10 freeware programs essential for my computing life
November 23, 2011 72
Email article | Print article 
Although many of us may experiment with new programs regularly, all of us have a core set of programs that we need to have installed on our computers at all times; …otherwise armageddon proceeds. In this article I am going to share with you 10 freeware programs – out of my bucket of “core” programs – that are essential to my digital life; without them I would – simply put – be lost.
(Note: This list is in no particular order.)
CleanMem is quite possibly the best memory cleaning/optimization program I have even encountered. Not only does it (usually) clear up a good chunk of memory, but it works in such a way that users have no idea CleanMem is running. It does its job – with leaving little to no footprint on your computer - and gets out. Brilliant program.
Some may disagree with me when I say it, but Firefox is the cream of the crop when it comes to Internet browsers. Needing no introduction thanks to its hard earned fame, Firefox is a package which brings everything to the table: speed, efficiency, addons, security, and aesthetics. Sure Firefox is not the “best” in all categories but it is the best jack-of-all-trades out on the market right now.
Digsby is an instant messaging platform that allows users to integrate different instant messaging services, e-mail checking, and social network usage all in one program. Think of it as the desktop version of Meebo.
When it comes to screenshotting programs, there are tons of (free and commercial) choices people have. Ever since I started using FastStone Capture a couple of years back, I have fallen in love with the program. It is easy to use, feature filled, and has this lovely floating toolbar most other screenshot programs lack. In fact, everyday dotTechies enjoy the fruits of FastStone Capture’s labor – all screenshots on dotTech were taken using the program.
WinSplit Revolution is a program that allows users to easy resize/tile program windows. Although the concept of the program may not sound too flashy, in practical uses this is man’s best friend when doing any sort of work (that involves more than one program window) on the computer. Oh how many times I have counted my blessings for being able to use WinSplit to ease my pain when doing projects such as transferring data from source to spreadsheet.
Windows’ clipboard is possibly one of the worst designed aspects of Windows. Sure the idea of having a clipboard which can be used to copy/cut/paste stuff is nice, but there was a huge lack of hindsight into how there may be a conflict caused by the inability to copy/cut/paste multiple things at once. To help resolve this conflict, many programs have popped up. TenClips is one such program; TenClips gives users the ability to have 10 different clipboards. However, I find myself using TenClips’ ability to post purified text more than making use of all clipboards. In fact, I hardly ever post unpurified text anymore thanks to TenClips.
Most programs, when uninstalled, leave traces – such as registry entries or files – behind on your computer. RevoUninstaller is a program who’s goal is to help you perform “clean” uninstalls by removing leftover traces from uninstalled program; and RevoUninstaller has passed the test of time proving it truly is one of the best – if not the best – clean uninstaller out there. I don’t know what I would do without Revo.
WinPatrol is a nice little “supplement” to your computer’s line of defense. More or less, it is a computer “change” monitor; it monitors your computer for changes to things like file associations, startup programs, etc. and notifies you of the changes, asking you to either allow or disallow the change. It is extremely handy especially for people who install new programs on a regular basis. I can’t count how many times WinPatrol has saved me from programs that try to hijack my homepage.
Anyone that has ever worked with code knows how hard it can be to keep track of everything. Notepad++ is a program that aims to help deal with code in an easier fashion; it color codes code syntax for users. So while it may not be an idle platform to write a program, it makes editing code – such as for a website – very easy. I use it almost on a daily basis.
Once upon a time I used to use WinZip for my archive needs. Then I discovered 7-zip and never looked back. 7-zip is an open source answer to the likes of WinZip and WinRar. 7-zip allows users to work with archives, including .ZIP and .RAR formats, opening them, creating archives, etc. It even has its own .7z archive which far surpassed the likes of .ZIP and .RAR in areas like compression and security.
So you have just read a list of 10 programs I could not live without. I am sure you have some of your own. Feel free to share in the comments below.
Great Article!
Here are some of my essentials:
Google Chrome
Skype
Google Talk
CPU-Z
WinRaR
Malwarebytes Anti Malware
A-Squared Anti Malware
Sothink SWF Quicker
___________________________________
Though not all of them are free, I really would say they are essential besides Sothink SWF Quicker and CPU-Z but they are still a great pieces of software.
My favorite applications are the following (they are a mix of freebies and paid programs):
-Ashampoo Win Optimizer 6
-Camtasia Studio 6
-Ccleaner
-CleanMem
-Crave World Clock
-Glary Utilities
-Google Chrome
-Key Scrambler Premium
-Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware PRO
-Puran Defrag
-Rain Meter
-REAL Player SP
-REVO Uninstaller Pro
-Shape Collage
-SkyDownloader
-Switch Sound File Converter
-Win Utlities
-Win Utilities
-Xfire
I don’t use some of them every single day, but they are are all REALLY good programs. Everyone should try ‘em out! They are all easy to use and fun to use with, and somewhat makes your life easier… some that is.
~Joji~
CleanMem: use it and love it, set it to run every 10 mins and it keeps my computer nice and happy (which keeps me happy :D)
Firefox…next!
Digsby: Eh, I’m a fan of the WLM interface, my only complaint is not FBChat intergration.
FastStone Capture: I’ve got either PrintScreen or Windows Snip for that.
WinSplit Revolution: Sounds interesting, I’ll think about it.
TenClips: Interesting but I’ll pass.
RevoUninstaller: I don’t uninstall that much, and when I do I break out the real geek tools (Most from Sysinternals)
WinPatrol: Between Threatfire and WISE I’ve got that covered.
Notpad++: Yea…Visual Studio for that.
7-Zip: I’m doing just fine with the built in Windows ZIP Engine.
@Ashraf: I see nothing from Sysinternals!
Firefox
VirtualBox
GIMP
CyberLink PowerDirector
Microsoft Security Essentials
and all the rest are webapps. I ? the web.
My First 10 list:
Opera
Irfanview
7Zip
MyDefrag
Trillian
Kompozer
GOM Media Player
Audacity Beta
OpenOffice.org
The GIMP
Recurring theme: OpenSource or free ;)
CCleaner, Rainmeter, EULAlyzer.
Digsby (Multi protocol chat client)
Notepad++ (text editor)
IrfanView (image viewer)
CCLeaner (Clean temp files and registry junks)
SnagIt (screen capture) – Not free
PickPic (color picker, screen ruler and a dozen utilities including an image editor)
Feed Daemon (Feed reader, sync with Google account)
Live Writer (For bloging)
Winrar (Zip utility) – you can use a share ware version
Ultramon (for Dual monotor) – free version available
Filezilla (for FTP)
Here’s my top 10 favourites:
- Everything
- Opera
- Cintanotes
- Irfanview
- 7-Zip
- KMPlayer
- FileMenuTools
- Glary Utilities
- iWisoft Free Video Converter (tks Ashraf for the tip!)
- MediaMonkey
I’d like to add to the list:
- Axcrypt
troublefree encryption/file rename software. We’ve been using it for 5 years, and it’s fast, reliable and easy to use.
What I can’t miss:
Folder Size
Revo Uninstaller
Desktop Media
Unlocker
CCleaner
Firefox, of course
Ashampoo WInOptimizer 6
AnVir Task Manager
TUGzip
7-Zip – daily
Autoruns
CrapCleaner
Damn NFO Viewer
Eraser – daily
IrfanView – daily
Netscape>Phoenix>Firebird>Firefox – daily
Revo Uninstaller
Screamer Radio
Tweakui
Netscape Mail>Thunderbird – daily
XTree Gold>ZTree Win
dBpoweramp MC
Karen’s Replicator
ERUNT
EAC
Wavosaur
Audacity
Rats…I know those aren’t the only ones.
When I give up on a software, it’s either because I found a replacement I prefer, or my needs change. There are plenty of shareware programs that make my work not just easier, but possible.
Ron Moore
Lingoes
Revo Uninstaller
Format Factory
SVS (virtualisation of installation)
Video Cache View
MWSnap
RebootSafe
Photofiltre
XnView
SMSwitch (…between screen modes)
SE-TrayMenu (Launch applications from taskbar)
Everything
Photocopier
… to name but a few of course!
Ashraf:
What is purified text? Unformatted?
Programs I can’t do without:
Revo Uninstaller
WinRoll
uTorrent
7-Zip
InfraRecorder
DeskPins
GIMP
Format Factory
Firefox
MyDefrag
Google Talk
Y’z Shadow & Toolbar
Great list! Great contributions – already checking into some that people have mentioned.
I’d add to that list:
PDF-Xchange Viewer
FormatFactory or iWisoft
Geswall
Gigaget
Macrium
SpywareBlaster
and, to keep everything neat on my desktop, RocketDock
And for a free office suite, of course there’s OpenOffice (although I used MS).
Hi, nice list.
Mine is :
Opera
Puran defrag
Revo uninstaller
Glary utilities
Ccleaner
Comodo firewall
A-squared
Malwarebytes
Winpatrol
Process explorer
aaaaaaaa,
How did you manage to steal my 10 favorite list?!
:-)
I use all of them (except fastone capture which I dont need now), every day and they are my second hand for many years now!
And I have tried and tested many similar soft to many machines but those are my selected too!
Many of my “can’t do without” security/maintenance programs have been covered above and I have FF add-ons like “ReminderFox” that I use everyday, and would need even without the actual FF browser capability.
A couple goodies that haven’t been mentioned:
Object Dock and Fences (to help keep my desktop under control – I have a ‘busy’ desktop!)
ASC and Smart Defrag
Paint.NET, Picasa, and Faststone Image Viewer (Photo organising and editing)
VLC
TeraCopy
TrueCrypt
My hardware is an extremely modest Pentium I 233 Mhz 128 MB RAM running on Win XP. So all the programs must be the most modern yet very, very light on system resources. The lists are:
Opera 10.51 + Fanboy Adblock
Orbit Downloader
CleanMem
Erunt (so I can disable System Restore)
CCleaner
Eusing Registry Cleaner
Revo Uninstaller
Starter (to control Win start up & services)
NTREGOPT
JKDefrag
Miranda
Foobar
GOM Player
MagicDisc
Softmaker Office 2006 Portable (it’s freeware)
Foxit Reader
7-Zip
And yes… no security programs. I only install Avira Personal & Malwarebyte every 3 months to scan my harddisk, then to be uninstalled again. Yes I managed to stay secure without active security: I only depend on OpenDNS and Opera.
After much thought I realized that no one here has listed thte most important program that they use every day!!!
For us Windows users it’s Windows Explorer and for those Mac users its Finder!
Some of my favorites (sorry, more than 10):
XnView – image view, screen captures
Picassa – organizing & finding images
Anvir Task Manager – monitoring, startups
VLC Media Player – plays almost anything
Virtuawin – multiple desktops (AltDesk also good)
Guitar Codex Plus – scales, chords, tunings
Everything – extremely FAST way to find files
Evernote – capture, organize, tag information
Revo Uninstaller
SIW – System information for Windows
Firefox
Zip Genius – fast & reliable .zip, .rar, others
Stellarium – fast and powerful stars, planets, etc.
Team Viewer – control another PC’s desktop
One more:
FileNote 1.1
lives in the right click list.
Allows me to add a writeup to downloaded files.
Keeps the same name as the orig file and makes a TXT file with same orig name to contain the notes.
In intersting article. Nice to see what other people consider their essentials, and what we can replace with freeware.
Mine are;
Teracopy
keyScrambler (or zemana antilogger)
editpad lite
Irfanview
Revo uninstaller
jv16 powertools
rainlendar
KMPlayer
Izarc
winamp
WordNetDT
Damn nfo viewer
Firefox (I also have Minefield installed for fast online working)
Paid essentials:
Eset security
Vista Manager
Stylewriter (professional editor)
Britannica 2009
Collins Dict/Thesaurus ( +others)
Various Encyclopaedia
Word 2003 ( my editor will not work with OpenOffice)
Although rarely used for this purpose, 7-Zip can also open(view inside) and extract files from the .ISO format. I’ve only found this out not too long ago.