URL [ http://j44xm.notlong.com | http://osx.soc.uh.edu/~jdavis/freeware ]
This is a personal collection of URLs to what I feel is among the best of free software for Windows that, mostly, I've tried myself.
I greatly prefer portable programs, but even many programs that write to the Registry
can emulate portability, my research has shown.
Absolute favorites are marked with "[❤]";
installation-free programs (un-ZIP/RAR and go) are labelled "[✔]";
and programs that don't write to the Registry have a "[nR]".
This document was designed to facilitate ease of viewing and updating and it's best viewed in a standards-compliant browser.
I welcome comments, news, and corrections! — J44xm (j44xm[d0t]online[@]gmail[d0t]com)
Web Links
other freeware users' favorites
portable application resources
general listings/collections
noted authors' software
usenet newsgroups
file managers
registry
- CCleaner [❤] "is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool"
- Regmon [R] shows all current Registry accesses in real-time
- Erunt backs up and restores your entire Registry with great ease
- NTRegOpt optimizes all of your Registry hives
- EasyCleaner and RegSeeker both perform various Registry maintenance functions
- RegReplace can find and optionally replace strings throughout your Registry
system tweaks and accessories
- ChangeExt can a file's information (useful for copying files' paths)
- DM2 [❤][✔][nR] offers Save/Open dialog folder shortcuts, opacity options, any much more
- Fast Explorer and Mmm can modify and customize your Explorer right-click context menus
- Matrix Screen Locker lets you lock your desktop with a single click on the system tray icon
- ShellExView displays the shell extensions installed on your computer and let's you disable them
- [drivers] Driver Collector [✔] finds and collects installed drivers for hardware you select
- [launcher] TypeAndRun [❤][✔][nR] is a wonderful portable text-based program launcher (ideal for portable hard drives)
- [launcher] TrayBar [✔][nR] is a portable, System Tray–based program launcher (ideal for portable hard drives)
- [maintenance] HDDScan [✔] is a freeware program for low-level HDD diagnostics
- [services] SrvAdmin is an advanced Windows service–controlling application
- [tweaking]
TweakUI XP [❤]
and X-Setup Pro [❤] access many generally-inaccessible system settings in Windows XP
- [uninstallers]
Safarp [✔][nR]
and MyUninstaller [✔]
are lightweight alternatives to the Windows uninstaller
file-handling utilities
disk-management
- Acronis True Image [$][?] is fully functioning, 30-day trialware and seems to work well
- XXCLONE [?] seems to have a good reputation
system information and management
windows customization
- ActivIcons will change nearly any icon on your system
- DesktopCoral reserves desktop space (or a "docking space"), preventing maximized applications from covering it
- Drempels is a "psychotherapeutic screensaver and desktop enhancer" that uses few system resources
- Glass2K adjusts the transparency of windows in Windows XP and remembers the settings across sessions
- ObjectDock imitates Apple's Mac OS X dock
- Y'z Shadow places drop shadows on windows
visual styles for windows xp
Windows skinning is available for use without software (like StyleXP) by patching your UXTHEME.DLL file
- [web sites]
DeviantArt,
Max Themes,
StudioTwentyEight
Virtual Plastic,
WinCustomize,
- [favorite styles]
my DeviantArt favorites list,
advance4[xp]/3,
Aluminum Alloy,
Amarach,
AMPed,
AquaExtreme,
BlueMesa,
bluuna.vs.one,
Borderline,
b0se v1 Final,
b0zen,
Beige Azul,
Blue Turquesa,
Brushed 3.5 Visual Style,
Classix 10k 2.0,
Clearlook Redux,
ClearLooks Ubuntu Mod (Update),
Codename: Opus 3.0,
Compact Luna,
Crystal SVG,
Extensis,
FatLuna,
Fresco VS,
gfxOasis[❤],
Infini8 Modern Age,
KBlueX,
Kuantum VS,
Major Tempest,
Metallic Shades,
method II,
Olive Verde,
Opus Luna,
Opus OS,
Opus OSX,
Panther[❤],
Panther Perfect,
Panther 1.5[❤],
Panther v.4,
PxlPlusM,
Prominence Pro,
Recurve,
Reluna[❤],
Rhapsodized,
Safari,
Silver Gris,
Sirius,
Slush,
smooth.gnome.remix.one,
Smooth Alternative :VS:,
Smooth Stripes 4.1 Visual Style,
SmoothStripes Black Panther,
Studio28 v3,
System 2,
System 5,
Thallos VS[❤],
Tiger VS,
Tiger 2 VS,
Velvet Waves,
Vista Inspirat Visual Style,
-vs- Method,
XPM Classic (RC2)
Fonts
virus protection
firewalls
- Kerio Personal Firewall v2.1.5 is a classic that's still excellent but it completely ignores fragmented packets (though there's debate about how dangerous this is). Research recommends using either CHX-I or the Windows Firewall to supplement, though I admit that I don't as it doesn't seem so important. (current version)
spyware
encryption and file access management
- TrueCrypt [nR][❤] creates encrypted file containers or disk partitions (also see: TCExplorer)
- AxCrypt AES File Encryption encrypts files with AES-128 encryption and decrypts and re-encrypts automatically
- Omziff [✔] provides powerful file encryption from your choice of algorithms (and more) in a small standalone .EXE
- Hide Files 2.3 (last free version) hides and protects (to an extent) data, but the app is an observable process
- Folder Access denies access to specified folders but leaves the locked container visible
- Steganos LockNote converts text files into portable, encrypted EXEs (no Unicode yet)
browsers
- Firefox Portable [❤][✔][nR],
based on Firefox,
is a full-featured, standards-compliant portable browser
- extension sources:
The Extensions Mirror (UMO list)
and Mozdev Extension Room
- selected extensions:
Adblock
[add-ons: Adblock Filterset.G Updater,
filters],
Configuration Mania,
Download Manager Tweak,
downTHEMall!,
EditCSS,
FlashGot,
Flat Bookmark Editing,
Gmail Manager,
Linkification,
Long Titles,
Menu Editor,
Nuke Anything Enhanced,
Openbook,
ResizeSearchBox,
Show Image,
Stylish,
Super DragAndGo,
Tab Mix Plus,
Translation Panel
- selected themes:
Ashen for Firefox 0.9,
LittleMozilla,
MicroMozilla,
Plastikfox Crystal SVG,
Qute,
Safari for Firefox 0.9
- OperaUSB is a portable Opera package, but I've barely used Opera, so I can't say too much
- Maxthon (formerly MyIE2) is a very powerful Internet Explorer shell—recommended if you use Internet Explorer
e-mail
For now, I'm using Gmail's web interface as my primary e-mail application because Pegasus Mail had trouble with Japanese characters. However, you cannot manually specify a character encoding for messages in Gmail (argh!), so I use Thunbderbird as a secondary program and also to back up my mail.
- Thunderbird Portable [❤][✔][nR],
based on Thunderbird,
is a full-featured portable e-mail client
- extension sources: The Extensions Mirror
(UMO list) and
Mozdev Extension Room
- selected extensions:
autorewrap,
ChromEdit,
Contacts Add BCC button,
Display mailing list header,
InfoLister,
Mail Redirect,
Menu Editor,
Minimize to Tray,
MoreButtonPlus,
savemultiple,
Shift-Delete Controller,
Slim Extension List,
TB Attachment Tools,
TB Header Tools Extension
- Sylpheed [✔] is a simple, lightweight, crossplatform but featureful, and easy-to-use e-mail client [still testing]
- i.Scribe is a small, crossplatform, single-account client with calendar—simple and small
usenet
see Usenet Help if you're unfamiliar with newsgroups
- Xnews [❤] is almost (but not!) abandoned but is still among the best Usenet clients
- QuickPar allows usage of PAR and PAR2 files, which restore incomplete files
ftp
- Filezilla is a very full-featured FTP client—highly recommended (but newer versions are XP and up only)
download managers
instant messaging
- Trillian Basic [❤][nR] is an excellent, stable multi-protocol IM client that, apparently, is run portably
- Portable Gaim [nR][✔] is totally portable but has UI quirks that bug me and handles Unicode poorly
filesharing
- µTorrent [✔][❤] is tiny, powerful, and compared to Azureus, gives me insanely fast downloads
- Azureus was my first Bittorrent client, and it's excellent, but it's my second choice now
blogging
- Blogger is the best free major service that I've found (I've not yet tried Blogger Beta)
- Simple PHP Blog is a set of PHP-based blog templates that's pretty solid but can be troublesome to update
other utilities
- CurrPorts [✔] displays the list of all currently opened TCP/IP and UDP ports on your local computer
- url2bmp generates images from Internet Explorer webpage renders (requires IE)
- Favorites to HTML (for IE) converts Internet Explorer Favorites to a DHTML document
general
- AllChars creates system-wide character shortcuts but doesn't support Unicode characters
- XXCOPY (for DOS) is a third-party update to the classic XCOPY command
financial
media
- BurnAtOnce , my favorite disc-burner, masters data and audio discs, reads/writes image files, and copies on the fly
- CDCheck [✔] provides CD-ROM error-detection and -recovery (nag screen after 30 days)
- IsoBuster rescues lost files from a bad or trashed CD or DVD
- DAEMON Tools is a virtual CD-/DVD-ROM emulator, able to mounts ISOs as if they were CDs/DVDs.
- Floppy Image [✔] creates and mounts images of floppy diskettes
text
- SciTE [❤][nR][✔] is a totally portable, totally amazing advanced text editor with Unicode support and syntax highlighting
- QJot [❤][nR] is a recently-discovered RTF editor with great Unicode support
- WordTabs 3.30 is a great RTF editor but is abandoned (I use QJot now)
[RICHED20.DLL, ver. 2]
- Keynote [❤][nR] is a powerful tree-based organizer with RTF support and built-in Blowfish encryption
- Treepad Lite [nR] is a text-based tree organizer that doesn't support Unicode but saves files as straight text
- Portable OpenOffice [❤][nR][✔] contains the entire OpenOffice.org suite, but packaged for portable use!
- Steganos LockNote converts text files into encrypted .EXE files
pdf files
graphics
file compression
- WinRAR [$][❤] isn't free but it's easily the most solid archiver I've used, though it only writes ZIPs and RARs
- 7-Zip Portable [❤][✔][nR], based on 7-Zip, supports many, many archive formats
- Universal Extractor [✔][nR] is a great tool for avoiding installation of many programs—a must-see for portable-app users
audio
audio utilities
- [ripping] CDex and dBpowerAMP Music Converter rip and normalize CDs
- [encoding] oggdropXPd and LamedropXPd are drag-and-drop audio encoders
- [normalizing] MP3Gain analyzes (using statistical analysis) and losslessly adjusts MP3 files' volume
- [analyzing] EncSpot reports useful facts about your music collection, such as guessing which encoder creates a file
- [editing] Audacity is a crossplatform audio editor and recorder
- [editing] mp3DirectCut is a non-destructive audio editor and recorder for MP3
- [joining/splitting] musiCutter losslessly splits and combines MP3s and OGGs
- [recording] HarddiskOgg records from your microphone or line-in and converts it to common sound formats
- [minidisc] M3U2SBurner, for MiniDisc usage, offers fast upload of audio files to NetMD
- RareWares is great source for audio encoders
tag editors
I don't find it necessary to use any of these with foobar2000 as my dedicated audio player
- ID3-TagIT edits, adds, or removes ID3 TAGs in MP3 files and supports Unicode
- MP3 Book Helper supports MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Speex, and FLAC tags but has a confusing interface
- TagScanner supports MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and APE tags but not Unicode
video players
- VLC Portable [❤][nR][✔], based on VLC Media Player, supports many video codecs and advanced features out of the "box"
- Media Player Classic [❤][✔] is a sub-5MB .EXE that plays just about anything, including DVDs
- BSPlayer 1.37 [❤][nR] is likewise feature-full but doesn't have DVD support (later versions are adware)
video utilities
codecs
A list of common codecs is available at FOURCC.org. Google for the best way to obtain individual codecs, in necessary.
general services
webpage validation
indexes
specific games
console emulation