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Join Date: Feb 2006
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Junior Poster in Training
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Originally Posted by Serunson 
"Spybot - Search and Destroy" is a nice little Spyware & Malware hunter
I would recommend it over ad-aware to be honest, ad-awares scan took way longer than spybots scanner, and spybots version found something!,while ad-aware found nothing.
Just a thought.
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 91
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Solved Threads: 6
Junior Poster in Training
Ok, tried running Avira AntiVir on my client's computer. It works great, found some crap on the old drive, and seems to be really efficient.
Unfortunately, the BIG BAD NAG AD that pops up every so often really puts a damper on my decision to keep it. It's really too bad because I like it. Oh well...guess it's time to try Avast! instead. It's one of the few I haven't checked out yet. Good thing I've got a couple days left...it's a gift, after all. Want to make sure it's done right.
Oh, btw...the Comodo backup software seems pretty good so far. I haven't really put it through its paces yet, but I just backed up a couple gigs of data with it. My ONLY complaint is that, so far, I've yet to find a way to select individual files. You can specify folders, specifically exclude certain subfolders, and set inclusion/exclusion filters for file types. The filters are great for when you want to back up a whole folder, but know there's stuff you don't want included and don't want to have to de-select each one.
Anyone know of a good/better free backup program?
Unfortunately, the BIG BAD NAG AD that pops up every so often really puts a damper on my decision to keep it. It's really too bad because I like it. Oh well...guess it's time to try Avast! instead. It's one of the few I haven't checked out yet. Good thing I've got a couple days left...it's a gift, after all. Want to make sure it's done right.
Oh, btw...the Comodo backup software seems pretty good so far. I haven't really put it through its paces yet, but I just backed up a couple gigs of data with it. My ONLY complaint is that, so far, I've yet to find a way to select individual files. You can specify folders, specifically exclude certain subfolders, and set inclusion/exclusion filters for file types. The filters are great for when you want to back up a whole folder, but know there's stuff you don't want included and don't want to have to de-select each one.
Anyone know of a good/better free backup program?
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Join Date: Jan 2008
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Junior Poster in Training
The only image browser, converter and editor I've used since I first downloaded ver2.8 away back when. (Currently ver 3.5)
http://www.faststone.org/
Can't fault it!!
http://www.faststone.org/
Can't fault it!!
Last edited by lostandfound; Jan 18th, 2008 at 6:05 pm. Reason: Spelling mistake
Ther are 10 types of people in the world. Those who do understand binary and those who don't!!
Par-N-Rar
Par-N-Rar is a graphical utility which accepts a directory as input and will repair/verify any and all PAR/PAR2/SFV/MD5 files in that directory. Once it verifies a set of files, it will attempt to unRAR them. Once it finishes unRARing a RAR archive, it will (optionally) remove the original PAR/RAR files.
http://www.milow.net/public/projects/parnrar.html
AJZ
Par-N-Rar is a graphical utility which accepts a directory as input and will repair/verify any and all PAR/PAR2/SFV/MD5 files in that directory. Once it verifies a set of files, it will attempt to unRAR them. Once it finishes unRARing a RAR archive, it will (optionally) remove the original PAR/RAR files.
http://www.milow.net/public/projects/parnrar.html
AJZ
The best defrag isn't in safe mode. It's a boot defrag that runs before windows loads up. It's the best way to do page defragging and the the Master File Table.
So what do I use? I'm going to be a little more narrative to be a little different for those that aren't sure about what all these programs do, but I'm also going to concentrate on the things I use from time to time that I haven't noticed in the thread so far.
Personally, I'm just kind of anal about this stuff and a bit of a utility/optimization junky. I use Diskeeper 2008 Pro Premier, but I'm sure any number of defraggers out there are just fine for most folks. I've tried several and like this one the best. This one tries to optimize your drive based on file usage (has helped me on certain disk intensive applications), does everything in the background when your computer is idle and can do some advanced little things I like (like scheduled boot defrags). As I understand, the windows defragger is a watered down version of the Diskeeper old defragger. So they claim on their website. Diskeeper (and many programs I mention) are not free at all . . . so sorry for that. (Many mentioned are at least cheap, but not Diskeeper Pro Premier).
Although it is a guide and not a program, The Tweaking Companion is a great download for optimizing your windows and has links to some of the best free utilities and downloads: I learned all sorts of things from this guide and it has a number of links to freeware programs that you can use in a number of capacities (mostly utilities or diagnostics). I don't use or do everything it suggests, but it is just a great explanation of how to do most anything you want with windows manually or with the help of utilities. After you read it, you know WHY various utilities work or don't work.
I follow that guide's advice concerning keeping things running in the background to a mininum. Most of the utilities I list below that can run in the background are disabled as to that feature unless I say otherwise.
For watching odd video formats on the computer, I use the GOM Player http://www.gomlab.com. My kid brother uses that to watch anime that uses oddball asian formatting, and I found it works very well. It is simple to use if you are a beginner but has lots of advanced options for those that like to tweak their players.
For antivirus I take a two tier approach. I like Kaspersky, but when the latest version runs in the background, it doesn't always play well with net applications. I've tried to work with them on this but progress is slow. So, on my own computer, in the background I run Avanquest's SystemSuite scanner. I can't remember the engine they use, but it is decent and not too bulky or invasive. For the deep scans and before opening a new file I have the slightest suspicions about, I use Kaspersky. If I suspect a trojan, I use A-squared but I don't run that in background either.
For startup analysis for optimization and security purposes I use Absolute Startup http://www.absolutestartup.com and The Ultimate Troubleshooter http://www.answersthatwork.com. I don't always follow all their suggestions, but the tools are great. I make all registry changes through Absolute Startup since the changes are easily reversed due to the way it works with the registry. The Ultimate Troubleshooter is useful because it has good information concerning some obscure files. With both of these programs you can look at what services are running and turn them on or off too. Absolute Startup makes no suggestions here but The Ultimate Troubleshooter has good info for most services, though I don't always agree with their advice. I rarely follow all their advice, but they are informative to say the least.
For examining running processes I use a program called Wintasks 5 Pro, but it appears you can't get that anymore. My all-time favorite program for quickly ending processes (even when task manager seems to fail) is enditall. You can get it here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1554267,00.asp. They also have a wintask like utility that supposedly supersedes enditall but is is clunkier and not so straightforward when compared to enditall: Taskpower 3 http://www.pcmag.com/artcle2/0,2817,2253746,00.asp
There is a nominal fee that gets you access to those utilities and all the other PCMag utilities. Lots of good things there for almost nothing.
For system cleaning and registry optimization, I use CCleaner (already mentioned in the thread), PCPitstop Optimize 2.0, and/or Avanquest's Systemsuite (http://www.avanquestusa.com. Don't confuse PCPitstop with a certain malware program of similar name (they had a google add once that was linked to malware and that caused a fuss once upon a time). The legit stuff is at http://www.PCPitstop.com. Between all three of these programs, I'm generally happy with my registry. I've tried many registry optimizers and it seems there is no single program out there does what all the others do too without hurting something. I mostly use Avanquest if a strange problem crops up after, for instance, I uninstall a program.
When I'm trying to figure out where all my disk space has gone I use a utility on Avantec's Systemsuite called Sizemanager. It has a nice graphical representation of the size of different folders on your hardrive that you can click through until you find that giant folder full of porn your kid brother downloaded while you were out of town. Then you can get rid of it and liberate your harddrive.
Lots of people love Firefox, but I love it most because of all the customizable addons you can use. Specifically, NoScript is absolutely essential to take direct control over what code gets run on your browser. Seems like most approaches are all or nothing, but this allows for on-the-fly choices concerning scripts and such. http://noscript.net
For password and personal information encryption, storage, and browser form filling (I have a terrible memory and so I risk keeping passwords on my computer this way) I use Roboform. Works in almost all the browsers. http://www.roboform.com
To fight keyloggers, I use a nifty little program that intercepts keys leaving your keyboard on the way to the kernal, encodes it and then decodes it as it leaves the kernal and inserts it into your browser. It works for browsers. It is called Keyscrambler. http://www.qfxsoftware.com Once in a while I get a glitch with it and have to restart it, the program or the browser, but works pretty well. I have noticed no decrease in performance. Is it working? Well, I hope so. It has good reviews and nobody has called it a fraud.
For rootkits, I try to detect them with Microsoft's Rootkit Revealer. It's a little technical and you have to exam the forums to see if its results have any real meaning but no worse than those HiJack readouts everybody uses. http://http://technet.microsoft.com/.../bb897445.aspx
I have to stress this great downloadable suite of programs even though I've seen it mentioned before in this thread in passing. An alternative to Microsoft Office and Wordperfect Suite is Open Office. It's free and it just keeps getting better and better. A year ago I had some reservations, but almost all the problems I was having have been solved by the legion of volunteers working on this project.
http://www.openoffice.org. Your documents will be compatible with Microsoft Office programs for the most part. Incompatibilities are being solved all the time and are becoming rarer and rarer.
A very rudimentary database program that has very definite limitations but is cheap (relatively speaking) and very very easy to use is Database Professional. See http://www.avanquestusa.com. It's not for professionals, it's not relational, but it works for basic stuff and is flexible.
I'm kind of new to home networking and tried out three or four different networking programs to simplify things a bit. I ended up using Network Magic http://www.networkmagic.com. It simplifies some of the more arcane processes of setting up a wireless network.
I have a head injury and forget things all the time. Cute Reminder has a great system for helping me remember important things and it is very easy to use with a great interface. Messages and notes appear on your desktop like sticky pad notes. Very cute and it works!
http://www.CuteReminder.com It can import/export out of Outlook, but I don't know how well that works. It doesn't sync directly with my iphone or any handhelds. So it does have some limitations. But it is the best reminder system I could find that wasn't too clunky.
So what do I use? I'm going to be a little more narrative to be a little different for those that aren't sure about what all these programs do, but I'm also going to concentrate on the things I use from time to time that I haven't noticed in the thread so far.
Personally, I'm just kind of anal about this stuff and a bit of a utility/optimization junky. I use Diskeeper 2008 Pro Premier, but I'm sure any number of defraggers out there are just fine for most folks. I've tried several and like this one the best. This one tries to optimize your drive based on file usage (has helped me on certain disk intensive applications), does everything in the background when your computer is idle and can do some advanced little things I like (like scheduled boot defrags). As I understand, the windows defragger is a watered down version of the Diskeeper old defragger. So they claim on their website. Diskeeper (and many programs I mention) are not free at all . . . so sorry for that. (Many mentioned are at least cheap, but not Diskeeper Pro Premier).
Although it is a guide and not a program, The Tweaking Companion is a great download for optimizing your windows and has links to some of the best free utilities and downloads: I learned all sorts of things from this guide and it has a number of links to freeware programs that you can use in a number of capacities (mostly utilities or diagnostics). I don't use or do everything it suggests, but it is just a great explanation of how to do most anything you want with windows manually or with the help of utilities. After you read it, you know WHY various utilities work or don't work.
I follow that guide's advice concerning keeping things running in the background to a mininum. Most of the utilities I list below that can run in the background are disabled as to that feature unless I say otherwise.
For watching odd video formats on the computer, I use the GOM Player http://www.gomlab.com. My kid brother uses that to watch anime that uses oddball asian formatting, and I found it works very well. It is simple to use if you are a beginner but has lots of advanced options for those that like to tweak their players.
For antivirus I take a two tier approach. I like Kaspersky, but when the latest version runs in the background, it doesn't always play well with net applications. I've tried to work with them on this but progress is slow. So, on my own computer, in the background I run Avanquest's SystemSuite scanner. I can't remember the engine they use, but it is decent and not too bulky or invasive. For the deep scans and before opening a new file I have the slightest suspicions about, I use Kaspersky. If I suspect a trojan, I use A-squared but I don't run that in background either.
For startup analysis for optimization and security purposes I use Absolute Startup http://www.absolutestartup.com and The Ultimate Troubleshooter http://www.answersthatwork.com. I don't always follow all their suggestions, but the tools are great. I make all registry changes through Absolute Startup since the changes are easily reversed due to the way it works with the registry. The Ultimate Troubleshooter is useful because it has good information concerning some obscure files. With both of these programs you can look at what services are running and turn them on or off too. Absolute Startup makes no suggestions here but The Ultimate Troubleshooter has good info for most services, though I don't always agree with their advice. I rarely follow all their advice, but they are informative to say the least.
For examining running processes I use a program called Wintasks 5 Pro, but it appears you can't get that anymore. My all-time favorite program for quickly ending processes (even when task manager seems to fail) is enditall. You can get it here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1554267,00.asp. They also have a wintask like utility that supposedly supersedes enditall but is is clunkier and not so straightforward when compared to enditall: Taskpower 3 http://www.pcmag.com/artcle2/0,2817,2253746,00.asp
There is a nominal fee that gets you access to those utilities and all the other PCMag utilities. Lots of good things there for almost nothing.
For system cleaning and registry optimization, I use CCleaner (already mentioned in the thread), PCPitstop Optimize 2.0, and/or Avanquest's Systemsuite (http://www.avanquestusa.com. Don't confuse PCPitstop with a certain malware program of similar name (they had a google add once that was linked to malware and that caused a fuss once upon a time). The legit stuff is at http://www.PCPitstop.com. Between all three of these programs, I'm generally happy with my registry. I've tried many registry optimizers and it seems there is no single program out there does what all the others do too without hurting something. I mostly use Avanquest if a strange problem crops up after, for instance, I uninstall a program.
When I'm trying to figure out where all my disk space has gone I use a utility on Avantec's Systemsuite called Sizemanager. It has a nice graphical representation of the size of different folders on your hardrive that you can click through until you find that giant folder full of porn your kid brother downloaded while you were out of town. Then you can get rid of it and liberate your harddrive.
Lots of people love Firefox, but I love it most because of all the customizable addons you can use. Specifically, NoScript is absolutely essential to take direct control over what code gets run on your browser. Seems like most approaches are all or nothing, but this allows for on-the-fly choices concerning scripts and such. http://noscript.net
For password and personal information encryption, storage, and browser form filling (I have a terrible memory and so I risk keeping passwords on my computer this way) I use Roboform. Works in almost all the browsers. http://www.roboform.com
To fight keyloggers, I use a nifty little program that intercepts keys leaving your keyboard on the way to the kernal, encodes it and then decodes it as it leaves the kernal and inserts it into your browser. It works for browsers. It is called Keyscrambler. http://www.qfxsoftware.com Once in a while I get a glitch with it and have to restart it, the program or the browser, but works pretty well. I have noticed no decrease in performance. Is it working? Well, I hope so. It has good reviews and nobody has called it a fraud.
For rootkits, I try to detect them with Microsoft's Rootkit Revealer. It's a little technical and you have to exam the forums to see if its results have any real meaning but no worse than those HiJack readouts everybody uses. http://http://technet.microsoft.com/.../bb897445.aspx
I have to stress this great downloadable suite of programs even though I've seen it mentioned before in this thread in passing. An alternative to Microsoft Office and Wordperfect Suite is Open Office. It's free and it just keeps getting better and better. A year ago I had some reservations, but almost all the problems I was having have been solved by the legion of volunteers working on this project.
http://www.openoffice.org. Your documents will be compatible with Microsoft Office programs for the most part. Incompatibilities are being solved all the time and are becoming rarer and rarer.
A very rudimentary database program that has very definite limitations but is cheap (relatively speaking) and very very easy to use is Database Professional. See http://www.avanquestusa.com. It's not for professionals, it's not relational, but it works for basic stuff and is flexible.
I'm kind of new to home networking and tried out three or four different networking programs to simplify things a bit. I ended up using Network Magic http://www.networkmagic.com. It simplifies some of the more arcane processes of setting up a wireless network.
I have a head injury and forget things all the time. Cute Reminder has a great system for helping me remember important things and it is very easy to use with a great interface. Messages and notes appear on your desktop like sticky pad notes. Very cute and it works!
http://www.CuteReminder.com It can import/export out of Outlook, but I don't know how well that works. It doesn't sync directly with my iphone or any handhelds. So it does have some limitations. But it is the best reminder system I could find that wasn't too clunky.
I would like to add:
Super video converter. It converts all sorts of video files and audio files... and it's totally free.
VCDGear extracts video files from .bin disc images and others and converts them to mpeg. Free too.
Windowblinds changes the way your computer looks. It's not heavy on CPU as most people think.
uTorrent... no explanation needed, i think... again, FREE
Super video converter. It converts all sorts of video files and audio files... and it's totally free.
VCDGear extracts video files from .bin disc images and others and converts them to mpeg. Free too.
Windowblinds changes the way your computer looks. It's not heavy on CPU as most people think.
uTorrent... no explanation needed, i think... again, FREE
Last edited by jervis0; Feb 16th, 2008 at 1:50 am.
I also forgot to add DFX Audio Enhancer. Sometimes laptop speakers aren't loud enough and this program greatly increased the sound volume.
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