Must Have programs for Windows?

JD · Feb 18, 2020

Yup, Chocolately can do updates too. You can build your own packages pretty easily (just PowerShell scripts). Our DevOps team at work uses it, so that's where I picked it up from as I've had to make/update some packages.

Other than the lack of a GUI, I think it's still really easy to use as it's just 1 command to install, assuming you know the package name.

Lysrin · Feb 18, 2020

I have no idea why it never dawned on me to look for Windows-based package managers given I use them all the time in various Linux distros...

ZZLEE · Feb 18, 2020

Glasswire firewall
Ccleaner
Spybot Search and destroy and Anty Beacon
MSI Afterburner
CPU Z
OCCT free monitor software

JD · Feb 18, 2020

And to combine Chocolatey with what I had posted over here: https://hardwarecanucks.com/forum/threads/windows-10-october-2018-update-1809.78385/post-898425

You'll see a few comments in the file (highlighted in orange on the dark theme here). You can change the Username and set the password under "LocalAccounts", you can append your list of Chocolatey packages under "FirstLogonCommands" and you can change the "ProductKey" accordingly (Home/Pro) or your personal unique key.

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OOBE>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
                <SkipMachineOOBE>true</SkipMachineOOBE>
                <SkipUserOOBE>true</SkipUserOOBE>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <!-- Change username if you wish! -->
                        <DisplayName>SuperUser</DisplayName>
                        <Name>SuperUser</Name>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <!-- Remove comment block if you want to set the password automatically
                        <Password>
                            <Value>SuperSecurePassword</Value>
                            <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                        -->
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <FirstLogonCommands>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <CommandLine>"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))"</CommandLine>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Description>Install Chocolatey</Description>
                    <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput>
                </SynchronousCommand>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <CommandLine>C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\RefreshEnv.cmd</CommandLine>
                    <Description>Refresh Environment Variables</Description>
                    <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput>
                </SynchronousCommand>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Description>Install Chocolatey Packages</Description>
                    <Order>3</Order>
                    <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput>
                    <!-- Add or remove package names based on https://chocolatey.org/packages. Ensure you have -y at the end! -->
                    <CommandLine>C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\choco install googlechrome 7zip.install notepadplusplus.install vlc -y</CommandLine>
                </SynchronousCommand>
            </FirstLogonCommands>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <InputLocale>1009:00000409</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-CA</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-CA</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>en-CA</UserLocale>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>1009:00000409</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-CA</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>en-CA</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <!-- 
                    Home:     YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7
                    Pro:     VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
                    -->
                    <Key>YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7</Key>
                    <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

Copy this and save it as "Autounattend.xml" to the root of your USB where you have your Windows 10 installer. That'll now give you a semi-automated install with Windows and your "must have" programs installed.

clone63 · Feb 18, 2020

I love using a RAM Disk program to hold the sandbox of files I sometimes work with rather than writing crap over and over to my drives, and just for the simplicity of de-cluttering a bit on every boot. Using SoftPerfect Ramdisk atm.

Skippman · Feb 19, 2020

I should have mentioned CCCP as well. That's a fantastic package of CODEC's.

sswilson · Feb 19, 2020

JD said:

And to combine Chocolatey with what I had posted over here: https://hardwarecanucks.com/forum/threads/windows-10-october-2018-update-1809.78385/post-898425

You'll see a few comments in the file (highlighted in orange on the dark theme here). You can change the Username and set the password under "LocalAccounts", you can append your list of Chocolatey packages under "FirstLogonCommands" and you can change the "ProductKey" accordingly (Home/Pro) or your personal unique key.

XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OOBE>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
                <SkipMachineOOBE>true</SkipMachineOOBE>
                <SkipUserOOBE>true</SkipUserOOBE>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <!-- Change username if you wish! -->
                        <DisplayName>SuperUser</DisplayName>
                        <Name>SuperUser</Name>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <!-- Remove comment block if you want to set the password automatically
                        <Password>
                            <Value>SuperSecurePassword</Value>
                            <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                        -->
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
            <FirstLogonCommands>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <CommandLine>"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))"</CommandLine>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                    <Description>Install Chocolatey</Description>
                    <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput>
                </SynchronousCommand>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Order>2</Order>
                    <CommandLine>C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\RefreshEnv.cmd</CommandLine>
                    <Description>Refresh Environment Variables</Description>
                    <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput>
                </SynchronousCommand>
                <SynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Description>Install Chocolatey Packages</Description>
                    <Order>3</Order>
                    <RequiresUserInput>true</RequiresUserInput>
                    <!-- Add or remove package names based on https://chocolatey.org/packages. Ensure you have -y at the end! -->
                    <CommandLine>C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin\choco install googlechrome 7zip.install notepadplusplus.install vlc -y</CommandLine>
                </SynchronousCommand>
            </FirstLogonCommands>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <InputLocale>1009:00000409</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-CA</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-CA</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>en-CA</UserLocale>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>1009:00000409</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-CA</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>en-CA</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <!--
                    Home:     YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7
                    Pro:     VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
                    -->
                    <Key>YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7</Key>
                    <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

Copy this and save it as "Autounattend.xml" to the root of your USB where you have your Windows 10 installer. That'll now give you a semi-automated install with Windows and your "must have" programs installed.

Yeah...+++1 to this. As referenced in the thread you linked to, I used this to get around the new "no option to create an offline account" crap they're currently pushing. Worked like a charm for me.

lowfat · Feb 19, 2020

Skippman said:
I should have mentioned CCCP as well. That's a fantastic package of CODEC's.

What are you using for playback that needs a codec pack? VLC and MPC-BE both use their own built in filters unless overridden.

EDIT: Besides when ripping BDs, I haven't had to use video / audio DirectShow filters in like 5+ years.

Shadowmeph · Feb 19, 2020

Skippman said:
I should have mentioned CCCP as well. That's a fantastic package of CODEC's.

sharkysoo7 works well also

gingerbee · Feb 19, 2020

Lowfat I was thinking the same thing when I put sometime CCCP but I can't remember the last time I need it vlc handle pretty much everything I have used or downloaded in the last few years

How I forgot SpyBot is beyond me but I am not sure if it's needed anymore since defender does such a great job ( i still have it on most PC's )

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Must Have programs for Windows?

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