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These are just a few of our favorite FREE programs. If you’re interesting in trying them out, I have linked to their home page. Just click the name. If you have a program that isn’t listed here, send us a link!
Evernote: Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. Built-in OCR makes text inside images searchable.
VSO Image Resizer: the perfect tool for those who store their digital pictures and images on their PC and who want to resize, compress, convert, create copies, create thumbnails, import or organize photos.
Image Resizer Powertoy Clone: Another great image resizer! It allows you to right-click on one or more image files in Windows Explorer to resize them on the fly.
Paragon Backup & Recover 10 Free Edition: Total PC Protection for Serious Users!
Take complete control of your PC’s safety. Based on solid commercial backup and recovery software from Paragon, the new Backup & Recovery 10.1 Free Edition will give you a rich set of features that you can trust.
Smart people backup; Backup & Recovery is smart backup.
PDFCreator: easily creates PDFs from any Windows program. Use it like a printer in any Windows application.
DisplayFusion: will make your dual monitor (or triple monitor or more) experience smooth and painless. With DisplayFusion you can add a taskbar to every monitor that works and looks just like the Windows Taskbar. Or take advantage of advanced multi-monitor wallpaper support, Flickr integration for image searching and fully customizable window management hotkeys.
Foxit PDF Reader: NO BLOAT PDF Reader, small download, with fast & accurate rendering.
Google Desktop: Desktop search
• Search your computer as easily as you search the web with Google
• Find and launch applications and files with just a few keystrokes
Sidebar with gadgets
• Add Google Gadgets to customize your desktop
• Get news, weather and more anywhere on your desktop
Google Calendar: With multiple views, simple sharing, and seamless integration with other Google products, Google's calendar, like most of its Web apps, stands a notch above the rest.
Google Docs: If you're ready to move your work life to the cloud, Google's word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation suite is ready for you, complete with storage for all docs. It also comes with forms you can fill out to gather data from outside.
Google Reader: The best desktop reader. Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content.
Picasa: free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great.
Sharing your best photos with friends and family is as easy as pressing a button!
Object Dock Freeware: is a program that enables users to organize their shortcuts, programs and running tasks into an attractive and fun animated Dock. By allowing users to have more control over how they organize their desktop, users can take control of their desktop icons and shortcuts to have them be available when where and how they need them. This, all with the unique style and top-rate performance that ObjectDock is known to deliver!
Right Click Image Converter: (nagware, but good program!) Don't waste time manually processing or converting your images. Convert between image formats with just two clicks, directly from Windows! With ImageBadger, you can also improve your images with a wide range of filters, like resize, rotate, brightness, etc.
Digsby: is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber in one, easy to manage, buddy list. digsby is an email notification tool that alerts you of new email and lets you perform actions such as 'Delete' or 'Report Spam' with just one click. digsby is a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages and gives you a live Newsfeed of what your friends are up to on FaceBook, Twitter, and MySpace.
ImgBurn: is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit!
It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task:# Read - Read a disc to an image file
# Build - Create an image file from files on your computer or network - or you can write the files directly to a disc
# Write - Write an image file to a disc
# Verify - Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct
# Discovery - Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing.
LastPass:
it's EASIER: Never forget a password again and log into your sites with a single mouse click.
it's EVERYWHERE: Automatically synchronizes your data: access it from anywhere at anytime.
it's SAFER: Protect yourself against phishing scams, online fraud, and malware.
it'sSECURE: All of your data is encrypted locally on your PC - only YOU can unlock it.
it's FREE: No catches or gimmicks. It's free to use on all your computers!
it's MULTI-PLATFORM: Using a Mac, Windows, or Linux? LastPass works everywhere.
Firefox: Bringing together all kinds of awesomeness to make browsing better for you.
Add-Ons are what make Firefox the most customizable browser. There are literally THOUSANDS out there, and you can search for them on Firefox’s Add-on page (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox). These are the ones that we can’t live without: Adblock Plus, All-in-One Sidebar, BetterPrivacy, CheckPlaces, ColorfulTabs, Compact Toolbar, Copy Plain Text, DownThemAll!, Evernote Web Clipper, Faviconize Tab, FEBE profile Backup, FoxTab, Long URL Please, Multi-Site Opener, Omnibar, PageZipper, PDFit, Perma Tabs Mod, Personas, Save Session, Search Preview, Sortplaces, Stealther, Undo Closed Tabs Button, Xmarks, YouTube Comment Snob.
Mozilla Weave: A product of Mozilla Labs, Weave is meant to synchronize anything and everything related to Firefox among all the computers you use, plus extend some features to others for sharing.
Thunderbird 3: Email, now with tabs, better search, and email archiving. If you like Firefox’s tabbed browsing, you’re going to love tabbed email. Thunderbird 3’s tabbed email lets you load emails in separate tabs so you can quickly jump between them.
You can have add-ons for Thunderbird too! click here to search: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/ A few good ones: Border Colors, Disable “You”, Wise Stamp (for making a great signature), Toolbar buttons, Manual Sort Folders, and Personas.
MozBackup: is a simple utility for creating backups of Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Mozilla Sunbird, Flock, SeaMonkey, Mozilla Suite, Spicebird, Songbird and Netscape profiles. This program is freeware and works on Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7.
CCleaner: is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!
AGV Anti-Virus Free Edition 9: AVG Free provides you with basic antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows and is available to download for free.
- The most downloaded software on CNET's Download.com
- Protection against viruses and spyware (antivirus and antispyware)
- Fast, effective security that is kind on resources
- Compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2000
- (We use this on our Windows XP computers. Doesn’t slow them down like other anti-virus programs. Just make sure you have Windows Firewall turned on or use the next program instead)
Comodo Internet Security: free Firewall and AntiVirus to take the first step in protecting your PC from malware, viruses, worms, and more. The experts agree—when it comes to threat protection, Comodo's Firewall software is the choice the pro's turn to. Compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP. (I’m using this on my Windows 7 desktop computer right now! Works great!)
Open Office: is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose. Plus there are all kinds of free add-ons here: http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/
Free Studio: Free Studio is a single package which bundles all free software from DVDVideoSoft to work with DVD, video and audio files! With this free software you can convert video and audio files between different formats and to iPod, PSP, iPhone, BlackBerry and other portable devices; burn and rip DVDs and audio CDs; upload and download videos and music to your computer, iPod, PSP, iPhone and BlackBerry; perform basic editing of audio and video files.
Hulu: Hulu is an online video service that offers hit TV shows, movies and clips at Hulu.com and other online destination sites — anytime in the U.S. And there’s a free add-on to make it integrate with Windows Media Center here: http://huluwmc.teknowebworks.com/
Nero Freeware: Enjoy basic data burning and copying capabilities for your CDs and DVDs from the world’s most trusted digital media brand.
Sandboxie: Tired of dealing with rogue software, spyware and malware? Spent too many hours removing unsolicited software? Worried about clicking unfamiliar Web links? Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.
Windows Live Writer: With Windows Live Writer, blogging is a breeze. You can add photos and videos, format everything just so, and publish to most blogging services—Windows Live, Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, and many more. This desktop software for blog posting is a favorite with the pros who want a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor.
Windows Live Mail: Easy to use! Get multiple e-mail accounts in one program – Hotmail, Gmail, and more. And now Windows Live Mail has a calendar, too. Mail combines the ease of use of Outlook Express, with the speed of Windows Live.
Vista (& 7) Services Optimizer: Tweak your Windows Vista & 7 services in an easy, automatic and safe way based on how you use your computer without requiring any technical knowledge. Vista Services Optimizer 1.2 has a complete support for Windows 7, enabling you to optimize Windows 7 performance and security easily and safely.
K-9: free Internet filtering and control solution for the home. K9 puts YOU in control of the Internet so you can protect your kids.
KidZui: is a safe, fun, kids’ search engine, filter, and online web browser with over 2.5 million parent and teacher approved web sites, videos and games.
Smilebox: is a photo service that lets you quickly turn life’s moments into digital creations you can share with others or save for yourself. Choose from hundreds of ecard, scrapbooking, and slideshow designs for every occasion. New designs are released every week. Personalize and share your Smilebox creation for free, or select premium options for print, DVD burning, expanded music choices, and no advertisements.
Lyrics Plugin for Windows Media Player: is a piece of software tailored for music fans. To put it simply - it is an add-on to view lyrics in WinAmp or Windows Media Player. No more searching for lyrics. Just start listening to your favourite songs and lyrics will be displayed automatically. Oh, and if lyrics is not found, you can add it yourself :)
Audacity®: free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
Songbird: You are what you listen to. Fun, fast, and free. Add a song or build a playlist, and Songbird automatically syncs it to your phone or MP3 player, so you're never without your favorite music. With Songbird, a richer music experience doesn't cost a thing. Search, sort, stream, sync. Add Flickr photos, YouTube videos, song lyrics, and blogs for every artist on your playlist, even the tracks you stream over the Web. It's all part of the mix. Get recommendations on new artists based on songs you already love, find out who's playing the clubs in your town, download & buy your favorite MP3s. With Songbird there's more to explore.
SyncBack Freeware: program that helps you easily backup and synchronize your files to: the same drive; a different drive or medium (CDRW, CompactFlash, etc); an FTP server; a Network; or a Zip archive.
100% free for personal, educational, charity, government, and commercial use.
• No Spyware, Trojans, Viruses, or Advertisements
• No Nag Screens
• No Registrations
• No Payments
• No Collection of Demographic Information
• No Unauthorised Internet Connections
7-Zip: is a file archiver and is open source software. You can use 7-Zip on any computer, including a computer in a commercial organization. You don't need to register or pay for 7-Zip.
AirSnare: Wireless Intrusion Detection Toolbox. Turn your Wi-Fi–equipped laptop into an info sniffer. AirSnare will alert you to unfriendly MAC addresses on your network and will also alert you to DHCP requests taking place. If AirSnare detects an unfriendly MAC address you have the option of tracking the MAC address's access to IP addresses and ports or by launching Ethereal upon a detection.
Defraggler: Use Defraggler to defrag your entire hard drive, or individual files - unique in the industry. This compact and portable Windows application supports NTFS and FAT32 file systems.
Recuva: Accidentally deleted an important file? Lost something important when your computer crashed? No problem! Recuva recovers files deleted from your Windows computer, Recycle Bin, digital camera card, or MP3 player.
Vista Drive Icon: changes the drive icons shown in Windows "My Computer", to a nearly Vista drive icon, showing the drive's free space with a smooth colored horizontal bar.
NetStumbler: Use it to detect any Wi-Fi network in your vicinity and see if it's open for use, or just use it to troubleshoot your own.
IBin: is a portable recycle bin for USB flash drives. If you accidentally delete an item on a flash thumb drive, you have a second chance to recover it with this installed. It works similarly to the Windows recycle bin.
Linux Unbuntu 9.10: Ditch Windows for a free alternative! Ubuntu is an operating system built by a worldwide team of expert developers. It contains all the applications you need: a web browser, office suite, media apps, instant messaging and much more.
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