Personal computing discussed

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Palek
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:09 am

Zapping this almost-dead thread back to life...

I have found Secunia's PSI to be very helpful at keeping Windows computers in our home up to date with patches. It scans all installed applications, including various Windows components and the OS itself, lets you know which ones are exposing you to security risks as per Secunia's vulnerability database, and also notifies you if there are patches available. Scanning can bog older computers down for a few minutes, but newer systems with dual-core or better CPUs and fast HDDs or SSDs will not slow down much at all. And the benefits are definitely worth it.

Secunia PSI download page
 
oaslme
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:40 am

if u doing coding, don't forget notepad++ and netbeans
 
Welch
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Sat May 26, 2012 12:37 am

Wanted to add a new one that I recently found thats been out for a VERY long time now...

ISO Recorder - Does exactly what it implies, and does it for free. Instead of having a large interface too, its a shell extension. All you have to do is right click on the CD/DVD/BD in your my computer, and tell it to "Create Image From CD/DVD" and give it a location and Voila, you get an ISO image of that disc. Simple, free, fast..... this is what its all about people :)

http://alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
It also has the same functionality to burn an image to a disc.

But for those of you who prefer to have something a little.. slightly (not much) more for recording your ISO files to disc, my favorite is FreeISOBurner... yep, its name says it all... of course its free.
www.FreeISOBurner.com

Last but not least... something very useful from Microsoft.
Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - http://images2.store.microsoft.com/prod ... D-tool.exe
Allows you to take ISO files (of OSes supposedly only) and make them bootable on a thumb drive. I've done with with Windows 7 Pro many times so that I can install it on machines without optical drives. Works great and makes the install process a heck of a lot fast. Just got to make sure the machine your booting from likes USB sticks on booting.......

Hope this helps someone who needs their ISO fix, because that's what all of those programs are about. Enjoy :)
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Convert
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:36 pm

Speaking of bootable USB drives, I present Rufus: http://rufus.akeo.ie/

It's a simple program that can turn a thumbdrive into a MS DOS, FreeDOS or ISO bootable drive with just a couple clicks. I've needed this when I was updating firmware or a BIOS that needed to be done in DOS. Just dump the contents to the drive, reboot and flash away.
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travbrad
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:22 pm

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

I've been using this for years and it's a great lightweight and very powerful program for editing music tags and file-names. You can change your file-names or tags in batches using your preferred specified naming convention (for example "%artist% - %year% - %album% - %track% - %title%")

I've used tons of different music/media player programs but none of them offer anything near the level of tag/file-name management that this little 6MB program offers.
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killadark
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Mar 14, 2013 4:27 pm

EVERYTHING -well searches everything for you in a matter of seconds ;)
http://www.voidtools.com/
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PenGun
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:59 am

Bash, Midnight Commander, a web browser, you know that's about all the front end I need. MC has a host of extension bindings that do almost everything I need for my amusement.

Do a lot from the command line, it's often easier and faster than firing up some program or other.
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anotherengineer
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri Oct 04, 2013 8:44 pm

Hello, I am planning a format on 2 pc's soon (W7 & W8 pro, x64) anyone have any suggestions for some good software to inprove usability and functionality?

For w7 I was thinking of purchasing actual multiple monitors or display fusion (for the multiple taskbars) and start8 for W8.

I also see dual monitor taskbar on sourceforge.

I don't mind if the programs cost money if they are worth it. Any other suggestions are welcome.
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anotherengineer
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Wed Apr 01, 2015 10:21 am

Have to revive this old thread.
I am currently on Win 7 x64 Pro, and hopefully be moving to win 8.1 or 8.2 x64 pro this summer.

So is there any must have 3rd party programs you guys use with win 8.1?

I remember installing a few on win 7 religiously like teracopy, imgburn, sometimes the MSDN process explorer, and a desktop tool for extending tool bars in multi-monitor setups. Are any of these and others good to have on win 8.1 and moving forward?
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anotherengineer
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:02 pm

Does anyone still use
-classic shell
-start 8
or other desktop programs with win 8.1?
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Captain Ned
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Wed Apr 01, 2015 3:04 pm

anotherengineer wrote:
Does anyone still use
-classic shell
-start 8
or other desktop programs with win 8.1?

Classic Shell here. Haven't seen the Start screen since about 10 minutes after loading 8.1.
What we have today is way too much pluribus and not enough unum.
 
Welch
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Apr 02, 2015 12:20 am

Captain Ned wrote:
anotherengineer wrote:
Does anyone still use
-classic shell
-start 8
or other desktop programs with win 8.1?

Classic Shell here. Haven't seen the Start screen since about 10 minutes after loading 8.1.


+1 - If it weren't for classic shell, I'd not be able to recommend Windows 8/8.1 to customers because they would be ultimately lost. I'd not be so happy either even though I'm still rocking 7.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
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just brew it!
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Apr 02, 2015 12:41 am

Welch wrote:
Captain Ned wrote:
Classic Shell here. Haven't seen the Start screen since about 10 minutes after loading 8.1.

+1 - If it weren't for classic shell, I'd not be able to recommend Windows 8/8.1 to customers because they would be ultimately lost. I'd not be so happy either even though I'm still rocking 7.

My Windows needs are still adequately met by Windows 7; natively at work (where I don't have a choice of Windows versions anyway), or via a VM hosted on my Linux desktop at home. I have no plans to seriously explore later versions of Windows until it becomes necessary, due to migration of the corporate IT environment to something post-7, a need for a Windows-specific 3rd party application at home that requires something newer, or another job change that results in a "need to know".

Given the above, I'd say my Windows "Must Have" program these days is VirtualBox or VMware Player. At work, it lets me run my preferred Linix distro in a VM for development; at home it allows me to run Windows when needed without needing to dual-boot. :wink:
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LoneWolf15
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Apr 02, 2015 10:58 am

anotherengineer wrote:
Does anyone still use
-classic shell
-start 8
or other desktop programs with win 8.1?


I'd probably commit seppuku without Classic Shell. I have to use Win 8.1 so I can manage Server 2012/2012 R2 boxes at work. Still using Windows 7 at home (with a 2012 R2 server that I RDP into rather than manage remotely).

All my other must-haves probably are must-haves if you're a techie doing troubleshooting stuff --not so much for everyone else.
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Welch
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri Apr 03, 2015 3:04 am

just brew it! wrote:
Welch wrote:
Captain Ned wrote:
Classic Shell here. Haven't seen the Start screen since about 10 minutes after loading 8.1.

+1 - If it weren't for classic shell, I'd not be able to recommend Windows 8/8.1 to customers because they would be ultimately lost. I'd not be so happy either even though I'm still rocking 7.

My Windows needs are still adequately met by Windows 7; natively at work (where I don't have a choice of Windows versions anyway), or via a VM hosted on my Linux desktop at home. I have no plans to seriously explore later versions of Windows until it becomes necessary, due to migration of the corporate IT environment to something post-7, a need for a Windows-specific 3rd party application at home that requires something newer, or another job change that results in a "need to know".

Given the above, I'd say my Windows "Must Have" program these days is VirtualBox or VMware Player. At work, it lets me run my preferred Linix distro in a VM for development; at home it allows me to run Windows when needed without needing to dual-boot. :wink:


Agreed, I still run Windows 7 and don't plan to leave it until I truly need to. Nor do I have my business customers get Windows 8/8.1 unless they specifically want it for some reason. The only ones who go to Windows 8/8.1 are home customers who have purchased a pre-built machine.
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

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vargis14
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri Apr 03, 2015 11:56 am

I have to list Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) / Cleaner made for Display (GPU) Drivers.(NVIDIA/AMD)

What it does is remove the display/GPU driver from device manager and remove the current and
all precedent driver(s) from the Windows Driver store along with removing services from NVIDIA/AMD.

The current effect after you use this tool will be similar to if Windows was in a "Fresh Install" state.

This tool acts much like "Driver Sweeper"*, and has all the extra mentioned above.

If you have any problems installing an older driver or a newer one, give it a try as there are some reports that it fixes
those problems.

RECOMMENDED USAGE :

-The tool can be used in Normal mode but for absolute stability when using DDU, Safe Mode is
always the best.

- We would like to gather feedback from everyone, tell us if it was successful or not.

- Make a backup or a system restore. (but it should normally be pretty safe.
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Village
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:48 am

Arise thread... Arise...

Windows 10/LinuxMint 17.3

Firefox w/
- HTTPS Everywhere
- uBlock Origin
- Ghostery
- NoScript

f.lux (haven't gotten a linux equiv to work correctly)
vlcmedia player
deluge
universalmediaserver (formerly ps3media thingy) (Win10 PC is the workhorse and runs this)

Other than that since I don't do any work on my home systems, I don't have any must have tools. I don't find antimalware tools useful, MS stuff is good enough. I run my system as an unprivileged user, I use UAC or sudo. I experiment with lots of different things from distributed computing, to SDKs to Blender and, streaming video games. But must have programs, not really.
 
Chuckaluphagus
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:21 pm

Village wrote:
f.lux (haven't gotten a linux equiv to work correctly)

f.lux has a Linux version - is it not working for you? I love it, been using it on Ubuntu for years.
 
anotherengineer
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:24 pm

Sorry in advance, this has been mentioned a few times but I can't find the thread(s).

Going to do a fresh 8.1pro install, user has never used anything past windows 7.

So looking for a classic gui interface

-classicshell
-start is back
-start 8
other?????

Plus if it's compatible with W10. Also no problem paying up to $20 for something that's a quality product.
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biffzinker
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Sat Apr 16, 2016 5:30 pm

Bvckup 2 Release 75
Bvckup 2 is a mirroring data backup software notable for its use of delta copying, speed of operation, small resource footprint and a "beautifully functional" user interface. The software replicates files from one location to another in their original format and purposefully does not include options for compressing or encrypting them. It does however include a comprehensive list of supporting features including periodic and real-time backup scheduling, removable device tracking and shadow copying support. Ideal for making local backups, backups going to external and removable drives as well as to NAS devices.

Bvckup 2 features:

Real-time, scheduled and manual backups
Very fast, delta file copying
Excellent user interface
Backup of locked files with shadow copying
Removable device tracking
Move/rename detection
Windows XP and newer
Full 64-bit support
Run-as-a-service mode
Symlink and junction support
Ownership, group and DACL copying
Fully asynchronous I/O
Multi-core processing where required
Optimized throughout for no run-time bloat
Software update notifications

Bvckup 2 Homepage
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biffzinker
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Sat Apr 16, 2016 5:36 pm

anotherengineer wrote:
Sorry in advance, this has been mentioned a few times but I can't find the thread(s).

Going to do a fresh 8.1pro install, user has never used anything past windows 7.

So looking for a classic gui interface

-classicshell
-start is back
-start 8
other?????

Plus if it's compatible with W10. Also no problem paying up to $20 for something that's a quality product.

Startisback++ for Windows 10 myself, using the key carried over from when I had Windows 8 installed.
Startisback Homepage

Edit: Sorry no one answered your post back in March.
It would take you 2,363 continuous hours or 98 days,11 hours, and 35 minutes of gameplay to complete your Steam library.
In this time you could travel to Venus one time.
 
anotherengineer
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu May 05, 2016 10:47 pm

Hey just wondering what people use for MD5/SHA checker??

I have been using this
https://raylin.wordpress.com/downloads/ ... m-utility/

pretty satisfied, just wondering if there is anything better?
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just brew it!
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu May 05, 2016 11:21 pm

I tend to use CLI for stuff like that. Same tool works as a standalone manual checker for small numbers of files, or can be scripted for larger, more complex tasks. But I guess that's the developer in me...
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anotherengineer
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri May 06, 2016 10:40 am

just brew it! wrote:
I tend to use CLI for stuff like that. Same tool works as a standalone manual checker for small numbers of files, or can be scripted for larger, more complex tasks. But I guess that's the developer in me...


LOL

I guess I should have specified Windows 7/8.1/10
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Flying Fox
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri May 06, 2016 11:45 am

anotherengineer wrote:
I guess I should have specified Windows 7/8.1/10

Even Microsoft itself has a CLI tool for it.

Of course, if you don't mind a bit of coding, you can use PowerShell 4.0 and up and use the Get-FileHash cmdlet.
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solo_clipper
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri May 06, 2016 1:19 pm

anotherengineer wrote:
Hey just wondering what people use for MD5/SHA checker??


Why install anything?

Hold shift key, right click on folder that contains file , select Open command window here.

Copy and past this, (substitute your file of course).

certutil -hashfile File.exe SHA1

HashAlgorithm choices: MD2 MD4 MD5 SHA1 SHA256 SHA384 SHA512 (choices must be caps)
 
Gorillamp
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Jul 28, 2016 9:08 pm

Driver Genius - Automatically detect and install missing drive
Launchy - Fast open programs with combination keys
TestDisk - Data Recovery
Androidphonesoft MobileTrans - Copy data from one phone to another
Fastone Capture: Easy photo editing and resizing
 
S1ngle
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Thu Aug 04, 2016 10:23 am

Working online with tons of accounts Lastpass & KeePass are essential for me. Both of them are free.
 
biffzinker
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri Aug 19, 2016 1:02 pm

VeraCrypt is a free disk encryption software based on TrueCrypt. It adds enhanced security to the algorithms used for system and partitions encryption making it immune to new developments in brute-force attacks.
For example, when the system partition is encrypted, TrueCrypt uses PBKDF2-RIPEMD160 with 1000 iterations whereas in VeraCrypt we use 327661. And for standard containers and other partitions, TrueCrypt uses at most 2000 iterations but VeraCrypt uses 655331 for RIPEMD160 and 500000 iterations for SHA-2 and Whirlpool.
This enhanced security adds some delay only to the opening of encrypted partitions without any performance impact to the application use phase. This is acceptable to the legitimate owner but it makes it much more harder for an attacker to gain access to the encrypted data.
VeraCrypt storage format is INCOMPATIBLE with TrueCrypt storage format.


VeraCrypt based on TrueCrypt 7.1a
Source for quoted text above: http://www.neowin.net/news/veracrypt-118
It would take you 2,363 continuous hours or 98 days,11 hours, and 35 minutes of gameplay to complete your Steam library.
In this time you could travel to Venus one time.
 
yogibbear
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Re: Must Have Programs!

Fri Aug 19, 2016 1:31 pm

http://www.makemkv.com/

RIP your entire Blu-ray / DVD / whatever collection to your HDD to play on HTPC or Smart TV or NAS or XBMC/Kodi or Android box. Then pack all those DVDs and Blurays into the garage or attic or wherever out of the way.

https://handbrake.fr/

Compress those rips down to manageable sizes, edit a million things you want to. Also useful for reencoding into MP4 for playback on iPad or whatever your family member wants.
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