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

Splinterdog · Dec 29, 2020

Free software from Ashampoo.

Terrific Freebies from Ashampoo | Daves Computer Tips

Ashampoo is currently offering a selection of terrific software for free. There are some real gems among the titles– for example, Ashampoo Burning Studio 2021 which, with a feature set that goes way…

davescomputertips.com

Jetster · Dec 29, 2020

Sycnex Windows10Debloater I just tried it and so far so good.

It's a script you run from the PowerShell
Takes a lot of annoying shit out including One Drive

Windows 10 Debloater Overview - 2019 - YouTube

P4-630 · Jan 8, 2021

Windows File Recovery by Microsoft

Windows File Recovery - Official app in the Microsoft Store

Currently available for Windows 10 2004 and above. Accidentally deleted an important file? Wiped clean your hard drive? Unsure of what to do with corrupted data? Windows File Recovery can help recover your personal data. For photos, documents, videos and more, Windows File Recovery supports...

www.microsoft.com

lemonadesoda · Jan 11, 2021

Windows file recovery - looks useful. Ah, it is a command line tool only. And you have to use MS “Store”.

skip.

VulkanBros · Jan 12, 2021

FAR - a powerful "Find And Replace" utility - Find And Replace Utility

From SourceForge:

Search and replace operations on file content accross multiple files. Recursive operations within entire directory trees. FAR comes with support for regular expressions (regex) over multiple lines, automatic backup and various character encodings. Run grep like extractions to condense or rearrange sources, or perform bulk file renaming

Splinterdog · Jan 25, 2021

Video Proc - a video editing, conversion, recording and downloading suite is free to download at Neowin. The only snag is that there are a few hoops to jump through such as multiple questions and your interest in all things science.
But the program is well worth it and I've been using it for years. It's worth about $30.

VideoProc v4.1 (worth $78.90) now free to download

Here's your free license of VideoProc for Windows & Mac. An easy solution to process, download and convert video/audio, record screen, rip & backup DVD with hardware acceleration. Ends Feb 9.

www.neowin.net

biffzinker · Jan 25, 2021

lemonadesoda said:
And you have to use MS “Store”.

You can close out of the account prompt, and still download. Unless you don't like interacting with the store.

lexluthermiester · Jan 25, 2021

Splinterdog said:
Video Proc - a video editing, conversion, recording and downloading suite is free to download at Neowin. The only snag is that there are a few hoops to jump through such as multiple questions and your interest in all things science.
But the program is well worth it and I've been using it for years. It's worth about $30.

VideoProc v4.1 (worth $78.90) now free to download

Here's your free license of VideoProc for Windows & Mac. An easy solution to process, download and convert video/audio, record screen, rip & backup DVD with hardware acceleration. Ends Feb 9.

www.neowin.net

There's a catch and a lot of people can't or won't do this, You need a work email to get the license. Then there's a whole lot of hoops you have to jump through. Not very cool at all... Kinda shady IMHO.

Splinterdog · Jan 25, 2021

lexluthermiester said:
There's a catch and a lot of people can't or won't do this, You need a work email to get the license. Then there's a whole lot of hoops you have to jump through. Not very cool at all... Kinda shady IMHO.

Well fine. It's up to the individual, but the actual program is excellent.

lexluthermiester · Jan 25, 2021

Splinterdog said:
Well fine. It's up to the individual, but the actual program is excellent.

Yeah, I just tested it. The video codec encoder selection is lacking to say the least and the audio encoder isn't much better as it limits bitrates to pathetically low levels. I could keep going with that list, but one word sums it up: Garbage.

Anyone who wants a media encoder/recoder will want something with more features.

XmediaRecode comes to mind and is excellent;

XMedia Recode Download - Free Video-Converter

XMedia Recode is a free All-In-One video converter and audio converter tool.

www.xmedia-recode.de

It's actually free, no hoops to jump through.

Handbrake is also excellent;

HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder.

handbrake.fr

It's also actually free with no hoops to jump through.

MediaCoder is also a very good one;

MediaCoder - Download Latest MediaCoder

MediaCoder is a free universal audio/video batch transcoder, putting together lots of excellent audio/video codecs and tools from the open source community into an all-in-one solution, capable of transcoding among different audio/video formats with many extra features.

www.mediacoderhq.com

Or a portable version;

MediaCoder - Download latest MediaCoder Full Pack

MediaCoder is a free universal audio/video batch transcoder, putting together lots of excellent audio/video codecs and tools from the open source community into an all-in-one solution, capable of transcoding among different audio/video formats with many extra features.

www.mediacoderhq.com

It's donation-ware but but will only ask for donations, it will not limit functionality at all. Still though, no hoops to jump through.

All three of these are greatly better options than Video Proc and you will not have to jump through any hoops or get over any hurdles to get them.

Splinterdog · Jan 26, 2021

lexluthermiester said:
Yeah, I just tested it. The video codec encoder selection is lacking to say the least and the audio encoder isn't much better as it limits bitrates to pathetically low levels. I could keep going with that list, but one word sums it up: Garbage.

Anyone who wants a media encoder/recoder will want something with more features.

XmediaRecode comes to mind and is excellent;

XMedia Recode Download - Free Video-Converter

XMedia Recode is a free All-In-One video converter and audio converter tool.

www.xmedia-recode.de

It's actually free, no hoops to jump through.

Handbrake is also excellent;

HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder.

handbrake.fr

It's also actually free with no hoops to jump through.

MediaCoder is also a very good one;

MediaCoder - Download Latest MediaCoder

MediaCoder is a free universal audio/video batch transcoder, putting together lots of excellent audio/video codecs and tools from the open source community into an all-in-one solution, capable of transcoding among different audio/video formats with many extra features.

www.mediacoderhq.com

Or a portable version;

MediaCoder - Download latest MediaCoder Full Pack

MediaCoder is a free universal audio/video batch transcoder, putting together lots of excellent audio/video codecs and tools from the open source community into an all-in-one solution, capable of transcoding among different audio/video formats with many extra features.

www.mediacoderhq.com

It's donation-ware but but will only ask for donations, it will not limit functionality at all. Still though, no hoops to jump through.

All three of these are greatly better options than Video Proc and you will not have to jump through any hoops or get over any hurtles to get them.

You make excellent points, but I must point out that for my meagre purposes, VideoProc does the trick, mainly the downloader and DVD rip.
For more elaborate video processing, I have other progs.

ThrashZone · Jan 30, 2021

Hi,
Not a program but don't go on the net without it
Ublock Origin browser add-on

lemonadesoda · Feb 6, 2021

ThrashZone said:
Not a program but don't go on the net without it
Ublock Origin browser add-on

What does it do? You are making us work to have to go find out.

djisas · Feb 6, 2021

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
Not a program but don't go on the net without it
Ublock Origin browser add-on

It makes life much easier...
Nothing annoys me more than adds, I wish chrome mobile had it, but at least firefox does...

Mussels · Feb 7, 2021

Not quite a useful *program* but adguard DNS has been a lifesaver for me

just having all those ads blocked network wide is awesome (and they do have apps for various platforms as well, but the DNS is agnostic)

djisas · Feb 7, 2021

Mussels said:
Not quite a useful *program* but adguard DNS has been a lifesaver for me

just having all those ads blocked network wide is awesome (and they do have apps for various platforms as well, but the DNS is agnostic)

For me, the issue is in my smartphone, anything outside firefox is half screen of adds, with FF it's all clean content, FU google for plaguing your own software with trash and making money with it...

Mussels · Feb 7, 2021

djisas said:
For me, the issue is in my smartphone, anything outside firefox is half screen of adds, with FF it's all clean content, FU google for plaguing your own software with trash and making money with it...

on android you can change DNS, so i use it on my phone even off wifi

Drone · Feb 12, 2021

Audio player for Win/Unix/nacOS

Downloads | Clementine Music Player (clementine-player.org)

PLAfiller · Feb 12, 2021

Mussels said:
Not quite a useful *program* but adguard DNS has been a lifesaver for me

just having all those ads blocked network wide is awesome (and they do have apps for various platforms as well, but the DNS is agnostic)

Can you stack that with the "Family shield" form OpenDNS? Or you can only have one DNS at a time?

Mussels · Feb 12, 2021

lZKoce said:
Can you stack that with the "Family shield" form OpenDNS? Or you can only have one DNS at a time?

you can only have one at a time
adguard to have a family friendly version as well you can set on kids devices, blocks youtube comments and similar things

Space Lynx · Feb 12, 2021

new edition of shutupten is out, feb 9th update.

O&O ShutUp10++ – Free antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11

With the freeware O&O ShutUp10++, unwanted Windows 10 and 11 features can be disabled and the transfer of sensitive personal data onto Microsoft prevented.

www.oo-software.com

as always remember to run as admin. i also block it in my firewall, meh.

HK-1 · Apr 9, 2021

Splinterdog said:
Video Proc - a video editing, conversion, recording and downloading suite is free to download at Neowin. The only snag is that there are a few hoops to jump through such as multiple questions and your interest in all things science.
But the program is well worth it and I've been using it for years. It's worth about $30.

VideoProc v4.1 (worth $78.90) now free to download

Here's your free license of VideoProc for Windows & Mac. An easy solution to process, download and convert video/audio, record screen, rip & backup DVD with hardware acceleration. Ends Feb 9.

www.neowin.net

Thanks for the indication friend, although I prefer to use this from here: https://kdenlive.org/en/features/ free and works very well

Splinterdog · Aug 24, 2021

Video Proc is free again!

VideoProc v4.2 (worth $78.90) is free to download until Friday

Here is your free download of a licensed copy of VideoProc - an easy solution to process, download and convert video/audio, record screen, rip and backup DVD with GPU hardware acceleration.

www.neowin.net

Space Lynx · Aug 24, 2021

Splinterdog said:
Video Proc is free again!

VideoProc v4.2 (worth $78.90) is free to download until Friday

Here is your free download of a licensed copy of VideoProc - an easy solution to process, download and convert video/audio, record screen, rip and backup DVD with GPU hardware acceleration.

www.neowin.net

it says it requires a work email to claim it... weird... so I can't use a personal email? i mean technically my job is remote, but still all my video stuff is cloud based, so I technically still can't claim I need this for work. I will pass I guess.

Splinterdog · Aug 24, 2021

lynx29 said:
it says it requires a work email to claim it... weird... so I can't use a personal email? i mean technically my job is remote, but still all my video stuff is cloud based, so I technically still can't claim I need this for work. I will pass I guess.

Me too because of all the hoops we have to jump through. Looks like an info harvesting scheme to me.

System Name	Ryzen Monster
Processor	Ryzen 5 5600X
Motherboard	Asus ROG Crosshair Hero VII WiFi
Cooling	Corsair H100i RGB Platinum
Memory	Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (4x8GB) 3200Mhz CMW16GX4M2C3200C16
Video Card(s)	Asus ROG Strix RX5700XT OC 8Gb
Storage	WD Black 500GB NVMe 250Gb Samsung SSD, OCZ 500Gb SSD WD M.2 500Gb, plus three spinners up to 1.5Tb
Display(s)	LG 32GK650F-B 32" UltraGear™ QHD
Case	Cooler Master Storm Trooper
Audio Device(s)	Supreme FX on board
Power Supply	Corsair RM850X full modular
Mouse	Corsair M65 Pro
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB Silent
VR HMD	Headphones Logitech G533 wireless
Software	Windows 11 Start 11
Benchmark Scores	3DMark Time Spy 4532 (9258 March 2021, 9399 July 2021)

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	AlderLake / Laptop
Processor	Intel i7 12700K P-Cores @ 5Ghz / Intel i3 7100U
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Master / HP 83A3 (U3E1)
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12A 2 fans + Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme + 5 case fans / Fan
Memory	32GB DDR5 Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 6000MHz CL36 / 8GB DDR4 HyperX CL13
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio / Intel HD620
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Evo 500GB + 850 Pro 512GB + 860 Evo 1TB x2 / Samsung 256GB M.2 SSD
Display(s)	23.8" Dell S2417DG 165Hz G-Sync 1440p / 14" 1080p IPS Glossy
Case	Be quiet! Silent Base 600 - Window / HP Pavilion
Audio Device(s)	Panasonic SA-PMX94 / Realtek onboard + B&O speaker system / Harman Kardon Go + Play / Logitech G533
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 750W / Powerbrick
Mouse	Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Laser wireless / Logitech M330 wireless
Keyboard	RAPOO E9270P Black 5GHz wireless / HP backlit
Software	Windows 11 / Windows 10
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R23 (Single Core) 1936 @ stock Cinebench R23 (Multi Core) 23006 @ stock

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

System Name	Commercial towing vehicle "Nostromo"
Processor	5800X3D
Motherboard	X570 Unify
Cooling	EK-AIO 360
Memory	32 GB Fury 3666 MHz
Video Card(s)	4070 Ti Eagle
Storage	SN850 NVMe 1TB + Renegade NVMe 2TB + 870 EVO 4TB
Display(s)	25" Legion Y25g-30
Case	Lian Li LanCool 216 v2
Audio Device(s)	B & W PX7 S2e
Power Supply	HX1500i
Mouse	Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition
Keyboard	Scope II 96 Wireless
Software	Windows 11 23H2

Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	MSI B450 Tomahawk ATX
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition
Memory	VENGEANCE LPX 2 x 16GB DDR4-3600 C18 OCed 3800
Video Card(s)	XFX Speedster SWFT309 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT CORE Gaming
Storage	970 EVO NVMe M.2 500 GB, 870 QVO 1 TB
Display(s)	Samsung 28” 4K monitor
Case	Phantek Eclipse P400S (PH-EC416PS)
Audio Device(s)	EVGA NU Audio
Power Supply	EVGA 850 BQ
Mouse	SteelSeries Rival 310
Keyboard	Logitech G G413 Silver
Software	Windows 10 Professional 64-bit v22H2

System Name	Ghetto Rigs z490\|x99\|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor	10900k w/Optimus Foundation \| 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard	z490 Maximus XII Apex \| x99 Sabertooth
Cooling	oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block \| Blk D15
Memory	Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb \| Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp-water \| evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage	970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb \| 860 pro 256gb \| Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb\| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case	D450 \| Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s)	Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply	EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 \| 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse	Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard	G710+x3
Software	Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores	Are in the benchmark section

System Name	Unreal Machine IV
Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Motherboard	Asrock 570X Taichi
Cooling	Noctua U9S
Memory	Team UD4-4000 @4000 CL18 1:1
Video Card(s)	5600XT Red Devil
Storage	Kingston SSD 240GB + WD RED 4TB + WD Blue SN 550 Nvme 1TB X3
Display(s)	DELL U2417H
Case	Old school Termalthake xaser III black with lots of noctua 80mm fans
Audio Device(s)	Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion + Creative Inspire t7900 7.1 + Sony MDR-1A + AKG K-240
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime GX-750
Mouse	Logitech G502 hero SE
Keyboard	Logitech
Software	10 pro
Benchmark Scores	Cinebench R23 Multi ~15k 4.4Ghz all core Cinebench R23 single 1.5k 4.65Ghz

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	Sandfiller
Processor	I5-10400
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS
Cooling	Noctua NH-L9i (92x25mm fan)
Memory	32GB Corsair LPX 2400 Mhz DDR4 CL14
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 5700 XT GAMING X
Storage	Intel 670P 512GB
Display(s)	2560x1080 LG 29" + 22" LG
Case	SS RV02
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Fractal Design IntegraM 650W
Mouse	Logitech Triathlon
Keyboard	REDRAGON MITRA
Software	Windows 11 Home x 64

System Name	Windows 10 PRO 21H1 modded by me
Processor	AMD A10 7800
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3HP
Cooling	Air colled for a while
Memory	2x HyperX 8GB DDR 3
Video Card(s)	Radeon RX580 8GB Power Color
Storage	CT120BX500SSD1+ ST2000DM008-2FR102
Display(s)	1 Sansung 18,5" LCD + 1 LG 22" LCD
Case	Deep Cool Tesseract modified by me
Audio Device(s)	Power Amplifier made and developed by me
Power Supply	Corsair CX 750M
Mouse	Philips wireless
Keyboard	Philips wireless
Software	severals
Benchmark Scores	@SysSoft Sandra 8.9 KPT

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

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