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Free Software
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I can't resist, I know most of these probably won't pass your eagle eye but let's give it a shot;
Daemon tools lite - for mounting images and virtual drives.
Hijack This - Does things those security tools don't. Don't use it to make changes if you don't know what you are doing, but there are plenty of online experts ready to decipher the results for you. Now owned by TrendMicro but open source software.
AutoHotkey - Back in the day this pwned WoW. You write little programs to automate repetitive tasks. From typing well used phrases at the touch of a key to doing all those stupid tasks MMPORGS adore. Some learning required..
SecuniaPSI - Think it covers about 3000 non-MS programs now. A quick way to check everything is up to date with the option to automatically upgrade everything that isn't.
Apache Open Office - Be a snob all you like, MS office is shiny and sleek for the casual user but Open Office is just as capable, (and free).
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Added links to
Process Explorer
Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.The Process Explorer display consists of two sub-windows. The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'll see the handles that the process selected in the top window has opened; if Process Explorer is in DLL mode you'll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded. Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.
The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work.
SysInternals Suite
The Sysinternals Troubleshooting Utilities have been rolled up into a single Suite of tools. This file contains the individual troubleshooting tools and help files. It does not contain non-troubleshooting tools like the BSOD Screen Saver or NotMyFault.
