A list of select freeware
Are you tired of not being able to find free software (freeware) as powerful as commercial software?
If so, you may like my short list of the best freeware for Windows 98. Please bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive list of available freeware. It does, however, contain the best from each freeware category, selected after many hours surfing, installing and testing. Note: if you have a slow modem (56K) it may be best to buy a magazine with a CD ROM containing the large programs. ;-)
1) Compress [Identical to Winzip]
Power Archiver 2000 (2.4Mo) http://www.powerarchiver.com/
2) Antivirus with free updates [Identical to Norton Antivirus]
Download the last version of this very good antivirus : InoculateIt (3.7 Mo) http://antivirus.cai.com/
Set it up and update it regularly ("autodownload").
I also use "eTrust Mail Watcher" (900ko). It blocks doubtful emails under Outlook. http://ca.com/solutions/enterprise/etrust/content_inspection/personal/mailwatcher.htm
3) Images
a) Manage and compress different images formats (e.j.: Jpeg, Gif, ...) [Identical to Acdsee]
Xnview (2.2 Mo) http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/indexgb.html
b) Modify photos [Identical to photoshop]
GIMP (12.5 Mo) http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32//
4) Music
a) Convert audio CD in ".wav" and from ".wav" in ".mp3"
"Cdn'Go! Suite" (3.9Mo) [Identical to Audiocatalyst] http://www.cdngo.com/
b) Convert ".mp3" in ".wav"
Cf. Winamp (CTRL+F ; output "diskwriter"; configure (set the place where you want to create your ".wav" files; Play the files (there will be no sound played, it is normal); Come back to "configure" and choose the last same options)
c) Audio CD, Mp3 and wav Player ,
Winamp [Note: do not select the option (CTRL+F) "read title on demand"] http://www.winamp.com/
d) Catalog your CD's
MPEG Audio Collection (500Ko) [Identical to Advance Disk Catalog] http://www.webmasterfree.com/mpegcoll.html
e) Record on your hard drive all the sounds that are played (example: real player, windows media player..)
Here, I made an exception because I prefer a shareware (cost : around $10. Note: I am not making any money with the sale of this software) which is much more simple than the freeware in my humble opinion. But, if you like recording radio, the freeware is better than the shareware. ;-)
Shareware : Total Recorder (950 Ko) http://www.highcriteria.com/
Freeware : Messer (565 Ko) http://www.dago.pmp.com.pl/messer/
f) For changing audio files under ".wav" (e.j.: change volume, keep only one part of a sound,...)
ASIA (650 Ko) [Identical to Cool edit] http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Platform/9182/
5) Internet
a) Surfing
Download and resume downloads : FlashGet (1.3 Mo) http://www.amazesoft.com/download.htm and/or GoZilla (2.3 Mo) [an interesting option is "Leech". Note: Be careful, there is a spy inside this software. Use "Ad-aware" (see after) to erase it.] http://www.gozilla.com/download_links.html
b) Create you web site
StarOffice (see after). [Identical to Macromedia Dreamweaver]
Transfer ".html" pages on your web site: "LeechFTP" (630 Ko) http://stud.fh-heilbronn.de/~jdebis/leechftp/downloads.html
Check all bad links inside your web site : "Xenu's Link Sleuth" (500 Ko) [Identical to LinkBot Pro] http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html
c) Protect your data
Firewall : mandatory if you have a fast access to the internet (cable, ADSL). It lets you choose which softwares can have access to the internet and also which ones can have access to your computer from the internet. "Zone Alarm" (1,7 Mo) http://www.zonelabs.com/
Eraser (800 Ko) : It lets you really erase the data that you just remove from your computer bin ! In fact, this freeware erase 25 times all the files thrown away. Like that nobody will be able to take your erased data. Very practical if you have sensitive data inside your computer. http://www.tolvanen.com/eraser/
Ad-Aware (700 Ko). It lets you remove spyware (ad spy) inside your computer http://www.lavasoft.de/aaw/index.html
6) StarOffice 5.2 (63 Mo) [Identical to Office Suite from Microsoft (Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, Outlook, Frontpage ) ]
http://www.sun.com/products/staroffice/5.2/get.html
This freeware is really complete and reliable.
Note: I recommend you to choose one standard : Microsoft ($$$) or Staroffice (free). Once it done do all your files with it, because for instance, converted Microsoft Office's files from StarOffice are not very great especially for graphics. ;-( But, I must add that it exists no better converter ;-)
7) Dictionaries
English thesaurus and dictionary (4.5 Mo) http://www.x-word.com/thesaurus/
Babylon (1,7 Mo) Note: Be careful there is a spyware inside the freeware. Use "Ad-aware" (see before) for erasing it. http://www.Babylon.com
[other dictionaries http://www.yourdictionary.com/]
8) Various
a) Some Plug-ins (we never know ?) : Direct X ; Quick time ; Real Audio Player; Windows Media Player
b) Disk Data (540 Ko) : It lets you see which files are taking all the space inside your hard disk http://www.digallery.com/diskdata/
c) A link for finding other freewares : http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Freeware/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Software/Freeware/ and http://OnlyTheBestFreeware.com/
d) ".pdf" files reader http://www.adobe.fr/products/acrobat/readstep.html
Finally a few notes :
Please send me an email only if one significant freeware is missing [ Tell me please what the freeware's link is doing. Forget your personal ego and be objective. Send me only the link of the best freeware you found and tell me which other freeware you tried ! Thanks :-) ].
Here is a list of freeware that I am looking for : [Identical to Macromedia Flash / efficient anti-popup / Create easily ".pdf" file / Powerful and easy crypt hard disk data / a very good anti-trojan]
Bear in mind that this small web site won't be updated very regularly. So, if a link is bad, do yourself a search in Goggle http://www.google.com/ ;-)
Finally forget my email if you are not pleased with this site presentation. It won't change ! I prefer that this site stays simple and efficient. ;-)
Enjoy ;-) ,
Site created 4/9/2001. Last update 05/05/2001.