Tools of the Trade: Ninite

Whether you’re using my Clean PC principles or not, after you reinstall Windows, you need to reinstall all of your applications. And while this can be a time-consuming process, you can automate much of it with a handy little utility called Ninite.

Looking at my own normal application install-set, what I see are several applications I download and install from the web—Adobe Reader, Chrome, Firefox, Skype, VLC Player and a few others—and then two larger application installs—Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop Elements—which I install from Office365.com and my home server, respectively. Ninite works with the web installers, so it takes care of about 75 percent of what I need to install.

But Ninite isn’t just about aggregating application downloads. What this amazing tool does is let you create a tiny custom installer that is always kept up to date. First, you choose which apps you want the installer to install on the Ninite web site, and then just click Get Installer. Your tiny custom installer will download, and you can save it for later.

When you do reinstall a PC, just copy over the installer and run it from there. The custom installer will download and install each application you selected, in turn, and do so in silent mode so you don’t need to interact with the screen at all.

When it’s done, you’ll see a shortcut to each installed application on the desktop. So from there, you can run each application and sign-in where needed.

This is a truly amazing tool, and a must-have addition to anyone’s software toolbox. Download your custom Ninite installer–it’s free!–now.