We all use utility softwares in our day-to-day use of Windows computers. In this article I will list ten utility softwares that you should use to make your experience with Windows more convenient.
File Converter
File Converter is an open source, free software that will let you convert files with format of one kind to another format. The special feature about this software is that the conversion can simply be done with a few clicks. With the file converter installed, you can convert for example a picture with PNG formatting to JPEG by just right clicking on the file and hovering on the “ File Converter” option on the context menu and selecting JPEG. You can also convert multiple files at once although that may take more time depending on how strong your machine is. There are many other conversion presets such as quality, encoding speed or the option to rotate a video by a certain angle, all of which you can customize at your liberty. A very useful tool for making conversions swiftly.
Sound Switch
Sound Switch can be used to switch your audio output from headphones to Speakers with just a press of a button. You can set a hotkey in the app which when you press will immediately start playing audio from your headphones if you are using speakers and vice versa. You can also set a hotkey to switch microphones within your device if you have multiple microphones connected to it. You can also create custom presets where the software switches to headphones or speakers depending on what app you are using which is a very cool feature. This software increases convenience as you do not have to go all the way to sound settings to switch from speaker to headphone and can just make the change by one button.
TASKBAR X
Taskbar X brings along the taskbar design which was supposed to be implemented in Windows 10X( which got cancelled) and will probably be used in Windows 11. The software allows you to bring this potential Windows 11 future to your Windows 10 PC. TaskbarX helps you bring all the taskbar icons to the center, making it look less cluttered. The software also helps customize the taskbar in many different ways such as making the taskbar transparent or blurry or adding custom colors to it. You can also change the animation of the taskbar when you open or close any apps. It’s an open source, free software which you can use to decorate your Windows OS.
DITTO
DITTO is a great alternative to the Windows Clipboard. DITTO stores anything from texts, links to images you copy for future reference. You can custom set how many copies DITTO can store in the Options. You can also set a Hotkey which when pressed will open DITTO and show all the items copied. It is a simple but very efficient software which will boost productivity and save time upon use.
Everything
Everything is a software that locates files and folders by name instantly. It is a good substitute to the much slower Windows search tool and therefore leads to more time being saved. The search options update immediately as you are searching for your file which makes looking for something specific more convenient. The software also consumes much less resources such as RAM, CPU which makes it very optimized for low-end machines as well. If you are still not using Everything then I strongly suggest you ditch the Windows Search tool and install Everything right now!
Sidebar Diagnostics
If you are someone who likes to keep an eye on the performance of your PC’s hardware then Sidebar Diagnostics is for you. After the software is installed, there will be a bar at the right side of your screen that will contain all the necessary data pertaining to your CPU clock speed, usage, GPU temperature and Ram usage. There will also be details on the drives of your hard drive and on your network. The software provides the choice to users about what data they want to see for their hardware. This software is a great way to have a sneak peek at your hardware when you are facing performance issues with your PC to see if your CPU or GPU is working as it should be or not without opening too many programs.
Unlocker
Ever faced problems like “ an unexpected error is keeping you from deleting this folder” or “ the file is open in another program” while deleting or moving files from your computer? These errors can be quite annoying and Unlocker is here to provide a quick fix without you having to search for it. Unlocker can be accessed from the context menu, just like the File Converter. Simply right click on the file you can to modify and select Unlocker. If there are any protections( errors mentioned above) to the file, Unlocker will remove them automatically and the file will be all yours to modify.It has helped me on countless occasions while deleting or moving files and has saved a lot of time as well as kept my patience in check as I use my Windows PC.
Encrypto
Encrypto helps you to password protect sensitive files you may have in your computer. You can find the encrypt option in the Context menu when you right click on the file/folder you wish to encrypt. You then add a password and the hint if you like and the file will be encrypted with AES-256 encryption which is very secure. Encrypto is a free way to ensure any outsiders or other users of a shared computer do not get their hands on your confidential files.
PC Startup Master 3
PC Startup Master 3 software improves your computer startup speed by disabling unnecessary applications which run automatically on system startup. These applications cause an extra delay while starting up your system.It has a feature called Startup Delayer which helps in optimizing system startup speed. It does so by optimizing the launching sequence of startup applications.PC Startup Master also provides certain tools to manage startup components like Windows services and scheduled tasks.
Recuva
Recuva can recover pictures, music, documents, videos, emails or any other file type you’ve lost. And it can recover from any rewriteable media you have: memory cards, external hard drives, USB sticks and more.Unlike most file recovery tools, Recuva can recover files from damaged or newly formatted drives.
Greater flexibility means greater chance of recovery.For those hard to find files, Recuva has an advanced deep scan mode that scours your drives to find any traces of files you have deleted.Recuva’s secure overwrite feature uses industry- and military-standard deletion techniques to make sure the file that you want deleted stays deleted forever.
The softwares mentioned above are a must try and will definitely augment your Windows experience and also save a lot of time in the process.
