Useful Free Software
Why pay for rubbish when there's better stuff for free!
I decided to put this page together when I decided to spring-clean my PC...
PC Reinstall
Every few months I wipe my laptop and start again
- After making sure everything important is backed up (Firefox bookmarks, Thunderbird mail, etc), and doing a disk integrity check, I reboot the laptop...
- Hit Ctl-F11 (see the Owner's Manual!) when the blue "www.dell.com" bar appears to intiate the Dell PC Restore (Dell's Symantec Ghost stuff) on my laptop
- Follow the easy instructions, setting the administrator password and creating a single user (admin privelege) account).
- When the laptop is all nicely set up back to defaults, I copy autoruns.exe (see below) from CD (so no USB drivers are installed yet) and run it and save the default status.
- I remove several unnecessary pre-loaded programs:
- Google Desktop
- Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
- Microsoft Works
- NetWaiting
- Orange Preload
- SearchAssist
- Tiscali Internet
- URL Assistant
- I need to update my laptop's Dell support application to Dell Support Center (dell_support_center.exe). They have a general Dell Europe support page
My Basic Setup
- Autoruns, from Sysinternals (V 9.36 as of 18 Dec 2008)
- Firefox from Mozilla.org is my browser of choice (V 3.0.5 as of 17 Dec 2008)
- While I'm at Mozilla I also grab Thunderbird, my Email client of choice. (V 2.0.0.18 as of 18 Dec 2008)
- For an office suite I use OpenOffice.org from OpenOffice.org (V 3.0.0 as of 18 Dec 2008).
- McAfee SiteAdvisor has an IE version (downloadable exe) and a Firefox version (installed as a Firefox Add-On). The site uses Javascript to detect the browser you're using and only offers that version. Disable javascript and it'll offer both versions. I found that if I installed the IE version, FF automatically picked it up on the next run?
Browsers
There are many browser layout engines: Trident (IE), Gecko (Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox), Presto (Opera) and Webkit (Safari, Google Chrome) probably cover most browsers. When I test websites I like to check them against these four (plus, of course, earlier IE versions).
- Firefox was covered in my basic setup above.
- Netscape Navigator is no longer supported, but old versions (4.78 to 9.0.0.6) can be got from the Netscape archive.
- The Mozilla Suite is no longer supported, but old versions (1.4 to 1.7.13) can be got from the Mozilla archive.
- SeaMonkey (V 1.1.14 as of 18 Dec 2008) from Mozilla.org effectively replaces Mozilla Suite and includes a browser, e-mail/newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML editor.
- PortableApps.com has lots of useful stuff that doesn't need installation and can be run on any PC from a flashdisk, including versions of Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.org.
- Opera (V 9.63 at 18 Dec 2008)
- evolt.org has standalone versions of earlier IEs including ie401_nt.zip, ie501sp2_nt.zip, ie55sp2_nt.zip, ie6eolas_nt.zip. However, since I've had problems with them, I don't use them any more.
- As of 28 Dec 2008 Google Chrome (now out of beta) doesn't have an installer - you can ONLY install online at Google's Chrome page
Browser Plug-Ins
These can all be found from the Firefox Add-ons: Common Plugins for Firefox page. For McAfee SiteAdvisor (not on the add-ons page) see above.
- Adobe Reader (V9)
- Adobe Flash Player (10.0.12.36)
- [You need to be online to install this] Java (6.11)
- Apple Quicktime (with or without iTunes)
- Shockwave (11.0.3.470)
- [You need to be online to install this] RealPlayer needs an internet connection when you run it (if I remember correctly)
- Windows Media Player 11 Firefox plug-in (the basic Windows Media Player 11 is available direct from Microsoft)
Graphics - GIMP, IrfanView + ColorCop
- Irfanview (4.2) - two separate installers accessible from here, the IrfanView itself, and the useful plug-ins. When installing Irfanview, make sure to select INI file in each user's Application data, not in Irfanview folder!
- From the Gimp homepage follow the downloads link and then the Windows installers by Jernej Simon?i? link to get to the Gimp-Win page at SourceForge. From there select the stable versions and download the latest stable GIMP (2.6.3) and GIMP Help (2.4.0). If you go to the 'old versions you'll find the GTK+ 2 Runtime Environment (which isn't needed for GIMP 2.6.3) and the GIMP Animation Package (2.2.0) - worth downloading.
- Color Cop (5.4.3) is a nice little program. There's a stand-alone version (5.4.5) too.
- I used to use Paint Shop Pro 4.12, which isn't free. However, since I found GIMP I don't use it. Just Google for paint shop pro 4.12 and you'll find many downloads, e.g. at OldVersion.com (ALWAYS scan the downloaded file with an up-to-date virus checker! Remember that you download at your own risk, and should only download from sites you trust).
3D Modelling
- Bryce 5.5 is free (I found it at download.com (123MB). The latest version (6) is available (at a cost) from DAZ 3D. There's also a Manual linked from Artzone, and a Bryce 5.5c update at DAZ.
- DAZ Studio (2.3.3.89, 115MB) also has a very good User Manual for download. There's loads of old free 3D models (most for Studio, but a few for Bryce) but you must be loggined in. There's a basic Poser DAZStudio 3D Models Pack at download.com (V3, M3, A3 + H3). When you install DAZ Studio and look through the manual there's stuff about free models - chase it up! Also check the 3D Models section at DAZ 3D regularly - they usually have some model for sale at £0.00 (i.e. free!). Also keep an eye on Renderosity, Runtime DNA, Share CG, etc for more free models.
- Blender (2.48a) has an installer/ZIP archive choice.
- TerraGen (0.9.43) looks interesting...
- So does Google Sketch Up (7)
Programming
- I got Borland C++Builder SE (4?) from a PV Pro cover CD years ago. CodeGear (Embarcadero Technologies) seem to have the old Borland stuff (Delphi, C++ builder, etc) now, and some is still free, e.g Turbo C++ 2006 Explorer. I searched the Borland site for "codegear" and found confirmation - a May 2008 announcement that "Borland announced today a definitive agreement to sell the assets of its individual developer tools unit, CodeGear, to Embarcadero Technologies". It is still free, but you have to register, and there are some other files you need to install first.
AntiVirus, Etc
- AVG Free (8.0) was the first free anti-virus I used. According to AVG the free (for non-commercial, home use ONLY) version ONLY includes anti-virus and anti-spyware. It LACKS a firewall, anti-rootkit, anti-spam, etc.
- Avast! 4 Home Edition is free (for non-commercial, home use ONLY). You have to register within 60 days to get a free licence key, then re-register each year (free) - apparently! According to Avast the free version include anti-spyware and anti-rootkit.
- Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus from Avira (free-av.com is linked from avira.com). According to them the free (for non-commercial, home use ONLY) version includes anti-virus (inc virus, worm, trojan), anti-dialer, anti-rootkit and anti-phishing. No firewall, anti-spyware, anti-spam, etc.
- Spybot Search & Destroy (1.6.0) can be downloaded from Safer-Networking. There's also a few interesting utilities here - RunAlyzer, FileAlyzer and RegAlyzer.
- AdAware free (for non-commercial, personal, home use ONLY) from LavaSoft
Miscellaneous
- HashCalc (2.02) from Slavasoft for those MD5 checksums. Does exactly what it says on the tin!
- File Renamer Basic (5.5) from Sherrod Computers (I always used an old version - 2.52). Does exactly what it says on the tin! They also have a free FTP client Sherrod FTP
- ***WARNING - TROJAN*** I used to use FTP Explorer 1.0. McAfee Siteadvisor says the latest version (8.?) has a Trojan. However, it's also available at download.com "certified
- FREEWARE: PixResizer (I used to use 1.0.8) from David De Groot's BlueFive software (pair.com is a web-hosting service). He's also got loads of little utilities.
- TRY-BEFORE-BUY £16.50: TextPad (5.2 - I tried 4.7.3) from Helios Software A nice editor, but not full Unicode (each document must be written using a fixed code-page)
- XVI32 (2.51) is a nice hex editor from Christian Maas, referenced from Microsoft. It's a standalone - just unzip and run.
- 7-zip is a free (even for commercial use) open-source file compression (zip) utility. Download is from SourceForge.net. On download.com it says that it can handle UTF-8 filenames. There's also a Portable Apps version. Winzip ( I tried 9.0SR1) and Winrar aren't free.
- Google Earth (4.3beta)
- ArtPlus Photo Recovery (3.0 - I tried 2.3) seemed to have some success recovering deleted photos. I also found a free, stand-alone file un-deleter - Tokiwa Data Recovery. Do a search for 'data recovery freeware' or 'photo recovery freeware' - there's loads around. Maybe it's best to have several available, and then use each in turn? Try Zero Assumption Recovery (I downloaded the old version from Snapfiles,
- 2007mmdd NVU [nvu-1.0-win32-full[fromCD38Jessop].zip ###
- 2007mmdd Portable NVU [portable_nvu_1.0_r2[fromCD38Jessop].zip ###
- 20080512 PSPad [pspad453inst_en].exe ###
- 20080513 Sunbird [sunbird-0.8.en-US.win32.installer].exe ###
- Skype is handy (if only because I've still got a few quid's credit !)
- 20080729 VirtualDub 1.8.3 [VirtualDub-1.8.3].zip ###
- 20080815 Smart FTP 3.0.1021.14 [SFTPMSI].exe ###
The Original Full List From DVD#24 (INSTALLERS)/Apps/*.*
- 20070109 Portable Firefox [portable_firefox_1.5_en-us].zip ###
- 20070115 GoogleEarth 10.1.0.244 [GoogleEarth].exe ###
- 20070322 Avast Home Edition 4.7.942 [setupeng].exe ###
- 20070322 FileRenamerBasic 2.52.exe ###
- 20070322 Spybot 1.4 [spybotsd14].exe ###
- 2007mmdd ArtPlus Photo Recovery 2.3 [photorec].exe ###
- 2007mmdd ftpx1.00.zip ###
- 2007mmdd hashcalc2.01 [Setup].exe ###
- 2007mmdd Mozilla1.7.12 [mozilla-win32-1.7.12-installer].exe ###
- 2007mmdd NVU [nvu-1.0-win32-full[fromCD38Jessop].zip ###
- 2007mmdd photorecovery.zip ###
- 2007mmdd pixresizer1-0-8.zip ###
- 2007mmdd Portable Firefox 2.0 [Firefox_Portable_2.0_en-us.paf].exe ###
- 2007mmdd Portable NVU [portable_nvu_1.0_r2[fromCD38Jessop].zip ###
- 2007mmdd psp4.12.zip ###
- 2007mmdd textpad4.7.3.zip ###
- 2007mmdd winzip9.0SR1.zip ###
- 2007mmdd xvi32 v2.51.zip ###
- 20080512 AdAware [aaw2007].exe ###
- 20080512 AVG8.0 [avg_free_stf_en_8_100a1295]].exe ###
- 20080512 Blender [blender-2.45-windows].exe ###
- 20080512 PSPad [pspad453inst_en].exe ###
- 20080513 Color Cop[colorcop-setup].exe ###
- 20080513 Gimp 2.4 Help [gimp-help-2-2.4.0-eng-setup].exe ###
- 20080513 Gimp 2.4 [gimp-2.4.5-i686-setup].exe ###
- 20080513 Java [jxpiinstall].exe ###
- 20080513 Opera [Opera_9.27_International_Setup].exe ###
- 20080513 Quickime + iTunes [iTunesSetup].exe ###
- 20080513 Quicktime [QuickTimeInstaller].exe ###
- 20080513 Realplayer INTERNET REQUIRED[RealPlayer11GOLD].exe ###
- 20080513 Seamonkey [seamonkey-1.1.9.en-US.win32.installer].exe ###
- 20080513 Shockwave [Shockwave_Installer_Slim].exe ###
- 20080513 Sunbird [sunbird-0.8.en-US.win32.installer].exe ###
- 20080513 Windows Media Player INTERNET WGA CHECK [wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu].exe ###
- 20080619 Firefox 3.0 [Firefox Setup].exe ###
- 20080619 Installer for Dell Support Center [dell_support_center].exe ###
- 20080619 McAfee SiteAdvisor [saSetup].exe ###
- 20080619 OpenOffice.org [OOo_2.4.1_Win32Intel_install_wJRE_en-US].exe ###
- 20080620 Adobe 8.1.2 [AdbeRdr812_en_US].exe ###
- 20080620 Adobe Flash Player 9.0.124.0 [install_flash_player].exe ###
- 20080620 Irfanview 4.1 Plugins[irfanview_plugins_410_setup].exe ###
- 20080620 Irfanview 4.1 [iview410_setup].exe ###
- 20080620 Thunderbird 2.0.0.14 [Thunderbird Setup 2.0.0.14].exe ###
- 20080703 DAZ Studio 2.2.2.15 [DAZStudio_2.2.2.15_win].exe ###
- 20080704 Skype [SkypeSetup].exe ###
- 20080710 ie401_nt.zip ###
- 20080710 ie501sp2_nt.zip ###
- 20080710 ie55sp2_nt.zip ###
- 20080710 ie6eolas_nt.zip ###
- 20080716 Adobe Flash Player version 9.0.124.0 [install_flash_player].exe ###
- 20080729 Autoruns 9.32[Autoruns].zip ###
- 20080729 VirtualDub 1.8.3 [VirtualDub-1.8.3].zip ###
- 20080815 Smart FTP 3.0.1021.14 [SFTPMSI].exe ###
- Borland C++Builder SE.zip ###
- Bryce5_5_Free_Setup.exe ###
