TOP 5 BEST/ POPULAR PROGRAMS BY CATEGORY...

The-Hive · Nov 12, 2021

Fabler2 said:
CrystalDiskMark and now CrystalDiskInfo available from the Microsoft store. I'm using these apps now as they should auto update.

Do you mean that the downloaded version from their site does not? as that is what I have and I believe it does not have auto update.. Thanks

TheMystic · Nov 12, 2021

hdmi said:
You said people only use it to test software. I don't want to nitpick or anything, but that just isn't true─in fact it never has been.

Agreed. My mistake.

Your turn to admit yours now:

They clearly say on the website that the primary purpose is controlled testing of untrusted programs.

hdmi · Nov 12, 2021

TheMystic said:
They clearly say on the website that the primary purpose is controlled testing of untrusted programs.

...And web surfing. So no, definitely not "only for testing software".

Fabler2 · Nov 12, 2021

The-Hive said:
Do you mean that the downloaded version from their site does not? as that is what I have and I believe it does not have auto update.. Thanks

Both have never auto updated for me from original sites. The apps do. I believe that CrystalDiskInfo is only available in the Windows 11 store and not on Win 10 store.

larc919 · Nov 12, 2021

Fabler2 said:
Both have never auto updated for me from original sites. The apps do. I believe that CrystalDiskInfo is only available in the Windows 11 store and not on Win 10 store.

Winget updates CrystalDiskInfo. I find it's the quickest and easiest way to update many apps.

Fabler2 · Nov 12, 2021

larc919 said:
Winget updates CrystalDiskInfo. I find it's the quickest and easiest way to update many apps.

Yes, I use winget to "upgrade," and the store apps update automatically so will run them as apps for now.

The-Hive · Nov 12, 2021

Fabler2 said:
Both have never auto updated for me from original sites. The apps do. I believe that CrystalDiskInfo is only available in the Windows 11 store and not on Win 10 store.

thanks @Fabler2 I checked the "Store" and it seems to be the same version as I have got. Thanks

The-Hive · Nov 12, 2021

larc919 said:
Winget updates CrystalDiskInfo. I find it's the quickest and easiest way to update many apps.

If you google Winget you will end up buying a cement mixer, not package manager

hdmi · Nov 12, 2021

The-Hive said:
If you google Winget you will end up buying a cement mixer, not package manager

Only if you're in the UK.

Birk · Nov 12, 2021

With many years of totally trouble free use I'd say sTabLauncher is the most valuable piece of software I have. Second most valuable (because it has saved my bacon more than a few times) is Macrium Reflect.

TheMystic · Nov 25, 2021

hdmi said:
MPC-HC (bundled with madVR as part of K-Lite Codec Pack Full) is easier to set up and runs completely stable in addition to having slightly better optimizations IME.

I installed the K-Lite codec pack Full that comes with MPC-HC. I find this player much slower to start playing videos. It takes between 4 to 5 seconds to start playing a video. The program opens with the splash screen with 'opening' on the bottom bar and takes that long to actually start playing the video.

VLC, on the other hand, starts playing videos within a second (almost instantly) everytime.

hdmi · Nov 25, 2021

TheMystic said:
I installed the K-Lite codec pack Full that comes with MPC-HC. I find this player much slower to start playing videos. It takes between 4 to 5 seconds to start playing a video. The program opens with the splash screen with 'opening' on the bottom bar and takes that long to actually start playing the video.

VLC, on the other hand, starts playing videos within a second (almost instantly) everytime.

It starts playing within a second if the player has already previously been started and you have chosen View | Options | Player | Use the same player for each media file. Starting a new player is slower because then it has to load LAV Splitter, LAV Video Decoder, LAV Audio Decoder and madVR before it can open the media file. If you have configured madVR to switch display modes (doubleclick on the madVR systray icon, expand "devices", expand your video hardware item that appears in there, choose "display modes" and edit the settings in the right pane to match your own personal preference), then typically it will take even longer before the video starts playing. But then you also gain something in return, as VLC really is inferior due to the fact it still cannot support madVR.

TheMystic · Nov 26, 2021

hdmi said:
It starts playing within a second if the player has already previously been started and you have chosen View | Options | Player | Use the same player for each media file.

That is the default setting and I haven't changed that.

hdmi said:
Starting a new player is slower because then it has to load LAV Splitter, LAV Video Decoder, LAV Audio Decoder and madVR before it can open the media file. If you have configured madVR to switch display modes (doubleclick on the madVR systray icon, expand "devices", expand your video hardware item that appears in there, choose "display modes" and edit the settings in the right pane to match your own personal preference), then typically it will take even longer before the video starts playing. But then you also gain something in return, as VLC really is inferior due to the fact it still cannot support madVR.

I don't use madVR. Ledt the Output settings to their default values:

I have tried changing the 1st setting to other options available, including madVR, and it doesn't cause any improvements. In fact, some of the options even make videos unplayable.

I'm playing normal videos in mp4 and other very commonly used formats.

Even if I leave MPC window open, playing a new video (double clicking the file in Windows File Explorer) takes about 3 seconds. VLC plays them instantly.

While this time delay is not a big deal for my usage, I am thinking if this player has any advantage over VLC, except for madVR.

abactuon · Nov 26, 2021

18.

simplewall

simplewall

Open-source software for human.

www.henrypp.org

TinyWall

Download TinyWall

This is TinyWall's official download page. Get it free from here.

tinywall.pados.hu

hdmi · Nov 26, 2021

TheMystic said:
I don't use madVR.

Well then, there's your problem, like I already tried to explain (twice).

jimbo45 · Nov 26, 2021

Hi there

For Windows install and running on internal or external devices -- instead of WintoUSB simply install to VHDX (Virtual hard drive) . You can make proper "Win to go" systems easily enough - I've a few posts on this in the Forum and on the W11 Forum.

Winamp is still good for "auto tagging" and ripping CD's (to FLAC as well) - especially if you like Classical Music as it accesses the
Gracenote CDDB which is far better for Classical music than the various free Music DB's around used by other programs.

Slyfox (Now Redfox ) is good for ripping DVD's and Blu Ray's to isos - these play perfectly on VLC / KODI etc (with menu's too if required) and de-regionalises them. I've archived all my old DVD's to these iso's. They also play on remote TV;s easily enough via VLC or KODI - if you aren't using a smart TV then use an Amazon Firestick device or similar- you can sideload these apps on it as they are anfroid devices.

Vmware workstation for Virtualisation - for me far better than vbox. Hyper-V good but needs W10/W11 pro -- although some have I think got it working on W10 Home edition.

Classic old W7 games from Winaero - still love playing Spider solitaire and Hearts during boring meetings etc !!! - the versions are far better than the current offering from the Ms store.

Filezilla -- Free fast safe secure sftp protocol type of FTP server

probably a few more

cheers
jimbo

hdmi · Nov 26, 2021

jimbo45 said:
Winamp is still good for "auto tagging" and ripping CD's (to FLAC as well) -

What's the point of ripping an audio CD ("Redbook") to FLAC if the ripping technique cannot support AccurateRip? Use only Exact Audio Copy (EAC) or dbPoweramp for this purpose... it goes to show that "best" and "popular" don't belong in the same sentence or thread title.

jimbo45 · Nov 27, 2021

hdmi said:
What's the point of ripping an audio CD ("Redbook") to FLAC if the ripping technique cannot support AccurateRip? Use only Exact Audio Copy (EAC) or dbPoweramp for this purpose... it goes to show that "best" and "popular" don't belong in the same sentence or thread title.

@hdmi

Cue Tools then -- also a great ripper and can "reconstruct" a single audio file back into constituent tracks from the cue file again. It includes EAC.

CUETools Download - CUETools

cue.tools

I agree best and popular are not interchangeable -- perhaps software that people have found "most useful" might be a better category. I think most people would agree that a top of the line BMW car is better than a cheap Honda Civic but a Honda Civic is probably "More popular".

Cheers
jimbo

hdmi · Nov 27, 2021

jimbo45 said:
@hdmi

Cue Tools then

Not really. Cue sheets are not truly accurate when it comes to the actual timecodes that mark the start of your next track on an Audio CD. Saving the tracks as individual FLAC files is a better choice because the total number of samples that make up the track will be always correct. Burning the individual files to a blank CD-R or CD-RW as an Audio CD gaplessly was never a problem with Nero Burning ROM, it's what I was doing more than two decades ago on a Pentium III PC with a 6× speed Yamaha CD writer via a SCSI adapter card, but nowadays you can use ImgBurn for that. Back then I was using Steinberg WaveLab v4 to play the files, also gaplessly, on the Roland UA-100. Those were the days! :)

TheMystic · Nov 28, 2021

abactuon said:
18.

simplewall

simplewall

Open-source software for human.

www.henrypp.org

TinyWall

Download TinyWall

This is TinyWall's official download page. Get it free from here.

tinywall.pados.hu

Both the programs (if I remember correctly) used to be flagged on VirusTotal earlier. So I never tried them.

Now I see that TineWall is clean and seems to meet all my requirements perfectly. I'll give it a try soon.

I have updated the OP with your links. Thanks.

TOP 5 BEST/ POPULAR PROGRAMS BY CATEGORY...

The First Three Star Guru

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Jack of all trades – master of none

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

The First Three Star Guru

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

The First Three Star Guru

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Jack of all trades – master of none

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Jack of all trades – master of none

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Jack of all trades – master of none

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Jack of all trades – master of none

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Jack of all trades – master of none

My Computers My Computers

At a glance

At a glance

Well-known member

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

My Computers

My Computer

My Computers

My Computers

My Computer

My Computers

My Computers

My Computers

My Computers

My Computer

My Computer

My Computers

My Computer

My Computer

My Computers

My Computer

My Computers

My Computer

My Computers

My Computer