Rodney
Sun Mar 08 2009, 4:52am
Had to reinstall Windows? Bought a new computer? Here is a list of FREE programs I recommend installing:
Internet
Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/). (free Internet Explorer alternative)
[+] Adblock Plus add-on (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865). Hide online ads.
Google Chrome (http://www.google.com/chrome). (amazingly fast browser from Google)
[+] Adblock Plus for Google Chrome (https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb). Hide online ads.
Adobe Flash Player (http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/). Required for watching videos and playing flash files.
Communication
Skype (http://skype.com). Messaging, talk, group chat, and call phones.
Windows live messenger (http://download.live.com/?sku=messenger). If you don't use it for chat, it is still good for sending free SMS text message.
Media
Winamp (http://www.winamp.com/player) (alternative to Windows Media Player)
XP Codec Pack. (http://www.xpcodecpack.com/) For watching special movie formats on your computer. Example, you might be trying to watch a movie, and you will hear the sound but the video won't appear. This package will fix the problem.
BitTorrent (http://www.bittorrent.com/). P2P program for downloading .torrent files.
Document
OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/). (free Microsoft Office alternative) Document, spreadsheet, slideshows, etc.
FastStone Photo Resizer (http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm). Resize a group of photos all at once. Great for shrinking photos you just transferred from your camera, allowing you to quickly upload them to the internet.
Sumatra PDF Viewer (http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/download.html). Best software for reading PDF files. Opens much faster than Adobe Acrobat Reader. (1. Google Chrome has built-in viewer for PDF files on the web; 2. Sumatra adds weird margins when printing items without margins. You might want to use Foxit Reader FREE (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php) for printing PDF's).
7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/): Used for opening ZIP, RAR, and other compressed file types. Better than WinRar because it doesn't keep saying "your 40 day trial has expired, please upgrade now".
CCleaner (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner): useful tools to clean old files on hard-disk and old registry keys.
Securit
Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/): If you have a genuine copy of Windows Vista or Windows 7, get this free antivirus from Microsoft. The fastest antivirus for Windows. It uses the least resources.
Sandboxie (http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?DownloadSandboxie): Recently a security company's network was hijacked when an employee opened a corrupted doc file, which he thought was from another staff member, that had a custom virus hidden inside (because it was a custom targeted virus, it wasn't detected by Antivirus software). When the file was opened, it spread to the rest of the company's network, giving the hacker access to confidential files, including client credit card numbers. Had the employee opened the file in a Sandboxie "Sandbox", the virus would have been contained - being unable to touch any other files on his computer's hard-drive, or any other computer's on the company network. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED program.
Avast Antivirus! (http://www.avast.com/): Anti-virus, anti-spyware, and live protect. Make sure to scan for viruses automatically every day, and never close your anti-virus program. (Recommended: After you install, you will see a menu called VRDB. I recommend 'Disable VRDB generation' as it will speed up your computer and save hard-disk space.)
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam-download.php): Powerful tool to search and remove spyware, trojans, and any other malicious items that are sometimes missed by Antivirus program.
Website Design & Programming
Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus-plus.org/): code editing program (HTML, PHP, etc). Includes FTP that sync's your files with website each time you save your local file.
FileZilla (http://filezilla-project.org/): file transfer program for uploading files/folders to your website host.
Paint.NET (http://www.getpaint.net/): simple graphic editor, but much better than Window's Paint program.
GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/): for complex photo and graphic editing.
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/): audio editing program.
Cinelerra (http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php): video editing and composition software.
WampServer 2 (http://www.wampserver.com/en/download.php): turns your computer into a server so you can test your website files locally (PHP, MySQL, etc). When it's running, access your website through http://localhost in your browser. (Note: has a port conflict with Skype, so you have to close Skype before opening WampServer 2. Once the taskbar icon is green, you can turn Skype on again).
Operating Systems (free alternatives to Windows)
Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/). Available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
32-bit: your computer cannot use more than 3GB of ram.
64-bit: your computer can use more than 3GB of ram.
Important websites
pixlr.com (http://pixlr.com/editor/): edit, crop, resize a picture online. Like having a simple version of Photoshop in your browser.
min.us (http://min.us): quickly share an image. You can drag pictures right from your computer into the browser, and they'll upload automatically.
bit.ly (http://bit.ly): shorten a website address for easier sharing. You can even customize your link (ex: bit.ly/my_name).
gmail.com (http://gmail.com): the best free email service. Easy to use interface, tons of great features you won't know about until the moment you need them. And then you're like, "oh shit, it can do that!" Yep, this is nothing like your grandmother's hotmail.
Internet
Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/). (free Internet Explorer alternative)
[+] Adblock Plus add-on (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865). Hide online ads.
Google Chrome (http://www.google.com/chrome). (amazingly fast browser from Google)
[+] Adblock Plus for Google Chrome (https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/cfhdojbkjhnklbpkdaibdccddilifddb). Hide online ads.
Adobe Flash Player (http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/). Required for watching videos and playing flash files.
Communication
Skype (http://skype.com). Messaging, talk, group chat, and call phones.
Windows live messenger (http://download.live.com/?sku=messenger). If you don't use it for chat, it is still good for sending free SMS text message.
Media
Winamp (http://www.winamp.com/player) (alternative to Windows Media Player)
XP Codec Pack. (http://www.xpcodecpack.com/) For watching special movie formats on your computer. Example, you might be trying to watch a movie, and you will hear the sound but the video won't appear. This package will fix the problem.
BitTorrent (http://www.bittorrent.com/). P2P program for downloading .torrent files.
Document
OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/). (free Microsoft Office alternative) Document, spreadsheet, slideshows, etc.
FastStone Photo Resizer (http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm). Resize a group of photos all at once. Great for shrinking photos you just transferred from your camera, allowing you to quickly upload them to the internet.
Sumatra PDF Viewer (http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/download.html). Best software for reading PDF files. Opens much faster than Adobe Acrobat Reader. (1. Google Chrome has built-in viewer for PDF files on the web; 2. Sumatra adds weird margins when printing items without margins. You might want to use Foxit Reader FREE (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php) for printing PDF's).
7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/): Used for opening ZIP, RAR, and other compressed file types. Better than WinRar because it doesn't keep saying "your 40 day trial has expired, please upgrade now".
CCleaner (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner): useful tools to clean old files on hard-disk and old registry keys.
Securit
Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/): If you have a genuine copy of Windows Vista or Windows 7, get this free antivirus from Microsoft. The fastest antivirus for Windows. It uses the least resources.
Sandboxie (http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?DownloadSandboxie): Recently a security company's network was hijacked when an employee opened a corrupted doc file, which he thought was from another staff member, that had a custom virus hidden inside (because it was a custom targeted virus, it wasn't detected by Antivirus software). When the file was opened, it spread to the rest of the company's network, giving the hacker access to confidential files, including client credit card numbers. Had the employee opened the file in a Sandboxie "Sandbox", the virus would have been contained - being unable to touch any other files on his computer's hard-drive, or any other computer's on the company network. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED program.
Avast Antivirus! (http://www.avast.com/): Anti-virus, anti-spyware, and live protect. Make sure to scan for viruses automatically every day, and never close your anti-virus program. (Recommended: After you install, you will see a menu called VRDB. I recommend 'Disable VRDB generation' as it will speed up your computer and save hard-disk space.)
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam-download.php): Powerful tool to search and remove spyware, trojans, and any other malicious items that are sometimes missed by Antivirus program.
Website Design & Programming
Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus-plus.org/): code editing program (HTML, PHP, etc). Includes FTP that sync's your files with website each time you save your local file.
FileZilla (http://filezilla-project.org/): file transfer program for uploading files/folders to your website host.
Paint.NET (http://www.getpaint.net/): simple graphic editor, but much better than Window's Paint program.
GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/): for complex photo and graphic editing.
Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/): audio editing program.
Cinelerra (http://heroinewarrior.com/cinelerra.php): video editing and composition software.
WampServer 2 (http://www.wampserver.com/en/download.php): turns your computer into a server so you can test your website files locally (PHP, MySQL, etc). When it's running, access your website through http://localhost in your browser. (Note: has a port conflict with Skype, so you have to close Skype before opening WampServer 2. Once the taskbar icon is green, you can turn Skype on again).
Operating Systems (free alternatives to Windows)
Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/). Available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
32-bit: your computer cannot use more than 3GB of ram.
64-bit: your computer can use more than 3GB of ram.
Important websites
pixlr.com (http://pixlr.com/editor/): edit, crop, resize a picture online. Like having a simple version of Photoshop in your browser.
min.us (http://min.us): quickly share an image. You can drag pictures right from your computer into the browser, and they'll upload automatically.
bit.ly (http://bit.ly): shorten a website address for easier sharing. You can even customize your link (ex: bit.ly/my_name).
gmail.com (http://gmail.com): the best free email service. Easy to use interface, tons of great features you won't know about until the moment you need them. And then you're like, "oh shit, it can do that!" Yep, this is nothing like your grandmother's hotmail.