Useful Software Megathread

[Real_Smoky]

Every few months, we see a post about must-have software. And everyone writes down MSI Afterburner, Malwarebytes and Chrome, and maybe the RGB software that they use.

What are some programs that you rarely see used, or are unknown, or are an alternative to existing software, that you personally can't live without?

Mine are the following: 1) Rem0o FanControl

 

This fan control software is absolutely amazing. Many other software solutions have problems or can only control case fans or the CPU fan or the GPU fan only. With this software, you can regulate all fan curves in a single program, it is easy to use, intuitive, you can assign sensors to different fans (for example, make your case fans ramp up when your GPU ramps up), etc.

It is not perfect. On some motherboards like mine, not all case fan headers get recognized (I had problems with 1 of my 3 case fan headers not being recognized, but the other 2 and the CPU fan header work perfectly fine).

I can really, really recommend it!

https://github.com/Rem0o/FanControl.Releases

2) FPS Monitor

Despite the name, you can monitor a lot of stuff, like CPU and GPU temps, fan RPMs etc.

It's easy to set up, easy to use, easy to customize, the free version has a small watermark on the bottom of the screen but it is not so bad if you want to first set your game up, then enjoy it. I found it easier to use and more customizable than other FPS monitoring apps.

https://fpsmon.com/en/

3) ClickMonitorDDC monitor brightness control with customizable hotkeys

 

This software is WICKED GOOD! I love it! I am a bit sensitive to monitor brightness and I love being able to set the brightness on the fly. You can map the keys to whatever you want.

Unfortunately, it seems the support for this software has ended, but you can still find some versions on Archive.Org, Softpedia and some other sites. I can't recommend it enough!

 

[Raymomyar]

https://github.com/Bioruebe/UniExtract2

UniExtract2: No, it's not exactly a compressed file decompressor like 7zip, it does more than that! This handy dandy tool allows you to take the files out of installer programs, quite useful for taking DLLs out of microsoft installers and sticking them into other apps to make them portable. 

https://windirstat.net/
Windirstat: Visualization tool to display file trees as a bunch of boxes useful for cleaning up when I'm low on disk space, can take quite a long time to run on HDD at first. The program doesn't actually need admin to install if you use UniExtract2 to extract the files somewhere else.

[LAwLz]

Haven't looked through the thread so I don't know which programs have or haven't been recommended yet, but here is my list:

 

Quote

Here is a list of programs I installed, partially as a reminder to myself which programs I like, but also to "spread awareness" of these programs I think are good. Maybe you will find some new programs to enjoy in it.

 

 

• 7-zip - Pack/unpack utility that is open source and in general performs better than WinRAR.
   
• Adobe suit - I mostly use it for Photoshop, and it's an old install I got from school.
   
• Aegisub - Subtitling utility. Can be handy if subtitles are out of sync, or some subtitle is incorrect. Happens all the time when I buy or record movies and then want Swedish subtitles for it but they aren't available.
   
• Audacity - Great program for recording and editing sound. Wanna easily splice out 30 seconds from a song for a test or for example a ringtone? Then use this!
   
• Cheat Engine - A memory scanner and debugger tool which can be used to cheat in games. Don't use it for multiplayer games because then you're a dick! Also, don't use it with games from the likes of Steam because they might ban you.
   
• Discord - Chat program some of my friends use.
   
• Dropbox - Use it to sync some specific files between my computers, such as my password database.
   
• Foobar2000 - Music player which can also act as a front-end for audio conversion programs. I use the skin "Flatty" which I found on DeviantArt.
   
• Edge - Edge is my primary browser. Feels weird saying that but it's true. 
   
• IrfanView - A great image viewer. Supports a ton of addons if you want, such as bulk conversion. Supports pretty much all formats under the sun, including animated gifs. Really lightweight and fast.
   
• JDownloader2 - Program for downloading stuff. Great for those sites that only allows 1 download at a time, or have timers.
   
• KeePass 2 - My password manager of choice.
   
• Microsoft Office suite and Visio - I love Word and Excel, and I cannot lie. I get it through work for free as well so there is no reason for me to try and get into LibreOffice, which I have in general not liked that much. I hate Visio but still need to use it (for work).
   
• Visual Studio Code - A text editor. I am currently trying to transition from NotePad++ into Visual Studio but so far I kind of miss NotePad++. Visual Studio has far more features, but as a result I find it a bit clunky as a general text editor.
   
• MKVToolNix - Mux and demux MKV files. It allows you to add/remove subtitles, add/remove audio tracks, edit chapters and just in general manipulate the metadata of MKV files. Really handy if you, like me, often want to add subtitles in different languages to files, do for example rip a DVD and then embed the commentary track.
   
• OBS Studio - Video recording and live streaming program. I mostly use it for video recording.
   
• qBittorent - In my opinion the best torrent program for Windows after uTorrent went to crap. Open source, free, lots and lots of features including a great search function.
   
• Recuva - Restore deleted files.
   
• Samsung Dex - Program which lets you connect your Samsung phone to your computer, and then have your phone appear as a window. So I can play Android games inside a window, with my mouse.
   
• Steam - Game store and launcher.
   
• TeamViewer - Remote access software which I use when I need to help my friends and family with their PC problems.
   
• WinDirStat - Good program for scanning and visualizing what is taking up space on your drives.
   
• Windows Terminal - Fantastic replacement for cmd which supports tabs and many other things.
   
• Wire - Security and privacy focused chat program used by some of my friends.
   
• VisiPics - Duplicate image finding. Can even match low res images with high res images, depending on how sensitive you set it.
   
• VMWare Player - My virtual machine of choice. I got one Ubuntu VM, one Windows 7 VM and one Windows 10 VM for when I want to try different things. Like for example download a sketchy file, or install something just to use it once.
   
• Youtube-DLG - GUI for Youtube-DL, a program for downloading videos from Youtube (and many other sites).
   
• Facebook Messenger - Sadly, a lot of my friends and family use Facebook messenger so I have to use it as well if I want to contact them.
  
   
• CPU-Z and GPU-Z - Get info about CPU and GPU.
   
• HWMonitor - Good program for monitoring temperature and the likes.
   
• CrystalDiskInfo - Get info about your SSD or hard drive.
   
• HashcatGUI - A GUI for the "password recovery" tool hashcat. It uses OpenCL so you get GPU acceleration, and it also supports the use of rainbow tables.
   
• KiTTY - A fork of PuTTY. It's a SSH and Telnet client, and can also do terminal and serial console emulation, which is basically a requirement if you're working with enterprise networking stuff.
   
• PngOptimizer - Compresses PNG files better than most implementations in other programs.
   
• tftpd64 - TFTP server/client, DHCP server and syslog server, all in one easy to use program!
   
• spek - audio visualization tool.
   
• DXVAChecker - Check which codecs your video card supports.
   
• Waifu2x - Image upscaling tool which actually provides really, really good results.
   
• Wireshark - Packet capture and analysis tool.
   
• Ditto - A clipboard program which lets you for example see the last X number of things you have clicked ctrl + C on.

 

[Timotheus2]

For anyone with hand problems/RSI:

Talon-Voice - https://talonvoice.com/

Alternative to keyboard and mouse. Free cross-platform software with a paid early-access beta. With Talon you can run commands using speech recognition and control the mouse with eye tracking (using Tobii 4c/5). It is targeted towards programmers and allows scripting your own commands to improve your workflow. Existing commands allow you for example to: press keys/mouse buttons, dictate text (beta also includes other languages), switch windows, launch programs, control tabs (in browser, editor, terminal), control IDEs like intellij/vscode, run common terminal commands (git, cd, ls).

[Sawtaytoes]

I just created a thread on using Aster, Steam, and Sandboxie to achieve multiple workplaces on a single machine with a single install of Windows (no virtual machines):

Aster allows you to run multiple Windows users on different sets of devices plugged into your machine and runs natively on top of Windows. No virtual machines or special configuration required like you'd have to have with Unraid, Proxmox, or VMware ESXi. It should also achieve much better performance because there's no hypervisor, and you're not running multiple copies of Windows. Each workplace has access to as many resources as Windows gives it meaning you can achieve much better performance.

But you need Sandboxie to allow running multiple copies of Steam on a single machine. That's honestly the only crux of the whole thing, and it's entirely on Valve to fix it. Either way, Sandboxie works and provides a great workaround for now.

[LoneRanger57]

Thank You for this thread, very useful!
I am sure i will be back whenever i am looking for a program ...
Here is one that i have used since i had my first Computer (an Amiga), it was ported to PC and is still being updated today (version 12 i believe).

Its the 'File Explorer' replacement 'Directory Opus' from GPSoft: https://www.gpsoft.com.au/

I hope someone will find it as useful as i do!
 

[Invalid Syntax]

Hi, 

 

I think this is my first post since I joined this forum, so here are my useful softwares:

• geek uninstaller: as its name, it's an uninstaller tool. Should be faster than opening windows's uninstall control panel. The software is also available in portable flavor (which I usually prefer) and it's free - https://geekuninstaller.com/
• hostsman: another portable software I usually have. This one is used to manage hosts file. Yes, it's free - https://www.abelhadigital.com/hostsman/
• ridnacs: I prefer this tool instead of windirstat. Way simpler and easier to read (for me). Available as portable and free - https://www.splashsoft.de/ridnacs-disk-space-usage-analyzer/

Hopefully, my useful softwares list above will help. 

[maplepants]

Here's some useful macOS software

 

SwiftBar

A utility that puts the output of random text into your menubar. There's an excellent library of plugins, but if you're at all into programming the real power is unleashed by writing your own scripts.

 

Maccy

This is current clipboard manager. It's no frills, and that's what I like best about it. A small, clean window with just your clipboard history. The app ignore also works very well. I use 1password and my passwords never end up in the clipboard history.

 

Bumpr

Extremely handy way to open links in the browser you want. If you need to use more than one browser, this is for you.

 

Alfred

This spotlight replacement is in everyone's list of cool Mac apps for a reason. It's very powerful, and customizable even before getting into the workflows. But once you get into the workflows, almost any action on your Mac is just a quick shortcut away. 

 

iTerm2

The best terminal emulator I've ever used. It's a well made, very lean, native app. 

[King_PIN]

MakeMKV for ripping 1:1 copies of bluray and 4k movies

Winaero Tweaker 

WD drive Utilities V 2.0.0.76 old version of said utilities without all the crap and bloatware of the newer versions.  Opens instantly without any delay.

 

[ToboRobot]

I just found pytube which I have been using as a budget version of YouTube Premium and it has been pretty great.   

[CUPZYY]

Filezilla for ftp and PuTTY for ssh. Those are definitely really useful programs 

[_totally_toasted_]

ShareX is always better than lightshot, especially for screenshots

[Darkclone]

Nvidia Broadcast/RTX voice - https://www.nvidia.com/en-au/geforce/broadcasting/broadcast-app/

Noise + echo cancelling software plus camera background blur.

 

This has been essential with working from home. It is summer here in Australia and I am working from home. Having this program lets me keep my portable air conditioner turned on and stops people hearing my cat meowing at me. It's been a lifesaver.

[mon1ka]

The one app i could probably add to this is one i personally use everyday, mainly because my friends are an even 50/50 split between discord users and instagram users: https://igdm.me/

 

It's an open-source Instagram messaging client for desktop that practically does everything you would want it too. Of cause the Instagram website now supports messaging natively on pc but sometimes its nice to have a dedicated client for it.

[Phantom2022]

On 11/18/2019 at 6:24 AM, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

7-ZIP

why no one mentioned it?

WinRAR is better: WinRAR saves passwords for the files that you download from specific sites.

[Phantom2022]

DriverHub: the best driver downloader. (best for old laptops/Macs with Intel CPU)

https://www.drvhub.net/

 

HiBit Uninstaller: totally the best uninstaller. 100% free (ad-free)

https://www.hibitsoft.ir/

[drdrewnatic]

KeypassXC: Local password manager. Arguably better UI/UX then normal Keypass. Work's best on Windows. Browser extension too!

https://keepassxc.org/

 

MemTest86/MemTest86+: Great software for testing memory. Boots off USB. I personally haven't used MemTest86+ but have heard pretty good things about it.

https://www.memtest86.com/

https://www.memtest.org/

 

VMWare Workstation Player: Creates VM's. I find it's less laggy then using VirtualBox. No macOS support though.

https://www.vmware.com/ca/products/workstation-player/workstation-player-evaluation.html

 

VLC Media Player: Can play 99% type of media from anywhere. Plus its open-source.

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

 

Windbg Preview: Used for checking Windows mini dump files created after BSoD. Has come in handy many times.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/p/windbg-preview/9pgjgd53tn86?rtc#activetab=pivot:overviewtab

 

FreeCAD: A 3D parametric CAD modeler. That's it.

https://www.freecadweb.org/

[KnightElm]

On 12/27/2018 at 7:26 PM, Andrewmacor said:

Hello, Im new here... Been following linus since hit old place in youtube. My question is what is that program he uses that has an editable program listing to download to use in clean installs?

I'm not sure if this is what you're talking about but I believe it's Ninite.

[konstant213]

Free program that will improve sound quality on your PC  https://www.fxsound.com/

[JogerJ]

For copying/backing files between your Android phone and PC:

WiFi FTP server for Android 

 

Android MTP is notoriously slow and you need a USB cable to connect your phone. Also you need to have drivers installed, even then it's not always working.

 

Solution: Connect to it via FTP. Run the WiFi FTP Server app on your phone, then just open the IP address+port on Windows File Explorer. For best experience, I recommend FileZilla because Windows File Explorer doesn't support FTPS protocol (secured FTP). Then you can access the files on your Android phone and transfer them easily and at speed. Heck you can access your files on any other device since FileZilla is available on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, etc., definitely beats Bluetooth at transferring files. 

 

Seriously can't believe this app is offered for free. There's also the pro version if you want to support the developer. It costs $0.99, doesn't provide any extra function other than to remove ads.

[JogerJ]

NewPipe, an open source alternative to YouTube client for Android that doesn't require you to log in while allowing you to download videos, pop-up video playback, keep track of subscriptions, playlists, etc.

NewPipe with SponsorBlock + RYD, a fork of above mentioned app but with added SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislikes functionality. From the devs of this fork:

Quote

The developer team behind the official NewPipe decided that they do not want to include [SponsorBlock and RYD] functionality in their app. [...] We obviously disagree but we respect their decision and continue to offer SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike in NewPipe via this fork.

 

[AyaanMAG]

I would reccomend Ventoy for live USB stuff. whether you're doing it just once to dual boot a linux ISO or making a recovery thumb drive with ISOs like windows, HBCD_PE, memtest.img, a few linux ISOs to recover data incase youre using linux regularly and it gets infected with some kind of malware. Its a very useful tool and its open souce!

[AyaanMAG]

Syncthing - Kinda like ftp, tranfer things from one device to other ONLY or both ways. I use it to sync my pc screenshots to my phone and all camera images to my pc 

FDM - It stands for free download manger and it can torrent or just download normal file WAYY faster. Linux ISOs take like 3hrs if I directly download from like lets say the fedora website in brave, firefox or chrome. but if you start the download and go ot the downloads tab, you see the link from which its coming. Paste that into FDM and its much faster!

[tls01]

[FREE] HashCheck - https://github.com/gurnec/HashCheck

Useful tool for creating file checksums, it's adding "create checksum file" to context menu and "checksums" tab in file properties. 

 

[FREE] YT-DLP - https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp

Command line tool for downloading YouTube videos, with subtitles and description if you need it.

 

[PAID] XRECODE3 - http://xrecode.com/

Powerful tool with GUI and CLI for converting audio files, organize it, update tags or for ripping Audio CD's.

 

[FREE] MusicBee - https://www.getmusicbee.com/

Nice piece of software for managing your local music library. Lot of configurable options, support virtual tags, easy option for creating backups, also has addons support. Just Winamp superior.

 

[PAID] Hot Alarm Clock - https://hotalarmclock.com/

I'd call it "mini-callendar with time measuring options which can also be your OS task scheduler". Nice, configurable GUI for clocks/timers, support for hotkeys.

[xAcid9]

Kdenlive - https://kdenlive.org/en/download/
Free open source video editor with GPU-accelerated decoding. 

 

Xtreme Download Manager - https://github.com/subhra74/xdm
A free and open source download manager/accelerator that you can integrate seamlessly with most browser. You can also download/grab videos from many popular video sites like Youtube/Facebook/*cough*Hub

 

WingetUI - https://github.com/martinet101/WinGetUI

An unofficial frontend/GUI version of the popular winget-cli package manager. You can download, install, upgrade and uninstall any software published on Winget or Scoop. Similar to Linux package manager.

 

ClipGrab - https://clipgrab.org

ClipGrab is a free downloader and converter for YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and many other online video sites.
It converts downloaded videos to MPEG4, MP3 or other formats in just one easy step. It's a frontend to YT-DLP

 

SpaceSniffer - http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/download.html
Snappier and more pleasing to my eyes WinDirStats. No Tree view though.

 

Voicemeeter Banana - https://vb-audio.com/Voicemeeter/banana.htm
An advanced and free audio mixer that i use as equalizer also to output to several audio devices and also as compressor.

 

HDTune - http://www.hdtune.com/download.html
I use it to check my drive health and speed. 

 

OnlyOffice - https://www.onlyoffice.com/download-desktop.aspx
Another "alternative" to Microsoft Office

 

YoloMouse - https://dragonrisegames.com/yolomouse/about
I use it to change my cursor in Guild  Wars 2 because i often lose track of my cursor when fighting in group because the game vomit rainbows.