Advice Request Best Free Softwares for Windows

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ZeroDay said:
Shouldn't VLC be the recommended media player? I have no experience with Pot player but VLC is time proven.
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Here is a reddit thread. Many who prefer VLC never gave Potplayer a chance.


But I prefer Potplayer because of two reasons: Audio sounds better compared to VLC and I like it's UI. Give it a try & you might like. 🙂

Edit: Also Potplayer has video thumbnail preview on timebar.
 
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SumTingWong said:
Any good free alternative backup & recovery software similar to AOMEI free backupper and macrium reflect free?
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I use Hasleo backup Suite free.

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Hasleo Backup Suite Free is a free Windows backup software for Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista and Windows Server that can help you back up and restore the Windows OSs, disks, partitions and files(folders) to protect the security of your Windows and personal data. It is the best free backup software for...
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brambedkar59 said:
Here is a reddit thread. Many who prefer VLC never gave Potplayer a chance.


But I prefer Potplayer because of two reasons: Audio sounds better compared to VLC and I like it's UI. Give it a try & you might like. 🙂

Edit: Also Potplayer has video thumbnail preview on timebar.
Click to expand...

On PotPlayer by default videos look slightly whitish for me. Same happened on my previous laptop, same with my PC. Never had this issue with VLC.
Only 3-4 months ago while trying out different things on PotPlayer I realized if I set PotPlayer's Video Renderer settings from "Auto (recommended)" to "Built-in Direct3D 11 Video Renderer" then videos look accurate in color similar to VLC. So have been using it like this since.
 
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SeriousHoax said:
On PotPlayer by default videos look slightly whitish for me. Same happened on my previous laptop, same with my PC. Never had this issue with VLC.
Only 3-4 months ago while trying out different things on PotPlayer I realized if I set PotPlayer's Video Renderer settings from "Auto (recommended)" to "Built-in Direct3D 11 Video Renderer" then videos look accurate in color similar to VLC. So have been using it like this since.
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I don't see any difference between "Auto (recommended)" and "Built-in Direct3D 11 Video Renderer". Maybe it has something to do with video drivers installed, I am not sure.

Keyang556 said:
pot player had ads
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Never seen one, using it for years. Remember few years ago it started showing a blank window pop-up while starting player, with no ads (at least for me). Download from official website and you should be fine.
 
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brambedkar59 said:
I don't see any difference between "Auto (recommended)" and "Built-in Direct3D 11 Video Renderer". Maybe it has something to do with video drivers installed, I am not sure.
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It's an odd thing. My previous laptop was Intel+Nvidia combo and current PC is AMD based. Same on both for whatever. Anyway, at least I could make it work and prefer it over VLC for the same reasons (+ a couple more) you mentioned above.
Keyang556 said:
pot player had ads
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As @brambedkar59 said above, for me it's also only a blank window when it starts, no ads. The domains that cause those blank windows are blocked by DNS so I don't even see those. If you're using your default DNS provider, then you can add these to your host file and should not see ads/blank windows anymore:
 
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brambedkar59 said:
I don't see any difference between "Auto (recommended)" and "Built-in Direct3D 11 Video Renderer". Maybe it has something to do with video drivers installed, I am not sure.


Never seen one, using it for years. Remember few years ago it started showing a blank window pop-up while starting player, with no ads (at least for me). Download from official website and you should be fine.
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Some users said it had ads, some said no. I install ew years ago and it pup install avast.
 
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SeriousHoax said:
It's an odd thing. My previous laptop was Intel+Nvidia combo and current PC is AMD based. Same on both for whatever. Anyway, at least I could make it work and prefer it over VLC for the same reasons (+ a couple more) you mentioned above.

As @brambedkar59 said above, for me it's also only a blank window when it starts, no ads. The domains that cause those blank windows are blocked by DNS so I don't even see those. If you're using your default DNS provider, then you can add these to your host file and should not see ads/blank windows anymore:
Click to expand...
What dns do you recommend?
 
ZeroDay said:
Shouldn't VLC be the recommended media player? I have no experience with Pot player but VLC is time proven.
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PotPlayer has been around for 15 years now, and it originated from the same developer as KMPlayer. Over the years, it has consistently improved through weekly updates, and kept adding a plethora of advanced features, so comprehensive that it would take weeks to explore them all.

I did a Best Free Video Player comparison almost a decade ago on Gizmo's Freeware, and PotPlayer stood out as an exceptionally polished player. It offers hundreds of configurable options, broader codec support, and impressively fast seek-time with thumbnails on the seekbar. This feature alone convinced me to switch from VLC when dealing with large file playback/4K videos. Additionally, even a decade back, PotPlayer provided the ability to incorporate one of the finest video renderer and filters available, namely madVR and LAVFilters. It became so advanced that VLC couldn't compete for a significant period (remaining a distant second), because of how aggressively PotPlayer improved in a short span of time.

I no longer utilize PotPlayer much (or even video players for that matter) as I don't watch videos on my laptop anymore. I still use VLC on my mobile phone at times.

That being said, if your primary use for a video player is simply playback, most video players should suffice, including VLC
 
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Also, I haven't used Potplayer for some time or even watched movies on my laptop because newer laptops don't have a slot for playing discs.
I watch movies from platforms such as Netflix and HBO.
And for playback, I use VLC or the system player from time to time and that's enough.
 
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As I am using the VLC, it was worse as I used it before. my playlist of music and movies automatically vanished and even I cant find that in VLC, although it remains saved in my downloads.
If anyone of you are facing this problem please tell me the solution.
 
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jackuars said:
After an insanely positive response to my earlier thread in 2014, I have decided to create a new thread as per @Jack 's recommendation.

This is still a partial list, and more categories will be added soon. Sadly I had to limit to 1 software per category. Also included only desktop software's no browser extensions etc. Do give your recommendations and alternatives and hopefully you like the list. :)
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List Updates:

*Project Management- Added Taskade (Sep 15 2021
*Sandboxing Software- Added Sandboxie Plus (Mar 14 2021)
*Font Management- Added FontBase (Mar 14 2021)
*Graphic Card Manager - Added MSI Afterburner (Mar 07 2021)
*Duplicate File finder - Added Auslogics Duplicate File Finder (Jan 06 2021)
*IM Client - Replaced Pidgin with All-in-One Messenger (Sep 24 2020)
*Antimalware - Replaced Zemana Antimalware with Emsisoft Emergency Kit (Jun 11 2020)
*Archiver- Replaced Bandizip with 7-zip (Apr 26 2020)
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For USB Protection I would suggest SMADAV
 
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