Angus's Personal Site: Freeware

- Freeware -

If you're anything like me, you probably look on the Internet from time to time for quick, simple programs to perform simple tasks for you. Perhaps you don't want to spend huge amounts of money, or you don't want an expensive piece of software that will do far more than you'll ever need, or maybe money is a bit tight and you cannot afford to buy a new program anyway.

Unfortunately, many so-called free programs come with unwanted extras that do such things as throw annoying popup adverts at you while you surf (bad), make repeated attempts to phone home without your permission (really bad), hijack your browser settings (positively evil), or, (the spawn on Satan) put "spyware" onto your system to monitor your Internet activities and report all the sites you visit for the purposes of annoying you with spam and further unwanted advertising.

However, there are a number of good free programs out there, written by folk who are genuinely happy to share their creations freely. Many of these programs are designed to perform a single task, and very often are all that's needed. As I come across more of these programs I'll add them to this list.

As far as I am aware, none of the programs listed here have nefarious unstated ulterior motives, but if you discover one that does then please use my Feedback Form to let me know. If I feel your concerns are justified, I will get rid of it from this page.

So, before the list itself, here is a brief description of what counts as freeware in my opinion:

Programs that do not keep giving pop-up advertisements that slow down your browsing experience and keep trying to make you purchase products or services in which you are not interested.
Programs that do not insist you keep connecting to the Internet when offline (unless of course they really do require Internet access to function).
Programs that do not come with adware, spyware, or other unexpected nasties.
Some "donationware" has also been included; this is free software where the author is also requesting a donation by way of a service such as PayPal should you decide to keep the software.
Some cut-down versions of a commercially available product are also included; the main exception to this is where the cut-down version comes bundled with unwanted extras such as those outlined above. Where appropriate, a link is also provided to the paid-for version should you decide to upgrade from the free version to the full version.
Trialware, shareware, and the like are not free programs because you have to pay after a certain time limit or otherwise these programs will stop functioning. Therefore you will not find any software that knowingly falls into this category listed here.

If you find any piece of software listed here that does not follow the above guidelines, please let me know and a suitable amendment will be made as and if necessary. By the same token, if you see a piece of free software you would like to see listed here, please contact me via my feedback form so I can take a look and make a decision as to whether to include it here.

Most of these programs are utilities that will help you get more out of your computer system, or enable you to get a job done more easily.

With no further ado here they are:

MailWasher
This is a useful program that help you manage your e-mail by letting you preview your messages before you download them into your usual e-mail software. You can delete messages from known spammers, and also set up your own "friends" list and "blacklist". For the remainder of your messages there is heuristic scanning that tells you whether a message is likely to be spam or not. Please note that this free version does not support Hotmail et al (i.e. non POP3-based e-mail providers) whereas the paid-for version (Mailwasher Pro), downloadable from Firetrust does.

Spybot Search and Destroy
This is handy anti-spyware tool to have around. It detects and removes spyware from your computer. Spyware causes your system to behave in an unexpected manner: perhaps you have started experiencing more frequent system crashes, or have a browser toolbar you don't remember installing, or the advertising you receive is suspiciously reminiscent of websites you frequent, or maybe your Internet searches get rerouted through unexpected websites. If you suspect any untoward goings-on on your computer, this software will track it down and get shot of it for good!

Ad-aware
This free program from Lavasoft is designed to scan your system for unwanted advertising packages and spyware. It lets you safely remove such nuisances, and helps protect your privacy while on the Internet. This coupled with Spybot Search and Destroy make a great anti-spyware combination.

HijackThis
This is another handy tool to have around. It scans your registry for certain types of software installed on your system and gives you a report. If you think you have software on your system that is trying to take a certain degree of control from you, the chances are this program will find it. However, unless you know how to modify registry entries and know exactly what you're doing, you're probably better off to get an expert to take a look at your log for you and give you advice.Do not, whatever you do, get it to fix anything without being aware of the effects such an action will have as this could lead to an unusable system!
For further information check out the Browser Hijacking article at SpywareInfo.com. The Support Forums are also an excellent resource.

Crap Cleaner
"CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less that a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)"

FileZilla
FileZilla is a fast and reliable FTP client and server with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface.

Gaim
A Linux/UNIX instant messenger client, which can handle multiple protocols, including AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!, Jabber, and Gadu-Gadu.

Zone Alarm (free edition)
Free version of the popular Zone Alarm firewall. Easy-to-use firewall blocks hackers and other unknown threats: systematically identifies hackers and blocks access attempts, and automatically makes your computer invisible to anyone on the Internet.

TweakNow RegCleaner
Free utility to clear the rubbish from your Windows Registry. The Windows Registry is a special are of your system where program configuration details, etc. are held, and over time this can become cluttered with unwanted and obsolete items which can significantly slow your system down.

MRU Blaster
Another security program. This one scans your registry for Most Recently Used (MRU) lists and cleans them up for you. It adds to the privacy and security of your system. There are other programs offered on this site that are well worth a look, too.

Programmers File Editor
The Programmers File Editor (PFE) is a DOS/Windows utility to help you write software in computer languages such as C, C++, etc. as well as HTML. It's a very useful utility to have around and I used it quite a lot to develop this website.

7-Zip
7-Zip is a wonderful file-zipping utility, rather like WinZip, except this one is completely free. It understands WinZip files, so you can compress a file with this and have WinZip unzip it, or vice versa, with no problems. It also supports its own compression format which enables a higher compression to take place, but files zipped up in this format must also be uncompressed with 7-Zip.

MWSnap
MWSnap is a very simple to use screen capture program. I have used it for some of the articles on this site, and found it very satisfactory. You can capture windows, menus, and user-specified regions of the screen at the click of the mouse or the depression of user-defined hotkeys. The author has other free software on his Free Windows Software page.

IrfanView
This is another extremely useful utility program that enables you to perform a degree of manipulation on images. It supports many different file formats, and lets you resize, change colours, alter contrast, plus may other things.

AVG AntiVirus
What? No anti-virus software on your PC? Well, get this one! The best part about it is the price tag! It's a good product, too. You can, of course, purchase a more functional version from Grisoft from here.

CleanUp!
Free disk space, make your computer run better/faster and protect your privacy - all in one easy solution. All for free!

System Security Suite
Here you can find a free utility to clear various lists your computer holds, including those dreaded index.dat files that record EVERY internet site you visit! It's very easy to use, and works with most, if not every, current version of Windows including XP.

Everest Free Edition
Handy little program to have around that reports on the state of the hardware and other things on your computer system. Often used to help diagnose faults, etc. Please note: Lavalys, who makes Everest, no longer provide or support the free version thus this one comes "as-is" with no warranties of any kind.

Please note that software not hosted on my website itself is not my own work; I cannot take any responsibility for any loss or damage caused as a result of using any of these programs. As far as I am aware they are reliable, but please read the documentation on their host sites before downloading for full details, installation/usage instructions, and limitations.

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