More freeware

[myzdoxae]

Back with more free utilities.

A free file manager for windows:
A43
There's also File Master
Check the download page, and grab 1.70. That version is freeware.
The new version they have, 1.80, is shareware. So grab 1.70 while its hot.
Includes versions for XP, and 9x.


I've been very interested in Operating Systems on Cd, ever since I found Knoppix.
Knoppix, complete Linux distribution on CD, with over 2 GB of software.
knoppix.com

Just recently I've found the wonder and joy of WindowsPE.
Or more specifically, BartPE.

Its windows XP that runs off of a CD.
Its great if you have to rescue a computer that is formatted in NTFS.

Anyways, the folks at the message boards for it
have linked several nice small freeware utilities that I've found useful in normal windows.
Stand alone programs. No install needed. One .exe file for both.

Stinger
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
From Network Associates.

Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.

And free.

Antidote
http://www.vintage-solutions.com/Eng...per/***********

The program equips with the same anti-virus mechanism we use in the standard products and it will detect viruses, trojans, worms, backdoors and other malwares.

Note: This program offers only the virus detection.

Again, free.
Does not interfere with any antivirus program installed. :tup:

For mail, where a ton of spyware viruses and whatnot coem in:
Mailwasher + Popcorn.
Mailwasher to see what mail you have. Just downloading the headers, to see what exactly there is. Easy enough to distinguish good from bad that way.
Well, unless you have 1000 emails to go through. I have normally 10 or so. So its not so bad.
And you can have a friend list, and a blacklist list. And it accepts wildcards. So all those aol peeps, you can blacklist 'em all.
And then you can use popcorn, which again, just downloads headers. You click a header, it then downloads the body. And you can have it still save it on the server for later.
Popcorn also renders no html. No web bugs, no viruses, nothing harmful from just opening an email. Never opened an email with an attatchment with it, tho I am sure it handles those mega safely too.
Mailwasher can also preview email.

Mailwasher:
http://mailwasher.net/
popcorn:
http://www.ultrafunk.com/products/popcorn/

There were 1 or 2 'spam' emails I opened up once. Just to check the headers. And one because I thought I recognised the name (No email addy showed up, just a name. StrangE)
Anyways, there was a web bug in the email. A remotely linked 1x1 pixel invisible image, that held info about my email. I opened the email, it hit that website, and it validated my email as being real. :x
Popcorn won't render anything. Its utterly safe. So its what I open ALL 'questionable' email with.

Both of these are now shareware, and let you only check one account.
They were previously freeware, and allowed you multiple accounts.

There are also other programs similar to popcorn.
nPOP is one.
nPOP allows you multiple accounts, unlike popcorn.

There is also Argon
http://www.xtort.net/xtort/other.php
Similar, again, to npop and popcorn.
However, this app also allows attatchments (which the 2 above do not (security reasons)).
Small, stores its info in a text file. I have the 4 above all installed, and work in conjunction with each other.

I was gonna recommend a cool text editor I got from that site, but its gone. Heh.
All the good freeware seems to disappear. :x

Speaking of disappearing, I used to use and promote a download manager called Octapus.
The site has since disappeared, and any link to a downloadable file has also vanished.
Which makes me wonder about the file itself. Here one day, gone the next.
But as yet its raised no red flags or backdoors or whatnot.
Still, I don't use it.
I found a great download manager. Freeware, based on the OSS wget.
Wackget
Its not necessarily a download accelerator, as it is a godsend for us on 56k modem, like myself.

I also sometimes use Net Transport (XiNet)
Mostly because you can get files off of some streaming protocols.
Their website seems down, currently.
http://download.pchome.de/show.php?SID=1611
The site above shows a screenshot and 2 potential download sites.

For IRC, I now always use Xchat. And highly recommend it.
Seems less prone to hacks and whatnot, unlike mIRC.
It is also totally freeware.

For all my video playing needs, there's Media Player Classic.
It can also use external codecs, so you can get Quicktime or Real codecs, and play that content without installing the bloatware associated with those programs.

If you have a window, and you can't see everything in it, there's ResizeEnable.
Lets you resize windows, even if they weren't normally resizeable.

And for you registry editing folk, Registrar
Much more powerful than the standard regedit. Its the only way I edit the registry now.

Install programs that ask you to reboot?
Do you wonder why?
Why Reboot.
Invaluable.

Small hex editor.
http://www.mirkes.de/en/freeware/tinyhex.php
Tiny Hexer.

And OlldyDBG
OllyDbg is a 32-bit assembler level analysing debugger for Microsoft® Windows®
http://home.t-online.de/home/Ollydbg/


To go with hard drive recovery, I found a few free utilities that may be useful too.
Disk Investigator
PC Inspector File Recovery

And for you paranoid types, XP Antispy. Get rid of pesky XP features that phone home.

I always use that on new XP OS installs. Almost the first thing I do.
That, install SP1, and of course use a handful of utilities I get from grc.com
http://grc.com/freepopular.htm
Shoot The Messenger, DCOMbobulator, UnPlug n' Pray are teh 3 main ones to grab.

And if you don't use Mozilla Firebird like I do, and still rely on IE, do yourself a favor and grab MyIE2.
You won't be disappointed.
Or, if ya like, get OffBy1.
Prolly the worlds smallest web browser. Got that from BartPE as well.

Couple all these with the stuff I posted before, its enough to not bore you when running your PC.
I have a CDs worth of free utilities I put on CD to take with me to fix other people's PCs.
All this stuff comes in useful.

BTW, go to xtort.net and check under the 'useful' links on the left side of the page.
Great resources.
Especially tinyapps.org

[Laz]

That is on great post full of cracking software m8!

I'm going to try that mIRC alternative for sure.

[scarecrow]

The new Net Transport site is currently alive and well:
http://www.xi-soft.com/download.htm
Regarding a free text editor for windows, it is not easy at all to better NoteTab Light- better than most commercial stuff out there:
http://www.fookes.com/
And regarding the filemanager, since the gem named Total Commander works forever without any restrictions (you just have to shut down a nagger at startup...) there's absolutely no reason to look further. The new version 6 is pure perfection.
http://www.ghisler.com

[myzdoxae]

Note Tab Light is decent, yeah. I had an old version.
I just found it... too busy?
I don't need all those features, and sometimes I just find them getting in the way.
The main notepad I had been using was EditPadLite.
That used tabs, which I loved. But again, it often got too busy.

The author of Xtort wrote me back. He changed the name of his app.
Its now called subnoto.
From his site:

subnoto V1.1.6 is a quick and easy alternative text editor, with some unique features for a notepad. It is simply an alternative editor that I originally wrote for myself, with some unsual features. The file size of the editor itself is only 300 kb and it is fairly feature packed and quick. The program is very small with a minute memory footprint, and comes with uninstaller. Since it is only a notepad, and thus uses a "memo" component, it doesnt have syntax highlighting capability, and is really only meant for quick edit jobs. Hope you find use for it.

And its just fine for most of what I do.

Kinda the same with Total Commander.
Also, its not free. True, its set up as shareware, and you can use it. Much like WinZip.
But I grew tired of always clicking OK when starting it.
Thats one reason I went with QuickZip. And SlowView instead of ACDSee.
And for my file manager, I still pretty much use 2xexplorer.
http://www.netez.com/2xExplorer/

Then there's mini explorer. You want minimalistic, this is what you get.
http://boogz.de/e107/download.php?2

But hey, to each his own. I'm just offering up alternatives.

Thanks for the new net transport link.

I hate when sites move from the link in the program (Visit the programs website here) and leave no forwarding address.

[serjer]

thx 4 ur posts...interesting proggies

[scarecrow]

Since you mention Acdsee, the best image viewer (and not just viewer, it can also do manipulation) out there is free- Irfan View, of course...
www.irfanview.com (and yes, I include ALL commercial stuff- this one simply beats them...).
Regarding file compression Ivan Zahariev has done a really superb job on his Izarc freeware: http://www.izsoft.dir.bg/izarc.htm

[serjer]

yeah rite ....just started playin with it ...nice file compression tool

[murrshot]

PC Inspector smart recovery helped me big time when I accidentally deleted some pictures from my digital camera, its also found on the same site with pc inspector data recovery program.

[banzibaby]

@ myzdoxae & murrshot, thanks for the great links

@scarecrow, i think they give away Acdsee classic now, seen it on UK coverdiscs, it version 2.43, U just have to register it to get a free serial, but i gotta agree, Infranview is just the best & damn fast at it too

BaNzI

[LTR12101B]

Another rather nice looking File Mangaer
http://www.trackerv3.com/index.htm

Check out those screenshots - WOW!

[chen2]

I recommended a freeware named Test My Hardware. It is is a simple system information and diagnostics utility that provides detailed information about all your hardware component, such as your CPU, memory, operating system, power source.