Headstrongs Software list

[John Headstrong]

Lots of people are asking about what software other people have and what can they get free.
So has SiteGeek I think this list is over due.

These programs are often smaller and use less resources on your computer then the ones they replace, making your computer act faster and programs load quicker, great for older computers and can breath new life into recycled / second hand PCs


Internet
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/ for surfing the internet fast and not prone to spyware.
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/products/thunderbird/ replaces outlook express, fast and reliable
http://pidgin.im/ replaces MSN / AOL / yahoo / Gtalk / ICQ messaging software (yes all of them and more
http://filezilla-project.org/ a free FTP client (for uploading files)

System

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html anti spyware, install it run it and then use the imunize function.
http://free.avg.com/ww.download-avg-ant ... ee-edition the best of the free stuff but DO NOT install the LinkScanner (it batters websites)
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ free CD/DVD writing software.
http://www.ccleaner.com/ It removes unused files from your system. awesome software.

Office / Documents

http://www.openoffice.org/ a Free office alternative BONUS it exports to PDF
http://foxitsoftware.com/downloads/ small lightweight PDF reader


Music and Media

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/rea ... native.htm realplayer replacement comes with 'media player classic' that can play DVDs
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Qui ... native.htm QuickTime replacement


there are more, that is just a small selection of things I use regularly.

what software have you bought ?

[mrsflibble]

nice to see some decent free software there.

I know many many people with peg-legs and parrots who get me things for a piece of eight.

[mybarnconversion]

I know many many people with peg-legs and parrots who get me things for a piece of eight.

There's no real need to visit Long-John Silver these days as there are excellent free alternatives as Headstrong has pointed out. I'd add>>

Graphics
http://www.gimp.org/ GNU Image Manipulation Program
http://www.inkscape.org/ Open Source vector graphics editor

Software wants to be free!

[StripyPixieSocks]

Can I just add a little about AVG... get Avast instead!

I installed AVG 8 and it suddenly decided one morning that all my legitimate software was pirated and deleted random 'virus ridden' files and I had a nightmare of a day trying to re-install Office, Photoshop CS3 with Dreamweaver and my FTP client... great when I was in a rush to put something on my website and needed all these programs

Now I know there were no Virus' on my PC and I know all my stuff is legitimate (I paid enough for them) so I uninstalled AVG and installed Avast and that is much better and doesn't delete things randomly with no way to restore them.

... and yes it wasn't a novices mistake either I am very computer savvy :)

Avast

I also don't need an Antivirus to police my internet I get enough of that from Google and Yahoo and it makes me a very grumpy lady!

[mybarnconversion]

Must agree with StripyPixieSocks ... probably the one area I still pay for software is for Anti-virus / Firewalls - treat free stuff with caution in that area - I used to use a Firewall called ZoneAlarm that blocked more or less everything - both good & bad.

[StripyPixieSocks]

Avast is free

[MKG]

I'd add to that. Avast is free, updated just about every day, catches just about everything (including adware that my adware stopper didn't stop) and is just bloody good. Apart from that, it doesn't have that annoying little habit of slowing everything down while it makes up its mind - interception is just about instantaneous.

In case you haven't guessed, I use Avast - and I chucked Norton out as a relative second-grader.

[mrsflibble]

where can I get avast?

[John Headstrong]

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

the home edition is free

[Rod in Japan]

I use Avira AntiVir Personal which is also free. It seems to work well. However, when it does its daily update thing, a pop-up window recommends update to the paid version, which is annoying. Does Avast have anything like that? If not, I'd be tempted to change.

[StripyPixieSocks]

Nope, no pop-ups at all... you have to renew the free licence every 18 months or so but other than that the only pop-up you get is a little box telling you it's updated itself and I think you can turn them off too :)

[Big Al]

Lots of people are asking about what software other people have and what can they get free.
So has SiteGeek I think this list is over due.

These programs are often smaller and use less resources on your computer then the ones they replace, making your computer act faster and programs load quicker, great for older computers and can breath new life into recycled / second hand PCs


Internet
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox/ for surfing the internet fast and not prone to spyware.
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/products/thunderbird/ replaces outlook express, fast and reliable
http://pidgin.im/ replaces MSN / AOL / yahoo / Gtalk / ICQ messaging software (yes all of them and more
http://filezilla-project.org/ a free FTP client (for uploading files)

System

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html anti spyware, install it run it and then use the imunize function.
http://free.avg.com/ww.download-avg-ant ... ee-edition the best of the free stuff but DO NOT install the LinkScanner (it batters websites)
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ free CD/DVD writing software.
http://www.ccleaner.com/ It removes unused files from your system. awesome software.

Office / Documents

http://www.openoffice.org/ a Free office alternative BONUS it exports to PDF
http://foxitsoftware.com/downloads/ small lightweight PDF reader


Music and Media

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/rea ... native.htm realplayer replacement comes with 'media player classic' that can play DVDs
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Qui ... native.htm QuickTime replacement


there are more, that is just a small selection of things I use regularly.

what software have you bought ?

I've bought acoustica Audio mixer http://www.acoustica.com
this can record a sound whilst playing another one but you need a full duplex sound card.... most are.

Also I've bought copytrans http://www.copytrans.net/index.php which enables you to back up your ipod to another computer or another ipod to your computer.

Also bought powersuite http://www.liutilities.com/products/powersuite/ to keep the computer healthy. I have always shied away from messing with the registry but this software has made a massive difference to my computing. It is cheap the first year but watch out for the greyed out bits where it can charge your card for a further year on subscription. ... a bit naughty but I'd still give the programme a 9/10

[StripyPixieSocks]

Also: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

VLC Player, plays anything even some of my damaged films that wouldn't play in Micro$nots Media Player.

[kathleen]

I use a fantastic sound recording/mixing/editing programme called audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[John Headstrong]

sorry to report that Avast is a big fat FAIL

I found a virus was sent to a user on my server, a zip file with a file called "Fees_2008-2009.doc.exe" inside it, great, I thought, I will try out my new anti virus scanner, I downloaded the file and scaned it. NADA, nothing, zilch. not a bell or a whistle. I even unziped the file and scaned it. still nothing. so I ran http://www.clamwin.com/ which is my backup anti virus and it found "Trojan.Zbot-2105"

sorry but back to AVG for me, I really advise AGAINST the use of Avast.