Useful Software Megathread

[Yogi_DaBear221]

This one might be a bit more Niche, but I recommend Samsung Flow. It allows you to not only get ALL the notifications you would get onto your phone. It also has a feature that the native Windows Phone connection thing, lacks majorly. It allows for you to remote into your phone, so it would be a good way to screen record your phone. It also allows you to transfer data between the PC and the phone over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It is of course Samsung only, but it works wonderfully.

 

https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/apps/samsung-flow/

[Sheitmaster]

I would like to recomend ARGUS monitor.
It is much like speedfan, but unlike speedfan it actually works on new systems.
It can control any fan header with any temperature sensor, and thus makes for a rather convenient piece of software to keep your temperatures in check.
It costs money, but the free trial did last me several months before i bought it.
It wasn't expensive, and i bought it because it actually works better than anything out there.

[choggy2840]

I would like to recommend LittleBigMouse which is a free piece of software that allows you to align two different resolution monitors in windows. For example in my setup my ultrawide is much higher resolution than my secondary monitor which causes the scaling when rearranging the monitor positions to be wrong in windows settings as shown below. This  means that the mouse moves and down when moving between the monitors and if you try and cross the mouse at the top or bottom of the screens you may get an 'invisible wall' that stops the mouse from moving. This is especially annoying when you have two monitors that are almost identical in height. All that I had to do in my case was download LittleBigMouse from here on GitHub and run it and tick the enable box and run at startup and press enable then close it and forget about it in the system tray. As a bonus it is very light on resources only using around 150MB of RAM and usually 0 to 1% CPU usage in task manager when in the background.

 

Link to about it:

https://github.com/mgth/LittleBigMouse/wiki

Downloads:

https://github.com/mgth/LittleBigMouse/releases

[TsoliasPN]

Thank you for this great thread, both the TS and the community. My contribution to the community follows:

 

PowerToys: Microsoft PowerToys is a set of freeware system utilities designed for power users developed by Microsoft for use on the Windows operating system. These programs add or change features to maximize productivity or add more customization

-> This app adds a lot of shortcuts and window border customizations (link from github)

 

AnyDesk: AnyDesk is a proprietary remote desktop tool distributed by AnyDesk Software GmbH. The software program provides remote access to personal computers running the host application, which can be installed on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD

-> Great teamviewer alternative (official page)

 

Ditto: Ditto is an extension to the standard windows clipboard. It saves each item placed on the clipboard allowing you access to any of those items at a later time. Ditto allows you to save any type of information that can be put on the clipboard, text, images, html, custom formats. (link) 

 

StrokesPlus: StrokePlus is a powerful and a free mouse gesture recognition utility for Windows that lets you create powerful mouse gestures that save your valuable and precious time. It's as simple as creating a drawing by just moving your computer mouse around (official page)

[feratul]

Intel XTU ( Extreme Tuning Utility ) - https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29183/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU

Intel XTU is a Windows*-based performance-tuning software that enables novice and experienced enthusiasts to overclock, monitor, and stress a system. The software interface exposes a set of robust capabilities common in most enthusiast platforms along with new features available on new Intel® Application Processors and Intel® Motherboards.

 

I mainly use Intel XTU to undervolt my laptop so  it can save more power and not running hot.. 

[madmanbehindyou]

Good post

 

My essential programme list, installed during every reinstall of windows is:

• 7zip
  • Compression
• Notepad++
  • Coding and Notepad
• paint.NET
  • Photo Editing
• Foxit PDF Reader
  • PDF Reading and Notation
• Libreoffice
  • DTP
• VLC Media Player
  • So many media formats
• Chrome
• Thunderbird
  • E-mail
• Onenote
  • Synchronised Notekeeping across devices
• Qbittorrent
• f.Lux

Work Essentials

 

• UUI
  • Disk Image Writing
• Putty
  • Networking
• Virtualbox
  • Virtual machines
• Audacity
  • Audio recording
• Activepresenter
  • Screen recordings & presentations

 

[user_of_names]

Thanks for sharing!

I would add:

•  Lightworks, a free video editor that I can confirm has many features of a paid video editor - https://www.lwks.com/index.php?option=com_lwks&view=download&Itemid=206
• Unsplash, free, always high quality photos - https://unsplash.com/

 

[merged0own]

I saw a lot of the programs I use, but didn't saw these : 

 

• WinRAR - free  archiver utility ==== https://www.win-rar.com/
• WPSOffice - just like MCOffice ==== https://www.wps.com/
• 4Kvideodownloader - youtube video/playlist downloader + captions  ==== https://www.4kdownload.com/products/product-videodownloader
• Microsoft To-Do - Simple to-do lists with categories and reminders ==== ONLINE - https://todo.microsoft.com/tasks/ ==== APP - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-to-do-list-app

Hope I was usefull

[Dimchez]

There's a lot of programs that coincide with the replies, as some of them were already mentioned, but here are all the programs/tweaks that I find useful after every re-install of the OS:

• 7zip - great alternative to winrar and it doesn't have the annoying free trial box.. Also, better features (said by others)..
• Windows Debloat Script - although not a program, it's a tweak that just rids of very useless programs from Windows and cleans a lot of memory for your games/apps to use..
• K-Lite Media Codec Pack - Install a lot of useful codecs that you can later use in other programs.
• VLC Media Player - Best media player, and it just does the job for me.
• Winamp - Best .mp3, .flac player that there is on the market if you ask me..
• Quicktime - Deemed useful for a lot of Adobe programs, it includes the .264 codec I think.
• f.lux - Makes it easier for your eyes as the night hours come  
• qBitTorrent - Opensource torrenting software without the annoying ads that are at BitTorrent.
• RivaTurner Statistics - Let's you cap the game's FPS and monitor it, with a couple of other useful features.
• Discord - Communicating with others.
• mp3tag - Let's me change audio files' covers, author's name, etc..
• ShareX or Lightshot - Both change the printscreen function that comes with windows, but I prefer ShareX more as it has a better UI, and it can also take screenshots in games..
• The new Microsoft Edge - It's similar to Chrome, minus Chrome's use of RAM.
• OBS Studio - Best video recorder out there, that has an auto-configuration wizard.
• Kaspersky Antivirus - Deemed the best option by many, so I just stick with it, replacing the Windows Defender.
• Microsoft Office apps - Plain simple choice, as it's the most used worldwide.
• Rufus - Creating bootable installations on USBs.
• Handbrake - Compresses the video's quality, noticably reducing the file size when needed, while the change in quality is really small.
• Adobe Programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects) - Just seem like the best choice, as they are all compatible with each other..
• Blender - Best free 2D/3D video editing program that's actually open source I think.
• Sony Vegas Pro - Another video editor that's widely praised for its features.
• Virustotal - While not being a program, it's definitely useful to check files' integrity from all the antiviruses, not only from 1.
• uBlock origin - The best extension that prevents ads and malware sites just by being installed as an extension.
• AdsBypasser - Another extension, I don't use it myself, but I think it's used to skip adfly sites and such..

Hope my list of applications/tweaks will help you all out  

[chnajuha]

There is a good software that don't need to reformat your USB stick and just by placing iso files to boot menu for installation

• Ventoy - an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO files. You don't need to format the disk again and again, you just need to copy the iso file to the USB drive and boot it.

Ventoy Website: https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html

 

[Dat Guy]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:10 PM, merged0own said:

WinRAR - free

no.

[merged0own]

On 6/24/2020 at 12:53 AM, Dat Guy said:

no.

Well, it is free:

Quote

When the period expires, the non-enterprise functionalities remain available, a move intended to discourage piracy.

The thing with the license is for corporate use. If you are a company, you must pay to use it. But if it is for personal use it is free, even though it is listed as 'try-before-you-buy software. You can check all of this in the official site.

[Dat Guy]

I did:

 

Quote

The software is distributed as try before you buy. This means that anyone may use the software during a test period of a maximum of 40 days at no charge. Following this test period, the user must purchase a license to continue using the software.

There is no ambiguity here.

[TehDwonz]

Basically all of Stablebit.com software, but Scanner is a brilliant HDD/SSD/NVMe health monitoring tool with cloud features. Beyond S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, it performs regular scheduled surface scans, filesystem scans etc. Has scan throttling to prevent overheating, loads more. Free to download and try for 30 days.
https://stablebit.com/Scanner/Features

They also have a fantastic Drivepool software, and a Cloud-to-local-drive tool. All three can work together, with the cloud drive one and Drivepool being able to pool popular online storage into one big drive (with encryption, so Google can't read your stuff and decide to delete it...).

[Serberian]

SpaceDesk

 

If, for any reason, you need to extend your desktop to a mobile device (phone, tablet...) this free app is the GoTo in my experience.

It is available both for Android and iOS devices. (PLEASE NOTE: There are some compatibility issues with the latest AMD drivers, as it can be seen in the "Download" section on the main page, read carefully what the developer has to say)

The app offers both connectivity over Local Network Interfaces and Remote Network Connections. 

It is pretty straightforward to use, and it is nice for those who want to export instruments from their flight sim to another screen, or use their 10" tablet as a preview window for editing video, or a drawer to put aside all those pesky dockers in Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign...


 
 

[Serberian]

DroidCam

 

App for using your mobile device as a webcam, available for Windows and iOS. Minimum to not noticeable lag, depending on devices used and network. Quite good both for conference calls or even using it in OBS for streaming on Twitch, YouTube etc.

From all the apps I've tried with the same functionality, this one is the most satisfying.

NOTE: To access 720p quality, and camera controls directly from an app - you need to buy the premium version for about $5 USD.
NOTE 2: When you buy the premium version, you need to direct the PC app to switch to the HD mode and it requires reboot.
NOTE 3: I recommend keeping the mobile device plugged in, and to pay attention to unavoidable heating up of the device due to camera working over prolonged periods of time.

Edited August 23, 2020 by Serberian
Added an important note regarding the device safety

[ClarissKrays]

Joplin - Open Source note taking & to do list app. Can be synched with including Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV. Works on desktop & mobile.

 

[seconds]

My additions to this list :

 

PDFill - Free PDF Tools - Merge, Split, Reorder, Delete Pages, Watermarks, Cropping and more. They also have a PDF Writer & Editor.

 

Clonespy - My preferred Duplicate File FInder

 

Everything - Very fast file search utility. I use this instead of crappy windows search.

 

AutoHotkey - Create Hotkeys/Macros/Automations for keyboard & mouse keys.

[PROGamer_199]

I never seen this one mentioned in about any forum post, but it's basically the Windows Archive system but on 'roids. It's still the same functionality as it being compressed, but still being able to run with no trouble at all, but with better compression and faster algorithm. It's free and open source. I will leave a few examples of how it performs:
CS:GO: 32.8 GB to 21.0 GB
Mafia Definitive Edition: 28.6 GB  to  27.9 GB

hitman : 45 gb to 35.9 gb

Adobe Premiere Pro 2020: 3.03 gb to 1.60gb
Ghost Runner: 20.8gb to 12.8gb
Rust: 15.3gb to 10.2 gb
TF2: 21.7gb to 12.5gb
Cod warzone: 114gb to 111gb (worst result out of all tbh)
As always, results may vary on the use case, not everything is compressible, and even if it is, don't expect it to go from 4 TB to 12GB
I know it doesn't sound amazing, but when you're running out of space on your SSD, every GB matters, and it takes almost no processing power to "decompress" them while using.

https://github.com/Freaky/Compactor


Also, a photo to improve my point, My SSD has 236GB of available space in Windows, but I have 323.92GB of raw data on it, but compressed down to 186GB

[saarth]

On 8/13/2020 at 2:52 PM, Dean0919 said:

Hi, I have one question regarding this software. Do you know if it has such option that it can fix titles automatically, like for example if song name is "progenies of the great apocalypse", can I select it and other songs in the album and can it rename them like this "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse"?

 

Sometimes, I have this problem, when I download album and unfortunately they start with lower case letters and I have to manually fix every song, which is time consuming.

Try using MusicBee, it has some features that will let you autotag tracks, once you tell it which album it is.

MusicBee basically is good enough to replace Winamp and MP3Tag

[thermalgoop]

Equalizer APO @ SourceForge 

 

Open source system wide equalizer (and other audio FX) stack for Windows, utilizing the APO introduced with Win Vista. 
It has an EQ with a lot of bands and a bunch of other useful plugins. I use it on my HTPC to compress the levels while watching TV shows, so sound effects and music aren't so much louder than the dialog. 

[BruceGee]

As others said, thanks for sharing!

[Man]

No Geekbench?

 

It's probably the most accurate cross-platform CPU benchmarking tool. I've compared its results countless times and it always appears to be well within ±5% accurate, which is more than I can say for other benchmark utilities. 

[konstant213]

I m found good program  to edit photos/images you can download it from official website http://www.pcfreetime.com/picosmos/index.php?language=en   they have only 64bit version, if you need 32bit version you can find it in web.

[heyjay]

Microsoft PowerToys: Utilities to customize Windows 10. Microsoft PowerToys is a set of utilities for power users to tune and streamline their Windows 10 experience for greater productivity. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

 

Sponsor Block, SponsorBlock is an open-source crowdsourced browser extension and open API for skipping sponsor segments in YouTube videos. Users submit when a sponsor happens from the extension, and the extension automatically skips sponsors it knows about. It also supports skipping other categories, such as intros, outros and reminders to subscribe. https://sponsor.ajay.app/