The Ever-Growing Free Windows Software List

That is an interesting idea but what its going to come down to is favorites/familiarity. For example, let's say I didn't know a good file compression tool. But since WinRAR used to come pre-loaded on machines I always used that and I'm familiar with it. I would disregard the other file compression apps like 7-zip, IZArc, etc. and vote for WinRAR.

 

Well, yes, there needs to be some discretion as to what gets added, but it's a little presumptuous to say that all the software listed is "the best", since what people deem is "best" varies from person to person. IMO, it'd be better to have a slightly larger list of software and have people post here with questions about which one they should pick based on their usage/preferences instead of listing only a few and claiming those are "the best".

And constantly doing polls would be too cumbersome and tedious. Plus, they would be skewed because people would just vote for the program they use whether or not they've tried some or all of the other choices.

 

How about this: applications that have been on the list for more than 6 months in each category that is "over-grown" will get pruned. But I can still see problems with this approach, such as what if a fantastic application is in the list gets bumped off. A fix for that would be to have people yell at me for removing an application like that.

 

On a separate note, in the Internet>Communication section, both IM programs and email clients are included. I think email clients should be a separate section.

Also, under Communication, I think Gmail voice and video chat should be added. It's a simple voice/video chat offered by Google to use through Gmail.

 

That is a no-no! LOL. Picture, removing all the browsers like Firefox, Chrome etc.
Or worst yet, cleaning tools like Ccleaner off the "BEST FREEWARE LIST"
bad bad idea. lol

 

Hey dbam!

What do you think about O&O Defrag 2000 Freeware??

http://www.filehippo.com/download_oo_defrag/

I had tried O&O Defrag Prof. Edition 11.1...but it only had a 30 day trial on on it


Cin

 

I fixed up the communication section to split the IM apps and the email apps, and added Google's video & chat app to the list. Thanks!

Added the free version to the defragmentation section. I might give it a try soon.

 

I like that idea of having people ask which one to choose. We'll do that.

 

O&O has a tendency to be *very* slow. It's a known fact, and last time I tried it, it took like hours to even just analyze, forget defragmenting. Though its *supposed* to be more thorough, though I have no clear details behind the technicality of O7O

 

By the way, regarding the discussion on what / how many software's to list in the OP, my suggestion would be to rank them under each section according to popularity - #1 being the most popular. (I don't know if this suggestion has been given already). Just have each section as it is, but re-order the software' under them.

As you guys have been discussing before, each has their own preferred software' probably. Hence, imo, I think we can just list them in order, and people can chose what they want.

Beyond that, if anyone has any Q's or doubts, they could always ask for a tip here.

Edit: Sorry for this separate post - could not edit the previous one.

 

ididnt think this list was a "best" or "preferred" it always took me as a great resource of free apps i might use. i keep coming back to it to see whats been added, I would hate to see anything removed

I think that if it were to get cluttered a better idea would be to maintain more then one threa housing the overgrown sections of the list.
Seperate thread for browsers and IM clients, etc.

Again I think removing anything from the list that anyone might find helpful now or in the future would be a mistake.

 

^ Yep, I agree with Jugzwei. I don't think we need to remove anything, unless there is some major, known bug / issue with a particular software.

 

Thanks! Try it when you can ~ and make your own decision, your good at that

Hmmm. It wasn't too slow for me. In fact, it took about as long as JK Defrag did when I had run JK before, it seems. Alas, each persons' computer runs differently. I'm still looking for that *great* defrag program!


Cin.

 

Which operating systems were you trying this application (and JK Defrag) on?

 

JkDefrag *is* fast. I don't think O&O comes anywhere close to JkDefrag in terms of speed. Though, as I mentioned, O&O is 'supposed' to be more thorough, and a referred defrag utility. As for the issues with the speed, there are quiet a few posts even here on NBR from members, on the speed of O&O. I still would recommend JkDefrag over O&O, as its also a very good utility and fast too.

Vista Ultimate SP1 and XP Pro SP3

 

Visa Home Premium.

Well, I'm glad that *it* was fast for you. It wasn't for me! And, that is why I stated each person's computer runs differently! So what may be fast for you, could very well be slow for me or vice versa, and different for each individual. And, thank you..I will have to peruse those posts sometime.

We all have a different opinion on things, and that is one of the things, that makes this forum so unique.


Cin.

 

Good.

Your Welcome.



Anyway, I think the more programs listed the better.

 

I was curious is there was any way to tweak my keyboard. I have some nasty habits when typing, so I want to modify the response rates of certain keys. Thanks in advance.

 

I found Keyboard King which might be exactly what you are looking for. I'll be adding it to the master list shortly as well.

 

I was looking for something more along the lines of a registry edit or something, to make these changes essentially permanent. The idea of having the program run in the background doesn't appeal to me. Thanks for the help though.

 

If it works and does what you are looking for, who cares if it runs in the bg. Unless you have an old pc with limited ram and etc. who cares...Most pc's nowadays come with 2gb ram and a decent processer.

 

I only really need it for one key though. I want my Spacebar to have the same response time as my Ctrl. Is there any way of doing this in the registry manually?

EDIT: I have noticed that I have essentially gone off-topic. I will ask for help in the Hardware section.

 

No worries. At least I was able to add an additional entry to the list.

 

Rep for finding the positive in anything~!

Edit: Well Ill add the rep later, Says Ive given out to much already

 

I recommend PSPad. It's quite handy, I prefer it to notepad++.

 

I suppose you could add the Visual Express Editions - these are free to all Microsoft users.

( German: http://www.microsoft.com/germany/Express/ )

Google -> "Visual Microsoft"

Very powerful tools... especially considering they are free.

 

One can never have too many Notepad-like applications Thanks for the add!

I totally agree with these additions. Thanks!

 

This is a great list, i have got loads of good programs now, the only thing im looking for now is a free network bandwith monitor,

I have a 3gb monthly usage for my mobile memory stick dongle and would like a free program that will warn me when i am near my 3 gb bandwith limit.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

 

Hi.

Great free program for playing video/audio and dvd`s

http://www.gomlab.com/eng/

Regards

John.

 

I'll keep my eyes peeled for something that monitors bandwidth usage. I have a need for it as well!

Cool! i added it to the list. I've actually used the GOM player before and marked that as tested. I added a link for the player in the media players section, and a link to the encoder in the encoders section.

 

GOM Player never played some of my files. Even the codecs and what not they supplied didn't work. Meh.

 

I'll have to tinker around with it some more to see if some of my video's don't agree with it. The one's I did try with it worked well though.

 

Only think I liked about it was the skins I believe...haha. It can play basic stuff, but not everything I throw at it.

 

Added a link to the Windows XP Power Toys page in the tweaking section.

 

I did a quick Google search and one of the top entries was Bandwidth Monitor Lite 2. Not sure if there's an alarm feature to warn you when you've reached your bandwidth limit, but its worth a look. I already added it to the master list as well under the resource monitor section.

Edit: Google found Bit Meter which has exactly what your looking for.

 

Thanks for adding these! These are nice, little & fun *toys* for your lappy w/XP I have a few of them on my Netbook!


Cin

 

Hi, thanks for looking, have tried bitmeter, it sort of does its job but i dont think its the 'best', as i can get it to reset the alarm, and iwhen the alarm goes of it disables the alarm but doesnt enaeble it again for the next month. It would be fine for me but i cant expect my nan to do it.

Will try bandwith monitor now.


thanks again for looking

 

Hi.

File transfer program.

A great free program to copy files from one hdd to another, I just bought a 1tb external hdd and need to copy 365gb to the new 1tb hdd.

Teracopy is what you need, It runs in XP and Vista

http://www.download25.com/teracopy-download.html

Regards

John.

 

You meant "teracopy", right?

I've been using this for a long time, and its been great

 

TeraCopy is already on the list. I agree that it's awesome at copying and moving large files quickly.

 

Hi.

Sorry, I searched for Tetracopy not Teracopy by mistake, Tetracopy was an great old Amiga floppy disk copy program.

Regards

John.

 

And I just noticed in the file compression / copying section, ALZip doesn't have the 'tested' next to it. If you accept testing from users, I would like to say I have used / use ALZip in both XP Pro and Vista, and its been flawless.

 

Just tried it...
(Teracopy)
Didn't really get an improvement - my HDD bandwidth is limited by the USB sharing though.
It may have even been slower than Windows for me

(But don't take this as a negative)

 

Amiga? Floppy disks? Hey! Someone from my generation! Were those floppies 5.25" or 8"?

 

Hi.

They were just like the some desktops uses today 3.5" only 720k not 1.44meg.

But i did use 5.25" on BBCmicro as school and IBM PET.

Regards

John.

 

Ahhh, yes, 720k. I got started with 5.25"s on an Atari 800, but my computer science lab in high school had an old system that still used 8" floppies - those being the real thing, because if you held them one one edge, they'd literally "flop" around.

 

Hi.

I had an Atari 800XL and i had the game the Last Starfight, but it was never released due to copyright issues.

I did use 8" floppies on a mini-mainframe back in the 80`s , those were the days.

Regards

John

 

That would greatly enhance the quality of the apps listed here as everyone's got different systems. If a person has tested an application, post your views on an application in this thread and I'll mark the item like this: [TESTED:{Number of people who tested it}]

 

I had a friend who dropped the extra cash for an 800XL; all I had was the original 800, with a whole whopping 48K RAM.

 

Hi.

I think it had 64k and it was white with cartridge slot above the keyboard with silver doors, it also had a tape-recorder , but it was a long time ago!

My first computer was an Oric 1 48k, made by Cambridge university, I nearly got a ZX80 with 1k memory.

Regards

John.