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Thanks Buf and Linda. I will be taking advantage here for sure. Used to use Compaq community forum, but seems to have gone away. Really needed a nice, friendly computer forum place. Been doing lots of past post reading here. So much I should have known. (Can't believe I never knew, using 98SE, that I can shift-right click to open with! Dang!)
Thanks for the welcome.
E.
Here's my list:
Easycleaner
because you just open it up click all the buttons and as if by magic your registry,internet history,cookies,temporary internet files,unnecessary files,duplicate files, mru, and shortcuts are all wiped, and it can also shows you a few graphs of hard drive space usage,mess with startup programs, and access add/remove programs list...........and the best bit is its free:)
The other usual software for those pesky viruses and trojans etc........available for download in my signature.:)
And other basic stuff like burning software and media players that you need in everyday use........Nero,Roxio,WMP10,Quicktime,Intervideo WIN DVD etc.
Any browsers that are better than IE, which would be all of them..Avant,Firefox,Opera etc.
And also Office 2003 Pro, because basically it covers a lot of programs(11) that do different things in one package.
:D
Liam
Super fast shut down
Have you ever wished there was a faster way to shutdown your Windows 2000/XP/2003 computer system? I mean instantly shut it down! Now you can! Just install Super Fast Shutdown and click on one of the desktop icons created to reboot or shutdown.
Size: 264KB
OS: Win 2000/XP/2003
I don't need to install anything to have a fast shutdown!! Many times I will decide to shutdown when the monitor is turned off and doing it this way, I don't have to have the monitor on. Simply hit the "windows key"(between the Ctrl and Alt keys, then tap the "u" key 2 times and the computer will shutdown without you doing anything further. You hit each key individually.
I know this works on WinXP but I do not know if it will work on other OSes. Try it.
Thanks for the tip you gave ahmedalmatook.
Hey Linda, thanks for the search tip! Now if I can just remember the name of the thing I wanted to search for. Someone put a post here about a cute calendar/reminder thingy (technical term) :p I've since lost the URL, anybody here know the program I'm talking about?Quote:
Originally Posted by LindaHewitt
OOOXXX
~EveningStar
PS: I lived in Dallas during this time of year Linda, try and stay cool! I almost spontaneously combusted a few times out there. Its a tad cooler up here in the Pacific NW. ;)
Gosh such a long list and the best utility has been left out :confused:
STROKEIT - PROVIDES MOUSE GESTURES FOR THE WHOLE WINDOWS
if u are using opera or ff then u wld love this since u can now extend mouse gestures for EVERY APPLICATION.
those unfamiliar with mouse gestures - congrats- u r going to hav the best time of your life with the mouse
http://www.mousegestures.com
size:105 KB
ram:160kb
and ofcourse its free.
btw mods u wld do a real favour to all if u kind of compress this thread coz going through all of it is virtually impossible
Thanks
A long time reader of vdr just signed up.
Almost all of the free/share ware I use has already been listed. Just one that I didn't see. I use a little proggie called RAMDISK. I have 1 GB memory so I like the idea of making a ram disk using 64M then change my settings in IE to limit my cache to 50M and point to the RAMDISK. I believe this clears out everytime I shutdown, leaving behind no traces at all.
Other software I use frequently but already mentioned are:
Goldwave sound file editor
Cacheman RAM manager (just like knowing how much ram is available)
WinZip manage zip files
AVG antivirus software
BitLord monitor any bittorrent activity
EAC rip CD's into wav's and mp3's
IrfanView image viewer
WinAmp listen to internet radio
Picassa manage my images
Ad-Aware get rid of spyware
Aida32 list all my computers hard/software
Partition Magic make, delete, format partitions on HDDs (geek stuff)
Ghost copy HDD to HDD when installing a new HDD(more geek stuff)
SpyBot get rid of spyware
Startup see what's starting up and edit
Firefox IE alternative browser
NetMeter see how much bandwidth is being used (another geeky thing)
Thanks all for the good suggestions. I downloaded and am now using Convert and ASAP Utilities as a result of suggestions made here.
A warm welcome to you bilbob. Just read your thread and I also waited for some time before joining Virtual Dr. a couple of years ago. Haven't regretted it either and hope that you can also say that in the days ahead. The people here are very knowledgeable and willing/anxious to help.
There are many great aps. listed here for the taking and thank you for your offering. i will take a look at it later.
One thing i would edit is the Bit Torrent app, as it is against forum policy.:) Just a head's up as a mod will probably edit it for you if you don't.
http://www.jupitermedia.com/corporate/privacy/aup.html
Liam
This is a great thread!
Thanks guys...
I would like to share a free conversion software link with you, I just simply love it. Here is a quote describing what it can do:
This free units conversion program is designed specifically for engineers. It includes a wide range of technical categories required by engineers, but it excludes the archaic and esoteric units that clutter the menus of the other conversion programs.
http://www.katmarsoftware.com/uconeer.htm
Kocika73,
Welcome to VDr :)
Thanks for sharing a program, i'm checking it out now.:)
Liam
*****edited for content*****
*****edited for content*****
Kazaa and Emule are P2P programs and it is against our AUP to discuss these programs, as they are illegal, and use illegalities to get copyrighted audio/video/games and apps. AUP: http://www.jupitermedia.com/corporate/privacy/aup.html
Just a warning.:)
Liam
Regdat...Use daily, almost instant copy of registry in DAT format..along with Regshot mentioned earlier or InCtrl they provide needed protection when scanreg backups cannot.
http://www.sofotex.com/Regdat-download_L12335.html
Here is a great free firewall does just about everything for free works good ,i use it to limit my daughters computer time and to filter bad web sites, and it passes all security test's. Thumbs up :)
NetVeda Safety Net Firewall
if i had to choose one i would say zonealarm. i like to have some control over what my computer does and zonealarm at least gives me a sense of somekind of control.
wow BT is illegal???? Some linux sites recommend it to download the iso's.
Some folk just can't get past the idea that there are many and very real uses for file sharing. I'm kind of dumbfounded as to why such a sophisticated site would ignorantly blanket ban something that is NOT ILLEGAL. Some may use file sharing illegally, but many do not.
I challenge anyone here to show me a law that makes filesharing programs illegal.
My keyboard could be used to perpetrate many frauds and scams, but I do not use it for that. Perhaps VRDR should ban anyone that uses a keyboard since they COULD be used to do something illegal?
Actually we can discuss P2P programs so long as the discussion doesn't pertain to the downloading or use of pirated or illegal files. We'll try to be more consistent about that in the future. Sorry for any inconvenience or misunderstanding.
Also worth noting is we won't discuss any of the ad free/cracked or lite versions of P2P programs like Kazaalite etc because they *are* illegal themselves.
"newme", a few posts back, regarding the netveda firewall, if you have the time, i posted questions on their forum and have yet to receive a response and was wondering if you might care to go there via the link below and provide me with an answer to my concerns...?
http://forums.netveda.com//index.php?showtopic=165
Nobody seems to have mentioned the most useful program Microsoft ever issued: REGCLEAN.EXE
This can be one of the most helpful programs.
MS's Regclean.exe from ms dowmnloads
BUT: From MS TechNet
Quote:
Regclean works only with the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT subtree, which is almost never the source of major registry problems, and the program has been known to cause as many problems as it fixes.
Yeah, I have to agree with Undertaker02. I feel that if it is going to be used, it should be used with great care.
The version 4.1a (one of the last releases I believe) I have on my Win 98SE PC is dated Dec. 30, 1997. The Readme.txt file says:
"RegClean should run correctly on these Intel-based operating systems:
Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 (with Service Pack 3)
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 (all versions) and later
Microsoft Windows 95 (all versions) and later"
Pretty old. To my knowledge, MS has not recommended it for a long time...
I posted this earlier elsewhere but decided I would also post it here just in case you missed it elsewhere in this forum.
Saw this info and I pass it along. Save yourself the cost of paying your telephone company's directory service for giving you a phone number of someone/company somewhere for FREE:
Just dial 1-800-FREE-411 or 1-800-3733-411 for free directory assistance service.
Thanks Buf. That is very useful information.
Moderator Please! :(
That message by BUF is so off topic and as he says it is listed elsewhere so what is the point of clogging up this thread?
The title of this thread is
"What "little" program could you simply not do without?"
not how do you make free calls, which is completely irrelevant anyway for those of us outside the USA.
Cmon guys let keep to the subject.
[QUOTE=buf]I posted this earlier elsewhere but decided I would also post it here just in case you missed it elsewhere in this forum...
In my opinion, the best little program is actually a collection of programs and it is this unique implementation that makes this the best.
This collection is used for data recovery, which sooner or later will affect all of us.
Many of you will know that certain each programs excels in one area and so often you need access to several. Also in such situations you do not want to boot the main OS as this may make matters worse.
So what you need is a BOOT CD that has all the popular apps that have been mentioned here such as Ghost, Partition Magic, Acronis etc etc. All of these fronted by a simple menu so you can hop between tools without rebooting. This all to be achieved without writing one byte to hard disk, i.e. by writing to a RAM DISK.
I did this myself with partition magic and ghost, but when I saw this solution I realised that he had done a better job.
The website that will tell you how to contruct a BOOT CD or a bootable USB stick is at
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hiren.thanki/index.html
or http://tinyurl.com/7ek4o
The list includes tools for every situation including:
Partition Tools
Disk Clone Tools
Antivirus Tools
Recovery Tools
Testing Tools
RAM (Memory) Testing Tools
Hard Disk Tools
Hard Disk Diagnostic Utilities
System Information Tools
MBR (Master Boot Record) Tools
BIOS / CMOS Tools
MultiMedia Tools
Password Tools
NTFS (FileSystems) Tools
Other Tools & Drivers
Dos tools
Many of these programs are shareware or freeware, but in order to assemble this collection you will need to buy a license of the mainstream applications.
Hiren only tells you how to build the BOOT CD or USB key, it is up to you to make your own compilation. There are some people who make these available on the net, but you should not download these as they * ARE ILLEGAL *. It is much more rewarding to build your own and perhaps even add a few of your own favourites.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hiren.thanki/bootcd.html
XMPEG or FlaskMPEG - convert your DVD's to Divx mpeg4.
ExtractNow - Extracts most archive types.
explore2fs - Read linux extended partitons even external drives.
VideoLan - Plays almost anykind of video file/DVD, etc.
IrfanView - Picture viewer/manager.
My favourite programs are:
Regcleaner , TweakUI , pdf995 , Win2pdf , Paraben's IconBuilder , dBPower Amp , DFX , TTplayer (Free music player with lots of plugins. However no video supported & only in chinese version) & lots more I can't even remember. I'll post back when I'm in front of my own PC later.
A free replacement for the free Adobe Reader?
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
Don't know if the above app. is already listed or not but I just discovered it.
Two of my favorite programs are anti-spam programs, which are Firetrust's Mailwasher Pro, http://www.firetrust.com/ and the BlueFrog, http://www.bluesecurity.com/.
I have been using MailWasher for over 4 years. In the last year ISPs started to apply anti-spam solutions but unfortunately they also trap about 5-10% of legitimate email. Frequently, the ISP's customer never knows that he did not get all of his email. So I have opted out of all of these automated anti-spam solutions. I can use Mailwasher and quickly determine whether it is legitimate email or not. My rule is that if I do not know you or do business with the vendor, then I do not download the email to my computer. The only exception to that is if the email appears to be from a real person and there is evidence in the email that it is a legitimate contact.
MailWasher allows the user to preview the email in ASCII format, which makes it safe from all forms of malware.
On April 6, 2006, a new version of Mailwasher was released, which contained BlueFrog. BlueFrog is freeware but it is the pro-active anti-spam solution. In less than 3 months, 8 spammers agreed to comply with the rules of the BlueFrog Community. Final confirmation arrived on May 2, when one of the largest spammers, PharmaMaster, a Russian spammer took down 9,000 servers in order to try to stop the BlueFrog forever.
However, it has had the unintended result that the BlueFrog community is even more committed than before and now the BlueFrog is being written about in a number of major magazines, blogs, and other tech publications.
First BlueFrog complains to the spammer and asks the spammer to stop sending spam. If that doesn't work, then the BlueFrog sends an opt-out request for every spam email received by every member of the BlueFrog community. These Opt-Out requests go to the spammer, the merchant, the website(s) advertised in the SPAM and to the ISP hosting the spam.
It is easy for the spammer sysadmin to remove these opt-out requests but it is time consuming and these opt-out requests interfere with the spammers money-making schemes.
The BlueFrog will work with any POP3 email account or with GMail, HotMail or Yahoo web email accounts. Reporting your spam to BlueFrog takes less time with Mailwasher but the freeware stand-alone version of BlueFrog works equally well.
Come join the BlueFrog community at http://www.bluesecurity.com/.
I have attached a report of the PharmaMaster's attack on Blue Security.
The URL below provides information on the Blue Security team and the milestones that they have reached since this company started 2 years ago. BlueFrog now has 450,000 plus members and has received over 5 million verified spam email messages.
http://www.bluesecurity.com/News/announcements.asp
Did you know that 90% of all email world-wide is SPAM? We need to get control of this spam before all of our ISP start charging its customers more money because of the increased hardware and manpower resources that it takes to handle exponentially increasing levels of email.
Cheers,
Linda
Evernote - a sort of super clipboard and file repository and more. Have both a free and a paid version. Use a paid version on the desktop and a free version on the laptop. Automatic backup. I cannot imagine doing without it.
http://www.evernote.com
Win RAR and Magic ISO are ones I use a lot. Partition Magic 8 is another good one, especially for wiping hard drives.
-hacker
ZoomIt http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ZoomIt.html
Don't know how I missed it before but if you use a PC to give presentations, this may be a BIG help. It allows you to zoom the screen to make even the tiniest details clear, it allows you to annotate the screen in real time with a mouse (it does not save the annotation though) and finally, it has a built in break timer. If you say the presentation starts again in 10 minutes, the screen shows the countdown.
Just the coolest!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by hacker_cracker
I believe the makers of Winrar gave away version 3.51. Not upgradeable but a free version none the less. Not sure of the details. Check their website or the newsgroup alt.comp.freeware.
If you use more than one messaging program, including Yahoo, MSN, AOL, ICQ, or IRC you can access all of them through one free program called Trillian. I love this software, because I don't have to download and install four different programs to access all of my IMs.
Check it out here:
http://www.download.com/Trillian/300...-10047473.html
I have a new program I can't live without..... and I found out about it right here at our very own VDR :D
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...tstone+capture
I was messing with this program and also was wondering how you got the blue banner above to go away. Haven't figured that one out yet. What's that called? Header?Quote:
Originally Posted by MiseryQ
This seems to be the correct forum to place this in.
Listing and links to last Freeware applications before converting to Shareware:
http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/index.html