Best free software for Win 7 x64/x86 (Most important software for new pc)

I know there is a ton of freeware lists, there is even one in a sticky over here... But does everyone want to actually test all of them, to see which one is best?

I think that I can safely say that I tested about 95% of the free software posted on most websites, and I wanted to share what i ended up using.

I am currently using all this software on my laptop running Windows 7 x64, so you can be sure everything will be working properly.

1. Jdownloader- I have to say that I truly HATED rapidshare links, and all non direct uploading services for that matter till i found this program, at allows to copy and paste a list of links into the program, automatically checks their status, bypasses or decrypts captach, waits, downloads, and if there are split archives, it even extracts for you!

2. OpenOffice- I am not saying MS office suite is a bad program, and if you dont mind shelling out $400 by all means...for the rest of us, there is openoffice

3. Microsoft Security Essentials- Finally a distraction free antivirus/security program that is free and 64bit.

4. Winrar- Even though its only a "trial" it retains all of its functionality after the trial, and its just better than all the alternatives

5. Google Chrome BETA- I recently switched from firefox, and a love the simplicity, speed and stability... BTW, dev edition is buggy, and stable version doesn't have extensions yet, so my vote goes for beta

6. Teracopy- Why wont windows explorer allow to pause or que file-transfers? I dont know, but luckily there is teracopy...

7. Foxit reader- A simple, clean, fast, efficient and stable pdf viewer. Adobe has a lot to learn.

8. Gom player- Vlc is great, but no offence, the interface is ugly. Gom player has 99% of all codects built in, and very good hotkey customization.

9. uTorrent- There is a reason its the most popular torrent client...

10. Ccleaner- computer getting slow and laggy? This program cleans it out.

11. FreeDiskAnalyzer- this is not a well known program, but I if u ever had your hard drive getting full and wanted to find out what is taking up most of the space, this is the program to get.

 

I will rep you for jdownloader. Good list I must say. Teracopy seems to be another useful software.

I will download from your link.

 

12- Nv GPU Pro, for providing a better experience for users with Nvidia GPU's on their desktop and laptops. (I have to promote my free software )

13- FileZilla FTP, great FTP program, ideal for those who have a server. Nice series of features, works great and easy to use.

14- DAEMON Tools Lite for personal usage. Load any ISO's onto your system, many game backup disk, all DVD's backup, so that you have to seek your DVD with you, or carry several of them if you go on a trip. Also you don't need to use the optical drive which is noisy, slow, and consumes power (for laptop).

15- Ok I'll cheat on this one: Snipping Tool built-in Vista/Win7, great tool to take screen shots of object, windows, free form, rectangle, or full screen. You can also draw on them and save them in jpg, png or bmp.

16- iRotate - Windows only - this program allows you to rotate the screen with hot keys. ideal for those who have a computer monitor that can rotate, passing from landscape to portrait mode. This avoids of going in the video card options to rotate the screen every-time.

17- Zune software - Best music/video library manger (you don't need a Zune to use it). It's a great software, easy to use, unlike iTunes: it's much lighter and fast, and also has a nice interface. Note: Zune marketplace and Zune pass (15$ - unlimited downloads of music, where you get to keep 5 for yourself for ever, DRM free in high quality) is for U.S only FOR THE MOMENT. This should change at or shortly after the release of Windows Phone 7 series worldwide.

18- Trillian - MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber, and many more all in one program, ad free, simple and sleek interface, skinable, packed with features.

19- Shark007 codec pack 32/64-bit. The best Vista/Win7 codec pack you can find. It provide thumbnail supports for all unsupported by Windows video formats, doesn't interfere with Windows built-in codecs, well package with no conflicts, and comes with a small application that allows you to tweak all the codecs in 1 convenient place, and "unlock" Windows Media Player 11/12 64-bit.

20- ImgBurn - Easy to use, works perfectly, great options DVD burning software, for those who seek additional burning options over Windows built-in burning tool (Vista/Win7 only).

21- Input Director. You have 1 monitor that can take several inputs, you have a desktop and laptop, you wish to use your laptop on a big screen all by using your desktop keyboard and mouse... well this tool allows you to do this. works perfectly with Windows XP, Vista. and 7. Works at the log-in screen also, and you copy & paste between systems. To switch between system you have several configurable ways: keyboard shortcuts, moving the mouse on a select screen edge (also you can block it, and allow pass though if the mouse is on a edge for x mili-seconds) for instance. Supports Macro's too.

22- DVD Shrink - Got a movie to backup into ISO? That the tool for you!

 

Mines

CCleaner

Driversweeper

VLC

Comodo

Avast

Avira

Motion in joy

Nvidia Sys tools

 

personally I would go with 7-zip instead of winrar, but nice post

 

I love Openoffice.org (user since version 1.0), but I wish they would release a version for 64-bit Windows. I know that version 3.2 for Win32 works fine in 64-bit Windows, but I still want a 64-bit version. They've had a version for 64-bit Linux for some time IIRC.

An alternative to Shark007 is K-Lite Codec Pack, which is what I use. With the bundled Media Player Classic, I've been able to play every file that I've thrown at it. I've never used Shark007, so I don't know which is better, but since I like K-lite so much I probably won't switch anytime soon.


69

 

Mine:

• CPUID
• GPU-Z
• Gadwin Printscreen
• CCleaner
• Avira
• WinRar
• Paint.Net
• Revo Uninstaller
• ImgBurn
• DVD Shrink

Cin...

 

I got hooked to Shark007, because when Vista was out, K-Lite didn't support Vista 64-bit let alone Vista 32-bit. I mean it worked, but was a pain to play videos. But I guess now it's up and fine.

I don't understand people enjoying Media Player Classic under Windows 7. I mean I used it (back in XP days, and again under Win7), and I don't see anything appealing. Windows media player 12 has 2 players in one. Where you have a light one with only with the usual video/audio controls, which opens instantly when you double click on a movie, and the big one for when you can want to access the library, which is heavier, but still over all light (you can of course switch between modes)

MPC is ugly, doesn't use the OS API code to be integrated, you can't even networks stream music and movies. And last time I tried it, it's in 32-bit, which means you don't use the 64-bit codecs.

Anyway, this is off topic conversation.

 

Media Player Classic. It can play .srt subtitles without needing anything else, you can shift audio for out-of-sync time-streams, you can easily save screenshots, etc.

Also, k-lite worked perfectly fine for me on Vista 64-bit.

Edit - And Foobar.

MP3Tag is a good choice for tagging your music.

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

 

codecs are a pain, just try gomplayer, you will like it... everything works, and there is 1 less thing to install

from the soft posted above, I would probably agree on these, but the rest is very niche and not really a 100% necessary in my opinion...

dvdshrink- great for backing up dvd's!

deamon tools- if you want to save cd/dvds on your pc for backup, but there are mostly illegal uses for this program...

Why i disagree.. no offence thou!

-nv gpu pro- not everyone has a nvidia gpu
-filezilla-how many people use ftp? and did you know that windows has a perfectly good ftp server built in?
-irotate-again, how many people actualy have rotating monitors? and if they do, dont the drivers that come with the monitor do this anyways?
-zune software- wmp is fine imo, not us only, and free
-trillian- to be add free, its not free! good program, but imo there are better free alternatives, I like to use meebo.com, or pidgin for example
-shark- you dont need codecs with gomplayer
-driversweeper- I think its best to find the drivers yourself, if you dont, you might have some problems after, its just not worth it
-comodo- w7 has a great firewall built in, why cluther the system up with another one?

 

• Avast
• CCleaner
• Google Chrome
• Gmail Notifier
• Google Earth
• Malwarebytes
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera
• Picasa
• PDF Xchange Viewer
• Rainlendar
• Revo Uninstaller
• Songbird
• SuperAntiSpyware
• Virtual CloneDrive
• Windows Live Essentials (Movie Maker only)
• Zune Player

 

Just going to put in my $.02 on these.

1. I rarely dl rapidshare anymore, but this is a nice little program - no comment
2. Openoffice is nice for sure, but why not take advantage of the Office 2010 Beta while you can?
3. Nice to see someone who also uses this and isn't all "anti-microsoft" about it.
4. 7zip is better
5. The stable release has extensions now, since I January I believe?
6. nice little program, haven't had too many times where this is necessary, but it looks useful nonetheless.
7. Reader is fine for me the 2 times a month I use it
8. I watch everything through Boxee so not useful.
9. best torrent program out there
10. &11. both useful for sure if you know what you are doing. Don't delete anything you don't know what it is .

Now to add some.

1. Digsby - A nice chat client that allows AIM, MSN, Facebook, Jabber, and many others on 1 Buddy List
2. 7zip - Open source compression software.
3. Notepad++ - open source source code editor
4. Recuva - Get that accidentally delete file back.
5. Autohotkey - turn an action into a key stroke. Easy to use
6. Virtual CloneDrive - Mounts disc images fast and easy.

 

Since all of you are so persistent on 7zip, i gave it another try, and I have to admit, it has evolved a bit since the last time I tried it. I had some problems getting windows to automatically open rar files in 7zip(didnt show up in open with, and browsing shows 3 .exe files in program files) but getting past these faults, it is as fast as winrar, and open source. I will try using it for a while and I might change it in my first post.
There is just one thing that everyone has to admit though, the 7z icon is UGLY, as is the gui compared to winrar.... I have also been reading a couple of 7z vs winrar articles, and it seems winrar does a better job recovering corrupt archives

Didnt know that... But I still think the beta is the way to go! why not get newer updates? Gmail has been in beta till about a year ago and nobody cared...

+1 definately true

 

My preferance is for Glary utilities over Ccleaner seems to work faster and does not hesitate on FF files. I have both installed. Also Lock hunter for unlocker which does not work on 64 bit units.

 

I would also recommend the following:
1. ImgBurn - great app for burning all types of CD/DVD files.
2. WinPatrol - watches over your system (hence the watchdog icon) alerts you to changes in system settings, programs that add themselves to start-up etc. Free and paid versions.
3. AxCrypt - for encrypting files/folders - simple and easy to use.
4. XnView - great freeware that is a multimedia viewer, browser and converter.