GameBanshee Forums

[url="http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx"]Microsoft Security Essentials[/url], Microsoft's very own AV program. I haven't tried this out yet, but it's brand new, free and is claimed by MS to do an excellent job. A genuine copy of Windows is of course required. Also needed is a minimum of 1GB of RAM

At my work, I use the following free applications to clean people's computers:

MalwareBytes (Anti-malware scanner.)

Spybot Search and Destroy

CCleaner (Which stands for "Crap Cleaner" and is used to remove all temporary files from your computer. It also comes with a nifty registry fix.)

Winsock,

ComboFix (This one yells at you a lot.)

Hijack This (This one can be tough to use since it allows you to delete registry keys manually.)

Mini Windows XP (This lets you boot a stripped version WindowsXP which is ran from your RAM. It's useful for when you can't log for some reason in or when the files you're trying to delete are being used.)

Hiren's Boot CD (This is a goldmine. It contains a bunch of useful applications under these categories: Partition Tools, Backup Tools, Recovery Tools, Testing Tools, RAM Testing Tools, Hard-Disk Tools, System Information Tools, Master Boot Record Tools, BIOS/CMOS Tools, Multimedia Tools, Password Tools, File System Tools, Browser and File Manager Tools, DOS tools and a few other goodies.)

You can easily find all of these applications by performing a Google search.

Crenshinibon wrote: Hiren's Boot CD (This is a goldmine. It contains a bunch of useful applications under these categories: Partition Tools, Backup Tools, Recovery Tools, Testing Tools, RAM Testing Tools, Hard-Disk Tools, System Information Tools, Master Boot Record Tools, BIOS/CMOS Tools, Multimedia Tools, Password Tools, File System Tools, Browser and File Manager Tools, DOS tools and a few other goodies.)

This is what I used to fix my hard drive a few months ago when I completely messed up the master boot record. Its a great tool for a huge amount of situations, can't recommend it enough.

Mass search & replace text over directories. Saved me a ton of work today. Not freeware, but you can use it for free for a few weeks. More than enough to to do whatever needs to get done, uninstall and clean the Windows Registry of any evidence of previous installation.

Advanced Find and Replace - Main Page

I am in the process of filling out a PDF for an online application, and in order to do so I had to find something that allowed me to manipulate PDFs.

Previously I was a big fan of Foxit, but now any manipulation requires the paid for version, unless you want them to add a huge watermark to your page (which doesn't look so good when applying for a job )

Anyway, I went on the hunt to replace Foxit and found [url="http://www.docu-track.com/product/pdf-xchange-viewer"]PDF Exchange[/url]. It's awesome! You get full functionality with a wide selection of tools, it's free, and it doesn't leave a watermark.

Or, as I just discovered... If you prefer using Foxit, you can edit your document with that application, save, and then reopen it with PDF Exchange, which lets you erase the watermark

Weird. I was looking for that exact thing two days ago, DW. I found Foxit, but it didn't do search & replace. Can PDF Exchange do that?

Tricky wrote:Weird. I was looking for that exact thing two days ago, DW. I found Foxit, but it didn't do search & replace. Can PDF Exchange do that?

As far as I can tell, it just has the usual search feature, but not "replace."
Unfortunately..

Damn. There must be something tricky about pdf formats..

Tricky wrote:Damn. There must be something tricky about pdf formats..

Perhaps... or maybe no-holds functionality is the proverbial golden goose.
I searched long and hard to just find a user-friendly, decent free PDF editor that didn't leave any watermarks.

Speeding Up Open Office

I'm pretty sure Open Office has already been listed in this thread.
OO is a fantastic free alternative to MS, but one thing I've always found is that its initial loading time is extremely slow (and I have a reasonably fast machine).

So, I went looking around, and found a [url="http://lifehacker.com/270775/speed-up-openoffice"]tutorial[/url] on how to speed things up. In addition to the instructions on the page I've posted, I also disabled Java. All of this can be done by launching OO and going Tools > Options.

Lo and behold... the difference is extraordinary, and now OO launches almost instantly. :speech:

I was wondering if anyone has heard of a search tool that can do.. some comparing and deleting. I have two different documents, containing a few thousand words. They match for about.. 80%. I need the tool to identify & delete only words that are duplicate in both documents. Multiples of the same word that only occur within any one document may not be deleted.

example: Turns into:
It's not simply a matter of taking care of redundant occurences. Essentially it should only (completely) delete duplicates in the two documents, but not those duplicates that are unique within either one.

This isn't software exactly.. but a really great way to install a lot of your favourite programs when you have to rebuild...

[url="http://ninite.com/"]Ninite[/url]

I just got my machine back from the shop, and the techie I dealt with mentioned the site to me.

That's a very nice find DW. I use a lot of these programs on my laptop and it's always a pain to reinstall them.

Now if only we had something likes this for games and mods. xD

I hear you there!

Anyone else find password management a serious headache?
I've always resisted the temptation to use a password manager because I've feared becoming dependent.. I mean what if you have a hard drive crash or you need to reformat? You're seriously hosed if you're only able to remember a single, master password.

However, sometimes trying to keep all of those passwords straight in your own mind can be a serious challenge as I just realised once again after spending about half an hour trying to remember my log-in information for The Witcher forum. In this case, it was kind of critical because you need to know all of that stuff to register the game and download the patches.

Anyway, I have found a solution and decided to share:
Free Online Password Manager, Software, Storage, Password Keeper

Clearly, for people concerned about the security of such services this isn't ideal, and fair enough. But, for anyone like me, it's the best of both worlds