Freeware!

[Tasgandy]

I found this little Gem that may be of interest to some.

 

Time for a reinstall of your applications. Except that you forgot to write down the installation key of that software, and the CD case (or confirmation email) has long since been lost. So you face the prospect of having to buy another licence for that can't-do-without application.

 

If that sounds familiar, here's a possible solution. A tiny, free utility for Windows (XP and above) that retrieves and displays the installation keys for loads of Windows apps. There are other utilities that do this but the fact that this one is tiny and can be used from a USB stick makes it stand out. No installation required. CD Key Finder

 

PS: a game CD Key finder also available at the same link

[Lyronx]

I found this little Gem that may be of interest to some.

 

Time for a reinstall of your applications. Except that you forgot to write down the installation key of that software, and the CD case (or confirmation email) has long since been lost. So you face the prospect of having to buy another licence for that can't-do-without application.

 

If that sounds familiar, here's a possible solution. A tiny, free utility for Windows (XP and above) that retrieves and displays the installation keys for loads of Windows apps. There are other utilities that do this but the fact that this one is tiny and can be used from a USB stick makes it stand out. No installation required. CD Key Finder

 

PS: a game CD Key finder also available at the same link

hahaha I used gamekey revealer to steal the cd key of a game from an internet cafe.

[hazelnut]

I should take more care about what you post here Lyronx. Piracy in any form is not approved of on this forum.

 

I don't think the cafe owner would have laughed if he knew either.

 

See your pm's.

[Tasgandy]

hahaha I used gamekey revealer to steal the cd key of a game from an internet cafe.

Actions like that classify you as "a mug"...........Please clean your act up or go somewhere else to advertise your attitude.

[ident]

Actions like that classify you as "a mug"...........Please clean your act up or go somewhere else to advertise your attitude.

 

To be fair, i bet 99% of people on here have done some thing "internet illegal" it's a subject thats banned hence no talki on it. which is fair enough

 

 

he/she still avoid my question

[Willy2]

This is currently my favourite memory manager: ""Cleanmem"". Just yesterday version v1.5.1 was released and it's freeware.

[Aethec]

This is currently my favourite memory manager: ""Cleanmem"". Just yesterday version v1.5.1 was released and it's freeware.

 

A memory cleaner ? Uh...usually they either don't do anything, or put everything in the pagefile which is a really bad idea...

[Willy2]

No no, this memory manager works differently. This actually releases memory for use by other applications. Read all the details here: http://www.pcwintech.com/cleanmem

 

It uses the Windows Task scheduler in combination with a special Windows API. Without moving info to the swapfile (!!) memory use of IE 8 was reduced from 38 MB to under 1 MB.

[Aethec]

No no, this memory manager works differently. This actually releases memory for use by other applications. Read all the details here: http://www.pcwintech.com/cleanmem

 

It uses the Windows Task scheduler in combination with a special Windows API. Without moving info to the swapfile (!!) memory use of IE 8 was reduced from 38 MB to under 1 MB.

 

Are you really sure of that ? I highly doubt the IE team would let a 37-megabytes memory leak pass through.

(hopefully, one day we'll all be using managed programs, with garbage collectors...)

 

I just tested it, and...it does nothing on my system. The process is there for a few seconds, and then closes.

[Winapp2.ini]

PLEASE READ: How Cleanmem Works

Ok for once and for all I am going to explain in detail how Cleanmem works, why it works and how it can & can not make a difference in your system. Every now and then as I go across the net I find forums and pages talking about Cleanmem, and to be honest I am truly surprised to see the people throwing fits about the program being a memory cleaner and how if it is a memory cleaner it must not work! Yet they never even try it. Then when I come across pages like on www.raymond.cc who actually took the time to try it and test it makes me feel like my work is appreciated by my fellow geeks & techs as he took the time to try it, he didn't judge before hand. Yet reading comments on his site you will find people shocked it works and others saying it cant work and they didn't try it.

 

I also get emails of people asking me how it works, and so I decided to make this section to explain how Cleanmem works. So now any questions should be answered and all the people out there who don't even bother testing the program will have no room to talk. Its amazing how a free program I originally made for my customers has been such a headache and a pleasure at the same time. You've got to love the internet.

 

So now lets start with how Cleanmem works. Cleanmem is very small as it doesn't need to do much. First off Cleanmem doesn't clean the memory from the processes itself! It asks Windows to do that. When the program starts up it grabs a list of running processes. It then grabs the ID of each process and calls the Windows API EmptyWorkingSet for each processes, Cleanmem of course checks the ignore list and skips those processes. Then Windows cleans the process, and once all the processes have been cleaned Cleanmem closes itself.

 

Well that's the part that seems to freak some people out, if the memory is being cleaned then the process itself will suffer! the memory will be pushed to the hard drive! the world will end! And guess what they are wrong. So let me explain why. The API call only removes memory no longer being used by the process. It doesn't touch memory in use. Here is an example from a visual basic programming stand point.

 

Dim I as long

 

I = 20000

 

Done. Now 'I' has been set as a long number, it has now taken a spot in memory. It then loads the 20000 into memory. At the end of the call the memory is no longer used but still being taken up by the program because I didn't clean it up! A lot of programs do this, they take memory but don't always cleanup after themselves. Well the API is like a little house cleaning. It removes all safe unused memory. When the process runs the function again the memory is then taken again without any difference in performance to the program because it would do it anyways, it wont reuse the old memory, this is why you see program climb and climb in memory usage as you use them. So why let all the unused memory just sit there?

 

Here is an example, I loaded of my Age Of Conan game, it was using about 600mb of memory, when I run my Cleanmem the memory only lowers to about 500mb, and the game doesn't miss a hit, why? because that 500mb of memory was currently being used and windows didn't touch it, only the memory left over was removed, which isn't going to touch the games performance since the memory wasn't in use. This is also why the page file doesn't grow, cause no memory is being moved away from the process.

 

Will you see performance increase? Yes if a lot of your memory is being eaten up, plus keeping the processes cleaner adds a small performance increase when dealing with memory. But if you have a butt load of memory like I do you wont see amazing increases in performance, but if your running low on memory it makes a big difference.

 

If you have a lot of memory why use Cleanmem? Well I use it cause I like my system running tight and clean. Just because my system has a lot of memory doesn't mean I want things sucking it all up if it isn't even using it. That's why I made Cleanmem sort of a set it and forget it. I never need to worry about a program having memory leaks or not cleaning up after itself.

 

So what I did with Cleanmem was take a built in Windows API and made it easy and automatic to keep no longer used memory free. The program is free, the setup is easy and life is good. So if for some reason you don't want to use Cleanmem, that's fine. I'm not trying to push a free program on people, I could care less if someone doesn't want to use it. But for those of you that do use it I'm glad you find it useful and I'm here if you have any questions or needs.

 

A quick note on the API call itself. This is the same API used by Microsoft in its empty.exe in the Windows 2003 Resource kit. This is also the same api that all .Net programs use by default when you minimize them and their memory lowers. So now instead of being just for .Net, Cleanmem lets you use it on all your programs.

 

I hope this answers all questions and helps people understand once and for all about Cleanmem.

 

Take care!

Shane

 

 

Seems it does call some function from the windows API to just drop memory not in use.

[Talldog9]

CLCL

 

I've posted this before.

 

Very featureful and lightweight clipboard manager. No longer developed but it works great.

 

imgSeek

imgSeek is a collection of free open source visual similarity projects. The query (image you are looking for) can be expressed either as a rough sketch painted by the user or as another image you supply (or an image in your collection). The searching algorithm makes use of multiresolution wavelet decomposition of the query and database images.

 

It is comprised of:

 

Desktop version, which is a photo collection manager and viewer with content-based search and many other features.

Server side version: if you're interested on integrating a content-based image database into an image-related web site.

Imagine

Features

 

- View and save image/animation files with very fast speed

- Support for numerous image/animation file formats:

GIF, BMP, PNG, JPG, TIF, TGA, PCX, ICO, ANI, FLI, and many more...

- Extract single/all frames from animation files

- Show detailed information of image/animation files

- Show EXIF information

- Show or hide transparency

- Support ZIP, RAR, 7Z, ALZ, HV3, CBZ, CBR, CB7 file

- 64-bit version available

- Unicode version available

- Multilingual support:

English, German, Spanish, Russian, Danish, Korean, Chinese, and many more...

- Thumbnail browser

- Capture screen

- Batch conversion

- Slideshow

- Tiled view (check textures for seamless tiling,

very useful for game developers/modders)

- Create animations

- Create multiple page images

- Manipulate and edit images:

+ Flip vertical and horizontal

+ Rotate left, right and free

+ Grayscale

+ Negative

+ Change color depth (1, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 32 bit)

+ Swap colors

+ Resize per pixel, percentage or standard dimensions. Several resample filters available.

+ Effect filters, including a handy Preview browser

+ Import, export and edit palettes

+ Set and remove transparency

+ and more ...

- Customizable shortcuts for Keyboard and Mouse

- Command line parameter support

- Shell extension support

- Add-on plugin support

- Total Commander lister and packer plugin

- No write unnecessary registry (ini-based configuration)

- Fully optimized binaries (tiny, pure, fast, neat)

 

System requirements

- CPU: Pentium compatible

- Memory: 32MB or higher

- OS: Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7

- Display: 256 color or higher

 

Current latest WIP(Work-In-Progress) version is available:

 

v1.0.8, Jul 17 2010 (Work-In-Progress)

- Added: Menu - 'JPEG lossless rotation'

- Added: Page navigator for multiple page images

- Added: CHM for default help file

- Added: 'Application' tab in preferences dialog

- Added: Option 'Individual option per user'

- Added: Slideshow options can be saved

- Added: Auto folder creation in batch conversion and capture screen

- Added: Support for WPG (WordPerfect Graphics) file format

- Added: Keep transparency when resized

- Added: Private options for toolbars

- Fixed: Rename/Delete bug in folder tree

- Fixed: Scroll bar bug

- Fixed: Slideshow executable bug in 64-bit version

- Fixed: Full screen mode in Total Commander Lister bug

[Willy2]

My favourite free software:

 

- Editpad lite: Texteditor. current version 6.64. Can handle multiple textfiles at a time.

- Cleanmem v1.5.1

- Deskscan v1.38 (v2.0 sucks): to make screendumps.

- Ccleaner

- Defraggler v1.10 (!!!)

- GlobFx SWF player: some games/presentations are contained in a *.swf file and this program is able to play those *.swf files without e.g. IE 8

- Treesize: shows how much diskspace is used by which folders. Much simpler than e.g. Windirstats.

- ExplorerXP: an explorer that shows every folder and file in Windows. Even those that are marked hidden and/or system.

- ERUNT: that program saved me, at least, a dozen times.

- Clean Disk Security. current version 7.8 (works with XP, Vista, Windows 7, 32 and 64 bit). Only used to overwrite (deleted) disk-files/-space and is faster than Wipe Free Space in Ccleaner.

[Talldog9]

Process Hacker is not what you may remember if you haven't tried it for a while. Formerly .NET it is now in C. Lighter and speedier.

[hazelnut]

MrDon I have deleted the post you just posted.

 

This is a Freeware thread not an area for just posting your thoughts.

[mr don]

Now I have Vista Home.... nice and all, but it's a hog. Are there reliable progs to speed up this thing?

And.. ccleaner is a great prog, but I want to have a cleaner registry.. any tips anyone? (a lot of progs leave junk in there when I uninstall....)

 

I use trillian and am pretty ok with it, but there are prolly better alternatives. I use yahoo, aim, msn, icq (and maybe more) on there.. would like to keep using that... with little or no icons on the buddy list.. keeping it clean, simple, but not TOO basic. Can anyone recommend anything? (and also tell me why it's better)

 

Thanks.

 

I will list ways to speed things up, but be sure to always have a good & complete OS backup before proceeding on any suggestions anyone makes here. This will eliminate problems should things go wrong.

 

- It is known that both XP & 7 are faster than Vista. This is 1 way to be faster.

- Turn off visual effects in Vista, particularly Aero Peek.

- If you have bloatware like Norton/McAffee, uninstall their whole suite & replace it with something like AVG free.

- Use Nirsoft Startup Run to detect startup + BHO objects. Disable all you know are safe to & can do without.

- CClean the drive.

- Turn off System Restore to clear all those gigs of data, then re-enable it & create a new one for emergency.

- Uninstall all internet service offers, trialware office progs, games etc, & replace it with better ones like Open Office freeware.

- Be sure your system is free of malware, as this can greatly slow a system.

- Defraggler your system fully.

- If you haven't checked your drive, a 7,200 RPM drive is cheap & 2x faster read/write/load than 5,400 RPM. There are also 10,000 & 15,000 RPM drives & SSD solid state drives. Bigger cache sizes are better, IE, 2 mb cache, 4, 8, 16, 32 because they can hold more pre-processed data.

- If you haven't got one, a good 2d/3d video card can speed things up. ATI is probably the best in compatibility/appearance/speed balance although some prefer NVidia.

- Be sure your system is clean of dust & adequately cooled. Check that the fans on the processor/video card/PSU work like they should. Dust traps heat.

- If you don't use this feature, turn off the check for networked folders/printers on startup.

- Turning off check for differential file compression on networks can speed up things.

- Get to know your non MS services & disable ones you do not need. Be sure you read up on each one online first & know what they do.

- Turning color depth down to 16 bit instead of 32 can speed things up as well as using a blank backgroud instead of a pic. JPG files are usually much smaller than BMP & much faster to display if you have to use one.

- If you have lots of files, partition the drive into 2 drives so that you have 1 drive to put all your Drivers, Audio, Docs, Games, Pics, Videos, Apps onto. This speeds up defragging/virus & malware scans/file search utilities & saves wear on your drive to boot!

 

I am very sleepy now. Maybe I will think of more later on. Be sure to google anything you do not know, or ask people you trust on here before proceeding with anything. I am sure they will be glad to help if you have any questions.

 

P.S. Have you tried Miranda IM?

[mr don]

MrDon I have deleted the post you just posted.

 

This is a Freeware thread not an area for just posting your thoughts.

I get lost sometimes in helping people.

I think everyone gets sidetracked from time to time though. I will post a few good programs here that I like.

 

- Locate32 is a free & fast file search utility that can locate thousands of files in an instant & has find as you type. At least, the beta does. I believe the other one may, not sure! It also features a unique find file containing text which can be very useful if you need to know what is in a certain file... XP Search is one weakness, & is verrrrry slow compared to this utility. If you have 500,000 or 1,000,000 files in various folders, XP will literally crawl for 15 min or more to find a file while Locate 32 is fast. Vista & 7 have gotten much faster in their searches, but they make it harder to find their search options such as searching an external or flash drive. In addition, Vista & 7 throw up results at times that may not be what you want, or show limited results, while Locate32 shows everything (even hidden files).

- IMGburn is a great free CD/DVD image creator/recorder

- InfraRecorder is a good free CD/DVD burner

- BartDart context menu is a good program to check right click context menus for invalid entries

- Pete Romaines Attribute Changer is a good free tool that can change properties of files/folders when windows can't

- Unlocker by Cedrick Collomb is a good free tool to unlock files so you can move/delete files that are locked

- ExtractNow is a good free multi archive unpacker that is fast & easy to use. It does away with probs you may encounter using Winrar or Winzip to extract tons of Zip/7Zip/ISO/Rar & tons of other types because it gives each file its own folder so none of them ever get overwritten

 

There are a lot more, but I am sleepy right now. Maybe I will add to the list later.

[mr don]

DVD shrink is one of my favourite apps.

 

(Along with Decrypter)

If you have problems decrypting with UK Lightning's decrypter on newer movies you own, DVD Fab free works great for decrypting them. Then, you can shrink n burn with DVD Shrink. Seems that Nero 6 series works good with Shrink, but I do not know if 7, 8, or 9 do in the shrink "back up with Nero" option.

 

There is a cheat you can do with shrink if you have a movie that is on 2 disks, & that is to create a back up of side A in a folder named PA & side B in a folder named B.

 

Normally, you cannot load 2 movies into shrink, because the GUI will not allow it. If I recall correctly, after using the GUI to load the 1st half, you can drag n drop the 2cd half onto it & shrink em both to fit. I forget if this was under the main movie section, or whole disk, but I do recall that it did work.

 

Additionally, you can run multiple passes on a movie to shrink it if needed, but this degrades quality severely.

[mr don]

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/index.html

_______________________________________

 

 

 

 

Although I like Nirsoft tools, Batch Icon Extractor is much simpler to use & the icons it generates look much better than the IconsExtract by Nirsoft & also beats many of the other icon programs. I tried a lot of icon programs & suffered either from jagged edges, 256 color icons (as opposed to true color), etc., & Batch Icon Extractor seems to beat them all on the quality of the icons so far... It is free as well. http://www.rw-designer.com/batch-icon-extractor

 

post edited by moderator to save space

[login123]

You don't really have to quote the whole post every time. I have developed a callous on my index finger scrolling past it all.

[mr don]

I will remember that. I learn tricks as I go along from others like you.

 

Thanks!

[Andavari]

There is a cheat you can do with shrink if you have a movie that is on 2 disks, & that is to create a back up of side A in a folder named PA & side B in a folder named B.

 

Normally, you cannot load 2 movies into shrink, because the GUI will not allow it. If I recall correctly, after using the GUI to load the 1st half, you can drag n drop the 2cd half onto it & shrink em both to fit. I forget if this was under the main movie section, or whole disk, but I do recall that it did work.

 

Wow I've been wanting this ability for ages with DVD Shrink. I'll have to give your tip a proper go the next time I want to fit a series TV program I record instead of having them on separate DVDs.

[ishan_rulz]

Wow I've been wanting this ability for ages with DVD Shrink. I'll have to give your tip a proper go the next time I want to fit a series TV program I record instead of having them on separate DVDs.

 

Try this: http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010/07/16/mkvmania-converting-tv-box-sets-to-mkv-episodes/

 

I have used other methods of shrinking TV programs to Mkv, trust me... its really helpful.

[DennisD]

DVD Shrink takes two files without any problem. As an example I've loaded two separate movies into it, which I ripped yesterday to put on separate disks.

 

 

As in the screeny, select "Reauthor, and then "DVD Browser", and navigate to the files you want. Once in the right pane, drag them in the right order to the left pane, and make sure you select "Automatic Compression" in the other tab.

 

I've joined a couple of two part movies this way, and I've also put two movies on one disk. Don't do the two movie thing anymore, but you can do it.

 

In the screenshot, I opened each folder in turn, and dragged each "Title 1" file across to the other window. Shrink renames the second one automatically.

[hazelnut]

Can confirm this Dennis.

 

Even ofter all this time Shrink is still a great peice of free software.

[Mohandes.2011]

Thank You,For All Information.