This will be a running list of great computer programs that I have across in my time on the computer and working with computers, all of which are completely free of charge. Feel free to use any from this list, and feel free to add to this list.
(Click on the name to go to the download location.)
Last Edited: February 18, 2012
PC Protection
[jumpto="adaware"]Ad-Aware[/jumpto]
[jumpto="avg"]AVG[/jumpto]
[jumpto="hijackthis"]HijackThis![/jumpto]
[jumpto="malwarebytes"]Malwarebytes Anti-Malware[/jumpto]
[jumpto="mse"]Microsoft Security Essentials[/jumpto]
[jumpto="firewallplus"]PCTools Firewall Plus[/jumpto]
[jumpto="rkill"]RKill/iExplore[/jumpto]
[jumpto="spybot"]Spybot Search & Destroy[/jumpto]
[jumpto="steadystate"]Windows Steady State[/jumpto]
PC Tools
[jumpto="reader"]Adobe Reader[/jumpto]
[jumpto="belarc"]Belarc Advisor[/jumpto]
[jumpto="clonezilla"]CloneZilla[/jumpto]
[jumpto="crucial"]Crucial.com[/jumpto]
[jumpto="dban"]Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)[/jumpto]
[jumpto="easycleaner"]EasyCleaner[/jumpto]
[jumpto="knoppix"]Knoppix[/jumpto]
[jumpto="libreoffice"]LibreOffice[/jumpto]
[jumpto="officepdf"]Microsoft Office 2007 Add-In - .pdf[/jumpto]
[jumpto="ubit"]Ubit[/jumpto]
[jumpto="virtualbox"]VirtualBox[/jumpto]
[jumpto="virtualpc"]Virtual PC 2007[/jumpto]
Internet and Development
[jumpto="apache"]Apache[/jumpto]
[jumpto="arachnophilia"]Arachnophilia[/jumpto]
[jumpto="filezilla"]FileZilla[/jumpto]
[jumpto="firefox"]Firefox w/ Adblock[/jumpto]
[jumpto="joomla"]Joomla[/jumpto]
[jumpto="kompozer"]Kompozer[/jumpto]
[jumpto="mysql"]MySQL[/jumpto]
[jumpto="phpbb"]phpBB Forums[/jumpto]
[jumpto="phpmyadmin"]phpMyAdmin[/jumpto]
[jumpto="smushit"]Smush.it[/jumpto]
[jumpto="wordpress"]Wordpress[/jumpto]
Firefox Add-Ons
[jumpto="adblockplus"]Adblock Plus[/jumpto]
[jumpto="firebug"]Firebug w/ YSlow[/jumpto]
PC Protection
[aname="adaware"]
Ad-Aware[/aname] - While I've actually grown to dislike this program as it progresses, it is still a very good tool for catching spyware, and removing spyware from your computer. The biggest gripe I have with it is that it USED to be simple to use, and now it's a little more intrusive, and a little less easy to use. Nonetheless, it is still a very good spyware protection program.
[aname="avg"]AVG[/aname] - This used to be the best free anti-virus protection on the Internet. Over the years, it's seemed to get more bulky and intrusive, and right before I switched to [jumpto="mse"]Microsoft Security Essentials[/jumpto], I would get pop-ups asking me to either update my software and/or upgrade to their paid version. It became annoying. It is still a very good anti-virus program, but I think MSE is better.
[aname="hijackthis"]HijackThis![/aname] - This is another spyware removal tool, but in a slightly different way. Running HijackThis creates a text file of all the stuff on your computer, and allows one to go through and see which stuff should not be there, and then go in and remove it manually. Unlike Ad-Aware or Spybot, it doesn't check against a list of known spywares, it just scans your computer to show what is there and what should be there. Unless you are very skilled, you would usually then take it to tech forum, and post your HijackThis and there will usually be tech experts to help you clean up what shouldn't be there.
[aname="malwarebytes"]Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware[/aname] - Since I began working as a computer tech where I work, I've used this program many times to remove malware people havestupidly inadvertently put on their machines. There's a paid version which is supposed to work as an anti-virus program, but I only use the free version to remove malware. Simply put, this program kicks ass when it comes to getting rid of malware, and when combined with [jumpto="rkill"]RKill/iExplore[/jumpto] and Microsoft Security Essentials, it's a nearly unbeatable combination for getting rid of nasty software.
[aname="mse"]Microsoft Security Essentials[/aname] - Some people may be surprised that Microsoft would bother to put out an anti-virus program. More people may be surprised that they provide it for free. But what people would be most surprised about is the fact that it works GREAT. This is a very good program. I was an avid AVG user for years, but more and more I'm turning away from AVG (due to its bulk and annoying ads) and turning to MSE. It's a good program, and for people concerned about Microsoft providing computer safety, do some research online. More and more security experts are praising Microsoft as being one of the leading companies dedicated to safety on the web. It's a good program, put out by a company concerned about safety.
[aname="firewallplus"]PCTools Firewall Plus[/aname] - A free firewall program. It can be a little annoying at first, but once you kind of guide it on what you will allow and not allow, then you hardly notice it's there, and it helps protect your computer. However, if you're running Windows XP SP3, or above, it probably isn't necessary, as Windows now comes packaged with a firewall installed by default.
[aname="rkill"]RKill/iExplore[/aname] - This simple and small program is a powerful weapon in the war on malware. There are many malware programs which actively work to disguise themselves from malware removal software. This program is written to make those programs quit being active so malware removal tools can find the nasty software and get rid of it. If your computer is acting strangely, but you don't get any results from your anti-virus program, try running this program first and then run your anti-virus software.
[aname="spybot"]Spybot Search and Destroy[/aname] - The spyware removal tool I used to use all the time, but has since been replaced by [jumpto="malwarebytes"]Malwarebytes Anti-Malware[/jumpto]. It is as fast of a removal tool for spyware that I have found, and usually can get the job done, if you're looking for a quick and easy fix. It also has a resident shield, which can prevent spyware from getting on your computer in the first place. I usually don't use the shield, so I can't vouch for its effectiveness.
[aname="steadystate"]Windows Steady State[/aname] - This remarkable program is a free alternative to the popular "Deep Freeze". What this program does, for those who aren't familiar, is protect parts of your computer to prevent people doing things to your computer you do not want them to. You can set up Windows User profiles, and then restrict the things those profiles can do. A couple of examples is preventing a user from adding a file to the desktop, or prevent them from changing settings in Internet Explorer.
While that function is interesting and useful, there's a far better use for Steady State. With Steady State you can have the program take an "image" of your computer at any time, and then keep that image in it's memory. Then, every time you reboot the computer, you can have it restore the computer to the same condition it was in. You could intentionally download viruses on your machine, restart the computer, and the viruses would be found nowhere. Of course, neither would any documents you saved to your computer, so make sure you save those to a flash drive.
You can also set it to restore the computer to where you had it at any date you choose. This is SO very helpful when working with people who are not good with computers, and tend to attract viruses and spyware. Just make sure to save your personal documents to a storage drive, and you'll never have to worry about viruses infecting your computer again. The only downside to this program is that it is no longer being supported, and it only works for Windows XP.
PC Tools
[aname="reader"]Adobe Reader[/aname] - A free program every computer should have (or an alternative), and probably does. You use this to read .pdf files.
[aname="belarc"]Belarc Advisor[/aname] - This AWESOME tool I just learned about a couple weeks ago. If you download and install the program, and then run the program, it will actually display to you everything about your computer. For example, it will tell you your computer model, your processor and speed, how much memory you have, how big your hard drive is and how much free space is left, and all the devices on your computer. It will also show you all the updates you've downloaded from Microsoft and what updates you need to download, as well as all the software you currently have on your computer. I love this program, and it comes in handy when you're trying to work on your system.
[aname="clonezilla"]CloneZilla[/aname] - This is an easy to use Linux based version of the Ghost software. What you can do is have the program take a snapshot of your entire computer, compress it into a file, called an image, and then store that image for as long as you want. If your computer ever freaks out on you, you can just reload that image back onto your computer, and your computer will be just like it was when you used CloneZilla. It's a combination of the System Restore and System Recovery mechanisms...it removes everything on your computer (including viruses, spyware, etc.) and lets you restore your computer like the System Recovery, but it lets you restore it to the point you took the image, like System Restore. It's very handy.
It's also very handy if you buy several of the same kind of machines, and only want to set up one of them. Just set up one machine, and then CloneZilla the others.
[aname="crucial"]Crucial.com[/aname] - I find this site works best in Internet Explorer. If you go to this site, and click on "Crucial System Scanner", it will tell you how much RAM memory you have in your computer, what kind of RAM you use (for example, mine is DDR PC2-6400 memory), how many slots your computer holds to have memory, how many slots you have free, and the maximum amount of memory each slot will hold. If you want to speed up your computer to keep it from lagging, buy more memory. If you want to know what memory to buy, use Crucial.com.
[aname="dban"]Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)[/aname] - If you have ever been scared to throw away or sell your computer, fear no longer. DBAN is a program that will "zero fill" (a.k.a. completely wipe) your hard drive so there is no way your data can be recovered. It takes your hard drive and literally puts a 0 on every possible spot on the hard drive, overwriting every piece of data on it. Additionally, it can overwrite all the data MULTIPLE times, even going passed what is considered military grade deletion. DBAN is great when your hard drive is giving you trouble, or when you want to make sure no one can ever steal your data.
Be aware: DBAN is NOT to be used lightly. Only use it if you are SURE you want to delete everything on your hard drive. Because once DBAN works its magic, there is nothing left. It's like setting off a nuclear bomb inside a telephone booth.
[aname="easycleaner"]EasyCleaner[/aname] - This is a very small, but very powerful and very helpful program. Easy Cleaner has several different options where it can run through various parts of your computer and clean out the unnecessary stuff, free up space and helping your computer run faster. It has a good registry checker, as well as a good startup checker. It deletes cookies and temp internet files, as well as unnecessary hard drive files. The best part about it is that whenever it makes system changes, it also backs up your computer, so if something goes bad, you can always retrieve it. Very handy program.
[aname="knoppix"]Knoppix[/aname] - This is a program that EVERY computer user should have in his or her arsenal. No matter how careful we are with our computers, something will go wrong eventually. And then how can we ever get all of our personal files off the machine? Well, that's where Knoppix comes in. Knoppix, a Linux based software, boots as a Live CD (meaning the entire operating system is contained on the CD, and the computer runs from the CD), but what is really nice about Knoppix is that it recognizes your hard drive and displays it very easily. So, if your computer messes up and you can't get it to load, pop in the Knoppix CD or DVD, boot it, and then retrieve all of the files you wish to backup and place them on a flash drive. It is really that simple.
Please note: The first time I used this program, it kept locking up on me. However, Knoppix has what are called "cheat codes" which you can use to alter the way the software boots. If you load your machine, and it freezes right when you get the display, you may try doing the following: At the "boot:" screen, type "knoppix no3d". This tells Knoppix to load, but without the Compiz 3D software. This has fixed my problem on three different computers. Be quick though, the boot screen flashes by quickly.
[aname="libreoffice"]LibreOffice[/aname] - LibreOffice is a fork of the original OpenOffice.org project. After OpenOffice.org got bought out by the Oracle company, many of the original developers of OpenOffice took off to develop LibreOffice. Since then, OpenOffice has basically been given up on by Oracle.
LibreOffice is a great office suite of programs, and one I have found to be a complete replacement for Microsoft Office. I put it on every machine I'm asked to set up, the extensions you can add to it are extensive and helpful, and in my opinion, it's simply the best suite of office programs around, including Microsoft Office.
[aname="officepdf"]Microsoft Office 2007 Add-In - .pdf[/aname] - A .pdf file is a very useful file extension, in that it is easy to create by scanning images, or if you have a text document you don't want altered. This add-in from Microsoft allows those with Office 2007 to create a .pdf file from Office. It is a very small download, but very handy to have if you want to create .pdf documents.
[aname="ubit"]Ubit[/aname] - Do you have Microsoft Office 2007? Do you hate the new ribbon system Office 2007 uses, where it seems that everything is much harder to find? Then install this handy little tool. It is a small plugin, but when it is installed, it will create another item on your toolbar called "Menu". If you hover over the Menu item, beneath will be the old Microsoft layout, where everything is categorized just like it was in previous versions of Office. Now you can find everything the way you always did before. This comes highly recommended for anyone who uses Microsoft Office 2007, but hates the new layout.
[aname="virtualbox"]VirtualBox[/aname] - In my opinion, this is the best virtualization software for individual computers. It is cross-platform, which means you can use it on nearly every home operating system (such as Windows, Mac or Linux). What this program allows you to do is virtualize a computer inside your computer. For example, I have Windows 7 on my main machine, but using VirtualBox, I've also installed Windows XP, OpenSuSE 11, Ubuntu, Mac OS X, and a couple variations of those operating systems onto my machine, which I can easily use at the same time I'm using my Windows 7 machine.
Not only is this program useful for trying out new operating systems, it is also great for going to websites you feel might be malware infested, as the virtual computer is completely cut off from the main one. So I could install Windows XP in a virtual machine, get a virus in the XP, and it won't touch anything on my Windows 7. Or, better yet, you could install a Linux operating system, and go to a malware site, and be MUCH less likely to catch the malware on your Linux operating system.
All around, this is a fantastic tool.
[aname="virtualpc"]Virtual PC 2007[/aname] - Have you ever wanted to test a different operating system, but didn't want to get rid of the one you had? Have you ever wanted to try working with Linux, but are afraid to lose Windows? Then Virtual PC 2007 to the rescue. Virtual PC literally does just that; it creates a virtual computer inside your current one, so you can run a new operating system. And what's really nice about it, it that not only is it free, it is also fairly simple to use and has compatibility with most "guest" operating systems (a guest operating system is the one you install the virtual machine). Virtual PC 2007 and the more publicized VirtualBox (which I will discuss in the future) both do basically the same thing. I recommend VirtualBox however, as it is still being supported and developed.
Internet and Development
[aname="apache"]Apache[/aname] - Have you ever wanted to try hosting your own web site? Ever wanted to run different programs, maybe even your own message board, just to play around? To do that, you will need to set up a web server on your machine. In my opinion, Apache is a very easy web server to set up and configure. When it comes to tech stuff, I'm certainly not dumb, but I didn't know anything about web servers. But, I installed Apache, worked through it, and I can now host my own web site, as well as my own vBulletin forum.
[aname="arachnophilia"]Arachnophilia[/aname] - I'm sure there are plenty of HTML editors out there, but this is the one I have used for nearly 10 years now. Arachnophilia is a program that provides you the ability to have proper HTML code, just by hitting certain functions in the program, leaving you nothing to do but to actually create the content of the web page. Arachnophilia does all the work for you, you just have to decide what you want on it. In the interest of full disclosure, this is the program I first learned to build web pages on, but I have since moved to other avenues of creating web sites.
[aname="filezilla"]FileZilla[/aname] - A very popular, and useful, FTP client. What an FTP client does is it allows your to connect to a web server to upload files to be put on the Internet. For example, if I were to have rights to work on the Wrestlezone.com web site, I could create a web page on my machine, and then connect to the Wrestlezone web server, and upload my web page to the web server using FileZilla. It's very easy to use...assuming you have rights to upload to a web server.
[aname="firefox"]Firefox[/aname] w/ [jumpto="adblockplus"]Adblock Plus[/jumpto] - In my opinion, one of the best ways to protect one's computer is to use Firefox w/ Adblock as one's exclusive Internet Browser. Firefox is a far superior browser to Internet Explorer (and Chrome, Opera and Safari, in my opinion), in that it is much more secure, with less bugs in it. Plus, since Firefox is "open source" (which means anyone can work on the code to Firefox), Firefox vulnerabilities are usually fixed MUCH sooner than similar holes in Internet Explorer. Firefox also supports add-ons, which can customize your web browser. Firefox is a much superior browser, in my opinion.
[aname="joomla"]Joomla[/aname] - Joomla is a Content Management System. In basic terms, what this means is that the framework of an entire website has already been created and developed for you. All you have to do is decide how you want the site to look, and putting the content on your site. There are numerous components built into Joomla itself which allow you to provide a creative and interesting web experience to your users, and since it is open source, there's an entire community of developers creating templates, components and plugins you can add to your website. It's a little intimidating to start with, but once you get the hang of using Joomla, managing a website is incredibly easy. I've been using Joomla to manage my website for a year now, and I could not be happier with it.
If you want to see an example of Joomla in action, visit TNA Wrestling's website.
[aname="kompozer"]Kompozer[/aname] - Kompozer is a "What You See Is What You Get" or "WYSIWYG" HTML editor. What this means is that, using this program, you can create a web page simply by typing and adding colors and pictures where ever you want, without ever having to worry about creating HTML code. Kompozer does everything for you. Many people have heard of Frontpage, well, this program is just like Frontpage...except it's free. And far more compliant with common Internet standards. And still being developed. And it's free. Very easy to use, and if you've ever been interested in creating web pages, but you just didn't know how, download this program, and you'll be creating web pages in no time.
[aname="mysql"]MySQL[/aname] - I'm going to cheat on this one, and quote Wikipedia, since it explains it better than I can...
[aname="phpbb"]phpBB Forums[/aname] - A phpBB forum is free forum software which anyone can download and install themselves. In order to install it, you'll need to have a web server set up, with MySQL and PHP installed, all free components. Apache and MySQL are both mentioned in the list of programs. But anyways, you can set it up and learn how to work forum software on your own time and learn the ways you can work a forum, including how to modify it.
It's not vBulletin, like we use here, but it's not bad for free software.
[aname="phpmyadmin"]phpMyAdmin[/aname] - A while ago, I posted MySQL as a free downloadable database. MySQL is necessary to run many types of web applications, including Content Management Systems such as Joomla and Wordpress. While MySQL is a popular application, learning to use it can be a challenge. That's where phpMyAdmin comes in. phpMyAdmin provides an easy to use interface for managing your databases. You can still use SQL if you wish, but if you don't know SQL commands, there are plenty of point and click options to accomplish what you want. This is a great program for beginners who want to get a website going, but don't know how to set up the database for it.
[aname="smushit"]Smush.it [/aname] - This is kind of cheating, since it's not actually a program you can download to your computer, but since this is a website creation post, this free program deserves mentioning. If you visit the SmushIt website, you can upload your images and the website will strip out unnecessary date from the image, to make the file size of the image smaller. It can sometimes strip up to 50% of the file size from the image, while leaving the image quality intact, which is fantastic for putting images on a website. I use this program all the time, and wish there was an easy to use, and free, downloadable program to do the same thing. However, until that time comes, SmushIt is as good as it gets.
[aname="wordpress"]Wordpress[/aname] - Wordpress is a Content Management System, just like Joomla. Wordpress is simpler and more basic to use (and GREAT for simple blogging sites) which make it much easier to start a website and just go. You won't find nearly the amount of control or abilities with Wordpress, but if you're looking for a quick and easy way to get a website online, Wordpress is your go-to choice. There is a developer community for Wordpress, so finding plugins and templates for your site is a breeze.
Firefox Add-Ons
[aname="adblockplus"]Adblock Plus[/aname] - Ad-block Plus is an add-on to Firefox, that you can use to prevent ads from displaying on web pages, or from popping up on your computer. In this post, I have demonstrated the difference from opening Wrestlezone's main page with Internet Explorer, and with Firefox using Ad-block Plus. You'll notice NONE of the ads from Internet Explorer show up in Firefox. Very handy.
[aname="firebug"]Firebug w/ YSlow[/aname] - This Firefox extension is an absolute must have for anyone working with web site creation. Firebug allows you to delve inside the coding of a website to see what makes it work the way it does. You can even change the code of a website to see how it would look with the different options. For example, if I wanted to see what my website would look like if I changed the background from white to black, I could do so easily, without actually saving the change to the website.
YSlow is a product originally put out by Yahoo to optimize webpage speed. I saw a report in a magazine the other day that the average load time of a website is 10 seconds, which is an absurdly high number. Your users want content FAST, and don't want to weight. Using YSlow can show you where the problems exist on your website and what you can do to fix them.
(Click on the name to go to the download location.)
Last Edited: February 18, 2012
PC Protection
[jumpto="adaware"]Ad-Aware[/jumpto]
[jumpto="avg"]AVG[/jumpto]
[jumpto="hijackthis"]HijackThis![/jumpto]
[jumpto="malwarebytes"]Malwarebytes Anti-Malware[/jumpto]
[jumpto="mse"]Microsoft Security Essentials[/jumpto]
[jumpto="firewallplus"]PCTools Firewall Plus[/jumpto]
[jumpto="rkill"]RKill/iExplore[/jumpto]
[jumpto="spybot"]Spybot Search & Destroy[/jumpto]
[jumpto="steadystate"]Windows Steady State[/jumpto]
PC Tools
[jumpto="reader"]Adobe Reader[/jumpto]
[jumpto="belarc"]Belarc Advisor[/jumpto]
[jumpto="clonezilla"]CloneZilla[/jumpto]
[jumpto="crucial"]Crucial.com[/jumpto]
[jumpto="dban"]Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)[/jumpto]
[jumpto="easycleaner"]EasyCleaner[/jumpto]
[jumpto="knoppix"]Knoppix[/jumpto]
[jumpto="libreoffice"]LibreOffice[/jumpto]
[jumpto="officepdf"]Microsoft Office 2007 Add-In - .pdf[/jumpto]
[jumpto="ubit"]Ubit[/jumpto]
[jumpto="virtualbox"]VirtualBox[/jumpto]
[jumpto="virtualpc"]Virtual PC 2007[/jumpto]
Internet and Development
[jumpto="apache"]Apache[/jumpto]
[jumpto="arachnophilia"]Arachnophilia[/jumpto]
[jumpto="filezilla"]FileZilla[/jumpto]
[jumpto="firefox"]Firefox w/ Adblock[/jumpto]
[jumpto="joomla"]Joomla[/jumpto]
[jumpto="kompozer"]Kompozer[/jumpto]
[jumpto="mysql"]MySQL[/jumpto]
[jumpto="phpbb"]phpBB Forums[/jumpto]
[jumpto="phpmyadmin"]phpMyAdmin[/jumpto]
[jumpto="smushit"]Smush.it[/jumpto]
[jumpto="wordpress"]Wordpress[/jumpto]
Firefox Add-Ons
[jumpto="adblockplus"]Adblock Plus[/jumpto]
[jumpto="firebug"]Firebug w/ YSlow[/jumpto]
PC Protection
[aname="adaware"]
Ad-Aware[/aname] - While I've actually grown to dislike this program as it progresses, it is still a very good tool for catching spyware, and removing spyware from your computer. The biggest gripe I have with it is that it USED to be simple to use, and now it's a little more intrusive, and a little less easy to use. Nonetheless, it is still a very good spyware protection program.
[aname="avg"]AVG[/aname] - This used to be the best free anti-virus protection on the Internet. Over the years, it's seemed to get more bulky and intrusive, and right before I switched to [jumpto="mse"]Microsoft Security Essentials[/jumpto], I would get pop-ups asking me to either update my software and/or upgrade to their paid version. It became annoying. It is still a very good anti-virus program, but I think MSE is better.
[aname="hijackthis"]HijackThis![/aname] - This is another spyware removal tool, but in a slightly different way. Running HijackThis creates a text file of all the stuff on your computer, and allows one to go through and see which stuff should not be there, and then go in and remove it manually. Unlike Ad-Aware or Spybot, it doesn't check against a list of known spywares, it just scans your computer to show what is there and what should be there. Unless you are very skilled, you would usually then take it to tech forum, and post your HijackThis and there will usually be tech experts to help you clean up what shouldn't be there.
[aname="malwarebytes"]Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware[/aname] - Since I began working as a computer tech where I work, I've used this program many times to remove malware people have
[aname="mse"]Microsoft Security Essentials[/aname] - Some people may be surprised that Microsoft would bother to put out an anti-virus program. More people may be surprised that they provide it for free. But what people would be most surprised about is the fact that it works GREAT. This is a very good program. I was an avid AVG user for years, but more and more I'm turning away from AVG (due to its bulk and annoying ads) and turning to MSE. It's a good program, and for people concerned about Microsoft providing computer safety, do some research online. More and more security experts are praising Microsoft as being one of the leading companies dedicated to safety on the web. It's a good program, put out by a company concerned about safety.
[aname="firewallplus"]PCTools Firewall Plus[/aname] - A free firewall program. It can be a little annoying at first, but once you kind of guide it on what you will allow and not allow, then you hardly notice it's there, and it helps protect your computer. However, if you're running Windows XP SP3, or above, it probably isn't necessary, as Windows now comes packaged with a firewall installed by default.
[aname="rkill"]RKill/iExplore[/aname] - This simple and small program is a powerful weapon in the war on malware. There are many malware programs which actively work to disguise themselves from malware removal software. This program is written to make those programs quit being active so malware removal tools can find the nasty software and get rid of it. If your computer is acting strangely, but you don't get any results from your anti-virus program, try running this program first and then run your anti-virus software.
[aname="spybot"]Spybot Search and Destroy[/aname] - The spyware removal tool I used to use all the time, but has since been replaced by [jumpto="malwarebytes"]Malwarebytes Anti-Malware[/jumpto]. It is as fast of a removal tool for spyware that I have found, and usually can get the job done, if you're looking for a quick and easy fix. It also has a resident shield, which can prevent spyware from getting on your computer in the first place. I usually don't use the shield, so I can't vouch for its effectiveness.
[aname="steadystate"]Windows Steady State[/aname] - This remarkable program is a free alternative to the popular "Deep Freeze". What this program does, for those who aren't familiar, is protect parts of your computer to prevent people doing things to your computer you do not want them to. You can set up Windows User profiles, and then restrict the things those profiles can do. A couple of examples is preventing a user from adding a file to the desktop, or prevent them from changing settings in Internet Explorer.
While that function is interesting and useful, there's a far better use for Steady State. With Steady State you can have the program take an "image" of your computer at any time, and then keep that image in it's memory. Then, every time you reboot the computer, you can have it restore the computer to the same condition it was in. You could intentionally download viruses on your machine, restart the computer, and the viruses would be found nowhere. Of course, neither would any documents you saved to your computer, so make sure you save those to a flash drive.
You can also set it to restore the computer to where you had it at any date you choose. This is SO very helpful when working with people who are not good with computers, and tend to attract viruses and spyware. Just make sure to save your personal documents to a storage drive, and you'll never have to worry about viruses infecting your computer again. The only downside to this program is that it is no longer being supported, and it only works for Windows XP.
PC Tools
[aname="reader"]Adobe Reader[/aname] - A free program every computer should have (or an alternative), and probably does. You use this to read .pdf files.
[aname="belarc"]Belarc Advisor[/aname] - This AWESOME tool I just learned about a couple weeks ago. If you download and install the program, and then run the program, it will actually display to you everything about your computer. For example, it will tell you your computer model, your processor and speed, how much memory you have, how big your hard drive is and how much free space is left, and all the devices on your computer. It will also show you all the updates you've downloaded from Microsoft and what updates you need to download, as well as all the software you currently have on your computer. I love this program, and it comes in handy when you're trying to work on your system.
[aname="clonezilla"]CloneZilla[/aname] - This is an easy to use Linux based version of the Ghost software. What you can do is have the program take a snapshot of your entire computer, compress it into a file, called an image, and then store that image for as long as you want. If your computer ever freaks out on you, you can just reload that image back onto your computer, and your computer will be just like it was when you used CloneZilla. It's a combination of the System Restore and System Recovery mechanisms...it removes everything on your computer (including viruses, spyware, etc.) and lets you restore your computer like the System Recovery, but it lets you restore it to the point you took the image, like System Restore. It's very handy.
It's also very handy if you buy several of the same kind of machines, and only want to set up one of them. Just set up one machine, and then CloneZilla the others.
[aname="crucial"]Crucial.com[/aname] - I find this site works best in Internet Explorer. If you go to this site, and click on "Crucial System Scanner", it will tell you how much RAM memory you have in your computer, what kind of RAM you use (for example, mine is DDR PC2-6400 memory), how many slots your computer holds to have memory, how many slots you have free, and the maximum amount of memory each slot will hold. If you want to speed up your computer to keep it from lagging, buy more memory. If you want to know what memory to buy, use Crucial.com.
[aname="dban"]Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN)[/aname] - If you have ever been scared to throw away or sell your computer, fear no longer. DBAN is a program that will "zero fill" (a.k.a. completely wipe) your hard drive so there is no way your data can be recovered. It takes your hard drive and literally puts a 0 on every possible spot on the hard drive, overwriting every piece of data on it. Additionally, it can overwrite all the data MULTIPLE times, even going passed what is considered military grade deletion. DBAN is great when your hard drive is giving you trouble, or when you want to make sure no one can ever steal your data.
Be aware: DBAN is NOT to be used lightly. Only use it if you are SURE you want to delete everything on your hard drive. Because once DBAN works its magic, there is nothing left. It's like setting off a nuclear bomb inside a telephone booth.
[aname="easycleaner"]EasyCleaner[/aname] - This is a very small, but very powerful and very helpful program. Easy Cleaner has several different options where it can run through various parts of your computer and clean out the unnecessary stuff, free up space and helping your computer run faster. It has a good registry checker, as well as a good startup checker. It deletes cookies and temp internet files, as well as unnecessary hard drive files. The best part about it is that whenever it makes system changes, it also backs up your computer, so if something goes bad, you can always retrieve it. Very handy program.
[aname="knoppix"]Knoppix[/aname] - This is a program that EVERY computer user should have in his or her arsenal. No matter how careful we are with our computers, something will go wrong eventually. And then how can we ever get all of our personal files off the machine? Well, that's where Knoppix comes in. Knoppix, a Linux based software, boots as a Live CD (meaning the entire operating system is contained on the CD, and the computer runs from the CD), but what is really nice about Knoppix is that it recognizes your hard drive and displays it very easily. So, if your computer messes up and you can't get it to load, pop in the Knoppix CD or DVD, boot it, and then retrieve all of the files you wish to backup and place them on a flash drive. It is really that simple.
Please note: The first time I used this program, it kept locking up on me. However, Knoppix has what are called "cheat codes" which you can use to alter the way the software boots. If you load your machine, and it freezes right when you get the display, you may try doing the following: At the "boot:" screen, type "knoppix no3d". This tells Knoppix to load, but without the Compiz 3D software. This has fixed my problem on three different computers. Be quick though, the boot screen flashes by quickly.
[aname="libreoffice"]LibreOffice[/aname] - LibreOffice is a fork of the original OpenOffice.org project. After OpenOffice.org got bought out by the Oracle company, many of the original developers of OpenOffice took off to develop LibreOffice. Since then, OpenOffice has basically been given up on by Oracle.
LibreOffice is a great office suite of programs, and one I have found to be a complete replacement for Microsoft Office. I put it on every machine I'm asked to set up, the extensions you can add to it are extensive and helpful, and in my opinion, it's simply the best suite of office programs around, including Microsoft Office.
[aname="officepdf"]Microsoft Office 2007 Add-In - .pdf[/aname] - A .pdf file is a very useful file extension, in that it is easy to create by scanning images, or if you have a text document you don't want altered. This add-in from Microsoft allows those with Office 2007 to create a .pdf file from Office. It is a very small download, but very handy to have if you want to create .pdf documents.
[aname="ubit"]Ubit[/aname] - Do you have Microsoft Office 2007? Do you hate the new ribbon system Office 2007 uses, where it seems that everything is much harder to find? Then install this handy little tool. It is a small plugin, but when it is installed, it will create another item on your toolbar called "Menu". If you hover over the Menu item, beneath will be the old Microsoft layout, where everything is categorized just like it was in previous versions of Office. Now you can find everything the way you always did before. This comes highly recommended for anyone who uses Microsoft Office 2007, but hates the new layout.
[aname="virtualbox"]VirtualBox[/aname] - In my opinion, this is the best virtualization software for individual computers. It is cross-platform, which means you can use it on nearly every home operating system (such as Windows, Mac or Linux). What this program allows you to do is virtualize a computer inside your computer. For example, I have Windows 7 on my main machine, but using VirtualBox, I've also installed Windows XP, OpenSuSE 11, Ubuntu, Mac OS X, and a couple variations of those operating systems onto my machine, which I can easily use at the same time I'm using my Windows 7 machine.
Not only is this program useful for trying out new operating systems, it is also great for going to websites you feel might be malware infested, as the virtual computer is completely cut off from the main one. So I could install Windows XP in a virtual machine, get a virus in the XP, and it won't touch anything on my Windows 7. Or, better yet, you could install a Linux operating system, and go to a malware site, and be MUCH less likely to catch the malware on your Linux operating system.
All around, this is a fantastic tool.
[aname="virtualpc"]Virtual PC 2007[/aname] - Have you ever wanted to test a different operating system, but didn't want to get rid of the one you had? Have you ever wanted to try working with Linux, but are afraid to lose Windows? Then Virtual PC 2007 to the rescue. Virtual PC literally does just that; it creates a virtual computer inside your current one, so you can run a new operating system. And what's really nice about it, it that not only is it free, it is also fairly simple to use and has compatibility with most "guest" operating systems (a guest operating system is the one you install the virtual machine). Virtual PC 2007 and the more publicized VirtualBox (which I will discuss in the future) both do basically the same thing. I recommend VirtualBox however, as it is still being supported and developed.
Internet and Development
[aname="apache"]Apache[/aname] - Have you ever wanted to try hosting your own web site? Ever wanted to run different programs, maybe even your own message board, just to play around? To do that, you will need to set up a web server on your machine. In my opinion, Apache is a very easy web server to set up and configure. When it comes to tech stuff, I'm certainly not dumb, but I didn't know anything about web servers. But, I installed Apache, worked through it, and I can now host my own web site, as well as my own vBulletin forum.
[aname="arachnophilia"]Arachnophilia[/aname] - I'm sure there are plenty of HTML editors out there, but this is the one I have used for nearly 10 years now. Arachnophilia is a program that provides you the ability to have proper HTML code, just by hitting certain functions in the program, leaving you nothing to do but to actually create the content of the web page. Arachnophilia does all the work for you, you just have to decide what you want on it. In the interest of full disclosure, this is the program I first learned to build web pages on, but I have since moved to other avenues of creating web sites.
[aname="filezilla"]FileZilla[/aname] - A very popular, and useful, FTP client. What an FTP client does is it allows your to connect to a web server to upload files to be put on the Internet. For example, if I were to have rights to work on the Wrestlezone.com web site, I could create a web page on my machine, and then connect to the Wrestlezone web server, and upload my web page to the web server using FileZilla. It's very easy to use...assuming you have rights to upload to a web server.
[aname="firefox"]Firefox[/aname] w/ [jumpto="adblockplus"]Adblock Plus[/jumpto] - In my opinion, one of the best ways to protect one's computer is to use Firefox w/ Adblock as one's exclusive Internet Browser. Firefox is a far superior browser to Internet Explorer (and Chrome, Opera and Safari, in my opinion), in that it is much more secure, with less bugs in it. Plus, since Firefox is "open source" (which means anyone can work on the code to Firefox), Firefox vulnerabilities are usually fixed MUCH sooner than similar holes in Internet Explorer. Firefox also supports add-ons, which can customize your web browser. Firefox is a much superior browser, in my opinion.
[aname="joomla"]Joomla[/aname] - Joomla is a Content Management System. In basic terms, what this means is that the framework of an entire website has already been created and developed for you. All you have to do is decide how you want the site to look, and putting the content on your site. There are numerous components built into Joomla itself which allow you to provide a creative and interesting web experience to your users, and since it is open source, there's an entire community of developers creating templates, components and plugins you can add to your website. It's a little intimidating to start with, but once you get the hang of using Joomla, managing a website is incredibly easy. I've been using Joomla to manage my website for a year now, and I could not be happier with it.
If you want to see an example of Joomla in action, visit TNA Wrestling's website.
[aname="kompozer"]Kompozer[/aname] - Kompozer is a "What You See Is What You Get" or "WYSIWYG" HTML editor. What this means is that, using this program, you can create a web page simply by typing and adding colors and pictures where ever you want, without ever having to worry about creating HTML code. Kompozer does everything for you. Many people have heard of Frontpage, well, this program is just like Frontpage...except it's free. And far more compliant with common Internet standards. And still being developed. And it's free. Very easy to use, and if you've ever been interested in creating web pages, but you just didn't know how, download this program, and you'll be creating web pages in no time.
[aname="mysql"]MySQL[/aname] - I'm going to cheat on this one, and quote Wikipedia, since it explains it better than I can...
Wikipedia said:
[aname="phpbb"]phpBB Forums[/aname] - A phpBB forum is free forum software which anyone can download and install themselves. In order to install it, you'll need to have a web server set up, with MySQL and PHP installed, all free components. Apache and MySQL are both mentioned in the list of programs. But anyways, you can set it up and learn how to work forum software on your own time and learn the ways you can work a forum, including how to modify it.
It's not vBulletin, like we use here, but it's not bad for free software.
[aname="phpmyadmin"]phpMyAdmin[/aname] - A while ago, I posted MySQL as a free downloadable database. MySQL is necessary to run many types of web applications, including Content Management Systems such as Joomla and Wordpress. While MySQL is a popular application, learning to use it can be a challenge. That's where phpMyAdmin comes in. phpMyAdmin provides an easy to use interface for managing your databases. You can still use SQL if you wish, but if you don't know SQL commands, there are plenty of point and click options to accomplish what you want. This is a great program for beginners who want to get a website going, but don't know how to set up the database for it.
[aname="smushit"]Smush.it [/aname] - This is kind of cheating, since it's not actually a program you can download to your computer, but since this is a website creation post, this free program deserves mentioning. If you visit the SmushIt website, you can upload your images and the website will strip out unnecessary date from the image, to make the file size of the image smaller. It can sometimes strip up to 50% of the file size from the image, while leaving the image quality intact, which is fantastic for putting images on a website. I use this program all the time, and wish there was an easy to use, and free, downloadable program to do the same thing. However, until that time comes, SmushIt is as good as it gets.
[aname="wordpress"]Wordpress[/aname] - Wordpress is a Content Management System, just like Joomla. Wordpress is simpler and more basic to use (and GREAT for simple blogging sites) which make it much easier to start a website and just go. You won't find nearly the amount of control or abilities with Wordpress, but if you're looking for a quick and easy way to get a website online, Wordpress is your go-to choice. There is a developer community for Wordpress, so finding plugins and templates for your site is a breeze.
Firefox Add-Ons
[aname="adblockplus"]Adblock Plus[/aname] - Ad-block Plus is an add-on to Firefox, that you can use to prevent ads from displaying on web pages, or from popping up on your computer. In this post, I have demonstrated the difference from opening Wrestlezone's main page with Internet Explorer, and with Firefox using Ad-block Plus. You'll notice NONE of the ads from Internet Explorer show up in Firefox. Very handy.
[aname="firebug"]Firebug w/ YSlow[/aname] - This Firefox extension is an absolute must have for anyone working with web site creation. Firebug allows you to delve inside the coding of a website to see what makes it work the way it does. You can even change the code of a website to see how it would look with the different options. For example, if I wanted to see what my website would look like if I changed the background from white to black, I could do so easily, without actually saving the change to the website.
YSlow is a product originally put out by Yahoo to optimize webpage speed. I saw a report in a magazine the other day that the average load time of a website is 10 seconds, which is an absurdly high number. Your users want content FAST, and don't want to weight. Using YSlow can show you where the problems exist on your website and what you can do to fix them.
