What are YOUR favorite free Windows 10 programs?

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Every time a new edition of Win10 All-In-One For Dummies ships, there’s a lot of attention devoted to the list of my favorite free Win10 programs, nea
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Morty, geekdom, Elly

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Microsoft Solitaire Collection

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WildBill

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The one with advertising/micro-transactions included?

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Windows Photo Viewer

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Where to start, well with an apology I suppose, most of the forgoing list are not really “Daily Drivers” but they make Win10 a little more bearable and easy to use.
First up is WinAero Tweaker curbs some of Win10’s shortcomings and annoyances, even on occasion aesthetics, highly customisable, Cortana, Windows update telemetry can be disabled etc.
https://winaero.com/
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/windows-10-gets-better-with-each-release/#post-208024
Drawbacks some Mod’s require a reboot, but you can plough through the list and one reboot does them all.
7zip really needs no intro it just does and does it quick, very flexible.
https://www.7-zip.org/
Drawbacks none that I can see to speak of although didn’t we discuss in here a certain vulnerability a bit back??
Rufus again to many doesent need an Intro. create USB’s for UEFI, MBR installs and highly customizable for those little perculiar install’s with larger than 4GB Wim files.
https://rufus.ie/
Drawbacks none to think about really never had a USB fail to make, never tried using a WIM file larger than 4GB although apparently it does work, I just split the WIM file into SWM’s
BlackBox ISO maker creates an .iso for Windows really well for use with Rufus, or just storing as I find keeping system images better as ISO’s rather than anonymous folders. Its quick, not resource hungry and relaible
https://sourceforge.net/projects/blackisoburn/
Drawbacks yeah quite a few alas, you have to do quite a bit of the “Legwork” like copy and paste your files to the folder, setting name for iso hasn’t many characters although save as can be a long file name, its not a fancy GUI or as intuitive as commercially available options.
Windows update Mini Tool, probably needs no introduction for many of you, this restores a little flexibility in dealing with Win10’s appetite for updates coupled with setting connections to metered gives you control once more over WUD and even keeps the dreaded new Versions at bay for now.
https://win10.guru/toolkit-item-windows-update-minitool-wumt/
Drawbacks well none save I find here that it reports the size incorrectly, it did miss an update last week that WUD found but it was easily hidden again and could have been timing on check for updates with both, so no worries there.
VHD Attach, if your in the habit of using “Native Boot” VHD’s and VHDX’s rather than VM’s this little prog Auto Attach’s them at boot time without fuss or bother, if you Google some of the fancy solutions to do the same you’ll love this. So VHD’s are mounted just like partitions and real drives, time saver. Quiet and unobtrusive again not a resource hog at all.
https://www.medo64.com/vhdattach/
Drawbacks tends to mount .iso’s when not asked to just by clicking on them easily staunched by not installing the .iso components at setup
Edge Manage puts the Edge back into Edge that some how M$ failed to do despite my persistant whining, which I apologise for. Creates Favicon’s in Favourites, export imports Favicons settings etc, yeah edge does it but not very well and one or two other features.
http://www.edgemanage.emmet-gray.com/
Drawbacks well just one it complains that its only 70% effective whereas I find it 99.9% effective I suppose down to the fact that not every web site allows the creation of Favicons, The M$ Update Catalogue is one.
Lastly in the Toys Section
Windows Network Indicator, sits in the TaskBar lets you know what’s happening with your Network Connection real time, if the things lit up and shouldn’t be well time to investigate. Even a reminder of the Dark Old days of Dial up. Rudimentary compilation of Network Stats. Not a resource Hog I believe this feature finished with Vista in Windoze.
http://www.itsamples.com/network-activity-indicator.html
Drawbacks Obviously not a fully fledged Networking Tool, more casual informative use than anything. Strange setup, creates an ICON on desktop, click to attach to the task bar, then “anchor” on Task Bar as usual using Windows settings, you need to get the Installable .exe version otherwise first reboot it disappears and that’s about it.
All these work on Vers Win7 to 10 except, obviously Edge Manage, but it makes Win10 a little more “liveable” around here, and of course gloriously free 😉

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Karlston

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Many, many great free tools available, but these I use regularly right now (no links posted):
SUMo for listing updates available for installed programs.
MKVToolNix for editing/muxing MKVs (can strip or add subtitles, audio/video tracks, fix some errors.
Advanced Renamer for bulk file renaming (tons of wildcard settings); can use context menu in Windows Explorer but is standalone.
NexusFont for grouping/listing or installing installed and uninstalled fonts and showing the glyphs in the list.
CoreTemp for showing temperatures of various hardware.
CPU-Z for listing hardware specs as well. GPU-Z for graphics chip specs.
CUETools for editing CUE audio files.
BCArchive for creating encrypted archive files with lots of variety of encryption cyphers (more than 7-Zip); BCArchive files can be opened with the free Bestcrypt Explorer on Android which uses a memory only viewer for some filetypes.
FreeFileSync for mirroring files to a backup location (multiple streams).
QTTabBar for viewing tabs in stock Windows Explorer. (Not standalone requires Windows Explorer).
SumatraPDF for reading PDFs, CBR, and other ebook formats.
Keepass for password management but also has a great PW generator if you don’t want the management tool.
QuiteRSS for standalone RSS reader with OPML import and current program updates.
4KVideoDownloader for saving videos from websites.

While I’m hanging about for a bit, many thanks to all for the commiseration re Windows updates. Due to various update problems I’d have tossed Win10 for Linux on my main Acer laptop months ago if not for being shepherded by Woody, Susan, AskWoody MVPs and you all to salve my annoyances, enough to tolerate Win10 a few more month. Depending of course on any disaster bombs they lovingly forward me through their update process, (in spite of the DEFCON safety factor they appear from time to time).

My alternative has been amply demonstrated since I have Ubuntu MATE running on an ancient Dell laptop, with zero problems in 4 years of steady use and many minor and a few major in place updates. Usually Linux should be updated by reinstall but I wanted to see how in place updates worked. Needless to say, Windows doesn’t even have an ‘LTS’ for “Pro”, which is an unwelcome arrogance on Microsoft’s part.

I tried MacOS for a few years, for Creative Suite specifically, and it was fine but too pricey to remain in that ecosystem as Apple dropped OS support for older models and my use case evolved.

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LibreOffice (libreoffice.org) – The Microsoft Office Killer.

Wire (wire.com) – The Skype Killer.

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Fred, fk5353

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Oh? I hadn’t heard of Wire before. Thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out!

-Noel

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2aug18

My favorite free Win10 program is OpenOffice–it’s free, works very well, does all that I need.

322alan

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Mele20, BobbyB

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OpenOffice is dead since Oracle acquired Sun… and discontinued years ago…

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Oracle donated OpenOffice to the Apache Foundation. Technically, it is Apache OpenOffice now. OpenOffice 4.1.5 was released December 30, 2017.

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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Mele20

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Those are just maintenance releases… But yes, some  folks still use Windows 95…

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This is not a free program but is one of the better resources to find alternatives to payware (or any other ‘ware’): https://alternativeto.net/

For example, if you wanted to find an alternative to Adobe Photoshop, enter ‘Adobe Photoshop’ in the search box then filter the results for platform (operating system) and Licence. Filter to Windows, Free and it gives about 25 choices. filter again to Windows, Open Source and it gives 6 choices.

NOTES: The list contains Virus, Discontinued, etc alerts below the basic program information. Heed the information but don’t trust (lack of) malware information that may be outdated. Test downloads via VirusTotal.

Proceed from AlternativeTo to the manufacturer’s website to ensure the latest release.

Group A (but Telemetry disabled Tasks and Registry)
1) Dell Inspiron with Win 11 64 Home permanently in dock due to "sorry spares no longer made".
2) Dell Inspiron with Win 11 64 Home (substantial discount with Pro version available only at full price)

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MrJimPhelps, Lugh

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Here are some:

• MultiCommander (File manager)
• Windows Privacy Dashboard or WPD (General and specific privacy settings for Windows 10)
• CompactGUI (GUI for the compact.exe internal command)
• SpaceSniffer (Visual representation of folders regarding their size). Others are WizTree and Xinorbis Free.
• jaBuT (Files/folders sincronization tool)
• Smplayer (Media player). Others are 1by1, Foobar2000, Mxplay and the very interesting Resonic.
• Privazer (Wide system cleaning tool)
• Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 (Many tweaks and optimizations for Windows 10)
• PeaZip (File archiver)
• CintaNotes (Note-taking application)
• Notepad++ (Text file editor). Others are CudaText, Atom and Bowpad.
• SumatraPDF (Light and customizable PDF viewer)
• All the tools from the exceptional Nir Sofer.

 

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BobbyB, Karlston

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Multi Commander reminds me of the old Norton Commander. I’ll bet that’s where they got the name from.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Interesting question, because sometimes useful and popular are polar opposites. I would recommend command-line ZIP.EXE and UNZIP.EXE (both are free), along with command-line RAR.EXE (shareware) and UNRAR.EXE (freeware). There are numerous small and good applications to do specific jobs, but they won’t be of interest to most of your readers.

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1. Everything. Windows is incomplete without this.

2. Geek uninstaller not Revo. Geek uninstaller does everything Revo does and more. It removes Windows Store Apps (view–Windows Store Apps or Desktop Apps).

3. Comodo Programs Manager free does better job than Revo Pro. All we have to do is to right click the installer and install with CPM. It records everything and when we uninstall everything is removed in seconds.

4. Rainmeter. How can any Windows user live without this?

Orper

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Mele20, Elly

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I don’t have anything new since Windows 7.

In the list, I would add TreeSizeFree. Simple and effective to find what is taking up space, like the other one you mention, but a bit different.

There is also the great free software Gimp (Image editing), Inkscape (vector drawing), Blender (3D) and Scribus (publishing). I started using Inkscape recently to do SVGs for responsive design and I like it. I imported Illustrator’s file in it without issue. According to what I read, many professionals like it and they even prefer it to Illustrator for some tasks. The tracing feature is supposed to be quite good. There are easy to find tutorials.

Gimp just released their long awaited 2.10 version not so long ago, still polishing and improving, but the big thing is they now support higher bit depth transformations and more parallel tasks with multi-threading so they got rid of some annoyances that could make some users regret not using Photoshop. I like Gimp once you get used to it. When Photoshop started charging monthly, there was no way I would ever get that for non professional work when I just use it once in a while. Gimp has more advanced features than Element and it is free. It is probably not be as good as Photoshop, but some professionals use it and say it is just a learning curve and certainly amateurs can find something to like, at the great price of free. Blender is actually, from what I read, used a lot in professional circles. It is a high quality product. I don’t use it but it belongs with the others. Scribus has an ugly interface but a good reputation.

https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-2.10.html

I use and love other software that you mentioned like Foobar and VLC, but I won’t repeat them here. A funny plugin of Foobar is the ABX tool you can use to test the claims your audiophiles friend make about distinguishing mp3 or other files of varying quality. Did you ever thought that most audiophiles and self-described golden ears are men, but women hear better? Just sayin’

Not sure if I saw Sumatrapdf?

I also use freacportable to rip CDs (for those who still do that) because it is simple and convenient and also infrarecorder to burn CDs.

I also love Firefox and Thunderbird. They are to me what software should be, like Gimp, VLC and the other tools I mentioned. Useful, non invasive, just help me to work better without compromising my privacy or tricking me in any way.

 

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Well, most of these aren’t really specific to Windows 10…

SumatraPDF seconded, it also reads some other formats such as ebooks and particularly DjVu… ended up installing it alongside Foxit or Adobe Reader for those in some cases.

VcXsrv, for those times when you just want to run something graphical from Windows Subsystem for Linux, or from SSH tunnels or wherever.

Gpg4Win, really need to have GPG / PGP somehow.
DnGrep, for searching stuff inside files.
SysInternals suite, well…

Lots of things from NirSoft.

VeraCrypt
Rufus
PuTTY

Either 7zip or PeaZip, or another archive manager.

A better text editor

At least one of the better free browsers… in practice I keep several.

Synchronization and backup utilities depending on where you’re syncing and backing up to.

One of the various better free image viewers, IrfanView would be one of these. Another would be the viewer included in the Chasys Draw IES suite.

Something to switch power plans if you’re on a laptop, manufacturer software kits may include one or there’s a free PowerPlanSwitcher that seems to work in Microsoft Store.

Then all the stuff that isn’t specific to even Windows at all.

Wire was already mentioned by someone, too. Seconded. Better alternative to a whole bunch of messaging / voice applications. Source available, has been audited at least at some point. Can do shared use from a number of devices simultaneously which has been a problem with at least WhatsApp and Skype for Business.

QtPass, password manager that uses GPG for encryption.
Thunderbird + extensions including at least Enigmail + Lightning + TbSync.
DavMail. (Requires Java, which… is also still free.)
LibreOffice
VLC
Scribus
Inkscape
Gimp (might not need if needs are light and if installing Chasys Draw IES for the viewer already)
Rclone
Wireshark
… and getting further into applications for specific hobbies…
RawTherapee, for photos in raw/DNG formats.
Gramps
QGis
Fldigi and …

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Wanted to mention credit to:

Pete Batard, by GNU GPL 3, at https://rufus.ie/ for Rufus

Simon Tatham, via MIT license, at https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty for PuTTY

VeraCrypt has a split license from forking TrueCrypt7, new code under Apache License, IDRX is a French group, download and information at https://www.veracrypt.fr/

Free and open is good. Also good to know where originating information can be found, and what rights are attached.

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Classic Shell, to reconstruct the Windows 7 Start menu, was the first thing I installed on my Windows 10 Insiders preview when that came out in 2014.

Development of CS has been stopped by its creator, but hopefully someone else will pick up the baton.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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AlexEiffel

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Classic Shell, originally created by Ivo Beltchev, has already been taken on by passionate-coder and has renamed it: Classic-Start

Available for download at majorgeeks.com

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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Cybertooth

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1. Everything. A file search engine that is lightning fast, searches all drives, and doesn’t report to Microsoft.

2. IrfanView 64. Many recommend this photo software. I do too. And it doesn’t report to Microsoft.

3. Clover. An explorer replacement that mimics Chrome – it’s for folders or drives on your computer. No longer kept up to date, but the 3.0.406.0 version from 2014 works great on my WinX-1511 machine. And it doesn’t report to Microsoft.

4. Windows Defender. Nuff said. It reports to Microsoft.

5. Google Earth. It reports to Google.

6. Chrome. Ditto.

7. Classic Start Menu. Great upgrade to Microsoft’s interface downgrade. And it doesn’t report to Microsoft.

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Fred

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i want the windows 10 native compression available to windows 7 =/

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Never 10 and GWX control panel 🙂

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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IrfanView photo viewer and editor. It does what MS Photos can’t – one can actually resize an image! AND, rather than looking as if it was designed for a 2 year old, it looks like a real program – I so hate that dumbed-down like everything else in Win10 word – ‘App!’

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MrJimPhelps

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I’ll steer clear of the antivirus arena, as everyone has a preference and Windows 10 itself has Windows Defender baked in.

Acrylic WiFi for dealing with wireless setup and signal issues.

CCleaner, if it isn’t doing the Avast Antivirus drive-by install. Otherwise, Glary Utilities. Still the best cleanup utilities if you don’t want to delve into the arcana of Windows Disk Cleanup.

O&O ShutUp 10 for privacy controls.

Macrium Reflect Free for system backup and recovery. Windows simply does not have anything like the recovery and backup options available through third party apps. And having a bootable WinPE 10 environment to work from helps if Windows won’t even boot into its own recovery options.

VeraCrypt. Replaces TrueCrypt. Does things Microsoft’s own encryption schemes can’t or just don’t do as well.

KeePass Password Safe — cross platform and can store a database in a secure cloud storage service like Spider Oak (not free).  Contrary to some comments posted elsewhere, this program is currently being maintained.

I won’t repeat software I’ve seen already listed in this thread, so as not to become redundant.

The Nir Sofer utilities deserve mention as a group. Depending on what system-level task you’re interested in doing, these utilities can often do things other utilities can’t accomplish.

SysInternals is another suite of utilities which can help get Windows users out of a lot of jams. Process Explorer is the best known of this group, but there are others.

For partitioning and helping fix boot and disk setup errors, MiniTool Partition Wizard can be a life-saver.

To reshuffle pages inside a PDF document, PDFSAM is still one of the best tools out there.  The free (Basic) version is still available, minus all the bloatware add-ons of the current paid version.

Probably the best free resource most people overlook is your PC manufacturer’s Drivers and Downloads (Support) pages. Not exactly a software program, but indispensable resources. Intel has a good driver update utility.  Everyone should have backups of your drivers, given how MS Updates can mess with them sometimes. Not to mention the Feature Updates, which replace your OEM drivers with generic Windows 10 drivers with utter abandon. Especially a problem if your system has a SoC configuration. Firmware (BIOS) updates also fall into this category. While I do not recommend third party driver update programs, both SlimDrivers and DriverMax have good driver backup and restore modules. Both have adware (PUP) issues.

-- rc primak

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Fred, mulletback, deuce120, Elly, Karlston, cesmart4125

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! @rc_primak  thanks, quite agree

* _ ... _ *

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On a similar quest…
I dont want w10 and dont want to play online…
Is there anyway or anywhere I can download a full copy of candy crush? paid copy?
I know there are lots of other similar games out there…
but the graphic of candy is very DELICIOUS and SWEET 🙂
Seriously …
is there somewhere candy crush is available for desktop or its owned by M$ for w10 ONLY?
and I should give up the addiction sweetness?
Thanks in advance

back to fishing for better dreams

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anonymous wrote:

1. Everything. Windows is incomplete without this. 2. Geek uninstaller not Revo. Geek uninstaller does everything Revo does and more. It removes Windows Store Apps (view–Windows Store Apps or Desktop Apps). 

Geek uninstaller is NICE!  I’ve been looking for something to get rid all the junk Windows Store Apps that come installed on Windows 10.

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rc primak wrote:

KeePass Password Safe — cross platform and can store a database in a secure cloud storage service like Spider Oak (not free). Contrary to some comments posted elsewhere, this program is currently being maintained.

Are there people spreading FUD about this? I use it myself and it still gets updates.

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Many of these aren’t just for Windows 10; cool, useful stuff.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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jburk07, Elly

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Stroll through safe sites that offer useful utilities. Bookmark what you think you might need in the future. Two such safe sites are:

http://www.nirsoft.net/
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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jburk07

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My favorite Windows 10 free software is WPD  (WPD.app, or getwpd.com).

It allows me to run Windows 10 the way I want to. I am on the road right now and my laptop is 1703. I have not been pestered to ‘upgrade’ to 1803, ever. I can still get updates if I wish, but I have the control now and not Microsoft.

Also the privacy settings stay after a reboot. I use to have to reapply my settings after every reboot, now it sticks.

 

Rock

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Fred

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Mozilla Firefox

Vivaldi

Brave Browser

SDR Console v2

SDRSharp

KiCAD

Fldigi

WSJT-X

MultiPSK

VB-Cable

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Not free, and not Windows 10 only, but well worth the $99.
KEDIT is a very powerful data editor. It has very limited word-processing functionality, but is ideal for those who want to manipulate ‘DP’ files. (Just showed my century-age.)

KEDIT is a PC (Windows only) adaptation of the old(?) IBM VM XEDIT, with some enhancements, and a few functions dropped. Unfortunately the documentation is PDF-only now; the printed Reference Manual is 400+ pages, and the User’s Guide is 300- pages. Both are accessible via Help on the menu bar.

But, they do caution: ” … we recommend that new users and organizations not already familiar with KEDIT do not purchase it.” Yes, it is different, and there is a learning curve, but I think that it is within the capabilities of the majority of users here on AskWoody. There is a free Demo download: full functionality, but file size (lines) limited.

I use KEDIT for most of my text work; it also has some hex capability.

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I’m a big fan of several free pieces of software that I run at start up every day:

• I use AutoHotKey (https://www.autohotkey.com) to setup shortcut keys for things I’d otherwise have type in full many times a day, e.g. email addresses, phone numbers, etc., phrases like ‘Kind Regards’ and also for Windows functions, e.g. I have <Windows key>+H set up to show/hide hidden files. Very useful and easy.
• FreeSnap (https://mike-ward.net/freesnap) is old but it’s great for snapping windows to left, right or corners of the screen with a hotkey.
• I use 4t Tray Minimizer (http://www.4t-niagara.com/tray.html) to minimize programs to the System Tray that I don’t want hanging around on the Taskbar.
• Keepass obviously – best password solution, especially if you don’t trust your passwords to the cloud.
• Firefox is still a great free browser despite recent WebExtensions woe.
• Macrium Reflect for backing up my system partition; I prefer this to EaseUS Todo Backup.
• TreeSize Free for seeing what’s using your disk space.
• VirtualBox is a great free tool for running VMs.

Woody, I scrolled through your excellent list of 30 free tools – just a couple of thoughts if you’re planning to update it:

• Wunderlist is no longer updated and due to be retired (https://6wunderkinder.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2790249-what-s-next-for-wunderlist-) in favour of the strangely less good Microsoft To-Do.
• Classic Shell is no longer developed, but it has been reborn as Open Shell Menu (https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu).

I look forward to the updated list. One of the great things about Windows is the vast amount of free software available.

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woody, Morty

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EditPad Lite is a wonderful text editor program. It is simple, easy to use, has few bugs and issues, has MANY features packed into it, and yet is very lightweight–so lightweight, in fact, that you can do a portable install on a flash drive and take it wherever you go. Coder, web developer, or not, EditPad Lite appeals to everyone looking for a simple text editor.

https://www.editpadlite.com/

Sure beats Notepad any day of the week.

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AmoK Playlist Copy v. 2.06 hasn’t been updated since 2011 yet runs flawlessly on the latest Windows 10 ‘Feature Update’ [1803], as it has on all the Windows incarnations since it was released.

http://www.amok.am/en/freeware/amok_playlist_copy/

The interface is so ugly it bends around to beauty — functional beauty.

If you have built your own collections of mp3 files saved to your local drive(s) and organized them in playlists but wish to copy / move the playlists with their corresponding files, this little app gets it done!

Dinosaurs still listening to music CDs can use AmoK Playlist Copy to prepare folders of music to burned by the outstanding utility, unfortunately still named, CDBurnerXP. It continues to be updated and is supported by its author on an associated Help forum.

https://cdburnerxp.se/en/home

Cheers!

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I’m late to the party again. (Hey, I just retired my XP machine…because the hardware was failing.)

Now that I want to try Wunderlist, I see that I missed the boat. So what’s better (or worse) for an organization-challenged latecomer? Microsoft To-Do or Google Tasks?

At the office, where I have to use Office, I have remidners in Outlook. At home, I use Google calendar and reminders in Gmail, but a dedicated nudnik would be a help.

Thank you.

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Microfix

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On a quick search, have found Wunderlist alternatives for 2018 that may assist with the ‘rock and a hard place’ decision. 20-wunderlist-alternatives-2018

If debian is good enough for NASA...

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Morty

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Thanks. Will check it out.

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I just received an e-mail today from Wunderlist, telling me it’s going away May 6, 2020. If you are/have been a Wunderlist user, what has been your comparative experience with MS To-Do, said to have been built by the Wunderlist team?

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anonymous wrote:

snip, snip… 4. Rainmeter. How can any Windows user live without this? Orper

Thanks OP! I really like Rainmeter, esp. with the Win10 Widgets/Performance Combo skin. If you’re tired of having to call up the Task Manager in Win10, this skin shows a small but handy set of 4 graphs like the Task Manager Performance tab on your desktop (I move mine right above the right end of the taskbar). If your PC is acting slow and wonky, a quick look at these graphs might show your CPU, Memory or Disk pegged out at 100% so you know something’s hogging all your resources and can then 1) look at Task Manager to stop processes, 2) restart your PC, or 3) wait (painfully) for the background process to finish.

I find background tasks like cloud drive sync, backup utilities and (heavens no!) automatic updates can slow your system down drastically at odd times, and having graphs on your desktop let you easily see the situation – like an early warning system.

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Can anyone provide the name of a good, simple, no bloatware, local install PDF program for Windows 10?

All I need is for it to Open PDF files to read (primarily forms) and be able to fill in forms/applications then print/save as PDF.  Kinda like the old Adobe Reader 9/10/11 did.

Thanks,  portable version as an option a plus.

Windows 10 Pro x64 v22H2 and Windows 7 Pro SP1 x64 (RIP)

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For Landscape monitors, Foxit Reader — careful during installation to not allow stuff you don’t want. It is possible to customize the toolbar with just the shortcuts you prefer that make the application extremely efficient. (For example, I need the View controls to quickly see a booklet correctly.) In the end I disable all internet connectivity and only re-enable to periodically check for updates.

On my portrait monitor I run Xodo from the Microsoft Store. Much simpler than Foxit. Also has a tabbed interface, which is indispensable for my use. Might want to see if Xodo does what you want / need first, before working through the extensive configuration of Foxit.

Good luck!

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Fred

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Foxit has some features which can come in handy. Some examples: you can add comments; digitally sign; create and use a stamp; add shapes; type to fill forms.

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Please consider using Microsoft EDGE which has excellent PDF features.

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I like PDF-XChange Editor for reading PDFs. https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor

For printing as a PDF, I use Bullzip http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php or go to https://www.printfriendly.com/

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Fred

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[Fred]

(Www.den4b.com)  Shutter freeversion keeps laptop/pc really asleep while MSoft whisses to awaken for “maintenance” so very often…. Thanks to the Oldergeeks.com

Zonealarm free firewall does a good job while MSoft alows a to phone home

 

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• This reply was modified 5 years ago by Fred.

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