Looking For Free (as in Free to own and Open-Source) Software

Computer Help and Discussions Software
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My Updated List:

Anti-Spyware: Spybot - Search and Destroy, SpywareBlaster and Windows Defender (Included in Windows Vista)

Anti-Virus: Avast Home Edition

Browser: Firefox

CD/DVD Burning: AVStoDVD, InfraRecorder and Windows Media Player 11 (Included in Windows)

Disk Management: CCleaner, Defraggler and Recuva

File-Sharing: BitTorrent and Frostwire

Firewall: Comodo Free Firewall

FTP: FileZilla

Graphics: Paint.NET

Instant Messenger: Windows Live Messenger with A-Patch

Media Player/Codecs: Vista Codecs, VLC Media Player and Windows Media Player 11 (Included in Windows),

Office: OpenOffice or Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise

PC Visuals: XPize or Vize

Technical Tools: Dial-a-fix, HijackThis and Unlocker

Utilities: 7Zip, Dizzy and Foxit Reader

Web Program: Notepad ++

Only Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise costs money from the list above though you can use the brilliant OpenOffice as an alternative.

Ad-Aware SE Personal, SpywareBlaster, Spybot - Search and Destroy, Avast Home Edition, Comodo Free, CCleaner, Defraggler, Recuva, Windows Live Messenger with A-Patch, Windows Media Player 11, Vista Codecs, Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise, Dial-a-fix, HijackThis, Unlocker, Dizzy, Foxit Reader, are closed-source / proprietary software / non-free software.

Firefox, AVStoDVD, InfraRecorder, Frostwire, BitTorrent, FileZilla, Paint.NET, VLC Media Player, Media Player Classic, OpenOffice, XPize or Vize, Notepad ++ are open-source / free software.

Any free alternatives to the closed- source / proprietary software / non-free software I would like to try out.

Cheers.

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Google.com search: Open Source Software Downloads

There's also: Open Source Music Downloads

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I have been doing that, but I waswondeirng if any users could recommend me some?

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Sumatra PDF Viewer:

http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/

It's main advantages include its portability, small file size, little bloat, quick startup, and faster rendering.

But what really bugs me is how it doesn't remember custom window sizes and it prints weird.

?

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I misunderstood then!

I see you've listed Paint.NET, so how about some plugins to expand it:

* IcoCur Plugin (.ico, .cur)

* PhotoShop PSD Plugin (.psd)

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Sumatra PDF Viewer:

http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/

It's main advantages include its portability, small file size, little bloat, quick startup, and faster rendering.

But what really bugs me is how it doesn't remember custom window sizes and it prints weird.

Alas, I would love to use this, but I cannot survive at uni with a PDF viewer without a search function.

I misunderstood then!

I see you've listed Paint.NET, so how about some plugins to expand it:

* IcoCur Plugin (.ico, .cur)

* PhotoShop PSD Plugin (.psd)

Thanks, I will look into them.

What about my other software? I made a list some time ago about why I currently use what I do closed-source, wise, I'll dig it up in a min.

EDIT: Here they are. updated, and I use the term free as in free and open source; FOSS:

I'll be converting to SumatraPDF when it has a search option, at the moment I really need that, so I'm sticking with Foxit.

I can't find free alternatives to the anti-virus or anti-spyware nor the firewall.

Is there a free alternative to CCleaner?

Is there a free alternative to Defraggler?

Is there a free alternative to Recuva?

I'm still using WLM with A-Patch as it allows me to have MSN contacts and YIM contacts both form my MSN address. I haven't found a free alternative that can do that yet.

WMP 11 I use simply because it come with Windows.

MS Office I use simply because IMO its better than OpenOffice, though I've listed OpenOffice as well.

Vista Codecs I use because VLC on its own does not play embeded Quicktime videos in FF. Is there a free alternative to this?

Are there any free alternatives to Dial-a-fix, HijackThis, Unlocker, Dizzy?

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Is there a free alternative to Defraggler?

I'm still using WLM with A-Patch as it allows me to have MSN contacts and YIM contacts both form my MSN address. I haven't found a free alternative that can do that yet.

WMP 11 I use simply because it come with Windows.

Defraggler - JKDefrag (Excellent GUI for it here)

Messenger - Miranda (Very lightweight multi-protocol IM)

WMP11 - KMPlayer (Based on the open source MPlayer, also maybe worth a look)

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Defraggler - JKDefrag (Excellent GUI for it here)

Messenger - Miranda (Very lightweight multi-protocol IM)

WMP11 - KMPlayer (Based on the open source MPlayer, also maybe worth a look)

JKDefrag will look into, sounds promising.

Mirana - Still same problem I mentioned earlier with YIM.

KMPLayer - leats of my worries at the mo, as I will always have WMP 11, and I like it. Don't need MPlayer as I already have VLC.

Thanks, I appreciate it. Anymore?

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Hi Ultimate, I dunno when you were last here, but welcome back all the same, and look forward to seeing you on a regular basis.

I'm a fan of Adobe Reader, and I managed to find a "Lite" version some time ago. On my pc it loads very quickly, and IMHO surpasses most of the opposition with it's quality of display.

Can be found on the link below. You should also download a security upgrade, also below.

Adobe 8.1 Lite:

Security Update:

Save the update to disk, and then install. I'm not sure if removing the "update from within the program" feature was part of the "Lite" version stripping down process, but the update works OK when ran from your HD.

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Hi Ultimate, I dunno when you were last here, but welcome back all the same, and look forward to seeing you on a regular basis.

I'm a fan of Adobe Reader, and I managed to find a "Lite" version some time ago. On my pc it loads very quickly, and IMHO surpasses most of the opposition with it's quality of display.

Can be found on the link below. You should also download a security upgrade, also below.

Adobe 8.1 Lite:

Security Update:

Save the update to disk, and then install. I'm not sure if removing the "update from within the program" feature was part of the "Lite" version stripping down process, but the update works OK when ran from your HD.

Thanks, but it isn't open-source.

Defraggler - JKDefrag (Excellent GUI for it here)

Aside form the GUI, is it any different to the default Defragmenter included in Vista? Is it more powerful?

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You're right, it isn't open source, but I went to the trouble of posting it because your initial criteria was most definitely:-

" Looking For Free (as in Free to own and Open-Source) Software".

Adobe Reader Lite is FREE. ???

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It most definitely was, you are right, free (as in Free to own and Open-Source).

Linguistically speaking, free software should mean free to own and open-source/free to modify and distribute etc, whilst freeware just means its free to own. At least I think so.

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CCleaner alternative: Disk Cleaner (http://www.diskcleaner.nl/) It hasn't been updated in a while, but it is a nice supplement to CCleaner. It is also lightning fast and pretty comprehensive. Free and open source.

Hijackthis alternative: Runscanner (http://www.runscanner.net/) Pretty much hijackthis+autoruns. Free and closed source.

Antimalware: Winpooch (outdated, but still light and fast HIPS) http://www.winpooch.com/ Free and open source. Can integrate ClamAV.

Maybe try AbiWord? (http://www.abisource.com)

Also, I love this app: Launchy (http://www.launchy.net/)

And of course, there is The GIMP (http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/)

Another: check this out: http://www.getmiro.com/

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I use ffdshow and Haalis media splitter for direct show filters. Codec packs are asking for trouble IMHO. I dont use anything but WMP11 for my direct show player and Ive tried alot of them - basically WMP11 is the most robust one of them all.

Ive been using Imgburn but Ill check out Infrarecorder.

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I can't find free alternatives to the anti-virus or anti-spyware nor the firewall.

http://sourceforge.net has some antivirus, ClamWin/ClamAV being the best but it doesn't have a resident shield yet. There's another antivirus on there too called Moon Secure Antivirus with a resident shield I think, it uses part of ClamAV if I'm remembering correctly but I can't even test it because all it does is crash when trying to run it.

There's several firewalls on there too, but you have to compile them - don't ask me how to compile them because I have no ideal how to accomplish that.

Visit Open Source Alternative (also linked in my signature), which will greatly reduce the leg work of finding all this stuff on your own.

Is there a free alternative to CCleaner?

Is there a free alternative to Defraggler?

Is there a free alternative to Recuva?

Again try http://sourceforge.net, there's typically always an open source alternative.

SourceForge.net search: disk junk clean

SourceForge.net search: disk defrag consolidate consolidation

SourceForge.net search: recover recovery salvage

WMP 11 I use simply because it come with Windows.

Yet again there's alternatives for that:

SourceForge.net Multimedia section

Open Source Alternative: Multimedia/Audio section

Vista Codecs I use because VLC on its own does not play embeded Quicktime videos in FF. Is there a free alternative to this?

Yet more choices, not only free also less bloated:

* QuickTime Alternative

* K-Lite Mega Codec Pack: to play damn near everything, includes Media Player Classic.

Are there any free alternatives to Dial-a-fix, HijackThis, Unlocker, Dizzy?

Dial-a-fix is one of a kind in my opinion, it makes life so easy! The only free alternatives I know of currently is to do it all manually via fixes available on Microsoft's Support Site, or get fix-it documentation and .reg files from http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and http://dougknox.com/. Or get help from other Windows Tip sites and forums, or this forum.

HijackThis has alternatives, are they worth using I don't know and that would be a question better answered by a malware removal expert. Unless Trend Micro totally f's up HijackThis in the future I won't put much weight in alternatives just yet.

Unlocker has alternatives listed on it's homepage, and the differences.

Dizzy is unique, I hadn't heard of it until following your link, and don't know any alternatives.

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Aside form the GUI, is it any different to the default Defragmenter included in Vista? Is it more powerful?

Yes as it uses some file sorting methods to improve disk access times (as a result the first run will be quite slow but following runs will be fast). I've found it does a better job that Windows defrag and does it faster. It's also safe as it actually uses Windows defrag API's so can't do any more damage than Windows defrag.

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CCleaner alternative: Disk Cleaner (http://www.diskcleaner.nl/) It hasn't been updated in a while, but it is a nice supplement to CCleaner. It is also lightning fast and pretty comprehensive. Free and open source.

Hijackthis alternative: Runscanner (http://www.runscanner.net/) Pretty much hijackthis+autoruns. Free and closed source.

Antimalware: Winpooch (outdated, but still light and fast HIPS) http://www.winpooch.com/ Free and open source. Can integrate ClamAV.

Maybe try AbiWord? (http://www.abisource.com)

Also, I love this app: Launchy (http://www.launchy.net/)

And of course, there is The GIMP (http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/)

Another: check this out: http://www.getmiro.com/

I have used Disk Cleaner, it doesn't work correctly with Vista.

Runscanner is closed source, so its no different to HijackThis.

I really don't want to use out-of-date antimalware.

Thanks for the link to Abiword, will look into it in the future if dissatisfied with OpenOffice's Writer.

GIMP is cool, but too complicate for the likes of me, which is why I stick to Paint.NET.

I use ffdshow and Haalis media splitter for direct show filters. Codec packs are asking for trouble IMHO. I dont use anything but WMP11 for my direct show player and Ive tried alot of them - basically WMP11 is the most robust one of them all.

Ive been using Imgburn but Ill check out Infrarecorder.

InfraRecorder is great. Codec Packs not to worries about, though thanks.

http://sourceforge.net has some antivirus, ClamWin/ClamAV being the best but it doesn't have a resident shield yet. There's another antivirus on there too called Moon Secure Antivirus with a resident shield I think, it uses part of ClamAV if I'm remembering correctly but I can't even test it because all it does is crash when trying to run it.

There's several firewalls on there too, but you have to compile them - don't ask me how to compile them because I have no ideal how to accomplish that.

Visit Open Source Alternative (also linked in my signature), which will greatly reduce the leg work of finding all this stuff on your own.

I don't wanna use ClamWin cos i need a resident scanner. I'll wait till Moon Secure is up-to-date. Yes, the firewall thing sounds too complicated. Thanks for the link.

Again try http://sourceforge.net, there's typically always an open source alternative.

SourceForge.net search: disk junk clean

SourceForge.net search: disk defrag consolidate consolidation

SourceForge.net search: recover recovery salvage

I didn't see anything I wanted, I have used SourceForge before. Again, I want people to recommend me decent software.

Yet again there's alternatives for that:

SourceForge.net Multimedia section

Open Source Alternative: Multimedia/Audio section

I don't really want an alternative, but thanks.

Yet more choices, not only free also less bloated:

* QuickTime Alternative

* K-Lite Mega Codec Pack: to play damn near everything, includes Media Player Classic.

I used too use both, but they're not open-source, are they? Also QTAlternative is illegal.

Dial-a-fix is one of a kind in my opinion, it makes life so easy! The only free alternatives I know of currently is to do it all manually via fixes available on Microsoft's Support Site, or get fix-it documentation and .reg files from http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and http://dougknox.com/. Or get help from other Windows Tip sites and forums, or this forum.

HijackThis has alternatives, are they worth using I don't know and that would be a question better answered by a malware removal expert. Unless Trend Micro totally f's up HijackThis in the future I won't put much weight in alternatives just yet.

Unlocker has alternatives listed on it's homepage, and the differences.

Dizzy is unique, I hadn't heard of it until following your link, and don't know any alternatives.

I see. So there aren't really alternatives for this lot then...

Yes as it uses some file sorting methods to improve disk access times (as a result the first run will be quite slow but following runs will be fast). I've found it does a better job that Windows defrag and does it faster. It's also safe as it actually uses Windows defrag API's so can't do any more damage than Windows defrag.

I see. Well thank you.

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Alas, I would love to use this, but I cannot survive at uni with a PDF viewer without a search function.

Thanks, I will look into them.

I'm still using WLM with A-Patch as it allows me to have MSN contacts and YIM contacts both form my MSN address. I haven't found a free alternative that can do that yet.

WMP 11 I use simply because it come with Windows.

Unlocker?

A-Patch doesnt do that .. its a new feature of WLM and Yahoo .. (some kinda friendship) .. A Very good Alternative to A-Patch is Mess Patch - www.Mess.be.

if you don't like WMP 11 .. you could switch to iTunes .. (excellent if you have many playlists and many songs) .. or VLC (if you just want to listen to songs .. with no particular playlists ) ..

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and why need an alternative to Unlocker ?

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and why need an alternative to Unlocker ?

Who knows. Seemingly every suggestion gets shot down, so he's on his own to do his own leg work for searching for alternatives.