Best COMPLETELY FREE software for any purposes!
Posted: November 14th, 2008, 8:30 am
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DISK/REGISTRY UTILITIES
CCleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner) - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is a fantastic utility for keeping your registry and disks tidy. It consists mainly of two utilities, the disk cleaner and the registry cleaner. The registry cleaner is highly customizable, and I recommend that you do in fact customize it. If you turn everything on, it will reset all your custom window sizes and positions, delete all your saved forms information, it basically resets you to factory-like conditions. I turn the advanced section on, but I uncheck the box where it resets my custom window positions. You need to run the registry scan at least 3 times; because as it corrects the ActiveX section of the registry, the new combination of entries gets re-interpreted for new errors. (This is true of all registry scanners.)
The disk cleaning section deletes a host of junk files, ranging from temp files, your browser cache for IE and Firefox to zero-byte files, hotfix update install packages that get leftover by Windows Update, chkdsk fragments, your recycle bin, and a host of others. If you turn on all features, it will delete ALL cookies and saved forms data. Once you run the scan, you can go to the options section and “white list” cookies you want to keep, and the system will ignore those in the sweep.
Defraggler - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is a great disk defragmenting utility. It differs from others in that it lets you only defragment files that are fragmented, and lets you choose them at the file level, and it also does a full re-order defrag where it moves all data on the disk to an optimized position. I find that the best approach with this program is to Go into System Restore and turn it off, run defraggler once, and just defrag the fragmented files. Then, I run it again, and do a full re-order defragmentation. Then, go turn System Restore back on if you use it, but minimize the amount of space you let it use to 1-2% of the drive, not the 12% it takes by default.
SyncToy2.0 - [Please login or register to view this link]
Microsoft has a WONDERFUL sync/backup utility, part of their nifty “PowerToys” suite. Use this to make a copy of your important data folders to an external hard drive, or another drive on your network. This is absolutely indispensable file protection with a terrific, simple interface.
Recuva – [Please login or register to view this link]
File recovery utility from the CCleaner/Defraggler folks…
FIREWALL/NET PROTECTION
Zone Alarm – [Please login or register to view this link]
You already have a pretty decent firewall on your system, Windows Firewall, which does stateful packet inspection. But, if you want to go further and add port spoofing and tighter protection rules, Zone Alarm is great. Some say it’s too intrusive and inconvenient (you have to train it), it does protect you very well. Combine these with a hardware router/firewall solution for best protection.
K9 Web Protection - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is internet content filtering and access control software to keep kids from getting to places on the Web their little eyes should not be visiting. Runs as a service.
SPYWARE/MALWARE
Spybot S&D (Search & Destroy) - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is a terrific anti-spyware utility that not only finds and deletes the majority of spyware threats, but it inoculates your system to disallow known “bad” sites. (Nerds, it does this by adding a slew of entries to your HOSTS file)
AdAware – [Please login or register to view this link]
Another great spyware utility that does a very deep registry scan. It finds things Spybot doesn’t; and Spybot finds things this doesn’t, so run them both.
Windows Defender – [Please login or register to view this link]
To the surprise of many, this is also a world-class spyware utility. Microsoft got this one right; it finds a great deal of malware, and has a very small memory and resource footprint. If you have Vista, you’re already running this. If you have XP, go download it.
ANTI-VIRUS
AVG Free – [Please login or register to view this link]
AVG makes an entire suite of malware utilities, but they give away their outstanding A/V product. (There’s a pay version too; but it differs from the freeware only in that you receive technical support.) This antivirus program is superior in every way to Symantec, Trend Micro, McAfee, Panda, CA, and most other A/V programs. (I think NOD-32 and BitDefender are a bit better, but they aren’t free) It’s fast, lightweight, easy to understand, and highly customizable. It self-updates, and protects against viruses, rootkits, and other malware. Did I mention it is totally free?
Avast – [Please login or register to view this link]
Another totally free for non-commercial use A/V product. It’s pretty good too, I just like AVG’s interface better.
UNLIKE SPYWARE UTILITIES, YOU CANNOT RUN MORE THAN ONE A/V PRODUCT SIMULTANEOUSLY!!!
BitDefender Online Scan - [Please login or register to view this link]
If your system is already infected, you can use BitDefender’s terrific online scanning utility. This must be run from IE; it is ActiveX based, and therefore does not work in Firefox.
MULTIMEDIA
Picasa – [Please login or register to view this link]
Picasa is an unbelievably full-featured image processing utility. It does batch processing, batch export, and has a delightful, friendly interface. The brand new version 3 does retouching and edits video!!! INSTALL AS A STANDALONE, NOT USING THE GOOGLE UPDATER TOOL!!!
Audacity – [Please login or register to view this link]
Freeware audio editor and recorder from the open source community. Very full featured and easy to use. Very good interface.
Reaper - http://www.****os.com/reaper/download.php
Complete multitrack recording and editing software. While technically not freeware; their fully functional demo does not have any limitations on the “demo period”. It’s basically the honor system.
OFFICE/PRODUCTIVITY
OpenOffice – [Please login or register to view this link]
Free, open-source, multi-platform word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, database, complete compatibility with other Office suites.
DISK/REGISTRY UTILITIES
CCleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner) - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is a fantastic utility for keeping your registry and disks tidy. It consists mainly of two utilities, the disk cleaner and the registry cleaner. The registry cleaner is highly customizable, and I recommend that you do in fact customize it. If you turn everything on, it will reset all your custom window sizes and positions, delete all your saved forms information, it basically resets you to factory-like conditions. I turn the advanced section on, but I uncheck the box where it resets my custom window positions. You need to run the registry scan at least 3 times; because as it corrects the ActiveX section of the registry, the new combination of entries gets re-interpreted for new errors. (This is true of all registry scanners.)
The disk cleaning section deletes a host of junk files, ranging from temp files, your browser cache for IE and Firefox to zero-byte files, hotfix update install packages that get leftover by Windows Update, chkdsk fragments, your recycle bin, and a host of others. If you turn on all features, it will delete ALL cookies and saved forms data. Once you run the scan, you can go to the options section and “white list” cookies you want to keep, and the system will ignore those in the sweep.
Defraggler - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is a great disk defragmenting utility. It differs from others in that it lets you only defragment files that are fragmented, and lets you choose them at the file level, and it also does a full re-order defrag where it moves all data on the disk to an optimized position. I find that the best approach with this program is to Go into System Restore and turn it off, run defraggler once, and just defrag the fragmented files. Then, I run it again, and do a full re-order defragmentation. Then, go turn System Restore back on if you use it, but minimize the amount of space you let it use to 1-2% of the drive, not the 12% it takes by default.
SyncToy2.0 - [Please login or register to view this link]
Microsoft has a WONDERFUL sync/backup utility, part of their nifty “PowerToys” suite. Use this to make a copy of your important data folders to an external hard drive, or another drive on your network. This is absolutely indispensable file protection with a terrific, simple interface.
Recuva – [Please login or register to view this link]
File recovery utility from the CCleaner/Defraggler folks…
FIREWALL/NET PROTECTION
Zone Alarm – [Please login or register to view this link]
You already have a pretty decent firewall on your system, Windows Firewall, which does stateful packet inspection. But, if you want to go further and add port spoofing and tighter protection rules, Zone Alarm is great. Some say it’s too intrusive and inconvenient (you have to train it), it does protect you very well. Combine these with a hardware router/firewall solution for best protection.
K9 Web Protection - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is internet content filtering and access control software to keep kids from getting to places on the Web their little eyes should not be visiting. Runs as a service.
SPYWARE/MALWARE
Spybot S&D (Search & Destroy) - [Please login or register to view this link]
This is a terrific anti-spyware utility that not only finds and deletes the majority of spyware threats, but it inoculates your system to disallow known “bad” sites. (Nerds, it does this by adding a slew of entries to your HOSTS file)
AdAware – [Please login or register to view this link]
Another great spyware utility that does a very deep registry scan. It finds things Spybot doesn’t; and Spybot finds things this doesn’t, so run them both.
Windows Defender – [Please login or register to view this link]
To the surprise of many, this is also a world-class spyware utility. Microsoft got this one right; it finds a great deal of malware, and has a very small memory and resource footprint. If you have Vista, you’re already running this. If you have XP, go download it.
ANTI-VIRUS
AVG Free – [Please login or register to view this link]
AVG makes an entire suite of malware utilities, but they give away their outstanding A/V product. (There’s a pay version too; but it differs from the freeware only in that you receive technical support.) This antivirus program is superior in every way to Symantec, Trend Micro, McAfee, Panda, CA, and most other A/V programs. (I think NOD-32 and BitDefender are a bit better, but they aren’t free) It’s fast, lightweight, easy to understand, and highly customizable. It self-updates, and protects against viruses, rootkits, and other malware. Did I mention it is totally free?
Avast – [Please login or register to view this link]
Another totally free for non-commercial use A/V product. It’s pretty good too, I just like AVG’s interface better.
UNLIKE SPYWARE UTILITIES, YOU CANNOT RUN MORE THAN ONE A/V PRODUCT SIMULTANEOUSLY!!!
BitDefender Online Scan - [Please login or register to view this link]
If your system is already infected, you can use BitDefender’s terrific online scanning utility. This must be run from IE; it is ActiveX based, and therefore does not work in Firefox.
MULTIMEDIA
Picasa – [Please login or register to view this link]
Picasa is an unbelievably full-featured image processing utility. It does batch processing, batch export, and has a delightful, friendly interface. The brand new version 3 does retouching and edits video!!! INSTALL AS A STANDALONE, NOT USING THE GOOGLE UPDATER TOOL!!!
Audacity – [Please login or register to view this link]
Freeware audio editor and recorder from the open source community. Very full featured and easy to use. Very good interface.
Reaper - http://www.****os.com/reaper/download.php
Complete multitrack recording and editing software. While technically not freeware; their fully functional demo does not have any limitations on the “demo period”. It’s basically the honor system.
OFFICE/PRODUCTIVITY
OpenOffice – [Please login or register to view this link]
Free, open-source, multi-platform word processing, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, database, complete compatibility with other Office suites.