On and off during the course of this blog and its predecessor, the weekly newsletter, I've written about some excellent utilitarian software, many of which are free. In this blog, and the next one, I decided to focus on just the best free utility software programs available, at least to my way of thinking (and several other tech writers also). Some, I have written about before...others will be new for you. But I want to have all the good ones in one place for your benefit. I have also included the links where you can download them. I have used all of them and can readily recommend them for your use. So, in no particular order, let's get started.
I really have come to love this software. Over time, as you install new software, some companies seem to want to install their products in your startup files without your knowledge. After a while, unless you monitor it, your computer's memory could become clogged with many programs that are not needed and don't need to be running. Startup Inspector tells you at any moment what programs are in your startup menu, how much memory they consume and what they are really being used for. You can hit the "consult" button and get even more information, including recommendations about whether to keep it or dump it. If you don't want it, uncheck it, then hit the "Apply" button. The next time you restart your computer, these unwanted programs will not be installed into startup. But, you must keep up a continual vigil, as many of them try to sneak back in. Get this one.
Sometimes, when you are using a program, then exit from it, it leaves fragments of itself in your memory. After using your machine for a while, you will have a lot of your memory taken up by these little pieces of data. FreeRAM XP Pro, continually monitors your memory, automatically removing these unwanted particles, keeping your machine from running slower. And, you can always look down in the right corner of your screen and see how much memory is actually available to you. Sometimes I even double click on it to see if I can free up even more memory. It is a startup program that uses very little memory, but will help keep your machine going strong.
I've written about this one before and it is definitely worth repeating. This is arguably the best disk defrager on the market today...and it's free. In case you don't know by now, the files on your computer's hard drive become fragmented over time, meaning different parts of any particular file wind up being spread all over your hard drive. After a while, this slows down your computer. A disk defrager puts your files back together again, thereby speeding up your computer. Defraging should be done about once a month. Folks normally don't like to defrag as it takes a while The Auslogics program is the fastest defrager available today and it does a terrific job.The company also make a fine registry defrager, also free.
Another program I've written about here previously. Before you defrag, you should probably clean up your hard drive so you don't defrag programs your going to get rid of anyway. Over time, your computer creates a lot of files that are useful for a short time, then never again. The problem is that they don't go away. CCleaner removes unused files from your system from programs like Internet Explorer (Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat); Firefox (Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history); Windows (Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files, and Log files) and others. One note of caution: you should carefully inspect the list of files that you want removed to make sure you don't erase something you use. The first time I used it, I lost my Firefox cookies files, which made me re-log in to several web sites that I use all the time. A bit of a pain. Still, I use this program before I defrag and at other times. I used it yesterday on my home computer and freed up over 4Gb of space, mainly from the Recycle Bin. It also cleans up other areas of your computer that are too numerous to mention here. Just get it and see for yourself.
An excellent file compressor and uncompressor software. You probably won't use it often, but it does a good job on ZIP files, RAR files, and several others. The program is free for the first 40 days, then it says you need to buy it. But guess what...you don't. Just click on it and it will work just fine.
More programs in the next edition.
PS: This just in...Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be available to the world on 4/29/08. Its long overdue.
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