Your Favorite\Favourite Apps, Tools and other things

[Durge Driven]

This will at least stop me spamming other threads
Always interested in tools I never heard of so add away
For me I like clean OS, clean look, least icons, etc. >>> OCD

This is how my Metro looks lol


Metro menu is 1 scroll from top to bottom most everything uninstalled


Explorer nothing but drives, clean, no mess


Start menu only W10 icons survive are calculator, OS keyboard, magnify and photos


Open Shell all pinned


I liked Classic Shell and Winaero Tweaker but Classic Shell updates stopped and Winaero seemed to always have a few bugs
I have been using Open Shell which is Classic Shell with community updates for fair while

Now that W10 is mature I tried Winaero again and it works better then ever

Oh I have missed Winaero I forget it saves 100's of settings and has good registry merge
I estimate it will cut off 10-15 minutes for fresh OS on both my towers...I mean it will once I fine tune both and save, then fresh OS to test

Using both i have to rethink settings for each, some conflict\duplication that has always been case though using both tools together, not hard to sort I just can't do without these 2

I block both in firewall, do my own updates

OpenShell: scroll down bottom for d/l

GitHub - Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu: Classic Shell Reborn.

Classic Shell Reborn. Contribute to Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Winaero Tweaker: scroll down bottom for link

Download Winaero Tweaker

Winaero Tweaker. The all-in-one app from Winaero. It will include almost all apps released by Winaero along with new tweaks and options. Windows Tweaker

winaero.com

For rookie I suggested to tweak Winaero first, save all settings and merge all your saved registry ...you can reset all in 1 click
Then OpenShell for best startmenu look, save a xml file or backup registry and appdata folders for Fresh OS

 

[maelstrom]

Just out of interest, what is it you dislike about the default Win 10 Start menu?

 

[Durge Driven]

I used Classic Shell since XP days

How would you use vanilla W10 after compare

Classic Shell • View topic - Compare Start Menus:Classic Shell vs Windows 10 and others

Classic Shell stopped development years ago
Open Shell has community updates

 

[Durge Driven]

Winaero...

Did a fresh OS with saved tweaks and merged registry worked excellent not a single glitch so far

So doing another fresh OS but starting from scratch with only Winaero tweaks till i get it 99%

 

[Terry Rock]

I like Start 10 from Stardock Software.
It allows me to emulate any OS.
I started out with Start 8 for Win 8 since I dislike tiles and wanted to retain a classic look..complete with task bar.

 

[BrunoBæ]

Just to understand you DD and Terry.
You use these 2 progs because you want to make the display of W10 to look more like Wxp or W7.
Or am I wrong?

 

[Terry Rock]

Just to understand you DD and Terry.
You use these 2 progs because you want to make the display of W10 to look more like Wxp or W7.
Or am I wrong?

Not necessarily like XP or Win 7 but I wanted the visual features of certain components.
I liked the 'Start---Programs Files' pop-out offered in earlier OS...not the tiles offered in the later OS.
I wanted the task-bar in Win 8, which was not offered.
I could only get those with first Start 8 and later...Start 10.

 

[maelstrom]

... not the tiles offered in the later OS.

You know that you don’t need to have the tiles in Windows 10?

 

[Terry Rock]

You know that you don’t need to have the tiles in Windows 10?

It is not just tiles...
I like some other feature layouts not offered by Win 10.
The core of the Windows 10 OS itself, I like and have found to be extremely stable.

 

[maelstrom]

It is not just tiles...
I like other feature layouts not offered by Win 10.
The core of the OS itself, I like and have found to be extremely stable.

Each to his own, I suppose. I’ve had no problems at all with Windows 10. I installed it shortly after it was released and keep it fully up to date (minus driver updates, which I block through Windows Update). I had far more issues with Windows 7 over the years.

 

[Durge Driven]

Not a app but still useful, installs all 12 Visual C++ one click
I do straight after windows finishes updates ( 2 anti malware and 1 virus def )
Has been updated yesterday

Latest Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One Feb 2024 Download

This archive contains the latest version (February 2024) of all VCRedist Visual Studio C++ runtimes, installable with a single click by running the i

www.techpowerup.com

 

[wgards8]

Pretty well known but the following are the first to be installed on my Windows 10 machines.

Search seems to be hit and miss so I use software called 'Everything'. Super fast and can be lauched via hotkey.

voidtools

www.voidtools.com

Revo Uninstaller - Scans registry and removes leftover folders.

Revo Uninstaller Free

Download Revo Uninstaller Free helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs easily. Remove all uninstall leftovers and traces

www.revouninstaller.com

Malwarebytes - Anti malware

Cyber Security Software and Anti-Malware | Malwarebytes

Protect your home and business PCs, Macs, iOS and Android devices from the latest cyber threats and malware, including ransomware.

www.malwarebytes.com

Not software but ninite.com is pretty useful as you can select the software you want to install and it will do it in batch. To update all software you can run the .exe again or set a scheduled task.

 

[Durge Driven]

My old Malwarebytes lifetime licences have stopped working seemed to correspond to last cumulative update
These I never added to MB account just account so you need receipts I don't have anymore to get fixed

So I purchased fresh 2 year 2 device from their shop
Good deal works out $32.50AU per year/device where 1 year/device is $60AU

Then I sent support to ask is there limit to how many times you can deactivate ?
I don't have another piece of software I purchased do this ...like ever

Or because i buy through shop I will not have same problem again ?

Still waiting for support answer

 

[wgards8]

Lots of reports online from users saying their lifetime keys have been revoked. Very shady business practice.

I would be tempted to find an alternative anti virus and just use their free product for malware scans.

I personally just use Windows Defender but Kaspersky, F secure and Vipre score well for paid services.

Test antivirus software for Windows 10 - February 2022

The current tests of antivirus software for Windows 10 from February 2022 of AV-TEST, the leading international and independent service provider for antivirus software and malware.

www.av-test.org

 

[maelstrom]

My old Malwarebytes lifetime licences have stopped working seemed to correspond to last cumulative update

Lots of reports online from users saying their lifetime keys have been revoked. Very shady business practice.

No problems here with my lifetime Premium license in the latest version of Malwarebytes. More info here about the lifetime key issue (it seems to be just enforcing the original Ts & Cs): https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/249277-lifetime-license-issue/

 

[Durge Driven]

CPU-Z

• AMD Ryzen 5000 "Zen 3" Vermeer preliminary support
• Intel Rocket Lake preliminary support
• GPU TDP

CPU-Z | Softwares | CPUID

CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system : Processor name and number, codename, process, package, cache levels. Mainboard and chipset. Memory type, size, timings, and module specifications (SPD). Real time measurement of each...

www.cpuid.com

 

[Durge Driven]

Afterburner version 463Beta2

Afterburner

MSI Afterburner is the world’s most recognized and widely used graphics card overclocking utility. It provides detailed overview of your hardware and comes with some additional features like customizing fan profiles, benchmarking and video recording.

www.msi.com