Show #2: My Favorite Things

TTP #2 MP3 Download (17MB)

As per request, this show talks about the tools I use on my own computer. All of them are free; just follow the links below to read about or download any one of the tools I talked about.

• Firefox - Web browser
• Thunderbird - Email client
• Open Office - Office Suite
• VNC - Remote Desktop


• Visual Studio C# Express - Microsoft Developer Studio -- Free till Novemeber
• Notepad2 - Notepad Replacement
• Notepad++ - Notepad Replacement
• Frhed - Hex Editor
• XN View - Image viewer / Converter
• XN Resource Editor - Resedit for Windows
• QEMU - Machine Emulator


• PuTTY - Windows SSH Client
• WinSCP - Windows SCP Client
• Cygwin - Linux tools on Windows
• WGet for Windows - Command line downloader


• Process Explorer - Enhanced Task Manager
• Audacity - Audio Editor

I promised I'd explain how I made it so that I could right click on any file and open it with my favorite tools. Just add the appropriate entries under HKCR\*\shell\ with the correct path to the program you want to run. I've pasted below the contents to a .reg file that will add entries for frhed and notepad2, assuming that the programs are found in under the paths indicated below (e.g. C:\program Files\notepad2\notepad2.exe). If your setup is different, then modify the paths accordingly. Note the double-backslash where the path section is specified. That's because it's within a quoted string; if you change the path, make sure you follow that same pattern. When you're done, save as a .reg file and double-click on it to apply the changes.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in frhed\command]
@="C:\\Program Files\\frhed\\FRHED.exe %1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open in Notepad2\command]
@="c:\\Program Files\\notepad2\\notepad2.exe %1"

There's a similar trick you can do with the "folder" type, as I explained in the podcast, that lets you run a command window in that folder. There's a Windows XP Powertoys item called CmdHere.exe that sets this up for you in an uninstallable manner (very desirable). But if that's not an option, here's my equivalent, though less elegant solution:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\DOS Prompt\command]
@="cmd /k cd \"%1\""

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated, whether you liked it, didn't like it, or are completely indifferent, I'd love to hear from you.