[LIST] Small Software - Big Help!

[Deb]

What are some of the little software packages that help you get through the day? NOT the big stuff, but rather pieces of software that are free to $50 maximum?

For example, two of my favorite helpers are:

QuickSpell
http://www.fornada.com/html/quickspell.html
Purchased cost: $25

This lil guy follows me around with every keystroke by using a tiny green box when the word is spelled correctly or a red box (with optional sound) when it sees the word as spelled incorrectly. If it does see something as misspelled you simple click ctrl+s and it pops up a list of suggestions to replace the word with. QuickSpell enables me to post to forums etc w/o having to send anything back through a spell checker (grammar is a whole different issue lol). I love this little proggy and after getting used to it (which took almost a week!) I now would be lost without it!

ClipMate
http://www.clipmate.com/
Purchased cost: $25

This is the windows clipboard on steroids. It allows me to copy an entire list of items and then quickly paste them to another location rather than having to copy paste, copy paste, copy paste, one by one I can simply copy, copy, copy, copy, copy, power paste paste paste paste which saves a tremendous amount of time when moving data from one location to another (for example a client's postal address from an email to the data base). Or when wanting to paste a number of URLs to a post I can just copy, copy, copy, and then paste paste paste rather than going back and forth. Not to mention the storage of popular clips e.g. if I find myself commonly posting this or that "list of info" I can keep it readily available in my clipmate program so that I can just select and paste (it would also work for 'canned responses' to emails for those who do not yet have software to complete this task).

What are your favorite little gems?

[DizixCom]

Trombettworks Flash Desktops
http://www.flashdesktops.com
Purchased cost: $25.00

The only hot-key enabled virtual desktop manager I've used for Windows 2000 and XP that actually works 100% of the time without spontaneously losing windows or any other nasty side effects. It's great. I have 8 virtual desktops configured and can switch between them rapidly using keyboard hot-keys (mostly) or the system tray icons (rarely). It's also very fast.

[beley]

Color Schemer
http://www.colorschemer.com
Purchased Cost: $25 (Online version for free though)

This is a great app for website designers. It's a color wheel with web-safe colors. It will show complimentary colors, colors close in hue, and has a ton of features (such as converting from RGB to hexa values and back). Great program...

[beley]

DZSoft PHP Editor
http://www.dzsoft.com
Purchased Cost: $39.95

Ok, if you're a PHP programmer this and the utility below are aboslute neccessities. I use this daily, for HTML, PHP and even basic text editing. It has syntax highlighting, can use a server to preview pages if you have it installed (see download below) and has a ton of features (such as a code library).


Sokkit Apache/MySQL/PHP for Windows
http://www.sokkit.net
Purchased Cost: $19.95 - $34.95 (depending on whether you get downloadable or CD version)

This is an installer and management utility for a windows machine (NT, XP) that is absolutely neccessary if you do a lot of PHP programming. You don't need an Internet connection and it has a management console that lets you start, stop and restart services instantly. It even installs PHPMyAdmin. It includes Apache, PHP, MySQL and PHPMyAdmin and has a module for Perl as well. A definate for PHP programmers.

[markblair]

I just love these type of threads as you find quite a few gems from what other people use. Mine are listed below:

ChoiceMail One
http://www.digiportal.com
Purchase Price: $39.95

Among email filtering software products, ChoiceMail stands out as a leader. ChoiceMail is a revolutionary email filter that filters out spam in standard POP3, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail email accounts. Although many email filters rely on users to continually establish and maintain rules, the ChoiceMail anti spam filtering system embraces a challenge response filter model to segregate valid email from spam.

Genie Backup Manager 4.0
http://www.genie-soft.com
Purchase Price: $49.95

Genie Backup Manager is an indispensable utility for every computer user, whether for personal use or as part of workplace network. Its the number one desktop Backup utility due to its simplicity and unparalleled capabilities. Backup, Protect, Restore, Every thing, Anytime, With a click of a button.

Hex Color Finder
http://www.nzworks.com/hexcf
Purchase Price: FREE!

Small scale, easy-to-use color finder is the only tool you need to find any color. You can choose custom colors, save, load colors, even get the specific color from any area on your screen. Other features include "Sticky", which manipulate the brightness of the color, an inverse button to quickly find the opposite color, a hex (HTML) to color and vice versa conversion tool, and a color blender.

[Chicken]

ieSpell
http://iespell.com/
Purchase Price: Free!

ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry (e.g. web mails, forums, blogs, diaries). Plus you get to store and use your personal word list across all your applications, instead of maintaining separate ones on each application.


Whisper 32
http://www.ivory.org/whisper.html
Purchase Price: Free!

Whisper 32 is a very easy-to-use Password Manager. Store all of your passwords in one file. Password protection. Built-in password generator. Passwords may be set to expire at user-configurable intervals. Never type in passwords or user-names: use the Windows clipboard to transfer them.

Note: 2 versions... one or Windows95, Windows98, WindowsME or Windows2000 and another for XP. Great password generator for hosts who need to come up with passwords often.


Irfanview
http://www.irfanview.com/
Purchase Price: Free!

IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP. It also can play video and audio (I use it to do everything). File formats supported (http://www.irfanview.com/main_formats.htm).


Speed Typing
http://www.colorpilot.com/speed-typing.html
Purchase Price: Free! (advanced version available for $$$)

With Speed Typing, you can type frequently used text quickly and easily. You just type a word, and Speed Typing will automatically replace it with a line or a paragraph. Speed Typing is useful for fast typing standard phrases such as signatures, email addresses, frequently used sentences, URLs, phone numbers, hieroglyphs, etc. Even if you don't have typing skill, it will be easy for you to type letters.

Note: For hosts, this means that if someone asks you about your packages, just typing pk1 can generate the full plan details list, price and other information. Great for advertising forums!

[beley]

Mozilla Browser
http://www.mozilla.org
Purchase Price: Free!

Yeah, forgot to mention this earlier. I coudln't make it one day without Mozilla. Tabbed browsing, sidebars, popup blocker, password manager, it's just awesome. Definately try it...

[_Dana_]

WHOOOHOOOOOOO I love this topic!!

okies

Simple Check
http://www.simplecheck.net
12 $

Launchmate
http://tdrware.virtualave.net/LaunchMate/
Free

Password Agent
http://www.moonsoftware.com
19.95

Poco Mail
http://www.pocomail.com/
34.95

Bloatbuster DNS Resolver
http://radsoft.net/bloatbusters/
Free

Smart Color
http://www.isotton.com/
Free

Calendar Scope
http://www.calendarscope.com/index.html?main&version=1.9
29.95

I love http://www.webattack.com I use the paid for service http://www.mywebattack.com

[markblair]

ePrompter
http://www.eprompter.com
Purchase Price: FREE!

ePrompter automatically and simultaneously checks and retrieves your email messages from up to sixteen password protected email accounts such as AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, Earthlink, Email.com, iName, Juno, Lycos, Mail.com, Mindspring, MSN, Netscape, POP3, OneBox, Rediffmail, SBC Yahoo, Switchboard, USA.net and hundreds of other email domains.

[Robert]

NoteTab Light
Purchase Price: $Free
http://notetab.com/

NoteTab is a leading-edge text and HTML editor. Winner of software industry awards since 1998, this application does it all: it easily handles a stack of huge files; lets you format text to your heart's content; does system-wide searches, and multi-line global replacements. It even corrects your spelling mistakes. I Use it instead of notepad, I'm able to have multiple windws open with a click of a tab.

VisualRoute
Purchase Price: $49.95
http://www.visualroute.com

VisualRoute Personal Edition combines essential networking utilities -- ping, Whois, traceroute and reverse DNS -- to determine precisely where and how traffic is flowing on an Internet connection, providing a geographical map of the route, and the performance of each segment of the route. VisualRoute has been recognized as an industry-leading Internet utility and has received top awards from many of the industry's leading publications and Web sites.


Trilian
Purchase Price: Free
http://www.trillian.cc

Trillian.CC lets you connect to AIM/Yahoo/ICQ/MSN and IRC with 1 program. Excellent program and highly recommended. I use the pro version that costs $25 (?).

Winamp
Purchase Price: Free
http://www.winamp.com

This program is what keeps me a live when I spend countless hours on the computer! Listening to my own music or streaming audio from shoutcast.com!

[Robert]

Let it be known that I hate topics like this... I end up d/ling every program listed in this thread and installing it!

[linux-tech]

Originally posted by Robert:

Let it be known that I hate topics like this... I end up d/ling every program listed in this thread and installing it!
:fork:
Here's some more. Obviously everyone's got their own personal prefs here, might as well throw mine in.

Ultraedit (http://www.ultraedit.com) ($35)

Ultraedit is THE editor for ANYTHING. I use it for php, html, my C based stuff, SOOOO much more. Why? Projects.
Let's say I want to spend some time working on the game? I simply pull up the game project in UE which has already got all the file locations stored in it. I can click on any file and it pulls it from the server, saves it to the server when I'm done.

Pocomail (http://www.pocomail.com) ($35/free)
Pocomail is THE best mail client I've ever seen. Individual custom accounts, password protecting account, skinning, scripts (even provides a couple for use).

The next two will be a bit higher than the $50 max, but I VERY highly recommend them.


SecureCRT and SecureFXl (http://www.vandyke.com)
SecureCRT is a putty (ish) SSH/Telnet client. This supports sessions, saving passwords, public keys and so much more. It's absolutely essential, I use it at least 3-4 times an hour (whenever I've got to do server work).
SecureFX is an ftp client that can be configured to send data securely (through an ssh setup).
SecureCRT: $99
SecureFX: $59.95

[Deb]

Let it be known that I hate topics like this... I end up d/ling every program listed in this thread and installing it! LOL I feel your pain...but I cannot talk about that right now because I'm off to go see what this SpeedTyping thingamajig is :D

[Adam]

Putty
Purchase Price: Free!
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator.


Winamp CLASSIC (Version 2.X)
Purchase Price: Free!
http://classic.winamp.com/

Yeah ok, the skins on V3.X rock but in my opinion the V3 incarnation of Winamp is a load of crap :) V2 all the way baby! (And their skins aren't all too bad either).


The best things in life are free :) Another favourite app of mine is Notepad :)

[Robert]

Originally posted by _Dana_:

Password Agent
http://www.moonsoftware.com
19.95


This has to be one of the most useful programs ever. Being able to make different folders to store different username/passwords.

I recommend everyone purchase it for $19.95 with unlimited records. It's FANTASTIC!

[Adam]

Sounds good Rob, i'll check it out :)

[johnallen]

Ping Plotter
http://www.pingplotter.com
Cost: Free and Shareware

Ping plotter is a combination of traceroute and ping. It helps you identify packet loss, latency, and routing issues. The pay version allows you to graph certain hops. Very nice product.


Gaim
http://gaim.sourceforge.net
Cost: Free GPL

Gaim is a chat client that allows you to chat on virtually all networks. The software is open source. It has ports to just about every operating system. It has a built in spell check. Uses tabs to keep all your chatting in one window.

[johnallen]

FileZilla FTP
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net
Cost: Free

FileZilla is a great FTP client for Windows.

[ats-tech]

Mozilla Firebird 0.7 (http://www.mozilla.org)

[shost]

All my favorites are listed sept one....

SamSpade.org has a windows utility that I feel is better then ping plotter. They are both pretty much the same, but I like samspade more.

I use visualroute software and samspade in conjunction and have cut my fraud orders down to none! Not one fraud charge back in over 8 months now.
Sure, it takes 2 or 3 minutes to look things up, but it saves that $35.00 chargeback fee, and keeps my merchant account open.

Tim L

[dealgurus]

uhh... m kinda late i guess... hmm.. u guys missed out EditPlus... my all time favorite... :D wonderful editor for all sorts of source codes, full syntax highlighting! I have even done assembly with it ;)

http://www.editplus.com

enjoyyy

[Chicken]

I haven't used this, but came across it the other day (it's free)...

Info Angel
http://www.angelicsoftware.com/infoangel.html
Cost: FREE!

A personal information manager and an organizer all-in-one. Capable of many jobs as it actually combines several desktop solutions - a text editor for your notes that supports text formatting, a database of contacts that allows easy systematizing of your personal and professional contacts, an organizer that is a perfect reminder of all planned events, a database, which is a storage of interesting links, that can be followed within the program due to the built-in browser. See: Notebook (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/notebook.html) | Contact Book (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/contact-book.html) | Organizer (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/organizer.html) | Bookmark Manager (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/bookmark-manager.html)

[felix220]

e-cloaker.. uses unicode for email addy's is html

http://www.codefoot.com/software/ecloaker/index.html


----


window washer.. to keep the PC running clean

http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/windowwasher/index.php


----


editpad lite.. my favourite text editor

http://www.editpadlite.com


----


pixie.. check colours for design.. this is a little gem

http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.html


----


and this is my latest.. it's 'different'.. it works!

http://www.skype.com

[felix220]

This looked great until I tried to buy it.. once you pay you have to wait 72 HOURS for the key to be emailed... I am an impatient as shole, so I told them to shove it.. what kind of payment processor takes 3 days to confirm your CC? bah!!


Originally posted by Chicken:

I haven't used this, but came across it the other day (it's free)...

Info Angel
http://www.angelicsoftware.com/infoangel.html
Cost: FREE!

A personal information manager and an organizer all-in-one. Capable of many jobs as it actually combines several desktop solutions - a text editor for your notes that supports text formatting, a database of contacts that allows easy systematizing of your personal and professional contacts, an organizer that is a perfect reminder of all planned events, a database, which is a storage of interesting links, that can be followed within the program due to the built-in browser. See: Notebook (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/notebook.html) | Contact Book (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/contact-book.html) | Organizer (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/organizer.html) | Bookmark Manager (http://www.angelicsoftware.com/bookmark-manager.html)

[Chicken]

The free one didn't cut it, eh?

[felix220]

I retract my last criticism of this software company. They read my , probably unreasonable, complaint about telling people BEFORE their card is charged, that it takes 3 days to deliver a key, and sent it immediately.

I am currently using this organiser.. and it is just what I need, to be honest.. anyone who runs an online business or project would surely benefit from it.. $25 well spent, thanks Chicken and sorry about the whining above..


Originally posted by Chicken:

The free one didn't cut it, eh?

[markblair]

DriverGuide Toolkit
http://www.driverguidetoolkit.com/
Purchase Price: $19.95

DriverGuide Toolkit identifies and lists drivers installed on your computer and, when connected to the Internet, allows you to search DriverGuide.com (and other sources) for driver updates and manufacturer sites. In addition, it allows you to backup your currently installed drivers for safe keeping. Backing up your Windows driver files means that they will be available to you the next time you need to reinstall the driver or the whole operating system. DriverGuide Toolkit places the driver files in one organized location of your choosing.

DriverGuide Toolkit is especially helpful in situations where you have a computer in your possession and the internal hardware is unknown. DriverGuide Toolkit can identify the hardware on the system and the associated drivers, back them up to a specified location, and find the latest driver updates for them. DriverGuide Toolkit is even network compatible - you can just as easily connect to a remote computer on your network, backup drivers, and find updates!

[alpha]

VIM
http://www.vim.org/
For all you VI fanatics like me who want to use vim for windows as well as other OSs, pretty handy when you want to edit something real quick or code a snippet.

I second EditPlus.

I second Password Agent.

I now also second Speed Typing - pretty darn good idea implemented to software. Going to make things easier. :)

[projo]

Wiki
"A Wiki is a community / collaboration tool. Several authors can create a network of linked HTML files. Wikis are useful for creating documentations or collecting knowledge in a team."
http://www.net-assistant.de/wiki/static/StartPage.html

I move between a number of computers at work and at home (although it is hard to distinguish home and work). This includes computers in several laboratories, classrooms, my office, my home computer room, and my laptop out back in the swing. I need access to notes and bookmarks from any one location that I may have generated at any location.

A Wiki may be installed to generate sub-pages of a site or as the main pages. The edit-pages can be password protected and the contents published to static pages with a click of a button, or not, as you please. The code is php and is easy to modify and customize. It does use special markup code but html can be authorized (allowed). There are Wiki variants but I have not used them.

I use one Wiki for my personal notes and one to coordinate activities while teaching. Before class I add a simple lecture outline with links to web pages I wish the students to visit as I lecture. A simple click by the students is much better than me repeating a URL several times. I can add to the outline anywhere/time I have an additional thought, as long as I am near a computer.

Here is a Wiki page I used for the last lab exercise for one course. We were interested in making directional antennas for wireless connections. You know, where you use a canned-food can (or other devices) to obtain x10 or more gain. A recent cantenna shootout in the desert achieved 25+ miles with a wireless link. In the future I plan to run this exercise as a contest.

http://www.wiki.cetusm.info/users/projo/static/StartPage.html

(The page even includes a link to ME eating watermelon at last summer's Hudson reunion.)

[DMo224]

Great thread! Time consuming, but great!

Mailbox Filter
http://www.mailboxfilter.com/home.html
Purchase Price: $37 and up

Mailbox Filter is the only spam control system that automatically learns to think like you -- not for you -- about your email. Unlike spam blockers, Mailbox Filter is "SMART" so it won't lose your important email.

Our exclusive Smart Filter TechnologyTM instantly sorts your important email from the junk and always delivers precisely the email you want, where you want it.

You get extra email virus protection too! And there's no quickly outdated block lists or virus updates required.

Easy to use, easy to install, and self-configuring, Mailbox Filter works with most POP3 email programs such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape, Incredimail, plus these popular web mail systems: AOL, Hotmail, MSN and Yahoo

[RDX1]

Well, I have a lot of software I prefer to use, here is a list of just a few of the programs I use on a daily basis. Sorry if some are already listed. :( I'll check out the programs listed here. I might find some that are useful one way or another.


AIM 4.4
Sorry I don't have a link as it is an older versions.

Winamp 3.x Free
http://winamp.com/player/free.php

Mozilla FireFox .8
http://mozilla.org/products/firefox/
- SpellChecker Plugin
- Adblock Plugin (To remove any iframe or image specified)
- User Agent Switcher .03 Plugin
- Sort Bookmarks Plugin

Memento 1.09
http://download.com.com/3000-2347-10153931.html?tag=lst-0-1

gaim Instant messenger
http://gaim.sourceforge.net/downloads.php

SysMeter 2.00
Can't find a link. Great program though.

Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0
This IMO is the best free firewall around. It's under a meg and the last version that they made free. Hard to find now.

Eudora Sponsored Mode
Great e-mail program, looking for a new one though that allows you to block HTML and change the from address.

Ones I don't use every day but are great:

File Merger
http://fysx.acwu.com/Programs/index.html

Color Spy 8.10
Website no longer active, allows you to see the color code for any color displayed on the screen.

A bunch others but too many to list. :)

[blue27]

I love this kind of thread as well.

Magic Folders (http://www.magicfolders.com/des.htm#mf) is a great program if you share your computer but don't want to share all of your folders.
It makes the folder totally invisible even from command prompt or file searches.

Pico Zip (http://www.picozip.com/).
I sometimes go on font downloading binges and end up with dozens of little zip files. Picozip is a very small and very fast zip extractor that will batch extract everything for you.

IsoBuster (http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/)
A program that will extract any file. All image files from the major burning softwares can be extracted without the native software. It will also help extract files from corrupted CDRs.

[WHW-Justin]

Poco Mail
I love this program. An email client that you can take anywhere you go on a USB thumb drive. It stores all of it's email on the thumbdrive so it's safe to use on any computer.
http://www.pocomail.com/
$34.95

PuTTY
A great free terminal emulator program. It fully supports SSH 1 and 2. I use it for all of my *nix servers.
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
FREE!

Ad-Aware
I use this to help me in my battle agains spyware. They have several versions available including a free one. They also release timely updates to help protect against all the new spyware programs.
www.lavasoftusa.com
Free to $39.95 depending on which version you go with.

Lview Pro
A great image processor that has quite a few of the features available in PhotoShop or other imaging programs.
Free for 30 days, $39.00 for program on CD after that.

LeechGet 2004
I use this program to help manage my downloads. It has a ton of great features, too many to list.
http://www.leechget.net/en/
FREE

Trillian
I have a screen name on almost every chat program available. Instead of loading 4 or more different programs, I load Trillian and can connect to all of them. It supports ICQ, IRC, AIM, Yahoo, and MSN Messenger. It's great.
www.trillian.cc
Free for basic version, $25.00 for registered version with 1 year of updates.

I have quite a few more. I'll post them here as I remember them.

[Toolz]

Anyone entered Flashget yet?

http://www.amazesoft.com/

Also Startup http://mlin.net/

Programs run at startup and how did they get there? This shows what's in the registry, in your startup group, in all users, ...

XP-AntiSpy http://xp-antispy.org/

You'll be more confident in your surfing after runing this - I promise!

I love small utils that don't have to be installed. Just download the .exe and run.

I'm paranoid about install routines...! ;)

[blue27]

Originally posted by Chicken:

ieSpell
http://iespell.com/
Purchase Price: Free!

ieSpell is a free Internet Explorer browser extension that spell checks text input boxes on a webpage. It should come in particularly handy for users who do a lot of web-based text entry (e.g. web mails, forums, blogs, diaries). Plus you get to store and use your personal word list across all your applications, instead of maintaining separate ones on each application.


I want to second this one.
This is one of the simplest and best programs ever.
When you are typing a post on the forum just right click and choose "check spelling" and it goes to work.

[battra]

Here's mine

HTML-Kit
http://www.chami.com
Price: Free

MySQLFront
http://www.mysqlfront.de
Price: $25 (used to be free)
Windows GUI for MySQL. I'm using v2.4 which was free.

CutePDF Writer
http://www.acrosoftware.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
Price: Free
Create PDF documents

[markblair]

Originally posted by Toolz:

Programs run at startup and how did they get there? This shows what's in the registry, in your startup group, in all users, ...

XP-AntiSpy http://xp-antispy.org/

You'll be more confident in your surfing after runing this - I promise!...

Thanks! This is a great little program. Already ran and it will be nice to see increased performance and less frills while in IE. :)

[Nick]

Crimson Editor (http://www.crimsoneditor.com)

I love Crimson Editor, It supports a wide range of programming languages from html, perl, php to sql.

There are loads of extra features, but to be honest I just use the basic text editor part of it and the syntax highlighting and line numbers are invaluable :)

[Ross]

Avant Browser - www.avantbrowser.com

[Brad Birmingham]

Originally posted by RDX1:


AIM 4.4
Sorry I don't have a link as it is an older versions.



Check this out:
http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=aim


This place is great for when a program you use comes out with a new version and messes up all the features you like.
I found this site when I decided to go back to the old-style winamp :cool:

[battra]

Agree. I got the old (and free) version of PowerArchiver from there.

[markblair]

Originally posted by Brad Birmingham:

Check this out:
http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=aim


This place is great for when a program you use comes out with a new version and messes up all the features you like.
I found this site when I decided to go back to the old-style winamp :cool:

Thanks for the link. Looks like a great site! :)

[Steve]

I just used it for Musicmatch 7 man I love that, the new one sucks thanks a ton man

[Ehost4cheap]

Textpad- www.textpad.com - small note pad replacement, that can be used to edit html, php, etc with proper syntax, it also does java. Price: Free to try 30 days, 29.00

Cuteftp- www.globalscape.com - The only ftp program in my mind.
Price Free to try, then 59.99

ZoneAlarm Firewall- www.zonelabs.com - Small firewall one of the best you can get for free
Price: FREE. Also paid version available

Nod32 Antivirus- www.nod32.com - Hands down the best antivirus iv ever tried, when I installed it killed 4 viruses that Norton 2004 didn’t even find.
Price: Free trial, 39.00- well worth it.

hm I think that’s about it.

[Steve]

IM Translator, this thing is amazing! Great for Hosts also multi language support :)

http://www.paralink.com/ims/imt2/index.html

[mjpliv]

First post!

Theultimatetroubleshooter (TUT) from www.answerthatwork.com . It was about 30 bucks US.

This software gives you a complete listing of everything on your PC thats loaded on start and all processes running as well as any services that are running.

For each of these lines, the licenced copy tells you where the program originated, if it needs to be running in the first place and also gives a quick synopsis of the pros and cons of the product. Color coded entries help with red for warnings, orange for user's choice and green for "must be running".

Built in utility allows you to take a snapshot of the report and forward to the guys at Answerthatwork.com for interpretation of unknown processes or services.

Another feature gives a very detailed breakdown of your hardware/driver environment. Your complete system at a glance.

A trial version is available from the site but provides only basic information.

mjpliv

[Kwak]

I feel you. I always give a tryout on free softwares that sounds useful. It also helps get the word out for the author of the program so it is a good thing.

[Dacsoft]

Check out AnyPassword by http://www.romanlab.com/ It is a secure password application that generates and stores passwords, notes, user names, and URLs.

[LesJPC]

How about Rar? It's small and big at the same time

http://rarlabs.com

USD $29.00 if you cant handle the little "please register" window.

[Kwak]

I love SmartFTP and EditPlus2 and Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy.

[secretagentgel]

new additions:

atnotes - http://atnotes.fr.st/
free
post-it notes for the pc (found it cos i was using the common one on the mac). simple, easy.

comparator - http://softbytelabs.com
free and $20
alternative to ms briefcase (who uses that anyway?). great for manual backups.

palm desktop - http://palmone.com
free
works even without a palm, tho i've now been turned onto barca thanks to this forum.

xenu link checker - http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html
free
squirrels thru any site and let's you know of server errors and broken links. customizable enough. uses ie settings i think, which is great cos you can log into areas requiring passwords and then run xenu and it will check limited access areas.

file renamer - http://www.albert.nu/default.asp?sub=programs/default.asp?sub=renamer/main.htm
free
great little renamer, including id3 tags WITH NO INSTALL!

tweakui - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp
free
i can't believe no one has mentioned this! and...

image resizer - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp
free
right click and resize an image.

and i make electornic music so i have lots of free audio software links (all legal). get in touch if you want those.

corey

[ARTzWeb.net]

Something that amazes me that noone uses is sex for windows (http://www.nullsoft.com/free/sex/). You might find it a useless tool, but for me it is the most used program from those installed on my computer. I love it

[Robert]

I would also like to mention Startup Monitor (http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml). Forgive me if this has already been mentioned. It's a small program that runs at all times and everytime a program (ie. RealPlayer, QuickTime, etc) tries to add itself or another program to your startup tab in MSCONFIG, it pops up asking for permission to allow so and so program to add to startup.

Oh and it's Free!

[gaiahost]

lots of usefull programs but it sounds like you are looking for programs and applets to help pass the time... put it this way if you have to use something to shorten the time it takes u to do something simply cause you want to be lazy.. the job is not for you... i have discovered that working in several IT fields.. Some jobs just werent for me so i took the easy way.. Find something that you enjoy, that you can do without using applets and programs.. Makes it much more fun and easier to get through :-)

[markblair]

lots of usefull programs but it sounds like you are looking for programs and applets to help pass the time... put it this way if you have to use something to shorten the time it takes u to do something simply cause you want to be lazy.. the job is not for you... i have discovered that working in several IT fields.. Some jobs just werent for me so i took the easy way.. Find something that you enjoy, that you can do without using applets and programs.. Makes it much more fun and easier to get through :-) Huh!? :uhh: So instead of using a useful tool like Startup Monitor that Robert mentioned, one should just stare at their computer screen and watch MSCONFIG for changes that might take place? I suppose that would be what a real tech does right? I really don't understand your reply. The programs listed here aren't used to make people lazy, they're used to make things run better. Big difference!

[Robert]

lots of usefull programs but it sounds like you are looking for programs and applets to help pass the time... put it this way if you have to use something to shorten the time it takes u to do something simply cause you want to be lazy.. the job is not for you... i have discovered that working in several IT fields.. Some jobs just werent for me so i took the easy way.. Find something that you enjoy, that you can do without using applets and programs.. Makes it much more fun and easier to get through :-)

While you wait for problems to arise, I don't. I have programs that help me make sure that networks and computers I monitor are always up to par.. and that never will the be compromised by a virus, worm or any other malicious program.

[blue27]

Perhaps gaiahost is unaware of the difference between laziness and efficiency?

Oh, I just used ISpell to check for spelling errors in my post. I must be too lazy to look for my dictionary.

[LukaBuka]

I just love these type of threads as you find quite a few gems from what other people use. Mine are listed below:

ChoiceMail One
http://www.digiportal.com
Purchase Price: $39.95



ChoiceMail One is awesome (so is Genie Backup Manager). You can actually get ChoiceMail One cheaper through Froogle or Deprice (http://www.deprice.com/choicemailone.htm ), PriceGrabber might be worth a look as well.

[markblair]

ChoiceMail One is awesome (so is Genie Backup Manager). You can actually get ChoiceMail One cheaper through Froogle or Deprice (http://www.deprice.com/choicemailone.htm ), PriceGrabber might be worth a look as well. ChoiceMail is great. I'm still running it and have been since May 2003. Since that time 40,821 messages have been caught as spam and never saw their way to my Outlook inbox. Not bad at all... :)

[brianez21]

The best things in life are free :) Another favourite app of mine is Notepad :)

Notepad2 is a very good replacement for the windows notepad.
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
Price: Open source / free

[markblair]

Another useful program that I didn't see listed here: OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/). There's nothing better than a free application that rivals a product that cost a few hundred dollars. :)

OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute.

[hosterschill]

www.macromedia.com its flash incase you didnt know...lol im sure you did.

[LowCostGroup]

One program I love to have on my system is Process Explorer (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html). It is so much better than basic task manager, although that isn't hard to accomplish, it gives full information about all the processes, sub-processes, and services that are running on your computer. When I was having problems with SVCHost using 100% of the CPU on my machine, it told me exactly the services that were running in the affected SVCHost. It also keeps logs and can shrink completely to an icon. Generally a program I would thoroughly recommend to anyone using windows.

[omnibus]

I know this is an old thread...but it IS a sticky...so here it goes:

WHOIS
Price: FREE!
Website: http://linux.about.com/library/cmd/blcmdl1_whois.htm

Ok....so its not so much of a program as it is an integrated linux command...but...I still use it every day.


[root@localhost ~]# whois google.com
[Querying whois.internic.net]
[Redirected to whois.markmonitor.com]
[Querying whois.markmonitor.com]
[whois.markmonitor.com]
MarkMonitor.com - The Leader in Corporate Domain Management
----------------------------------------------------------
For Global Domain Consolidation, Research & Intelligence,
and Enterprise DNS, go to: www.markmonitor.com
----------------------------------------------------------

The Data in MarkMonitor.com's WHOIS database is provided by MarkMonitor.com
for information purposes, and to assist persons in obtaining information
about or related to a domain name registration record. MarkMonitor.com
does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a WHOIS query, you agree
that you will use this Data only for lawful purposes and that, under no
circumstances will you use this Data to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise
support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or
solicitations via e-mail (spam); or (2) enable high volume, automated,
electronic processes that apply to MarkMonitor.com (or its systems).
MarkMonitor.com reserves the right to modify these terms at any time.
By submitting this query, you agree to abide by this policy.

Registrant:
Google Inc.
(DOM-258879)
Please contact contact-admin@google.com
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View
CA
94043
US

Domain Name: google.com

Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

Administrative Contact:
DNS Admin
(NIC-14290820)
Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View
CA
94043
US
dns-admin@google.com
+1.6506234000
Fax- +1.6506188571
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
DNS Admin
(NIC-1340144)
Google Inc.
2400 E. Bayshore Pkwy
Mountain View
CA
94043
US
dns-admin@google.com
+1.6503300100
Fax- +1.6506181499

Created on..............: 1997-Sep-15.
Expires on..............: 2011-Sep-14.
Record last updated on..: 2006-Dec-29 14:38:40.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS3.GOOGLE.COM
NS4.GOOGLE.COM
NS1.GOOGLE.COM
NS2.GOOGLE.COM

MarkMonitor.com - The Leader in Corporate Domain Management
----------------------------------------------------------
For Global Domain Consolidation, Research & Intelligence,
and Enterprise DNS, go to: www.markmonitor.com
----------------------------------------------------------

[XeonX]

Nice topic! Will try to contribute it :D

[nwahosting]

Bluefish
Bluefish is a powerful editor targeted towards programmers and webdesigners, with many options to write websites, scripts and programming code. Bluefish supports many programming and markup languages, and it focuses on editing dynamic and interactive websites.
http://bluefish.openoffice.nl
FREE
FREE

Gftp
multithreaded file transfer client for *NIX based machines.
http://gftp.seul.org/
FREE

Gimp
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many language
http://www.gimp.org/
FREE


Edit: I didnt notice how old this thread really was opps.

[markblair]

Edit: I didnt notice how old this thread really was opps. No worries. This is the type of thread that deserves to be resurrected once in awhile. ;) There are many great tools listed here and it would be a shame if others didn't get to see them.

[beamup]

thats the nice topic to send the reply on. However I am not contributing anything to it.

[Lukero]

This is a very helpful topic! Thanks for posting!

[getlo]

Anyone entered Flashget yet?

http://www.amazesoft.com/

Also Startup http://mlin.net/

Programs run at startup and how did they get there? This shows what's in the registry, in your startup group, in all users, ...

XP-AntiSpy http://xp-antispy.org/

You'll be more confident in your surfing after runing this - I promise!

I love small utils that don't have to be installed. Just download the .exe and run.

I'm paranoid about install routines...!

[treker]

K3B is not listed here and it is the best CD/DVD burn software!

[lacnywebhosting]

This has to be one of the most useful programs ever. Being able to make different folders to store different username/passwords.

I recommend everyone purchase it for $19.95 with unlimited records. It's FANTASTIC!
i like it too

[BigScoots]

PCPitStop OverDrive
FREE
The world's most comprehensive PC health scan. In depth analysis and suggested fixes found nowhere else.

mIRC
FREE
mIRC is a popular Internet Relay Chat client used by millions of people, and thousands of organizations, to communicate, share, play and work with each other on IRC networks around the world. Serving the Internet community for over a decade, mIRC has evolved into a powerful, reliable and fun piece of technology.

FireFox
FREE
Best Web Browser Ever!!

Putty
FREE
An open source telnet and SSH Client for the Windows and Unix platforms.

[bitrunner]

I vote for RoboForm. It is a fantastic Secure Password and Personal Note Organizer. There is a free version but the inexpensive pay-for version has a lot of extra features.
www (dot) roboform (dot) com

Also I use NotePad ++. It is a great editor for doing quick things like batch scripts.
notepad-plus-plus (dot) org

[vibesh]

Thanks for sharing with us. keep post more

Thanks in advance