FREE SOFTWARE I ADVISE YOU TO USE
All of these are AWESOME and I have tried and used them. They are free....
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* AVIRA Anti-Virus (WAY better than AVG)
There was a highly detailed benchmarking test done on this Anti-Virus program, as well as all the other ones as well. Here is a link here to that PDF document. Don't be scared, it is only a 550KB download. You will see this program smokes the free AVG Anti-Virus, as well as all the other retail/EXPENSIVE ones.
You can download the AVIRA Anti-Virus here;
"Although it's a free, antivirus AntiVir is capable of scanning and detecting high risk Trojans and viruses. After detection you can determine whether the program should repair infected files, delete them, or delete only if repair fails.
AntiVir's full system scanner generates a report that includes details about the system, program versions, settings, and scanned files. The report appears designed for submission to tech support, which is available through AntiVir's online forums.The user interface offers a good design and it is very friendly and intuitive.
AntiVir's Guard module (the on-access scanner) puts its protection out in the open if you double-click the tray icon it will display its current settings, current status, and the name of the most recently scanned file
The full scan is quick and with a low memory cost considering AntiVir is installing four running processes on the computer.
The update system is very well constructed and the program updates its database daily which ensures reliable protections against new threats.
Offering a very good protection against viruses Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic is a good solution for home users and it has the ability to exclude up to a dozen processes from on-access scanning so it can coexist with, for example, a spyware scanner."
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Free Flight Simulator Embedded in Google Earth
There is a flight simulator embedded within Google Earth. Sounds awesome, doesn't it? If the thought amazes you as much as it did me, then might have run off and tried it for yourself. But there's a problem. Remember what I said above - it's a hidden feature!
First of all you'll have to install the latest version of Google Earth.
Once you've started it all up, then all you have to do is hit Ctrl+Alt+A (if you're running OS X it's Command+Option+A; some people have reported that Ctrl+A or Ctrl+Windows+A work when the standard Ctrl+Alt+A does not). I am running Vista, and Ctrl+A worked for me. You must be in Earth mode (i.e. not Sky mode) for this to work . If all goes as planned the following dialog should pop up:
Before going wild pressing random keys like I did, have a look at the controls in the options. Sidetracking a bit, you'll notice that the top of that page gives proof that Google purposefully hid this feature:
Once you have entered flight simulator mode for the first time, you can re-enter the mode by choosing Tools > Enter Flight Simulator.
Moving on though, you can get a quick start by holding Page Up for a few seconds to increase to maximum thrust (thrust meter is the left bar of the lower-left meters). Once you've accelerated to a sufficient velocity use the arrow keys to take-off. The keys are in reverse as one would expect with any flight simulator, so use the down arrow to take-off. When you've gained enough altitude then stabalise the aircraft to a straight flight path.
It can be rather tricky to get the hang of as the controls are quite sensitive. However, the same can be said of any reasonable flight simulator as that's the nature of flying. <<<<<<<---------------------->>>>>>>
*ADEONA-LoJack for your laptop for FREE!!!!!!!!!!
Adeona is free to use. Adeona is the first Open Source system for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop that does not rely on a proprietary, central service. This means that you can install Adeona on your laptop and go — there's no need to rely on a single third party. What's more, Adeona addresses a critical privacy goal different from existing commercial offerings. It is privacy-preserving. This means that no one besides the owner (or an agent of the owner's choosing) can use Adeona to track a laptop. Unlike other systems, users of Adeona can rest assured that no one can abuse the system in order to track where they use their laptop.
Adeona is designed to use the Open Source OpenDHT distributed storage service to store location updates sent by a small software client installed on an owner's laptop. The client continually monitors the current location of the laptop, gathering information (such as IP addresses and local network topology) that can be used to identify its current location. The client then uses strong cryptographic mechanisms to not only encrypt the location data, but also ensure that the ciphertexts stored within OpenDHT are anonymous and unlinkable. At the same time, it is easy for an owner to retrieve location information.
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* IEPro7 (a browser super-tool)
IE7Pro is a must have add-on for Internet Explorer, which includes a lot of features and tweaks to make your IE friendlier, more useful, secure and customizable. IE7Pro includes Tabbed Browsing Management, Spell Check, Inline Search, Super Drag Drop, Crash Recovery, Proxy Switcher, Mouse Gesture, Tab History Browser, Web Accelerator, User Agent Switcher, Webpage Capturer, AD Blocker, Flash Block, Greasemonkey like User Scripts platform, User Plug-ins and many more power packed features. You can customize not just Internet Explorer, but even your favorite website according to your need and taste using IE7Pro.
NOTE: If you use and pay attention to the video tutorials, you will have special abilities with your browser you did not know about by just viewing the "Read Me" file.
You can view them here; there are 9 of them under "How To Use"
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* DRIVER VIEW
DriverView utility displays the list of all device drivers currently loaded on your system. For each driver in the list, additional useful information is displayed: load address of the driver, description, version, product name, company that created the driver, and more.
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* PICTOMIO
Windows only: Freeware application Pictomio is an advanced photo and video viewer with an emphasis on supplementing your image viewing experience with a strong dose of eye candy. When you first run Pictomio you'll notice a couple of things: First, it's a beautiful image viewer, packed with several ways to view, organize, browse, and edit your metadata (it's not, however, an image editor). The slideshows are attractive and the application focuses on bringing a good deal of 3D goodies to your image viewing experience. Second, because of Pictomio's impressive graphics, it requires a fairly decent graphics card if you want to get the most from it. As noted in the FreewareGenius post, the video functionality is more of an afterthought, but Pictomio is clearly first and foremost an impressive image viewer. Pictomio is freeware, Windows only.
http://www.pictomio.com/en-US/Download/Default.aspx
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* Defraggler A very simple, easy to use Hard disk defragmenter that not only will defrag the drive you select, but will also defrag just selected files or folders.
Download it here;
http://defraggler.com
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* VISTA DRIVE ICON (adds a capacity bar to all drive icons in "My Computer")
Vista Drive Icon changes the drive icons shown in Windows "My Computer", to a nearly Vista drive icon, showing the drive's free space with a smooth colored horizontal bar. <<<<<<<---------------------->>>>>>>
* UStream.TV (turn your webcam into a broadcast channel)
Ustream.TV is the live interactive video broadcast platform that enables anyone with a camera and an Internet connection to quickly and easily broadcast to a global audience of unlimited size. In less than two minutes, anyone can become a broadcaster by creating their own channel on Ustream or by broadcasting through their own site, empowering them to engage with their audience and further build their brand.
Ustream's one-to-many live interactive video encourages broadcast-to-viewer and viewer-to-viewer interaction, empowering a much more engaging experience for everyone involved.
With Ustream's interactive broadcast functionality, viewers can personally interact directly with whoever is broadcasting -- including personalities like their favorite musician or politician. Ustream viewers can watch specific broadcasts, explore our networks ranging from music, talk shows, sports and politics to discover a world of interesting new broadcasts, or review our past broadcasts.
Ustream opens up a new world of possibilities and experiences to broadcasters and viewers alike, which the pre-recorded static video that's predominated the Internet to date just can't provide. Today, people are Ustreaming everything including:
* Major political events such as debates, speeches, rallies
* Talk shows
* Entertainment events such as premieres and 'red carpet events'
* Showcase your original music, your band's performances, jam sessions with other musicians, and more (when you have the music rights to broadcast the music)
* Conference sessions
* School and business events and training
* Sporting events at college and high school level
* Personal milestones such as holiday gatherings, weddings, grade school events, parties, even births
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* FIREFOX BROWSER STUFF
The new beta release is out. Grab it at the following site;
http://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-3.0b4&os=win&lang=en-US
It is way, way slicker and more fun to use than the last version. It will automaticly import your favorites and home page.
Here are some cool plug-ins I highly suggest you try;
FIRE FTP
A full feature FTP file transfer client built right in to FIREFOX! Download it here;
http://fireftp.mozdev.org/
GSPACE - GMAIL Storage space for files as well as your e-mail!
Most people will never use the 6.5 Gigabytes (and growing every minute) of storage space given to them by GMAIL.
After use and research done by myself, I can tell you this only works with the OLD version of FIREFOX (Versions starting with 2).
This neat little program lets you treat the storage space just like a online hard-drive, for storing files, pictures, documents and yes, your e-mail.
WARNING! You must download and install it using the Firefox tool bar. DLing it outside of Firefox and trying to install it by running the program yourself without firefox will result in failure.
Once firefox is open, click on Tools, then Add-ons, then the little blue Search for Add-Ons link at the bottom. Once at the search page, type "Gspace" into the search box. It will take you right to the download link. Follow the instructions and install once downloaded. Once installed, it is a option in the Tools menu when running Firefox. Once you run it the first time, do not forget to enter your e-mail log-on and password in the accounts section, otherwise, it will do nothing.That said, this is a very, very well written piece of software.