HTPC Gems -- Great Tools

[ccsmoke]

Foxit is a good pdf reader for those that are tired of adobe's updates..

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

Those looking to spice up harmony remotes by adding some cool channel logos in black, iconharmony is great for that

http://www.iconharmony.com/icons/home

[RetroBox]

Originally Posted by wrems

Just thought of another. DVD Flick: http://www.dvdflick.net

Really nice DVD burning app that can quickly and easily turn most any media format into a playable DVD. The menus aren't great but they're functional.

+1 here.

DVDFlick is actually pretty amazing. I remember how hard it was to get something on a DVD that would play in a standard player and this tool makes it dead simple, regardless of what format /codec you throw at it. It will even let you play a game of Tetris that is built into the program as you wait.

A great complement to this tool that is not really an HTPC gem of sorts is ImgBurn. It is a small, no-nonsense CD/DVD burner (data or image). I used to love Nero back in the day, but it got too big.... I now use ImgBurn for all my CD/DVD burning needs.

[RetroBox]

Originally Posted by ccsmoke

Those looking to spice up harmony remotes by adding some cool channel logos in black, iconharmony is great for that

http://www.iconharmony.com/icons/home

That's another good one and a little obscure - I was doing some research on how to change those horrible Activity icons on the Harmony when I also run into this website. I do use the TV network logo package on my Harmony 900 for my favorite channels and they look great. Thanks for pointing this out.

[mayamaniac]

Magic Disc - Mounts disc images (ISO, BIN/Cue, NRG, IMG, MDF, etc.) - FREE

Handbrake - Most people already know about this, but it is one of the easiest to use app to convert DVDs to MP4 or MKV. - FREE

[RetroBox]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

Magic Disc - Mounts disc images (ISO, BIN/Cue, NRG, IMG, MDF, etc.) - FREE

Handbrake - Most people already know about this, but it is one of the easiest to use app to convert DVDs to MP4 or MKV. - FREE

One piece of software I am looking for is a good hard drive imaging tool. I have tried Norton Ghost and a hardful of other ones over the years, but nothing really stands out as being easy to use and powerful. Any suggestions?

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by RetroBox

One piece of software I am looking for is a good hard drive imaging tool. I have tried Norton Ghost and a hardful of other ones over the years, but nothing really stands out as being easy to use and powerful. Any suggestions?

This is a very useful list. Thanks for putting it together. I hope it doesn't get too unwieldy, so that it's difficult to go through and find what you're looking for.

Sadly, you need more than just software, but Windows Home Server is absolutely awesome for backing up and restoring your PCs.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by ccsmoke

Foxit is a good pdf reader for those that are tired of adobe's updates..

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

I used to be a big fan of foxit... after my latest episode with foxit... I'll install the adobe bloatware before I ever try it again...

I installed the foxit reader... it asked if could install the Ask toolbar... I said no... then installed the product. When I launched firefox, the Ask toolbar showed up!!!

I removed foxit and ask toolbar from the Add/Remove programs. I later logged in as another user and then started firefox... Ask was gone... but foxit toolbar installed itself as a plugin, and didn't remove itself when I removed it from add/remove programs... so now my firefox has the foxit toolbar. I can disable it... but there is no remove option.

I realize it's "free" and free means Ad supported, or toolbar supported. But that doesn't mean it has to malware like... I'm done with Foxit.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by RetroBox

One piece of software I am looking for is a good hard drive imaging tool. I have tried Norton Ghost and a hardful of other ones over the years, but nothing really stands out as being easy to use and powerful. Any suggestions?

If you are using Windows 7 imaging is built in. Just go to Back up your Files and choose Creat a System Image. It is in the standard Microsoft Image formt.

Gerry

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I used to be a big fan of foxit... after my latest episode with foxit... I'll install the adobe bloatware before I ever try it again...

I installed the foxit reader... it asked if could install the Ask toolbar... I said no... then installed the product. When I launched firefox, the Ask toolbar showed up!!!

I noticed a similar thing and it ticked me off, as well. So, I went to Adobe and found that they were being sly with their Mcafee scanner install. Rather than having it below the link to download Reader, they put the checkbox off to the right, in a second column. I didn't notice this until the download started and both programs were being downloaded.

God, I hate PDFs!!!

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by RetroBox

One piece of software I am looking for is a good hard drive imaging tool. I have tried Norton Ghost and a hardful of other ones over the years, but nothing really stands out as being easy to use and powerful. Any suggestions?

I use Acronis True Image. It has bare-metal restore capabilities.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by KeithAbbott

I use Acronis True Image. It has bare-metal restore capabilities.

Have been using Acronis for years and it has been great. I still use the Acronis True Image 11 Home from a few years back, but it still works very well so see no reason to upgrade. It has a boot CD so it doesn't even need to be installed for backup or restore. And it can read/write to FTP and Windows Network.

[ybrew]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I used to be a big fan of foxit... after my latest episode with foxit... I'll install the adobe bloatware before I ever try it again...

I installed the foxit reader... it asked if could install the Ask toolbar... I said no... then installed the product. When I launched firefox, the Ask toolbar showed up!!!

I removed foxit and ask toolbar from the Add/Remove programs. I later logged in as another user and then started firefox... Ask was gone... but foxit toolbar installed itself as a plugin, and didn't remove itself when I removed it from add/remove programs... so now my firefox has the foxit toolbar. I can disable it... but there is no remove option.

I realize it's "free" and free means Ad supported, or toolbar supported. But that doesn't mean it has to malware like... I'm done with Foxit.

Some software should never be installed. On an HTPC, I'm a big fan of 'portable' software.

FoxIt is available as portable - http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=1041

(actually all software can be made portable. VMWare thinapps is a great tool for this, but I'm pretty sure that portablefreeware site has some free tools for making apps portable)

[ccsmoke]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I used to be a big fan of foxit... after my latest episode with foxit... I'll install the adobe bloatware before I ever try it again...

I installed the foxit reader... it asked if could install the Ask toolbar... I said no... then installed the product. When I launched firefox, the Ask toolbar showed up!!!

I removed foxit and ask toolbar from the Add/Remove programs. I later logged in as another user and then started firefox... Ask was gone... but foxit toolbar installed itself as a plugin, and didn't remove itself when I removed it from add/remove programs... so now my firefox has the foxit toolbar. I can disable it... but there is no remove option.

I realize it's "free" and free means Ad supported, or toolbar supported. But that doesn't mean it has to malware like... I'm done with Foxit.

I had an earlier version of this sorry didn't realize they added this in the newer versions according to CNET reviews. I will in the future, do more research before posting. I hate toolbars and maleware which is why I was so fed up with adobe reader to begin with. Was a very cool program without the bloatware though. CCleaner able to remove the program completely?

RetroBox- If you would be so kind in removing the link, sorry for the trouble.

[RetroBox]

Originally Posted by ccsmoke

I had an earlier version of this sorry didn't realize they added this in the newer versions according to CNET reviews. I will in the future, do more research before posting. I hate toolbars and maleware which is why I was so fed up with adobe reader to begin with. Was a very cool program without the bloatware though. CCleaner able to remove the program completely?

RetroBox- If you would be so kind in removing the link, sorry for the trouble.

I installed FoxIt v331 on a new computer yesterday and did see a mention of toolbars and some other crap that was pre-selected for installation, but was easy enough to opt-out. After reading what you guys put down here, I chose to do a "Custom" install after passing on the "suggested software" vs. going with the "Default" and actually found more crap software and link files that copy to Desktop that were pre-selected! Tricky, tricky, tricky. I did unselect those too and all I got was the FoxIt Software. I know there is a newer version out there that I haven't tried - either way, I think the good folks at FoxIt have gone to the dark side and are getting nixed!

As ybrew mentioned, there is a portable version and I like it and I use it, but not on my HTPC.

[RetroBox]

Originally Posted by gplasky

If you are using Windows 7 imaging is built in. Just go to Back up your Files and choose Creat a System Image. It is in the standard Microsoft Image formt.

Gerry

Didn't know about that - I will be trying it out with a new build I'm completing. Sometimes the trouble is not knowing what you have, or even if you know you have it, trust that it is any good.

[whartsell]

Very useful free automation/remote software for windows
EventGhost

I use it to control sage on one htpc as well as to create popup OSD menus to control other apps or even restart the htpc.
It supports most usb ir receivers as well as http, X10 and serial

[peternm22]

http://www.ninite.com/

Saves a ton of time, especially after doing a fresh install.

[ybrew]

Originally Posted by peternm22

http://www.ninite.com/

Saves a ton of time, especially after doing a fresh install.

Very cool!

[SomeWhatLost]

well, now that there is a remote control/automation section, you cant forget CQC, it does everything... and has a very nice Sage driver too...

and and that brings up another program I use a lot but didn't see on the list...
has anyone mentioned SageTV?, its a really good PVR solution, and when combined with CQC and a bunch of extenders, its just an all around super duper Whole House Video Solution... some people use it as an audio solution also... not my thing but hey, it does work for that too... and I am guessing no one here has heard about Sage

Sage should be on the list though... really...

[RetroBox]

Originally Posted by peternm22

http://www.ninite.com/

Saves a ton of time, especially after doing a fresh install.

+1 on this one. I just completed a new system install and this tool really helped a ton! I was able to install Java, Flash, Hulu Desktop, VLC, Silverlight, WinZip and 7-Zip all in one shot without having to worry about bloat.