Some participants in the alt.comp.freeware Usenet newsgroup combine their knowledge and experience to compile a yearly list of what they consider the best of the best in freeware. It is deemed Pricelessware.

For an RTF file that contains:
2008 Pricelessware with all details.
All nominated programs with vote count.
2008 Pricelessware list of voters.

DESKTOP

Clipboard Extender  Yankee Clipper IIIPowerful Windows clipboard extender/memory. The program handles Pictures, (Rich) text and URLs with no size limitations. Everything you copy to the clipboard is automatically sorted into the responding category, where it can easily be reviewed, deleted, saved or sent to other applications via the Shoot feature or via drag and drop. Additional features include printing, optional permanent storage of clippings (boilerplate) and more.  Download
Clock Customizer  TClockExTClockEx enhances the standard Windows taskbar clock, adding the ability to display the date, time and lots of other information in any format you like. TClockEx is highly customizable, from the format to the font and colour, and even the tooltip information.  Download
Desktop Manager  VirtuaWinVirtuaWin is a small, fast and easy to use virtual desktop manager for Windows9x/ME/NT/2000/XP with no unnecessary features. The current desktop is indicated by a small icon in the system tray to conserve space. There are many configuration possibilities for both mouse and keyboard control. VirtuaWinalso supports modules for adding features without decreasing the performance in VirtuaWin itself.  Download
Icon Tool  IconoidSave and Restore Icon positions for each (or every) screen resolution and more.  Download
Monitor Tool  MultiResWorks very much like a 32-bit version of the venerable Microsoft QuickRes 16-bit applet for Windows 95, with administrative scripting facilities and extended capabilities to handle ClearType, refresh rates and multiple monitors. Supported resolution and refresh rates are accessible from the command-line or from a simple menu that pops up from the system tray. An optional timed confirmation prompt, enabled by default in the program About box ensures that any changes you make can be reversed safely, without fuss. While MultiRes, unlike EnTech's PowerStrip, does not allow you to define new display settings, it does give you quick and easy access to the ones the driver makes available, in a simple, compact and conservative package.  Download
Mouse Tool  KatMouseThe prime purpose of the KatMouse utility is to enhance the functionality of mice with a scroll wheel, offering universal scrolling: moving the mouse wheel will scroll the window directly beneath the mouse cursor (not the one with the keyboard focus, which is default on Windows OSes).  Download
Screen Capture  FastStone CapturePowerful, flexible and intuitive screen-capture utility. It allows you to capture anything on the screen including windows, objects, full screen, rectangle regions, freehand selected regions and scrolling windows or web pages. It has innovative features such as a floating Capture Panel, hotkeys, resizing, cropping, text annotation, printing, e-mailing, screen magnifier and many more.  Download
Screen Capture Video  Screen2exeExcellent tool to capture desktop activity with voice and save it as a self-playing .exe file.  Download
Shortcuts Launchers  PStartA simple tray tool to start user defined applications. Designed to run portable applications (like portable Firefox & Thunderbird), you can start anything runnable from USB key devices or removable disks. Install PStart locally to your hard disk to have an additional start menu with a quick program search feature. Install PStart to your USB stick to launch portable applications easily and open important documents or folders.  Download
Shortcuts Launchers  Tray It!TrayIt! allows to save precious Taskbar space for minimized windows. For each application which applies TrayIt! it creates a small icon in the System Tray. (System Tray area is located near the Clock). When application's window is minimized this icon represents the application on the Taskbar instead of the regular minimized rectangle. It is particularly useful for background tasks you typically keep running on your PC all day long like your favorite E-mail client, Real Player, etc.  Download
USB  USB Disk EjectorA program that allows you to quickly remove USB devices in Windows. It was originally designed to remove only USB pen drives but will now eject any USB device. It can be run as a non-visual command line program or a normal gui program. It is very useful if you have a USB flash/pen drive, especially if you use a menu such as PStart or the Portable Apps launcher.  Download
Wallpaper Manager  Wallpaper ChangerWallpaper manager that can change your background images on every startup, once a day or at regular intervals. It features JPEG, PNG, GIF and BMP support. Several options are provided, including the ability to change your images in random order.  Download

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING

Automation Macros  AutoHotkeyFour primary features: 1) automating repetitive tasks by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks (you can write such macros by hand or use the macro recorder); 2) creating hotkeys for keyboard, mouse, joystick, and handheld remote controls (virtually any key, button, or combination can become a hotkey); 3) expanding abbreviations as you type them (for example, typing btw can automatically produce by the way); and 4) creating custom data entry forms, user interfaces, and menu bars. AutoHotkey's secondary features include changing soundcard settings (like volume or mute); using a joystick or keyboard as a mouse; remapping keys; launching programs/documents; making any window transparent, always-on-top, or altering its shape; manipulating the clipboard; customizing the tray menu's icon and menu items; displaying dialog boxes to interact with the user; running existing AutoIt v2 scripts; and converting any script into an EXE file that can be run on any computer.  Download
Automation Macros  AutoItDesigned for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. It uses a combination of simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks in a way not possible or reliable with other languages (e.g. VBScript and SendKeys). AutoIt is also very small, self-contained and will run on all versions of Windows out-of-the-box with no annoying runtimes required!  Download
Database  SQLite Database BrowserOpen source visual tool used to create, design and edit database files compatible with SQLite. It is meant to be used for users and developers that want to create databases, edit and search data using a familiar spreadsheet-like interface, without the need to learn complicated SQL commands.  Download
Editor Hex  HxDFeature-rich hex editor for files, disks and RAM.  Download
Email Address Tool  Email Link EncoderThis antispam software utility enables you to encode your email links on your website so they can't be extracted by rogue internet spiders looking for email addresses to add to junk mailing lists. This will help prevent you from getting huge amounts of spam. [NOTE: provides three different methods of email obfuscation. Simple, fast]  Download
Link Checker  Xenu's Link SleuthChecks Web sites for broken links. Link verification is done on normal links, images, frames, plug-ins, backgrounds, local image maps, style sheets, scripts and java applets. It displays a continously updated list of URLs which you can sort by different criteria. A report can be produced at any time.  Download
Web Authoring WYSIWYG  KompoZerEasy to use tabbed FOSS WYSIWYG HTML editor considered to be a bug fix release for NVU. Supports XML, CSS and JavaScript. Features include customizable toolbars, automated spell checker, color picker and FTP site manager. Simple enough for beginners, yet has features that more experienced coders can appreciate.  Download

FILE AND DISK UTILITIES

Archives Extractor  Universal ExtractorExtract files from any type of archive, whether it's a simple zip file, an installation program, or even a Windows Installer (.msi) package. This application is not intended to be a general purpose archiving program. It will never replace 7-Zip, IzArch, WinRar etc. What it will do is allow you to extract files from virtually any type of archive, regardless of source, compression method, etc. Universal Extractor is written in AutoIt, a powerful open source scripting language. Universal Extractor itself, however, is just a front-end that uses many other programs to do the dirty work.  Download
Archives Zip-Unzip  7-Zip7-Zip is a F/OSS file archiver with a high compression ratio.  Download
Backup Drive  Paragon Drive Backup ExpressBacking up your data is like an insurance, you never have to worry if disaster strikes. Now there is no more excuse for lost data. This insurance costs you nothing! If your system and data are safe now, keep them that way with Drive Backup 9.0 Express. This simple easy to use software doesn't ask you bewildering questions, it just backs up your data when and where you tell it, and recovers whenever disaster happens.  Download
Backup Files  Cobian BackupCobian Backup is a multi-threaded program that can be used to schedule and backup your files and directories from their original location to other directories/drives in the same computer or other computer in your network. FTP backup is also supported in both directions (download and upload). Cobian Backup exists in two different versions: application and service. The program uses very few resources and can be running on the background on your system, checking your backup schedule and executing your backups when necessary. Cobian Backup is not an usual backup application: it only copies your files and folders in original or compressed mode to other destination, creating a security copy as a result. So Cobian Backup can be better described as a Scheduler for security copies.  Download
Backup Files  DriveImage XMLDriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives. The program allows you to: Backup logical drives and partitions to image files, Browse these images, view and extract files, Restore these images to the same or a different drive, Copy directly from drive to drive, Schedule automatic backups with your Task Scheduler. Image creation uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe hot images even from drives currently in use. Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Never again be stuck with a useless backup! Restore images to drives without having to reboot. NOTES: The program will backup, image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12, 16, 32 and NTFS.  Download
Backup Files  Karen's ReplicatorAutomatically backup files, directories, even entire drives! Karen's Replicator copies selected files from one drive/folder to another. Source and Destination folders can reside anywhere on your network. Options include repeated copies at intervals as short as a few minutes, or as long as several months, copy only files that have changed, and the replication of folder and file deletions. Specify which files should not be copied, and also which days a file should be skipped!  Download
Backup Files  XXCOPYA file/folder/system backup program.  Download
Backup Files Syncronize  SyncBackSyncBack helps you easily backup and synchronise your files to: the same drive; a different drive or medium (CDRW, CompactFlash, etc); an FTP server; a Network; or a Zip archive.  Download
Cataloger  CathyAn extremly small, very fast and easy to use media cataloging tool. You can use it to index files stored on removable media (CD's, DVD's or even diskettes), hard disks or net drives, and create searchable catalogs that can be used without having access to original media. Searching capabilities are based on file name, date and size. Additional features include filtering options, search duplicates or singles, customizable date format, etc. Found files can be opened (executed) or deleted directly, if they are present. Drag and drop support. Directory trees, MP3 album/song lists can be printed, disk space usage can be investigated. Single file executable, no install needed.  Download
Defrag Drives  DefragglerDefraggler is a defragmentation tool for files, folders and partitions. After analysis, Defraggler lists all the fragmented files and their paths, including size and no. of fragments. You can then choose to select individual files to defragment. The program requires no installation and can be run from a USB memory stick.  Download
Defrag Drives  JKDefragJkDefrag is a disk defragmenter and optimizer for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/2008/X64. Completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies, USB disks, memory sticks, and anything else that looks like a disk to Windows. Included are a Windows version, a commandline version (for scheduling by the task scheduler or for use from administrator scripts), a screensaver version, a DLL library (for use from programming languages), versions for Windows X64, and the complete sources.  Download
Defrag Drives  JKDefragGUIJkDefragGUI is an Graphical User Interface which allows you to easily select all the features JkDefrag, a freeware defragmentation tool made by Jeroen Kessels has to offer. But is can do a lot more. JkDefragGUI can schedule a defragmentation, install JkDefrag or it's screensaver but can also do some small maintenance to your computer. It can be used to schedule a defragmentation of your systemfiles like pagefile and registry files. JkDefragGUI also supports CCleaner which can be used instead of the internal cleaning function. It can also erase any information which is left behind on your harddisk after erasing files. JkDefragGUI was created for people who don't have the skills of an advanced user but still want to use the powerful features JkDefrag has to offer or for those people who like a GUI instead of using the command line.  Download
Directory Index  dirhtmlDirhtml a freeware index.html generator. Dirhtml generates customizable html files from a folder branch. Using scripts, dirhtml can create unique and arbitrarily complex files. The underlying concept of dirhtml is that it creates table-based folder listings that can be formatted in any way the user can dream up by using scripts. Possible uses of dirhtml: - Generate index.html pages for web servers - Locate particular files on disks (including mapped network disks), say like make index.html files for downloaded books, manuals, software or other collections. - Create randomized file lists (for example, lists of mp3 files) - Generate index pages that span entire folder branches Since dirhtml outputs html files, any build results in a static record of a folder branch at the time it was executed, which can be saved for future reference. Dirhtml can be run from the command line using batch files. Consequently, it can regenerate all index.html's on a server via a scheduled execution of appropriate batch files. Dirhtml is portable, registry green freeware. Help files in hmtl-format included.  Download
Directory Copy Path  Ninotech Path CopyNinotech Path Copy is a shell extension for Windows 95, 98, NT4, 2000, and XP that enables to copy the path of a file or directory to the Clipboard. You can then paste the path in to your document, e-mail, etc. You copy the path of a file or directory by right-clicking it in the Windows Explorer and choosing Copy Path from the context menu. The context menu then offers nine standard ways of copying the path, in addition to the user defined copying methods that you create yourself: (1) Short Name: File/folder name converted to 8.3 characters. (2)Long Name: File/folder name. (3)Short Folder:Parent folder name converted to 8.3 characters. (4)Long Folder: Parent folder name. (5)Short Path: Full path name converted to 8.3 characters. (6)Long Path: Full path name. (7)Short UNC Path: Full UNC path name converted to 8.3 characters (only enabled in network environment) (8)Long UNC Path:Full UNC path name (only enabled in network environment). (9)Internet Path: Full UNC path name converted to Internet path (only enabled in network environment). (+)Setup...Create your own copy methods for copying the path names.  Download
Duplicate File  Dup DetectorGreat app for finding duplicate and near duplicate images.  Download
File Manager IE  FileMenu ToolsFileMenu Tools allows you to customise the context menu of Windows Explorer. And it lets you: Add some built-in utilities that perform operations on files and folders. Add customised commands which run external applications, copy/move to a specific folder or delete specific file types. Configure the Send to submenu. Enable/disable commands which are added by other applications to the context menu.  Download
File Manager  OpenExpertWith OpenExpert you can configure every filetype with its own open with... submenu extension. So you can easily choose which application you want to open that particular file. Simply right click and select the program to open the particular file.  Download
File Manager  FreeCommanderFreeCommander is a dual panel file manager with a tabbed interface, file viewer, archive handling, FTP client, multi rename tool, securing wiping of files, file splitting, file searching (inside archive too), numerous localizations and much more.  Download
Files Delete  UnlockerEver had such an annoying message given by Windows: Cannot delete file: Access is denied. There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in use or the file is in use by another program or user. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use. Unlocker is the solution. Unlocker is an Explorer extension that allows you with a simple right-click of the mouse on a file or folder to get rid of error message such as error deleting file or folder, cannot delete folder: it is used by another person or program.  Download
File Undelete  RecuvaRecuva is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!  Download
Files Undelete  Unstoppable CopierRecovers files from disks with physical damage. Allows you to copy files from disks with problems such as bad sectors, scratches or that just give errors when reading data. The program will attempt to recover every readable piece of a file and put the pieces together.  Download
Files Undelete  Undelete PlusUndelete Plus is a quick and effective way to restore accidentally deleted files. It can also recover files that have been emptied from the Recycle Bin, permanantly deleted files within Windows using the Shift + Delete, and files that have been deleted from within a Command Prompt. For a limited time Undelete Plus is FREE Software for general non-commercial use.  Download
File Renamer  Bulk Rename UtilityBulk Rename Utility is a utility which allows you to easily rename files and directories, based upon extemely flexible criteria. Add date-stamps, replace numbers, insert strings, convert case, add auto-numbers, process folders and subfolders....plus loads more!  Download
File Renamer  Lupas RenameLupas Rename is a freeware utility that allows you to rename a masive number of files easily.  Download
File Renamer  Oscar's File RenamerOscar's File Renamer takes and enhances the idea of editing files in directory in a full featured Text editor and then writing all the changes at once into the files. Simply select a directory and the files will appear in the File Name Editor, a text editor with some additional changes (f.e. you can't add or delete line). You can use all the editor functions like Quick find, Replace, multiple Undo/Redo, Macros and of course normal editing.  Download
File Renamer  THE RenameTHE Rename is a program designed to help you to rename files and folders en masse with a number of possibilities and options. You can rename a series of files with a counter: pict0001.jpg, pict0002.jpg, pict0003.jpg... You can rename files so the prefix is in upper case and the extension is in lower case. The program is useful for people who publish pages on Internet and need to convert file names to lower case. The file attribute changer is a very useful option for anyone using a CD recorder. You can rename pictures with their width and height. You can rename audio files (MP3, VQF, OGG and WMA files) based on their internal tags. You can rename files and folders If you have a digital camera, THE Rename can use (EXIF) tags that your camera include inside photos.  Download
File Viewer  ListerExternal version of Total Commander's built-in viewer. Lister is a standalone viewer for text (ASCII, ANSI, Unicode, UTF-8, RTF), html files (formatted text and links), bitmaps and certain multimedia files. Any file can be browsed with a fixed length binary and a hex view. Lister can display pictures and other multimedia files using Irfanview or XNView as a filter. Lister Plugins written for Total Commander are supported, too. These plugins are available for a broad variety of file formats (executables, databases, CAD, GIS, office documents, archive files, fonts, Palm files, torrents, playlists,...), making Lister an excellent multi-format viewer. Some plugins also add edit facilities. Documents can be searched for text and hexadecimal strings. Text can be selected, copied to clipboard and printed. Customization is possible via command line and (if necessary various) *.ini file(s).  Download
File Wiper  EraserEraser is a secure file deletion tool that allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with sophisticated patterns (Gutman, USDoD and others). You can simply drag and drop files and/or folders onto the on-demand eraser, use the convenient Windows Explorer right-click extension or use the built-in scheduler for automated wiping of unused disk space, browser cache files etc. Easy to use and secure!  Download
Files Validate  HashHash is a small GUI tool designed to perform MD5, SHA1and CRC32 hashing functions on a number of files. The file size and modified date is also optionally shown. Results displayed in the window can easily be copied to the Windows clipboard or saved to a text file. The program allows direct browsing of multiple files and files can also be dragged and dropped onto the window. Files (with support for wildcard selections) can also be supplied on the command line. A convenient use for this functionality is to place a shortcut to the program in the SendTo directory (C:\Documents and Settings\[name]\SendTo) so you can send arbitrary files to it from the Explorer shell.  Download
File Analyzer  FileAlyzerFileAlyzer is a tool to analyze files - the name itself was initially just a typo of FileAnalyzer, but after a few days I decided to keep it. FileAlyzer allows a basic analysis of files (showing file properties and file contents in hex dump form) and is able to interpret common file contents like resources structures (like text, graphics, HTML, media and PE).  Download
File Notes  Filenote (ShellTools)FileNote is a little shell extension that allows you to add textual descriptions to your files. It adds one command to the shell context menu of a file object. This command lets you easily edit or create a text file that has the same name as the initial file, but with the extension TXT. For example, if you have a file, MyImage.jpg, you right-click on that file and choose the FileNote command from the context menu. A new text file called MyImage.txt is created and Notepad is opened to edit that text file. If a text file with that name already exists, it will be opened for viewing/editing.  Download
Partition Tool  GParted LiveCDGParted Live CD is the Gnome Partition Editor application on a bootable Linux CD-ROM. Gparted can create, destroy, resize, move, check and copy disk partitions.  Download
Recurse Directories  docmdCommand line tool to traverse a whole drive or a directory tree and print or perform a command on every file and/or directory. It supports complex criteria, including wildcards, Perl regular expressions, size/date/time patterns, and more.  Download
Resource Extractor  Resource HackerResource Hacker is a utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows xecutables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler. Cursor, Icon, Bitmap, GIF, AVI, and JPG resource images can be viewed. WAV and MIDI audio resources can be played. Menus, Dialogs, MessageTables, StringTables, Accelerators, Delphi Forms, and VersionInfo resources can be viewed as decompiled resource scripts. Menus and Dialogs can also be viewed as they would appear in a running application. Resources can be saved as image files, as script files, as binary resource files, or as untyped binary files. Resources can be modified by replacing the resource with a resource located in another file or by using the internal resource script compiler. Dialog controls can also be visually moved and/or resized by clicking and dragging the respective dialog controls prior to recompiling with the internal compiler. Resources can be added to an application by copying them from external resource files.  Download
Search  Agent RansackAgent Ransack is a free tool for finding files and information on your hard drive fast and efficiently. When searching the contents of files Agent Ransack displays the text found so you can quickly browse the results without having to separately open each file! Agent Ransack provides compelling advantages over similar search tools: Regular expressions that allow complex rule based searches. Immediate contents results view. Various wizards to walk the user through the searching process.  Download
Search  Copernic Desktop Search HomeFree for non-commercial home use, Copernic Desktop Search HOME (CDSH) allows you to instantly search the content of your files(*), e-mails and e-mail attachments (supported mail formats: Outlook versions, Thunderbird, Eudora v.5+). But before you can search CDS must build an index for all your files(*), and later continuously update the index when new files are added or old deleted. CDS does not index while you are using your mouse or keyboard, or when your CPU is being heavily solicited by another application. You can change these configuration settings from the Index & Performance tab of the Options window of CDS. Note that indexing is always performed at full speed when the CDS main window is open and active (in foreground). *CDSH supports many common file formats.  Download

GRAPHICS

Editor  GIMPGIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.  Download
Editor  Picasa 2Organize and view your entire photo collection in one place. Edit pictures, crop, fix red-eye. Create collages and slideshows. Share online with family and friends using Picasa Web Albums.  Download
Editor  IcoFXIcoFX is an award winning freeware icon editor. It is an all-in-one solution for icon creation, extraction and editing. It is designed to work with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Macintosh icons supporting transparency.  Download
Editor  PhotoFiltrePhotoFiltre is a complete image retouching program. It allows you to do simple or advanced adjustments to an image and apply a vast range of filters on it. It is simple and intuitive to use, and has an easy learning curve.  Download
Editor  ArtweaverArtweaver is a simple Freeware program for creative painting, i.e. Artweaver offers you all artistic effects which you need for your work. You can create sketches from photos and experiment with a wide range of brushes. The brush simulation is thereby so realistic as possible.  Download
ExifTool  ExifToolExifTool is a platform-independent Perl library plus a command-line application for reading, writing and editing meta information in image, audio and video files. ExifTool supports many different types of metadata including EXIF, GPS, IPTC, XMP, JFIF, GeoTIFF, ICC Profile, Photoshop IRB, FlashPix, AFCP and ID3, as well as the maker notes of many digital cameras by Canon, Casio, FujiFilm, HP, JVC/Victor, Kodak, Leaf, Minolta/Konica-Minolta, Nikon, Olympus/Epson, Panasonic/Leica, Pentax/Asahi, Ricoh, Sanyo, Sigma/Foveon and Sony.  Download
ExifTool GUI  ExifTool GUIExifTool is Command-Line utility. That means, there is no Graphic User Interface (GUI), so all work must be done by typing commands inside Command Prompt window. Such approach gives ExifTool great flexibility, but is somehow difficult to use, especially for those who aren't familiar with old DOS workflow. So, here is a simple ExifTool GUI.  Download
Viewer  FastStone Image ViewerFastStone Image Viewer is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touches the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image annotation, scanner support, histogram and much more. It supports all major graphic formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA) and popular digital camera RAW formats (CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF, SRF and DNG).  Download
Viewer  XnviewAn efficient multimedia viewer, browser and converter.  Download
Viewer Editor  IrfanViewIrfanView is a fast, compact and innovative graphics viewer. In addition to standard image viewing, it includes many additional features including slideshow, batch conversion, image adjustment, image editing, resizing, panorama stitching and more. The functionality can be further extended via plug-ins that are widely available.  Download

INTERNET

Browser  Mozilla FirefoxThe award-winning Web browser is better than ever. Browse the Web with confidence. Firefox protects you from viruses, spyware and pop-ups. Enjoy improvements to performance, ease of use and privacy. It's easy to import your favorites and settings and get started.  Download
Browser Add-on  Adblock PlusEver been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page? Install Adblock Plus now and get rid of them.  Download
Browser Bookmark  AM-DeadlinkDetects dead links and duplicates in browser bookmarks and text files. If a bookmark has become unavailable you can verify and delete it permanently. Additionally you can download FavIcons for all your Favorites and Bookmarks.  Download
Browser Tool  MozBackupMozBackup is a simple utility for creating backups of Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Mozilla Sunbird, Flock, SeaMonkey, Mozilla Suite, Spicebird and Netscape profiles. It allows you to backup and restore bookmarks, mail, contacts, history, extensions, cache etc.  Download
Browser Suite  OperaBrowser suite.  Download
Browser Suite  SeaMonkeyAll-in-one Internet application suite.  Download
Chat Client  Miranda IMMiranda IM is a multi-protocol instant messaging client for Windows. Very light on system resources and extremely fast, Miranda IM requires no installation and can be made to fit on a single floppy disk or USB drive. Featuring a powerful plugin-based framework and boasting over 350 plugins, Miranda IM is one of the most flexible and customisable messaging clients on the planet.  Download
Content Filter  HostsManHosts file manager and editor. Toggle hosts on/off with one button. Download and merge hosts files from several sources. Scan hosts for errors, duplicates and possible hijacks. Very simple GUI but can also be run with command line parameters.  Download
Download Manager  µTorrentµTorrent is a lightweight, feature rich and high performing BitTorrent client. µTorrent is a resource friendly client with features including bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading and Mainline DHT (compatible with BitComet. Various icon, toolbar graphic and status icon replacements are available, and creating your own is possible. µTorrent also has support for localization, and with a language file present it will automatically switch to your system language. 43 languages currently supported, and you can easily add your own, or edit other existing language files to improve them.  Download
DUN Speed Optimizer  TCP OptimizerThe TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.  Download
DUN Windsock  Winsock XP FixIf you encounter connection problems after removing network related software, Adware or after registry clean-up; and all other ways fail, then give WinSock XP Fix a try. It can create a registry backup of your current settings, so it is fairly safe to use.  Download
Email Checker  MailwasherIntroducing MailWasher, the leader in spam filter software, and the easiest way to check and manage your e-mails before you download them. MailWasher is free to use and won't ever expire. It works with Outlook, Outlook Express and every other email program. Use this powerful spam blocker software to effectively stop email spam. Discover the safe way to stop unwanted e-mails before they get to your computer.  Download
Email Checker  POP PeeperPOP Peeper is an email notifier that runs in your Windows task bar and alerts you when you have new email on your POP3, IMAP (with IDLE support), Hotmail\MSN\LiveMail, Yahoo, GMail, Mail.com, MyWay, Excite, Lycos.com, RediffMail, Juno and NetZero accounts. IMAP supports allows you to access AOL, AIM, Netscape and other services. Send mail directly from POP Peeper and use the address book to email your frequently used contacts.  Download
Email Client  Mozilla ThunderbirdFree, Open Source & cross-platform email client.  Download
Email Spam  K9K9 is an email filtering application that works in conjunction with your regular POP3 email program and automatically classifies incoming emails as spam (junk email) or non-spam without the need for maintaining dozens of rules or constant updates to be downloaded. It uses intelligent statistical analysis that can result in extremely high accuracy over time. K9 learns from its mistakes and becomes better and better at being able to identify spam. More importantly it learns to recognize what you consider to be spam. K9 is for standard POP3 email accounts only. It does not directly support Hotmail, AOL or any other kind of webmail type systems, nor does it support SSL or secure authentication as used by MSN.  Download
FTP Client  FileZillaFileZilla is a fast and reliable cross-platform FTP client that supports FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS), and SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). It features a powerful Site Manager and transfer queue; IPv6 support; filename filters; configurable speed limits; a network configuration wizard; remote file editing; keep-alive; HTTP/1.1, SOCKS5 and FTP-Proxy support; drag & drop support; and it supports resume, and transfer of large files.  Download
Mail Server  HamsterHamster is a local mail and news server, which allows to administer mail and news comfortably with a single program. Hamster can collect mail and news from several servers and gathers them together locally from where they can fetched by a client (Mailreader/Newsreader). It is therefore ideal for networks, as multiple users with access to Hamster can be set up. This means that News need only be pulled once for the network, rather than once for each user.  Download
Newsreader  40tude Dialog40tude Dialog is a feature loaded, multi-server, multi-threaded Windows newsreader with Unicode character support. It supports multiple servers and identities, has filtering/scoring support, integrated email functionality and binary support including support for multiparts. 40tude Dialog has a multilingual GUI.  Download
Newsreader  XnewsXnews is a fast news reader that is GNKSA 2.0 (Good Net Keeping Seal of Approval) compliant.  Download
Phone On-Line  SkypeSkype is software that enables you to make free calls anywhere in the world. Skype uses innovative P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you with other users. It offers several features, including SkypeOut calling from Skype to regular and mobile phones worldwide, conference calling, and secure file transferring. Skype calls have better sound quality than your regular phone and are highly secure, with end-to-end encryption. Improves video quality for video calls.  Download
RSS Client  FeedDemonThe easy-to-use interface makes it a snap to stay informed with the latest news and information. You can completely customize the way feeds are organized and displayed. Set up custom news watches based on keywords or use the powerful search to find articles. You can even download podcasts and audio files and have them show up on your portable audio device. In addition, FeedDemon synchronizes with NewsGator Online and the rest of the NewsGator RSS Suite. The software is pre-configured with dozens of feeds, so you can unleash the power of RSS right away.  Download
Telnet SSH  PuTTYPuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 and Unix platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator.  Download
Virtual Network  UltraVNCUltraVNC can display the screen of another computer (via internet or network) on your own screen. The program allows you to use your mouse and keyboard to control the other PC remotely. It means that you can work on a remote computer, as if you were sitting in front of it, right from your current location.  Download
Website Copier  HTTrackHTTrack is a free (GPL, libre/free software) and easy-to-use offline browser utility. It allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer.  Download

MULTIMEDIA

Audio-Video Player  VLC media playerVLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, flv, mov, wmv, flac, mp3, ogg, wma ...) as well as CDAs, DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It can also be used as a server to stream in unicast or multicast in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network. Numerous localizations.  Download
Audio Editor  AudacityAudacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds.  Download
Audio Normalizer  MP3GainMP3Gain does not just do peak normalization, as many normalizers do. Instead, it does some statistical analysis to determine how loud the file actually sounds to the human ear. Also, the changes MP3Gain makes are completely lossless. There is no quality lost in the change because the program adjusts the mp3 file directly, without decoding and re-encoding.  Download
Audio Player  1by11by1 is a small and fast audio player which provides a versatile environment to handle your music file collection and listen to your tracks - with no need for playlists or databases. With this player you browse directly through your folders using a tree and a file list. It can play audio CDs and most audio formats (with WinAmp plugins).  Download
Audio Player  Winamp ClassicWinamp is an audio player for CDs, MP3s and streaming files. It combines extensive functionality with an intuitive interface. Winamp features a versatile playlist editor and a ten band graphic equalizer.  Download
Audio Player Recorder  XMPlayXMPlay is an audio player, supporting the OGG, MP3, MP2, MP1, WMA, WAV, CDA, MO3, IT, XM, S3M , MTM, MOD, UMX audio formats, and PLS, M3U, ASX, WAX playlists. A load more formats are also supported via plugins.  Download
Audio Ripper  Exact Audio CopyExact Audio Copy is an audio grabber for audio CDs. Scratched CDs read on CD/DVD-ROM drives often produce distortions. However, EAC is capable of error correction. If there are any errors which cannot be corrected, it will tell you on which time position the (possible) distortion occurred. Exact Audio Copy uses technologies like multi-reading with verify and AccurateRip. EAC supports MP3, WMA, FLAC and OggVorbis encoders for automatic compression after extraction.  Download
Audio Suite  Foobar2000Foobar2000 is an advanced audio player for the Windows platform. Some of the basic features include full unicode support, ReplayGain support and native support for several popular audio formats.  Download
Audio MP3  mpTrimSimple, free and fast way to tune up MP3 files. Primary use is to remove silent parts from the brginning and end of MP3 files and/or fade in and fade out. It can also adjust the volume up or down (volume normalization.) MPTrim keeps the music quality intact, no matter how many times you process an MP3, because it works directly in the MP3 format without having to decode/re-encode, which also makes it very fast. The freeware edition can generally handle files up to about 7 minutes in length, which is is adequate for most individual music tracks. Supports VBR files.  Download
AV Converter  DVD FlickDVD Flick aims to be a tool to convert various PC video formats to a DVD that can be played on pretty much any standalone DVD player. It's main target audience is people who know at least the basics about DVDs and video and audio files.  Download
CD Ripper  CDexCDex can extract the data directly (digital) from an Audio CD. Development seems to have been suspended but the beta is stable.  Download
Format Converter  XMedia RecodeXMedia Recode is a video and audio converter which supports nearly all audio and video codecs, but is geared towards video conversions. It is very easy to use.  Download
Multimedia Player  Media Player ClassicMedia Player Classic is the perfect substitute for Windows Media Player. Aestetically is identical to version 6.4 and has the same lightness in terms of RAM occupation, but it has much more useful functions. Features: with 'right' and 'left' keys it's possible to go forward/backward of one single frame; with 'Ctrl + right'/'left' it's possible to skip one predefinite quantity of frames; with 'Ctrl + up'it's possible to change faster the speed of reproduction; it's possible to visualize with media player Quicktime and RealMedia movies (but that programs must be installed); in full screen modality it's possible to show a scroll bar putting the mouse in the lower portion of the screen; in full screen it's possible to do the redimension images and adopt a cinema format or a TV format; it work as a DVD player too; keys are completely customizable; it can show subtitles.  Download

OFFICE/PRODUCTIVITY

Calendar  Calendar MagicFull year and monthly calendars for 25 different calendar systems. A month-by-month, side-by-side comparison of any two of the 25 calendar systems supported. Date conversions among the 25 main calendar systems plus others. Lists of festivals in major religions.Observed Days for any year from 1990 for around 230 countries worldwide. Date Detective command button to tabulate the weekday on which a specified Gregorian date d/m occurs for each of the years in the specified range y1 to y2. The ability to create, display, update and delete reminders for events (birthdays, anniversaries, meetings etc.). Alarm clock and stopwatch facilities. A time calculator for performing arithmetic with times. Continuously updated display of date, time and Julian day. Number of days between any two dates in the Gregorian calendar. Calculation of the date n days, weeks, months or years before or after a specified Gregorian date, where n is a whole number. An analysis of the Gregorian 400-year cycle, after which the Gregorian calendar repeats itself. Special calendars for 1582 and 1752. Solar and lunar astronomical data. Seven major utilities (scientific calculator, expression calculator, geometry calculator, factor calculator, pregnancy calculator, unit converter, magic squares). And believe it or not, much more.  Download
Convert-PDF  GhostscriptPostscript and Pdf interpreter and converter.  Download
Convert Text-PDF  PDFCreatorPDFCreator easily creates PDFs from any Windows program. Use it like a printer in Word, StarCalc or any other Windows.  Download
Database  CSVedAn easy and powerful CSV file editor, you can manipulate any CSV file, separated with any separator.  Download
Database  dBworxdBworx is a small, versatile database manager. In addition to standard field types (numeric, text, date, time) dBworx supports additional types such as lookup and relational fields, external fields and graphic fields (which combine images, text and drawings). Records can be sorted, searched, filtered and output as reports, labels, charts and HTML tables. dBworx also allows importing and exporting data in a variety of formats.  Download
Desktop Publisher  ScribusDesktop publisher that supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.  Download
Dictionary Thesaurus  WordWebWordWeb is a comprehensive one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows. It can be used to look up words from almost any program, showing definitions, synonyms and related words. It includes pronunciations and usage xamples, and has helpful spelling and sounds-like links. It works off-line, but can also look up words in web references such as the Wikipedia encyclopedia.  Download
Font Tool  AMP Font ViewerThis program is an easy to use but powerful font manager, which allows getting a quick overview of both installed and non installed fonts. It can install and uninstall fonts, and organize them in categories.  Download
Crossword Puzzles  EclipseCrosswordEclipseCrossword is a simple crossword puzzle creation application. Give it a list of words and clues, and it puts the puzzle together for you. Print the crossword, or save it as a web page to post on the Internet.  Download
Office Suite  OpenOffice.orgMultiplatform office productivity suite. It includes desktop applications such as a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a presentation manager, and a drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to those of other office suites. OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office. Localizations of OpenOffice.org are available in 27 languages, with more being constantly added by the community.  Download
Organizer Notes  TreePad LiteThe usual database programs are not good at storing unstructured information, TreePad excells at this! With the look and feel of the familiar Windows explorer, editing, storing, browsing, searching and retrieving your data can not be easier! TreePad allows you to store all your notes, emails, texts, hyperlinks, etc. into one or more databases. All data is contained in 'articles'; an article is a text shown in the right pane of the program window. Any article is contained in a 'node' which is the most basic part of the tree (left pane). It is very easy to add nodes/articles to the tree, delete nodes/articles, move whole sub-trees around using 'drag-and-drop', etc. Treepad can import .txt, .csv, .hjt files; export subtrees and articles to .html, .txt, .hjt files, print subtrees and articles, etc. TreePad supports plain-text hyperlinks to: TreePad nodes/articles, files on your local harddisk, Web pages, email addresses, newsgroups and FTP sites.  Download
PDF Viewer  Foxit ReaderThe download size of Foxit Reader is only 2.55 MB which is a fraction of Acrobat Reader 22 MB size. Breezing-fast: When you run Foxit Reader, it launches instantly without any delay. You are not forced to view an annoying splash window displaying company logo, author names, etc. Annotation tool: Foxit Reader allows you to draw graphics, highlight text, type text and make notes on a PDF document and then print out or save the annotated document. Save fillable forms after filling them out so you can continue anytime. Text converter: You may convert the whole PDF document into a simple text file. High security and privacy: Foxit Reader highly respects the security and privacy of users and will never connect to the Internet without users permission while other PDF readers often silently connect. Version 2.3 build 3201 fixed some major bugs of the early versions and makes Foxit Reader more stable and user-friendly.  Download
PDF Viewer  PDF-XChange ViewerPDF-XChange Viewer is smaller, faster and more feature rich than the Adobe Reader. Portable version also available.  Download
PIM  EssentialPIMEssentialPIM Free is the award-winning, absolutely free personal information manager. Supported by a large community of users, EssentialPIM has been widely acknowledged as the best personal information management system on any desktop or USB flash drive.  Download
Spell Checker  TinySpellOccasionally you need to check spelling in an application that does not include a spelling checker and you don't want to launch your word processor just for that. This is when tinySpell becomes handy. It is a small utility that allows you to easily and quickly check and correct the spelling in any Windows application. tinySpell can watch your typing on the fly and alert you whenever it detects a misspelled word. It can also check the spelling of text that you copy to the clipboard. tinySpell installs itself in the system tray for easy access. It comes with an American-English dictionary containing more than 110,000 words.  Download
Unit Converter  ConvertConvert is a free and easy to use unit conversion program that will convert the most popular units of distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, mass, power, density, pressure, energy and many others, including the ability to create custom conversions!  Download
Word Processor  AbiWordAbiWord is an Open Source word processor which combines state-of-the-art usability, powerful features, and excellent interoperability. Furthermore, it features a powerful framework for supporting custom extensions.  Download

SECURITY

Anti-Spyware  HijackThisHijackThis is a free utility which quickly scans your Windows computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. HijackThis creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan.  Download
Anti-Spyware  SpywareBlasterSpywareBlaster doesn't scan for and clean spyware--it prevents it from being installed in the first place. SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted programs. It can also block spyware/tracking cookies in IE, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, and many other browsers, and restrict the actions of spyware/ad/tracking sites. With the built-in Check for Updates feature, you can help ensure your protection is up-to-date. SpywareBlaster also includes a System Snapshot feature, which lets you take a snapshot of your computer in its clean state and later revert, undoing many changes made by spyware and browser hijackers.  Download
Anti-Virus  Avast!avast! antivirus v4.8 represents a multi-award winning solution to virus protection, with anti-spyware and anti-rootkit software built in for added security. It is available free for non-commercial, home use and with its fast, automatic updates avast! antivirus is already being used by more than 50 million users worldwide to provide continuous protection against all forms of malicious software (malware).  Download
Encryption  TrueCryptFree open-source disk encryption software system for establishing and maintaining an on-the-fly-encrypted volume (data storage device). On-the-fly encryption means that data are automatically encrypted or decrypted right before they are loaded or saved, without any user intervention. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read (decrypted) without using the correct password/keyfile(s) or correct encryption keys. Entire file system is encrypted (e.g., file names, folder names, contents of every file, free space, meta data, etc). TrueCrypt can on-the-fly encrypt a system partition or entire system drive, i.e. a partition or drive where Windows is installed and from which it boots.  Download
Firewall  Kerio Personal FirewallKerio Personal Firewall is a small and easy-to-use system designed for protecting a personal computer against hacker attacks and data leaks. It is based on the ICSA certified technology used in the WinRoute firewall. The firewall itself runs as a background service, using a special low-level driver loaded into the system kernel. This driver is placed at the lowest possible level above the network hardware drivers. Therefore, it has absolute control over all passing packets and is able to ensure complete protection of the system it is installed on.
Firewall  Zone AlarmZoneAlarm Free Firewall blocks hackers from infiltrating your home PC by hiding your computer from unsolicited network traffic. By detecting and preventing intrusions, ZoneAlarm Free Firewall keeps your PC free from viruses that slow down performance, and spyware that steals your personal information, passwords, and financial data.
Network Monitor  SoftPerfect Network ScannerMulti-threaded IP, NetBIOS and SNMP scanner with a modern interface and several advanced features. It is intended for both system administrators and general users who are interested in computer security. The program pings computers, scans for listening TCP ports and displays which types of resources are shared on the network (including system and hidden).  Download
Network Sniffer  WiresharkNetwork protocol analyzer.  Download
Password Manager  KeePass Password SafeKeePass is a free/open-source password manager or safe which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key file. So you only have to remember one single master password or select the key file to unlock the whole database. The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish).  Download
Security Audit  Secunia Personal Software InspectorThe Secunia PSI allows you to scan, detect, check, and secure the applications installed on your computer. Get an assessment of the applications installed on your computer are they insecure, end-of-life, or patched. The Secunia PSI enables you to secure your applications, and to quickly and easily upgrade to new and secure versions of applications installed on your computer. Providing a graphical presentation of your performance week by week.  Download

SYSTEM UTILITIES

Backup Registry  ERUNTERUNT is an emergency utility that will restore, backup and optimize.  Download
Boot Disk  Bart's PE BuilderBart's PE Builder helps you build a BartPE (Bart Preinstalled Environment) bootable Windows CD-Rom or DVD from the original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD, very suitable for PC maintenance tasks. It will give you a complete Win32 environment with network support, a graphical user interface (800x600) and FAT/NTFS/CDFS filesystem support. Very handy for burn-in testing systems with no OS, rescuing files to a network share, virus scan and so on. This will replace any Dos bootdisk in no time! Comments: An original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD is required to build a CD. Several ready made plugins to have various applications installed and run from the boot CD can be found online. Do a search for PE PLUGIN REPOSITORY.  Download
Boot Disk  UBCD4WinUBCD4Win is a bootable recovery CD that contains software used for repairing, restoring, or diagnosing almost any computer problem.UBCD4Win is based on Bart's PE. Bart's PE builds a Windows pre-install environment CD, basically a simple Windows XP booted from CD. UBCD4Win includes network support and allows you the ability to modify NTFS volumes, recover deleted files, create new NTFS volumes, scan hard drives for viruses, etc. Our download includes almost everything you need to repair your system problems. This project has been put together to be the ultimate recovery cd and not a replacement OS (Operating System). Please visit the List of Tools page for a complete list of what is included in the latest version of UBCD4Win.  Download
CD-DVD Burner  ImgBurnImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application. It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task; Read, build, write, verify, discovery. ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI. It supports Unicode folder/file names, so you shouldn't run in to any problems if you're using an international character set.  Download
Cmd Shell  Take Command Console LETCC/LE is a basic version of JP Software's award winning 4NT command processor. If you are a command line user, this is a huge step up from CMD. Features include: Enhanced command line editor with history, filename completion and cut & paste. Built-in screen scrollback buffer lets you review or print output from past commands at any time. Enhanced Directory Navigation lets you quickly browse and change directories. Built-in file viewer includes scrolling, search, and print capabilities. Core scripting language - large superset of CMD with 111 commands, 140 functions and 97 internal variables. Upgraded CMD commands (e.g. DIR, COPY etc) with hundreds of additional options. Complete flow of control structures including IF-Then-Else, DO Loops, Switch, subroutines, batch libraries, etc. Redefine commands through aliasing, create new commands and functions for your regular tasks, even assign frequently used commands to a single keystroke. Select or exclude files by date, time, size, and extended wildcards or regular expressions for extraordinary flexibility in file management.  Download
CPU  CPU-ZCPU-Z gathers information on some of the main devices of your system, like CPU, Mainboard,BIOS model and date, Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor, Graphic interface, Memory, and System (Windows and DirectX version). CPU-Z does not need to be installed. Just unzip the files in a directory and run the .exe. In order to remove the program, just delete the files. The program does not copy any file in any directory, neither writes in the registry.  Download
Drive Letters  USBDLMUSBDLM, USB Drive Letter Manager, is a Windows service that gives control over Window's drive letter assignment for USB drives. Running as service makes it independent of the logged on user's privileges, so there is no need to give the users the privilege to change drive letters. All functions are applied to USB drives at the moment they are being attached, when the USBDLM service starts up and when a user logs on. USBDLM runs as Win32 service under Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista. 64 Bit versions are untested but should work too. USBDLM automatically solves conflicts between USB drives and network or subst drives of the currently logged on user. Furthermore you can define new default letters for USB drives and much more. Among other things it can be confgirued to remove drive letters of card readers until a card is inserted. See online helpfile for all features.  Download
Drive Tool USB  USBDeviewUSBDeview is a small utility that lists all USB devices that currently connected to your computer, as well as all USB devices that you previously used. For each USB device, exteneded information is displayed: Device name/description, device type, serial number (for mass storage devices), the date/time that device was added, VendorID, ProductID, and more...USBDeview also allows you to uninstall USB devices that you previously used, and disconnect USB devices that are currently connected to your computer.  Download
Drivers Backup  WinDriversBackupWinDriversBackup Personal Edition 1.0.9 (last freeware version) is a free utility provided by JerMar Software Corp. specifically for backing up your Windows system driver files.  Download
Hardware Diagnostics  CrystalDiskMarkCrystalDiskMark is a disk benchmark software.  Download
Hardware Memory Test  Memtest86+Memtest86+ is software designed to stress test an x86-compatible computer's random access memory (RAM) for errors. It tries to verify that the RAM will accept and correctly retain arbitrary patterns of data written to it. Memtest86+'s tests are comprehensive so it can find otherwise hidden problems on machines that appear to work normally. With many chipsets, Memtest86+ allows counting of failures even in error-correcting ECC DRAM.  Download
Install-Uninstall  Revo UninstallerReplacement for Windows Add/Remove Programs applet. Very fast load of installed program listings. Very thorough user-selected uninstall levels. Multi-language support. Contains a number of useful integrated functions in addition to the uninstall capability: Hunter mode, Autoruns Manager, Windows Tools, Junk Files Cleaner and a Tracks Cleaner section that includes a Browser Cleaner, M$O Cleaner, Windows Cleaner, Evidence Remover and Unrecoverable Delete functions. Comes in .exe (1.52MB) and portable .zip (1.64MB) versions.  Download
Motherboard  SpeedFanSpeedFan is a program that monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitor chips. SpeedFan can even access S.M.A.R.T. info for those hard disks that support this feature and show hard disk temperatures too, if supported. SpeedFan supports SCSI disks too. SpeedFan can even change the FSB on some hardware. At the lowest level, SpeedFan is a hardware monitor software that can access digital temperature sensors, but its main feature is that it can change fan speeds (depending on the capabilities of your sensor chip and your hardware) according to the temperatures inside your pc, thus reducing noise.  Download
OS Environment  CygwinA Linux-like environment for Windows that consists of two parts: A DLL (cygwin1.dll) which acts as a Linux API emulation layer providing substantial Linux API functionality, and a collection of tools which provide Linux look and feel.  Download
OS Install Modifier  nLitenLite allows you to customize your installation of Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows 2003. You can integrate service packs and hotfixes from Microsoft directly into your windows distribution files without having to re-download and install them every time you need to re-install windows.  Download
Process Monitor  Process ExplorerProcess Explorer is a comprehensive application that lets you examine in great detail (and in real time) what is going on behind the scenes with your system. It is also a Task Manager on steroids. Highly configurable must have troubleshooting tool.  Download
Process Monitor  FilemonFileMon monitors and displays file system activity on a system in real-time. Its advanced capabilities make it a powerful tool for exploring the way Windows works, seeing how applications use the files and DLLs, or tracking down problems in system or application file configurations. Filemon's timestamping feature will show you precisely when every open, read, write or delete, happens, and its status column tells you the outcome.  Download
Process Monitor  RegMonRegMon is a Registry monitoring utility that will show you which applications are accessing your Registry, which keys they are accessing, and the Registry data that they are reading and writing - all in real-time.  Download
Process Monitor  WinPatrolAs a SECURITY MONITOR, WinPatrol will alert you to hijackings, malware attacks and critical changes made to your computer without your permission. WinPatrol uses a heuristic behavioral approach to detecting attacks and violations of your computing environment. Traditional security programs scan your hard drive searching for previously identified threats. WinPatrol takes snapshot of your critical system resources and alerts you to any changes that may occur without your knowledge.  Download
Registry-File Tools  CCleanerCCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning 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. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner.  Download
Security Audit  Microsoft Baseline Security AnalyzerDetermines security state of OS install in accordance with Microsoft security recommendations and offers specific remediation guidance.  Download
Start-Up Manager  AutorunsSimply the most comprehensive startup manager available. Goes far beyond MSConfig or any other 3rd party startup manager. Comes with a separate command line version that can output to a CSV file.  Download
System Information  Belarc AdvisorThe Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, CIS (Center for Internet Security) benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server.  Download
System Information  SIWSIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.  Download
System Tweaker  Tweak UIThis PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.  Download
Time Synchronizer  NeutronTime synchronization progam.  Download
Virtual Machine  Microsoft Virtual PCVirtual PC 2007 is a powerful software virtualization solution that allows you to run multiple PC-based operating systems simultaneously on one workstation, providing a safety net to maintain compatibility with legacy applications while you migrate to a new operating system. It also saves reconfiguration time, so your support, development, and training staff can work more efficiently.  Download
Virtual Machine  VirtualBoxVirtualBox is a family of powerful x86 virtualization products for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).  Download

TEXT UTILITIES

Compare Text In Files  ExamDiffExamDiff is a freeware Windows tool for visual file comparison. It has a number of simple and convenient features that many users have been asking for a long time from a file comparison tool. No install also available.  Download
Compare Text In Files  WinMergeWinMerge is an Open Source (GPL) visual text file differencing and merging tool for Windows. It is highly useful for determing what has changed between project versions, and then merging changes between versions.  Download
Editor  metapadMetapad is a small, fast (and completely free) text editor for Windows 9x/NT/XP with similar features to Microsoft Notepad but with many extra (and rather useful) features. It was designed to completely replace Notepad since it includes all of Notepad's features and much, much more.  Download
Editor  NoteTab LightFull-featured tabbed text and HTML editor. Highly customizable toolbar buttons. Handles large files. You can set up a tab to be a pasteboard (or impromptu clipboard extender.) Use macros to automate routine ooperations.  Download
Editor Code  TED NotepadTED Notepad is a swiss-army-knife plain-text editor. It looks like a small Notepad, but is much more fertile in innovative features, text-processing functions and other versatile tools. All of them on hotkeys; all designed for quicker and advanced editing. The light- weight portable application fits on USB flash disk and loads instantly with no installation required. TED Notepad is further designed especially for hot-working structured text, lists, notes or even scripts and html files.  Download
Editor Code  Notepad++Notepad++ is a free (as in free speech and also as in free beer) source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. It runs in the MS Windows environment. Based on a very powerful editing component Scintilla, Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses pure Win32 API and STL which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller program size. Its use is governed by GPL Licence.  Download
Text Tools  UnxUtilsGNU utilities for Win32 - some ports of common GNU utilities to native Win32. In this context, native means the executables only depend on the Microsoft C-runtime (msvcrt.dll) and not an emulation layer like that provided by Cygwin tools.  Download