With so many users blatantly refusing to make the switch to Windows Vista, I thought it might be a good time to revisit some of the top add-ons for Windows XP. These add-ons are designed to implement missing features, and increase productivity. Oh, and don’t worry if you are a Vista user. Most of these add-ons will work for you as well!
Contributed by Nilpo Rating: / 4 November 17, 2008
When I sat down to create this list I had originally intended to do a Top Ten list. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get it down below twelve. So here are a dozen must-have apps that I don’t think any Windows user should be without. And perhaps the best part of all—they are all absolutely free of charge!
Without wasting any more time, the first couple of freebies in this list are Windows shell enhancements. These programs integrate themselves into the Windows shell and present themselves in the form of context menu entries.
This add-on has been a long-time favorite of mine and never escapes one of these top add-on lists. It allows you to select a file that is in use to be deleted the next time the system reboots. This is handy if you are trying to replace or remove files that are in use by other programs. I personally find this very handy when trying to remove some pesky viruses and spyware that attempt to keep their own processes locked so that the average user cannot remove them. These files are no longer a problem. Simply select RemoveOnReboot from their context menu in My Computer.
If you’ve ever seen the warning that you’re getting low on disk space, you’ll love this next little gem. It adds a new Size tab to the Folder Properties dialog box in My Computer that shows the size of each folder and subfolder on your hard drive.
The view can be customized and the listing can be sorted in a number of ways. By choosing to sort in descending order by size, you can very quickly see what folders on your system are taking up the most space.
The next add-on that I have to have on my system is actually an entire group of shell extensions. RJH Extensions adds several different entries to the context menu in My Computer and provides a program to easily manage which entries are shown.
With RJH extensions, a quick mouse click can copy a file’s path to the clipboard, open a Command Prompt window to the current directory, securely shred files, rename files, or easily encrypt or decrypt them. But it doesn’t stop there. You can also create a file list and write it to a file or even print it. This add-on makes some very useful tasks very quick and easy to accomplish.
Developers will especially love this add-on. IconViewer adds a new Icons tab to the File Properties dialog box that allows you to easily view and save any icons associated with a file. Now you can throw away those icon extractors and clumsy command-line tools.
With IconViewer you can quickly view any dll or exe’s icon resources with the click of a mouse. Whether you need to save the icon for later use, or just find its location, this add-on provides all of the tools and information you’ll need to work with icon resources.
If you haven’t heard of Alex Feinman’s ISO Recorder, you’ve really been missing out. (And possibly living under a rock!) It’s ironic that the single most popular power toy of all time wasn’t even developed by Microsoft.
This program integrates into Windows and allows you to work with all sorts of CD and DVD images. You can quickly burn CDs and DVDs from existing images, make images of existing CDs or DVDs, or create images of the contents of any folder on your system.
While all of these features are useful, the ability to burn ISO images natively is probably the most sought-after feature. It fills in the gap that Microsoft missed when they added the CD Writing Wizard to Windows XP.
MagicDisc is freeware from the creators of MagicIso; it goes far beyond being just a virtual CD/DVD drive emulator. It allows you to manage multiple virtual CD/DVD devices, mount existing ISO images, and even create images from CDs and DVDs.
With MagicDisc, you can take all of your games and applications on the road without ever having to carry CDs again. Simply store them as images on your hard drive and then read them again as if the disc were actually in a CD drive. It even allows you to compress ISO images to save space!
Mike Lin’s Startup Control Panel is a dream come true for system administrators or anyone else who wants to take control of their system by controlling what programs are launched at start up.
This program adds a control panel applet that allows you to easily see and configure what programs run when your computer starts. A tabbed interface shows you what programs are starting up and from where they are being started. It supports far more startup locations that Microsoft’s System Configuration Utility and it doesn’t prompt you to restart your system every time you make changes. It even provides a method of restoring entries if you delete the wrong one by accident.
Oh, and for you portable app fans out there—there’s also a standalone exe version available!
This is a must-have utility for any power user. Originally developed by SysInternals, Microsoft’s Process Explorer exposes system processes like never before. A slick user interface provides quick access to valuable information about the processes running on your system.
In a quick view you can see a process’s CPU history, footprint, file dependencies, open handles, memory-mapped files, sub-processes, and much more. It also allows you to control those processes. You cannot truly understand the power of this utility until you try it out for yourself.
Cedrick Collomb’s Unlocker is another power app that I absolutely cannot live without. If you’ve ever received an error that a file was in use and could not be deleted or received a permission denied error trying to open a file that wasn’t released by another program, then you have got to give this app a look.
Many other programs claim to be able to release locked files, but none are as effective as Unlocker. Unlocker doesn’t attempt to release a file by simply ending the locking process; it actually releases that process’s handle on the file. It can easily be launched from the context menu, but it also provides a cool little helper app that can launch Unlocker automatically any time an access error occurs.
If you like the look and feel of Vista but just don’t want to make the change, then this next group of add-ons is for you. These beauties can add some of the functionality you’ll find in Vista, and even alter the Windows XP UI to look more like Vista. You’ll soon see what I mean.
This cool little app is designed to increase productivity, but let’s be realistic. People really want to use this because it looks cool and adds a new Vista feature to Windows XP. Visual Task Tips is a shell enhancement utility that will display a thumbnail image for each task in the Windows Task Bar.
Do you often have multiple browser windows or documents open in the same program? Or maybe, like me, you constantly have too many programs open at the same time? Now you can simply mouse over a button on the task bar and instantly see a live thumbnail of the actual window. No more hunting around or needlessly moving windows around.
A lot of users love the new task switcher in Windows Vista. It provides a graphic way of seeing exactly what windows are open and allows you to easily move between them. Did you know that Microsoft created a power toy that adds similar functionality to XP?
The Alt-Tab Replacement Power Toy replaces the standard task switcher with a much more functional version. In addition to seeing the icon of the application, you will also see a preview of the window.
If you really want to have the Vista look without having to upgrade, then this is your all-in-one solution. The Vista Transformation Pack installs a combination of Windows Themes, programs, and tweaks designed to make Windows XP look, feel, and work like Windows Vista.
This package is very well-developed and is not some hack job. At first glance, most users probably wouldn’t notice that you weren’t running Vista! You really have to see this one to believe it. Go visit the Vista Transformation Pack home page and check out the full gallery of screen shots and features!
Controlling the Desktop Appearance in Windows Vista
