There are a few utilities I use that are indispensable for making my life easier. I have tried several different programs, but only a handful are worth using.
- File syncing / backup / remote backup – Windows doesn’t come with anything to make regular backups and file syncs. This is essential for keeping backups of important files. SyncBack is the most fully-featured program I’ve used to do this. You just create a task profile to make regular backups of specific files or directories. It has tons of other features and will help protect your data from hard-drive failure, etc.
- Time tracking of tasks – When you freelance you need to be able to keep track of how much time you spend on a task in order to properly invoice for it. AllNetic Working Time Tracker is the best application out there for doing so. When you start a task you can access a small pause / stop / restart button from your task tray that will help you track the time you spend on specific tasks.
- Text editing – EditPad Lite is the best tabbed text editor. Tabbed is the way to go since you can open and edit multiple files.
- Image viewer / browser – IrfanView is great for browsing images, taking screenshots, resizing, etc. I’ve been using it for several years. My only beef is that when you change your file associations they use the crappy IrfanView icons. That should change.
I’ll add some more of these maybe later.