Handy Programs (cheap or free)

**bogan** · 28th December 2012, 09:55

I'm going to go with:

Aquasnap, $13, an enhancement to the aero interface that allows windows to snap to the corners of your monitor (as opposed to the sides only), and go transparent when dragged, or shake em to go always on top and transparent.
Tune Up Utilities, $63 (31 on sale atm), simple tune up program to fix any broken shit, or optimise what you have for better system performance.
VLC, free, media player I use for all videos
Serviio, free, DLNA media server which is a good alternative to WMP and homegroup, though if you use the later two you might be better sticking with them
Pidgin, free, IM client which seamlessly combines multiple accounts across gmail, hotmail, yahoo...

They're the ones I think people should be aware of, stuff like flavor of internet browser, or organised media player comes down more to user preference.

**nzspokes** · 28th December 2012, 10:04

I just got a new laptop and loaded divx but it wont play the sound on some movies, would that vlc thing work?

**Headbanger** · 28th December 2012, 10:10

VLC should work as it has the codecs integrated into the media player rather then using codecs resident on the system.

On that note,

Gspot

http://gspot.headbands.com/

GSpot is a free utility which identifies the codec required to play an AVI file and supplies other information as well.

**bogan** · 28th December 2012, 10:14

Originally Posted by nzspokes

I just got a new laptop and loaded divx but it wont play the sound on some movies, would that vlc thing work?

If you just want it to run in the player you're used to, there's the 'k-lite' codec packs which should do the trick. But VLC is a better choice imo (then uninstal your divx player).

**Headbanger** · 28th December 2012, 10:18

Crap Cleaner

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Dumps all your system temp files and browser cache with a couple of mouse clicks.

Unfortunately it doesn't tell you what temp files refuse to budge so if you are looking for crap running out of locations it shouldn't (giant red flag) then you have to do it the old fashioned way.

I set it up to be open by right clicking the recycle bin.

**Gremlin** · 28th December 2012, 12:23

Yep, definitely use VLC for media, makes things easy, especially since they included rmvb a while ago.

I've got a JPEG resizer tool, can do batch resizing (smart options for how to resize the image etc), variable compression etc. Standalone exe, so doesn't even install... never been able to find another download link, but I've sent it to a few people as required (about 500kb).

Flashget is quite useful for downloading galleries of images, can use the flashgot extension as well.

An option for comparing file directories that does cost a little, is Beyond Compare. Allows you to sync directories both ways or either way, can filter file types and stuff.

edit: Actually, I can upload the program here. Change the .doc extension to .zip first.

On that note, I use Winrar for my compression needs...

**JafaSaffer** · 28th December 2012, 13:20

Originally Posted by nzspokes

I just got a new laptop and loaded divx but it wont play the sound on some movies, would that vlc thing work?

VLC is very good, I personally prefer using Windows Media Player Classic comes bundled with K-Lite Codec Pack. You can download it from here: http://www.free-codecs.com/download_...=7140&s=775&r=

**iYRe** · 28th December 2012, 13:51

VLC is great because it works on every platform, just about.

Also, a handy tool to have apart from ccleaner (I'd avoid tune up utilities - i've had it demolish a system - ccleaner is all you need), is MalwareBytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/ ). Run it every week or so to clean out all the nasties..

For AV I prefer MS Security Essentials - its free, and as good as any of the ones you pay for (in fact, its better than nearly all except sophos and Nod32 - and to be honest, they arent that much better that I would pay for em).

Other than that.. install linux and dont pay for stuff.. and dont need programs to clean out other peoples shoddy coding.

**Akzle** · 28th December 2012, 17:20

agree with VLC and pidgin.

FREE STUFF:
add GIMP for photoshop stuf

opera for web browser/email client/IRC client/HTML debugger

smart defrag for smartly defragging

linux for everything you'd ever want to do ever, and doing windows things better than windows.

little registry cleaner for cleaning up the mess windows installer makes of the windows registry

google sketchup for CAD

sweethome 3D for when you're bored and want to re-design/renovate your house

adaware for free anti-virus goodness

chessology for chessplayers/learners

(cracked) winRAR for free compression/decompression of rar and ZIP

(cracked) powerISO for imaging files (dd in debian flavoured linux), virtual drives etc

dosbox for those old 1.44MB dos games that are awesome

openoffice for all office duties

NHC for over/underclocking x86 systems (x64 coming!)

utorrent for torrenting all that illegal software and japanese porn.

**Akzle** · 28th December 2012, 17:22

Originally Posted by Gremlin

I've got a JPEG resizer tool, can do batch resizing (smart options for how to resize the image etc), variable compression etc. Standalone exe, so doesn't even install... never been able to find another download link, but I've sent it to a few people as required (about 500kb).

Flashget is quite useful for downloading galleries of images, can use the flashgot extension as well.

An option for comparing file directories that does cost a little, is Beyond Compare. Allows you to sync directories both ways or either way, can filter file types and stuff.

debian mann, has all that. for free.

**GSF** · 28th December 2012, 17:34

7zip is a pretty sweet little free program for unzipping ZIPs and RARs, so no more fucking about with WinRAR 30 day trial crap. Plus it does a buttload of other formats that I never knew existed because I am not hardcore enough.

Also TeraCopy, takes over from the standard Windows copying utility. It's faster and good for copying large files/lots of files.

**Scuba_Steve** · 28th December 2012, 17:42

K-lite codec w/ media play classic - plays any media file thrown at it
DVD Shrink - shrinks those DVD's to the writable DVD size (4GB)
Daemon Tools - Virtual optical disc drive
WinRAR - technically not free but you never have to pay for it, open/extract compressed files
Skype - voice/video calling
HandBrake - Video transcoder
ClamAV - antivirus for when I bother running it
Tunngle - P2P VPN (used for LAN emulation)
Notepad ++ - A Notepad enhanced (with code language)
PS3 Media Server - A JAVA based PS3 Media Server w/ on fly transcoding
Firefox/Chrome/SRWare Iron - Web browsers (the latter being like Chrome but without the Google tracking) addons: Adblock Plus - Ad blocker, Do Not Track Me - stops website tracking
Google Earth - it's the earth
uTorrent - 'Cause you are a Pirate!

**Scuba_Steve** · 28th December 2012, 18:15

If this isn't just a Windows thread? Then my OS of choice runs

Skype - voice/video calling
HandBrake - Video transcoder
ClamXav - antivirus for when I bother running it
PS3 Media Server - A JAVA based PS3 Media Server w/ on fly transcoding
Firefox/Chrome/Safari - Web browsers addons: Adblock Plus - Ad blocker, Do Not Track Me - stops website tracking
Google Earth - it's the earth
uTorrent - 'Cause you are a Pirate!
Adium - Best IM out there by far
Cyberduck - FTP program
CXEx - Porting of some Windows programs
Perian - Codec pack
KisMAC - "wireless stumbling and security tool"
SketchBook Express - Drawing/sketching program
Smultron - text editor w/ coding language
ThumbsUp - Batch picture re-sizer
SmartConverter - simple media converter
UnRarX - compressed file extractor
TunnelBear - Proxy app

**Headbanger** · 28th December 2012, 19:04

Be weary of flashget, It has constant outgoing traffic from your system to dodgy areas of china.

The people behind it release a few clean versions to build good will and then release a spyware loaded build. Plenty of people have looked into and reported on what this app does.