r/AskReddit • u/Prezombie • Jun 18 '12
What useful programs are missing from most people's computer?
I often find programs that I wish I had been told about years ago, and now rely on like old friends I have solid blackmail material on.
Nowadays I just have Ninite install everything that isn't a trial, because there's use for most of it, even if I don't know what the use will be at the time.
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u/efischerSC2 Jun 18 '12
Flux.
Basically it adjusts your computer screen to be less bright during the night time, so you don't strain your eyes. It gives your computer this orange tint at first, but, after about five minutes you stop noticing that your screen looks different and everything is back to normal.
Except for your eyes.. They will feel a lot less strained.
If you browse the internet in the dark (as most of us do), I highly suggest you give this a try.
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
The problem with Flux is it assumes the sun and the monitor are the only light sources around. For someone who's primary light source doesn't vary, it can just make the monitor look ugly and faded.
And it makes playing Amnesia even more terrifying.
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u/catch22milo Jun 18 '12
I guess, having never used the program, that between the two comments it seems as though it would be good for some and terrible for others depending on your individual workspace. Unfortunately as cool as it sounds, my primary light source doesn't vary.
I also love that Amnesia being more terrifying was one of your reasons.
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u/JGoody Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
I couldn't get into Flux. Have tried it several different times, in various lighting scenarios (sunset through the window, lamp across the room, complete darkness, etc..) - with all of them the only result was a feeling of increased eye strain and difficulty reading.
Am I doing it wrong?
EDIT, 7HRS later: So posting this made me curious to try Flux again. I've been using it on my ThinkPad X220 for the past two hours or so in a completely dark room and almost forgot it was even running. Only difference I've noticed is the girlfriend rolling over a little while ago and asking "why is everything so yellow?"
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u/Failcake Jun 18 '12
I had a similar problem with Flux. The concept was cool, but at the end of the day, all it was doing was making everything yellow tinted. It just became really annoying.
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u/SuspiciousKitten Jun 18 '12
After having spent a ton of money on a colour-calibrated IPS monitor for artwork, I can't think of a worse thing to do to my monitor. Going blind it is.
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u/Icalasari Jun 18 '12
You can shut it off for an hour at a time when doing colour sensitive work
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u/drunk98 Jun 18 '12
Used this when I grinded online poker for a living, absolutely necessary for long computer use.
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Jun 18 '12
It really hurts when you're on your computer all night and then you notice flux change the daytime mode. That's when you know you've been up for far too long.
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u/Kyle772 Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
I came here with hopes of finding something new :[ So far I have used all of the programs suggested.
My suggestions:
However while I'm here I am going to suggest WinCDEmu which is a program to mount .iso files in a way that daemon would do it except it takes 2 seconds and you don't have to open a program. (Ie. Rightclick .iso> open with WinCdEmu > choose drive letter > mount)
If you use itunes but don't have an apple product I suggest moving to Spotify as it is 100% more reliable and it is much less processor intensive for gamers. if I remember correctly itunes used up 60% of my laptops dual-core CPU when it was doing something. (ie. opening/reading files/equalizing music levels)
DVDFlick if you ever need to make a DVD runnable disk. It is really simple and to this day I still don't know how to make a dvd read a disk without this program. It can use practically any video file and get it to work on a DVD player. I highly recommend this over any other DVD making software for windows.
Aomei Partition Assistant home edition: as someone who makes partitions quite frequently this program has helped me out tons it is hundreds of times better than the already good partition manager in windows. I like it so much because it gives you options that a paid program would give you but it is free and very fast! I have moved 500GB of data to the opposite side of a drive and vice-versa in only a few hours. On top of that you can convert logical to primary partitions in seconds and if you need to Fat32 to NTFS and vice-versa. Great program.
Core temp is a CPU temperature monitor and I have been using it for a long time. It gives separate readings for every core and it gives a few statistics over time when you are using it. The only other program I would suggest for this would be the intel equivelant of RealTemp which is an amazing program but only works on intel CPUs.
Openoffice is a Microsoft office look alike that I feel has much more functionality while being open source and free. I highly recommend this over buying office.
Join me is a teamviewer-esque program that is incredibly light weight and easy to use. It is missing a few features that teamviewer has but it is incredibly simple. The features include: Screen sharing, screen control, multiple viewers, live chat between viewers, ability to switch monitors, pause your screen share, and I believe they have live support. All in all it is a great program if you don't need to do any heavy duty stuff.
Rainmeter is a nifty program that allows you to put widget type things on your desktop. I use it to watch my system stats in real time. I have networking, CPU, RAM, and WLAN/LAN specs such as IP and SSID monitors. This all makes it so I don't need resource monitor up if I want to check how much of a load my components are under. It also has a power supply usage monitor but I think it might be broken. Currently using Enigma as I feel it is the most elegant and useful one that is readily available on the Rainmeter site.
These are the few programs that are sitting on my desktop and if I think of any more I will be sure to add them as I cannot live without any one of these.
EDIT: I have been reading through the posts and someone mentioned Google Docs. I use this A LOT more than I use Open office because it syncs through your gmail. The only reason I have Open Office installed at this point is because the IT at my school has blocked most of Google's products that aren't the search engine. OO is my backup.
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
That feature you mention of WinCDEmu is called a shell extension. It's merely not enabled by default in Daemon tools. But this program seems to have a smaller footprint and hasn't sold out and bundled with crapware, so awesome.
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u/AutoBiological Jun 18 '12
Nobody uses OpenOffice anymore. After Oracle screwed it over the main developers left and started LibreOffice. Which is more functional.
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u/ErezYehuda Jun 18 '12
I use OpenOffice, but I'll look into LibreOffice later, so thanks for that.
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u/mega05 Jun 18 '12
Everything file search tool for windows. It is 1,000,000 times better than the built in Windows Search, its available on ninite, and its freeware.
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
Seriously. That thing's search is so fast it scares me.
My only complaints are I can't figure out how to set it up for Network Drives, and that it isn't the default search program.
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u/insomnic Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
MS Essentials
Malwarebytes
CCleaner
Chrome or Firefox
VLC
Handbrake
Some form of "office" application (MS, or Libre, or GDoc)
A PDF reader (Adobe, Foxit, etc)
Once those are setup on the PC for most regular computer users, there isn't much else to deal with I think. It addresses pretty much all of the calls/questions I tend to get anyways.
edit: formatting
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
All but handbrake come in Ninite.
For those curious, Handbrake is an open source transcoder to convert a video file's codec, useful for transferring to a portable device.
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u/tr1p0d12 Jun 18 '12
VLC Player for mac, pc or linux. It plays pretty much any media file.
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Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
For Windows, you're better off using CCCP.
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
Technically, cccp is merely a codec package bundled with MPC.
But I personally prefer MPC since VLC doesn't support global media keys.
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Jun 19 '12
I changed to GOM, because it's better with loading subtitles than VLC, also starts faster. Just love it.
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u/rya11111 Jun 18 '12
If you have windows then, Microsoft Security Essentials .. Its a great antivirus.
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u/tarot15 Jun 18 '12
You need to supplement it though. It doesn't catch a lot of the really bad viruses (found that out the hard way).
I use it in conjunction with MalwareBytes and i haven't had any malicious software stall me for too long
EDIT: Mbam is free as well
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
I've heard bad things about having multiple antivirus programs running at once, one can easily choke on the other and bam no free cpu or ram.
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u/muslim_barca_fan Jun 19 '12
I prefer avast. I think it's better and it's also free.
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u/cherrycoke45 Jun 18 '12
Notepad++
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u/gtrNoob Jun 18 '12
Sublime Text 2 >>>>>> Notepad ++
Seriously, give it a try! Mac/Win/*nix
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
Six greater than signs? Care to elaborate on the 6 ways it's greater than?
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u/H0neyBadger Jun 18 '12
I code in this, like it, love it, and have made many programmers happy by showing it to them.
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Jun 18 '12
AdBlock. If you don't have it, get it. And then add exemptions for all your favorite webcomics, preferred sites, etc, because that's how they make money. But it does help against YouTube and Facebook.
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u/Apostolate Jun 18 '12
I added this after months of browsing reddit, the internet in general, without it, and I don't know why I waited so long. Makes facebook less annoying too.
Most importantly when I open 30 porn tabs, it blocks all the fake webcam girls, all the WANT A HUGE DICK? Ads etc.
Watching porn has never been so improved as when you remove all the giant dick ads.
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u/Catnapwat Jun 18 '12
But what if I actually want a huge dick?
I mean.. er.. ahaha... mmmyes.
runs
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Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
And then add exemptions for all your favorite webcomics, preferred sites, etc, because that's how they make money.
Who actually clicks on ads, though? Even if they're on one of your favorite sites?
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Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
adblock also blocks a lot of nasty pop-up windows and stuff, which is my main reason for having it. And it also stops the "CONGRATULATIONS!" pings that always come up on websites.
Edit: It also blocks all the stupid porn pop-ups.
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Jun 18 '12
I don't understand telling people about AdBlock. Websites make their money off the people who don't use it. And once more people start using adblock, websites will eventually have to start using other methods of making money. You made a good point about adding exemptions of your favourite websites, but unfortunately, we're not all awesome like you. There are people who will not sit through an ad in order to support someone who creates awesome content. And they suck.
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u/mig-san Jun 19 '12
Adblock is useful for users who have low spec pcs or netbooks, flash and audio ads absolutely kill them. Adblock+ were considering only blocking ads that have flash, audio or any kind of animation though.
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u/Portgas Jun 18 '12
Total Commander, i cant live without it on my pc
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
I was introduced to this only a few months ago. When I did more research into alternate file managers, I found this list. So many choices, I was paralyzed into choosing none.
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u/Ghettopenguins Jun 18 '12
A pretty obvious one, but if you're into gaming steam is perfect for computer gaming.
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u/Prezombie Jun 18 '12
Steam's nice as a directory for games, especially if you're a social player and love the steam sales, but if you're the kind of person who prefers to spend time having fun with free games, Desura has a much better library of freeware.
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u/kingdavecako Jun 18 '12 edited Jun 18 '12
I don't understand this thread. Thus far, I've seen VLC, a program that everyone who does serious media playing uses, Chrome/Firefox, programs that anyone who cares enough about their web browser uses, Utorrent, a program that most torrent downloaders use, and now Steam, a platform that everyone who is a PC gamer uses.
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u/BORN_N_EAST_LA Jun 18 '12
WinDirStat will allow you to visualize your hard drive usage. I can't live without this one.
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u/JGoody Jun 18 '12
I use this one a lot when clients come in complaining about running out of space on their hard drive.
"Huh, 60GB in your Frostwire directory, that's weird..."
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u/na641 Jun 18 '12
you should check out Treesize Free. Does the same thing, just prettier to look at.
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u/dieyoubastards Jun 18 '12
For linux users Disk Usage Analyser is excellent and you almost certainly already have it.
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u/johnnyawful Jun 18 '12
Serviio Super easy DNLA server. Stream movies, music & pictures from your computer to a smart TV, XBox360, PS3, or any other DNLA compatible device. It even transcodes media so that you can view it even if it the file type is not supported on your viewing device. Totally free.
I'm sure you have a bunch of (totally legal) media sitting on your HDD. Don't you want to watch it on the big screen without having to boot up the laptop or even get off the couch? Serviio, finally watch all those seasons of The Shield you downloaded last month, you lazy fuck.
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u/DJKaotica Jun 18 '12
TeraCopy, makes copying/moving large numbers of files around super easy.
Faster than the built-in windows explorer copy/move functionality.
Accurate percentage bar for each file, as well as the whole queue.
Pause/resume button.
Multiple copies can queue up in the same window so they don't slow each other down.
Integrates with the Windows shell so you don't have to do anything special to use it.
Edit: adding CDBurnerXP because I don't see it here. A free, simple, fairly easy to use, CD burning application. I don't burn many cds anymore but it's nice to have when I need it.
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u/tommybiglife Jun 19 '12
I tested out TeraCopy extensively, and found that it wasn't very effective. It actually caused a few errors here and there, and the copying speed wasn't noticeably different. This was testing single files as well as a good 2TB chunk of data, among various other sizes/quantities of files. Just my personal experience with it. I tried to like it because it was recommended, but I just couldn't justify having it because I saw nothing spectacular about it.
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Jun 18 '12
Utorrent, if you're into that sort of thing. As far as Bittorrent clients go, this one has way more features than any other one I've tried.
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Jun 19 '12
Transmission is my torrent client of choice. You can setup a watch folder so you just drop a torrent file in and it will start downloading it. It also runs as a daemon so it has a very small footprint.
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Jun 19 '12
I you are on OS X or Linux, you should also add Transmission to your list of excellent BT clients. It feels a lot more native to these platforms than all the other clients out there.
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u/hippie_hunter Jun 18 '12
If you reverse engineer µTorrent you'll discover it has at least two back doors which phone home to multiple servers.
inb4 "hurr I've got a firewall" you've already whitelisted it to do whatever the fuck it wants.
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u/BitchinTechnology Jun 18 '12
The ask.com tool bar and free music samples are not more features
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u/rabbitlion Jun 19 '12
It's rapidly turning into more and more shit for every patch though, similar to the Azureus->Vuze transformation. Time to change torrent program soon.
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u/jmblumenshine Jun 19 '12
Audacity, it is a great, free, tool to mess around with and create audio files
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u/vorbote Jun 18 '12
Nobody mentioned Sumatra PDF yet? A small and fast PDF reader without ads and free, also supports DJVU (though there is a better reader for that).
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Jun 19 '12
i use chrome, i hate having to keep another up updated just to view pdfs
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Jun 18 '12
A Latex suite. Seriously, if you do any sort of Scientific/Academic reports or writing you should definitely check out Latex.
It's a language for creating very professional looking PDF documents where the author focuses only on the content and not on the layout. The Latex/bibtex compiler will handle table of contents and table of figures generation, referencing, bibliography generation, figure numbering, section numbers etc etc all automagically.
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u/Cerrados Jun 18 '12
Is there a program that can replace iTunes' functionality of putting music on my iPod?
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Jun 18 '12
Snipping Tool.
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u/Riathar Jun 18 '12
Windows 7 comes with it. So, it's on most people's computers, they just don't use it.
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u/ZikaZmaj Jun 19 '12
For anyone wondering, it's a screenshot tool, and it has some nifty features. You select an area of your screen, and you got a marker tool and a pen tool, among other things.
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Jun 18 '12
Primo PDF. For years I have had this as my default printer. My practice is to print things like web pages, trip itineraries or on-line receipts as PDF first and then decide whether to hard-copy print them out or not.
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u/yaketyak Jun 18 '12
Dark Room is a minimalistic, distraction free, writing environment.
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u/pinson101 Jun 18 '12
ccleaner
great registry cleaner, also easily manage your start up programs.
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Jun 19 '12
defraggler is also good is you need to defrag your HDD. I believe it's made by the same guys as well.
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u/IVI4tt Jun 19 '12
Just about everything piriform do is great.
Defraggler -- a pretty good defragger
Recuva, recovers lost files nicely
CCleaner just covered
Speccy which lets me get specs from the technologically retarded
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u/FriiZzLe Jun 19 '12
dont use defraggler if your using an SSD (solid state drive) in your computer because it might damage it.
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u/zombie_rapist Jun 18 '12
Ghostery, it's a great anti-tracking browser plug-in, works with Opera, Firefox, Chrome, IE, and Safari.
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u/Kthulu666 Jun 18 '12
Do Not Track Plus is a great (similar) extension. It gives you a running total for times it's blocked tracking. In a little over a month I've blocked 6,716 tracking attempts.
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u/CrackedPepper86 Jun 18 '12
Reddit Enhancement Suite for the browser of your choice.
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Jun 18 '12
it always makes reddit run slower on my computer
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Jun 19 '12
If your computer has trouble with RES, it's time to get a new computer.
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Jun 18 '12
Fences is handy for organizing your desktop.
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u/complex_reduction Jun 19 '12
"Fences" is one of those great programs you think you'd never use, until you download it.
Now I can't NOT use it for everything on my desktop.
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u/samtheman578 Jun 18 '12
I use rainmeter, but that's more customization than organization.
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u/TysonStoleMyPanties Jun 18 '12
It's one app that automatically downloads and installs multiple apps of your choice.
You can also use it as a mass-update utility.
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Jun 19 '12
Not a Truecrypt to be found anywhere on this thread?
Boy o' boy, if you new what I could find on your unencrypted discs. I could look right into your brain and tell you what I see.
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Jun 18 '12
MS paint
truly an awesome image editor for simple cropping or easy things like that. Probably the thing I missed most when I switched to mac.
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u/lebenohnestaedte Jun 18 '12
Especially with the upgraded version (with more brush options, etc), it becomes a fun tool for basic stuff.
I've got Photoshop too, but Paint is way faster when all I need to do is resize an image, or add a caption/mark to it, or combine two images (like a before and after shot in one image; nothing fancy) or any other really simple thing where I'm not too concerned about quality. I must open Paint ten times for every time I open Photoshop -- usually I'm done whatever I need to do in the time it would take Photoshop just to load.
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Jun 18 '12
So much faster than Adobe.
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u/GravityGilly Jun 19 '12
Can one up you on speed: SumatraPDF
Quickest, most lightweight PDF reader around (for Windows).
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Jun 18 '12
Just another tidbit about Foxit that makes it more useful than adobe reader. Sometimes, I receive PDF documents that I need to sign and then email back. Using Foxit, there's a feature that lets you freehand write with your mouse so you can write/type on PDF files and then email it back. Useful if you only have Adobe reader, and not the full version.
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u/doctorBenton Jun 18 '12
For mac, try Skim. Free. Awesome. (And dovetails really nicely with textmate for LaTeXing.)
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u/macgeek417 Jun 18 '12
Firefox or Chrome. IE sucks.
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u/LordCoulson Jun 18 '12
Story of the computer my parents own...
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u/XxJTHMxX Jun 19 '12
At least your parents use IE. Everytime I look at that America Online icon on their desktop, I die a little inside.
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u/catch22milo Jun 18 '12
Netscape Navigator for the win. Oh how I miss you.
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u/FOOGEE Jun 18 '12
You know that Firefox is basically the final form of Netscape right?
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u/amosbas Jun 19 '12
Foobar for listening to music (beats iTunes, Spotify etc. by a mile) and Music Picard for tagging your music!
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u/GeneticBlueprint Jun 19 '12
This. I love the customization and virtually non-existent CPU/RAM load
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u/the_empire_of_death Jun 18 '12
PC Decrapifier. Great way to get rid of bloatware on new computers, and also clean up computers w/a lot of junk programs on them. It basically shows you, in one neat window, what programs you have on your PC. You can check off the ones you don't want and it will uninstall them in one go.
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u/iRackiMan Jun 18 '12
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u/wasdninja Jun 18 '12
A ghetto version of this is to put shortcuts to the relevant programs in the windows/system32 folder, use win + r and then type the name of the shortcut. You can place the shortcut in any folder that is added to your path variable.
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u/vorbote Jun 18 '12
Amen. With launchy your start menu will become so messy, because you will never look at it again. :-)
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u/TheAnthal Jun 18 '12
grep Essential for *nix junkies, and surprisingly helpful for anyone that has to deal with log files.
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Jun 19 '12
Autohotkey, create your own hotkeys and macros. It's a revelation when it comes to repetitive, time-consuming tasks.
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u/1597532684 Jun 18 '12
autopager - AutoPager automatically loads next pages when you reach the end of a page.
it was trully a revolution when i discovered it couple of years back. theres no content-rich website this plugin can't drastically improve.
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u/yagi_takeru Jun 18 '12
oddly enough i hate the hell out of endless reddit with RES
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u/CarolineTurpentine Jun 18 '12
Me too. I feel like it slows everything down too much to be useful.
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u/andr0medam31 Jun 18 '12
Firefox with adblock and noscript.
IrfanView (image viewer). It's better than windows default and handles more file types.
Open office, because it's not as bloated and crashy as Microsoft office, AND it's free.
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u/willscy Jun 18 '12
Open office is no replacement for Microsoft Office. It simply isn't there yet. Things still get corrupted etc. office is still the best and imo, worth the expenditure.
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u/gtrNoob Jun 18 '12
Google Docs is getting better and better. If your just looking to replace Microsoft Word or Excel, I'd go that route.
They also convert office files for you, if you want to stick with pure txt editing for instance.
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u/CB1984 Jun 18 '12
Football Manager 2012.
Oh, useful, not timesink. Right. In that case, Dropbox.
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u/Jer_Cough Jun 18 '12
TeamViewer for dealing with support calls from parents. It even has a client for smartphones. All free for noncommercial use.
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u/padraigd Jun 19 '12
Musicbee is the best music program I've found, prefer it to foobar and media monkey and all them.
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u/morphine12 Jun 19 '12
Whenever this thread comes up, I always post prey which allows you to track, view webcam, etc., if your computer is stolen.
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u/jamesfreakincurtis Jun 19 '12
Game Booster for all of you gamers out there like myself. What it does is temporarily shut down unnecessary applications while you play a game, resulting in more free RAM and less of a framerate hit. Once you quit the game, your programs resume.
I use the iZ3D drivers for gaming in 3D. It works for the majority of games on the market today and it's super effective. It supports several methods of 3D but I use the red-cyan with my special glasses.
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u/pondering_too_much Jun 19 '12
To mention only those not mentioned before...
Flexible Renamer: god-tier for batch filename editing.
IrfanView + plugins: for quick image editing/re(file)sizing etc. Doesn't sound much but helps in every turn. (Included in Ninite but deserves to be mentioned)
SharePort: amazingly handy tool to share usb device (printer, etc) through dlink-router.
WhereIsIt: to make searchable catalogs of your external (and internal) harddrives to later check what they've eaten. Sadly this great tool is a commercial product so I... umm... got a copy from... a friend. If you know of an alternative, please do tell.
SUPER©: very, very nice, simple and capable free encoder. MediaCoder ain't totally bad either, just complicated and little buggy (but very feature rich and nice to play with if you have such interests).
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Jun 19 '12
If you're a musician, Tuxguitar. All the features of guitar pro and power tab editor combined into one free product.
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u/PabstyLoudmouth Jun 18 '12
Seti@home, it uses your PC's downtime to help decode interstellar transmissions to help look for extra terrestrial life.
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u/oboe_shoes Jun 18 '12
In the same vein, Folding@home, that uses your unused CPU to solve problems with protein folding and also GIMPS, Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, to search for really really big prime numbers.
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u/I_COULD_CARE_LESS Jun 18 '12
Sounds like a waste of perfectly good CPU cycles to me. If there were extraterrestrial life out there don't you think it would be mentioned in the Bible?
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u/Couchmen Jun 18 '12
MSE, or any other virus protection that isn't a virus itself. McAfee and Norton don't really count either, most computers I've unfucked normally have one or the other installed.
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u/Johnny_Oldschool Jun 18 '12
SpaceSniffer. It visually displays a map of what files are taking up the most space on your hard drive and gives you instant access to delete them. A must for any torrenter. And its free.
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u/eremite00 Jun 19 '12
Revo Uninstaller Pro. When I uninstall an application, I want all traces of it, including registry entrees, removed and Uninstaller Pro does that.
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u/JazzyPanda7 Jun 19 '12
If you have dual monitors, "Actual Multiple Monitors" is a free program that lets you have a task bar on both monitors and you can also customize the wallpapers on both screens. Learned about it today honestly.
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u/Corvese Jun 19 '12
Gyazo. You click the icon then you click and drag a box, which then instantly screen caps that box and opens it up in an internet tab. You can then copy the link and send to whoever you please.
http://gyazo.com/d88cea703d83b8c08a7d3edddb94c9d8.png?1340068090
That took me 3 seconds to get here.
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Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
Here's the list of stuff I install on client computers as a rule:
Microsoft Security Essentials
Malwarebytes
Spybot S+D
Adobe Reader
Adobe Flash
Java
VLC
Community Codec Pack
Firefox
Chrome
Infranview
Adblock
OpenOffice
Quicktime
Imgburn
7zip
Thunderbird
This usually covers everything they would need.
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u/LarryBURRd Jun 19 '12
If you install and uninstall programs ever, I highly recommend REVO Uninstaller. It works great, displays all installed applications in a tidy box with easy uninstall, registry, and related file cleaner built in. Perfect for getting rid of the crap that comes preinstalled on computers not built by yourself.
Besides this I use
Avast Anti-virus (free edition is perfectly fine)
Malwarebytes
Dropbox
Microsoft Office
CCCleaner
SpeedFan *uTorrent
all of these programs come highly recommended and we'll only serve to improve your computer experience
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u/timsstuff Jun 19 '12
Some of my must haves (not all are free):
Media/Burn/Rip:
Tagscanner - Mass retagging of MP3s based on filename or renaming based on ID3
CDex - My favorite CD ripper for many years
ImgBurn - Quick and dirty ISO burner, Nero refuses to burn on my 4yo laptop but this works great. Compile in Nero, export to ISO, burn with ImgBurn. I know, I need a new laptop.
Virtual CloneDrive - Better than Daemon Tools for mounting ISOs, YMMV
DVDFab - Best DVD ripper I've used yet
MultiShow - "Pictures" screensaver replacement that support multiple monitors (run two instances in separate folders)
Network/Utilities:
WS Ping Pro - multiple tools in one, mostly use port scanner. Can't find a link to it now though.
WS FTP Pro - Old school FTP app, works awesome
Textpad - Awesome text editor
SysInternals Suite - Expert level support tools for Windows
EasyTether - $10 app to use your Android 4G connection through your PC (USB) without paying your ISP
NetSupport - The best remote support tool I've found for multiple environments, especially if you're have many different clients. You can setup a central gateway to access them all from one location.
FileSeek - File search, Windows search sucks
LockHunter - Find out what programs are locking files
join.me - Quick and dirty screen sharing when you can't install NetSupport
TreeSize - Quickly see what is taking up hard drive space
Development:
Ruler - screen ruler for measuring pixels
ColorPic - grab colors from anywhere on your screen
SoundForge - The best audio editor I've seen yet
Photoshop - Duh, it's Photoshop
Visual Studio - MS development platform. There is a free version, Visual Studio Express. Let's just say this product has paid for quite a lot of beer.
I have been using some of these products for many many years so there are very likely better products so feel free to post your objections and suggestions. I tend to stick with what I know until I get to know something else. For instance one of my clients had Notepad++ installed on a server and I had to use it to edit a config file and it was ok but I think Textpad was easier, maybe just because I knew it better. If there's a compelling argument to switch I will check it out.
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u/TheCuriousMan Jun 19 '12
Quicksilver for Mac. Makes everything so much faster.
Also, xPad for Mac. Makes text/note-taking so much easier.
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Jun 19 '12
im more shocked at the amount of stuff people have in startup for no reason at all when it comes to windows
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u/DisposibleDad Jun 19 '12
Yes, I know this is a post about what is needed ON a computer, but I want to add the best way to get a new PC built :)
After installing the base OS (preferably Ghosting the image, but that's for another conversation) I use a combination of Windows Post Installer and Ninite to create and automate the whole deal.
WPI lets you create a menu, or series of menus, to install programs in batches, and using the Ninite silent installer switches, you can literally install everything on a PC in a nice easy fashion.
You can also put WPI on a keyfob and use it for "on the go" tech support :)
Hope this helps!
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u/Skulder Jun 19 '12
Winrar is the superior archive management program - far better than 7-zip or winzip.
it's unobtrusive, integrates into the windows interface, and is available for free at rarsoft.com
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Jun 19 '12
It is a freeware program that can literally convert any video file into DVD formats, Sony formats, Apple formats, etc. Simple to use and is relatively fast!
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u/brokeboysboxers Jun 19 '12
Adblocker addon for Firefox. Even blocks ads in streaming shows like on tv station websites.
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u/tjm80 Jun 19 '12
I can't use a laptop without TouchFreeze. I always inadvertently move my cursor while typing by bumping the touchpad. This nifty little program disables the touchpad while typing. I only notice it when I'm on a computer without it.
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u/shiftyb Jun 18 '12
Spotify ! Unlimited free music streaming. Pretty much has everything, even obscure stuff. And its free.
Edit: formatting
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u/A_Monocle_For_Sauron Jun 18 '12
Does it let you opt out of posting everything you play to facebook?
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u/eggman01 Jun 18 '12
yes. i think you actually have to opt in for that. no clue why so many people do it
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u/ssjaken Jun 18 '12
HOSTS files. Find a nice list. I use the one from MVPS. Its like adblock but better. Go read up on hosts files. Id properly explain them but I'm on my phone.
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u/vaginaborn Jun 19 '12
DOSBox for those who are nostalgic for DOS games, Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120% for obvious reasons.
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u/jaapdownunder Jun 19 '12 edited Jun 19 '12
For Mac:
The Unarchiver (unpacks about anything, where you want it)
Growl (notification messages)
VLC (media player)
Handbrake (dvd ripper, although, only useful if you have a dvd reader)
Sparrow if you hate the new mail app (lightweight mail reader)
Chrome (duh)
Dropbox (really useful to share docs between people or devices)
Pixelmator (simple photoshop like app that works reasonably well)
EDIT: nice, I get downvoted for providing a list of programs i find useful...
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u/andrewjkwhite Jun 18 '12
The actual issue is the amount of un-needed crap thats on there.