Software, Downloads and Utilities

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As I have cut back on the Cover disks page I will just mention any Cover Disks which seem particulalry useful

I get Computer Active magazine regularly but have to say that I find difficulty in finding suitable software on the website. However, Issue 66 listed 100 Top Free Tools, most of which I thoroughly approve and some of which I use regulalry. There can be a danger in just searching blindly for e.g. Free Backup Program. Virus writers use such searches to get you to download 'nasties'. I found this especially when looking for video editing programs

So, from the Top Free Hundred, what do I suggest ?
Video/Picture manipulation : DVD Flick, DVD Styler, Wavosaur (conversion), Windows Live Movie Maker, PhotoStory3, Picasa3
Graphics : Irfanview, TheGimp,
Media Players : VLC, ReralPlayerSP. Klite Codec Pack
Backup/CD?DVD Burners CDburnerXP, Imgburn. GFI Backup 2009, Easeus Partition Manager
Office Suites : Lotus Symphony/ Open Office, OxygenOffice Pro
Accounts : Turbocash Accounting
Communication : Skype, Msnmessenger, Yahoo Messenger,
RSS: Feedreader
Security : Microsoft Security Essentials, File Shredder, Avast (AV), Keepass (password list)
Anti Malware : Antimalwarebytes, Superantispyware, Spyware Search and Destroy, Mcafee Adviser
Design : Artweaver, Google Sketchup, Blender, Kompozer, DoubleCad Free
Cleanup : Ccleaner.
Online Storage : Dropbox, Googlemail (allows 7gb free)
Other : Notepad2, Gadwin Prrint Screen, or my favourite: Mwsnap. PDF creator, Recuva ( recover deleted files)

These days you do not even have to load software on your computer. If you have a good (broadband) connection to the net you can use programs that are 'up there in the cloud'. Here are just a few that can be used instead of Microsoft Office. So you can create or amend documents (Doc and Docx), spreadsheets (XLs), presentations (PPT) without buying Office 2007. Incidentally the latest version of Open Office can also open these file types

ZOHO: http://www.zoho.com/ Zoho is probably the best online office suite that I have come across so far. Its whole office suite comes with the Zoho write (word processor), sheet (spreadsheet), show (presentation), wiki, creator (database management), notebook, planner (calendar), meeting and chat. Some of its great features include the option to publish the content to your blog, convert your files to pdf, tagging for easy retrieval, template library and a small bookmarklet that allows you to add content to your zoho account as you surf the Web.

Google Docs: http://docs.google.com/ Google Docs provides a simple word processing, spreadsheet and presentation editing tool. Its main advantage is its ability to integrate Gmail, Google Calendar and other Google services seamlessly. While it is not comprehensive in its feature, it is definitely the most heard of (probably the most popular) in the Web.

ThinkFree Online: http://www.thinkfree.com/ ThinkFree is probably the online office suite that resemble Microsoft Office the most, including the toolbars, icons and functions. In fact, it claims to be fully compatible with Microsoft Office files. ThinkFree also provide you with 1GB storage space, which you can use it as an online backup for your local files.

Live Documents: http://www.live-documents.com/index.html Live Documents looks and works exactly like the latest Microsoft Office 2007. In fact, it is a mimic (or you can call it a hack) of Office 2007. The rationale behind this is to give the user a familiar environment so that there is nothing new to learn. The full strength of this office suite lies in its ability to use your existing desktop Office application as a smart client that permits offline access to your document, and synchronizes all changes the next time you go online.

Note : I registered for Live Documents and opened a Docx (Word 2007) document on my PC, amended it, added a picture from my computer and saved it on line and on my PC. I was also able to turn it into a PDF file and save that to my machine. I had an email with a link to get back to the document. Very clever program and certainly a good one for people who are confused by getting Docx files from people which they cannot read. It is even possible to notify others about your document and allow them to amend it.

Ulteo: http://www.ulteo.com/ If you have come to love Open Office, then you will find Ulteo familiar too. Ulteo literally put the whole full feature Open Office in a browser so that you can use it online. The whole application is run on Java and is aimed at Open Office enthusiasts. Initial loading can take quite a while, but taking into account that it is providing a full-feature office environment, the waiting time might just be worth it. (Ulteo provides more than office suite. It is in fact an online operating system where you can open up your very own KDE desktop.)

MARKETING TECHNIQUES OF SOFTWARE SUPPLIERS There are various ways in which a software company can market its programs to a world where millions of people are just a click away. Most are perfectly legitemate but you should be aware of them :

Persuade (pay?) a computer manufacturer to put a time limited version on new computers. When it expires you will be asked to pay to continue to use it
Give away the last version of their software with heavy hints as to the benefits of the latest version. This is often (but not always) the case with magazine cover disks. Once you register the free version you can be fairly sure you will get reminders about their new version.
Persuade websites, including download sites, to put links to their software. Such software might offer to check your computer, make it faster etc. but in the end you have to buy their product to achieve this aim. This is not to confused with Scareware (see here) which falsely claims that your machine is infected in order to get you to buy an equally false 'cure'.
Software, such as Pctools, though legitimate, may even add something to your register and Startup to pester you to buy every time to start your PC.

Microsoft offers a number of free programs that may be very useful. They include Messenger, Email, Photo Gallery anhd Movie Maker See http://download.live.com/

CNET is a reputable download site and you can see their recommended security programs at http://download.cnet.com/2701-2023_4-6-1.html and subsequent pages

A great place to go to get safe downloads of useful software (much of it free) is the Downloads section of Computer Active

This is a typical selection

Software offered by Computer Active

The Google Pack allows you to choose any or all of the following important software : Picasa 3 (Photo editor/Organiser); Mozilla Firefox (free Internet Explorer alternative - internet Browser); Spyware Doctor (free antispyware) Adobe PDF file reader; Real Player (Music and video player); Skype (Free voice and video calls); Norton Security Scan, Star Office ( free alternative to Microsoft Office ) Google Earth (see your own house from satellite) Google Talk (chat to others), Google Desktop - (fast searching of your hard disk) plus some great art work and screen savers. You can even get a link which enables you to check for the latest versions. n.b. some of these are BIG downloads which, without Broadband, would take a long time. But it is all completely free.

The GooglePack of programs

With more and more of these little mini computers running the free Linux Operating System you may be intrigued to find out more about it. Linux can completely replace Windows and there is a great deal of free software available for it these days. If you wish to experiment, without dispensing with Windows, it is possible to establish it in a 'Virtual' (memory based) partition within your ordinary hard disk and easily swap between that and Windows. Alternatively you can get a disk which will boot your Windows PC in Linux, without disturbing your Windows version. For more detail on this, do have a look at http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/ Incidentally, Ubuntu (see Glossary) is a well established version Linux.

Ccleaner is a free cleanup program which is very reputable. The latest one (July 08) is 2.09.600 version is 2.09.600 and can be downloaded from http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ Click the link on the RIGHT, NOT the one for Regcure on the left, which is reputable but will inevitably ask you for cash when you have used it. Ccleaner also includes a Register Cleaner

You might think that Windows is a complete Operating System that doesn't need any additions in order to make it do everything you ever need to do. Although many additional programs are unnecessary - and may even create problems for you, there are a few which are important and some which I find to be very useful. This page is intended to help you choose which might be worth getting.

Definitions :
Freeware : Totally free.
Shareware : Try before you buy. It might be 'crippled' or time limited or just nag you to buy or it might be fully functional.
Commercial software : You buy it from a shop or download it off the net and pay in the usual way..

N.B. Not all software has to be downloaded. Providing you are on Broadband you can use a number of programs 'on line'. These include word processors such as Buzzword, Google Docs and a whole plethora of programs from www.zoho.com. All are free and provide on line storage for your files. Files can be shared with others and you can pick them up from ANY PC in the world that has an internet connection

Downloading
There are numerous sites from which you can download. Programs might be Freeware, Shareware or require payment. Freeware is completely free. Perhaps there are no strings attached or it may be a 'Lite' version with a suggestion that you buy the 'Heavy' version. Or they may be given away by companies such as Microsoft e.g. Media Player, Outlook Express etc. Shareware is usually free to use but may have a 'nag' suggesting that you pay a fee in order to continue to use it. Other programs can only be downloaded on payment of a fee. In the UK many free and shareware programs can be found on 'Cover Disks' of magazines. This can save a big download. A large program, such as Windows Media Player (comes with XP) might take an hour or more to download if you are using a slow connection. Page 17 of this site gives an indication of the variety of cover disks and what they contain. Download sites include www.webattack.com (very good - look for their Top 100) http://www.opensourcewindows.org/ www.computeractive.co.uk/downloads http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/search.asp http://www.mgshareware.com http://www.zdnet.com/downloads and www.download.com www.google.com/downloads/ is a useful site for Google's very good free products such as Picasa, Google Earth, Google Talk, Firefox and Ad-aware etc http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,124883,pg,5,00.asp is another good free sowftware download site

In my view you definitely need some sort of Media Player, Zip file decompressor, PDF file reader, Anti Virus, Firewall ,Web Browser and Email client. If you do not have the MS Office Suite you may need 'Reader' programs for Word, Excel , Powerpoint and similar files you receive. These can be downloaded from the Microsoft link above. Take a look at http://www.ramsinks.com/software.asp All the best free and shareware essentials

For people with Windows XP/Vista and digital video cameras Microsoft do a free Movie Maker program. Now on version 2 and said to be better than the one that came with XP you can get it from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com if you don't mind an 8Mb download . Computer Active gave it 5 stars

There are quite a few additional programs specifically designed for XP See HERE (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/)

A nice one to check on your hard disk is called HDD from http://www.computeractive.co.uk/vnunet/downloads/

WATCH OUT ! Recently I have noticed various techniques to get you to download other programs when you are looking for free ones. You go to the site recommended and there is a big downlod button. You find that you are downloading some program that will, no doubt, do the job but then asks you for the inevitable $29.95 to finish it. Another technique is to have a similar named program to the popular free one. e.g. I did a search for Spybot Search and Destroy and the top (paid) link in Google was Search and Destroy - an entirely different program, which planted a trojan on my PC which even Spybot couldn't clear.

One of the most reliable sources of up to date downloads (mostly free) is http://www.filehippo.com/default.aspx. Interestingly they also have small upadate program that will check your computer to see if you have all the latest vesrions http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/. I found a dozen and it then gave me an easy way to download and install these.

I regularly use most of these IMPORTANT UTILITIES The star rating is mine

The addresses for specific programs are:

Advanced System Care from www.iobit.com is a good, simple to use (and free) program that will clear out rubbish on your PC safely and report on it regulalrly

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ Dispalces all the old antivirus programs. Why pay £££ ? I am even uninstalling my favourite one.
http://docs.piriform.com/ Piriform is the developer of three excellent free programs, Ccleaner, Defraggler and Recuva. Check the site for info Ccleaner graphic
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/ List the links to 30 essential a free pieces of software. All good stuff.
http://pgoh13.free.fr/software_progs.php Is a great site for free utilities recommended by a friend in Paris *****
www.grisoft.com (AVG Free anti virus - always the most downloaded) **** or
www.avast.com (Avast Free anti virus) *****
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/ Comodo is now a combined anti virus and Firewall product. Unfortunately, I found it too " fussy" **
www.zonelabs.com (Zone Alarm Firewall) *** Some sort of firewall is ESSENTIAL if you browse the net
Microsoft Messenger Major Chat/video conferencer) *****
www.winzip.com (file compressor, uncompressor) *** You may NEED a file unzipper of some kind. A free example is 7Zip ***
www.lavasoftusa.com (Ad-aware anti spy and anti marketing program) ***
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com (various Windows programs) ***** Set it to update automatically.
http://www.macromedia.com//go/getflashplayer/ If a site says you need the Flash Player *****
http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ie.html *** Free Mcafee program :tells Internet Explorer & Firefox users if a site on a search list is safe
Browsers are used to search the net. Alternatives to Internet Explorer are Firefox, Opera and Chrome (must have XP SP2 or Vista)
www.apple.com (Quicktime movie/video player) **** Very large and persistently asks you to update it because of security worries
www.adobe.com (Acrobat PDF file Reader) *** You will need one of these. A much lighter version is Foxit Reader ****.
Spybot Search and Destroy. Now on Version 1.6 **** Probably the best free spyware remover. These days you can include a program that asks you whether you want the register changed when you install a new program. Do not use Search and Destroy, which is typical scareware.
Ccleaner **** Safely cleans megabytes of old, temporary files but also includes Registry and Startup cleaners.
www.iobit.com. **** Advanced System Care. A bit like Ccleaner. Cleans out the dross and the register I have used it without ill effects
www.malwarebytes.org. Powerful virus cleaner *****
www.Superantispyware.com Powerful anti spyware program ****
Foxit Reader (3.1) is a good alternative to Acrobat at just 5Mb download and under 10Mb when installed. To create PDF files from a word processor you can install a program called PDF995 or use the Open Office word processor

USEFUL TO HAVE

Google provides a number of programs which can be download via the link at the top of this page.

Googlemail A great web based email progran. Get you mail anywhere in the world ****
www.osalt.com. This is a great site for 'Open Source" software. Open source means they allow anyone to download it and even amend it.
www.digiguide.com Digiguide is a software/database for displaying information on ALL the TV channels available....which is invaluable if you use satellite or Freeview TV. Being a computer database it is interactive. It is continuously updated, with a charge of £8.99p per annum. There is a 60 day free trial.
http://www.my-blood-pressure.com/ Keeps track of, and displays, blood pressure readings. You can input directly via a USB port from the BP monitor, or manually. There is a 30 day trial and buy it on the net for £13.
http://www.openoffice.org/ The Open Office free equivelant of that very expensive Microsoft product, Office. It is Word/Excel etc compatible *****
These days it is even possible to have Office compatible software which works on line. See http://www.zoho.com/
http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm Reduce the size of one -or many - pictures.***
www.picasa.com The best free (and simple) graphics manipulation program ever invented *****.
www.mlin.net Startup Control Panel (instead of using Msconfig) **** `
www.nicocuppen.com (Photocopier for a scanner) ****
www.dsoft.com.tr/stripmail (Program to clean up email and webpage downloads) *****
http://www.mirekw.com/ Mwsnap. My favourite screen grabber *****
www.belarc.com (Belarc system analysis) *****
www.skype.com. (Free telephone calls) *****
www.dsoft.com.tr/stripmail (Stripmail email cleanup) *****
Mozilla Firefox (Internet explorer alterative) **** see Here
Mozilla Thunderbird (Outlook Express alternative *** see Here
http://www.filehippo.com/download_quicktime_alternative/ Plays MOV Movie files but is still 60Mb. Quicktime is 75Mb, which you will have to uninstall
www.google.com Search engine
http://bluefive.pair.com (Fontpage. excellent for viewing your fonts) ***
www.tpin.com (Terrapin FTP uploader) ***** (small cost)
AbAlarm An alarm clock for your screen and speakers.*** Click HERE for this useful free utility by Abelsoft
The Gimp A Powerful graphics manipulation program
K-lite CODEC Pack. Codecs may be required to run certain programs such as DVD PLayers
Paint.net. More powerful than Microsoft Paint.
Cobian Backup. A straightforward backup program
Drive Image XML Make a complete image of a hard drive. Great for recovery or transfer to another drive.
CCleaner. Everyone's favourite hard disk and Registry cleaner
RECUVA. Recover deleted files (even from a memory stick)
Easeus Disk copy. Great CD or DVD copier and partition tools
Gmail notifier. Shows Googlemail users that they have email
Syncpilicity 2Gb of free on line storage
Final Burner. A simple CD/DVD maker

Please note that you can get the latest Open Office Suite (compatible with Microsoft Office 2007 programs) from http://www.8daysaweek.co.uk/. It costs £8.99

These days you may not be able to send and receive faxes from you PC. For info on FREE fax programs see http://askbobrankin.com/send_a_free_fax.html

A new list mentioned in a blog. I have to admit I have only tried the ones marked ** myself. I am quoting directly from the blog.

"30 Essential Pieces Of Free (and Open) Software for Windows (Mainly XP)

The blog continues : Recently, I bought a new laptop from Dell. Upon receiving it, I removed a lot of the 'free' software that is preinstalled on Dells. Then I installed some truly free software that takes care of pretty much every software a person needs. If you want to do likewise take a look at this list and pick and choose. You will have to copy the link (e.g. http://www.getfirefox.com/ ) and paste it into the address line of your Internet Explorer.

**Firefox 3 http://www.getfirefox.com/ Replaces Internet Explorer 6 and does much of what V 7 does. If you haven't switched to Firefox for your web browsing needs, do it now. It stops annoying popups and it has tons of amazing plugins that can make surfing the web even better. Don't worry, you can keep a shortcut on the desktop to IE as well
**Thunderbird http://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/ Replaces Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. Thunderbird is an email client that has five big things going for it: it's free, it's full featured, it's lightweight, runs quickly, has a spam filter, and it protects you from phishing attacks by clearly indicating which emails send you to a bogus website. If you're not already using a web-based email solution such as Googlemail, Thunderbird should be your email program.
Another from Mozilla. Sunbird http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/ Replaces Microsoft Outlook's calendaring functions. It's extremely easy to use and easy to share your calendar with others.
Abiword http://www.abisource.com/ Replaces Microsoft Word. It's lightweight (meaning it runs quickly) plus it can save files in formats that you can exchange with Word and WordPerfect users, plus open any of their files, too.
**OpenOffice http://www.openoffice.org/ If you use Abiword and also want a Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint substitute. It includes replacements for those programs (and workable replacements for Access and other Office elements).
ClamWin http://www.clamwin.com/ Replaces Norton AntiVirus or McAfee ClamWin is a slick anti-virus software that's quite easy to manage and is unobtrusive while keep your system free of viruses. But, personally, I prefer Avast from http://www.avast.com.
Gaim http://gaim.sourceforge.net/ Replaces AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Windows Messenger, etc. simultaneously with one program.
BitTorrent http://www.bittorrent.com/ BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer software that provides the fastest, most efficient means of distributing and discovering large, high-quality files on the Web. Search for media files you want and download them.
GIMPShop http://www.gimpshop.net/ Replaces the very expensive Adobe Photoshop. This is a version of the GNU Image Manipulation Program which imitates Adobe Photoshop.
Gnucleus http://www.gnucleus.com/Gnucleus/ Replaces LimeWire, BearShare for downloading media files but without all of the spyware? Limeware is likely to be closed by a USA judgement (May2101)
VLC Media Player http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Replaces Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, etc. Runs pretty much every media type you'll run across.
Juice http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/ Juice lets you effortlessly subscribe to podcasts, organize them, and listen to them at your convenience.
**Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ If you're interested in recording your own voice Audacity and a microphone are pretty much all you need.
RSSOwl http://www.rssowl.org/ One of many open source RSS readers. In other words, it enables you to use one program to keep track of the content of a lot of different blogs. If you have a laptop, it's preferable to using sites like Bloglines, but if you're on a desktop, a web-based feed manager might be better.
Filezilla http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/ Replaces WinFTP to FTP (upload) files to other computers, such as a website host.
Keynote http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html. is designed for taking notes on a laptop.
MusikCube http://www.musikcube.com/ Replaces iTunes If you're not already committed to downloaded music from the iTunes Music Store, then MusikCube is the best choice available for a music organizer and player. It organizes your mp3s, makes it really easy and really fast to find them, and allows you to make playlists.
Handbrake http://handbrake.m0k.org/ enables you to stick a DVD in your DVD drive and have the contents of that film stored to your hard drive in a form that can be read by pretty much any media player.
KeePass http://keepass.sourceforge.net/ is a program that securely stores and manages passwords.
TrueCrypt http://www.truecrypt.org/ TrueCrypt enables you to convert a memory stick (or whatever) into a strongly encrypted data storage device, meaning that you can store personal data on it without worrying about losing it.
PDFCreator http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/ Replaces the expensive Adobe Acrobat PDFCreator creates a virtual printer on your computer that, if you print a document to it from any program, creates a PDF of that document that can be read on any computer with Acrobat Reader on it. After installing PDFCreator, all you have to do is print like normal and out comes a PDF!
Freemind http://freemind.sourceforge.net/ Freemind is a "mind mapping" software program. It enables you to brainstorm and link together ideas quickly, creating "maps" of concepts similar to what you might do on a whiteboard. .
NASA Worldwind http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/ Replaces Google Earth .WorldWind is very similar to Google Earth in that it allows you to browse the globe. Incredible for viewing three-dimensional landscapes of any place on earth.
**Notepad2 http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html. Replaces Notepad adding features such as multiple documents; line, word, and character counts; and some highlighting of tags. Much better for editing HTML than Notepad.
HealthMonitor http://healthmonitor.zucchetti.com/. HealthMonitor enables you to keep an eye on the health of your computer. It identifies slowdowns and other system issues quickly and lets you know (for example, it gives a popup if your system memory gets to a certain percentage of fullness, or if your hard drive has only 10 GB free). This can keep you out of trouble and also give you clues to problems your machine might be having.
GanttPV http://www.pureviolet.net/ganttpv/ Replaces Microsoft Project, managing projects quickly, easily, and freely. If you need to move to MS Project later, you can export from GanttPV to Project.
GnuCash http://www.gnucash.org/ Replaces Microsoft Money or Quicken GnuCash is a slimmed-down version of those packages, but it contains all of the features you need for managing your money - it functions much like a checkbook ledger on your computer.
And one free game: True Combat: Elite http://www.truecombatelite.net/ Like Quake IV, Halo, etc. a third person combat game, the graphics are spectacular and the game is quite engrossing.

If you've downloaded and installed all of these, you've got access to all the productivity software you are ever to need."

Ashampoo Office 2008 is an effective alternative to Microsoft Office 2007 and is £40. Given a 5 star Buy-it Award by Computer Active

Focus Software is commercial but always reasonably priced (£5 - £10) See Here for titles such as 3D Arts and crafts, Model Railway, Typing, Greeting and Business cards, T - shirts etc

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