| Foxit
Acrobat Reader - A free reader for the most useful cross-browser
document format in the world - better, faster and smaller that the
bloated Adobe Acrobat. A must for Internet browsing |
|
| AVG
- One of the better (no longer best) free anti-virus programs available. Anti-virus
protection is essential for Internet use today, and this free one fits anyone's budget. |
|
MS Security Essentials - If you want something that will not nag you to upgrade for money, then the free security program from Microsoft is really good.
In Windows 8, Security Essentials is renamed as Windows Defender, but works just as well. As of 2013, MS Security Essentials is better than AVG. |
|
| Flash
Player - one of two players from Macromedia that is used frequently
on the Internet. The other player os Shockwave. If you
graphic's or gaming sites you will eventually need these. |
|
| Irfan
View - IMHO the best free graphics viewer on the planet.
In the latest version, watch for an install of the Google toolbar
which you may not want |
|
| Java
- A necessary component for a lot of e-commerce, but if you can live without, your computer security will be a lot better. |
|
| Chrome
- One of the best IE replacements. While we like the add-ons that Firefox allows, Chrome from Google is the fastest browser available, and is the browser of choice for DeRae Designs and In Your Home PC Repair. |
|
| Quick
Time - A program we wish did not exist. When ever you use
it to watch a video, it nags you to buy an upgrade, and the quality
of videos are no better than Windows Media Player |
|
| Real
Player - A audio and video player that is being used a lot for
lengthy streaming audio, such as archived radio programs. Be
careful about be talked into a paid upgrade. It will involve
a monthly bill. |
|
| Shockwave
- The other, but less popular reader from Macromedia. Shockwave
is used in a lot of animated games online |
|
| VLC
- This has to be the best video/audio player there is. Not because
it is good looking, but because it plays everything imaginable. |
|
| 7-Zip
- Very capable zipper and unzipper that does not nag you to purchase
like Winzip does |
|
| PDF creator from Primo. PDF creator becomes installed like a printer |
PRIMO PDF CREATOR |
| Firefox - Acceptable free browser. Used to be best, Chrome is faster and less buggy |
|
| All the links above are great for single downloads. But when setting up a new computer, we prefer to do all this downloading and installing business at one time, and for that, nothing is better than ninite.com. Select the programs you want from a list, download the custom installer program that is created for you, then run it. |
|
| File Recovery |
|
| Free
Undelete - Hard Drive only |
|
| Recuva - Hard Drive
and Flash Memory |
|
| Undelete Plus
- Hard Drive and Flash Memory |
|
| PC
Inspector - Hard Drive and Flash Memory |
|
| Zero
Assumption - Flash Memory Only |
|
 |
|
Small
Cost, but Worth It |
|
| Divx
- Premier Divx video programs for one of the best video codec's available
today |
|
|
|
Spyware/Malware programs |
|
| Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware - Excellent tool to remove the fake security notices without going into Safe Mode. Free version is a run-time version. Paid version is real-time. |
|
| BHODemon
- Think of BHODemon as a guardian for your Internet Explorer browser:
it protects you from unknown Browser Helper Objects (BHO's), by letting
you enable/disable them individually. It also monitors your
Registry and alerts you when a BHO is installed. Best of all,
BHODemon knows about the most common BHO's - the good ones, and the
not-so-good ones! |
|
| CWShredder
- Trend Micro™ CWShredder™ Version 2.15 is the latest
defense against the new Cool Web Search variants. |
|
| SmitFraud - SmitFraudFix is a tool that S!Ri created to remove rogue anti-spyware applications that utilize Trojans to issue fake task bar security alerts or that change your background in order to scare you into purchasing the full commercial version of their software. |
|
| ewido
- ewido anti-spyware Free is a free anti-spyware protection tool developed
by GRISOFT for home use. |
|
| HijackThis
- Program to analyze your PC and report what it thinks is spyware/malware.
Leaves it up to you what to do about the results, so this can be a dangerous but very nice uber-geek tool. |
|
| Stinger
- Stand-alone, no install virus scanner from McAfee. Scans and removes
several dozen of the latest and most common virus' and Trojan horse
programs |
|
| More on Spyware here |
|
|
|
| System Information |
|
| Windirstat is our favorite free tool for showing what files are consuming teh most room on a hard drive. Another useful tool is SequoiaView. |
File Size Tools |
| SIW - System Information for Windows is not only about the most complete system info program available, it is also free. |
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