The Help2Go community has compiled a list of software that we recommend for various tasks. Many of these are free to use or free to try, but for those tasks where commercial software is the best, we have tried to also provide a free alternative.
This is a "living" document. Please post your comments or suggestions by following this link and let us know what you think should be included on this list.
If an entry has a * following it, you can click on the * which will take you to a review of said program.
Essential Software
Operating Systems: Windows XP ($), Windows Vista ($); Ubuntu Linux (free)
Web Browsers: Firefox (free), Opera (free) , WebKit (free)
E-Mail Programs: Thunderbird (free)
Temporary email address: Yopmail (free)
Instant Messaging: Meebo.com (free), OpenFire (free & $)
Office Suites: Microsoft Office ($), Google Docs (free), OpenOffice.org (free) , Scribus (free)
PDF Readers : Foxit (free)
PDF Creators: PrimoPDF (free & $), CutePDF (free & $), PDFCreator (free)
______________________________________________________
Anti-Virus/Spyware Software
A/V software: AVG Free *, Avast (free & $) * , Avira AntiVir (free)
Spyware Removal: SuperAntiSpyware (free), Malwarebytes Anti-malware (free)
Spyware Prevention: Spyware Blaster (free) ; Spyware Guard (free)
Hijack Detection: HijackThis (free)
AVG Removal tool
Norton Removal Tool
_______________________________________________________
Application Software
Text Editor: SciTE (free)
Web Design Software: Adobe Dreamweaver ($)
Compilers and IDEs: Eclipse (free), Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Express Editions (free limited editions)
3D Modeling: Google SketchUp (free), Blender (free)
Mapping: Google Earth (free)
_______________________________________________________
Media Software
Music Jukebox: iTunes (free)
Media Player: WMP10 (free) , Winamp (free) , Foobar2000 (free)
Image Viewer: IrfanView (free)
Photo Editing Software: Photoscape (free); Adobe Photoshop ($) , GNU Image Manipulation Program [a.k.a. "GIMP] (free) , Paint.net (free) , Picassa (free)
Font Viewer/Manager: Fontpage (free)
Screenshots: Snapshot (free) , Greenshot (free) , Photoscape (free)
Image Hosting: Photobucket (free) , ImageCave (free)
Image Resizer: Image resizer (free) , IrfanView (free)
Tutorial Creator: Wink (free)
Graphics Editor: Inkscape (free), Adobe Illustrator ($), Corel Draw ($)
Audio/Visual format conversion : FormatFactory (free)
_________________________________________________
CD/DVD Utilities
CD & DVD Burning Software : Nero $ Audacity (free)
DVD Decrypter: Handbrake (free), DVD43 (free), AnyDVD ($)
CD->MP3 Utility: CDex (free) , Audacity (free)
DVD Decoder: DVD Decoder Information and Help
ISO Image Burner: ISO recorder (free)
_________________________________________________
Utilities for a Healthy System
File Recovery: Recuva (free) * , TestDisk (free) , PC Inspector (free) , Unstoppable Copier (free)
Duplicate File Cleaner : Duplicate Cleaner (free)
Startup cleaner : MSConfig Cleanup (free), CodeStuff Starter (free)
Disk Defragmenter : JkDefrag (free)
Hard Disk Health : HD Tune (free)
Hardware Diagnostics: Memtest86 (Memory, free), SeaTools (Seagate & Maxtor HDD Diag, free), Fujitsu (HDD, free), Drive Fitness Test (Hitachi HDD, free), Western Digital (HDD, free)
Uninstaller: Absolute Uninstaller (free, pro $) , Revo Uninstaller (free) , Killbox (free) , Windows Install Cleanup utility (free)
Hard drive crash recovery: SpinRite ($)
Firewall port testing: ShieldsUp (free)
Dll/Processes information tool: QuickLink (free), ListProcesses(free)
Reformat Hard Drive: KillDisk (free)
Partition Editor: GParted (free)
USB Detector : USBDeview (free)
Registry Cleaner: Easy Cleaner (free); CCleaner (free)
Privacy Software: CCleaner (free), ATFCleaner (free)
Backup Programs: Ghost 14 ($), Acronis 12 ($)
_________________________________________________
Security Utilities Hard drive and data encryption: TrueCrypt(free)
Encryption Software : dsCrypt (free)
___________________________________________________
Other Utilities
FTP Program: Filezilla (free) , FireFTP (Firefox Add-on FTP Client, free)
Unzip Utility: 7-Zip (free) , ZipGenius (free) , IZArc (free)
Windows Automation: AutoIt (free)
Download Manager: Fresh Download (free)
Internet Explorer Spell Checker: iespell (free) , tinySpell (free) , Aspell (free)
Remote Control your PC: LogMeIn free (free) * , UltraVNC (free)
E-Mail Filtering: K9 (free)
Automated Updater: Filehippo (free)
Pop-Up Stopper: Pop-up Stopper (free)
For older versions of software: OldVersion (free)
Notebook : KeyNote (free); Evernote (free)
Java uninstall tool: JavaRa (free)
Clock Sychroniser: YACS (free)
Asset Management (for bigger networks): SpiceWorks (free)
VPN Software: Hamachi (free & $), OpenVPN (free)
Customize Windows Clock : TClockEx (free)
Off-site file backup: JungleDisk ($) * combined with Amazon S3 ($) *
Browser window order : Deskpin (free)
File Finder : Locate32 (free)
Folder/File search engine : Everything (free)
Web based Info/note capture : Evernote (free/$)
File Splitter: GSplit (free)
CAD program: progeCAD 2008 Smart (free)
Dictionary: Wordweb (free)
Registry Editor: RegScanner (free)
E-Mail cleaner: emailStripper (free)
Hiding folders: Free Hide Folder 2.1 (free)
__________________________________________________
***Please notify Administrators if a link is no longer active.***
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Help2Go Recommended Software List
