Essential Software, Software that you shouldn't live without Options

[zima]

Listed programs didn't dissapear anywhere from what I can tell...

But a bit more seriously - hey, it's a good thing, means that needs of many computer users are fulfilled quite good, at least in the confines of current UI paradigm.

Low level of activity in this thread is also a byproduct of the fact that, thankfully, we menaged to stop turning it into "post what software you use" (which would be useless/impossible to browse), instead usually trying to post things only if they weren't mentioned yet. Makes it much more clear and useful.

And with having in mind making this post more useful, few small essential apps that I've come to use (after checking they weren't mentioned via "Search Topic" function of course )

SMPlayer - how on Earth I haven't mentioned that... (been using it for quite some time) For me it's essentially "foobar of video" - very nice (but simple) frontend to MPlayer, very light, fast, low on CPU usage, not relying on Windows/dshow codecs and beeing able to play basically any format (especially after simply copying, no installation required, Binary Codec Package from MPlayer homesite )

SpeedFan - as above, how I couldn't mention it for so long... Very light, no-bloatware, system temperatures, fan speeds and HDD S.M.A.R.T. monitoring app.

Duplicate Files Finder - does what its name says; and indeed, when compared with few other apps I've tried, its speed claims seem well grounded. Plus it's also very non-bloatware style app.

[zima]

Wackget - small, fast, very non-bloatware download app was mentioned few times...however its homesite is down for a long time. You could download the version that was there from some software download sites, however:

Since it was, I believe, open source somebody took it and updated a bit with new version of wget, giving it larger files support and SSL.

Wackget 1.2.3

[Robertina]

1-4a rename is my favourite mass renamer.

- features
- examples

[2E7AH]

After seeing this post about useful free apps, and because I didn't saw STDU Viewer there (no marketing at all I guess) I would like to promote it here:

It's free PDF/DJVU/XPS... reader and fastest I know off (it's even fast on P1 with reasonable documents), with features like slim view, tabbed documents, bookmarks, great search (regexp option), restore document state at opening...

What else could one want for reading/browsing pleasure?
I would recommend it to a friend

[Haf]

Windows Blinds (Windows theme software)
Firefox (Internet browser freeware)
PHP-Designer (Multilanguage editor software)
Rainmeter (Desktop cuztomising freeware)
Propellerhead Reason (Music making software)
Foobar2000 (Music player freeware)
Fraps (Screenshot software)
Steam (Online-store source for PC games)
Photoshop CS5 (Image editing software)
Deamon Tools (Virual CD/DVD drives freeware/software)
AVG Internet Antivirus (Antivirus software)

[sthayashi]

wow some of the older stuff that I posted on here is really dated.

One piece of software that I discovered a couple years ago has proven to be quite useful now and then for me: XVI32, a freeware hex editor.

Now some of the recommended software here already includes a hex editor with everything else. I'm not a big fan of one piece of software that can do everything. I prefer things that have a specific task for a specific use. XVI32 is that way for me. If you need to look at or look for raw bytes in a file, this is the tool to do it. It's stripped down compared to WinHex, which was recommended in the very first post, but I think it's better for looking at files.

[Dude111]

Here is my list of favourite SW

DISK CLEANER - http://www.diskcleaner.nl/download (Best TEMP FILE REMOVER i have ever found)

REGSEEKER - http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm (BEST REG CLEANER I HAVE EVER FOUND (First time using it removed over 800 keys!)) Plus it does so much more.....

MyIE2 - http://www.oldversion.com/download_Maxthon_0.9.27.html (BEST BROWSER I HAVE EVER FOUND (Uses the IE engine with an option for Gecko (Version 9.27.68)))

RESTORATION - http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html (RESTORATION.ZIP (Best UNDELETE/TOTAL REMOVE program i have ever found))

DR. TCP - http://www.dslreports.com/drtcp (Excellent program to TWEAK your settings for faster speeds,etc)

SCREAMER RADIO - http://www.screamer-radio.com (BEST RADIO APP I HAVE EVER FOUND)

This post has been edited by Dude111: Dec 1 2011, 06:53

[zima]

If you happen to have an old bt848, bt849, or bt878 (or related later Connexant chips, I believe) analogue TV card, DScaler will give it a new life (assuming you still have analogue TV signals at your place ...or want to convert to DVDs those old VHS tapes; or have a digital TV tuner/converter box):
http://deinterlace.sourceforge.net/

Alternatively, K!TV is another very good option: http://www.kastortv.org/

I always saw them as similar to foobar2k - light and powerful.