freeware recomendations/advise

ABanzhof

Solid State Member
Messages
13
Greetings fellow nerds, this is a list of free software i have installed on my windows vista pc, im very glad to know about these programs but i suspect that this list is missing a LOT of useful software that i should be using. If you would be so kind just respond with a few of your favorite non-related freeware programs, or superior alternatives to those listed below, you can explain their functions if you wish but this isnt necessary, i have wikipedia for that. Also if anyone has any questions about the programs in my list feel free to ask, i would be glad to help.


7Zip
Alcahol 52
AVGFree
AVISynth
CoreTemp
CPUID HWMonitor
DVDDecrypter
FFDShow
FireFox
MegaCodec
MeGui
Microsoft Visual Suite
MKVToolNix
OneSwarm
OpenOffice
TOR
TrueCrypt
VirtualDubMod
WINHttrack
WireShark
XVid
 
"Nerd (pronounced /ˈnɜrd/) is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests rather than engaging in more social or popular activities. Therefore a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by peers or will tend to associate with like-minded people."

doesn't describe you well? it describes me quite well.
 
i suspect that this list is missing a LOT of useful software that i should be using.
Silly point, but we can sit here and type out thousands of freeware applications here until we're blue in the face and it might not be any good to you at all! What sort of things are you looking for? Is there a particular piece of functionality you want that you haven't found a free app for yet? Just because it's free doesn't mean you should install it...!
 
^LOL true. I posted what I use and figured he could research them if he wanted to find out what they were and if he could use them.
 
Silly point, but we can sit here and type out thousands of freeware applications here until we're blue in the face and it might not be any good to you at all! What sort of things are you looking for? Is there a particular piece of functionality you want that you haven't found a free app for yet? Just because it's free doesn't mean you should install it...!

right, i thought about that after i made the post and considered tearing it down for that reason but then i looked back at my list and thought about the fact that half the programs i referenced should be on almost everyone's machines, so there are plenty of free-ware applications that are just so damn useful almost everyone should have them, wireshark is a good example, if you dont have wireshark installed on your machine you just arnt doing something right. so i stand my the legitimacy of my post.

also i think a lot of the point is that there are many functionalities i am not even aware of yet, when i look up a piece of software on wikipedia i can then follow hyperlinks to learn more, its all about finding a place to start, realizing what there is to be learned so one can then go learn it! and true it is likely your suggestions wont be directly useful, my desire is not to turn you blue in the face, if you were to just reference 5 programs you couldnt live with out, i would have some great resources to to start from, and maybe i could learn about some awesome functions of computers that i couldnt have even imagined before.

^LOL true. I posted what I use and figured he could research them if he wanted to find out what they were and if he could use them.

and i thank you kindly, the truth is i may not have any need for the programs you listed but how long does it really take to type out like 20 characters and i just might find a gem i would have never discovered otherwise
 
wireshark is a good example, if you dont have wireshark installed on your machine you just arnt doing something right.
Sorry, but you're clearly very misguided here. I haven't got wireshark on my PC because I've no use for it. Most other people I know also haven't got wireshark on their PCs because they have no use for it. (And for the record I'm someone that works in the industry full time, I don't just power up my PC now and again to check emails and type letters.) Should I somehow be making wireshark a daily part of my routine? I perhaps could've understood you if you'd given firefox as an example for instance - but no, your quote above is, plainly speaking, incorrect.

then i looked back at my list and thought about the fact that half the programs i referenced should be on almost everyone's machines, so there are plenty of free-ware applications that are just so damn useful almost everyone should have them
From that original list I've got firefox, openoffice, avg free and 7zip. I used to have DVD decrypter so what the heck, throw that in as well. That's still WELL under half, and I know about most of the others and have absolutely no use for them.

Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against people listing loads of freeware apps they find useful here - just for the record I'll add some of my own, VLC is one heck of a media player. Generally if VLC won't play it, it's broken! Spybot does a similar job to malwarebytes but contrary to many people around here I get on far better with spybot, and FLAC is an awesome free lossless audio codec that can squeeze uncompressed WAV files down to under half their original size. You won't find better unless you look at 4-5 figure commercial licensing deals.

What I start to get a bit uneasy over though is when someone comes on here and says "if you haven't got all these apps installed on your computer you're doing something wrong." No, if you feel you need to trawl through every application listed here and install it you're most likely doing something wrong. Some, if not most of us have no need for all those apps and would rather not clog up our systems with software, free or otherwise, that we'll never use!
 
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