Recommended FREE Software Downloads

* Be careful about WHAT and WHERE you download files on the Internet !  Many downloads, especially free ones, may carry a payload of Spyware/Adware/Malware (these are NOT good things).  There are also many very good free applications that are free of any harmful software.  The great free downloads I have listed below have all been checked and should be free of any Spyware/Adware/Malware.  Please see my Tech Tip here for more advice and information about safe downloading on the Internet.

Download Websites        Websites that host tons of downloadable applications, some free, some not, that have checked these applications to be free of harmful Spyware, Adware and Malware.

Download.com

Snapfiles.com

Anti-Spyware Applications    Stop pop-ups, identity theft, sluggish performance...

*(note from Dan) Here are some free products that I have found to be very effective for spyware removal.  I usually would install, update and run at least all 3 of these if you think you have an infection.  For a good actively running program, Spyware Doctor or SpySweeper are the 2 top products (not free though).*

Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2008    Free, on-demand spyware and adware removal for home use.

SpyBot Search & Destroy    Free, detect and remove spyware

SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition      100% Free and will detect and remove thousands of Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, KeyLoggers, Dialers, Hi-Jackers, and Worms.

ThreatFire      Free, effective blocking of known and unknown malware.  Use this in addition to a good Antivirus application.

a-squared Free     Free Anti-Malware app - remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, etc.

Antivirus

BitDefender Free Edition     This on-demand scanner is free and provides an excellent virus detection rate, but does not actively protect your PC.  (provides virus removal but NOT protection).

PCTools AntiVirus Free Edition

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition    Free basic Virus and Spyware protection for home users

Browser Protection

SpywareBlaster   Block the installation of spyware and unwanted software

SpywareGuard     Real-time protection from downloading Spyware

Transaction Guard       Protects sensitive online transactions on suspect PCs

Naomi        Advanced Internet Filtering for families with children (free!)

K9 Web Protection      Free internet filtering and parental controls

File Sharing Sentinel      Block file sharing P2P software like Kazaa, Morpheus, etc.

Browsers

Firefox 3       The premier web browser alternative to Internet Explorer

Google Chrome     "a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier."

Internet Explorer 8 Beta

Safari       Apple's web browser - now on Windows too.

Anti-Spam

Cloudmark Desktop automatically fights spam, phishing, and email-borne viruses. Free 15-day trial.     Cloudmark has the best spam blocking accuracy rate in the industry

MailWasher Free     simple to use spam filter.

Comodo AntiSpam       uses sender authentication to filter out 100% of spam (free).

SpamPal              a mail classification program to help separate spam from your wanted email.

Microsoft Office Alternatives / PDF

OpenOffice    FREE Office Suite. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access compatible

Lotus Symphony beta   MS Office compatible, save as PDF files...

Google Docs & Spreadsheets    Free - create documents online.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Office 2007 File formats

PDFill PDF Tools 5.0    Toolbox to Merge, Split, Reorder, Encrypt, Decrypt, Rotate, Crop, Reformat, Watermark, PDF to Images...and more.  developer site

Microsoft Office Save as PDF Add-In     Save files to the PDF and XPS formats in MS Office 2007.

Foxit PDF Reader        A small and Fast PDF reader.

Image Editing Applications

paint.net       very good FREE image and photo editing software

GIMP    GNU Image Manipulation Program

Backup & File Copy

DriveImage XML    Free imaging and drive backup program

Amic E-Mail Backup    Backup top nine popular email clients - free

YCopy     Great file copier from one drive to another

Comodo Backup   very versatile data backup application

Cobian Backup      A good backup application to schedule backups

Microsoft SyncToy v2.0         synchronize files between folders and computers quickly & easily.

ShadowExplorer       Browse through and retrieve old versions of your files in Windows Vista

Outlook add-in - PST Backup     create backup copies of your Outlook data files on a regular basis

PDF Unlocker    Unlock PDFs with copy or print restrictions

CDBurnerXP     Free CD/DVD Burner application

Bulk Rename Utility      Easily rename files and directories based upon extremely flexible criteria

Audio & Video

SoundCapture     Simple recording of what your sound card plays back

Audacity     Open source software for Recording and editing sounds

Mp3 My Mp3 Recorder 2   Record audio from any source, v2 has a Timer

Nexus Radio     Internet Radio player - TiVo style recording

VLC Media Player       Free multimedia player for various audio & video formats including DVDs.

VirtualDub       Video capture and editing for AVI files.

MPlayer      Movie player that plays multiple formats

Youtube Downloader     Download YouTube videos to your PC

GOM Media Player    Player for the FLV video files downloaded from Youtube

VeohTV       A free DVR for web video. Watch and Record Internet Video from lots of sources - NBC, CBS, YouTube, Google, Yahoo...

Free Hi-Q Recorder    Free sound recorder to record streaming audio, Internet radio, music, webcasts, or anything you can hear to MP3s.

K-Lite Codec Pack      Collection of codecs that are required for decoding (playing) many audio & video formats.   *If you have this Pack installed and you download a video file and it claims that you need another codec - delete the file - it is malware!

Liquid Mongoose     Make your own foldable CD/DVD case with a piece of paper.

Utilities

Everything     Search your hard drive for files by name FAST

UltimateBootCD      Many great tools on one bootable CD

Synergy      Use one keyboard and mouse for 2 PCs

CCleaner       System optimization tool - "Crap Cleaner"

DeepBurner Free 1.8     free CD & DVD burning software

Kruptos 2        256bit file encryption to secure your sensitive files

TCP Optimizer    free, easy program to optimize your internet connection

TweakUAC        turn off that annoying User Account Control in Windows Vista

TrueCrypt        free on-the-fly encryption.  create a virtual encrypted disk.

GreenPrint       saves paper and ink by eliminating wasteful pages

Trayconizer       minimize applications to the system tray instead of the taskbar

PortableApps    carry your favorite programs, email, bookmarks, settings, etc with you

Glary Utilities     Free utility with many tools to speed up and maintain your PC.

ActualDoc     Recent documents manager

IZArc     freeware archive utility - open archived/compressed files like ZIP, ARJ, 7-ZIP, RAR, TAZ, ISO, etc.

Security Applications

Sophos Anti-Rootkit      Free tool for rootkit removal

F-Secure BlackLight     Rootkit elimination technology

Comodo Firewall       Free fully functional desktop firewall

MSConfig Alternatives / Startup Item Removal

*Don't remove startup items just because you don't recognize them.  Most antivirus apps have multiple startup item, but startup programs like QuickTime and RealPlayer can safely be removed.

CastleCops StartupList Index       A database of over 17,000 startup items, descriptions and recommendations for what to keep and what to remove.

Startup Inspector            Lists startup programs and give you more information about each item from it's 4900+ item database.

AutoRuns                Displays startup programs in many locations along with publisher and description

Spybot Search & Destroy      For more advanced users, in Advanced Mode, SpyBot can list startup items and color codes the entries (Green, Yellow or Red)

PC Decrapifier       automatically remove common trialware and annoyances installed by many big name computer OEMs.

What's Running    Look into your Windows system - explore processes, services, modules, IP connections, drivers and more.

Other

PureText       Pastes unformatted text from the clipboard (put this program in your startup group)

JR Directory Printer       Print a list of files within a directory and/or subdirectories

TidyMail         Automatically remove those pesky ">" characters from your emails.

LogMeIn Free      easy, free remote access/control for your PC from anywhere with an internet connection. 

Windows Tools

WinKeyFinder     Retrieve and display your MS Windows and Office product keys

RemoveWGA      Use this to remove the Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notification

VistaBootPRO     Boot Manager for Windows Vista (easy dual boot setup)

Windows SteadyState    Return your computer and hard disk to the condition it was before the last user touched it.

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