What apps do you take with you when you migrate to a new system?

I was going to write this post yesterday before I completely hosed my Z61t and had to do a fresh OS install and restore from a month old backup. Lots of fun!

Since my new T60p hasn't yet arrived, I'm already making my list of apps to migrate. These are programs I always have on whatever notebook I eventually land on. Eudora, Homesite and Paint Shop Pro have been with me forever.

Eudora (email client)
Firefox
Homesite (web design)
Paint Shop Pro
SmartFTP
ThumbsPlus
Perfect Disk
Forte Agent (newsreader)
Eraser
Registry Mechanic
Webroot Spy Sweeper
WinRAR
Trillian (IM client)
Fineprint

 

Don't forget to bring bookmarks, documents, emails, logins/passwords.

I'm moving this to OS/Software

 

I have all my music, pictures, documents, movies and favorites on DVDs.
Those are pretty much the only things I keep on DVDs in case my computer crashes and I need to format.

I have Matlab and AutoCad on CDs too. The rest of the programs I use can be downloaded (Winamp, AVG Anti-Virus, Ad-aware, Spybot etc).

 

I have Foxmarks installed on Firefox. It keeps a current copy of all my bookmarks archived and I not only never lose bookmarks if something happens to the system but I can share my bookmarks between systems. I have another laptop and never have to import/export bookmarks between systems.

 

Opera
Firefox
Notepad2
7-zip
Foxit Reader
Synergy
Gaim (Trillian used to spike my CPU to 100% every time I got a message. Made the whole system hiccup.)
TightVNC
Putty
utorrent
Mplayer (usually with the CCCP, though i've got my own mix of codecs and filters and whatnot on that one computer that time I wasn't feeling lazy)
Foobar2000
(LFC reminded me of EAC, but I only put that on one computer usually)

 

Latest Autopatcher Full Release (clicky!) <<- Crucial! (installed 1st)

Music
Foobar
EAC
Lame 3.97
Razorlame
MP3 Tag

Video
VLC
MPC with K-Lite Mega Codec Pack
DVD Shrink
Nero

Other
Firefox
Foxitreader
Winrar
Microsoft Office
AVG Pro+Firewall
Ad-Aware, Modified Hosts + Spywareblaster
Photoshop
TweakUI + Microsoft Bootvis

Games, music + video files last with Yahoo Widget Engine and StyleXP. I also run Partition Magic off my flash drive

 

Umm, all of them?

I'd rather not list all the software on my computer.

 

I was just looking that over and it seems interesting. How does it work for you, and does it really include all WUs for a fresh install? My biggest gripe after a reformat is having to reinstall 6 years of XP patches..............

 

I migrate mostly all of them, being that I only like to keep apps that I use and that are invaluable. To much to list so... I'll list ONLY the ones I know most people don't use......

Photoshop Elements 5 (does what the gimp can do, without having the whole Adobe CS2 that I don't use much)

IESpell I would not spell half my words correctly as fast as I type. Simple right-click spell checker. Download from Snapfiles.com and don't update or else it's not free. A must have imo

Lock Folder XP 3.5 Simply lock files,folders or drives without safely without encryption.

CutePDF & Ghostsricpt Print to PDF files.

Faststone Apps The best photo viewing & resizing apps for free. I use faststone as my default picture viewer. Also a great on the fly pic editor.

Power ISO and Magic ISO Can do everything that Damoen tools can, but also opens a few more extentions like .daa

Look@LAN All the info about your connection, whos on it, etc:

SUPER © This app is getting very popular but many still don't know of it.

VLC Player Has more compatibility than any other player I can think of.

Ext2IFS Dualbooting Windows and Linux? This will make it easy for Windows to pickup ext2&3 drives.

Gallery Grabber Easy grab all photos from any site without downloading extra unwanted stuff or the whole site. Non-install runs from file.

Kodak EasyShare software If you have a Digital camera you might want to check the Kodak easyshare software out. I like it alot.

PhotoZoomPro2 Makes a small pic into a big pic without losing much of the quality.

LimeWire pocket version A Friend e-mailed this to me. It doesn't install and runs right from my USB stick and downloads to it. Defeats the need to have admin rights to use it, like a Library or school computer.

TugZip Tugzip is the simplest out there and completely free.

POPPeeper Once you get use to this E-mail client you'll probally be hooked on it. Doesn't look pretty at all but it does it's job extremely well compared to other E-mail apps. Can also run from your USB and be used without admin rights.

Audacity Why pay for a sound card app when you can just use this free recorder and editor. Just put it on "stereo mix" and your good to go. You can also convert music files to differ formats. A must have.

Kristal Audio Engine Free music editor. Not Pro tools or Fruity loops but it can get the job done.

Pivot stick figure The easiest animation ever. If you got some time on your hands, then make stick figure comes to life.

MP3 Directcut Another great free mp3 tool. The name speaks for itself, it cuts music.

 

You need to have service pack 2 installed; but other than that, yeah it works great, all the updates, plus (optional) tweaks and useful 3rd party programs (WL Messenger, Flash, Java, etc.) Everything is installed in one uninterrupted installer; just 1 restart when it's finished. Makes things way easier.

 

okay.. how many of all the programs you guys just listed are illegally downloaded?

 

Most of the software posted so far is freeware.