windows apps that i can’t live without
Latest Shashdot article linking to this Tom’s Hardware article got me thinking… I should write down my own list of stuff that I install on a new windows system. Note: a few of these were lifted directly from the articles, there’s always a new something that I didn’t know existed (also I didn’t know VLC had a windows build).
Security
adaware, spybot ssd and spyware blaster: anti-spyware.
window washer and ccleaner: delete garbage.
process guard: anti-trojan/hack prevention.
Sysinternals rootkit revealer, share enum and tcp view: sysinternals rocks
avg free: anti-virus
microsoft anti-spyware (beta)
mbsa: microsoft baseline security analyzer
truecrypt: volume encryption
Usability
thunderbird with enigmail and correct identity: email
firefox with fasterfox, adblock plus, Filterset.G updater, noscript and siteadvisor
putty and win scp: server communication etc.
7-zip: compression.
burn at once: cdr/dvdr burning.
Graphics
irfanview: image viewer.
vlc: video lan client audio/video playback.
blender: 3d graphics.
paint.net: photoshop-ish.
Productivity
open office: no need for ms office.
Network
uTorrent: bittorrent.
shareza: p2p.
ethereal: traffic capture.
nmap: scanner.
DVD and Video Encoding
dvdshrink: dvdshrink rocks.
gordian knot: video conversion. see doom9.org for help
Utilities
advanced windowscare: clean/speed up the os
win dir stat: show hard drive usage.
Sysinternals page defrag and file mon: auto pagefile defrag.
programmer’s notepad: text-editor.
filezilla: ftp/sftp client.
password safe: password store.
ultraiso and winimage.
Audio
itunes: music
winamp: music
audacity: waveform editor.
System Diagnostics
memtest: ram validation and test.
sisoft sandra: system diagnostic and reporting.
Optional
cygwin: unix shell.
microsoft powertoys: add stuff like virtual desktops.
crimson editor: another free text/html editor.
Bootable CDs
Darik’s Boot and Nuke DBAN disk.
Ultimate Boot CD.
Expensive but usefull
Diskeeper: on the fly defrag.
eeye retina: scanner.
pgp desktop: encryption.
vmware: virtual workstations.