Small programs you'd recommend to others

[napho]

If anything tries to register itself to startup this terrific little proggie springs into action. http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml

Registry Crawler scans your entire registry in 20 secs. It comes in handy in so many ways. http://www.4dev.com/regc/

Windows search isn't nearly as good as this

http://www.agentransack.com/default.aspx

[vipp]

I would recommend FreeRam Pro. Great program

http://www.yourwaresolutions.com/products.html

[simian]

Reg Cleaner - As the name implies, it cleans out your registry. Manually or automatic. It's very fast . And it's free!
http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/shtml/regcleaner.shtml

[Shadow, Thief of the Sun]

GIMP - Photoshop-like program:

http://www.gimp.org/

[matt merch]

Originally posted by simian
Reg Cleaner - As the name implies, it cleans out your registry. Manually or automatic. It's very fast . And it's free!
http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/shtml/regcleaner.shtml

ALWAYS ALWAYS make a backup before cleaning registry

[grab]

Originally posted by napho
If anything tries to register itself to startup this terrific little proggie springs into action. http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml





so whats the difference between start up monitor and just using msconfig?


Here are some proggies i liked. These are all freeware

a program worth checking out is SystemSafetyMonitor (http://maxcomputing.narod.ru/ssme.html?lang=en)
it has application firewalling, you can choose to be alerted every time a program not on your safety list trys to access the net. It tells you when programs try to change protected registry keys, and notifies when changes are made to the start up list, keeps a list of running applications and allows you to terminate any one of them immediately.

another program i found useful is MPEG audio collection (http://j-faul.virtualave.net/) . This handy tool scans selected folders or drives for mp3, ogg, mpc, wma and export the filenames to a text, html of excel file. You can choose to have these displayed in a number of different ways, and it has options to list a whole bunch of different properties of your audio files. This is really useful if you want to list all the music you have on your hard drive. The program has a host of other features, worth checking out if you have alot of music on your hard drive

Multi-Frontend (http://home.wanadoo.nl/~w.speek/multi.htm) is a neat little tool for decoding/encoding .wav files to and from (practically) any other format. Just download the appropriate codec, give multi frontend the path and your ready to go. Here are the encoders/decoders it supports:

BladeEnc, Fraunhofer Fastenc and MP3Enc, Gogo-no-coda, LAME, MAD, MPG123, MusePack, Ogg Vorbis, Psytel aacenc and fastenc, FAAD, Speex, TooLAME, FLAC, LA, LPAC, Monkey's Audio, OptimFrog, Shorten, WavPack, MP3Gain, ReplayGain, VorbisGain, WaveGain and Tag.

[napho]

Originally posted by grab
so whats the difference between start up monitor and just using msconfig?




Startup Monitor does what SystemSafetyMonitor does. It's Startup Control Panel which is like msconfig. http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml But even that program is useful because you can drag and drop shortcuts into the startup- eg defragging next time you boot.

[rainbowdemon]

Disk Pie. This prog shows all of the files on your hd in pie chart form.www.zornsoftware.com/

[dock0184]

Here's my fav 3 applications:
1. PGP or GnuPG. Both are the same things in different interfaces.
2. CloneCD v.3.0.5.1
3. RegCleaner

[[KwestSeeker]]

mp3utility - great app for scanning mp3s for bad frames.

[nasrules]

All fairly well known, but here goes:

EphPod
For those with iPods!

Invision
One of the best mIRC scripts.

SmartFTP
Probably the best FTP utility, IMO.

Resource Hacker
Make your own version of Kazaa Lite 2.0!

[isus]

Unfreez ( www.webattack.com do a search)

you make a bunch of gif's that are the same dimensions, then drag them into Unfreez and it will make an animated .gif for you. very simple. and free :)

[cpugeniusmv]

One little program, which I used to use a lot on 98...I think is INCREDIBLY useful...

HiderPX

You remember explorer crashes? I do, and they still happen on XP. what happens to things that were running in the tray? you can't get to them!!!

so use this program so show/hide ANY window that's going on in the back/foreground.

[Rahwgwar]

Nice apps ya'll.....

You should grab Leechget, http://www.leechget.de/html/download.html
IMHO, it's the best download manager.....provides great speeds and integration is seamless.....there are a few bugs, but the overall product is definitely well worth it.

AM-Deadlink and AM-Notebook I use for productivity purposes. Deadlink allows you to check the status of your bookmarks in real time. You can choose to remove duplicates or "deadlinks," bookmarks which take you no where. It's a good way to update and organize your bookmarks. AM-Notebook allows you to store notes and other data from your system tray. Very useful.....leaves a small footprint in memory
http://www.aignes.com/download.htm

As for monitoring utilities, I like to use PRCview and TreeSize. PrcView is a process viewer utility that displays detailed information about processes running under Windows. For each process it displays memory, threads and module usage. For each DLL it shows full path and version information. PrcView comes with a command line version that allows you to write scripts to check if a process is running, kill it, etc....It's much better than the Windows default task manager and allows you to see what programs use which processes.
http://www.xmlsp.com/pview/prcview.htm

TreeSize can be started from the context menu of a folder or drive and shows you the size of this folder, including its subfolders. You can expand this folder in Explorer-like style and you will see the size of every subfolder. This is very useful to see the status of all your folders and where your space is gone. You can also print out reports, which become increasingly handy.
http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

Need help getting up in the morning? Or you just hate the conventional annoying beeping of your alarm clock? Check out College Alarm Clock (http://www.geocities.com/vinodtandon/cac/)
It has many options such as being able to set the time you would like to wake up for the whole week.......and you can wake up to your favorite tune, or maybe AC/DC and Megadeth.

[Aaron73153]

AIDA32, shows a ton of stuff about your PC, get it here (http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php)

Spybot S&D, best spyware remover.

Trillian (http://www.trillian.cc) : free IM that communicates with AIM, MSN,ICQ,IRC, and Yahoo.

Sygate makes the best free firewall.

Mozilla (http://mozilla.org) the best web browser.

Mailwasher: free program that allows you to bounce mail from you POP3 server before it reaches your inbox, its a great program.

[Rahwgwar]

Almost forgot......Ad Subtract PRO is the best ad/pop up blocker IMO.

http://www.adsubtract.com/

Another good app is Tray Wizard.
With Tray Wizard you can:

- Launch your favourite applications from tray menu.
- Use fixed order of icons in tray.
- Remove icons that are not in use.
- Show/hide icons using predefined key combination.
- Minimize windows to tray or tray menu rather than task panel.
- Manage session/power state of your computer.

This improves the functionality of the system tray immensely. http://www.traywizard.com/

[napho]

Belarc Advisor shows you what's installed on your box including Microsoft hotfixes http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

ePromter is alot like Mailwasher. Very convenient if you have lots of email accounts. http://www.eprompter.com/

Ad Muncher is even better than Proxomitron IMHO.
http://www.admuncher.com/

[Mr. Crowley]

Eraser

http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

Eraser is an advanced security tool (for Windows), which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. Works with Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP and DOS.
Eraser is FREE software and its source code is released under GNU General Public License.

[Brycen257]

I would recommend these programs :

Trillian (can use in place of MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger or ICQ)

Sygate- great free firewall

Browser Hijack Blaster- new security program from Wilders org
Warns you if some program changes your homepage

Reg Cleaner - great registry cleaner

Jet Audio - great audio player

Firewall Leak test , UNpnP and XPDite (Windows Xp vulnerabilities)- all available at Gibson Research site

http://grc.com/default.htm

[Sockfulloflove]

windows washer
regcleaner
spybot & ad-aware
aida32
mirc
cuteftppro
yahoopops-helps you view your yahoo mail in outlook express.
winamp
winrar
nero
trillian/aim
avg
acrobat reader
daemon tools

there's a ton more...

[Winphuk]

I found a free little gadget that's great for ripping CDs

http://www.cdex.n3.net/

[Rahwgwar]

For more tab functionality with mozilla, check out Multizilla (http://multizilla.mozdev.org/)

The url seems to be down now however..... :(

[CCSDUDE]

Damn...

Who could forget...

VirtualDub www.virtualdub.org The best SMALL video app ever created...it cuts it joins it clips it converts it captures it does just about everything you need to do to movies....it is NOT meant for making AMV's or any really nutty stuff like you'd be doing with Adobe or Ulead's stuff.

JetAudio is great if you wish to bypass Real's shitty software....

ResHacker is a must...

Can't forget Media Player Classic (it looks and acts just like WMP 6.4 except they've added a load of features that make it easier to use...plus it plays swf files...real and quicktime...)

Winamp....nuff said...

Spybot

AIM+

Raspppoe

Aston

VCDEasy

WinRAR

Object Dock

Fantom CD/DVD

Mozilla

K-Meleon

Avant

Logon Loader

mIRC

ISO Buster

EAC

XMpeg

FlaskMpeg

Tmpeg

VirtualDubMod

AVI Synth

DVD2Avi

BeSweet w/ GUI Frontend

AVG

AsfTools

AC3 Filter

Bittorrent ++

Rad Video Tools

FSDshow

VCDLan

:)

[DainBramaged]

Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) is a good program as well. I agree with several of the recommendations here. I'll look around on my PC and see what nifty little progs I can find.

[skankito]

Just check out http://www.analogx.com. They've got all kinds of great proggies for your computer.

[napho]

Windows Media Recorder is great for recording streams.

http://www.netfor2.com/WMR70.html

[phalkon30]

Where to begin....some of my favorites have allready been mentioned, winamp, cdex, regcleaner, spybot, etc

One I've mentioned before... http://mrtech.com/mrsystray/ its really the swiss army knife of tools, there's honestly too much to list for what it does. XP users can gain some speed with it.

If any of you go to or host LAN partys, one favorite of mine is a small sourceforge program called "armagetron", its based of the light cycles game in tron.

Winbar, you might have seen it in screenshots of mine, http://winbar.nl/ its sweet, check it out.

[RACKnRAIL]

This is cool!

Si Meter (http://www.simeter.com/)

[RACKnRAIL]

Free network scanner. Works great!

Nmap (http://www.insecure.org/nmap/)

[Caitlyn Marble]

Originally posted by napho
Windows Media Recorder is great for recording streams.

http://www.netfor2.com/WMR70.html

I love you napho. I really do.

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouth ankyou

does anyone know of a program that saves real player streams? not that streambox ripper thing though.

[phalkon30]

Yeah, use a sound recorder with a loopback cable on your soundcard.

Line out > Line in (or mic jack). You can save a stream of anything that way.

[wonderboy2005]

Nero - burning

file renamer - rename files en mas

aida32 - the greatest system info tool period.

desktop architect - great customization tool

daemon tools - great for trying out a new bin or iso

download accelerator plus - take a wild guess

virtual cd - more robust than daemon tools, but also harder on SRs

winace/winrar/winiso/winzip - great compression tools

partition magic - partitioning HDDs

virtual PC - x86 emulator

nullsoft install system - create your own installers

peerguardian - you all know

TCPoptimizer - optimize your internet connection

powerstrip - graphics card utility

winamp - music

winlame - best audio converter in town

moodlogic - nice little audio file organizer

xchat/mirc - irc clients

photoshop - image editor

acdsee - pic viewer

core media player / BSplayer - great video players

openoffice.org - office suite

MacDrive - use your mac formatted media on a PC

izotope ozone - winamp equalizer on stereroids

object desktop/themexp - get rid of that god aful happy go lucky MS theme in xp or
otherwise

mozilla - great browser

virtualdub/tmpgenc - vid editors

reshack - resource hacker

explore2fs - read linux partitions in windows

3dsmax - 3d animation tool

IRIS - best packetsniffer period

NEStron - NES emulator

MAME - arcade game emulator

epsxe - psx emulator

NEMU - n64 emulator


there are a lot more, but those are just the ones i found when lurking on my pc

[napho]

Originally posted by Caitlyn Marble




does anyone know of a program that saves real player streams? not that streambox ripper thing though.


I use the Streambox VCR thing.

http://www.dawnload.net/general/download_splash.cfm?software_id=218&mirror=427&x=34&y=17

[PowerMan57two]

Pop-Up Stopper Free-Edition. I works great. It has blocked mostly all of my pop-ups like 85% or so. I think I got it from popupstopper or popupblocker.com one of those. And just get the free edition

[XtraNtnse]

Ad-Muncher, very small file size, best popup and ad blocker. Also comes with a nifty IP scramber. http://www.admuncher.com

[Mr. Mainstream]

[i]

Mailwasher: free program that allows you to bounce mail from you POP3 server before it reaches your inbox, its a great program. [/B]

i personally know thr guy that created that product comes into work alot and we have a great chat. MADE IN NEW ZEALAND

[perljavageek]

AVG Anti-Virus - superb free antivirus program, includes free definition updates - www.grisoft.com

Outpost Firewall - EXCELLENT free firewall - www.agnitum.com

MyIE2 - super-nice multi-tabbed browser with a bunch of features and built-in utilities - www.myie2.com

K9 - email filter w/built-in intelligence. Easiest and best I've tried (and I've tried quite a few, including Mailwasher) - http://keir.net/k9.htm

Ava Find - kicks ass over the Windows search function - http://www.think-less-do-more.com/avafind/l

Cygwin - UNIX/Linux-like environment for Windows - http://cygwin.com/

ActivePerl - Perl for Windows - http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/

Iconoid - a Windows desktop icon manager; saves icon positions, make icon text background transparent, mouse hotspots to minimize all windows, etc... - www.sillysot.com

[phalkon30]

Ok, as long as we're on popup blocker programs, google the proxomitron. I have a custom filter that works great, or you can find others that also work well.

[Psilaxs]

I posted this a long time back, but it is so burried i will post it again.

For anyone running windows 2000 you know that MS took out the MSconfig option under >run. This is a little utility that allows you to access it, just a small 141kb exe.

(Wont let me repost it, so here is the link to the thread)

http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=9058

[Sephiroth]

Dev- C++ is a pretty good C/C++ compiler.

http://www.bloodshed.net/dev/devcpp.html

[Dividend]

Got something on a floppy disk that Windows won't read? FlopShow (link (http://paradiseprogramming.tripod.com/flopshow.html) - freeware) will usually recover it. I happen to use it all the time because floppies don't last long (and my burner corrupts CD-RWs to the point where nothing can read it and it can't be erased).

And for popup blocking on Internet Explorer, PopUpCop (link (http://www.popupcop.com) - shareware) is by far the best. Unlike the famous Popup Stopper, this one will let through the popups that you want (like "click here to zoom"). It is also capable of managing a ton of other things like Java Scripts, Java Applets, Flash movies, image animation, window resizing, background audio, ActiveX, etc. Another bonus is that it's simply a browser plugin, so no extra programs to load at boot or tray icons. :)

Nothing beats a good utility! :)

[matt merch]

got nero 6 at the weekend very nice quite a lot of new stuff

http://www.nero.com/en/#c1055951946540

[rctempire]

In case the RIAA come to your door

http://www.hackology.com/programs/hdkp/ginfo.shtml

read that article

[rainbowdemon]

This is kind of cool.
http://www.panicware.com/product_mousearound.html

[crackerjacker]

there is this program or three i use alot.
getleft is an amazing free program i use it quite often you can parse files, download stuff etc. a getright subsitute. this one is a winner it supports ftp downloads http and it allows u to download websites.

let me link ya to that one.
http://personal1.iddeo.es/andresgarci/getleft/english/
----------------------------------------------

then there is mp3listmaker i use it alot and like it.
MP3 List Maker is a simple but effective tool that allows you to drop folders, files, mp3 playlists onto the window, sort them, mix them up, save them as mp3lists (.m3u file) or also export them as html listings.

http://www.webattack.com/get/mp3listmaker.html

-----------------------------------------
freeware program and works good and i have no problems with popups with this program.
Pop-Up Stopper Free Edition features a powerful, yet easy to use, interface which allows quick access to its wide variety of features-
http://www.panicware.com/product_psfree.html

=============================================

[crackerjacker]

btw i look through the list and these are some pretty great programs and they are free.

sometimes the free programs are the best.
just to add webattack.com has a section with a great list of freeware programs.

and nonags as well they offer free programs and they also desribe what the program is about.

[shawners]

I use a great utility which a MP3 cutter. Its good for when you find a song you like thats acoustic, or have radio talk in the front or end.. Or for what ever reason.. Like a band i liked had a dvd out that someone ripped the songs off and put them up as one long file.. So i had to split it and make it fit on two cd's
cool mp3 cutter
http://www.yaosoft.com

[The Gauge]

You people are gonna like this.

Chuck out Windows Media Recorder, StreamBox Ripper etc etc and try Total Recorder Professional.

http://www.highcriteria.com/

Not only does it record everything you throw at it, including streams, it will accelerate the streams as fast as possible and silently spool them straight to your harddrive. Don't ask me how it does it, just get it before Real Networks sue their arse off.

Nice.

Also, check out XPLite if you fancy removing any one of 90 extra components that Windows won't let you get rid of, including WMP and IE if you're brave enough.

http://www.litepc.com/

Gauge

[lizardsforall]

Nimo Codec Pack (http://nimo.titanesk.com/modules/news/) - Great for nOObs who don't know why there d/led movies won't play.

As mentioned before Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) - great for a pic viewer, slideshow and movie watching, I use it everyday.

AceHTML Freeware 5 (http://freeware.acehtml.com/) - For people who code their HTML and lose where they are in the code. Puts a color association with each tag, so its easier on the eyes.

[Roine]

id3 kill
excellent prog to remove id3 tags in many mp3 files at once.
simple,small,does it's job,fast.

[FrozenShadow23]

Hmm... most of my favorites have also already been said... Uh, how about the google search bar (http://toolbar.google.com/) ? It's a favorite of mine, too bad it doesn't work so hot with Opera (another good little download).

Where can I find this Invasion script you speak of? I've been googling forever with no luck. I've tried Excursion, which is better than basic mIRC, but still not quite "up to par" (such as my own golf scores).

/me sucks at golf but he can talk a mean IRC

[matt merch]

Hmm... most of my favorites have also already been said... Uh, how about the google search bar (http://toolbar.google.com/) ? It's a favorite of mine, too bad it doesn't work so hot with Opera (another good little download).

Where can I find this Invasion script you speak of? I've been googling forever with no luck. I've tried Excursion, which is better than basic mIRC, but still not quite "up to par" (such as my own golf scores).

/me sucks at golf but he can talk a mean IRC

i guess you mean invision by lebyte the scrip for mirc although why ppl use scrips i am not sure as mirc does it all

[Lamourlady]

i thought those "search bars", (don't know if google's does), had spyware.

*lmao......just noticed cj's title......"unscented maxi pads"*
would love to hear the jist to that one!!!!!!!!!!!

[ZZZzzzZZZzzz]

Bandwidth Monitor Pro (http://www.bandwidthmonitorpro.com)

Monitor your download and upload bandwidth.
Detailed graph and readout.
Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly totals.

[stephen_sterritt]

i would recommend

extreme picture finder.this program let you search for images of any celebrity you want or any picture you want and returns alot of results


and also netvue does the same job but it lets you preview the picture before you download it.

http://www.exisoftware.com/ this is to download extreme picture finder

http://www.netvue.com/ this is to download netvue image finder

http://www.trinsic.org/ this is to find cracks or serial numbers for any program

[MarkB]

A good site that contains links to numerous pages on the Web where home users can find software and information relevant to Windows PC privacy and security:

http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/main.htm


It also features a simple tool that imports over 5000 sites in your restricted zone, so you'll be protected when you visit innocent-looking sites that aren't actually innocent at all.

http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm#IESPYAD

[zaphodiv]

Clonespy finds duplicate files eg mp3's that are the same but which are in different directorys or have different filenames.

[crackerjacker]

I have one more to add that i like.
I just got it today but its pretty cool.

AB Commander LITE: a free, entry-level edition of AB Commander
Commander LITE is a free, light-weight edition of our full-featured product AB Commander XP/ME. It provides the basic commands to copy, move or rename files and folders, browse the contents of your disks, and several other useful commands

heres the link to more information


http://www.winability.com/abcommander/lite.htm

[Andy L]

Startup Control Panel - lets you control what programs are loaded at startup. I find it an indispensable tool.
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

MyIE2 - great front-end for Internet Explorer, has tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, mouse gestures and skinning.
http://www.myie2.com/

Spybot Search & Destroy - good spyware remover - completely free too, unlike Ad-Aware.
http://www.safer-networking.org/

Foobar2000 - the best audio player for Windows. Now far, far better than Winamp.
http://www.foobar2000.org/

Media Player Classic/Real Alternative/Quicktime Alternative - the best video player for Windows. Lets you play Real format files without the spyware.
http://www.freecodecs.com/

Exact Audio Copy - the only CD-ripping program that can rip in secure mode (guaranteed good-quality rips). EVERYONE should use this to rip their CDs.
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

EncSpot - very useful tool to check which codec was used to encode an MP3 (LAME = best, Blade/Xing = worst).
http://cd-rw.org/software/audio_software/mp3_tools/encspot.cfm

MP3trim - useful utility for checking errors and bad frames in MP3s.
http://www.logiccell.com/~mp3trim/

Monkey's Audio - for the very best (lossless - think of it as a zipped .WAV file) quality in audio files.
http://www.monkeysaudio.com/

Currency Converter - does what it says on the tin!
http://www.geocities.com/currconv2/

[simon_says_horrible]

GoBack 3 Deluxe (http://www.symantec.com/goback) - Undo PC problems even five days ago.
System Mechanics (http://www.iolo.com) - PC maintenance, increase internet speed, etc.
Norton AntiVirus (http://www.symantec.com) and ZoneAlarm Pro (http://www.zonelabs.com) - Best internet security.
Ad-Aware Plus (http://www.lavasoftusa.com) - Spyware/adware removal.
Trillian (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com) - AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo!, and IRC in one.
Nero Burning Rom (http://www.ahead.de/en) - #1 CD and DVD burning software in japan.
Shareaza (http://www.shareaza.com) - P2P connected from Gnutella2/1, eDonkey (eMule) in one software.
IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com) - View any images (any photos, videos, etc.)
TMPGEnc (http://www.tmpgenc.net) - Popular VCD converter.
VirtualDub (http://www.virtualdub.org) - Video capture/processing utility.

[MikeHunt]

the motherload .. for FREE programs - all kinds

www.shellcity.net

'configure your system wickedly'

[rainbowdemon]

the motherload .. for FREE programs - all kinds

www.shellcity.net

'configure your system wickedly'
That is a good one!! Thanks.

[shawners]

I got that spam email bounce to bounce the spam back to the source, really good =)

[billafu]

Very good stuff here. I would add a couple little things I have been using since my first ISP, Vueprint Pro for looking at porn, er, I mean pictures downloaded, and Agent as a news reader.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

This is a good thread.

::bump::

[Kyle06]

very good thread found alot of usefull software thanks

[.:sp00ky:.]

me too but some of it is old like that disk pie it says works for all windows but does not include xp.

id like to add a program i use called "enditall" you will find in on ed2k or somet its free and basicly it kills off all processes than are uneeded good or gaming and defraging.

[The Hunter]

Thread stickied.

[nzwizard]

Ace utilties: (http://www.acelogix.com/aceutils.html) (Not free) able to clean out your hard drive, registry, wipe data, shedule maintenance all in a 1.4mb file. Very good software.

Cdex: (http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/) (Freeware) able to rip cd to all audio formats, able to burn to cd, play cd's so many features can't list them. (1.5 mb). Primo software.

DVD Shrink: (http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html) (Freeware) Copy dvd into ISO formats retaining all its menus and quality. all in a 3mb file.

DivxtoDVD: (http://www.vso-software.fr/download.htm) (Freeware) Convert you Divx/Xvid file into DVD format so you can play it on your tv without hassle. All in one click. 2.3 mb.

Fresh Download: (http://www.freshdevices.com/) (Freeware) one of the fastest downloaders i've used. Has all the features of other download managers without the bloat. Extremely quick. 1.4mb

I personally use all these softwares, and they have all worked without problem. No spyware/adware. Use at your own risk, i'm not liable for any damage done.

[napho]

Small, fast, recover deleted files program. Doesn't need to be installed.
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html

[crackerjacker]

If anything tries to register itself to startup this terrific little proggie springs into action. http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml

Registry Crawler scans your entire registry in 20 secs. It comes in handy in so many ways. http://www.4dev.com/regc/

Windows search isn't nearly as good as this

http://www.agentransack.com/default.aspx
hmm i been using agent ransack for my searches for awhile now
it works great for xp
hmm

[Auggie2k]

IE Maximizer

Maximize new IE windows automatically, block popups, hides in the backround, low cpu
http://www.jiisoft.com/iemaximizer/download.asp

[MPXX]

Don't know if this has been said...a simple NT GUI mod...

WinRoll- Makes a window roll into its title bar, send it to the back or make it stay on top. Minimize, maximize or close all visible windows, including minimizing to the tray area. Make a window translucent on Windows 2000 or above. It's simple, uses little to no resources and it's FREE

http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/

[tomars]

TapTempo (http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/audio/taptempo.htm) - Just tap the spacebar along to any samples, loops or accapella vocals, and after 20/30 seconds or so, you will have a fairly accurate estimate of the tempo. Or if you just want to know the tempo of a song for some reason it works for that too :D I know I find this handy compared to the ones built into Cubase/Sonar because it is simple and I can use it when labelling samples without having to load up a hefty sequencer.

I know a lot of people don't like FireFox here but this is a useful extension: Google Images Relinker (http://extensions.roachfiend.com/girl.xpi) - pretty self explanatory.

[crackerjacker]

well winpatrol is free
www.winpatrol.com go download it

[napho]

Autoruns does alot of things other programs do, but it's all-in-one.

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html

[Auggie2k]

http://www.lostcoders.net/download/image/rightclick.png

Right Click Image Converter can convert between image formats from the Windows shell. Supports jpeg, bmp, png, wbmp, icon, tga and several other file formats. Right click on a file or a group of files in Windows, and select Convert to. You can use the utility to compress large files, create icons, convert images to Wireless BMPs, convert batch files and use the program through the command line.

Download Here (http://download.kristanix.com/rcicsetup.exe)

[zarquon]

Utorrent, www.utorrent.com

Best damn bt client around.

[napho]

I forgot to mention the Adobe buster, Foxit

Foxit Reader is small (the download size less than 1MB), so you can download it quickly. It doesn't need any lengthy installation, so you can start to run it as soon as you can download it.

And it starts up immediately, so you don't need to wait the annoying "Welcome" screen to disappear.

Foxit Reader is extremely easy to use, just double click it to start and then click open button to open your PDF document. If you want to print, click on "Print" button. If you want to setup the page layout for printing, select "Print Setup" from "File" menu.


http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

[nukehella]

me too but some of it is old like that disk pie it says works for all windows but does not include xp.

.
It works on XP for me which is good because I'd go nuts without it.PCMagazine tries to charge you for it now though.

[boogiedan]

i reccomend Ares 4 p2p
utorrennt also

[Stownplayer]

Opera web browser

[Auggie2k]

I use this all the time with my MP3 collection. It's handy for getting rid of unwanted tags, auto correcting them via FreeDB and using the "action" command to change them to sentance mode (Insert name here) instead of all appped (Insert Name Here). Oh and I think it now supports cover art from Amazon. Must update it actually :icon_cycl


Mp3tag is a powerful and yet easy-to-use tool to edit metadata (ID3, Vorbis Comments and APE) of common audio formats. It can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words from tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists and more. The program supports online freedb database lookups for selected files, allowing you to automatically gather proper tag information for select files or CDs.

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/images/sht_main.png

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/images/sht_optfreedb1.png

Main featues:

• Write ID3v1.1-, ID3v2-, APEv2-Tags and Vorbis Comments to multiple files at once
• Full Unicode support
• Automatically create playlists
• Recursive subfolders support
• Remove parts or the entire tag of multiple files
• Rename files based on the tag information
• Import tags from filenames
• Format tags and filenames
• Replace characters or words from tags and filenames
• Regular Expressions
• Export tag information to user-defined formats (like html, rtf, csv, xml)
• Import tag information from an online database (also by text-search)
• Import tag information from a local database

Homepage (http://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html) II Download (http://www.mp3tag.de/en/download.html) II Screenshots (http://www.mp3tag.de/en/screenshots.html)

[Auggie2k]

Ok, I was wrong about Google Web Accelerator. I guess it didn't work only for me at first but after a reformat it works great. Some people have trouble downloading from the site because it says they have reached maximum users but that's bull. Here you go.

http://images.techtree.com/ttimages/story/3679_matter.jpg

Google Web Accelerator works with your browser to help web pages show up in a snap. Learn more. (http://webaccelerator.google.com/support.html) Google Web Accelerator is...

• Designed for Broadband – Web pages load even more quickly on DSL and cable connections
• Easy to use – Simply install and enjoy faster web browsing in seconds

Direct Link: http://webaccelerator.google.com/GoogleWebAcceleratorSetup.msi
Homepage: http://webaccelerator.google.com/

[B@lle]

a very very good browser:
http://www.opera.com/


and a malware detecter/destroyer:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

[jono2003uk]

windows blinds is a very good program competely chageing the look and feel of your windows desktop
windows blinds (http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/)

[Stownplayer]

If you like mouse gestures in opera or firefox, then you'll love STROKIT

http://www.tcbmi.com/strokeit/actions.shtml

[napho]

With people uploading stuff to spaces that don't allow certain extensions, a batch renamer is good to have.

Rename Master is a utility for renaming large groups of files with a few clicks. Anyone that has worked with websites, file archives, or collections of music, videos, or pictures has probably spent way too much time renaming hundreds of files. The program provides an easy to use interface that allows you to perform simple and advanced rename operations, very easily. You can even preview the to-be-renamed file names before you finalize it and apply any changes. Advanced renaming features include adding, removing from the original file name, replacing characters (name or extension) and support for several meta variables, that allow you to perform renaming based on the files size, date and several other criteria. Renaming operations can be saved as scripts, so they can easily be reused at a later time. Additional features include optional Explorer integration, uppercase/lowercase conversion, file filters and more. A powerful, yet easy to use renaming utility!


http://www.snapfiles.com/get/renamemaster.html

[gbtesh]

Anyone know a prog that lets you convert PROTECTED AAC files to mp3.
it would help because i brought some songs of itunes and if they are protected they do not work on my ipod
thanks for your time
add me on msn or email me the link at [email protected]
thanks again

[lifehacker]

One word- utorrent

[Mels_Smileys45]

EDIT: opps, I looked back at the very first post to see this is a repeat but it bears repeating. A very good tool to have onboard



Start up monitor http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml


"StartupMonitor is a small utility that runs transparently (it doesn't even use a tray icon) and notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup. It prevents those utterly useless tray applications from registering themselves behind your back, and it acts as a security tool against trojans like BackOrifice or Netbus."

http://www.thepocket.com/thursday/startup.jpg

[nukehella]

Good to see this thread revived.I see Mike Lins startup cpl mentioned 3 times.I used to use that but now I use the startup manager in Tuneup Utuilties 2006.

Anyway if you still use MSCONFIG this program lets you cleanup all the leftover unchecked startup entries which get out of hand after awhile.http://www.get-in-control.com/msconfig-cleanup/

[nukehella]

I

Windows search isn't nearly as good as this

http://www.agentransack.com/default.aspx

And agentransack(at least the free version) isn't nearly as good as this IMO(I know I'm quoting an 3 year old post)
http://www.copernic.com/ It will find any file on your computer in less than a second and it will search the web too.

I haven't looked at agent ransack for a couple years though maybe I'll check out the latest version on another computer.

[moneoa]

may have been mentioned before but musicutter is awesome.
Its a small program that loads mp3 cue files and then splits the mp3 file into the individual songs listed in the cue sheet.

[thedirtyd]

i like photogadget. it let's you resize your pictures really easily.
just right-click the picture(s) --> "photogadget picture resize." type in your size and voila!

they have a pro version now but there isn't really anything too useful on it. well, except maybe the option to change the format...

anyway, here's the site: http://www.xemico.com/photogadget/index.html

[napho]

And agentransack(at least the free version) isn't nearly as good as this IMO(I know I'm quoting an 3 year old post)
http://www.copernic.com/ It will find any file on your computer in less than a second and it will search the web too.

I haven't looked at agent ransack for a couple years though maybe I'll check out the latest version on another computer.



Indexers work in the background constantly and are much, much faster than conventional search programs like Agent Ransack. It's a new era. :icon_salu

Something that's been mentioned before around here is Unlocker. Good for deleting things that stubbornly hang on..


http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/


The Billy Player (audio) uses next to no resources (as in 2 KB ram and 0% cpu) if you're busy doing alot of other things at the time.

http://www.sheepfriends.com/?page=billy

[mfgbypooter]

Hey thanks for posting Unlocker, I've used MoveOnBoot for years and this looks like an excellent alternative.

*

[AC7]

Process Explorer

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html is a great alternative to task manager, and provides a lot of features that task manager can't. In addition, it is extremely useful for accomplishing the same task as Unlocker, as you can easily search for a handle or dll and close it.

In fact, sysinternals has a wealth of great tools that are all free.

[lifehacker]

EDIT: opps, I looked back at the very first post to see this is a repeat but it bears repeating. A very good tool to have onboard



Start up monitor http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml

I just use RegDefend and it notifies me when any new registry entry is added, meaning I aslo see startup additions.

[Mels_Smileys45]

I just use RegDefend and it notifies me when any new registry entry is added, meaning I aslo see startup additions.



Sounds like the same thing

[littlebits]

Webshots Desktop- http://www.webshots.com/samplers/
Desktop Wallpaper, Screen Savers and Photo Manager all in one program.
Free, No adware or spyware. Download 5 free wallpapers daily after you register.

JetAudio- http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/jetaudio/
Plays all formats of audio and video without installing codecs. Converts media into other formats.
Has a sound recorder, a clock with a timer and an alarm. Includes a broadcast radio free. Also rips and burns CD's fast. Free and paid version. No adware or spyware.

HostMan- http://hostsman.abelhadigital.com/
The best host manager automatically update your host file from 4 websites.
One click enable or disable host file, lock your host file, add your own custom websites to block.
Blocks bad websites known for malware and online advertisements. Free no adware or spyware.

Maxthon Browser- http://www.maxthon.com/
The most compatible browser with all websites runs on IE engine but is very much more secure.
Has many features, too many to list just visit the website. Free, no adware or spyware.

avast! Free Home Edition AntiVirus- http://www.avast.com
Simply the best AntiVirus software that I had ever used. Provides 8 on access scanners.
Updates virus database daily. Also talks to you. Paid version offers script blocking.

CCleaner- http://www.ccleaner.com
An excellent system cleaner and it is free.

7-Zip - http://www.7-zip.org/
The best file archiver with high compression ratio. No need for WinRAR, WinZip or WinAce.
This freeware does it all.

Just read my signature for the rest!:icon_salu

[Andromedon]

Does anyone know of a program that automatically maximizes programs/folders when hovering your mouse over them on the taskbar?

[nukehella]

Well unlockers had gotten it's just props.Here's another kind of obscure one.This is great when you're burning and want to compile content.I'll let souceforge say it----------

Folder Size for Windows adds a new column to the Details view in Windows Explorer. The new column shows not only the size of files, but also the size of folders. It keeps track of which folders you view, and scans them in the background so you can see complete size of all files within the folder. It's very useful for cleaning up your disk. Once you get used to having that information available, a directory listing simply looks incomplete without it!
http://foldersize.sourceforge.net/

Trust me kids-get this one.

[Ultima-X]

RegDefender and ProcessGaurd are very good seurity programs.. I highly recomend these programs!

[lifehacker]

RegDefender and ProcessGaurd are very good seurity programs.. I highly recomend these programs!
Both are excellent choices especially ProcessGurad.

[axlman]

DeepBurner is a nice little prog. Can put it on a Flash drive, bring it where ever and don't even have to actually install it just to burn CD's.

[zakislid]

I suggest
opera the fastest browser www.opera.com

System mechanic:The only system optimization and security software you'll ever need: six award-winning products contained in one complete solution. Repair stubborn errors, accelerate performance, maintain peak PC health, protect against viruses, hackers, spyware, adware, and more using the System Mechanic 6 Professional robust arsenal of powerful computer maintenance tools.

Internet Download Manager (IDM) is a tool to increase download speeds by up to 5 times, resume and schedule downloads. Comprehensive error recovery and resume capability will restart broken or interrupted downloads due to lost connections, network problems, computer shutdowns, or unexpected power outages. Simple graphic user interface makes IDM user friendly and easy to use.

[SoreVexed]

I have two favorites. One of which I will mention because it is still a LEGAL program, the other, well....you get the picture.

Darik's Boot and Nuke. Its a bootable program you install on a cd-rom by itself. (about 10mb or less, i use a mini cd-r) it basically wipes your hard drive in as short as 5 minutes (3 pass wipe, 80gb, 500mhz) or as long as 3 days (Guttman Wipe, 80gb, 500mhz). if you run the guttman wipe, then not even a lab could retrieve the data.

it rearranges the binary on the platters one bit at a time. you can even make all 0's or all 1's the only thing present on the hdd. this proggie is useful in cases where you accedentally try to install xp over an existing unregistered installation on any hdd. or perhaps you just got a bunch of viruses and want to make sure they all burn in hell for their intrusion on your beloved system, whatever the case, its niiiiiiiiiiice.

you may have a hard time getting a copy of it though. you might try searching for "Boot and Nuke" in winmx or another p2p network. I found it on the open nap networks through winmx. there are a few versions out there and i like darik's best.

[Unsueable Davey Brown]

I just spent all night looking for something that would recover data from a corrupted flash drive. I needed something that would recover all file types, was free, and would actually work. After about 20 tries this one pretty much meets all the criteria, although I think it missed a couple files.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

It's ugly though.

[nobodaddy]

Magic DVD Ripper (http://www.magicdvdripper.com/index.htm) and Magic DVD copier (http://www.magicdvdripper.com/dvd-copier.htm). Really easy, fine quality. And the author posts on this forum. (http://forum.digital-digest.com/forumdisplay.php?f=81) If someone comes across a DVD that won't rip, he fixes the program and releases a new version.

!ntellect (http://chaossoftware.com/). Brand new overhaul of the Time and Chaos Contact Manager/ToDo List/Email.

Splats HTML (http://chaossoftware.com/digitalsplats/). Create a web page for your photos with thumbnails and frames in about 2 seconds.

PowerDesk Pro (http://www.v-com.com/product/PowerDesk_Pro_Home.html) File Manager. Used it for years and I shudder to think what life would be like without it.

Quintessential Media Player (http://quinnware.com/). The Development Build (currently 112), not the 4.51 release of QCD. Now has a media library. Will be a force to be reckoned with when it's finally ready.

NewsRover (http://newsrover.com/) has been very very good to me.

Oh, and WebDrive (http://www.webdrive.com/products/webdrive/index.html). Not cheap, but I love it. Map an FTP site (like your webspace) as a drive on your computer. Work on files on it just like any other drive.

[noarms]

Edit Plus is a nice text editor with syntax highlighting, regex search, etc.

[sandwichman]

EDIT: opps, I looked back at the very first post to see this is a repeat but it bears repeating. A very good tool to have onboard



Start up monitor http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml


"StartupMonitor is a small utility that runs transparently (it doesn't even use a tray icon) and notifies you when any program registers itself to run at system startup. It prevents those utterly useless tray applications from registering themselves behind your back, and it acts as a security tool against trojans like BackOrifice or Netbus."

http://www.thepocket.com/thursday/startup.jpg

omg, just what i was looking for, Thanks!!! for the repost ;)...hope it works on vista

[evolvd]

CDBurnerXP Pro 3 and VLC

[Bor44]

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack ofc :). And if you want to rip some movies into xvid or x264 i would advise meGui.

[inva]

This one seams nice :D better than bur a cd on win

CDBurnerXP Pro 3 and VLC

[bitslip]

donw know if it has been mention but..
"Shutdown timer" its great

[Cyrus@Deathware]

Microsoft basline security analyser, awesome for update
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsahome.mspx

[Cyrus@Deathware]

Core Fore Firewall - Millitary Grade


http://force.coresecurity.com/

[adirael]

DVD decrypter ...must be in your pc

[littlebits]

IE7pro is an add-on for Internet Explorer 7 which adds a lots of features including an advanced ad filter which can be customed by the user to block any online ads, tab history and tab tweaks, super drag drop, crash recovery that saves your work if IE7 crashes, proxy changer, default search engine changer, max connections and more! IE7pro can speed up the loading of web pages by removing the online ads.

IE7pro is a freeware, and has No adware, No spyware or toolbars.
Uses advanced ad blocking and website blocking filters without using your
host file which makes IE7 load pages much faster then what it does using your host file.
Includes an updated block list and has auto updates.

IE7pro Home Page (http://www.ie7pro.com/)


Thanks.:icon_thum

[HERONEO]

nero for burning cdrom and dvd

[Obsession6789]

Imgburn for iso files

[prisonbreak2]

nero for burning cdrom and dvd

yes nero is good

[gastur]

tag&rename for organizing mp3s

[anonymous666]

dupehunter for finding mp3 dupes