Downloads/Free Software-

If you scroll down you'll find what we believe is some of the best software on the market today. Bar none. Best of all its free and the equal of almost any commercial (read paid) software on the market.

None of this list is unique to us or to any other source but not everyone has heard of these sites and the great software that’s out there just for the asking. Try some of them out.

Our favourites

First, here are a few of the standard sites for finding software and utilities.

www.shareware.com, www.download.com, www.all-freeware.com & www.dirfile.com

Now here are our suggestions. . .

Word processing, spread sheets, et al (MS-Office replacements)

OpenOffice.org – is a free fully functional Microsoft office replacement. It has been around for a long time and was originally written by Sun Microsystems and has been enhanced by the user/programmer community. This is a very powerful product that can do as much or more than its commercial competitors.

(http://www.openoffice.org)

SSuite - Another alternative to Open Office this comes to us from South Africa . This software takes a different approach to the programming and unlike Open Office it DOES NOT require shells like Java or .NET. That means it runs very nicely on older and less powerful systems. Its gained favourable reviews in respected publication like PC World and others. We tend to agree with their take. We like what we see.

Photo viewers and editors

Irfanview- In our opinion, this programme, especially with its plugins (little additions to add more functionality) is the Cadillac of picture viewers regardless of whether its freeware, shareware or commercial software. (this one is freeware). I’ve never seen a better one.

(http://www.irfanview.com)

Kodak Easy Share- Looking for something simple to organize your pictures, and act as a basic photo editor and print manager? This could be it. Its original purpose is to support Kodak digital cameras, but it works well no matter what camera you have.

It ONLY works with premium photo papers but if you lie to the software and tell it you have photo paper in the printer, it WILL print on any paper, but standard bond is so saturated with ink it’s a waste of paper and ink)

(http://www.kodak.ca)

Photo Filtre- This is a photo editor, not stripped down or crippled in any way. Its fairly powerful and while it won’t do as much as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, its big enough to get the job done, even for advanced users. It WILL take a little time to learn all of its capabilities but the time is worth the effort. There is a small help file where you’d expect it but the online help is quite extensive.

(http://www.photofiltre.com)

Security/Anti virus/Anti spyware

Considering an unprotected system is safe for an average of 12 minutes, it begs the question, how do we protect ourselves?

First and foremost…install the latest Windows and browser updates. You might also think about getting the latest version.

Next turn on the Windows XP firewall. If you don’t have XP try a free standing software firewall like Zone Alarm. In fact you might consider running both.

You might also consider a hardware firewall (if you have a DSL/cable connection). Most routers have one built in which will block a lot of the junk that comes streaming your way. It becomes the end point in the path from your ISP provider and will intercept the bad guys.

On the software side, the following products are effective and safe.

AVG Antivirus - look for AVG Free. Like the name says, it’s free for use by individuals on their home computers. There is a more powerful paid version for commercial users if you are in business or need more flexibility than the free version provides. This used to be available for all operating systems but the new release (Version 8) is limited to XP, Vista and Windows 2000 (SR4) only.

(http://free.avg.com)

Avast Antivirus Home Edition - like AVG Free, this one is also for home users only. It has one quality that AVG Free doesn't. It will install on operating systems older than Windows XP which makes it one of the few choices left if you are running Windows 98 or ME.

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Spybot Search and Destroy - This is one of the most popular anti spyware products available and in our opinion one of the most effective. It features real time scanning (you used to have to scan your drives manually) and a website analysis tool to warn you if there might be malware lurking in those unknown websites you see when you do a search. Spybot S&D is free.

(http://www.safer-networking.org)

Ad-Aware spyware killer – this product is also free to home users. It was one of the first anti-spyware products on the market and is still a leader. Again, there is a commercial version that adds features and automates a lot of the tasks it performs.

http://www.lavasoft.com

Combined with Spybot S&D you have a very powerful system to weed out those annoying and sometimes crippling ‘gifts’ from the net.

A few pointers for running these products-

MAKE SURE that you have the latest data files for all of these programmes. They aren’t much help if the virus or spyware is newer than the version you use and it can’t find it. Updating once a week is USUALLY enough but more often is better if you have the time.
If you are running Windows ME or XP, turn off System Restore before you try to clean out the malicious software. Otherwise you are running the risk of simply reinfecting the computer the next time you boot because the system is also backing up the problem.
Go to Safe Mode (Windows loads only the bare essentials and you won’t get nearly as many conflicts with other software) to clean the system and reboot the system after each programme runs. If Spybot Search and Destroy wants to run after a reboot (it will ask you), let it. Some spyware/adware is resident in the memory when the system is running and the programme can’t delete the files while it is.

Of course there are also the commercial products we all know including Norton Anti-Virus (and Norton Internet Security), McAffee Anti Virus, and others.

In addition, the people at AVG, Symantec (Norton), McAfee and others also offer free removal tools for specific viruses if the basic product doesn' t do the job.

Utilities

Note- some of the programmes below are very powerful and could affect programmes that you use all the time. In extreme cases (very rare) they could even render your system unbootable requiring a full reinstall (restore) of your operating system. Please ensure you have backups of critical data (don’t forget your pictures) and a current restore point (Windows ME and newer). Back off it you aren't sure what its about to do to your system.

CCleaner- This little gem helps get rid of things like cookies, dead links, history lists, and a lot more. Use it carefully and read all of the instructions and warnings. It's very effective.

(http://www.ccleaner.com)

Sisoft Sandra Lite- A fairly straightforward diagnostics/identity tool. Can’t figure out what modem you have? Want to test your hard drive or processor to see how it stacks up against other computers? This will do it. Nice interface. No headaches. Just information.

(http://www.sisoftware.net)

Finally, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of other weapons in your fight to keep your system clean and operating efficiently. Among the most popular are CWShredder (for ridding yourself of Cool Web Search, a particularly difficult problem to fix) and HijackThis! (both available at www.download.com), which gives you a simple way to search for those hidden components of the offending virus, spyware or ad-ware. They are easy to find on the web and are very effective.

Drivers

Sometimes getting a piece of hardware to function can be the most aggravating problem in running your computer. The most authoritative source of drivers is the manufacturer of the device. Look in the support or drivers section for the latest version.

If can't find it, there are a host of sites that might list that elusive driver but in our opinion among the best of them is

www.driverguide.com: This is one of the premier sites for finding drivers for almost any hardware, including those obscure cards, scanners, printers, etc, that you find at yard sales and thrift stores.

This website requires registration. Do it. You can’t download anything until you do. Its safe, no one will send you free gifts (read viruses, worms, spyware, etc) and they won’t clutter your inbox with unwanted emails.

Also…go back and write a review…even if it doesn’t work (they won’t be insulted).

This is a user driven website and they need our input (and uploads if you have something to offer). You’ll be helping the next fellow who just can’t seem to find the right driver for his hardware.

If you don't know what hardware you have (other than it is a modem, sound card or whatever) there is a nice free utility called the "Unknown Device Identifier". Not only is it effective but it can save you hours of downloading and trying multiple drivers (that are the wrong ones) that don't work.

You can get it here. . .

http://www.zhangduo.com/unknowndeviceidentifier.html

This is only a tiny sampling of what’s out there on the net and at your favourite computer store (hopefully, that’s us). Do a little exploring (safely of course) and you’ll get a lot more out of your computer than the basics. Maybe even enough to make it fun again, instead of a chore to keep things in check. Wouldn't that be nice for a change?

A note on security-

If you stick to the major sites when you download these, you stand less of a chance of contracting some nasty, unplanned for, (who plans on getting viruses anyway????) virus or spyware or those other little nasties lurking out on the Internet. While file sharing networks like Kazaa and Limewire are extremely popular, remember that you have NO idea who you are connecting to and while the hosts try to ensure they filter out things like viruses, they aren’t always successful. In short get these from either a trusted site like w ww.downloads.com or directly from the author. It could save you a lot of headaches.

Meanwhile, register freeware if the software if the author asks you to. They like to know who is using their work, and where they are (especially considering this is the WORLD WIDE web).

If its shareware, honour the author’s request for payment when the trial period is over or remove it from your system. Usually registering does more than just put a few bucks in the author’s pocket. Frequently it also gives you support, added features, new versions and even access to other programmes from the same author.

A note on piracy-

There are a multitude of methods and sites where you can find cracks, keys and full versions of virtually any programme that has been written. Sometimes it’s even available before the retail versions get on the shelves.

Although it is tempting to get something free, RESIST THE URGE to indulge your baser instincts.

Why? Outside of the moral and legal issues about pirating software there are some more practical reasons for using the ‘real thing’.

While you may think that your single copy doesn’t mean much in the big scheme of things, it does. According to some sources (including the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) piracy has cost the Canadian economy alone more than 1.1 BILLION dollars to date. Worldwide the loss is about 41 billion dollars a year.
Frequently the product doesn’t work properly or is missing components. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all.
You run a real risk of infecting your system with a virus and that alone can cost you lost data, time, and money. (you were trying to save a few bucks, but this kind of defeats the purpose doesn’t it?)
You get no support, critical updates are not available or you just have to compound the problem by pirating them as well.
If you get caught and prosecuted the loss of reputation alone can cripple or even kill your business. That’s not to mention the fines, and other penalties that could result.

In addition, there are people out there willing to part you from your cash (or credit card number) for a counterfeit copy of a programme. The basic tool for protecting yourself is your gut reaction to the price. If the price seems to be “too good to be true”…it almost always is. There are some pretty good instructions for telling the real thing from the counterfeit on the CAAST website. (http://www.caast.org). In a nutshell, you can frequently tell the difference by inspecting the package/disk closely. Poor printing, paper labels as opposed to silk-screened disks, and a “generic” license number (or certificate of authenticity) are all quite common.

Happy computing!

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