computerfreaker's favorites (29)

NOTE: Recent press about CCleaner indicates it may represent a privacy concern.

CCleaner is a feature-rich system optimization and privacy tool. The program cleans unused, temporary and log files from your system, as well as traces of online activities such as Internet history and flash cookies. The program contains startup controls for Windows, major internet browsers and context menu entries. Includes a separate registry cleaner, duplicate search, system restore tool and can wipe both deleted files and drive free space for security.

A 64-bit version is available (within the folder). Monitoring functions are only available in the pro version.

Additional cleaner rules can be using an unofficial set of community-developed set. It should be noted that many of these rules are alpha and the developers will not provide support for these rules, a thread in the users forum is dedicated to supporting the add-on rules.

Alternatively, ccPortable is also available.

Notepad++ is a tabbed source code editor and Notepad replacement with a customizable interface. Includes source code "folding", allowing users to quickly reduce and expand sections of code to see the overall document. In addition, it features multi-language syntax highlighting, auto-completion, Perl-compatible regular expression search/replace, macro recording and playback, document map etc.

A host of additional functionality is available via the plugins admin view, including tools for file analysis, programming languages, viewers, calculations, user interface and many more.

Alternatively, Notepad++ Portable and the outdated X-Notepad++ clean the local folder.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a powerful photo and image editor for composition and authoring. It can be used as a simple paint program, a high quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter and much more.

The program is cross-platform with versions available for Mac and Linux. GIMP Portable is the PortableApps version of the program.

Notes:

1. If you're willing to risk trying a 2012 add-on, mimic Photoshop adjusts GIMP's layout to a switched on Photoshop-like single-window mode.
2. Alternatively, another portable package (though outdated from 2021) is X-Gimp.

KeePass is a password manager that helps you store and manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key-disk. You need only remember one single master password to unlock the whole database, which is encrypted using AES and Twofish algorithms. The program includes a strong automatic password generator, expire dates, customized icons and categories etc.

Note that available plug-ins may not be portable.

Alternatively:

• KeePass Professional, which requires DotNet but has more features (see edition comparison)
• KeePass Portable with an additional feature to automatically adjusts paths
• Outdated X-KeePass
• Unofficial ports for multiple operating systems

ToDoList is a hierarchical task manager that allows you to repeatedly sub-divide your tasks into more manageable pieces, which makes it ideal for IT-related projects as well as more general activities. Each task can be given a wide variety of attributes including priority, risk, color, category and many more. Viewable in tree, list or calendar format and includes native XML support for custom reporting.

Created lists can be exported to a variety of formats including HTML, ICS (calendar), speadsheet and more. Supports remote todolists and encryption for security.

SumatraPDF is a lightweight, tabbed document reader for a variety of formats. Includes a wide variety of views including table of contents, rotation, facing pages, book view (2 pages side-by-side), full screen and presentation mode. Includes support for bookmarks, command-line arguments, hotkeys, and more. Additionally, SumatraPDF can function as a portable browser plugin. Supported formats include PDF, eBooks (EPUB, MOBI, FB2/FB2Z, PDB, TCR), Comic Books (CBZ/CBR/CBT/CB7Z), DJVU, CHM, XPS, TXT, images (JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, J2K, WEBP, TGA) and PostScript documents (PS/EPS, AI, PRN - requires Ghostscript).

Alternatively, Sumatra Portable adjusts recently used and most used file paths.

FastStone Image Viewer is an image browser, viewer and converter that supports resizing, renaming, cropping, color adjustments, watermarks, lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image frames, scanner support, histogram and more. It also includes a built-in slideshow with 60+ transitional effects. It supports all major graphic formats including BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO, TGA and several Camera RAWs.

The program includes metadata (EXIF) tools including the ability to pull up a map of where a given picture was taken by looking at GPS data.

USBDeview lists all USB devices plugged into your computer, both current and past. Information on devices includes name/description, type, serial number (for mass storage), the date/time that device was added, Vendor ID, Product ID etc. The program also allows you to disconnect currently connected USB devices as well as uninstall previously used USB devices.

The program will also allows you to execute a command from EXE/CMD/BAT file in every time that insert a USB device to your system, and USBDeview includes a read/write speed test for your USB flash drives.

Functional on remote computers, as long as you have an admin login to the destination machine.

Listary is an enhancement that allows you to quickly search almost any listing in Windows by simply typing your search terms. The program will pop up a small, semi-transparent window in Explorer windows (including open/save dialogs), Task Manager, Registry Editor and even directly on your desktop. The program works with almost any application with a system-generated list.

Although some programs will automatically jump to the first letter you type (a find-as-you-type feature of Windows Explorer), you must type quickly for more than one letter and cannot see your output. Listary brings a long-time feature of Linux to Windows, letting you enter whole words and type slower with automatic changes. Additionally, it allows wildcards and has the ability to edit your input with immediate results.

Advanced features include hotkeys, autocomplete, blacklists, favorites, a customizable window. Note that the program contains many "pro"-only features, but the program is very functional in its basic version.

Note: The latest version is no longer portable. This entry has been updated to reflect the last known portable version of the program.