Essential Free Windows Tools.

[sbisson]

Gawker's Lifehacker blog is putting together a list of essential free tools for Windows users. I'm amused to see that I'm already using all of them...

• Firefox Tabbed, pop-up-blocking web browser with an ever-expanding base of functionality-enhancing extensions.


• Thunderbird Email client with spam filters, saved search folders, RSS-reading and multi-account support.


• Trillian Instant messenger that supports multiple protocols (AOL/ICQ/MSN/Yahoo!), being logged onto multiple AOL accounts at one time, instant Wikipedia lookup, spellcheck, and conversation logging.


• Picasa Photo manager tracks digital images and albums with keywords and ratings, exports web galleries, resizes images, removes red-eye and offers effects and edits.


• iTunes Music player organizes thousands of tunes into saved search "smart" playlists, records play counts and last played timestamps, de-duplicates your collection, auto-arranges songs into folders by artist and album.


• Ad-aware Spyware detector and cleanser can save even the slowest, most advertising-pummelled Windows installation.


• AVG Anti-Virus Monitors your computer and email for viruses, auto-updates and schedules regular scanning.


• OpenOffice Office suite package opens, edits and saves to Microsoft Office formats, minus the licensing costs.


• Skype Long-distance computer calls over the 'net minus the bill.

I think I'd want to add a few more of my own...

• SmartFTP Fast, well designed FTP client. A real Ronseal application...


• BitLord Probably the best BitTorrent client around.


• jBidWatcher A Free eBay auction watcher


• VLC Watch and listen to pretty much every media format out there...


• Flickr Uploadr Share those photos with the world on Flickr


• CDex Best (and fastest) MP3 ripper around, by far


• RealVNC Direct access to all your PCs and servers


• Spy-bot S&D You can never have too many adware defenders running


• Daemon Tools Mount your CD and DVD images, without burning the disks.


• Sipphone Lite Free 1-800 number calls in the US from the UK using the Internet


• Windows Services for Unix Run and compile UNIX apps on Windows - with better integration than CygWin


• IrfanView Quick Windows image viewer and editor
  

I'm sure there are many more, but that's just a few off the top of my head...

Or rather, off my Start Bar...

Comments

Re: So...

[fba.livejournal.com]

# Trillian Instant messenger. Not on MacOSX. E
Try http://www.adiumx.com/

I hate Trillian (so bloaty and slow) and use Gaim in Windows...

Picasa Photo manager. Dunno what is best, but presumably someone will say iPhoto?
iPhoto isn't free though - it is part of iLife...

Ad-aware Spyware. Not sure you need one do you?
Not so much.

AVG Anti-Virus Not sure you need one do you?
I *hate* AVG - I'm sure it is better now - but when I last tried it it sucked up every bit of resource the machine had :/

ClamAV is great at picking up Windows nasties - and is available for all Unix platforms and there is a Windows port (http://www.clamwin.com/) which I ought to try some time.

I generally prefer Mplayer to VLC - I haven't found anything that it can't play...

Re: So...

[dfordoom.livejournal.com]

I had a lot of problems with earlier versions of AVG antivirus, but that was nothing compared to the nightmares with version 7. I'm now using a free antivirus program called Avast. It's terrible, a nightmare to use, but at least (unlike AVG) it doesn't actually stop my computer from running.

Re: So...

[fba.livejournal.com]

I use Avast - don't have any problems with it at all, just install it and forget about it. It performed most admirably when there was a storm of email bourne virii (Klez IIRC). I ended up getting fed up with all the crap coming in to the home network and set up anti-virus filtering on the mail server...

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

I tried Avast on my mother's machine, and it got hung up on one particular virus it couldn't erase. Then, after I'd deep-sixed that one, it did it again.

A shame. I suspect it would be helpful in a less toxic environment, though even so, there's no way she'd be able to cope.

(With one thing and another, I took more than 200 nasties off her machine, and I know there were some left, but I just didn't have time. She's got a couple of virus/adware protectors on there now, so at least the rate of infection should have slowed.)

[fba.livejournal.com]

When something is that fucked over it is easier to rip off the data and re-install. I tend to run AV and antispyware stuff in safe mode - means anything that starts itself as a service can be got rid of.

I'm actually finding the Microsoft Antispyware Beta one of the most effective tools for sorting out bug ridden Windows machines.

[pickledginger.livejournal.com]

Interesting - thanks!

Yes, given the shape her machine was in, an electromagnet probably would have been a more efficient approach.

*weak grin*

Re: So...

[andrewducker]

I've never had any of these problems with AVG. Very odd.