Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Tools I use

Another updated round of some of my favorite free general software/tools I use currently. This is what I’ve found to be the best in each category currently and I prefer simple non-bloated efficient software of course.

Maybe you are looking for better alternatives, you’ve just reinstalled your system, or you may even find a tool you didn’t know existed or needed.

In no special order:

7-zip

Free and great de/compression tool for many formats.

ClamWin

Anti-virus software, on-demand and scheduling only.
CoreTemp Accurate and small CPU temperature monitoring tool.
CPU-Z CPU, memory module etc information tool
Daemon Tools Use a CD/DVD-image file as a real CD/DVD-drive. Be careful what you choose during the installation.
FolderShare Easily and efficiently keep the same files, documents, bookmarks/favorites spreadsheets, tools, etc synced and updated between multiple computers over the network or internet. Highly recommended
Google SketchUp Great sketching tool for 3D, easy and nice concept. Quickly produce nice 3D sketches.
GPU-Z GPU frequency, memory, temperature, information tool
IE7pro Great addon that makes Internet Explorer a much better experience
MPC HC Mediaplayer to complement the built in WMP
Notepad2 Notepad replacement, still quick and easy but a lot more powerful.
Paint.NET Free image and photo editing software, it isn’t Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro but it is free and rather nice.
Putty Ssh/telnet/serial terminal program
ImgBurn CD & DVD burner software
WinMerge The best diff-tool, shows differences between contents of files and even directory structures in a clear manner.
WinScp Transfer files through scp, sftp and ftp.
Vista Codec Pack Active and non-bloated codec pack that makes everything work, all you need but nothing more. Works for WinXP too. Perfect substitution for tweaking together it all on your own.
Live Messenger IM-client. Yup you will need it, eventually you need to easily use remote assistance through it, the 100% compatibility, etc. Though the message size limit… argh!
Gmail Notifier Small simple email notifier in your tray area for gmail.
All CPU meter Vista gadget for CPU and memory info. Works with both dual and quad core.
ProcessExplorer Sysinternal/MS software for a lot more process information than the task manager offers.
ProcessMonitor Details about file I/O and registry operations for your processes.
ZoomIt Nice simple screen zoom and overlay drawing tool, perfect for presentations!
Google Chrome Fast, screen space and usage efficient web browser.
µTorrent Small and great Torrent download software
CCleaner Removes unused and temp files, registry cleaner etc. Fast!