When on my computer, I love to find shortcuts, ways to get tasks done faster, and to eliminate unnecessary mouse clicks and keyboard strokes.  Here’s a list of eight free programs that are must-haves for my computers.  Without them, I can still get stuff done, but it takes me much longer. 

AutoHotkey

One of my favorite programs is AutoHotkey.  It’s a lightweight program that allows you to do an incredible amount of mouse- and keyboard-related functions and shortcuts.

It is a very vast program, but my use of it is very, very basic.  I use it for keyboard shortcuts.  There are a handful of built-in Windows key + <key> shortcuts in Windows, such as Win + E (launches Windows Explorer), Win + R (opens the Run dialog), and Win + F (opens the search box). 

So what I am doing is using AHK to give me many more Win + <key> shortcuts.  For instance, Win + Q opens Firefox.  Win + W opens Thunderbird.  Win + A opens Winamp.  It goes on and on.  It’s such a handy little tool.

One other thing I use AHK for is to remap the caps lock key into something more useful.  I actually use it as another Windows key, believe it or not.  This is especially handy on my Thinkpad, which has no built-in Windows key.  But I even find myself using the caps lock key as the Windows key on my desktop computer, which has two regular Windows keys.

Firefox and Thunderbird

I mentioned Firefox and Thunderbird.  Firefox is just an amazing web browser.  It is so versatile.  It is just so far ahead of Internet Explorer, in my opinion.  I actually can’t really stand browsing in IE for very long these days.  I am so spoiled by Firefox!

Thunderbird is a pretty nice desktop e-mail client.  It seems to be more functional than Outlook Express, but I can’t say that Thunderbird is light-years ahead of OE.  It’s better, in my opinion, but it doesn’t just blow Outlook Express out of the water. 

Taskbar Shuffle

Another brilliant little program is Taskbar Shuffle.  It’s a very simple program.  Basically, it lets you drag and drop your open programs in the Windows taskbar, rearranging them after they’re open.  After using Firefox and getting so accustomed to rearranging the open tabs, I thought how nice it would be to be able to do this with programs running in Windows. 

After a little bit of Googling, I found this great program, and I really love it.  I miss it a lot whenever I use a computer that doesn’t have it installed!

Another feature of Taskbar Shuffle is you can use the middle-click on the mouse in order to close a given program — again, like you would close a Firefox tab.  It’s just a great idea, and it saves so much time.

Fast Note

For memos, messages, or to-dos, I use Fast Note.  It’s basically a sticky-note program that lets you easily keep, edit, or view notes.  I have it always running in the foreground of my screen, minimized (when not in use) to a small horizontal bar at the top of my screen. 

When I need to edit or view the notes, I simply double-click on the titlebar, and the full note pops up.  It’s very simple and very lightweight.  Notes are saved automatically, so I never have to worry about losing what I type.

bmem

A second program I have docked at the top of my screen and always shown in the foreground is bmem.  It gives you a little horizontal bar that shows you your computer’s current usage of the resources.  It shows free RAM, the disk cache, and the page file.  Additionally, it shows the current CPU usage, and it has a hard drive activity light.  These last two are super handy, because I can instantly tell if a program is hogging up the processor or if something is accessing the hard drive.

Process Explorer

When something is hogging the CPU, then to find out which program is the culprit, I simply open up Process Explorer, using a quick Win + P, thanks to AutoHotkey.  This program is just amazing.  It’s like a Windows Task Manager on steroids.  It shows you graphs of processor usage, the commit history (which, honestly, I never even pay attention to), and also the hard drive input/output.

One of the best things about this program is that you’ll see this CPU graph hitting the ceiling, and then if you hover your mouse over the graph, it will show you the name of the program that is taking those CPU cycles.  So it is a very fast way to find (and kill) a program that is either taxing your processor, or a program that is accessing your hard drive like crazy.

Process Explorer is so vast, that I feel like I’m only scratching the surface.  Someday, I need to take some time to sit down and learn more about all of the different features.  But even as-is, it’s such a handy little tool.  I definitely miss it when I use a computer without it.

Winamp

I mentioned Winamp.  It’s my primary music player.  I’m not as crazy about it as I was in the past, but it still does a pretty good job.  I would like to find a better alternative someday, but Winamp is holding steady for the time being.

Volumouse

One of my latest additions is a program with, again, a very specific purpose.  Volumouse is a small program that rests in the system tray.  It simply provides you with an easy way to use your mouse’s scroll wheel to change the computer’s volume, or a number of other properties.

The way I use Volumouse is very simple, yet very handy.  When I right-click, a little vertical slider pops up.  That slider controls the volume, and I simply scroll the mouse wheel up or down to raise or lower the volume.  It’s handy for those times when you don’t want to reach for the keyboard, or you don’t want to have to click around to change the volume.

So there you have it!  Eight programs that speed me up tremendously.  And the amazing thing is they’re all free!  I always marvel at the fact that people spend countless hours developing and troubleshooting these great programs, and then publish them for anybody and everybody to freely download.  What a cool setup!