always cheap.

Rediff Shopping

Rediff is one of the oldest website in India, and the 11th most visited Indian web portal according to the (dubious) Alexa ranking. Rediff’s shopping portal boasts of over 150,000 products in diverse categories. I won’t attempt to list them here because it’s huge, but I want to highlight a few verticals that I found interesting and those that I haven't seen in other shopping sites. These include paintings, musical instruments, cheap electronic peripherals like power cords and SATA cables, astrology and religious products (vaastu, feng-shui, gems and what not). Like eBay, Rediff shopping is a marketplace of sort and the products are sold by independent sellers. Prices of the products as well as shipping charges, hence, is different from product to product.

Indiatimes Shopping

Indiatimes Shopping is the ecommerce division of the The Times Group, India's largest media conglomerate. Launched in 2000, it is an old player in the e-commerce business. For a long time it operated essentially as a marketplace model, much like eBay, with sellers being allowed to sell directly on the website under their name and warranty. However, it has recently made moves towards the stocking mode of operation, with its deal with Nokia and also in some of its traditional categories like Movies, Music and Games. Indiatimes Shopping’s inventory is not very large and is overall disappointing.

BuyThePrice

This is another fast growing e-commerce website offering a range of products from mobile phones, computers, cameras, perfumes, watches, toys, handicrafts, cosmetics, fitness and sports equipment and many more. BuyThePrice is worth checking out for cameras, mobiles and anything electronic.

Tradus

Another popular one-stop-shop is Tradus, that offers a wide variety of products across 50 different categories ranging from the latest gadgets to exquisite hand-crafted jewellery. Aside from sticking their own products, Tradus is also a marketplace for independent sellers. Because of this the prices vary and you may not get a deal out of every purchase. Although the products are cheaper compared to street prices, they aren’t as cheap as they are made to appear. For instance, the Nikon D5100 DSLR is listed at Rs 32,999, which is a fair price. But the reported 23% discount is false as the camera isn’t anywhere close Rs 43,000 the site claims to cost in retail. The actual discount is just over 1%.

Rightshopping

Rightshopping has an impressive inventory and some interesting niches. Aside from their main portal, the company runs several sister e-commerce sites devoted to special segments such as toys, gadgets, and flowers. The website gives prominence to their deals section which is further divided into daily deals, hot deals, Rs 199 Store and clearance sale.

Seventymm

Seventymm originally started as an online DVD rental service. Later it expanded into selling pretty much everything else. Then on Feb 2012, it shutdown its DVD rental business and solely does the online shopping business. Currently offered products include apparel, electronic gadgets, fashion accessories, footwear, home accessories, jewellery, watches, home decor, kitchen appliances, kids stuff, and other life style products.

ShopClues

Launched just last year, ShopClues is among the latest to jump into e-commerce. Like eBay, ShopClues is a marketplace where buyers and sellers could get together. The prices are quite reasonable though not as competitive as eBay. Having said that, ShopClues has some pretty good deals and sometime you may stumble upon rare gems.

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Specialty Stores

Electronics, Computers, Mobiles and Cameras

• Smartshoppers – Everything electronics from computer peripherals, cameras, lens, mobile phones, entertainment products and games. Not included are home appliances such as microwave ovens and refrigerators.
• PrimeABGB – All computer hardware, laptops, notebooks and accessories. Discounts, daily deals and combo offers are its main attractions.
• The Mobile Store – The online version of the popular chain of retail stores in India dealing with mobile phones and accessories. Aside from handsets, it also offers pre-paid recharge service.
• Next – Another retail giant moving into cyber space. Their website offers the same line of products you’ll find on their brick and mortar stores, which are home appliances, electronic goods, and laptops and computers. Their prices are very attractive and discounts are available on a large number of products.
• Shopbychoice – This site offers wide range of products in electronics, lifestyle, home appliances, home entertainment, computer and IT. I found the prices somewhat inconsistent – some products were lucratively priced while some others are overpriced. Shop with caution.
• Univercell – A store for mobile phones and tablets. You can search and filter phones by price, brand, form factor, and features such as CPU, band type, OS, and others. Prices aren’t great, though.
• Saholic – Sells branded mobile phones, tablets, laptops and accessories. Prices are very competitive. They frequently offer deals and has an almost permanent clearance sale section.
• Lets Shop – Houses a huge range of cell phones and cameras. At the time of this writing there are over 1,000 different cell phone models and over 500 cameras. Also available are laptops, computer peripherals, and a respectable selection of watches.
• Deltapage – One of the largest store for computer hardware and components with a variety of products. The drawbacks are – 1) their price, which is almost the same you’ll get from your local vendor, and 2) shipping isn’t free. Above all, an additional 3% is charged for credit card transaction.
• Bitfang – Mostly computer components, software and games. Also sold are television, media players, mobile phones and cameras.
• TheITDepot – Like Deltapage, this is another tech heaven for computer components. Products are reasonably priced and some are offered at discounts too. However, the shipping cost has to be borne by the buyers.
• RateTag – This site is difficult to classify. They deal in some electronic stuff such as headphones and media players which are worth checking out. They also sell toys, some house appliances and grooming kits, watches and some fashion gear like sunglasses.
• Ezoneonline – This is another e-commerce site from Future Group (see Futurebazaar above). Ezoneonline concerns itself with computers and household electronics, as well as cell phones and cameras. Prices are a bit on the higher side.
• Gadgets.in – This isn’t your run-of-the-mill electronic goods sites. It houses some of the most unique and diverse gadgets that you may have laid your eyes on such as the “ZEN The Master Air Hand Mouse” – a mouse that you wear in your hand like a glove, and the possibly illegal “Triband Cellular Jammer”. And of course, regular electronic stuff like laptops and cameras and home appliances are available too.
• Egully – This is mainly an electronic store, but it also houses limited collection of apparels, jewellery, books and gifts.
• JJMehta – If you are interested in photography, chances are you’ve already heard about JJ Mehta’s shop. JJ Mehta has everything from point and shoot to professional DSLR, tripods, memory cards and flash guns. If you local photography store doesn’t have some gear, JJ Mehta will have them. Don’t expect to get a deal or discount out of JJ Mehta. One thing I feel is sorely missing from this online shop is professional lighting equipment.

Apparels, Beauty Products, Toys and Home Furnishing

• Myntra – This hugely popular fashion and lifestyle store offers products from over 500 brands. Products on offer include all kinds of apparels, fashion accessories and shoes from renowned industry leaders like Nike, Puma, Converse, Adidas, Reebok, Lee Cooper, and many more. There are also casual and dressy footwear for women from Catwalk, Carlton London and Red Tape to name a few.
• Jabong – This online fashion and apparel store deals with apparels, footwear, jewellery, beauty products, fragrances, home accessories and a few other varieties of products from well know Indian and international brands. Jabong also offers home decor products including furniture, lighting, crockery, kitchen utilities, bathroom accessories and what not. Kids apparel and toys are available as well.
• Pepperfry – Offers over 35,000 products in clothing, jewellery, fashion accessories, personal care, health care, gym equipment, furniture, and home decor products. Good discount is available on almost every product.  This e-commerce site was launched in Jan 2012.
• FashionAndYou – As the name suggests, this website focuses on fashion accessories, apparels, and jewellery from over 500 international, luxury, lifestyle brands and designer at decent prices. With multiple options for women, men and kids, the offerings include apparel, footwear, accessories, fragrances, watches, cosmetics, home & lifestyle products. The site holds flash sales where 15 new products are offered each day at heavy discounts.
• Fashionara – An online fashion store that offers merchandise from premium and luxury fashion brands across apparel, footwear and accessories.
• Shoppers Stop – This is the online version of the department store chain that has retail stores at over 50 cities in India. Shoppers Stop retails a range of branded apparel and private label under the following categories of apparel, footwear, fashion jewellery, leather products, accessories and home products. 
• Goodlife – One stop portal for home essentials, health and fitness products, and beauty and personal care products from 500+ Premium brands. Products include from categories as diverse as home decor, food, health, makeup, fragrances, bath & body, and skin, hair & personal care for both men and women. Boasts of over 20,000+ products from brands like L'oreal, Maybelline, Revlon, Calvin Klein, Archies, Garnier, American Garden and many more.
• Cliory – This relatively new entrant to the e-commerce space offers a wide variety of products ranging in the apparels, lingerie, jewellery and home decor space. Cliory is also probably the only e-commerce site in India that sells “sexual well being” products such as condoms and lubricants.
• Zovi – An online store for fashion apparel and accessories. They offer apparels, shoes, fashion accessories, bags, socks, sportswear and swimwear.
• Inkfruit – Originally launched as an online retail for t-shirts, Inkfruit has grown since then to encompass all kinds of apparel for men and women including footwear and fashion accessories.
• CBazaar – This site offers ethnic Indian clothing such as sarees, lehangas, salwar-kameez etc for women and kurta-pyjama, sherwani, and suits for men. Also available for accessories such as handbags and dupattas and Indian jewellery.
• Utsav Fashion – Another ethnic clothing store specialized in bridal sarees, trendy Salwar Kameez and other Indian bridal wear like Lehenga Cholis. They also have an exquisite collection of jewellery, traditional wedding accessories, handbags and footwear.
• Fabulloso! - An online store that sells a curated selection of apparel and lifestyle products. It retails a selection of designer creations – both by established and emerging designers, wardrobe classics, shoes & accessories, personal care products, and home décor and furnishings.
• Rock.in – Offers Indians access to the latest seasonal collections of clothing and styles, inspired from celebrities and catwalks across the globe, all at affordable prices. Apparels from some of the biggest labels and designers of London, Paris and Milan can be found here.
• Yepme – Specializes in the online retailing of men’s and women's garments and accessories. Products include shirts, trousers, jeans, footwear and other accessories.

Home Furnishing

• Urban Ladder - A Bangalore-based online furniture retailer. It offers products across categories like tables and bar units, storage and shelves, seating, and accessories (trays, mirrors, laundry basket etc). It sources furniture from manufacturers across the country and even internationally.
• Urbandazzle – An online shop, operating out of Delhi, dealing with home decor products and dinnerware items at some of the best prices in India. Offers a variety of dinner sets, ceramic trays, shot glasses, bar accessories, home decor items, and kitchen accessories.
• FabFurnish - An e-commerce portal for products in furniture, furnishings, decor and kitchenware. Offers wood or modular furniture, home decor from Indian market leaders, hand crafted decorative items and appliances from leading international brands. In addition, FabFurnish.com provides discounts and offers to suit every pocket.
• Zansaar – Offers an amazing range of home and food products from around the world from lamps, bed linen to crockery, kitchenware to world foods. Zansaar has a pretty large inventory and offers big discounts.
• Bedbathmore – Offers home decor products for bedroom and bathrooms, such as bed sheets and curtains, bathrobes and towels. It also has a small selection of kitchenware and grooming kits.
• HomeSuperShops – Offers over 20,000 furniture products and home decor items including kitcenware, dinner sets, bed and bath and home fitness equipment on the side.

Women’s Apparel

• Koovs - An online store catering to women looking for fashion apparel, accessories, bags and footwear.
• Ladyblush – A women focused shopping website selling everything from clothes, cosmetics, lingerie, innerwear, sarees, jewellery, watches, shoes, wallets and much more.
• Herstyle – Women’s lingerie, swimwear, footwear, personal care and apparel.
• StrapandStrings – Designer lingerie and swimwear from Lise Charmel and Chantelle from France, Christies from Italy, Mimi Holliday by famous fashion house of Damaris Evans from England, and internationally renowned Oscar de la Renta to name just a few.
• Zivame - An online lingerie store featuring hundreds of styles for the Indian woman, from multiple brands.

Kids Wear, Baby Products and Toys

• Hoopos – Focuses on mother care, baby and kids products. Includes clothes, toys, books, sporting goods and personal care all targeted towards kids.
• FirstCry – Online portal for baby and kids products. Houses over 50,000 items from 400+ top International and Indian brands like Mattel, Ben10, Pigeon, Funskool, Hotwheels, Nuby, Farlin, Medela, Pampers, Disney, Barbie, Gerber, Zapak, Mee Mee and so on.
• Hushbabies – Provides products for mothers-to-be and kids that include everything from clothes to baby care to maternity wear.
• Redbell – Online specialty toy store offering vast selection of toys , games, sporting goods, electronics, and juvenile furniture.
• Disney Store – The licensed retailer of Walt Disney products. Sells toys, books, music, clothes, school stuff etc. from the Disney brand.

Footwear / Shoes

• BeStylish – Boasts of being the largest online footwear store in India. Offers more than 5,000 shoes across 200 brands for men, women and children, with a 100-days return policy.
• Fashos – Offers footwear from across 50 brands. Also sells leather products like belts, wallets, bags etc.
• BuyNewSyle – Houses footwear from the best possible brands around the world ranging from shoes to snickers to boots.
• MetroShoes – The online arm of popular Metro Shoes retail chain. Offers everything that you’ll find when you walk into one of their retail stores.

This list is by no means complete, will never be and I shouldn’t even attempt to. In the midst of preparing this article I realized that I had severely under estimated the size of the Indian e-commerce space. It’s huge and there appears to exist more than a couple of hundreds – maybe even thousands - of e-store, and new ones are springing up practically every month, thanks to our entrepreneurial spirit and (over zealous) venture capitalists.

In the list above, I’ve included only those retail stores that houses products from multiple brands and sites that are reliable (or at least appear to be), and have received favourable reviews from customers. If you know any big store that I missed, feel free to chip in.

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