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posted by janrinok on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the make-life-a-little-easier dept.

Ahhh, something near and dear to this old repairman's heart! I am always on the lookout for new tools and Infoworld has The Top 25 Free Windows Tools with plenty of really good ones.

Over the years I've found my most valuable tool (besides my brain) to be a little bitty reg file that resets the sound on any version of Windows, I've used it more times than I can count. What's your favorite tool or trick to keep Windows purring along?

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  • (Score: 0, Troll) by bziman on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:30PM

    by bziman (3577) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:30PM (#75203)

    Do technical people still use Windows? I haven't used Windows at home or at work in over ten years. I know some folks who use OS X if Linux isn't "mainstream" enough for them.

    Oh right, some people still play games, some of which can't run in Wine. (Right?) I sort of miss games... well, no, not really. Being a grown-up is no fun.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:51PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:51PM (#75215)

      I sort of miss games... well, no, not really. Being a grown-up is no fun.

      Liking video games and being an adult aren't mutually exclusive. And being a grown-up is very fun: you get to have sex, operate motor vehicles, drink and do other drugs, go to school because you want to and not because you have to, and don't have to follow the whims of hypocrites who insist you do or not do things "because I said so". People who wish to be children again are idiots, naive, or both.

      • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:48PM

        by isostatic (365) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:48PM (#75250) Journal

        And being a grown-up is very fun: you get to have sex, operate motor vehicles, drink and do other drugs

        Not at the same time though. You get to do all that at school too (17/18)

        go to school because you want to and not because you have to,

        I guess you have no bills to pay?

        and don't have to follow the whims of hypocrites who insist you do or not do things "because I said so".

        Do you not have a job?

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:52PM

      by frojack (1554) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:52PM (#75216) Journal

      Most of my customers use windows, so I have to develop on that platform.
      Luckily, there is VMware, (and alternatives) so I can run windows in a window.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 2) by Geotti on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:33AM

        by Geotti (1146) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:33AM (#75338) Journal

        windows in a window

        [...] the way it was always meant to be. Amen!

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:56PM

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:56PM (#75220) Homepage
      The correct answer was "a debian installer CD", perhaps?
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 1) by shadowknot on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:24PM

        by shadowknot (1551) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:24PM (#75241)

        Close, a "Slackware install DVD" is the right answer ;-)

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:02PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:02PM (#75257)

          You Slacker!

        • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:44AM

          by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:44AM (#75326) Journal

          Damn... a ubuntu install dvd... or even freaking linspire! (I liked linspire, cause it was easy for my wife and daughter too (so much like windows, but not).

          Or Corel linux! Oh man, the memories. Loved corel linux, but then again, loved macmillan redhat 5.2 cause i had to (and had time to) frig around with config files to get X working.

          A nice trip down memory lane. Red Hat, then i think Corel, then Debian, then a whole pile of distro hopping, now Ubuntu. Ubuntu cause it's easy, Arch on my little acer aspire netbook thing.

          Yes. Definitely went off-topic. :)

          --
          --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
      • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Hairyfeet on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:07AM

        by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:07AM (#75317) Journal

        Riiight, because being stuck at 1% share for over 20 years doesn't mean your choice is crap, just makes you "leet"...right? Go write a bash script that nobody will use, mmmkay?

        I made damned sure it said right in TFA that this is FOR WINDOWS yet you FOSSIes gotta come putting your crap, see any Windows users putting links to MS Office in YOUR articles? No because we do not care about you AND DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT YOU DO SO HOW ABOUT LEAVING WINDOWS ARTICLES ALONE, because if we wanted your shitty OS we'd have your shitty OS and wouldn't be posting to a story on Windows tools now would we?

        Oh and just in case you wonder why Linux is (and always will be) below the margin of error here ya go a list of broken shit in Linux going back 5 years [narod.ru], BTW I loove how if you click on the oldest ones and follow them on bug tracker many of them end up being listed as "won't fix"...that is how you fix problems, stick your fingers in your ears and go "i can't hear you!". As for the much vaunted "Linux security" here is how to write a Linux virus in 5 easy steps [geekzone.co.nz] using the EXACT SAME METHODS used to infect Windows computers...btw it takes longer to write a bug for Win98 than it does Linux, its just nobody cares about infecting so small a target, classic security by obscurity. Oh and don't bother bringing up servers, those are run by guys making 6 figures to lock them down. they are not targeted for the same reason thieves rob houses more than they do banks, less risk.

        Ya know I tried being nice to FOSSIes, it just doesn't work. maybe its "small penis syndrome" where you feel ashamed of using a niche OS with such a tiny share that you can't leave anybody alone without calling attention to your small wiener, maybe its like a cult thing where you can't stand the thought of anybody not worshiping the wise and always classy RMS [youtube.com] but in any case I'm sick of it! We leave you alone, you won't STFU, so write your own article, not like there aren't a bazillion never read stories about GNUshit crapped on the net everyday. I bet my last dollar it will probably be the least read article on this site...why? because nobody cares. its a niche OS, only used by servers and embedded, nobody cares about Linux anymore than they care about haiku or FreeDOS. So just accept the fact that your OS is sooo low it can't even beat "other" [hitslink.com] and be happy with your "teeny tiny need a microscope to see your little thing" OS share or move to something else.

        Now watch the AC FOSSies come out of the woodwork to threaten and modbomb because I gave 'em a heaping dose of TRUTH. But go look at the FOSSie crap articles on slash...see anybody offering links to Windows trials, or telling folks they should be using a Windows installer disc? Nope because WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU and the more you have to post in Windows articles the more impotent and weak your OS looks, just FYI.

        --
        ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:39AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:39AM (#75325)

          Do you think you might have provided Katherine Noyes aka Linux Girl at http://www.linuxinsider.com/ [linuxinsider.com] her quote of the day from Hairyfeet in that tirade anywhere?

          One of Hairyfeet's previous rants [linuxinsider.com] runs from "Demand Better" to the end of the linked article there.

        • (Score: 2) by Geotti on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:40AM

          by Geotti (1146) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:40AM (#75341) Journal

          You know, Windows started to suck so bad in recent years, because the photocopiers finally broke. - Apple

          • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:47AM

            by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:47AM (#75358) Journal

            WTF are you babbling about? Hell even shitty GUI Windows 8 happily curbstomps Linux on anything anyone other than server admins give a shit about and while I will give Apple its props that in DTP they are kick ass like Linux they are pretty much one trick ponies. if ALL you do is surf the web, check your webmail, and use Google docs or Pages or whatever? Then sure its fine...so is a $100 dual core tablet for that matter. its once you get out of the one or two niches that they have focused on that they quickly start running into their limitations.

            And again the Hairyfeet challenge has lasted SEVEN YEARS without a single Linux passing, the closest was some loser who tried using SCIENTIFIC LINUX (which states on their own page is NOT FOR HOME OR BUSINESS but for research labs) and even THEN, after breaking the first condition of the challenge he STILL failed by not having working sound OR working wiFi at the end. that is like saying "sure my Pinto can beat this Ferrari, as long as we don't actually have to compete on speed, handling, performance, or anything else anybody gives a shit about". If any of the FOSSies want to try (and fail) the Hairyfeet Challenge here it is. BTW it had been tried with Ubuntu, Fedora, PCLOS, and Mandrake/driva/whatever its called this week, all failed what SHOULD frankly be the absolute minimum an OS that is functional should be capable of...

            Take ANY mainstream (not LTS, because even Ubuntu advises against mainstream users using LTS. if you don't like it take it up with Canonical) from FIVE years ago, this simulates a 5 year typical lifecycle. This BTW is less than HALF a windows support cycle, so I'm cutting linux a break. Lets say you use Ubuntu, that would be Ubuntu 9.10 and can be downloaded from their archive. Install it on ANY PC, desktop or laptop (NOT VM as that isn't real hardware and comes with special drivers) that has a wireless card. Wireless is required because more and more mainstream users are ditching wireless and nobody wants a laptop that doesn't have wireless, do they?

            During this phase you are the system builder so CLI (which is usually required because Linux driver support is poor) IS ALLOWED. Once its installed you are no longer the system builder but THE USER, so like a windows user you are ONLY allowed to use the GUI. You then get to "enjoy the freedom" of using nothing but the GUI (because if you can't even update the thing without CLI you're no match for windows are you) of updating to current...with ubuntu that is SEVEN RELEASES, just FYI. You will film this and post it to youtube, you only have to upload the final install process of each release and a pic of the device manager showing working hardware and working wifi with WPAv2, but the complete video should be hosted on dropbox to prove you aren't faking it.

            Its been 7 years guys. 7 years where Linux can't even provide the most minimum of functionality, the ability to update itself without shitting on its own drivers and dying. this is frankly windows 9x levels of fail and the fact that the community will put up with such shoddy piss poor product from the devs is just shameful. i can pass this with 15 year old Win2K (from RTM to EOL with NO driver fails), ditto for 14 year old XP, yet NO modern linux distro can provide even this basic functionality...pathetic.

            --
            ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
            • (Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:43AM

              by Vanderhoth (61) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:43AM (#75438)

              Do you get paid every time you post that crap?

              You're one of the few commenters here that no one would miss if you went back to the old site where the rest of the shills and astroturfers are. Nothing you've said about Linux in your pointless rant is true and hasn't been for more than 10 years so no one needs to waste their time with your paintless challenge. Get yourself up to date before demanding time from others. I at least have too much actual work to do, with my Linux machine, to waste time proving things to a MS lackey.

              --
              "Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
              • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:17PM

                by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:17PM (#75694) Journal

                Put up or shut up. The Hairyfeet Challenge has stood for 7 years while you FOSSies have failed to do anything but perform circle jerks around the latest GNUcrap. If your OS canj't even do half of what a 15 year old OS can? Its a joke, please go away. The was an article about WINDOWS TOOLS but I guess you can't read TFA? Perhaps if you can put your money where your mouth is you'd care to prove me wrong? Here is the challenge, which I can pass with Win2K (from RTM to EOL with no failures) XP(ditto) and with Vista and 7 to current. How about instead of crying all butthurt you prove me wrong? But of course you can't, that would require a functional OS and all that matters with FOSSies is the great GNU [youtube.com]. BTW you wanna throw anything besides TMs like shills, trolls, vampires [tmrepository.com] while you are at it? Keep going I might get bullshit bingo LOL!

                Take ANY mainstream (not LTS, because even Ubuntu advises against mainstream users using LTS) from FIVE years ago, this simulates a 5 year typical lifecycle. This BTW is less than HALF a windows support cycle, so I'm cutting linux a break. Lets say you use Ubuntu, that would be Ubuntu 9.10 and can be downloaded from their archive. Install it on ANY PC, desktop or laptop (NOT VM as that isn't real hardware and comes with special drivers) that has a wireless card. Wireless is required because more and more mainstream users are ditching wires and nobody wants a laptop that doesn't have wireless, do they?

                During this phase you are the system builder so CLI (which is usually required because Linux driver support is poor) IS ALLOWED. Once its installed you are no longer the system builder but THE USER, so like a windows user you are ONLY allowed to use the GUI. You then get to "enjoy the freedom" of using nothing but the GUI (because if you can't even update the thing without CLI you're no match for windows are you) of updating to current...with ubuntu that is SEVEN RELEASES, just FYI. You will film this and post it to youtube, you only have to upload the final install process of each release and a pic of the device manager showing working hardware, but the complete video should be hosted on dropbox to prove you aren't faking it.

                --
                ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
                • (Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Wednesday July 30 2014, @10:00PM

                  by Vanderhoth (61) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @10:00PM (#75721)

                  Here's an idea, your claims, your challenge, you do it. You demonstrate what you say is in fact true then maybe someone will take you seriously.
                  So as you say, "Put up or shut up". Perhaps it's beyond the abilities of a seasoned "repairman" such as yourself, eh?

                  When searching to see if anyone's taken you up on this, I noticed that although you've been spouting off since at least 2009, you've never once posted a video of YOU demonstrating you can't pass your own challenge. It is your brain child after all, surely you can demonstrate what you say is true. I look forward to watching the results.

                  --
                  "Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
                  • (Score: 2) by joshuajon on Thursday July 31 2014, @07:30PM

                    by joshuajon (807) on Thursday July 31 2014, @07:30PM (#76066)
                    I don't think it was this guy, but there is a pretty nifty video [youtube.com] of someone upgrading from Windows 1.0 to 8.0 on an Asus EeePC. This isn't meant to pass judgement on you or GP, but I just thought I'd share since it's kinda neat.
                    • (Score: 2) by Vanderhoth on Thursday July 31 2014, @08:24PM

                      by Vanderhoth (61) on Thursday July 31 2014, @08:24PM (#76089)

                      I've actually seen that video, but when it only went up to Windows 7. It is pretty neat. The purpose of it as I recall was to show how themes are maintained through the different versions. It didn't discuss any issues that might have occurred with drivers. They just install, load, check the colours, install the next version and load.

                      Honestly I have no issues with windows, I just hate reading the spiel over and over, specifically since Hairyfeet is factually wrong. Windows does have it's own issues, we all know it, we've all had driver issues with it, we've all see the blue screen. Pretending it's an infallible OS then claiming Linux is crap is ignorant and small minded.

                      --
                      "Now we know", "And knowing is half the battle". -G.I. Joooooe
                  • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Friday August 01 2014, @10:35AM

                    by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Friday August 01 2014, @10:35AM (#76315) Journal

                    Already did with PCLOS, Ubuntu, and Fedora. But you see you FOSSies will just say Use Distro X [tmrepository.com] where X is whichever one of the 500 shittastic distros on distrowatch I didn't use, so you can keep spreading your lies.

                    Well put up or shut up FOSSie, because the truth hurts and I am stating here that GNUShit can't even do what a 15 year old EOLed version of Windows can. Wanna shut me up? Then prove me wrong, otherwise I'll just keep pointing out what should be obvious by the stagnant numbers, that a Linux disc is worth even less than an AOL CD, because Linux can't even compete with Win2K.

                    --
                    ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
            • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:00PM

              by LoRdTAW (3755) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:00PM (#75523) Journal

              Wow. Nothing like a screen full of ignorance and butthurt. Let me make this as simple as possible for you: WiFi on Linux has always been a problem to no fault of Linux. If wiFi device manufactures don't release driver code or specs then no drivers can exist. Got it? Is that too hard for you to understand?

              We then have to resort to goofy shit like wrapping windows drivers. No specs or driver code = no drivers. Not the fault of anyone is the FOSS or Linux kernel community. But that's okay, you don't know any better. This bit: "CLI (which is usually required because Linux driver support is poor)" shows you are completely ignorant and have no business commenting on anything computer related. Im not going to even touch your warped idea that Windows is #1 simply because of its market share and software library. You clearly have no concept of rational thought and zero understanding of the history of the PC industry.

              My advice is to just STFU. Grow up and be an man and stop whining about irrelevant nonsense. How much of your life did you just waste writing those two awful, difficult to understand, and rage filled posts? That stress you are also experiencing is also negatively impacting your health. You better not have anyone in your family who suffered from a stroke.

              • (Score: 2) by mrider on Wednesday July 30 2014, @07:10PM

                by mrider (3252) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @07:10PM (#75639)

                How much of your life did you just waste writing those two awful, difficult to understand, and rage filled posts?

                Not disagreeing with the rest of your post - but if you search teh interwebs for "HairyFeet", you'll get a whole list of places where the same user SIG has posted the same shit. So the answer to question is "10 minutes about 10 years ago", and "two seconds today doing a copy/paste".

                 

                FFS, HairyFeet, you post the same huge wall of crap every time anyone dares to mention GNU/Linux and Windows in the same breath. Give it a rest already...

                --

                Doctor: "Do you hear voices?"

                Me: "Only when my bluetooth is charged."

                • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Thursday July 31 2014, @02:58PM

                  by LoRdTAW (3755) on Thursday July 31 2014, @02:58PM (#75936) Journal

                  Now that you mention it, as I was reading the post I felt like the guy was stuck in the early-mid 2000's.

            • (Score: 2) by Geotti on Wednesday July 30 2014, @10:20PM

              by Geotti (1146) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @10:20PM (#75732) Journal

              Notwithstanding the fact that I posted a joke that you so rudely responded to and that you obviously have no clue about OS X (which for me is vastly superior to Windows for my line of work and interests - and no, it's not DTP), I'll provide you some of my personal experience.

              I've recently upgraded a server from Slink to Wheezy, without a single service breaking (!!), in around 2 hours. I dare you to upgrade NT 4 to 2012 in a similar time-frame, while keeping everything working and not having to spend serious bucks on updated software. I've used a couple of tricks, you may too.

              Yesterday, I've helped a newbie linux enthusiast (who can't take Microsoft's crap any longer) install LMDE on a new laptop, and, while I did resort to the command line, that was purely for my convenience. Everything he needs is working, including multiarch support, catalyst drivers, sound, wi-fi, wine/crossover, his function keys, peripherals, you name it. And I don't know much about linux desktop systems.

              So, all in all, frankly, for me, the best Windows tools these days is putty along with the Sysinternals suite.

              And while I didn't come here to bash Windows, I am feeling a bit compelled to after your response. And trust me, it ain't gonna be pretty if I do.
              On the other hand, why should I care? You're welcome be a masochist and loose your time fixing things, while I enjoy my systems that "Just Work (tm)".

              Unfortunately, if you're like me, you won't be able to know the difference between the orders of magnitude of difference in "just works" on Windows and "just works" on OS X until you try it. I haven't looked back a single time in 10 years, honest. But YMMV.
              (I have to admit that I'm anticipating the necessity of having to switch to linux or a BSD flavor (more probable) in the next few years, if Apple continues on the road they are now.)

            • (Score: 2) by dilbert on Thursday July 31 2014, @06:54PM

              by dilbert (444) on Thursday July 31 2014, @06:54PM (#76052)

              I don't understand the reasoning behind your challenge.

              Background:

              I'm curious why you would expect a non-technical user to upgrade to every single new version of a GNU/Linux distribution over a 5 year period, when in my experience, non-technical Windows users never update their OS between versions, they simply buy new hardware with the new OS on it.

              I don't run a repair shop like you, but I still get asked to help out a lot. I don't know anyone who asked for help upgrading a WinXP machine to Vista/7/8. Anyone smart enough to do the 'hunt down all the drivers' dance is smart enough to do a full format/reinstall which would mean they have a bit of technical ability and wouldn't necessarily be terrified of a CLI command. Anyone not smart enough would simply buy a new machine to run the new version of Windows, or have a friend (system builder) help them.

              So the two issues I see with your challenge are:

              1. Most users don't upgrade their OS between versions. Note, I'm not referring to the monthly updates, but rather the jump from XP to Vista to 7 to 8.

              2. It would seem to me that your requirement of 'no touching CLI except in the system builder phase' because a standard user wouldn't upgrade OS versions at all, or would take it to a friend/system builder to do the upgrade (CLI allowed), or buy a new system.

              Help me understand what I'm missing.

              • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Friday August 01 2014, @10:25AM

                by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Friday August 01 2014, @10:25AM (#76312) Journal

                Because the ONLY way to get updates for security issues is to jump on the upgrade treadmill PERIOD. If this bothers you talk to Canonical and the other distros that have been pushing their support cycles ever lower. Now theoretically you could just jump every year and a half but that would mean 1.- Know which release you have, 2.- Knowing the exact date it goes out, 3.- remembering to hit the upgrade button ONLY when that time is up....I'm sorry but if you think that is an acceptable alternative to Windows and OSX I have a bridge you might be interested in.

                BTW you are making a common mistake, you see you DO NOT HAVE to upgrade Windows to get 10 years worth of security updates while THIS DOES NOT HOLD TRUE FOR LINUX. You can't compare a single release of Linux to Windows because the support cycle is so piss poor in Linux. Take Windows 7, in the same amount of time I've gone from Win 7 RTM to today Ubuntu has gone from 9.04 to 13.10...EIGHT RELEASES and this is if you do what Canonical suggests and use mainstream. Canonical themselves says do NOT use LTS unless you are a business, so their own website will tell an average user not to go anywhere near LTS.

                So you show me a Linux distro aimed at home users that gets 10 years worth of security updates without upgrading for equal to or less than the cost of Windows? I'll be happy to change the challenge, until then fair is fair.

                --
                ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
        • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Wednesday July 30 2014, @11:50AM

          by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @11:50AM (#75471) Journal

          > do not care about you AND DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT YOU DO SO HOW ABOUT LEAVING WINDOWS ARTICLES ALONE, because if we wanted your shitty OS

          Just going to leave this here: http://i.imgur.com/fnkYcng.jpg [imgur.com]

          • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:24PM

            by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:24PM (#75698) Journal

            See this is why I love LMAO at the FOSSies, they are so "There is but one true god!" they can't even think then get all butthurt when i slap their dumb ass down.

            You want some fresh bitch slapping? Be careful what you wish for FOSSie, how about a nice kernel exploit? [desktoplinux.com] Or how about the guy that wrote EEEBuntu saying Ubuntu sucks [itwire.com] which considering they are the current savior of Linux kinda tells you something. But why don't you say "Use Distro X" and then have the balls to name the X so i can show its just as big a POS, huh? As for why the older ones? frankly everyone has stop giving a fuck about your OS, you aren't even newsworthy anymore really. Now its all Win 7&8, OSX&iOS, and of course Android which just shows what happens when a company bitch slaps the community and takes it away from them, why it actually fucking runs!

            How sad that even with a bug spreading through OSX there are writers pointing out that's no reason to torture yourself with Linux [computerworld.com], after all even a virus ridden OSX actually runs which is more than most distros LOL! But hey, you can always tell them they can fix it [tmrepository.com] otherwise they don't need that [tmrepository.com] right? LOL! And I noticed your friends just couldn't fricking resist screaming "Nigger!" which in FOSSie is done by screaming PaidMicrosoftShill [tmrepository.com], hey you think you could throw in one more FOSSie cliche please? Then I'll have a FOSSie Flush ROFL!

            But if you didn't have cliches and your pathetic attempts at insults why then you might have to have an independent thought [wired.com] and realize what everybody knows [lockergnome.com] that even when MSFT put out a universally reviled OS you STILL got curb stomped [practical-tech.com], does that give you ANY clues? or all they all brainwashed by those black choppers that have been following you? Hell when the Chinese were given the choice of your "free OS" or pirating Windows they chose the latter [neowin.net] even if it meant staying on XP and using IE fricking 6, LOL! Does that ring ANY bells? A smart person would say "what are we doing wrong the other guy is doing right?" but a FOSSie who is just like a Moonie in that they blindly follow, instead says "Its all a conspiracy! They are all shills keeping the masses from true salvation!" and then you wonder why we all laugh at you [penny-arcade.com] because you DON'T Listen, you DON'T learn, and Torvalds could take a big steaming dump and hand it to you and you'd thank him for his generous gift. So enjoy that fresh bitchslapping loony, enjoy the fact that the world really doesn't care...but I do, I enjoy slapping you, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Oh and here is some wisdom from the brilliant RMS [youtube.com] just to make you feel all gooey. Now maybe next time you'll be able to READ THE FUCKING SUMMARY instead of thinking anybody wants your GnuSHIT.

        • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday August 01 2014, @03:37PM

          by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Friday August 01 2014, @03:37PM (#76417) Homepage
          Assuming you can read this response through the spittle on your screen, I'll just say that I thought it was delightful how you managed to incorporate the both the "linux people think they're superior" argument and the "linux people feel inferior" argument in the same screed.

          Perhaps you should just argue against yourself, there's no need for us to get involved at all.
          --
          Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
          • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Saturday August 02 2014, @03:16AM

            by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Saturday August 02 2014, @03:16AM (#76633) Journal

            How about instead of trying to insult me you put up or shut up? I am stating here for the record that ANY mainstream consumer distro you choose is inferior and broken and can't even do what MSFT OSes a decade and a half old can do. That even the most basic function that ANY OS should be capable of, to update itself without shitting itself DOES NOT WORK in Linux because of how piss poor and badly designed its internal structure is, that Windows 98 was the last OS that broken garbage could compete against. the test has stood for EIGHT YEARS NOW, without a single distro, not one able to pass.

            Oh and just FYI its got nothing to do with FOSS, its got to do with Linux being poorly written because BSD? yeah it passes the test, no problem. The challenge is free, takes only a few hours start to finish, and only requires Linux to provide LESS THAN HALF of what you get with Windows. So either admit your hobbyist toy can't even muster basic functionality or prove me wrong. Until then you are wasting my time with your worthless prattle.

            Take ANY mainstream (not LTS, because even Ubuntu advises against mainstream users using LTS) from FIVE years ago, this simulates a 5 year typical lifecycle. This BTW is less than HALF a windows support cycle, so I'm cutting linux a break. Lets say you use Ubuntu, that would be Ubuntu 9.10 and can be downloaded from their archive. Install it on ANY PC, desktop or laptop (NOT VM as that isn't real hardware and comes with special drivers) that has a wireless card. Wireless is required because more and more mainstream users are ditching wires and nobody wants a laptop that doesn't have wireless, do they?

            During this phase you are the system builder so CLI (which is usually required because Linux driver support is poor) IS ALLOWED. Once its installed you are no longer the system builder but THE USER, so like a windows user you are ONLY allowed to use the GUI. You then get to "enjoy the freedom" of using nothing but the GUI (because if you can't even update the thing without CLI you're no match for windows are you) of updating to current...with ubuntu that is SEVEN RELEASES, just FYI. You will film this and post it to youtube, you only have to upload the final install process of each release and a pic of the device manager showing working hardware, but the complete video should be hosted on dropbox to prove you aren't faking it.

            This challenge can be trivially passed by Win2K (RTM to EOL, that is 10 years BTW, double what your OS is required to accomplish) and by XP (14 years), Vista, Win 7, Win 8, Win 8.1, they can ALL pass this basic functionality without a sweat. So either admit the OS is a mess and DEMAND BETTER or go back to writing bash scripts, nobody wants your broken messes. Whenever I see some FOSSie post "Or just use a Linux distro" it should immediately be followed by "look I made a stinkie!" because THAT is what you are doing, you are trying to shove your feces on a world that has told you repeatedly its not wanted.

            --
            ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
    • (Score: 2) by jcross on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:18PM

      by jcross (4009) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:18PM (#75233)

      Yeah, I was going to say VirtualBox. I just run Windows inside a Debian host and reset it to a snapshot if it starts acting funny. Of course my use of it is very light and thank goodness I'm not required to use it more than I do.

    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by pogostix on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:26PM

      by pogostix (1696) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:26PM (#75242)

      I use windows. Fully licensed and worth every penny.

      I use linux too.

      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Freeman on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:49PM

        by Freeman (732) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:49PM (#75251) Journal

        Worth every penny, as in worth every penny even though you got some random virus/trojan/keyloggerish thing on your machine and lost all of your monies?

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:00PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:00PM (#75256)

          Yes, I always end up with viruses, trojans and keyloggers on my Windows machine.

          Fuck's sake, grow up. It's just a fucking OS. I typed this on the Linux side of my machine, which also has Windows on it, and just over there on the sofa is a Macbook. So fucking sue me.

          Why did you pillocks even click on the comments thread on a Windows-specific article if you were just going to make a string of *hilarious* comments about how bad Windows is?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:19PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:19PM (#75265)

            Badder than Ol' King Kong? Meaner then a junk yard dog?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:39PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:39PM (#75272)

              There was a feeling for a while that this place would be better than Slashdot but now unfortunately I see I was wrong.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:18PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:18PM (#75284)

                Ever listen to Jim Croce's Bad Bad Leroy Brown?

                Many uses and definitions of "bad" and many ways to use humor, not to mention the infinite number of ways to misunderstand them all and more.

                • (Score: 1) by cngn on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:38PM

                  by cngn (1609) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:38PM (#75292)

                  Off topic but it's always been one of my favourite songs...

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by pogostix on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:04PM

          by pogostix (1696) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:04PM (#75258)

          I use a lot of good software that just works on windows.
          Several are windows only and essential to my work.

          I'm behind a router/firewall, use noscript and adblock.

          I could buy blazing fast hardware and VM it... or I could hit the beach in an hour....

           

          • (Score: 1) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:05PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:05PM (#75300)

            Several are windows only and essential to my work

            A list of those might have made your comment +1 Interesting.

            -- gewg_

            • (Score: 2, Funny) by pogostix on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:31AM

              by pogostix (1696) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:31AM (#75337)

              no. it really wouldn't.

        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday July 30 2014, @05:44AM

          by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 30 2014, @05:44AM (#75386)
          "Worth every penny, as in worth every penny even though you got some random virus/trojan/keyloggerish thing on your machine and lost all of your monies?"

          What we have here is an acute case of Slashdot Headline Poisoning. The amazing part is that you probably think you're well informed on the topic.
          --
          🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
          • (Score: 1) by Freeman on Wednesday July 30 2014, @05:50PM

            by Freeman (732) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @05:50PM (#75612) Journal

            My comment stemmed from my cynicism towards Microsoft. I have cleaned more Viruses and Trojans from my parents, grandparents, etc... computers than I care to count. I do use Windows, but I wouldn't call it worth every penny at $120 a pop. That is a significant cost when building a new machine. I can build a sweet machine for $600 or $720 depending on, if you want Windows 7 or not. (We are skipping the Windows 8 Tablet like Desktop stepchild.)

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
            • (Score: 2) by Tork on Wednesday July 30 2014, @06:12PM

              by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 30 2014, @06:12PM (#75625)
              Okay, so you have bad computing habits and the results of that are more apparent with Windows. Got it.
              --
              🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:18PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:18PM (#75263)

        Paying for a (limited) Windoze license is just the start:
        Every dollar you spend on software from Microsoft, you spend $6 trying to get it to do anything. [google.com]
        -- Ron Markezich, M$ Sales Exec

        Having to pay again to get the Ultimate Professional Does-Everything version holds no appeal for me.
        I'll stick to GPL, thanks.

        -- gewg_

        • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:42AM

          by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:42AM (#75342)

          That's for a large company. Meaning the company has to hire (or contract) people to set up a company network, perform IT duties and maintain company hardware and software. Wonder how much it would cost the same company to hire someone to set up, configure, maintain a Linux network? My guess is at least as much, if not much more.
          Plus, all the tools listed are free...as in cost=nada.
           

          --
          When life isn't going right, go left.
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:39PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:39PM (#75311) Journal

      I sort of miss games... well, no, not really. Paying a mortgage is no fun.

      There, FTFY - playing games and maturity has less to do one with the other than playing games and the availability of leisure time.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by SrLnclt on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:37PM

    by SrLnclt (1473) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:37PM (#75205)

    I will never understand the web design trend for making a simple list span nearly 30 pages in the form of a slideshow. So for the TL;DR crowd, here you go:

    1. FreeCommander XE
    2. 7-Zip
    3. EditPad Lite
    4. PicPick
    5. Tixati
    6. File Shredder
    7. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder
    8. SpaceSniffer
    9. Comodo Backup
    10. VLC Media Player
    11. Image Resizer
    12. Paint.net
    13. VirtualDub
    14. HandBrake
    15. Secunia PSI
    16. Autoruns
    17. HWiNFO
    18. PDF-XChange Viewer
    19. Revo Uninstaller
    20. Process Explorer
    21. Recuva
    22. LastPass
    23. EMET
    24. Kaspersky TDSSKiller
    25. Malwarebytes

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by mrider on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:44PM

      by mrider (3252) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:44PM (#75210)

      Went to RTFA, saw that it was a slideshow, saw that I needed to enable Javascript, and figured screw it. Thanks!

      --

      Doctor: "Do you hear voices?"

      Me: "Only when my bluetooth is charged."

    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:50PM

      by frojack (1554) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:50PM (#75213) Journal

      Agreed, its very annoying, and pretty much useless. Its not like he's earning more ad impressions with each page (at least I didn't see any with Adblock running), so its a huge waste of everyone's time.

      If only your list could have had links...

      Anyway, I found a few good ones in the list, and have been looking for a replacement of uTorrent on windows.
      Mostly I use KTorrent for that stuff, but sometimes I need windows.

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:00PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:00PM (#75223)

        looking for a replacement of uTorrent on windows.

        A while back there was a 'story' which either asked for a good torrent program or somehow provoked people into giving lots of suggestions. From that thread I learned of Deluge and qBitTorrent, which are both decent replacements for uTorrent. There were plenty of other suggestions in there, but the story was a while back so it may be troublesome trying to search for it.

        • (Score: 2) by pbnjoe on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:16PM

          by pbnjoe (313) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:16PM (#75232) Journal

          Here it is:

          http://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=14/07/10/1243259 [soylentnews.org]

          Also, I tested out qBitTorrent after reading all the comments and I've found a couple things that held me back. First, it's not got all the features of uTorrent that I've grown accustomed to, like the option to delete the .torrent file when removing the torrent from the list. Secondly, and from what I read it's Windows' fault, qBitTorrent on Windows eventually uses up a ton of RAM though Task Manager doesn't attribute it to qBT (something about preloading stuff into RAM in case it's needed quickly I think).

          I've not tried Deluge, but after testing qBT I decided to just stick with uTorrent 2.2.1; all the good features with no crap addons or ads.

          • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:30PM

            by frojack (1554) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:30PM (#75308) Journal

            I'm currently testing Tixati, and have uninstalled uTorrent, even taking the un-install survey just to bitch about the ads.

            I mostly use this for fetching various linux distros, and seeding them back to the community. Its very lightweight, and
            has all the functionality I need. (I use the distro iso's to install VMs under windows for testing, so having them around
            is nice).

            --
            No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
          • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:51AM

            by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:51AM (#75346)

            "Secondly, and from what I read it's Windows' fault, qBitTorrent on Windows eventually uses up a ton of RAM though Task Manager doesn't attribute it to qBT"

            Still using XP, eh?

            --
            When life isn't going right, go left.
            • (Score: 2) by pbnjoe on Wednesday July 30 2014, @04:07PM

              by pbnjoe (313) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @04:07PM (#75575) Journal

              Hohoho, no. Not touched XP since 2009. I read about this issue on the forums, I didn't experience it myself.

              • (Score: 2) by pbnjoe on Wednesday July 30 2014, @04:11PM

                by pbnjoe (313) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @04:11PM (#75577) Journal

                I should have written my first post better, since there's no indication of that.

      • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:04PM

        by urza9814 (3954) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:04PM (#75479) Journal

        Anyway, I found a few good ones in the list, and have been looking for a replacement of uTorrent on windows.
        Mostly I use KTorrent for that stuff, but sometimes I need windows.

        Ever use Transmission? They have a Windows version now...dunno if it's any good, but Transmission has always been my favorite Torrent client.

    • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:50PM

      by Lagg (105) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:50PM (#75214) Homepage Journal

      Thank you, seriously. Thanks. I gave up immediately when I went to the article.

      --
      http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
    • (Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:56PM

      by opinionated_science (4031) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:56PM (#75219)

      can we please have from someone who knows:

      1) If FOSS/linux/alternative version exists e.g. 2 and 10 spring to mind.
      2) which ones do not exists outside of windoze due to the broken nature ofM$ products...

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:43PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:43PM (#75294)

        someone who knows[...]If FOSS/linux/alternative version exists e.g. 2 and 10 spring to mind

        Yeah, 7-Zip has a Linux port (GUI and CLI versions) and I'm pretty sure VLC is the most popular media player on Linux.

        There's about a bazillion Linux-compatible apps for each of these common tasks.
        (A reasonable distro will include at least 1 of each.)
        ...and there are some tasks that aren't necessary (like pasting band-aids all over your OS to "protect" it).

        If the default install of his OS lacks a particular app, a Linux guy will just open up his Package Manager app and tell it what he wants (by name or description).
        The Package Manager [netupd8.com] will tell him what's available in the repositories that the user has enabled.
        Your Package Manager will gladly download, install, and update the app(s) you have chosen AS WELL AS THE DEPENDENCIES.

        At your bidding, your Package Manager will also uninstall an unneeded app--and, unlike MICROS~1's 4th-rate OS--IT WON'T LEAVE TURDS EVERYWHERE; it will remove dependencies that are no longer used by any app.

        One of the things I remember most vividly about Windoze was how you had to stop what you were doing to allow something to install.
        Good riddance to bad installer mechanisms; Linux lets you just continue doing what you were doing before.

        Here's a list of places to help find alternatives to Windoze apps. [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [linuxmint.com]
        Conspicuous by its absence is AlternativeTo.net.
        Another (nascent) project I recently saw mentioned is AwesomeCow.com.

        Here's a giant table of equivalent software. [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [linuxrsp.ru]

        It is a rare task that Joe Average can't do with his Linux box.
        Now, if you bought a hardware gizmo to do a task and that is only supported under certain OSes, well, I guess you have a problem.

        -- gewg_

      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:47PM

        by frojack (1554) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:47PM (#75314) Journal

        We could click through each of the slides for you to glean that information.
        Is that what you want us to do?

        --
        No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
    • (Score: 2) by carguy on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:58PM

      by carguy (568) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:58PM (#75222)

      Easy Thumbnails from http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/ [fookes.com] It will process a whole directory of big image files from a camera/scanner (or just one image) to any arbitrary size in pixels. User selects the amount of jpg compression.

    • (Score: 2) by buswolley on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:23PM

      by buswolley (848) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:23PM (#75240)

      Thanks! Now I need a description for each :)

      a few of mine:
      WinDirStat It does a nice treemap of the drive to help identify and visualize disk usage. Its like KDirStat I think.
      Notepad++ Notepad replacement with a bunch of goodies for coding.
      CCleaner A nice basic utility for drive wiping, registry cleaning, startup programs and the like
      SandBoxie Just discovered this one. Run any program in a sandbox.
      ITKSnap If you do neuroimaging work :)
      TrueCrypt ??? :(
      7ZIP tar,gz,zip,etc
      Audacity Audio Editing

      --
      subicular junctures
    • (Score: 1) by Freeman on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:53PM

      by Freeman (732) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:53PM (#75253) Journal

      That is a reasonably decent list. How Ccleaner didn't end up on the list is beyond me, though.

      Slideshows for the web remind me of professors who use slideshows to look "modern". Which is odd as slideshows have been around for a really long time.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 1) by DaTrueDave on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:04PM

      by DaTrueDave (3144) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @11:04PM (#75299)

      I much prefer WinDirStat to the app he listed (Space Sniffer). Invaluable to figure out what's eating up all your SSD/HDD space.

      http://sourceforge.net/projects/windirstat/ [sourceforge.net]

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:56AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:56AM (#75359)

      Thanks for the TL;DR list. To save every the pain of flipping through the slideshow, here's the same list with links.

      1. FreeCommander XE [freecommander.com]
      2. 7-Zip [7-zip.org]
      3. EditPad Lite [editpadlite.com]
      4. PicPick [picpick.org] (inconsiderately not included in the slideshow)
      5. Tixati [tixati.com]
      6. File Shredder [fileshredder.org]
      7. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder [auslogics.com] (link again left out of the slideshow)
      8. SpaceSniffer [uderzo.it] (why not WinDirStat [windirstat.info]?)
      9. Comodo Backup [comodo.com]
      10. VLC Media Player [videolan.org]
      11. Image Resizer [codeplex.com]
      12. Paint.net [dotpdn.com]
      13. VirtualDub [virtualdub.org]
      14. HandBrake [handbrake.fr]
      15. Secunia PSI [secunia.com]
      16. Autoruns [microsoft.com]
      17. HWiNFO [hwinfo.com]
      18. PDF-XChange Viewer [tracker-software.com]
      19. Revo Uninstaller [revouninstaller.com]
      20. Process Explorer [microsoft.com]
      21. Recuva [piriform.com]
      22. LastPass [lastpass.com] (come on, InfoWorld, would it kill you to include all the links?)
      23. EMET [windows.com]
      24. Kaspersky TDSSKiller [kaspersky.com]
      25. Malwarebytes [malwarebytes.org]

    • (Score: 2) by TheLink on Wednesday July 30 2014, @03:48AM

      by TheLink (332) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @03:48AM (#75368) Journal

      Thanks for providing their list! Maybe it's for nontech people who can barely read one sentence per page? ;)

      FWIW here are some less popular tools I use that aren't on the list:
      windirstat (for checking disk space)
      Notepad++
      Winmerge (for comparing text files)
      baregrep (for searching[1], because MS broke Windows file searching)
      baretail (tail for windows)
      MSI Afterburner (I only use it for video capture ;) )
      PassMark DiskCheckup (for running the SMART self test on disks)
      Furmark (for stress testing)
      Open hardware monitor (to help stop the stress testing before you break stuff ;) ).
      hobocopy (for copying files that are in use)
      Media Player Classic Home Cinema (better than VLC in some scenarios like playing broken files, VLC is better for other scenarios- e.g. playing stuff at 1.5x speed ;) )
      Instant Eye Dropper (for getting the color values of stuff on your screen)
      Snipping Tool (built-in to windows 7)
      Neo Hex Editor
      audacity (for audio stuff)
      MPTM (for generating tones - but apparently it's now sinegen or some malware infested bloatware)
      lcisocreator (for creating ISOs)
      linkkey (a util I made to quickly switch amongst application windows using alt+)

      I also create a shortcut that I can run as administrator to edit my hosts file:
      %windir%\system32\notepad.exe c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

      Then add links to the utils[1] in your "Send To":
      e.g. winkey+r, shell:sendto

      [1] for baregrep due to the way it works you need to have a batchfile:
      C:\utils\baregreplauncher.bat

      Which contains:
      @echo off
      echo %1%
      IF EXIST "%~1\" goto dodir
      baregrep -i "pattern" "%1%"
      exit
      :dodir
      baregrep -i -d %1%
      exit

      Last but not least, I sometimes use this for installing lots of stuff at once: https://ninite.com/ [ninite.com]

    • (Score: 1) by Wierd0n3 on Wednesday July 30 2014, @06:04AM

      by Wierd0n3 (1033) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @06:04AM (#75389)

      Well, Lets see.

      1) Never really needed a alternative file manager for windows, so I'd replace that with terracopy.

      2) 7-zip, well, it's ok, but it always corrupted .rar files, I'd rather run the original winrar

      3) Editpad lite, well, i run notetab pro, but the lite version is great too.

      4) hit the print screen button, and paste into paint.net, why make it so complicated?

      5) I use utorrent, but i'll try it. I like Utorrents handling of RSS feeds.

      6) Ccleaner does this

      7) See above. I would replace this entry with slimdrivers

      8) I'll agree

      9) sure, i just use a removable drive and copy my user directory to it once a week, and a image when needed though.

      10) MPC-HT + CCCP (or XBMC)

      11) See #12, But i would replace it with Irfanview. the batch processing/Conversion tools are great

      12) no arguement

      13) Complicated for newbies, but usefull

      14) love it. I have a XBMC server on my TV that I run with this in a VNC window to add transcode jobs. (server is linux, but still awesome Program)

      15) ok, never heard of it before, but i'll give it a go

      16) ccleaner, malwarebytes, Spybot all check this

      17) talk about info overload! cool app

      18) pdf.js or foxit reader for me.

      19) never saw a real benefit to this. i supposedly cleans your system of rouge entries for uninstalled apps, but I always found reg entries and appdata folders remain after this did it's magic.

      20) handy. helped a few times when a friend got infected and the computer was blocking task manager from launching.

      21) these types of utilities are a lifesaver sometimes. I work in a photo lab and we use a similar app from sandisk to restore corrupt SD Cards

      22) agreed.

      23) this sounds like antivirus + firewall + antimalware.

      24) no argument.

      25) add spybot S&D to get the hosts file protection and the imunization, and you have a deal

    • (Score: 2) by mojo chan on Wednesday July 30 2014, @07:27AM

      by mojo chan (266) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @07:27AM (#75408)

      Some definite crapware on that this. Why not Sumatra PDF? LastPass is a bit dubious as well, especially when KeePass is available.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    • (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:10PM

      by LoRdTAW (3755) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:10PM (#75501) Journal

      This is actually a pretty good list and I already use a few of these utilities. I even found a few new utils that I like. In addition I cant live without Cygwin and how its almost brings the full unixy goodness to windows. I try to use as much FOSS software as possible.

      1. FreeCommander XE - I use Total Commander. Shareware with a nag screen (I actually don't notice it any more) but it has always worked for me. Still offers a 16 bit version for windows 3.x.
      2. 7-Zip - Check, I also use WinRAR
      3. EditPad Lite - Notepad++ (GPL)
      4. PicPick - Greenshot (GPL) http://getgreenshot.org/ [getgreenshot.org]
      5. Tixati - Deluge (GPL) - http://deluge-torrent.org/ [deluge-torrent.org]
      6. File Shredder - shred under cygwin. Shredding is simply opening a file, overwriting it with random patterns multiple times, closing it, and then deleting it.
      7. Auslogics Duplicate File Finder - Check
      8. SpaceSniffer - Never heard if it until now, really helpful finding those forgotten dirs with a few gigs lurking. Also comes as a stand alone portable exe, my favorite kind of win program.
      9. Comodo Backup - Cygwin: bash script + rsync + bat file to run the bash script from desktop or Task Scheduler. File server tars and uses pbzip2 (multithreaded bzip2) to send to S3 via s3fs.
      10. VLC Media Player - Check.
      11. Image Resizer - Never used it but looks helpful.
      12. Paint.net - I have used it before but I use The Gimp now.
      13. VirtualDub - No need for it.
      14. HandBrake - No need for it.
      15. Secunia PSI - No need for it.
      16. Autoruns - This one looks interesting.
      17. HWiNFO - Interesting, also comes in portable exe. I ran the portable and it really is a neat tool. Even gives me the motherboard and RAM module model numbers.
      18. PDF-XChange Viewer - Sumatra PDF (GPL)
      19. Revo Uninstaller - Looks interesting
      20. Process Explorer - Used it but not any more.
      21. Recuva - never need an undelete but it looks interesting.
      22. LastPass - I use other methods of tracking passwords
      23. EMET - No need for it.
      24. Kaspersky TDSSKiller - I have used Kaspersky rescue CD's in the past. Never tried this though.
      25. Malwarebytes - Always use this to clean infected PC's. Not mine of course.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by mckwant on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:45PM

    by mckwant (4541) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:45PM (#75211)

    No idea how you make a list like this without Cygwin.

    Also, Notepad++ is superior to EditPad, IMHO, YMMV.

    • (Score: 2) by hubie on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:19PM

      by hubie (1068) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:19PM (#75234) Journal

      gvim for my editor.

      I used to install unixutils, but it has been a long time since I have. I assume (hope) it still works on Win7 computers.

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:57PM

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:57PM (#75277) Homepage
      Cygwin has merits if you actually want to work on that machine. Which I never would. Whenever someone chains me to a desktop with windows on it, the first thing I do is download PuTTY for it, and then work on a different machine running an operating system I'm comfortable with.
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 1) by mckwant on Thursday July 31 2014, @03:52PM

        by mckwant (4541) on Thursday July 31 2014, @03:52PM (#75966)

        I'm with you, although I generally use cygwin for SSH in those cases, too. It's a UI thing, and if I can get

        alias prod='ssh mckwant@productionserver.mydomain.org'

        through bash in the bargain, even better.

    • (Score: 1) by chewbacon on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:52AM

      by chewbacon (1032) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:52AM (#75330)

      Agree 10000%. Start googling notepad and notepad++ comes up first.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Snow on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:55PM

    by Snow (1601) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @07:55PM (#75218) Journal

    Here is some from my list. I have to install this stuff every time I get a new computer at work:

    1) grep for windows
    2) notpad++
    3) hexedit
    4) sed for windows (I'll be damned if i'm going to manually modify over 100 config files!)
    5) telnet (no longer installed by default)
    6) hrping (not required, but sure is nice! A great utility that provides better precision and more flexibility with the amount and size of pings. Also, great timestamping features so you can pipe to a .log file and review later after problems. Can also be used to flood pipes.)
    7) sftp

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by richtopia on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:15PM

      by richtopia (3160) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:15PM (#75230) Homepage Journal

      I maintain a bunch of non-networked XP PCs used as tool controllers. Most of my utilities are burnt to a DVD from portableapps.com. I'm always surprised by how few people know about it in this day and age.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by TK on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:36PM

      by TK (2760) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:36PM (#75247)

      I've found Bulk Rename Utility [bulkrenameutility.co.uk] to be incredibly useful for batch renaming of files in Windows. It's a very straightforward GUI (if a little cluttered) with a lot of options, but none of them are hidden.

      Sorry, no *nix version, but I'm sure you shell-wizards don't need it anyway.

      --
      The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:06PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:06PM (#75260)

      Mine are

      Cygwin (minus Cygwin's often slightly out-of-date LLVM and GCC)
      LLVM
      MinGW's most recent GCC
      Handbrake
      NotePad++
      foobar2000
      A LaTeX installation - these days a Windows installation of TeXLive but in the past a MiKTeX
      Emacs

      (Also on the paid front something like DVDFab or AnyDVD and dbPowerAmp; the latter is basically a wrapper around open-source tools but it's very nicely done)

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:30PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:30PM (#75269)

      I would replace telnet with mtputty/putty. It does ssh and telnet.

      • (Score: 2) by Snow on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:47PM

        by Snow (1601) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @09:47PM (#75276) Journal

        Ya, I have that too. I like to use the command line telnet to test connections. I rarely actually do anything more than just establish a connection to make sure that 1) The remote server is listening and 2) there is a network path to the socket.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @04:58AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @04:58AM (#75381)

      I'm a lot more comfortable once I have these installed:

      1) gvim
      2) ditto (clipboard history)
      3) virtuawin (multiple desktops; lighter than Dexpot)
      4) cubic file explorer (proper file manager with tabs, bookmarks, and session restore)
      5) cygwin (proper terminal)
      6) gitbash/gitgui
      7) chrome with adblock extension of choice

  • (Score: 1) by pogostix on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:29PM

    by pogostix (1696) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:29PM (#75244)

    Un-installing old crud isn't enough, keep an eye on background services and prune out ones you no longer need.

    just type "services" into the run box.

    delay the start-up of your backup managers, open office pre-launcher, etc for a more snappy start-up

  • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:42PM

    by krishnoid (1156) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @08:42PM (#75249)
    • Autohotkey: GUI scripting language; for quick-and-dirty scripts, can replace having to code against an API
    • Find and Run Robot: customizable application/alias quick-launcher
    • Beyond Compare: file comparison and directory synchronization
    • Special: portable applications, PortableApps.com and otherwise
    • (Score: 1) by cngn on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:22PM

      by cngn (1609) on Tuesday July 29 2014, @10:22PM (#75286)

      The ones I use the most are

      robocopy.exe
      procmon.exe
      tcpview.exe
      tail.exe
      where.exe (Windows 7 and windows 2008 R2) effin assholes should have brought it out earlier took them an eon to realise desktop search is a dud or only for the mouse driven generation
      portqry.exe
      nslookup.exe
      telnet.exe
      pscp.exe
      psftp.exe
      arp.exe
      autoruns.exe
      diskpart.exe
      taskkill.exe
      tasklist.exe
      dfsutil.exe
      netdom.exe
      nltest.exe
      DSquery.exe (and all the the other DS variants)
      lg.exe
      eventcombmt.exe
      handle.exe
      klist.exe
      memmonitor.exe
      memsnap.exe
      nmcap.exe
      psexec.exe
      psinfo.exe
      procdump.exe
      qprocess.exe
      route.exe
      netsh.exe

      I'm sure there's a tonne more but those are what I can think off at the moment...

  • (Score: 2) by gallondr00nk on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:11AM

    by gallondr00nk (392) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:11AM (#75318)

    Just kidding.

    Two glaring ommisions in my opinion are JKDefrag and CCleaner. JKDefrag is wonderful - not only does it defragment the drive, it also arranges the data to the start of the partition, sorted into normal files and "spacehogs".

    I'm not sure this is still true, but the Windows 2000/XP defrag tool wasn't actually developed in house, it was a very basic version of another piece of defrag software (whose name eludes me). So while it would defragment the drive, it wouldn't order it.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @03:50AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 30 2014, @03:50AM (#75369)

      What happens when your hardware still works and your (let's just say M$) OS goes tits-up?

      The smart, easy solution:
      Pop in your boot-to-a-usable-desktop Linux media, get online, and ask your favorite help forum how to un-mung your system.

      Oh, and did MICROS~1 ever get to the point where they included a non-destructive partitioning tool?
      M$ FDISK: Hasn't changed since 1981.
      GNOME Partition Editor (gparted): Your $0 buddy. Comes with most distros.

      -- gewg_

      • (Score: 1) by kristian on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:03PM

        by kristian (2395) <reversethis-{ni.lffaw} {ta} {naitsirk}> on Wednesday July 30 2014, @09:03PM (#75689) Homepage

        MS has included such a tool in the form of the Disk Management plugin (diskmgmt.msc). It can even resize the partition the current OS is running on. Gparted is still arguably better for all kinds of reasons (not the least of which that it runs on Linux).

        --
        The opinions expressed in this post are those of the individual sender and not those of Kristian Picon.
  • (Score: 2) by zafiro17 on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:39AM

    by zafiro17 (234) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:39AM (#75324) Homepage

    Awesome article – I love articles like this and almost never fail to discover new and useful software as a result. Keep this stuff coming, it's much appreciated!

    Tip o' the hat to the guy who condensed the slideshow into a list, too. These slideshows are abusive and gaining in popularity all the time.

    --
    Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis - Jack Handey
  • (Score: 2) by BradTheGeek on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:44AM

    by BradTheGeek (450) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:44AM (#75343)

    Some of these I have yes to try. Secunia PSI however is a buggy, slow dog of a program. I use it to sniff out old versions of stuff on customer boxes, but it should never stay installed for production. Ever.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:12PM

    by PizzaRollPlinkett (4512) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @12:12PM (#75482)

    Although it's not free, the file manager PowerDesk is worth every penny of its low price. I originally discovered this program in Office Depot (or somewhere) in the mid 90s (for Win95/98), and have used it ever since. It has a boatload of features, but mainly it's like the original Windows file manager and the old Norton Windows file manager (if anyone still remembers that). No matter how Microsoft has shuffled the UI, PowerDesk hasn't changed. I took a decade or so off from using Windows, and got the latest PD for my first Win7 machine in 2010. I couldn't use Windows 8 until PD came out with a version for it. Now, using Windows 8 is awesome, because I have a usable file manager.

    Since Mijenix released PowerDesk way back when, the program has gone from company to company, but AvanQuest has had it recently. Unfortunately, they've crippled PD with a phone-home license manager, hands down the worst things that's ever been done to it. Unfortunately, old versions don't run on Win8, or I'd just use the last non-crippled version. I hope someone else buys PD and removes this crippling restriction. (Just makes life a pain.)

    There's nothing like PD in the free world. There are umpty million free Norton Commander clones, but ... honestly, I just don't like two-pane file managers and have never been able to use them. They don't cognitively work for me and my style.

    --
    (E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
  • (Score: 2) by tibman on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:08PM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:08PM (#75500)

    Putty! It does ssh and telnet. Not sure how all these windows people are managing their linux boxes otherwise? http://www.putty.org/ [putty.org]

    Snow mentioned sftp which is in the same area.

    --
    SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
    • (Score: 2) by RaffArundel on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:33PM

      by RaffArundel (3108) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @02:33PM (#75537) Homepage

      Yep - putty is required on any Windows machine I use. Not familiar with everything on the list (many thanks to the posters who actually listed it) but not having a convenient terminal for telnet and SSH would be a non-starter in my line of work.

      Skimming my Win box for stuff I use but not on the list:
      - I have WinSCP for my file transfer needs. I personally like the "Commander" mode and a lot of the other tools just give you the basic folder/directly view.

      - Notepad++ is by far my favorite text editor for anything beyond a quick edit. I'd use it on linux if there was a port.

      - Eclipse, but that is mostly so I can share the workspace across all OS's I run by simply mapping a drive. I can understand why an IDE didn't make the list.

      - I used to install cygwin on all my windows boxes, but haven't really felt the need recently. Probably because now I have access to right-proper tools just an SFTP, shared drive or NAS away. Maybe the other reason is that I am not completely tied to windows, so I probably started working on whatever where ever the proper tools are.

      Stuff on the list:
      - 7-zip, mostly because it handles all the various formats someone might send me at work that aren't already supported natively on the OS. Not sure I would "recommend" it. I'd probably be more inclined to recommend people use native compression options instead.

      - Paint.net definitely beats Gimp on windows, or did a couple of years ago when I cared, but I'm not a power user. YMMV.

      Most of the stuff on the list I simply don't need. I don't consume media on windows, so VLC, handbrake, virtualdub, etc. simply don't matter to me on that OS. I also have no need of enhanced file or process explorers - for what I do on those systems the defaults have been fine.

  • (Score: 1) by goodie on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:40PM

    by goodie (1877) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @01:40PM (#75513) Journal

    For me puTTY and Notepad++ are a must for work stuff.
    For music, I use foobar2000. VLC is fine for video but I like foobar2000 better for a large audio library.

    And while we're at it, I consider DosBox a great tool too :p

  • (Score: 2) by etherscythe on Wednesday July 30 2014, @08:42PM

    by etherscythe (937) on Wednesday July 30 2014, @08:42PM (#75681) Journal

    As A Repair Guy...

    -D7 [majorgeeks.com] - "swiss army knife" style repair tool (includes much else of what may be found on the list somewhere)
    -Truecrypt (even if you're not hiding from your government, it has a read-only container mount mode which can prevent things like Mcafee deleting your useful utilities that "can do bad things" off of a flash drive, while allowing direct access faster than e.g. WinRAR with a password)
    -Magical Jellybean keyfinder/ProduKey
    -CCleaner has been mentioned elsewhere, I will just add it is the only cleaner I trust not to blow up the registry if you use the reg cleaner function
    -TDSSkiller
    -Combofix - great anti-malware tool, even if the devs are kind of jerks every once in awhile
    -Unstoppable Copier (particularly for getting around Windows' slow NTFS permissions handling in Explorer on hard drives from other computers)
    -TestDisk (reconstruct accidentally deleted partitions, in particular)
    -Unknown Device Identifier for those reloads with the annoyingly difficult to identify entries in device manager
    -IObit uninstaller - for those tenacious programs that just won't go quietly into the night
    -BlueScreenView - see what actually caused that BSOD (if Windows bothered to gather enough info, that is)
    -and my own SLMGR-based Windows activator script for never having to type a Windows key again (at least on OEM hardware). Not publicly released as of yet, but similar others are out there.
    -PKEYUI for those Windows 8 reloads you need to get the product key for
    -probably more I am forgetting... excuse my bad form if I reply to myself later

    --
    "Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"