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Is there a piece of software available for free that is as just as good as one you may have to pay for ?.Some of the programs listed here are well known but others are not.As far as I am aware none of the programs I have listed here contain any adware/spyware etc.If this is not the case please let me know and of course I will remove them from the list.I have not listed any software which may not be appropriate for this site such as Peer 2 Peer applications or programs which may defeat CD/DVD copy protection etc. If anyone knows of any others please feel free to add them to this thread.Hopefully then we can create a useful list that forum members can benefit from ?.
Anti Virus Software :
Personally I am not a huge fan of free anti virus programs but they can be OK for use on spare PC’s,especially if the system does not warrant paying for a licensed product to protect.
AVG Free
AVAST !
Avira Anti Virus
Firewalls :
Zone Alarm Free Version
Comodo Firewall
Outpost Free Firewall
If the programs listed above are designed to protect your main PC,I would consider buying a better product.Personally I have found ESET Smart Security to be extremely good and I hardly even notice its on my system.
Internet/Email :
Mozilla Firefox .Fantastic web browser with some really good add ons.
Downthemall .Download manager which allows you to pause/resume downloads.It can also capture multiple images from websites in a single application.Only works with Firefox though.
Google Chrome .I have found this browser excellent for viewing streamed video feeds.
Opera .Another web browser which I found to be pretty fast.
Mozilla Thunderbird .Very good alternative to Outlook Express.I found this very useful on a system which kept throwing up error messages when using Outlook.I just imported everything across and used this.
Affixa .Access webmail from your desktop.Works like Outlook Express for the likes of Gmail,Yahoo etc.
K9 Web Protection .Filter your childrens internet access by blocking out unwanted content.
Filezilla Free FTP client.
Bitmeter 2 .Monitor your monthly internet usage so you do not exceed your allocated allowance.Shows inbound/outbound traffic and displays it as a simple graph.
CD/DVD Burning Software :
CD Burner XP .Very good burning software particularly useful for burning media files such as MP3,WAV files to a standard audio CD.
IMG Burn .Fantastic burning software which can create ISO files for easy storage of DVD images it can also burn AVCHD discs for playback in your Blu Ray player.
Media Software :
VLC Player .Superb media player.Plays just about every format out there (including HD formats).Also plays DVD’s,CD’s etc.
Ripbot 264 .Very powerful video transcoder.Handles HD formats with ease.Can convert huge HD files,such as those made from HD camcorders and save them in an AVCHD compliant folder.You can then simply burn the folder with Imgburn for playback in your Blu Ray player.One tip though is setting the output file to 1280 x 720 (720P),this speeds up the process quite a bit and the results look pretty much the same.
Multi AVCHD .Convert batch HD media files to AVCHD for playback in a Blu Ray player.Does not reencode the files,so there is no loss of quality.Does basically the same thing as Arcsoft's Total Media Extreme which cost around £70 and crashes all the time !.
Mediacoder .Batch Convertor for media files.
Videora Ipod convertor .Convert video files for playback on Ipod/Iphone.
DVD Flick .Convert and burn media files for playback on your home DVD player.
AVI.net .Convert unprotected DVD's to AVI files which can be stored in much smaller file sizes or played back in portable media players.
Freecorder : This program records what you hear from your PC's speakers and allows you to save the recordings.It’s easy to use and works really well.It can also record video from the likes of You Tube etc. and save it to an FLV file. It is available in a standalone and a toolbar version.
Freecorder Toolbar Version (This also installs the ASK search engine)
Freecorder Standalone Version
GIMP .Photo editing software,bit like Photoshop.I haven’t used it myself but have heard good reports.
System Maintenance Programs :
I would proceed with caution before using these.In my experience if a PC is running well it may well be best left alone.
Smart Defrag .Good hard drive defragmenting program.
Quicksys Registry Defrag .This program optimizes your windows registry by removing gaps, fragments and wasted space in files.Its never a good idea to mess with this but I have to say it did speed my PC up following a serious problem.
Duplicate File Finder .Cleans up your system by scanning your hard drive and checking for multiple copies of the same file.
Other programs I thought may be worth a mention :
Z-Zip .Utility for zipping/unzipping files (like Winzip/Winrar).
Tuxpaint .A painting program for use by children ages 3 and up.My niece informed me it was great !.
Inkscape .A program which can create many different types of graphics.
Open Office .Suite like Microsoft Office.
File Shredder 2 .Delete sensitive files so they cannot be recovered.
Driveimage XML .Application which allows you make exact copies of entire hard drives (or partitions).
Sherrod File Renamer (Basic Version) .Useful for changing the file names of multiple files of JPEG’s from your digital camera (DSC0001,DSC0002,etc.).
Remember if you like a Freeware program and find it useful you can sometimes make a donation to its makers if you wish.Any programs listed here are used totally at your own risk.Thanks.
Anti Virus Software :
Personally I am not a huge fan of free anti virus programs but they can be OK for use on spare PC’s,especially if the system does not warrant paying for a licensed product to protect.
AVG Free
AVAST !
Avira Anti Virus
Firewalls :
Zone Alarm Free Version
Comodo Firewall
Outpost Free Firewall
If the programs listed above are designed to protect your main PC,I would consider buying a better product.Personally I have found ESET Smart Security to be extremely good and I hardly even notice its on my system.
Internet/Email :
Mozilla Firefox .Fantastic web browser with some really good add ons.
Downthemall .Download manager which allows you to pause/resume downloads.It can also capture multiple images from websites in a single application.Only works with Firefox though.
Google Chrome .I have found this browser excellent for viewing streamed video feeds.
Opera .Another web browser which I found to be pretty fast.
Mozilla Thunderbird .Very good alternative to Outlook Express.I found this very useful on a system which kept throwing up error messages when using Outlook.I just imported everything across and used this.
Affixa .Access webmail from your desktop.Works like Outlook Express for the likes of Gmail,Yahoo etc.
K9 Web Protection .Filter your childrens internet access by blocking out unwanted content.
Filezilla Free FTP client.
Bitmeter 2 .Monitor your monthly internet usage so you do not exceed your allocated allowance.Shows inbound/outbound traffic and displays it as a simple graph.
CD/DVD Burning Software :
CD Burner XP .Very good burning software particularly useful for burning media files such as MP3,WAV files to a standard audio CD.
IMG Burn .Fantastic burning software which can create ISO files for easy storage of DVD images it can also burn AVCHD discs for playback in your Blu Ray player.
Media Software :
VLC Player .Superb media player.Plays just about every format out there (including HD formats).Also plays DVD’s,CD’s etc.
Ripbot 264 .Very powerful video transcoder.Handles HD formats with ease.Can convert huge HD files,such as those made from HD camcorders and save them in an AVCHD compliant folder.You can then simply burn the folder with Imgburn for playback in your Blu Ray player.One tip though is setting the output file to 1280 x 720 (720P),this speeds up the process quite a bit and the results look pretty much the same.
Multi AVCHD .Convert batch HD media files to AVCHD for playback in a Blu Ray player.Does not reencode the files,so there is no loss of quality.Does basically the same thing as Arcsoft's Total Media Extreme which cost around £70 and crashes all the time !.
Mediacoder .Batch Convertor for media files.
Videora Ipod convertor .Convert video files for playback on Ipod/Iphone.
DVD Flick .Convert and burn media files for playback on your home DVD player.
AVI.net .Convert unprotected DVD's to AVI files which can be stored in much smaller file sizes or played back in portable media players.
Freecorder : This program records what you hear from your PC's speakers and allows you to save the recordings.It’s easy to use and works really well.It can also record video from the likes of You Tube etc. and save it to an FLV file. It is available in a standalone and a toolbar version.
Freecorder Toolbar Version (This also installs the ASK search engine)
Freecorder Standalone Version
GIMP .Photo editing software,bit like Photoshop.I haven’t used it myself but have heard good reports.
System Maintenance Programs :
I would proceed with caution before using these.In my experience if a PC is running well it may well be best left alone.
Smart Defrag .Good hard drive defragmenting program.
Quicksys Registry Defrag .This program optimizes your windows registry by removing gaps, fragments and wasted space in files.Its never a good idea to mess with this but I have to say it did speed my PC up following a serious problem.
Duplicate File Finder .Cleans up your system by scanning your hard drive and checking for multiple copies of the same file.
Other programs I thought may be worth a mention :
Z-Zip .Utility for zipping/unzipping files (like Winzip/Winrar).
Tuxpaint .A painting program for use by children ages 3 and up.My niece informed me it was great !.
Inkscape .A program which can create many different types of graphics.
Open Office .Suite like Microsoft Office.
File Shredder 2 .Delete sensitive files so they cannot be recovered.
Driveimage XML .Application which allows you make exact copies of entire hard drives (or partitions).
Sherrod File Renamer (Basic Version) .Useful for changing the file names of multiple files of JPEG’s from your digital camera (DSC0001,DSC0002,etc.).
Remember if you like a Freeware program and find it useful you can sometimes make a donation to its makers if you wish.Any programs listed here are used totally at your own risk.Thanks.
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The latest version of Comodo firewall now has an Anti Virus program incorporated into it.They have also apparently fixed the 64Bit problem which made the program crash when installed on systems running certain 64Bit processors and OS.I have a system with XP64 installed and the previous versions of this program would not even install on that.Thought it was worth a mention.
LukeM wrote:
> pete_21 wrote:
> Just installed the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.Damn that
> thing is fast.Best version of the browser to date IMO,well
> worth
> downloading if you haven't already got it.
>
> Although it is my default browser of choice, I personally have
> found the loading of Firefox quite slow, sure it renders pages
> fast but on starting up, Chrome beats it by miles. It doesn't
> effect me enough to ditch it for Chrome though, I need Firefox
> for its add-ons currently until Chrome comes up with some decent
> alternatives.
Good evenin all,
I've 'batted' on about the problems with IE8 long enough, but compared to the two browsers mentioned, I've found it to be far quicker loading and displaying web pages...maybe, I'm thinking, it's your connection speed that affects the resulting 'page download speed'? Just a thought:-)
> pete_21 wrote:
> Just installed the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.Damn that
> thing is fast.Best version of the browser to date IMO,well
> worth
> downloading if you haven't already got it.
>
> Although it is my default browser of choice, I personally have
> found the loading of Firefox quite slow, sure it renders pages
> fast but on starting up, Chrome beats it by miles. It doesn't
> effect me enough to ditch it for Chrome though, I need Firefox
> for its add-ons currently until Chrome comes up with some decent
> alternatives.
Good evenin all,
I've 'batted' on about the problems with IE8 long enough, but compared to the two browsers mentioned, I've found it to be far quicker loading and displaying web pages...maybe, I'm thinking, it's your connection speed that affects the resulting 'page download speed'? Just a thought:-)
pete_21 wrote:
> Just installed the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.Damn that
> thing is fast.Best version of the browser to date IMO,well worth
> downloading if you haven't already got it.
Although it is my default browser of choice, I personally have found the loading of Firefox quite slow, sure it renders pages fast but on starting up, Chrome beats it by miles. It doesn't effect me enough to ditch it for Chrome though, I need Firefox for its add-ons currently until Chrome comes up with some decent alternatives.
> Just installed the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.Damn that
> thing is fast.Best version of the browser to date IMO,well worth
> downloading if you haven't already got it.
Although it is my default browser of choice, I personally have found the loading of Firefox quite slow, sure it renders pages fast but on starting up, Chrome beats it by miles. It doesn't effect me enough to ditch it for Chrome though, I need Firefox for its add-ons currently until Chrome comes up with some decent alternatives.
Just installed the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.Damn that thing is fast.Best version of the browser to date IMO,well worth downloading if you haven't already got it.
Just updated the list.There's a few new apps on there which may be of interest to some ?.
Just updated the list with a few more decent little apps.
Tried one other program called udpix which is supposed to free stuck (not dead) pixels on TFT monitors.Not adding it at the moment as I tested it on 2 monitors (both with a couple of stuck pixels obviously !) and it did absolutely nothing on either of them.If anyone knows of any successful instances using this app let me know and I will add it.
Anyone think of anymore decent freeware programs which may be of use to us 'non techies' ?.
Tried one other program called udpix which is supposed to free stuck (not dead) pixels on TFT monitors.Not adding it at the moment as I tested it on 2 monitors (both with a couple of stuck pixels obviously !) and it did absolutely nothing on either of them.If anyone knows of any successful instances using this app let me know and I will add it.
Anyone think of anymore decent freeware programs which may be of use to us 'non techies' ?.
Hmmm... wrote:
> FWIW - I had a similar thread to this going a while back:
> Utilities,
> Tools & Tips!
Read through that one and cjh posts more or less the same thing. Its like a thread in a thread in a thread :S Ha ha
Anyway, nice post.
> FWIW - I had a similar thread to this going a while back:
> Utilities,
> Tools & Tips!
Read through that one and cjh posts more or less the same thing. Its like a thread in a thread in a thread :S Ha ha
Anyway, nice post.
FWIW - I had a similar thread to this going a while back: Utilities, Tools & Tips!
I documented quite a number of free apps I can recommend:
SyncBack, DeskPins, Kuler, IE7Pro, CookieJar, Pixel Ruler, FF Web Developer all mixed in with a few other tips for good measure!
I documented quite a number of free apps I can recommend:
SyncBack, DeskPins, Kuler, IE7Pro, CookieJar, Pixel Ruler, FF Web Developer all mixed in with a few other tips for good measure!
[s]Hmmm...[/s]
LukeM wrote:
> Hello all this fine Sunday! The FileZilla FTP client deserves a
> mention surely?
> http://filezilla-project.org/
Brilliant !,thats exactly the kind of suggestion I was hoping people would come up with.Thanks for very much for that.Will add it now.
Sonic Chris wrote:
Thanks pete. I believe the only technical post that i've ever
understand on the site :P
Thanks for that Chris ! :)
> Hello all this fine Sunday! The FileZilla FTP client deserves a
> mention surely?
> http://filezilla-project.org/
Brilliant !,thats exactly the kind of suggestion I was hoping people would come up with.Thanks for very much for that.Will add it now.
Sonic Chris wrote:
Thanks pete. I believe the only technical post that i've ever
understand on the site :P
Thanks for that Chris ! :)
Hello all this fine Sunday! The FileZilla FTP client deserves a mention surely? http://filezilla-project.org/
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