Any Windows user needs a number of small programs like zip-extractors, graphic viewers, etc. With that in mind, this is a list of useful, often free programs that match the quality of better-known versions that are usually more expensive.

Irfan View

www.irfanview.com
   This is a beautiful program, apparently made by an Austrian college student. It's free for personal use, although he'd like you to send $10 cash, and the program is well worth that.

   Irfan View opens virtually all graphic file types and works well. If you explore the menu you'll find that many functions of a graphic editor are also built-in. Irfan View does screen capture, resizing, color depth changes ....it can even use plugin graphic filters.
Back to Index

Zip Programs

   Zip programs (compression utilities) are used to open and create ZIP files. Most can zip, unzip, create self-extracting files, open CAB files, create password- protected files, etc.

   The program Power Archiver was formerly recommended in this space but that recommendation has been withdrawn. Power Archiver used to be a free program that worked very well. It is now no longer free, but that's not why it is no longer recommended. Like so many other programs, Power Archiver has gradually become a far more complex program. Unfortunately, many types of programs, such as office programs, anti-virus programs and firewalls, have become overproduced in the past few years. Companies that have finished their product but want to continue issuing updates often begin adding bloat in the form of peripheral functionality and dubious "conveniences". Perhaps no type of program is a better example of that problem than compression software. Winzip and Power Archiver, two of the best known zip programs, perform a very simple function. Yet both have reached to version 9 and beyond, adding everything except the proverbial kitchen sink, while the basic zip functions were present in the earliest versions of those programs. The last free - and less bloated - version of Power Archiver is still available online (www.321download.com/LastFreeware/). There are also numerous other free and serviceable zip programs available. One example: The open Source 7-Zip is available at www.7-zip.org. It works well with various types of compressed files, but like most Open Source software, the interface and ease of use leave something to be desired.

A note about opening self-executing CAB files:

   Microsoft often packages Windows patches, and even small downloads, in self-executing CAB files - even when the download is not something that needs to install. Stranger still, there will often be a self-executing ZIP file inside the self-executing CAB file! It is a mystery why they use that method. Considering the remarkable bloat of Microsoft webpages, generally, it can hardly be that they're trying to conserve on download traffic by maximizing file compression.

   Whatever the reason for Microsoft's quirky download packages, you need to be able to open both self-executing files if you want control over what you downloaded. You may want to see what's inside before running the file. Or you may not want to install the file at all. (Microsoft typically designs these downloads to "install" everything, including even programming code samples and documentation downloads, clogging up the Registry and Program Files folders unnecessarily.)

   Self-executing CABs and ZIPs are similar. In both cases, the EXE file is composed of the original file with a small EXE file (called a "stub") pasted onto the front. Self-executing files can be converted back to normal by merely finding the end of the EXE (the beginning of the actual ZIP or CAB) and writing the rest of the EXE file to a new ZIP or CAB file.

   Most good ZIP programs will allow you to just rename a self-executing ZIP file to ".zip" and will recognize the file. But that does not work with self-executing CAB files. There used to be a small program available online called exe2cab, by Yuri Niyazov, which could convert a self-executing CAB file to a normal CAB that can be opened with a ZIP program. That program seems to be gone. A replacement for it is here, called X2CAB. It is a very simple utility. It just does one thing: Drop an EXE file on it and get the CAB.

Download xtocab.zip (7 KB)

   For people who want to work more with CAB files, there is also a JSWare component, available on the VBScripts page, which can create CABs, extract from CABs, and retrieve the CAB from self-extracting CAB files. If you are interested in that, see this link.

Back to Index

TweakUI

TweakUI
   TweakUI is a small program from Microsoft for changing settings and configuration in Windows. This link was to the latest, most compatible version as of 9-2000. If the link is not working try the Windows Annoyances website. That site has links to a number of Windows utilities, including "Any Folder...Other Folder" which will add a submenu by that name under the SendTo menu, allowing selected files to be copied or moved to any selected folder easily. (Note: Most versions of these utilities do not have full installation functionality. You may find that the download just extracts several files without starting an installation. In that case look for an INF file among the extracted files. Right-click that and click Install.)

Back to Index

Open Office

www.openoffice.org
   Sun Microsystems bought Star Office a few years ago and has been working on it ever since. Star Office costs about $70 and Open Office is the free version - without tech. support.
   With version 1.1 Open Office is a full-function office suite. It will open and save more versions of MS Office files than MS Office will! (From Office 95 to Office XP.) Open Office is worth installing just to be sure you can open any kind of MS Office file that you might receive.
  Open Office has been designed to provide the equivalent functionality to the MS Office products of Word, Powerpoint and Excel. It can also save in PDF format.

Back to Index

IconEdit32

Iconedit32
   Iconedit32 is a free program for making icons, available through ZDnet. It's a solid program, though with some limitations: icons cannot be made in any color depth greater than 8-bit/256 colors, the color palette is fixed, and the program can only open ICO files. The latter problem can be circumvented by opening a BMP file in MS Paint, then copying and pasting into the Iconedit32 window. For some reason this seems to work only from MS Paint.

Update note: On older PCs where the display is only 16-bit, icons need to be 256-color at most. But most PCs now have 24-bit or 32-bit color display, which means they can render a 24-bit or "true color" icon accurately without "dithering" the colors. That means that any picture can be used as an icon, and IrfanView (above) can make the conversion. Just open an image (usually you'll want 32 x 32 size) in IrfanView, save it as an icon, checking the box in the Save As dialogue that is marked "Save transparent color". IrfanView will then let you click on the image to select the transparent color, and will then save the icon in 24-bit, "true color".

Back to Index

Reptile

Reptile: www.sausage.com
   Sausage software, the company that makes HotDog, offers Reptile for free, though they require registration. Reptile is a pattern generator. You set several variables and see what it makes! Hundreds of frames can be generated, then an animation constructed from any of them.... hard to explain. (If you go to Sausage, click 'Super Toolz'.) Click here to see a sample.

Back to Index

ASCIIcat

ASCIIcat
   ASCIIcat by R. E. Harvey is a very useful Help file. It includes ASCII codes, key codes, weights and measures conversion, RGB color charts, country codes, typeface measures, etc. If this link is not still active try doing a search for "asciicat" or "r e harvey".

Back to Index

Coffee Cup Free FTP

www.coffeecup.com
   Coffee Cup software makes a number of well-regarded, web-related programs. While there are many FTP programs available, many are over-produced and some are spyware. The Coffee Cup free version is an adequate program that works well if you do website upload and only need basic FTP functions.

Back to Index

Media Player Classic and QuickTime Alternative

Media Player Classic     QuickTime Alternative
   There are a number of music and video players that play a number of standard and proprietary media files. Some of the players available are not very attractive choices. For instance, Windows Media Player and Real Player are both known to track usage. If they were products from smaller companies they'd be considered to be nasty spyware. ( See here for a general idea of the sort of sleazy intrusion you can expect from Windows Media Player, and see here for the actual privacy policy.) Have you noticed that Media Player, Real Player, QuickTime, etc. run all the time in the "system tray" at lower right? None of those programs has any reason to be left running when you're not playing a music or audio file, and anything that runs unnecessarily should be suspect.

   Media Player Classic is an open source, free program meant to serve as a replacement for Windows Media Player. QuickTime Alternative is a similar program meant to replace QuickTime. The QuickTime Alternative download is actually a combination of both programs. Installing that download provides a player for virtually all online video and audio, without needing to use the commercial players.
   (One caveat with the QuickTime Alternative: As of this writing, the installer is defective. Even if you uncheck the option to install the QTA plugin, it will still be installed in all browsers. While many people will want the plugins installed, if you prefer to save video files rather than play then in a webpage this is an annoying problem. To purge Firefox or Mozilla plugin settings delete the file mimeTypes.rdf in the Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles.... folder. The "qt" files in all "Plugins" folders can also be deleted.

Back to Index

Autoruns

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html
   One of the most common problems for people using Windows is undesired software that runs at startup. A surprising amount of software will set itself to run at startup when it's installed, almost always without asking. The media players mentioned above are a good example. Installed hardware is also a common culprit. You may have 3 or 4 entirely useless programs running for your printer alone.

   The difficulty in dealing with badly behaved software is that the startup settings are very disorganized. A program can be set to run at startup by several different methods. Autoruns is perhaps the most comprehensive startup manager ever produced. It checks all ways that software can be set to run at startup and provides the ability to easily disable any particular program. Autoruns is produced by the people at sysinternals.com, a site operated by Windows programming experts who have written a number of specialized Windows programs that are uniquely useful, especially to programmers and tinkerers. Autoruns is also a very simple, small program that is easy to use. The only disadvantage is that it provides so much information. The first time you use Autoruns you will need to take a few minutes to understand what is being listed because the list is long and comprehensive.

   Note: It is always advisable to be careful when disabling startup programs. You should understand exactly what it is that you're shutting off. Some Windows services should not be shut off. Also, be aware that some software might ignore your wishes and reset itself for startup at the next opportunity. Again, the popular media players are good examples. Software that acts that way can only be controlled by never using it, and preferably by removing it. (Though later versions of Windows Media Player will not allow themselves to be removed. Even if you manage to remove the files Windows will just put them back again! Microsoft justifies this aggressive foisting of their software by claiming that it is "part of Windows".)

Back to Index