Best Programs

[Jaye7]

What are some of the best FREEWARE programs that people on this site use.

My favourite program of all time is Winmacro, it has saved me thousands of hours of data entry, it is a very basic program however my work can not block me from using it as it is standalone, my work will not let us install any programs at all, we weren't even allowed to install software for a free printer that we received, so the printer is now worthless until another one breaks.

CCleaner is another good program that I use.

Winpatrol has blocked a few nasties from taking control of my computer.

Teamviewer is a great program that i use to access my home computer from work.

Freemake video converter is a great program that I use convert movies to different formats and add subtitles to the movies.

Advanched Launcher is a great toolbar program.

Bulk Rename Utility is a great file renamer utility.

VLC media player is great for playing movie on your laptop, it has the ability to add subtitles and audion delay or advance.

I use many other Freeware programs, these are just a few.

Any tips on other FREEWARE programs would be appreciated.

 

[Jaye7]

bump: no one interested.

 

[xenou]

I am careful about what programs I download but I use several major open source projects and free offerings from Microsoft:
Firefox (browser)
NoScript (browser security plugin for Firefox)
TrueCrypt (encryption)
Notepad++ (text editor)
Eraser (file shredder)
VirtualBox (virtual machine)
Microsoft Security Essentials (anti-virus)
Babas (chess client )

I have donated some $$ to the majority of these projects (at least once).

My local IT guru at work uses JEdit -- another text editor, written in Java.

 

[Jaye7]

Thanks Xenou,

I use Firefox and Microsoft Security Essentials also.

Microsoft Security Essentials is great as it scans any programs that you download when it finishes downloading.

I have tried 100's of programs to do everything that I can think of.

Beneton Gif maker is awesome also, I have made some great animated gifs with it including one that has Iron man destroying unhealthy food, which was for my sister's health site.

Iron man is copyrighted, so she would remove it if ever asked to.

 

[Joe4]

An IT guy in our office is a big proponent of a few free programs:

NoteTab Lite (text editor)
CutePDF writer (allows you to print anything to a PDF file)

I have installed CutePDF writer at home and use it there all the time. It is great for when I purchase something on-line and they ask you to print a receipt for your copies. No more paper! I print it to a file and save to a Receipts folder.

 

[Frankrizzo]

I use
tera copy (Fast and checks for errors)
7zip (Zip Program)
PhraseExpress (comes in handy)
PDFill (Free PDF editor)
NotePad++ (Advanced notepad for text)
Fences (Organize shortcuts on desktop)
LogmeIn (remote desktop from Phone or other computer.

Several others i use at home too

 

[Smitty]

NotePad++ (great one, especially for code)
Paint.net (for when my wife's not around do do stuff for me with Illustrator & PhotoShop)
PrimoPDF - good PDF Writer
Virtual Clone Drive (a virtual DVD drive for installing .iso images)
ScanPST (Microsoft tool for fixing bloated Outlook .pst files)
CoreTemp (system monitor)
IconRestore (Great for restoring your laptop desktop when you connect to a projector and everything gets rearranged)
MZTools (VBA Utilities)
VBScroll (for those still in the dark ages when the scroll wheel doesn't work in VBA)

 

[xenou]

I should add to my list also:

XMLCopyEditor (XML editor)
Filezilla (secure file transfer)
CustomUIEditor (Utility for editing RibbonX markup)

 

[Jaye7]

Thanks for replying everyone, much appreciated.

 

[hrlngrv]

Not free, but Beyond Compare has saved me much grief over the years.

Free or not, automatic background backup software may be the best thing some users may ever have. Like fire insurance for a house, very few people get back more than they pay in, but for those few who do it's a life-saver. I use a scheduled xxcopy (yes, 2 x's) task every Thursday night, and paranoia and bad experiences have taught me to back up anything very sensitive and/or time-consuming nightly. IMO, full backup is only needed once; afterwards, incremental backups are all that's needed if you use revision control systems for anything changing with moderate frequency.