Downloads

Commentary

This is my little list of tools I have discovered over the years on the Internet that I use on a regular basis.

Hyperlinks

Download.com	The premiere list of downloads with editor and user reviews. Requires money from the developer to be listed, so not all software is listed especially freeware.
Oldversion.com	"Because newer is not always better." Old versions of software that have been abandoned or are no longer freeware.
SnapFiles	A good collection of shareware and freeware available for download.
Spyware Stoppers	PC World reviews the latest spyware/adware blockers and removal tools and decides what is the best.
TinyApps.Org	Bigger is not always better. The only requirement to be listed on this site is the file has to be able to fit on a floppy disk.

Command Line Downloads

Blat.exe Freeware	Send out a basic e-mail or send one in HTML with attachments. This baby can handle it. Open source.
Cmdtime.exe Freeware	Synchronizes your PC's clock with up to 3 Internet time servers. The download link is the third from the bottom. Ex., "cmdtime /p sync"
FSYNC.exe Freeware	Synchronizes files between two folders. Works on mapped drives, so you can backup a folder to another computer. I created a batch file that backs up several files and then uses shutdown.exe to shut the computer down. When I'm done for the day, I just double-click the batch file. You can also add this to your Scheduled Tasks. Ex., "fsync c:\source z:\destination /f"
Kill.exe Freeware	From the Microsoft NT Resource Kit. Closes a specified action by name or PID. Ex., "kill winamp.exe"
Shutdown.exe Freeware	Shuts the computer down as well as restart, stand by, or hibernate.
Wget.exe Freeware	Gets stuff off the web (HTTP) or via FTP. Has powerful mirroring capabilities so you can mirror someone's website, or just save it to your hard drive for vieweing offline.

Internet Downloads

7-Zip Freeware	No downloader should be without this little tool. It can zip and unzip (.zip), unrar (.rar, .r00, .r01...,and part01.rar, part02.rar...), tar and untar (.tar), gunzip (.gz), and combine and split files (.000, .001, .002...).
Azureus Freeware	BitTorrent client written in Java. Go here to read more information about BitTorrent. Then do a Google search for BitTorrent search sites.
DynDns Updater Freeware	Chances are you are assigned a dynamic IP address when you log on to the Internet. This utility updates your Dynamic DNS provider with your current IP address. It works out of the box for dyndns.com. You can configure it to work with other providers. Read the FAQ for more information. Also see my dynamic DNS tip.
eMule Freeware	Popular open source peer-to-peer client.
Gaim Freeware	Login to AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr IM networks with one client! Supports file transfers and smilies. Updated about every 2 weeks to add new features.
HTTPort Freeware	TCP/IP through HTTP tunneling software. Uses a tunneling protocol to circumvent your local Internet connection and access the Internet via another computer's unrestricted Internet access. Also see MultiProxy below.
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack Freeware	This installs virtually every video codec you can think of as well as slimmed down versions of QuickTime and Real. Use Media Player Classic or BSplayer to play videos.
KeepRAS Freeware	If you are still using dial-up, you can go to the Control Panel > Network Connections. Right-click on your connection, and click Properties. Click on the Options tab and just check the "Redial if line is dropped" box. Click the OK button. If you have a broadband connection, but want your computer to use dial-up if you lose your Internet connection, you need this little util. It pings several different servers of your choice. When there is no Internet connection, it starts dialing.
IsoBuster Freeware	Downloaded a .iso or .bin file but don't know how to open it? This is the tool. Those files are CD/DVD images and you can use Nero or some other burning software to burn them. Use IsoBuster to check it out before you burn a coaster. The free, unregistered version does just about everything you could ask.
MultiProxy Freeware	MultiProxy is a free small program that allows you to surf the Internet via anonymous proxy servers on the Internet. It is designed to protect your privacy and circumvent some firewalls that restrict certain web sites you want to visit. After downloading the program, you will need to visit the developer's site and download the most recent proxy lists.
Proxomitron Freeware	This prog acts as a proxy server between your browser and the Internet. It filters out certain HTML code (i.e., pop-ups, blinking text, animated banner ads, etc.), and aids in protecting our privacy. You can also create your own filters.
QuickPar Freeware	A necessity if you are using Xnews or another newsreader to download binaries from Usenet. Creates parity volumes as well as verifies and restores downloaded ones using .par or .par2 files.
SetBrowser Freeware	Did IE assimilate itself as your default browser again? This utility changes the default browser in windows.
SocksCap Freeware	This little utility will allow 3rd party programs that do not provide built-in support for proxies to access the Internet through your SOCKS version 5 proxy server.
Spybot Search & Destroy Freeware	Searches your system for spyware and adware and automatically removes it. Has lots of advanced tools such as SDHelper which blocks bad ActiveX applets from being installed and TeaTimer which watches over your entire system.
SpywareBlaster Freeware	Stop spyware before it gets installed! This little tool blocks sites that are known to install adware/spyware via ActiveX. Also blocks bad cookies (web bugs or beacons) in Mozilla/Firefox.
Tera Term Pro Freeware	A free telnet client that works better than the one built into Windows. There is a SSH extension, and you can also use macros to automate the login and other stuff.
Winamp Freeware	My favorite MP3 player. Also does video. Lots of skins to choose from as well as plug-ins to give it additional functionality.
Xnews Freeware	A full-featured news reader with excellent binary downloading support. Not for the newbie.

Server Downloads

Apache HTTP Server Freeware	The most popular web server out there. It runs right out of the box, but for a more advanced configuration, you must edit a text (.conf) file. It takes a little bit to learn the syntax, but once you do, you have a very marketable skill!
Mercury Mail Transport System Freeware	A free and full featured mail server. It supports the POP3, IMAP, and SMTP protocols. Features include mailing lists, aliases, forwarding, filtering, blacklists/whitelists support, SMTP end-to-end or SMTP relaying. The author also offers Pegasus Mail which integrates nicely with the mail server, but any popular mail client will work.
Quick 'n Easy FTP Server Lite Freeware	Want to run your own FTP server? Here you go. This thing is super easy to configure. Also supports passive FTP.
TightVNC Freeware	See and control your computer remotely over the Internet. You can connect via the VNC viewer application (port 5900) or with a web browser with the Java runtimes installed (port 5800). There are other VNC projects, but this is my favorite. The development version includes support for file transfers.

Web Development Downloads

Analog Freeware	Analyze your web server's log files with this open source program. This is a must whether you are running your own web server or have a host. As long as you have access to your log files, you can use analog. It may take some tweaking of a config file to get the results like you want. Results look very professional and are helpful for the busy webmaster.
Dreamweaver Shareware	This is what the professionals use to create websites. Features a powerful WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) HTML editor that can create cascading style sheets (CSS) on the fly. The site management tool automatically changes links if you rename a file, warns you about deleting a file if it has links pointing to it, and synchronizes only the files that have been updated to the server.
JAlbum Freeware	Do you have a large digital photo collection that friends and family are dying to see? This utility, written in Java, will shrink your photos, create thumbnails, and make a web-friendly slide show at the click of the button. There are many skins to pick from and they all look very professional! Lots of options to customize.
Nvu Freeware	An open source project based on Composer feature from the Mozilla suite. This is a basic WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) HTML editor. Not as good as Dreamweaver, but it is getting there.
Xenu Link Sleuth Freeware	An excellent little tool for webmasters to get rid of those dreaded 404 errors. Follows all your links (internal and external) and makes sure there is something there.

Windows Downloads

1-4a Rename Freeware	A powerful batch file renaming tool.
Convert Freeware	How many feet are in a yard? How many millimeters are in an inch? How many BTU's are in a gigajoule? Download this utility to find out. Also allows you enter your own conversion calculations assuming this little program is missing one (...but I doubt it).
EasyCleaner Freeware	Clear out your Internet Explorer cache, cookies, and history at the touch of a button. But that's not all! Also,clears your most recently used lists (MRU), unnecessary and duplicate files, and safely scrubs your registry of invalid entries. Backups are created in case you need to undo anything, but I've never had any issues.
Everest Freeware	This utility identifies all your hardware and software. No more fumbling through computer manuals discovering what version you have. Free for personal use. No longer developed.
Fax Machine Shareware	I don't recommend much shareware, but this one is worth its weight in gold...or at least a separate fax machine. Scan your documents into this program and then fax them with your computer's modem. Very easy to use.
KeePass Freeware	Handy dandy application that remembers all your usernames and passwords. Passwords are encrypted and protected by a master password. Also can generate secure, random passwords, and fill in the blanks in your web browser for you. Open source.
PageDefrag Freeware	Have you ever noticed when you defragment your hard drive, there are some system files that can't be defragged because they are in use? That's where this utility comes in. Set it to run when your computer boots and your registry, pagefile.sys, and hibernation file will be defragmented.
Photocopier Freeware	This program scans documents using your scanner and then prints them out on your printer. Very simple to use. Goodbye Kinko's!
Qm - The Quick Mailer Freeware	Tiny application that you can use to send out a quick e-mail.
Restoration Freeware	You did what?! You deleted an important file and then emptied your Recycle Bin? That was stupid, but I admit, I've done it too. This little proggie may be able to recover it for you. Doesn't seem to be developed anymore. Only allows you to select and restore one file at a time, but it has been a life saver.
SpeedFan Freeware	A neat little utility that adjusts your computer's fans' speeds. I never use it for that though. Tells you the temperature inside your computer, and works for most motherboards. Also gives you status of your hard drives.
Startup Control Panel Freeware	Allows you to disable/enable what starts up when you turn on your computer. Yeah, there is msconfig, but I like this one better.

Tips & Tricks

Last Updated January 27, 2006