The Ever-Growing Free Windows Software List

Some good freeware that can be added under the System Tools category:

System Tools > Screen Capture/Recording: HyperCam is a good free video capturing tool: http://www.hyperionics.com/hc/

System Tools > File Compression/Copying: FastCopy is the fastest file copying program I know of (in my tests, much much faster than Teracopy), although the interface is a bit complicated at first sight: http://www.ipmsg.org/tools/fastcopy.html.en

System Tools > Resource Monitors: Core Temp is a motherboard-independent lightweight CPU temperature monitor. It shows the temperature of each individual core in each processor: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

System Tools > Resource Monitors: RMClock monitors CPU usage, core temperature, and core clock from the system tray, and can also be used to undervolt the CPU: http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml

System Tools > Resource Montors: Meminfo monitors RAM usage in the system tray: http://www.carthagosoft.net/meminfo.htm

 

Added the following to the list:

• Startup Manager (thanks Hiker!)
• RMClock (thanks MidnightSun!)
• CoreTemp (thanks MidnightSun!)
• FastCopy (thanks MidnightSun!)
• Meminfo (thanks MidnightSun!)
• HyperCam (thanks MidnightSun!)

 

Oh these are nice! Thanks MidnightSun and dbam for adding!

The RMClock and CoreTemp look pretty cool!


Cin

 

????? VirtualDub is too an editor. Also a front-end for a lot of different encoders.

 

CCCP is definitely safe. It's my codec pack and player [MPC] of choice. Scanned with Avira Antivir.

 

i marked the CCCP codec pack as tested. Thanks!

 

I can vouch for PrimoPDF. I've used it on XP SP 2 and 3 and now on Vista Home Premium 64bit. Good stuff.

 

Thanks Andy!

 

Sorry, but which software should I use if I want to just use plain paper and not their products?

BTW I can vouch for doPDF as well, I was just using it to create PDFs of my assignments.

 

Thanks KarenA!

 

+1 for doPDF. Awesome in its simplicity and straightforward UI.

 

Another System Tool, but I'm not sure what category it would belong in. Miscellaneous?

PowerMenu
http://www.abstractpath.com/powermenu/
PowerMenu uses ~1MB of RAM and adds variable transparency and process priority settings to the right click menu, and also adds "Always On Top" and a useful "Minimize to Tray" option to the active window & taskbar item context menus.

 

Thanks MidnightSun! I wasn't sure either on the specific section to put it at so I listed it under miscellaneous.

 

And another System Tool > Tweaking:

Taskbar Shuffle
http://www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.htm
Similar to Taskix, but expanded. Taskbar Shuffle allows you to reorder taskbar buttons by drag and drop, reorder system tray icons by drag and drop, reorder tasks in a grouped taskbar button, tweak taskbar button grouping settings, and more.

 

I'm looking for software to monitor network bandwidth. Specifially, each IP Address and their bandwidth usage. And yes, I am the admin and have physical access to the router.

 

Anyone a list of Softwares
we should/must get if we have
Vista Ultimate 64 bit
thxs

 

I love this one. Good find MidnightSun! I tested it on XP so far at work and I highly recommend this one over Taskix, even though both get the job done. Taskbar Shuffle seems more polished. Too bad there's no 64-bit support for it yet...

We'll keep a lookout for other tools but see if Bandwidth Monitor Lite 2 has what you need.

Edit: I moved Taskix and Taskbar Shuffle to a new sub-category of the System Tools section called Taskbar Enhancers. I think there are other app's on the list that should be moved to this new section. Let me know if I missed one.

 

Can anyone suggest some free software that will let me create a single exe to install a set of files into a particular directory? My application consists of a number of Excel and Word files and a PDF. I want all of those "zipped" into the EXE and when you run it, create and place those files in a predefined folder. Must work in XP and Vista. Bonus if it will work on MacOS as well.

 

This is a good idea actually. It would be cool if there was a list of must-have applications for XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Any takers on this challenge?

 

A must-have list is, by nature, subjective since everybody has different needs and wants. There can be a generic list (ie a web browser, word processing software, etc), but to name specifics is difficult because I might like Office 2007, but you might like OpenOffice better. Who's to say I'm right or wrong?

 

That is true. Realized this came up earlier in this thread.

 

Could I suggest a remote desktop/web access/file and folder synchronization app. It's actually a Microsoft product called Live Mesh. ( www.mesh.com ) I've used it for remote access to my home system and it works great. Also, the file sync between PC's, Macs, and Windows Mobile phones could come in handy for some people.

One caveat: The Remote Desktop functionality requires you to install an ActiveX control on the PC you'll be using to access the remote system. This may prevent you from taking advantage of this functionality when you need it most (think internet cafe, or locked down college or school computer lab) If you've enabled synchronization of your doc's w/ the "Web Desktop" then it probably won't be a problem just using the files.

 

Thanks! I added it to the list. It's in the Virtual Network Computing section.

 

Added VMware's vCenter Converter, which allows you to convert your physical machine to a virtual machine, as well as virtual machines in other formats to VMware's format. I used it to convert my Vista box to a VM and then in Windows 7 setup VMware Workstation to run my original machine. Worked quite nicely! You could also convert VM's that are for Microsoft Virtual PC to VMware's format, although you can't do the reverse.

 

Here are two dock programs [System Tools > Application Docks]:

RKLauncher
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rklauncher/
A dock program similar to Rocketdock (imitates the dock in MacOSX). I find that RKLauncher seems to be slightly easier on system resources, at the cost of the extensive customizability of Rocketdock.

Circle Dock
http://circledock.wikidot.com/
An interesting twist on the dock idea - instead of a permanent dock at the bottom/top of your screen, Circle Dock appears around your cursor when needed.

 

Added! Thanks!

 

Circle Dock is a program in the alpha stage. As much as I like it, I wouldn't recommend it to the masses; it can cause problems.

What is your policy going to be on adding software? Final version only? Beta? Beta, but only if tested by many users? How/where do you draw the line? Some things to think about.

 

True - dbam987, you should probably add a tag next to the download links, like [ALPHA] or [BETA], so potential users know that there are risks involved.

 

I agree on these kinds of apps. I marked Circle Dock as [ALPHA]. Thanks for the suggestion crash and MidnightSun!

 

Yes i agree everybody has different needs
but all application dont work on
Vista 64 bit
Maybe we can have that List for
32 bit & diff for 64 bit then
So we know we can try any from that list

Yes would be nice to know if its
a [ALPHA] or [BETA],
Thxs

 

The point is, creating a list for 32-bit, 64-bit, both, or whatever, of "must-have software" won't work and isn't practical.

And almost all software works on 64-bit, so I don't see that being an issue here.

 

If a program is truely 32-bit only, e.g. it just won't work properly on 64-bit for whatever reason, why not add something like ' 32-bit only'?

 

64-bit Windows OS's are supposed to support 32-bit applications. The amount of software that isn't supported on a 64-bit machine is really minimal to begin with.

 

I tested Everest today and it is pretty cool. You can view all the hardware you have installed, and can even run some memory benchmarks as well. However, I don't recommend it for machines newer than 2006 since the application has not been maintained since March 2006 (in terms of the comparison's with similar machines in the benchmarking). It's still useful for drilling in to the low level hardware on your machine.

Note: The edition in the link is intended for home use, and will not work in a coorporate environment.

 

Added Free Byte Backup

Can do incremental backups and you can schedule them as well.

 

BurnCDCC - works great for images and ISO files - nothing to install - simply unzip the file. Small size that has worked great for me on both Windows XP and Vista 64. Have used on numerous machines. What I use for ISOs - windows and linux.

 

Thanks J&SinKTO! Added [TESTED] for BurnCDCC and your remarks to the list.

 

Wow this list gets better and better! Thx

 

FastStone Photo Resizer - Link: http://www.faststone.org/ Works great for resizing photos (i.e. MB to KB) while still maintaining quality. Works great, simple and intuitive GUI. Works in Vista 64, have not tried on XP yet.

 

Check this out, ran across it when reading this.

Its a little battery application showing what is necessary for you to know.



You can turn it on and off by accessing the "Toolbars".



In addition, you can left click on it once for it to change from the % display to time remaining.



However, in this free version, you're not allowed to change the power scheme directly from the application but its good enough.

 

i think its me, but my laptop doesn't have the feature where it says "x:xx time left". therefore, it doesn't work for me :/

 

I am not sure where this would go but I thought it would be useful. I tend to get bored of my wallpaper fairly quickly and I usually hunt down new wallpapers every week. I came across this program called Desktoptopia, which was originially for Mac but they have a Windows Beta. I have installed it on my laptop and so far so good.


http://desktoptopia.com/

 

I can vouch for auslogic defragmentation software. Works brilliantly, is very fast and has no spyware/malware etc.

Dunno about the uninstallation though. Does that really need to be tested?

 

Isnt webshots better ?

 

Added!

Added! But your post doesn't say whether it installed and ran fine on your machine... If it does work well, then I'll mark it as TESTED.

 

Added!

Thanks for trying it, I marked it as TESTED since I put it on my Windows XP virtual partition to try it out. It uninstalled fine. I'm debating on whether to have the uninstallatin part as a requirement. I however would like it if people do test the uninstaller though.

 

I'd like to suggest some good free FTP clients.

FileZilla

Core FTP LE

WinSCP

FireFTP (For Firefox users.)

 

Thanks stewie! Realized that the list was sorely missing this segment of productivity tools. However, I don't think I could add the Firefox FTP add-on as it's, well, an add-on rather than a standalone app. I added the entries to the new sub-category FTP Clients in the Productivity section.

 

Thanks, dbam987! Keep up the good work.

 

Hey now, You guys need to put up IBM Lotus Symphony as an alternative to Microsoft Office. Just found it myself and will install asap. Just thought it should go right at the top with productivity apps.

enjoy,