Useful and Alternate Software

[Goran]

I've compiled a list of useful free software for your computer. This list ranges from alternate browsers to security programs to media players, etc. This list may be useful if one of your programs doesn't work anymore and you need a replacement or you can't be bothered to spend money on any programs that you need. Please check this list and download some of these programs before asking "what should I get for getting rid of this or this?" Most of these programs have a description at the download site.


Anti-Spyware


Webroot Spy Sweeper (30 day trial) (http://www.download.com/1200-2018-5136615.html)
Useful and powerful spyware and adware removal tool. Takes a while to scan but it does a good job. It even has real-time protection that prompts you if spyware wants to install itself onto your computer

McAfee Anti-Spyware (trial) (http://www.download.com/McAfee-AntiSpyware/3000-8022_4-10371997.html)
Havn't used this version before but the previous versions were pretty good detectors so this should be too.

Spyware Doctor (http://www.download.com/Spyware-Doctor/3000-8022_4-10293212.html)
A great and thorough tool for getting rid of most spyware on your computer. It provides a threat level for everything it finds and a little description of the malware. It has full scan mode and quick scan mode.

Ad-Aware SE Personal (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022-10319876.html?tag=list)
Another really good and popular malware scanner. Detects adware, spyware, and tracker cookies, and gets rid of most of it.

Spybot: Search and destroy (http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10289035.html?tag=lst-0-1)
I recently got this tool. Seems a little outdated but it's surprisingly good and fast. It found malware that the other programs didn't.

Microsoft Anti-Spyware BETA (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=321CD7A2-6A57-4C57-A8BD-DBF62EDA9671&displaylang=en)
This thing is incredibly good. First of all, it has several scan modes, such as quick scan, full scan, custom scan, etc. It has real-time protection that prompts you if you want to allow certain changes to be made to your computer (can be shut off). It also has a feature that lets you restore your IE homepage if it was hijacked and it has a good track eraser.

It is highly recommended you have AT LEAST one anti-spyware program installed.


Here's just some spyware prevention tools:


SpywareBlaster (http://www.download.com/SpywareBlaster/3000-8022-10372089.html?tag=list)
Havn't used this before but according to download.com, it prevents spyware from getting installed on your computer in the first place. It filters ActiveX controls and other stuff.

Prevx Home (http://www.prevx.com/prevxhome.asp)
Another malware prevention tool. It prompts you everytime something wants to make changes to your system. It can get really annoying, but at least it keeps your PC clean. Make sure you read the FAQ.

SpywareGuard (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html)
Stops spyware programs before they are even executed.


Anti-Virus


EZ Anti-Virus (one year free) (http://home.ca.com/dr/v2/ec_main.entry25?page=PYPCTrialPage&client=ComputerAssociates&sid=35715&CID=185351)
Wow, what can I say? One year free subscription to this anti-virus programs, provided you register and you use Windows. Better than most free anti-virus programs.

Avast! (http://www.avast.com/)
Havn't used this before but I heard it is an excellent anti-virus program that cleans and deletes most viruses when they install themselves.

AVG Anti-Virus (http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php)
Another free anti-virus program. I havn't used this either but I have heard of so many people that have used and and loved it. Uses a low amount of resources, unlike Norton.

AntiVir (http://www.free-av.com/)
Another free and effective anti-virus program. Update sizes are fairly large, but this may be more effective than AVG.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (30 day trial) (http://www.download.com/Kaspersky-Anti-Virus-Personal/3000-2239_4-10314913.html)
Pretty much one of the best anti-virus programs on the market. Works better than most of the other programs, free or paid. The 30 day trial should really impress you of its abilities.

BitDefender (http://www.bitdefender.com/bd/site/products.php?p_id=24#)
Havn't used it but heard it was good.

McAfee Stinger (back-up scanner) (http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/)
I've used this thing before as a back-up scanning tool. It doesn't get rid of viruses when they attach to your computer, but it does a great job of killing them.

NOD32 (Trial version) (http://www.nod32.com/download/download.htm)
An antivirus that is rather light on resources and performs very well. Known for good ratio of catching "in-the-wild" (unknown) viruses.

Here are some available online scanners:

Trendmicro (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/)

Panda Active Scan (http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm)


Firewalls


ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp;jsessionid=CHUme2nHn4knuxWpmO5iRB5 0zz74l2y8OTazXrU2argDtniBb9ed!895447923!-1062696904!7551!7552!NONE)
If you need a free firewall and don't want to use the Windows one, then this is definately what you should get. It prompts you a lot in the beginning. but once you finishing setting it, it works like a charm.

Sygate (http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm)
Another great free firewall. Heard it was a nuisance, but keeps you protected. I would go with ZoneAlarm as my first choice though

McAfee Personal Firewall Plus (30 day trial) (http://www.download.com/McAfee-Personal-Firewall-Plus/3000-10435_4-10201560.html?tag=lst-0-4)
This is the firewall that I use. A bit of a resource hog but it's well worth it. Hasn't let anything I didn't want in. Outstanding program.

Kerio Personal Firewall (30 day trial for full, limited free version afterwards) (http://www.kerio.com/us/kpf_home.html)
Among other things, can monitor when applications attempt to start other applications.


Alternate Web Browsers / Web Tools / Add-ons


Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/)
Internet Explorer's best competition. It has tabbed browsing, enhanced spyware protection, pop-up and ad blocking, skins, and many other features. The only downfall is that it uses a lot of RAM and doesn't display some websites correctly.

Maxthon (http://maxthon.com/download.htm)
This browser is basically an IE front-end. It displays everything like IE does and works along side it, but this has so many more features, including tabs, ad-blocking, gestures, etc.

Opera (http://www.opera.com/download/)

Avant (http://www.avantbrowser.com/)

CrazyBrowser (http://www.crazybrowser.com/)

Netscape 7.2 (http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp)

Netscape 8 BETA (http://browser.netscape.com/nsb/download/default.jsp)
A competitor to IE and Firefox. It combines so many of their features, but the thing is, it's in BETA right now. so it's not as stable as the other browsers

K-Meleon (http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/)
A browser, which uses the Gecko (FireFox) layout engine. Comes with loader that preloads the engine, window or even the homepage and extended file reports.

SeaMonkey (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/)
Another project from Mozilla (the guys behind FireFox). This one combined a browser, a mail/news client and a simple HTML editor, all in one.

Mozilla Thunderbird (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/)
A free alternative to Microsoft Outlook and Outlooks Express.

Adblock Plus (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865)
An addon for Firefox to block advertisements on webpages.

Flashblock (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433)
Another addon to block all flash content (but you can unblock specific flashes/websites if you want).

Instant Messaging Programs


AOL Instant Messenger (http://www.aim.com/)

MSN Messenger (http://www.imagine-msn.com/messenger/default.aspx?locale=en-US)

Yahoo Instant Messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com/)

ICQ (http://icq.com/)

Trillian (http://trillian.cc/)
This program is basically AIM, MSN, YIM, and ICQ combined. If you have this, you don't need any of the others.

pidgin (http://www.pidgin.im/)
Basically, it's the same thing as Trillian, except it this works in Linux.

Miranda IM (http://miranda-im.com/)
All-in-one IM. Very small, but also very plain-looking.

Alternate Media Players


Winamp (http://winamp.com/)
One of the most popular music players around. A very simple interface, operates through plugins. The default set of plugins allows playing most major audio files (WAV, MP3, CD Audio, MIDI), and more plugins exist for formats like OGG Vorbis, mp3PRO, etc. Includes multiple visualization plugins and can also play certain video formats, although a dedicated video player would be a better option.

JetAudio (http://www.jetaudio.com/download/index.html)

Apple iTunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/)

Musicmatch jukebox (http://musicmatch.com/)

BS Player (http://www.bsplayer.org/)
A very good video player. Its interface is very similar to WinAmp, in the looks (very small and light, skinnable) and also in the way it utilizes keyboard controls. Depending on your set of codecs, this one can play all video formats there are, and can also play audio (although, again, a dedicated audio player is better). Supports all sorts of subtitle formats in many different languages.

Real Player (http://www.download.com/RealPlayer/3000-2139_4-10255189.html)
The only player which allows you to watch RealMedia .RM,.RA,.RAM files (unless you have the Real Alternative codec pack, please see other sticky)

VLC Media Player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/)
Allows to play a wide variety of video and audio formats, including DVD, VCD, streaming and such.

Foobar2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/)
Neat music player, supports most popular formats with additional formats supported via plugins, very light on memory, supports customizable keyboard shortcuts.

Media Player Classic (http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/)

Codec Viewer (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Other-VIDEO-Tools/CodecViewer.shtml)
A nice little program that tells you the codec the avi file is using. No need to wonder for hours what codec you need.


Compression Tools

WinZip (trial) (http://winzip.com/downwzeval.htm)

WinRar (trial) (http://www.rarlab.com/)
The only file compression and extraction program that can create .RAR files. Also handles most other existing archive formats - can create ZIP archives and unpack all major formats, like ARJ, ACE, JAR, ISO...

WinAce (trial) (http://www.winace.com)
The utility which allows you to create .ACE compressed files (sometimes allows for better compression than other formats). Also creates ZIP and Java JAR files and can decompress most major formats, such as ARJ or RAR.

PowerArchiver (trial) (http://www.download.com/PowerArchiver/3000-2250_4-10373576.html?tag=lst-0-1)

ZipCentral (http://zipcentral.iscool.net)
This freeware ZIP file manager may be a good choice for those who can't stand trial versions.

7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/)
Another great free compression tool. Known to be the best in compression ratios in many cases. The downside is that it's not very popular.


Utilities


TuneUp Utilities 2004 (trial) (http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/)
An absolutely amazing program. It contains several different utilities that help you tweak and improve Windows. It has a file shredder, advanced system informations, registry cleaner and defragmentor, process and start-up manager, undelete, Windows Styler (themems, wallpapers, icons), system and RAM optimizer, 1-click maintenance, and many more features. A must-have program.

Diskeeper 9 (trial) (http://www.download.com/Diskeeper/3000-2094_4-10335605.html)
This is a really good disk defragmentor. It works better than the Windows one because it's faster and it defragments files better.

Active Undelete (trial) (http://www.download.com/Active-Undelete/3000-2094_4-10368493.html)
A useful program for bringing back files that you've deleted either accidentally or during reformatting your hard drive.

Registry Mechanic (trial) (http://www.download.com/Registry-Mechanic/3000-2094_4-10349249.html)
Good program for locating and fixing problems in your registry which may be causing your computer to malfunction.

EasyRecovery (trial) (http://www.ontrack.com/easyrecoveryprofessional/)
Another good tool for recovering deleted files. Whether you have formatted your hard drive or just accidentally deleted a file, then you can use this to get the file back,

CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/)
A program that cleans your hard drive of useless stuff. It's kind of like Disk Cleanup, but better, and cleans more stuff.

Diskeeper Lite (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207)
Free defragmenting tool. Not as effective as the paid version but it gets the job done, and it's definately more effective than the built-in defragger.

Killbox (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/files/killbox.php)
Nifty little program that can delete system-protected files, like INDEX.DAT or spyware files that protect themselves from deletion during runtime, by scheduling them for deletion upon restart of the system.


Productivity Tools


OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/)
You gotta thank open source programs. The OpenOffice suite comes with alternate programs to replace Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, etc, and best of all, it's free. Saves you a couple hundred dollars.

AbiWord (http://www.abisource.com/)
A word processor serving as a nice alternative to MS Word.

Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 (http://www.download.com/Adobe-Acrobat-Reader/3000-2378-10349804.html?tag=list)
The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. With this program, you can read PDF files.

PrimoPDF (http://www.primopdf.com)
A nice free complement to the Adobe Reader. This allows you to create PDF files from virtually anything. It works by installing a virtual printer, that creates a PDF from any document/picture you print.

GIMP (http://www.gimp.org)
A shortcut for GNU Image Manipulation Program, this free open-source utility allows advanced image processing and has many of the features of commercial tools such as Photoshop.

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
Sound/music editor

VirtualDub (http://www.virtualdub.org/)
Freeware Video file editor/converter with some really powerful functions.


Miscellaneous



IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com/)
Freeware graphic viewer for Windows (also has simple editing functions).

[dr_st]

I'd like to thank Goran for posting this thread. Hopefully the visitors of our forum will find it useful.

Feel free to comment on any of the software, or suggest additional alternatives. If you provide links, I'll edit them into the first post.

IMPORTANT:
* Do not provide links to sites that host warez or other questionable material, even if the software itself is legit.
* If you wish to discuss anything, try to stay on topic. If you think you may be going off-topic, just start a different thread.

[Shaolin Buddha]

Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 (http://www.download.com/Adobe-Acrobat-Reader/3000-2378-10349804.html?tag=list)
The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. With this program, you can read and write PDF files.
I think you can only read PDF files with that, but not write... if you need to create a PDF file, you could use OpenOffice, which handles Word (.doc) formats, and it can produce PDF documents.

[dr_st]

Good point. I modified the description in the first post and added a link to PrimoPDF - a free PDF creating tool, that I personally found very useful. It's good for example, if you prepare a Word document and want to print in on another computer, that may not have all the font you have or somehow screw up the layout.

[Goran]

Thanks for the edit. I'll try to keep looking for more additions to the list.

Oh, and I just have a little caution for the Diskeeper trial users. It's a great program, I use it too, but when the trial is up and you uninstall it, you might have problems with the original working. For getting Windows Disk Defragmentor to work again, please visit this link (http://www.andreasroom.com/blog/archive/2004/01/18/defrag.aspx)

[Goran]

More stuff to add in. Too bad I can't edit posts, I'd make the load on you and pi is good much easier.

Spyware Doctor was upgraded to version 3.2 and I forgot to put Opera browser.

[Tim!]

Trillian
This program is basically AIM, MSN, YIM, and ICQ combined. If you have this, you don't need any of the others.
are yall sure that Trillian isnt spyware? last time i got a all-in-one thing like that i did a spyware search it told me it was that so im kind of hesistant does it work?

[RedRooster]

Never had spywares with Trillian.

[Kialu]

I'd really like to recommend Kerio Personal Firewall (Windows). One of its strengths is its capability to notify you when an application is starting another application. It is a trial for 30 days (full version), and becomes the limited, free version after that. http://www.kerio.com/us/kpf_home.html

[dr_st]

Edited into first post. Thanks.

[Acid Sox]

Im looking for free anti virus software. Im not look for free until when ever. Whats the best PERMANENT free AV software?

[Heretic Monkey]

I'd like to suggest the VLC Media Player. It's a free app that allows you to play a ton of video formats. It even has an option to put whatever video you're playing as your desktop wallpaper. You can loop it, and have any music video/movie/whatever as your background. Other apps may have that option, but VLC is the only one i've seen.

[Acid Sox]

I'd like to suggest the VLC Media Player. It's a free app that allows you to play a ton of video formats. It even has an option to put whatever video you're playing as your desktop wallpaper. You can loop it, and have any music video/movie/whatever as your background. Other apps may have that option, but VLC is the only one i've seen.

Links make things much easier.

[Heretic Monkey]

Links make things much easier.
Damn, thought i had it in there.... stupid back button...

Anyway, here's the linky: VLC Media Player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/)

[dr_st]

Other apps may have that option, but VLC is the only one i've seen.

BSPlayer does. Just press 'D' to go to desktop mode.

Anyhow, link has been added to first post.

Acid Sox - for your antivirus search, I'm sure that some of the things listed above will serve you well.

[zawthethan2000]

Zip Central (Free) (http://www.webmasterfree.com/zipcentral.html)

Files created in all popular Zip utilities can be opened with ZipCentral.

[dr_st]

Zip Central (Free) (http://www.webmasterfree.com/zipcentral.html)

Files created in all popular Zip utilities can be opened with ZipCentral.

I clicked the link and still don't understand what's special about it. I mean, what can it do that WinZip or WinRAR can't? Or what makes it more convenient than the above tools? They advertise it as "More than just a ZIP program". Well, what is it then?

[Goran]

Anti-Spyware Prevention:

SpywareGuard (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html) - Stops spyware programs before they are even executed.

Anti-Virus

AntiVir (http://www.free-av.com/) - Another free and effective anti-virus program. Update sizes are fairly large, but this may be more effective than AVG.

Utilities

Diskeeper Lite (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207) - Free defragmenting tool. Not as effective as the paid version but it gets the job done, and it's definately more effective than the built-in defragger.

[dr_st]

OK, thanks.

[[VSK]BadCRC]

Have something very important to say abou CCleaner; while it's a great program, well made, clearly does a great job. I've had it on several ocassions literally remove ActiveX from spyware infected computers in an effort to clean them of spyware.

So if anyon chooses to use this program, please be aware of this issue. I'd E-mail the company and let them know but all they have is a user-run forum, to which I'm not about to register to.

If you guys need a good alternative cleaner to CCleaner, you could use Clean It (http://www.skylarkutilities.com/clean-it/home.html), it's not free, but it's fully functional. Doesn't do quite as many things as CCleaner, but the ActiveX problem is a serious problem.

Withou ActiveX you can't go to many websites, including Windows Update, several of the WindowsXP internal programs, like the Profile Editor stops working. Even in safe mode and even on other user accounts. And I've found nothing short of a system restore will fix this (Rolling the system back is never an option for me sinse I always disable the system restore before starting a system cleaning).

[Silent Kayos]

Instant Messenger Application:

Google Talk (http://www.google.com/talk/)


Real small download and doesn't take up much resources. It's also limited. Other messengers have many more features. It looks like it may have a bright future.

[Heretic Monkey]

Instant Messenger Application:

Google Talk (http://www.google.com/talk/)


Real small download and doesn't take up much resources. It's also limited. Other messengers have many more features. It looks like it may have a bright future.
Does it only work with others that have "Google Talk", or is it universal? Like can i talk to people on AIM or Yahoo Messenger, or only google people?

[Silent Kayos]

Does it only work with others that have "Google Talk", or is it universal? Like can i talk to people on AIM or Yahoo Messenger, or only google people?

Only GoogleTalk users can talk to each other. Basically if you have a gmail account you can talk to other users with Gmail rather easily.

[Bian]

Does it only work with others that have "Google Talk", or is it universal? Like can i talk to people on AIM or Yahoo Messenger, or only google people?
You can use GAIM to log on to Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo, AIM , ICQ, whatever...

[fullphaser]

I would suggest the Foobar2000 it uses only I think 32kb or ram, so easy on the most simple of systems, althought the layout is a bit complex, once you get around to using it playing music files becomes easy
Foobar (http://www.foobar2000.org/)
Also there is the GIMP a graphic and image manipulation program, It allows the easy creation of Photoshop like artwork without the drop of almost $150
GIMP (http://www.gimp.org)

Hope you guys like these
Phaser

[dr_st]

Thanks, I added them to the first post.

[Leandros]

K-Meleon (http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/)
Great Browser using the Gecko (FireFox) layout engine. Comes with loader that preloads the engine, window or even the homepage and extended file reports.

[Moon King]

Miranda IM (http://miranda-im.com/) - All-in-one IM. Very small, but also very plain-looking.

Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) - Sound/Music editor.

AbiWord (http://www.abisource.com/) - Word Processor.

Media Player Classic (sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/) - Great video player, it will handle any format you throw at it.

[dr_st]

Added suggestions from Leandrøs and Moon King to first post.

[RedRooster]

Codec Viewer (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Other-VIDEO-Tools/CodecViewer.shtml) a nice little program that tells you the codec the avi file is using. No need to wonder for hours what codec you need ;)

[zerorider]

hey is tehre a virus protection thing that blocks the viruses u get from downloading videos

[RedRooster]

Every anti virus can be set to scan the files you download. I haven't heard of any video format that could contain a virus, unless it's a fake video.

[Goran]

Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php)

A great PDF reader which also allows you to type on and foll out PDF forms. Lightweight and doesn't need to be installed.

7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/)

A free, opensource, archiving program which supports many different filetypes.

[Ford Mustang]

Opera Browser (www.opera.com)
Very good browser compared to FireFox and Internet Explorer. It has tabbed windows, and loads pages very quickly. A must have.

[Vamp]

That's already on the list.

Windows Blinds (http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/)
is a program that enables users to personalize their Windows XP PC with thousands of different visual styles.

[Goran]

Uxtheme.dll patcher is much better, IMO. It has the same function, except it doesn't run in the background and waste system resources.

[dr_st]

Besides we're talking about "useful" software here. Call me a nut, but I don't see how theme customizers are even remotely "useful".

[Shaolin Buddha]

Umm... maybe it is too hard to customise by hand?

[snakebite]

I would suggest the Foobar2000 it uses only I think 32kb or ramhttp://img501.imageshack.us/img501/5215/foobar1cc.png

Also, notice how wbload.exe (WindowBlinds) is only using about half a meg of RAM.

[the master 123]

I use this as a cool program to have fun with.

google earth (http://earth.google.com/)

it is a map program that goes into 3d. You need a high speed connection to use through

Just relilized this one.

visual basic 2005 express (http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/default.aspx)
It good for making computer programs. Advised that you have a high speed connection to download and install through. It also need XP and has a reletivey high requirements but it is good.

[Gman19]

7Zip- Alternate Compression/Decompression Tool (http://www.7-zip.org)
This is a great, free alternative to WinZip. I had to use it for a certain zip file that wouldn't unzip with WinZip. I forget what it was though.

*Sorry if I bumped a "dead" topic, but seeing that it was stickied, I figured I'd go ahead with it. Sorry again if I broke the rules.

[Ford Mustang]

Does anyone know any LOW RAM USAGE Virus and Spyware tools?

[Heretic Monkey]

AVG Free is a very good virus program (i've never had a problem while running it), and it's extremely simple/small.

AVG Free (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1)

[Ford Mustang]

I'm using AVG free. I've only got 256 megs of ram for the time being.. Im soon getting 1 gb... but for right now, it's hogging up atleast 60 MB Ram

[Gettinalife]

To add onto the Alternate Media Players i dont like the BSPlayer because in order for it to run you need to have that WhenU thing loaded and running in order 4 it to work. thats y i prefer Windows Media Player 10 the best, it plays any media file as long as u have the right codec such as found here Windows Media Encoder 9 (http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Windows-Media-Encoder-Download-1393.html) you can download Windows Media Player 10 Here from the M$ site (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/download/download.aspx) Load WMP 10 then the codec and you can play any media file no hassel

[RedRooster]

I'm guessing that WhenU thing you talk about is loaded when you open BsPlayer because I've never had to open it myself. Instead of running after codecs just use VLC Media Player.

[Gettinalife]

ya when you run the BSPlayer setup one of the windows is saying that the WhenU program needs to be loaded and that its not spyware but i beg to differ, ya wenever you run BSPlayer if WhenU isnt already a running process it will automatically start the process, if you unistall WhenU it will show up with a warning saying that BSPlayer wont work anymore. I checked out the VLC media player, but i like WMP 10 better, just thought i'd put the codec link up for the people that want it, another good all in one code for MP is Klite media pack, but i hate Kazaa. A great Firewall that i have is Zone Alarm(http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp) Its a great Firewall. idk if there is a link fore Zone Alarm yet, but good firewall. For antivirus, AVG Free, i beleive Heritic Monkey has put up a link for AVG Free. ok thats my point of view

[dr_st]

Nonsense. I've been using BSPlayer for years and it never came with that WhenU spyware thingy. Better check your sources, Gettinalife. And another thing, your posts will be more readable if you actually bother with arranging your sentences and paragraphs properly.

Also, can you guys at least check whether something is listed in the first post before recommending it (i.e. AVG, ZoneAlarm).

[Underground Man]

WinUHA is a compression tool that seems to have a slightly better ratio than WinRAR...http://www.klaimsoft.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26

Also NOD32 Antivirus by Eset is rated the best by the Virus Bulletin, although their tests are kind of screwed up (they fail an AV program even if it only finds 99/100 Viruses. On this site AVG has something like a 6% passing rate, which is bull**** because I've used AVG for a year now and it is awesome. But still, NOD32 deserves mentioning.) http://www.nod32.com/download/download.htm (Trial Version)

[Tim!]

hey i request you guys add SeaMonkey to the browser list http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/ its from the same people that made firefox and it adds a mail server, composer, address book.... its basically firefox+thunderbird

[dr_st]

hey i request you guys add SeaMonkey to the browser list. its from the same people that made firefox and it adds a mail server, composer, address book.... its basically firefox+thunderbird
Done. Thanks.

[Acid Sox]

I think the list of software needs updating. One example is MS antispyware has been replaced by windows defender.

[Shaolin Buddha]

Firefox Preloader (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffpreloader) - a utility that is designed to load parts of Mozilla Firefox into memory before it is used to improve the its startup time.

Operating System: All 32-bit MS Windows (95/98/NT/2000/XP)

Note, you must also quit FX Preloader if you need to restart Firefox, say if you installed a new theme, extension, etc.

[Desther]

For the Utilities section I would recommend a program called "XP Edit 2.0" you can find it on a bunch of different sites. Great program.

[Spike]

Know of any free mp3 converters?

[Underground Man]

Xilisoft has one that's good, but you have to pay for it...they have a lot of stuff (video converter, DVD ripper, CD ripper, etc) that is all good, but you have to pay for it.

http://www.xilisoft.com/index.html

There's a free trial on there, although I'm not sure if its a fully functional free trial

[the master 123]

Currently this program is free on the mircosoft website. It called virtual pc (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx) it emulatas a pc. however to use it you need the setup disc. I find it useful for some of the older windows game that don't work in xp.

sorry my link didn't work. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx is the page for this.

[Kavian]

Windows Anti Spy should probably be removed, I think that service is now unavailable. I think the next best thing from Microsoft would be Windows Defender. It's awesome. Sweet deal. You just need SP2 with it.

[Bian]

Yahoo Widgets. (http://widgets.yahoo.com)

You know those little apps that Vista are going to have on the side bar?

Well, it has already been done by Yahoo, it is pretty cool, has things like weather widgets and other useful stuff, and it is free!!

[Ron.]

If you dont want to use firefox because it is a broswer you have to download of compatibility issues. Get IE7 the down load IE& Pro (http://www.ie7pro.com/). It turns IE7 into a broswer that is like firefox. It adds on mouse gestures, Addblock, and various other things.

[Sombra]

I've scanned through this thread and I haven't been able to find anything, so I'll ask. Does anyone have any suggestions for good system imaging software? It can be commercial or non, it doesn't matter. I would prefer avoiding Norton Ghost, however.

[Daft Frik]

Know of any free mp3 converters?
This can be done with foobar2000.

[Tim!]

i got a request i want some good password encryption software.

[razie92]

I recommend OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org/) if you need an alternative for the Microsoft Office suite. It is completely free and emulates the look and feel of Microsoft Office suites.

[Sombra]

i got a request i want some good password encryption software.

Password-based encryption, or encryption OF passwords?
The best free password based encryption program is probably anything that implements the BlowFish algorithm, like BCrypt.

[dr_st]

I recommend OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org/) if you need an alternative for the Microsoft Office suite. It is completely free and emulates the look and feel of Microsoft Office suites.It's already there. ;)

[Captain Obvious]

Hey is there any free .mpg video editors. I want to cut commercials out of .tivo files but I don't have the funds to buy a program like videoredo.

[dr_st]

There's VirtualDub:
http://www.virtualdub.org/

(I added it to the first post too)

I don't know if it supports the format you need, but it supports many formats and has some cool features. Requires a learning period, though.

[Captain Obvious]

There's VirtualDub:
http://www.virtualdub.org/

(I added it to the first post too)

I don't know if it supports the format you need, but it supports many formats and has some cool features. Requires a learning period, though.
Thanks I'll give it a shot. I don't think it's that hard to convert video just editing. I'll report back if it's good for mpeg-1 files.

[razie92]

It's already there. ;)

Oops sorry my bad

[Captain Obvious]

There's VirtualDub:
http://www.virtualdub.org/

(I added it to the first post too)

I don't know if it supports the format you need, but it supports many formats and has some cool features. Requires a learning period, though.
Man it doesn't work with .tivo files. I guess I have to find another converter that completely removes mpeg-2 streams. Direct show dump just converts the file to mpeg1 but leaves the stream in the file. Is there another converter (not video editor) out there that would solve this problem (oh and it has to be free :D ).

[Captain Obvious]

Sorry for the double post but I found this neat add-on that blocks certain flash ads for mozilla

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

[SEGAMAN-XERO]

i used two firewalls that are very good and are not on your list...

there is agnitum outpost which is pretty good, it has anti-spyware scanner built in too. one of the best features i think is its ablity to block out going connections. say if there is a piece of spyware or a virus that is trying to access the internet it will warn you and ask if you want to let it access the internet. i think it has a 30 day trial...

http://www.agnitum.com/

i use switched to comodo firewall pro after my trail expired and love it!
comodo firewall is free, and does everything agnitum does exept spyware scanning. it has a even more simple design and you can send programs to them for analysis. aperently several organizations have ranked them #1 in blocking things as a firewall (ill provide a link under the one for comodo) i honestly recomend comodo to anyone who is looking for a firewall.

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/


here is a leak firewall leak testing site, with results for most firewalls for windows. im kinda amazed that windows firewall got a 0 and came last place.

http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php#result-table

[Spiner202]

I just downloaded this trillian thing and I already like it more than msn. Thanks for the link/all the other awesome info. I'm going to run a virus scan (using Norton) tomorrow just to make sure, but so far it's really cool.

[Haze]

Ad-Aware 2007 (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?tag=toprated)

Ad-Aware 2007 came out January 15, 2008. It looks good but I haven't tested it out.

[BlueMinx]

Ad-Aware 2007 (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?tag=toprated)

Ad-Aware 2007 came out January 15, 2008. It looks good but I haven't tested it out.
Oh, I just downloaded it earlier....seems to work fine to me. No hiccups with Vista yet, I'll take that as a good sign.

[Haze]

I was also wondering if I should use that program to replace Ad-Aware SE Personal. My Ad-Aware SE Personal can't find updates anymore...

[BlueMinx]

Sorry, I wouldn't know....I'm still having trouble trying to get AVG to update.

[RedRooster]

I was also wondering if I should use that program to replace Ad-Aware SE Personal. My Ad-Aware SE Personal can't find updates anymore...

That's the reason I updated, it's working fine so far. Only thing I don't like is that it's running a service now, I don't see the use for it but if you stop it you won't be able to scan.

[Semper Phi]

List looks great!, but Gaim has become Pidgin (pidgin.im)

and i would add FireFox 3 Beta (MineField) (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html)

and... Paint.Net (www.getpaint.net)(i prefer it to The Gimp, is easier to use for me and is more like photoshop)

also... TVersity (www.tversity.com) Its a media streamer that you can use with your xbox 360 and ps3 (not sure about wii)

oops... forgot about this i was going to recomend
PortableApps (www.portableapps.com) it a page with lots of apps that can be placed on a jumpdrive, etc. that are portable

[Haze]

and i would add FireFox 3 Beta (MineField) (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html) Be aware that FireFox 3 Beta is for testing purposes only. It shouldn't be used as your main browser.

[m4tt]

That's the reason I updated, it's working fine so far. Only thing I don't like is that it's running a service now, I don't see the use for it but if you stop it you won't be able to scan.
So basically you have to run regular updates if you want to continue using the program? I've been using the free version of Ad-Aware 2007 since it first came out and would like to continue doing so but I don't understand what you mean by 'service'.

[RedRooster]

So basically you have to run regular updates if you want to continue using the program? I've been using the free version of Ad-Aware 2007 since it first came out and would like to continue doing so but I don't understand what you mean by 'service'.

Just update it whenever you scan. It's not like there's daily updates anyways. By service I mean that there's a process always running in the background now. You can turn it off, but you'll have to turn it back on to use Adware.

[Haze]

http://www.apple.com/safari/

Safari Beta 3 is available to Windows users now. It seems pretty stable to me but I'm not an apple user.

[Atomic Penguin]

I think Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) would be a good addition to the list. It's an image viewer, but it allows you to view and cycle through .gif files also. Only reason I use it is because I have a ton of animated gifs but for some reason Vista's image preview doesn't animate them with viewed, and I didn't like having to open up a tab in FF whenever I wanted to look at one.

[dr_st]

I think Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) would be a good addition to the list. It's an image viewer, but it allows you to view and cycle through .gif files also. Only reason I use it is because I have a ton of animated gifs but for some reason Vista's image preview doesn't animate them with viewed, and I didn't like having to open up a tab in FF whenever I wanted to look at one.OK, I added it to the first post. Couldn't find a category for it, so I put it in Miscellaneous.

[Leandros]

I'd just like to add a load of stuff since I've been using this ever since I got a real computer:

Audio/Video (de)compression:
AoA Audio Extractor (http://www.aoamedia.com/audioextractor.htm)
Little program to copy the audio of a video file to a separate file (WAV, MP3).

ffdshow (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=173941)
Basically a huge codec pack in one. It handles all MPEG4-related codecs, including DivX, Xvid, 3vix and H.264 encoded videos. You can also set it to decode MPEG-2 videos, VC-1, OGM, WMV, FLV (youtube and such) and all sorts of audio formats.

Quicktime Alternative (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm)
Quicktime's runtimes without all the bloat. Does not have Quicktime player but works fine in browsers.

Real Alternative (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm)
Same as Quicktime Alternative, except for Real player. Does not include Real player but embedded videos work fine with it.

Staxrip (http://www.planetdvb.net/staxrip/)
A transcoding tool for video, notably x264 (the best H.264 encoder out there) automatically tells you if you're missing any tools and links you to where you can find these.

File Compression
IZArc (http://www.filehippo.com/download_izarc/)
Archiver program that supports a whole flurry of formats, can compress to 7zip, ZIP, tar and a whole lot more. Also detects if a file has an archive attached to it.

Documents
Foxit Reader (http://www.filehippo.com/download_foxit/)
Light-weight replacement for Adobe Acrobat PDF reader. Takes up a whole less memory.

Protection
ClamWin (http://www.clamwin.com/)
Free light-weight anti-virus program. Does not scan memory or check e-mail, that's why it's so easy on the resources. You can have it scan memory and files and schedule these scans. Automatically updates its virus database.

Web stuff

Hamachi (https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/vpn.asp?lang=en)
Emulates a LAN, used a lot for playing older games that only support LAN multiplayer functions.

http file server (http://www.rejetto.com/hfs/)
Extremely light-weight program to run a simple home server. Has a lot of features, including automatically updating a dynamic DNS service (No-IP, DynDNS, CJB.NET) what your IP is should you have an account, accounts and much more. Requires very little setting up, just drag the directory into the window. Good for sharing things over a network.

µTorrent (http://www.filehippo.com/download_utorrent/)
Tiny Bittorrent client, has great features, doesn't even require an installation.

WS_FTP95 LE (http://oldversion.com/program.php?n=wsftp)
Extremely small FTP client (from '95). Does simple things but doesn't require an install or anything of the sort.

Not sure how anyone missed this one...
DAEMON Tools (http://www.filehippo.com/download_daemon_tools/3077/)
Simple program, lets you mount disc images so your PC believes there's a disc in a drive you don't have. Used a lot for Linux/UNIX distributions. It may ask you to upgrade, you can turn this notification off. Above version 4.10 there are a
Lite and Pro version, the latter costing money. I know of no significant improvement so I'd say get 4.10.

EDIT: GAIM has been renamed Pidgin.

[Ron.]

Photoshop Express (https://www.photoshop.com/express/index.html?bypass&wf=testdrive)

A web based type photo shop. You can simply edit photos through it and host them to an album. It is still in beta though I believe. It seems very stable to me.

[BlueMinx]

Dude....no one use the AVS converter!! you have to pay for it, otherwise it puts a 'watermark' on your video with it's logo!!! what a rip off!! most 'freeware' just lets you use it for like, fifteen days before it stops working....at least then you can actually use it!!!!

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:bashhead:

I have some .rm files, two halves of an episode apiece, that I would like to merge together to form one continuous episode....and NO program I've tried will do this!! I've tried Windows MovieMaker, AVS, and even the CodecViewer to try and convert them to an easier to use format; but I keep coming up empty. If anyone knows of a good freeware(and I mean FREE--I'm broke!) program that will work with these kind of files to either merge or convert them I would be thrilled to know. I'm trying to make a DVD box-set for a friend's birthday present, and I know the show will never air over here--so any ideas, anyone?

EDIT: I also tried VirtualDub and no dice.....and the RealPlayer website was oh so unhelpful, too.

[Ron.]

Try magic video converter.

[Ford Mustang]

Dude....no one use the AVS converter!! you have to pay for it, otherwise it puts a 'watermark' on your video with it's logo!!! what a rip off!! most 'freeware' just lets you use it for like, fifteen days before it stops working....at least then you can actually use it!!!!

ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:bashhead:

I have some .rm files, two halves of an episode apiece, that I would like to merge together to form one continuous episode....and NO program I've tried will do this!! I've tried Windows MovieMaker, AVS, and even the CodecViewer to try and convert them to an easier to use format; but I keep coming up empty. If anyone knows of a good freeware(and I mean FREE--I'm broke!) program that will work with these kind of files to either merge or convert them I would be thrilled to know. I'm trying to make a DVD box-set for a friend's birthday present, and I know the show will never air over here--so any ideas, anyone?

EDIT: I also tried VirtualDub and no dice.....and the RealPlayer website was oh so unhelpful, too.

I've never tried this, but I googled .RM, and it came up:

http://www.boilsoft.com/rmconverter.html


If that doesn't work, try SUPER video converter. Will convert just about anything TO just about anything:

http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

[FalconZero]

Not really adding any software, but I'd like to say something about BitDefender. I use the Total Security 2008 version and love it. It scans for EVERYTHING, and isn't a resource hog. I ran a deep system scan (everything including archives) and it finished just under an hour. If you wish, it'll alert you about anything that tries to access the 'net or act as a server. It's found and deleted viruses that all of my previous security programs missed (Norton, Spy Sweeper, and others).

I HIGHLY recommend it for people who like security suites. Top notch. :^:

[BlueMinx]

Hey, anyone know of a good-quality DVD maker program....WDVDM really sucks, and if you use any of the customizations it frequently 'has a headache'. I'm also highly interested in burning a movie with a full and widescreen options...I have Super(c) and can 'coax' both ratios out of a media file, and would like to not have to make 2 DVDs, or put up with the crappy menu intros WDVDM has.

Preferably for free, but a free trial is okay too.

[Ron.]

I would suggest using google and reading up on tech savvy websites.

[BlueMinx]

NTI seems to have an amazing variety of functions for a 30-day trial. The Home Video Maker is very customizable, with the ability to name chapters, and add background and sound to your menu, as well as tweak how long the thumbnail clip lasts--which effects how much of your audio will play before it all loops. I haven't really explored the other functions, but the whole NTI Media Maker 8 trial package also contains an audio editor, photo maker, ripper, dvd fit, and some other interesting stuff.

However, I'm still on the lookout for a DVD maker program that will allow for both 4:3 and 16:9 resolution, or an even more tailored menu system.

[Howitzer]

i'd like to add a powerful program eliminating dual booting, i present VIRTUAL BOX

www virtualbox org


allows for any virutalization for most OS including windows vista.

[uswarrior1]

Pidgin - a free instant messenger that is great works with everything and simple to use

COMODO firewall - the best firewall i have ever used if your looking for one this is a great one. it will do just about anything and isn't that annoying

sorry i dont have links to either

[Sombra]

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
In addition, the Gaim link on the frontpage redirects to Pidgin now :)

[BlueMinx]

NTI seems to have an amazing variety of functions for a 30-day trial. The Home Video Maker is very customizable, with the ability to name chapters, and add background and sound to your menu, as well as tweak how long the thumbnail clip lasts--which effects how much of your audio will play before it all loops. I haven't really explored the other functions, but the whole NTI Media Maker 8 trial package also contains an audio editor, photo maker, ripper, dvd fit, and some other interesting stuff.

However, I'm still on the lookout for a DVD maker program that will allow for both 4:3 and 16:9 resolution, or an even more tailored menu system.
Okay, nix that.......found to be uncombatible with various media--and a major hassle.

Though I think this time, I have found the most awsome-est coolest software for authoring DVDs at professional quality. Sony's DVD Architect. Easily downloaded from the Sony site, at about 57.8MB, it's not too hefty in my opinion in comparison to the ability to customly tailor-make your own DVDs. This thing is beyond cool, you can even set up previews and animated menus....all completely customizable--there are no crappy default skins to tweak---you can build it all from scratch!!!
:cue the SQUEEE:
:woohoo:

cool, huh?
:cool2:

I've kind of had this obsession lately with making my own DVDs....and downloading :free: media, (ahem, anime, game previews, etc.) and making kick ass discs. I also just learned I can burn dual-layer, double capacity discs.....drool....:love:

well--off to burn!!!

[Howitzer]

Developers or people just that want to make web games for kongregate or an other website usually would need flash, but now, adobe released a free version called flex.

by free, i mean you have to get the sdk version
http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/

[BlueMinx]

Anybody know of a free art manipulation program similar to photoshop?

I would love to take some of the anime pics and gifs I have to create some wallpaper, or make some custom gif animations and buttons to use with my Sony DVD author program......I tell ya, having an animated dancing Gaara button on a homemade Shippuuden DVD menu is awesome!!!!:D

Oh, and brickfish keeps having these poster competitions that require photoshopping.....and I really wanna chance to win some scholarship money...:triforce:

--without robbing a bank...:guns:

:D

[Dark Horizon]

Anybody know of a free art manipulation program similar to photoshop?

I would love to take some of the anime pics and gifs I have to create some wallpaper, or make some custom gif animations and buttons to use with my Sony DVD author program......I tell ya, having an animated dancing Gaara button on a homemade Shippuuden DVD menu is awesome!!!!:D

Oh, and brickfish keeps having these poster competitions that require photoshopping.....and I really wanna chance to win some scholarship money...:triforce:

--without robbing a bank...:guns:

:D
The only free photoshop alternative worth mentioning is probably Gimp.

[BlueMinx]

Any that use less memory.....'cause 128mb....I don't know---my brain is kinda broke right now......isn't that kinda large.....would it slow up my system any?

I now have a Gateway M6843 with 3GB ram and 160GB hard drive, I think......too tired, right now my GBs and my MBs are gettin' crossed........

~all nighters suck!!!

[Ford Mustang]

Any that use less memory.....'cause 128mb....I don't know---my brain is kinda broke right now......isn't that kinda large.....would it slow up my system any?

I now have a Gateway M6843 with 3GB ram and 160GB hard drive, I think......too tired, right now my GBs and my MBs are gettin' crossed........

~all nighters suck!!!

128 MB is 0.128 GB, so it's quite small. Photoshop 7.0 is about 136 MB, 0.13 GB. It's not the 128MB that is using memory, it'd take disk space. You have 3GB RAM (Memory), so it will be no problem to run GIMP on your computer.

[BlueMinx]

Sweeeeeet! my overtired brain thanks you!! :love:

[Howitzer]

here's a utility for people who are trail freaks like me. download flash trial and then download it again after your days are up. cut out that hassle with run as date

recommended by Cnet

[BlueMinx]

here's a utility for people who are trail freaks like me. download flash trial and then download it again after your days are up. cut out that hassle with run as date

recommended by Cnet
trail freaks???
:confused:
I don't understand......and is that a good thing?

.....extra protection, maybe?

[Howitzer]

most people who want photoshop for example. say "I'll just use the trail that lasts 30 days, and then I'll install it again.

this just freezes trail dates. so that you have it forever

[Ford Mustang]

most people who want photoshop for example. say "I'll just use the trail that lasts 30 days, and then I'll install it again.

this just freezes trail dates. so that you have it forever

Trial freaks, not trail freaks. Wouldn't this program be illegal, with your last statement?

[BlueMinx]

ohhh, I get it now.....trial freaks....not trail freaks. Okay, now it makes some sense....'cause trail freaks sounds like someones stalking you or something.

And that does sound kind of illegal....

I try to stay clear of trials....except for the Sony DVD Architect trail....no expiration date, but it's 'limited' features are so kick ass, it doesn't matter!!!

Edited:August 5th

--Okay, major bummer.....I just re-downloaded it on my new pc.....and it expires in 30days.......But on the bright side, it's only 39.95usd to buy--so no major loss. I can deal with dropping 40 on a good dvd authoring program, I guess.

**but, yeah---Sony DVD ARchitect expires in 30-days.

[RedRooster]

here's a utility for people who are trail freaks like me. download flash trial and then download it again after your days are up. cut out that hassle with run as date

recommended by Cnet

Using any tricks or software to bypass the set trial limit is against the software's TOS. In this case, you get another nice little warning for not following the illegal act rule.

[Howitzer]

its not in every tos.

[SegaDragon]

Seeing as how GAIM is in the first post, just letting you know it's long since outdated and has now become Pidgin (http://pidgin.im).

[RedRooster]

Seeing as how GAIM is in the first post, just letting you know it's long since outdated and has now become Pidgin (http://pidgin.im).
I finally updated GAIM for Pidgin. I still need to get around to adding and updating a lot of that list.

[Howitzer_]

Are you transition from xp to linux? try Xpde (www.xpde.com)!!!

this makes it much easier for a windows user to transition, it trys its best to emulate the feel of xp.

although it is not meant to be a permanent program. as you get better, it is recommended to switch to kde for still a form of windows, and then gnome

[Ron.]

No. If you really wanted to make the move. Go to uBuntu 8.4. One of the most stable and user friendly versions of the linux kernal out. I upgraded from 7.11 and it screwed me over because a storm interrupted the process. Only thing that is different from XP and Vista is there are no .exe that install them selves you have to type the commands in or find an installer package version of it in a .tar.gz or compile it yourself.

[Howitzer_]

no you can xpde on ubuntu, its a desktop enviroment, like gnome or kde

________



want to run linux programs but stuck with windows?

try openlina (http://www.openlina.com/)

allows you to download and use linux apps easily.

[Ford Mustang]

no you can xpde on ubuntu, its a desktop enviroment, like gnome or kde

________



want to run linux programs but stuck with windows?

try openlina (http://www.openlina.com/)

allows you to download and use linux apps easily.


Sounds like an emulator to me...

Merge/Edit: Not trying to imply spam on this post, just pointing out that it's a Reverse WINE for Windows..

[Vicious!]

Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/)
Tests your ram. Really useful if you've just purchased some new memory and want to be sure it's not damaged. Or to check if your bios settings/timings are fine. Or if you plan on overclocking your ram and want to check if it's stable. After it's gone through a single pass you can stop it, otherwise it'll just go on forever.

RivaTuner (http://downloads.guru3d.com/RivaTuner-v2.09-download-163.html)
Awesome graphic card utility. Has overclock and fan control settings which you can actually save and have them load every time you boot. Just be sure you know what you're doing or risk frying your card.

Driver Sweeper (http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1655)
"The current supported drivers are NVIDIA (Display and Chipset), ATI (Display), Creative (Sound), Ageia (PhysX), MMouse and Realtek (Sound)."

When upgrading to a newer card, or even to a newer driver, your old driver software still has bits and pieces of it laying around. This removes the leftovers and allows for a clean install of fresh hardware or drivers.

[BlueMinx]

Hey, I have CCleaner.....and while reviewing some of the posts in this thread someone mentioned something about it deleting activex controls.... Is there any way for me to check if it may have deleted any the last two times I've used it??

Oh, and is there any way to keep it from signing me out of every webpage I'm auto-signed in at?? It's really annoying to have to keep signing back into yahoo, and everywhere else....

[Ford Mustang]

Hey, I have CCleaner.....and while reviewing some of the posts in this thread someone mentioned something about it deleting activex controls.... Is there any way for me to check if it may have deleted any the last two times I've used it??

Oh, and is there any way to keep it from signing me out of every webpage I'm auto-signed in at?? It's really annoying to have to keep signing back into yahoo, and everywhere else....

1 - I'm not too sure on this one, but I'm gonna say no. Not if you've already closed the program, that is.

2 - Uncheck the "Cache" button.

Merge/Edit: Mine doesn't sign me out after unchecking the Cache button, but it may also be the cookies button (which is a good thing to clean out every once and a while).

[m4tt]

You can choose which cookies to keep in the Options section. I recommend moving the cookies for sites you regularly visit on to the right hand side so they're not deleted and you remain logged in to those sites.

[BlueMinx]

Okay, I'm game to try out another browser, 'cause IE is kickin my ass with all this freezing ****....I even installed ZoneAlarm, updated all my protection--AVG, Spybot, CC, and WD-(which according to pandascan mysteriously was disabled and out-of-date, although WD says otherwise...:hmm: ) still, having visits from frosty....:bashhead:sucks!!!

Okay, in the first post of this thread, it says that MozillaFirefox uses up more RAM than IE...is this true, and by how much?? does this apply to the newest version as well??

[Ford Mustang]

Okay, in the first post of this thread, it says that MozillaFirefox uses up more RAM than IE...is this true, and by how much?? does this apply to the newest version as well??

It does use more, yes. You're going from a bare browser to something that can protect you. It'll use different RAM per computer, from my experiences. And yes, it applies to all versions.

[BlueMinx]

Well, Priform--the people who came out with the CCleaner, have something else up their sleeves:

Piriform News
Defraggler comes out of beta

We have great news today, the release version of Defraggler is available for download! After months of development and testing we're now happy for Defraggler to be classed as a release product.

You may download it now from www.defraggler.com



Defraggler v1.02.085 Final
Improved progress indicator accuracy.
Added checks for freespace.
Various GUI and usability improvements.
Fixed UI issues with large DPI settings.
Fixed 64-bit compatibility issue that would ignore some files.
Improved drive map (defragged files are now always marked as blue).
Added background update checking.
Fixed minor bug in progress indicator for chkdsk.
Minor bug fixes.
You may download it now from www.defraggler.com

For our subscribers who don't know, Defraggler is our advanced disk and file defragmentation tool. It is completely free to download for both consumer and business use.



--so whattaya think?? defrag or defunk?? I'm not brave enough to try it myself....so I'll let one of you tough techy boys have at this one...

[Sombra]

I personally don't regard the development of this program as very relevant. In comparison to the FAT type file systems, NTFS is very efficient and really doesn't require defragmentation all that often anyway. Also, in my own experience, defragmentation does very little to increase system performance compared to other forms of maintenance and upgrades.

[BlueMinx]

So you mean they spent all that time and effort to send me this email for nothing??

......they suck. But it was new, I'd never heard of it, so now I guess we can expect anything else from Priform other than CCleaner will be totally crap or useless....

[RedRooster]

Not for nothing. They know that some people think they need to defrag once a week or close to that. Not every software ever made is useful, some companies make them because they know it will sell no matter how crappy they really are. I know it's free in this case, but it isn't always free.

More then half of computers users, maybe even more then that, know nothing about what they need to install or how to maintain it. Those are the people that will buy the first software they see in a store that promises better performances or faster times on something they do.

[Vicious!]

The best example of the worst is an application called Syncronys SoftRAM that claimed it'd "Double your ram!" when it just increased the cache. PC World had it listed in their "The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time".

I personally don't regard the development of this program as very relevant. In comparison to the FAT type file systems,
Which some people still use. Defraggler is free and could possibly be aimed toward people who refuse to upgrade their old OS, such as someone with a home office that doesn't have the time to learn Linux.

[Sombra]

That is an excellent point, Viscious! On average though, BlueMinx, for you specifically, this isn't going to be something you'll necessarily need.

[Howitzer_]

OpenLaszlo (http://www.openlaszlo.com/) is a great alternative to adobe's flash. It's main purpose is to create swf files but has been upgrading quite swiftly.

[Haze]

Even though it's still in Beta, I'll just throw this out there for the Web Browser Section.

Google Chrome: http://www.google.com/chrome

The following would fall under the Instant Messaging Program Section. It's pretty much the same thing as Chatzilla, but it has more features and it's not integrated into a Web Browser.

mIRC: http://www.mirc.com/get.html

[Dr. Manhattan]

GCC: http://gcc.gnu.org/

For the C (And C++) programmers out there, it's a free compiler that works really well.

[Howitzer_]

I would just like to point out some sites here....and since they're relavant, no warnings!

anyways, I found http://www.osalt.com/ which has an alternative/open source software for commercial products.

also http://www.oldversion.com/ , is a site that has old versions of a lot of software.

[IIIUUU]

Now that is a lot of brass air fittings there is just about every type
of air fitting that you could want. Wholesale prices too. I guess these could be used as small water pipe fitting also. I
used some of the parts to make my babington wvo bu