Here are a few items of free software I found while on another forum.

Program launcher - full instructions on right of page.
http://www.rodi.dk/software_pl3.php

Winzip alternative
http://www.jzip.com/

Registry editor
http://www.tweaknow.com/WinSecret.html

Email backup
http://www.amictools.com/v-amic_email_backup.html

I've tried that before and it was just too buggy at the time, therefore I ended up just going straight to 7-Zip and haven't looked back.

This particular version only came out a few weeks ago so it may have improved since then. (Unless it was this version you meant)

Anyone had any experience with Win Secret?

Yep, installed it on XP and Vista and seems ok here.

Most of the tweaks can be done manually but Win Secret makes it easy.

I'd recommend 7-zip to be honest. I've used both. Also if all you do is Extract Files, especially lots of files at one time, you should go with extractnow (extractnow.com). It extracts a considerable amount faster than 7-zip in my experience. Mostly in larger files. It doesn't compress though but I never have a need for that.

Ill throw in some programs I like:
IrfanView (image viewer, batch renamer and recoder, much more)
GIMP & Paint.NET (image manipulation)
Audacity (music editor)
Spybot (anti spam, comes with seperate file shredder)
VLC (great movie playback program, never had a problem playing anything with it)
Winamp (music player, even though I use windows media player)

thats my 2 dirhams

WinSecret. Nice utility, and a keeper for me.

Nice one Hazel.

Does it offer anything that Tweak UI doesn't?

It can tweak some internet settings and cpu core values.

Don't have TweakUI on this machine so can't really say if WinSecret offers anything extra but I do like this tweaker and it's a keeper here.

Humpty, what settings are you using in the Windows Core section?

Xp Prefetch tab - Monitor App and Boot

Time Out tab - Service time out 2000, App 1000, Hung app 1000, tick in Auto close hung apps.

Cache - Tick in Improve core sys, Specify amount of ram, Recommended 831, Disk Cache size 1662, L2 Cache Size 4096, these settings were auto set by WinSecret I think?

Misc tab - Tick in Disable NTFS last access time.

Security tab - Unticked clear pagefile.

Thanks, Humpty.

It's a keeper for me too! I had once used a software title similar to it eons ago that was for Win98, however WinSecret has a sleek GUI and the Undo feature is nice too.

Using WinSecret, has anyone made any "tweaks" that have resulted in noticeable system enhancement/improvement?

The placebo effect here actually! Many so-called "tweaks" floating about that have made it into "tweak programs" don't make that much of a difference.

I noticed after doing the Network tweaks that McAfee Internet Connection Speedometer reported my speed as 500kbps, whereas before it was 200kbps. Note that I notice zero difference in download and upload speed which was double verified at Speedtest.net and J.C. Kessels Numion.

Have you tried using TCP Optimizer? It gets pretty good reviews. I used it on my machine about a year ago -- it seemed to help.

I've used TCP Optimizer before (back in my dial-up modem Windows 98 era days). I know it made a difference on that old system using dial-up because it allowed downloads to go a whopping 1.5kbps faster, that was back when I'd get happy if downloads were at 5.5kbps.

However with the "optimizers" I've noticed absolutely no improvements whatsoever with my "cheap" DSL connection, which could just be maxed out already and possibly has no room for being made any faster.

Same here on my XP Pro system.

zipping program: Izarc covers all platforms

Absolutely nothing that I can see. But I'm hopeful that my processor may not be working as hard, or my HD accessed as much, or even that my RAM is being used better.

We have to believe somethings different, otherwise we'd just be running a nice looking interface. And if we believe hard enough, then it might just be real. Like fairies.

Anyone been experiencing problems with Threat fire, wont start up at system start at times and seems to be slowing my system a bit, didn't happen before..

Any suggestions?

Hello you old Tom Cat,
I haven't used Threat Fire myself.You know it's going to slow you down if you are running it & AVG realtime.
I'm stuck with 256MB RAM myself.AVG has been as good for me as it has been for you.
What's wrong with staying with what works best for you???
I know!!! You are the kind of guy that always likes trying out "new" toys.
Nothing wrong with that.
Keep us filled in with your latest exploits.
davey

http://www.grc.com/freeware/clickey.htm

I use it on all of my systems and I have it auto load.

jzip & zipit are very good http://downloads5.kaspersky-labs.com/devbuilds/AVPTool/ this a free AV & spyware scanner to keep stop you Antivires & run scan small nag but ok. for Email temp reg http://www.bugmenot.com/tutorial.php

Hi Davey,

Good sound advice! I am always open to

AVG hasn't popped open any windows in explorer on my machine yet ( fingers crossed )

Hoping Spybot pulls its socks up and speeds things up, atleast back to what it used to be; its a great program which one wouldn't want to lose in a hurry.

Glad I've stuck to WinXP, don't need the cosmetics do we now??

Cheers mate

Tom Cat,
Sorry, I missed your reply until today.
Have you been dabbling with Vista somewhere?
Cheers, davey