Pinoy Tech Guy

Written on Saturday, 12th of Jan 2008 – 11:49 am | by sylv3rblade | 526 views

After putting things off for a week, I decided to start things off with a LONG, useful list. What better to note down than some useful programs for your Windows installation?

Utilities you must have

• FireBug - If you’re doing Web development and yet you’re nofeat using firebug then you should just quit… kidding. I’ve yet to see something as close to it’s usability as an in-browser IDE. It’s a complete x-ray into your browser including HTML, CSS and JavaScript, all live on the page. Again another must.
• Notepad++ (Scite also uses the same codebase) - Notepad++ has first class CR/LF support, ANSI to Unicode switching, whitespace and line ending graphics and Mouse Wheel Zooming. Definitely a must if you’re a developer or a web designer.Some, and I stress SOME, of its features include:
  • Auto-completion (language and file)
  • Bookmarks
  • Syntax highlighting (and brace and indent highlighting)
  • Regular expression find and replace
  • Split screen editing
  • Zooming
  • Spell checker (built in but requires Aspell)
  • Hex editor (plug in available)
  • Tabbed document interface
• PowerShell - For -UX people who are used to using the command line (or terminal) and feel that the Windows one is lacking then this is a must. With access to .NET, WMI and COM, PowerShell has a steep learning curve, but if you manage to tame it, it makes life so much easier. Here’s some sample code which you can use with PowerShell:
  • Stop all processes that begin with the letter “p”:

    PS> get-process p* | stop-process

  • Find the processes that use more than 1000 MB of memory and kill them:

    PS> get-process | where { $_.WS -gt 1000MB } | stop-process

  • Calculate the number of bytes in the files in a directory:

    PS> get-childitem | measure-object -property length -sum

• SysInternals Tools - Filemon, ProcExp and AutoRuns, specifically.
  • ProcExp or Process Explorer replaces your tired old Task manager with a lightweight and powerful tool.
  • AutoRuns gives you as much access (sometimes more) with your Windows startup than msconfig
  • Filemon helps you keep track of what files are being used by which programs. Definitely a must if you’re into development or paranoid about security.
• xplorer2 - Dump your Windows Explorer with this powerful program. Here’s a quick guide.

Power tools

• CDBurnerXP - is a free replacement to the heavy and expensive Nero.
• CrapCleaner (CCleaner) - Cleans the crap out of your system which may include temp internet files, lost registry items, etc.
• Daemon Tools - Power users that prefer ISOs over discs will love this lightweight program.
• DirLot - This has been the only disk usage I’ve been using ever since I discovered it. It displays interactive reports that shows file sizes, meta data, etc.
• Firefox - You’re in the stone age if you haven’t heard of it.
• Filezilla - The best FTP program out there. Free too.
• Foxit Reader - Who needs a lunky Adobe Acrobat when you can have a similar program at under 1 MB?
• Fraps - No more crappy cellphone videos when you want to showoff your PC’s capabilities
• GIMP - is a powerful raster graphics editor application that some people claim as a Photoshop Killer
• Pidgin - Having multiple IMs installed is a hassle. Go for an all in one.
• InstallPad - You can update ALL your programs using a package manager on any -UX system. InstallPad makes that feature available to Windows and does the job of downloading and installing the latest versions of all your favorite apps.
• IrfanView - a tiny (only 1,400K), lightning-fast, image viewer. No install required and it supports scanners and cameras.
• Klite Codec Pack - it includes everything but the kitchen sink. It’s more up to date than CCCP and is usually more stable.
• Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder - Misplace your Windows and Office Product Keys? Find them with this.
• NVU - Provides HTML editing for Linux, Mac and Windows users.
• 7-ZIP - It’s free and it has a portable version. .7z compression is also quite smaller than zip and rar ones.
• Skype - The only VOIP program I use. Free for Skype to skype calls.
• Open Office - Hate Office 2007’s ribbons? I do too.
• Opera - A browser with less glamor but more security.
• Paint.NET - Want a small graphics program but don’t like Photoshop? Try this Open Source alternative. Requires .NET 2.0
• TinyXP and TinyVista- Any Windows default installation is just too fat. If you need XP or Vista for virtualization then download these copies. I don’t recommend that you make then your default OS since it’ll ultimately cripple your system (read FAQs on both).
• Thunderbird - More than an email client, you can use it to read RSS too
• Videroa Converters - I put converters since there’s one for every thing, iPhones, PSPs, XBox360, Tivos, AppleTVs, and they’re all free.
• VirtuadubMod - Whether you’re into video editing or not, you’ll find use for this terrific piece of software.
• Zoomplayer - While others recommend VLC Media Player, Zoom Player is an absolute equivalent and it saves you the trouble of getting a traffic cone icon on your media files.
• ZoneAlarm and Comodo Firewall - I’ve tried both and I still can’t decide which to use
  • ZoneAlarm has a free version and Pro version ($40) and both offer great protection for their price range.
  • Comodo Firewall boasts features comparable ZoneAlarm’s Pro version but doesn’t have the anti-launch feature built in to the former.

Launchers

• SmartStartMenu and Vistart - I’m torn between both programs but I’m more inclined on Vistart since it doesn’t add a new item to your taskbar
  • SmartStartMenu automatically indexes the list of items in your Start Menu so you just need to type a few letters and AutoComplete will kick in. It will take system commands, paths to launch explorer, even UNC paths.
  • Vistart gives you a Vista Start Menu with an integrated search of your menu items. Not as powerful but less messy.
• Launchy - Launchy binds to Alt-Space by default and allows you to run programs at the stroke of a few keys.
• Google Desktop - Make no mistake about the usability of Google Desktop. Aside from other programs, you can also use the option that to use it as a quick program launcher (hint: tap Ctrl twice).

Blogs, RSS readers, etc.

• Feedreader - a free and lightweight RSS reader. If you want it simple, try SharpReader
• Online RSS Readers:
  • Google Reader
  • Bloglines
  • Netvibes
• Windows Live Writer Beta - Possibly one of the few things that MS did right. WLW is one of the best blogging software you’ll find with support for many blog platforms and is supported by a huge plugin community. It also has an easy SDK so if you don’t like it, change it.

Security and Administration

• AntiSpy - Adaware, Spybot and SuperAntispyware tops this list.
• AntiVirus - AVG, Avast and Nod32 for the AV list.

Note that AVs and ASs are try and go. If it works, stick with it. Not one AV/AS is better than the other.

• NetworkDriveInfo - Helps you find free drive space on remote systems.
• RealVNC - VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. This RemoteDesktop replacement remotely interact with another computer anywhere on the Internet.
• TrueCrypt - For security-fond geeks. Encrypt a partition and lock everyone out. It’s free too.
• Windows OneCare - Again one of the better things that MS did. This online scanner was able to remove a rare strain of Brontok on my system that all that AVs and online scanners I’ve tried have failed to.

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