Best Freeware thread!

[Fishy80]

71 Best Free Web Form Filler/Password Manager

Products in this class are among the most useful of all PC utilities because they allow you to complete the common task of filling in web forms and logins by simply clicking a button. They work by saving user IDs, passwords and other information needed for individual sites in encrypted form for later retrieval. To login to a site you only have to type in a single master password to allow retrieval of the specific password information for that site. This information is then used by the program to automatically login. This greatly improves security by allowing different passwords to be assigned to individual sites without the need to be remembered while at the same time making logging in easier and quicker. There's no doubt that RoboForm [1] is the stand-out product in the category; it's full featured, easy to use, seamlessly integrated into both Internet Explorer and FireFox browsers and is constantly being enhanced by the developer. It also allows your saved passwords to be moved between PCs which is very convenient when using multiple machines or upgrading. I do have a major reservation though: The free version allows only 10 forms or passwords to be stored. This used to be 30 in earlier versions which was adequate but 10 is way too few for most users and they will be eventually forced to shell out $29.99 to buy the full product. This reservation aside, it is a fabulous product that saves me time every day. Try it. You'll be amazed how much time it will save you, too.

Note: If you use Internet Explorer, there's some good news: the last free version of RoboForm (V5.7.6) that allowed 30 passwords is still available [2] from the RoboForm web site though well hidden in the FAQ. FireFox users are out of luck as you can't use this version with the current FireFox.

Some alternatives: First there is the open source program KeePass [3]. It's not nearly as well integrated into your browser as RoboForm but it's a very good product that works without any limitations at all. There's also an excellent KeePass plug-in for Internet Explorer that automates web form filling. Yet another possibility is KeyWallet [4] which is superior to KeePass in the way you can drag and drop saved information directly into web forms. Not quite as neat as RoboForm’s click and fill system but still highly effective. KeyWallet can also automatically save form data, handle difficult Java based forms and is skinable.

[1] http://www.roboform.com/
[2] http://www.roboform.com/dist/AiRoboForm-5-7-6.exe (1.8MB) (Direct download link)
[3] http://keepass.sourceforge.net/features.php (857KB)
[4] http://www.keywallet.com/ (1.4MB)

72 Best Free File Un-delete Utility

I'm recommending two utilities here, each covering a different situation. The best freeware program I've found for recovering already deleted files is Brian Kato's Restoration. It works with FAT and NTFS file structures and runs on any version of Windows from 95 onwards. As a bonus, it requires no installation which means you can run it from a USB drive, CD or floppy. In fact, that's exactly where you should run it from as installing it on your hard drive will reduce your chance of successfully recovering your deleted files. Brian's web site in Japan is not currently working so I've also give a direct download link [1] to the SnapFiles download site.

[1] http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html (162KB)

73 Best Free Outlook Express Backup

This free utility allows you to do a full or selective backup of OE's critical files including mail folders, newsgroups, address book and identity settings. Simple, effective ... neat.

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx (2.1mb)

74 Best Free Outlook Add-in

I hate opening HTML email. Despite multiple layers of protection I just know that one day some cunning new exploit is going to get me. That's why I'm so enthusiastic about PocketKnife Peek, a small free Outlook 2002 add-in that allows you to preview your HTML email as text. RealAccount is another freeware add-in for MS Outlook 2002 and later that allows you to designate a default email account and signature for any Outlook Folder. The program is a late beta but has proved totally stable on my Windows XP Pro PC. Yet another free utility that provides functionality that should have been included in the original product.

http://www.xintercept.com/pkpeek.htm  (520KB)
http://www.realpopup.it/realaccount/   (338K)

75 Best Free Timesheet Program

This is a very lucrative class of programs and consequently the very best programs are unfortunately, commercial products. The best of the free programs is "Timesheets Lite" [1] from Moving Target Software. It's actually an older "lite" version of that company's full featured $29 shareware product. Its main limitation is that only one person can be connected to the
program's database at any one time. That aside, Timesheets Lite has all the features needed for anyone who bills on a time or project basis. It can also export timesheet data to Excel for
easy invoicing. I found much to like in this product and can give it my hearty recommendation. If you want an alternative consider Timesheets Express Free. The free version is limited to a single account but if you can live with this it's worth checking out. The vendors web site [2] doesn't currently offer the free version but it's readily available from a number of download sites [3].

[1] http://www.timesheetsmts.com/freesoftware.htm 4.68MB
[2] http://www.acksen.com/25euro/ProductsTimesheetsExpressFree.asp
[3] http://www.download.com/Timesheets-Express-Free/3000-2076_4-10442986.html (5.1MB)

[Fishy80]

76 Best Free CD Recovery Utility

It's pretty common to encounter unreadable CDs. The causes are many, ranging from simple scratches through to partially written sessions. ISOBuster is free utility that will allow you extract any usable information on the CD (or DVD) to your hard drive. It works by bypassing Windows and talking directly to the hardware. As an added bonus it can read old sessions, decode multiple image file formats, recover data from quick formatted DVDs and a host of other useful data recovery features. You can use most of the functions in ISOBuster for free but it will cost you $25.96 to enable some of the advanced functions such as recovering data from MAC UDF or HFS(+) file systems. Windows 95 and later.

http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/ (2.5mb)

77 Best Free Application Minimizer

TrayIt! impressed me with its combination of simplicity and effectiveness. First, it requires no installation; just double click the program file and it's up and running. Second, it can minimize open windows to the tray either temporarily or permanently with just one click. Third, it handles "difficult" windows such as skins, with ease. Fourth, it works with all versions of Windows. Fifth, it's a tiny 45KB! Finally, it's free. A little gem.

http://www.teamcti.com/trayit/trayit.htm

78 Best Free Parental Filter

The stand-out choice in this category is K9 Web Protection [1] by Blue Coat Systems. It's a web based service that uses a special driver installed on your PC to redirect all your browsing through K9's servers where it is filtered for content. This means that the filtering works for any browser installed on your PC. The actual filtering itself is highly customizable from a password protected control panel at K9's web site with over 15 selectable categories plus the ability to restrict or permit individual sites. Full reports on sites visited are also available from the control panel. The filtering seems quite accurate; I only found one site in an hour of browsing which I felt should not have been blocked. I also liked the optional blocking of Spyware and Adware sites. I tried a few obvious ways of crippling the filter such as uninstalling the product or disenabling the driver, with no success, which is comforting to parents. I suspect though, that a determined tech-savvy teenager might eventually find a solution. The only real downside was the slight slowing down of my browsing as a result of it being re-routed through the K9 servers. This will mainly be of concern to dial-up users. If that's you then you might like to try Naomi [2] that has the advantage of filtering locally. In my tests it caught all the offensive sites I tried though occasionally it caught an innocent site as well. Like K9, it's also difficult to disable. As with K9 I tried the obvious tricks of defeating the filter by terminating the Naomi service and deleting the autostart entry without success. Naomi also works with any browser on your system not just Internet Explorer. On the downside, it filters by terminating the browser session without warning whenever a banned site is encountered. I found this a real pain especially when I had several browser tabs open and lost the lot! Naomi is certainly a very capable parental filter but on balance I preferred K9's smarter logic, greater configurability and friendlier behavior. Modem users will however, appreciate Naomi's speed advantage.

[1] http://www.k9webprotection.com/
[2] http://www.radiance.m6.net/

79 Best Free Route Tracer

3D Traceroute graphically displays Internet route information. You can use it for technical tasks such as diagnosing slow connections or for general purpose snooping like determining the location and owner of a web site or tracing spammers.

http://www.d3tr.de/ (1.6mb)

80 Best Free Browser Scrubber

There's no doubt that when you browse the web you accumulate huge amount of stored data. The sheer quantity is surprising; often gigabytes. A lot of this is just junk while other parts can be useful. Just what is and what isn't junk is a personal decision. For example, I regard the information stored in my browser's history as a valuable resource but I know a lot folks see it as clutter or even an embarrassment. That's why the flexibility to choose exactly what you want to keep or delete is a key requirement in any browser cleaning utility. It's in this area that CleanCache excels. Yes, there are a few other cleaner programs that also offer this but when you take into account CleanCache's speed, ease of use, automation features, near- forensic thoroughness and the fact that it works with Internet Explorer, IE Clones such as Avant, Firefox and Opera, then you have a clear winner in this category. Note that it requires the 26MB Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on your PC.

http://www.buttuglysoftware.com/CleanCache3.html Freeware, Windows 2000 and later, 1.3 MB

[Fishy80]

81 Best Free Instant Messaging Client

If you're like me, then you probably have friends and family using a variety of IM networks. One way to talk with people on each one of these networks is to open an account for each and then download and install each IM client on your computer. However, running four different IM applications on your computer uses a lot of system resources, is difficult to manage, and broadens your attack surface. Therefore, I would recommend using a multi-protocol IM client. These applications not only allow you to connect to multiple IM networks, but they are also advertisement free, more secure, and have features that allow you to easily manage your various IM accounts. For many Gaim [1] would be the first choice. It supports AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and Zephyr IM networks and is available for multiple platform as as well. It's a solid choice but it's not by cup of tea. I've found it resource heavy and the interface confusing though I must admit the customizability though Guifications [2] is an attractive feature. Trillian Basic [3] is easier to use than Gaim, is less resource greedy and easier on the eye as well . It supports the AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN, and Yahoo networks. Now, if you're a power user and want support for more networks and the ability to add features via plug-ins, then definitely check out Miranda Instant Messenger [4]. In addition to the networks supported by Trillian, it has native support for Gadu-Gadu and Jabber (it also will connect to the Google Talk network with a little plug-in tweaking). Its interface is minimalist, but the application is very extensible through the use of plug-ins. Miranda IM is now my IM client of choice

[1] http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/gaimhttp://www.sourceforge.net/projects/gaim All Windows, 8MB.
[2] http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/guifications
[3  http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/learn/ Windows 98 and later, 8.6MB
[4] http://www.miranda-im.org/ Windows 95 and later, 943 KB+

82 Best Free Video Editor

Subscriber Jim Nix writes "Gizmo this Christmas season I became in need of a video editor. I discovered my copy of Adobe Premiere 5.1 LE did not allow for gamma, brightness or contrast adjustment. I checked your “Best 46 Freeware” listings and found no video editor. If you have considered adding such a category I suggest you consider VirtualDub [1] which is outstanding. The package is however not complete without the additional filters. A comprehensive collection of third party filters is available from a Frenc site [2] - just click on the “TELECHARGER ICI” button to download the complete set of filters (RAR pack). Once all the filters are installed, delete the “PCVideo Image Processor” filter as the installation instructions are missing a step. Thank you Jim. I'm not a video sort of guy but I've checked out VirtualDub and it's an impressive Open source package that is regularly updated by its author. Note however that it won't handle DVD or MP4 and like all video software, needs a pretty fast PC.

Freeware, Windows 95 or later, 958KB.
[1] http://www.virtualdub.org/
[2] http://milafat.free.fr/vdfilters.htm
[3] http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualdub <= download link

83 Best Free CD Ripper

I recently started the long task of ripping my 1200 CDs to my hard disk. I knew it was a huge job and one I certainly wanted to do only once. So, before I started, I was determined made sure I did it right. There are lots of rippers available. All media players including Windows Media Player can rip. There are also some great freebies plus a host of commercial rippers. Most will rip to WAV, MP3 and usually several other formats. After a lot of experimentation I ended up with three rippers to evaluate in detail: CDEX [1], Exact Audio Copy [2] and AudioGrabber [3]. All are free. If your CDs are like mine then some will be scratched or have lots of finger-marks. These can cause pops and crackles in the ripped file. Rippers vary greatly in their ability to handle these problems. Some will simply get stuck; others will skip forward over the problem or even create a silent gap. The best programs will try repeatedly to fix the problem with no audible effects. Of the three products I tested, one product was outstanding in its ability to handle CD imperfections. That product was Exact Audio Copy.
I'm now two thirds of the way through my ripping exercise. Of the 800 or so CDs ripped I've only had 7 tracks that EAC couldn't rip perfectly. Given the condition of some of my CDs, that's a mighty impressive performance. EAC can rip to WAV, MP3 (using the excellent LAME encoder), OGG, FLAC, APE and more. CD rippers interact strongly with your CD hardware so it's possible EAC may not work with your particular CD drive. If that's the case, try CDEX and AudioGrabber. While their performance with scratched CDs is not as good as EAC they are both outstanding freeware products.

[1] http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos/ (1.91MB)
[2] http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ (1.18MB)
[3] http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/ (1.6MB)

84 Best Free Video Conversion Program

Wouldn't it be neat to be able to convert any kind of video files to a format you can use on your PSP, iPod or mobile phone? "Super" is a free utility that allows you to do pretty well all of these things and more. It has two great strengths: first it's relatively easy to use and secondly it handles a large number of different file formats. It handles 3gp/3g2 (Nokia, Siemens, Sony, Ericsson), asf, avi (DivX, H263, H263+, H264, Xvid, MPEG4, MSmpeg4 etc), dat, fli, flc, flv (used in Flash), mkv, mpg (Mpeg I, Mpeg II), mov (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4 etc), mp4 (H263, H263+, H264, MPEG4), ogg, qt, rm, ram, rmvb, str (Play Station), swf (Flash), ts (HDTV), viv, vob, and wmv. It also handles audio file format conversion including ac3, amr, mp2, mp3, mp4, ogg, ra, wav, and wma. Am I impressed? You bet; I've seen commercial software with fewer features selling for over$100. Be aware though, that video conversion by its very nature requires a lot of processing power and can be very slow on older PCs. NOTE: The download link on the author's site [1] seems to have been removed. Super can however be downloaded from here [2].

Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 18MB.
[1] http://www.erightsoft.net
[2] http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_encoders/super.cfm

85 Best Free Reminder/To-Do Program

There are literally dozens of free stand-alone reminder programs. Even more if you include sticky notes utilities and calendaring programs that offer reminder features. Many, I can assure you, are not worth installing. Of the nine programs I looked at, two impressed me for their ease of use of their reminder and "to-do" features. "Easy To-Do" [1] has the starkest interface of any of the products I reviewed yet it is among the most effective in use. It has all the features you need but no more, including unlimited task lists, task categories, recurring reminders, audible and visual alarms, adjustable snooze, configurable reports and more. It's been really well thought through with lots of nice touches like the ability to add a new task or reminder by simply right-clicking the tray icon. Rainlender [2] by contrast, is a much slicker product but a tad more difficult to use. Rainlender is not only a reminder program but a very capable iCal "compatible" desktop calendar, though the calendar feature can be turned off. Used as a reminder and "to do" program it's very feature rich with a really snazzy interface employing things like variable windows transparency, impressive mouse-over effects, hotkeys and easy skinning. It also has several features missing from Easy To-Do such as the ability to synchronize events between clients as well as Outlook appointment integration. I liked, too, the way the tray icon shows the current date, a feature that Easy To-Do could well emulate. Either of these programs will meet the reminder needs of most users. Some will prefer Easy To-Do for its simple but effective approach while others will be won over by Rainlender's optional desktop calendar, impressive interface and powerful features. Firefox and Thunderbird users also have the option of using the free ReminderFox and Mozilla Calendar extensions which together provide similar functionality. They offer the advantage of avoiding the need for running a separate reminder application but at the cost of not having reminders available when Firefox or Thunderbird aren't running.

[1] http://www.xanadutools.com/ Freeware, all Windows versions, 1.2MB.
[2] http://ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=projects&project=rainlendar Free GPL software, all Windows versions, 948KB
[3] http://reminderfox.mozdev.org/ Free Open Source, requires Firefox and/or Thunderbird
[4] http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/ Free, Open Source, available as Firefox and/or Thunderbird extension or in stand- alone form as Sunbird.

[Fishy80]

86 Best Free CD Burning Software

Locating quality freeware burning applications for this review proved challenging, even though there are plenty of contenders. My short list included: AVS Disc Creator, burnatonce, Burn to the Brim, CDBurnerXP Pro, CDR Tools Front End, CommandBurner, DeepBurner Free, Easy Burning, Express Burn, and HT Fireman CD/DVD Burner. I was also attracted to two other programs, Burn4Free and Artisan (a.k.a. Sun), but they were packaged with adware and/or spyware and were discarded. Of all the products, the most impressive was CDBurnerXP Pro [1]. It possesses all of the core features you need including an intuitive interface, the ability to author data discs, create audio CDs playable in a regular CD player, create bootable discs, copy discs, and create and burn image files (e.g. ISO). It passed every test I was able to throw at it including adding to a multi-session disc created on another drive with another burning application and creating a functional slip-streamed Windows XP installation CD! In addition to the core features, CDBurnerXP Pro also has a several additional features including: customizable boot disc options (lacking in DeepBurner), integrated cover printing utility, integrated audio player and audio, and the ability to rip audio CDs to various formats including MP3 (with CDDB lookup). Lastly, those familiar with Nero will be right at home as CDBurnerXP's interface is very much like Nero's. All up, CDBurnerXP is a good choice for both basic and advanced users. DeepBurner Free [2] is a close second to CDBurnerXP Pro. If you don't author bootable CDs or care about the additional multimedia features, then DeepBurner Free might be the one for you. It has all of the core functionality, but is a much smaller download package and has a smaller installation footprint. It also offers a portable version that can be run stand-alone from a USB drive. In addition to these products, there are several free burners that are extremely small and specialize in just one or two features. For example, Burrrn [3] is for authoring audio CDs, CreateCD [4] and CommandBurner [5] offer command line burning capabilities, DVDShrink [6] is meant for creating DVD backups, and ImgBrn [7] and ISO Recorder [8] are for burning images to disc with a couple clicks of the mouse. For general users, though, CDBurnerXP Pro or DeepBurner Free are the clear winners. Editor's note: many thanks to regular contributor Craig Vollmar for taking the time to prepare this excellent review.

[1] http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ Windows 98 and later, 11.02 MB
[2] http://www.deepburner.com/ Windows 98 and later, 2.60 MB
[3] http://www.burrrn.net/ Windows 98 and later, 2.02 MB
[4] http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/CreateCD.htm Windows XP and 2003, 63 KB
[5] http://www.commandburner.com/ Windows NT and later, 2.71 MB
[6] http://www.dvdshrink.org/ Windows 9x/2000/XP, 1.06 MB
[7] http://www.imgburn.com/ Windows 98 and later, 860 KB
[8] http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm Windows XP and 2003 (64-bit available), 320 KB

87 Best Free Notes Organizer

Evernote[1] is designed to help you organize all those random bits of information hanging around your PC: bookmarks, articles, bits of text, interesting web links, shopping lists, to-do lists, recipes, tips, etc. It's a common problem but a difficult one to solve as the information is so disparate. Some folks have tried to solve the problem by using free form databases while others use beefed up text editors or multi-media snippet managers. Evernote approaches the problem by allowing you to store your notes on an endless "roll" of virtual paper. You can create notes on the roll, drag and drop them or cut and paste them. Images can be stored as well as text. You can access the stored information several different ways: by searching for keywords, by using a category classification such as "recipes", by the date it was created or any combination of these. Toolbars for Internet Explorer and Firefox allow web site information to be highlighted and moved directly to Evernote together with a hyperlink back to the web site. A similar capability is provided for Outlook email. Sure, all this sounds nice but does it work? I evaluated Evernote for a month by using it to collect information for this newsletter. In this demanding task, I found it effective in doing the job and to work just about as well as anything else I've tried including Microsoft's OneNote.
It's got a few annoying weaknesses though. If you move an email message to another folder after you have posted the information to Evernote, it loses the link. This is a fatal flaw for me as I only have two mail folders - my inbox for unread mail and the deleted folder for everything else - so everything gets moved after I've read it. Additionally, the category system is weak. What is needed is the ability to assign tags not categories and to be able to search using those tags in the same manner as you can at del.icio.us and similar sites. That said, Evernote is an outstanding free product and will provide many folks with an excellent solution to note, snippet and general information management problems. Tablet computer users may want to check out the $34.95 "Plus" version that also handles hand-written notes. Note: a new beta version [2] is now available. It offers a host of improvements and enhancements including the ability to synchronize your notes between your PC and a USB
drive.

Freeware, Windows 2000 and later, 8.4MB
[1] http://www.evernote.com/en/
[2] http://www.evernote.com/en/products/evernote/beta-features.php

88 Best Free Virtual Desktop Manager

This review was prepared by regular contributor A.K. "I looked at a whole batch of free VDMs including VirtuaWin [1], Microdesk [2], Dexpot [3] and Virtual Desktop Toolbox [4].1] VirtuaWin is a competent but basic product that depends on third-party modules for extra features but unfortunately there aren't many around. Microdesk comes with more standard features such as 99 desktops, configurability of each desktop (name, password, wallpaper and icons), an attractive interface and a configurable transparent menu above the tray bar to navigate between desktops. However, there is no detailed FAQ and no forum. Dexpot allows even more configurability for each of its 20 possible desktops with its well-organized interface and enables easy switching between desktops and quick movement of windows. However, the online documentation is very incomplete and the most active section of the online forum is in German. Virtual Desktop Toolbox is loaded with features which the other three lack. The negative is that it takes a little longer to learn. However, the pain is eased by the very thorough user's guide and tips and tricks folder included in the installation and also available online [5], [6]. Note that to unlock some time and feature restrictions to Virtual Desktop Toolbox's evaluation version you need to take out a free registration. The four VDMs I reviewed are all very capable products but I recommend Virtual Desktop Toolbox because of its outstanding features list and excellent support. Once you have learned how to use it you will improve your organization and productivity, perhaps drastically so.

[1] http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/
[2] http://www.download.com/Microdesk/3003-2346_4-10402623.html?tag=tab_rev
[3] http://www.dexpot.de/en/index2.html
[4] http://www.r2d2-software.com/
[5] http://www.r2d2-software.com/VDT/Tutorial/Default/index.htm
[6] http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=38157&subForumID=78042&action=viewSubForum

89 Best Free Duplicate File Detector

I must confess that I'm not a great fan of the practice of routinely deleting duplicate files from PCs. Sure it can free up some disk space but it can also get inexperienced users into a great deal of trouble. There are quite a few duplicate file detection utilities around but CloneSpy is the one that impresses me the most. It's certainly not the fastest program in its class but it's definitely the smartest. First, you can specifically select what is to be scanned and this can include multiple drives, multiple folders or just individual folders. Second, it has the ability to detect duplicates by CRC, by file name, by CRC and file name and by file name and size. Third, it will also detect zero length files. Fourth, the program does not need to be installed but can be run from the executable so it's a good candidate for your USB Flash drive toolkit. Finally, it throws up duplicates to the user in a way that at least makes you think about what you are deleting. Click-happy users may find this latter feature an annoyance; to me it's a safety feature. Safety feature or not, please read the help file and use with care. In particular do NOT include your Windows folder in your scan unless you are a knowledgeable technical user.

Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 643KB.
http://www.clonespy.com/

90 Best Free Program Launcher

The are many free application launchers. Commonly these employ a dockable toolbar containing shortcuts to various programs on the PC. The toolbar can usually be hidden so it doesn't take up desktop space. I've never been keen on these things as often they achieve little more than what's available from the Windows Start menu. However, I've found an application launcher that actually really works. Launchy is a free Open Source utility that solves the fundamental weakness shared by many application launchers; intrusiveness. Unlike other products that use launch bars or tray icons, Launchy is invisible until you hit a special hotkey combination. By default this is Alt-Space. Hitting the hot key combination brings up a small window into which you type the name of the application you are looking for. You rarely even have to type the full name; mostly all you need do is just type a couple of letters. Launchy instantly displays on a find-as-you-type basis, any program that matches the letters you typed in. By default Launchy only searches files in your Start Menu folders. You can however, configure it to handle any file types and search any folders. So Launchy could be used to launch web link shortcuts or even your MP3 files. Configuration is easy; just right click on the Launchy Window. A top product.

http://www.launchy.net/  Free Open Source, Windows 2000 and later, 841KB.

[Fishy80]

91 Best Free Streaming Media Recorder

Sick of just watching streamed videos and audio tracks but not being able to save them? So are many other folks and this demand has given rise to nearly a dozen utilities that will record them to your PC. The bad news is that the best products in this category are shareware not freeware with Replay Video and RM Recorder the standout choices. There are, however, several solid, if not outstanding, freeware choices. The easiest to use is StreamBox VCR [1]. It
handles many major video and audio formats including MS and RealMedia though support for QuickTime and the latest formats is limited. It also can't handle more than 5 simultaneous streams. The Japanese program GetASFStream [2] handles virtually all MS video and audio streaming protocols with ease. There's a catch though: there's no English translation! Thankfully, usage is dead simple; once you have installed the product just paste the streaming file URL into the products address box and hit enter. You can find a machine translation of the Japanese FAQ here [3]. Another option is SDP, a free video player [4] that allows you to save most streamed MS video protocols except RTSP. The later format will be handled in the next release. Be aware, though, that there are media rights issues with a lot of streamed broadcasts, so be prudent in what you chose to record.

[1] http://p082.ezboard.com/fstreemeboxvcrfrm7.showMessage?topicID=27.topic
[2] http://www.urltrim.com/ct/t.php?l=77 Freeware, 697KB
[3] http://~ Due To The Increase In Phishing We Now Disallow Protected URL's ~/fwvzq
[4] http://sdp.ppona.com/ Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 2.77MB

92 Best Free Backup Program

Locating a decent free backup program can be a pretty depressing experience. It's hard to find decent commercial backup program let alone a free one. Most products have glaring deficiencies, the most common being difficulty of use and lack of CD/DVD support.

Difficulty of use is the real deal-breaker for me. If a product doesn't allow an average user to easily set up an effective backup then as far as I'm concerned it's pretty well useless.

Let me explain why by example. Most users want to backup their email but have no idea where on their computer their email is stored. Good backup programs provide check boxes for "back up my Outlook mail" and similar options for other popular email clients. The same comment applies to backing up Favorites or the Windows Registry. Again, most users simply don't know where these files are located. Well designed backup programs understand this and make it easy by providing check boxes.

But most backup programs are not well designed. They require the user to specify the exact location of files to be backed up and most users don't know where they are located. It's just dumb.

Of the 14 free products I looked at I've only found one program that I feel happy to recommend to average users. It's actually an older version of a current commercial product. The vendor is offering the older version for free with the hope users might later upgrade to the newest version. However, the old program is good enough that most users probably won't need to.

The program is WinBackup V1.86 from Uniblue Systems [1] . It's a pretty good backup program by any standards: it's got a Wizard to help users setup their backups and another to initiate a recovery. It has handy check boxes for commonly backed up items and a lot of flexibility for adding specific data sets to those standard items. It can back up to any drive recognized by Windows including network drives. Most importantly it will backup to CD/DVD without the need for third party packet driver software. It supports compression and encryption and provides backup data validation as well. It has a built in scheduler that runs backups automatically. The feature list goes on and on.

"Well," you may ask, "what's wrong with it?"

A few things. First, it backs up in a proprietary format which means you can't read the data without having a copy of WinBackup on hand. This won't worry many users but I find it an annoyance.

Second, it had trouble reading deeply nested directory structures. Worse still, it reacts to the problem by just hanging which necessitates a system reboot. Many users just won't have data nested so deep as to cause a problem but be aware it can happen.

Third, it occasionally missed a scheduled backup and worse still didn't warn me. I'm still not sure why. Indeed, it may be a problem specific to my setup. But again, be aware of the potential.

These reservations aside, WinBackup V1.86 gets my top recommendation as the best free data backup program available. It's not up to the standard of the best commercial products but will still meet the needs of many average users.

If you want an alternative there's Cobian Backup [2]. It's been around for quite a while and while basic is totally reliable. When I say basic I mean it - there's not even a restore feature. However it's used by thousand of organizations and individual users and has a strong following. There's a Unicode version that only works with Windows NT and later and a second version that doesn't support Unicode but works with all Windows versions.

[1] http://www.backupanswers.com/freewinbackup/ Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 4.2MB
[2] http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm Freeware, Windows NT and later, 7.9MB

93 Best Homebrew (Beer Recipe) Software

One of the key aspects of homebrew is recipe formulation and management. Creating a tasty brew that meets the characteristics of its target style is no easy task since it involves many calculations and variables (color, bitterness, specific gravity, etc.). Not surprisingly, there are several homebrew software programs available to assist with these crucial tasks, including: BeerSmith, CyberBrau, DrewBrew, ProMash, QBrew, Strangebrew, and SUDS.

After reviewing all of these programs, three are recommended. Probably the most feature rich homebrew program available is BeerSmith [1]. It has an integrated recipe database for formulating and tracking recipes. It also has a user friendly interface, an integrated ingredient management system and shopping list, and many other tools including: water profiles, mash profiles, hop bitterness and aging calculator, hydrometer correction, various unit converters, and much more! BeerSmith will create a detailed brewing instruction sheet based on the recipe, equipment profile, mash profile, efficiency rating, and other options selected. To top it all off, it is one of only two homebrew recipe programs that support the BeerXML[*] standard that allows users to easily share recipes and associated information.

For an excellent freeware homebrew recipe program, QBrew [2] is the only, but very deserving, choice. It has an intuitive and simple interface and is excellent for formulating recipes quickly (about half the time as BeerSmith). Recipe entry and ingredient database management is extremely simple in QBrew. Each recipe is stored in a separate file and can be exported in BeerXML[*] format for sharing and/or importing into other BeerXML enabled applications such as BeerSmith. QBrew's recipe calculations seem to be more accurate than BeerSmith's, but don't accept that as a guarantee! After all, home brewing systems vary in efficiencies and the calculation results are meant to serve as guidelines. Both BeerSmith and QBrew can be extracted from the installation archive and run from a USB flash drive.

However, for web-savvy users that are interested in a web-based beer recipe application that can be setup on a personal web site and then accessed from anywhere, CyberBrau [3] is a very capable option. It features recipe formulation and management, batch tracking, a reviewing system, and other useful utilities. It also supports multiple users and is great for sharing recipes, tracking batches through the entire process, and sharing comments on recipes. Note from Gizmo: Many thanks to Craig Vollmar for submitting this review.

[1] http://www.beersmith.com/ Shareware (21 day trial), Windows 98 or newer, 2.6 MB
[2] http://www.usermode.org/code.html Freeware, 3.1 MB
[3] http://cyberbrau.sourceforge.net/ Freeware, Web-based (PHP and MySQL),[*] http://www.beerxml.com/

94 Best Free Boilerplate Text Manager

Boilerplate managers are utilities that allow you to store and insert commonly used phrases into your email, documents and other programs. For example rather than type "We have received your order," you can select the phrase from a list and then it will be automatically inserted without you typing a thing.

These things are immensely useful. I save about 30 minutes a day by using one.

I use a commercial product called PS Tray Factory which is excellent but I've just discovered a free utility called Phrase Express that's just as good.

Phrase Express's feature list is impressive: it has no limit to the number of insertion items, it allows multi-line inserts, it can handle nesting of inserts within inserts, it allows the insertion of names, dates and other variables within inserts, it allows abbreviations to be automatically expanded, and more.

It also allows you launch a program or go to a web page instead of inserting text and that's really handy.

Also handy is the built-in auto-correct feature similar to the one in Microsoft Office. It automatically fixes common typing errors like "adn" instead of "and". Unlike the Microsoft version it works in any program not just Office.

Usage is simple. To create an item just highlight and copy the text, click the Phrase Express tray icon and select "Create phrase from clipboard." To insert text you simply click the tray icon and select the phrase from the list shown. It will then be automatically inserted.

Phrases can also be inserted by assignable hotkey or by automatic expansion, i.e. abbreviations you type like "BTW" can be automatically expanded to "by the way."

So what's wrong with it? Nothing actually, apart from the fact that it can't handle formatted text or image inserts. Apparently that will be remedied in the next version.

http://www.phraseexpress.com Free for personal use, all Windows versions, 1.3MB

95 Best Free Drive Imaging Program

Acronis True Image may be the best drive imaging program on the market [1] but at $49 it's not within everyone's budget. In this review I looked at free alternatives. These included: Drive Image XML, g4u, HDClone Free Edition, SystemRescue CD, and the Ultimate Boot CD.

Unfortunately, not one of the freeware drive imaging programs comes close to matching the extensive feature sets of True Image but there are several competent products to choose from.

Many of the freeware drive imaging programs work by booting from a diskette or CD, loading a lightweight Linux environment, and then executing a command. This limits their use to offline imaging - only meaning that they cannot be used within Windows while it is running. However, these programs are small and fast and while they might not offer the entire suite of features that the commercial programs boast, they do perform the core drive imaging tasks quite well.

If the only functionality that's needed is to clone one disk to another larger disk, then take a look at HDClone Free Edition [3]. It is a relatively small download, can be run from either a diskette or CD, and has a graphical user interface that makes it super easy to use. HDClone requires no command line interaction and is perfect for upgrading from one hard drive to another. However, the Free Edition of HDClone is not capable of cloning from a larger disk to a smaller disk, working with individual disk partitions, or creating or restoring image files (locally or otherwise).

For a more comprehensive set of advanced features such as those mentioned above, g4u [4] is the freeware drive imaging program to use. g4u is an extremely small program that can be downloaded in either boot diskette or CD format and offers a lot of features. Not only can it clone disk to disk (any size) and copy disk partitions, it can also create and restore image files both locally and from a FTP site (if the workstation is connected to a wired network with a DCHP service). This feature is great for backing up a workstation directly to an image file stored on another computer for either safekeeping or for deployment to multiple workstations on the network. The various features of g4u are implemented by executing commands via the console, but a reference of the simple commands is displayed immediately after booting using the g4u boot media.

Users running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 needing an online disk imaging solution are encouraged to try DriveImage XML [5]. DriveImage XML utilizes the Volume Shadow Copy Service to backup drive and partitions to image files or clone drive to drive while Windows is running. Because of this, a Windows task can also be created and scheduled to automatically create backup images. While this program can perform the tasks it promises, backups do take longer than using one of the offline programs previously mentioned. However, it is the only program reviewed that can create scheduled backup images while Windows is running which is great for making "incremental" backup images between full offline backups. With its attractive GUI interface, it will be an easy first choice for many XP users.

[1] http://www.techsupportalert.com/issues/issue131.htm#Section_2.1
[2] http://www.techsupportalert.com/drive-imaging-reviews.htm
[3] http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html Freeware, OS Independent, 3.5 MB
[4] http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/ Freeware, OS Independent, 1.36 MB
[5] http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm Freeware, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, 1.60 MB

[Fishy80]

96 Best Free RSS Reader/Aggregator

Defining a best in this category is tough as different users have very different priorities. For some users, display readability and easy subscription is everything while to others, the level of blog integration is the most important attribute.

I fall firmly in the first category. To me RSS is just another information source not a way of life.

Indeed the most important feature in a reader to me is the ability to easily click on a number of interesting items from an integrated display and have a stacked series of Windows relating to the items open in a browser for later reading. That way I can scan quickly for items of interest but read the items at my leisure.

The readers that most conveniently offer this feature are those integrated into browsers rather than stand-alone readers or those that are work with your email client.

My favorite program for doing this is the Firefox extension for Onfolio. It was a commercial product until it was recently acquired by Microsoft who now make it available for free. Naturally Microsoft no longer support the Firefox extension but Onfolio is available for Internet Explorer users as an add-in [1] for the free Windows Live Toolbar [2]. With the IE Onfolio add-in you'll not only get a great RSS reader you'll also get a whole bunch of other features including the ability to save and manage web snippets. On the downside you'll have to have Live Toolbar which many will see as too much of a Faustian bargain.

If you use IE7 you may not need Onfolio as the RSS reader built into IE7 follows the Onfolio model and is excellent though it lacks Onfolio's excellent snippet management features.

Firefox users are not quite so well placed.

Firefox's V2 has inbuilt RSS capabilities though it doesn't work nearly as slickly as IE7. Page feeds are automatically detected and the user is the offered the choice of the online services at Bloglines, My Yahoo! or the Google Reader. All work well enough and for those with a Google account, the Google is option is probably the pick.

Apart from these three inbuilt options Firefox allow you use other third party readers as well. You can find instructions here [6] but be aware that not all readers can be integrated.

There are several RSS reader extensions available for Firefox. My top choice used to be the excellent Pluck extension but it is soon to be discontinued. The free Sage RSS reader extension [3] is another possibility. I've never liked it much but it might just light your fire.

My old Onfolio Firefox extension still works in Firefox 2 (with the help of the compatibility feature of the Nightly Tester Tools extension [4] ) but you need the commercial version of Onfolio to support it so it can hardly be recommended.

If you can't live with these choices you could try a stand-alone reader.

BlogBridge [5] has a highly readable display and any items clicked will load in the background in separate Firefox tabs for later reading. Even better is the ability to setup Firefox to use BlogBridge as your default reader. That way you can subscribe to new feeds from Firefox and have the feeds handled through BlogBridge, which is quite a neat solution. You'll need version 4.2 of BlogBridge or later - it won't work with early versions.

BlogBridge has a whole raft of features including support for almost all feed formats, syncing feeds between PCs, good searching and good integration with Del.icio.us and Flickr. Being Java based it available for most platforms however like all Java applications, there is a performance penalty to pay.

Another excellent stand-alone reader is GreatNews. Its newspaper style layout is one of the best I've seen and it's inbuilt IE based browser allows for quick and efficient viewing of items of interest. It will particularly appeal to Blogline users as it utilizes the Bloglines API to read feeds directly from Bloglines. Like BlogBridge it can be integrated into Firefox

Those wanting to integrate RSS with Microsoft Outlook email might like to try RSS Popper [8]. Personally I think your email client is the worst location for a RSS reader but there are many who disagree.

[1] http://www.onfolio.com/product/toolbaraddin/
[2] http://toolbar.live.com/
[3] http://sage.mozdev.org/
[4] http://users.blueprintit.co.uk/~dave/web/firefox/nightly
[5] http://www.blogbridge.com/
[6] http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/07/firefox-20-tutorial-add-new-rss.html
[7] http://www.curiostudio.com/
5] http://rsspopper.blogspot.com/2004/10/home.html

97 Best Free Project Manager

Open Workbench is a free Open Source project manager that is so feature rich and so powerful that it should at least be considered before any decision is made to purchase a commercial project management package. It's a product that takes time to get your head around. If you have been using Microsoft Project or other task based manager you'll have to re-orient your thinking because Open Workbench is resource-driven not task-driven. "An Open Workbench plan is built up from estimates for the tasks of work. Estimates are tied to the resource assigned to the tasks. Duration is then driven by the number of hours each resource will work per week to cover the total number of hours required for the tasks. Open Workbench is best suited for groups that estimate total work effort based on the estimates for all the tasks associated with a project, and then create a staffing plan and schedule for those estimates." Once you come to terms with this, you will still have to grapple with learning how to use this powerful product. Here is a partial feature list:

*
Define projects and create associated work breakdown structures with activities, phases, tasks and milestones
*
Create dependencies as finish-start, start-start, finish- finish or start-finish
*
Create subprojects and link them to master projects
*
Create and manage inter-project dependencies
*
Manage advanced task properties such as fixed duration, dependency lag, imposed start/end dates and charge codes
*
Schedule tasks manually or automatically using Auto Schedule
*
Automatically schedule tasks forwards or backwards
*
Schedule across linked master and subprojects
*
Schedule to general or individualized calendars
*
Define resources as people, equipment, materials or expense
*
Assign resources to tasks
*
Configure resources on tasks with uniform, fixed, contour, front or back loading
*
Track status, percent complete and estimates to complete
*
View Gantt charts (both detail and roll-up), PERT charts and the critical path
*
Conduct earned value analysis
*
Define, compare and reset project baseline setting
*
Can read Microsoft Project files

Open Workbench is the real thing, not some amateurish, half baked effort. Like Microsoft Project, it is best suited to large scale projects that can justify the considerable time it takes to learn the product. Those with smaller projects may want to consider some of the simpler (and less powerful) alternatives such as GanttPV [2] or ToDoList [3].

Freeware (registration required), Windows 2000 and later, 9.03MB.
[1] http://www.openworkbench.org/index.php
[2] http://www.pureviolet.net/ganttpv/index.html
[3] http://www.codeproject.com/tools/todolist2.asp

98 Best Free Memory Testing Utility

Memtest86 is a stand-alone GPL utility that provides comprehensive memory testing for all x86 based PCs regardless of the operating system. It can be run from a floppy disk, CD or USB drive. It's a tool geared towards experienced users and, if that's you, download it now for your PC toolkit. (58KB)

An alternative is MemScope, a free program that runs from a self booting floppy disk. It uses eight different testing patterns that can be run once off or continuously. It has good reporting and can be set to reboot at the completion of the tests. MemScope must be run from a floppy which you create when you run the downloaded file so have a floppy handy. Registration is required so expect some email advertising. There is also some harmless advertising in the product itself.

[1] http://www.memtest86.com/ (147kb)
[2] http://www.micro2000.co.uk/products/microscope/MemScope_Free_Memory_Tester.htm

99 Best Free Software Cataloging Utility

If you like testing out different programs on your PC you'll probably find a software cataloging program useful. These products will not only inventory what you have currently installed but also document the different programs you've tried in the past or have moved to CD storage. There are a lot of these inventory programs around but one of the best is SoftCat [1], a shareware program from FNPRG.com. The last freeware version of SoftCat is still available from this site [2]. This version hasn't got as many features as the latest commercial version but will still meet the need of most users.

Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 2.0MB
[1] http://www.fnprg.com/softcatplus/index.html
[2] http://pricelessware.org/thelist/org.htm

100 Best Free Web Site Link Checker

There are a number of free web services that will do this but I prefer to use Xenu's Link Sleuth, a free utility that does the checking from my own PC. Its multi-threaded design makes for incredibly fast scans, so fast you initially may not believe it's working correctly. It handles FTP and gopher, password protected areas, allows for exclusions, detects orphans, can check external links and much more. Reporting is browser based and comprehensive. All in all, a little gem.

Freeware All Windows versions, 531KB
http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html

[Fishy80]

101 Best Free Internet Business Guide

Whenever anyone asks me how to start an internet business I tell them to buy and read Ken Evoy's $30 e-book called Make Your Site Sell. as it's the best single source introduction to the subject available.

It appears you can now download M.Y.S.S. for free. It's part of a strategy to sell you a web building and hosting package, although you don't have to buy the package to get the book for free.

This is a really good deal. M.Y.S.S. may be a bit dated but it's still the best introduction to building a commercial site around. If you have any sort of an interest in how to build a web site and attract traffic then I suggest you download this book and read it thoroughly. Be warned though, these folks practice what they preach so don't be surprised to find yourself tempted to buy their latest product. :>) Free e-book, 11MB.

http://myss.sitesell.com/

102 Best Free Program Scheduler

It's possible to use the Windows Task Scheduler to automate the running of just about any program. However, some programs require user input once they are started and will sit waiting forever for a keyboard response. There are several solutions to this problem but subscriber Mark Smith has come up with one that is simple, free and effective.

Mark writes, "Gizmo, I just found a utility that has filled a major gap for me. I use Diskeeper Lite for defragging but the scheduling feature is only available in the paid version. I overcame this by using a free utility called System Scheduler [1]. It's simpler to use than Windows Scheduler and also allows you to enter parameters for a scheduled program or file. In particular, it allows you to enter key-presses in an easily understood manner which is great for non-programmers. So for example, with Diskeeper Lite, I could close the nag screen (Alt F4), activate the correct menu selection, Actions (Alt A) and press the key for defragment (D), all on one line without separators even. Very slick. So now I have the only feature that I really wanted in the paid version of Diskeeper!"

Great find, Mark. I'm sure a lot of subscribers will find this very useful. I note that the developer makes a free and a Pro version. The latter has some useful additional features such as the ability to reboot and run as a service but the free will do for most folks. Furthermore, the free version covers both home and business use.

[1] http://www.splinterware.com/ Freeware, Windows 9X and later, 1.0 mb

103 Best Free Tray Clock Replacement

TClock Lite [1] is a vastly improved replacement for the standard Windows tray clock. It provides all the benefits of the original clock as well as many enhancements and a number of useful additional features. Furthermore it achieves this with a tiny footprint and doesn't even require installation.

Given the tiny size of the program, the power of this program is most impressive. Less impressive is the help file which is brief and not particularly helpful. However the program is so well laid-out and simple to use that it's not really an issue.

Note that you might get a warning from your security software that TClock is potential spyware. It's not. It's just picking up the fact that it modifies explorer.exe to display the clock. Note too that the link below is to the Japanese author's site. You'll see some strange characters displayed but the "donwload" (sic) link is clear enough :>)

If you want an alternative try the classic TClockEx [2] that offers similar functionality to TClock Lite but it hasn't been updated for a while but appears to run OK on Windows XP systems.

Another alternative that is still being actively developed try AlfaClock [3] which offers a little more functionality at the cost of some additional complexity.

[1] http://homepage1.nifty.com/kazubon/tclocklight/index.html Freeware, Windows 95 and later, 373KB
[2] http://www.rcis.co.za/dale/tclockex/index.htm
[3] http://www.alfaclock.com/default.html Freeware, all Windows versions, 2MB

[Fishy80]

104 Best Free Project Time-keeping Utility

Need a simple utility that can record the time you work on a project. Then I suggest "Project
Timer [1]." It's truly basic; not much more than a series of glorified stopwatches but it's simple to
use and does exactly the job required. If you bill out your time to multiple projects, I
suspect you'll find this little program to be very handy.

An alternative is the Open Source program Timetool [2]. It's very lightweight, extremely easy to use interface and the ability to save out to CSV files for import into Excel make it a gem. I liked the way it easily handled multiple projects and the fact that it only needs to be running when you clock on or off.

[1] http://pc.revivalteam.de/index.php?site=timer  Freeware, all Windows versions, 312KB
[2] http://www.cratchit.org/TimeTool/ Freeware, all Windows versions, 359KB.

105 Best Free Screen Session Recorder

n issue #139 of Support Alert Newsletter readers were asked to nominate their favorite free utility for making movies of of their computer screens. Such utilities are really useful in tech support, product documentation, presentations or simply showing a relative how to do something.

There were lots of suggestions: Subscribers Eric Beschinski, Steve Lasley and Pierke Bosschieter liked Wink [1], Alan Kruger, Mike McClure and James Ronholm suggested Windows Media Encoder[2], A.K. liked AVI Screen Classic [3], Andrew Salottolo prefers iCord [4], Jon Bennett and Yotam Etal use Camstudio [5] while an anonymous contributor suggested the open source Krut recorder [6]. Note that iCord is still in beta, and appears to have been abandoned, as it has not been updated since 2003, and has the odd requirement of needing to change your screen resolution to 800x600 in order to work.

I tried each and they all work fine. I liked Wink most because of its ease of use, great flexibility and powerful annotation features. Wink also audio to be embedded in the presentation, allowing you to narrate the viewer through a series of steps. It only produces movies in Flash or executable file formats, though. Wink is freeware for Windows 98 and later and weighs in at 3.1MB.

If you need AVI format then Windows Media Encoder V9 will do the job elegantly. However it requires Windows 2000 and later and is a fat 9.5MB download.

[1] Wink
Website: http://www.debugmode.com/wink/
Download Link: http://www.debugmode.com/wink/download.php
Author: Satish Kumar S
Current version: 2.0 build 1050
Version date: 2007
License: Free
Download File size: 3.1 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98 – Vista or various Linux distributions
Additional Software Required: Adobe Flash plugin
64 Bit Capable: Untested
Portable Version Available: No, but can be run from a USB drive.
Non-English languages supported:
Other relevant information: Vista support is rumored

[2] Windows Media Encoder
Website: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx
Download Link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5691ba02-e496-465a-bba9-b2f1182cdf24&displaylang=en
Author: Microsoft
Current version: 1.0
Version date: 1-JUL-2003
License: Free
Download File size: 9.5 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 2000 - Vista
64 Bit Capable: Yes; separate version
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: None
Other relevant information: Vista Support via hotfix KB929182

[3] AVI Screen Classic
Website: http://www.bobyte.com/
Download Link: http://www.bobyte.com/AviScreen/DownloadC.asp
Author: Bobyte Software
Current version: 1.3
Version date: 12-MAY-2005
License: Free
Download File size: 699 KB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95 - Vista
64 Bit Capable: Untested
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Unknown; unlikely
Other relevant information: Commercial version available

[4] iCord
Website: http://sourceforge.net/projects/icord/
Download Link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=87787
Author: Laura McDonald & Robert Sanders
Current version: 1.0.0-beta7
Version date: 12-AUG-2003
License: Freeware
Download File size: 606 KB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95 - XP
64 Bit Capable: Untested
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Unknown

[5] Camstudio
Website: http://www.camstudio.org
Download Link: http://www.camstudio.org/CamStudio20.exe
Author: Unknown
Current version: 2.0
Version date: 2007
License: Freeware – GPL Open Source
Download File size: 1.33MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98 - XP
64 Bit Capable: Untested
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes, but not fully functional yet
Other relevant information: Vista workaround listed on support forums

[6] Krut
Website: http://sourceforge.net/projects/krut
Download Link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=129468
Author: Jonas Ostby
Current version: 0.9.2
Version date: 17-JAN-2007
License: Freeware - GPL
Download File size: 4.80 MB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows & Linux & Mac
Additional Software Required: Java Runtime Engine – www.java.com
64 Bit Capable: Untested
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Unknown

106 Best Free Business Accounting and CRM Software

Evaluating accounting software is out of my league but here are two packages for small to medium size businesses you may want to check out. The first is from Microsoft and is called Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007. It's a huge 208MB download and seems crammed with features. The second, from Averiware, takes care of most aspects of running a business such as accounting, sales, supply chain, HR, and ecommerce including ERP, CRM, SFA, HR, SCM, etc.

[1] http://ideawins.com/productinfo.html Freeware, Windows XP and later, 208MB
[2] http://www.averiwarefree.com

[Fishy80]

107 Best Free Vector Graphics Editor
To quote their website "Inkscape [1] ... uses W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and grouping. Inkscape also supports Creative Commons meta-data, node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing, and more. It imports formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and others and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats."

It's a product in its early stages; the current release is only at V0.45 and doesn't, for example, yet support SVG filter effects, animation, and SVG fonts. It is, however, totally usable. That usability is enhanced by an excellent user interface and the impressive set of tutorials that come with the product that help wean the user away from the world of digital images to the nodes, lines, curves and shapes that form the basis of vector editing. Overall a top product that will only get better. Highly recommended.

From the same stable as PhotoPlus (in the Best Free Digital Editor category) DrawPlus [2] is drawing and graphics software that enables you to create vector graphics, family trees, room layouts and even web animations.This is not the most current version of this software (version 4) however you might want to grab yourself the most current version (version 6) at only $9.99.

[1] Inkscape
Website: http://www.inkscape.org
Author:
Date: 02/18/2008
Version: 0.45.1
Download File size: 22MB
License: GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991
Operating systems supported: Windows 2000/2003/XP
64 Bit Capable: n/a
Portable version available: no
Other languages supported: yes

[2] DrawPlus
Website: http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/DrawPlus/default.asp
Author: Serif Europe Limited
Date: 02/18/2008
Version: 4
Download File size: 19MB
License: Free but requires registration
Operating systems supported: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP
64 Bit Capable: n/a
Portable version available: no
Other languages supported: no

108 Best Free Hex Editor

If you ever accidentally open an exe program file in a text editor such as Notepad you will be confronted with a mass of unintelligible garbage on your screen. Worse still if you write the exe file back to disk, the program file would almost certainly be corrupted and would not work. That's because text editors are designed only to work with text files which are files with extensions such as .txt, .bat, .prg and .html. To view and safely change binary files such as .exe, .com and .dll files you need a hex editor, sometimes called a binary editor. However, most average PC users have no need for such a program but techies and gamers find them indispensable.

There are some excellent free hex editors available that range from the small and simple editors to advanced products that are comparable to any commercial product. In total I looked at four products: HexEdit [1], Cygnus Free [2], Hxd [3], Hexplorer [4] HHD Free. Hex editors (like programming editors) are a software category where personal needs and preferences are so important that it is meaningless to pick a "best product". Instead I encourage all potential users to test several or all of the products and choose what suits them best. That of course doesn't stop me stating what I like.

For my needs, Hxd is a clear winner. Its first virtue is that it doesn't need installing. Second, it has a great interface. Third, it handles huge files without slowing down. Then add in unlimited undo, great searching and search/replace capabilities, full support for ANSI, DOS/IBM-ASCII and EBCDIC character plus a dozen other features and you can see why I like it. But it doesn't stop there. Hxd also works as a RAW disk editor and a full read/write RAM editor. Recently, binary file comparison has also been added to this product.

This power also makes it a dangerous tool in the hands of beginners. It may also give your security software apoplexy, but users skilled enough to use this product will understand this not a concern. Is it perfect? Of course not. To start, it lacks binary file comparison capability and the ability to extract text strings. A built in disassembler would also be nice. There are also a few bugs. However, what it offers is so impressive that it's hard to believe that this fine product is free.

[1] HexEdit
Website: http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~prewett/hexedit/
License: Freeware
Download file size: 147 KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003
Server/Vista
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None

[2] Cygnus Free
Website: http://www.softcircuits.com/cygnus/fe/
License: Freeware (Paid version available with more features)
Download file size: 284 KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 3.5, and
later
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None

[3] Hxd
Website: http://www.mh-nexus.de/hxd/
License: Freeware (GNU Public License)
Download file size: 747 KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4, 2000,
XP or 2003
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None

[4] Hexplorer
Website: https://sourceforge.net/projects/hexplorer/
License: Freeware
Download file size: 1.6 MB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003
Server/Vista
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None

109 Best Free Disk Health Monitoring Utility

An unexpected hard drive failure is one of the worst things that can happen to your PC. You may not only lose your disk drive, but permanently lose all the data on the drive. For many users this can be totally disastrous.

Many hard drive crashes are random however some are predictable. That's because almost all modern drives implement a monitoring technology called S.M.A.R.T (Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) that continuously passes readings on the hard drive condition to the computer's BIOS. Up to 30 drive parameters can be monitored by SMART including read and write error rates, seek error rate, spin up time, temperature and more.

To analyze this mass of data you need a special hard disk health monitoring program. Such programs can give you valuable advance warning that your hard drive is about to fail. This should give you time to backup your critical data and start looking for a replacement drive.

Most of these monitoring programs are commercial products with some selling for up to $199, however there are several capable free programs available.

PassMark DiskCheckup [1] is a commercial product but is free for personal use. One of its strong points is the ability to monitor changes in each SMART parameter over time and use this to predict the TEC (Threshold Exceed Condition). That is, the time when the parameter being measured will drop to below the acceptable level. As well as predicting a future failure date DiskCheckup can also alert the user via popup or email when this has actually occurred.

It all sounds very nice but such predictions are quite fuzzy, so they are at best a guide. Also, predictions can only be made if a trend is measured. Most drives have no such orderly trend. That's why DiskCheckup almost always indicates "N.A" for the TEC. Besides, to measure a trend the product needs to be always running and not all users want that.

There is another reservation: it doesn't recognize USB drives. To my knowledge SMART analysis is not available for USB drives but DiskCheckup doesn't even recognize your USB drives.

HDD Health [2] is another utility that is worth looking at. It has the immediate advantage of being pure freeware and it does recognize USB drives, though as noted, it cannot provide SMART analysis for such drives.

It takes a simpler and probably more meaningful approach to predicting drive failure. It doesn't focus on predicting a failure date, but instead warns you when individual parameters are deteriorating. I quite like it, a case of how sometimes less is more.

There is an Open Source Project called "S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring Tools" [3] that offers two programs to control and monitor storage systems using SMART. This was originally a Linux project but there is a Windows version. This one is really for sysadmins, not end-users.

A final possibility is HD Tune [4]. Like the other two utilities it reads SMART parameters and gives you a report on your drive health. However it is designed to give a snapshot report rather than act as a monitor. HD Tune does a lot more than report your hard drive health: it also benchmarks your hard drive performance. The way it does this is quite neat. It scans your disk, then reports random access time and data transfer rates across your whole drive; that is from the outermost to innermost cylinders. It will also scan your drive for sector errors and report drive temperature as well. It may not be the slickest hard drive health monitor but it is a very capable general hard disk utility to have in your toolkit.

If you want to continuously monitor your disk drive condition "HDD Health" would be my top recommendation. Many users however, would be happy with spot checks. For that application HD Tune should be considered. It will do the job perfectly well and you'll get a competent drive benchmarking utility as well.

[1] http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm Free for personal use, Windows 98-XP, 404KB
[2] http://www.panterasoft.com/ Freeware, Windows 95-XP, 901KB
[3] http://sourceforge.net/projects/smartmontools/
[3] http://www.hdtune.com/ Freeware, Windows 2K-Vista, 626KB

[Fishy80]

110 Best Free File Cataloging Program

Cathy [1] is a tiny portable program that catalogs files on removable media or on your hard drive. Once indexed, you can quickly search and locate a file by name, size and date with additional search fields for MP3 files. Multiple catalogs are supported and you can search for duplicate files as well. There is also a handy directory listing feature that allows you to print the contents of any folder.

The real strength of this program is its speed; it can index hundreds of thousands of files without a problem. This makes it handy for sysadmins as well as users with large file collections. Cathy doesn't index the contents of files, just the file names and other file properties. If you want to search contents you need a desktop search program.

[1] Cathy
Website: http://www.mtg.sk/rva/
License: Freeware
Download file size: 45KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: Yes
Additional Software Required: None

111 Best Free Ad Blocker for Internet Explorer

Firefox users can effectively remove ads from web pages using the excellent free Ad-Block extension but there has been no comparable free add-on for Internet Explorer. Until now, that is.

IE7Pro not only provides ad blocking but tab management, proxy switching, mouse gestures and more including a very valuable crash recovery feature. There's even a Firefox GreaseMonkey-like scripting feature that allows you to add more functionality such as a rather neat skin for Gmail.

Hey with all these additional features you can convert IE7 into an almost passable alternative to Firefox ;>)

Seriously, IE7Pro is a terrific product and a must for all IE7 users. In fact it's so good that I suspect the pressure to convert it to a commercial product may well prove irresistible so download it now while it's free.

http://www.ie7pro.com/ Freeware, Internet Explorer 7, 985KB.

112 Best Free PC Tune-up Utility

For one-click cleaning the stand-out product is Advanced WindowsCare Personal [1] from IObit. The Personal version is a feature-reduced version of their $29.95 Professional product. Features missing in the Personal version include automated scheduling, commercial use licensing, tech support and some advanced tuning tweaks. However, the Personal version does include almost everything else including adware/spyware cleaning and immunization, removal of useless temporary files from your hard drives, Windows registry cleaning, startup program analysis, erasing private browsing history, plus a number of system and security tweaks.

It's an impressive package for a freebie and this, combined with one click operation, makes Advanced WindowsCare Personal an easy top recommendation for non-technical users. It really only lacks in one area; it doesn't defragment your hard drive. However, IObit, the makers of Advanced WindowsCare, offer on their website an excellent free defrag program called SmartDefrag [2]. If you use this in conjunction with Advanced WindowsCare you will have a remarkably complete tune-up package for ZIP.

More technically inclined users will, however, find the lack of fine control in Advanced WindowsCare frustrating. Such users are more likely to be attracted to using several specialist packages each offering more settings and better user control. This approach is less convenient that a one click package that "does it all" but ultimately it's more customizable to the individual users needs and more powerful in the individual cleaning functions offered.

It's also less dangerous. A one-click approach encourages haste and discourages careful consideration of what is being done. Advanced WindowsCare handles this by creating a system checkpoint before the start of cleaning which allows the user to bale out if something goes wrong. I suspect something would go wrong sooner or later. Using multiple programs encourages you to stop and think and that is not a bad thing.

There are several different tune-up utility combinations that can be used. Many of you, in fact, will already be using some of these utilities, but for those who aren't, here's my basic "freeware clean-up kit" suggestion:

Spyware/Adware Cleaning: AVG Anti-Spyware [3]
Disk and Privacy Cleaning: CCleaner [4]
Registry Cleaner: EasyCleaner [5]
Defragmenter: Diskeeper V7 [6]

These are only suggestions. There are some splendid alternatives in each category which you can find in the appropriate categories of this list and my "46 Best freeware" [7] [8] list.

I recommend you run the utilities in the order they appear in the list above. Do check the settings for each program before you run them, particularly CCleaner, whose default settings are a little aggressive. Remember that cleaning your PC always involves a small element of risk so backup your data and create a Restore Point before you start.

If you find you have spyware that can't be removed by AVG I suggest you download HijackThis from here [9], and follow the instructions. On this same page it also tells you how to paste the output to the Tom Coyote web forums. These folks should be able to help you permanently get rid of the problem. It won't cost you a cent either.

So how often should you tune up your PC? For most users I recommend that you run a spyware scan weekly and the other cleaning operations monthly. After each monthly Windows update is an excellent time to run a clean up. If you install and uninstall a lot of products you may however want to increase this frequency to weekly.

If you have never tuned up your PC you should see a real improvement in speed and responsiveness the first time you run these programs. However, on subsequent runs the improvement may be much less noticeable.

[1] Advanced WindowsCare Personal
Website: http://www.iobit.com/AdvancedWindowsCarePersonal/index.html
Download link: http://www.download.com/Advanced-WindowsCare-Personal/3000-2086-10407614.html?part=dl-AdvancedW&subj=dl&tag=button
Author: IObit
Current version: 2.60
Version date: January 17, 2008
License: Freeware
Download File size: 5.3MB
Operating Systems Supported: 2000/XP/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

[2] SmartDefrag
Website: http://www.iobit.com/SmartDefrag/index.html
Download link: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5318
Author: IObit
Current version: 4.03 Beta
Version date: January 6, 2007
License: Freeware
Download File size: 1.5MB
Operating Systems Supported: 2000/XP/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

[3] AVG Anti-Spyware
Website: http://www.ewido.net/en/
Download link: http://www.ewido.net/en/download/
Author: Grisoft
Current version: 7.5.1.43
Version date: January 3, 2008
License: Freeware
Download File size: 13.46MB
Operating Systems Supported: 2000/XP/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

[4] CCleaner
Website: http://www.ccleaner.com/
Download link: http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/tech/
Author: Piriform
Current version: 2.04.543
Version date: January 17, 2008
License: Freeware
Download File size: 2.67MB
Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

[5] EasyCleaner
Website: http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
Download link: http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
Author: Toni Arts
Current version: 2.0
Version date: June 6, 2006
License: Freeware
Download File size: 2MB
Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: Windows 95 requires Winsock 2 update, available from http://www.microsoft.com
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

[6] Diskeeper V7
Website: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207
Download link: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207
Author: Executive Software
Current version: 7.0.418
Version date: October 18, 2002
License: Freeware
Download File size: 12.1MB
Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Other relevant information: None

[7] Gizmo's 46 Best-ever Freeware 
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm

[8] Gizmo's Extended Freeware
http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm

[9] HijackThis
Website: http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/
Download link: http://www.whatthetech.com/hijackthis_v2/
Author: Trend Micro
Current version: 2.02
Version date: July 6, 2007
License: Freeware
Download File size: 362KB
Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: Yes
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: NA
Other relevant information: Merijn sold HijackThis to Trend Micro. They’ve released HijackThis V2 (version 2). The quick start guide for it can be found here. Unless you’re using Windows Vista, HJT v2 is not required.

[Fishy80]

113 Best Free Memory Optimizer

Windows XP has excellent memory management and for the most part you don't need a third party memory management product. I've tried a few free memory managers but none has impressed me enough to allow recommendation. Until now that is.

FreeRAM XP is a memory manager that not only works but also doesn't seem to cause problems; a rare combination. It ticks away in the background consumes few resources and does genuinely free up a bit of memory when you ask it to. It can also be configured to automatically free up memory.

Does freeing up memory improve performance? On both my test system and personal laptop it certainly did release some more memory but in truth it didn't make much difference to actual performance. Still, all my systems are XP and have 1GB plus. Maybe on older PCs with less memory or when using applications like PhotoShop that eat up a lot of memory it may make a difference, I can't say. What I can say is that FreeRAM XP caused no problems other than a 10-30 second freeze of my PC when FreeRAM is in the actual process of releasing memory.

Is it worth it the effort? Clearly the answer depends on your system so try it and see if it helps. Note: The vendor's website was down when I tried but you can get it from the download link shown below:

[1] FreeRAM XP Pro
Website: http://www.yourwaresolutions.com/
Download link: http://www.download.com/FreeRAM-XP-Pro/3000-2086_4-10070530.html
Author: YourWare Solutions
Current version: 1.52
Version date: March 22 2006
License: Freeware
Download File size: 605KB
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/2003 Server
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None
Non-English languages supported: None
Other relevant information: None

114 Best Free File Copy Utility

Recently I had to transfer several hundred megabytes of media files from one large external drive to another. With Windows Copy the job just kept crashing.

I tried my favorite general purpose file copy utility XXCopy [1] but it fared no better.

I then remembered a utility called Unstoppable Copier [2] that had been recommended by subscriber George Rakocsi that I had never got around to checking out. It seemed the perfect tool for the job. According to the website, Unstoppable Copier "allows you to copy files from disks with problems such as bad sectors, scratches or that just give errors when reading data. The program will attempt to recover every readable piece of a file and put the pieces together. Using this method most types of files can be made usable even if some parts were not recoverable in the end."

Well I'm pleased to say Unstoppable Copier worked perfectly. As it turns out just one file was corrupted out of the 2700 files on the disk and that's what was causing Windows Copy to fail. After that incident do you think I'm going to recommend Unstoppable Copier? You bet and not only for problem copying but for recovering partly corrupted files as well. It's just the thing for getting your information off scratched CDs and DVDs, aging floppies and failing hard drives. Don't expect it to perform miracles though; some disks are just too physically damaged to allow data recovery.

[1] XXCopy
Website: http://www.xxcopy.com/index.htm
License: Free for personal use
Download file size: 244KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None

[2] Unstoppable Copier
Website: http://www.roadkil.net/unstopcp.html
License: Freeware
Download file size: 71KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: Linux
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None

115 Best Free Binary File Text Extractor

When dealing with unknown .exe, .dll or other binary files it is often helpful to view any text information contained in the file. This often allows you to identify the program itself as well as other information such as the copyright date, application used to create the file, menu items and error messages.

"Peek" is a tiny utility that allows you to do this by creating a right context menu item. Usage can't be simpler: Just right click a binary file and select "Peek." The program can handle Unicode strings and can provide text string offsets. A little gem.

[1] Peek
Website: http://members.ping.at/mlubich/
License: Freeware
Download file size: 11.2 KB
Windows Operating Systems Supported: 95/98/Me/NT (Works with 2000/XP/2003 also)
Non-Windows Operating Systems Supported: None
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Software Required: None

[Fishy80]

116 Best Free Folder Hiding Utility

I'm not sure why subscribers keep asking me for a free program that will hide Windows folders, maybe it's because most of the utilities on the market are expensive commercial products, or maybe it's because my readers have a lot to hide :>)

I suspect the real reason is simplicity and convenience. Folder hiding is a concept that's easily understood and it's a really straight forward way of keeping your private information away from casual prying eyes.

I only know of one free utility that does the job: Free Hide Folder [1].

Usage is simple, you just nominate the folders you want to hide, and they immediately disappear from view. Un-hiding requires the use of a password.

Like most folder-hiding utilities the level of secrecy is minimal. That's because your information is hidden, but not encrypted. Indeed I had no problem locating a file in a hidden folder by using Window’s Search. Then again, you have to know what you are searching for.

I should also note that every time I used the program it nagged me for a donation. That's OK, we all have to eat, but it's still an annoyance.

In summary, Free Hide Folder is a convenient and useful way of providing simple privacy protection. Don't depend on it to hide anything of real importance though. If you want real security consider using the free open source program TrueCrypt [3] instead. It creates a virtual disk in which you can store your confidential data as opposed to a folder. It's not quite as convenient to use, but unlike "folder hiding" programs, it is totally secure.

This topic was also covered in an issue of Support Alert newsletter. [3]

[1] Free Hide Folders
Website: http://www.cleanersoft.com/hidefolder/free_hide_folder.htm
File Size: 742 KB
Operating Systems: 32-Bit Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003
License: Freeware (See EULA)
Portable Version: None

[2] TrueCrypt
Website: http://www.truecrypt.org/
File Size 1.49 MB
Operating Systems: 32-Bit Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista
64 Bit capable: Yes, 64-Bit Windows XP/Vista, LINUX(OpenSuSE/Ubuntu x86/Ubuntu 64-bit
License: (None Listed) - Freeware

Portable version: No

117Best Free Desktop Publishing Program

Commercial Desktop publishing programs are expensive. For those with less sophisticated needs Microsoft Publisher retails for $169. But if you need more features and versatility you soon move up to the $700 or higher range for programs like QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign. But don't despair, there are two excellent desktop publishing programs that are totally free. One is ideal for small business and an excellent alternative to Microsoft Publisher; the other is a serious competitor to the high-end, feature rich commercial programs.

The first is PagePlus SE [1] from Serif Software, makers of the well known free digital editor PhotoPlus. It's an earlier version 8 of Serif's current PagePlus product that is now (I think) at version 11. The SE version is lacking a lot of features available in the current product but has more than enough to produce the relatively simple brochures, flyers, ads, and newsletters used by small businesses and charitable organizations. In fact its lack of complex features makes it a much more user friendly and easier to learn program for beginners with only basic publishing needs. The program comes with a good set of templates to help get the creatively challenged started and more templates can be downloaded from the web. Text creation and manipulation works well while images can be cut and pasted, re-sized and moved around the templates with ease. There is also a basic set of shapes available. The color palette available is limited but adequate for most needs. File formats available to save your work are also somewhat limited and do not include the ability to save your work in PDF format. However for $9.95 you can upgrade to version 9 that handles PDF as well as adding a lot of other features such as Pantone colors, freehand tools, mail merge and web publishing. If there is one thing that really stands out about PagePlus SE it is the ease of use. In fact if you can use Microsoft Word you can use PagePlus SE to accomplish far more with your layout than is possible with Word.

The second, more advanced, program is Scribus [2], a free open source program that was originally written for Linux but is now available for Mac OS X, OS2 and Windows. Scribus is the real thing; a professional quality page layout program capable of producing "press-ready" output. The feature list is impressive; basically everything you want is there including "CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation." Graphics manipulation is handled via an interface to "The Gimp" another open source program. Scribus can also import from and export to programs in the Open Office suite. The user interface though highly functional, is not quite as slick as its commercial cousins but it can be skinned to fit in with the look of whatever operating system you are using. The documentation is excellent and there is lots of support from Scribus's enthusiastic user community.

[1] PagePlus SE
Website: http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PagePlus/default.asp
Author: Serif Software
Date:
Version Number: SE
Download file size: 19.6 MB
License: Freeware
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95-XP (Vista Support?)
64 Bit Capable: No
Other languages supported:
Additional Software Required:
Portable: No
Other Relevant Information:
Website for upgraded product http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/pagePlus/pagePlus9.asp

[2] Scribus
Website: http://www.scribus.net/
Author: Scribus
Date:
Version Number: 1.3.3.9
Download file size: 18.2 MB
License: Free, Open Source
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 2k with GDI+ Library, Windows XP, MacOS, OS/2, Debian
64 Bit Capable: No
Other languages supported:
Additional Software Required: GDI+ Library if using Windows 2000
Portable: Portable version available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/portablescribus/

118 Best free Windows Media Player Replacement

It used to be that you needed one program to play MP3 files, another to play streaming media from Real, another to play Mpeg files, yet another to play Quicktime movies, another one for playing CD's and yet another for playing DVD discs. Then, with the advent of Microsoft's Windows Media Player (WMP), all of these media types could now be played in one player, but WMP in XP and Vista has become bloated and doesn't work with all of the types of file formats available. Then came along WinAmp, which started out as a mp3 player and now plays almost everything, but does use up a lot of system resources and can contain adware if you aren't careful on the installation. With the ever increasing popularity of iPods, iTunes has become more prevelant on many PC's, but it also takes up a lot of resources and is processor intensive. So I have done some major research for an alternative media player capable of playing all of these media formats. What I found impressed me becuase they not only replace the functionality of WMP, WinAmp and iTunes, but exceed them as well. The products reviewed here are capable of playing multiple types of media files, including various digital audio and video formats, CD's, and DVD's.

NOTE: Some of these programs may require additional codecs for expanded functionality. For more information about codecs including what they do, legal issues and download links, see the "Beginners Guide to Codecs" link below.

My personal favorite is Media Player Classic [1], available for Windows (95 through Vista), MPC looks like the old Windows Media Player v6.4, but that is where the similarity ends. Under the hood, this program packs a lot of features, including codecs for viewing DVD discs, MPEG1, MPEG2, and MPEG 4 video files, MP3 and Ogg files. MPC can also use the QuickTime and the RealPlayer architectures (if installed on the computer) to play their native files. If you really want to extend MPC's functionality while avoiding the installation of RealPlayer, WinAmp and QuickTime, download "ffdshow", "Real Alternative", "QuickTime Alternative" and "WinAmp Alternative" packages. They will make sure there will be almost nothing you won't be able to play. MPC is the only product reviewed here that requires no installation on your PC. This means that it can be run from your USB flash drive as well as your hard drive. (Note: There is some dispute over the legality of "Real Alternative and "QuickTime Alternative" codec packs. ffdshow is Open Source, completely legal, and should cover almost all of your needs.)


An excellent alternative to MPC is VLC Media Player [2]. VLC is available for multiple OS's, including all versions of Windows (98 - Vista), Mac OS X, and many varieties of Linux. Most versions will support playback of most video files and DVD discs without the need to download external codec packs, including flv files, which MPC cannot natively play. VLC has another unique feature as well. There are 5 different DVD region codes. DVD's manufactured for one region will not play in players made for a different region. This applies to PC DVD drives as well... until now. VLC plays them all. There is no need for any shady (and possibly illegal DVD region spoofing programs). This is especially nice if you are an international traveler and want to watch a movie on your laptop outside your country.

Another good alternative is GOM Player [3]. Available only for Windows (98Se - Vista), it also will play most media files, including flv files with it's own internal codecs. If, however, you come across a file it cannot play, it will direct you to the appropriate Open Source codec to install. The program is a little quirky, though. I tried to play a DVD disc on two different pc's using GOM. On one it would not play it at all (and this was a machine I've been able to play DVD discs on before) while on the other one it played it fine. One very noteworthy feature of GOM player is the ability to play broken media files. According to subscriber Ash, "GOM Player's claim that it can play broken avi files is very true. We have a file sharing network on campus which uses DC++. Usually avi files which are being downloaded stop partway due to too much traffic. GOM Player was able to play every one of those files on my system up to the point where they stopped downloading."

[1] Media Player Classic:
Website: http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli2/
Download Link: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=205650
Author: Gabest
Current Version: 6.4.9.1
Version Date: 1/4/2008
Download File Size: 2.12 MB
License: Free - GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 95-Vista
64 Bit Capable: No
Portable version available: Yes.
Additional Related Software:
Real Alternative: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm
QuickTime Alternative: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm
WinAmp Alternative: http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Winamp-Alternative-Download-23376.html
Other Relevant Information: No installation required. Can be run from a flash drive. "Beginners Guide to Codecs" can be downloaded here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/issues/issue154.htm#Section_5.1

[2] VLC Media Player:
Website: http://www.videolan.org/
Download Link: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Author: The VideoLAN Team
Current Version: 0.8.6d
Version Date: 11/30/2007
Download File Size: 9.28 MB
License: Free - GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98-Vista, OS x, Various Linux distros
64 Bit: No
Portability: No
Additional Related software: None
Other Relevant Information: None

[3] GOM Player:
Website: http://www.gomplayer.com/main.html
Download Link: http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4094
Author: Gretech Corp.
Current Version: 2.1.8.3683
Version Date: 11/1/2007
Download File Size: 4.48 MB
License: Free - GNU General Public License (GPL)
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98SE-Vista
64 Bit: No
Portable Version Available: No
Additional Related software: None
Other Relevant Information: None

[Fishy80]

119 Best Free High Dynamic Range (HDR) Software

Imagine you are inside a large Gothic cathedral with the sunlight streaming in from the windows. You pull out your digital camera and take a photograph of some beautiful art on the church wall near one of the Windows.

You needn't have bothered. Your digital photograph will be a flop. Either the painting will be dark and barely visible or the Window will appear as a glaring and dominant white area that is hardly recognizable as a window. Or both.

Digital photography is a wonderful technology but it's not very good at handling scenes where there are both very dark and brightly lit areas. The human eye is superb at this, digital sensors are not.

But there is way of overcoming this problem. It's called HDR photography.

HDR photography works by combining several photos of the same scene taken at different exposure settings into one photo. The details of dark areas from the long exposures shot are combined with details of brightly lit areas taken from a short exposure shot. The result is a single photo that is correctly exposed in both the dark and light areas. The resultant photo not only looks correctly exposed it also look more dimensional.

There is a related technique called tone mapping. I won't attempt to explain this but you can read more on that here. I am also aware that the new concept is to just tone map a single image, and most of this HDR software will allow you to do this.

To create HDR photographs you will need to do two things. First you really should take your series of differently exposed photos on a tripod to ensure the photos are all identical. Second you need to combine the series photos using special HDR software. In the future that software may be built into digital cameras, but not today.

Taking the shots is easy as most modern cameras have a "bracketing mode" that will allows you to automatically take a picture several times at different exposures. If not, you can do it manually.

There are several free HDR software packages and I've had the opportunity to review most of them.

Selecting the best was not easy, Qtpfsgui [1] came out slightly ahead, it has great tone mapping and aligning facilities allows 8,16 and 32 bit channels and two manual means of manually manipulating the tone mapping. I had previously put this unfairly at the bottom, unbeknown to me the graphics card was causing problems. Qtpfsgui creates a wonderful range of tone mapped HDR images. When loaded the images can be aligned automatically and manually. Click next and a wizard take you through, but it has recommended profiles or you can change this to get the best for your image. It gives you choices for ghosting and response curves and if not to your liking tick the custom configuration. After the generated image has been achieved you have a good array of tone mapped filters and the ability to adjust tone mapping manually. Here's the big hint, if your computer is struggling with creating the TIFF image, make the image in the smallest size. After adjusting your levels and you are happy with the finished image, delete it (yes that's right delete it!) and create your large one. This is not just a Windows software it can be used on Linux and Mac operating systems, it does support RAW.

Picturenaut[2] will automatically align your image, exposure correction, color balancing, automatically derive the camera curve from the source images and has noise level compensation. The HDR Formats are: PFM (Portable Float Map) - HDR (Radiance) - EXR (OpenEXR) - TIFF (32-bit Floating Point) - TIFF (LogLuv) - LDR Formats - JPEG - TIFF (only RGB color space) - TGA (Targa, no alpha channel). It does not support bracketed RAW images.

What is interesting is that the software has a choice of weighting when you have loaded your images offering options "Derivative, +hat 1, +hat2".

Simply explained, weighting is the values between dark pixels and light pixels. Dark pixels have noise in them and light pixels are usually over-exposed, instead of dropping these pixels they are assigned a weight value. Depending on your image the weight function will help create a better result. The EV (Exposure Value) can be taken from the EXIF information attached to the image or assigned a manual value (this is excellent for cheating HDR's). As a modular piece of software, its most important functions can all be accessed from a command line. The downside is that you cannot alter the alignment of the image though this may be included in a later version.

FDRTools Basic [3] was close to being my first choice as you are able to use RAW and alter the image alignment. The supported import image formats are: JPEG, TIFF, Radiance RGBE, OpenEXR, Integrated RAW converter plus DCRAW for direct import of virtually all digital camera RAW formats. The supported export image formats are : Radiance RGBE, OpenEXR, TIFF, PNG, PPM, BMP, JPEG. There are four windows that you can view, display of menu with images and adjustments, preview area, progress and navigator. When you choose to align the images it automatically compensates for any 'slight' camera wobble. When aligned there is the ability to manually adjust if you require to have a slight misalignment for image creativity. Sometimes a slight misalignment can create a better HDR image giving it more depth. It has two ways in which you can tone map, 'Simplex' – adjusting histogram, gamma and saturation, 'Receptor' has the same but with the added bonus of compression and brightness. Personally I work on 'Receptor' it gives the greater effect if needed. Please delve into the 'Preferences' and not just work on the default, as this will acquaint you with the settings and where you wish your images are to go and what format you wish to save them in. An excellent program.

The next two options are neck and neck:

EasyHDR Basic[4] had the edge, because I could manipulate the curve. Maybe because I am bias on seeing the curve rather than a slide effect. When loading your picture it will most probably be larger than the screen so the adjustment zoom is at the bottom. You will see three tabs showing three steps for you to follow to achieve your HDR image. The first step is to load your images and there are two ways to achieve this, first to load them up together, but you won't be able to offset the image. Second is to load them individually and you have then the ability move the images for alignment or off alignment. The second stage allows you to adjust your image curve, adjust true mapping, gamma and saturation. Its not obvious, but select an area large enough for you to see the changes and adjustments you make. The third step offers image filters and color adjustments.

Photomatix Basic [5] is really on par with the above. You can download the pro version as a trial (pro is in as well), but as it states all the functions that are in the basic don't have a watermark and will not expire. You have the ability to combine two images on an image average or a combining of highlights and shadows. On the HDR, Photomatix will try and align the images for you, with the ability to compensate for moving images. You are advised to take the recommended tone curve of color profile, but the other choice (not the bottom as it does not work on the basic) which is the reverse. When generated I found that all my own trials have become to dark and have had to increase the exposure. But, when you go onto to tone mapping the brightness can be adjusted, the tone mapping done with tonal range compression and contrast adaptation. The output is on 8 bit, but this can be changed to 16 bit.

[1] Qtpfsgui
Website: http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/
Download size: 3.6MB
License: Open Source
Operating Systems: Linux, Windows and Mac OS X
System requirements: None stated
Languages: It comes in many languages

[2] Picturenaut
Website: http://www.hdrlabs.com/picturenaut/index.html
License: Freeware
Download size: 1.94 MB
Operating System: Windows 98 / ME / 2000 / XP / Vista
Language: English, German

[3] FDRTools Basic
Website: http://fdrtools.com/fdrtools_basic_e.php
Download size: Windows 8MB – OS X 13MB
License: Freeware
Operating Systems: at least Windows 98 or OS X 10.3
System requirements: at least 512 MB memory – Processor: at least Pentium 4, PowerPC G4

[4] EasyHDR Basic
Website: http://www.easyhdr.com/?basic=yes
Download size: 1.37MB
License: Freeware
Operating Systems: any Windows (95/98/XP/Vista)
System requirements: Screen resolution: 1024x768 or higher – Memory: Recommended minimum: 512MB.
Languages: English, Polish, German, French, Portuguese and Italian

[5] Photomatix
Website: http://www.hdrsoft.com/download.html
Download size: 2.6MB
License: Freeware
Operating Systems: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista (note for MAC download the 'Pro' version as it will work on the basic functions without a watermark)

[omgcool7]

dannnnnnnnnnnnng how long this take ???

[Neth'zul]

Its tooo long to read LMAO! +rep for contributing