Free Apps for Maximum Windows Power
Replacement Programs to make Windows more Efficient
Built-in windows programs often suck but there are some great alternatives. Third party developers created many powerful free apps to make your work more efficient and your time more productive. These are mostly powerful replacements for your windows programs that you already use, however, this software is free or open source, smart, fast, and efficient. Go grab some of these apps today!
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Need more functionality in Windows NotePad?
I use Windows Notepad daily to jot stuff down and I even use it sometimes to edit HTML. I like it because it’s so simple but it could have extra features that would make it 10 times better. There are many replacement applications for notepad, but it seems that Notepad++ is the best one because it can totally replace notepad.exe, it’s free and open source, it has tab functionality, it supports many file types including HTML and other programming languages with code and markup, etc.
What are the other alternatives? NotePad2 is similar to NotePad++ and it also has syntax highlighting for HTML and other common languages. MetaPad is another fast and lightweight drop-in replacement for Notepad. It has indenting tools, it can read UNIX text files, and it has no file-size limit. Crimson Editor, TED Notepad, ConTEXT, NoteTab Light, Programmer’s Notepad, and PSPad are the other options.
Uninstaller, Cleaner, and Optimization Tools
If you want to remove or uninstall programs in Windows you are probably using the built in “Add/Remove Programs” in Control Panel. What are the free alternative utilities with more features? Let’s start with My Uninstaller which gives you more information than the standard built in windows utility (product name, company, version, uninstall string, installation folder and more). It is a quick one-click program removal that deletes all traces of the software from your computer.
Revo Uninstaller is similar but it has more features and a very fast and advanced algorithm that analyzes an application’s data before and after the uninstall. After regular uninstaller runs, you can remove additional unnecessary files, folders and registry keys that are usually left over on your computer. If you have a broken installation, Revo Uninstaller will scan for an application’s data on your hard drives, in the Windows registry, and shows all found files, folders and registry items so that you can remove them. The program also comes with more features like Auto Start Manager, Windows Tools Manager, Junk Files Cleaner, Browsers History Cleaner, Office History Cleaner, Windows History Cleaner, Unrecoverable Delete Tool, and Evidence Remover.
For system optimization and cleaning, check out CCleaner which removes unused files from your system and cleans traces of your online activities. CCleaner also has a fully featured registry cleaner, plus its small, fast, and free.
Better Searching and Copying in Windows
Are you unsatisfied with Windows Search and need a better way to find files on your computer or more options? I will first recommend Google Desktop Search because it allows you to search your computer as easily as Google searching the web. Plus, it comes with more features and it’s made by google so it’s solid. Locate32 is another alternative and it works like updatedb and locate commands in Unix based systems. Thus, it’s super fast, way faster than the standard Windows Search. If you are looking to eliminate duplicate files on your system, try the free Easy Duplicate Finder which will quickly find and remove duplicate files from your PC.
To copy files around in Windows you probably use the built in file copy operation, but there are some free apps that give copying more functionality and power. TeraCopy, for example, will copy and move files at the maximum speed with the ability to pause and resume file transfers, good error recovery, shell integration, etc. This functionality would be useful when you’re transferring huge sets of files between folders.
Some people prefer Copy Handler over TeraCopy. It has a nice interface and it configures the buffer size according to the files that it’s copying. You can copy data up to six times faster than standard MS Windows copying. It’s open source, it has multilanguage support, you can limit and queue simultaneous copying, etc. Finally, there is Unstoppable Copier by Roadkil. The best thing about this little program is that it will recover files from disks with physical damage, bad sectores, etc. It will attempt to recover every readable piece of a file and put the pieces together. It supports English, Spanish, Russian, French and German languages. Unstoppable Copier would be my choice out of these three.
Alt-Tab Switching with more options
To switch between programs in your windows application you probably use the built in Alt-Tab Switching operation. To spice it up, you can download the Alt-Tab PowerToy where you get dynamic window previews instead of just the application icons. But if you want something that is third-party and free, check out TaskSwitchXP, an advanced task management utility that picks up where the standard Windows Alt+Tab switcher leaves off. It gives you more customization options along with a much smaller memory footprint.
Finally, there is the free, open-source AutoHotkey utility that can automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. Any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey. You can create custom data-entry forms, user interfaces, and menu bars. Among many other features, it can convert any script into an EXE file that can be run on computers that don’t have AutoHotkey installed. This is my recommendation for a better application switcher. If you are running Windows Vista, you can also try out Switcher for a cool way to see all your windows on one screen and quickly search through them, even decorate them with your favorite colors and fonts. I don’t have plans on upgrading to Vista any time soon so I have not tested this app.
Better Calculator, Wifi, and Run Box
Windows built in Calculator sucks, period. You can replace it with another window power toy called Power Calculator where you can graph and evaluate functions, perform conversions, etc. However, if you want even more functionality, check out SpeQ, a small, extensive mathematics program with a simple, intuitive interface. It’s also portable so you can stick it on a flashdrive and take it with you. If you need more options, there is also The Ultimate Windows Graphing Calculator but I have never tested it.
Instead of using Windows built in start menu and run box you should try Launchy, a free windows utility that indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes. Another alternative is Startup Delayer where you can optimize the loading of start-up apps by setting up when to load each program after windows starts.
If your are connecting to the internet on your Windows machine using Wifi, then you are limited to the built in Wifi network detector and you should try NetStumbler. Network Stumbler is a tool for Windows that facilitates detection of Wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. It can detect networks that don’t broadcast their SSID, with signal strength and encryption status. It can detect causes of wireless interference. It can detect unauthorized access points.
Replacement for Windows Media Player, Zip Extractor, and FTP
Have you ever wanted to replace your Windows Media Player with another Media Player? Give VLC Media Player a try. VLC is a cross-platform media player and streaming server for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, …) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
Windows has a built in archive extractor but it sucks and only handles some files. Some people have recommended 7-Zip and ALZip as free replacements to the windows extractor but I would recommend IZArc as the best free extractor out there. It can zip and extract any archive out there and it has many more features like repairing damaged zip archives, converting one archive to another, multilanguage support, etc.
It can open CD image files like ISO, BIN, CDI and NRG and it can even convert them to another type. It supports many archive formats like: 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN, BZ2, BZA, C2D, CAB, CDI, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MDF, MBF, MIM, NRG, PAK, PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO.
If you’re still using Internet Explorer for FTP than please download FileZilla for a open source FTP solution. Both a client and a server versions are available. Also, stop using Internet Explorer altogether and download Firefox today!
Better Task Manager in Windows
If you are still using the windows built in Task Manager, you should at least try to get the Microsoft Process Explorer because it will give you way more information on your processes. If you wonder which file or directory a process open, you can see that information in Process Explorer. The program also has great search capability that will show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.
If you want to stay away from Microsoft apps, try the tiny (140k) Process Tamer utility that runs in your system tray and the CPU usage of other processes. It will temporarily reduce the priority of processes that overload your CPU. It keeps your system responsive no matter what you are doing on your computer. Another alternative is What’s Running which shows a hierarchical process view, in-depth information about each process, and can configure your start up programs among other features.
Alternatives to Microsoft Windows Paint
The built in Windows Paint program sucks but it doesn’t mean you have to buy Photoshop. There are many free, open source alternatives. First, I would give Paint.NET a try because it allows you to open multiple images, edit image layers, remove red-eye, and unlimited undos (ctrl+Z). It has an intuitive user interface, special effects, and many useful tools. If you need something much better and more powerful, check out GIMP, which is an alternative to Photoshop. If GIMP feels like to much for you and you are familiar with Photoshop, check out GIMPshop which is made from GIMP but resembles the look and feel of Photoshop. If you are just looking for a better image viewer, check out the fast, small, and innovative IrFanView. It has multipage TIF support, multiple ICO support, paint options, file search, sideshow view, plugin support, etc.
Copy Pasting and Windows ClipBoard
If you are doing a lot of copy and paste operations on your computer than you might want better options for your Windows Clipboard. ArsClip is a free utility for the windows clipboard that requires no installation. It has picture, file copy, and HTML support. Another option is Ditto, an extension to the standard windows clipboard. Ditto will save each item placed on the clipboard and you can paste the item at any time, even hours later. You can keep multiple computer’s clipboards in sync, you get full unicode support (it will display foreign characters, your clipboard list has thumbnails of copied images, etc.
Need a Better Windows Command Prompt?
Do you like the built in Windows Command Prompt (CMD)? If you want to replace this with a free alternative utility, check out Cygwin or Windows PowerShell. I would go with the PowerShell over the Cygwin Unix Emulator as it gives you a true-to-form Bash shell that is not emulating another operating system. Cygwin pretty much gives you a Linux-like environment for Windows providing substantial Linux API functionality. Microsoft Windows PowerShell is a command line shell and scripting language that gives you greater control and accelerates automation. It’s also pretty easy to learn and use.
Hard Disk Tools and Windows Explorer
If you are looking for a better disk defragment tool, check out JkDefrag GUI for scheduled defrags, file optimization, plus many other features. You should also check out WinDirStat for an excellent disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool. I recommend it because it’s very hard to get a good overview of your disk usage in Windows Explorer.
You could also replace your Windows Explorer with Xplorer2 that give you tabbed interface, full ftp support, folder set bookmarking, etc. Xplorer2 is not bad but I personally prefer FreeCommander over Xplorer2 becasue its small, simple, and easy to use. You can even put it on a CD, USB-Stick, or even a floppy disk and take it with you and use it on another computer. It’s features include a tabbed interface, archive handling, file splitting, file searching even inside archives, DOS command line, multiple language support, etc.
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Nice list, I digged it! For windows clipboard I would like to add ClipX and Clipdiary to the list.