Within the time span of one year I have installed, reinstalled, deleted, and created more than any one person should on one computer. Due to the fact that I have to look at hundreds of Web sites and dozens of programs week after week, you can only imagine how much junk gets onto my personal computer. Well about a week ago I figured it was about time I did a little spring cleaning. What did I do? I totally reformatted my machine and put Windows XP back on just like it came out of the box.
Why in the world would somebody do that? You’d be amazed how much quicker a machine is when it is brought back to the first settings it knew. Since I go through so much junk on here I like to do this at least once a year. True, I could probably hunt down and clean up everything by hand and not have to go through the trouble. For me though, it is just easier to go through the Windows XP reinstall.
So what programs to I make a note of installing first? What do I use most often and what do I find the most effective? Here’s my basic list. If you have a list of your own, feel free to share it with me! I’m always looking for new programs to tinker with.
TweakUI, Every Geek’s Friend
Windows has a long lists of things that need to be done to it before I will even touch it. Every good geek knows about TweakUI. For those of you who don’t, it really is one of the first things you should put back on your machine after a Windows XP reinstall. For me, I just really hate my shortcuts to say, “Shortcut to”. There are a million and one other reasons why you should give it a second look though.
A Good Feed Reader, FeedDemon
There are hundreds of feed readers out there today. What makes FeedDemon so different? It actually does everything I need it to do. Heck, it even has features on top of features I haven’t even found a use for yet. If you haven’t gotten yourself set on a way to get your RSS feeds to you, give it a shot.
Browser Wars No More With Firefox
I gave up on Internet Explorer about a year ago. Sure I still use it for a few Web sites that look horrible in anything else, but other than that I use Firefox all the way. I used to hate it because it never seemed to work right for me, but for the past year or so it has done me no wrong.
SmartFTP for the Brilliant Minds
I have gone through many FTP programs since my background is all in the wild and wacky world of Web hosting. That all changed once I found SmartFTP. So far I haven’t found another FTP program out there that has given me enough reason to change.
Trillian, for IMing My Little Heart Out
I don’t really use instant messaging as much as I did when I was in high school. Every once in a while though I get the urge to talk with a few friends. The only problem is a few folks I know are on AIM, others are on Yahoo and a few more are on MSN. Trillian lets me talk with all of them without the need of running three programs at the same time.
OpenOffice, for my Processing of Words
I just recently downloaded the beta version of OpenOffice and I am impressed. I never did use Microsoft Office, other than at school, and here I used to use Microsoft Works. So you can only imagine how much of a step up using OpenOffice was for me. It just still amazes me that it is free.
NoteTab Pro, For My Internet Writing
For all the Online writing I do, as well as any Web page work or anything else of that nature, I use NoteTab Pro. I’m not one who needs anything too fancy. With NoteTab Pro I can just select the features I need then I am ready to sit down and write a few hours. That is what this article here was written on! Try it out!
Audacity, for my Podcasting Passion
I tried several different expensive programs when I started recording my podcast, The Web Hosting Show. That was till somebody turned me onto using Audacity. Audacity isn’t just for podcasting though. Anybody who is interested in editing any sound out there should give it a shot. Along with Open Office, I don’t see how this program is totally free.
Well that is my list, did I miss something? Let me know if you have a program you love to use over and over again and I might make mention of it in a future article.
Update! Several people have asked why don’t I have this program or that program listed for various reasons. There are several other programs I use for other reasons. For spyware, I’d suggest Spybot Search and Destroy. For a good anti-virus program I would suggest AVG Free Edition. If you have any other questions about what I use for other problems or things I might do on here, just leave a comment and I’ll be sure to let you know!