must-have freeware apps

[ablang]

If you were re-installing Win9x on your computer, what freeware apps would you have to install afterwards?

[blind to truth]

well most likely an mp3 player and ..of course...you need something to unzip must downloadable files.A tool for this is www.winzip.com (http://www.winzip.com) ..winzip!

[Techie Dude]

Ha ha.....a subject close to my heart!

After an install on WinXX I will install the following (which I find I can not do without!).

RAM-Page - Reclaims that RAM that windows steals all the time. (www.moochers.com)

NetLaunch - Configure this to make net connections from the system tray. Well worth a look. (www.moochers.com)

InoculateIT - Free virus checker, including free updates (after free registration). (www.inoculateit.com)

Real Player 8 - Latest Real Player. (www.realplayer.com)

Go!Zilla - Download manager (www.gozilla.com)

ZoneAlarm - Free firewall to prtect you computer while online. (www.zonelabs.com)

PAL-Talk - Free voice chat software (Better than mplayer). (www.paltalk.com)

WinAMP - Media player that also plays MP3`s. (www.winamp.com)

WinZip - I actually use Compressed folders in WinME, but WinZip will do fine. (www.winzip.com)

Ok, that`s pretty much it.....Ummmmmm........oh, ICQ too. The list is too large to print here, I have hundreds of apps installed, but I tried to list my favourite FREEWARE apps for you.....


See ya!

[This message has been edited by Techie Dude (edited 08-23-2000).]

[PsycholicSlag]

netlaunch is the ONLY program that starts up w/windows on my machine. great program.

stay away from Go!Zilla!!!!! it uses SPYWARE and will send information of where you've been - A DIRECT INVASION OF PRIVACY. then again, maybe you don't care but i do - they don't tell you about that part. a pretty decent download manager is Download Accellerator Pro. it actually runs 4 simultaneous connections to maximize transfer rate. and it's free. no 'bandwidth' adjustment, but i do that by disabling images in my browser. as far as spyware goes, there's about 200 freeware programs out there that have spyware and there's another freeware prog that'll detect it's presence and remove it... just don't remember the name of it now. i can dig it up if anyone's interested.


CACHEMAN is a DEFINATE must in windows 9x - and it may be found at http://www.outertech.com , but it is not freeware.... it's postcardware. (dang, still owe that guy a postcard too. bout 5 of them by now.) i'm not sure if it would touch any settings RAM page messes with though, so be careful not to run memory managers that conflict with each other. doesn't sound like it though. cacheman adjusts vcache settings, not sure about the other.

DEFINATELY a great topic, and i'll be certain to check out RAM-page and zonealarm.

[This message has been edited by PsycholicSlag (edited 08-23-2000).]

[PsycholicSlag]

not finding ram page at moochers... great site though! perhaps we could get a direct link....

[Psycho-holic Slag]

this topic definately needs revisiting....

and as far as spyware is concerned, anyone concerned about privacy and who uses freeware needs to check out http://grc.com/optout.htm

[BFlurie]

Techie Dude, sorry, but RAM-page and other progs like that, do absolutely nothing to make Win9X run better. See this series of articles: http://www.winmag.com/columns/explorer/2000/11.htm
You WANT Windoz to use RAM -- as much as possible. When Windoz needs to "free" up RAM, it does it, and does it FAST.
A more meaningful question would be what in our experience are the best 3rd party APPs (not just freeware).

[Psycho-holic Slag]

i'm wiser for having read the article (well, most of it anyway), but it only reviews programs that reside in memory which i wouldn't have anything to do with anyway. cacheman adjusts vcache settings in either sys.ini or win.ini and that's it. no 'tricks' are being played like the review discusses. i can't say i notice some miraculous improvement, but cacheman also includes it's own resource meter which report a huge increase in free memory after the adjustments - no question about it.

as far as opening the thread up to 3rd party apps goes - anyone is (obviously) welcome to post what they want, but i'm just looking for freeware.

[alan]

Psyco, IMHO optout sux big time, it only checks for 2 kinds of spyware, now if you really worry about this kind of invasion of privacy try AD-AWARE its free, it works and it looks for 6 different forms of spyware, you can get it here (http://lavasoft.de)

the only thing optout has going for it is its size 30+k and written in pure machine code and its fast.

[stylin19]

Cacheman also hacks the registry to increase the File& Directory cache settings.

Langa is a nice read, but he fails to accurately explain the distinction between "system resources" and "ram usage" One has nothing to do with the other. There are some good Ram helpers out there. I list the one I like, below.

Here is a better article re: the distinction:
system resources vs. ram (http://216.167.71.32/techfiles/win-resources.html)

some freeware i have to have http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/frown.gif some postcardware, some require registration, but all are FREE)

shopvac ( registry shrinker )

Kaufman Mail Warrior v3.57 ( e-mail client )

cleansys ( unused dll finder/remover)

cleanreg ( registry cleaner )

regmaid ( registry cleaner )

ecleaner ( a header and/or symbol remover from an e-mail)

spell check for windows edit boxes ( a spell checker for ANY windows app...this post can be spell checked with it)

digital organiser for windows (a day planner)

BootLog Analyzer ( helpfull for tracking bootup delays/errors)

RamBooster ( frees physical memory - I havent used it in a long time, as i now have 384mb ram and have disabled virtual memory..can't remember the last time i crashed)

RegCleaner ( swiss army knife for registry cleaning)

thanx for posting and..........
keep postin them..i can use all the help i can get.

[This message has been edited by stylin19 (edited 08-31-2000).]

[edtrip]

PsycholicSlag
Definitely gotta agree with you regarding Gozilla and it's spyware features BUT how sure are we that download accelerator doesn't do the same? I'll tell you why I ask. I have download accelerator and I like it, but I'm on a dial-up connection and if I log-off my ISP first, and then try to exit download manager, it always tries to reconnect me to my ISP instead of just quietly going away. Now WHY is it doing that if it's not to tell somebody somewhere "hey so and so was here and downloaded this and this"?

[brandon184]

I'm always quick to install Winzip on my systems, after a clean install of the OS.

- Brandon

[Psycho-holic Slag]

dunno about that one, ed... i have adjusted the settings to exit the program after a download has completed. obviously it is making some sort of http or ftp request, but i'm guessing it's download new ad banners (and NOT downloading them during the d-load to conserve bandwith).

[redder]

IrfanView32 is a great image viewer. I use it to convert and resize graphics. It is a great way to work through multiple images.

[clinny]

Yep, Redder, IrfanView 32 is an excellent program.
I'd also have to have SurfSaver - http://www.surfsaver.com and Download Accelerator -http://www.downloadaccelerator.com

[ablang]

The best I've seen for RAM is Memory Cleaner from PCworld.com (or fileworld.com). Instead of rebooting my Win98 system every day (due to lagging system performance), it is stretched to 2 (usually) or 3(if I'm really lucky!) days.

[voogru]

winzip!


(ever notice how ablang is still trying to get that ultimate member status in record time)

[Win_98]

I don't think most of these app are freeware, more like shareware which mean you are free to try it out and if you like it, you are asked to pay them a fee. Otherwise you have that nag screen annoying the hell out of you. There is no such thing as free, all are asked to be paid but the ideas is to let you try it out. Some of which are 20 day limited which will not function at all after the trial period even if you uninstall and reinstall. Such as WinAmp, Pkzip, getright, lviewpro etc.

[AuraEdge]

My list...ALL freeware..that means no trial period, demoish disabled stuff, and the like.
For any WinXX unless noted.
----------

Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.05 - Just should have it for those rare times you use a .PDF

Sisoft Sandra Millenium Standard (Win9X or ME only) - Great diagnosic and benchmarking program

Motherboard Monitor - Great small little app..shows your systems temperatures in the taskbar.

3DMark2000 - Great Benchmarker, and looks shnazzy

Winamp - Gotta have it for MP3's

Windows Media Player - Gotta have it for movies

CDex - Rips CD's to WAV's, Rips CD's to MP3's, Encodes WAV's to MP3's, or Decodes MP3's to WAV's, and CDDB capability all in the same program.

Napster - If you got internet and know about winamp, chances are you got this already


Realplayer - For all those Real movies

Internet Explorer 5.5 - For web pages n stuff...

ICQ2000b - Best Internet chat program, to kill many hours at the comp when theres nothing else to do.

AOL Instant Messenger - To talk to all those friends at school who are stuck on AOL.

Download Accelerator Plus - Uses less resourses than Gozilla, makes less strange noises, Aureate-free, and downloads way faster in forming up to 7 simultaneous connections to the same download site. Resume features, even on sites that dont support resume, tops it off.

AOL 5.0 - I dont USE it, but always good to have installed in case someone comes over and wants to go online in thier sheltered AOL world.

ZoneAlarm 2.0 - Keeps those pesky hackers out!

Distributed.net Client - Keeps your CPU busy when its not doing anything.

Regclean - Small free app from Microsoft themselves that should be in every copy of windows. Fixes the registry when it decides to errorize itself.

EasyCleaner - Great little app. Does a couple of things actually. It can search the drives for unnecessary files, like .000's, .bak's, and the like. In addition, it can search the harddrive for duplicate files, with the same size and same name, and you can delete them if you choose.
The most useful feature is that it can search the regestry for keys that refer to files that are no longer existant. Sometimes this can clear up to 300 keys.

Winzip - Most people use Winzip, but its not freeware (know that nag screen that tells ya to register?). Im just putting it here cuz most people have it and need it to unzip stuff.

WinRAR - Heres a good one...This one can do everything that Winzip can do except create self EXE's, no nag screens, and can even work .rar's which Winzip cant. This one isnt ttotally freeware either, but you would never know unless you read the manual.

Think thats it...They can all be found at www.download.com (http://www.download.com)

--EDIT
One more thing..about Spyware...I think the app OptOut at grc.com would have caught it if it were spyware on the Download accerator. The reason its trying to reconnect you is that...see that BIG banner thing on Download accelerator? Its programmed to refresh itself every so many seconds. It makes an internet request in doing this, and you probably have it to dial up every time an app needs the net. I dont recall it doing that on mine...What it did, when I was on dialup, was that it would cycle the same add over and over if I disconnected, instead of trying to grab another one.

[This message has been edited by AuraEdge (edited 09-28-2000).]

[Nathan G]

Rain.. or some kind of CPU idle application for sure!! Thatis....If you are not planning on running RC5 :-)
Here is URL for Rain http://www.tweakfiles.com/processor/rain.html
Look here for others
http://www.tweakfiles.com/
Regards

[Comtech]

Langa is a nice read, but he fails to accurately explain the distinction between "system resources" and "ram usage" One has nothing to do with the other.
Stylin19: Excuse me? Windows resource meter reads your "system resources. This being, the total amount of free RAM and swap file. Use Windows System Information instead, and monitor the swap and RAM independantly, you'll get a MUCH better idea of what's going on.
Thanks for mentioning Shopvac though! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Here's my list of "must have" FREEware
TclockEX
ZA
Push The Freakin' Button
Eudora Light
EasyCleaner
NewsExpress
GetIT (instead of gozilla or somesuch, no adware!)
IrfanView
Winamp

For a "memory" tool, I have a tiny VBS script I run when needed.

Caching is done manually, through the reg and .ini files. I don't use 3rd party managers for this.

I don't mention an FTP program, because I have yet to find a REALLY GOOD free one, just the typical adware/shareware (hacked). http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Most of the programs I've listed can be found on my software pages. (http://members.cnx.net/reboot/)

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

As for the RAM issue... I tried to look and see if anyone has already mentioned this little app but I don't think I saw anyone say anything about it... It's called MaxMem and it's available from Analogx's website. I have been using it for close to a year now and seems pretty effective. Check it out:
http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/maxmem.htm

Other than that, my must have freeware apps are:

WinZip

Zone Alarm

Sonique MP3 Player

Napster

Aladdin Expander ( WinZip equivilant for trading files among Windoze, Mac & Linux, If Winzip can't do it, then I go to Aladdin) http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html