The Best Free Computer Programs, As Brought To You By Slyfox696.

[D-Man]

However, the DVD Shrink program is the better program for getting a DVD movie onto a regular DVD-R disc. I haven't used the program myself but I would assume that it would have the capability to burn from an ISO image, or to copy directly from a DVD itself onto a blank DVD-R. Sly was correct on the functions of the programs.

Actually, I use it for all of my DVD burning. I'm a cheap bastard... I subscribed to NetFlix. So when I get the new DVD's in the mail I just burn them and return them. I currently have almost 400 movies.

Back on subject though, DVD Shrink will rip the image to your drive. Decrypter almost works like an add-on to DVD Shrink in a sense that if you install it onto your hard drive AFTER you install DVD Shrink, the ripping process will slightly change on Shrink. when the ripping is complete, instead of closing the window, a new one will automatically open up with directions for DVD Decrypter. It's very cool and extremely simple to use.

 

[Ty Burna]

Actually, I use it for all of my DVD burning. I'm a cheap bastard... I subscribed to NetFlix. So when I get the new DVD's in the mail I just burn them and return them. I currently have almost 400 movies.

Back on subject though, DVD Shrink will rip the image to your drive. Decrypter almost works like an add-on to DVD Shrink in a sense that if you install it onto your hard drive AFTER you install DVD Shrink, the ripping process will slightly change on Shrink. when the ripping is complete, instead of closing the window, a new one will automatically open up with directions for DVD Decrypter. It's very cool and extremely simple to use.

I see, I've never been much of a movie buff myself so my burning of DVDs is fairly limited and usually my blank DVD-R's goes to software of some sort. But that does sound like an outstanding program, perhaps I'll have to start utilizing my Netflix account for more than just instant streaming.

Checking out DVD Decryptor, it looks like an older version of ImgBurn with less features. It looks to be used simply for burning only, whereas ImgBurn is has more features that include ISO file creation as well as burning capabilities. So I think that's where I was getting mixed up at because DVD Shrink is capable of creating an ISO file as well.

 

[D-Man]

Checking out DVD Decryptor, it looks like an older version of ImgBurn with less features. It looks to be used simply for burning only, whereas ImgBurn is has more features that include ISO file creation as well as burning capabilities. So I think that's where I was getting mixed up at because DVD Shrink is capable of creating an ISO file as well.

Ah, I see. But the answer is yes, it's only for the purpose of burning. But when you combine the two programs, you really have no reason to use anything else if you wish to just make an exact copy of a DVD for your own personal enjoyment.

Plus, another cool feature about DVD Shrink is that before ripping the DVD to your drive, you can choose what you want to rip. Does the initial "Federal Warning" screen on a DVD annoy you to high hell? Uncheck it before ripping. Do you want to eliminate the "Don't Try This At Home" sequences at the beginning of your WWE Home Videos? Just uncheck the box and exclude it from the DVD. It's that simple.

 

[Phoenix]

Right, Mr Slyfox or anyone that can answer. Back onto video converters, but more specifically I need something that can convert from .MOV to .AVI, seems basic and simple, but I need something that can convert HD video types. I current have a Canon compact that shoots in 720HD and saves it in .MOV. I can easily upload it, but if I want to edit it, I'm buggered. I've tried a number of programs available, even some listed but I seem to get poor quality output every time, it converts but dropping the resolution significantly (for example I'd have the original which is 66MD, the converted saves in 5MB).

Do you have anything worth recommending because I am not having much luck? Many thanks!

 

[The Crock]

I'm pretty sure Microsoft Works deserves a nod. It's somewhat like a poor man's version of Microsoft Office. I used it for a bit before I got Office and it was great, for those who can't get Office it is definitely a great tool. Only one problem, if it's on Vista... The word processor doesn't always allow copy and paste (just a dumb bug), but I used it on Windows 7 for a week and it was just great. I recommend it if you don't have Office.

 

[The Crock]

Right, Mr Slyfox or anyone that can answer. Back onto video converters, but more specifically I need something that can convert from .MOV to .AVI, seems basic and simple, but I need something that can convert HD video types. I current have a Canon compact that shoots in 720HD and saves it in .MOV. I can easily upload it, but if I want to edit it, I'm buggered. I've tried a number of programs available, even some listed but I seem to get poor quality output every time, it converts but dropping the resolution significantly (for example I'd have the original which is 66MD, the converted saves in 5MB).

Do you have anything worth recommending because I am not having much luck? Many thanks!

I'm pretty sure that Pazera, a free program, can do that. I'm not sure though. I'd give it a try. HD conversions are always fairly tough, but I think this one can do it.

 

[Phoenix]

Already tried Pazera I'm afraid, it just reduced the quality despite keeping the size the same, but thanks for the recommendation anyhow Crock. Riaku suggested Realplayer which I'll give a look into later as I've got some bits to sort.

 

[The Crock]

Already tried Pazera I'm afraid, it just reduced the quality despite keeping the size the same, but thanks for the recommendation anyhow Crock. Riaku suggested Realplayer which I'll give a look into later as I've got some bits to sort.

Darn, I thought Pazera would work. Hmph, I'll look into it. I'm not so sure about Realplayer, but I'd try it. It can convert it, but I'm not sure about the HD part. There are a ton out there, just gotta find one.

 

[Slyfox696]

Right, Mr Slyfox or anyone that can answer. Back onto video converters, but more specifically I need something that can convert from .MOV to .AVI, seems basic and simple, but I need something that can convert HD video types. I current have a Canon compact that shoots in 720HD and saves it in .MOV. I can easily upload it, but if I want to edit it, I'm buggered. I've tried a number of programs available, even some listed but I seem to get poor quality output every time, it converts but dropping the resolution significantly (for example I'd have the original which is 66MD, the converted saves in 5MB).

Do you have anything worth recommending because I am not having much luck? Many thanks!

Many times, the software which comes with your video camera comes with a video converter. See if your Canon software has a video converter. If so, you may not need to find another one. No matter what you use, any time you convert video, you'll lose some quality.

http://forums.afterdawn.com/

That's a good place for video questions. You might do some searching there, if you can't get what you need.

I'm pretty sure Microsoft Works deserves a nod. It's somewhat like a poor man's version of Microsoft Office. I used it for a bit before I got Office and it was great, for those who can't get Office it is definitely a great tool. Only one problem, if it's on Vista... The word processor doesn't always allow copy and paste (just a dumb bug), but I used it on Windows 7 for a week and it was just great. I recommend it if you don't have Office.

Microsoft Works is fucking awful. Never again post in this thread if you think Works belongs here.

If you want a free Office suite, use Open Office.

 

[Slyfox696]

I have Office, but I said Works is a GOOD ALTERNATIVE.. if you can't afford Office... or you don't have it. That's what I meant. On Microsoft 7 it's fairly good, doesn't crash like the old ones did.

No, it's NOT a good alternative. For one, it's not even being offered anymore, as Microsoft has scrapped it and is working on a new product to take its place. For two, it has limited functionality. Three, it did/does use either outdated or proprietary file formats. Fourth, it doesn't even work well. Fifth, if it was good, why would MS even have Office?

No, it's not a good alternative. You know what IS a good alternative? Open Office. Not only is it a fully featured office suite of products, not only does it use open source file formats, not only does it integrate very well with Microsoft Office, it's also FREE!

Why the fuck would someone want to pay for Microsoft Works (especially since this is about the best FREE programs), when they can have a far superior Open Office suite for free?

It's not a good alternative, and you'd be wise to never mention it again.

 

[Phoenix]

Many times, the software which comes with your video camera comes with a video converter. See if your Canon software has a video converter. If so, you may not need to find another one. No matter what you use, any time you convert video, you'll lose some quality.

http://forums.afterdawn.com/

That's a good place for video questions. You might do some searching there, if you can't get what you need.

Nah, Canon only provide the option to save in the same format or Motion JPEG which is standard definition. Canon are never one to have a converter as they like to have only their products used cause they believe they are the best at everything.

Thanks for the link, will see if I can find something.

EDIT: Turns out you can change it HD on Motion JPEG. Problem solved

 

[Slyfox696]

Well, it's been a while, but I'm back with a whole host of new software. I currently have 8 new programs (at least that I can remember at the moment), but have only taken the time to write up 4 of them. So enjoy.

PC Protection

Windows Steady State - 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.


Remote Administration

iTALC - This free program is actually quite wonderful, but only if you have multiple computers on your network. If there is only one computer attached to your network (home or business), then don't waste your time on this program. What iTALC will do is allow the administrator of a network to remotely view, access and control every workstation on his network by installing the software on the client. For example, let's say my computer was the "boss" computer, and I have 4 other computers I leave on, or are family member computers. I install the Administrator software on my machine, and the client software on everyone else's machine. I can then open my program and watch, in real time, what the other people are doing on their computers. Perhaps I'm upstairs, and someone downstairs wants me to fix a problem. "No problem", I say. Instead of getting out of my comfortable bed, I just remotely access the problem computer and work on it, like it was my own machine.

This is a very cool program, and a VERY great tool for business networks, or if you just like spying on people.


Linux Distro

FreeNAS - FreeNAS is a BSD Unix operating system, which serves as a file server on a network. Do you have an old computer machine just lying around, with no one ever using it because it is too old? Put that baby back to use. Install FreeNAS on it, and set it next to your router. Once it is set up, everyone on your home network can store their files on it, and access those files on any other machine in the house. Additionally, by storing all of your files (Word documents, music, videos, etc.) on the FreeNAS file server, you save room on your personal computer's hard drive, which will not only leave you more room for programs and games, but also make your computer run a little bit quicker. The best thing about this operating system is that, like many Unix systems, the hardware requirements to make it work are FAR less than what it takes to run a new operating system like Windows 7. For example, I have my FreeNAS set up on a machine that was considered "middle of the line"...seven years ago.

Awesome program, and one that everyone with an unused machine should use.


Enjoyable Programs

DOSBox - Computers these days run at the speed of lightening. We have quad core processors with multi-threading possibilities, RAM that an be expaned into the double digits, Blu-Ray burners built into our computer...computers are so amazing. But what's really amazing is that no matter how great our computers get, we still long for those games released back when a good hard drive had 64 megabytes of hard drive space. We miss those 4 and 8 bit graphics games, games released 20 years ago for MS-Dos.

Well, this is where DOSBox comes in. DOSBox acts as a virtual MS-DOS machine. With this, you can play games from 20 years ago that you loved as a child, but thought you would never have the opportunity to play again. It can be a little tricky to learn how to use at first, but with just a few minutes of learning, you can have those old school games up and running in no time. I use this all the time to play the old Gold Box Dungeon and Dragons games from my childhood. And I still kick ass at them.

 

[Slyfox696]

I'm back again, much sooner this time, with even more goodies. The things I do for you people.

PC Protection

Microsoft Security Essentials - 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 good program. I've been 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.

PC Tools

Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) - 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 you 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.

Knoppix - 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.

Virtual PC 2007 - 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, but Virtual PC 2007 is probably easier to get set up for new users.

Linux Distros

CactiEZ - This one is more for the tech geeks out there. CactiEZ is a Linux distro that comes with the famously infamous Cacti program already set up and ready to go. It is a CentOS based distro with Cacti already prepared and running for you. And if you are not aware of what Cacti is, in brief, it is a network monitoring program. CactiEZ can also be used as a server itself, if I'm not mistaken. I've only just started working with it.

 

[Sean Grey]

Great lists of softwares. Would you mind sharing us some of the tv shows softwares you know???

 

[Killswitch1337]

can soimeone tell me exactly how to us imgburn and dvdshrink, i tried to burn cop out last night and it wont play in my dvd player.

 

[Slyfox696]

can soimeone tell me exactly how to us imgburn and dvdshrink, i tried to burn cop out last night and it wont play in my dvd player.

You should never rip copyrighted material (which of course, legally, you should already know that), but if you were to do it to backup your own movies (which is what I'll assume you are doing), you would need to use DVD Decrypter.

http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/dvddec.htm

That is a link which should help you get started.

 

[Long Island Iced WXYZ]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Revo Uninstaller. http://download.cnet.com/Revo-Uninstaller/3000-2096_4-10687648.html?tag=mncol;1

It's a great program for getting rid of a program completely when you uninstall it.

I've had it on my PC for over a year now and I've got nothing but praise for it.

And Microsoft Security Essentials is a good choice for AV, but I prefer avast!. http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html?tag=mncol

I've tried MSE before, but for some reason (I don't remember now) I didn't like it and went back to avast!.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

PC Protection


Ad-Aware - 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.

AVG - This is, in my opinion, the best free anti-virus protection on the Internet. I have never had a problem with AVG, and I have caught many many possible threats with it. I put it on every computer I work on.

HijackThis! - 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.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - I've only used this program twice, I believe, but each time it did something my anti-virus and spyware removal programs couldn't, and that's get rid of a couple nasty bugs. I've never used this as a primary removal tool, but it has never failed me as a secondary one. If you have something wrong with your computer, but you can't figure out what, try this program.

PCTools Firewall Plus - 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.

Spybot Search and Destroy - The spyware removal tool I use most. It is as fast of a removal tool that I have found, and usually can get the job done. 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.

Windows Steady State - 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.

I use AVG. My question -- Do I need more than just AVG? Should I download, and use, the other things you've listed under PC Protection along with AVG?

 

[Slyfox696]

I use AVG. My question -- Do I need more than just AVG? Should I download, and use, the other things you've listed under PC Protection along with AVG?

I need to go through and change some of those, I actually prefer Microsoft Security Essentials these days.

As far as those other tools go, as long as your Windows Firewall is enabled, and you have an anti-virus tool installed, those other tools are more for malware removal than prevention.