1) KeePass Password Safe 1.xx – Couldn’t live without it. All of my passwords are very, very long and complicated, and I have a lot of them. (Free)
2) GoodSync Pro File Sync & Backup – Keeps my stuff synced on two Computers and backed up on an external HD. (Paid)
3) WOW! Security Suite (F-Secure anti-virus and other stuff – Free from my ISP.)
4) Malwarebites Anti-Exploit Free – Extra layer of protection. (Free)
5) Windows’ own Firewall – It’s good enough for me. (Free)
6) Revo Uninstaller – Essential for digging up most of the garbage left behind when you uninstall a program. (Free)
7) Ultimate Windows Tweaker – Stop the snooping, and many other tweaks. (Free)
8) AM-DeadLink – Helps to keep my nearly 800 Favorites up to date. (Free)
9) Gamma Panel (Very old program I’ve had since XP days. It’ll be hard to find, but worth a try.) – Set up profiles for monitor’s gamma, brightness and contrast for perfect viewing of photos, videos, TV, daytime, nighttime, inside, outside, whatever. Save your eyesight. (Free)
10) Windows’ own Task Manager – Sometimes you just want (need) to kill something. (Free)
11) Belarc Advisor – Find out everything you’ll ever want to know about your computer, even product keys. (Free)
12) Adblock Plus for IE and Edge – AskWoody is the only site I have whitelisted so far! (Free)
The following Tools are what I run before applying ALL Cumulative Updates and Feature Upgrades. Most will probably consider all this unnecessary, overkill, or down right dangerous, but I’ve found out the hard way that this system makes the updates install as smooth as silk and saves me a lot of grief. Your mileage may vary. Heck, my mileage may vary at any time, too. We are talking about Windows, you know.
1) Windows Update MiniTool – I have all of my computers set to never check for updates through GPEDIT. I run WUMT at least weekly and install all found updates except the Patch Tuesday Cumulative Updates and all Feature Upgrades. Those I hide until Woody has given the bite the bullet and go ahead and just do it sign. Then, when I’m good & ready, I install them. (Free) WARNING: Woody does not recommend using WUMT.
2) CCleaner – Lots of good stuff. I use it mostly as a disk and registry cleaner. (Free)
3) System Mechanic – I’m using this one until I can find a better replacement for Tune-Up Utilities, which I loved until AVG bought it and ruined it. I use it mostly as a second opinion for disk and registry cleaning, but it also includes some other useful tools that I use from time-to-time. (Paid)
4) Windows’ own Disk Cleanup Tool – I set it to clean system files as well as the other stuff, and check ALL the boxes for cleaning. (Free)
5) Auslogics Registry Cleaner – CAREFUL, this one is very aggressive. I ONLY run this one if an update/upgrade just refuses to finish installing by hanging up forever … something really, really serious like that. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. (Free)
