fully-free software for biz - the lists !

[Steven Avery]

Hi Folks,

(Moved to last post for easy access.)

Here I want to include the links to blogs and posts and lists that already were very helpful in finding fully-free software.  Also a few of the super-freeware-helpful oriented sites like FreewareGenius, Gizmo, FreewareJunkie and Lifehacker. Also a Wilder's freeware list for security apps.  Expansion is fine.

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RESOURCE LIST  
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fully-free software for biz - the lists !
http://tinyurl.com/bizsoft
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=18955.0

Freeware for commercial & biz use

(programs in these lists are not necessarily "fully freeware")

Windows freeware for commercial use
http://www.techbits....-for-commercial-use/

Freebyte's Guide to...Free Business and Office Software
http://www.freebyte.com/office/

Programs: Freeware for Commercial Use - Genadij Trimailov - Oct, 2006
http://tridydotnet.b...-commercial-use.html

The Best Free Business Software - CNET 2005
http://download.cnet...478.html?tag=fea_gif

Individual Posts and Threads of Lists from Forums

Free Software List for Vista - Windows Vista Forums
http://www.vistax64....ware-list-vista.html

FREE Great Programs for Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums
http://www.sevenforu...ams-windows-7-a.html

The list of free software.  - TombRaider Forums
http://www.tombraide...wthread.php?t=112508

24 Great Open Source Apps for Admins & Technicians
http://www.downloads...ins-and-technicians/

Security Software Lists

Probably the best security list in the world - in english  - Wilders
http://www.wildersse...p;highlight=freeware

For your home use, this list looks easy-to-use and close to complete.

Tech-Mixer - Best Free AntiVirus Software Download List
http://www.techmixer...tware-download-list/

Microsoft Weighs In

Ultimate List of Free Windows Software from Microsoft - Blake Handler (Microsoft MVP) blog
http://bhandler.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!70F64BC910C9F7F3!1231.entry

Find Free Downloads for Windows XP - Tony Northrup
http://www.microsoft...up_03november13.mspx

PortableApps
Suite
http://portableapps.com/suite
Forum
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/

Freeware Resources of Excellence - value-added reviews, discussion & more

DonationCoder Forums
https://www.donation....com/forum/index.php

Lifehacker
http://lifehacker.com/
Australia
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/

Gizmo's Freeware Reviews
http://www.techsupportalert.com/
Freeware Forum
http://www.techsuppo....com/freeware-forum/

freewaregenius
http://www.freewaregenius.com/

Ghacks
http://www.ghacks.net/

BearWare Top Freeware
http://bearware.info/
Foroum (new - June 2009)
http://bearware.info...0850b160113997118cdb

confessions of a freeware junkie
http://thefreewarejunkie.com/
(especially strong on network administration)
Are you a network admin? What do you use from day to day?
http://thefreewareju...what-do-you-use.html

rarst.net
http://www.rarst.net/category/software/

A+ Freeware -
http://www.aplusfreeware.com/
(excellent pics of apps, well designed simple interface, short clear descriptions)

Freeware Wiki - Clif Notes Newsletter
http://freewarewiki.com/

Pricelessware
http://pricelesswarehome.org/
Connected to the alt.comp.freeware forum

xtort.net - freeware . for the masses
http://xtort.net/

Freeware Mission
http://www.freewaremission.com/

Last Freeware Version
http://www.321downlo...tFreeware/index.html

The Free Country - Free Programmers', Webmasters' and Security Resources
http://www.thefreecountry.com/
(Programmer-oriented)

Sundry Tools
http://sundrytools.com/freeware.asp

Free Download A Day
http://www.freedownloadaday.com/

AlternativeTo
http://alternativeto.net/

App News
http://appnews.net/
FreewareGenius, Rarst and Ghacks

Blogs and Category Reviews

Jonathan's Tool Bar & Grill
http://jonathanstoolbar.blogspot.com/

General High-Level Reading and Review

Appaholic
http://appaholic.co.uk/

Cybernetnews
http://cybernetnews.com/
Forums  
http://forum.cybernetnews.com/

Open Source

Find open source software alternatives to well-known commercial software
http://www.osalt.com/

OSI - Open Source Initiative  - definition of open source
http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd

fossforus - free open source software for us
http://fossfor.us/

Portable Apps

PortableApps
http://portableapps.com/

The Portable Freeware Collection - PStart
http://www.portablefreeware.com/

Liberkey
http://www.liberkey.com/en/

Simply Freeware Download Sites of Quality

FreewareFiles - http://www.freewarefiles.com/
Freeware Guide - http://www.freeware-guide.com/
Freewarebb - http://www.freewarebb.com/
Freeware Geeks - http://www.freewaregeeks.com/index.php?
BestFreewareDownload (Quantity) - http://www.bestfreewaredownload.com/

Shareware/Freeware Sites - noted for the user comments and reviews and/or overall quality

Snapfiles
http://www.snapfiles.com/

FileForum
http://fileforum.betanews.com/
With Snapfiles, the highest-quality user comments.

Cnet-Download.com
http://download.cnet.com/windows/
Mostly excellent comments too .. higher quantity, less caution on software quality

Major Geeks
http://majorgeeks.com/
Forum
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/

As for other sites that may have good comments and reviews

Freewarefiles above recently came through on one

rbytes
http://www.rbytes.com/
Will sometimes be strong on reviews, other times just the publisher blurb.

Software Geek
http://www.softwaregeek.com/
will often go into some of the more complex areas in more depth.

A more thorough review of "helpful comments and reviews" would be helpful.

Network Software Reviews and Comparisons

all nettools
http://www.all-nettools.com/
Likely the leader on network software - very thorough and neatly done.

4sysops
http://4sysops.com/

Earlier Versions

FileHippo
http://www.filehippo.com/
(Clarity of keeping multi-versions of each download along with being also a generally sound download site.)

Old Version
http://www.oldversion.com/
Forums
http://forum.oldversion.com/

Old Apps
http://www.oldapps.com/
Forum
http://www.oldapps.com/forum/

Security Forums & Software

Wilders's Security Forum
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/

Web of Trust Forums
http://www.mywot.com/en/forum

Bleeping Computer
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/
Forums
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/

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Internet Security Help Forums - 17+ urls
http://www.firewallguide.com/help.htm
Includes Wilder's and Bleeping Computer and Major Geeks (above), and then mostly security and help forums like Gladiator, PC Pitstop and more.  Similarly the HijackThis! author has a page with solid analysis of log sites.

Special Resources

Bits Du Jour
http://www.bitsdujour.com/
Yep, sometimes you do buy an app, and economy is a key .. set up by Iconico and superbly managed.

For Free On Internet
http://for-free-on-internet.com

Giveaway of the Day
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com
More important for the discussions than the giveaways, which are generally limited to no updates or support and

Computer Repair Tools - TechNibble
http://www.technibbl...mputer-repair-tools/

Conclusion.

And simply express appreciation to those who have made so much excellent software available.  In some cases simply as a service, a help, in other cases also to provide an entrée into looking at their other software, or the more feature-rich versions.  Afaik, none of the software above will qualify as crippleware, missing basic functions, we try to make sure that every software listed is truly functional and dynamic in its own right.

A lot of fun researching this and putting it together. And very helpful to my own usage.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

[Steven Avery]

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FREEWARE PACKAGES WHICH NEED EULA AND/OR AUTHOR CHECK FOR POSSIBLE INCLUSION
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BB Flashback Express
MagicDisc
Paragon various free editions
________  (add more here)

On List - the ones most needing check are

Angel Writer
Atlantis Nova
ExtraSearch Free - Crave Worldwide
Registrar Registry Manager - Resplendent

[Steven Avery]

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ONLINE TECH RESOURCES
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A new section, simply because ONLINE RESOURCES often take a special type of consideration.

online generators - xtort.net
http://xtort.net/online-generators/

CONVERTERS

Media Convert
http://www.media-convert.com/

Image Convert
http://image.doc2pdf.net/

Zamzar  (extension conversion - many types, including PDF)
http://www.zamzar.com/

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PDF

PDF Escape - http://www.pdfescape.com/

Free PDF Services doc2PDF - PDF2word - Web2PDF
http://www.pdfonline.com/

doc2pdf - http://www.doc2pdf.net/

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Tom's Guide to Online PDF File Creation : Working With PDFs Online
http://www.tomsguide...tor,review-1085.html
These four come out good in his excellent reviews, along with Zamzar.

Neevia - http://convert.neevia.com/
Primo Online - https://online.primopdf.com/
Free PdfConvert - http://www.freepdfconvert.com/

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FILE ANALYSIS & EXTENSIONS (ASSOCIATIONS)

File Inspect Library
The place where you can learn the truth about processes running on your computer.
http://www.fileinspect.com/
There are a few of these, varying in quality, coming from Auslogics this one may be one of the better ones.

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SOFTWARE UPDATE AND PATCH

The Software Patch
http://www.softwarepatch.com/

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MEMORY

Crucial System Scanner
http://www.crucial.com/
http://www.technibbl...cial-system-scanner/
While you can check the price results with other sources and there are some techie questions, this remains the simple way to see the memory alternatives in a puter, a fine tool, and Crucial is often very competitive price-wise.

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SEARCH ENGINES

Great Alternatives Search Engines That Are Unknown to Many
http://maketecheasie...n-to-many/2008/05/08

Alternative Search Engines
http://maketecheasie...2009/07/09#more-5768

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VIRUS AND MALWARE TEST AND SCANS

(Need link to page with good urls)

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[techidave]

Thanks Steven for a very thorough list.  I tried the SimpleSysInfo and found it was easy to use.  It also gives more info than Belarc Advisor and it's portable. 

This one definitely is a keeper!

[tomos]

SimpleSysInfo -  Emiel Wieldraaijer (author of JkDefrag GUI)
http://www.emro.nl/freeware/
Has U3 portable app version, can print, make text or HTML or send email. May be a nice alternative for those used to the simplicity of using Belarc.

-Steven Avery (June 29, 2009, 06:51 AM)

available at the same site:

MyDefragPowerGUI 0.99.1, released on December 22nd 2009 is the second Public Beta of the successor of JkDefragGUI

[cmpm]

Here's a rootkit program that really works well.
The only one out of many that fixed the problem I had.
As usual, be sure you don't remove something you shouldn't.
If you have a good idea of what you are looking for, this will find it.

http://www.sophos.co...os-anti-rootkit.html

(among a few other good tools)
Sophos is business class software.

Not an online tool, but worth mention.
Works on Windows 7 quite nicely.

[Curt]

Sophos is business class software.

-cmpm (December 26, 2009, 04:04 PM)

just click "I am interested in a home version of this product", on the download page, and the box will change.


(edited)

[icezone]

What's about audio tools?

Wave Editor - http://www.wave-editor.com totally free audio editor.

[powah]

Bump.
I know this topic is from 2009, but I need some apps for commercial use, some 2012 apps.

[40hz]

@powah - Could you be more specific? What type of apps did you have in mind?

Also mention what operating system(s) you're willing to work on. I mention this because the number of good quality Windows apps licensed "free for commercial use"is steadily shrinking each year.

[powah]

OS: Windows (XP + 7)
What type of applications: I don't really know, your usual stuff. It would be a dream if I would find a list of software for everything, just like Steven Avery provides in the top of this page.

[tomos]

I'd have thought that most of them would still be valid (?)

For easier access:

OFFICE Notes - Pim  & To-do & Calendar & Reminder - Email WINDOWS UTILITIES Installers - Uninstallers - Screen Capture - Clipboard  Cleaners - Scheduling - Memory Zip - Utility Suite - Password Revealers - Icons - Desktop - Tray - Graphics DISK FILE MANAGEMENT File Managers / Explorers - Disk Space - Dups - Search - Compare Defrag BACKUP - COPY Backup - File Copy - Image / Cloning FTP & REMOTE ACCESS SECURITY Firewall - Anti-virus & Malware - Hips WINDOWS UTILITIES Startup - Shutdown & Restart - Process & Task Manager & Termination DATABASE DEVELOPMENT OPERATING SYSTEM Registry Compact - Defrag - Backup - Pagefile - Unidentified Devices - Driver Backup - Event Viewer & Log Files - Analysis & Real-time SYSTEM UTILITIES Boot Disk - Rescue - Partition - Data Recovery / Undelete IMAGE EDITING and VIEWING - PDF UTILITIES - PRINTING UTILITIES BIZ APPS Accounting - Inventory - Time Tracking NETWORK ADMINISTRATION - NETWORK TRAFFIC - TCP/IP BIZ-WARE What you are most likely needing to purchase (SECURITY) WINDOWS SHELL & DESKTOP SOFTWARE INVENTORY - VERSION UPDATES - SYSINFO - HARDWARE DIAGNOSTICS - MONITOR TEST - SET & FIX TEXT EDITORS Notepad Replacements - Programmer/Developer Editors WEB BROWSING - Research - Activities - Recreation HOME (OFFICE) SERVER - SCRIPTING / MACRO / PROGRAMMING TOOLS CD - DVD MISCELLANEOUS AND NOTES-DISCUSSION Donationcoder - Prolific Packages - Abandonware RESOURCE LIST FREEWARE PACKAGES WHICH NEED EULA and/or AUTHOR CHECK ONLINE TECH RESOURCES

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(from here)

[40hz]

OS: Windows (XP + 7)
What type of applications: I don't really know, your usual stuff. It would be a dream if I would find a list of software for everything, just like Steven Avery provides in the top of this page.

-powah (February 27, 2012, 09:07 AM)

www.techsupportalert.com probably has the largest curated list of free apps going. You would need to look at the EULAs just to be sure, but most software listed by TechSupportAlert is (or used to be) free for biz use.