Catholic Info

Traditional Catholic Faith => General Discussion => Topic started by: Jehanne on March 25, 2011, 08:50:31 AM

Title: Cool FREE apps for your PC!
Post by: Jehanne on March 25, 2011, 08:50:31 AM

Everyone,

I want to start a thread where everyone can share good, free applications for your PC (sorry, Mac users...)  Two things that I would ask:

1)  The application must be free.  No shareware, pay-trial, etc.  The app does not have to be GNU, but it must be freeware.

2)  Provide an Internet link so that others may download the program.

Here we go!

PriFinitty 2

If you have a Quad (or more) processor, this apps for you!  It allows you to do your own load balancing, assigning processes to run on various cores, etc..  For instance, I use Acronis Nonstop Backup and Carbonite, which both (especially, the former) can be very CPU intensive.  They are both assigned to run on Core 4 only (along with a bunch of other nonessential processes), which prevents them from "taking over" my PC when I am trying to use it!  Also, this app is great for video games, which I assign a 'high' priority to, giving excellent response times.  You can download it here:

http://edgemeal.110mb.com/PriFinitty/index.htm

Get the 2.47 version.

Sunrise Sunset Calculator

Get this little app for telling you when the sun rises and sets; also tells "minutes until darkness."  Good to know when the kids need to be inside!

Toddler Keys

Have "little fingers" in your house who like to push buttons on your PC?  Well, this app is cranky and will cause some of your DVD applications not to run; in addition, it does not always work.  However, on some occasions, it does work, so when the "little ones" are next to the computer, giving it a little "refresh" will do the job, preventing the untimely bending of your DVD tray.  Available here:

http://tk.ms11.net/

(Aren't those pictures so cute!  They've grown-up since the initial release.)

FilleZilla Client/Server

Good, free FTP client/server stuff, in you are in to that, available here:

http://filezilla-project.org/

Cisco Network Magic

If you have Nintendo DS systems in your home, then you already know that you have to use WEP network security.  The Cisco Network Magic app will, however, let you see your entire home network.  Its good for those paranoid moments when you have nothing else to do but want to see if you have any "snoopers" on your home network.

Just download the free trial and forget about upgrading:

http://www.purenetworks.com/nmlp/home-networking.php?src=google&gclid=CPGx8K_q6acCFcW8KgodBQOybw&kw=cisco+network+magic

Secunia Personal Software Inspector 2.0

Worried if your applications are out of date?  Always hitting that "Check for update" button?  Worry no more.  Secunia Personal Software Inspector 2.0 will do that job for you, well, at least on some of your applications.  But, it's free and useful:

http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

Altirra

As far as I can tell, it's legal.  If you have old Atari ROM files, you can download this somewhat cranky Atari emulator and enjoy your old Pac Man, Super Breakout, etc., games.  Runs best using the command line options:

http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html

Core Temp

This one might save you some money.  It's probably good not to let your PC heat-up to its maximum temperatures (which will, probably, depending your BIOS, firmware, etc. result in a hard shutdown), so this app will keep an eye on your CPU temperature and will perform a graceful shutdown (if you configure it to do so) in the event of excessive heat.  Available here:

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Active@ Hard Disk Monitor 1.5.20

Great program for keeping an eye on the SMART status of your internal hard drives.

Make sure that you get the 1.5.20 version.  The developer is now charging for the 2.0 versions.  Available here:

http://download.cnet.com/Active-Hard-Disk-Monitor/3000-2086_4-11106032.html

I look forward to you sharing your favorite and free PC applications!

Title: Cool FREE apps for your PC!
Post by: Jehanne on March 25, 2011, 10:16:50 AM

Here's my second list:

True Crypt

Worried about the government, police, spouse, etc., looking at your "secret files"?  Worry no more.  Provided that you can keep control of your hardware, TrueCrypt will keep your most secret data secure.  You do not need to encrypt your entire hard drive (unless, you are a secret agent, or something), just create a TrueCrypt volume (with a hidden volume "inside") and use the 3-algorithm option:

http://www.truecrypt.org/

Just be sure not to forget your pass phrase!

FileVerifier ++

Worried about your most precious memories, pictures, videos, etc., getting corrupted in long-term storage and you not knowing about it!  Try out FileVerifier++ and use the Whirlpool algorithm.  Not a bit will change without you knowing it:

http://www.programmingunlimited.net/siteexec/content.cgi?page=fv

You will also need to use an online backup service such as Carbonite or Mozy so that you can recover any corrupted data!

WinMerge

Need to compare massive amounts of files to see if there are any differences?  WinMerge makes it easy:

http://winmerge.org/

TED Notepad

Tired of Notepad, which has not changed in (10 or 15) years?  Try out TED Notepad.  Looks of cool options to make your posting and cutting/pasting on CathInfo much easier:

http://jsimlo.sk/notepad/

Microsoft Virtual PC

Have old Windows 98 applications that do not run under Vista or Windows 7, in spite of those "compatiblity" tabs?  If you have your old Windows 98 installation discks, this might be the (only) answer for you:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/

Oracle Virtual Box

A "competitor" to Microsoft's Virtual PC:

http://www.virtualbox.org/

DOS Box

Have old DOS games that will not run on Vista or Windows 7.  The 16-bit world will never die (at least until Christ comes again):

http://www.dosbox.com/

7-Zip

It beats its competitors hands-down:

http://www.7-zip.org/

Microsoft Security Essentials

Why continue to pay for something that you can get for free???  Available here:

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Kill Process

You probably should not need this, but if you have an annoying process that you seem not to be able to get rid of, this will do the trick:

http://orangelampsoftware.com/

EASEUS Todo Backup Home 2.0

If you want a free alternative to Acronis or its competitors, consider this:

http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/

I have not tried it in a while, but they have a 2.0 version.  It's a great app that will help you not having to "start from scratch" if you lose a hard disk.

Ghostscript, Ghostview and GSview

This software is great for merging PDF files:

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/

BlueScreenView

Need help understanding those annonying Blue Screens (I do!).  This will definitively help and will give you a "clue" as to what to do:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

Recuva

Ever accidentally delete a file or empty the Recycle Bin "prematurely"?!  Hope is not lost:

http://www.piriform.com/

Textaizer Pro

Make your sweetheart a cheap, but romantic, message:

http://www.mosaizer.com/Textaizer/

VLC Media Player

It's excellent and its free:

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

Real VNC

The free version works well with Windows 98 as a server but not Vista or later.  Great for communicating with that old computer downstairs:

http://www.realvnc.com/products/free/4.1/index.html