My favorite tools

Everybody has their own set of favorite tools, but often one is searching for even better ones. I made this overview not to tell you what to use, but what my personal favorites are. I invite you to share your experiences so that we may 'define' a required set of tools to make your system more stable and performing even better. I have divided the tools into several categories, so you may find useful ones rather easily. It is in no way complete, there are many more tools available, but these are my favorites.
Hardware Monitoring
CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php for monitoring clockspeed and memory timings
PSU Calculator Pro: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp for showing PSU requirements, including the ageing of PSU's
HWMonitor: http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php for monitoring voltages, fan speed and temperatures
Speedfan: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php for monitoring voltages, fan speed and temperatures
Both HWMonitor and Speedfan are advised, because they show some different measurements, especially on the voltages. Both suppliers have been informed on the discrepancy between their programs and hopefully will act on them
Disk Optimization
Perfect Disk 10: http://www.perfectdisk.com/ for disk defragging
Diskeeper: http://www.diskeeper.com/diskeeper/home/diskeeper.aspx for disk defragging
Tweaking & Cleaning
CCleaner: http://www.ccleaner.com/ for cleaning up temp files, cookies, registry and managing startup programs
1Click PC Fix: http://www.ccleaner.com/ for serious registry cleaning
PerfectSpeed PC Optimizer: http://www.perfectdisk.com/products/home-perfectspeed/learn-more for managing registry clean up, defragging and finding duplicates
SysInternals: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx for optimizing or debugging purposes on-the-fly, most notably with Process Eplorer, Process Monitor and Autoruns, but also a lot of other usefull utilities are included.
TweakNow PowerPack: http://www.tweaknow.com/powerPack.html for registry tweaking and general maintenance
Screen capture
SnagIt: http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp for screen captures
Benchmarking & Testing
Cinebench R10: http://www.maxon.net/index.php?id=162&L=0 for measuring video performance
HDTach: http://www.maxon.net/index.php?id=162&L=0 for measuring disk performance
PassMark: http://www.passmark.com/products/pt.htm for measuring overall performance
PPBM4: http://ppbm4.com/ for measuring Premiere Pro CS4 performance
File Management
Beyond Compare: http://www.scootersoftware.com/ for file management, copying and finding duplicates
Treesize Professional: http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/ for disk space management
Total Commander: http://www.ghisler.com/ for generic file management
Capture
Scenalyzer: http://www.scenalyzer.com/main.html for capturing SD material
HDVSplit: http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm for capturing HDV material
CD & DVD Tools
Easy CD-DA Extractor: http://www.poikosoft.com/ for audio ripping, conversion and disk creation
PowerDVD: http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/overview_en_US.html for playing DVD and BRD's
Nero: http://www.nero.com/enu/nero9-introduction.html for duplicating disks on multiple burners simultaneously
Install tools
nLite: http://www.nliteos.com/ for creating slipstreamed installation disks for XP
vLite: http://www.vlite.net/ for creating slipstreamed installation disks for Vista
Video tools
GSpot: http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ for identifying the codec in use
Media Info: http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en for identifying the codec in use
Lagarith: http://lags.leetcode.net/codec.html a visually lossless codec
HuffYuv: http://neuron2.net/www.math.berkeley.edu/benrg/huffyuv.html another visually lossless codec
Bitrate calculator: http://dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php?PHPSESSID=6501b6b2b31f4c4a295bc8c2ba1e6f57#Calcu lator
I hope we can extend on this list with your suggestions, so in the end we may have a good list of tools that people can consult when they are looking for specific utilities. It is not my initial intention to include specific tools like ripping software, plug-ins to PR and the like, but only the more generic tools. Hence no mention of MainConcept, Morgan and the like.

HWMonitor: http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php for monitoring voltages, fan speed and temperatures
Speedfan: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php for monitoring voltages, fan speed and temperatures
Both HWMonitor and Speedfan are advised, because they show some different measurements, especially on the voltages. Both suppliers have been informed on the discrepancy between their programs and hopefully will act on them"
I have downloaded both and are running them parallell and today they show the same figures for temp, fanspeed and voltage.
So they have been listening to mr Harm !
Thanks for the list! Great !
Regards
Sven

Similar Messages

What happened to my favorites tool bar?

HI. I had to download Firefox because the new internet 9 wasn't allowing me access to all of my necessary sites. I made sure to import everything when I changed over and have lost my favorites tool bar with all of my favorite songs and websites on it. What happened, and how do I retrieve it?

Adapter for what? I think I'll just go back to my previous version and hope my passwords weren't fried somehow. I've always loved Firefox.....until now.
I've now gone back to 3.6 but guess what? There is a message that it won't work for long. Will we be forced to go to v4? I DO NOT WANT TO USE FIREFOX IF IT WON'T TAKE ROBOFORM!!!!!!! And I HATE IE any version!! This sucks!!!!!!!

Why can't I find file,edit, view favorites, tools and help features?

I downloaded firefox, but I can't see file,edit,veiw, favorites or tools. Why can I not see these items? and why does firefox crash so many times?

To restore the menu bar see [[menu bar is missing]].
For it crashing, the [[Firefox crashes]] article is a good starting place. If it submits crash reports to Mozilla, can you post some of the crash report IDs (the link above shows how to find them). The crash report IDs may help somebody identify the cause for your crashes.

How can I get the favorites from my favorites tool bar to open in the main window and not the sidebar?

I created a favorites toolbar. When I click on some of the icons, they open in the main window like I expect. Others open in a sidebar which I do not want and cannot even get to full size. How do I get all of them to open in the main window?

Generally, Bookmarks that open in the Sidebar are from links that you clicked on on web sites to add their Bookmark. To change that, right-click on the Bookmarks, opening in the Sidebar, choose "Properties" and un-check "Load this bookmark in the sidebar".
*For links and info on Bookmarks, see [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/how-do-i-use-bookmarks How do I use Bookmarks?]
'''If this reply solves your problem, please click "Solved It" next to this reply when signed-in to the forum.'''
Not related to your question, but...
You need to update some plug-ins:
*Plug-in check: https://www-trunk.stage.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/
*Adobe Shockwave for Director Netscape plug-in: [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Shockwave%20plugin%20with%20Firefox#w_installing-shockwave Installing ('''''or Updating''''') the Shockwave plugin with Firefox]
*Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape: [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Adobe%20Reader%20plugin%20with%20Firefox#w_installing-and-updating-adobe-reader Installing/Updating Adobe Reader in Firefox]
*Shockwave Flash (Adobe Flash or Flash): [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing%20the%20Flash%20plugin#w_updating-flash Updating Flash in Firefox]
*Next Generation Java Plug-in for Mozilla browsers: [https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Using%20the%20Java%20plugin%20with%20Firefox#w_installing-or-updating-java Installing or Updating Java in Firefox]

When I open Firefox there is absolutely no toolbar at the top. No 'File' 'Edit' 'View' 'Favorites' 'Tools' 'Help' buttons, no anything. Any idea's??

When I open Firefox there is no toolbar at all. I have tried deleting and then re-downloading it, but when I click on the icon on my desktop, all that comes up is a page that says "Widgets, Gadgets, RSS feeds, and more." There is no search box to surf the web, there is nothing.
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened
== I cancelled out a few of the access points for things like Linkedin. ==
== User Agent ==
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; AskTB5.6)

'''Can't see the Menu Bar''' (File, Edit, View, History, Bookmarks, Tools, Help)?
Turning the Menu Bar on and off is a new feature in version 3.6.
''(~~red:Linux & OSX see~~: [[Menu bar is missing]] )''
''Windows'' Method 1. '''''Hold down''''' the key and press the following letters in this exact order: V T M then release the key
''Windows'' Method 2. Tap once on the F10 key, while the Menu bar is visible, choose "View > Toolbars", click "Menu Bar" so that a check mark is placed next to Menu Bar
''Windows'' Method 3. Tap once and release the key. The Menu Bar will be displayed; then choose ~~red:V~~iew > ~~red:T~~oolbars and click on ~~red:M~~enu Bar so that a check mark is placed next to Menu Bar
The Menu Bar should now be displayed permanently, unless you turn it off again using View > Toolbars. Check mark = displayed, NO check mark = not displayed.
See:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Menu+bar+is+missing
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Toolbar_customization#Restoring_missing_menu_or_other_toolbars
'''Navigation Toolbar, Bookmarks Toolbar and other Toolbars''' under View > Toolbars. Clicking on one of them will place a check mark (display) or remove the check mark (not displayed).
'''To display the Status Bar''', View, then click Status bar to place a check mark (display) or remove the check mark (not displayed).
'''Full Screen mode'''
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Netbooks#Full_screen
Also see:
''' [[Back and forward or other toolbar buttons are missing]]'''
'''[[Navigation Toolbar items]]'''
'''[http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/How+to+customize+the+toolbar How to customize the toolbar]'''

How do I expose my toolbar on Firefox? It used to be visable but suddenly vanished. It's the one at the top which displays buttons for FILES EDIT VIEW FAVORITES TOOLS & HELP...I just need to access these items...Thank you

I had had the toolbar across the top of my screen visable. Suddenly it dissappeared, perhps from inadvertantly hitting some unknown button. I have tried to restore the toolbar but cannot figure out how. The toolbar contains all of my bookmarks, tools, etc. which I am now unable to access. Can u help me??? thanks...Mike Swanson

For details of how to restore it, see the [[menu bar is missing]] article.

PART OF MY BROWSER IS MISSING I HAVE NO FILE-VIEW-FAVORITES TOOLS HELP AND NO BOOKMARK LINK... HOW CAN I FIX THIS OR DO I HAVE TO REMOVE IT AND GET ANOTHER BROWSER???

IT CAME THIS WAY WHEN I DOWNLOADED IT .I HAD ALL MY OTHER PROGRAMS AND WINDOWS CLOSED AND I NOTICED IT WHEN I TRIED TO CLICK ON THE FILE AND OPEN IT TO PRINT A PAGE.. THEN I TRIED TO GET INTO MY BOOKMARKS AND REALIZED THAT TAB WAS ALSO MUSSING ..VERY FRUSTRATING.. I HAVE TO GO TO INTERNET EXPLORER TO DO ALL MY WORK AND I DON'T TRUST EXPLORER AS I HAVE BEEN VIRUSED ON IT MORE THAN ONCE..ALSO NO TOOLS OR HELP LINKS

Make sure the Menu Bar is not hidden. Right-click the Home Button and make sure Menu Bar option is ticked.

For what ever reason I cannot locate my favorites, and cannot see my web browser on my firefox. My grandson used the computer yesterday and many of the usual thing are missing. Browser bar, favorites tools etc. Can you help

The line where the browser bar would ordinarily be is just a black space. My favorites list, browsing history and most of the firefox toolbar is missing.

It sounds like he hid the menu bar. Press either Alt or F10 to temporarily display the menu bar, then in the view menu select Toolbars, then click on "Menu Bar" in the list of toolbars to display it permanently. Active toolbars have a tick by their name. For more details see the [[menu bar is missing]] article.

The tool bar at the top disappeared (file, edit, view, favorites, tools etc). How do I get it back?

I even loaded the beta4 version to see if that would shake the apple out of the tree, and no luck. There appears to be no tab/button anywhere on the screen to bring it back

Be careful with using the Firefox 4 beta version on your current Firefox 3.6 profile folder as it can modify (upgrade) files and make them incompatible with Firefox 3.6 or can otherwise cause problems at a later time.
In Firefox 3.6 and later on Windows you can hide the "Menu Bar" via "View > Toolbars" or via the right-click context menu on a toolbar.
Press F10 or press and hold the Alt key down to bring up the "Menu Bar" temporarily.
Go to "View > Toolbars" or right-click the "Menu Bar" or press Alt+V T to select which toolbars to show or hide (click on an entry to toggle the state).
See also:
* [[Menu bar is missing]]
* http://kb.mozillazine.org/Toolbar_customization

I dont have the toolbar with File,Edit,View,Favorites,Tools,Help. Also, every time I log in it brings back all the tabs from previous session.

Since the toolbar isn't there, I can't do anything. I especially need to print
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened
== I installed Firefox on Wed 5/5/10

In Firefox 3.6 on Windows you can hide the menu bar via "View > Toolbars" or via the right click context menu on a toolbar.
Press and hold the Alt key down to bring up the menu bar.
Go to "View > Toolbars" or right-click the menu bar or press Alt+V T to select which toolbars to show or hide.
See also [[Menu bar is missing]]

My toolbar no longer shows tabs for "file, edit, view, favorites, tools"

Google Chrome was installed while I was away. Also can't find firefox bookmarks. Help!

For details of how to restore it, see https://support.mozilla.com/kb/menu+bar+is+missing

I have no file/edit/wiew/favorites/tools/healp,Try to reintall no healp

I have tried to reinstall no help
You look at the browser and it have a black stopped( M Customize Links)

See [[menu bar is missing]].

Help! The liquify tool is not working as expected in Photoshop CC.

I have used CS5 for a couple years and used the liquify tool very frequently without issue. I subscribed to Photoshop CC 2 weeks ago and have been having this problem with the tool:
When I use Bloat, Pinch or Reconstruct, it seem to over-do its function and completely distorts the photo, even with a single click. If I move the cursor even a millimeter, the whole image gets sucked into a blank circle the size of the brush. See examples (I used Bloat for these):
Single Click with Brush Density 50:
Single Click with Density 0:
Moved the cursor a tiny bit to the right:
I have tried adjusting the brush density, brush rate. I have reloaded Photoshop several times. I searched online for a solution and tried the "Kelby trick" by pressing Shift while starting up Photoshop. None of those work. I have only had CC for two weeks and have not changed any settings (except increased history states to 99) and have not installed any plug-ins or anything.
Any ideas how to fix this? It used to be one of my favorite tools!

OK, that's strange. I see you have brush pressure set at 1, and the other settings are sensible, so a bit of a mystery. Have you tried both mouse and tablet? If it happens with one and not the other you could check that device's settings. Might be down to deleting preferences unless someone else has a bright idea.

I'm looking for a "tools" tab w/internet options on it and can't find it

I recently downloaded Mozilla and in looking over the new page i noticed that there is no tool bar w/File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, and Help like there is in Internet Explorer. I'm just wondering if it exists and if it does can you please tell me where I can find it. thanks

Press F10 or tap the Alt key to bring up the "Menu Bar" temporarily.

I have lost the tools, file, menu at the top tried reloading still wont come back how do i get it back

while customizing my settings i lost the menu at the top file, edit view , favorites, tools, etc. even if i delete mozilla and reload it i cant get it back

For details of how to restore it, see the [[menu bar is missing]] article.

My favorite tools

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