The Windows and Windows Software Megathread

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Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

What's a good, free password program/utility to use? I saw something about KeePass earlier today, and looking at it, I like that it's offline, but I read it has some issues, some involving Windows 10, which I suppose I'll have to upgrade to soon.

Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Dec 19, 2019

# ¿ Dec 19, 2019 06:13

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 08:31

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

namlosh posted:

I use keepass religiously... it has zero problems with windows 10. It�s the best one imho... use OneDrive or Dropbox to sync the password database file it uses to your phone or other computers where you need the passwords

It's just that when I searched for KeePass, the Wikipedia page on it said this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KeePass posted:

A 2019 Independent Security Evaluators study described KeePass as well as other widely used password managers as being unable to control Windows 10's tendency to leave passwords in cleartext in RAM after they are displayed using Windows controlled GUI.[12] In addition, several github projects (KeeFarce, KeeThief, Lazanga) specifically attack a running KeePass to steal all data; when the host is compromised, KeePass cannot prevent password theft. Note that "neither KeePass nor any other password manager can magically run securely in a spyware-infected, insecure environment."[13]

hooah posted:

I switched from KeePass to Bitwarden a while ago and am so glad I did. I don't know if it was Dropbox's fault or the Android app's, but it always had a hard time syncing passwords that I created on my phone.

While Bitwarden does operate in the cloud, you can host your own private sync server if you want so the company doesn't touch your data.

Maybe I'll give Bitwarden a look.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2019 05:50

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Question: Can 7Zip be used to archive photos or videos without compromising the image quality? I noticed that if I used 7Zip to store files, it would not only shrink the overall size of the files, but also make it equivalent to the size on disk. However, I wasn't sure if it affected the quality of photos. From doing a couple of searches, it sounds like it does slightly, but not as much as normal compression from making a JPEG.

I ask because I'm trying to clear up some space on my main SSD, and I want to archive the images over on the HDD I use for storage. I thought 7Zip would be ideal, but I don't mess with the 7Zip settings much, so I don't know how to configure it to compress the files into a smaller size, or if doing so damages the image quality.

Additionally, I thought about defragmenting the SSDs and HDD to see if that would help clear up space or improve performance. I used Defraggler to analyze the the 3 drives I have: the main SSD (has Windows and various games/programs) has 13% fragmentation, the HDD (file storage) has 3% fragmentation, and the alternate SSD (all Steam Games) has 31% fragmentation.

The issue I have is that it's been a long time since I've defragged a hard drive, and I don't remember if doing it results in deletion or alteration of fiels that might make programs not work or files inaccessible. ~~I also don't know if you're meant to run it on an SSD.~~ After a quick search, I found that, yes, you should not defrag your SSD, but Defraggler offers an alternate option called 'Optimize'.

Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Apr 6, 2020

# ¿ Apr 6, 2020 03:29

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Klyith posted:

7zip is lossless compression, anything you put through it will be bit-for-bit identical on the other end.

However, most media formats (image, music, video) on your PC are already compressed in some way, either lossy like mp3 & jpeg or lossless like png and flac. These files will hardly compress at all, so that's why putting them into a 7zip is the same size on disk.

Is there an ideal setting for 7Zip I should use then? I couldn't find any solid recommendations, save for setting the compression level to a higher setting, and possibly changing the compression method.

Also, how does changing the settings affect performance? I imagine if I push it to use a higher compression level or more memory, compressing it will take longer, but does that also mean it will take longer or put more of a strain on the computer when extracting it later?

Klyith posted:

Don't defragment SSDs. If defraggler offers to defrag a SSD it is crap and you should get rid of it. The only operation you should do to SSDs is Trim (windows 8 & 10 will recognize SSDs and trim them automatically in the Optimize Drives tool).
edit for your edit: Ok in that case defraggler is probably doing the same trim operation and it is ok. I still would say you don't need a separate defrag utility, the one in windows is fine and manages itself automatically very well. it auto-schedules defrags and runs them only when disks are idle.

Defragging a drive does not change the amount of free space, delete files, or change files. It just lines up bits so that every part of a file is together on the same physical part of the drive. SSDs don't work like that so a defrag is completely useless for them.

Things you should do instead:
1. start -> type "disk cleanup" -> look at things there to clean. Most of the options are temporary and windows cache files that can be deleted with no care, but your Downloads folder is also in the list. If you keep things you want in Downloads, don't check that box.

2. if you use chrome or a chrome-based browser, clean your cache. chrome is really awful about letting cache fill up poo poo-tons of space. _{^{(use firefox)}}
if actual chrome, this is settings -> advanced -> privacy and security -> clear browsing data -> cached images and files

By the looks of it, Windows is indeed optimizing the SSDs already.

I use CCleaner, which I run periodically, and I imagine does the same thing as Disk Cleanup. I also use Firefox already, so that's taken care of.

Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Apr 6, 2020

# ¿ Apr 6, 2020 03:55

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Klyith posted:

It sounds like you need either more drives or to delete some stuff then.

Oh, I'm not really hurting for space at the moment. I just had a whim to clear some out some stuff, and shuffle things around a bit. I had already cleared 10 or so GBs already by deleting some overly large video files and getting rid of some duplicate files I had found. I planned on moving stuff over to the HDD storage drive (which still has tons of free space), and I just thought to use 7Zip as a way to shrink it down a bit and optimize the space.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2020 04:43

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

So I don't know if this is really the right thread for this (I'd make a thread, but it doesn't really feel warranted), but I made a list of all the useful/essential programs that I was going to carry over. I wanted to post it here to see if there something that should be included or not. I thought maybe if I could make a comprehensive list, I could post it elsewhere for others to use as a reference.

I have:

Notepad++ - Far better than the default Notepad. You probably get a lot more out of it if you're someone who does programming of some kind, but for someone who uses it more casually, things like having multiple documents accessible via tabs, different color schemes, a document map, and an indent guide makes writing or copying text easier to track and organize.
ShareX - I think I've read about ShareX in the past, but I never thought to download it, and I'm mad I didn't get it sooner, because it's an excellent tool for capturing screenshots, and a much better alternative to the default Snipping Tool in Windows. You can be pixel-precise with your selections, get scrolling captures of windows, record GIFs, and upload images batches of images.
Avidemux - Previously I was playing around with XMedia Recode for making small, short WebM videos, but after I downloaded the last update for it, I messed something up, so I searched and found Avidemux. It does a really great of letting me take clips I download or record with NVIDIA Shadowplay and render out clip segments without too much time or fuss. The quality of the final video also seems to be largely identical to the original
BleachBit - Since CCleaner ended up having all its issues, I tried finding a similar software and settled on this. I use it like I did CCleaner, which is to clear up stuff like the thumbnail cache and temporary files and whatnot, which sometimes takes up a few gigabytes of space. Maybe not necessary, but I like trying to free up space when I can.
VLC Player - Probably one that most people know about, but it's good for viewing videos or other media that doesn't play via Windows Media Player (or whatever Win10/11 uses now). I also recently learned you can use it to view Twitch streams via VLC, though I've yet to try it myself.
IrfanView - Not only a good image viewer, but a very useful tool if you're looking to convert and/or resize a batch of images. Can view image formats that Windows Explorer can't.
Speccy - This is by Piriform, who also makes CCleaner, but I've not had any trouble with it so far (version I'm using currently is v1.32.740). It works well to pull up info on my computer when I can't remember what CPU or GPU I have, but it also displays detailed info about the hardware.
CrystalDisk - Very helpful for viewing that status of your storage drives. Most useful for me is the Health Status, which gives you a percentage score of the drive, so you know if it's in good condition or if it's time to replace it.
Recuva - Another Piriform product. This one is for file recovery, and I was able to use it successfully to recover files off of a portable HDD I had deleted files off of. Again, there might be something better out there.
MP3Tag - My go to for editing music metadata, as well as adding album art. I haven't used it in a while, but I'm pretty sure it works with other formats aside from MP3.
HandBrake - A good tool for converting video, but you can also rip DVDs with it as well. I'm pretty sure I used it so I could rip The Room DVD so I could sync it with the RiffTrax commentary. Don't know if it works with Blu-Rays
MSI Afterburner - Don't really use this much, but it seems to be the most widely used utility for displaying framerates and other video card informationThere might be a better one out there.
AntiMicro - What I use when I want to map keyboard keys to my controller. I know some people use Joy2Key, but I don't know how the two compare.
DS4 Windows - Let you use a PS4 controller, though it seems like there's a lot of games nowadays that recognize the PS4 automatically.
WizTree - Disk space analyzer that shows you what's taking up space where on your computer. Faster than WinDirStat, which is what I used previously.
Pixiple - Program that will scan a directory and similar/duplicate images, where you can compare them and delete them. Useful if you're like me where you save everything to a single folder, so you end up saving different versions of the same image. Works pretty fast as well.
JDownloader2 - Download manager where you can put in a URL or copy/paste a bunch of URLs and download things in a batch
qBittTorrent - What I've heard to be the preferred torrent software nowadays. There's also Tixati, but Tixati seems to be geared more toward advanced users.
VoiceMeeter - What I use to get better sound out of my microphone. Has a couple of different version (there's VM Banana which has an additional hardware input and hardware out, and VM Potato, which has five inputs and additional settings.
DaVinci Resolve - a free non-linear video editor. I've mainly used Vegas Pro, which I find to be a bit easier to work with if you're new to video editing. However, Resolve lets you do a lot more, and I feel like I've gotten better looking renders out Resolve than I have Vegas (although YouTube compression still doesn't help).
Audacity - Free audio editor. I've gotten a lot of use out of it, whether it be clipping sound effects, recording game audio, or testing microphones.

Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 03:00 on Jul 22, 2023

# ¿ Jul 22, 2023 02:45

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Flipperwaldt posted:

For software I actually use regularly, Firefox + uBlock Origin, Keepass, Voidtools Everything search, LibreOffice. All of those can be installed through Ninite. Also a fan of Den4b Renamer, though I think Bulk Rename Utility is the more common recommendation despite the chaotic interface.

If I have to pick just one to put on the list, it's Everything, because it's one of those you might not know you needed in your life.

Qwinff hasn't been maintained for some time, buit still works fine as a frontend for ffmpeg. I mainly use it to convert audio file formats. I currently use the Stacher gui for yt-dlp to download things fron Youtube, but that's one that makes me wish the more basic youtube-dlg still worked.

Good list though and definitely the right thread.

Oh shoot, I have (or had) Bulk Rename Utility. I'll have to check out Den4B Renamer.

I also use Firefox and uBlockOrigin, but in addition, I also use PrivacyBadger and HTTPS Everywhere for added security. I don't use any of the password managers. I tried Last Pass for a little while, but there was something about it didn't work for me. I just write passwords down in a paper notebook.

Never heard of Voidtools, but it looks pretty useful, especially since the Windows taskbar search gives you web results now.

Have to check out Stacher, because I've wanted to find a good tool for downloading YouTube videos.

I don't know what the deal is with FFmpeg. I want to say I downloaded it once, but I couldn't figure it out (maybe because I didn't use a front end).

# ¿ Jul 22, 2023 07:16

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

So I have my new Windows 11 PC hooked up, but I've already got a problem: the audio is very low, and it's already at 100% volume. I'm using headphones through the front headphone jack. I've searched around for various fixes, but I can't find anything that works so far.

~~Could it be I need to plug the headphones into one of the audio ports in the back, rather than the headphone jack in the front?~~ EDIT: Yep, that did the trick! Almost blew out my eardrums, but plugging it into the back gives me louder audio. There's just something weird about dedicated headphone jack, I guess. :shrug:

Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Jul 29, 2023

# ¿ Jul 29, 2023 04:15

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

Thanks Ants posted:

It's probably a combi line out and headphone jack, do your audio drivers have some sort of companion app where you can tell it what was plugged in?

There's Realtek Audio Console, but I don't know if that's the same thing.

When it was plugged into the front jack, Realtek recognized them as headphones.

This is how Realtek looks now that the headphones are plugged into the back:

I'll try plugging them in through the front later and post a screenshot of that.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2023 16:00

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 08:31

Max Wilco: Jan 23, 2012; I'm just trying to go through life without looking stupid.

It's not working out too well...

What's the ideal program or method when it comes to backing up files? I've been procrastinating on backing up files from my old computer. I've got an 8TB external hard drive I can put them on, but in the past, I've just cut-paste or copy-paste files via Windows Explorer, and I'm wondering if there's a more efficient way of doing it.

I saw Macrium mentioned, but it sounds like that's if you want to clone an entire drive. I could do that (the main SSD on the computer is only 500GB), but would I still be able to access individual files if I transferred them to another computer? If not, then it seems like I'd save space by just transferring specific files.

EDIT: Actually, I decided to take a look at the other two drives, and all combined, there's about 1,794 GB (1.794 TB) between the three, so could I clone all three drives onto the 8TB external?

Max Wilco fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Mar 30, 2024

# ¿ Mar 30, 2024 19:48

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