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Looking to Clean Reinstall Windows 10. Need Advice on Essential Apps.

SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
My PC is being rather fucky today, and seeing how I haven't done a clean install of Windows 10 since....ever....I think it's about time I did a full reset that removed the uncountable number of programs, tweaks and other useless shit I no longer require.

But I wanted to ask first about what the best essential free programs and apps I should install once I start over.

In particular, I wanted to know if there was a good free program that automatically seeks out the best drivers for everything I have attached to the system, from mouse to keyboard to everything else.

Similarly, I would like suggestions on a good cleaning program (used to use CCleaner but stopped after hearing it was no longer reliable), something to search and sort files across multiple hard drives.

Basically hit me up with the most useful stuff that I can keep tabs on in a minimalist level.
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,789
dont use cleaning programs. just use disk cleanup and storage sense built into windows.
if you want something to cleanup empty folders "remove empty directories" is a good program tho
dont use driver programs either. just download the drivers directly from the manufacturer. most of them come with built in updaters anyways.
 
Bjomesphat

Bjomesphat

Member
Nov 5, 2017
1,820
I just did a clean reinstall of Windows (not really by choice), and I'm only installing programs as needed. Didn't see a reason to re-install everything just for them to sit there.
 
Transistor

Transistor

Hollowly Brittle
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
37,166
Washington, D.C.
SOLDIER said:
In particular, I wanted to know if there was a good free program that automatically seeks out the best drivers for everything I have attached to the system, from mouse to keyboard to everything else.
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Nope. 99% of drivers just install with the OS anyways. The only ones you usually need to manually do are GPU drivers, RAID controllers, some wifi cards, and maybe some custom mouse / keyboard software (if you want to use the special functions)

SOLDIER said:
Similarly, I would like suggestions on a good cleaning program (used to use CCleaner but stopped after hearing it was no longer reliable), something to search and sort files across multiple hard drives.
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Don't use a cleaning program. There's a search program called "Everything". It's on Ninite.
 
KatieKatsup

KatieKatsup

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
964
Windows Update should handle all your drivers automatically now. If something specific isn't working as it should (like a WiFi card) then you can always download the driver itself directly from the manufacturer. Same with GPU drivers: just get em direct from Nvidia/AMD. On a fresh install you may need to manually run Check for Updates a number of times until it says there aren't any more.

Also likely only need Windows Defender for anti-malware/virus. You can tweak the settings to be more secure than the default too if wanted (like memory integrity). Combined with uBlock Origin in your browser of choice and smart browsing then you should be solid.

Edit to also say don't use a cleaning program. They do much more harm than any good nowadays.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,241
Ninite is useful.

But yeah, I wouldn't bother with something like CCleaner these days. The plain old Windows disk cleanup is good enough.

If you'd like help finding stuff to delete for hard drive space, WinDirStat is great.
 
elenarie

elenarie

Game Developer
Verified
Jun 10, 2018
9,815
This is what I have after a clean install:

7z - for archives not supported by the built-in tools.
MPC-HC - for playing any random media files, in case the built-in apps don't work.
Paint.Net - for basic editing of images.
DaVinci Resolve - for editing videos and transcoding game captures for sharing.
Vs Code - great code editor that has great extension support for many things.

Haven't needed any other apps basically since Windows 10 was released. Don't use any cleaners, or tweaking apps or whatever crap like that. You can just download a Windows 10 ISO for free from Microsoft, or just use the Media Creation Tool, to do a fresh install of the OS, if you want to start nice and fresh.

Generally speaking, there is also no need to install any additional drivers and what not, Windows Update should take care of all of that for you. The only drivers I manually install nowadays are the GPU ones for keeping up to date for new games, and the iCUE drivers once every few months and what not when I remember to check (for new features for my RGB lighting setup).
 
sir_crocodile

sir_crocodile

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,506
Kukawaki said:
I usually get it and then update MPC-HC. Did the codec business change dramatically or did MPC move to a VLC-like model?
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Sure, but if OP went by your initial comment, I don't think they'd ever get notified of any updates and all the internal links would point to the old MPC-HC site that is no longer in use, so it's kind of a dead end.

I think all the codec stuff is now handled by LAV-Filters which MPC-HC is packaged with. Not aware of anything else which is necessary now - it seems to work with anything I throw at it including AV1 content, though I guess there might be super old stuff it doesn't support like RMVB or somesuch.
 
Kukawaki

Kukawaki

Member
Oct 29, 2017
98
sir_crocodile said:
Sure, but if OP went by your initial comment, I don't think they'd ever get notified of any updates and all the internal links would point to the old MPC-HC site that is no longer in use, so it's kind of a dead end.

I think all the codec stuff is now handled by LAV-Filters which MPC-HC is packaged with. Not aware of anything else which is necessary now - it seems to work with anything I throw at it including AV1 content, though I guess there might be super old stuff it doesn't support like RMVB or somesuch.
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As far as I can tell, it updates no problems from within the app. Either way, good to know, thx!
 
OP
OP
SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
In regards to the "clean sweep", how do I make it also erase all my other folders besides my primary drive?

Think I might go full-nuke on this one.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,241
SOLDIER said:
In regards to the "clean sweep", how do I make it also erase all my other folders besides my primary drive?

Think I might go full-nuke on this one.
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You can use the Windows installation media (works well on a USB stick) to format your drive as part of the OS installation. If it doesn't give an option to format drives other than your OS drive, just do it afterwards.
 
Awakened

Awakened

Member
Oct 27, 2017
506
sir_crocodile said:
imo MPC-HC as primary, VLC on standby for any weird formats that MPC-HC doesn't play.
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Aren't they both based on FFMPEG, which plays just about everything?

I don't know why more people don't mention mpv. I love the modern, minimal interface and it's fast at seeking. So easy to switch between subtitle and audio tracks too.

Here's a quick list of apps, most of which have portable versions:

Web Browser: Firefox
Music Player: Foobar
Video Player: mpv
PDF Reader: Sumatra PDF (Firefox works too now I think)
Image Viewer: ImageGlass
Fire Explorer: XYplorer Free
Text Editor: Notepad++
Audio Editor: Audacity
Image Editor: Paint.net
 
BeeDog

BeeDog

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,556
Can someone elaborate how cleaning programs such as CCleaner are more harmful than good? Aside from some of the Piriform fuckery, I lack any insight in why the apps themselves are bad.
 
B4mv

B4mv

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,056
Another name from for ninite.com.
Keep the installer and rerun it once in a while. It'll update all your installed apps to the latest version.

I suggest:
Firefox
Discord
Notepad++
VLC
Spotify
Steam
Irfanview
7zip
WinDirStat
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,241
BeeDog said:
Can someone elaborate how cleaning programs such as CCleaner are more harmful than good? Aside from some of the Piriform fuckery, I lack any insight in why the apps themselves are bad.
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https://www.howtogeek.com/162683/pc-cleaning-apps-are-a-scam-heres-why-and-how-to-speed-up-your-pc/

This is an old article but it's still accurate. Also, fucking with the registry can unintentionally break stuff. And and and modern PCs have so much RAM that you don't have to pay as much attention to background software.

If your system is slowing down because of actual malware or a virus you might as well reinstall Windows. It's much more reliable in the end. Fewer headaches too. So long as you've been keeping your important files backed up, a reinstall is very low impact.
 
FisherTea

FisherTea

Member
May 24, 2020
592
Maybe a bit of a controversial take but I wouldn't go out of your way to install a bunch of programs that you may never use. I used to follow these guides all the time and ended up with a bunch of perfectly fine programs that I'll likely never touch after installing. Only you know what you use your PC for and there is nothing wrong with doing the research when it comes to the point you need a program for something.

I'd still install 7-Zip, VLC and either Firefox or Chrome as I'd consider those 'essential' for pretty much any user.

I'd also probably avoid any antivirus/anti malware since Windows Defender is pretty solid nowadays and not too resource hungry compared to third party offerings. Malwarebytes at the most if you want an added layer of protection.

Edit: LibreOffice is a great free office suite if you prefer not to use Microsoft Office Web or Google Docs.
 
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I_love_potatoes

I_love_potatoes

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Jul 6, 2020
1,640
Want tabs on your File Explorer? Get QTTab.
Browser - Firefox/Edge/Brave mixture.
PDF - Foxit
Security - Malwarebytes
2FA - You can get Authy on Windows 10 now (surprisingly not a lot of people know this.)
Media Player - PotPlayer (Honestly, so much better than VLC for me, as fast as VLC, uses less resources AND has more features.)
Note taking - Notepad++

Others - 7zip, ShareX (image sharing), Discord, Spotify, Steam.
 
OP
OP
SOLDIER

SOLDIER

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
11,339
Kukawaki said:
I usually get it and then update MPC-HC. Did the codec business change dramatically or did MPC move to a VLC-like model?
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I don't know if I'm dumb or don't get how MPC works, but I keep downloading the Github zip folder and I don't see any actual player that I can associate files with. How do I use this thing?
 
Static

Static

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
6,110
Seconding or thirding or whatevering windirstat. Love it. Absolutely love it. Completely indispensable as far as I'm concerned.
 

Deleted member 86105

Banned
Nov 18, 2020
1,408
My personal setup for new installs:

Browser: Brave - Browser-level robust adblocking + anti-tracking protection + built-in TOR private window option, earns BAT Cryptocurrency while browsing, Chromium base
https://brave.com/

File Archiving: 7-Zip
https://www.7-zip.org/

Media Player: MPC-HC Development Build
https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/releases

Torrents: qBittorrent
https://www.qbittorrent.org/

Spreadsheets: Excel

Programming and general text editing: VS Code
https://code.visualstudio.com/

PDFs / Manga / Comics: SumatraPDF
https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html

Messaging: Signal
https://signal.org/en/

eBooks: Calibre
https://calibre-ebook.com/

File Management / General QOL with File Explorer: Open-Shell, LockHunter, HashCheck, CopyFilenames, WinAero
https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu/releases/
https://lockhunter.com/
https://github.com/gurnec/HashCheck/releases/
https://www.extrabit.com/copyfilenames
https://winaero.com/

Download Manager: JDownloader
https://jdownloader.org/

Novel writing and planning: Scrivener
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview
Free beta here: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=40621

Windows 10 anti-tracking (telemetry, analytics): O&O ShutUp10
https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

(If laptop) Battery percentage on taskbar: BatteryBar (Basic version)
https://batterybarpro.com/
Looks like this, and if you click it switches to percents:
4TQHQKh.png


Upgraded Windows clock: T-Clock
https://github.com/White-Tiger/T-Clock/releases
My taskbar looks like this:
image.png




After decades of using Windows, this is the best combo in my opinion that maximizes utility and minimizes costs.
 
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viral

viral

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,631
Seconding https://ninite.com. You can pick all the apps you want and it will automatically install them for you.

That said, there isn't really anything "essential". I don't really use video/music players anymore since I'm streaming everything and I don't even have Office installed because I can just use Drive if I really have to open something. Antivirus is also absolute since Windows 10 already has a great one built in.

I also use Windows 10 Debloater whenever I do a fresh install:
github.com

GitHub - Sycnex/Windows10Debloater: Script to remove Windows 10 bloatware.

Script to remove Windows 10 bloatware. Contribute to Sycnex/Windows10Debloater development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

It basically deletes every preinstalled app and disables some unnecessary scheduled tasks.
 
FutureLarking

FutureLarking

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
787
viral said:
I also use Windows 10 Debloater whenever I do a fresh install:
github.com

GitHub - Sycnex/Windows10Debloater: Script to remove Windows 10 bloatware.

Script to remove Windows 10 bloatware. Contribute to Sycnex/Windows10Debloater development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com github.com

It basically deletes every preinstalled app and disables some unnecessary scheduled tasks.
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This I wouldn't recommend people to run unless they really know what they want. Removing things like Xbox Identity provider will cause issues even if you try to run basic games from the store, the Xbox Callable UI removes the built in screen-recorder, and a small amount of useful apps are actually removed. Hell if you have a laptop, why would you even think Camera is bloat?

Disabling Live Tiles is basically removing a cool feature, and for tablets (or even laptops) removing Connect & location service tracking is going to cause unexpected issues. Most of it isn't worth taking out or turning off.
 
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Kotze282

Kotze282

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,254
Does someone know a free alternative to Acrobat Pro? Right now I am turning my scanned documents to PDFs by opening them in Chrome, printing them to PDF and then merging them with a store program that looks shitty.
 
Zulith

Zulith

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,751
West Coast, USA
Can't be stressed enough what a gamechanger Everything is if you search through files often on your PC. It is like night and day.

Another I can't do without is Sharex. Very powerful screen capture app.

And Discord.
 
viral

viral

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,631
FutureLarking said:
This I wouldn't recommend people to run unless they really know what they want. Removing things like Xbox Identity provider will cause issues even if you try to run basic games from the store, the Xbox Callable UI removes the built in screen-recorder, and a small amount of useful apps are actually removed. Hell if you have a laptop, why would you even think Camera is bloat?

Disabling Live Tiles is basically removing a cool feature, and for tablets (or even laptops) removing Connect & location service tracking is going to cause unexpected issues. Most of it isn't worth taking out or turning off.
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You're probably right, but I never had any problems with it. I have a desktop though, and never really cared about any of the Windows 10 features. The only Win10 feature I use is the Xbox app, and I just reinstalled that from the store, and it works perfectly.
 
Poemkin

Poemkin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
268
Only add programs you'll actually use. No cleaners, 'de-bloaters', driver management tools, etc.
 
Annihilo

Annihilo

Member
Sep 14, 2019
490
open-shell (restores classic style start menu and explorer)
icaros (better video thumbnails)
cbxshell (rar/zip thumbnails)
foobar2000 (music player)
honeyview (better image viewer)
translucentTB (translucent task bar, get the version on microsoft store, the github version is super outdated)

if you want something to replace ccleaner I recommend privazer, but if you used it for registry cleaning try wise registry cleaner instead
 
ray_caster

ray_caster

Member
Nov 7, 2017
664
AltDrag.

Hold Alt and you can drag a window around as long as your cursor is anywhere inside the window (not just the title bar). Also works for resizing, so you can resize from anywhere within a window instead of just at the edges of it. This is the default behavior of many desktop environments on Linux, and an incredibly useful feature. It is definitely one of those things you can not live without once you have gotten used to it.
 
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