Personal computing discussed

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Welch
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Must Have Programs!

Fri Nov 26, 2004 10:41 am

*Edit Notification November 2nd*
I will be updating this first post to include a list of many of the programs that have been listed on the following pages to help all of the new members who don't have the time to read through all of these posts. I will also be editing this post to include Windows XP programs and then another list of programs that are Windows 7 compatible (or at least that are fully functional when ran in compatibility mode). If you have posted or are going to post programs and are willing to test them first as well as confirm with the developers which version of windows they are compatible with, please PM here on the forums so that I can edit the post and provide the best information to our fellow TR members. Thanks for all your efforts!

-Welch



Now im sure someone is going to hollar at me saying im wrong about one of them, or that this has already been covered on another thread. Well go ahead and do it. Also make some recommendations on any other freebie programs that you know of that you think to be MUST HAVES.

Adaware SE- This program is just all around the best adaware program avalible to the market. To make things greater they made a personal use version that is free!

CNET -
"With the ability to scan your RAM, registry, hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising, and tracking components, Ad-aware SE easily can clean your system, allowing you to maintain a higher degree of privacy while you surf the Web.

Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition boasts a number of improvements. Extended memory scanning now scans all modules loaded by a process. Scanning uses the all- new CSI (Code Sequence Identification) technology to identify new and unknown variants of known targets. Extended registry scanning now scans registry branches of multiple-user accounts and performs additional smart checks to detect dynamically created references. Scanning speed is noticeably faster, and this version offers an Extended Scanning mode for known and unknown/possible browser hijackers."

Ace Utilities- This program does quite a few of the standard features you would find on your windows system rolled into one! Cleans Junk Files, Clean System Registry, Erase Your history, Fix Invalid Shortcuts, Edit Startup Menu, Find Duplicate Files, Add/Remove Porgrams, Find Empty Folders, Disk Analysis, Scheduled System Maintenance. And a new feature that allows you to TRUELY wipe information off your computers Hard Drive by writting all zeros to the area. Doesnt cost alot but is well worth the little bit of cash.

Spyware Blaster - This is a program that you cant afford not to have on your computer. This one strikes another point for GNU, Totally free! It uses an extremely basic interface to do a very important job. There are known sites that host files to place adware on your computer. What would you do to avoid these sites? How would you be able to possibly block all of them by manually blocking each one? Well you dont have to. Spyware Blaster can be set to auto update if you want or you auto update to receive a reffrence files that once downloaded adds more of these known sites. It then shows you how many of these sites are not blocked by you for your Internet Explorer, and Mozilla FireFox at the same time. And to make it all of the better it is a passive program. So no running it while you surf. Just update from time to time, enable protection against those sites and time to rock n roll!

MRU Blaster- From the Makers of Spyware Blaster. This very small little program takes but litterally 2 seconds to run! MRU stands for Most Recently Used. If you share your PC with others and dont want them to see what you have visited or used then you need MRU Blaster. It erases things that erasing your history cant get! A basic Form of MRU deletion is included in Adaware SE but it doesnt nearly touch what this program is capable of.

Disk Keeper- Something I have used for about 2 years. One of my prized programs. By the name you could have probably guess it was some sort of disk managment program. It replaces to defualt windows defrager and adds quite a few features that the windows defrager cant touch. It works very quickly, has analyize disk to see how fragment the selected drive is. Has a Set it and Forget it setting where you can set the programs priorty setting and for it to run at set intervals or days of the week, or just when your computer goes to screen saver. It also has a boot time defrager to keep you Master File Tables in order and files that cant be touched during windows running.

Gibson Research- http://WWW.GRC.COM offers all sorts of little gadgets to maintain and test your computer, and turn off dangerous secruity holes in the various windows operation systems. If you are running a server or want to test a new firewall they have programs that can test your server/firewall's security so as to make you aware of security holes that need to be fixed. And to make the numerous programs even great they are FREE and almost all are 200-300 KBs in size and require no installation. Just run the little exes and your off :D

Now that its over, its time for me to hear comments and suggestions. And dont forget to try out these awsome programs to get your pc run in tip top shape.
[/u]


EDIT: Since every forum needs at least one sticky thread, i'll sticky this one for a while, and thanks to Ragnar Dan, this one also references the other one.
Dposcorp
Last edited by Welch on Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:33 pm, edited 4 times in total.
 
emkubed
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 11:07 am

I use PerfectDisk instead of Disk Keeper.

Otherwise, Stinger from McAfee, hijackthis from Merijn, and angry IP scanner from angryziber are my favorite 3 right now.
 
Hawkwing74
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 11:41 am

Spybot Search and Destroy instead of the other spyware program for me anyway.
 
LicketySplit
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 12:16 pm

Yup...Spybot and Adware together work well...
Just an old sheepdog waiting for some nasty wolves to show...ive got more than enough teeth left.
 
atidriverssuck
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:23 pm

I myself can't get over some people's defragger obsessions :D I find defragging itself close to useless and a huge time-waste. Oh well :)

Must-haves, u say? Essential, u say? I'll give u some of mine.

AnalogX Proxy (because Windows Internet Connection Sharing is iffy) http://www.analogx.com
Adobe Reader http://www.adobe.com
WordWeb (free offline dictionary) http://wordweb.info/free/
ZoneAlarm http://www.zonealarm.com
Opera http://www.opera.com
Mozilla Firefox http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefiox
with: Web Developer Extension (essential for web work) http://www.chrispederick.com/work/firefox/webdeveloper/
with: HTML Validator (with HTML Tidy) Extension: http://users.skynet.be/mgueury/mozilla/
with: FlashGot Extension: (extension allowing batch downloads in many popular download managers while browsing in Firefox) https://update.mozilla.org/extensions/m ... php?id=220
Mozilla Thunderbird 0.9 (decent mail/news client without all the Outlook IE-based security issues) http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird
Winamp (not sure what it does) http://www.winamp.com
VNC (remote control over the net) http://www.realvnc.com
CDex (CD ripper, integrated Ogg/mp3) http://www.cdex.n3.net/
Miranda IM (simple, efficient instant messenger) http://www.miranda-im.org
with: History++ 1.4.0 Plug-In http://www.miranda-im.org/download/deta ... ile&id=543
Daemon Tools (virtual CD/DVD drive disc image loader)
Ifranview (image viewer) http://www.irfanview.com
DVD Decrypter
DVD Shrink
FLAC (lossless encoding of music) http://flac.sourceforge.net
Audacity (sound editor) http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
SpaceMonger 1.4 (world's best visual "what's using up all my space?" tool) http://www.werkema.com/software/spacemonger.html
DScaler (tv app) http://www.dscaler.com
OpenOffice.org 1.1.3 (office suite) http://www.openoffice.org
All Sysinternals free stuff http://www.sysinternals.com

non-free stuff:
FinePrint (combine multiple printed pages on one page, delete unneeded pages, save paper & ink) http://www.fineprint.com
TopStyle Pro (CSS/HTML editor) http://www.bradsoft.com
Photoshop 7 (new app, not sure what it does) http://www.adobe.com
Corel Painter IX (the only paint/sketch app of its kind) http://www.corel.com
Nero http://www.nero.com/en

etc.

Lots of good free stuff. Hours of fun for the family.
I don't consider spyware-removal apps essential 'cause I don't use that OTHER BROWSER and that OTHER EMAIL PROGRAM ;) Har. (Har)
 
emkubed
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:36 pm

And I don't see how some people think defragging is a waste of time. On average home systems, people to do basic browsing and email, maybe you don't need to do it often, but most of us who do a lot of music, games and movies on their PC, large chunks of data being moved on and off the disk(s), I don't see why some see it as useless.
 
atidriverssuck
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:42 pm

emkubed wrote:
And I don't see how some people think defragging is a waste of time. On average home systems, people to do basic browsing and email, maybe you don't need to do it often, but most of us who do a lot of music, games and movies on their PC, large chunks of data being moved on and off the disk(s), I don't see why some see it as useless.


it was all tongue-in-cheek. I said "close to useless" btw.
 
Jon
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:05 pm

Hey atidriverssuck, you should try UltraVNC, it's WAAAAAAAY better than RealVNC.

My current useful apps are:

System Mechanic 5 Professional
WinSCP3 (Linux file system browser)
UltraVNC
Image
-Playing shooters on a console is like doing brain surgery with an ice-cream scoop-
 
Illissius
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:09 pm

amaroK
Kaffeine
Krusader
Kate
Gwenview
K3b
Kopete

First one to guess what they do without clicking on the links wins a prize ;)
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
last.fm profile
 
Welch
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:26 pm

Sorry i cant guess what they are :P

DAMN i forgot to mention alot of my programs in there. RealVNC is one of them for sure. Mozilla is my life also. I just was mostly shooting for computer utilities programs.

As for the spyware fued. I dont care to much for spybot search and Dystroy. It misses quite a bit that Adware picks up. But it couldnt hurt to run both you would think. Except for some really gay errors my mom has been getting with her spyboted PC. Itll ask her to block a certain file or somthing, and then she would click Yes block. And then any time she changed pages (mozilla) it would ask the same thing over and over again.

It is the same reason that i DISPISE programs like Norton Anti-Virus, Macfee, SpyBot S&D ect! They should not get in the way of your normal computer fuctions. I hate it when im on a friends PC playing a game or anything and the screen freaks becuase Norton wanted to let me know that i need to update. Or ask me if its ok to open up the Game EXE about 1 or 2 minutes after im already in the game playing!

Its just really poor ass coding. And no one should buy crap like that. Infact if im fixing someone comp and tuning it up. I go the startup to clear all of the useless crap. I will remove Norton Anti-Virus' email protector, computer protector, and any other crap norton has on start up. Just one huge system hog!
 
Ragnar Dan
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:34 pm

This is starting to look quite a bit like the Windows freeware list thread from a couple of months back: http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22024
 
fousk
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:37 pm

SuSE ? :p

;)

First one to guess what they do without clicking on the links wins a prize ;)[/quote]
 
atidriverssuck
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:39 pm

Jon wrote:
Hey atidriverssuck, you should try UltraVNC, it's WAAAAAAAY better than RealVNC.


oooh, this sounds nice. Thanks for the tip!
 
kitsura
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Location: In front of my computer, Duh...

Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:41 pm

Admuncher - Popup and advert blocker
bsplayer - Windows Media Player substitute
Winrar - Best file compression program
Memturbo - Memory defragging program
 
house
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 4:35 pm

AVG antivirus -free antivirus
AnyDVD- Unlocks all disc protections
Copy to DVD- Integrates with DVD shrink for fast burning
ABC- Free, Easy to use bittorrent client
Wallmaster- Free wallpaper cycler
WinRAR- Best app for creating/unpacking archives
Trillian- Free, integrates all you im clients into one smooth interface
Photoshop CS- Best image editing tool
ATI tool- Free, If you have an ATI GPU, you'll want this
Daemon Tools- Free, Creates virtual drives for iso's, bin's
Alcohol 120- For the xbox modders
FineCrypt- Free, easy to use strong encryption and security
MS Office- Essential in the modern world
Folding at Home- Free,Do your part!
Sandra, 3d Mark, MBM, wCPUid - Excellent tools for hardware tweaking
dbPowerAmp Music converter- Free, Converts almost any audio format into any other.
 
Welch
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 5:03 pm

It was cool to look on that list of programs in the other thread.

I use quite a few of them!

AVG 7.0
Guild FTP for Server
OGG is by far my favorite encoding for quiality and size! I guess OGM is for the movies since thats what most of my movies are in. Based off OGG i take it. Media Player Classic of course ;)
Mozilla
RealVNC (ill try out the UltraVNC also) is it by the same company? Or open source?

One that i kinda dont agree with them on is trillian. I looked at the system resources it used and it was pathetic! It was using anywhere between 14-18 MB idle. No users logged in on there Messanger accounts. Opposed to MSN 6.2 alone using 6 mb. I used a program called Easy Message which used about 3mb and could log onto multiple Yahoo, MSN accounts at the same time. Problem was it used the emotions from old msn. It didnt allow you to add new friends (had to go onto normal MSN to do that). If they would have made it have those simple features that it lacked it would be the ultimate in my book.
 
Dposcorp
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 5:45 pm

Stickied for a while.

Also, besides AVG, Avast works well and is also free.
 
idchafee
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Fri Nov 26, 2004 5:54 pm

viewtopic.php?t=22024

Similar, if not exactly the same.
YOU CAN RUPTURE SOMEONE'S SPLEEN WITH A WATER BALLOON!!!!
 
Welch
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Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:38 pm

I tried Avast (same people who makes AVG) and it so far is utter CRAPWARE! It seems to be for the common computer illetrate. It adds junk to start up. It has lame cheesey noises everytime a virus is found. And its interface is not as easy as they make it to sound. Im sure you could easily learn it, but for their target audience it shouldnt be looking like one of the DVD controllers (digital ones you DL for your comp)

Not to mention its not free at all! It starts the count down from 60 days!

This is the Avast Personal edition v4.5 I wouldnt recommend it so far but let me just see if they have some junk you have to do in order for it to deiliver all that they promised.
 
newbie_of_jan0502
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Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:03 pm

Welch wrote:
I tried Avast (same people who makes AVG) and it so far is utter CRAPWARE! It seems to be for the common computer illetrate. It adds junk to start up. It has lame cheesey noises everytime a virus is found. And its interface is not as easy as they make it to sound. Im sure you could easily learn it, but for their target audience it shouldnt be looking like one of the DVD controllers (digital ones you DL for your comp)

Not to mention its not free at all! It starts the count down from 60 days!

This is the Avast Personal edition v4.5 I wouldnt recommend it so far but let me just see if they have some junk you have to do in order for it to deiliver all that they promised.


Where did you get the idea that avast and avg are the "same people"? It sounds interesting could you give a link?

Also in my opinion avast is a little better than avg. I've used both and avast seems to be better at getting rid of pesky viruses especially in you system restore file.
 
Captain AMD
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Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:10 pm

Avast and AVG are not the same. Dont know where you got that one from.

As for VNC, stick with RealVNC. It's the most reliable out of the bunch. It doesn't have the features of TightVNC or UltraVNC but both of those dont work well with some other programs.
<img src="http://gfx.statgfx.com/old/folding.cgi?&username=Pettytheft&teamid=2630&border=0,0,0&trans=yes&template=fah_original&.jpg" alt="www.Statgfx.com" />
 
Welch
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Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:17 pm

My mistake. I got the two names mixed up on a site that seemed to host both.

I liked AVG 7.0 better. Avast was pretty idiot prone. They made it look like some futuristic media player lol. Not exactly something easy for someone that doesnt mess with a program of the same interface to pick up on.
 
Alex
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Wed Dec 08, 2004 1:00 pm

Didn't see these on the list anywhere:

Kerio Personal Firewall - One of the best software firewalls out there, and it is free.
Enemy Territory - Free fun. :)
 
Welch
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Wed Dec 08, 2004 4:21 pm

I think alot of you missed the point of this thread. It was to list programs to assist people in keeping their computers safe/clean/and running tip top shape. This can include programs such as MP3Gain to edit the DB of MP3 music files so that you dont have to not have to reach to the volume every time a song change.
 
Skyline57GTR
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Wed Dec 08, 2004 5:19 pm

I'm use Adware 6.0 and Spybot search & destroy program. Also I use zonealarm are much better and it has firewall. (I was turned mircosoft firewall off, which this couldn't have two firewall)
FX-55|Patriot 1GB DDR400|BFG 7600GT|Rosewill 550W PSU|Biostar nforce4 SLI|Samsung SATA 300GB HDD
 
Kevin
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Wed Dec 08, 2004 7:12 pm

Welch wrote:
I think alot of you missed the point of this thread.

I don't think you ever made that clear.
Being right doesn't matter if no one listens.
 
Mtnview
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Free FTP and Web site copier

Wed Dec 08, 2004 11:47 pm

I just started using Filezilla for my FTP. Used to use WS_FTP but they want you to purchase it now.

Filezilla has worked well for uploading my stuff out of Frontpage 2003 to my Geocities web site. Pleased so far.
http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla

Also like this website copier (for us dial-up users of course) so you can browse a site offline. Especially sites like the Colorado Fourteeners with lots of pictures.
WinHT Track website copier
http://www.httrack.com
P4 2.8E 1.5 GB ram ATI 9800PRO 128MB 865PE MOBO
 
red0510
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Thu Dec 09, 2004 2:02 pm

Welch wrote:
I think alot of you missed the point of this thread. It was to list programs to assist people in keeping their computers safe/clean/and running tip top shape. This can include programs such as MP3Gain to edit the DB of MP3 music files so that you dont have to not have to reach to the volume every time a song change.

Welch, thanks for pointing out MP3Gain. I tried it yesterday when I got home and it was exactly as advertised. Too many of my MP3's were +/- 10-15db of each other, and this little proggie worked like a champ. Great suggestion.
 
Welch
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Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:55 am

Yeah, NP. Its a MUST HAVE for sure. I got sick of reaching for the knob too so about a good year or more ago i went on a search to see what i could find.

Alot of the programs just averaged the whole song into one target DB. Which if you read the info that comes with MP3Gain youd realize that kills alot of the effects of the music.

Im glad that you benifited from it :) Thats something that this post was supposed to accomplish.
 
Tech
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Fri Dec 10, 2004 6:56 am

http://www.driverguidetoolkit.com/

Formally Windriversbackup, apparently the newer version contains adware so u may want to steer clear.
Last edited by Tech on Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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