It's raining here in Tucson (we have NO idea how to survey in the wet), so I thought I'd once again throw out a list of my favorite freeware (and 1 shareware) that I have gathered over the years, in hopes of passing good stuff along (and maybe also of learning about some other goodies).
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KILLPROCESS http://orangelampsoftware.com/
Not only will show you what applications are running and allow you to kill any one of them, but will allow you to create a kill list that will automatically end any process whenever that program tries to run. This program allows me to no longer have Windows helpsvc.exe firing up at random times to hog all of the CPU cycles - for no apparent reason. Can be dangerous...but so can Windows!
SUPERF4 http://www.snapfiles.com/get/superf4.html
This will instantly terminate the foreground Windows process when you press CONTROL-ALT-F4. Has helped me numerous times with annoying programs that suck up all the CPU cycles and refuse to end. Avoids the annoying CONTROL-ALT-DELETE "End Now" dialog that does not know what the word "Now" means. (I really don't think Microsoft knows what preemptive multitasking is).
CRIMSON EDITOR http://www.crimsoneditor.com/
A pretty good text editor - does a very good job with macros.
NOTEPAD++ http://notepad-plus-plus.org/
A little more powerful (and geeky) text editor than Crimson. Good stuff and my current favorite. Not even remotely similar to Notepad!
PDFILL FREEWARE TOOLS http://www.pdfill.com/
They have several free programs that do some handy things with .PDFs.
PDF REDIRECT http://www.exp-systems.com/forum_exp/forum_posts.asp?TID=602
There are many virtual .PDF printers. I am fond of this one.
AUTOIT3 http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/index.shtml
For programmers only. The very best programming tool to slap Windows around and get it working the way you want it to. Absolutely terrific stuff.
FASTSTONE IMAGE VIEWER http://www.faststone.org/index.htm
Lots of folks like IrfanView for images, but I think this is much better. I used to use Xnview, but have grown very fond of this one. Does a very good job with .TIF images.
PHOTOFILTRE http://photofiltre.en.softonic.com/
A pretty good image editor.
AUDACITY http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
A pretty good audio editor.
MP3MYMP3 http://www.mp3mymp3.com/
Save anything that goes to your PC speaker as an .MP3 or .WAV file.
DEEPBURNER http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download
A nice and simple drag-and-drop CD burner (what Windows should have had).
KEEPASS PASSWORD SAFE http://keepass.info/
A highly secure way to store passwords and other sensitive poop. If you do business online, check this out.
MEDIAPLAYERCLASSIC http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/
Way more betterer than Windows Media Player.
VIDEOCACHEVIEW http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/video_cache_view.html
When you watch an online video, it is usually cached on your computer. This program will find it and save it.
ANY VIDEO CONVERTER http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/
A very nifty program for converting different video formats. I use the above program to save on-line .FLV videos, which are often very herky-jerky. I use this program to convert to something like .MPEG for a better view.
STICKIES http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/index.html
A nice little "Post-It" program.
SNAPFILES http://www.snapfiles.com/
Best place for freeware/shareware.
POPPY http://www.jsonline.nl/Content/Poppy/Poppy.htm
A little email notifier that checks your email at intervals and lets you know when something arrives. You can check the headers and delete anything you don't want.
SUAVE http://www.blinken.com/suave.php
Best freeware shoot-em-up ever.
I bought a KINDLE - because the only thing better than a real book is a free e-book! If you are into that, here are some links I have found:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.manybooks.net/
(The following is apparently too long to post as an actual link) -
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_355831402_6?ie=UTF8&node=2245146011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=0Y9CS718J35QAMQ8JFMN&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1300308102&pf_rd_i=1286228011
(I am looking forward to ya'll giving me some mo' freebook links!)
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TOTAL COMMANDER www.ghisler.com
My vote for the best Windows program ever. A program that is an invaluable tool for both the non-technical user and for the power user (an amazing feat of programming). Not freeware - costs about $38. NEVER a charge for upgrades (we have been using this for over 15 years and have never paid a centavo for newer versions). I hope Ghisler is a rich man (but I doubt it....he is far too reasonable, fair and thoughtful, and needs to become more like unto AutoDESK).
Thanks for sharing those, Steve. I am going to try out a few...I'm hoping the poppy one does the same thing as my old mail washer pro did. 🙂
Thanks Steve.
Ditto on Total Commander.
I know this is a non surveying category, but how about free surveying software?
Plenty at www.underhill.ca/land-surveyor-software 😉
Another + 1 for notepad++, having line numbers is well worth it, never mind it's just cool!
For well over a decade I used Programmers File Editor as my text editor of choice. Development of PFE had stopped a decade or so ago, but it was an old friend and I didn't want to have to learn my way around a different editor. However, I had to say goodbye to PFE when I upgraded to a 64-bit W7 system last summer. I tried a couple of different editors before I found Notepad++, and I'm now a happy convert.
With regard to Total Commander: can anyone tell me if there are substantive differences between Total Commander and Free Commander? I've been content using the latter for some years now, but it does seem a bit slow on my new system.
Thanks Steve,
I gotta find and try the Any Video Converter. I am trying to convert some Kodak clips that can only be watched with Kodak software (so they say).
James
I'll add one:
PHONETRAY FREE http://www.phonetray.com/phonetrayfree.htm
>Easy to use FREE Caller ID software - shows Caller ID, speaks name and number, logs all your incoming calls. Reject any unwanted call, zap telemarketers with special tone or play Federal do-not-call warning to remove you from their lists - by law!
About 6 years ago, I was getting tired of all the telemarketing and political calling campaigns we were getting to our home line (usually as we were sitting down to dinner). I put a phone-line splitter at the wall and ran one line to the phone and another to my computer with PhoneTray Free and started the blocking and "zapping" of unwanted numbers. With this program, I let my phone number lapse from the apparently toothless Federal DoNotCall list and have been enjoying ring-less dinners and quiet evenings with my family ever since.
On the occasion when a new telemarketer finds my number, they are quickly added to my zap list with an SIT (special information tone) that helps keep their list from propagating the number.
With the political campaigning season upon us, I'm thankful for PhoneTray Free.
--
Ladd Nelson
Ever try netbeans or eclipse?
> It's raining here in Tucson (we have NO idea how to survey in the wet
Good one :beer: I heard equipment didn't run in arizona when it rains. I thought that possibly the crews melted as well.
Thanks for starting this thread, I think I'm going to save it and check some of those out.
(I hope someone starts one on good tablet softwares (er...apps.) I would be interested in some good survey apps and other cool freeware-apps as well.)
Free Commander v. Total Commander
Jim -
Since it is still wet here, and since I have know nothing about Free Commander, I have been fooling around with it.
As an aside, we should all doff our hats to Peter Norton, who actually and personally wrote the Norton Commander from back in Ye Olde DOS Days, upon which both of these programs are based.
FC is pretty nice for the money! It has a lot of the basic functionality of TC.
If you are a normal computer user, I think FC is pretty good stuff. If you like more horsepower and flexibility, I would go for TC.
I really like the quick view feature in FC where the file is viewed in the opposite pane. Pretty cool.
Keeping in mind that I am a TC fanatic, I offer the following criticisms of FC:
- Nowhere near the customizability of TC. In TC you have complete and total control over Toolbar(s) and Menu items. TC is one of those programs that actually makes it worth your while to figure out how it works.
- In TC you can drag-and-drop an .EXE file onto a toolbar as a shortcut. You can then completely edit the properties of that 'shortcut', including - most importantly - which parameters are passed to a program. TC has a terrific Chinese menu of parameters and parameter lists available. We use TC as a front-end for many of our in-house programs because of this feature.
- No separate column for the file extension. I use the extension as much as anything else. Most other folks probably wouldn't give a damn! FC seems to use the same 'logic' about file-type sorting as does Windows. Personally, I like extension sorting alphabetically and TC just makes it easier.
- TC has a lot of free plugins to aid and abet different stuff you might like to do. I don't really know what FC might have.
