Sites for Completely Free and Legal Software! [Archive]

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 11:30 AM

Sites for Completely Free and Legal Software!
This thread is specifically for Freeware (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware) and Open Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source) Software.
(No Warez, Cracks, Serialz or links to copyrighted software please!)

CD & DVD Burning, Discs and Disk Images (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587420&postcount=2)
Image Manipulation, Drawing and Photo Editing (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587439&postcount=3)
Office Suites, Accounting and Productivity (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587463&postcount=4)
PDF Editing, Printing and Handling (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587767&postcount=7)
PC Security, Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Firewalls (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587838&postcount=10)
Remote Support and Remote Control (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587910&postcount=11)
File and Disk handling, Maintenance, Recovery and Repair (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587949&postcount=12)
DVD Ripping and Backup (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1587958&postcount=14)
Video Players and Editors, Codecs and Converters (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1592441&postcount=16)

If you can't find what you are looking for, just post a request and I will find it for you! :)

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 11:32 AM

Free Software for CD & DVD Burning, Discs and Disk Images...

free CD and DVD Burning software....
There are quite a few... best ones first...
http://cdburnerxp.se/
http://www.imgburn.com/
http://www.rocketdivision.com/starburn.html
http://www.burn4free.com/download-dvd-copy-software.htm
http://www.deepburner.com/
http://www.glorylogic.com/
http://www.burnworld.com/burnoncddvd/
http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/

Reviews of Free Burning Programs...
http://www.smashingdownloads.com/2008/10/10/5-free-smashing-cddvd-burning-softwares/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-free-alternatives-to-nero-cddvd-burner/
http://www.bizzntech.com/2008/03/10/10-free-cddvd-burning-softwares
http://www.instantfundas.com/2007/10/15-free-cddvd-burning-alternatives-to.html
http://jeantop10.com/top-10-best-websites/71-top-10-free-dvd-burning-softwares

LightScribe Stuff...
System Software - http://www.lightscribe.com/downloadsection/windows/index.aspx?id=810
Simple Labeler - http://www.lightscribe.com/downloadSection/windows/index.aspx?id=811
Template - Labeler - http://www.lightscribe.com/downloadSection/windows/index.aspx?id=1524
SureThing CD Labeler SE - http://www.lightscribe.com/files/setup.zip
LightScribe Templates...http://gallery.medea.co.uk/index.php?cat=33
Lightscribe for Windows 7... http://www.lightscribe.com/support/index.aspx?id=810

Free Virtual Disk Utilities... to mount those weird Disk Images you may find! :p
Daemon Tools...
http://www.daemon-tools.cc/
Alcohol 52%...
http://www.alcohol-soft.com/
Virtual Clone Drive...
http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html
FileDisk ISO Mounter...
http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html
OSR Virtual CD and Disc...
http://www.osronline.com/article.cfm?article=410
Microsoft's Virtual CD Mounting program...
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/620/xp_small_free_way_to_use_and_mount_images_iso_file s_without_burning_them
Virtual Drive Creator from J.A. Associates.
http://www.j-a-associates.com/vdc.htm
Mount ZIP, ISO, and Private Folder files as virtual folders to the Windows file system...
http://www.pismotechnic.com/

An Article on Free CD / DVD Emulation Software, Virtual DVD / CD Drives...
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/dvdcdemulators.shtml

and to Burn and Create ISO files...
LC ISO Creator...
http://www.lucersoft.com/freeware.php
DoISO also makes ISO images...
http://www.ebswift.com/OpenSource/DoISO/
ISODisk is a FREE and powerful ISO disk image file tool...
http://www.isodisk.com/
DoISO makes ISO Images and can also burn them to disc...
http://www.ebswift.com/OpenSource/DoISO/
Twenty Free Programs to Create, Mount, Burn, Edit and Extract ISO Image Files...
http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/20-free-software-to-create-mount-burn-edit-and-extract-iso-image-file-something-you-should-definitely-bookmark/

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 11:38 AM

Free software for Image Manipulation, Drawing and Photo Editing...

Try the Gimp...
http://www.gimp.org/
... and the Gimp now comes with Themes...
http://gimper.net/index.php?topic=626.0
or Paint.net...
http://www.getpaint.net/redirect/wp/index.html
or Photofiltre...
http://photofiltre.free.fr/
or Serif Photo Plus...
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp
(Serif has a few other free programs there on their site too)
Inkscape is for Vector Drawing...
http://www.inkscape.org/
Faststone has some nice freeware graphics viewing and resizing programs...
http://www.faststone.org/
Blender is a free 3D creation suite...
http://www.blender.org/
Maya Personal Learning Edition is made by Autodesk...
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7639525
ArtWeaver is for Digital Painting with realistic reproduction...
http://www.artweaver.de/index.php?en_version
Edit your Photos Online...
http://www.picnik.com/
2D animation and Drawing software...
http://www.pencil-animation.org/
Photo ID Creation software...
http://www.advancedidcreator.com/

Not really image manipulation, but a Free 3D graphical environment Engine complete with Source Code...
http://g3d-cpp.sourceforge.net/

and a nice list of all the best programs out there...
http://www.maa.org/editorial/mathgames/mathgames_08_01_05.html
Here are the best 50 freeware programs for Design and Manipulation...
http://www.persiancultures.com/pictures/top/best_50_freeware_for_design_and_developing%20.htm
Free Wallpaper and digital software...
http://www.jezz.us/
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=72581

Free Open Source Alternatives for Adobe Creative Suite...
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33457

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 11:45 AM

Free Software for Office Suites, Accounting and Productivity...

LibreOffice is an Open Source Office Suite from The Document Foundation.
It is a fork of Open Office (below)
It is compatible with other major office suites, including Microsoft Office.
http://www.libreoffice.org/
OpenOffice.org started out as StarOffice, but has advanced into another great ODF Office Suite.
http://www.openoffice.org/
Or Lotus Symphony?
http://symphony.lotus.com/software/lotus/symphony/home.nsf/home
Or AbiWord?
http://www.abisource.com/
Google Apps are a suite of online document tools that are installed as part of the Google Pack.
Free for private users (with limitations). Business subscriptions are also available.
http://pack.google.com/intl/en/pack_installer.html
Marcus Schiesser's Easy Office....
http://easyoffice.sourceforge.net/

Gnumeric is Gnome's Free Spreadsheet program...
http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnumeric/

LyX is a document processor that encourages an approach to writing based on the structure of your documents (WYSIWYM), and not simply their appearance (WYSIWYG).
http://www.lyx.org/Home

OpenProj: OpenSource Project management replacement for Microsoft Project
http://www.dzone.com/links/rss/openproj_opensource_replacement_for_microsoft_pro. html

Dia is organisational chart software...
http://live.gnome.org/Dia/Download

and a nice free Accounting package as well...
http://sourceforge.net/projects/turbocash/

Cubit also has a Free Accounting Package and Point of Sale Software...
http://www.cubit.co.za/

and a free Money Manager...Money Manger Ex...
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=163169&package_id=184394&release_id=555079

Free Vector Clipart and Images...
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/50-websites-for-free-vector-images-download/

Free PDF Tools...
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/mastering-pdf-80-free-tools-tips-and-resources/

Mind Mapping and Brainstorming Software...
http://www.xmind.net/
What is Mind Mapping?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

moklet

14-03-2008, 12:01 PM

A collection of freestuff and software as well

http://www.freestuff.iblog.co.za

gdiza

14-03-2008, 12:54 PM

Nice links guys! Keep updating and adding! :)

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 01:02 PM

Free Software for PDF Editing, Printing and Handling...

PDF Readers:
Besides the free Adobe PDF Reader (which is an upgrade pain and a memory hog)...
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Rather Use Foxit Reader instead... works the same and uses far less memory....
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
But this guy thinks that PDF X-change Viewer is better than Foxit....
http://cybernetnews.com/2007/11/04/maybe-foxit-isnt-the-best-pdf-reader/
http://www.docu-track.com/home/prod_user/PDF-XChange_Tools/pdfx_viewer
You can also go here for a full list of Open Source PDF Readers...
http://pdfreaders.org/

PDF Printing and Saving:
If you want to print to PDF (OpenOffice has this feature built right in)...
I suggest CutePDF Printer... (no watermarks and good file sizes)...
http://www.cutepdf.com/
Note: you need the free Ghostscript converter to use the above (and some of the other tools on this page)...
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/
If you don't want to use the Ghostscript add-on... then use DoPDF... it has a very small installer and is all you need to Create PDF files...
http://www.dopdf.com/

PDF Scanning:
Scan directly to PDF files - handles multiple page scanning... perfect for e-mailing!...
(file sizes are smallish - so does not scan to high resolution)
Very versatile - can also delete images from the sequence and re-order them....
Koma Code Scan2pdf...
http://www.koma-code.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=82

More PDF tools here...
http://www.pdfill.com/pdf_tools_free.html
or here...
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cool-pdf-tools/
Huge list...
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/mastering-pdf-80-free-tools-tips-and-resources/

Free PDF to Word Conversion software [Thanks Bizkit87 (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=2990027&postcount=545)]
http://www.hellopdf.com/
http://www.pdftoword.com/
http://www.doc2pdf.net/
http://www.convertpdftoword.net/
http://www.pdfonline.com/pdf2word/index.asp
http://www.somepdf.com/some-pdf-to-word-converter.html

ghoti

14-03-2008, 01:19 PM

http://www.ubuntu.com
http://www.sourceforge.net

Telkomisaloser

14-03-2008, 01:22 PM

http://giveawayoftheday.com/
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 01:25 PM

The Best Free Tools for PC Security, Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Firewalls...

Anti-Virus - choose only ONE of these...
http://www.free-av.com/
http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus/
http://www.clamwin.com/
http://antivirus.comodo.com/
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-Free-Edition.html
http://www.activevirusshield.com/antivirus/freeav/index.adp?
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
http://free.grisoft.com/

Here are some round-ups of the latest Free Anti-Virus programs...
http://www.techmixer.com/best-free-antivirus-software-download-list/

Anti-spyware... (you can use more than one of these)
Ad-Aware...
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
Arovax Anti-Spyware...
http://www.arovaxantispyware.com/
Spyware Doctor is part of the Google Pack... (and you can also get Norton anti-virus with it, but I do not suggest you use Norton - it will slow down and mess with your system).
http://pack.google.com/
Windows Defender from Microsoft...
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware has a free version...
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Here is a round-up of the top 5 Anti-spyware programs!
http://altrepair.com/blog/021008-Free-Antispyware-Programs-Top-5-Best-and-Worst

ZD lists Ten Free Security Utilities you should already be using....
http://content.zdnet.com/2346-12691_22-95490-1.html

Firewall... choose only ONE of these...
Believe it or not I suggest you stick with your basic Windows Firewall, it is quite sufficient!
But if you have to have a different Firewall... Try one of these...
Comodo...
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
Ashampoo...
http://www2.ashampoo.com/webcache/html/1/product_2_0050__.htm
ZoneAlarm
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/home.jsp

CCleaner clears out data that could be used to track your activities...
http://www.ccleaner.com/
Eraser deletes sensitive files and protects your privacy...
http://www.heidi.ie/node/14

Family Safety and Internet Filters...
K9 Web Protection Software...
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Safe Families Free Internet Filtering Software...
http://www.safefamilies.org/download.php
File Sharing Sentinel Blocks P2P programs...
http://www.akidthaine.com/
B-Gone Content Filter...
http://support.it-mate.co.uk/?mode=Products&p=bgone
OpenDNS also offers content filtering for schools...
http://www.opendns.com/

Other Tools...(Can be used in conjunction with the above)
Adblocker and Parasite Blocker...
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
Internet Trail Cleaner and Crap Remover...
http://www.ccleaner.com/
McAfee Site Advisor warns about bad sites...
http://www.siteadvisor.com/
Cert's Home Computer Security Advisory...
http://www.cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity/
Microsoft's Home Security Advisory...
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/default.mspx

Recovering lost or forgotten passwords...
http://www.techjaws.com/how-to-crack-windows-xp-and-vista-login-passwords/

And finally... make sure you have ALL the latest Windows updates!
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
http://www.autopatcher.com/
This list has a lot of Freeware Security, Privacy and Anti-Spyware tools!...
http://www.fileheap.com/freeware-security-privacy-anti-spam-anti-spy-tools-033073000014000001d.html

8 Great Free Security Tools from PC World....
http://www.pcworld.com/article/161604/8_great_free_security_tools.html

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 01:48 PM

Free Remote Support and Remote Control Software...

Top Free Ways to connect to somebody's computer!
http://catchfree.me/connect-to-another-persons-computer

start with the Remote Assistance built into Windows...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/remoteintro.mspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrPoOeOLMek

Then try TeamViewer
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/be-a-remote-support-superhero/
http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx

Or LogMeIn Free...
https://secure.logmein.com/welcome/get_logmein_free/signup.asp

Or ThinVNC... Or ThinVNC Remote Access Server...
http://www.supportsmith.com/Download/Download.aspx

Or Crossloop...
http://crossloop.com/

Or ShowMyPC...
http://showmypc.com/

Or UltraVNC...
http://www.uvnc.com/addons/singleclick.html

Remobo: instant VPN, filesharing, and remote desktop control...
http://www.remobo.com/
http://www.freewaregenius.com/2008/10/08/remobo-instant-vpn-filesharing-and-remote-desktop-control/

Instant HouseCall is now also free! Yay!
http://www.freeremotesupport.com/

Mikogo is an easy-to-use cross-platform desktop sharing tool, ideal for web conferencing, online meetings or remote support....
http://www.mikogo.com/en/
[Thanks DearHeart (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=3134149&postcount=15)]

Adobe® ConnectNow, one of the Acrobat.com services, is a great way to share ideas, discuss details, and complete work together — all online. Reduce travel costs, save time, and increase productivity with a web conferencing solution that's easy to access and simple to use...
http://www.adobe.com/acom/connectnow/
[Thanks DearHeart (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=3134149&postcount=15)]

TechInLine is not Free... but has a Free Trial...
http://www.techinline.com/

How to silently install VNC onto a remote computer....
http://thebackroomtech.com/2007/07/16/howto-silently-install-vnc-onto-a-remote-windows-pc/

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 01:58 PM

Free Software and Tools for File and Disk handling, maintenance, recovery and repair...

File Compression, Zipping and unzipping...
KGB Archiver
http://kgbarchiver.net/
7zip
http://www.7-zip.org/
FreeZip
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/

File Managers and Alternative Shells
FreeCommander
http://www.freecommander.com/

Formatting... to FAT32
SwissKnife is your all-in-one formatting tool! Also does large capacity FAT32 volumes... (seems to be limited to 500 GB)
http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm
For drives larger than 500GB, use this rather... can handle most interfaces...
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

Defrag...
JKDefrag lets you defrag your hard disk without worrying about it getting stopped by interfering services!
http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/
Power Defragmenter Gui...
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Power_Defragmenter_GUI_d4647.html
UltimateDefrag Freeware Edition 1.72 also places the files in the best position on your hard disk...
http://freewaregeeks.com/UltimateDefrag_Free.html
DiskTune is an easy to use, on-demand, no frills disk optimizer and defragmentation utility for FAT, FAT32 and NTFS formatted drives...
http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/DiskTune.htm
Auslogics Disk Defrag 3 – Defrag and Optimize Your Hard Drives...
http://www.auslogics.com/en/blog/2009/11/auslogics-disk-defrag-3-defrag-and-optimize-hard-drives/

Undelete...
Do not install those programs (or anything else) to the drive you want to recover from... or your lost files will be overwritten. Install them to a different drive or to a flash disk. Then run them and let them scan for the files that have been deleted.
Use this program first...
PC Inspector...
http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm?language=1
Or Office Recovery...
http://www.officerecovery.com/freeundelete/
or this one...
http://www.undeleteunerase.com/
Recuva Freeware...
http://www.recuva.com/
Recover my Files...
http://www.recovermyfiles.com/
NTFS Undelete...
http://lazybytes.com/2009/10/ntfs-undelete-recover-deleted-files-for-free/
and an article on the best ones...
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/collection/collid,1295-order,1-c,downloads/files.html

File Recovery... straight from the Internet!!! Java Based... works on Windows, Linux and Mac.. any Java console...
http://www.jfilerecovery.com/page/com/jfilerecovery/Download.class
How to recover deleted files with Free Software...
http://lifehacker.com/393084/how-to-recover-deleted-files-with-free-software
8 Free Data Recovery Tools...
http://www.webtechdaily.com/2008/06/29/8-free-data-recovery-software/
Recover Data from CDs and DVDs...
http://www.technobuzz.net/recover-files-from-damaged-or-corrupted-cd-dvd-and-dvd-with-cd-recovery-toolbox/
Copy Cat Data Recovery...
http://www.vcsoftwares.com/cc.html
DiskDigger can recover files from any type of media that your computer can read.
http://dmitrybrant.com/diskdigger
f you have lost partition or strange problem with your hard disk partitions, you can try TestDisk...
http://www.blogsdna.com/3057/recover-deletedlost-partitions-or-make-non-booting-disks-bootable-again.htm
To recover your lost digital pictures or lost files, try PhotoRec. Get it here...
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Main_Page
OpenSource NTFS Data Recovery Tools...
http://opensource.software.informer.com/download-opensource-ntfs-data-recovery/
http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/disaster_recovery/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208403254&wc=4&cid=sem_edit_storage_various_RON
Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier... recovers from all types of Disks...
http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-unreadable-cds-or-dvds-in-windows/
Ten of the Best Data Recovery Tools...
http://www.techmynd.com/10-plus-best-free-data-recovery-tools-downloads/
Free Data Recovery Software Download List
http://www.techmixer.com/free-data-recovery-software-download-list/

File Sync Tools...
Allway Sync
http://allwaysync.com/
Ycopy
http://www.ruahine.com/
The Unstoppable Copier...
http://www.roadkil.net/unstopcp.html

5 Freebies to manage your files with Ease...
http://www.bizzntech.com/2008/03/02/5-freebies-to-manage-your-files-with-ease

HDDScan is a freeware utility for storage devices diagnostics (HDD, RAID, Flash) The program can scan storage device for Bad-blocks, show S.M.A.R.T. attributes and change some HDD parameters such as AAM, APM, etc...
http://hddscan.com/

Free Partition Managers...

http://www.partition-tool.com/
http://www.ptdd.com/manual2.htm
http://findandmount.com/
http://www.cutepm.com/
http://www.partitionwizard.com/
more here....
http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/partitioneditors.shtml

Disk Cloning is in the news...
http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iArticleId=4308383

that article is recommending Clonezilla...
http://clonezilla.sourceforge.net/

But here is another article looking at the best of the disk cloning tools...
(Clonezilla is top of their list too)...
http://packratstudios.com/index.php/2008/03/11/symantec-ghost-who-a-list-of-open-source-alternatives/

They are as follows...
Ping...
http://ping.windowsdream.com/
PartImage...
http://www.partimage.org/Main_Page
g4u...
http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/
linbox...
http://lrs.linbox.org/
and FOG...
http://freeghost.no-ip.org/

Free Disk Imaging/Cloning Software...
http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp
http://www.clonezilla.org/
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/xxclone.html
http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/download.html
http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

If you are trying to clone your Windows 7 drive... Note that all the tools you need are built right in. See here (http://searchdatabackup.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid187_gci1371497,00.html).

Folder Size Utilities...
SpaceMonger = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceMonger (Ver. 1.4 is Freeware)
JDiskReport = http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html
TreeSizeFree = http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

Ten Great System Recovery Bootable CDs...
http://www.emergingtechs.com/posts/10-great-tech-tools-boot-cd/

Protected Folders and Encryption...
Lockbox lets you create a protected folder on your hard drive...
http://www.fspro.net/my-lockbox/

File and Directory Information Printers - dirprinters... This one is simply the best!
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptdirprn.asp

Analysing Crash Information....
http://www.technibble.com/repair-tool-of-the-week-whocrashed/

File Backup...
DeltaCopy is an open source, fast incremental backup program
http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp

File Unlockers and Process Killers...
http://lockhunter.com/
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

bdt

14-03-2008, 01:59 PM

Open Source Alternative (http://www.osalt.com/), "Find open source software alternatives to well-known commercial software"

Garyvdh

14-03-2008, 02:01 PM

How to back up Your DVDs and rip your DVD collection to your Hard Drive!

1) Remove Region Protection...
Install this program first... it will remove the copy protection and macrovision while you decrypt... (and will also allow you to watch region protected discs in the future)...
http://www.dvd43.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD43

2) To make a backup of a DVD to another DVD...
DVD Decrypter can rip the DVD to your hard drive or make an ISO image...
http://www.mrbass.org/dvdrip/
(Note: DVD Decrypter removes the CSS encryption on the DVD)
If DVDDecrypter has problems with a newer DVD install DVD43 (above).
If you have ripped the DVD files to your hard drive, you can then use DVD shrink to make the image smaller and turn it into an ISO file that I can fit onto one DVD... Note: you have to select ISO image as the target file from the drop down menu.
http://www.mrbass.org/dvdshrink/
Once you have the ISO image you can use this program to burn it back to a DVD...
http://www.imgburn.com/

3) To Rip a DVD to an AVI or DivX (XviD) file...
The free version of this program Fair Use Wizard can rip any DVD to a 700 Mb AVI (XVid) File... with just one click...
http://www.fairusewizard.com/
but.... I find I get a much better quality rip, when I follow these steps...
i) Use DVD Decrypter to rip the DVD to your Hard Drive.
ii) Use DVD Shrink to make an ISO image of the DVD, but turn the compression off completely, in other words, the ISO image will be an exact image of the DVD. Also enable the two extra read options in DVD Shrink to get a better quality image, it is slower, but it pays off. Put that image on a different drive to the one you are going to rip to.
iii) Now use Fair Use Wizard to rip from that unencrypted image in your hard disk. You will get a very high quality rip with no artifacts and no "streaking".
Compare that to a rip straight from the DVD and you will see what I mean. Of course the quality of your DVD drive and speed of your processor is also a factor. 3.0 Ghz strongly recommended!
Here is a guide for Fair Use Wizard... if you need one...
http://www.mediafire.com/?uluiwhkxetc

4) Ripping Tutorials...
How to rip a DVD using VLC...
http://jaypeeonline.net/tips-tricks/rip-dvd-with-vlc/
The last DVD and Blu-Ray Ripping Guide you will ever need!...
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/rip_your_movie_dvds_and_watch_them_anywhere
Here is a Tutorial on how to Back-up a DVD using DVD Shrink...
http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9425/How+to+Use+DVD+Shrink
...and a tutorial on backing-up using Auto-GK...
http://dailyapps.net/2008/08/hack-attack-how-to-create-axxo-quality-dvd-rips/
... and a tutorial using DVDFab Decrypter....
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=15715
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/2008/03/26/turn_your_pc_into_a_dvd_ripping_monster-2.html
How to convert TV Series DVD episodes to DivX/XviD with ease using freeware... (thanks Charlie82)
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic301015.html
A nice illustrated tutorial for DVDDecrypter and AutoGK...
http://www.rita.lt/guides/AutoGK_DVDtoAVI.htm
How to copy a DVD using VLC...
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2686/how-to-copy-a-dvd-with-vlc-1.0/
TechSupportAlert has an article on the Best Free DVD Rippers...
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-dvd-ripper.htm

5) Other Ripping Programs...
DVDFab is an all-in-one DVD ripping/decrypting/burning software....
http://dvdfab-decrypter.en.softonic.com/
SimpleDivX is a fairly basic tool to convert DVDs to DivX
http://simpledivx.org/
English Guide for SimpleDivX
http://www.simpledivx.org/Guides/SimpleDivX_Guide/English%20Guide.htm
AVI2DVD Freeware...
http://www.trustfm.net/divx/SoftwareAvi2Dvd.php?b2=1
DVDSmith...
http://www.dvdsmith.com/
Amok DVD Shrinker...
http://www.amok.am/en/freeware/amok_dvd_shrinker/
DVDRip Automates DVD ripping...
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/2008/02/13/dvd_rip_automates_oneclick_dvd_ripping-2.html
Check out this all in one solution...
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm
http://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-ripper/
http://www.formatoz.com/
http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/
http://www.tools4movies.com/
http://dvd-mp3.org/index.html
http://www.free-star.org/free-dvd-ripper-freeware.html
http://thoggen.net/

6) To turn video files back into a DVD...
http://www.dvdflick.net/ or here http://sourceforge.net/projects/dvdflick/
Tutorials here...
http://lifehacker.com/software/dvds/hack-attack-burn-almost-any-video-file-to-a-playable-dvd-232322.php
http://lifehacker.com/5082262/how-to-burn-any-video-file-to-a-playable-video-dvd

7) Other Video Tools (Editors and Converters) here...
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showpost.php?p=1592441&postcount=16

Telkomisaloser

14-03-2008, 02:02 PM

and most importantly of all...

:cool::cool::cool: http://portableapps.com/ :cool::cool::cool:

Garyvdh

17-03-2008, 10:08 AM

Free Software to play and edit Video, codecs and converters...

Video Players....
VLC is the King of Free Video Players....
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Zoomplayer has a nice free version...
http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml
BS Player is also widely used...
http://www.bsplayer.org/
Give KMPlayer a try...
http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/index.php
AllPlayer.... Does what its name suggests...
http://www.allplayer.org/en
Fusion Media Player...
http://www.fusionmedia.org/index.php?inc=main

Video Editors....
Avidemux is a free video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks...
http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/
Tool to Repair DivX Files...
http://divxrepair.sourceforge.net/

Video Converters...
A nice list of Free Media Converters...
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-free-media-converters-for-windows/
MediaCoder...
http://mediacoder.sourceforge.net/
AlltoAVI...
http://alltoavi.sourceforge.net/
Format Factory...
http://www.formatoz.com/
Super Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer...
http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html
Easy use and high quality program for converting videos for PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, iPod, iPhone, BlackBerry, Hardware DVD and PC...
http://www.winnydows.com/page.php?2

All-in-One Programs...
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm

Video Capture...
VirtualDub is a video capture/processing utility for 32-bit Windows platforms (95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP)... GPL License.
http://www.virtualdub.org/
Of Course you can also use Windows Movie Maker which comes with Windows XP...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Web & Computer Video Capture...
Cam Studio... Free Screen Recording Software...
http://camstudio.org/
The Jing Project Can snap shots of your screen and record screen activity...
http://www.jingproject.com/
MJPeg Surveillance... Designed to record video from a few, to hundreds of IP or DirectX cameras simultaneously.
http://www.brooksyounce.com/soft/mjpeg.htm
Forty Screen Capture Tools and Techniques...
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/screen-capture-tools-40-free-tools-and-techniques/
5 Awesome And FREE Video Capturing Softwares...
http://www.nazjam.com/2009/01/04/5-awesome-free-video-capturing-softwares/

Video Codecs...(Beware of installing too many Codecs - only install what you actually need!)
Everybody should have DivX...
http://www.divx.com/
XviD is the Open Source version of DivX...
http://www.xvid.org/
The AC3 Filter is the most common audio codec used in video...
http://ac3filter.net/projects/ac3filter
Real Alternative...
http://www.codecguide.com/download_real.htm
Combined Community Codec Pack...
http://www.cccp-project.net/

Abe

17-03-2008, 03:32 PM

www.filehippo.com

boramk

17-03-2008, 04:00 PM

sticky?

lexor

17-03-2008, 04:41 PM

sticky?

+1

PostmanPot

17-03-2008, 07:03 PM

Nice thread, thanks!

Garyvdh

18-03-2008, 04:15 PM

General Freeware, Open Source, or Free Software sites...

PCWorld has an article on Free or Cheap software running...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143367/article.html

All the software on this next site is "Freeware" - no trials or demos!

http://www.freewarefiles.com/

Freeware Applications for your every need...

http://mintywhite.com/tech/xp/12/

a forum lists some great Free software...

http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/computers-technology/free-ware-list-should-be-stickied/t.3946833/

The Free Suite compares Free Programs to Commercial ones... (keep clicking next to see the other suggestions)

http://www.thefreesuite.com/index.php

another archive of Freeware...

http://welovefreeware.com/index.php?option=com_alphacontent&Itemid=54

PCMag's Hall of Fame for Free Software...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2260070,00.asp

A List of 81 cool programs to have!...

http://combobulate.com/node/12

Free Applications!

http://www.freeapps.co.uk/windows/

A collection of Freeware links...

http://freeware.99k.org/

Only the Best Freeware...

http://www.onlythebestfreeware.com/default.asp

Best of Open Source....

http://www.openjason.com/2008/02/05/40-open-source-system-utilities/

Another comparison site...
The top 50 proprietary programs and their open source alternatives!

http://whdb.com/2008/the-top-50-proprietary-programs-that-drive-you-crazy-and-their-open-source-alternatives/

Get Freeware site...

http://www.getfreeware.org/index.php?p=47

This one sees to be hosted in India!...
http://www.freeapps.co.in/

Freeware software and a nice Games collection...

http://www.freeware-software.org/

Only Freeware...

http://www.onlyfreewares.com/

http://www.freewareplanet.net/

http://www.bestfreesoftwarelist.com/

Top Freeware and Shareware Utilities at TechSupportAlert.com...

http://techsupportalert.com/issues/al_current.htm#Section_2
http://techsupportalert.com/dr/

and if you didn't know about it already... you can get a free licensed program and game here every day...

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

and

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/

How to re-install Windows and outfit it with completely Free Software!...

http://www.freewaregenius.com/2007/10/29/reinstall-windows-and-outfit-your-system-with-all-freeware-programs/

Garyvdh

18-03-2008, 04:41 PM

fskmh

18-03-2008, 05:58 PM

Disk Cloning is in the news...
http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iArticleId=4308383

that article is recommending Clonezilla...
http://clonezilla.sourceforge.net/

But here is another article looking at the best of the disk cloning tools...
(Clonezilla is top of their list too)...
http://packratstudios.com/index.php/2008/03/11/symantec-ghost-who-a-list-of-open-source-alternatives/

They are as follows...
Ping...
http://ping.windowsdream.com/

PartImage...
http://www.partimage.org/Main_Page

g4u...
http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/

linbox...
http://lrs.linbox.org/

and FOG...
http://freeghost.no-ip.org/

I've used g4u and clonezilla. g4u can handle any file system because it works at a low level (it uses dd). It is based on NetBSD, so you might find yourself waiting for it to catch up driverwise with certain onboard NICs. (Happened to me with the notorious nForce MCP51 chipset a while back.)
Clonezilla is based on Debian and supports many filesystems (it writes to NTFS with NTFS-3g). I am currently using it and I can say it is the best free partition/hard drive cloning solution I've used yet. (It supports ssh for remote cloning and deployment.)

Garyvdh

21-03-2008, 10:59 AM

Sites offering Freebies, Samples and Free Stuff. Unfortunately many of these only apply to USA or UK citizens... but here is the list anyway.

http://www.freesamplesite.com/newfreebie.html
http://www.justfreestuff.com/
http://www.freebiesgalaxy.com
http://www.webspawner.com/users/pumpkinheadtwo/
http://www.killerfreebies.com/newest.shtml
http://www.freestuffpage.com/
http://www.freebiefix.com/
http://www.freakyfreddies.com/index.html
http://www.womenfreebies.com/
http://www.coolfreebielinks.com/
http://www.sassysue.com/
http://www.dailynewfreestuff.com/
http://www.fabfree.com/
http://www.1aboutfreestuff.com/
http://freestuff-daily.com/
http://www.actualfreestuff.com/
http://www.freechannel.net/new.html
http://australiasurveypanel.com/
http://www.extrafreebies.com/internationalfreebies.php
http://www.freeafterrebate.info/
http://www.freenclearstuff.com/
http://freeoffers.com.au/
http://ozfree.cjb.net/
http://www.mysavings.com/
http://www.ozfreebies.com/
http://totallyfreecrap.com/
http://zenasfreebies.homestead.com/index.html
http://www.worldwidefreebies.com/
http://www.totallyfreeoffers.com/
http://www.sothungalsfreebies.com/
http://www.pakadevasfreebees.com/
http://www.ofree.net/
http://www.omgitsfree.com/
http://www.freebiesquest.com/
http://www.freebieking.com/
http://www.freebiefind.com/
http://www.freebiedot.com/
http://www.freebiesbank.co.uk/
http://www.freestuffse.com/
http://www.free-stuff-samples.com/
http://www.free-stuff-inc.com/
http://www.freestuffcry.com/
http://www.isjustfree.com/
http://www.superduperfree.com/
http://www.3000freegoodies.com/
http://aplusfreestuff.com/
http://www.1500freesamples.com/
http://absurdlycool.com/

Glordit

21-03-2008, 01:56 PM

Playes just about all media formats :)
http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml
plays: XVID / DIVX / H.264 / MPEG2 / MPEG4 / QuickTime / P3AAC / ALAC / APE / FLAC / MP3 / MPC / TTA / WV / MO3 / IT / XM / S3M / MTM / MOD / UMX / FLV / MKV / and many more, as well as DScaler a popular open-source MPEG2/AC3/DTS/DVD decoder.

Real Alt.
http://www.codecguide.com/download_real.htm
Play Real media files without Real player

Combined Community Codec pack
www.cccp-project.net/
Works like a dream with Zoom player!

CleanUp!
http://www.stevengould.org/index.php?Itemid=69&id=15&option=com_content&task=view
Removes all of your temp/internet files - have free'ed up 5GB's in just 4 runs! :eek:

Free Download Manager
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/
Now has .FLV download support

Abexo Free Registry Cleaner
http://www.abexo.com/free-registry-cleaner.htm
Great Little app!

Xfire
http://www.xfire.com
Connect to server's, chat with friends and track game stats with one click!

Simple DivX
http://simpledivx.org/
Compress your DVD's & ISO movies into Xvid/Divx mpeg4 files with great quality and a host of options!

PuzzLex6
http://www.nbentley.co.uk/
Great for people that need help with crosswords and word games

All to AVI
http://surfnet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/alltoavi/AllToAVI_v4_r5394_Setup.exe
Almost all video formats to AVI

Garyvdh

21-03-2008, 03:08 PM

Some of the more unknown Freeware for Windows... some nice gems here!...

http://blog.bachyaproductions.com/index.php/software/2008/03/19/5-coolest-unknown-freeware-for-windows-stage-1/

another blog that lists a bunch of freeware...

http://blog.lorla.com/uncategorized/collection-of-freeware-software-1/

Free Computer Repair and Recovery Tools....

http://www.beyourownit.com/tools.html

How to build a complete and FREE IT software engineers Toolkit!....

http://www.runpcrun.com/free_IT_support_engineers_toolkit

21 Awesome (But Lesser-Known) Open-Source Applications for Windows...

http://www.tipsfor.us/2008/04/07/21-awesome-but-lesser-known-open-source-applications-for-windows/

Garyvdh

23-03-2008, 10:19 PM

Software for Audio, Music, MP3 and such-like...

Check out the Wiki Page for stuff like this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_audio_software

The Ultimate Tag Scanner is a multifunction program for organizing and managing your music collection...
http://www.xdlab.ru/en/
(Review here: http://www.whoismadhur.com/2008/10/10/organize-and-tag-music-files-with-tagscanner/ )

Similarity finds similar or duplicate Music Files on your PC...
http://www.bestfreewaredownload.com/freeware/t-free-similarity-freeware-rivdaqlh.html

CD Ripping programs?
http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/
http://www.download.com/Free-CD-Ripper/3000-2140_4-10212165.html
http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

The Lame Encoder...
http://lame.sourceforge.net/
And software which uses the Lame encoder...
http://lame.sourceforge.net/links.php#Windows

Audio Editing and Recording....
Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds...
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Wavosaur is a free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing, processing and recording sounds, wav and mp3 files.
http://www.wavosaur.com/

Garyvdh

24-03-2008, 07:55 PM

Free Audio Books!...

http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/home

http://librivox.org/

http://www.audiobooktreasury.com/free-audio-books.htm

Garyvdh

24-03-2008, 08:34 PM

Garyvdh

11-04-2008, 11:54 AM

Dr.G

11-04-2008, 12:35 PM

PCWorld has an article on Free or Cheap software running...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143367/article.html

All the software on this next site is "Freeware" - no trials or demos!

http://www.freewarefiles.com/

a forum lists some great Free software...

http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/computers-technology/free-ware-list-should-be-stickied/t.3946833/

The Free Suite compares Free Programs to Commercial ones... (keep clicking next to see the other suggestions)

http://www.thefreesuite.com/index.php

another archive of Freeware...

http://welovefreeware.com/index.php?option=com_alphacontent&Itemid=54

PCMag's Hall of Fame for Free Software...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2260070,00.asp

A List of 81 cool programs to have!...

http://combobulate.com/node/12

Free Applications!

http://www.freeapps.co.uk/windows/

A collection of Freeware links...

http://freeware.99k.org/

Only the Best Freeware...

http://www.onlythebestfreeware.com/default.asp

Best of Open Source....

http://www.openjason.com/2008/02/05/40-open-source-system-utilities/

Another comparison site...
The top 50 proprietary programs and their open source alternatives!

http://whdb.com/2008/the-top-50-proprietary-programs-that-drive-you-crazy-and-their-open-source-alternatives/

Get Freeware site...

http://www.getfreeware.org/index.php?p=47

Freeware software and a nice Games collection...

http://www.freeware-software.org/

and if you didn't know about it already... you can get a free licensed program and game here every day...

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/

and

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/

+1 :D

Garyvdh

18-04-2008, 07:38 PM

Gizmo's 46 Best Freeware Utilities!

http://46best.com/dr/

.Froot.

18-04-2008, 10:30 PM

Free Virtual Disk Utilities... to mount those weird Disk Images you may find! :p

Daemon Tools...
http://www.daemon-tools.cc/
Alcohol 52%...
http://www.alcohol-soft.com/
Virtual Clone Drive...
http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html
FileDisk ISO Mounter...
http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html
OSR Virtual CD and Disc...
http://www.osronline.com/article.cfm?article=410
Microsoft's Virtual CD Mounting program...
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/620/xp_small_free_way_to_use_and_mount_images_iso_file s_without_burning_them

and to create ISO files...
LC ISO Creator...
http://www.lucersoft.com/freeware.php

Alcohol is not freeware... it is shareware. Please do note the difference... they do have a ""free"" download, but that is for testing purposes yada yada and is in effect definitely not free.

qinglung

18-04-2008, 10:55 PM

Alcohol is not freeware... it is shareware. Please do note the difference... they do have a ""free"" download, but that is for testing purposes yada yada and is in effect definitely not free.

If you look at their site, you will see that there is indeed an "Alcohol 52% Free Edition".

There are no limitations on this version, other than the ability to create only 6 virtual drives. Our retail version still supports 31 virtual drives.
...
This version of Alcohol 52% is for private, non-commercial, single home computer use only.The license is provided personally to you and for that reason it does not allow you to make any duplicate (copy) to be sold, borrowed, assigned, leased or transferred.

Garyvdh

19-04-2008, 09:11 AM

.Froot.

19-04-2008, 09:26 AM

Yes, I think you are thinking of the complete Alcohol 120% version. But that version of Alcohol 52% is indeed free.

I'm impressed. Never figured they'd do something like that.

Garyvdh

22-04-2008, 09:52 AM

Slightly older list, a blend of freeware and open source stuff. I see some oldies on there.. but also some I have not seen before....

http://pinguy.infogami.com/blog/3a34

mercurial

22-04-2008, 09:57 AM

www.download.com
www.softpedia.com
www.soft32.com

mercurial

22-04-2008, 10:02 AM

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=96364

Garyvdh

22-04-2008, 02:34 PM

http://freewaregenius.com/

Blog format Freeware site with daily reviews as well.

Garyvdh

26-04-2008, 06:43 PM

and most importantly of all...

:cool::cool::cool: http://portableapps.com/ :cool::cool::cool:

and there are more free Portable Apps here....

http://www.portablefreeware.com/?p=5&so=p

The_Techie

26-04-2008, 06:45 PM

Awesome :)

Garyvdh

26-04-2008, 07:14 PM

Open Source Apps that run on any Operating System (obviously most of them are PHP and suchlike)... Server Software and Web Stuff...

https://www.jumpbox.com/list?gad=COfA6pUIEggFrjM-8PHY5hiF1rb6AyCDgqlO

Garyvdh

28-04-2008, 04:39 PM

http://www.chemtable.com/WebForumReader.htm

Web Forum Reader is uniquely designed for reading Internet forums and conferences. You can easily add your favorite forums to Web Forum Reader to stay informed about updates and changes on these forums without loading them in your browser. Web Forum Reader saves you time by showing new and updated topics while hiding topics you have already read. Web Forum Reader will also reduce the amount of data you download compared to regular reading using a browser. Use Web Forum Reader's handy Resource Addition Wizard to add Internet forums and conferences.

wizdumb

29-04-2008, 02:08 PM

flip, this thread should be partly called "Sites for Completely Free and Legal Software! by mostly Garyvdh"......lmao

but anyways, thanks to all you guys for your input, it will take me sometime to play through all the sites, but i have found some gems

Garyvdh

01-05-2008, 10:04 AM

Ten Freeware programs to keep your PC running smoothly...

http://www.computersight.com/Software/10-Freewares-to-Keep-Your-PC-Efficient.114056

Garyvdh

01-05-2008, 10:05 AM

Garyvdh

10-05-2008, 09:40 PM

Another collection, rather nicely organised all on one page. And I seem some apps listed that I have not seen before. Going to check them out...

http://freeware.startingiseasy.com/

qinglung

10-05-2008, 10:23 PM

Another collection, rather nicely organised all on one page. And I seem some apps listed that I have not seen before. Going to check them out...

http://freeware.startingiseasy.com/

Another great list, thanks! Last time I did a fresh install on my home PC I've changed just about everything over to freeware, there are some great free software out there. It's fun to sift through everything to find the real gems that one likes.

GTi

11-05-2008, 12:30 AM

Thanx Garyvdh awesome thread, and very useful, Garyvdh for President.

Garyvdh

11-05-2008, 08:10 AM

You are welcome! I keep most of these apps on my 4 Gb Flash Disk and every time I have to do a new install, I just copy all of those to the new computer and install from there.

It is possible today to have only Windows XP (or Vista ..Shudder) as your only piece of paid software. Everything else on your system is freeware.

I do this in a work/office environment as well, and it makes it tons easier than bothering with software licenses and installation keys.

I have seven computers in our office running only Windows XP and freeware. That includes our POS and Financial software.

oh, ooops... some of them do have some licensed software that I got Free from Giveaway of the day.

.Froot.

11-05-2008, 10:25 AM

Has anyone mentioned this site for completely free and legal software?
www.ubuntu.com

Garyvdh

11-05-2008, 12:13 PM

Yes it gets mentioned quite a lot... over in the linux forum. ;)

Garyvdh

11-05-2008, 08:41 PM

Ten free Microsoft Apps, that are actually pretty good. My recommendation is the Folder Share app. Great for Synching between Work and Home....

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-free-microsoft-apps-that-dont-suck/

Garyvdh

13-05-2008, 12:43 PM

What do you do when you are searching for an OLDER version of some Free Software? Maybe the Vendor has changed from a freeware version to a paid version or even worse, a nagware version? This article gives you some places to start looking to find that older version of their software that still works great! ;)...

http://www.dailygyan.com/2008/04/ultimate-guide-on-how-to-get-old.html

mercurial

13-05-2008, 12:46 PM

Nice.

Garyvdh

18-05-2008, 08:34 PM

Stokstert has found some nice stuff in "Gizmo's Tech Alert List of Free Software"

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=119092

I have added it to the list! ;)

Garyvdh

20-05-2008, 03:18 PM

http://lifehacker.com/389203/dexpose2-like-mac-expose-but-better

Windows only: Freeware application DExposE2 is a clone of Mac OS X's Expose feature for Windows XP and Vista. Aside from the basic Expose features, which we've seen from a lot of clones in the past, DExpose2 features a handful of extra features like interactive previews, hot corners, multi-monitor support, and more. If you like the look and feel of Expose but have never found a good substitute for your Windows PC, the freeware DExposE2 may be the best available. DExposE2 comes in portable and installable flavors, so you can check it out with a quick download and no install. Hit the [link above] for a video of DExposE2 in action.

Download it here...

http://devrexster.googlepages.com/home

RVFmal

20-05-2008, 04:36 PM

Mods, can we sticky this?

Garyvdh

21-05-2008, 10:06 AM

In this review from ZDNet UK we are presented with a list of the World's most Annoying Software.

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000001048,39419834-1,00.htm

I post it here because many of us use these "Free" programs (not all of them are free).

But all of them are problematic in some way or another. You should familiarise yourself with what the pitfalls of these programs are... and why they are not really "Free"! ;)

Garyvdh

01-06-2008, 12:44 AM

25 Free Downloadable and Online Games that Rock!...

http://dailyrevolver.com/2008/04/26/25-free-games-that-kick-ass-and-take-names-pt-1/

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 11:04 AM

A round-up of the Online Free Document Tools that are out there...

First off... Google Docs...

http://docs.google.com/

You can e-mail documents to yourself or even open them straight from within Gmail. You can even use some of Google's Document Tools offline...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040100018.html

Then there is Adobe Acrobat's set of online document tools (still in beta)...

https://www.acrobat.com/

Then there is ThinkFree Online...

http://www.thinkfree.com/

FlySuite is another set of Office Tools...

http://www.flysuite.com/en/index.php?ww=us

Peepel Office Suite is also still in Beta...

http://peepel.com/

Solodox is not free :( ... but allows simultaneous editing of the same document...

http://www.solodox.com/

Glide OS 3.0... is another online Office suite... offers a free account...

http://www.glidedigital.com/

Writeboard is another Free Online Collaboration tool...

http://www.writeboard.com/

Zoho writer is an online Word Processor...

http://writer.zoho.com/jsp/home.jsp?serviceurl=%2Findex.do

AjaxWrite is also an online Word Processor able to read MS Documents...

http://us.ajax13.com/en/ajaxwrite/

You might have heard about GOffice (but unfortunately it is not free)...

http://www.goffice.com/

InetWord Editor... offers free accounts...

http://www.inetword.com/

j2e is free to students and each doc gets its own URL...

http://www.j2e.com/

NeverCode Docs also offers a way to download and store your documents offline...

http://www.nevrocode.com/docs/

Writer is an online Internet Typewriter...

http://writer.bighugelabs.com/

What about some Excel or Spreadsheet tools?

BadBlue has Free personal accounts for sharing your own Excel files... while you work on them...

http://badblue.com/helpxls.htm

Blist offers free accounts as well... it is an online "social database"

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

EditGrid is a free Online SpreadSheet...

http://www.editgrid.com/

JotSpot also offers a free trial...

http://tracker.jot.com/

Easy, shareable Web Spreadsheets... with NumSum...

http://www.numsum.com/

You can also try Sheetster while it is still in Beta...

http://www.sheetster.com/index.jsp

Simple Spreadsheet is 100% Open Source, Free and web-based...

http://www.simple-groupware.de/cms/Spreadsheet/Home

Create Free Online Charts...

http://chartgizmo.com/

There are also a host of online PDF converters and tools out there...

such as... http://www.pdfonline.com/

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cool-pdf-tools/

http://convert.neevia.com/

http://www.pdfhammer.com/

http://pdftextonline.com/

And finally... OfficeZilla is a virtual office sharing environment where everyone in your office can share appointments, calendars, notes... etc...

http://officezilla.com/

and if you don't have a secretary, you can get a virtual secretary...Sandy!

http://iwantsandy.com/

And finally... here are 21 other Free Online Apps to help you be more productive!...

http://www.smashingapps.com/2008/07/11/21-online-free-web-based-applications-that-you-probably-would-love-to-use-every-day.html

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 02:40 PM

watch this space :)

Glordit

03-06-2008, 02:51 PM

Styler (http://www.crystalxp.net/galerie/en.id.551-styler-1-401-ta2027-explorer-tools.htm)

give's your bland XP visual style a re-boot! :D
As far as I can see it also works with most windows theme files you find on Deviant art, also uses very little resources practicaly none [once you have set the style you can close it from your taskbar] and you have an option to enable the theme on startup aswell as add drop shadows, True type fonts and much more!

Example of VistaVG theme http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showphoto.php?photo=4456&cat=500

EDIT: http://glordit.googlepages.com/VistaVG.rar - VistaVG theme and Laguna
http://vishal-gupta.deviantart.com/art/VistaVG-Black-for-Windows-XP-64306875

Extract the Folders and copy them to:
C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes
Then restart Styler choose your theme, then just close styler :D

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 03:13 PM

Great! Thanks!

When you are copying that Vista Theme to your Windows/Resources/Themes folder...

make sure you do not change the folder names!

There should be a "VistaVG" folder in there (from the archive that you unzipped!)

:)

ghoti

03-06-2008, 03:17 PM

http://www.gpotato.com/ has some free games like Rappelz

Fiekus

03-06-2008, 04:23 PM

now this is one valuable thread! Thanks guys :)

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 04:48 PM

Glordit

03-06-2008, 04:51 PM

Yay... it worked!!!

http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/data/500/GaryDesk4815.jpg

Glad to hear! :D great thing is it used practicaly zero system resources!

alf101

03-06-2008, 06:40 PM

Yay... it worked!!!

http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/data/500/GaryDesk4815.jpg

Where can I get the wallpaper?

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 06:45 PM

Where can I get the wallpaper?

Yikes... let me go look!

ok... it's on this page...

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?w=1440&h=900&sort=date&id=&page=5

here...

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/downloads/01543_falls_1440x900.jpg

you can get it in different sizes there as well! :)

marine1

03-06-2008, 06:54 PM

Any reg repair of windows repair ?

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 06:55 PM

http://wallpaperstock.net/wallpapers_2560x1600r.html

lots of nice wallpaper here too!

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 06:59 PM

Any reg repair of windows repair ?

Try this one...

http://www.speedapps.com/freereg_clean.htm

I love this guy's apps... but unfortunately some of them have advertising in them... they are all free though... your spyware scanner should pick up if it tries to install any adware.

http://www.speedapps.com/

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 07:12 PM

Any reg repair of windows repair ?

Try this one as well...

http://www.abexo.com/free-registry-cleaner.htm

Glordit

03-06-2008, 07:39 PM

Try this one as well...

http://www.abexo.com/free-registry-cleaner.htm

+1 for Abexo, cleans and can do repairs of cleanups incase you have a "oops" moment :p

alf101

03-06-2008, 07:54 PM

Yikes... let me go look!

ok... it's on this page...

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?w=1440&h=900&sort=date&id=&page=5

here...

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/downloads/01543_falls_1440x900.jpg

you can get it in different sizes there as well! :)

excellent! tx:):):)

Garyvdh

03-06-2008, 08:03 PM

ok, photoshop itself is not Free Software unfortunately (I wish) :(

but what I can give you is a truckload of Photoshop Tutuorials...

An assortment of Tutorials to do all kinds of stuff...

http://tutalphotoshop.blogspot.com/

http://www.photoshoplady.com/

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/2008/04/01/100-wonderful-photo-effects-photoshop-tutorials/

http://www.tutorial9.net/

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/photo-editing-tutorials/

http://www.asksabre.com/

http://www.mickm.com/index.php?section=tutorials&sort=datetime&order=desc&pp=25&search=&catID=0

http://elitebydesign.com/25-more-most-incredible-photoshop-tutorials/

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/photoshop-tutorials-textures/

http://www.noupe.com/photoshop/high-quality-photoshop-brushes-resources-and-tutorials.html

http://www.bestsiteslist.net/Best-Photoshop-Tutorials-and-Tips-Sites.html

How to adjust dynamic lighting...

http://psdtuts.com/photo-effects-tutorials/add-dynamic-lighting-to-a-flat-photograph/

How to create Chrome / Gold lettering...

http://www.aqa-d.se/ny/pstips/textfx/chrome2.htm

Recreate the Bee Movie Text Effect...

http://www.photoshopstar.com/text/recreate-the-bee-movie-text-effect/

Web Designing in Photoshop...

http://psdtuts.com/interface-tutorials/create-a-sleek-high-end-web-design-from-scratch/

Also some Free Tutorials for Adobe Illustrator...

http://www.noupe.com/tutorial/53-killer-photoshop-illustrator-effects-and-tutorials.html

Put some cool retro curves into your photos...

http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/mix-cool-retro-curves-into-your-photographs/

The top ten Photoshop Tutorials for June....

http://help-developer.com/index.php/2008/06/29/top-10-photoshop-tutorials-of-june/

Here are the top ten Photoshop Tutorial Websites...
http://outlawdesignblog.com/2008/top-10-photoshop-tutorial-websites/

marine1

03-06-2008, 08:08 PM

Try this one as well...

http://www.abexo.com/free-registry-cleaner.htm

Thanks bud :)

riazit

07-06-2008, 09:11 AM

Garyvdh

07-06-2008, 09:36 AM

There are a couple of free stuff websites with giveaways available to South Africans. They are:

http://www.freeoffers.co.za/

http://www.free-stuff.co.za/

http://www.freestuff.co.za/

http://www.wincompetitions.co.za/

Great! Thanks... and I also found this one in someone's SIG on this board...

http://www.freestuff.iblog.co.za/

qinglung

07-06-2008, 12:56 PM

Yay for free stuff, but there's not much free software in those last links, like the thread title states ;)

Garyvdh

07-06-2008, 05:40 PM

ok, back to the Freeware...

Seven Freeware tools to help you capture text from Dialog boxes and Error Messages...

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/05/25/how-to-copy-text-or-error-messages-from-any-dialog-boxes-in-windows/

Garyvdh

09-06-2008, 11:18 AM

Great Freeware Ext2 File System so that you can access your Linux Partitions from within Windows!

http://www.fs-driver.org/

Garyvdh

11-06-2008, 10:39 AM

The Free Software List at Downloadpedia

http://downloadpedia.org/

Also includes lists for Mac and Linux!

Garyvdh

17-06-2008, 01:07 PM

Three Free System Tray tools to turn any program into an icon on your system tray...

http://www.whitsoftdev.com/trayconizer/

http://www.teamcti.com/trayit/trayit.htm

http://www.4t-niagara.com/tray.html

All featured here....

http://lifehacker.com/396105/trayconizer-makes-any-program-a-permanent-system-tray-app

Garyvdh

03-07-2008, 11:19 AM

Freebyte's Guide to Free and non-Free Operating Systems, Virtual Machines, etc.

http://www.freebyte.com/operatingsystems/

Very interesting reading... great to know that there are actually so many options out there!

Dr.G

03-07-2008, 11:30 AM

Thanks garyvdh for alles, a huge contribution

Garyvdh

03-07-2008, 11:45 AM

Thanks garyvdh for alles, a huge contribution

YW... you can tell I like Googling for free stuff! :D

and StumbleUpon helps as well.

Garyvdh

07-07-2008, 04:18 PM

FormatFactory is a newer Multimedia File Format Converter and DVD Ripper!

http://www.formatoz.com/

FormatFactory is a multifunctional media converter.
Provides functions below:
All to MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF.
All to MP3/OGG/WMA/M4A/WAV.
All to JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO/....
Rip DVD to video file.
MP4 files support iPod/iPhone/PSP format.
Source files support RMVB.

FormatFactory's Feature:
1 support converting all popular video,audio,picture formats to others.
2 Repair damaged video and audio file.
3 Reducing Multimedia file size.
4 Support iphone,ipod multimedia file formats.
5 Picture converting supports Zoom,Rotate/Flip,tags.
6 DVD Ripper.

Will test and report back here....

Download very slow
Installs nicely
Reasonably clean interface
Default language set to Spanish? Changed to English in options
Loaded four files, fairly intuitive.
Not very fast, but successfully converted MOV, 3GP, but failed on FLV and WMV (variable bitrate or protected file?)
seems to work nicely... will test some more.

Garyvdh

08-07-2008, 04:17 PM

The great thing about THIS free site is the detailed Computer Repair and Troubleshooting flowcharts!

http://www.fixingmycomputer.com/

Great for sending to people needing help to diagnose something on their computer!

I saved as many of them as I can for future assistance!

Garyvdh

09-07-2008, 03:15 PM

Open source software is booming: here we round up over 480 open source applications for you to use or build upon.

Open Source God...

http://dailyrevolver.com/2007/09/23/open-source-god-over-480-open-source-applications-and-resources-via-mashable/

Garyvdh

09-07-2008, 03:45 PM

DriverMax... a freeware solution for backing up and re-installing your drivers!

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/all-in-one-driver-solution-with-drivermax/

http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/

http://www.mypcspot.com/2008/11/20/drivermax-free-windows-driver-utility/

Need to reinstall Windows but you misplaced your driver disks? Not sure you have everything you need? DriverMax has you covered. Backing up and reinstalling your drivers couldn't be easier.

After installing DriverMax, go into Driver Operations and click on Export drivers. A list of all your installed drivers will be displayed and you can pick and choose which ones to export, or simply export the whole lot in one go. Once you've reinstalled Windows, go back into Driver Operations, click on Import drivers, and point to the folder containing your saved drivers. The import can take a while, but in comparison to manually installing each driver individually, this is a walk in the park.

DriverMax is also useful even if you don't need to perform a complete reinstall - you can use the program just to make sure that your drivers are up to date or export a list of your installed drivers as an html or text file.

DriverMax is compatible with Windows 2003, XP and Vista and you have to supply your email address in order to receive a registration code.

mercurial

09-07-2008, 03:53 PM

Just came across this. Some nice free apps here -> http://www.itportal.org/blogcategory/Downloads/

Garyvdh

09-07-2008, 04:19 PM

Just came across this. Some nice free apps here -> http://www.itportal.org/blogcategory/Downloads/

Wow, that is some nice software! :eek: Thanks! :)

mercurial

10-07-2008, 08:04 AM

Wow, that is some nice software! :eek: Thanks! :)

;)

sdd

10-07-2008, 08:49 AM

sdd

10-07-2008, 08:52 AM

Just came across this. Some nice free apps here -> http://www.itportal.org/blogcategory/Downloads/

the female menstral cycle software is the first on my download list :)

Good find here, dude!

Garyvdh

10-07-2008, 09:34 AM

the female menstral cycle software is the first on my download list :)

Good find here, dude!

I saw that... I LMAO! :D

Garyvdh

10-07-2008, 12:58 PM

http://os.cqu.edu.au/oswinsdvd/doc/README.html

OSWINS DVD is a collection of Free and Open Source software for educational use that run on Windows. The OSWINS DVD is a collection of educational software from mathematics to music, from science to graphics, from programming to educational games, office tools, business software, networking tools and security software. The aim of this website is to make finding the software easier by categorising them by Key Learning Areas used in Education in Australia. In addition, under each category, links to useful websites that provide information or free resources are listed.

Wow, a DVD full of FOS Software? :eek:

where do I sign up? :D

The Full DVD is 1.4 Gb... You can also get it in two CD images.

Download here...

http://os.cqu.edu.au/pub/iso/

Garyvdh

10-07-2008, 02:10 PM

8 Free Speed Boosters for your PC...

http://www.computersight.com/Software/Eight-Power-Boosters-for-Your-PC.163105

W@P

10-07-2008, 02:21 PM

Some free apps and some tiny urls for fixing stuff

www.windows360.net

Neotoxin

10-07-2008, 09:50 PM

Free MMO Space combat game, updated and maintained by it's community.

www.freeallegiance.org

Stokstert

12-07-2008, 07:29 PM

Another Multimedia Converter which can convert many file formats with built in codecs.(like Format Factory mentioned earlier)

Quote from the site:

SUPER © IS UNIVERSAL as it supports a wide variety of input/source file format to play
or encode (to & from) without any additional third party software.

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

Downloads sometimes slow, sometimes fast. A bit of a hassle to find download link, have to go through a few pages.

Garyvdh

21-07-2008, 11:28 AM

and most importantly of all...

:cool::cool::cool: http://portableapps.com/ :cool::cool::cool:

More portable Freeware Apps...

http://www.app-stick.com/

Garyvdh

21-07-2008, 01:59 PM

The Best Free Software in each category you should have on your Windows PC...

http://www.wiki.nemof.org/Best_software

and some crazy freeware...

http://www.crazypixels.com/freeware.htm

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 12:29 PM

Free PC Benchmarking Software...

http://www.mypcspot.com/2008/07/22/pc-wizard/

http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

Great tool for detection of hardware, analysis and benchmark.

PC Wizard is a freeware portable tool that analyzes and benchmarks your PC. It can analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware, such as CPU performance, Cache performance, RAM performance, Hard Disk performance, CD/DVD-ROM performance, Removable/FLASH Media performance, Video performance, MP3 compression performance. It can also benchmark your PC and compare it to the results of other systems.

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 12:30 PM

UltraVNC Single click...

http://www.uvnc.com/addons/singleclick.html

What is SC?

UltraVNC SC is a mini (166k) UltraVNC Server that can be customized and preconfigured for download by a Customer. UltraVNC SC does not require installation and does not make use of the registry. The customer only have to download the little executable and Click to make a connection. The connection is initiated by the server, to allow easy access thru customers firewall.
What is the difference between UltraVNC and UltraVNC SC?

* Size: UltraVNC is about 850k while SC is only about 166k
* SC can only do a reverse connection while the normal version server can listen to viewer connections.
* SC can NOT be run as a service, no logon or Ctrl-Alt-Del is supported.
* SC can only do File Transfers, Directory transfer is not yet supported (but will be soon).
* SC don't use registry and password. Settings are preconfigured, password is not needed for an outgoing connection.

How secure is UltraVNC SC?

* The SC version is initiated by the person that shares his desktop: he needs to voluntary click to initiate the connection.
* You can use up to 128bit encryption. The encryption level depends on the OS and installed MS Crypto api.
* The server can only connect to the IP address you have predefined.
* No incoming connections, no unattended service connection.
* SC is automatically and systematically uninstalled when the connection is closed.

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 12:32 PM

Essential Free Software list from the Boards.ie Forums...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=231147

... and at the Neowin Forums...

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=320017

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 01:00 PM

mercurial

22-07-2008, 01:06 PM

I didn't know that VLC (VideoLAN Client)...

http://www.videolan.org/

Supported Skinning! But here they are... the best skins for VLC...

http://www.sizzledcore.com/2007/07/19/best-vlc-media-player-skins/

Shot for this! I knew they had skins but I never bothered trying to find them. I'm definitely getting some skins now :D

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 01:13 PM

Many of us have been suggesting NetLimiter 2 Monitor ... the Free version to people to monitor their bandwidth.

http://www.netlimiter.com/download.php

But here's another free option...Cyber Bandwidth Monitor...

http://www.speedapps.com/cybermonitor.htm

Cyber Bandwidth Monitor tracks traffic of all network connections and displays real-time download and upload speeds in graphical and numerical forms. The software logs traffic of all network connections and provides daily, weekly and monthly traffic reports.

Cyber Bandwidth Monitor can also display download and upload speeds of multiple network connections on a computer at a time.
Key Features:

Monitor the disk space usage of local and server volumes.
Classifies network traffic by IP address, protocol and other parameters.
Works with most switches, routers, firewalls, and other network devices.
Find out how busy your processor really is.
Graphs the performance of reads and writes to all your local hard disks.
Displays the amount of time that system has been running.
Check and read your email.

Note: When I installed the Cyber Monitor, my Avira Anti-Virus triggered a warning regarding the installation. It picked up the pattern of another "dropper", but was not able to give me any further info. I googled for info regarding the "virus" and the company but was not able to find anything. Maybe somebody else can investigate and see what is going on here.

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 01:13 PM

Shot for this! I knew they had skins but I never bothered trying to find them. I'm definitely getting some skins now :D

I didn't even know it could be skinned! You are welcome! :)

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 02:12 PM

InstallPad can really help you with your installation of Software...

http://installpad.com//

Installing programs takes forever

Downloading the latest versions of your favorite programs is a tiring task, especially on a fresh installation of Windows. Navigating through the mess of websites and download links is frustrating, waiting for the installers to download is boring, and running each one separately is annoying.

Tired of all this?
Get your programs faster with less fuss

InstallPad can help you. It takes a list of your favorite programs and will download and install the ones you pick. It doesn't need to ask any questions, so you can go do more important things. InstallPad can resume downloads you've canceled, and can even try and find the latest version of your program online.

If you administrate or develop for Windows, InstallPad can help you get a machine set up with service packs, applications or development tools without the need for CDs or running lots of scripts. With it you can quickly install a host of programs silently, pass arguments to the installers, and run post-installation scripts.

mercurial

22-07-2008, 02:37 PM

Revo Uninstaller - innovative freeware uninstall utility. Uninstall, delete, remove programs and solve uninstalling problems.

Revo Uninstaller helps you to uninstall and remove unwanted programs installed on your computer even if you have problems uninstalling and cannot uninstall them from "Windows Add or Remove Programs" control panel applet.

Revo Uninstaller is a much faster and more powerful alternative to "Windows Add or Remove Programs" applet!

With its advanced and fast algorithm, Revo Uninstaller analyzes an application's data before uninstall and scans after you uninstall an application. After the program's regular uninstaller runs, you can remove additional unnecessary files, folders and registry keys that are usually left over on your computer. Even if you have a broken installation, Revo Uninstaller scans for an application's data on your hard disk drives and in the Windows registry and shows all found files, folders and registry keys so you can delete them.

With its unique "Hunter mode", Revo Uninstaller offers you some simple, easy to use, but effective and powerful approaches to manage (uninstall, stop, delete, disable from auto starting) and to get information about your installed and/or running programs.

Not sure if this was already posted but here it is anyway. It's a great little app. Download it here (http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html)

Benefits of Revo Uninstaller :

• Revo Uninstaller is completely free - no cost, no adware, no spyware;
• You can uninstall programs easily and correctly;
• You can uninstall a program and scan after its built-in uninstaller for leftover registry keys, files and folders;
• You can uninstall programs even when their built-in uninstaller is corrupted and cannot be uninstalled;
• You can search as you type for installed programs; The search is much faster than "Windows Add or Remove Programs" control panel applet!
• You can see the list of installed programs much faster than with "Windows Add or Remove Programs" control panel applet!
• You can view a lot of details of the programs installed on your computer and uninstall programs you don't need (for example uninstall programs depending on their size to free disk space);
• You can use an innovative "Hunter mode" to uninstall, kill and delete programs. Uninstall unwanted programs just by aiming on their window or icon;
• You can use a "Drag and Drop" mode to uninstall, kill and delete programs;
• You can view and manage programs loaded on Windows startup;
• You can clean any junk, temporary and unnecessary files from your drives;
• You can have fast access to the most useful built-in Windows tools;
• You can erase all your browser history in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Netscape browsers;
• You can erase the recent document history of Microsoft Office products from version Microsoft Office 2000 till Microsoft Office 2007;
• You can erase most of the important traces you have left behind after working with Windows;
• You can permanently delete all of your already deleted files so they become completely unrecoverable by any software;
• You can securely delete any existing file or folder so it becomes unrecoverable by any software;
• You can use Revo Uninstaller and never have to solve uninstall problems;

.geek

22-07-2008, 04:08 PM

I use FileHippo for most things. :)

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 06:56 PM

ViStart is a Free Menu Replacement for Windows XP... get a Vista Like Start Menu that is faster than Vista's!...

http://lee-soft.com/

ViStart is a perfect start menu replacement for Windows XP. ViStart will now index all personal files and program files and give *ACTUAL instant results* thats 4 times faster then the real Vista start menu....

Garyvdh

22-07-2008, 06:59 PM

Big list of General and Kids/Educational FOSS sites...

http://os.cqu.edu.au/oswinsdvd/doc/sites.html

Stokstert

22-07-2008, 09:17 PM

A Full $40 Commercial Version of A-squared Anti-Malware for Free

Here's another gift From Gizmo, made an arrangement with EMSI Software to provide my subscribers and site visitors with a full $40 version of the highly regarded A-Squared (A2) malware detector for free.

This is the full commercial version not the free version and comes complete with a full 12 months license.

Available only until 31 July 08

http://www.techsupportalert.com/a2.htm

Garyvdh

23-07-2008, 12:14 PM

Garyvdh

23-07-2008, 12:15 PM

11 OpenGL Windows Screensavers. Some of these are simply gorgeous and really put your computer through its paces!

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

For Windows, but can be and have been ported to other operating systems!

You gotta check these out!

Garyvdh

24-07-2008, 01:06 PM

Qinglung has created a very nice detailed thread which goes into the discussion of chosen selected Freeware apps... check it out here...*

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=128331

* (added/edited to first post)

Stokstert

25-07-2008, 01:05 PM

Here is a short extract of the merger of Support Alert and Windows Secrets. This site and their weekly newsletter always makes good reading.

Support Alert is merging with Windows Secrets

The Support Alert Newsletter, edited by Ian "Gizmo" Richards, is merging with the Windows Secrets Newsletter. The first combined publication, which has more than 400,000 subscribers, appeared on July 24, 2008. Watch for more details to come.

http://windowssecrets.com/
and
http://windowssecrets.com/2008/07/24...indows-Secrets

There is another give away in the form of Gizmo's new e-book: 9 Free Programs Every PC Should Have

Garyvdh

25-07-2008, 01:27 PM

For those of you who are still tinkering around with your windows appearance...

Here is a roundup of some nice Windows Transformation packs!...

http://www.geekneeds.net/2008/03/03/transformation-pack-round-up-for-windows-xp/

Garyvdh

25-07-2008, 01:28 PM

Garyvdh

25-07-2008, 09:01 PM

Another free driver backup program....

http://boozet.org/dd.htm

With Double Driver you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the drivers list, and more.

Garyvdh

25-07-2008, 10:20 PM

http://readerszone.com/software/crack-complex-passwords-with-ophcrack.html

Ophcrack is an extremely fast password cracker because it uses a special algorithm called rainbow tables. Other passwords crackers try thousands of combination of numbers, characters and special characters per second and this process may take hours, day or some times years to crack a complex password. Rainbow tables pre-computes the hashes used by passwords, allowing for a speedy password lookup by comparing the hashes it has, instead of computing them from scratch.

Ophcrack is not malware and has its legitimate uses. For instance, most Windows password-recovery tools will substitute a new password in place of a lost one, but knowing the actual password may be useful in unlocking other archives found during a forensics investigation. Additionally, testing a known password against Ophcrack, and besting the rainbow tables, can help validate that the password is extremely strong.

teraside

25-07-2008, 10:58 PM

Gary ;)

I'm looking for something, bear with me.

I need to control my entire WinVista machine from my Desktop, yep, my Desktop.

I would like to click on my Desktop on a folder or icon and navigate to Windows Explorer or my download folder or whatever I need to do, any folder or file.

I don't want to use "normal" windows folders as it irritates me. Call it a smart active desktop or virtual desktop if you like.

Would be cool if you could find something like it.

The perfect OS to me would be an OS to handle everything from one central location, I hate hopping around ;)

qinglung

25-07-2008, 11:04 PM

I need to control my entire WinVista machine from my Desktop, yep, my Desktop.

I don't know if this is exactly what you have in mind, but look at some of the program launchers: Find and Run Robot, Launchy, Executor.

It's not exactly on your desktop, but you can set it up in such a way that everything is at your fingertips.

I run Find and Run Robot myself and rarely make use of the Start Menu now.

teraside

25-07-2008, 11:06 PM

I don't know if this is exactly what you have in mind, but look at some of the program launchers: Find and Run Robot, Launchy, Executor.

It's not exactly on your desktop, but you can set it up in such a way that everything is at your fingertips.

I run Find and Run Robot myself and rarely make use of the Start Menu now.

Not exactly what I have in mind though ;)

I would essentially prefer to open Windows Explorer "as part" of the desktop, as well as my folders etc. May sound stupid, but it would rock ;)

qinglung

25-07-2008, 11:26 PM

Maybe search for some of the "Start Menu replacements" then, I've seen quite a few but never tried them, so I can't recommend one.

Come to think of it, I don't exactly understand what you want to do :p

teraside

25-07-2008, 11:32 PM

This is my desktop:

icons, programs etc.

I want to open any "folder" and open it as "part" of the desktop, not just a new window. Programs open in full screen, so it's something else.

Essentially a Windows Explorer view on the desktop, with any or all folders. I start the pc and go to something, without needing to open an Explorer view ;)

qinglung

25-07-2008, 11:43 PM

Ah ok, I think I understand now.

Haven't seen anything along those lines, but will keep my eyes open.

Garyvdh

26-07-2008, 08:41 AM

Wow... that is a challenge!

Let me see what I can find!

Garyvdh

26-07-2008, 09:50 AM

OK, Tera...

First of all "Active Desktop" does not by default allow you to navigate your computer for security reasons. I don't know if there is a way to bypass that, or if there are any programs that will get past that restriction... but...

How about putting your own custom Web Page onto the Active Desktop that links to all your favorite places on your computer.

Sinply code your own page... then do this...

Coding Your Own Desktop

If you want to be even more ambitious, you can build your own Active Desktop background from scratch using Notepad or any HTML editing tool, such as the free AceHTML. (Our Downloads section lists dozens of other HTML authoring tools you can download for free.) This simple example contains RealPlayer links copied from a Netscape Bookmark file and two simple form buttons.

To customize this Sample.htm file, download it and open it in Notepad. You can replace the "Sample Desktop" title or just delete it. To customize the first button, edit the text that reads Insert Your Own Button Text, between the quote marks under the Form tag. Substitute your own URL between the single quote marks for http://myurl.htm/. After you edit the file, save it in the C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper folder on your hard disk. You can test this file to see how it would look as your Active Desktop background by opening the Display Properties dialog box, choosing the Background tab, selecting Sample.htm from the file list, and clicking Apply.
http://pcworld.about.com/news/Feb092001id39962.htm

But all that custom file is going to be able to do is open a new window for you... which I understand is not what you want. If I read you right... you want to be able to navigate within the active desktop? Unfortunately that is either beyond the limits of active desktop or restricted.

I will keep searching for other programs which might allow you to do the same.

Does anyone know if you can change the default SHELL in windows XP as you used to be able to do in Windows 3.1?

teraside

26-07-2008, 01:24 PM

Thanks Gary, I appreciate it.

It would really rock if I could do everything from my desktop. There must be a way past the restrictions ;)

The HTML page sounds like an idea, but I think icons suffice for that, so it's not as cool :p

I think you'll have to find an application to "add" to the windows shell in xp, don't think you can change it though ;)

qinglung

26-07-2008, 01:43 PM

There are Desktop Media (http://www.funding4cesar.com/desktopmedia/) and DeskDrive (http://blueonionsoftware.com/DeskDrive.aspx) that adds links on your desktop to drives, CDs/DVDs and USB drives as you add them, but still not exactly what you want :p

teraside

26-07-2008, 01:45 PM

qinglung

26-07-2008, 01:51 PM

Dynamic shortcuts?

EDIT: as for replacing the shell, that is possible, look here: http://shellcity.net/, and click on "Replace the shell". I'd think this would be your best bet, but I don't see anything yet. Or see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_shell_replacement.

Garyvdh

27-07-2008, 08:29 PM

365 Free Games... one for each day of the year :D

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/365-days-of-free-games/a-2008071714293190000/p-3

hxc87x

27-07-2008, 08:41 PM

...ok, this might sound odd, but does anyone know of a program that works as an alarm?
i was thinking that it would be cool to wake up to my favourite songs instead of waking up to the random crap on my current alarm thing.
thanks and such :)

Garyvdh

27-07-2008, 08:46 PM

Try this...

http://www.download.com/Easy-MP3-Alarm-Clock/3000-2350_4-10289316.html

or this...

http://www.4winmobile.com/forums/hot-deals-specials-freebies/14753-free-mp3-wma-media-player-playlist-alarm-app.html

hxc87x

27-07-2008, 08:54 PM

Garyvdh

27-07-2008, 09:02 PM

wow, that was quick.
thanks a lot man!

YW! :)

Garyvdh

30-07-2008, 10:28 AM

Free and Open Source Software for Engineering...

http://os.cqu.edu.au/oswinsdvd/doc/engineering.html

Garyvdh

30-07-2008, 11:03 AM

Powering up your Windows Explorer with free add-ons...

http://lifehacker.com/399362/power-up-windows-explorer-with-free-add+ons

Garyvdh

04-08-2008, 10:05 AM

Another freeware thread on the WinMatrix Forums...

http://www.winmatrix.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4865&st=0

Garyvdh

04-08-2008, 01:53 PM

A free benchmarking program to measure storage performance...

http://www.datamarck.com/

Usage
Download the datamarck sofware and run it from the .zip file, no installation is necessary. The program will measure the read performance (in MB/s) and the access seek times (in ms) of hard drives, flash sticks or any other external storage device.

The measured data can be uploaded from the software and compared to the benchmark database.

See which ranking your storage performance has and compare it to other available storage devices.

Hard disk performance is essential for a responsive and fast system, it is often the bottle neck when a computer seems slow.

dablakmark8

04-08-2008, 02:26 PM

right all cool stuff,i thank thee

Garyvdh

08-08-2008, 11:43 AM

http://www.dvdsmith.com/

DVDSmith Movie Backup: Copy Any Movie DVD to Hard Disk Easily!

DVDSmith Movie Backup is DVD Decrypter and DVD copying software to copy entire DVD movie to hard disk, and removes all the protections (CSS, RC, RCE, APS, UOPs and Sony ARccOS) while copying. With DVDSmith Movie Backup you can make clones of your favorite DVD movies hard drive with just a few clicks -- either complete with all the extras or just the main movie only, in selected audios and subtitles.

Combining powerful functionality with a straightforward interface, DVDSmith Movie Backup provides an easy way to transfer DVD information onto your hard drive. In Full Disk Mode, DVDSmith Movie Backup can backup, clone or copy DVD movie to computer as DVD folder, ISO file. DVDSmith can copy and decrypt the whole movie DVD to a local hard drive with excellent reliability, speed, and ease of use.

With DVDSmith Movie Backup, you own the most efficient way to create backup copies of your DVD movie collection. These working copies allow you to play your DVDs on your computer hard disk without the need of any DVD players. This backup solution avoids the inevitable risk of getting your originals of your DVD movie discs scratched or damaged. You get disc protection with no loss of playback quality.
DVDSmith Movie Backup is free software. You should never pay for DVDSmith Movie Backup.

Somebody want to review this for us? Is it any easier than Fair Use Wizard?

Garyvdh

12-08-2008, 02:00 PM

Xirrus has created a collection of easy-to-use tools to help you more effectively use and manage your Wi-Fi networks. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor allows you to monitor your surrounding Wi-Fi environment and status of your Wi-Fi connection in real time - all directly from your desktop.

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor is useful for both IT managers and end users, and is available as a Gadget for Windows Vista, a Yahoo! Widget for Windows XP and MacOS, and a Desklet for Linux. A radar-like display graphically displays available Wi-Fi networks and their range. Detailed information is available about surrounding Wi-Fi networks. A Glossary section helps you make sense of all the Wi-Fi terms. Nine different color skins are available to customize the Wi-Fi Monitor's look for your desktop.

http://www.xirrus.com/library/wifitools.php

You will also need the free Yahoo Widgets Application...

http://widgets.yahoo.com/

Garyvdh

13-08-2008, 08:59 PM

http://divxrepair.sourceforge.net/

1. Why DivXRepair ?

If you are playing avi files, you may have noticed one of the following things:

- Suddenly the image froze but the sound kept playing.
- Disoriented or equally coloured blocks of pixels distorted the image for a time.

Using DivXRepair, you can repair corrupt avi files and eliminate freezes. This program automatically detects and eliminates bad frames.

2. Details about DivXRepair

This program is based on VirtualDub (version 1.4.2.x) - mp3 - VBR
DivXRepair cuts off the bad parts and re-assembly the avi file. (The bad parts of avi are undecodable frames / freezing frames).

The utilisation is simple:

- Add one or more AVI files in the list using the Add File.
- then click on Repair files

If undecodable and/or freezing frames are found, DivXRepair will cut off the bad parts and will save a new file in the same directory with the old file.
A complete report is generated and displayed after the operation is complete.

GuDoN

15-08-2008, 07:40 PM

bravo!

Garyvdh

15-08-2008, 07:45 PM

fanks! :)

http://www.technospot.net/blogs/watch-day-and-night-as-it-happens-on-earth-on-your-desktop/

Watch Day and Night as it happens on Earth on your Desktop

Its a small windows utility which generates wallpaper dynamically with an accurate wallpaper showing how day and nigh changes on earth. You would feel like watching it from space. You can even see clouds, snow and night visions. It takes time from your computer and creates the wallpaper.
You can also get the cloud updates every few hours. This makes it really look alive all the time. If you had wished seeing the earth from space this can satisfy you for a long time.
However if you wish to setup time zones, cloud settings and others manually it provides full options for it.
....Free Software!

sdd

17-08-2008, 09:17 PM

@ Garyvdh

I just wanted to convey a big thanks for all the tips you post on this thread. I must say, I have got myself some pretty good free stuff since checking out your posts.

Keep it up mate!

sdd

Garyvdh

17-08-2008, 09:50 PM

You are welcome!!! Free Stuff FTW! ;)

hxc87x

17-08-2008, 10:06 PM

just installed that desktop earth thing... seems pretty cool!
thanks man

Garyvdh

18-08-2008, 04:47 PM

Traffic Shaper XP...

http://bandwidthcontroller.com/trafficShaperXp.html

Traffic Shaper XP
Take control of your internet usage

Traffic Shaper XP is a free bandwidth limiter for Windows 2000, XP and 2003 Server. It combines high performance traffic shaping with the ease of use and flexibility to keep your network free of congestion.

Features
# Speed limiting for bandwidth-intensive applications and protocols
# Flexible address and port filtering
# Acknowledgement prioritization to speed up congested links
# Real-time traffic monitoring and stream statistics
Download

Download Traffic Shaper XP today for a more rewarding internet experience. Installation is quick and easy with a built-in wizard for creating rules from existing connections.

* 100% Freeware
* Full uninstaller included
* Single user
* Requires Windows 2000, XP or 2003 Server

Garyvdh

20-08-2008, 03:06 PM

BitMeter II is another Free Bandwidth Monitor...

http://codebox.no-ip.net/controller?page=bitmeter2

BitMeter 2 is a bandwidth meter, it allows you to visually monitor your internet connection by displaying a scrolling graph that shows your upload and download speed over time. BitMeter is freeware - ie. it is given away completely free of charge, there is no trial period, no time-limited features, no spyware, and no adware, guaranteed.

BitMeter main window This is what BitMeter looks like. The different colours on the graph represent your upload and download speeds, the display updates every second, and the current speeds are also displayed numerically in the lower part of the window.

Garyvdh

24-08-2008, 02:02 PM

http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iArticleId=4570466

Cubit updates free POS software

South Africa-based Cubit Accounting on Thursday released a new version of its Cubit POS (point of sale) application.

The free and open source Cubit POS system can be run on any PC and operating platform - including Apple Macintosh, Linux and Windows.

The latest version, version 2.0, of the Cubit POS also inter-operates with the majority of existing POS hardware, says Cubit CEO Andre Coetzee.

"The Cubit POS software is licensed under the BSD licence, meaning the application source code is freely available, belongs to everyone and can be modified by anyone without restrictions and without having to disclose the new source code to anyone else. Anybody can also download the source code, recompile, re-brand it and sell it to anyone else," says Coetzee.

Cubit POS can be customised to comply with the differing tax regimes around the world and is already successfully being used in both the United States and South Africa, says Coetzee.

It can also accommodate hundreds of tills, so that businesses as small as the corner store and as big as a supermarket chain can make use of the system.
Cubit POS2 can be downloaded from the Cubit website or from Cubit's Sourceforge.net page.

Get it here...

http://www.cubit.co.za/

Garyvdh

27-08-2008, 02:17 PM

Everything Open Source Website...

http://oss.zentu.net/

Welcome to the Free Open-Source Software Resource @ zentu.net!

The zentu.net network is an ever-evolving resource dedicated to Open-Source Software (OSS), the people who write it, and the people who benefit from its use. Aside from being the most comprehensive directory of free, open-source software on the net, some of the goals of zentu*nix @ zentu.net are:

-- To bring about an increased awareness of the varieties of OSS which are available as free alternatives to proprietary software.

-- To provide a comprehensive reference source of working open-source projects, and to organize those projects by form and by function.

-- To assist and educate old and new users of open-source software by sharing the wealth and resources of tips, tricks, links and tutorials about OSS.

-- To highlight the numerous benefits (from cost-savings to security) of using OSS over pay-per-license proprietary software.

-- To support open-source developers by providing a neutral place within the community to showcase projects of any scale: from large, well-funded ventures to the small independent projects.

-- To contribute something of value upon which future innovations will be built.

The future is wide open. The foundation upon which open-source is built can and will save the world; as has been proven, open-source conserves time, energy, resources and money by being honest and efficient.

Enjoy your stay!

Garyvdh

27-08-2008, 02:51 PM

http://www.app-stick.com/index.php

Portable Freeware Directory!

What is a portable application?

A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a USB flash drive (a "stick") and use on any Windows computer. When your stick is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind on the PC.

In an effort to "eat our own dogfood", we have developed most of the software for App-Stick from a 2GB stick with portable applications (XAMPP, PSPad, FileZilla, Firefox,...). As a result, we can plug that stick into any of our computers and get to work immediately. We love it!
Why are these applications free?

Most of these applications have been developed as Open Source Software, free to use and modify under the GNU license. Most of these projects accept donations to help support the efforts of programmers and overhead of developing and hosting them on the internet.

Can any PC application be used on a stick?

No. Most applications rely on the particular PC on which they are installed. Portable applications are designed to avoid getting threaded into a particular PC. A portable app should write no data to the PC or its registry; all relevant data should be written to the stick on which the application resides.

mercurial

27-08-2008, 03:02 PM

This thread should be stickied!

Garyvdh

28-08-2008, 04:39 PM

This thread should be stickied!

hehe... thanks... but I pretty much post here every day anyway! ;)

Here are some Cool Tools to Deck out your USB Pen Drive...

http://varunkashyap.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/10-steps-to-a-prettier-more-useful-and-secure-usb-pen-drive/

By far the nicest... I think... is this one...

http://www.mojopac.com/portal/content/download.jsp

MojoPac was always a nice tool... but now it has a free version! :D

MojoPac Freedom

MojoPac Freedom is FREE and gives you the ability to carry personal applications (such as Outlook, games and IMs), files and desktop settings on a portable USB device or iPod. There is not a whole lot of difference between the Free Version and the Paid version other than techinical support and commercial use!

teraside

28-08-2008, 05:39 PM

My Desktop Earth Cloud images has been messed up since the weekend :( It's getting irritating.

Garyvdh

28-08-2008, 05:58 PM

My Desktop Earth Cloud images has been messed up since the weekend :( It's getting irritating.

Because it is cloudy.. or because there is something wrong with the program? :confused:

teraside

28-08-2008, 06:03 PM

Because it is cloudy.. or because there is something wrong with the program? :confused:

Something's wrong with the cloud servers or something. The pictures don't look like clouds, sometimes it's huge text across the screen, other times it's "broken" clouds, which don't look like clouds at all, almost like a bad MS Paint job :p
Not your fault though Gary, I wonder if it's because I'm running Vista with it?

Garyvdh

28-08-2008, 06:16 PM

Something's wrong with the cloud servers or something. The pictures don't look like clouds, sometimes it's huge text across the screen, other times it's "broken" clouds, which don't look like clouds at all, almost like a bad MS Paint job :p
Not your fault though Gary, I wonder if it's because I'm running Vista with it?

aahhhh... yes... that would be my guest bess! :p

didn't you know you are not supposed to run anything with Vista???! :D

teraside

28-08-2008, 06:24 PM

aahhhh... yes... that would be my guest bess! :p

didn't you know you are not supposed to run anything with Vista???! :D

I ran XP since about it's release :p You probably won't believe me, but I've had about 10 times less problems with regards to stability than with XP ;)

Garyvdh

28-08-2008, 07:31 PM

I ran XP since about it's release :p You probably won't believe me, but I've had about 10 times less problems with regards to stability than with XP ;)

you are right... I don't believe you! :p

teraside

28-08-2008, 07:32 PM

you are right... I don't believe you! :p

Well, I'm far wiser today than I was a few years ago, so that might be part of it too :p

Garyvdh

29-08-2008, 03:13 PM

Darik's Boot and Nuke!

http://www.dban.org/

Warning! This program will erase your hard drive and destroy your data!

(That's what it is for!)

Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction. (A new Operating System can be installed in the Blank drive after the erase procedure. This program is intended for secure and emergency removal of data from Hard Disks!

(Works from CD and DVD Media and Floppy Disks or USB Drives)

Garyvdh

30-08-2008, 06:51 PM

http://linuxwindowsmac.com/article/Recover-lost-CDkeys-and-serials-from-software-and-games-43912.html

Recover lost CD-keys and serials from software and games

In case you have lost your CD-keys and serials from your favorite game or software, here is a solution for you: "Game Key Revealer" and "Soft Key Revealer ".

Game Key Revealer can recover CD-keys and serials from over 500 games, installed on your 32-bit or 64-bit Windows XP. You can save your recovered data as plain text document (txt) or as Micorosoft Word document (doc). Also you can print your CD-keys and serials.

SoftKey Revealer can recover CD-keys and serials from over 700 softwares, installed on your 32-bit or 64-bit Windows XP. Also, you can save your recovered data as plain text document (txt) or as Micorosoft Word document (doc), and print your CD-keys and serials, just as Game Key Revealer

http://cakirbey.googlepages.com/

http://cakirbey.googlepages.com/softkeyrevealer

Garyvdh

30-08-2008, 06:56 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_games_released_as_freeware

Commercial games released as freeware are games that, in their original license, were not considered freeware, but were re-released at a later date with a freeware license, sometimes as publicity for a forthcoming sequel or compilation release.

Garyvdh

01-09-2008, 02:20 PM

IOpus File Downloader...

http://www.iopus.com/freeware/downloader/

iOpus File & Web Page Downloader

Use our FREE command line file and web page downloader utility to automate downloads of all kinds. Great for use with batch files or the Windows Scripting Host. Also works well with the task scheduler to schedule periodic download tasks.

blunt

03-09-2008, 04:26 PM

http://www.freewarebeast.com/
-- also strictly freeware software and games

check it out

Garyvdh

06-09-2008, 10:34 AM

http://www.freewaremission.com/2008/08/51-essential-programs-for-freeware-only.html

The Freeware Mission started exactly one month ago. My Windows XP powered PC crashed and I had to reinstall everything in it. I decided to try something different: install only freeware programs except Windows XP (I might try Ubuntu later ;). I was a little bit uncertain at first, because I was using some commercial programs (Microsoft Office, Nero, BitDefender etc.) and I wasn't sure that I could find good freeware alternatives. But I did after all. My computer can do now everything it could do before the crash, but now it has only freeware programs installed. Here is the list of essential freeware programs that I chose to install, please consider donating a few bucks to the people that made the open source programs presented in this list.

Garyvdh

06-09-2008, 09:11 PM

https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator

liveusb-creator ¶

The liveusb-creator is a cross-platform tool for easily installing live operating systems on to USB flash drives.
Features ¶

* Completely non-destructive install. There is no need to deal with formatting or partitioning your USB key.
* Supports downloading various Fedora releases, including Fedora 9!
* Automatically detects all of your removable devices
* Persistent storage creation. This lets you to allocate extra space on your USB stick, allowing you to save files and make modifications to your live operating system that will persist after you reboot. This essentially lets you carry your own personalized Fedora with you at all times. (Note: only works with Fedora 9)
* SHA1 checksum verification of known releases, to ensure that you've downloaded the correct bits
* Works in Windows and Linux.

Stokstert

09-09-2008, 09:54 PM

Don't know if mentioned before and have not tried it myself yet!!

As Partition Magic alternative, EASEUS Partition Manager Home Edition is a FREE comprehensive hard disk partition management tool to let you enjoy for free with the reliable partitioning software to Resize and Move partitions, Create, Delete and Format partitions, Hide and unhide partitions and much more. What's more, EASEUS Partition Manager works perfectly with hardware RAID. Your data is completely protected during all operations.

http://www.partition-tool.com/

also

Super Fdisk is the free DOS version of EASEUS Partition Manager. With Super Fdisk you can quickly and easily create, delete, format partitions in DOS system.

and

Super Fdisk Bootable CD is a free ISO version of Super Fdisk, which has the same functions as Super Fdisk. You can burn it into CD/DVD to guide the boot of system. This Super Fdisk Bootable CD is used for booting to repartition hard drive.

http://www.ptdd.com/manual2.htm

Garyvdh

11-09-2008, 04:24 PM

Nice One thanks... I have added it to the list on the first page!

Here is a list of OS OSes... Open Source Operating Systems...

I know this is mainly a windows thread... but there is a lot here worth looking at...

http://www.zentu.net/oss/?q=forum/1

Great compilation of all the distros and some recovery software as well! :)

Garyvdh

11-09-2008, 06:39 PM

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/247676/Canadian_Software_Lets_You_Turn_One_Computer_Into_ Two_Completely_Free

Canadian Software Lets You Turn One Computer Into Two, Completely Free

Using software created by an Alberta company, you can get a second computer in your house this holiday season free. In fact, the software is capable of splitting your PC into 10, saving you money and saving the environment at the same time.

Digital Journal -- Canadian company Userful is now giving away its Desktop Multiplier software to anyone who wants an extra PC free.

The software turns one computer into many, allowing a single computer box to support multiple users at the same time. All you need to do is connect an extra monitor, USB keyboard and mouse to your run-of-the-mill computer box, and the Desktop Multiplier software will make it possible for two people to work on the same PC at the same time.

The reason Userful is giving away its software is to prove an environmental point and show just how much "un-tapped value lies hidden in today's desktop PCs," as their company press release reads.

Get the Free two user version here...

http://www2.userful.com/products/downloads/free-2-user

Stokstert

12-09-2008, 02:27 PM

Extract from authors site:

Partition Find & Mount implements a new concept of deleted or lost partition recovery. It works in the most convenient way possible — by locating and mounting partitions into the system, thus making those lost partitions available to you like any generic disk volume. Partition Find & Mount will also work in case any Boot Record (including the Master Boot Record) is missing, damaged or overwritten.

http://findandmount.com/

Garyvdh

12-09-2008, 03:20 PM

A list of the top 400 Freeware...

http://www.freeziq.com/2008/06/18/top-400-freeware-software.html

sorted by category!

Garyvdh

17-09-2008, 02:45 PM

updated the CD and DVD Burning Stuff (on the first page)....

free CD and DVD Burning software....

There are quite a few... best ones first...
http://cdburnerxp.se/
http://www.imgburn.com/
http://www.burn4free.com/download-dvd-copy-software.htm
http://www.deepburner.com/
http://www.glorylogic.com/
http://www.burnworld.com/burnoncddvd/
http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-best-free-alternatives-to-nero-cddvd-burner/

http://www.bizzntech.com/2008/03/10/10-free-cddvd-burning-softwares

http://www.instantfundas.com/2007/10/15-free-cddvd-burning-alternatives-to.html

DoISO makes ISO Images and can also burn them to disc...
http://www.ebswift.com/OpenSource/DoISO/

LightScribe Stuff...
System Software - http://www.lightscribe.com/downloadsection/windows/index.aspx?id=810
Simple Labeler - http://www.lightscribe.com/downloadSection/windows/index.aspx?id=811
Template - Labeler - http://www.lightscribe.com/downloadSection/windows/index.aspx?id=1524
SureThing CD Labeler SE - http://www.lightscribe.com/files/setup.zip

LightScribe Templates...
http://gallery.medea.co.uk/index.php?cat=33

Garyvdh

23-09-2008, 08:30 PM

An excellent collection of Utilities on this guy's site...

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/index.html

Password recovery tools
Network Monitoring Tools
Web Browser Tools
Video/Audio Tools
Internet Tools
Command Line Tools
Desktop Tools
Programmer's Tools
System Utlities and Other Utilities

Garyvdh

26-09-2008, 11:32 AM

http://www.shivaranjan.com/2008/09/22/free-studio-the-ultimate-free-swiss-army-knife-for-audio-and-video-files/

Free Studio: The Ultimate Free Swiss Army Knife for Audio and Video Files

Free Studio is a ultimate all in one audio and video tools collections that includes 20 tools. Using Free studio you can copy, burn, backup and convert DVD video. Join/merge, split, convert, download & burn audio and video files. The Free Studio is a converter using which you can covert videos to PSP, iPhone, iPod and mobile phone formats.

Wow! Looks interesting... anyone wanna do a review for us?

Here's the home page for the software...

http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm

Garyvdh

26-09-2008, 12:18 PM

InfoFind is a Program that gathers much information in one place on your computer and allows you to perform centralised tasks.

Edit: NOT A FREE PROGRAM! Most features in InfoFind are free, however some features are only enabled after purchasing InfoFind’s software key. ($50.00)

http://www.omnicognic.com/

Why use InfoFind

When computers are featured in movies people are able to use them to find information instantly, however in reality it often takes a long time to find information or create and edit documents. InfoFind improves your computer experience because InfoFind organizes a variety of files and data from different programs into one easy to use program, and InfoFind allows you to do many difficult computer tasks with ease.
What's hidden on your Computer?

When you browse the Internet or open a file, your computer saves a history of all your actions. Some of the history can be viewed but some of the history is hidden and cannot be accessed with standard programs. Find out what's on yours by downloading and installing InfoFind. You can even use InfoFind to see history for other users on your computer.
InfoFind

A Few Features of InfoFind

* Ability to View and Clear a Computer's History
* Look up words with InfoFind's Dictionary
* Convert between Metric, Imperial, and Traditional Units
* Perform Advanced Calculations with one of many Calculators
* File and Text Encryption
* File Management, File Viewing, and File Editing
* Creating Drawings and Sketches with a Tablet PC
* View Pictures, Images, and Create Web Page Slide Shows
* Organize and Play all of your Music, and Videos with one Program
* View and Edit all Popular Database Formats
* Easily Create Databases Applications at Home or at Work
* Computer Security Help

Garyvdh

26-09-2008, 12:48 PM

http://www.teknobites.com/2008/08/22/microsoft-releases-free-virtual-desktop-manager-for-windows/

Microsoft Releases Free Virtual Desktop Manager for Windows

Microsoft’s sysinternals team has released a useful software utility for Windows called Desktops that allows you to have four virtual desktops at the same time. You can use the virtual desktops feature to run multiple applications at the same time with out cluttering your desktop.

From the MS Technet Website...

Desktops allows you to organize your applications on up to four virtual desktops. Read email on one, browse the web on the second, and do work in your productivity software on the third, without the clutter of the windows you’re not using. After you configure hotkeys for switching desktops, you can create and switch desktops either by clicking on the tray icon to open a desktop preview and switching window, or by using the hotkeys.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc817881.aspx

http://www.ixibo.com/index.php/2008/10/12/windows-xp-secrets-discover-3-hidden-desktops/

Garyvdh

30-09-2008, 10:12 AM

http://mintywhite.com/tech/best-of/best-windows-freebies-and-guides-06-september-2008/

a ton of Wallpapers, Dual Monitor wallpapers, Icons, Screen Savers, etc.

Very nice collection!

Garyvdh

01-10-2008, 08:02 PM

AllPlayer is a new multi-function Media Player...

http://allplayer.org/index_en.htm

Plays ALL formats
One player for ALL known formats including MKV, DivX, Xvid, Flash, QuickTime, DVD, MP3, FLAC files

Subtitles Monster
Has built in connection to Opensubtitle.org which enables you to watch movies with instant subtitles

Subtitle Speaker
This new function allows your kids to hear subtitles. This cutting edge technology is provided by Ivona

Converter ALLtoAVI
This easy to use converter tool enables you to turn your MKV and other formats to DivX for easy playback on your DVD/DivX device

Garyvdh

02-10-2008, 04:01 PM

http://www.instantfundas.com/2008/02/8-sleek-alttab-replacements-for-windows.html

8 sleek Alt+Tab replacements for Windows ...

You must be aware of the task switching utility available on Windows that can be accessed by the key combination Alt+Tab. Except the one on Vista- the Flip 3D, the task switching on Windows XP is so plain boring. So dump the inbuilt Windows tool and use any of the following alternatives to spice of the looks as well as improve it's functionality.

wayne.i

08-10-2008, 09:40 AM

i would like to know where i can download education games for my kids so i can put on cd and send to school for them

Garyvdh

08-10-2008, 02:44 PM

i would like to know where i can download education games for my kids so i can put on cd and send to school for them

Wayne, PM me your details and I will put you in touch with the people who provide the software for the schools. While not free, it is cheap and top rated educational stuff.

If you are still looking for freeware then I will make up a list for you here and post it next week (I am on holiday at the moment). :p

Cheers,
G.

Garyvdh

10-10-2008, 08:18 PM

I need to do a section on Free Browsers...

But if you have not yet got the new Google Chrome Browser... get it here...

http://www.google.com/chrome

and then..... Blinging your Chrome...

http://blogote.com/2008/featured-article/google-chrome-with-firefox-addon.html

It came, it saw and it conquered.Google Chrome has been said as the most potential browser, though it has been criticized for lack of support of plugins or so called addons.We all like Firefox browser cause it has AdBlock, Gmail This, Stumble and what not! However, you can still get these firefox addon/extension type features on Chrome browser by using some smart bookmarklets

DDV TECH

10-10-2008, 09:28 PM

Thanks Gary, I’ve been downloading some of the stuff you posted and I must say, very handy, thank you for this contribution. Keep up the good work.

Garyvdh

10-10-2008, 09:34 PM

Thanks Gary, I’ve been downloading some of the stuff you posted and I must say, very handy, thank you for this contribution. Keep up the good work.

hehe... you are welcome. I am glad somebody is using it! :)

DDV TECH

10-10-2008, 09:42 PM

hehe... you are welcome. I am glad somebody is using it! :)

I would imagine a lot of people are…. Well if not, their loss then. :)

Garyvdh

12-10-2008, 10:59 PM

http://www.technixupdate.com/how-to-locate-your-stolen-laptop-computer-with-locatepc/

How to Locate your stolen laptop computer with LocatePC

The worst may happen someone when their computer gets stolen and when its stolen then possibly their is no way to get it back, or to track where it is.

LocatePC is FREE software which lets you track and finally get back your stolen computer or laptop back to you. LocatePC sends you a secret email message from your stolen computer or laptop with some crucial information.

The crucial information will help to you to contact the law enforcement agencies to track the stolen computer and help you get your stolen computer.

Let’s see how can you protect your computer with LocatePC

LocatePC works almost with all the operating system, but you will need to set up your email account so that it works with LocatePC. LocatePC runs successfully on Vista/XP/ME/98.

Let’s see how can you configure LocatePC on your computer

Unfortunately it does not help much if the thief immediately formats your hard disk... he has to connect to the internet for this to work... but it is one more level of security and it won't hurt to use it....

http://iconico.com/download.aspx?app=LocatePC

Garyvdh

12-10-2008, 11:24 PM

i would like to know where i can download education games for my kids so i can put on cd and send to school for them

http://www.sugarlabs.org/go/Main_Page

Sugar reinvents how computers can be used for education. Sugar provides a simple yet powerful means of engaging young children in the world of learning that is opened up by computing and the Internet. Sugar promotes sharing, collaborative learning, and reflection. Through Sugar's clarity of design, children and their teachers use computation on their own terms; they are free to reshape, reinvent, and reapply both software and content into powerful learning activities. Sugar is a community project; it is based on GNU/Linux, a free and open-source operating system.

As far as kids educational games go... there are plenty of pages...

http://www.google.co.za/search?q=free+educational+kids+games&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

BUT... the problem is... not many of them are downloadable.

There is a solution though... if the game is a FLASH based game... you might be able to save it off the website and play it offline.

Save the entire website and then look for a file that has an extension SWF

Then use one of these free SWF players to play the game offline...

http://www.globfx.com/products/swfplayer/
http://www.eolsoft.com/freeware/flash_movie_player/
http://www.download.com/SWF-FLV-Player/3000-2139_4-10729016.html
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Video-Players/SWF-Opener.shtml

You will have to do some experimentation to see which games (and which players) will work offline... but I have had an 80% success rate with saving SWF games for offline play.

mercurial

13-10-2008, 07:27 AM

Check out mlin.net (mlin.net) and www.roadkil.net for some really nice free apps.

Garyvdh

14-10-2008, 06:39 PM

Here's one for all you poor sods who have to use Vista... :p

http://techie-buzz.com/featured/start-plus-plus-adds-kick-ass-features-to-windows-vista-start-menu.html

The Windows Vista start menu has definitely become quite useful, with the ability to search. Start++ pimps up the start menu and adds in some cool new features, which makes the start menu a one-stop place for finding weather updates, displaying your Google calendar agenda, viewing top stories in Digg and also the ability to send a tweet to twitter right from the start menu.

In addition to the features above you can also search the web directly by starting searches using keywords such as g for Google, y for Yahoo, l for Live search, w for Wikipedia and so on.

http://brandontools.com/content/StartPlusPlus.aspx

bdt

20-10-2008, 11:54 AM

Reposted here from Freeware webcam app well worth getting (http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=141009), for posterity. :p

I've just trialled MJPEG Surveillance 2.0 (http://www.brooksyounce.com/soft/mjpeg.htm) and man is it a real li'l beauty!

First, about: (sic: he's a programmer, not a writer)
* Designed to record video from a few, to hundreds of IP cameras simultaneously.
* Chase Playback Supported! You can playback videos while they are still being recorded!
* File Converted Included, to convert your MJPEG videos to Divx, WMV, MPEG4, IV50, and more!
* Extremely Low Processor and Memory Usage! Even when using with multiple cameras simultaneously.
* Motion Detection for motion activated recording.
* Video View dialog allows you to see in real-time what's going on.
* Motion Detection algorithm will highlight motion area on video dialog in real-time.
* Customizable Motion Detection Grid, with the ability to X out areas which motion should be ignored.
* Automatic Video Recycling, which records over the oldest videos first (weekly, monthly, yearly, ect!).
* Video Player has easy editing features so you can extract video clips from larger videos.
* Easily Extract single frames from videos in JPG format.
* Compatible with most types of IP cameras!
* Extracts video from IP cameras which use Server push methods, and static JPG links. The host I have it running on is a 32bit AMD 2400+ with 512MB RAM & through an el-cheapo Logitech QuickCam Messenger and it works a charm:
- the app starts up reliably on machine restart
- as said above it's TINY ..the .exe you install weighs in at a paltry 323KB
- it flips over from day to day, as advertised
- it happily saves the MJPEG stream onto a network share: I have the files being saved to the %network.server%\public\cam folder for anyone on the network to have a look-see who's coming into the office.
- installing the app on other machines around the network gives you access to the .mjpeg files for reliable playback of the (current) file ..amazing to see something that's said to work actually DO so!
- and it IS actually free: no trial/nag/hidden gotcha

...consider how handy this is for having a camera on the front door to an office that everyone can see. This puppy is definitely here to stay in my tools archive.

Garyvdh

21-10-2008, 01:50 PM

thanks BDT!!! :)

Ziff Davis lists ten free Security Utilities you should all be using...
(added to the security list on the front page)

http://content.zdnet.com/2346-12691_22-95490-1.html

Garyvdh

22-10-2008, 01:11 PM

http://icofx.ro/

IcoFX is an award winning freeware icon editor. It is an all-in-one solution for icon creation, extraction and editing. It is designed to work with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Macintosh icons supporting transparency.

With a wealth of tools and more than 40 effects at your fingertips, there’s virtually no limit to the icons you can create. You can easily convert your favorite images into icons, or icons into images. IcoFX gives you the possibility to create icon libraries or change icons inside exe files. Create a favicon for your website or blog.

Convert your Macintosh icons to Windows icons and vice versa. With IcoFX you can extract icons from other files, including Windows Vista and Macintosh files. You can easily work with multiple files using the batch processing capability of IcoFX.

Stokstert

23-10-2008, 10:34 PM

I did a search on this thread but could not find a previous reference, pardon me if it was mentioned before.;)

The question for network traffic software is raised often on MBB forums and this might be interesting. I have not tried it myself but the following short description seems promising and it's free.

NetWorx is an award-winning tool from SoftPerfect Research LLC, which provides an accurate account of the data which is flowing through your computer's network connection at any given moment. This readout is presented in both numeric and graphic format, in real time. NetWorx includes extensive logging facility, flexible events system, and more. It supports Windows 98/NT4/2000 and XP. NetWorx works with virtually all types of network connections: phone modems, DSL, cable modem, LAN, satellite, and more.

By Mayor Geeks:

http://majorgeeks.com/Networx_d2528.html

Or the authors site:

http://www.softperfect.com/products/networx/

There are other interesting software titles on the Softperfect homepage:

http://www.softperfect.com/

Garyvdh

24-10-2008, 03:50 PM

nice little collection of free Apps... you might find something you like here...

http://www.mystercrowley.com/software_en.php

# FreshIP

# BossMode

# CalcFire

# QuickLaunchLink

# ShutDown Suite

# NumLocker

# Ejector

# DriveXplorer

# Parameter Spy

# Portabilizer

# Phlox

# 7zipSilencer

# GIMPminimizer

# GameMinimizer

# SuperCharger

# DosGameBox

# FlashOffliner

# AeroMaxxed

# AeroDesktop

# GamepadMania

# Tray Icon Manikin

# SlowMousion

# KeyboardLink

# PortableDock

# UPXcmd

Garyvdh

25-10-2008, 05:43 PM

http://earthclock.xentax.com/

What is it?

EarthClock displays a realtime view of the earth, and overlays a clock. It's fully skinnable. Focus it on your city and watch the night slowly move in. Focus it on other cities to see what's up. It's like a gift to your desktop. It's also free.

Download....

http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/earthclock/EarthClock14.exe?download

mustangsa

25-10-2008, 06:12 PM

this looks great

waynegohl

25-10-2008, 06:28 PM

how do i get cape town on the clock?

Garyvdh

25-10-2008, 06:42 PM

how do i get cape town on the clock?

use this location for Cape Town...

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth?img=learth.evif&imgsize=320&dynimg=y&opt=-l&lat=325.262&ns=North&lon=340.538&ew=West&alt=&tle=&date=0&utc=&jd=

waynegohl

25-10-2008, 06:48 PM

use this location for Cape Town...

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth?img=learth.evif&imgsize=320&dynimg=y&opt=-l&lat=325.262&ns=North&lon=340.538&ew=West&alt=&tle=&date=0&utc=&jd=

wow, thanks man, much appreciated i like this.

Garyvdh

25-10-2008, 07:26 PM

wow, thanks man, much appreciated i like this.

Yep! me too!

you can actually customise the look of the map however you want by playing around with the settings at this site...

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth?imgsize=320&opt=-l&lat=333.833&ns=North&lon=331.967&ew=West&alt=1000000&img=learth.evif

when you have the view you like... just swap the latitude and longitude with those in the link you currently have.

Garyvdh

25-10-2008, 07:28 PM

http://www.fusionmedia.org/index.php?inc=main

What is fusion?
fusion is the smallest fully-featured media player available! It is based on DirectShow© and features all the latest audio and video formats, if the appropriate codecs have been installed. fusion is free and doesn't contain any spyware or spam.

waynegohl

25-10-2008, 07:31 PM

Yep! me too!

you can actually customise the look of the map however you want by playing around with the settings at this site...

http://www.fourmilab.ch/cgi-bin/Earth?imgsize=320&opt=-l&lat=333.833&ns=North&lon=331.967&ew=West&alt=1000000&img=learth.evif

when you have the view you like... just swap the latitude and longitude with those in the link you currently have.

hey cool i will play around with the settings as soon as i have finished converting one of my music dvds as the computer is sooooooooo slooooowwww.

Joe_M

25-10-2008, 08:22 PM

thnx guys for reviving this thread I have been searching for sites like these for projects I am currently working on.

Garyvdh

27-10-2008, 11:11 AM

http://www.rocketdivision.com/starburn.html

Grab and burn any CD or DVD, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD media.

StarBurn (100% based on StarBurn SDK) is a powerful tool for grabbing, burning and mastering CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media. StarBurn supports all types of optical storage media (including CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE, HD-DVD-R/RW and DVD-RAM) as well as a wide variety of burning hardware.

With StarBurn you can perform grabbing, copying and burning operations as well as advanced DVD authoring and mastering. These advanced features enable you to create DVD-Video content from custom video files, or compilations from other DVDs. Additionally with the DVD Splitting Wizard you can split DVD-Video discs into smaller parts and burn them to DVD writable discs or share them with the StarPort DVD-ROM emulator and watch DVD video directly on your PC. This enables you to create copies of 8.5 GB dual layer DVDs with just a few mouse clicks.

StarBurn is easy to learn and to use. In addition to advanced DVD authoring and mastering features StarBurn offers a number of step-by-step wizards for novice users.

StarBurn has a Quick Start Wizard that provides to simplify frequently used operations such as disc copying, grabbing and splitting DVDs.

...The paid version simply adds network functionality!

Garyvdh

31-10-2008, 02:29 PM

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/09/29/6-must-have-replacement-tools-when-fixing-a-computer-infected-by-virus/

Sometimes when a virus hits your system in can kill many of your most important Windows system tools. These six tools allow you access to your system again in ways that the the Virus cannot prevent....

When a good and powerful virus infects a computer, most likely it will disable you from running Task Manager (taskmgr.exe), Registry Editor (regedit.exe), Command Prompt (cmd.exe), System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe), configuring Folder Options and hide the Run from Start Menu. Reason the virus does that is because most of the time it is “possible” for computer experts to remove the virus by using the built-in Windows programs without any third party tools.
But if you can’t run Task Manager, you cannot end the suspicious process. You could use the taskkill command in command prompt to kill the process but again you won’t be able to do that if CMD has been disabled. Perhaps you can run msconfig to stop the virus from auto startup but also cannot because of the virus. For advance computer users who has knowledge in registry and thought that they could manually remove the virus auto startup entries there, they too can’t do anything about it if regedit has been disabled. Disabling of Folder Options is to stop you from setting your computer to display hidden and system files. This way you can’t see the virus file and hence you won’t be able to delete them.

It is easy to re-enable all those tools back by modifying some values in your registry but if the is still virus active in your computer, the restrictions will be restored back. So for emergency cases, here are some replacement tools you can use to replace the disabled Windows tools.

waynegohl

01-11-2008, 07:05 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commercial_games_released_as_freeware

hi Garyvdh

how does this site work. can these games be downloaded and if so how?
sorry for asking but i was not sure what i must look for if i can download them.

Garyvdh

01-11-2008, 08:59 PM

hi Garyvdh

how does this site work. can these games be downloaded and if so how?
sorry for asking but i was not sure what i must look for if i can download them.

Scroll down the list and when you see a game you want, click to open it in a new window. It will open another Wikipedia page for that game only. Scroll down to the bottom and look for a link under the "External Links" section. That will take you to the game developers or owners page, and you can download it from there.

If you come across a huge sized game, let me know cos there is a good chance I already have it downloaded and we might be able to save bandwidth by swapping DVDs in the mail or however.

waynegohl

02-11-2008, 07:12 AM

Scroll down the list and when you see a game you want, click to open it in a new window. It will open another Wikipedia page for that game only. Scroll down to the bottom and look for a link under the "External Links" section. That will take you to the game developers or owners page, and you can download it from there.

If you come across a huge sized game, let me know cos there is a good chance I already have it downloaded and we might be able to save bandwidth by swapping DVDs in the mail or however.

ahhh thanks i will try it out, i am looking for a game where you create civilizations and stuff like that.

thanks man

wayne

charlh

02-11-2008, 07:49 AM

http://www.dvdsmith.com/

Somebody want to review this for us? Is it any easier than Fair Use Wizard?

Seeing as no one has done this yet, I took it upon myself to test the software, and attempt to do a review;)

I downloaded and installed it this morning. A very basic program. The only choices you have are whether to rip the main movie, or the whole DVD, and where you want the files to be saved. No choice to rip to ISO image etc (like dvd decrypter). Only one click, and your DVD gets ripped. No files are modified, so you will still have to use a different program to compress the movie (Fair Use Wizard!) or DVDShrink.
I won't be using this one much though, I prefer DVD Decrypter.

Just my Zim$2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.00 worth

waynegohl

02-11-2008, 07:50 AM

Carguards

02-11-2008, 08:41 AM

A portable app that will play media files (FLV, AVI, WMV, etc) as a portable app off a memory stick. Would also be nice if it leaves not windows history etc

plazma

02-11-2008, 12:40 PM

http://www.mediachance.com/free/index.html

This site includes, among others, the famous Oscar's Multimonitor taskbar util, an absolute must-have if you're running multiple monitors.

Garyvdh

02-11-2008, 01:05 PM

Seeing as no one has done this yet, I took it upon myself to test the software, and attempt to do a review;)

I downloaded and installed it this morning. A very basic program. The only choices you have are whether to rip the main movie, or the whole DVD, and where you want the files to be saved. No choice to rip to ISO image etc (like dvd decrypter). Only one click, and your DVD gets ripped. No files are modified, so you will still have to use a different program to compress the movie (Fair Use Wizard!) or DVDShrink.
I won't be using this one much though, I prefer DVD Decrypter.

Just my Zim$2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.00 worth

Thanks Charl!

We appreciate it! :)

Garyvdh

02-11-2008, 01:07 PM

Garyvdh with regards to games, is there anyway that a person can see how big the games are before we attempt to download them. i know once you get the download box it tells you how big it is and how long it will take but i thought maybe there is a site like the one we were talking about but with the size of the game on the first page too.

we download our games from this site http://www.mostfun.com/GamesByPopularity.aspx so is there something similiar and quicker?

Yes, I use a site called http://www.findfiles.com/

If you type in the name of the file there it will usually show you a list of download links as well as sizes. It helps to check that there are not different versions of the same file floating around.

waynegohl

02-11-2008, 01:08 PM

Yes, I use a site called http://www.findfiles.com/

If you type in the name of the file there it will usually show you a list of download links as well as sizes. It helps to check that there are not different versions of the same file floating around.

ahh cool thanks.

Garyvdh

02-11-2008, 03:21 PM

A portable app that will play media files (FLV, AVI, WMV, etc) as a portable app off a memory stick. Would also be nice if it leaves not windows history etc

Try this one...

The best is VLC Portable... but it does leave one folder on your system. :(

http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/vlc_portable

Garyvdh

02-11-2008, 03:41 PM

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-free-media-converters-for-windows/

As technology progresses, numerous different types of media, and thus new file formats, emerge. This can pose a problem, though. With audio formats ranging from AIFF to WAV, trying to listen to music or even watch videos on your computer can become difficult and possibly tedious.

Today, I will show you some of the top free media converters for Windows to allow you be able to use all your media.

jacqvt

02-11-2008, 05:47 PM

Hey all, anyone know of a program or something I can use to make calendars? I see a lot of calendars with photos in shops, but would like to make my own, just for the fun. Any ideas?

Garyvdh

02-11-2008, 09:56 PM

Hmmm... Try this one for starters.

http://www.download.com/Easy-Calendar-Maker/3000-2124_4-10256865.html

Garyvdh

02-11-2008, 11:10 PM

http://www.jingproject.com/

The concept of Jing is the always-ready program that instantly captures and shares images and video…from your computer to anywhere.

Try it, you’ll like it. It's free.

riscbroker

03-11-2008, 08:45 AM

Garyvdh

03-11-2008, 08:59 AM

Hi Garyvdh, you seem to be on top of things so maybe you can help. I'm looking for an OS or freeware application to run on XP for the sole purpose of designing clock faces ie ability to introduce and change font type and size for the numerals, use an image as a background, specify overall diameter/size etc etc. I googled this pretty extensively, the only site that looked promising has been down for a few weeks now. Other options seem to be Adobe and similar packages at an exorbitant price. I believe that what I need is software with vector capabilities? Would GIMP do it?

Gimp would be more like Photoshop, and I think it would do a more than adequate job. There are thousands of Gimp Tutorials on the web.

But if you are looking for Vector Capabilities I would rather go for InkScape...

http://www.inkscape.org/

About Inkscape
An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.

Inkscape supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and great care is taken in designing a streamlined interface. It is very easy to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps and much more. We also aim to maintain a thriving user and developer community by using open, community-oriented development.

Hope that works for you! :)