Useful Programs

[Darth Incubus]

An oddball freeware program that has made 2 of my old systems run more reliably: a freeware CPU quota service ThreadMaster and ThreadMaster GUI, a freeware interface that also installs the underlying ThreadMaster service.

THREADMASTER by Soren M. Pedersen:
From the ThreadMaster site:

ThreadMaster Monitors Threads and handle high CPU utilization on a per application basis. This function is primarily intended for Terminal servers hosting multiple users.

ThreadMaster is a background service implementing a CPU Quota mechanism on top of the standard thread scheduling algorithms of the Microsoft Windows 2000 Operating Systems.

A single user is capable of hogging all of the processor resources. The result will be a reduction in the quality of service experienced by all other users on the server. ThreadMaster can help you to deal with this situation.

Using ThreadMaster without the GUI (not recommended!)
Despite the Windows 2000 bit, I've also tried it on XP Professional SP3 with success. While it was developed for servers, it does seem to help out when certain buggy programs make ridiculous demands upon a personal PC. Firefox 3.5 is a good example -- it was using insane CPU time when it first came out.

The article Using ThreadMaster to Tame Rogue Applications at VirtualizationAdmin.com is a MUST READ for using this program without the GUI, and not a bad idea even if you do use the GUI.

Also, from the Using ThreadMaster to Tame Rogue Applications article at VirtualizationAdmin.com: Be aware that the default installation will cause all processes to be capped at 15% of CPU utilization. That's crazy for a PC, so I'd start with a value of at least 75% and then tweak from there for individual apps. It's a lot of work to go in and edit the registry for every process you want to run above 15%, so I'd recommend changing the default values as noted here at FreeLists.org. The text is also available if you DIDN'T use the GUI installer in a readme.txt file available in \windows\system32\threadmaster. It's unnecessary in the combined GUI & ThreadMaster installer, so you won't find the readme.txt in that folder if that's how you did the installation.

In the past I've capped AVG Antivirus which makes high CPU demands on start-up -- capping it at no more than 75% of CPU utilization and PeerGuardian at 50% because it likewise demanded a lot at start-up (I block out a lot of countries). I set the cap to all other programs at 90%. I've since switched to Antivir for my anti-virus and PeerBlock for my I.P. filter. Both are far less demanding of CPU time, so I run just about everything at a 90% quota and while an individual program might hang for a short time, I haven't seen the whole system lock up at all.

MAJOR CAVEAT:
The direct download link is here tminst112.zip but I would NOT recommend it as a stand alone unless you are really confident in your ability to edit your registry directly. This is complicated. You can severely screw up your system when you edit your registry. If in doubt, use the GUI!

THREADMASTER GUI (recommended if you want to use ThreadMaster):
I finally tried the ThreadMaster GUI by Tim Wells. I have to admit it's a lot simpler than running ThreadMaster without it. His ThreadMasterGUISetup.exe installs both ThreadMaster and the GUI.

Using ThreadMaster with the GUI:
You can easily add quotas directly inn an Applications tab, or by selecting from running processes in a Processes tab. You can alter the default quota higher than 15% (I use 90%) for all programs and the sample time shorter (I use 10) if you like in the Options tab. When you then hit the Save button, the GUI stops the ThreadMaster service to implement them, and then restarts the service with your newly added quotas. Simple -- just be conservative with settings when you experiment with quotas for individual applications. The author claims compatibility with Windows 2000, XP, and even Vista. I can vouch for Win2000 & XP.

My two older PC's are now running in an almost bombproof mode after I did vary from the 90% setting for the buggy CPU hungry Firefox 3.5- 3.6 (an 80% quota). Thanks to the GUI, I've also played around a lot with other high peak demand programs with (still relatively high) CPU quotas -- but I usually go back to 90%. On one I also use Cacheman XP to tweak a few apps to Above Normal and Below Normal priority on a permanent basis also with good results. I can't vouch for other means of tweaking task priorities in conjunction with ThreadMaster.

THREE CAVEATS:
First, I can't vouch for the program on a Vista machine. I don't run it on my newest system. Those running dual core machines don't have much need of this because: one, they have CPU to burn most of the time, and two, they can simply assign "affinity" of a program to just one or the other CPU's.

Second, there is one anti-spyware program out there of which I am aware that doesn't like the ThreadMasterGUISetup.exe. A-Squared Free anti-spyware flags the installer as a Trojan -- however none of the other antiviral and anti-spyware programs I use have a problem with it. A-squared Free has a fair false positive rate, so I risked the installation and have had no issues from it nor alarms from subsequent malware scans from A-Squared Free and literally a half dozen other malware scanners.

Finally, Tim Wells is apparently very devout, so if you send him a question I'd be mum on where you saw it recommended.

The direct download link for ThreadMaster GUI is: ThreadMasterGUISetup.exe.

[Elvis072710]

Originally Posted by henryf

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone out there can help? I have a few real media files that I would like to convert into more mainstream format. As it's only a few files, ideally I would like freeware. I have tried goggling, but the free downloads either only convert half the file (trila versions) or whne youi try to run them, take you to a web site where you are asked for money - some free download!

I use this. Hopefully this will help you

http://www.any-video-converter.com/p...or_video_free/

Or this has a 3 day unlimited trial

http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_dvd/

Good Luck

[Jack_Tone]

Originally Posted by TriggerGod

I use this. Hopefully this will help you

http://www.any-video-converter.com/p...or_video_free/

Or this has a 3 day unlimited trial

http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_dvd/

Good Luck

Yes, good software, but not the best. I Think that the best software ever is "Format Factory". It's powerful, fast and FREEWARE!!!

DownLoad Here: http://www.formatoz.com/

[redman231]

BilderHerunterlader - "BilderHerunterlader is german and translated in english it means image downloader"

http://bihe.berlios.de/page/?loc=bil...erlader&lng=en

BilderHerunterlader is a Program, which makes it easier to download images, hosted on image-host-websites.
But it is not limited to that. It can not only download images, but any type of files.
Support for additional hosts or websites can be added over user definded rules.
With user definded keywords, files can directly downloaded to the right folder on the harddisk.

This program is OpenSource and linsenced under the GPL (v2).

Supported Operating Systems:
Windows, Linux, MacOS, BSD und any other operating system for which the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) is available.

See webpage (above) for supported hosts.

This program works for me on any forum, and that's about the highest praise I can give.

If there's any interest, I can write up a "Quick Start" guide with screenshots.

[beemerider500]

Originally Posted by sweevo

Does anyone know of a free, easy to use Avi joiner?

Thanks.

yup, its Easy Video Joiner. It may look like it'll cost but it doesn't.

http://www.doeasier.org/from401.html

[minato]

Originally Posted by Dario Rosselini

If you use Firefox, you can also use the following extensions:

-Downthemall: https://addons.mozilla.org/nl/firefox/addon/201
Downthemall will download linked pics and other files and direct pics from websites. I also found out that it's a great tool for downloading from paysites.

(..)

For downloading pics hidden behind thumbnails/html, as e.g. with imagevenue ec., Downthemall additionally requires the add-on:
DownThemAll! AntiContainer

Works for firefox and seamonkey.

cheers
minato

[Jism Jim]

Originally Posted by minato

DownThemAll! AntiContainer

Works for firefox and seamonkey.

Wow, thanks a lot for the pointer!

here's a link: https://addons.mozilla.org/nl/firefox/addon/12577

[svoda]

JPGextoPDF Version 1.15 is available
Changes see readme.txt

Download:

svoda

[alexboy]

If no one has mentioned it yet (didn't notice it in a search), Malwarebytes is an outstanding anti-virus program. You can get it here:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

The free version doesn't run all the time, but you can initiate a scan every few days and take of most problems. It updates multiple times a day with new definitions, so be sure to update before scanning.

This program is so good I've noticed that hackers have begun to take specific measures to defeat it specifically. Often, simply changing the file name from MBAM to something more inocuous (like explorer.exe) will solve the problem. But if you encounter something you can't get rid of, you can go here:

http://forums.malwarebytes.org/

and the very knowledgeable folks there will help you out. Miekiemoe is especially good; she's helped me out of more than one jam.

[slut-lover]

Sometimes the pics are in a PNG or GIF format. Not everybody has tools to look at those.


With Mihov Image Resizer. You can change the files format from what you have to what you want. You can also change the size. Especially usefull if you have some pics from your camera in high resolution.

http://www.mihov.com/eng/ir.html

Tried and tested by yours truly.