PC Freeware Utilities index

[Sureboss]

Having experienced the wonderful Open Office I believe we should have a thread dedicated to shareware software. Obviously, the shareware that is legal. What do you use? Recommendations?

My shareware products:

Laptop:

Open Office
Mozilla Firefox
Spybot S&D

Home PC:

Mozilla Firefox
Spybot S&D
ZoneAlarm

I think that's it...

I love the autocorrection feature on Open Office.



Index

Open Office
Firefox
Spybot S&D
ZoneAlarm
CCleaner
PC Wizard
CPU-Z
I'm Too Way MP3-WAV Converter
RegSeeker
cladDVD .NET
PS3 Video 9
Dr. Divx
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
Adium
Camino
skype
iSquint
Audacity
AVG
Trackmania
Picasa
Adblock
Daemon tools
UltraVNC
VLC player
Alcohol 52%
Tweak UI
Gimp
Download Accelerator Plus - Pretty self explanatory. Provides multiple connections for faster downloads.
Stellarium - a must have for anyone remotely interested in space, planets, stars, etc.


Thanks to TB for the Index list.

 

[Solid Lifters]

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) For erasing cookies, web history, temporary internet files, registry cleaner, etc.

PC Wizard 2008 System and hardware info which includes component temperatures, fan speeds, driver details, etc.

CPU-Z 149 For CPU, motherboard, memory and system details.

I'm Too Way MP3-WAV Converter Audio Format converter.

RegSeeker Registry Cleaner (Don't use much thanks to CCleaner)

cladDVD .NET 3.5.6 Copies DVDs to HDD. (Not sure if it's legal or not, but I only use it to store movies on my HDD.)

Red Kawa PS3 Video 9 Converts any video format types to MPEG 4 HD quality video for the PS3. (I had bad horizontal lines in some videos, though, so it ain't perfect.)

Added...

Dr. Divx A better, similar version of PS3 Video 9. Give this one a shot! It's not fantastic, but it is very decent. Only problem is, it converts files to .divx video files, but the PS3 plays them just fine.

 

[DQuaN]

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, i've found to be fantastic at removing nasty files from my computer. Even better that Spybot!

 

[Jondot]

I've got a ton of stuff. Adium, Camino, Skype, Last.fm, something called iSquint (converts YouTube FLV files to .mp4), Audacity, and a ton of widgets in my dashboard.

For the record, I think you actually mean Freeware. Shareware is software that requires a license but is available for free on a temporary basis. Like a free trial that expires after 15 days is shareware. Firefox, OpenOffice etc are freeware (i.e, it's free forever)

 

[Sureboss]

Is it? I didn't know that difference.

 

[crooky369]

Avg free edition
Trackmania nations
Picasa
Adblock+
Daemon tools
Astray
UltraVNC
VLCplayer
Alchohol 52% free edition
Tweak UI

All free and all great.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Add the following...

Dr. Divx Video .divx encoder that can make decent 1080HD 16:9 aspect ratio videos from SD 4:3 MP4 or .vob video files. I haven't tried any other file types, though.

I think this will replace Red Kawa PS3 Video 9.

 

[nick09]

You can't forget the Gimp. One of the best alternatives for photoshop out there.

EDIT: Sold Lifters, I believe the Dr. Dvix can convert from every codec out there but I'm not sure. It also converts from .AVI files nicely.

 

[TB]

It probably wouldn't hurt to have links to the various programs mentioned:

Open Office
Firefox
Spybot S&D
ZoneAlarm
CCleaner
PC Wizard
CPU-Z
I'm Too Way MP3-WAV Converter
RegSeeker
cladDVD .NET
PS3 Video 9
Dr. Divx
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
Adium
Camino
skype
iSquint
Audacity
AVG
Trackmania
Picasa
Adblock
Daemon tools
UltraVNC
VLC player
Alcohol 52%
Tweak UI
Gimp

Google just got one hell of a workout!

I left out last.fm as I don't think it's software, is it? Also, I'm not sure what Astray is.

If any of the links don't work, are pointing to the wrong thing, etc., let me know and I'll change it. 👍

Edit: In going through my list of programs (have a fair number of the ones already listed) I also have installed:
Download Accelerator Plus - Pretty self explanatory. Provides multiple connections for faster downloads.
Stellarium - a must have for anyone remotely interested in space, planets, stars, etc.

There might be others, in fact I'm sure there are others, and I'll post them as I come across/remember them.

 

[crooky369]

astray lets your screen use resolutions it wouldnt normally be able to display its useful for netbooks when playing games, namely football manager 09 as it only supports resolutions of 1024x768 or above when the resolution on most netbooks is 1024x600.

 

[nick09]

Last.fm does have a program here and down in the Do More section it has stuff for a ipod and more.

 

[Eric.]

Uh...?

Sticky.

 

[nick09]

Well that is for tweaking Windows, not a list of various freeware for many to use.

Oh yeah I forgot to add in Songbird, its a great media player and has support for ipod management through a plugin. It's a good alternative for iTunes, which is also freeware.

 

[hamstrings]

7-zip file archiver
The Unarchiver Macintosh unarchiver
Google Earth
Mozilla Thunderbird no-frills e-mail
Smell-O-Mints Macintosh periodic table of elements
TeraCopy for reliable file copying

The thread title should be changed to reflect all freeware, not just utilities.

 

[nk4e]

That's alot of freeware though. Utilities would be easier because its mainly user friendly and it works. ( like a recommendation program)
Advanced SystemCare Free is a good one, though it somewhat doesn't clean as well as Ccleaner.

 

[hamstrings]

If it's utilities, then why are web browsers, image manipulation apps, media players, VoIP apps, and office productivity suites being included in the list?

I personally don't clean the registry. If something's really messed, then I get personal with regedt32.exe.

 

[nk4e]

But then again...there is the Tweaking Windows thread that Eric. Mentioned.

 

[Sureboss]

Uh...?

Sticky.

Ah. Thread title isn't obvious enough, I don't think.

 

[Greycap]

Nobody found IZArc yet? One more free archive program.

 

[Omnis]

There's Inkscape as an alternative to Illustrator.

 

[Turbo Lag]

Media Player Classic

 

[Solid Lifters]

I think I'm having a problem with Any Video Converter, but need for somebody to test a clip for me, just to make sure it's not my PC. The audio loses sync with the video. Plus, the video quality ain't that great, either. It looks fine for a brief while, then I get a lot of dot crawl that clears up pretty quickly.

The video clip is the intro to Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, so those easily offended by silly humor that this movie offers should just skip it.

You can watch here... http://vimeo.com/3209941

Also, Dr. Divx will not work at all any more. It worked once I got it, but soon after I got not one but two MS 'updates for your computer' and now it wont work. Does MS have something against DIVX? I ask because not one of their products has ever worked on my PC since I've had it.

 

[TB]

You are correct, Solid. By the time they get to Camptown Ladies, the audio is about 2 seconds off. I didn't watch any further than that.

As for Dr. Divx, does it work at all? I have it converting a video right now and it appears to be running fine. I'll let you know how it turns out when it's finished as I have had issues with it running fine and then stopping for no apparent reason.

Edit: same thing keeps happening in Dr. Divx - the audio is rrreeeaaalllyyy ssslllooowww. All conversions in AVC appear to be fine, but I'm only doing short clips. Did you try changing the A/V Sync to Default instead of Basic? Might be worth a go, at least.

Specs on my laptop are - Vista 32-bit SP1, C2D T7200 and 2 gigs of RAM.

 

[Solid Lifters]

You are correct, Solid. By the time they get to Camptown Ladies, the audio is about 2 seconds off. I didn't watch any further than that.

Dang. I was hoping it was just my PC. None of my video converters seem to be working properly. Again, you think the two MS PC updates had anything to do with it? It seems odd how they work fine before the updates, and now not at all.

As for Dr. Divx, does it work at all? I have it converting a video right now and it appears to be running fine. I'll let you know how it turns out when it's finished as I have had issues with it running fine and then stopping for no apparent reason.

It will load up and display, but while it's 'Analyzing' it crashes and I get 'Send MS Error Report' which never does me any good. Sometimes I make it past this point, but it always crashes while encoding.

Edit: same thing keeps happening in Dr. Divx - the audio is rrreeeaaalllyyy ssslllooowww. All conversions in AVC appear to be fine, but I'm only doing short clips. Did you try changing the A/V Sync to Default instead of Basic? Might be worth a go, at least.

I don't have an option to change A/V Sync at all. I only have the free version.

I wasn't happy with this when it did work, so I guess it's not something for me. But, I still would like to see what's wrong and maybe figure out how to use it as intended.

Specs on my laptop are - Vista 32-bit SP1, C2D T7200 and 2 gigs of RAM.

I'm using XP Home SP3 on a very old PC with an AMD Athlon XP @ 1.833MHz, 768MB of DDR1 PC2700 (166MHz) ram and a shared NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 video card. Pretty embarrassing, I know.

I'm trying right now to encode BS intro again and I cannot get past "Waiting, analysis" and my CPU is not even being used; it's not under any load. So, that means it's frozen without doing anything at all.

EDIT: Damn! I just got it to encode something, only to have it fail on me when it was 85% done with encoding the video. The stupid MS Error Report message popped up again, and it just shut down along with all that was completed.

I guess I'll just get rid of DIVX on account MS doesn't want me using it for some reason.

 

[nick09]

Don't use the updates then. It's best to upgrade via the service packs and leave the small updates alone. I had this happen to my Zune software before. The software claimed that the USB ports are not 2.0 and I had to stick with a ipod after I did a usb hotfix update.

Just save all your important data on a external HDD and reinstall XP. Then upgrade to SP3. You will see a performance boost since you are getting rid of all the clutter from installing and removing programs.

 

[TB]

Dang. I was hoping it was just my PC. None of my video converters seem to be working properly. Again, you think the two MS PC updates had anything to do with it? It seems odd how they work fine before the updates, and now not at all.

Might it be worth un and reinstalling Dr. Divx?

It will load up and display, but while it's 'Analyzing' it crashes and I get 'Send MS Error Report' which never does me any good. Sometimes I make it past this point, but it always crashes while encoding.

I've had it do that, too. Have you tried a different file to see if there is something about BS that it doesn't like?

I don't have an option to change A/V Sync at all. I only have the free version.

Sorry - I meant in AVC, not Dr. Divx.

I'm using XP Home SP3 on a very old PC with an AMD Athlon XP @ 1.833MHz, 768MB of DDR1 PC2700 (166MHz) ram and a shared NVIDIA GeForce FX 5100 video card. Pretty embarrassing, I know.

I could one-up that with a P2 350MHz with 384 megs of PC133 that I have for the kids!

Not that you can't do this yourself, but you can have a Dell Vostro for just under $700 (including 22" monitor). See the attached pdf for full specs.

I'm trying right now to encode BS intro ...

EDIT: Damn! I just got it to encode...

I guess I'll just get rid of DIVX...

Like I said - it might be worth a shot to reinstall it. Other than that, I'm not sure what the issue is unless Dr. Divx doesn't like the horsepower of your PC.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Don't use the updates then. It's best to upgrade via the service packs and leave the small updates alone. I had this happen to my Zune software before. The software claimed that the USB ports are not 2.0 and I had to stick with a ipod after I did a usb hotfix update.

Just save all your important data on a external HDD and reinstall XP. Then upgrade to SP3. You will see a performance boost since you are getting rid of all the clutter from installing and removing programs.

I'd love to reinstall XP. Only problem is, Compaq never gave me a Windows XP disc. I have to purchase it again, and I'm not going to do that.

Aren't all updates for security reasons? Could I be leaving my PC open to attack if I don't do updates?

Might it be worth un and reinstalling Dr. Divx?

I've had it do that, too. Have you tried a different file to see if there is something about BS that it doesn't like?

Yeah, I think I'll try downloading it again, once I get rid of it. This usually works, but not always.

The BS is a .vob file, which I thought Dr. Divx could handle. I guess I could use a different DVD ripper, but I'm not sure what's out there that works better. What ripper freeware do you use?

Sorry - I meant in AVC, not Dr. Divx.

Oh, OK.

I could one-up that with a P2 350MHz with 384 megs of PC133 that I have for the kids!

Not that you can't do this yourself, but you can have a Dell Vostro for just under $700 (including 22" monitor). See the attached pdf for full specs.

I plan to build by own PC real soon. Just waiting for prices to drop a bit and products I want or need to become more readily available.

Thanks for the tips and help! 👍

 

[crooky369]

"I'd love to reinstall XP. Only problem is, Compaq never gave me a Windows XP disc. I have to purchase it again, and I'm not going to do that."

I always thought that as you had bought the "license" for XP, then you could just borrow a friends disc and then use the product key on the windows sticker on your pc.

Can someone clarify this?

 

[nk4e]

"I'd love to reinstall XP. Only problem is, Compaq never gave me a Windows XP disc. I have to purchase it again, and I'm not going to do that."

I always thought that as you had bought the "license" for XP, then you could just borrow a friends disc and then use the product key on the windows sticker on your pc.

Can someone clarify this?

If you actually read the licensing issue. You basically have one computer to install on and that one computer may be guaranteed that one copy of Windows XP if something happens. I believe that's why certain companies lend out Recovery Disks for Laptops or Personal computers.

 

[Aldo]

sorry but what is Gimp?