ImgBurn is great simple tool for burning (creating) DVDs, when you already have the material ready.
It can be used for storing encrypted backups as well onto DVDs.
Encrypted backups could be 7-zip or truecrypt files. To keep record on what is where, one can use catalog programs like Disclib .
Anvil Studio is great tool for recording MIDI from you music keyboard.
For recording your music from MIDI capable instrument like piano or keyboard, you need a MIDI-to-USB cable. For example Yamaha UX16 works fine (photo). Some instruments do provide USB connection, and then USB cable is sufficient.
It is possible to edit and create MIDI files without external instrument.
The first look might be a little confusing due to amount of information.
For recording, first check that the correct devices are visible and defined in AnvilStudio in menu option View->Synthesizers. Then simply use REC and STOP buttons for recording. After saving you music, you can later edit and cut&split your songs into separate files.
You can even program certain instrument keys for starting and stopping recording.
There are many features that I never used, but might be interesting like Transponse, Practise etc.
Audacity is a good tool for recording voice and saving it in mp3 format.
I recommend to download and use at least Audacity 1.3 (beta) because it provides auto recovery support in case your recording crashes for any reason. (Happened to me 2-3 times when recording in 1.2 version.)
For mp3 support, you need to download LAME MP3 encoder as well from the same download page.
Audacity can also be used for cutting and joining mp3 files.
Screenhosts are available.
KeePass is great tool to store your password in encrypted format in a single file.
Encrypted file provides protection against accidental loss of your USB drive when travelling. KeePass has a portable version available.
Screenshots are available. Classic Edition is sufficient and works fine.
For each Entry, one also can store web address (URL) and additional notes (see below).
For first time use, there exist password importer from Firefox (plugin).
For Internet Explorer, one could use another tool “IE PassView” to retrieve passwords.
One of the good graphics viewers for Windows is IrfanView. It supports a huge number of graphic formats.
Great features are especially:
I would recommend to download and install available plugins as well.
There exist many good screen capture utilities.
I’m using an older, but great, software called ScreenGrab.
The best features are:
Simple and efficient, does the job well.
Update 2016-04-07: This is now archived, I’m currently using Greenshot.
Explorer++ makes it easier to manage your file and folders. Windows Explorer simply is not enough.
Best features of Explorer++ are:
