News - QOTW: which lesser-known Windows apps should everyone know about?

[HEXUS]

Found a Windows 7 app that we all ought to try? Share it with the world.

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[kingpotnoodle]

A nifty MP3 tagging tool? - TagScanner, works a charm for me.

If you use a lot of PuTTY then "PuTTY Connection Manager" is a buggy but worth it addition.

Notepad++ is a great text editor.

For network/sys admins out there try LanSweeper for network inventory, the Pro licence is a lot cheaper than many other solutions in this area, and it finds and monitors a lot of things.

Probably none are that "undiscovered" but are all very useful to me.

[1stRaven]

Evernote is one of the best for me, even more so when combined with the mobile versions for note taking in meetings.

[Kushan]

Copy path to clipboard. Adds a context menu option that does just that. Tiny, simple, incredibly useful. softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Copy-Path-To-Clipnboard-JA.shtml

[Repressor]

Deskpins can be quite useful. It makes windows always be on top so you can do work without flicking between two windows and still have one program full screen.

[miniyazz]

SyncToy is a handy program I use to keep things in sync between my portable and internal HDDs; also between Dropbox and regular Documents. Can be scheduled to run automatically and is pretty intelligent in how it responds to changed files. Can also exclude folders from being synced, handy when syncing a large folder with e.g. Dropbox as you can exclude pointless large files from being Dropboxed.

[Output]

How well known they are is a matter of opinion depending upon who you ask, but nevertheless:

• 7-Zip for opening and creating various archive formats including zip, tar, gzip, rar, and 7z.
• CCleaner + CCEnhancer for cleaning purposes (with the latter adding extra applications to CCleaner).
• Defraggler for defragging.
• FileZilla for FTP.
• IMGBurn for burning discs (such as system backups).
• LibreOffice for an alternative to Microsoft Office.
• Unlocker for those annoying times you want to delete/rename etc. a file and it says it is in use so won't let you.

[levedy1]

Rainmeter. You have to try it, its quite simply the best desktop customization tool out there!

[OilSheikh]

Terracopy
syste mechanic free
asahmpoo burning studio free
ida free
mozbackup
ms calculator plus!
Macrium reflect free
speedbit video accelerator

[Output]

mozbackup

I had forgotten about that one. Seconded.

http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

[Jaffo]

The first things I install (well, most are portable versions)...

avast free (includes chrome)
ccleaner
xyplorer 5.55 (last free version - works fine)
netsetman
sumatra pdf
7zip
everything (www.voidtools.com)
vlc
xmedia recode
infra recorder

[Noxvayl]

These are the utilities(apps) I use that I would recommend and have not been mentioned above:

Freemake Video Converter
Scanner - Interactive chart of your hard drive contents
Audacity - Audio editor
IrfanView - Image editor(batch convert feature)
PureSync - BackUp software

[Noli]

Microsoft Security Essentials - liked avast but no reg req'd with MS and v good
K-Lite Codec Pack - inc Media Player Classic (home cinema) - essential for all video files
VLC - alternate (backup) player
IrfanView - img viewer/editor
Audacity - sound " / "
ImgBurn - best img/iso dvd burner bar none
Ashampoo - (free version) - dvd burner when need to burn audio CDs
Virtual CloneDrive - like Daemon Tools but without potential for installing bloatware (will retry daemon though)
Dropbox - cloud storage
EAC - exact audio copy for ripping cds - best bar none for accuracy
TrueCrypt - when your files absolutely need encryption
uTorrent - fast minimalist but powerful torrent program
Bit Che - torrent harvester for finding torrents
MKV merge - stripping unwanted subs & audio streams from huge mkvs
Damn nfo viewer - what it says on tin
SpaceMonger v1.4.0 - last free version - great visual representation of files/folders on HDD

+ Steam, Chrome, Skype, Spotify, adobe reader (alternatives never cut it somehow), iplayer

[SUMMONER]

Jamie O’Connell's "Desktop Restore" (saves/restores your icon layout after Windows messed it up again)
Pathsync (easy folder sync app)
TeraCopy (copy large amounts of files/folders fast and even verify they have been written correctly)
Multipar (create parity/recovery files for important files, I always add 10% par2 files to important DVD-Rs)
Soluto (manage the utilities/apps that start on Windows startup more efficiently)

[Ciber]

Lots of useful stuff there. I'd like to add Bliss for adding some automation to sorting out your music collection. You get 100 free fixes before you have to pay. http://www.blisshq.com/index2.html

Also, noone has mentioned winamp which I like for playing music. http://www.winamp.com/

Plus foobar, which is good for ripping and playing music. http://www.foobar2000.org/

[hairyonion]

Belvedere (Moves files from one location to another based on name or extension(use it to -------------manage my internet downloads))
7-zip (free zip util, handles most compression types like zip, rar)
windirstat (charts your hard drives)
teamspeak 3 (voice communication)
ccleaner (cleans registry)
autohotkey (record and execute macro's)
XBMC (Media Player)
Winamp (plays music + streams)

All the above are free