Some Worthwhile Utilities

By Bruce Preston

At the May DACS General Meeting a member requested a list of ‘useful’ utilities.  Here’s my list, perhaps other members would like to contribute lists of things that they use.  These are by no means the only programs I use, but are the ones that I use with some regularity.
Unless otherwise stated, these are freeware programs.

Apache OpenOffice MS Office compatible for spreadsheets, documents, presentations, plus some other stuff. However the database is not at all like Microsoft Access. If you need a database this may not be for you.
Audacity Very good for converting LPs to MP3s, can be used to clean up pops, hiss etc. as well.
Auslogic Disk Defragger Does a better job than the one in Windows.
AusLogic Duplicate FIle Finder true duplicates, i.e. same file but in different folders.
anti-virus software Getting into a discussion as to what is the best anti-virus product, commercial or free is similar to discussing religion or politics. Having said that, here are two very popular and well-respected freeware anti-virus packages.
        avast! Home Free Edition
        AVG Free Edition.
Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder Very interesting in that it can find duplicates where they have been cropped or resized. Just be patient!
Calibre An e-book reader and manager, RSS reader, etc. that also can convert between e-Book formats.
CCleaner A well know utility for cleaning c*** from machines.
Colasoft MAC Address Scanner Useful if you work with setting up networks, printers etc.
CPUID PCwizard 2012 Generates more detail about your hardware and software than you can possibly ever use.
CutePDF Writer A virtual printer that creates PDFs. If you can print it from an application, you can create a PDF.
DeepBurner A free, no-frills CD/DVD burner.
Dropbox A way to safely share files with others using cloud storage.
EASEUS Backup Workstation (fee) This is more powerful than their consumer TO DO backup...
EASEUS Data Recovery Has recovered data from a drive that Windows couldn’t even ‘see’. Free trial version has limit on how many files it will recover. Use it to see if you have a chance to recover full drive etc. with paid version...
EASEUS Partition Manager This is very straight forward, easy to use.
EASEUS Partition Manager Pro (fee) This has additional capabilities, such as various Linux formats...
EASEUS ToDo Backup A very basic backup utility.
Filezilla A very easy to use ftp file transfer protocol.
Firefox many prefer it over Internet Explorer.
FotoSketcher interesting effects such as pencil on canvas.
GhostScript A processor that interprets the PostScript language - used for very elaborate text and graphics, this is the language behind PDF files.
GhostView A PostScript processor which may be used to view PostScript files on your screen, or PDF files. It is very useful if you are interested in the PostScript language as it diagnoses errors. Requires GhostScript.
Google Drive Used to automatically synchronize files between devices via intermediate cloud storage.
GParted Live CD More powerful than the simple partition manager(s) found in most operating systems.
ImgBurn Create an image file from individual files, or burn the ISO file to CD or DVD media.
Ipswitch WSftp PRO (fee) This is a scriptable, schedulable, and intelligent ftp - it can synchronize local and remote site, or two remote sites, etc...
IrfanView A very small, light-weight, and fast image viewer that lets you work on the image at a macro level, i.e. crop, resize, compress, convert between many image formats. Note that this is most definitely not an image editor program such a Photo Elements etc.
iTunes if you have an Apple device, or are into playing music files, etc. you essentially must have this.
KillDisk Free Use this to really clean a hard disk such as you might do before discarding or donating a computer. It makes multiple passes of rewriting binary 0s and 1s thus wiping out existing data.
Kindle for PC Lets you read Amazon’s e-books on a PC.
LogMeIn (Central) This is remote control of machines, remote may be un-attended. The fee-based subscription version can handle more machines than LogMeIn Free.
Magic Jelly Bean Keyfinder Use this to recover the product installation key for software.
Mailwasher Pro 2012 (fee) This examines POP3 mailbox, identifies SPAM etc. before it gets to your desktop thus blocking spam before it gets to your computer. Free version has fewer features.
MalwareBytes anti-malware Free edition - on demand malware identification and removal. Reach for this first if you think your computer has been compromised. The "Pro" version (fee) is a real-time scanner, recommended if you are exposed to many questionable or unsafe sources. (Example: You receive a lot of e-mail attachments as part of your business operations.)
Mikogo Screencasting / webinar package - free for non-commercial use. DACS uses it for holding virtual meetings. Also useful if you assist others (family, friends etc.) with computer problems/training etc. The remote machine must be attended (unlike LogMeIn) and it does not stay resident. Once a session is established, anyone may be presenter, and anyone may take control, with permission of course!
MP3tag Use this to edit the meta data (tags) in MP3 files.
Microsoft Management Studio Express A great programming environment for working with Microsoft SQL Server databases, write queries, stored procedures, etc.
Microsoft SQL Server Express This is the free implementation suitable for small installations, development etc.
Microsoft Visual Studio Express This is the free development environment for various Microsoft supported languages: ANSI C, C++, C#, VB etc. Great if you want to learn some of the most powerful computer languages in use today.
NCH Debut Video Capture capture/create .AVI files, convert format etc.
neo Free Hex Editor This is a GUI to replace the old DOS DEBUG and then some.
Overdrive Media Console Connecticut libraries that participate in Bibliomation use this for accessing downloadable books etc.
Recuva A great file recovery (un-erase) program. It usually even works if you have emptied the recycle bin. Just be sure that you install it before you need it, as if you install it after you delete or damage a file, the installation may make use of space where your lost file previously resided. In that case you won't be able to restore the file.
RevoUninstaller This really uninstalls an application, including the stuff that the package’s uninstaller leaves behind. The left behind stuff can sometimes prevent re-installing properly, or cause bad side effects.
Serif PagePlus X6 (fee) a desktop publishing application that is very powerful and intuitive to use. The "SE" edition is a subset and free - try before you buy. Note: If you upgrade from the SE edition, you get a discount on the paid version.
Skype A very popular VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) that provides voice, video chat, etc. Skype-to-Skype calls are free, Skype to wired or cell phone calls have an associated fee that often costs less than other methods...
Soluto This is a PC maintenance mechanism that senses available updates for products (such as non-Windows or Office update,) boot analysis with crowd sourced information etc. It provides centralized control of multiple machines. This is a very interesting free product for home use.
TweetDeck Provides twitter client for PC.
VLC Video Player This is capable of playing many video formats, stuff that MS Media Player or QuickTime etc. don’t do.
VMware Player Create a virtual machine (VM) that runs "inside" your current machine as a ""guest". This lets you experiment with different operating systems. A classic use is to host an older version of an operating system so that you can run programs (such as games) that won't run on current platforms.
WinZIP Pro (fee) This is an excellent full-feature data compaction/archiving/extracting utility.

A few last comments:

  • When you install a freeware/shareware/open source application, be sure to use the CUSTOM install option, and read it carefully.
  • Deselect everything other than the primary product. For example, never allow the installation of browser helper objects (also known as Toolbars) even though they claim to "enhance the web browsing experience."
  • Be sure that you do not allow the package to change your browser’s default home page.
  • If the download requires that you make use of a 3rd party "download manager" it is recommended that you find another source, as they often install lots of unwanted stuff and/or what may very well be spyware.

 

Having said that, don’t let me scare you off - there is a lot of really good freeware or inexpensive software out there. If in doubt - Ask DACS.

 

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