Essential/Favourite Software

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robegusn · #1 Post by **robegusn** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:33 pm

I am just curious what everyone considers as "essential" software.

When I get a new laptop it always takes a while to get everything just the way I like it. I would be interested to find out what tools other use on a daily basis.

Here is a list of the tools that need to be installed before I consider my laptop complete:

* eScan Antivirus
* MR Clock Align (small NTP client that displays the date in the sys tray)
* FavoriteSync (keeps Firefox and IE books marks in sync & between computers)
* Xplorer2 (smaller, faster and more features than Windows Explorer)
* EditPad Pro
* Ace Text (addon to Edit Pad Pro)
* Foxit Reader
* STP - Simple Tray Player (plays MP3)
* Acronis TrueImage
* Various tools from Roadkil.net - http://www.roadkil.net/
* WS Ping Pack Pro
* Essential Net Tools
* Megaping
* FTP Voyager
* Web Drive
* NetSetMan
* 3C Server (old 3Com FTP/TFTP deamon)
* Netmeter - http://readerror.gmxhome.de/
* Ping Plotter Pro
* Sam Spade
* Various tools from Analogx - http://www.analogx.com/
* Terra Term Pro - used for serial connections to routers and switches (only supports Com1-Com4 so it doesn't work well with USB2Serial converters)
* Various Cygwin utilities
* WinRescueXP
* LEADTOOLS ePrint IV
* 12 Ghosts - various small utilities (12 Ghosts Quick Start is the main one)
* TugZip
* Advanced Checksuum Verifier
* R-Studio Data Recovery
* File Scavenger - recover data from RAID arrays
* PowerISO
* Bullzip PDF Printer - http://www.bullzip.com/products.php

On top of all of these, there are all the common apps that everyone uses like MS Office, Visio, SpyBot, Thunderbird, Firefox, Nero, yada, yada, yada.

The reality is that there are a lot small, useful (and often FREE) tools and utilities out there that are yet "undiscovered". I enjoy finding new tools so if you know of something useful that I haven't listed, I would be very interested in hearing about it.

#2 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 12:48 pm

Each person's view of their complete laptop will be their own. It is an interesting list (some things I never heard of, for example). My laptop is very complete for my purposes and runs a completely different list of essential software. ... JD Hurst

Superego · #3 Post by **Superego** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:05 pm

I don't know if I'd ever consider my TP complete (just gotta keep playing with it

), but here are some of my favorites/essentials:

- Acronis True Image/Disk Director
- MATLAB (numerical computing)
- Amira (imaging/visualization software)
- TecPlot
- CCleaner and Registry Mechanic
- AVG
- Cygwin stuff
- Truecrypt
- Eclipse
- TeXnic Center and MiKTeK
- ZipGenius
- TP Fan Control
- O&O Defrag (Love this one!)
- Quicken

JHEM · #4 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 1:08 pm

One of the few programs I feel is an absolute necessity on all my systems, besides Winzip, is IrfanView.

Best little FREE image utility around.

James

robegusn · #5 Post by **robegusn** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:41 pm

Irfanview is by far one of the best image viewers out there.

I should also have included Media Player Classic, Real Alternative and Quicktime alternative.

dr_st · #6 Post by **dr_st** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:05 pm

To me the very notion of "complete" is an oxymoron in today's computer world, but here's a list of things that I absolutely must have on any computer that I work on, be it a laptop or a desktop:

File managing/archiving:
Total Commander (I greatly prefer the Norton method to the Windows Explorer method, plus has tons of plugins)
WinRAR (supports all formats I need)

Internet:
Firefox (browsing)
Skype, MSN Messenger (instant messaging)
PuTTY (access my institute computers via SSH)
WinSCP (access my home desktop SFTP server)

Multimedia:
Winamp (music)
BSPlayer (videos)
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack (including QT and Real Alternatives), Matroska Codec
ACDSee Powerpack 6 (image viewing and basic editing, don't like the later versions, which are too bloated)
Adobe Reader (view PDFs)

Productivity programs:
MS Office 2003, MikTeX/WinEdt (typing, writing, presentations)
Visual Studio .NET, MATLAB (programming)

CD Burning/Imaging:
Nero 6, UltraISO, Daemon Tools

For maintenance tools I use Acronis (backups), Diskeeper (defragmentin), Symantec Corporate (antivirus) and Kerio (firewall). I don't use the firewall on my desktops, and I recently stopped using the antivirus on my laptop, because I trust myself more than I trust the other users of my desktop computers.

#7 Post by **tomh009** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:09 pm

dr_st wrote:File managing/archiving:
Total Commander (I greatly prefer the Norton method to the Windows Explorer method, plus has tons of plugins)

I still have good old File Manager as a supplement to Explorer.

#8 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 7:01 pm

My essentials include:
- VComm's Powerdesk Pro (Explorer replacement and lots more)
- EditPad Pro (great for web-design)
- A Smaller Image (to make images smaller (what else) for web-design)
- Raxco's PerfectDisk defrag
- Firefox browser
- Thunderbird email
- TweakUI (Windoze Powertoys)
- Auction Sentry (eBay sniping)

And I always remove Outlook Express and Windows Messenger

DrummerDave · #9 Post by **DrummerDave** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:41 pm

I can't live without MS Office OneNote - by far the best office (and so much more) document ever!!!!

Essential/Favourite Software

Essential/Favourite Software

Irfanview - yes! I forgot to include it

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