Geek, I are one. Proudly.
I really don't mind being called a geek.
I've come across a bunch of freeware that I really like. Handy stuff that really makes keeping my laptop running smoothly easy and painless.
Glary Utilities
This little utility is packed with juicy goodness. Even if you don't go any farther than the One-click Maintenance, it's worth running every week or so. The Modules tab opens up a whole new world of Optimizing options including a Startup Manager, Memory Optimizer, a Registry Defragger and more.
Smart Defrag
I love this program. It has one of the best interfaces I've found as well as advanced options. Another program that I have setup to auto-run every week.
Tree Size
This little bad boy will show you were all the crap is hiding on your hard drive. I was baffled by how little free space there was on our desktop's hard drive. This program showed me a hidden system file that was a backup relic from a bloatware program I had removed ages ago. Even better, it allowed me to delete it! I reclaimed 60gb that I could not even tell was there in Windows Explorer.
Foxit Reader
Foxit is a PDF file reader. Adobe is such a resource hog. I've been using Foxit for a while now and I'm very happy with it.
Notepad++
This is not your mother's Notepad. Oh, no. This one is packed with so much more. This of it as Notepad on steroids.
Paint.Net
Speaking of steroids, Paint is a quaint little program whereas Paint.Net is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of drawing programs. I've tried Gimp - I'm sure it's a good program but I could not navigate it's interface. Paint.Net is so intuitive and easy to use, loaded with features and powerful.
ScreenHunter
I'm always taking screenshots of my desktop or a particular window. This software turns that process into a one click chore. Press one button and you have a custom-named graphic file. It doesn't get any easier.
Revo Uninstaller
If you like to try a lot of programs like I do, you probably find yourself removing a lot programs as well. Not every program I try is a keeper. I hate removing a program only to find residual files left over after the uninstall process. Revo takes uninstalling to a new level. It also searches the registry for stranded entries as well as the abandoned files and folders. This is especially handy if you intend to re-install the software and don't want to carry over any problems you might have had with the previous installation.
SyncBack
This is a handy back up utility that I've been using for a while. It is easy to set up and use. It is another program that runs once a week without any effort on my part.
VLC Media Player
I love this program. It's is a lightweight and compact video player that plays nearly everything. You can stream video, stream audio, play local audio and video, convert video, play DVDs and more.
WOT
Web of Trust. Easily one of the must useful addons for your web browser. This software will give you a visual indication of the threat level for any link you run across while browsing. The latest release includes a parental control feature that warms my heart. If this doesn't keep properly trained/warned children from opening harmful sites then there's no hope for the next generation.
The best part about all of these bad boys: they are FREE! FREE, I tell you! Did I mention that they are FREE? Stock up now before the price goes up!
I really don't mind being called a geek.
I've come across a bunch of freeware that I really like. Handy stuff that really makes keeping my laptop running smoothly easy and painless.
Glary Utilities
This little utility is packed with juicy goodness. Even if you don't go any farther than the One-click Maintenance, it's worth running every week or so. The Modules tab opens up a whole new world of Optimizing options including a Startup Manager, Memory Optimizer, a Registry Defragger and more.
Smart Defrag
I love this program. It has one of the best interfaces I've found as well as advanced options. Another program that I have setup to auto-run every week.
Tree Size
This little bad boy will show you were all the crap is hiding on your hard drive. I was baffled by how little free space there was on our desktop's hard drive. This program showed me a hidden system file that was a backup relic from a bloatware program I had removed ages ago. Even better, it allowed me to delete it! I reclaimed 60gb that I could not even tell was there in Windows Explorer.
Foxit Reader
Foxit is a PDF file reader. Adobe is such a resource hog. I've been using Foxit for a while now and I'm very happy with it.
Notepad++
This is not your mother's Notepad. Oh, no. This one is packed with so much more. This of it as Notepad on steroids.
Paint.Net
Speaking of steroids, Paint is a quaint little program whereas Paint.Net is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of drawing programs. I've tried Gimp - I'm sure it's a good program but I could not navigate it's interface. Paint.Net is so intuitive and easy to use, loaded with features and powerful.
ScreenHunter
I'm always taking screenshots of my desktop or a particular window. This software turns that process into a one click chore. Press one button and you have a custom-named graphic file. It doesn't get any easier.
Revo Uninstaller
If you like to try a lot of programs like I do, you probably find yourself removing a lot programs as well. Not every program I try is a keeper. I hate removing a program only to find residual files left over after the uninstall process. Revo takes uninstalling to a new level. It also searches the registry for stranded entries as well as the abandoned files and folders. This is especially handy if you intend to re-install the software and don't want to carry over any problems you might have had with the previous installation.
SyncBack
This is a handy back up utility that I've been using for a while. It is easy to set up and use. It is another program that runs once a week without any effort on my part.
VLC Media Player
I love this program. It's is a lightweight and compact video player that plays nearly everything. You can stream video, stream audio, play local audio and video, convert video, play DVDs and more.
WOT
Web of Trust. Easily one of the must useful addons for your web browser. This software will give you a visual indication of the threat level for any link you run across while browsing. The latest release includes a parental control feature that warms my heart. If this doesn't keep properly trained/warned children from opening harmful sites then there's no hope for the next generation.
The best part about all of these bad boys: they are FREE! FREE, I tell you! Did I mention that they are FREE? Stock up now before the price goes up!
5 comments:
You're not a real geek until you're running Windows in a VM :)
I love Notepad++ - free as in speech and as in beer, my favourite kind of software. It's one of the best text editors on any platform.
Also checkout JKDefrag (open source defragger which you can setup as your screensaver), 7-zip (open source winzip replacement) and CCleaner (not opensource but gratis).
I use WinRAR for my archive software and I do have CCleaner but I find Glary Utilities works better for me. CCleaner has a nasty tendency to break some things when you use it's registry cleaner.
I left out a couple of other programs that I'm going to have to do another post to cover: Wally, a desktop wallpaper changer that I LOVE!; Digsby for IM, twitter and email notification.
Thanks for the information, I'll give some of these a try! You're the one who turned me on to Google reader and I love it.
Glad to hear it, Mojo! You don't have to be a geek to get use out of most of these. Be sure to check out the next post about Wally!
No no no. Impressive as this all is, it is geek-ish.
I, however, am I geek. Still, I wouldn't trade my lonely girl/date/kiss/party-less teen years filled with SF books, AD&D and science stuff for a regular one (admittingly, I was able to steer clear of most of the teasing and I've got a thick skin). All those classmates that were hanging out with each other, partying and all that, they had to miss the sheer excitement of figuring out how to program a TRS-80, programming physics formulas into the Commodore 64 or watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
And hey, eventually, when I was 20, I did meet a girl (and did get that kiss), a non-geek that was able to be with me. One of my kids looks like he'll be a geek like me.
:D
Post a Comment