Toolbox utilities and essentials

[mmmspam]

After strolling down memory lane in the "anyone remember these?" thread over in the general forum, I found this in my web addresses folder. http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html It's symantecs hoaxes page. It lists hoax emails that are out there to try to strike fear into people for no reason. I remember when emails were going around saying elfbowl was a time release virus that would be released on Christmas day.

[kltsin]

Toolbox and essentials is kind of broad.

Ill just list what I always want around or may be helpful that hasnt been listed

Security

Jasons Toolbox, number ot tools to see whats running on a system from irc bots, open ports to a online check of your security settings and how to fix them. Also a test for email defenses and security
www.jasons-toolbox.com

Free online virus scans, in case you think your is corrupted..
1 housecall.trendmicro.com/
2 www.symantec.com/cgi-bin/securitycheck.cgi
3 www.pandasoftware.com/activescan
Im sure there are many more I missed

cool web shredder, used to remove coolweb that often blocks adware and spybot
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html
merjin made hijackthis and has many other good downloads
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

hostfiles or registry entries to block malicious sites.
1 spyware guard or is it blaster, well the one that wasnt mentioned already, can be downloaded from the same site jaavacool
2 http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
http://www.diamondcs.com.au/index.php?page=regprot

winsock fixes
fixes winsocks from bad bho's or removal of bho's
http://www.bu.edu/pcsc/internetaccess/winsock2fix.html

email security program; frontgate
http://www.net-integration.net/tools/frontgatemx.html

free av programs missed
AntiVer www.freeav.com


Utilities
winrar
winrar.com, rar compression is better than zip files and win rar can handle all compressions while winzip cant.

hexed
hex editor, a must for anyone, free and a non programmer can use it to check files easily

driver cleaner
driver cleaner to remove left over installation files and registry entries from old installs, available from www.driverheaven.net/cleaner

DX remover
Although it doesnt sem to support newest dx versions verywell it can delete them so you can reinstall.


Multimedia
klcodec mega pack
This is a must, it covers any codec available for multimedia, uses old versions of media player to view real player and quicktime files with out the bs, it also includes dvd, xvid,divx etc, since its origin is unknown to me, do a google for klcodec

VLC
videolan media player, can play anything, uses dx technology, small dl,
can play dat files in p2p programs and broken avi programs with no worry of scripts.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

PSP, jasc software , best image editor for the price

winamp 3.0 or lower, awesome for online radio stations using shoutcast.com

TMPGENC, encoder for video editing

renamer
rename files in batches, great for mp3s (id tag editor) and images
http://www.albert.nu/programs/Renamer/main.htm

[poundu1]

I endorse this
Giant Anti Spyware
http://www.giantcompany.com

[SnyperX]

I will second the Giant Anti-Spyware, it really does do an excellent job. Have used the trial and decided to purchase it when the trial ran out

[nascarfool.com]

I didn't search to see if anyone posted this one yet. Lots of goodies on there. http://cpu.rightmark.org/download.shtml

[Copper]

free dvd player software


http://www.cliprex.com/

[poundu1]

http://www.cliprex.com/[quote]


carefull it has 180 solutions "search assistant" as part of the install agreement

[BlueGTIguy]

Useful webpage for WinXP services configurations:

http://www.blackviper.com

Currently down. Unknow when BV will have it back up if at all.

[crackedsaint]

I didn't see anyone post this either:
http://www.avast.com

excellent free anti-virus with real-time shielding.

Also, more of a network sniffer then hardware utility but:

http://www.ethereal.com/download.html

Concerning key loggers: If you're worried about it on a public terminal, use XP's built in keyboard and set it to mouse hovering; 1second (some keyloggers takes a snap shot of the screen for every mouse click).... use for password entering (kind of a pain to type everything via on screen keyboard).

My two cents.

[~PJ~]

Not precisely a utility, but a very useful resource;

http://www.computer-dictionary-online.org/

Best one I've come across to date.