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  • Post what utilities are you using

    I’m switching to Win2k and I’m updating my Patches/Drivers/Utilities CD. Here’s the list of utilities I find useful and I’ll install them or keep them on CD. Please post what you’re using and your comment about it.

    I know that most of you know these utilities and use them, but not everyone posting here is poweruser, so I’m explaining each and every utility.

    Compiling CD with latest drivers, utilites and patches (IE, Corel, DirectX, window media, Windows service packs) gratly speeds up installing of Windows.

    CD Burning
    CloneCD
    Exact copies of CDs
    Nero
    CD copying software – professional, widespread (you can add sessions at your clients since they use it)

    Viewers:
    ACDSee4
    Picture browser
    Adobe Acrobat Reader 5
    A must
    Quickview Plus 6.0
    Quickview – better than one in Windows

    Internet Related:
    CuteFTP
    FTP Client
    DL Express (Download Express)
    Fastest download, allows multiple downloads, resume, adjustable speed
    Google toolbar for Internet Explorer 5.0+
    Google integrated in IE also allows basic popup blocking with advanced options
    Icq2002a
    Communications client
    Lavasoft Adaware
    Spyware removal
    Lynx
    Dos browser
    mIRC
    IRC chat client
    Mozilla
    Opensource web browser for Windows, ‘nix and other platforms. Browser, mail, page editor, chat client, address book. Allows tabbed browsing, popup blocking, add blocking, download manager, based on Gecko rendering engine, which is the most W3C compatible engine ATM
    Trillian
    Communications client that allows connecting to multiple communications accounts

    Media:
    BS Player
    DivX player that has subtitle support
    DivX bundle
    Codec and player. BSPLayer is IMO/IME better
    Quicktime
    Required
    RealPlayer, Real Player 8, Real One Player
    Required, but be careful and use custom install to disable annoying features and phoning home. Regedit is necessary after install to remove startup.
    WinAmp280
    A must. They say 3.0 is not as good as 2.8. Since 2.8 works for me I haven’t taken time to install and test 3.0.

    Archivers:
    WinZIP80
    A must. For corporate users with limited budgets: Before last version of Powerarchiver is free and offers same functionality.
    Stuffit
    I’m working with mac based service bureaus and mac people love it, so it’s a must.
    ACE, ARJ, IMP, RAR
    Of all archivers I love command prompt ARJ best.


    Utilities:
    Coolmon
    CoolMon is a program for monitoring vital system stats and almost anything else you wish to display on the desktop.
    Diskeeper
    Diskeeper is way better than built in Windows defragmenting utility (NT has no defrag utility). Allows defragmenting of system files and directory optimisation before bootup.
    Memtest86
    A must for system diagnostics and overclocking (testing of memory)
    Motherboard Monitor
    Allows monitoring of voltages, speeds and fan RPM. Coolmon can display MBM data on desktop
    Sysinternals utilities
    Great source of free NT/2k/XP utilities
    autologon – automated log on
    autorunservice – displays what starts automatically
    bginfo – info on your computer on desktop in real time
    bluescreen screensaver – realistic BSOD screensawer with reboot and corrupt chkdsk/autochk errors
    contig – bootup system files defragmenter
    pagedfrg – bootup pagefile defragmenter
    procexpnt – process explorer – which process is using what files
    volid – allows to change volume IDs of floppies and HDDs

    Nokia Monitor Test
    Monitor test with patterns for troubleshooting
    PQ Driveimage 2002
    Allows you to create backup of disk image. Create image after windows install and if something goes wrong just reimage. Also useful when buying new hard drive.
    PQ Partition Magic 7.0
    Partition resizing without reformatting.
    wcpuID
    Identifies CPU frequency and CPU. Also good for online bragging.

    Benchmarks:
    3dMark
    For fps kiddies, LOL. It’s useful when comparing system upgrades and for graphic card stress testing. For benchamaking use games and other utilities as well. I downloaded it to help a fellow MURCer with his GF2MX problems (benched my cards for comparison).

    Please post what utilities are you using.

    /EDIT Fixed grammar and links.
    Last edited by UtwigMU; 26 November 2002, 00:44.

  • #2
    That's a pretty good collection you have there, utwigMU.
    I like SmartFTP rather than CuteFTP, but other that that we use a lot of the same stuff.

    Fancy hosting an ISO somewhere? Perhaps including some alternatives and OS Service Packs when people have done adding their favourites?

    Cheers

    T.
    FT.

    Comment


    • #3
      Pretty good list...
      I also use Winhtttrack (website copier, can be convenient)
      HTTrack is a free (GPL, libre/free software) and easy-to-use offline browser utility. It allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack arranges the original site's relative link-structure. Simply open a page of the 'mirrored' website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable, and has an integrated help system. WinHTTrack is the Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Seven/8 release of HTTrack, and WebHTTrack the Linux/Unix/BSD release.

      After I upgrade, I really think I'll give Samurize a go (those desktops look cool , and can also display computer information (MBM, load, ...))

      I use AceHtml as a html editor (it used to be freeware, now one has to pay for it; as I don't need higher features, I'm still using the old free version)
      I'm not really in to mp3 files, but if I play some, I tend to use the B&O Beoplayer (I like the interface)


      Jörg
      pixar
      Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die tomorrow. (James Dean)

      Comment


      • #4
        I'll be also making bootCD with all utils, fdisk and the like.

        Tony Andrews: Hosting an ISO:
        - don't have space
        - it would be illegal On the other hand since most of that is either freeware or trialware, it would be kosher.

        With 2kSP3, IE6, Windows Media 7.1, powertoys and Coreldraw 10 sp1 and sp2 patches and adobe ps, latest and beta BIOS for my MoBo, printer, iomega ZIP, Matrox, nVidia, Umax Astra2200 and US Robotics drivers its close to 650MB or one CD

        I have also previous version (which I'm now updating) for NT/98SE dualboot

        VJ: coolmon is similar to samurize (haven't tried coolmon yet since I'm going 2k this week. bginfo from sysinternals runs on NT, but does not display mbm info. Only CPU frequency, mem, freespace, etc...)

        For Desktop Ideas check 100+ pages long post your NT/2k/XP desktop here thread on Ars.

        Post your NT/2k/XP desktops here
        Last edited by UtwigMU; 26 November 2002, 03:47.

        Comment


        • #5
          Let's see...

          CD burning:
          Nero and CloneCD

          Viewers:
          ACDSee 4 and Acrobat Reader 5

          Internet related:

          IE 6 SP1, Opera 7 (first beta), Net Ants (hasn't been updated in ages, though still a good d/l manager), Zone Alarm

          Media:

          Media Player 9 (beta), Media Encoder Utility (codecs for MP), DivX Player + DivX 5, QuickTime 5, Winamp 2.80

          Archiver:

          WinZip 8.1, WinAce

          Benchmarks:

          3DMark 2000 & 2001SE (330), PcMark, Codecreatures

          Utils:

          Norton Antivirus 2002, Norton Utilities 2002, RegCleaner, SisoftSandra 2003, PC Alert (monitoring util for MSI mobos), Partition Magic 8, MS XP PowerToys (mainly for TweakUI), Refresh Lock (refresh rate util), atuner (AF & AA tool for GF3/4)

          edit: using the 1024x768 version of this pic as desktop background (blends with the blue taskbar and darkens, unblurs the XP desktop a bit).
          WC3 wallpapers
          Last edited by Admiral; 26 November 2002, 04:02.

          Comment


          • #6
            Yea, IMO Samurize is better than CoolMon, I ran it 24/7.

            Also I'd recommend UltraMon http://www.realtimesoft.com a very useful Multi-head utility. On there also is VideoSaver that now run Reef video across my 2 screens

            For FTP, FileZilla on http://www.sourceforge.net is pretty cool, open source I tell you what!

            For MSN Messenger, I have the Msgplus! add-on that log my message and make my messenger transparent, good stuff.

            TransFX makes my WinAmp 2.81 transparent too
            P4 Northwood 1.8GHz@2.7GHz 1.65V Albatron PX845PEV Pro
            Running two Dell 2005FPW 20" Widescreen LCD
            And of course, Matrox Parhelia | My Matrox histroy: Mill-I, Mill-II, Mystique, G400, Parhelia

            Comment


            • #7
              I just slipstreamed my Win2k installation with SP3 and made a boot disk from it, with all drivers, .NET etc ready to load up. What a difference on doing a reinstall!
              DM says: Crunch with Matrox Users@ClimatePrediction.net

              Comment


              • #8
                CDBurning
                Ahead Nero 5.048 I didn't find many advantages in the 5.5 series, so I stick to 5.0. I use it for Data and Audio CD mastering.
                CDRWin latest version, in combination with the latest Adaptec ASPI layer, works perfect for recording/extracting ISO/BIN image files, and creating bootable CDs and the like (for example making a Win2k/XP slipstreamed install CD).
                Daemon Tools, latest version. Works perfectly for mounting images (BIN, ISO, etc) to a virtual CD/DVD drive on your pc.

                Internet
                Opera latest version. It has a lightning fast html render engine, as well as perfect working tabbed browsing. And the latest version isn't as buggy as previous any more (though you still need IE or Mozilla alongside for the few sites that do not work properly with it).
                FlashFXP the almost perfect FXP/FTP client. Main problem with it is that caching/buffering with it is poor, so you don't get high speeds with either upload or download over an internal 100Mb network. Unless they fixed it in the latest version of course (haven't tried that one yet).

                other
                ACDsee 2.42 I can't see what's better with newer versions, other than stuff like that it can handle movie files and stuff. Since this is a picture browser, I don't bother with anything later than 2.42, which is very small, fast and functional.
                FFDShow MPEG4 directshow filter package. I use it to play back all MPEG4-encoded files, with this single filter. If you download the latest alpha version from their sourceforge project page, you might not need DivX 4 or 5 codec to be installed any more (that was the only one giving some troubles at times with this filter here).
                Sasami2k latest version was linked to on these boards somewhere. Imho, it's still one of the best Directshow/VfW playback programs. Though I've also heard good stuff about 'WMP Classic'.
                DivXG400, which is usefull when using players/codecs that don't fix the MPEG4 codec bug (i.e. nearly everything except sasami2k and/or ffdshow), and usefull when using DVD-MAX in combination with tv-out on your Matrox card, for those video files that have subtitles in the overscan area. You can configure it to add black borders around the video files to compensate for overscan, thus making subtitles show up in the visible area of your tv screen. On my HTPC I've set it up that it will load with WMP 6.4, and not with Sasami2k. So for proper overscan files I use sasami2k, and files with crappy subtitle placement are played with WMP 6.4.
                UltraEdit everyone has their own favourite text editor, so this is mine.
                WinRAR, good enough to completely replace both winzip and winace. Functionality of this program is miles ahead of those 2. Latest version handles just about every compressed format available. Again, i/o buffering/caching is one of the less good sides of this program, making compressing over network-shares run at non-optimal speeds (perhaps it's fixed in latest version?).
                WinAMP 2.81 no further comments. Be sure to also download and install the MAD plugin, which improves MPEG audio decoding quality considerably. I've also heard about something called SSRC, which resamples everything to 48 Khz, and at better quality than what Creative card do internally (or in drivers?). You only need it if you have a Creative Live! or newer (including Audigy 2).

                Comment


                • #9
                  I wouldn't even know where to begin ...
                  Best I can do is say I've got like 100gigs worth of just about everything neccessary (and then some

                  and no it's not ALL pr0n!
                  "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." -- Dr. Seuss

                  "Always do good. It will gratify some and astonish the rest." ~Mark Twain

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    OK Let's begin :

                    CD burning:
                    Nero for burning data
                    CloneCD to copy data CD
                    EAC+Feurio to copy/create Audio CD

                    HDD utilities:
                    IBM feature tool (with news disks from IBM)
                    Diskeeper

                    System utilities:
                    Motherboard Monitor for system temp/fan speeds
                    jv16 power tools to clean the registry (really the best one !)

                    Internet:
                    IE or Opera
                    Bulletproof FTP (as server)
                    FlashFXP (as client)
                    AdAware (a must have)


                    And some more but I'm too lazy to list them all...
                    System : ASUS A8N SLI premium, Athlon 64X2 3800+, 2Gb, T7K500 320Gb SATAII, T7K250 250Gb SATAII, T7K250 250Gb ATA133, Nec ND-3520, Plextor PX130A, SB Audigy 2, Sapphire Radeon X800 GTO, 24" Dell 2407WFP.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      ACDSee4, CloneCD 4, EzCD Creator 5.3, (Used to have Diskeeper7 on but everytime my machine starts behaving weirdly and I uninstall it, the machine seems to stop behaving weirdly) Dont use PM7 anymore as I no longer have anything but single partitions on my drives. AdAware is a must. MBM5, no ftp clients anymore, but liked the early CuteFTP. AVP/KAV for virus protection. WMP9 beta, DivX codec only, hate the payer. Sonique 2 alpha and GratisAudio (which is the best sounding mp3 decoder I have heard, and not just because Tony Million is a friend) Lame for mp3 encoding.
                      [size=1]D3/\/7YCR4CK3R
                      Ryzen: Asrock B450M Pro4, Ryzen 5 2600, 16GB G-Skill Ripjaws V Series DDR4 PC4-25600 RAM, 1TB Seagate SATA HD, 256GB myDigital PCIEx4 M.2 SSD, Samsung LI24T350FHNXZA 24" HDMI LED monitor, Klipsch Promedia 4.2 400, Win11
                      Home: M1 Mac Mini 8GB 256GB
                      Surgery: HP Stream 200-010 Mini Desktop,Intel Celeron 2957U Processor, 6 GB RAM, ADATA 128 GB SSD, Win 10 home ver 22H2
                      Frontdesk: Beelink T4 8GB

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by VJ
                        http://www.samurize.com/
                        Jörg
                        A damn good utility I also use it
                        Main: Dual Xeon LV2.4Ghz@3.1Ghz | 3X21" | NVidia 6800 | 2Gb DDR | SCSI
                        Second: Dual PIII 1GHz | 21" Monitor | G200MMS + Quadro 2 Pro | 512MB ECC SDRAM | SCSI
                        Third: Apple G4 450Mhz | 21" Monitor | Radeon 8500 | 1,5Gb SDRAM | SCSI

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I cannot belive nobody recommends Total Comander (former Windows Commander) www.ghisler.com

                          Winroute Pro (www.kerio.com) a must if you have to share your internet connection

                          DirectX 8.2, you'll have to get it anyway

                          WinDVD 4 (www.intervideo.com), great for watching videos with DVDMAX, minimize the window and your wife can see the film on the TV while you have plenty of desktop space to waste your time.

                          Folding@Home / Seti@Home ... convert your idle cycles in something positive.

                          TeamSpeak 2beta (www.teamspeak.org), no more silly deads because writing a message to your team. Speak with them!


                          btw make the bootable cd with MS-Dos/DrDos by default, no memory managers. Just a simple boot menu with different options to restore the system (flash mobo Bios, gfx bios ...) automatically, don't be sure that your display will be working when you need it!

                          edit : All (I press submit by mistake)

                          ciao

                          Last edited by drslump; 27 November 2002, 04:25.
                          <font face="verdana, arial, helvetica" size="1" >epox 8RDA+ running an Athlon XP 1600+ @ 1.7Ghz with 2x256mb Crucial PC2700, an Adaptec 1200A IDE-Raid with 2x WD 7200rpm 40Gb striped + a 120Gb and a 20Gb Seagate, 2x 17" LG Flatron 775FT, a Cordless Logitech Trackman wheel and a <b>banding enhanced</b> Matrox Parhelia 128 retail shining thru a Koolance PC601-Blue case window<br>and for God's sake pay my <a href="http://www.drslump.biz">site</a> a visit!</font>

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            hmm... let see...

                            E-book reader: Acrobat 5
                            Compression: Win Xp's Built-in WinZip, WinRAR
                            Benchies: 3D Mark 2k, 2k1
                            Gfx tweaks, caps etc: powerstrip, dachshund hare, 3D analyzer, MTSTU
                            Hardware info: SiSoft Sandra 2k3, msconfig
                            Monitor tuning: Built-in PDesk Utility
                            Hardware monitor: Asus PCProbe (always latest version found on ftp)
                            HDD Noice control: Intel APP accelerator 2.3
                            D/L Utilities: DAP, Flashget, Reget
                            Burn: Ahead Nero
                            Simple circuit layout (for hw): CircuitMaker
                            Hex: UltraEdit
                            Fix/Tune-up: Notorn Utilities 2
                            Internet Browser: IE6 SP1
                            Registry: regedit

                            edit: DX version: DX9 beta

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              CD burning:
                              Nero BurningROM & CloneCD

                              Viewers:
                              Adobe Acrobat 5

                              Internet related:
                              Internett Explorer 6 SP1, MSN Messanger 5.0, Trillian Pro

                              Media:
                              Media Player 9 (Beta), Media Encoder Utility (codecs for MP), DivX Player+ DivX 5, QuickTime 5 Pro, Winamp 3.0, PowerDVD XP (4.0)

                              Archiver:
                              WinZip 8.1 SP1

                              Benchmarks:
                              3DMark 2001 SE

                              Utils:
                              Norton Internet Security 2003, Norton Utilities 2002, Norton CleanSweep 2002, SisoftSandra 2003, MS XP PowerToys, Asus PcProbe

                              OS:
                              Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (Norwegian)

                              Office apps:
                              Microsoft Office XP Professional w/Front Page (Norwegian)

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