Little programs that make a difference.

Just wondering if anyone else has some cool little programs that spice up Windows without breaking the bank.
I use one that is called True Launch Bar. It's a replacement for the quick launch bar that comes with Windows. It's fully configurable and will allow you to make menus that come directly from the launch area saving yourself time. No looking through the start; all programs menu anymore.

I like to skin Windows with Alienware GiUse. There are three or four diferent free skin/icon packages and a few ranging in price that can be purchased via paypal. I also downloaded a whack of wav. files and gave many actions a an associated noise. I like animal and video game sounds.... Drives my GF crazy! LOL

Here's another program that is free and is an excellent way to share files. It's called Foldershare. Oops! It's now called Windows Live Foldershare beta. That's funny as it's not a beta. I guess Microsoft bought them out. Anyway, it's the fastest way to share files and pictures with someone who lives far away. No posting the file on some server somewhere, it just resides on your hard drive. You make a folder that you want to share and set it up and then invite someone to use foldershare as well and they have access to only the stuff in your folder which you want them to have. It is also a way to sync files between your computers without having to be at home. Take a look as it's a great program to use!

I agree with txnca. TLB is a sweet little program when you get it all set up the way you like it. I use it myself, it keeps my desktop nice and clean. I just wanted to add another program I can't live without now. I absolutely love Directory Opus 9. It is a Windows Explorer replacement. I have tried so many alternatives and I always keep going back to DO9. A few more programs I enjoy using are Rainlendar, UltraISO 9, AShampoo Burning Studio 7.2, ConvertXtoDVD 3, Slysoft AnyDVD, ImgBurn, and Diablo 2. Plus a buttload of other stuff I always keep trying out.

txnca...you can also set up your start menu to be displayed as "classic" so you just go to start, programs, like the good ol' days...

rye wrote:

txnca...you can also set up your start menu to be displayed as "classic" so you just go to start, programs, like the good ol' days...

Yeah, I know that Rye. I hated that menu as well, which is why I pointed out True Launch Bar. Awesome little program with lots of plug-ins that allow you to do lots o different things.

Here is a screen shot.



Here is one showing my drives with the amount of used and free space on each.



And here is one showing a plug-in called system monitor. Shows me how much memory I'm using as well as pagefile usage and the CPU usage at any given time.



This just shows some of what it is capable of. The plug-in to the right of System Monitor is my wireless network monitor. The open white space is a run command prompt and then I have Nero here as well as MS Office and others that I use all the time. It's having the ability to use menus on the task bar instead of having to go into the start menu, which saves a lot of time!

Just found another neat little program that I think some people might like to have. It's called TrueCrypt. It's a program that allows you in encrypt important data on your system easily using several different methods of encryption. It's a free open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Main Features:

• Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
  
• Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
  
• Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
  
• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
  
• Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:
  1) Hidden volume (steganography – more information may be found here).
  2) No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).
  
• Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS
  

Here's where you can download it. TrueCrypt Downloads

Also, any side-programs that you do run will ultimately slow your computer down, because they use more memory to run them.

rye wrote:

Also, any side-programs that you do run will ultimately slow your computer down, because they use more memory to run them.

You are so right. But then again when you are using 4GB if RAM it doesn't really matter. As for TLB, it uses about 1MB on my system the way I have it set up. which isn't too bad at all.