Free Software Picks

reply to post by Dark Ghost


Good list. I recommend Avast very highly. But admittedly, it needs to be installed properly. Turn off the Webrep, the gadget, and the sandbox, and you're good to go.

Someone mentioned AVG. You couldn't pay me to have that program on my PC. I have repaired a lot of machines because of that program. It's as bad as Norton and Mcafee are.

For a more advanced photo editing experience try GIMP

I use an add-on called GIMPshop for a more Photoshop type of feel.


Screenshot of GIMP.

I just want to add to the collection PeerBlock. I have used it for the last couple years, and works great with p2p sharing.

PeerBlock

reply to post by Klassified


Really about AVG? I have used AVG Free for years now, and I have never had an issue. I have not had a virus on any of my machines in almost 4 years since my dell laptop.

Really my only issue with AVG is it slows up my pc pretty bad when it does its scan.

Like now it just finished a scan and shows no problems, but earlier when norton tried to run, it was trying to tell me I had many errors or viruses.

Is there a different free version? That causes problems?

From my experience AVG sucks and has a lot of overhead. Almost intrusive.

You all should be getting the latest codex files as well:

K-Lite Codec Pack

Originally posted by EspyderMan
From my experience AVG sucks and has a lot of overhead. Almost intrusive.

What do you mean by that? Intrusive, how? Just curious. I am always open to change. I just haven't had any issues. Like my Dad always said, "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

reply to post by MoosKept240


If you are running more than one anti-virus, you need to get rid of one of them(Preferably Norton). You are asking for trouble. If Norton is telling you there are infections on your machine, then mostly likely there are. Allow it to clean what it finds.

The older AVG was a decent program. But once they started trying to be like Norton and Mcafee, they got themselves in trouble. Most people don't realize the problems AVG is causing until they uninstall it. On top of that, the newest versions slow the machine even more, and can cause problems with networking and internet connections. Especially when it starts shutting down ports because of a perceived threat.

In more than two decades in the computer industry, I have found that the anti-virus industry is a scam anyway. So why help them by paying them for what you can get free. It's a never ending cycle. No anti-virus is going to catch all threats. And even if it could, someone will write one or more to get around it tomorrow.

I recommend what I have or do use on my own machine, and my customers machines. And I get plenty of feedback on what works and what doesn't. Right now, Avast is the best I've found once it is properly installed and configured. Microsoft Security Essentials is decent for Windows 7 machines. But it doesn't play well with XP.

Conclusion. Run one, and only one good anti-virus. Run one, and only one anti-malware program like Malwarebytes or Super anti-spyware (both free). And one tool like Ccleaner(Use it daily). The rest is good surfing habits, and learning what not to click on, and where not to go.

Hope that helps. If i can help you further, let me know. I'll try not to be so long winded next time.

bittorrent>utorrent

wanted to say

Gimp is a pretty good Photoshop replacement for those of us who are not rich or dont want to steal

VLC
www.videolan.org...

Audacity
audacity.sourceforge.net...

Winamp
www.winamp.com...

Recuva
www.piriform.com...

Bitpim
www.bitpim.org...

Combofix
www.combofix.org...

Just bookmarking for future reference.
Thanks for this v. useful information

reply to post by Klassified


Thanks for that explanation. I have two machines. My pc is running windows 7 and my laptop is run Vista. Maybe that is why my laptop has become so slow.

As far as the clean up programs, I stopped using them a long time ago. (With my old dell laptop) because that is what cause all my problems.

Is the clean up program you are suggesting could it cause problems? My brother told me many viruses won't become active until you try and delete them.

Thanks again.

Originally posted by Dark Ghost
The following is a list of my Free Software picks. This list is intended for users of Windows, although some applications offer versions for alternative Operating Systems. While it is debatable whether each product on this list is the best in its field, there is no doubt that each ranks highly when it comes to quality and value. At the bottom of the page you will find helpful websites for finding the best free software.

Please be aware that using any of the following software is done at your own risk and neither I nor ATS can be held responsible for any system problems you might encounter if you decide to do so.

My Software Picks:
System Cleaning:
* CCleaner

I use Advanced SystemCare5 (free version)
www.iobit.com...


Features:

Scan and remove spyware and adware with the latest definition
Prevent spyware, hijackers and bad websites from being installed
Erase the history of all activities in your computer
Scan and fix invalid and improper registry entries
Detect and remove invalid startup items
Search and Clean up unused Windows garbage
Repair system configurations,
Eliminate System Bottlenecks and Prevent Crashes
Tune up Windows to improve both system and Internet performance
unleash the power of your Windows
Analyze and Show detailed information of hardware and Windows
Super Easy to Use

This software is THA BOMB! Use it all the time...used it since it came out and my PC runs awesome!

reply to post by MoosKept240


All programs "can" cause problems. But I've never had a problem with CCleaner. I use it daily, and have for years. Yes, there are some that can cause more problems than others. I don't use registry cleaners. Better to leave the registry alone. Although CCleaner's registry cleaner has never caused a problem for me, I only use it when it is truly called for.

Your brother is mostly right. There are viruses that will try to crash you're machine when you try to remove them. But inactive? Very few. If you have a virus, it's usually active, unless it has been programmed to activate on a certain date, or certain actions by the user.

Btw, if anyone wants to use ANY free software or trials for your PC or Mac, I recommend you visit.....wait for it...

WWW.MAJORGEEKS.COM

I have been downloading their stuff for a long time. Check it out

reply to post by Dark Ghost

S+F Thanks alot,posting so i can bookmark this thread!

reply to post by Dark Ghost


Some very useful software has been mentioned in this thread. I have not seen anyone post the following website so here you are:

NINITE

Very cool website for customized installation of all kinds of useful software including many reference in this post. It strips out the toolbars and bloatware and will give you the latest versions of the software in one installer.

I will also add the following to the thread:

Best free remote connections manager
MRemoteNG

Remote access
TeamViewer

File system cleaner and utilities
Glary Utilities

Telnet/SSH client
Putty


Again you should all check out NINITE

Excellent thread, TY for posting it. This one is a keeper

Des

Here is a great App for the techie crowd. Sardu 2.0.03

Sardu

SARDU is a free* software that can build one multiboot support CD, DVD or a USB device (USB stick/pendrive and all removable are supported).
The name is the short of Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility
The disk or USB device may include comprehensive collections of "antivirus rescue cd", collections of utilities, popular distributions of Linux Live, the best known Windows PE , recovery disks and Install of Windows XP , Windows Vista and Windows Seven .
All do you need for troubleshooting.
SARDU does include a few utilities, but is primarily a tool for managing the software (ISO image files) that you download from other companies and developers.
SARDU has multilanguage support. At startup it checks to see if a system language exists, then sets the software language accordingly. If a system language does not exist, the language is set to English. (The author is willing to add all possible translations).
The user can change the language at any time using the language menu.
*personal and non commercial use, read the license.

Default SARDU
All media of SARDU, have the submenu 'Menu Tools'. In this section we have these freeware: •Boot Manager as SuperGrubDisk 1 & 2 and PLoP.
•Memtest Software for test the RAM memory for errors and failures detection.
•Hardware Detection Tool (HDT) for display low level information for any x86 compatible system.
• Testdisk free data recovery software designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table).
• PhotoRec file data recovery software designed to recover lost files including video, documents and archives from hard disks, CD-ROMs, and lost pictures from digital camera memory. PhotoRec ignores the file system and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's file system has been severely damaged or reformatted
•LiloPwd for dump LILO map file where are saved passwords in clear text.

Other Software manageable by SARDU
The user must download all the ISO image who wants to integrate in the support.
Downloaded the ISO images, have to be placed inside the "ISO" folder. Alternatively user can select a different path by selecting the "ISO icon" at the top of the GUI.
SARDU's menu is divided into four categories: •Antivirus
•Utility
•Linux
•Windows

Here is another good list of free utilities - some applications in it have already been mentioned.
www.guidingtech.com...

EASEUS Partition Master is noteworthy, allows you to create disk partitions.

Eclipse Java IDE

Eclipse

Bluefish Editor (great for html, css and php)

Bluefish