TweakHound’s Blog

This is a Vista version of a previous article I wrote called The Freeware XP Machine. This version is Vista specific and has several additions and deletions of software I have tried based on recommendations of readers (and THANKS for the suggestions). It is not a comprehensive list of freeware apps but a list of apps I use and/or recommend. The goal of this list is to hopefully make your computing experience a little better and less expensive. I know that many of you already use a lot of these programs but perhaps this list would be something you might want to pass on to friends and family to help them out. You are free to recommend a FREE program but you must list exactly why you think it is better. i.e. – If you say it uses less resources then provide a concrete example (with stats), if you call it bloatware then show why, etc.

About this articles links:
The first link will be to that applications home page
The second link (download) will go directly to the download page at Major Geeks so that you may download the programs faster.

The Install
I do most of my installs based on the method here: Installing Windows Vista

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Office

OpenOffice – (download) Highly usable in the home environment. You may run into small compatibility issues (formatting) when sending documents to Microsoft Office users. It isn’t Microsoft Office, that can be a good or bad thing depending on your point of view.

Foxit Reader – (download)”a free PDF document viewer, with incredible small size, breezing-fast launch speed and rich feature set.”

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Multimedia

File associations are key! When I speak of file associations I mean file types that are not specific to that app.

A file association refers to what type of file opens with a particular program. Many applications will try to be the default application for a particular type of file. That is, what application loads when you click on a file. For instance: iTunes, Winamp, Windows Media Player will all try to be the default for opening a .mp3 file. Each subsequent application install will try to overwrite the previous system settings. That is why it is important to decide which application you want to handle which type of file from the start (during install).

To fix or configure file associations, see here: Change which programs Windows uses by default

Multimedia – Codecs (choose only one)
*** 64-bit Users – download 64-bit versions from the software authors site.
Codec definition at Wikipedia.

K-Lite Codec Pack Standard – (download)

Shark007’s Vista Codec Package – (download)

Multimedia – Audio Players

MediaMonkey – (download) I prefer listening to and managing music with this app. No file associations.

Songbird – (download) A very nice app for playing and managing music.

Foobar – (download) I use this only for “quick playing” or previewing mp3 and wav files. The only associations allowed are .mp3 and .wav.
OR
WinAmp Lite – (download) I use this only for “quick playing” or previewing mp3 and wav files. When installing do not install; Winamp Agent, anything to do with CD’s, User Interface Extensions, Visualizations. The result is a very fast launching app that uses very little resources. The only associations allowed are .mp3 and .wav.

iTunes (w/Quicktime) – I use this only to manage my iPods and on a very rare occasion shop the store. Quicktime is also for use in my browsers. No file associations. Turn off the look for speakers, T.V.’s etc. See Ed Bott – Slimming down the bloated iTunes 8 installer for a guide on installation. No file associations.

Multimedia – Audio Editing

Audacity – (download) Sound recorder and editor. Audio geeks, be sure to install lame and check out the plugins. No file associations.

Multimedia – Tag Editor

Mp3Tag – (download) Full-featured, wonderful app.

Multimedia – Audio CD Ripper

Audiograbber – (download) Excellent tool. Audio geeks, be sure to install lame.

Multimedia – DVD Ripper

DVD Decrypter – “Software application that can create backup disc images of the DVD-Video structure of DVDs.”

Multimedia – Video Player

Windows Media Player 11 – Included with Vista. It works perfectly and has a good GUI. Plays everything you could want it to play (see Codecs above). Turn off all privacy options. File association’s, just what you want it to play.

VLC (VideoLan) – (download) Default GUI sux, fortunately it is skinnable. I like the Heaven skin. This program is fast and uses FAR less resources than Windows Media Player 11. Like 3-4 times less (32,000K to 128,000K in one test). File association’s, just what you want it to play.

Multimedia – Video Editor

Avidemux – (download) The only video editor I’ve used and stayed with. Does the job quite well and improves with every version.

Multimedia – Video Converter

TMPGEnc – Converts AVI to MPEG and does it well.

Multimedia – Picture Views, Editors managers

XnView – (download) Viewer, converter, editor. Try it, you’ll like it.

IrfanView – (download) (download plug-ins) Viewer (videos too), some editing capabilities. Nice to have around but not my main viewer or editor.

Paint.Net – (download) Editor. If you need more than this you should probably take up Graphics Arts.

Picasa – (download) “Picasa is a software download from Google that helps you organize, edit, and share your photos. It’s free, and easy to use.”

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Utilities

Utilities – CD/DVD Burning

CDBurnerXP – (download) It just burns CD’s baby!

ImgBurn – (download) Creates and burns CD/DVD images.

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Utilities – Security

The best security you can have is you. Here are the basic steps for security. Yes my fellow Geeks, you and I know but obviously everyone else does not :

1 – Do not click on a link in an email from a source you do not know. For emails from folks you do know, if you put your cursor over the link, the actual address should show.
2 – Keep Vista and your applications up to date.
3 – Firewall. Both a hardware (router) and software firewall.
4 – Use anti-virus and anti-spyware.
5 – Use that pop-up blocker in your browser.

*I am not a security expert. If you know of a good, up to date, comprehensive guide for this topic, please let me know so that I can post a link to it here.

Utilities – User Account Control (UAC)

I do not recommend  most people disable UAC. The 2 programs below allow you to “tame” UAC.

TweakUAC – While this program allows you to disable UAC I suggest using Quiet Mode.

Norton User Account Control Tool – Read up on it.

Anti-Virus
Free anti-virus licenses state that you may use it on ONE computer.

Avira AntiVir Personal – (download) The pay-for version is product of the year at AV-Comparatives.org. Free version has same engine but less features.

AVG Free Antivirus – (download) Consistently rated high by Virus Bulletin. Low resource usage, unobtrusive.

Firewall

Online Armor Free Firewall – (download) At the top of the heap at Firewall Challenge ( http://www.matousec.com/projects/firewall-challenge/results.php ). Comodo is rated highly too, I just prefer the options that Online Armor provides. FWIW – I don’t use aftermarket firewalls for Vista. BUT, I am behind a hardware firewall (router) at home. Yes, this probably isn’t the very best security setup but it is the way I do it.

Anti-Spyware
Most pay-for anti-virus programs include this. For instance, I use AVG Anti-Virus (multi-computer license). This has anti-spyware / web shield /linkscanner included.

Windows Defender – Included with Vista. This is the one I use.

Ad-Aware (free) – (download)

Spybot S&D – (download)

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Browser
*Opinion – Do not use Toolbars (Google, Yahoo, etc.). They are 100% completely unnecessary, slow your browsing, and track your usage habits.
I use 2 browsers on my machine.

Internet Explorer 7 – IE 7 is set to high security and I use it only for things like shopping. I do not browse in IE7.
Plugin – IE7Pro is a must have.

Firefox – I am not one of those people who believe that Firefox is more secure than IE 7, especially after I add all my plugins (in practice, if you strip it down and use noscript then you may have a point). With the plugins it is a feature rich browser and is the main browser I use. FWIW – Many security folks recommend the NoScript plugin.
Plugins I use:
Adblock Plus
DownThemAll
FlashGot
IE View
NoScript

Google Chrome – Google’s new browser. Folks seem to either love it or hate it.

Browser Extra
iGoogle – highly customizable home page with gmail integrated.

Download Manager
Free Download Manager – (download) Normally I use DAP Premium which rocks. The freeware version of it sux.

FTP Client
FileZilla – (download) Fast, secure, all the features you need. What more could you want?

Instant Messenger

Pidgin – (download) Free, no ads, works with multiple IM accounts. Lots of cool plugins.

BitTorrent
Utorrent- (download) No Java, fast, highly configurable.

Email Clients

Thunderbird – Customizable, works with multiple email accounts. Easy to backup. Can also be run from a thumb drive.

Gmail – Lots of online storage. Good features. Access it from anywhere.

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System Tools

Autoruns – (download) View and configure what starts up with Windows.

CCleaner (slim) – (download) All-in-one System cleaner. Set it to auto-start. Opinion – Don’t use the registry cleaner.

7-Zip – (download) The best file archiver / extractor I’ve every used.

IZArc - Another excellent archiver / extractor.

Renamer – (download) File renaming tool.

RocketDock – (download) OS X style application launcher. I love this thing.
Some of the icons I use are in a zip file here: my_rocketdock_icons
I recommend putting them directly into the Program Files\RocketDock\Icons folder ( 64-bit users: Program Files (x86)\RocketDock\Icons).

SyncToy – Excellent, fast, configurable backup tool.

SIW – (download) System info tool. Lots of good info on everything in or on your system.

Tweaker

Ultimate Windows Tweaker – This is the only Vista tweaker I recommend, period!

See – Tweaking Windows Vista
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Vista Gadgets
Most of them aren’t very good. Some of them have memory leaks. These are the only ones I use consistently:

SysInfo (System Information)
Weather Channel Sidebar Gadget
System Control
Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor

*tip – Uninstall gadgets you have no intention of using.

Boot CD
UBCD4Win – This is my #1 PC diagnostic and recovery tool. I have used this CD and it’s tools to rescue people’s computers and files for several years now.

UBCD4Win is a bootable recovery CD that contains software used for repairing, restoring, or diagnosing almost any computer problem. Our goal is to be the most complete and easy to use free computer diagnostic tool. Almost all software included in UBCD4Win are freeware utilities for Windows…UBCD4Win is based on Bart’s PE. Bart’s PE builds a Windows “pre-install” environment CD, basically a simple Windows XP booted from CD. UBCD4Win includes network support and allows you the ability to modify NTFS volumes, recover deleted files, create new NTFS volumes, scan hard drives for viruses, etc. Our download includes almost everything you need to repair your system problems.

Finishing Up
After installing and configuring all the programs I:
- Run Autoruns
- Boot into safe mode and do an advanced disk cleanup.
- Reboot and run my defragger.
- Then I boot with my Acronis True Image Boot Disk and make an image.

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Excellent Freeware Lists

Gizmo’s List

Major Geeks Top Freeware Pick’s

Lifehacker – Best of the Best: The Hive Five Winners

Vista Help

Microsoft Answers – Microsoft’s own help site.

FAQ’s

Q – Why do you recommend against using registry cleaners?
A – Because in the hands of the non-Geek they can produce any number of problems. These can be from programs acting “strange” to Vista not booting. Then folks blame Vista somehow. If you want to use them then know what you are deleting.

Q – Why is there no freeware defrag utility in the list?
A – IMHO none of them do as good a job as Vista’s built-in defragger. I do use pay-for defraggers (Puran Defrag & PerfectDisk) but that isn’t what this list is about.