New PC Self-Build. Any useful, non-mainstream utilities out there?

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Kevin67

Senior Member
Well, I've spent a bundle on a pc self-build.

AMD Octo-core,
4.3GHz,
16Gb DDR3 RAM,
3x 250Gb Samsung SSDs,
1920x1080 Full HD Monitor
Nvidia Quadro K2000D Graphics Card
10 x USB 3.0
Windows Experience Index=7.3

Aside form the mainstream photography programs, are there any lesser-known utilities you have found useful, please?
 
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aced19

Senior Member
Nice build.
A few programs I use.

SiSoftware Sandra-General info and benchmark.
Futuremark 3dmark-for performance on graphics card. Great when you want to compare different driver versions for performance.
CCleaner-great system cleaner.
Spybot-spyware cleaner.
Real Temp-temperature monitoring program.
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]DVDVideosoft- lets you convert just about anything.[/FONT]
 
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Kevin67

Senior Member
Thanks, aced19; I'll go check out those programs! I appreciate your time!

Whiskeyman - C:\Windows7 - D:\photo-video editing apps e:\ scratch disk
Apparently adobe works faster with windows being on c, adobe cc on another ssd and the scratch disk being on another....
I have to say it works fast - and faster than I have seen anywhere else.
 
Nero

Nero

Senior Member
Avast Antivirus. Totally free download off the internet and it's one of the best antivirus programs I've ever used. And I've used most of the big ones.
CCleaner has been mentioned.

That's about all I can think of unless you wanna get into editing programs.
 
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Kevin67

Senior Member
Hi Demonic, thanks for that suggestion. I have that on now! I'm interested in all the programs that help support a photographer in his/her work. So that includes file management and all the rest of it as well as alternative, lesser known editing programs. I'm just grateful to have some suggestions rather than me going in blind into software that could potentially be malware.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Essential app: Irfanview. Be sure to download/install the package of add-ons as well. This is an awesome pic viewer and is great for quick and dirty edits.
 
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Glevum Owl

Glevum Owl

Senior Member
A few programs I find indispensable:

XYPlorer File Manager
XYplorer - A Windows File Manager and Explorer Replacement
Better than Windows Explorer (not difficult). Great for organising images: creating folders, batch renaming images and viewing them especially after installing...

FastPictureViewer Codec
FastPictureViewer Codec Pack: PSD, CR2, NEF, DNG RAW codecs (and more) for Windows 8.x Desktop, Windows 7, Windows Vista and XP
View pretty much any image format in Windows file manager programs.

Faststone Image Viewer
FastStone Image Viewer - Powerful and Intuitive Photo Viewer, Editor and Batch Converter
Surprisingly well featured image viewer with a few handy editing tools. Small footprint compared to LR so good for installing on a laptop for use when out and about.

Bvckup2
https://www.bvckup2.com/
Backup software. Simple, fast versatile and not expensive.
 
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aroy

Senior Member
I have the following free software installed
. IrfanView with all plugins to view all kinds of graphics
. Multispec for viewing Satellite images. The program can be used to view 16 bit TIFF and manipulate them
. Microsoft ICE for stitching panoramas
. Microsoft Defender for virus and other checks
. jZip to compress/uncompres files
. Display Fusion for multiple monitor control (I have 3)
. Digicam Control for tethered shooting
. Handbrake for processing Videos
. Daemon tools to read ISO files
. Firefox for browser
. Capture NX-D for RAW file processing
. Combined-Community-Codec-Pack - for all the codecs
. Geotrans for coordinate transformations
 
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Kevin67

Senior Member
Thank you, Owl and aroy! I shall check your recommendations right now!

Really, an enormous thanks to all who have contributed and helped me so much.
 
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