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Many free programs in a variety of categories are
available on the Internet. They range from the very useful to the dangerous.
Some references for finding good ones are given here.
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The Web is full of sites with lists of freeware so the need for yet another
may seem dubious. Because of all the problems with adware
and spyware, however, many home PC users that I know are reluctant to
download anything at all so I have decided to list some of the sites that
I have found to be useful (and safe). This is a purely personal selection
with no pretense at completeness. I also mention some software that has
made computing easier and more efficient for me. No doubt I have omitted
many good sites and programs but life is short. |
Please keep in mind that links
are subject to change at any time and that freeware sometimes goes commercial
after a while.
Lists and General Download Sites
- http://www.mdgx.com/free.htm
- A list of freeware sites. This page is part of a very large assortment
of tips and tricks.
- http://www.nonags.com/nonags/
- Has many programs for downloading. Gives ratings. Excellent site. Some
features require paid membership
- http://www.tudogs.com
- Large collection for downloading. Gives ratings. Requires (free) login.
- http://www.freewarearena.com/html2/
- A large collection of freeware
- http://www.shellcity.net/
- A bonanza for those who like to tinker with their system
- http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/
- Last free versions of some good freeware now turned commercial, including
JV16 Powertools and its cousin RegCleaner.
- http://www.pricelessware.org/
- Best freeware as voted by newsgroup alt.comp.freeware
- http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
- Ian "Gizmo" Richards' personal choices for best freeware. Part of a larger
site with much good information on computers.
- http://www.aumha.org/freeware.htm
- James Eshelman's favorite freeware. Part of a larger
site with much good information on Windows.
Download Sites for Specific Programs
The biggest freeware download sites may have the program that you are looking
for but navigating them can be tedious. Google or other search engines
are often a better place to find links for specific programs than
the search facilities at download sites. Here I list specific download
links for some of my favorite freeware. I apologize if one of them
stops working but links come and links go.
- http://www.irfanview.com/
- The graphics program IrfanView is one of my all-time favorites. It has
an astonishing number of features for a free program and is updated
frequently. I give more detail here
- http://www.winpatrol.com/
- WinPatrol is another free program with many features. It can
help you control what is installed, what runs in the background, and
what runs at startup. More discussion is here.
- http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
- Of all the Registry cleaners that I have tried, EasyCleaner is one of
the best.
- http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm
- RegSeeker is another good Registry tool. A beta product but seems to
work OK.
- http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
- To find out all the details of what is on your system, use Belarc Advisor
- http://www.karenware.com/powertools.html
- A collection of many small useful utilities written by Karen Kenworthy.
Excellent site. I use Replicator all the
time to back up files. I also use her Cookie Viewer a lot.
- http://www.sysinternals.com/
- Another collection of useful small utilities. Mark Russinovich
and Bryce Cogswell write everything here. Their programs concentrate
on system maintenance and monitoring. Process Viewer is one of a
number of their handy utilities. Added later: Sysinternals has been bought by Microsoft but so far the freeware remains available.
- http://www.nirsoft.net/
- A collection of free useful networking and Internet utilities. Also
has a number of handy system utilities.
More detail on several programs are on this page
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