Windows System Control Center is a free program for personal use on Windows that you may use to explore, download, and use hundreds of the best free apps for the operating system.
The app brings together programs by popular developers such as Nirsoft, SysInternals, MiTeC, and others.
It is available as a portable application, but you can also install it. You may select the sources that you want included on the first start.
No apps are downloaded by default, but it takes just a click to add some or all of them to the PC.
While that is convenient, it does have downsides. The main one is that WSCC does not list the space that is needed to store all selected apps on the PC.
Most apps are relatively small, but you still end up with 340 megabytes worth of apps in the folder when you install them all.
You may also notice that some apps cannot be installed. This was the case for three Nirsoft apps that Windows Defender did not want on the system.
You may use the folders of the sidebar to explore and launch apps, or the built-in search.
Selecting a group in the sidebar displays information about the available apps. This includes a handy description of its functionality.
Note that the name of the app is listed on the right, which is a bit confusing, if you are browsing by name and not by description. A click on the name launches the app immediately on the system. A click on the question-mark next to a name opens the help file, if available.
Apart from acting as a launcher, WSCC can also keep apps up to date. Since they are all portable, it is often the case that they do not get updated frequently. The app informs you about updates so that you may install them.
Closing Words
WSCC is a handy program for Windows. While you can maintain your own list of portable apps, it is a great option to download and manage hundreds of popular free apps with minimal effort.
Now it is your turn. Have you used WSCC in the past or a comparable solution? Or do you prefer to download and manage apps individually?
Guess one can download it for Rufus if nothing else. Another program looked useful–“Clean up After Me.” Something like that. Downloaded to the Desktop makes it like a Super God Mode. I wouldn’t know what to do with most of the programs, so I would end up with a catastrophic mess.
I’ve always had good luck with Tweaking Repair. Others may say it’s snake oil, but it’s always solved issues on Windows 10.
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/tweaking_com_windows_repair.html
I shy away from letting programs download from unknown sources.
I already have the sysinternals suite though I rarely use anything but procexp. NirSoft Utilities has a lot of interesting tools, most of which defender flags as viruses.
I recently noticed charmap no longer works, I found the exe and clicked on it, nothing happens. However, I also noticed the emoji picker (win+.) has all the characters in it and it’s easier to open so, omg, M.$ actually improved something ⁀¿⁀