The Big Useful List Of Free Useful Programs To Use Usually For Free

[Splinterdog]

I use RBtray quite a lot on one of my computers where I have some programs, or DOS windows that I'd like running in the background, but not taking up taskbar space

RBTray

Take ownership of files and folders via right-click menu is another one. While not a program, i still find it really useful. You'll need to scroll to the bottom for the registry hack. https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/win...ership-to-explorer-right-click-menu-in-vista/

Taking ownership of something you already own has always been a mystery to me. Anyway, How To Geeks is one of my favourites and yes, scrolling to the bottom for those lovely registry hacks is always a time saver. Same for move to, copy to, disable Cortana and my favourite - use Windows Photo Viewer reg hacks.

 

[Flyingotter]

Openshot is working for me on my Windows computer,it works very well in video editing.

 

[copenhagen69]

How out of date are most the recommendations? I mean I see IE 9 in there

 

[Mussels]

How out of date are most the recommendations? I mean I see IE 9 in there

thread is from 2011. it still has some goodies but yeah its outdated.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Openshot is working for me on my Windows computer,it works very well in video editing.

And it's continuously being updated.

BTW, welcome to TPU!

 

[Frick]

Taking ownership of something you already own has always been a mystery to me.

Supremely useful with new Windows installs if you have your stuff spread out over several drives. Just changing permissions is fickle at best.

 

[Vayra86]

How out of date are most the recommendations? I mean I see IE 9 in there

You have to admit IE9 was always and still is a better idea than IE6

 

[copenhagen69]

You have to admit IE9 was always and still is a better idea than IE6

LOL! Cant argue with you there ...

 

[Mussels]

CCleaner has a bad reputation these days, i dont recommend it

 

[hat]

I heard they had a bout with some malware being slipped in somehow. What would you suggest instead?

 

[copenhagen69]

I heard they had a bout with some malware being slipped in somehow. What would you suggest instead?

LOL! if that is true that is crazy!!

I would be curious what else has taken their place too ..

 

[Frick]

CCleaner has a bad reputation these days

Why?

 

[Sybaris_Caesar]

Why?

Avast: No plans to discontinue CCleaner following second hack in two years

 

[Frick]

Avast: No plans to discontinue CCleaner following second hack in two years

Oh that. I'm not actually worried about that.

 

[blobster21]

Oh that. I'm not actually worried about that.

How many successfull hack will it take before you start worrying about this POS software ?

many users have expressed their opinions today, claiming that Avast should just retire CCleaner, as the app is only a magnet for state-sponsored hackers, and that the app has no real purpose (many consider registry cleaner apps as being useless or plain harmful).

 

[Frick]

How many successfull hack will it take before you start worrying about this POS software ?

I have a formula.

 

[lexluthermiester]

CCleaner has a bad reputation these days, i dont recommend it

I heard they had a bout with some malware being slipped in somehow. What would you suggest instead?

This was due to a hack. All is well now.

 

[Mussels]

two hacks, various bugs, and the way its super naggy and bloaty these days... i'd rather do a clean install of an OS once a year than rely on it

 

[lexluthermiester]

and the way its super naggy and bloaty these days

To be fair I have not actually used the latest version. Mine is a year or two old....

Edit;
Just downloaded and tested the latest version. While it is a bit naggy, such can be disabled in the settings and it's only doing so in promotion of the pro version of CCleaner, which is understandable. After all, Piriform is a business. I did not detect any nefarious activities by the program and it still does what it claims to.

 

[basco]

using CCleaner since years and never had a prob but who am i still on x99 without spectre+meltdown protect and such which is my decision not running latest bios.

 

[biffzinker]

After all, Piriform is a business. I did not detect any nefarious activities by the program and it still does what it claims to.

Piriform was bought out by AVAST that's why the nagging, and bloat to push their other products.

Also I didn't know about these two things from Wikipedia:

Bundled software
In December 2018, it was reported that users installing CCleaner would also have Avast Antivirus installed without their permission, with TechSpot claiming this arguably made CCleaner no better than the malware it was supposed to defend against. Piriform denied this.
In July 2020, Microsoft Windows Defender began flagging the free version of CCleaner as a "potentially unwanted application", stating that "while the bundled applications themselves are legitimate, bundling of software, especially products from other providers, can result in unexpected software activity that can negatively impact user experiences."

 

[lexluthermiester]

Piriform was bought out by AVAST that's why the nagging, and bloat to push their other products.

Also I didn't know about these two things from Wikipedia:

Right, but still, I just tried it this morning. Didn't have any problems.

 

[Mussels]

when it bundles other software, sometimes malware, sometimes just annoying unwanted programs... i cant recommend it. It's like how i like and use kaspersky security cloud, but wont recommend it because i hate how it bundles and auto enables its own VPN software

 

[lexluthermiester]

when it bundles other software, sometimes malware, sometimes just annoying unwanted programs... i cant recommend it. It's like how i like and use kaspersky security cloud, but wont recommend it because i hate how it bundles and auto enables its own VPN software

I did not have any of those experiences. Of course, I denied it access to the internet during install so that might have been it's limitation.

 

[xrobwx71]

As with all things that manipulate the registry or hard drives have a valid backup image of your hard drives

Alternatives to CCleaner?

Free PC cleaner & Privacy tool

Free PC cleaner & Privacy tool

privazer.com

https://www.bleachbit.org/ <--Be careful with the advanced settings

You can open an elevated command prompt - Hit the start button -type cmd - Hit CTRL + Shift + Enter and the elevated prompt should open.
In this elevated prompt copy and paste %SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

This will open an advanced version of the Microsoft Disk Cleaner with more options than the default. Most of the time, this is all you need to reclaim disk space and to keep your computer tidy. Plus, IMO, it's the safest for novices and people without proper backups.