Favourite Freeware

The free thing I use most is AVG anti-virus from Grisoft. I'm using their version 7.5 - which seems to be on the way out, being replaced with V8. I can't find a download for free V8 - maybe they're phasing out the free version (and I'll have to start paying ).

Other useful stuff is:

RadPro Calculator - for all sorts of radiation-related calculations & conversions,

ConvCalc - useful calculator for units conversions,

SwCAD III - PSpice with circuit capture (free from Linear Technology - big library of all their stuff, but you can add you own components),

Audacity - excellent sound studio for all sorts of audio stuff

VeroDes - drafting program for Veroboard (matrix stripboard) circuit lash-ups

I could go on (lots of free stuff from PLC manufacturers etc) - but that'll do for now.

John, I've been using AVG for years now and was thinking of downloading the latest version 8.0.

BUT it is limited to 30 days for the email virus checker, and thereafter you have to pay!!!

I've been reliably informed that the 7.5 free version is still going to be supported for a while yet...

So if you upgrade to version 8 you will lose the email virus checker unless you pay the 53 Euros for the privilege!

John.

I already use Ad-Aware - have done for some years - I went for SE Plus after some frets about unexplained activity on the broadband. All seems fine now.

I agree QBasic is an excellent bit of software. Used to use it a lot - and on to QB4.5, QB7 etc. for customer's stuff.

I very rarely use it these days, as the customers want the slick front-ends you can chuck together with VB, so I'm so used to using VB I end up using it for 'most everything. When Sudoku became popular, I knocked up a program to solve them. Can solve anything (with a valid set of input numbers) - it's got an option to allow guessing! Will even find a valid solution for a blank grid.

Sorry, I'm rambling further & further OT.

John.

I've seen the temptations of VB too, but they will have to take QB from my cold, dead paws ! No matter what level of language they offer, that one was for free, and I'm damn well keeping it. Nasty, ugly, behind the times, but it's mine to play with and they can't stop me ..... ha ha ha hahahhahahahhahahahhhhhha ! They can shove their fancy graphics, user-friendly programmes, but the realm of waiting hours for prime number output is mine " eee hee heeehehheheheee............................never more will the ******* g*t*s control me........up yer *** billy boy, coz I can run it on an antique, and you can't stop me......ha ha hahhahhhahahh ! My spawn will pour forth from a 386DX and he'll be helpless.

<slap> There's a newish one called "Eusing Free Registry" that seems quite good on first evaluation. Another one for the techies called "Codestuff Starter" offers a good way to see/control what's going on. As with all this stuff, it's best to research it and read up some evaluations before downloading. In another thread, vermin made the point that all the freebies don't catch the same stuff (same is true of payed for), so it's possibly best to use several and toggle through them ( most don't like to run at the same time). Going back to the op, one called "phun" is quite good (it was referrenced in a couple of CR4 threads) - a bit 'schoolish', but non the less fun to play with for mechanics.

I really should get into VB .. but I just can't see the point.
QB was fine... for quick lash ups....

Hey, my Kids still remember my scrolling space flight game from the ZX81 with fondness.
'Let's all Go to Planet 'O'....'

When I get into the car to drive to work I don't climb into the back seat and work the controls with a couple of broomsticks and a bit of string tied to a picture of a steering wheel.
Hmmm maybe I should give it a go

We still get daft customers who think they want our product to talk to a laptop... we could spend a shed load of time/money doing it only to find it won't work with the next itteration of 'Patio Doors 2010' or Vista's Sister or whatever crap will be foisted on us next...drifts off in omnidirectional Ant-gatesian rant....

Del

LOL - did anyone do more on a ZX than print 'Hello World' 'n' times? Rigging up a Space Invaders thing was easy-peasy. Damn shame I only thought about it after it appeared in all the pubs.

Hey..do you remember the early days of computing when we were trying to convince the missus of the usefulnes of one???

Errr well you can put all your recipies on it ...and err... um.

Jeez can't get her off the damn thing now and every household has about 3 computers and a few dead lapdogstops. Now that could be a new thread...'how many PCs in your house?'...except frankly my dear I don't give a damn.

I think I shall have the afternoon off (finish that painting)...ha ha ..back to work you suckers....

Del _{<Exit monitor left cackling manically>}

'how many PCs in your house?'

Would that include all the dead & dismembered ones in the attic?

hahahahaha what a great picture of how they thought a home computer would look like in 2004 from the year 1954 - I was 2 then!!!

I wonder what that big chrome wheel thingie actually does????

John

See #7 in this thread for the link to GIMP software...a graphics package I was recomended for use with my new graphics tablet.

I've had plenty of use from the two of 'em.

Del

This is nice for 3D drawing.

http://www.google.com/sketchup/downloads/

AVG Free is a great freeware package. I also use Mozilla Firefox as my browser; dont know if it is classified as freeware, but I know I've never paid for it.

Irfanview

a awesome image editing program, and media player, I have not found a type of media that it could not play

Here is a nice diagramming program for schematics and many other things:

http://www.gnome.org/projects/dia/

Also if you are into genealogy:

http://www.familysearch.org/

And don't forget Open Office to replace all your MS applications:

http://www.openoffice.org/

S

I use Irfanview which is a small but powerfull viewer

http://www.irfanview.net/

First of all, I am a fan of linux OS, both for professional development, as well as for home desktop use. I also use Windows from time to time, but still, I resort to freeware as much as possible, i.e. Firefox instead of IE and Thunderbird instead of Outlook.

At work, I use freeware development tools, such as compilers (gcc, etc...) version control systems (cvs, etc...), editors (vim, etc...) to mention only the most basic ones.

After so many years of using such software, it is now unthinkable for me to switch to anything else, let alone having to pay for it.

Google "engineering power tools". The free limited version is a great quick reference for conversion, calculations, geometry, etc. It's kind of made me lazy for many basic calcs.

Guy

Hi Guy, power tools is good, but: it's only a 30 day trial. If you just want unit conversion there's Uconeer

http://www.katmarsoftware.com/uconeer.htm

and ESBunitConv

http://www.esbconsult.com/esbcalc/esbunitconv.htm

Both are very comprehensive and free.

HEY! When did EP Tools become a 30 day trial? I've been using the limited download for years.

I switched to Thunderbird a couple of years ago and am very happy with it, except for one thing. I can't find a mobile phone synchronisation program and have to keep two calendars & contact databases - one on my phone and one in Thunderbird (using the Lightning calendar add-on). Has anyone found a phone or program that talks to Thunderbird?

There is a very good free circuit simulation program called mcap9. A ten circuit tutorial is presented at www.tier-2-innovation.com that helps users get over its steep learning curve.

CCleaner is a handy/easy-to-use utility for cleaning garbage ( the 'C' used to stand for 'Crap'). A couple of clicks and you can clean all sorts of garbage safely. It doesn't appear to conflict with other utilities, and can help keep your system running smooth. I just tabbed out of here to use it, and wiped a couple of megs (cookies etc). Most days I run it before I close down. Majorgeeks and Tucows are reasonably good software sites, although both contain links to sponsored sites (ones you'd want to avoid), but they're worth a look. Seek further recommendations before downloading anything from any site.

CCleaner is good but won't get rid of the hidden .dat files that keep a record of every web site you have ever been to. For that you need something like tracks eraser.

Personally I use Tracks Eraser & HD Cleaner. HD Cleaner is much the same as CCleaner but it overwrites deleted information to prevent it being recovered.

(Who's paranoid- not me)

Short of a big hammer, it's pretty much impossible to erase ones tracks. Even with the hammer, every search you ever made along an internet connection is traceable.

True, unless you use an anonymous browser, but how careful does the average person need to be?

I concur, but it emphasizes the difference between clutter that builds up and track-cleaning. I've been playing with a bit of free stuff recently called "Eusing Free Registry Cleaner". Seems OK, although "RegScrubXP" and "EasyCleaner" appear to do much the same. "CodeStuff Starter" gives a good picture of processes running on your machine, and gives some control over them.

ad-aware is a great cleaner that gets rid of mall ware and its free also dvd 43 nice dvd breaker to use with nero or other burning soft ware and the list goes on try give away a day some nise free stuff for a day by day

God said, 'Adam, I want you to do something for me.'

Adam said, 'Gladly, Lord, what do You want me to do?'

God said, 'Go down into that valley.'

Adam said, 'What's a valley?'

God explained it to him. Then God said, 'Cross the river.'

Adam said, 'What's a river?'

God explained that to him, and then said, 'Go over to the hill.......'

Adam said, 'What is a hill?'

So, God explained to Adam what a hill was.

He told Adam, 'On the other side of the hill you will find a cave'

Adam said, 'What's a cave?'

After God explained, he said, 'In the cave you will find a woman.'

Adam said, 'What's a woman?'

So God explained that to him, too. Then, God said, 'I want you to reproduce.'

Adam said, 'How do I do that?'

God first said (under his breath), 'Geez....'

And then, just like everything else, God explained that to Adam, as well.

So, Adam goes down into the valley, across the river, and over the hill, into the cave, and finds the woman. Then, in about five minutes, he was back.

God, his patience wearing thin, said angrily, 'What is it now?'

And Adam said

YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS !!!!!!

* 'What's a headache?'

Another useful link is the calendar of updates, this lists many of the updates available for security & other programmes with links for manual download.

For Mathematics, there is SciLab, a matlab or mathematica clone. From NIST, there is DataPlot, for data analysis of data sets large and small. For 3D graphics, there is BRLCad. For accounting, there is GnuCash. All the above come in Windows and Linux flavors. For an infinite list of freeware for just about anything you could possibly think of, there is sourceforge.net.

I just chanced upon this site listing mostly freeware. The list is the recommendations from the computer expert of the Daily Telegraph newspaper so should be pretty reliable.

???????????????????????????????????

^{Link? Pretty please?}

Oops, obviously having a brain dead day, try this.

Whilst you're there have a look at the nuclear stuff, they sell some weird gifts.

Here are a couple of more technically-oriented open source sources:

http://www.engineersedge.com/calculators.htm

http://www.netlib.org

Sorceforge.net has thousands of projects listed.

My personal favorites, that I use quite often are SciLab (mathematics) and TurboCad LE (which I learned about here on CR4). Also, GnuCash is a great accounting suite, except when it comes to printing invoices...

Here's another one (had to change operating systems to find this link):

http://www.freebyte.com

Thanks - looks like a good'un. Bookmarked it - I'll have a proper look sometime.

Just found another really useful freeware programme, PDF-Xchange Viewer. This allows you to open PDFs then mark up, annotate, draw shapes, highlight text, add stamps like 'Draft' or 'Confidential', add 'sticky' notes and measure distances, areas and perimeters. These documents can then be opened with any other PDF reader.

BTW, has anyone noticed that the latest Acrobat reader has text to speech built in?

Have just downloaded/installed/tested it - Brilliant! Many thanks.