Best Free Software for Windows

Don't use object dock, it takes up too much processor (8%). Rocket dock is much more efficient.

 

Don't be so misleading...Object dock uses ZERO CPU unless you are actually using it to click on an icon. This action usually takes about 1-3 seconds and then it is minimized behind the window you just opened using ZERO CPU again.

Also, if you're running x64 then you're out of luck with RocketDock.

 

does anybody know of a free software like object dock PLUS that uses tabbed feature for free?

 

My ObjectDock uses less than 3k.

 

do you know of any video editors for vista 64 bit that is free by any chance? cause virtual dub is 32 bit

 

Windows Movie Maker

 

awesome anti spyware/malware tools.

i got 2 of them, the house call from Trend micro, its a free service on their site. and unhack me. such an awesome program. gets rid of a lot of stuff though, so its for more experienced people. don't just click on remove, it tried to get rid of ITSELF as well.

 

Hey people, just came across this (Don't know if you guys know about this already or if this is useless!)

Anyways, for those who didn't know and if you wanna color up your comp' life!!!

http://www.foldermarker.com/change-folder-color.php?discount=ChangeFolderColor

Cheers

 

How about Defraggler by Pirform (CCleaner)

http://www.defraggler.com/features

Defraggler supports all OSs released since Windows 2000, this includes Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista. 64-bit support has also just been added! Additionally Defraggler supports both NTFS and FAT32 file systems.

 

I used it before but liked JkDefrag GUI much better. Just my $0.02

 

I'm having a hard time picking between the three. Someone on another forum liked Auslogic. Although I didn't understand why at first, it's best to only use 1 defragger as they move files and work in different ways.

Maybe I'll start a poll.

 

Right, you should only use 1 defrag program. I downloaded defraggler a while ago to try it out, decided I liked JkDefrag better, and consequently uninstalled defraggler and continued using JkDefrag.

 

Any good free programs for online video streaming chatting?
Tim

 

Hiker,

Check out this thread, I believe all 3 of those programs were mentioned...in the end I chose JkDefrag:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=252861

 

I know AIM has video chat, but I haven't used it in years so I don't know what it's like.

 

Guys,

FYI, this is for Screen Capture link at http://www.goletas.com/products/screencapture/ , they are free too.

Dg

 

Stacks Docklet (Fan or Grid)

I used this and it works fine.

OB

 

@Oodle:
does it work well on Vista x64 in ObjectDock?

 

I've only used the stacks docklet on Vista 32-bit, but I don't see why it wouldn't work on 64-bit as long as OD works on 64-bit as well...

 

Yeah, it works

 

schweeet...on it right now =D

 

I'm running Xp at the moment, but as it's not a program there shouldn't be any issue with certification.

It's a useful add-on, i prefer the grid format as the fly-out seem to fully expand if you've got a lot in a folder for example.

OB

 

I'm also running on object dock and must say that I didn't think that it would be such useful as it is.

 

It's a great little program.

I can confirm that i'm running it on Vista 32bit with no problems so 64bit shouldn't have any problems...

Just my 2p...

OB

 

I recommend a program called SpaceMonger, it easily lets you see all the files occupying your hard drive and helps keep track of free space.

http://www.sixty-five.cc/download/

Head to the 'Free Software' tab and scroll down to SpaceMonger v1.4.0, this version is free and very lightweight. It's stand-alone (no installer), and is a tiny 100KB.

 

I'd recommend Tversity, its a brilliant media streaming application. Its main use is to stream any media to home consoles and it is brilliant and easy to use. I cant recommend it enough.

 

Very useful list, Open Office once saved my life , I urgently needed an excel type program but I hadn't had any time to go buy and whatnot the microsoft office cd

 

Some of my recomendations ( I have tried lot's of free software and for me this is the best):

For antivirus - Avira (Best protection - just have to deal with some popups from time to time)

For cleaning and tweaking - Advanced Windows Care Personal (This utility is amazing)

They work great with Vista 32bit/64bit

 

For registry cleaning, I think the best out there is CCleaner.. its a great tool

For other', check out Easy Cleaner... this one' great as well... and very user friendly.

 

I have a question regarding audio editing software...

I have some .mp3 tracks that I would like to snip off a portion of the end. Is there any free program that allows me to do this (preferably easily)?

Thanks in advance.

 

Something like this >> http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/ ??

This was something a friend of mine uses...

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look at it when I get home.

 

WavePad is not what you want. Use MP3 DirectCut. Free and doesn't need to re-encode.

 

iTunes can also do that (provided you use itunes )

 

Audacity. Best basic music editor. So easy to use.

 

I'll take a look at that. Thanks for the suggestion.

I don't use iTunes nor do I have it installed on my computer.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look at this also.

 

Can someone please explain to me what Sandboxie does in layman's terms? I read the website, but I still don't think I have a grasp on what it really is supposed to do and how it benefits to have it.

 

From what I understand, it allows you to install programs and protects your system from being changed...

So if you want to mess with a program that you suspect may corrupt your system, or slow it down, or give you a virus, you can install it in Sandboxie, take it for a test run without the risk of it mucking up your system. Basically it's akin to program-level virtualization, as opposed to virtualizing a full-blown OS and running programs inside of it.

Correct me if I'm wrong...I've wanted to play with this for quite some time, but it's not up for x64 last time I checked.

 

sandbox can bog your apps down sometimes, due to its agressive protective nature

cheers ...

 

Thank you both for shedding some light on the situation. To Meetloaf, I just started researching Sandboxie, and I have not yet read if it can run on x64. I'm going to continue to research it, so I'll let you know if I find out for sure.

 

I used to use that until I found Orb. It seems to be much smoother transcoding on the fly than Tversity was for me. Granted, this was also a few months back.

I think a lot of people use Skype for this (myself included). The only thing about Skype that isn't so good is you can't do video chat with more than 1 person. Hoping they will fix this in the future...

 

Have you tried the latest (4.0.0.161 beta) version? we use it in our office environment with no quality issues

cheers ...

 

Free driver scan and update program, worthy of the list!!!!!!!

http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/

 

Thanks.

I tried this and it gave a list of devices for which there were new drivers.. for example webcam, USB, Ricoh SD/MMC host controller n stuff.. when I clicked to download the new one, it says there will be a dmx.nfo file or something which will automatically download the latest driver for that particular device.

Now I don't understand what is that dmx thing.. second, how safe are these things?

As far as I remember, the drivers from the laptop manufacturer' are standardized n optimized for the particular laptop n model and configuration.. so will downloading these new drivers undo all that? will there be any new issues or something like that???

For example, for the video card, it said the latest driver is 177.83... but the one released by dell recently (and the latest available for this model) is 175.97... so, does downloading and installing these new drivers undo anything that the manufacturer built in to the driver or utility that they provided?

Also, I am asking this, because there are many driver updaters and scanners available out there.. including some for which u ahve to pay.. but I never got the real idea behind it and why wasn't the manufacturer then giving out the latest drivers... thanks.

 

Hi.

you download the dmx files into a directory, when you run the dmx files a download box will appear and download the full driver, then you have the option to install it.

It`s a bit of a mess but it works!!

 

Ah ok... thanks for the clarification

 

Hi.

It also can make a backup of all your drivers, so if you do a clean install it will restore all your drivers to the way they were before the wipe!

Saves a lot of time!

 

Yep, I saw this feature a little while back Nice.. thanks again.

 

Hi, for this drivermax thing... when there is a new driver available, it gives a big list of drivers, some with the same names like UPEK for example... how do you know which one should you get or download? And how come for example, for UPEK, 1.9.xxxx is the official driver version number as could be seen from the official download from their site, but the drivermax gives something in the order of 6.0000.60000..xxxxxx ????

 

I didnt see it listed, so heres a free backup software!

Paragon's Drive Backup Express

There are paid versions, but the express is free, and so far seems like it'll do the job. Claims to do the entire partition, OS, settings and all. It can even make a bootable CD, which can go into external HDD's to retrieve your backup even if Windows is 6 feet under.

I haven't tested it under fire yet though, by actually restoring my backup image.