Useful and Favourite Freeware

[scruie]

The idea here is to try and build the ultimate list of freeware and then try and update as time goes by - this will only work with your help so add to the list.

Internet Security:

Please add those here

Browsers and Email Clients:

Firefox
Opera Free - No more ads
Thunderbird - Email.
Eudora Light - Email.

Browser Plugins:

PrefBar for Firefox - Instant Tweaking!
SpellBound - Firefox spell checker

Media Player:

Winamp
BS Player
Real Alternative
QuickTime Alternative

Burning/Ripping Program

FreeRip - Music Only.
Burn4Free
CDBurnerXP Prohttp://www.cdburnerxp.se/ burnatonce
CDex
EAC (ExactAudioCopy
Audacity -- nominated by barry_white

Image Viewer/Editor

GIMP
IrfanView
UnFREEz - GIF Animator
FastStone - Intuitive, Elegant Image Viewer!
PhotoFiltre - Powerful Image Editing.

Wordprocessor Program

Openoffice

Misc:

Hostess - Maintain your Hosts file.
Trayit! - Regain the Taskbar!
PrimoPDF - Convert to .pdf for Free!
Post It Note - Post-IT note on ur desktop.
Ultimate Boot CD for Windows -- the Ultimate Windows Fix all CD.
Autopatcher -- Windows updates for XP and Win2K on a CD plus extras!!
VMware Free Virtual PC tool
Google Pack

Some Useful Freeware Websites

OldVersion - for the older machine out there
Pricelessware
RaceLineCentral -- a bit of everything
1000files.com

MPC Members Recommendations:

rought's Might List of Stuff

inahacker' Recommended Freeware/Shareware Programs

PowerToys nominated by Diddle

Originally Posted by Diddle

If there will be such a sticky, I've got a nice site for you already. Everybody probably already knows it, but still, it's filled with nice tools: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx

Credits:

rought
alby
inahacker

[rought]

This is good idea : Ill add a few

Links for program downloads:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/contents.htm

http://www.racelinecentral.com/downloads.html


spyware downloads:
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index...67&#entry12367
windows power toys downloads
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx

DLL. File downloads
http://www.dll-files.com/

Links for everything…this one kinda takes the place of this topic..lol

http://www.dadsclan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3414

[ALBerT]

Quictime and Real alternative are good media players, and avoid that bulk and insecurities of the real things.

And a free disk defragmenter is Diskeeper Lite ( i have pro)

[st3ph3nt4n]

ooo this a sexy list

[scruie]

List Updated with:

UBCD4Win
Autopatcher
Alternative Real and Quicktime Players

thanks fellas.

[inahacker]

People always come up with questions such as "what software does this?" or "what software does that?". This thread is made available to help out with everyone's aching software questions. There are just a few rules that apply to this thread to make everything manageable.

1. Post only software that is FREE or can try out for FREE.

2. Post the software name, URL, and description.

3. Do not post direct links to software. Post links to their homepage.

4. Do not post/ask about pirated software, cracks, key generators or anything that is prohibited.

5. Forum rules apply. If in doubt ... don't.

6. Check through the thread and make sure there are no double posts.

7. No off-topic (OT) posts. They will be deleted. If you want to discuss a piece of software, start a new thread or talk about it in an existing thread.

8. Follow the format when posting software.

9. Do use text from the site as the description. Give us your own impressions.

Nero
- great CD burning software.. highly recommend it to everyone w/ a cd-writer.. great wizard interface.. makes cd buring for newbies VERY easy
http://www.nero.com

Winamp 5
- should i say more ? one of the best MP3 players around.. the registerd version comes w/ a cd-burning tool
http://www.winamp.com

WinAce
- another alternative for decompressing compressed files such as Zip,ACE,RAR and a lot more...
http://www.winace.com

Flash Get
- So far the best download manager. Breaks download into five partition making it fast and efficient.
http://www.flashget.com

Maxthon
- Tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, IE & gecko rendering, simple collector, skinning, support for Maxthon plugins and IE plugins.
http://www.maxthon.com

ABC
- Those who are using the original client for BT should definitely switch. ABC is one of the best BT clients out there. It features a web interface although a host supporting PHP is required.
http://pingpong-abc.sourceforge.net/

Emule
- A lot better than the original Edonkey client. There are also very many mods available for it.
http://www.emule-project.net

Linux
- Not really a tool .. but it provides and replaces the services that would normally be wasting resources on my Windows XP machine including Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, etc. I exported one of the partitions as an NFS partition and I can see and use it just as any local drive.

StyleXP
- Makes your Windows desktop look prettier. Lets face it, the default Windows theme gets old fast. You can also use a modified uxtheme.dll to get the same effect of Style XP. Modified uxtheme.dll is free while Style XP is not. Style XP is just so much more convenient for me.
http://www.tgtsoft.com/

Spybot Search & Destroy
- I don't ever get Spyware, but some of you might find it useful. It has replaced AdAware for me and I use it occasionally.
http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=home

Irfanview
- Free multi-format image viewer. I used it a lot. But I have currently been using ACDSee.
http://www.irfanview.com

UltraEdit
- My favorite text editor for anything that deals with code. It features syntax highlighting, unlimited file sizes, and many more.
http://www.ultraedit.com

WinRAR
- Multiformat compression program. The only one you will ever need.
http://www.winrar.com

AntiVir
- Virus scanner. It's free and you can download updates very often.
http://www.free-av.com

Stickies
- virtual post-its
http://www.btinternet.com/~tom.revell/

Filezilla
- Simple and powerful FTP Client
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/

CDex
- for ripping music
http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

Tag and Rename
- MP3 Tagger
http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm

G-spot
- Identifies the codecs a movie file is using.
http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

Sequoia View
- visualizes your hard drive so you can see which folders are taking up the most space (*cough cough..pr0n...cough*).
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

Miranda
- Integrates most of the popular IM clients into one lightweight package
http://miranda-icq.sourceforge.net/

LaunchMate 3.0--freeware (848kb)
- A desktop icon organizer..well reccomended to those who have a lot of icons on their desktop.Stable and very costumizable..
http://www.softpile.com/Games/Miscel...956_index.html

Directory Size--freeware (1.5mb)
-A utility to know where all your Harddrive space went ...
http://www.tucows.com/preview/292100.html

System Mechanic 4.0--shareware (5mb)
- I would say the most complete windows utility software.It has startup folder costumizer, net booster,registry cleaner, file junker, memory defrager,spyware remover,blah..the list goes on.I have used this to repair damaged OS of three computers..
http://www.iolo.com/sm/index.cfm

NotesPad FREE
- The best text editor for programmers and coders. Best for its functionality and memory management.... a replacement for win9x notepad http://www.newbie.net/NotesPad/

Explore2Fs Partly GPLed
- Useful if you want to view files in LINUX EXT2 file system... I recommend it for dual boot win/linux boxes
http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs.htm

Mozilla 1.5/1.6 GPLed
- Tab browsing with built in popup blocker , junk mail filters and a lot more! best of all its free!
http://www.mozilla.org

OpenOffice GPLed
- Alternative to Microsoft Office suite. It has more or less same capabilities and its cross platform well suited for multi invironment organization.
http://www.openoffice.org

NOD32 Antivirus 2.0 (demo)
- the best antivirus IMO. highest rated in virus bulletin
http://www.eset.com

TMPGEnc 2.5 (freeware)
- a freeware video converter. easy to use and can convert almost every video file to several formats. has a plus version which is kinda expensive. mostly used for additional effects and inverse telecine.
http://www.tmpgenc.net

Opera 7.x (adware)
- a fast browser. been using it ever since version 5. it really shows a difference of load times especially if you're using dial up. i like the hotlist too.
http://www.opera.com

Sony/Sonic Foundry VEGAS 4.0e (demo)
- rapidly becoming a major contender in the vast world of prosumer digital video editing, this is the fastest and most practical of doing video editing in current midrange PCs. no special hardware required. i like the way it does cuts too and workflow is pretty straightforward.
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...egasfamily.asp

Crimson Editor
- all around text editor. supports code higlighting for html, php, c, python, css, etc.
http://www.crimsoneditor.com/

Mozilla Firebird
- next generation web browser from mozilla. small, fast, and completely skinnable.
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/

Eudora (freeware/adware/shareware)
- fast email client
http://www.eudora.com/

Star Downloader (freeware)
- download manager/accelerator
http://www.stardownloader.com/

Dev-cpp (freeware)
- full featured c/c++ ide for windows. has support for gcc-based compilers
http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

Wordweb (freeware)
- quick and powerful english dictionary/thesaurus
http://wordweb.info/free/

YahooPOPs! (freeware)
- provide free pop3 and smtp access to your yahoo! mail accounts
http://yahoopops.sourceforge.net/

3DMark03
- A good system ( vide.cpu.ram) test and a 3d benchmark tool
http://www.futuremark.com/download/
( you can also try PCmark04, same URL)

Prime95
-mostly used by overclockers to test their system for stability under FSB/Mem settings overclocking..
http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm

AVG
-A freeware anti virus program
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_index.php

dBpowerAMP Music Converter (dMC)
- Often called a Swiss army knife of Audio. Rip digitally sound from Audio CDs and store in a multitude of formats, the Fastest CD Ripper and now AccurateRip Compatible. Convert from one format to another, just about every audio type is supported: mp3, mp4, Windows Media Audio (wma), Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Monkeys Audio, FLAC and many others, whilst preserving ID Tags, Volume Normalize audio files, Windows Explorer Integration right click Convert To & popup useful information on audio files (such as bitrate, length). ID tag editing [Power Pack Option], Record from LPs or anything [optional Auxiliary Input install], Fully compatible with Windows 95/98/ME NT4/2000, Windows XP and Linux (using Wine). 100% Free, No nags, popups, hidden spyware or bundleware.
http://www.dbpoweramp.com/dmc.htm

HoverSnap

- free handy snapshot tool with jpg, png, bmp and gif support.HoverSnap can take snapshots of the full screen, active window or a selected area. It can even capture layered windows (alphablended ones under 2K / XP). You can even FTP upload your screenshots! You can set up the capture folder / filename and format. You can reduce the capture size. Auto-generate filename option will add the time stamp (date/time) to your filename in order to be able to take several captures without having to change the filename. Optional sound when capture is done. FREE for personal use only!
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

Putty
- free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator.
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

Electronic Cosmo MPEG Suite 2001
- encodes/decodes mp3s (freeware)
http://ec2000.xperiment.net/

WinSplit
- Distribute large files by e-mail or floppy disk by breaking the file into smaller pieces. (freeware)
http://www.unganisha.org/home/pages/winsplit/

VCDCutter 4.12 (Win XP), VCDCutter 4.04 (Win 98, NT, Works also w/ Win XP)
- VCDCutter is a MPEG,VCD and Movie Player. This version can play MPG,VCD,or other movie files(such as MPG,DAT,AVI,MOV). Very friendly and menu driven with full featured control with movie file. VCDCutter can extract MPG,frame from VCD or MPG file, cutting your favourite part or whole MPG file to disk when playing(now can extract system stream,or video,audio stream only). (shareware)
http://www.seller-club.com/~vcdcut/

BootVis
- a free tool that examines your system boot process in order to optimize the prefetch parameters. It can drastically speed up the boot process.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664 or http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/12/2/12-2-1.shtml

Memtest86 -
a thorough, stand alone memory test for x86 architecture computers. BIOS based memory tests are only a quick check and often miss many of the failures that are detected by Memtest86.
http://www.memtest86.com/

Trayit (Freeware)
- Allows you to put programs into the system tray to save taskbar space, i use it to place outlook express onto the system tray.
http://www.teamcti.com/trayit/trayit.htm

Quickgamma (Freeware)
- Adjust your gamma quickly through an icon on the system tray.
http://shaderlab.com/quickgamma/

Powerstrip (Shareware)
- Alot of you probly know what this is already. Powerstrip provides a lot of controls over your display adapter/monitor. From color correction to custom resolutions to overclocking your VC, PS can handle it all. Personally i use it to brighten up and save color profiles for some games. I also set some hotkeys to adjust the gamma, brightness and contrast whenever a game gets too dark.
http://www.entechtaiwan.net/ps.htm

MV2Player - freeware
- Media player with multi-features- that WMP don't have..better than WMP. Interface needs some work though.
http://mv2.czweb.org/

Time Up - shareware
- Utility to monitor your internet online time.
http://www.timeupsoft.com/English/index.asp

Avast antivirus - shareware
- Lighter than NAV or McAfee but does what's its suppose to do..Lots of customizable settings..Auto update, skins, etc..
http://www.avast.com/

CurosorXP - freeware
- Simply the best cursor suite for WinXP. Just in case some of you still don't have it..
http://www.stardock.com/products/cursorxp/

App: Real VNC
- VNC stands for Virtual Network Computing. It is remote control software which allows you to view and interact with one computer (the "server") using a simple program (the "viewer") on another computer anywhere on the Internet. The two computers don't even have to be the same type, so for example you can use VNC to view an office Linux machine on your Windows PC at home. VNC is freely and publicly available and is in widespread active use by millions throughout industry, academia and privately. (taken from site)
http://www.realvnc.com

Everest dictionary/translator (Freeware)
- Free dictionary/translator that covers a lot of languages (mostly european). You can download only the languages/modules that you want. Can be pretty useful.
http://www.free-soft.ro/index-en.html

Objectdock (freeware)
- Gives you OSX's awesome launch bar. There are also plenty of docklets and dock icons available on www.wincustomize.com. Can be resource hungry.
http://www.objectdock.com

Y'z Dock (freeware)
- Similar to objectdock and reportedly less resource hungry. I prefer using OD though but that's just me. (just google y'z dock). BTW, development of this has been halted since Apple gave a cease and desist order to the dev. tsk tsk..
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2912

StyleXP (shareware)
- Skin your windows when the default Luna themes bore you. I used to prefer Windowblinds but after revisiting stylexp and checking the themes in deviantart (as well as finding out that it uses less resources than WB) i switched. Currently using Stefanka's Panther-Snow Theme.
http://www.tgtsoft.com

iEx (freeware)
- Emulates OSX's Expose feature. Essentially a souped up Alt-Tab alternative. Press the appropriate button (or drag the mouse to any of the 4 configurable corners of your screen) and all your open windows are turned into thumbnails so you can choose which window you want maximized. It's great, too bad XP doesn't have this feature.
http://www.oxygen-inc.com/premium/InsaniSoft/iEx.htm

Zone Alarm(freeware)
- the same as sygate but much more popular
http://www.zonelabs.com

Y!tunnel pro
- protects you from being booted out in Yahoo messenger while in room or in chat room and also from receiving spam... webcam.. and a lot more cool features...
http://www.ytunnelpro.com

CodecPack all in 1 6.0.1.5 Freeware
- A collection of codecs for playing DivX movies. All you need to see DivX movies: DivX, XviD, AC3.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...k_All_in_1.htm

AM-DeadLink 2.0 Freeware
- AM-DeadLink detects dead links and duplicates in your Browser Bookmarks.
http://aignes.com/deadlink.htm

ABC
- Bit Torrent client.
http://pingpong-abc.sourceforge.net/

Azureus
- Java based. It provides a current implementation of the BT protocol. A good choice ... although a bit resource intensive on some systems.
http://azureus.sf.net

G3
- The Bit Torrent client I currently use. It provides great statistics as well as great control of upload/download bandwidth allocation. This client provides the greatest control of your torrents by far.
http://g3torrent.sf.net

Quintessential Player
- If you can spell it, you are a better man than I. This has replaced Winamp for me. Great audio player. It doesn't use as much resources as Winamp 5 although I wish they put more work into a playlist/library manager aspect of the player. It feature great skin support, plugin support, visualizations, and built in encoding to/from different audio types.
http://www.quinnware.com/

LeXpert
- LeXpert is a software program designed to assist word game enthusiasts in expanding their knowledge of words. It offers more than 3500 word lists and different ways of viewing these lists. Customized lists can be created based on patterns, cryptograms, anagrams, number of vowels, etc.
http://www.carolravi.com/ScrWeb/LeXpert/Default.aspx

xplorer2
- This is an update of 2x Explorer. It is a two paned file manager. You'll never go back to Windows Explorer once you've tried an alternative file manager. This is the best I've found so far. It even has replaced Powerdesk for me. I'm going to try out the new 6.0 Release of Powerdesk ... but for now this file manager has been great.
http://netez.com/xplorer2/

Bit Spirit (Freeware)
- Bit Torrent client
http://www.bytelinker.com/intl/

If you have your list of share/freewares put them up here feel free :eek:

Fight Piracy

[scruie]

inahacker thanks for this list. i've merge the two threads together and added credits and link to ur post in original first post. it just makes life a tad easier.

[st3ph3nt4n]

WOW that's a long list... thnx for sharing .. i like the skin customizing thing

[scruie]

UPDATE:

added VMWare Free Virtual PC tool

VMware Player is a Windows and Linux app that allows users to run multiple operating systems on one machine. it's a cut-down version, enabling testers to run preconfigured virtual machines on one PC and doesn't allow ppl to create new images.
the tool allows users to use basic vitualisation features, such as dragging and dropping files between host PC and virtual machine, tuning virtual memory, and accessing host devices such as CD/DVD drives, network adapters, and plug-and-play USB devices from within the vitual OS

[inahacker]

Customize your destop shells with this.

BricoPack Author : dlb
BricoPack Installeur : bricomix
Icons Author : dlb, Overlord59, RadE8, Microsoft
File Size : 27 Mb
Version : 1.0 (BricoPack Installeur : 3.1)
OS : WindowsXP, WindowsXP SP1 or SP2, Windows2003
Language : All

http://download.softpedia.com/softwa...spirat_1.1.exe

BricoPack Author : dlb
BricoPack Installeur : bricomix
Icons Author : dlb, Overlord59, RadE8, Microsoft
File Size : 17 Mb
Version : 1.1 (BricoPack Installeur : 3.1 RC1)
OS : WindowsXP, WindowsXP SP1 or SP2, Windows2003
Language : All

http://en.crystalxp.net/bricopack-longhorn-inspirat.php

Universal Shell Pack

Auteur : dlb (installeur by Bricomix, icons by everaldo)
File Size : 15 Mb
Version : 1.0 (BricoPack Installeur : 3.0 RC1)
OS : WindowsXP, WindowsXP SP1 or SP2, Windows2003
Language : All

http://en.crystalxp.net/bricopack-crystal-xp.php <--- i like this one here

----------------------------------------------

Orbit Dock:

http://www.crystalxp.net/telecharge.php?id=b02UwU9wvsj

have fun.........

[rought]

here is a link of a thousand downloads
http://www.1000files.com/glossary/index.html?term=b

Great free wav/mp3 editor.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/?lang=en

Multi-language too

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:

* Record live audio.
* Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
* Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, and WAV sound files.
* Cut, copy, splice, and mix sounds together.
* Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
* And more! See the complete list of features.

[scruie]

Updated the main post - thanks fellas keep up the good work

[scruie]

Added GooglePack

Google Pack is a collection of some freeware apps in a nice neat package. It does include a 'special' version of Norton Anti-Virus with 6 months free subs - I would select not to install it!

[JAvEX]

One thing that I would recommend for useful freeware is Unlocker. Helps you to delete an UNdeletable file.
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

It has saved me from attacking and destroying my computer many times now. All you have to do is right click on the undeletable file and select Unlocker. It provides you with many options to delete the file. It works perfectly.