By R

August 18, 2006 12:24 PM | Link to this

Bill, when you provide a link to a site could you please also provide the address? I like to copy the column and save in MSWord for future reference. It is much quicker than searching archives as I label the files relevent to content. Thank you.

By Chuck Hurt

August 18, 2006 12:34 PM | Link to this

You could always mention a couple of the free download sites for programs. Download.com from CNet is great because you can see the reviews of them. PCWorld has a great free downloads. All you got to do is register for free to be able to get to it. And there is FileHippo.com as well. I know there are more but those are the ones off the top of my head. Thanks for those programs you mentioned. Those first two I didn’t know about.
Chuck Hurt

By Barry

August 18, 2006 12:52 PM | Link to this

I use all of the ones you discuss.

I also like OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) and have it at home. I suggest it to anyone who is just getting a new computer.

GIMP for image manipulation is also useful, but a little rough around the edges.

By Prootwadl

August 18, 2006 12:57 PM | Link to this

I think another message of mine just got lost. Does this software dislike messages containing multiple links??

I tried to recommend OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox, Quartz AudioMaster, IrfanView, the Pixel Image Editor, and some other stuff, but I’m not going to spend the time to resubmit that message again.

By Prootwadl

August 18, 2006 12:58 PM | Link to this

…and this one got through right away.

Bill — please tell whoever is responsible for this blogging software that there are serious issues with messages containing multible links.

By Prootwadl

August 18, 2006 01:02 PM | Link to this

Oh, I also tried to provide links for the Ultimate Boot CD and Puppy Linux. Just do a Google search for those (and the other) titles to find the appropriate download sites.

Anvil Studio is another nice freeware MIDI package. I got sucked in by both it and Quartz’s product and purchased more advanced versions, but even US$70 is very little to pay for sophisticated software like that.

By Prootwadl

August 18, 2006 01:04 PM | Link to this

On a more esoteric note: If you need an X server under Windows, don’t want to pay, and also don’t want to install anything, then this CD might be for you: XLive CD

It’s a version of Cygwin+XFree86 that runs directly off the CD. No installation needed. And free, of course. :-)

By Robert Broekman

August 18, 2006 01:10 PM | Link to this

Yahoo widgets? I love the ones I use:Picture frame, Clock, Weather.

Also love your column, Thanks Bob B.

By Chris

August 18, 2006 01:37 PM | Link to this

This column, and similar things like Kim Komando, spend so much time on dealing with Windows deficiencies. Where’s the actual computing instead of reacting to the latest MS security hole? Linux has matured to where it installs easily in under an hour, with excellent hardware and peripheral detection (my camera, printer, etc. all work fine, with no tricky downloads to deal with). If you want a free operating system, free application programs (including Office-compatible suites), and free built-in anti-virus, firewall, and great security, try RedHat Linux.

By Prootwadl

August 18, 2006 02:56 PM | Link to this

The easiest way to try Linux and get your proverbial feet wet is to try a live CD.

Just download the ISO file, burn it to a CD-R, put it in your CD drive, and reboot the PC. It’ll run Linux without requiring you to install anything, and that’ll give you a chance to poke around and look at stuff without taking any chances of breakign your existing setup.

In my mind there are three classes of LiveCDs: general, lightweight, and utility.

General LiveCDs are actual replacements for a full Windows desktop, and those would include things like Knoppix, Ubuntu (or Kubuntu), SLAX, PCLinuxOS, etc.

Lightweight LiveCDs are smaller (I like them because they fit on those small multicolored 210MB Memorex Pocket CD-Rs) but still contain some serious software, and most will allow you to add additional programs after you boot. These include Puppy Linux, Feather Linux, DSL (Damn Small Linux), Austrumi, etc.

Specialized LiveCDs are versions of Linux which are put together to perform a particular task. Some (like INSERT) are intended as emergency/recovery tools, while others are multimedia players, etc.

A long list of LiveCDs can be found here

By Mike

August 18, 2006 03:18 PM | Link to this

I have had McAfee security since I bought my Dell computer and it seems to work fine. How do you rate McAfee versus Norton?

I’ve found AdAware is superior to Spybot. Spybot always seemed to miss problems that AdAware found. Also, Spybot seemed to use a lot of power. I tried Spyware Doctor and liked it but it sent my CPU sky high. I finally uninstalled it.

Any thoughts?

By autumn ozog

August 18, 2006 10:16 PM | Link to this

I would like to recommend Avast Antivirus software. It is great!

You have to reregister (a zillion numbers and letter) each year. It’s not a chore for people who know how to cut & paste. I don’t. It is updated several times a week and a pop up lets you know so you can check it or ignore. There is also a paid version for businesses.

Love the spinning ball!

By Dorothy

August 19, 2006 07:52 AM | Link to this

The Downloader Trojan virus has infected my computer and Norton does not remove it. Any suggestions?

By Tommy

August 19, 2006 09:03 AM | Link to this

I’ve been using Alwil’s Avast! antivirus program now for about 3 years. I too was a Norton user, but fed up with its cost & bloated code. Avast! is free for home users & I have yet to be infected since I switched.

By Jerry Kaplan

August 19, 2006 06:36 PM | Link to this

Dear Bill, Here are some free downloads I enjoy a lot: www.ccleaner.com *Optimizer XP **Startup Mechanic

Jerry

By Jerry Kaplan

August 20, 2006 12:46 AM | Link to this

Dear Dorothy, Here is a solution for the Downloader Trojan virus: If you turn off System Restore, run your AV software, delete the offending file, reboot and turn System Restore back on, you should be on your way.

You will lose all your restore points though. There’s no other way to get rid of it from the location it’s embedded itself. Good Luck! Jerry

By William H.

August 20, 2006 08:55 AM | Link to this

Bill:
I read an interesting blog about the Grisoft free Anti-Virus program. Seems some users have been receiving notices from Grisoft telling them that they are in violation of the license agreement by having the product installed on more than ONE computer in the house. Apparently there is a clause in the agreement that states that you can install the FREE product on ONE computer in the house. Users who have multiple computers in their house behind a router that have FREE AVG installed on all of them are being notified.

When I read this I immediately removed Grisoft’s product and installed the Avast! product as they do not have this silly requirement in their license agreement.

By Bill

August 20, 2006 10:08 AM | Link to this

William, can you post a link to that blog here - or e-mail me with it. I’d like to see it. I have five, sometimes 7, computers all using the Grisoft program here - hasn’t happened to me yet. But I’d be interested in seeing the blog item. I haven’t really read the user agreement with Grisoft for the Free AVG but I’ll do that.

By name

August 20, 2006 11:23 AM | Link to this

My absolute FAVORITE free software titles include the image resizer in XP power toys, and Microsoft Virtual Server. As an IT consultant, I often need multiple OS’s running at the same time. Microsoft Virtual Server is EASY to setup and run. Search for it on Microsoft’s website.

By name

August 20, 2006 11:24 AM | Link to this

My absolute FAVORITE free software titles include the image resizer in XP power toys, and Microsoft Virtual Server. As an IT consultant, I often need multiple OS’s running at the same time. Microsoft Virtual Server is EASY to setup and run. Search for it on Microsoft’s website.

By Jim N

August 20, 2006 01:39 PM | Link to this

I regret that you are no longer going to recommend Spybot, just because some people cannot type or search. Stop pointing them to the author and send them to download.com or pcworld.com. Hopefully the readers will be able to get the correct program. One feature of Spybot that no one ever mentions is the advanced mode rather than default - but it can be dangerous. However, if you just go to tools and startup you can see all programs that load when Windows boots up and with a click you can stop them from loading. As a repair tech I sometime have to boot into safe mode, use Spybot tools to stop all things or at least all the ones that I don’t recognize from loading. Then I can boot normally and fix things. Later you can go back to the tools, startup and reactivate the programs that are needed.

By Jim N

August 20, 2006 01:45 PM | Link to this

One of the most useful programs for me when checking network connections and especially wireless connections is wntipcfg from microsoft. Works just like the old winipcfg that was in win98, but left out of XP. When you install it put it into the windows folder and then you can run it from the run window by just typing wntipcfg.

Rather than Belarc Advisor which is good, I prefer aida32. The primary difference is that aida32 does not need to be installed on the computer. It can be run from a thumb drive or cd whereas Belarc must be installed and then remains on the computer.

By Jim N

August 20, 2006 01:49 PM | Link to this

This may not be what a columnist wants to do since you would be pointing out other info sources than you, but I get great information from Windows Secrets newsletter and the Langalist newsletter. Both are available in free versions, but for a small price like $12 per year you can get the paid version which has even more information.

By Doug

August 20, 2006 01:53 PM | Link to this

Hi,

You have written a good deal about protecting you computer from sypware, viruses, etc. Anything on just plain theft. I recently had both my laptop and desktop computers stolen last week while dropping my children off at school. I work from home so shame on me for not having a complete backup but if I had an external disk drive that would be missing now as well.

Any suggestions on web back-ups or tracing devices?

By Bill

August 20, 2006 03:12 PM | Link to this

Doug, here is One - with an appropriate name - Stolenlaptop.com.

By Patrick B

August 20, 2006 03:21 PM | Link to this

My favorite Firefox extension is adblock - adblock.mozdev.org. This extension will allow you to block those annoying flashing advertisments on web sites. You right click on the ad, click “adblock image…” and then edit the displayed url to put a “*” where the images are stored. You can easily clean up most ad-sponsored web pages and just view the meat.

For WYSIWYG HTML editing, I like Nvu (pronounced N-view). It is an extremely powerful web page editor and is open source (e.g. free). www.nvu.com

By Carlos Q

August 20, 2006 03:43 PM | Link to this

www.copernic.com - the best desktop search tool ever

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html - SPYBLASTER ….this is also better than adaware and spybot

www.mycorkboard.com - fun and stable free is cool and easy.

By John D

August 20, 2006 04:04 PM | Link to this

I recently got a new computer running XP Media Center. Since I was moving up from Windows 98 SE none of my Microsoft office stuff would transport over.

I went to openoffice.org and downloaded the entire suite of FREE programs. These programs replace all of the Office products (including word excel Power Point etc) and will read from office formats and then either save in the ODF (Open Document Format) new standard or save in the original doc or excel format. This is absolutely free and I have been using it for 6 weeks - I plan to replace office 97 on both of my windows 98 computers too and convert everything to the ODF format.

The learning curve from office to open org is virtually non-existent.

and it is FREE FREE FREE

John D Braselton, GA

By Jerry K.

August 20, 2006 05:20 PM | Link to this

I came here to mention the AVG single-computer issue, but I see someone’s beaten me to it.

Well, here’s a link to the License where it’s mentioned:

[http://free.grisoft.com/doc/98/lng/us/tpl/v5}

And here’s the bit that matters:

You may install (download) and use only one copy of the program designated for protection of exclusively one personal computer, notwithstanding as to how many times you download the program and how many times you accept the License Agreement. You must not use the program in a network or on more than one computer.

By gttim

August 20, 2006 06:50 PM | Link to this

I run several free programs. For raw image editing I use Raw Sooter Essential. For photo editing I use PhotoFiltre (spelled “re”). For Audio I run dBpowerAMP and Audacity. I recommend all highly. I also use AdAware, Spybot, Firefox, ZoneAlarm and Belarc Advisor.

Download.com is a great site to search for free programs.

By jedi

August 20, 2006 07:21 PM | Link to this

Although this is technically not “free software”, it is a web site that provides very valuable data for free.

Over the years, every time I start to bang my head on the keyboard because the whole system slows to a crawl, while I watch a little icon spin eternally in the corner of my browser, I have to know who to blame. The web site, my connection provider, my local network, or God forbid… me?!? Well, here’s a pretty good first step in figuring that out. Find out exactly how fast your connection is here:

http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

By guinaevere

August 20, 2006 08:16 PM | Link to this

John D, I too have been in the process of porting all my content over from an old faithful 98SE alienware to a new XP laptop and running into the same issue with document conversions.

My question regarding Open is if ODF is readable by other, more industry-standard software?

Gwen Hiram

By William H.

August 20, 2006 08:46 PM | Link to this

Bill:

Per your request. This is from a blog on Cybernetnews.com (excellent website I might add) regarding FREE AVG licensing.

http://tech.cybernetnews.com/2006/08/17/are-you-running-the-free-avg-antivirus-illegally/

-William

By Bill

August 20, 2006 09:18 PM | Link to this

Thanks for the link, William - I know this must be obvious to veteran bloggers but I’m really impressed by how blogs become a smart filter for information.

By Harmon

August 20, 2006 09:25 PM | Link to this

I need REAL help with my iPod 60 on my XP PC. My ipod has stopped being recognized by iTunes on my machine. I have updated to the laterst v ersion of iTunes, updater, and still it is not recognized. And to add insult to injury, it locks up all my other programs, unless I disconnect the iPod. I havea uninstalled Norton Internt security, and that does not help.

Any ideas? Thanks

By Lewis

August 21, 2006 02:30 AM | Link to this

Hi, Bill:

I’m also quite a fan of the freebie apps. However, I don’t use kazaa or other peer-to-peer programs to download pirated software. I don’t encourage this at all.

There is one site that has all kinds of free Benchmark apps. You may have come across it before. It’s called: Roy Longbottom’s PC Benchmark Collection. He has all kinds of apps that can be downloaded and used to test every aspect of the computer’s performance.

Here’s the link:

http://freespace.virgin.net/roy.longbottom/

By Kim Rowell

August 21, 2006 07:30 AM | Link to this

I downloaded the AVG for my kid’s computer - I knew it was a mess. It returned 100+ infections, but would not heal, delete or vault any of them. I tried to selecting them one by one. Next I went to the \WINNT\system32 folder (using Explorer) where most of the files were located planning to just delete the files. While doing this, I started getting individual pop up alerts by AVG of files detected asking if I wanted to heal them. I had many of those messages pop up and have gotten the infections down to 50. Am I doing something wrong? I checked all the menus and help in AVG and couldn’t find a command to rid the computer of the files.

On the same computer I tried numerous times to run Ad-Aware, and it crashes 4-5 seconds into the scan. I get the blue screen,and a dump message then it restarts with a file scan. I had updated to the latest file. I even tried reinstalling the software. Any ideas?

Kim

By Kim Rowell

August 21, 2006 07:34 AM | Link to this

And on the same computer I tried to use Defender, but it would not install. It is a Windows 2000 machine, and it asks for GDI+ (I think that is what it is called). I tried copying that to the system 32 folder manually as it suggests on Microsoft’s website, but that did not fix it.
You can probably guess - I spent all of yesterday afternoon/evening on that computer. For now, the kids are banned from the Internet. Kim

By Todd Smith

August 21, 2006 10:35 AM | Link to this

I had a lot of trouble with MS Defender and Onesource Live, and had to uninstall both. One possible problem could be the cookies MS drops into your computer to relay useage info back to them. This seems to seriously slow down the programs, even causing the screen to go black mid-stroke, while the hour glass spins and spins. A day after cancelling the service, some of the programs did not work at all. The Onesource “support” was fragmanted and unconstructive, and the cookies still seem to be there.

A little google research, and one will fine out about others’ surprises—none good.

You may wish to withhold judgment on this product for a while.

By martin Sandler

August 21, 2006 01:50 PM | Link to this

I am using Mcafee Home security on My new Dell computer running XP SVP2. I also use PC-Cillin on an older HP runing Windows ME the machine is not upgradable to XP. A third computer, an HP running Xp SVP2 has been using AOL’s free Home Security from Mcafee. My question is, how good is this program and is it the same kind of protection gained from th Mcafee retail product. Thanks

By duke

August 21, 2006 02:52 PM | Link to this

Good question, Kim. I would like to know the answer. How are we supposed to handle infections with AVG antivirus? I had problems installing it, and the free AVG tech support was prompt, courteous, and competent. You might give them a try.

I have only had one infection over all these months, and I just deleted it manually. Otherwise AVG antivirus seems to work fine.

Incidentally, the reason I had trouble installing was because Norton Internet Security was blocking the files from executing, even though NIS was not even loaded. AVG identified the problem right away. NIS was also why a lot my other programs were not working, and was blocking many apps from running on web sites. I am afraid that the new version of Windows is going to be like NIS: supersecurity that will block a lot of useful apps.

By Buz Bohler

August 21, 2006 05:41 PM | Link to this

Dear Bill, I wanted to clue you in on my choice for a free phone caller monitor software called Phone Tray, http://phonetray.traysoft.com/downloads.htm . There are a number of similar offerings out there but this one is GREAT. He offers two: 1) a free version and 2) a $15.00 one price; no monthly fee. Either is easy to install and has fast, very good follow- up help. The software offers a number of features for handling in-coming phone calls. He offers a number of appropriate messages (and some a little inappropriate). The requirements, like any of the others are a caller I. D. and a voice/data modem. Give’r a try. Buz Bohler

By bucky

August 21, 2006 08:31 PM | Link to this

I fully agree with Carlos Q. Spywareblaster is the best. While I have AdAware and Spybot both, when I run them I never find anything to remove. This is because Spywareblaster blocks spyware and all it’s cousins from downloading in the first place! 6557 items at the last update! It wont remove anything, but it doesn’t need to. It runs in the background and doesn’t eat up resources. It even intergrates with Firefox. I’ve been championing Spywareblaster to Bill for years but he seems strangely unconcerned with it.

By Patsy

August 23, 2006 03:03 PM | Link to this

I would like to be the third in support of Avast antivirus. It was placed on our computer by AIS, along with Mozilla Firefox. I love the automatic updates, something I don’t think I would do quite as often. I also want to thank you, Bill, for Belarc Adviser. The Bellsouth person who came out to help also liked that one.

By MIKE

August 24, 2006 02:03 PM | Link to this

HEY BILL: LOVE YOUR COLUMN THESE PAST 15+ YEARS. GREAT STUFF. MY FAVORITE FREE PROGRAMS——SPY CATCHER www.tenebril —-EUSING REGISTRY CLEANER www.eusing.com ——AD AWARE SE www.lavasoftusa.com—- CHECK ‘EM OUT. MIKE