Freeware Replacements For Common Commercial Apps

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Antivirus Applications
Antivir
Avast Free
AVG Free
Bitdefender Free
Clam AntiVirus - an open source (GPL) anti-virus toolkit for UNIX, designed especially for e-mail scanning on mail gateways Compatibility: GNU/Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS X - nigglesnush85
ClamWin

Free Online Virus/Trojan/Spyware Scanners

Anubis - malware analyzing service - skyfuser
BitDefender - virus scanner
ESET Online Scanner - detects both know and unknown forms of malware, including viruses, worms, Trojans, phishing and spyware, residing on a computer, and cleans the system - ddeerrff
eTrust - Virus scanner - WhyBeNormal
F-Secure - virus scanner
HouseCall - virus scanner
Jotti's scan - submit files to be scanned by multiple (15) scanners
Kaspersky Online Scanner - snemelk
kephyr.com - PopUp Killer Test
McAfee - virus, security and Wi-Fi scanners, under "Free Services"
Panda ActiveScan - snemelk
PC Pitstop - several scans, on the left, under "Tests and Scans"
SpywareGuide - spyware scanner, on the right
Symantec Security Check - virus & security scanners
Virustotal - submit suspicious files to be scanned by multiple (22) Antivirus/Spyware scanners - SifuMike
Webroot Spy Audit - Spyware scanner. It will not remove or modify any files. - WhyBeNormal
WindowSecurity - trojan scanner

Edited September 13, 2009 by SamanthaJones

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Malware Removal

a² Free - a complementary product to antivirus software which is specialized in protection against harmful software. Antivirus software often features an inadequate protection against Trojans, Dialers and Spyware. a² fills this gap." - Compatibility: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista - tg911
Ad-Aware - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server - Tutorial: Using Ad-Aware
AVG Anti-Spyware (formerly ewido) - removes Trojans, Worms, Dialers, Hijackers, Spyware and Keyloggers. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista (both 32-Bit & 64-Bit)
Dr.Web CureIt! - curing utility to clean your computer infected with viruses and various unwanted codes - Pilate
IE-Spyad - Internet Explorer 4.0/4.01 (incl. SP1 & SP2)/5.0/5.01 (incl. SP1 & SP2)/5.5 (incl. SP1 & SP2)/6.0 (incl. SP1& SP2)/7.0 - Tutorial: Using IE-Spyad
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista (32 and 64-bit) - DaChew
Spybot - Search & Destroy - Compatibility: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/XP AMD64/XPTablet PC Edition/2003/Vista/PE/ Mac OS/Mac OS X/Linux/Unix (Starting in Wine; full Wine support in 1.5) - Tutorial: Using Spybot S&D
Spywareblaster - prevents spyware from being installed on your PC. - Tutorial: Using SpywareBlaster
Spywareguard - provides a real-time protection solution against spyware that is a great addition to SpywareBlaster's protection method. - Tutorial: Using SpywareGuard
Spyware Terminator - Effectively remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats. Real-Time Protection is included in the basic version. - nigglesnush85
SuperAntiSpyware - link to a direct download of the Free version - Vista compatible
WinPatrol - "WinPatrol uses a heuristic approach to detecting attacks and violations of your computing environment. Traditional security programs scan your hard drive searching for previously identified threats. WinPatrol takes snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without your knowledge." - Compatibility: Windows 98 - Vista - joe53

Specific Virus Removal Tools

Edited September 13, 2009 by SamanthaJones

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Firewalls

Ashampoo Firewall - DarkNight
Jetico Personal Firewall - Compatibility: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server - acklan
Kerio Personal Firewall - 3rd one down Compatibility: Windows 98/Me/NT4/2000/XP - tos226
Outpost Firewall Free - Compatibility: Windows (All)
PC Tools Firewall Plus - a powerful free personal firewall for Windows Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista - pete@21
Sunbelt Personal Firewall - Compatibility: Windows 2000 Professional (desktop version)/XP/XP Media Center Edition
Sygate Free - Compatibility: Windows (All)
Vista Firewall Control 32 bit Version - the outbound filter in Windows Vista is, in essence, turned off by default. And as a practical matter, it's impossible to manually configure it to block malware making outbound connections. That's where the free Vista Firewall Control comes in Compatibility: Windows Vista - Adamsappleone
ZoneAlarm Free - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista

PC Security

Active@ KillDisk - powerful and compact DOS software that allows you to destroy all data on hard and floppy drives completely, excluding any possibility of future recovery of deleted files and folders. - FAT/FAT32/NTFS File Systems - acklan
Core Control - a full featured advanced security program, designed for Windows 95/98/ME - acklan
DeleteOnClick - completely deletes files in one click rather than sending the file to the recycle bin. The data becomes unrecoverable. For this reason you must use this program carefully. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista - leeanne172
Eraser - an advanced security tool (for Windows), which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. - Compatibility: Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP - jgweed
EULAlyzer - can analyze license agreements in seconds, and provide a detailed listing of potentially interesting words and phrases. Discover if the software you're about to install displays pop-up ads, transmits personally identifiable information, uses unique identifiers to track you, or much much more. - Compatibility: Windows (All) - Wink
iProtectYou - allows parents to control which web sites can be visited, which programs can have Internet access, block e-mails, chat sessions and instant messages with inappropriate words, stop annoying ads, and/or restrict internet time to a predetermined schedule. - Compatibility: Windows (All) - acklan
KL-Detector- detect keylogging activity on your computer! - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP - boopme
Rohos Mini Drive - creates hidden and encrypted partition on the USB flash drive memory. You work with the files on the hidden partition without opening a special program Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista - Newb4Life
ThreatFire - constantly analyzes your computer's behavior to detect and block any malicious activity Compatibility: Windows XP/Vista/2003/2008 - rowal5555

Edited September 13, 2009 by SamanthaJones

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

File Encryption

AxCrypt - a powerful, yet extremely easy to use file encryption program. It integrates directly with Windows Explorer, enabling encryption, decryption, viewing and editing of any file with just a few clicks of the mouse. - Compatibility: Windows (All)
Cryptainer LE - A really simple to use encryption tool that creates an invisible, password protected folder on your hard drive or other media. Free version limited to 25MB. "Cryptainer LE's encryption works with all 32 bit versions of Microsoft Windows (95/98/ME/2000/XP/2003 Server) and with all known file types." - Compatibility: Windows (all 32 bit versions) - Rimmer
PowerCrypt - a powerful file encoder. Make sure your files are protected with a 100% secure encryption algorithm, which is not resolveable by NSA nor CIA. - Compatibility: Windows (All)
True Crypt - disk encryption software for Windows XP/2000/2003 and Linux. A, more powerful version of Cryptainer. As a user of both, I recommend TrueCrypt over Cryptainer by a long shot. No stupid limits on how big you can have the drive, as well, so you could encrypt your whole drive if you wanted to. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Linux - ØÇë¦òT

Hard Drive & System Utilites

AnVir Task Manager Free - a tool that controls everything running on computer and provides Windows enhancements Compatibility: Windows XP/Vista - skyfuser
Auslogics Disk Defrag - Compatibility: Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista - Yourhighness
BootSafe - a program (doesn't require installation) that sits on your desktop. Double click on it, select one of the 3 Safe Mode options, and click on Reboot. - Compatibility: Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP - usasma
Clonezilla - a hard drive backup/cloning tool Compatibility: (32 and 64 bit)GNU/Linux, MS windows and Intel-based Mac OS - nigglesnush85
Defraggler - a file defragmentation tool Compatibility: Windows 2000/2003 and 2008 Server/XP(32 and 64 bit)/Vista(32 and 64 bit) - frankp316
Disk Cleaner - a tool to quickly and easily clean your hard disk from temporary files like those in the system temporary folder, the Internet Explorer Cache and Cookies folder, and the Recycle Bin Compatibility: all Windows versions/platforms - henceforth
Drive Manager - has been written to help you easily identify drives which are of the same type. - fleamailman
Driver Max - allows you to download the latest driver updates for your computer Compatibility: Windows 2003/XP/Vista and Windows 7 - Yourhighness
driveSMART EWT - an early warning and tracking system, which tracks the status of the computer hard disks, timely detecting, and anticipating any problems occurring with the disk, before the danger of the data loss appears. - Compatibility: Windows 95b/98/ME/2000 Pro & Server/NT 4.0 Workstation & Server/XP/2003 Server__MAC OS X 10.2 & 10.3 - BlackSpyder
DShutdown- a stand-alone program that allows you to easily shutdown and wake up local or remote PCs, with many specific options. - Compatibility: Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP/Vista - acklan
DTaskManager - a Task-Manager, but specifically engineered to give additional functionalities that the Windows bundled TaskManager (and other third party products) do not have. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista - scratcher
EASEUS Partition Master - comprehensive hard disk partition tool and system optimization software for Windows-based administration without data loss. Both basic and advanced partition operations can be done by this partition software. Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista - Wildabeast
ERUNT - registry backup tool - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista - rowal5555
GParted - an industrial-strength package for creating, destroying, resizing, moving, checking and copying partitions, and the filesystems on them. This is useful for creating space for new operating systems, reorganizing disk usage, copying data residing on hard disks and mirroring one partition with another (disk imaging). - Gnome - fozzie
HDDScan - a freeware program for low-level HDD diagnostics. Supports IDE/SATA/SCSI hard disk drives, RAID arrays, external USB/Firewire hard disks, flash cards. - Stidyup
HDTune - a good piece of software for testing the HD in the PC. Gives good analysis of the drives sector issues. - projectfocus
JkDefrag - disk defragment and optimization utility for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/X64 - Shaba
JkDefragGUI - a Graphical User Interface which allows you to easily select all the features of JkDefrag Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/2008, U3 capable flash memory and with BartPE pre-installed environment - Yourhighness
Memtest86 - a thorough, stand alone memory test for x86 architecture computers. - boopme
MicroSoft's Memory Test - tests the Random Access Memory (RAM) on your computer for errors. - acklan
Minimem - can reduce the memory footprint of any application Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista (32 and 64 bit) - nigglesnush85
msconfig - for Windows 95/2000 - acklan
PC INSPECTOR - a data recovery program - Supports FAT 12/16/32 & NTFS file systems. - usasma
Power off 3 - a small program that allows you to control the power state of your pc. - Compatibility: Windows 95/98/Me/NT4.0/2000/XP - Yourhighness
Process Explorer - shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded. - Compatibility: Windows 9x/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista - Ronbo
Process Lasso - Improve your PC's responsiveness and stability. Process Lasso offers capabilities such as default process priorities and affinities, termination of disallowed processes, instance count limits, a system responsiveness graph, logging of processes, and much more Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista - Adamsappleone
ProcessLibrary - Gain insight on any process through easy and quick search feature that queries over 9000 entries in processlibrary.com database directly - Compatibility: Windows 2000/2003/XP - nigglesnush85
Quick Access InfoBar - Get the latest definitions and exhaustive advice on all the processes running in the Windows Task Manager. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/2003/XP
Ranish Partition Manager - Partition resizer, create, manager similar to Partition Magic but free! - Compatibility: Linux, FreeDOS, FreeBSD, & Windows 98/2k/XP
Send To Toys - an enhancement of the Send To system menu. Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003 Server/Vista - Yourhighness
Smart Defrag - has two defrag modes: express and comprehensive. Can also run automatically in the background to constantly keep your drive defragged. Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista, and Windows 7 - Budapest
SpeeDefrag - a program, which restarts your computer and runs only defrag.exe with optimized windows settings. - Compatibility: Windows XP/Vista - acklan
Speed Test - monitor CPU (over 8 cores) and RAM usage by itself and more Compatibility: Windows Vista - Adamsappleone
StartUpLite - a lightweight and simple to use application that allows you to speed up your system startup, safely and efficiently. The program allows you to disable or remove unnecessary startup entries from your computer. Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista - DaChew
Swissknife - can create, delete and format partitions on your hard disk drives. Supports Internal interfaces such as IDE and SCSI and External interfaces such as Hi-Speed USB, Parallel port, PCMCIA, USB On-The-Go, Firewire®, SATA interfaces etc. Creates Fixed and Removable Disk Format types. - Compatibility: Windows 98/XP/Mac OS/Linux - BlackSpyder
SyncBack Freeware - backup and synchronization software - Compatibility: Windows 98/98SE/ME/NT 4/2000/XP/Windows 2003 - usasma
Unknown Device Identifier - Identify unknown devices not recognized by Windows in your system especially after you reinstall your system and cannot figure out what all those yellow question mark labeled devices really are. - Compatibility: Windows 95/98/ME/NT4x/XP/2000 - acklan
Vision - Reports all open TCP and UDP ports and maps them to the owning process or application. - Compatibility: Windows XP/2000 - usasma
WinDriversBackup Personal Edition 1.0.9 (last freeware version) - for backing up your Windows system driver files. It can also scan for, and back up, third party non-Microsoft drivers. - Compatibility: Windows 9x/NT/ME/2000/XP - mommabear

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

System Information

Belarc Advisor - builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, including Microsoft Hotfixes, and displays the results in your Web browser. - Compatibility: Windows 9x/ME/NT 4/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista - Ronbo
CoolMon 2 - a program for monitoring vital system stats and almost anything else you wish to display on the desktop. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP - nosnhoj#3
Core Temp - used to monitor CPU temperatures. Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista (both 32bit and 64bit) - DaChew
CPU-Z - gathers information on some of the main devices of your system; CPU, Mainboard, Memory, and System. - Compatibility: Windows (All) - Rimmer
Double Driver - you can view which drivers are installed in your system and you can backup the drivers you choose, save and print the drivers list, and more. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP - Yourhighness
EVEREST Home Edition - a freeware system information, system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for home PC users. Similar to Belarc, but much more comprehensive. - Compatibility: Windows (All) - Herk
GPU-Z - a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU Compatibility: Windows 2000 / XP / Vista (both 32 and 64 bit) - Mr Alpha
SIW - This program performs computer configuration, analysis, and diagnostics. (Similar to Everest) - Compatibility: Windows (All)
SpeedFan - monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitor chips. - Compatibility: Windows (All) - usasma
System Spec - lets you can see, save and print a complete spec of your PC with this no-install, system information utility and perform various windows functions. Additional advanced info includes CPU, drives, apps, display, memory and more. - Compatibility: Windows 98/ME/NT 4/2000/XP - John_McKenna
What's Running - a product that gives you an inside look into your Windows 2000/XP/2003 system. Explore processes, services, modules, IP-connections, drivers and much more. - Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003 - rowal5555
WinAudit - a self-contained (no setup required) PC audit, and inventory of software, licenses, security configuration, hardware, network settings... - Compatibility: Windows PE/95/98/Me/NT3.51/NT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista - usasma

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

File Compression and Archiving

7-Zip - a file archiver with high compression ratio. - nosnhoj#3
ExtractNow - will let you extract multiple archives with the ease of a single click. - acklan
FilZip - an archiving utility (zip tool) that can open various archive types. It offers Windows integration, drag and drop, encryption, multi-extract and more. - leeanne172
IZArc - File compression utility that supports most standard compression formats.
WinRAR - click on the downloads tab and download the trial version (not the beta). You can use the full functionality forever. - Lanscader
ZipGenius - A nice archiving tool. It handles zip, rar and many others. - Storm Rider

File/Folder Utilities

Cobian Backup - a multi-threaded program that can be used to schedule and backup your files and directories from their original location to other directories/drives in the same computer or other computer in your network. - usasma
Delete Doctor - Delete files that are difficult to delete, such as some files left by viruses and trojans, or files with corrupted file names.
Digital Dolly - hard-disk-partition, image, and cloning software that runs completely from a bootable CD-ROM. - acklan
Everything - Locate files and folders by name, instantly. Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/Windows 7 - rowal5555
Folder Guide - a handy utility that provides fast access to your frequently used and favorite folders. It can operate as the part of your context menu in your Windows Explorer. Compatibility: Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 - Yourhighness
HostsMan - a hosts file manager and editor - Yourhighness
LupasRename 2000 - rename files quickly (Will run on USB Drive) - turbines
MDI Viewer - allows you to view .MDI files - sitalchauhan
Recuva - a Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer, camera memory cards, MP3 players... Compatibility: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/2003 and 2008 Server/XP(32 and 64 bit)/Vista(32 and 64 bit) - Keithuk
ReNamer - a small, yet very flexible file renaming tool, that offers all the standard renaming procedures, including prefixes, suffixes, replacements, case changes, as well as remove contents of brackets, add number sequences, change file extensions, etc. - Walkman
SequoiaView - an excellent utility to help you figure out what is taking up so much space on your hard drive. - ddeerrff
Snap Backup - The One-Click Backup Utility that makes it simple to protect your important work. - acklan
Unlocker - Remove, hard to Delete, files and folders.
WinDirStat - a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Microsoft Windows - Windows 95/98SE/ME/NT4(SP5)/2000/XP/Server 2003 - nigglesnush85
WinMerge - a visual text file differencing and merging tool for Win32 platforms. It is highly useful for determining what has changed between project versions, and then merging changes between versions. - Walkman

Edited September 13, 2009 by SamanthaJones

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Utilities

3DMark03 Free Version - a benchmarking proooogram that includes a collection of 3D tests, a set of CPU tests, feature tests, image quality tests, and sound tests. - BlackSpyder
8start Launcher - a portable application launcher. - Yourhighness
ATnotes - a sticky note application - Dialer
Calc 98 - Scientic Calulator and Conversion Tool (Will run on USB Drive) - turbines
Clipboard Buddy - a clipboard cache program that remembers what was copied to the clipboard even after new data is copied, and allows you to retrieve the old data. - rowal5555
Convert - an easy to use unit conversion program that will convert the most popular units of distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, mass, power, density, pressure, energy and many others, including the ability to create custom conversions. - Ronbo
Digital Post-It - replaces all those sticky yellow post-it papers that you got on your desk. - usasma
Easy Picture2Icon - a tool for converting images or digital photos in to Windows icons. Compatibility: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista - acklan
EssentialPIM - Personal Information Manager - acklan
Evernote - allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere - skyfuser
Fass - a forum post editor & automated post generator. It also has a "Post Preview" feature, which shows your post as it will appear on forums. Designed for use with Invision Power Board, compatible with most forum software.
FeedDemon - view and manage your RSS feeds from your desktop Compatibility: Windows 98 or later - Yourhighness
Filebox Extender - enhances Windows by adding several advanced functions to the standard Open File and Save File dialog boxes. - Yourhighness
Free Download Manager - an easy-to-use, open-source, download accelerator and manager Compatibility: Windows 9x/ME/2000/2003/XP/Vista (32bit versions only) - Dialer
Google Earth - lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS X 10, Linux Kernel: 2.4 or later/glibc: 2.3.2 w/ NPTL or later/XFree86-4.0 or x.org R6.7 or later - DSTM
HandyNotes - a small software program, that makes it easy to keep all your notes organized, in one easily accessible place. - Herk
KeyNote - a flexible, multi-featured tabbed notebook, based on Windows standard RichEdit control.
Keytweak - a keyboard remapper Compatibility: Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/Win 7 - boopme
Launchy - indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes. - nosnhoj#3
LogMeIn Hamachi - a VPN service that easily sets up in 10 minutes, and enables secure remote access to your business network, anywhere there's an Internet connection - nigglesnush85
Magical Jellybean Keyfinder - a utility that retrieves your Product Key (cd key) used to install windows from your registry. It has the options to copy the key to clipboard, save it to a text file, or print it for safekeeping. - Herk
Microsoft Reader - allows you to read books published in the MS reader (.lit) format. - Ronbo
Multi Install - an advanced cd/dvd menu authoring system for your own creations. A "Multi Installer" is an install program that can install multiple programs from the same menu. Compatibility: 32-bit Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP - Yourhighness
MyUninstaller - Free app to remove entries from your Add/Remove Programs list.
nLite - a tool for pre-installation Windows configuration and component removal at your choice - Tedfs3
PCMark05 Basic Edition - PC performance benchmark program that provides an accurate and consistent assessment of the performance of your PC in general home environment usage. - BlackSpyder
PitchPerfect Guitar Tuner - Tune your electric or Bass with your computer - BlackSpyder
RealVNC - makes it possible to view, and fully-interact with, one computer from any other computer, or mobile device, anywhere on the Internet. - acklan
Revo Uninstaller - helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs installed on your computer. Compatibility: 32-bit Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista - Yourhighness
Safarp - a small and fast alternative to the Add or Remove Programs Control Panel applet of Windows 2000/XP. Among other things, it displays a list of the installed programs, and allows one to uninstall / repair them. - scratcher
Sandboxie - runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Server 2003 - thcbytes
Simply Connected - access your computer remotely from anywhere - Yourhighness
Start++ - an enhancement for the Start Menu in Windows Vista. It also extends the Run box and the command-line with customizable commands. For example, typing "w Windows Vista" will take you to the Windows Vista page on Wikipedia. - nosnhoj#3
Startup Inspector for Windows - helps both novice and expert user manage Windows® startup applications.
Stickies - a PC utility to try and cut down on the number of Post-It® notes stuck to your monitor. It is a computerised version of those notes. - Animal
Sun's Solaris 10- a free Operating System - acklan
Taskbar Repair Tool Plus! - allows you to Repair and Customize the Quick Launch, Taskbar and Notification Area in Windows XP. - Ronbo
Tidy Start Menu - allows you to arrange all the shortcuts in the Start Menu. Your Start Menu looks neat, and you can easily and quickly find any program you want. - rowal5555
Total Uninstall - can help you to monitor any changes that were made to your system during installation of a new software product and allow you to perform a complete uninstall without having to rely on the supplied uninstall program (which may leave files or changes behind).(last freeware version) - usasma
TweakVI - was designed for easy tweaking an optimizing a Windows Vista based computer. - nosnhoj#3
TweakUI - This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more. - Ronbo
Uninstall Tool - (Last Free Version) a small and fast utility that helps you to uninstall various software. It can be used instead of the standard unconvenient and heavy "Add and Remove Programs". - mommabear
VirtualBox - enables multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single desktop, allowing users to access other operating systems within a native OS environment Compatibility: Windows NT 4.0/2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista/Windows 7, DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris/OpenSolaris, and OpenBSD - nigglesnush85
vLite - a tool for customizing the Windows Vista installation before actually installing it - Tedfs3
WinKey - create keyboard shortcuts to access your favorite programs, documents, and files. Once you've made a shortcut, simply press your desired key combination to launch your program. This tool supports up to 200 key assignments. - nosnhoj#3
WizMouse - a mouse enhancement utility that makes your mouse wheel work on the window currently under the mouse pointer, instead of the currently focused window. This means you no longer have to click on a window before being able to scroll it with the mouse wheel Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7 - Leech
YC3 - apowerful Windows clipboard extender/memory. Compatibility: 32 bit Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/Win2K/XP - rowal5555

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Networking

Fiddler - a HTTP Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler allows you to inspect all HTTP Traffic, set breakpoints, and "fiddle" with incoming or outgoing data. - usasma
Netstat Live - a small, easy to use TCP/IP protocol monitor which can be used to see your exact throughput on both incoming and outgoing data - whether you're using a modem, cable modem, DSL, or even local network. Will also graph the CPU usage of your system. - Herk
No-IP - Use to map a static or dynamic IP address, or long URL, to an easy to remember subdomain, such as yourname.no-ip.com. - turbines
PingPlotter - a high performance, low-overhead traceroute application. - turbines
Wireshark - a network protocol analyzer (packet sniffer)

Edited September 13, 2009 by SamanthaJones

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Web Browsers

Avant Browser - based on the Internet Explorer browser engine. - nosnhoj#3
Firefox - a highly customizable web browser, with tabbed browsing - JEservices
K-Meleon- an extremely fast, customizable, lightweight web browser for the Win32 (Windows) platform based on the Gecko layout engine (the rendering engine of Mozilla) - saint satin stain
Maxthon Internet Browser - tabbed browser with a highly customizable interface. It is based on the Internet Explorer browser engine. - wng_z3r0
Netscape - Includes a browser, email client, and html composer - Bizrus
OffByOne - Incorporates a tabbed browsing, and does not require any installation. If you're looking for a fast browser, with minimal features, this is it. - acklan
Opera - JEservices
SeaMonkey - Web-browser, advanced e-mail and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML editing made simple -- all your Internet needs in one application. - ddeerrff
Sleipnir - a highly customizable browser that you can configure to suit your individual needs Compatibility: Windows 98/98SE/Me/2000/XP/Vista - careless25
Safari - It renders web pages at lightning speed. It works on the iPhone, iPod touch, Mac and PC. It shows you your favorite sites at a glance. And it’s so smart, it even checks your spelling and grammar. Meet Safari 4, the world’s most innovative browser.
TweetDeck is your personal browser for staying in touch with what's happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more.TweetDeck shows you everything you want to see at once, so you can stay organised and up to date.Available for Windows, Mac, Linux.

Edited September 14, 2009 by SamanthaJones

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

more to come.....

Web Browsing Utilities

Password Managers/Generators

Spell Checker & Dictionary

Email Clients & Tools

Office Applications

Chat Clients

Audio Applications

Video Applications

Audio/Video Applications

Graphics Design & Editing

Screen Capture Applications

CD & DVD Applications

Windows Desktop Customization

Website Development

HTML & CSS Editors

File Transfer Programs

Programming Languages & IDE/Editors

Telnet Clients

Time & Weather

Games

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Web Browsing Utilities

AM-DeadLink - detects dead links and duplicates in your Browser Bookmarks. Checks Bookmarks from Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla and Netscape. - Ronbo
BitMeter II - a bandwidth meter, that allows you to visually monitor your internet connection by displaying a scrolling graph that shows your upload and download speed over time. Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/Vista - rowal5555
CleanUp! - a powerful and easy-to-use application that removes temporary files created while surfing the web, empties the Recycle Bin, deletes files from your temporary folders and more. - WhyBeNormal
Convert & Open - automatically repairs bad links. No more copy and pasting of incorrect/invalid URLs. - leeanne172
Extract URL - extract URLs with title, description, keywords meta data from entire websites, list of URLs, or search engine results. - acklan
HTTrack - allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. - nosnhoj#3
IE Privacy Keeper - automatically cleans up all traces of your IE, Firefox and system activities. Compatibility: Windows (All) - mme
TCP Optimizer - a Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection Compatibility: Windows 9x/ME/2K/XP/XP-SP2/2k3 - ucanfixit
Tor - can help you anonymize web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications that use the TCP protocol - Walkman
Xenu - checks Web sites for broken links. - Yourhighness

SamanthaJones · September 13, 2009

Password Managers/Generators

KeePass - an open-source password manager, or safe, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. - turbines

KeyWallet - a browser independent Password Manager which encrypts your data, and supports skins - TerryK

Oubliette - password database, and generator, that stores a list of accounts with information such as account name, associated password, URL, and free-form notes. Oubliette offers a number of ways to transfer account names and passwords to the browser: via the clipboard, through drag-and-drop, or by automated form filling.

Password Agent Lite - allows you to store all your sensitive data like passwords, PIN codes, credit card numbers, software serial numbers and other textual data in a single, easy to navigate and secure database Compatibility: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista - XML2005

Password Corral - password generator, and organizer, with several additional features - Yourhighness

Password Safe - a tool that allows you to have a different password for all the different programs and websites that you deal with, without actually having to remember all those usernames and passwords - Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP - saint satin stain

Password Scrambler - a browser add-on that allows you to automatically generate secure, hard-to-guess passwords for every site you visit, based on a master password of your choice. - Jacee

Whisper 32 - a very easy-to-use Password Manager for Windows. - turbines

SamanthaJones · September 14, 2009

Email Clients & Tools

ePrompter - automatically and simultaneously checks and retrieves your e-mail messages from up to 16 password-protected e-mail accounts. It not only lets you compose, forward, and reply to your retrieved messages, but also gives you the ability to delete unwanted spam or suspicious-looking mail without having to launch your e-mail program or having to go to your Web mail's site. - nosnhoj#3
Eudora - Free mail client but is ad sponsored. ( Eudora has a lite version available... just download the current version, and if you can live without the spellchecker, you dont have to live with the ad screen, being there. Go to the help menu, after installing, and select "payment and registration". Then select "lite mode", and it will ask if you can live without all of the extras, just click on "reduce features") - rexifelis
FreePOPs - can be used to download mail from the most famous webmails, but it could also be used as an aggregator for RSS feeds and much more. This way it is possible to get all your messages in your favorite email client. - acklan
K-9 - POP3 Bayesian spam filter - turbines
OE Quick Backup - Backup Outlook Express mailboxes, settings, mail rules, etc.
Pegasus Mail - Bizrus
POP Peeper - an app which picks up all your incoming E-mail automatically at a user-defined interval and displays it in one screen where you can read, use links, and reply. - rowal5555
Quicksilver - a PRIVACY software that can give you complete privacy in your email and newsgroup postings. - turbines
SpamBayes - anti-spam filter
Spell Checker For OE - a way to add a spell checker to OutLook Express without having to have MS Office installed. - acklan
StripMail - Strips the characters ">" and "|" from forwarded e-mails, formats the text into paragraphs, making it easier to read, changes the text's right margin, by indenting, and can be used with any e-mail client.
Thunderbird - Open Source email client. - Jgweed
YPOPs! - an application that provides POP3 access to Yahoo! Mail - acklan

SamanthaJones · September 14, 2009

Office Applications

Abiword - Free word processor that can open and edit OpenOffice, Word, Rich Text Format, HTML, Wordperfect documents, Palm, web pages and many more
Calendar Magic - an easy-to-use program that is entertaining, informative, educational, and of equal applicability in the home - saint satin stain
CutePDF - Create PDF Documents
Foxit PDF Reader - You can view and print PDF documents. No installation required. - hiteckee
Go-oo - Improved version of OpenOffice [faster loading, nicer user interface, etc] Compatibility: Windows, Linux, Mac OSX - 1010mk
Microsoft® Office Accounting Express 2007 - everything you need to make your small business idea flourish. - acklan
Open Office - Free Microsoft Office alternative. Has the ability to open most mainstream document types and edit them. - JEservices
Open Workbench - an alternative to Microsoft Project, that provides robust project scheduling and management functionality. - jgweed
PagePlus SE - a great way to get into desktop publishing and easily design professional-looking documents for every occasion. - acklan
PDF Blender - a cross platform PDF merging tool that utilizes Ghostscript. - Yourhighness
PDF Creator - Freeware PDF creation through any Windows based program. - ColdinCbus
PDFill PDF Writer - a PDF Writer, Printer or Converter. - hiteckee
PDF reDirect - a full-featured alternative to PDF995 and CutePDF. It features Merging, Encryption, Optimizing, and Previewing - saint satin stain
PDF-XChange Viewer - smaller, faster, and more feature rich than the Adobe Reader Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista - Yourhighness
Rainlendar - Desktop calender for Windows, that's skinnable and able to synchronize with M$ Outlook's calender so you may see what your appointments are, without opening Outlook. - Ronbo
RoughDraft - word processor for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. Although suitable for general use, it has features specifically designed for creative writing: novels, short stories, articles, plays and screenplays - saint satin stain
SoftMaker Office 2006 - a complete office suite for Windows - 1010mk
Sunbird - Calendar program
Wink - A presentation program designed to make tutorials on how to use software. Can export these tutorials in Flash, EXE, and HTML.
ZoomIt - a screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations that include application demonstrations. ZoomIt runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image. Compatibility: Windows XP and higher, Windows Server 2003 and higher. - Yourhighness

SamanthaJones · September 14, 2009

Chat Clients

ChatZilla
Digsby - a multiprotocol IM client, email notification tool, and a social networking tool Compatibility: Windows - nigglesnush85
Easy Message - The smallest IM available (Will run on USB Drive) - turbines
IceChat
meebo - web-based instant messaging - mme
Miranda IM - an open-source multi protocol instant messenger client for Microsoft Windows. - phew
Pidgin (formerly GAIM) - a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. - acklan
Trillian - acklan

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