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Most useful PC applications?

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Someone on GAF recommended Sandboxie awhile ago and I've found it to be a big help for security.

It creates a separate quarantined instance of your file system that runs your internet browser or program of choice and prevents unwanted changes to critical system files. Pretty much eliminates any worries I have about viruses and malware.

It's a pretty brilliant idea. Only downside is that you need to manually move large downloads over from the instance file system to yours for permanent use. Oh yeah and it's free.

http://www.sandboxie.com
 
terrisus said:
WS_FTP95 didn't come with Windows though.

I don't really understand what the issue is here - I keep asking what other FTP programs are doing (other than "Updated interface!," but as far as actual different functions) that WS_FTP95 isn't doing. And yet it keeps going unanswered.

EDIT: To be clear, it's not like I've spent much time over the past 15+ years checking out other FTP programs and comparing them or anything - because WS_FTP95 does everything I want and need of it, and I haven't thought of anything that I could need another one for.
Click to expand...

To answer your question more thoroughly:

1. WS_FTP95 doesn't support SFTP or even FTP over SSL. Absolute dealbreaker if you care about secure connections.

2. No interface for chmodding. Have to manually issue a chmod command. Super tedious if you're setting up a website.

3. Folder sync. I personally use Transmit on OS X as my FTP client of choice, and it includes a feature to sync a remote folder and local one - if a copy on the server is newer it downloads it, if a copy on the local machine is newer it uploads it. Huge time saver.

4. Transmit also lets you mount a remote server as an actual drive, so you can use it as if it were any networked drive.

Just a handful of things off the top of my head, though I'm sure there's many more.
 
Guess Who said:
3. Folder sync. I personally use Transmit on OS X as my FTP client of choice, and it includes a feature to sync a remote folder and local one - if a copy on the server is newer it downloads it, if a copy on the local machine is newer it downloads it. Huge time saver.

4. Transmit also lets you mount a remote server as an actual drive, so you can use it as if it were any networked drive.
Click to expand...

Ah, alright, that does sound pretty handy (especially the 3rd one). Maybe I should actually check something else out then.
 
Accoun said:
Whoever suggested SpaceSniffer, thank you. I have a similar program for Android (DiskUsage) and was looking for a Windows alternative.

My HDD was getting really full and it turned out, I had over 12 GB of files left by - supposedly - uninstalled Steam games.
Click to expand...

Missed the recommendation but looove SpaceSniffer. Helped me clean out my 500GB HD super quick, along with Duplicate File Finder.
 
Blablurn said:
Would you rate KRITA higher than Gimp?
Click to expand...

In my personal opinion, I don't really think Gimp and Krita are really all that comparable to each other, because they specialize in different things. Krita isn't particularly great for image manipulation, but it's excellent as a sketching and painting art program, if you use a wacom tablet. It can also do some pretty cool things with pixel/ tile art creation. Krita is more comparable to something like Corel Painter. or Adobe illustrator. Gimp is comparable as a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop in its functionality, and has a lot of plug-ins that adds a lot more flexibility to it. Also a free light weight alternative to Gimp is Paint.Net, which is windows only. Pinta is a pretty good Linux/ Mac (and Windows) alternative to Paint.Net as well.


PandaPedinte said:
These ones:
  • GifCam
Click to expand...

This one is essential for NeoGAF users.
 
F.lux - gets a little getting used to, but worth it. It reduces the blue light your screen puts out. Good for me because I have problems sleeping and my eyes are pretty bad.
 
Mineshaft_Gap said:
Start8 - Don't need it as much now that I'm used to the various shortcut keys but some would see this as essential. Gives you back traditional start menu in W8.1.
Click to expand...

StartIsBack is decent too, a cheaper and I think an equally as good alternative. Main difference is it doesn't have the mini Metro window option. Also, for any Windows 8 users who want Aero back, Aero Glass is a cheap donation/trialware app, maintained by a single dev. Used so many tools and tweaks to get Windows 8 where I'd like it.

Lynn616 said:
ColorSchemer ColorPix
Click to expand...

Wasn't sure how granular it would get in this thread, but for easy color picking ColorPix has always been nifty, having previously mapped it to Win+C. Wish they would add the HSL format, too. Press any key to hold the color above the cursor and single-click to copy any of the formats, or Ctrl+C to quick copy the HEX format to clipboard.

MrCunningham said:
[GifCam]
This one is essential for NeoGAF users.
Click to expand...

Very neat tool for easy gif captures. Have the latest versions improved the file sizes? I seem to remember the output could be quite bloated, at least compared to a well-optimized gif.
 
F.lux - I'm going blind.
Clover - Chrome styled tabbed browsing for windows explorer.
Nexus Font - Completely free font management software.
Nexus Image - Super lightweight yet beautiful image viewer
Everything - Small indexed search for Windows.
Plex - Media Server.
Nvidia Inspector - Force AF for all my games.
 
So after reading this thread and checking out madVR, if I'm watching mostly 720p & 1080p .mkv's, would I benefit a lot switching to MPC-HC with madVR?
 
terrisus said:
Those things cost money? What the heck?
ClassicShell was free, and did everything that I needed of it.
Click to expand...

I know, right? How dare a dev charge for anything.

Although $2.99 isn't exactly breaking the bank for something well-designed that Microsoft should have included by default. It's mainly as the I prefer the nice native appearance compared to the free alternatives, and it suits my needs.
 
The nice thing about StartIsBack relative to ClassicShell is that StartIsBack is actually crafted out of left-over Start Menu hooks in Windows 8 and reimplemented code from Windows 7. Looks, acts, feels exactly like the Win7 start menu, no hint that it's an imitation.
 
Coreda said:
I know, right? How dare a dev charge for anything.

Although $2.99 isn't exactly breaking the bank for something well-designed that Microsoft should have included by default. It's mainly as the I prefer the nice native appearance compared to the free alternatives, and it suits my needs.
Click to expand...

Oh, I think it's perfectly fair for developers to charge for things.

But, when there are a whole bunch of legitimate free options out there, the question naturally needs to be asked what the paid versions are offering that the free ones don't.
 
KMPlayer - plays everything I throw at it. Madvr can also be attached to this player.

CCleaner - registry cleaner

ifunbox - file transfers from iPhone to computer/vice-versa

Start8 - not really for me, but my wife needs it for sure.

Malwarebytes - nuff said

CPU-Z/GPU-Z - CPU and GPU monitoring

D3DOverrider - force triple buffering in games

Fraps - FPS monitor

CDisplayEx - CBR reader

Internet Download Manager - best download acclerator/manager out there.

WinRAR - file compressor/extractor

Some real nice suggestions in here. Will try out some of these. :)
 
Blades64 said:
WinRAR - file compressor/extractor
Click to expand...

sshot501a7b4f3ac51.jpg
 
Spacemonger

Not sure if it's still out there tbh (there was a free version) as I've used if for years.

But basically scans a drive and allows you to see a visual representation of what's filling your drive up giving you a sense of what's going on: -

scrXPlHeW.gif


Really handy I find to run occasionally in order to help figure out what eating up hard drive space. The other day I ran it and discovered that I had something like 5GB of old Nvidia driver install files cluttering up my SSD for instance (WTF Nvidia? Y U no auto remove those old install files...) .

Is really old, but seems to run ok on Win 7 at least. Be aware it's a standalone exe, rather than an installed app.
 
Kadayi said:
Spacemonger

Not sure if it's still out there tbh (there was a free version) as I've used if for years.

But basically scans a drive and allows you to see a visual representation of what's filling your drive up giving you a sense of what's going on: -

scrXPlHeW.gif


Really handy I find to run occasionally in order to help figure out what eating up hard drive space. The other day I ran it and discovered that I had something like 5GB of old Nvidia driver install files cluttering up my SSD for instance (WTF Nvidia? Y U no auto remove those old install files...) .

Is really old, but seems to run ok on Win 7 at least. Be aware it's a standalone exe, rather than an installed app.
Click to expand...
You want WinDirStat. SO good.
 
crazygambit said:
Using a movie player on PC when you can use stuff like XBMC or Plex is beyond me. Even for stuff that's not in any database, the interface is much better, particularly in XBMC with the right skins.
Click to expand...

Does XBMC or Plex support MadVR? If so, I may give them a try. I don't use MPC-HC but instead MPC-BE. It's a modified version of the original MPC and MPC-HC and I much prefer it to MPC-HC.
 
PotPlayer - A fork of The KMPlayer
GifCam
Notepad++
ConEmu - Advanced tab interface for Windows command prompt, PowerShell, Putty, etc
SumatraPDF


crazygambit said:
Using a movie player on PC when you can use stuff like XBMC or Plex is beyond me. Even for stuff that's not in any database, the interface is much better, particularly in XBMC with the right skins.
Click to expand...
To be honest, I don't like those full-screen interfaces. I find them annoying.

Also, for example, PotPlayer has a ton of settings and options: color settings, sharpness, video render, speed increase/decrease, different interlace settings, etc. XBMC video playback is quite basic when you compare it to that.
 
Winterblink said:
You want WinDirStat. SO good.
Click to expand...

What I like about spacemonger is you see the information in the screen. You don't need to mouse over to find out what things are and it allows you to move in and out and open up folders.


voodooray said:
I used to use SequoiaView for ages before I stumbled over SpaceSniffer. Give it a whirl if you are looking for something more recently developed.
Click to expand...

Space sniffer seems perfect for my purposes. Cheers duder.
 
Thanks for the duplicatefilefinder and spacesniffer recommends.

Redundant files drive me nuts.

I was converted to f.lux, paint.net, foxit and openoffice by similar gaf threads in the past.

Is foxit still the best alternative to that adobe acrobat shit? Or has a new challenger appeared?
 
I've never had a problem with Acrobat. Maybe it was chunky years ago bit it's a solid performer for me these days. I tried foxit and laughed all the way to the uninstall.
 
hateradio said:
Didn't it also have some kind of spyware?
Click to expand...

It now comes bundled with Conduit, which some consider malware and has caused various kinds of issues with users systems.

CheesecakeRecipe said:
Still kinda bummed about IMGBurn falling down that hole as well, took me for-fucking-ever to find an installer that didn't have the shit on it.
Click to expand...

Huh, I always install it portably, so I must have avoided any bundled extras. Portable installs ftw.
 
SumatraPDF is the way to go, Foxit was a must-install up until a bit ago when the bloat started settling in.

Still kinda bummed about IMGBurn falling down that hole as well, took me for-fucking-ever to find an installer that didn't have the shit on it.
 
B-Folders: Can't live without a password manager
TrueCrypt: Encryption software
Wuala: Basically Dropbox, but data is encrypted on your PC before upload
TowerVPN: Well, VPN ;)
Spotify: Always need some new music
Sublime Text: Best editor I have ever used
 
This is some of the software I always set up after a fresh Windows install;

Anti-virus:
MSE

Archiver:
7zip

Browser:
Firefox

Music player:
foobar2000

Video player:
MPC-HC w/ MadVR

IRC client:
HexChat

IM:
Pidgin

Text editor:
Notepad++

Office:
LibreOffice

PDF reader:
SumatraPDF

Torrent client:
qBittorrent

Disk emulation:
WinCDEmu

Burner:
ImgBurn

Disk cleaner:
CCleaner

Defrag:
Defraggler

Imaging:
Photoshop 7.0
 
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