Best freeware for Windows?

[DragnFly]

I have been thinking, everybody here I am sure uses some free software. I do, and it seems most others do as well.

 

An idea I had, which I have done elsewhere before, is to share the the knowledge. I figured it would be interesting and useful to share a list of some free software that I use. Then others can reply with a list of the freebies that they use. This way, maybe we can all find some good software.

 

Basically, this is a post for freeware/open source software. No commercial software, shareware, or spyware type stuff should be posted.

 

 

 

Advanced Text Editor: ConTEXT

Location: http://www.contexteditor.org/

 

Adware/Spyware Scanner: Ad-Aware, Spybot and Microsoft Security Essentials:

Location: http://www.lavasoft.com/

Location: http://www.safer-networking.org/index2.html

Location: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials

 

Antivirus: AVG Free

Location: http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage

 

Audio Player: WinAmp & Songbird

Location: http://www.winamp.com/

Location: http://www.getsongbird.com/

 

Audio Ripper: Exact Audio Copy

Location: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

 

BitTorrent Client: uTorrent

Location: http://www.utorrent.com/

 

CD Burner: CDBurnerXP & Burrrn

Location: http://cdburnerxp.se/

Location: http://www.burrrn.net/

 

CD Image Burner: ImgBurn & CDMage

Location: http://www.imgburn.com/

Location: http://cdmage.orconhosting.net.nz/frames.html

 

Codec Pack: Combined Community Codec Pack

Location: http://www.cccp-project.net/

 

Codecs (individual): LAME and FLAC

Location: http://rarewares.org/mp3.php

Location: http://flac.sourceforge.net/

 

Email Program: Thunderbird & Foxmail

Location: http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/

Location: http://fox.foxmail.com.cn/ (chinese website. can download it off softpedia)

 

Image Editor: Paint.NET

Location: http://www.getpaint.net/

 

Image Touchup: PhotoFiltre

Location: http://photofiltre.free.fr/

 

Image Viewer: IrfanView

Location: http://www.irfanview.com/

 

Instant Messenger: MSN/Windows Live Messenger

Location: http://download.live.com/?sku=messenger

 

IRC Client: Vortec IRC

Location: http://www.vortecirc.com/index.php

(not as good as mirc, but best free one. Similar to pirch in the old days. )

 

Miscellaneous Utility: Convert

Location: http://joshmadison.com/software/convert-for-windows/

 

Miscellaneous Utility: DVDShrink

Location: http://www.dvdshrink.org/

 

Miscellaneous Utility: MozBackup

Location: http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

 

Miscellaneous Utility: MultiRes

Location: http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/multires.shtm

 

Miscellaneous Utility: Treepad Lite & NeoMem

Location: http://www.treepad.com/

Location: http://www.neomem.org/

 

Miscellaneous Utility: TweakUI XP

Location: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx

 

Miscellaneous Utility: WinHTTrack

Location: http://www.httrack.com/

 

Miscellaneous Utility: Zune software

Location: http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/software/download/default.htm

 

Newsgroup Reader: MicroPlanet Gravity

Location: http://mpgravity.sourceforge.net/

 

Office Suite: OpenOffice

Location: http://www.openoffice.org/

 

Personal Information Manager: EssentialPIM

Location: http://www.essentialpim.com/

 

Screen Capture: Gadwin Printscreen

Location: http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/

 

Tag Editor: MP3Tag & Tag[Caution: Executable File]

Location: http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

Location: http://www.synthetic-soul.co.uk/tag/

 

Video Player: Windows Media Player & Media Player Classic Home Cinema

Location: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.mspx

Location: http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/

 

Video Screen Recorder: CamStudio

Location: http://camstudio.org/

 

Virtual Machine: Microsoft Virtual PC

Location: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/support/virtual-pc-2007.aspx

 

Web Browser: Firefox

Location: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

 

Word Processor: AbiWord

Location: http://www.abisource.com/

 

ZIP Program: 7-Zip

Location: http://www.7-zip.org/

 

 

 

This is not a complete and comprehensive list of all freeware that I have. In most cases, I listed my pick of the category. In some cases though, I listed additional programs which I find useful.

 

What all do you use?

[Hawks]

You forgot the GIMP (Image Editor) http://www.gimp.org

 

Besides that I use Firefox, which is already on your list.

[kodaxor]

Gadwin Printscreen. You press printscreen, it auto saves it to a folder. Great for taking a pic of anything, but I use it in runescape for keeping a merch log.

[The Runar]

I remember seeing a thread like this before, but it was probably on some other forum…

 

Anyway, I'm a Linux user but I know several good apps which are available on both Windows and Linux. All of these programs are open source.

 

Emacs

vim

 

Two very advanced text editors. Both have a very high learning curve, but they are the best text editors available.

 

VLC

 

A great media player. Plays music and videos and has support for almost every kind of file.

 

MPlayer

 

Another media player with an even better format support than VLC. The only video player I know of that works even without graphics (yes, it can output video as ASCII :shock: ).

 

Pidgin

 

A chat program which supports MSN, IRC, AIM etc.

 

aMSN

 

A clone of MSN Messenger, looks very similar but has more features and works on platforms other than Windows.

[Ember]

.

[The Runar]

VLC

 

A great media player. Plays music and videos and has support for almost every kind of file.

 

MPlayer

 

Another media player with an even better format support than VLC. The only video player I know of that works even without graphics (yes, it can output video as ASCII :shock: ).

You do realise that VLC can do this as well, right? ;)

 

I didn't know that, haven't used VLC much.

[Dracion1]

AVG's not very good tbh, I'd reccomend Avira Antivir Personal instead, much better at finding stuff. :thumbup:

 

Some other stuff I use:

CCleaner: http://www.ccleaner.com/ - Removes a lot of unnecessary junk from your computer and can clean up the registry very efficiently (just remember to back up first!).

Defraggler: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler - Great utility for keep your hard-drive from being fragmented, a lot faster than the default windows one.

Malware bytes: http://www.malwarebytes.org/ - Another good pieces of 'anti' software worth having.

[D. V. Devnull]

Two more for the list:

 

Media Player: FooBar 2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org)

 

Don't think I need to say much about that one. ^ ... Its' performance and features as a media player speak for themselves. ;)

 

 

Desktop Function Expansion: Taskbar Shuffle (http://nerdcave.webs.com/)

 

This handy little utility will let you rearrange your taskbar buttons in Windows XP, as well as close windows/applications via the taskbar with a middle-click. If you use FireFox, you will really feel at home with this one. It even comes with a few options on right-click of its' tray icon, and a settings panel as well. :thumbsup:

 

 

If I think of any more, I'll be sure to post them up. B)

 

~D. V. "Couldn't forget these, now could we?" Devnull

[VARN]

We could merge this topic and the other one.

 

Tucan download manager

Supported Services rapidshare.com, megaupload.com, gigasize.com, mediafire.com, 4shared.com, sendspace.com, zshare.net, filefactory.com, easy-share.com, badongo.com, depositfiles.com, hotfile.com and uploading.com

[Dax]

Media Player: FooBar 2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org)

 

Don't think I need to say much about that one. ^ ... Its' performance and features as a media player speak for themselves. ;)

 

~D. V. "Damn you're awesome" Devnull

 

Thanks. Heaps. That thing is the greatest media player I have ever seen. Ever.

 

Past that, I have nothing to contribute. Goodbye.

[dsavi]

VLC

 

A great media player. Plays music and videos and has support for almost every kind of file.

 

MPlayer

 

Another media player with an even better format support than VLC. The only video player I know of that works even without graphics (yes, it can output video as ASCII :shock: ).

You do realise that VLC can do this as well, right? ;)

But can VLC write video directly to the framebuffer so that you can watch movies without an X server? Mplayer is crazy powerful.

 

Blender - Free/Open source 3D content editor that rivals the big names like 3DS Max, Maya, Houdini and Lightwave. You can model, render, animate, create games...

http://blender.org

[Ember]

.

[The Runar]

VLC

 

A great media player. Plays music and videos and has support for almost every kind of file.

 

MPlayer

 

Another media player with an even better format support than VLC. The only video player I know of that works even without graphics (yes, it can output video as ASCII :shock: ).

You do realise that VLC can do this as well, right? ;)

But can VLC write video directly to the framebuffer so that you can watch movies without an X server? Mplayer is crazy powerful.

Actually, it can.

 

mplayer is much lighter though :) I tested with a ~20 minute video, mplayer used 24 MB ram and VLC used 41 MB (this was in X). CPU load is so low with both that it cannot really be compared.

 

I just remembered FileZilla, it's a good FTP program.

[dsavi]

Actually, it can.

I'm amazed Blender hasn't already been mentioned. :o

Yeah, kind of OT but have you seen the new UI? It's pretty sweet.

 

mplayer is much lighter though :) I tested with a ~20 minute video, mplayer used 24 MB ram and VLC used 41 MB. CPU load is so low with both that it cannot really be compared.

This, really. I can play 700mb movies on my twelve year old laptop with it.

[KIngsly]

For the screen recorder, have used CamStudio, but i don't think it is teh best one. i have tried Extra Screen Capture Pro . It is better to record what you like from your computer. :rolleyes: It can capture and record everything that happens on your computer screen .

Screen recorder: http://www.92download.com/wiki/Extra_Screen_Capture_Pro

[MerchantInTheDark]

My fav freeware is Glary Utilities, it's a junk cleaner/optimizer for windows. Always been helpful to have around!

[Mark_560]

Nice collection there, I'll add a few.

 

SUPERAntiSpyware - A free on-demand specialist malware remover. Professional version is available for real-time protection.

 

Notepad++ - Better code/text editor than ConTEXT in my opinion, but both beat Windows Notepad.

 

VirtualDub - Video editor.

 

COMODO Internet Security - Free Internet Security package, including anti-virus, a firewall and HIPS engine (Defence+). Nice anti-virus module if you have it set to the right settings, and if the anti-virus engine doesn't catch it, Defence+ will most of the time.

[Sbrideau]

I tried SuperAntiSpyware and it doesn't work. Use Malwarebytes instead.

[DragnFly]

This post was initially made with Windows software in mind. As a Windows user, I tend to know more about software available for it than other operating systems. As such, I could not give any good recommendations for those systems.

 

However, since many of you do... Feel free to add software for Mac and Linux too if you wish.

 

I recommend putting [W], [M], or [L] after the title of each program, so we will know which it works with.

 

 

While I am here, I thought I would add some additional software. In the original post, I mostly listed titles that I tend to use often. This is a more general listing of software (though I do use a few of them) that might come in handy.

 

I only listed software that was neither in the original post, nor have I seen mentioned in replies so far.

 

40tude Dialog [W] - Newsreader.

Location: http://www.40tude.com/dialog/

 

Acronis True Image WD Edition [W] - Free version of Acronis True Image for Western Digital drives.

Location: http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp?swid=119&wdc_lang=en

 

Adobe Reader [W] [M] [L] - Views PDF Files.

Location: http://get.adobe.com/reader/

 

Ant Movie Catalog [W] - Movie Catalog Software.

Location: http://www.antp.be/software/moviecatalog

 

Crimson Editor [W] - Advanced Text Editor.

Location: http://www.crimsoneditor.com/

 

DAEMON Tools Lite [W] - Mounts disc image files and creates them.

Location: http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/products/dtLite

 

DBF Explorer [W] - Program that can view and edit DBF (dbase iii) files.

Location: http://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/html/dbf_explorer.html

 

DOSBox [W] [M] [L] - DOS emulator to allow older video games to work on modern computers.

Location: http://www.dosbox.com/

 

DreamMail [W] - Email Client.

Location: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/E-mail/E-mail-Clients/DreamMail.shtml

 

Eraser [W] - Securely wipe data from drives.

Location: http://eraser.heidi.ie/

 

Foxit Reader [W] [L] - Alternative to Adobe Reader. Views PDF Files.

Location: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/

 

Free Download Manager [W] - Download Manager.

Location: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

 

Google Chrome [W] [M] [L] - Web Browser.

Location: http://www.google.com/chrome

 

KeePass [W] - Password Manager.

Location: http://keepass.info/

 

LiteStep [W] - Alternative Windows shell. Use with caution.

Location: http://www.litestep.net/

 

Messenger! Plus [W] - Addon for MSN/Windows Live Messenger that adds useful features.

Location: http://www.msgplus.net/

 

Microsoft Calculator Plus [W] - Advanced calculator software.

Location: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=32b0d059-b53a-4dc9-8265-da47f157c091&displaylang=en

 

Microsoft GIF Animator [W] - Free tool for working on animated GIF images.

Location: http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-GIF-Animator/3000-18512_4-12053.html

 

Miranda [W] - ]Multi-protocol Instant Messenger Software.

Location: http://www.miranda-im.org/

 

MRU Blaster [W] - Cleans most recently used documents on PC. Useful for shared computer.

Location: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/mrublaster.html

 

Notepad2 [W] - Notepad replacement with Syntax highlighting. Simpler than an advanced text editor.

Location: http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html

 

NVU [W] [M] [L] - WYSIWYG HTML Editor.

Location: http://net2.com/nvu/

 

Opera [W] [M] [L] - Web Browser.

Location: http://www.opera.com/

 

Password Corral [W] - Password Manager.

Location: http://www.cygnusproductions.com/freeware/pc.asp

 

Picasa [W] [M] [L] - Photo organizer/editor.

Location: http://picasa.google.com/

 

PIRCH98 [W] - IRC Client. Oldie but goodie. Recommend Vortec instead as its updated.

Location: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/Chat/IRC-Clients/PIRCH98.shtml

 

PSPad [W] - Advanced text editor.

Location: http://www.pspad.com/

 

QuickResNT [W] - Like MultiRes, an alternative to the QuickRes.

Location: http://www.sunlightd.com/Projects/QuickResNT/

 

Royale (visual style) [W] - Alternative to Luna Style.

Location: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Themes/Royale-Theme-for-WinXP.shtml

 

Safari [W] [M] - Web Browser.

Location: http://www.apple.com/safari/

 

Scribus [W] [M] [L] - Desktop Publisher.

Location: http://www.scribus.net/

 

Seagate Discwizard [W] - Free disc imaging software for Seagate drives. Based on Acronis.

Location: http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard

 

Seamonkey [W] [M] [L] - Browser suite, in the style of Netscape Communicator.

Location: http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

 

Sisimizi Game Catalog [W] - Game Catalog Software. Based on Ant Movie Catalog.

Location: http://www.sisimizi.org/

 

Skype [W] [M] [L] - Voice Chat, VOIP, Video Chat and Instant Messenger.

Location: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home

 

TeamSpeak [W] [M] [L] - Voice chat software.

Location: http://www.teamspeak.com/

 

Trillian [W] - Multi-protocol Instant Messenger Software.

Location: http://www.trillian.im/

 

Virtual CloneDrive [W] - Similar to Daemon Tools, mounts disc images.

Location: http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html

 

Virtual Desktop Manager [W] - Virtual Desktop manager.

Location: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

 

vSubst [W] - Windows alternative to subst. Creates virtual drive for folders.

Location: http://home.datacomm.ch/t.bigler/utils.html

 

X-Chat [W] - Unofficial Windows port of X-Chat IRC program. Check official site for Linux version.

Location: http://www.silverex.org/news/

 

XnView [W] [M] [L] - Another graphics viewer/converter.

Location: http://www.xnview.com/

 

Yahoo! Widgets [W] [M] (formerly konfabulator) - Widget program.

Location: http://widgets.yahoo.com/download/

 

Zune Theme (visual style) [W] - Alternative to Luna Style.

Location: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Themes/Microsoft-Zune-Theme.shtml

[Guest User]

.

[Lord Diddy]

Bumping a bit old topic here but really great links here.

 

Kudos to all that posted

[Stormfolk]

I always liked Infrarecorder (http://infrarecorder.org/) for CD/DVD burning.

[Will H]

Microsoft Security Essentials [W] - Really good antivirus for Windows XP to 7.

 

Spotify [W] - A huge free library of music. Alternatively, for a small subscription, you can also get the 'unlimited' advert-free version (which I personally use), or a 'premium' version that also allows you to use spotify on smartphones.

[noble_aloof]

Ccleaner is freeware i believe.

[Big_Stingman]

Don't know if they have been mentioned but I use Handbrake and VLC almost every day. Great programs.

 

http://handbrake.fr/

 

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

 

 

Here is a link that is pretty much this thread. Lol.

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2361876,00.asp