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Do you know of a free program you would like to see on this list?
Send to Elaine
to have it added.
I have put a * by the ones I use all the time.
Do you enjoy poetry? Visit my Poetry
From The Heart page.
I am not endorsing or recomending any of these programs.
I am simply providing a link to free programs that could be useful.
Free Genealogy Programs
| Bygones |
Designed to enter and keep genealogical research notes
on a laptop or desktop computer |
| Family Tree 1.0 |
Java applet displays a family of any size in a webpage. Simply list family members in a textfile specifying each person's parents, and put all the files on a webserver. The program calculates siblings, cousins etc. |
| Family
Tree Builder |
Genealogy software for Windows. |
| Family
Tree Pilot |
Create an image of the family tree including personal photos |
| GenDB |
Cemetery database program that will create the html
to put online |
| Genealogy
Finder |
750 quality genealogy links in 27 categories
on your desktop |
| Genealogy
Reference Software |
Save and organize your genealogy
research data. |
| *Legacy
Family Tree |
Mormon version genealogy program (*My
personal favorite) |
Browsers & Email Programs
| Apple Safari for Windows |
The Windows version of the popular Mac web browser. Claims to out perform all other browser when it comes to speed. |
| Avant |
A tabbed browser. All your IE settings and Favorites are available from within Avant Browser. An ultra-fast web browser with no ads, virus, spyware, or malwares. |
| Email
Encoder |
An anti-spam tool |
| Google Chrome |
Small file size & runs web pages and applications with lightning speed. |
| *Mozilla
Firefox |
Nice web browser, much faster & more
secure than IE |
| *Mozilla
Thunderbird |
Nice email program, much faster
& more secure than Windows Mail |
| Opera |
Surf the Web with lightning speed, using the fastest browser ever. |
| Safari 4 (for Mac) |
The world’s fastest web browser. |
| Internet Explorer |
AKA IE |
| *WebMail Notifier |
Checks your webmail accounts and notifies you of the number of unread emails |
Free Virus/Spyware Protection
| AOL Internet Security |
Gives you a comprehensive and free set of Internet safety tools, including anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall to help keep hackers out. Under the covers, this package is McAfee's VirusScan Plus, which is rated high technically, but gets so-so reviews because it tends to use a lot of system resources. |
| *AVG |
It is one of the most often recommend freeware anti-virus packages. While Grisoft offers a paid version, this is a freeware version. It only offers anti-virus and anti-spyware protection (no anti-spam, anti-rootkit or firewall) but provides very effective protection from the most common threats. |
| Avast! |
Basic features, and ease of use. It is updated regularly, also highly recommended. The Free Home Edition includes anti-spyware and anti-rootkit detection. |
| *Avira |
The free Personal Edition gets good reviews. There is a paid version with anti-spyware and firewall protection as well. |
| BitDefender |
A highly rated freeware anti-virus tool. Like the others, it offers just basic anti-virus protection, and it is recommended that you add anti-spyware protection as well. |
| ClamWin AntiVirus |
Free open source antivirus program, which means it comes with the programming source code. ClamWin has a high detection rate for viruses and spyware, but does not include a real-time scanner. This means you have to rely on scheduled or manual scans to detect viruses. |
| COMODO
Internet Secruity |
Multi-layered security application
that keeps hackers out and personal information in. |
| Comodo Verification Engine |
An anti-phishing add-on that works with IE & Firefox and automatically verifies the identity of many commercial websites. |
| Malwarebytes |
Can identify and remove
malicious software from your computer. |
| Microsoft Security Essentials |
A new free security tool from Microsoft, released in October 2009. It's meant to provide protection not just from viruses, but also spyware, rootkits, and trojans as well. |
| SpywareBlaster |
Only functions fully if you use IE.
It blocks all kinds of spyware. |
| Windows Defender |
Microsoft Windows Defender protects you from spyware, pop-ups, other security threats. It features real-time protection, so it can warn you if something you're downloading is spyware, and also automatically updates itself with new spyware definitions. |
Free Photo Tools/Programs
| 3DPlus |
Software
that enables you to create stunning 3D graphics. SE
is free while the V9 version is 9.99. |
| *Batch Thumbs |
Thumbnail a batch of pictures all at once. |
| DrawPlus
SE |
Create outstanding vector drawings, high-impact graphics and
eye-catching animations |
| Eyedropper |
A color matcher |
| FastStone |
Image converter, renaming tool, photo resizer |
| Fotosizer |
Batch image resizer tool |
| Gimp |
For such tasks as photo
retouching, image composition and image
authoring. |
| Graphics2Pdf |
Convert images to pdf formula |
| Image
Watermarker |
Add watermark text over any .jpg,
.gif or .bmp image |
| *IrfanView |
Fast, compact graphic viewer and manipulator |
| Jalbum |
Create your own photo album site |
| PagePlus
SE |
Create outstanding greetings cards, flyers and posters. SE is
free while the V9 version is 9.99. |
| Page Saver |
Pearl Crescent Page Saver Basic - Free add-on for Firefox. Take entire page screen shots and save to the location of your choice. |
| PhotoPlus9
SE |
Lets you easily edit images. SE
is free while the V9 version is 9.99. |
| Photoscape |
Photoscape includes everything from a file viewer to a photo editor, slide show creator, batch editor, screen capture program, and more. |
| *Picasa |
Google photo album |
| Rotate
My Pics |
One click lossless
image rotation. |
| TRS Watermarker |
Free program for personal use that can add digital watermarks to all your images |
| ZAR
Digital Memory Recovery |
Recover photos stored
on digital camera memory card. |
Free HTML/Website Editors & Misc Website Programs
Free FTP Programs
| Coffee
Cup FTP |
Drag and drop files to and from your website |
| Core FTP |
No popups, ads, or spyware & never asked to register |
| *FileZilla |
FTP program |
| FireFTP |
Works on version 3.5 Firefox as an add-on. |
| FreeFTP |
Not
100% compatible with Windows Vista |
| RootsWeb
File Manager |
Eliminates the need for a FTP program when your site is on a RootsWeb server |
Free Window Based Utilities & Helpful Programs
| AbiWord |
Word processor that includes pretty much every feature that I use regularly. Saves files in formats that you can exchange with Word and WordPerfect, and opens Word & Word Perfect files. |
| Adobe PDF Reader |
Professional reader for PDF doc
(zoom, rotate, copy, search, print) |
| Advanced
SystemCare 3 |
One-click approach to help protect, repair, clean, and optimize
your PC. |
| Bulk
Rename Utility |
Easily rename files and directories |
| Calnique
Custom Calendar |
All-In-One Custom Calendar and
Organizer |
| CCCleaner |
System optimization, privacy and cleaning tool |
| CCEnhancer |
It enhances CCleaner's already considerable capabilities |
| Check4Me |
Monitor web pages for new additions/changes |
| COMODO |
backup
anywhere on your computer, network, DVD-RW,
CD-RW or FTP server. |
| Cute
PDF Writer |
Free version of commercial PDF creation
software |
| DateInTray |
Displays the date in the Windows tray |
| *Desk Pins |
Keeps a window on top of everything else. Easy to use. |
| Drop Box |
A new way to sync, store, and share your files online for free! |
| Evernote |
A software and Web-based service lets you capture information from multiple sources |
| Extools |
Microsoft Excel add-in. (For Excel 97, 2000, 2002,
2003. Different one for 2007) |
| FileFortBackup
Software |
Works on Windows 2000, XP,
2003, & Vista |
| *File
Grab |
Copy lists of files from windows explorer - Sorry, no longer free |
| File
Recovery |
Data recovery program |
| Folder Print |
Save folders/files from hd into a txt
file - Printable |
| Freebie
Notes |
Sticky notes displayed on your desktop |
| FreeUndelete |
Data recovery program for deleted files |
| Google
Docs |
Suite of products compatible with & similar
to Microsoft Office suite |
| Go2PDF |
Convert any document to PDF format |
| Jarte |
Tabbed word processor makes documents compatible with
Word |
| KeyNote |
Designed specifically for the task of taking notes on a laptop. |
| LookInMyPC |
Reports on the state of your system in exceptionally fine detail |
| Mozilla
Sunbird |
Stand-alone calendar application |
| OpenOffice |
The leading open-source office software suite |
| Pdf to exe |
Quickly converts pdf file to exe file with
no Adobe needed |
| Pdf
to txt |
Quickly converts pdf file to txt file with
no Adobe needed |
| Print
Conductor |
Prints in batch mode. Can convert to
TIFF, GIF or JPEG |
| PrintDeskTop |
Print what you see on your screen |
| Print
File |
Print files fast & easy |
| Sayz Me |
Text to speech reader for windows |
| Scrapbook
Artist |
Create scrapbooks, beautiful digital albums,
invitations and greetings cards |
| ScreenGrab |
Makes it easy to save a web-page as an image - For Firefox |
| Secunia PSI |
Scans your computer to identify the software programs you're running, and lets you know whether or not they are up to date |
| Shortcut |
Create desktop shortcuts to any
website fast and easily |
| TextReader |
An auto-scrolling text reader |
| Time
Machine (Mac) |
built into Mac OS X. |
| Undelete |
Data recovery program for deleted files |
| WinShade |
Keep a window on top |
Free - "Just Because" Programs
| *Ashampoo Burning Studio 6 Free |
Rip music, copy CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs, and handle other associated burning and ripping chores |
| *Audacity |
For recording and editing sounds. Update those cassette tapes to CD. Small learning curve. |
| CCCleaner |
For cleaning a system and keeping it in tip-top shape. |
| GnuCash |
Slimmed-down version of Microsoft Money and Quicken. Simple interface – it functions much like a checkbook ledger on your computer – but there’s a lot of meat hidden throughout the software. |
| Handbrake |
Store DVD contents to your hard drive in a form that can be read by pretty much any media player. |
| KeePass |
Securely stores and manages the abundance of passwords we all use on a daily basis. |
| Moovienizer |
Organize, track and research your movie collection. |
| MusikCube |
Music organizer and player. It organizes your mp3s, makes it easy to find them, and allows you to make playlists |
| *SoThink |
Web video downloader for Firefox |
| VLC Media Player |
Runs pretty much every media type you’ll run across. |
|
Helpful Websites
Copyright © 2004 - 2011 by
Elaine Martin
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