Best Free Software for Windows(old version)

Free as in "free beer", Open source is ok, too. This is my list:


Firefox. If you haven't heard about this web browser, then you seriously need to go out more (or less, and spend some time in the internet, dammit). Kills IE in every way.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

Thunderbird. Also created by the Mozilla foundation, this app is to MS Outlook what Firefox is to IE. It may not be as strong in PIM or calendar related tasks, but if what you need is a an email program that just works, look no further.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

iTunes. It's free, it's chic, and it's apple's. No need for an Ipod, this is a must for digital music fans.
http://www.apple.com/itunes/

Avast! Home Edition. Free Antivirus Software, at least for home users. There are many free antivirus programs out there, but I like this one the most.
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Ad-Aware Personal. Nice companion to antivirus software, will keep your PC clean as a whistle.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Crap-Cleaner. Nice app, not so nice name. Since you decided to go the Windows way, you will also need something to keep your registry error-free and improve system performance.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

CutePDF Writer. It's cute, and it writes PDFs. Will install as a printer, so you can create PDF from any application with printing capabilities. Requires download of Ghostscript (also free) to work.
CutePDF Writer: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
Ghostscript: http://www.cutepdf.com/download/converter.exe

Free Download Manager. Adds nice features to downlading tasks such as download by parts and start/resume abilities. If you are using Firefox, make sure to get the Flashgot extension too.
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

Zero Assumption Digital Image Recovery. Those images you accidentally erased from your digicam may still be there. Find out with this program.
http://www.z-a-recovery.com/digital-image-recovery.htm

The Gimp."Bring out the gimp". Powerful photo editing program, albeit with a steep learning curve.
http://www.gimp.org/

Open Office. Already mentioned in a thread, this can replace MS-Office. Use that money in an Ipod or something instead.
http://www.openoffice.org/

Google Earth. I'll be ****ed if I find a productive use for this, but it is nice.
http://earth.google.com/

VideoLAN. Although chances are you already have DVD playback software if you bought an OEM computer, this is a good, not so pretty option for you DIYers out there.
http://www.videolan.org/

Deadline. If you're like me, you probably forgot how to differentiate or graph something more complicated than 3x=3 (ok, maybe not that easy). Still, "let the machine do it".
http://deadline.3x.ro/

Microsoft Powertoys for Windows XP. Nice assortment of tools from the evil empire itself (who would have said?). Ranges from UI optimization to a Webcam timer.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

I did not include MS AntiSpyware Beta because it will not work on any XP install and may go commercial any time now, but still very nice:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Feel free to add to this list. That is, if you also have nothing to do when insomnia attacks

 

All hail to open source!

I'll add 7-ZIP: http://www.7-zip.org/ (name indicates what it does, unfortunately ONLY unpacking RAR support)

And while we are on open source, might as well replace windoze all together

 

I'd add:

DVD Decrypter – Rip almost any DVD and can burn them as well.
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_decrypter.cfm

DVD Identifier – Find out who makes your blank DVD to see if they are any good.
http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

DVD Shrink – Shrink almost any DVD.
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_rippers/dvd_shrink.cfm

Cheetah Audio Converter – Unlike most converters it does .wma at no cost.
http://www.cheetahburner.com/

Exact Audio Copy – High quality CD ripper.
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

Quintessential Player – Good audio player. All kinds of options and skins.
http://www.quinnware.com/

Ifranview – Very nice photo viewer. Can do some basic basic photo editing. Also has command line options and plug-ins.
http://www.irfanview.com/

AVG Free – Another good free virus software. Don’t have to register like Avast.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

ZoneAlarm – Free version is good and much better than XP’s firewall.
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

Real Alternative – Works well in place of the most annoying Real Player.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm

CDBurnerXP - Does the basic stuff well like making Audio and Data CDs, and Data DVDs.
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

CPU-Z – Gives info on CPU, memory and mainboard.
http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php

Everest – Find out what hardware in on your laptop.
http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en

HD Tune – Great hard drive utility.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Notebook Hardware Control – Controls laptop hardware.
http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm

Dead Pixel Buddy – See if you notebook or LCD has any dead or stuck pixels.
http://www.laptopshowcase.co.uk/downloads.php?id=1

RegScrubXP – Keep that registry free of defects.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048

MSConfig – Turn off all unwated programs from starting with windows.
Start>Run>MSConfig

 

Well i hope the list include P2P software. Cuz there's also
Bittorrent. BitComet
http://www.bitcomet.com

DC++
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dcplusplus

Speed Fan
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

 

My favorites-

Zip Genius - Great Zip Suite

http://www.zipgenius.it/

Brutus 2006 Place Icons on your desktop or into the quick launch for one click Shutdown/Log off/Restart

http://www.proffs.nu/brutus.htm

AIRoboForm for Firefox Auto logon app - great for forum sign in

http://www.roboform.com/download.html

Flashpeak Slimbrowser Awesome Firefox like IE engine Web browser.

http://www.flashpeak.com/sbrowser/

CursorXP Custom Cursor themes

http://www.stardock.com/products/cursorxp/

Cablenut For tweaking you connection settings

http://www.cablenut.com/

Password Corral Great Password Manager

http://www.cygnusproductions.com/freeware/pc.asp

And the Best (IMO) Freeware site, spyware free- SnapFiles -

http://www.webattack.com/freeware/

 

MS spyware Beta works fine on my Windows XP install, do you mean it won't work on everyone or what?

i think that it is a pretty nice program too

 

I think you guys forgot to mention the undervolting utilities so essential for notebooks!

RMClock Utility: http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml
Notebook Hardware Control: http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm

 

TuneXP 1.5
http://www.download.com/TuneXP/3000-2086_4-10290928.html

 

why is undervolting a necessary thing? doesn't it decrease the power of your notebook?

 

Undervolting decreases the power *consumption* of your CPU, which will extend battery life, but it doesn't affect CPU performance at all. It just lowers the voltages at which each processor speed step (i.e., 1.87 GHz max, 800 MHz idle) runs; the CPU will still run at those same speed steps.

On my ASUS W3V, undervolting increased my battery life from about 3.5 to 4.25 hours!

 

Winrar
www.winlab.com

WinISO
www.winiso.com

Winamp
www.winamp.com

AIM
www.aim.com

MIRC
www.mirc.com

 

so with this utlity, you can undervolt any CPU? i have a new DV4000 with my 1.6Ghz. Anyone have specs on how much the battery life will increase once i undervolt? also, this doesn't damage the CPU in anyway does it?

 

undervolting will not damage the cpu. if you were going above (overclocking) now that will hurt it. if you undervolt too much then the worst thing is that the computer crashes cuz its not getting enough power.

i am using the NHC and when i am on the battery i am undervolting it and i can use my battery at least for 4-5 hours. a lot better than 2-3 hours.

 

So only need to use software when on battery? cause obviously if plugged in, no need to undervolt since unlimited power. but should i undervolt all the time to even save money on electricity?

are there also certain "values" the cpu should be undervolted to? or does the software handle "beginner" mentality? Do you just click the button "undervolt" or do you have to setup a lot of stuff?

 

I'm going to have to vote down Itunes. So sloooooooooooow. (and I own an Pod!)

foobar
www.foobar2000.org

Media Player Classic
www.sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/

VLC
www.videolan.org/vlc

Trillian Basic (pro costs money)
www.trillian.com


Bazooka Spyware Scanner
www.kephyr.com

Opera (uses slightly less ram than firefox)
www.opera.com

BTW, winrar, winiso, and mirc all cost money. It doesn't matter if it keeps working after the evaluation period, you still gotta pay.

Also everest isn't free anymore. Any other progs like this out there?

 

haha i think you are thinking too much. saving money/electricity...dont think too far. if you are that conservative dont bother using a computer. undervolt is only used for laptops to create less heat so you wont burn yourself and two increase the battery usage time.

 

ok, sounds good then. I'll check out that software tonight. Is NHC relatively straight forward to use?

 

pretty straight forward.

 

Azureus:
http://azureus.sourceforge.net/

ffdshow
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow

 

Itunes isn't at all slow, it is never slow, you are a crazy person, Media player however, shoot me now

and you can underclock your processor just using windows power settings and get a nice increase in battery life, just set power settings to max battery or maybe portable/laptop and it will underlclock it alot, when i set my Pentium M 1.86ghz to max batter it downclocks to about 700mhz and gives me almost an hr extra time.

 

what settings should NHC be set to. i read the beginners guide and I just want to be able to pick the right settings without harming the machine or crashing it. Should i just stay within CPU speed section and chose the drop downs, or in order for optimal performance to I have to tweak every category?

http://www.pbus-167.com/chc_guid.htm

 

careful with voltages, i wouldnt touch that, i popped the sony s book i had before i returned it, i heard a pop i set a wrong voltage, nothing happened but im guessing it could break any second if your not careful.

 

what settings should NHC be set to. i read the beginners guide and I just want to be able to pick the right settings without harming the machine or crashing it. Should i just stay within CPU speed section and chose the drop downs, or in order for optimal performance to I have to tweak every category?

http://www.pbus-167.com/chc_guid.htm

 

dose anyone know of any good free firewall software?
also when some people post links they dont give a discription of the program which is anoying.

 

ZoneAlarm is a good free one.

 

Sygate Personal Firewall

One of the best personal firewalls there is. I am currently using the Pro version (not free), and ever since, I've had no trouble with Trojans, worms, spyware, and all the other stuff that you shouldn't have to be concerned about.

 

cheers thanks very much for your help

 

does adaware protect as a firewall, or do I need a separate software for firewall as well. my modem, dsl modem, comes equipped with firewall as well. do i need more such as zonelarm that everyone recommends?

 

iTunes is far slower than many other comparable music players out there, plus it sucks too. WMP is pretty much as bad. Plus iTunes is pretty crappily designed. Pretty much all other media players out there can play music and videos in one player. Apparently Apple thought it would be hip and cool to *OMGWTFBBQ* to seperate it into quicktime and iTunes. There are lots of other things wrong with iTunes and Quicktime, but don't feel like typing it all out.

Winamp and Foobar2k ftw.

 

46-categories of free software in one nicely-reviewed collection!

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

 

"Firefox. If you haven't heard about this web browser, then you seriously need to go out more (or less, and spend some time in the internet, dammit). Kills IE in every way.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ "

i've always used IE. what makes firefox better than IE. i'd like to know some reasons before i install this..

 

A) Tabbed browsing: Opening tabs inside the app instead of running several IE windows completely changes the way you surf the net. You really need to experience it to understand it.

B) Security: IE might be the no. 1 source for computer infections today. Firefox is much, much more secure.

C) Extensions: A lot of add-ons you can use with firefox that let you customize it to unbelievable levels. There are nice extensions like "Weatherfox" that act like widgets in OSX, and must-have extensions like ad-block (see no more ads in the net) or super drag and go.

 

http://opera.com/
try opera also it has tabbed browsing, and seems to load pages faster then firefox.

 

the fact that it's not IE makes it better. much better. plus what he said... once you use FFX for a while (and assuming you can appreciate what an improvement it is) you will not be able to even look at IE again

 

Not always true. I tried Fire Fox for a little while... I saw no improvement over IE. Honestly, It's just a preference as to which one is more comfortable to use. I prefer IE... I don't want the tabbed browsing or the download manager... I can manage that stuff myself. As to the whole "security" thing, it just disallows active x... which IE can be set to do. No real "oh my f'ing god amazing" improvement there. Also, firefox loads webpages slower than my grandmother walks... and it's picky about the code. Firefox won't load every page correctly, so it's no good in that respect also.

Basically, don't feel pressured into getting Firefox because it's the hip, new thing. Stick with what you know... in the end, it all boils down to how comfortable you are with your browser. If the idea of tabbed browsing appeals to you, then you may want to check out http://www.flashpeak.com/sbrowser/ . This broswer is based off of IE, can be set to look almost identical to IE, and incorperates the tabbed browsing and secruity features that Firefox prides itself on.

 

Not just for windows but it works great.


http://www.yousendit.com/

 

AVG Anti-Virus - http://free.grisoft.com/

 

Your missing one of the best media players... DivX
www.divx.com

 

I am not really sure this is completely IEs fault. True, microsoft always releases their software b4 fixing all bugs and continue releasing patches for years on end but then IE is targeted more by hackers more because it is available on 90% of the world's computers making it easy to spread a worm.

We need to see if firefox can become huge like IE and still manage to ward of attacks. Even a few days back, FF themselves gave out patches.

 

Great listings! However, is there an alternative to Everest, now that it's no longer freeware? I found an archived free version, listed as currently unsupported.

 

This app is a MUST if you're using a notebook that either has the keyboard in another language, or just plain has a weird layout:

Microsoft Keyboard layout creator.
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/tools/msklc.mspx

 

Also, I can't believe I forgot this one: Yahoo desktop search. Out of the big three free desktop search apps (Google, MS, Yahoo), it is by far the best.

http://desktop.yahoo.com/

 

i am just confused on what aspect of Itunes is slow????

care to elaborate?

besides it being crappily designed

 

Open Task Manager when playing music in iTunes. Note the resources load. Play the same song in VLC or WinAmp or just about anything else (except maybe WMP) and note how much less load that takes. That translates to slow.

 

How fast is your HD, and how much RAM do you have?

 

I have the same problem with Itunes. I have about 5K songs....4200RPM HD and 768MB RAM...it takes forever to load and stuff...

 

no body mentioned MobileMeter: http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/

www.bsplayer.org BSplayer - very light and full of options player. I found it uses much less CPU than Winamp (for video playback); really nice

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm K-lite codec pack - all the necessary codecs in one place

 

if you are running it an old setup it may be slow.
as for using alot of RAM, Itunes really doesn't use that much ram at all.

unless you have 256mb of ram or something then there should be no problem.

itunes is much easier to use than winamp, not to mention sharing songs over a network, great if you are living on a college campus, and the easiest organization system there is, not to mention search, etc. etc. etc.

 

Quick check, for those with slow Itunes start. Do you have the ItunesHelper Module as part of your startup routine?

 

That Virus? You pretty much can't stop it from loading. Why should any respectable program have to pre-load some of its code to hide its sluggishness? And IMHO, an Athlon 64 is not...