I thought I'd make a thread for useful freeware utilities -- anyone can post one but they must link to the utility's website and they must provide a brief description. I'll start:
Windows Grep (http://www.wingrep.com/)
This is a multi-file find/replace tool which allows you to search in multiple files at once and replace text with other text. For example I can search in all of the INF files inside of addon/missions/multiplayer/* (use subfolders on) and replace text from "ivar2 = 4" to "ivar2 = 8". It also supports regex and 'soundex' (sounds like) searching though I havent experimented with these.
Highly useful for modders and mapmakers as well.
Launchy (http://www.launchy.net/#introduction)
Is a 'smart' program launcher for those who prefer to use a keyboard to launch things instead of the start menu. It indexes your start menu and documents folder. To launch a file (ie: Battlezone 2), all you have to do is hit alt+space and start typing in the name of the program or document you want to launch (ie: batt..), and it will begin displaying results of what it thinks you're going to type. Hit 'enter' and 'voila!' the program runs. This program is linux compatable.
WinDirStat (http://windirstat.info/)
Is a free program which gives you a graphical depiction of which programs and folders are taking up the most space on your hard drive -- you can then run the files, browse the folder, or delete the file/folder. This is useful if you're running low on hard drive space on any partition and need to free up some space.
I've been on the hunt for stuff like this recently, so I have a few. Unfortunately, I like my desktop to work nicely and look good, so some of them have slowed my PC a bit and may do the same for some of you guys.
WinRoll (http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/)
WinRoll is a cool little utility that some Mac users will relate to. It allows you to double-click on a window's title bar to roll it up to just the bar.
Vista/XP Virtual Desktops (http://www.z-sys.org/products/vvdm.aspx)
This apparently got some awful reviews, but I still like it. Most here will know what a Virtual Desktop is, but for those of you who don't know, it allows you to run four desktops, each with their own background/wallpaper and programs, on one computer and monitor.
CloseAll (http://www.ntwind.com/software/utilities/close-all.html)
CloseAll is simple - you place a shortcut in your Quick Launch toolbar, or Start Menu, or Desktop, or Dock, and when you click it, all your open programs will close. It works the same way as pressing the close button on each of these individual windows, but it saves you a few seconds, and is very useful if you tend to have a dozen or so windows open, which is pretty stupid to be honest.
IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com)
Just in case you don't have it already, this is a pretty neat graphics viewer capable of opening TGAs and PICs for BattleZone 2. It doesn't realise it can open PICs, so it can't save them, but it still works wonders with TGAs and I think it's what GBD used for making skins at one point.
CoolIris / PicLens (http://www.cooliris.com)
CoolIris (formerly PicLens) is an Internet Explorer addon which allows you to view an image search on a 'wall', which you can control with your mouse and cursors. Not so much useful as pretty, but cool all the same.
pSX (http://psxemulator.gazaxian.com/)
A simple PS1 emulator... just make sure you have a PS1 first, otherwise you'll be breaking the law.
Object Dock (http://www.objectdock.com), Rocket Dock (http://www.rocketdock.com)
I have a nice littke dock running down the right side of my screen, and I had a choice between Rocket Dock and Object Dock. I had used Rocket Dock before, so I went for Stardock's alternative instead. I'm not sure which is better, but Object Dock has a larger development scene on it.
Virtite (http://www.vanmiddlesworth.org/vitrite)
Vitrite is pretty useful. You can press a keyboard command and the window you are using will change transparency. You can make windows stay on top with this too.
TaskSwitchXP (http://www.ntwind.com/software/taskswitchxp.html)
I've always hated XP's standard Task Switch window, so I got a the powertoy to change it. I hated that, so I got this. I love it, but it's a bit heavier than it needs to be, I think. Still, it can minimise things to the tray, which is useful to keep BZ2 out of sight when I'm supposed to be doing homework :lol:
Unlocker (http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/)
I found I had a few folders in my C drive that I couldn't delete... you know, the M5d ones that are left behind when you install a windows program, that it puts the temporary files in. They don't serve any purpose, so I decided to delete them... I couldn't. Command prompt wouldn't either. Unlocker did the trick, but make sure the folder you delete isn't needed for anything first, or you might irreparably break your OS.
CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com)
Another registry cleaner, they seem to be quite common. My PC slowed down so much recently I decided I'd have to do a good scour of the system, and the standard XP Disk cleanup hangs when I ask it to compress files. CCleaner does all it does and more, and it found dozens of unused registry keys too, which is a good thing because even though it doesnt matter much, I like my registry to be clean :)
MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (http://malwarebytes.org)
Technically not a utility, but it and AVG get rid of any infections I get pretty easily between them.
AVG 8.0 (Free Version) (http://free.avg.com/download)
Technically not a utilirt, but it and MalwareBytes get rid of any infections I get pretty easily between them.
VisualToolTip (http://www.chrisnsoft.com/visual-tooltip/)
VisualToolTip (or VTT for short) shows a view of a program when you mouse over it on the taskbar. It's useful when you have several of the same program open doing different things.
Others I don't think I should post in fear of breaking rules:
YouTube Downloader
uTorrent
Google them if you want them, just don't tell me you can do it, I didn't even know they exist. What's this?
I know some of them aren't technically utilities, but they're freeware and they're cool/useful. They kind of count.
EDIT: Mod Manager 5. I won't need to link that, you all know where to find it.
Quote from: AHadley on March 19, 2009, 05:45:52 PM
Technically not a utility, but it and MalwareBytes get rid of any infections I get pretty easily between them.
you mean, it gets rid of infections you KNOW about pretty easily between them :P
if you have about £50 quid a year, get kaspersky
Or ESET NOD32 Antivirus. I'm a computer tech, and I've researched and tested it very thoroughly -- I install this on all my client's PC's due to its speed, high proactive detection rate, and light resource footprint. Haven't had a complaint or callback regarding problems caused by this program.
Quote from: TheJamsh on March 19, 2009, 06:46:57 PM
you mean, it gets rid of infections you KNOW about pretty easily between them :P
if you have about £50 quid a year, get kaspersky
OK, fair enough. I concede.
If you want the real grep program, and all the other very useful gnu command line programs on windows, you can get them at http://getgnuwin32.sourceforge.net/ (http://getgnuwin32.sourceforge.net/).
Launchy is awesome.
WinDirStat is awesome.
WinRoll is interesting, but its functionality is rolled into so many other desktop altering packs that it may be rather useless (it is not a feature I use anyway although I do have the capability).
That Vista/XP Virtual Desktops is lieing. Only thing it does is hide certain apps based on what state it is in. Microsoft also has two Virtual Desktop programs as well, one works like how the above linked one does, just hiding stuff, the other is made by the Sysinternals guy (you can find it in the Sysinternals section on the Microsoft website, or just download it here (http://live.sysinternals.com)) and uses the real desktop functionality that is built into Windows 2000 and higher (but never used) that literally gives you multiple distinct desktops, each running their own explorer, each with there own interfaces, and all. Microsoft puts so much functionality into Windows, but never uses it, so sad...
Close All just sounds like crap, period. Why on earth would you want to close everything except when shutting down, and shutting down will close everything for you... I have 38 windows up right now, I sure as heck would not ever want to shut them *all* off (and yes, I am using them all, done something in each one within the last 5 minutes, will continue to do so until I go to work, my computer has 181 processes running as well, nothing special).
IrfanView is awesome. I also suggest XnView (http://www.xnview.com) too.
CoolIris is not just for IE, it has also been an extension for firefox for years, regardless though, it is crap.
I figured RocketDock/ObjectDock was just a pretty thing to show off, but after I used it for a few days it is so much better, could not imagine using the computer without it, so many useful things I have installed on it (I use ObjectDock currently).
Virtite seems useless to me (as the maker even states it is on the website :P ). PowerMenu (http://www.abstractpath.com/powermenu/) is better anyway, has that functionality, still very lightweight, and can do a lot more like always on top (so freakishly useful at times), minimize to system tray, transparency changing (as Virtite does, never use that feature), and changing the priority (a shortcut from having to go to the task manager), all as extra menu options on the system menu for the program (right click the titlebar, right-click the start bar prorgam item, etc...).
TaskSwitchXP is pretty and functional, it is also very slow since it keeps regenerating the thumbnails and takes up a tremendous amount of space on the screen, making it very difficult to see what is behind. Pretty, but a horror if you alt+tab often and quickly, if I could remove the alt-tab thing that comes up by default I even would...
Unlocker (and every program like it) is a piece of crap and harmful to system stability since suddenly deleting a file handle that a program is using could very well cause the program to crash (as most programs do not handle if their file link suddenly disappears). If you want something that can do what it can, but safer and with far more capabilities, then either get Process Explorer (a wonderful standalone program made by the sysinternals guy again, or download it directly from here (http://live.sysinternals.com/procexp.exe)), or get Task Manager Extension (http://www.codeproject.com/KB/system/Task_Manager_Extension.aspx), which adds a lot of functionality that Process Explorer has, but directly to the Windows Task Manager; I use both.
Visual-Tooltips is just another Dock program (with window screenshots, like ObjectDock, but can be dragged off the dock unlike ObjectDock, but does not have plugins, like ObjectDock has, although it can display window screenshots when mouse is over the start bar program name, like DesktopFX can, DesktopFX is made by the same pople as ObjectDock, ton of options, very fancy, pretty, etc... but requires a lot of computer power, fun to show off your computer to other people, but most of it is useless otherwise, although I do have the option that shows the window in a thumbnail when mouseing over the name on the start bar, that is useful I do give it, DesktopFX is very fast considering what it does, probably the fastest out, just windows lacks a 3d rendering compositor for its desktop engine, so it does as best it can given the situation).
Youtube Downloader is also crap, just get the DownloadHelper extension for firefox, does it not only for youtube, but most every other flash movie site as well.
uTorrent is the official BitTorrent program now, not illegal in any way (heck, how do you think I downloaded my Ubuntu disk image 1.5 months back, although I used kTorrent, but a torrent program is a torrent program).
I use a tremendous amount of utility programs, explorer modifications, shell enhancers, everything. If I get time later I will go through some of them and find their sites again, but there is no way I could find every one I use. I cannot tell what is native windows functionality and what is stuff I have added anymore until I try to use someone else's computer and see how utterly crappy windows is normally.
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I use the torrent program formerly known as Azureus (Vuze). It is Java based, and has a ton of nice features and tons of addon plugins. It has a built in media center and special torrents for just it, and a friends boost system as well.
I just use basic Bitorent (thats the name of the bitorrent program)
I also agree with Overmind, get the firefox extension, it lets you download tons of files off of websites, some you didnt even know you could XD.
Unlocker is useful sometimes. I've had programs locking files when nothing was currently SUPPOSED to lock files, the thing is it could be any number of things like something that indexes or creates thumbnails or anything else which I do not consider important will lock a file and prevent it from being renamed or deleted. Sometimes malware has been known to lock files in order to prevent itself from being removed.
Things like Process Explorer or Task Manager Extension can still find those open handles, and you can close them, all easy. As stated though it can find any open handle, even if they are not files, so memory handles, file handles, stream handles, etc... and so forth.
And yes, generally if something is locked that I need to operate on, it is usually Google Indexer, so obviously not something visible. :P
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WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com/)
It's like MSConfig (the built in windows utility) on steroids. It lives in your system tray, monitoring startup processes and file associations letting you know if anything tries to change them, giving you the option to accept or reject the changes. Right clicking on the icon gives you access to the interface which allows you to see startup processes, services, IE Helpers, scheduled tasks, ActiveX processes and more.
re Unlocker, I had a couple of files in BZ2 I had made for an old mod that were conflicting with some I was making for my new one. The old ones had a locking handle on them, and they were nothing to do with BZ2. I tried Taskmanager, and it didn't work. I close everything I can in taskmanager on startup because they are things I never use anyway, and they slow my computer to hell.
The ccleaner registry cleaner can cause your pc to slow down if you dont have the right settings for it.
I believe having these three unchecked wont slow it down:).
Unused File Extensions
ActiveX and Class Issues
Installer.
MBAM is very good along with SuperAntispyware.
Could you show us that task manager extension, OM?
Because he capitalised it I would assume it is a proper noun, and the name of the program.
As well as a link, try clicking on it. :P
You do need to log in to download it (it is an open source project, the link goes to an article that tells not only about it, but how it works in detail, codeproject is a wonderful programming learning website). If you do not want to register, just go to BugMeNot (http://www.bugmenot.com/view/codeproject.com)
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Where could I get a program that changes .m4p and .mp4 files into .wma files? What about .flv and .avi into .wmv?
Did you try using google? I hear it can search the internet nowadays.
That's too easy... and half the time the first few results are crap.
I assume because you don't know how to search very well -- for example
[ quote "he advances yet does not seek fame" ]
would search for the word "quote" as well as the phrase
[ "he advances yet does not seek fame" -"Art of War" ]
would search for the phrase, but would exclude search results which had the phrase "Art of War" in them
[ "he advances yet does not seek fame" +Denma ]
would search for the phrase, the word "Denma" MUST be in the search result or it will not be displayed
The square brackets represent the text box, you dont actually type them into the search field.
Right...
I was just wondering if anyone already had some that worked well, as they come in handy. I know I could search for them, but I don't like trying out programs that might not be high quality. For example, I could find several youtube downloaders, modeling programs, or other various programs and utilities, but only a handful will be very good. They all do roughly the same thing, but some are more effective or user friendly than others.
I know how to search, but I like to have the assurance from an actual user that the program is useful and reliable.
Needless to say, if you don't know of one you don't need to answer. I was simply curious, as I find myself constantly wasting CDs to convert my iTunes files into something readable by other programs.
ffmpeg. It can convert from just about any audio/video format to any other audio/video format, including the above mentioned onces. ffmpeg itself is a command-line program (which I use it like that), but there are plenty of front-end interfaces for it, WinFF is a popular one for windows, but you should still learn it on the command line regardless since WinFF takes the command-line parameters in its interface.
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Anybody know anything about SearchGun? Or is there something else I can use to search through files by their contents?
eg: Find ODF files containint the text 'shipxpl', so I can fix some of my file conflicts.
WindowsGrep
Oh, it does? Good, I thought it was just a batch renamer.
Quote from: AHadley on April 12, 2009, 07:36:44 PM
Oh, it does? Good, I thought it was just a batch renamer.
I don't think it can do that.
Quote from: Nielk1 on April 12, 2009, 08:09:19 PM
I don't think it can do that.
Quote from: Steeveeo
Oui, just do what I did for my recy variant and edit the stock AIPs to your needs (mine was adding the mod suffix after all the units, yay Windows Grep, for decreasing my work time by 2000%)
(http://www.bz2md.com/smf/index.php?topic=2014.0)
Yea, I don't think it renamed files, I think it can only change the text inside of files, IE what Steeveeo was talking about. He had to change lots of things IN his ODFs after he renamed them.
OK, fair enough.
Just discovered this one today
Dexpot (http://www.dexpot.de/index.php?lang=en)
A virtual desktop manager for Windows that allows you to assign up to 9 virtual desktops, it has some of the features that compiz fusion had in Linux, including the ability to view all open workspaces on the screen as well as all open windows. It's far superior to MSVDM and Nview for this.
nine? ouch.
Glary utilities
lots of stuff in one .exe
http://www.glaryutilities.com/gu.html (http://www.glaryutilities.com/gu.html)
I dont trust any type of optimizers.
we have this one and it does no harm if used right
Power Defragmenter (GUI for Contig.exe) (http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/Power-Defragmenter.shtml)
A third-party defragmentation program GUI for a Defragmenting program that gets the job done.
Allows for File, Folder and Disk Defragmenting. Also features Triple Pass Disk Defragmenting so as to make sure what could be defragged got defragged. Work EXCEPTIONALLY well.
Ccleaner
An efficient, effective, third party junk cleaner with a registry scan too.
Defraggler
An efficient, effective, third party defrag utility.
You'll find this useful if getting rid of extra tool bars and widgets you don't need.
http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html
Most of us like HijackThis I beleive, especially Wraith.
Quote from: AHadley on April 27, 2009, 03:52:38 PM
Most of us like HijackThis I beleive, especially Wraith.
True and ccleaner registry cleaner can be bad if you dont use it right meaning proper settings.
Junction Link Magic (http://www.rekenwonder.com/linkmagic.htm)
Its a graphical utility for creating symbolic links. Sure you can download the powertoys utility for XP/Vista if you would rather use the command line but I find this to be faster than the command line. As an example all of my new music is placed on
C:/Documents and Settings/David/My Documents/My Music
because its in a convenient place -- but the remainder and larger portion of my music library is actually stored on my fat media partition at
K:/Music
This will allow me to navigate to My Documents/My Music in any program and see all my music even though the music is actually located on a different partition or physical disk. Saves space on my horribly undersized 10GB windows partition.