Best FREE software thread

[Lyrrad]

Hi

I think it would be cool to have a thread about peoples best FREE software and a short explanation of it's use and a reason for posting it. A link would also be nice. Just one piece of software per post.

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a few rules would be good like....

only freeware to be posted, no trial, shareware, cracked stuff and the software must have been tested by the poster ( bit of trust required here ) and if theres any reports of the software being "dodgy" admin will delete them without explanation, then we can have a nice clean like thread where the software can be trusted ...gmb45
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Here's my first one.

7-Zip is a file archiver with a high compression ratio.

Small footprint compared to winzip or winrar available 32 or 64bit

No downsides as far as I can tell

[barrowmanandrew]

here's mine,

Free Video Converter | Convert Video Formats Free | Freemake

fantastic piece of kit...

[Lyrrad]

okay another one from me

To my mind a must.

Lastpass - the last password you will have to remember

To be fair I pay $12 a year for ability to use on my mobile phone where password entry is a real pain normally, but free to use if just on PC

[Lyrrad]

And another

The best solution I have found for kids and web protection (of course parental responsibility is the absolute front-line starting safety point)

K9 Web Protection from Blue Coat


The very nature of this kind of software means there is a slight slowing down of your web browsing. However this one, after a few weeks learning, shows very little if no obvious slowing down at all

[gmb45]

one of the obvious

Download CCleaner 3.08.1475 - FileHippo.com

very good reg /junk cleaner also has other features, its been about years and is highly recommended.

[drawflex]

The Official ImgBurn Website

No nonscense, powerfull image burner/builder/reader.... succeeds where lots of others fail with 'specialist' image types.

[Cod3waX]

magic disc - mounting cd/dvd images ISO ,UIF , ETC...

MagicDisc Virtual DVD / CD-ROM Download - Softpedia

Text Imgae Convertor

TEXT-IMAGE.com :: Convert

BIOS BEEP ERROR CODE LIST:

BIOS BEEP ERROR CODE LIST

Video decompiler - save frames from videos

video decompiler

Google Sketchup 8 - The Toy Program Of CAD Maybe

http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/download/index.html

Inpaint - Remove that object in any picture with ease The LINK is how to use program with download tab above

http://www.theinpaint.com/

[Shady]

7 zip, unzip and compress files, reads all popular file compressions

7-Zip

foxit reader pdf viewer. less bulky than adobe
Foxit Software - Downloads(Latest Version)

best media player out there..vlc, obvious maybe, but no-one else has posted it
VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework!

gimp, a photoshop alternative
GIMP - Downloads

[Couchie]

Advanced SystemCare Free 4

Help protect, repair, clean, and optimize your PC.

Advanced SystemCare Free 4 Download Review for Windows XP/Vista/7 - IObit

Also

MalwareBytes

If you ever find yourself in a spot of bother with a virus

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

[thecelticfan]

Video convertor

Format Factory

Format Factory - Free media file format converter

[johnboy1974]

dvd authoring software- very easy to use and will burn virtually any video file onto a dvd disc to be played back on any dvd player.

DVD Flick

[Lyrrad]

CutePDF Writer

Nice little app that is explained below. Install also requires free PS2PDF converter such as Ghostscript which you are prompted to download. Basically you now have print to PDF as a print option

CutePDF Writer installs itself as a "printer subsystem". This enables virtually any Windows applications (must be able to print) to create professional quality PDF documents - with just a push of a button!

[drawflex]

SIW SIW | System Information for Windows by Gabriel Topala
TONS of information about the system it's being run on, hardware/software/environment....been very usefull to me.

freeware, portable

[masur123]

Smart Defrag | Best Disk Defrag Freeware | Free Defragmenter

Excellent defrag software that also optimises the performance based on most used files!

[patkins]

Irfanview for your photos.

IrfanView - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Downloads


I use this freeware for messing with my photos and is very good.