Nice Utilities
After my system got crashed a few days back, I had to reinstall windows and other software. So I thought I shall write about various software, I use on my system.
Notepad Alternative - After using the windows native notepad, I really got fed up due to its inflexible nature. Especially I got confused with the word wrap (enabling and disabling). I found the win32pad a perfect substitute for windows notepad. It is 100% freeware. Try it here.
Download manager - Leechget 2005 is the download manager I use to download files. After trying a number of download managers I discovered this one and it works really well. And it is freeware. I don’t find any noticeable limitations while using it. You may try it here.
Ad-aware is the best antispyware that I use to remove a lot of spyware that gets downloaded from the internet without our notice. It is the industry’s best antispyware removal tool. It is a must have and best of all it is free for personal use. Try it here.
Firefox and Thunderbird - After using firefox and thunderbird, I can’t miss them. Firefox makes browsing a wonderful experience. And thunderbird makes sending and receiving my gmail messages just like a breeze. Download firefox and thunderbird here.
Privacy for IE users - Web Tracks Eraser removes cache, cookies, visited URL’s, typed URL’s, browser history etc. A must have tool for IE users if you need privacy.
Opera - Opera is a free browser with tabbed browsing, high security and best page loading speeds. It has a built in mail client which even novices could use for sending and receiving POP emails. Popup blocking, integrated search and easy customization are some of Opera’s unique features.
Avant Browser - The best IE based free browser that can help you forget about the Internet Explorer. Avant Browser has tabbed browsing features, popup blocker and deleting your temporary internet files is the easiest. This means your privacy is guaranteed. Note: Some of the regional language websites could not be viewed in Firefox. Those sites can be viewed with Avant Browser without letting down privacy.
Acrobat Reader - I have seen a lot of PDF files in the net. To open these documents we ought to have adobe acrobat reader. Get it here.
WordWeb - English is a beautiful language. We come across a lot of new English words daily especially in the internet. WordWeb helps to solve this problem. It is also a freeware. Try it.
Mp3 player - For playing music I use STP mp3 player. I use it because it is simpler to use than winamp. I have written a seperate post about STP mp3 player.
News Aggregator - I use FeedReader which is freeware and simple to use. You may also try FeedDemon which is much better than FeedReader. But FeedDemon needs to be registered for continued usage.
Image Viewer - The best as well as the most simple image viewer that I use is Irfanview. It is one of the popular image viewers worldwide. Download it from here.
Organize Images - Picasa finds all the images in the system. With Picasa there won’t be any need for us to manually search for any image in the computer. Picasa is useful for organizing, sharing, editing and printing images. Picasa is a product of Google and it is free.
Zip Utility - Winzip is the best zip utility for windows. But Winzip cannot open .rar, .ace and other file types. Hence, I use UltimateZip a freeware archive utility which can open almost all the file types. It is better to have both WinZip and UltimateZip for more convenience.
Firewall - ZoneAlarm free blocks hackers, unknown threats, pop-up ads and deletes adware cookies. ZoneAlarm is the best and the free firewall which protects the PC automatically. Get it here.
Bandwidth Monitor Utility - Ras Monitor is the modem bandwidth usage monitor utility I use. AntiIdle, trayicon, easy to copy client IP to clipboard, play WAV sounds when connected and disconnected are some of its key features. It even keeps track of online usage. It works perfect as a bandwidth monitor. Get it here. (Dial up only)
Unit Conversion Tool - Convert (freeware) is a unit conversion program that will convert the units of distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, mass, power, density, pressure, energy and many others. Get it here.
Anti Virus - I tried all the other antivirus software. But they took a lot of my system’s memory. And now I have started using AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic. It consumes less memory. This free Antivirus software protects and secures against viruses, worms, Trojan horses and spyware, including dialers. Get it here.
eTrust EZ Antivirus - Due to the shortage of necessary features in almost all the free antivirus programs, I tried eTrust EZ Antivirus which is recommended by Microsoft. eTrust EZ Antivirus provides Real time protection, Email protection and virus updates for 12 months free.
Encryption Software - AxCrypt delivers perfect privacy for your personal data. Context menu helps in ease of usage. AxCrypt offers AES-128 File Encryption and it is free software.
FileZilla - If you are running a site and you need to update your html documents via an FTP program then you need an easy to use simple FTP program which is where FileZilla fits in. FileZilla is 100% freeware and the best FTP client I have ever seen.
PC to PC voice calls - Google Talk (gtalk) allows us to talk with friends online instantaneously. Google Talk offers better voice quality and nice user interface than Yahoo Messenger.
PC to Phone calls - Call any landline or mobile in the world at discounted rates using Skype. PC to PC calling is free and of the highest voice quality.
