Software
Software LinksThe following list of connections to software download sites, are a result of discussions and suggestions from Brighton Computer Club regular meetings. Only items classified as "Freeware" are listed. Please click Downloading for a suggested technique in securely downloading software from the internet. For the Club's recommendation for installing new software, please click Installing Items with:
are the recommended minimum that you should have on your computer.
CAUTION: Do not run more than one Anti-Virus program
at a time.
Items with: 
are over 5Mb in size and would be slow downloading using dial-up service. If you would like these programs, pick up the Club Software Memory Stick at the next meeting. All the programs listed below are updated regularly and are on the memory stick.
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Disclaimer
The information provided on this page comes without any warranty whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because it is listed here or has a good review does not mean that the Brighton Computer Club endorses all of them. Some are recommended by our members. All the other standard disclaimers also apply.- Download Site: AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.5
At the Site, Click on:
WARNING: The file size is 61.57 Mbytes - Suggest Club Software CD
NEW! LinkScanner® Active Surf-Shield checks web pages for threats at the only time that matters – when you’re about to click that link.
- Award-winning antivirus and antispyware
- Real-time safe internet surfing and searching
- Quality proven by 80 million of users
- Easy to download, install and use
- Protection against viruses and spyware
- Compatible with Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP
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Adaware Anniversary Edition - Updated at: 10 Feb 09 Meeting
- Download Site: http://download.cnet.com
On the CNet.com page, Click on:
With behavior-based threat detection and integrated real-time monitoring, Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition focuses on core consumer security needs. Instead of adding layers of bells and whistles--thereby slowing your computer and scans down--we have decided to focus on what really matters. Anniversary Edition provides advanced threat protection, and is significantly lighter and faster than our previous versions.Numerous changes in Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition include: Behavior-based heuristical detection; Ad-Watch Live! integrated real-time protection; Customizable Profile Scans and full integration with Windows Security Center.
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Acrobat Reader - Suggested by: Burke McNulty
Download for: Windows 2000/ME/98/95 - From BCC Website "Version 6.0"
Download Site for: Windows XP/Vista - http://majorgeeks.com/Adobe_Reader_d3852.html - Top of Page
At the Site, Click on:
This software lets you view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files on a variety of hardware and operating system platforms. The new version of Acrobat Reader provides a host of features that enable you to submit Adobe PDF forms created with fillable form fields in such applications as Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional and Adobe Form Designer. Play back a variety of embedded multimedia content, such as QuickTime and MP3 files. Read and organize high-fidelity e-books. Activate search and accessibility capabilities built into your PDF files, and display Adobe Photoshop Album slide shows and electronic cards.
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7-Zip - Suggested by: Frank Myers
- Download Site: http://www.7-zip.org/
At the Site, Click on: "Download" for .exe type and 32-bit Windows.
The main features of 7-Zip:
* High compression ratio in new 7z format with LZMA compression * Supported formats: o Packing / unpacking: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR o Unpacking only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS * For ZIP and GZIP formats 7-Zip provides compression ratio that is 2-10 % better than ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip * Self-extracting capability for 7z format * Integration with Windows Shell * Powerful File Manager * Powerful command line version * Plugin for FAR Manager * Localizations for 63 languages
Uses for 7-Zip:
* Distributing files on the Internet: Only one download is required to obtain all related files, and file transfer is quicker because the archived files are compressed. * Sending a group of related files to an associate: When you distribute a collection of files as a single Zip file, you benefit from the file grouping as well as compression. * Saving disk space: If you have large files that are important but seldom used, such as large data files, simply compress the files into a Zip file and then unzip (or "extract") them only when needed.
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IrfanView - Suggested by: Frank Myers
- Download Site: http://www.techspot.com/download299.html
At the Site, Click on:
IrfanView is a fast and simple image viewer and editor that supports all major graphic formats, including BMP, DIB, JPEG, GIF, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, multipage TIFF, and TGA. In addition, it features drag-and-drop support, directory viewing, TWAIN support, slide shows, batch conversion, and modifications, such as color depth, crop, blur, and sharpen. The latest version features a host of updates, including the option to sort thumbnails using EXIF data or using image width and height, a new save option for TIFF files, a new batch option (you can apply changes to all TIFF-image pages), and a new TIFF option (you can edit multipage TIFFs: Menu->View->Multipage images).
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MS Word Viewer - Suggested by: Burke McNulty
- Download Site: Our BCC Website (Click "Save")
This program is for users who don't have Word; it allows them to open and view Word 97, 2000, 2003 and XP documents.
With the Microsoft Word Viewer 3000, Microsoft Word users can share documents with those who do not have Word and users without Word can open and view Word documents. This product also allows users who wish to post rich-formatted Word documents on the Internet to expand their online audience to people who might not have Word; and the viewer also allows users to view and print documents created in the Word native file format, even if they do not have Word. Users are allowed to zoom, outline, or view page layout, headers/footers, footnotes, and annotations.
he viewer does not allow users to edit files. However, it allows them to copy information from a document to other applications.-
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MS Excel Viewer - Suggested by: Frank Myers
- Download Site: Our BCC Website (Click "Save")
The Excel 2003 Viewer lets users view and print Excel 97, 2000 and 2003 spreadsheet files, in addition to other Excel for Windows® (versions 2.0 and greater) and Excel for the Macintosh® (versions 2.2a and greater) spreadsheet files. This small, freely distributable viewer gives users the flexibility to view page layout, copy and control cell sizes, and access the zoom and AutoFilter features. This viewer also supports OLE DocObject, as well as the ability to view any Excel file. Note This viewer may open some spreadsheet files created with later versions of Excel. Note The Excel 97/2000 Viewer is recommended for use with a stand-alone computer that does not have Excel installed.
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MS Access Viewer - Suggested by: Frank Myers
- Download Site: Our BCC Website (Click "Save")
The Snapshot Viewer enables you to view a report snapshot without having the standard or run-time versions of Microsoft Access 97 through Access 2003.
* This program works with the following Office applications:
o Access 2003
o Access 2002
o Access 2000
o Access 97-
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MS Powerpoint Viewer - Suggested by: Frank Myers
- Download Site: Our BCC Website (Click "Save")
The PowerPoint Viewer 2003 allows people who use PowerPoint to share their presentations with people who do not have PowerPoint installed on their computers. When you post presentations on the Internet, you can include the PowerPoint Viewer to expand your online audience to people who might not have PowerPoint, or to those with different versions. You can use this viewer to view files created in both PowerPoint for Windows® and PowerPoint for the Macintosh.
This program is for users who don't have Microsoft PowerPoint®; it allows them to view PowerPoint 97, 2000, and 2003 presentations.-
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Image Analyzer - Suggested at: 18 Sep 04 Meeting
- Download Site: http://meesoft.logicnet.dk/
At the Site, Click on: Image Analyzer on the left, then [Site 2]
Advanced image editing, enhancement and analysis software. The program contains both most image enhancement features found in conventional image editors plus a number of advanced features not even available in professional photo suites.
Features: * Automatic brightness, contrast, gamma and saturation adjustment * Build-in conventional and adaptive filters for noise reduction, edge extraction etc. * Deconvolution for out-of-focus and motion blur compensation (see below) * Easy red-eye removal * User specified filters in spatial and frequency domain * Resize, rotate, crop and warping of images * Scanner, camera and printer support * File format support: Read/write BMP, ICO, CUR, WMF, EMF, PNG, MNG, GIF, PCX, JPEG and JPEG 2000 images Read RAS, PNM, PGM, PPM, HIPS and Matlab files * Morphological operations * Color model conversion: RGB, CMY, HSI, Lab, YCbCr, YIQ and PCA * Distance, Fourier and discrete cosine transformation * Math expression module for creating and transforming images and advanced "pocket" calculator with equation solver * Plugin system for adding more specialized features. See below for available plugins-
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PhotoShop Album - Suggested by: Frank Myers
- Download Site: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/
At the Site, Click on: Download Now
Adobe® Photoshop® Album 2.0 software has everything the casual photographer needs, all in one easy-to-use product. Quickly share your photos with family and friends, fix flaws in seconds, and view all your photos in one convenient place.
E-mail right-sized photos Avoid overloading e-mail inboxes — Adobe Photoshop Album automatically resizes your photos so they send and open quickly, and look great.
Tell your stories in entertaining slide shows Share the excitement of any event by creating a slide show in less than five minutes. Bring it alive with captions, transitions, and music.
Get the most from photo paper Fit more photos on a page with templates that let you print multiple photos on one sheet of paper.-
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Belarc Advisor - Suggested at: 9 Dec 03 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.belarc.com/
At the Site, Click on:
Builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, including Microsoft Hotfixes, and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server.
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Shoot the Messenger - Suggested at: 13 Jan 04 Meeting
- Download Site: http://grc.com/stm/ShootTheMessenger.htm
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At the Site, Click on:
Allows any Windows NT/2000/XP user to easily stop and disable the unnecessary Messenger Service running in their machines.
Since the first release of Windows 1.0, people have never stopped complaining about how slow and resource-hungry Windows is to boot and operate. It's things like leaving unneeded, unwanted, and never used services running — exactly like Windows Messenger — that tie up RAM, burn CPU cycles, and consume other system resources. It adds up to slowing everything down. Turning off unneeded services and not running unnecessary programs is always a good idea. As you can probably see . . . Even if your Windows 2000 or XP machine is safe behind a personal firewall or NAT router, shutting down the Messenger Service is a good idea.Does not have to be installed. Just copy to your computer and run it.
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Mozilla Firefox - Suggested at: 11 Jan 05 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.mozilla.com/
At the Site, Click on: Download Firefox Free
Popup Blocking Stop annoying popup ads in their tracks with Firefox's built in popup blocker. Tabbed Browsing View more than one web page in a single window with this time saving feature. Open links in the background so that they're ready for viewing when you're ready to read them. Find out more... Privacy and Security Built with your security in mind, Firefox keeps your computer safe from malicious spyware by not loading harmful ActiveX controls. A comprehensive set of privacy tools keep your online activity your business. Smarter Search Google Search is built right into the toolbar, and there is a plethora of other search tools including Smart Keywords (type "dict
" in the Location bar), and the new Find bar (which finds text as you type without covering up anything). Live Bookmarks RSS integration lets you read the latest news headlines and read updates to your favorite sites that are syndicated. Find out more... Hassle-Free Downloading Files you download are automatically saved to your Desktop so they're easy to find. Fewer prompts mean files download quicker. Fits Like a Glove Simple and intuitive, yet fully featured, Firefox has all the functions you're used to - Bookmarks, History, Full Screen, Text Zooming to make pages with small text easier to read, etc. S, M, L or XL—It's Your Choice Firefox is the most customizable browser on the planet. Customize your toolbars to add additional buttons, install new Extensions that add new features, add new Themes to browse with style, and use the adaptive search system to allow you to search an infinite number of engines. Firefox is as big or small as you want. -
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Mozilla Thunderbird - Suggested at: 11 Jan 05 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird/
At the Site, Click on: Free Download
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, open-source and cross-platform mail client and news reader for most modern operating systems including, but not limited to, Windows, Linux and Macintosh. It offers some advantages over other mail clients, including junk mail classification. Built from Mozilla code, Mozilla Thunderbird uses Gecko, the most standards-compliant rendering engine in existence.
Smartest Way to Stop Junk Mail Screenshot of Mozilla Thunderbird Mozilla Thunderbird removes spam and helps keep your Inbox clean. Tired of spam and annoying advertising in your Inbox? Mozilla Thunderbird provides the most effective tools for detecting junk mail. Our tools analyze your e-mail and identify those that are most likely to be junk. You can have your junk mail automatically deleted or put in a specific folder. To activate the Junk Mail filters, go to Tools > Junk Mail Controls..., click the Adaptive Filters tab and check the Enable adaptive junk mail detection option. Mail, the Way You Want It Screenshot of Mozilla Thunderbird We've added a new three-column view to access your e-mail. View your e-mail the way you want it. Choose between three unique message views. Select your toolbar layout. Customize your toolbar buttons, and use Mail Views to quickly sort through your e-mail. In the end, all these possibilities make you more productive and efficient, which is what Mozilla Thunderbird is all about. Built-in Spell Checking Screenshot of Mozilla Thunderbird The intelligent spell checker keeps your mail professional. There's no need for third party spell checking software. Mozilla Thunderbird comes with an integrated spell checker developed by the Spellchecker Mozdev Project. Safe and Secure Mozilla Thunderbird provides enterprise and government grade security features such as S/MIME, digital signing, message encryption, support for certificates and security devices. Unlike many other products, Mozilla Thunderbird doesn't allow scripts to run by default. This results in a more secure product than other mail clients on the market and helps stop the spreading of worms and viruses on the Web. Unlimited Functionality through Extensions Screenshot of Extension icon How powerful mail client do you want? You decide. Mozilla Thunderbird is already packed with great features like IMAP/POP support, support for HTML mail, labels, quick search, a smart address book, return receipts, advanced message filtering, LDAP address completion, import tools, powerful search, and the ability to manage multiple e-mail and newsgroup accounts. In addition to this, Mozilla Thunderbird lets you add additional features as you need them through extensions. Extensions are powerful tools to help you build a mail client that meets your specific needs. Take a look at the various extensions available. Personalize with Themes Screenshot of Mozilla Thunderbird Qute theme Just about any part of the interface can be changed with themes. With themes, you can change the look and feel of Mozilla Thunderbird. A theme can simply change the toolbar icons or it can change every piece of the application appearance. You can download and install themes with just a few clicks.-
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NoteTab Light - Suggested at: 11 Jan 05 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.notetab.com/ntl.php
At the Site, Click on:
half-way down the page.
NoteTab Light is the ultimate free Notepad replacement and a capable HTML editor. A slimmer version of the award-winning NoteTab Pro, this slick application makes text editing a breeze. Move quickly around a stack of large files with a simple tabbed interface. Format your text to your heart's content. Write with the font of your choice, fixed-width or proportional.
Key Features * Open and edit many documents at once * Capable of editing huge text files * Text drag-and-drop editing * AutoCorrect/Auto-replace mode * Clip tool for quick and easy text insertion * Capture text sent to Clipboard-
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RoboForm - Suggested at: 11 Jan 05 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.roboform.com/
At the Site, Click on:
RoboForm is a free password manager and one-click web form filler with some serious Artificial Intelligence.
What it does: • AutoSave passwords in browser. • AutoFill passwords to login form. • Click Login button for you. • Fill personal info into online forms. • Save offline passwords & notes. • Generate Secure Random Passwords. • Encrypt passwords and personal data using 3-DES. • All personal info is stored on your computer only. • Take RoboForm with you on USB disk for ultimate portability. • Sync your passwords and notes to Palm or Pocket PC. • Backup & Restore, Print your passwords.-
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Google PicasaWeb - Suggested at: 14 Jun 05 Meeting
- Download Site: http://picasa.google.com/download/thanks.html
Clicking on the connection initiates the download
PicasaWeb is a photo editing program that allows you to edit and organise your pictures on your computer. You can add visual effects to your digital pictures, write captions, pan, tilt, zoom, crop, eliminate red eyes, change the contrast, colour and enhance them. Other features include the ability to create slide shows, upload your photographs to your blog or website, burn them to CD or DVD, make a desktop image, create a screensaver, etc. The software is available for Windows and Linux.
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Directory Print - Suggested at: 22 Nov 05 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptdirprn.asp
At the Site, Click on: Karen's Directory Printer At the bottom of the page.
If you are not running Windows XP, you should download and install: Visual Basic Runtime v6.0 from the same area.No more fumbling with My Computer or Windows Explorer, wishing you could print information about all your files. Karen's Directory Printer can print the name of every file on a drive, along with the file's size, date and time of last modification, and attributes (Read-Only, Hidden, System and Archive)! And now, the list of files can be sorted by name, size, date created, date last modified, or date of last access.
Despite its name, the Directory Printer doesn't always print. If asked, it can save the information it collects in a disk file. Later, this file can be printed by a word processing program, archived, or e-mailed to a different location. The file can even be imported into a spreadsheet or database, analyzed, and used to prepare reports or statistics. What does this file look like? It's an ordinary text file so a program like Windows' Notepad can display its contents. Take a look, and you'll quickly see each of its lines of text begin with one of four words: COMMENT, FILE, FOLDER or TOTAL. Lines beginning with COMMENT reveal the date and time the file was created, and the user ID of the person who ordered the creation of the file. Other COMMENT lines disclose the computer, drive, and folders whose information is recorded within the rest of the file. As you've probably guessed, FILE lines contain information about a single file. Depending on your selections, you may see a file's name, size or attributes. At your command, the file's date of creation, last access and last modification can appear too.If Karen's Directory Print does not work on your computer, please go to her homepage and download the Visual Basic Runtime file required. Follow the links to Directory Print.
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Replicator - Suggested at: 22 Nov 05 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp
At the Site, Click on: Karen's Replicator At the bottom of the page.
If you are not running Windows XP, you should download and install: Visual Basic Runtime v6.0 from the same area.Automatically backup files, directories, even entire drives! Karen's Replicator copies selected files from one drive/folder to another. Source and Destination folders can reside anywhere on your network.
Options include repeated copies at intervals as short as a few minutes, or as long as several months, copy only files that have changed, and the replication of file deletions.
New features allow you to specify which files should not be copied, and also which days a file should be skipped!
If Karen's Directory Print does not work on your computer, please go to her homepage and download the Visual Basic Runtime file required. Follow the links to Directory Print.
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CCleaner - Suggested at: 12 Mar 07 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/downloading-ccleaner
The download of Version 2.0 will start automatically
CCleaner is a freeware PC optimization tool. It combines a system cleaner that removes unused and temporary files from your system and also a fully featured registry cleaner! CCleaner allows Windows to run faster, more efficiently and gives you more hard disk space. The best part is that it's Small, Fast and Free!
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Avast Anti-Virus - Suggested at: 12 Mar 07 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
At the Site, Click on:
avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users and non-commercial use. Both of these conditions should be met! Our company offers the Home Edition free of charge, since, in our opinion, it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention; however, many users are not able to or do not want to pay for antivirus software. This page will show you the most important features of this program.
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FastStone Capture - Suggested at: 12 Mar 07 Meeting
- Download Site: Our BCC Website (Click "Save")
FastStone Capture is a powerful, flexible and intuitive screen-capture utility. It allows you to capture anything on the screen including windows, objects, full screen, rectangle regions, freehand-selected regions and scrolling windows/web pages. It has innovative features such as a floating Capture Panel, hotkeys, resizing, cropping, text annotation, printing, e-mailing, screen magnifier and many more.
NOTE: This copy of "FastStone Capture" is the last FREE! copy. As of 14th May 2007, it has been changed to "Shareware".
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Eraser - Suggested by: Frank Myers
- Download Site: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/download.php
At the Site, Click on:
Eraser is an advanced security tool (for Windows), which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several tstyle="background: yellow"imes with carefully selected patterns. The patterns used for overwriting are based on Peter Gutmann's paper "Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory" and they are selected to effectively remove magnetic remnants from the hard drive. Other methods include the one defined in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual of the US Department of Defence and overwriting with pseudorandom data. You can also define your own overwriting methods.
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Norton Removal Tool - Suggested by: Tom Rosebush
- Download Site: http://service1.symantec.com/support/tsgeninfo.nsf
At the Site, Click on: "Download" for your particular operating system; ie: Windows XP, Windows 98.
The Norton Removal Tool uninstalls all Norton 2007/2006/2005/2004/2003 products from your computer. Before you continue, make sure that you have the installation CDs or downloaded installation files for any Norton products that you want to reinstall. Also, if you use ACT! or WinFAX, back up those databases and uninstall those products.
Click on the install icon below and follow the on-screen instructions. Your computer may be restarted more than once, and you may be asked to repeat some steps after the computer restarts.
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FastStone Viewer - Suggested at: 10 Apr 07 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.faststone.org/download.htm
At the Site, Click on:
A fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touches the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image annotation, scanner support, histogram and much more.
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What's Running - Suggested at: 9 Oct 07 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/download.aspx
At the Site, Click on:
What's Running is a product that gives you an inside look into your Windows 2000/XP/2003 system.
Processes - Inspect your processes and find all the relevant details that you need! Get performance and resource usage data such as memory usage, processor usage and handles. Also you get all details about what dll:s are loaded, what services are running within the process and what IP-connections each process has.
IP-Connections - Find out information about all active IP-connections in the system. Get a list of what remote connections each program have and find out what applications are listening for connections.
Services - Inspect what services are running and stopped, find the process for your services and inspect it's properties easily!
Modules - Find information about all dll:s and exe:s in use in your system. For each module you can find all processes that have loaded the module. Also you can find the full path and immediately open the folder where the file is located.
Drivers - Find information about all drivers, for running drivers you can inspect the file version to find out the supplier of the driver.
Startup Manage all your startup programs. Disable, edit, delete, create new easily. Manage startup programs regardless of source (registry or Startup folder).
System - information Show important system information about your computer, such as installed memory, processor, registered user, OS and OS version.-
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MemInfo - Suggested at: 9 Oct 07 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.carthagosoft.net/meminfo.htm
At the Site, Click on:
MemInfo Displays the current memory (RAM or Page File) usage of Windows in the system tray. * With a small gauge graphic and the value updated in real time, MemInfo gives a fast feedback to current memory usage in Windows. * Highly customizable. Choose when MemInfo should warn you about high memory usage, show physical memory or Windows page file, show free or used memory, choose the font that looks better. * Built in memory Defragmenter to allow speed up your computer by maximizing the available free memory
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SmartClose - Suggested at: 9 Oct 07 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.bm-productions.tk/
At the Site, Click on:
SmartClose closes all applications, services, processes that can be safely stopped and restarts them later. This takes the guesswork out of what to stop and what is essential for Windows to run. Stopping programs can be tedious to do manually.
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DK Finder - Suggested at: 11 Mar 08 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.dkellner.hu/freeware/finder/index.php
At the Site, Click on: "Latest Version Here"
DK Finder is a fast desktop search tool
Most of us need a good desktop search tool sometimes. Windows doesn't provide a good search tool - at least not the one that comes with Windows. And there really isn't a lot of good search tools available. There's Windows Desktop Search, which has its pros and cons. And, there are many commercial desktop search tools, but this is a freeware pick.
Luckily for those of you who don't want to spend money but want a desktop search tool as good as, or better than, those commercial desktop search tools costing $50, $60, or even $70, we've stumbled across one for you. It's better than most commercial desktop search tools.
It installs easily, builds its file/folder database extremely fast and once built, it updates it in an instant. When searching your hard drive it is blazingly fast. It can find 5000 items in 0.6 seconds.
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OpenOffice.Org Productivity Suite - Suggested at: 25 Mar 08 Meeting
- Download Site: http://download.openoffice.org/index.html
At the Site, Click on: "Download OpenOffice.org"
CAUTION: THE DOWNLOAD FILE IS 125,894,656 BYTES IN SIZE
It is on the Club CD available at the meetings.OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute.
OpenOffice.org is both the name of a software product - the OpenOffice.org Productivity Suite - and the name of the open-source project which designs, develops, maintains, translates, tests, documents, supports, and promotes the Suite - the OpenOffice.org Community.- Key points about the OpenOffice.org Productivity Suite.
- OpenOffice.org provides everything most people need in an office productivity suite. It is stable, reliable, and robust, built up over twenty years' development. Unlike its major competitor, it was designed from the start as a single piece of software, which makes for higher quality software and a more consistent user experience. It is actively developed, with several releases every year.
- Writer wordprocessor
- Calc spreadsheet
- Impress for presentations
- Draw for graphics
- Base database
- The main components of the OpenOffice.org Suite are:
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AbiWord - Suggested at: 13 May 08 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.abisource.com/download/
At the Site, Click on:
NOTE: If you would like any of the other items in the above box - such as a Dictionary - , you must click on each separate item to download it.
AbiWord is rapidly becoming a state of the art Word Processor, with lots of features useful for your daily work, personal needs, or for just some good old typing fun.
Enjoy your favorite Word Processor on the operating system you like to use - be it Windows, Linux, QNX, FreeBSD or Solaris.
AbiWord has been designed to integrate perfectly with the operating system it runs on. It will take advantage of the functionality provided by the system, such as image loading or printing capabilities.
What use is a Word Processor when you can't share your documents with your friends? AbiWord is able to read and write all industry standard document types, such as OpenOffice.org documents, Microsoft Word documents, WordPerfect documents, Rich Text Format documents, HTML web pages and many more.
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Google Chrome - Suggested by Frank Myers
- Download Site: http://www.google.com/chrome
At the Site, Click on:
From the Google Creators:
Google Chrome is a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff - the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.
Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today's complex web applications much better . By keeping each tab in an isolated "sandbox", we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built V8, a more powerful JavaScript engine, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers.
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Revo Uninstaller - Suggested by Charlie LeBer
- Download Site: http://www.revouninstaller.com/
At the Site, Click on:
Revo Uninstaller helps you to uninstall and remove unwanted programs installed on your computer even if you have problems uninstalling and cannot uninstall them from "Windows Add or Remove Programs" control panel applet.
Revo Uninstaller is a much faster and more powerful alternative to "Windows Add or Remove Programs" applet! With its advanced and fast algorithm, Revo Uninstaller analyzes an application's data before uninstall and scans after you uninstall an application. After the program's regular uninstaller runs, you can remove additional unnecessary files, folders and registry keys that are usually left over on your computer. Even if you have a broken installation, Revo Uninstaller scans for an application's data on your hard disk drives and in the Windows registry and shows all found files, folders and registry keys so you can delete them.
With its unique "Hunter mode", Revo Uninstaller offers you some simple, easy to use, but effective and powerful approaches to manage (uninstall, stop, delete, disable from auto starting) and to get information about your installed and/or running programs.-
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WordWeb - Suggested by Peter Alker
- Download Site: http://wordweb.info/free/
At the Site, Click on:
WordWeb is a one-click English (Canadian can be default) thesaurus and dictionary for Windows that can look up words in almost any program. It works off-line, but can also look up words in web references such as the Wikipedia encyclopedia. Features of the free version include:
Definitions and synonyms
Proper nouns
Related words
Pronunciations
150 000 root words
120 000 synonym sets
Look up words in almost any programMillions of people from all over the world use this top-rated software.
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CutePDFWriter - Suggested by Frank Myers
- Download Site: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
At the Site, Click on:
Create PDF documents on the fly — for Free!
Portable Document Format (PDF) is the de facto standard for the secure and reliable distribution and exchange of electronic documents and forms around the world. CutePDF Writer (formerly CutePDF Printer) is the free version of commercial PDF creation software. CutePDF Writer installs itself as a "printer subsystem". This enables virtually any Windows applications (must be able to print) to create professional quality PDF documents - with just a push of a button!FREE for commercial and non-commercial use! No watermarks! No Popup Web Ads!
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SUPERAntiSpyware - Suggested by Frank Myers
- Download Site: http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
At the Site, Click on:
Quick, Complete and Custom Scanning of Hard Drives, Removable Drives, Memory, Registry, and More!
Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers and many other types of threats.
Trust Items and Exclude Folders for complete customization of scanning-
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Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - Suggested by Charlie LeBer
- Download Site: http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware
At the Site, Click on:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective freeware anti-malware tool. It's a relatively speedy malware remover, with the quick scan taking about 10 minutes. The heuristics engine proved on multiple computers during empirical testing that it was capable of determining the difference between false positives and dangerous apps.
The application has some nice features rolled in, too. It supports multiple drive scanning, context menu options including a scan-on-demand for individual files, and the FileAssassin option under the More Tools section for removing locked files. The interface is simple, but pleasant-looking and well-organized. Tabs live just below the oversized logo, with few options per tab to keep down the clutter. The installation process was fast enough, but interestingly offered up the well-kept changelog and an instant definition file update.-
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Internet Explorer 7 & 8 - Suggested at: 10 Feb 09 Meeting
- Download Site: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads
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CAUTION: THESE DOWNLOAD FILES AVERAGE 15,421,637 BYTES IN SIZE
They are on the Club CD available at the meetings.
At the Site, Click on your choice of:- Windows Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP
- Windows Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 for Windows XP
- Windows Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 for Windows Vista (and Windows Server 2008)
Internet Explorer 7 & 8 provide improved navigation through tabbed browsing, web search right from the toolbar, advanced printing, easy discovery, reading and subscription to RSS feeds, and much more.- Features:
- Tabbed browsing
- Quick Tabs
- Tab Groups
- Streamlined interface
- Advanced printing
- Instant Search box
- Favorites Center
- RSS feeds
- Page zoom
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AShampoo Burning Studio 6 - Suggested by Charlie Le Ber
- Download Site: http://www.download.com/Ashampoo-Burning-Studio-Free
At the Site, Click on:
Multi-disc file backup and restore on CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs; create compressed backup archives with powerful password protection; split archives automatically across multiple CDs, DVDs or Blu-ray discs; restore archive contents to their original locations; integrated Audio CD ripper store your audio tracks as WMA or WAV files; new option for setting the number of copies you want to burn (available for all disc formats); discs can now be verified immediately without being ejected first (if the drive supports this feature); numerous other small improvements that make the program easier to use and more effective; burn files and folders on data CDs/DVDs/Blu-ray discs; burn Audio CDs from WAV, MP3, FLAC, WMA and Ogg Vorbis files; burn MP3-CDs from your MP3 files; burn Video DVD, Video CD (VCD) or Super Video CD (S-VCD); create and burn CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc images; burn speed and other options can all be set automatically.
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Smart Defrag - Suggested by Charlie LeBer
- Download Site: http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html?Str=download
At the Site, Click on:
Smart Defrag beats the built-in Windows Defragmentation tool hands-down. It's faster, more thorough, more configurable, and easier to use. It's a must have for all Windows XP and Windows Vista users who are concerned about maintaining their hard drives and keeping fragmentation under control.
Every time you open a program and then close it, Windows does not always "put it back" where it was. So parts of the program get scattered all over your hard drive. So, the next time you open the program, Windows has to find all the pieces and has to "remember" where it put them all - this takes time and this causes your programs to open more slowly. The more fragmented your drives are the more slowly your programs will open. A badly fragmented hard drive can really slow down your computer.
Smart Defrag helps defragment your hard drives more efficiently than any other product on the market –– free or not.-
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Downloading from the Internet the Secure Way
WARNING: Almost everything on the internet has the potential to contain viruses/malware. If you are concerned about this possibility, instead of downloading items listed on this page, use the Brighton Computer Club CD that has all of the items, already scanned for viruses, available at the semi-montly meetings. Steps to Success and Safety.
- Step 1: Before you carry out your first download, make a
unique folder to store all downloaded items (such as - "C:\Down2008").
- To create a new folder:
- Open Windows Explorer
- Click on C:\ drive
- Click "File" from top menu bar
- Select "New"
- Click "Folder"
- Type "Down2008" while "New Folder" is highlighted.
- Close Windows Explorer
- Step 2: When you select a file for downloading from a web site,
your browser will ask you where to store the downloaded file. Select "C:\Down2008".
That will be you default download folder for every future download (unless you change it).
- Step 3: Immediately after the file is downloaded, go to
the folder, highlight the file by right-clicking the mouse button, and select "Scan with AVG Free"
from the menu. NOTE: AVG Free may be replaced by the installed Anti-Virus program of choice.
- Note: The reason for a unique folder is to easily locate the
file after it is downloaded.
NEVER download to your desktop. It will clutter your screen.
TO DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE:
- In the selection choices at the top of this page, Top of Page Click on a software title.
- First listed, at the software description area, is a connector to the software web site download page. Click on this connector to go to the referenced site.
- Find the "Free" version listed on the Owner's web site.
NOTE: In certain cases, the web site may be our own. This is because the software is no longer free and we have stored the last "Free" version. - Click on the program name indicated.
- A small window should pop-up asking for a location on your hard drive for the downloaded file.
- If clicking on the link does not work, right click and select 'Save Target As...'
- Make sure that the choice for the destination is the special folder that you use for downloading such as C:\Down2008 mentioned above.
- You will be able to follow the download activity. When complete, the download window should disappear. You can then log off the web site and return to our Club site for more downloading (if required).
Managing Your Downloaded Files:
Once your chosen item is downloaded to your special folder, you can then copy it to permanent storage in another folder if you prefer. You can leave the original form of the item (ie. .ZIP & .EXE ) in the download folder in case you have to re-install it.
NOTE: If you leave your downloads in the download folder, be sure to Back up the Folder to protect the downloads. This will save time if you lose the file and have to re-install.The steps below are for Programs that have been downloaded and require installation....
- Step 5: If the item suffix is .EXE, then just double-clicking on it should install it. Follow the normal installation instructions
- Step 6: If the item suffix is .ZIP, then you must have WINZIP (or equivalent) installed. WINZIP link for download is on the this page. It uses Step 5 above.
- Step 7: Click on the .ZIP item and WinZip will automatically unzip it into a temporary folder and open a separate window showing the files expanded from the .ZIP.
- Step 8: In the temporary folder created by WinZip, locate SETUP.EXE or INSTALL.EXE and double-click on it. Follow the normal installation instructions.
- Step 9: If the item suffix is .MSI, that means it is a Microsoft Installation program. It will require a connection to the internet so that the rest of the Program (resident on MSN) can be also downloaded and included in the installation. Lately, Microsoft is requiring "Proof of Legality" of your operating system before it allows the complete installation of a Microsoft Product.
Download Item Type Notes
There are basically 4 types of files that are actively downloaded from the internet:- Condensed - The most common of these is .ZIP. Condensing makes it faster to transfer the file from the internet site to your computer. The .ZIP file can contain numerous files inside it. You require a special program [Such as WINZIP] to restore it to its orginal state. WINZIP link for download is on the this page.
- Executable Programs - These files are self-expanding programs that usually include the ability to install when run. The suffix type is .EXE
- Media -
There are numerous file types associated with media.
.MP3 is a common one for music.
.JPG & .GIF are common ones for graphics.
.MPEG, AVI(DIVX) & .MOV are common for movies, etc.
Each of these types usually have special programs for running them. Members should suggest their favourites for the software page. - Documents -
Examples of these files are .TXT {text} or
.DOC (MS Word) or
.PDF (Adobe Acrobat Documents). If the latter, then you require ADOBE ACROBAT READER which is linked for download on this page.
Installing the Safe Way
When you are installing regular programs, the following involved procedure is probably NOT necessary. This procedure however; is strongly recommended for "System" oriented programs such as Service Packs, or very large involved programs such as Microsoft's Office, Security programs such as AVG, etc.
To ensure a "safe" installation of these type of software programs, you should do the following steps everytime:- Set a System Restore Point
- Stop "Running" Programs
- Install the Software Program
- Restart the Computer
- Restart "Running" Programs
- Restart the Computer
Set a System Restore Point
- Click on "Start"
- Select "All Programs"
- Select "Accessories"
- select "System Tools"
- Click "System Restore"
- Select "Create a Restore Point" by click the radio button
- Click "Next"
- Type in a meaningful description ie "Installing Program X" and click "Create"
- After the red creation message shows, click "Close"
- Done this step
Stop "Running" Programs
Here is Charlie LeBer's procedure to stop "running" programs in XP and Vista.- Click on "Start". Click on "Run" and enter "msconfig" and click on "OK".
- Now click on "Startup" tab and note the programs that are checked. Some members use "Faststone Capture" to take an image of the settings.
- Now click "Disable All" and "Apply".
- Click on "Services" tab.
- Click on "Hide All Microsoft Services" and then on "Disable All".
- Click "Apply" and "Close".
- When System Configuration box is displayed, click "Restart".
- When System Configuration Utility Window is displayed, click in the "Don’t show this message" box
- Click "OK".
- Done this step
Install the Software Program
Restart the Computer
Restart "Running" Programs
- Click on "Start". Click on "Run" and enter "msconfig" and click on "OK".
- Click "Startup" tab and click in the boxes you had noted in #2 above.
- Click "Apply".
- Click on "Services" tab. Click "Enable All".
- Click "Apply" and "Close".
- When System Configuration box is displayed,
Restart the Computer by clicking on "Restart",
Done! - Step 1: Before you carry out your first download, make a
unique folder to store all downloaded items (such as - "C:\Down2008").
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition - Suggested by: Frank Myers