My Computer Page
Software, Information, Viruses, etc.

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Useful shareware and freeware

Here is some the best in freeware and shareware I've found for Windows. Most of it you can download from the web and try it. Much of it is free, some is shareware, but you get to try it before you buy it. Usually you get about a month to try it and then it may stop working (or not). Or you may get a free version, which you can then update to the full version for a fee.

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Software for educators and scholars

ProCite
All scholars keep extensive bibliographies. I hope you're not still using index cards for that. This is a great bibliography (and general purpose database) program. By Research Information Systems, which also makes Reference Manager and EndNote (it bought them all up). Version 5 came out in Nov. 1999. IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S NEVER GOING TO BE UPGRADED AGAIN SINCE IT WAS BOUGHT BY ENDNOTE.

ThinkWave Educator Classroom Organizer
"A Classroom Organizer helps teachers focus on teaching by automating repetitive administrative tasks. It is useful from the very first day, and handles every teacher's method of teaching." This is the most polished and intuitive program of its kind that I have seen. Excellent. You can download a free, unlimited version of it (14MB). Or you can request the CD version, also free. This program is rather resource-intensive, so make sure you have a machine that can handle it.

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Multimedia: Sound

Winamp
This was the MP3 player of choice for quite a long time.

Mp3tag
"Mp3tag is a powerful and yet easy-to-use tool to edit metadata (ID3, Vorbis Comments and APE) of common audio formats. It can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words from tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists and more. The program supports online freedb database lookups for selected files, allowing you to automatically gather proper tag information for select files or CDs. " Excellent! Free!

MP3 Book Helper
"This program provides rapid Mp3 (ID3v1, ID3v2) and Ogg/Speex/Flac Vorbis tags editing and file renaming functions. Mass Tag editing is done using special variables and Regular Expressions..." Excellent! Free!

MP3Info Shell Extension
"This is a quite small, but useful extension for the Win NT/Win2k/Win9x shell. It lets you view and edit all relevant information about an MP3 file and its ID3 tag from the files properties dialog in Windows Explorer"

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Multimedia: images, pictures

IrfanView
IrfanView 32 is a small, versatile and excellent image file viewer for Windows. Free too. You can also use the program for image conversion and resizing, among other things. By Irfan Skiljan from the Technical University of Viena (Technischen Universität Wien). "Since year 2003, IrfanView has over 1 Million downloads EVERY month!" Excellent. A must have.

Paint Shop Pro
A great image/picture manipulator/converter. By Corel now.

cdrLabel
Create labels for your CD's.

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Internet Utilities

Net Transport
"Net Transport is the faster, exciting and most powerful downloading tool that you ever saw." Quite true.

Maxthon Internet Browser
Internet Explorer Shell: "Maxthon Internet Browser software is a powerful tabbed browser with a highly customizable interface. It is based on the Internet Explorer browser engine (your most likely current web browser) which means that what works in the IE browser will work the same in Maxthon tabbed browser but with many additional efficient features"

Avant Browser
Another highly recommended Internet Explorer Shell.

PINs
The best program to keep track of all your passwords, and generate them as well. My favorite. FREEWARE.

Kookie Jar
An excellent program to change quotes in your email signatures. What I use. Excellent. Free.

Quotes
"Wisdom at your fingertips Signature file management Quote management Quotes Screensaver." Works with txt, htm, and rtf signatures. Very small program. Free.

WebReaper
"It's a web crawler for use with an offline browser - a tool for grabbing websites into your Internet cache so that you can browse offline at a later date. Basically, you enter a starting URL, and hit 'Go'. The program will then download the page at that URL. It will then extract a list of 'child' links (links within that page) and download them. Sub-links from those objects will then be downloaded, and so on. Once the files have been downloaded they will have been saved in the Windows Internet Cache, and can be viewed 'Offline' later using Internet Explorer (v4 or higher) or any of the other cache browsers available."

Xenu's Link Sleuth
"A software to find broken links on web sites" "Xenu's Link Sleuth (TM) is a spidering software that checks 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."

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FTP software

AceFTP
Terrific FTP program. Freeware and Pro version.

FTPSync
FTPSync is a decent program that allows you to to synchronize files between a local machine and an FTP server. Particularly useful for updating web sites and downloading software upgrades and patches. $15. Unfortunately, large sites tend to overwhelm FTPSync.

Crystal SiteUpdater:
"With Crystal SiteUpdater you can make your Web site completely up-to-date, many times faster and a lot easier than you are used to."

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Web editing software

Color Selector
"Color selection sliders and input boxes. Shade control slider. Alternative access to the windows color dialog. Format Converter converts from HTML, RGB, HSL, CMY, hexadecimal, decimal, and octal. Color picker finds the color of any pixel on the screen", and much more.

ColorPic
"Grab palettes of up to 16 colors at once and use four advanced color mixers to select a spectrum of possibilities", and much more.

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Program launchers

Micro-Sys Launcher
"Launcher is an easy-to-use personal shortcut manager that can launch all kinds of files and programs. Drag-and-drop operations are supported; this means that when Launcher is in "Manage Items" mode, it is possible to configure shortcuts by "dragging" files from e.g. Windows Desktop and then "dropping" them into Launcher. One can create an unlimited amount of user defined sub-folders and item (e.g. program) shortcuts." Free. Get it.

PS Hot Launch VVL (launcher, hotkeys manager)
"PS Hot Launch VVL is meant to quickly run different applications, open documents, go to the right folders and web pages, send mail to a specified address, etc. The above operations are carried out through the menu that can be called by clicking the program icon in the taskbar system tray, and also by pressing user assigned hot keys (support for the key significantly extends the number of possible combinations). PS Hot Launch VVL is a perfect alternative to the Start menu and the Quick Launch panel."

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Tray programs

FileBox eXtender
Terrific program to open favorite folders from your tray area OR FROM ANY WINDOWS OPEN OR SAVE DIALOG. Expensive ($20) but very nice. Highly recommended.

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Text editors

NoteTab The NoteTab family of text editors
Terrific replacements for Microsoft's Notepad, and much, much more. Coming to you all the way from Switzerland. Written by Eric Fookes. Get Mini NoteTab or SuperNoteTab for free. Or get NoteTab Pro or SuperNoteTab+ for almost nothing. Highly recommended. All my web pages and a million other things are created using this text editor.

EditPad Lite
"The Best Postcardware Text Editor on Earth."

Dirhtml
"Dirhtml creates index.html files from a directory list using the GUI or command line, optionally including HTML code of your own design at any point in the generated file. With dirhtml, your index.html files can be unique and arbitrarily complex. Dirhtml works under Windows 95/98/NT/2000."

viewSourceEditor
"Are you furustrated at Internet Explorer's insistance on using Notepad when you click View Source? This little application let's you use any text editor instead of Notepad. All you need to do it choose the program and you're set."

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File backup/copy

SyncBack v3.1
"SyncBack is a powerful freeware program that helps you 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." Terrific, and free.

Second Copy 7
An excellent program to keep backups of your files either on a hard disk or removable storage. Excellent. The best I've seen. Shareware. Rather expensive: $30, but worth it if you use it a lot, like I do.

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Other Windows Utilities

NirSoft
"NirSoft web site provides a unique collection of small and useful freeware utilities, all of them developed by Nir Sofer." Excellent free utilities: Password Recovery Utilities, Network Monitoring Tools, Internet Related Utilities, Desktop Utilities (Volumouse!), System Tools.

Spybot Search & Destroy
"Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet cover. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if your browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you don't see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies. Spybot-S&D is free."

Ad-Aware
"Ad-aware is a free multi spyware removal utility, that scans your memory,registry and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them safely."

Spy Sweeper
"Stop spyware, pop-ups, privacy intrusions, identity thieves and hackers. Take control of your online world with Webroot Software."

WinKey
"Start your favorite applications, folders and Web pages instantly by using your own Windows key shortcuts with WinKey! This FREE shell extension allows you to define keyboard shortcuts with the Windows key. You can use almost any key combination and create shortcuts to system folders such as My Computer, Network Neighborhood, Dial-Up Networking, Control Panel and Recycle Bin." Use the Windows key (between the control and alt keys) to open programs or anything else you want. Excellent utility. Free! A must-have.

Gemulator Explorer
"With Gemulator Explorer, you can access and copy files from any Macintosh 1.44M floppy disk, Macintosh CD-ROM, Macintosh ZIP disk, external Macintosh SCSI hard drive, Atari ST formatted floppy disk, Atari ST ZIP disk, Atari ST formatted hard drive, and even disk image files." FREEWARE. Other Mac-Windows utilites available from this page.

HFS Utilities
"HFS is the ``Hierarchical File System,'' the native volume format used on modern Macintosh computers. hfsutils is the name of a comprehensive software package being developed to permit manipulation of HFS volumes from UNIX and other systems. In addition to the original UNIX version, several ports enable use under DOS, Windows 95/NT, and OS/2."

WinRAR
Decompressing tool, especializing in RAR format, but it does everything. My favorite.

Xteq X-Setup
"The ultimate tool for Black Belt system tuning"

Clipomatic
The clipboard is extremely useful, but you should be able to access more than just the last clip you put there. Clipomatic and a number of other free utilities will help you do just that. I like Clipomatic because you can summon the clips with the Ctrl-Alt-V paste hot key.

Clipboard Plus
one clip is not enough!! So have as many as you want. Free. Great program.

Webshots
Free wallpaper and desktop with thousands of beautiful pictures.

QuickPhrase
TypingMaster's QuickPhrase is a free typing utility with which you can add your favorite phrases--addresses, greetings, signatures, and so on--to any Windows program in a snap. Phrases can be added easily with keyboard shortcuts or with the phrase menu located in the taskbar.

Wallpaper Changer
Excellent, and free, program to change your wallpaper. JPEG Support, Multiuser support, Icon transparency, Picturelists, No install, Just a plain .exe. From Germany.

THERename
An excelent program for renaming files. Freeware.

Bulk Rename Utility
Excellent batch file renamer. My favorite. Freeware.

Eurolator
"converts a given amount of the one currency into all the other currencies participating in the Euro." Free.

UnitConverter
"Unit Converter allows you to easily convert between units of measurement. Features include: • Create and add new conversion routines. • Categorize and save routines in seperate files. • Control the format and precision of the result. • Automatically copy the result to the clipboard."

Yankee Clipper
"Yankee Clipper III is a stand-alone Clipboard text memory/stacking program. It works in Windows 95, 98, 00 and NT 4.0 systems and higher. It is free software written by Joe LeVasseur and Konrad Krupa. Use Yankee Clipper III to store what you have copied and then copy the same piece of text, RTF text, bitmap or metafile many times into one or more documents. Yankee Clipper III saves the clipboard contents from one session to the next or, alternatively, will start new sessions from scratch if you prefer. ... Yankee Clipper III also makes it easy to insert standard texts into different documents using its Boilerplate function."

The Freeware Currency Converter
"The Currency Converter is a freeware tool to convert between over 50 currencies. You can keep the exchange rates up-to-date by using the one-button Internet Update-function, (proxy supported) to load the Exchange Rates given by the International Monetary Fund (www.imf.org.) The Author is Alex Belgraver, a freeware programmer." Check it out.

Attribute Changer
Another such utility. More polished. Works from the Windows Explorer window by right clicking on a file or directory.

OpenExpert
"Simply install our freeware OpenExpert and you will be able to configure every single existing filetype with its own "open with..." submenu extension. Now you can quickly and simply choose which application you want to open that particular file. Right click the mouse and select the program to open the file. That's all there is to it! "

ColorPic
"Ever tried using a color picker on a high resolution monitor? It's impossible. That's why this color picker has a magnifier attached. Grab palettes of up to 16 colors at once and use four advanced color mixers to select a spectrum of possibilities."

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WordWeb
A powerful free English thesaurus and dictionary. FREE.

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WheresJames Outlook Express Archiver

Pretty Good Privacy

Medved QuoteTracker
"A Windows 95/98/NT program that provides Real-Time tracking of your stock portfolios using various real-time web sites that supply stock quotes. Live intraday charts with Technical Indicators, alerts, and historical charts will help your trading. The latest version adds news monitoring, portfolio printing, Island Level II quotes, inline chart period changing, user-defined views, symbol lookup, SOCKS proxy support, and many other enhancements." (Freeware Ad supported, or Shareware)

Jigsaws Galore
The best jigsaw program I've seen. Make them any size, from any picture. Shareware.

Adobe Acrobat Reader
Adobe Acrobat allows you to share documents across platforms with their original look and feel intact. A must have.

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Importing from Microsoft Works

Windows Drivers
Drivers for windows programs. Update the drivers that different programs use.

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Computer information sites

ZDNet
All kinds of information about a variety of topics.

A few scanning tips: learn how to scan like a pro.

homePCnetwork.com
"THE site for information on home PC networks. This site is designed for "regular people" (without electrical engineering degrees) by regular people who each have more than 10 years of real world experience with home networks."

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Salem State College | Department of Foreign Languages

Page URL: www.lrc.salemstate.edu/aske/computers.htm

Last updated: July 12, 2006

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