MovieChat Forums > Computers and Software > Useful Programs/Software

Useful Programs/Software

posted 8 years ago by Coldheart2236
8 replies | jump to latest

There was a thread like this a few years ago, with some excellent contributions in various software categories. I think it might have been created by Del/Jason, back when he was a regular here.

Anyway, I think we should try and get another one going, as the old one necro'd long ago.

VirtualDub - A freeware piece of video software with a decent amount of features and plugins available. I use it primarily, nowadays, for basic video editing; and, despite having a GUI which some may find somewhat daunting, it's a great program once you start to learn your way around it. I've used VirtualDub for many years now, though it hasn't been updated in quite some time (late 2013).

http://www.virtualdub.org

Handbrake - Another free piece of video software used for video conversion and encoding. I've used it, once again, for years and find it to be a pretty decent option when it comes to video editing and processing when used in tandem with VirtualDub.

https://handbrake.fr/

LibreOffice - A full office software suite, and a free alternative to Microsoft Office. It supports the proprietary file extensions of MS office, and receives regular updates from its open source community. Personally, I find LibreOffice to have a nicer UI than the newer versions of MS office; more reminiscent of MS Office 2003, back in the XP days.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - A pretty obvious one, and a security program that I have have used for many years now. I personally only use the free version, but I find it to be more than adequate for my needs. MBAM has been a staple app used in the de-bricking of many a family and friends' systems over the years.

https://www.malwarebytes.com/

I would also recommend an AV program, but it really is a matter of personal preference. I personally use avast! at the moment, after recently uninstalling Microsoft Security Essentials.

So, there's 4 free programs that I generally acquire shortly after a fresh install of Windows. Just personal recommendations of my own, but it'd be interesting to see what others have to add.

Wipe your tapes with lightning.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

Beyond Compare - A file and folder comparison utility. You can compare date/time stamps of the files in two folders, and the contents of text and picture files, even metadata inside MP3s. I use this not only to synchronize files to a thumbdrive, but to a website with its FTP feature. Shareware with free trial.

http://www.scootersoftware.com/

Paint.NET - Free image and photo editing software. Powerful enough for digital artists, but simple enough for basic tasks.

http://www.getpaint.net/

SeaMonkey - Free all-in-one internet application suite. Combines web browser and e-mail into one application - you never have to run a separate program to check your email. Under the hood, SeaMonkey uses much of the same Mozilla source code which powers such successful siblings as Firefox and Thunderbird, and you can use many of the same add-ins.

http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

TextPad - Programmer's text editor. Great for plain text or html files. You can add external tools to the menu and even record macros. Shareware with free trial.

https://www.textpad.com/

Small Free Utilities:
Command Line Calculator from http://cmdlinecalc.sourceforge.net/
Process Explorer from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653
TaskSchedulerView from http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/task_scheduler_view.html

[–] jimchapmansh 8 years ago

Hello, Coldheart223 I totaly support your idea about the thread.

I rarely use my desktop, so I'll make a list of mobile software.

1. I love Sunrise calendar ( https://www.sunrise.am/)
. There is nothing to complain about - everything is perfect about the app.

2. Instagram ( www.instagram.com ) Lovely pics, I like brwosing throught pics of new places and so on

3. PlanDo ( https://plando.com/ ) by this publisher ( https://magora-systems.com/mobile-application-developers-london/ ) A nice mix of Forsquare and Tinder. You can find places and talk to people who are going to visit it or arrange a meeting.

4. Snapchat ( https://www.snapchat.com/ ) An app for fund and cahtting with friends.

[–] m-slovak79 8 years ago

personally i think StaxRip (i.e. http://www.videohelp.com/software/StaxRip) is better than Handbrake. it's what i use if i want to make a SD x264 file from a 720p/1080p HD video file i got on my computer.

although i only use it for the video encoding as the audio conversion/encoding i do separately myself through different programs.

but just to name some other decent software i have installed...

-CCleaner (i install the SLIM version though which is here... https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/slim )

-7-zip ( 7-zip.org ; it's great to have for extracting .rar/.7z/.zip etc files )

-SumatraPDF (the best PDF reader as it's light on resources and is just quick to load and use)

-IMGBurn (the best free burning software if you ask me. great for general data backup onto DVD etc)

-Pale Moon x64 ( palemoon.org ; my browser of choice for years now. also a good idea to install the 'ublock' extension as it's a better version(lighter on resources) of the popular 'AD-Block Plus' as AD-Block tends to use up more resources. for those who would rather play it safe... i would go with Firefox over Chrome because Firefox uses less resources than Chrome as you can leave Firefox running for longer with more tabs open and it uses noticeably less RAM like Pale Moon x64 does. but for whatever reason... Chrome seem to be the most popular browser, especially non-Microsoft browser. but for me it's just to much of a RAM hog. i got 8GB on my system so it's not a big problem but it's just the thought of it. so with those on 4GB of RAM or less on their computer it's possible Firefox will make your system seem faster than Chrome especially if you start to open plenty of tabs and leave your browser running for days/weeks like i do)

-uTorrent v2.2.1 build 25302 (great torrent program without any BS in it. who don't "torrent" something here and there ;) )

-PotPlayer x64 (my program of choice for playing back video on a computer. i.e. http://www.videohelp.com/software/PotPlayer )

-Foobar2000 (great for playing back audio and can do conversion of AUDIO (i.e. FLAC to MP3/AAC etc) well once setup)

-Password Safe ( pwsafe.org ; it's a great little program for storing all of your passwords in a local database on your computer for websites you visit so you don't have to remember a bunch of passwords as all you got to do is remember a master password to access the program and then you can copy/paste from the program to your web browser for general logging into websites. basically... it can generate random passwords for random sites for you that are more important like Paypal etc and you don't have to remember nothing but the master password for the Password Safe program)

like the OP mentioned... Malwarebytes Anti-Malware can be good for those who are not as careful on what they do and install on their computers which some junk can slip through and that can help get rid of it. but i don't really need it myself since i am careful on what i install on my computer and i am pretty much the only one who uses my computer so it stays rock solid for a long time. no junk on it etc (although if something does manage to get messed up past a certain point ill just clean install Windows from scratch).

everything i listed above is free.

also another tip... if you had Windows 7 running for years (i am on Windows 10 myself since Dec 1st) chances are you can free up many GB's of hard drive space by doing this... type in 'disk cleanup' (without the ') and hit enter and then run it on the C partition and especially click the 'cleanup system files' and then run that on C and see how much stuff it finds.

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My Top 100-ish Movies of All-Time! = http://goo.gl/EYFYdz
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[–] cosmic_surveyor 8 years ago

Rather than naming individual software programs, I offer three 'stables': Microsoft Sysinternals, Nir Sofer, and Win Aero. Their utilities are second to none, and fill a void created by Microsoft and its increasingly inflexible operating systems.

_______

Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum Goldilocks

[–] Coldheart2236 8 years ago

Thanks for the contribution, cosmic. I definitely agree with you on NirSoft and Sysinternals, and I'm just about to take a look at Winaero.

I was going to mention CCleaner, but in the spirit of your post, I'll simply recommend Piriform's software in general.

https://www.piriform.com/products

Wipe your tapes with lightning.

[–] Valerian (-273) 3 years ago

GIMP is a free image editor.

[–] cosmic_surveyor 8 years ago

I left out Piriform because it chose to take the simplest route to 'conform' to Windows 10 'requirements', vis a vis, its UI that won't allow users to adjust to their needs, like high contrast. Rather , it preferred its UI stays in one form to be used in as many different devices.

I used to scan with CCleaner every few days. But, with the horrid UI, the scan is now every few months.

____

Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum Goldilocks

[–] leogowalker 8 years ago

Coldheart2236, good idea!

Speaking of my deskopte, my all-tiem favourite is Skype - https://www.skype.com/en/
The best messenger for work and for video conferences.

Another program that is always on my desktop is HideMyAss - www.hidemyass.com I use it as a security guard.

However, most of my favourite soft is mobile.

I like Uber taxi www.uber.com/drive‎
, really cheap. Even cheaper than public transport if you go with a compnay.
And I also love MoPals by this developer https://magora-systems.com/bespoke-software-development-uk/ - it is kind of a social network, I chat with my friends there mostly and schedue events.