Mr-Kes.Com - FREE TRIED & TESTED SOFTWARE

FREE TRIED & TESTED SOFTWARE

Below is a list of software that I have installed and found useful over a period of time, check some out, you never know you might find some useful too? Remember they are all FREE and if you don't like them or just generally don't find them useful, just uninstall them afterwards.

Please remember that when installing new software to try and NOT download ' BETA' versions. These are either new or updates to software and may still have some bugs etc in them and can (though probably not) muck up your nice and wonderful system.

I'll be adding more daily when I get the time, so remember to check back reguarly. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me and I will try and assist you.

This page was last updated: Saturday 9th May 2009

AUDIO

MP3 Gain : Ever downloaded some music for your portable music player and found that the sound level varies between each one, therefore on playback you have to keep adjusting the volume? If so try MP3Gain it analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume. It's a small program that works well.

MP3 Trim: Is a simple and easy to use MP3 editor. You can use it to 'fade in or out', remove silent or unwanted parts plus more. Add to that it is so easy to use, try MP3 Trim today.

GRAPHICS

If you feel the need to muck around with your pictures either by, cropping them, enhancing the quality, changing to black & white etc there are many applications out there which will do this job for you easily. Of course many people will go for something like 'Photoshop' which is a great application but also a great price, mind you what you can do with this is pretty mind blowing. However for something free you should check out the following: GIMP is similar to Photoshop and is widely used; there is also PICASA from Google and PAINT.NET which has won a few awards over time.

If however you're looking for a quick fix then try this free DIGITAL CAMERA ENHANCER and the one that goes with it CLEANSKIN

WEB BROWSERS

You will already have IE7 which is the most popular browser mainly because it probably came preinstalled on your system, however have you ever thought about using another? There are various other browsers around to surf the net on including OPERA, SEA MONKEY ( which is a integrated suite including web browser, email client and much more) SAFARI (normally used on 'Mac' systems but now available for window users too) CHROME (developed by 'Google and still fairly new to the scene) I have tried all these and quite frankly they are all pretty good in their own way but in the end I still use IE7 occasionally for certain things like updating this site. However for everyday surfing on the net I would strongly recommend FIREFOX which has many add-on's which you will find useful for your everyday surfing, click on the 'Add-ons' link when you get there for a look. There are ones for 'Facebook' 'Twitter' 'Weather' 'Ebay' 'Maps' and many more. Go on, go check it out now!.

SECURITY

Ok we all know we should have a 'anti virus' and 'firewall' set on your system but which one and what else out there is there? Also please remember not to run two Antivirus programs or two Firewalls at the same time, they will conflict and cause problems.

ANTIVIRUS

At the moment I use "Norton" and yes I know there are many out there who are tearing out at the thought of me using THAT product. But hey, it's still free with my system, it appears to do a good job and believe it or not does not slow my system down, mind you the system although not the best in the world is quite powerful which may help. Anyway what about free stuff has that's what we're here for after all. Around other systems I've always used (and had no problems with) the free edition of AVG. There are some that say the new versions are resource hugging but it that's for you to find out on your own system. There is also Avira Antivir Personal always recommended and I believe is only let down by having no email protection? Then finally from me AVAST, all three have their merits and people who believe they are the best so go check them out.

FIREWALL

At the very least you should have your "Windows' firewalls turned on if you have nothing else but in my opinion they are not very good. There are better ones out there and they all work to varying degrees, obviously some better than others and usually the better ones are harder to figure out for a novice. COMODO's firewall often gets great praise but it does seem to go for performance (which is good) rather than ease of use. Another one to look at is the one from SUNBELT-KERIO it seems to cause fewer problems and manage reasonable protection. It will nag you every time you start it which some will find annoying. ZoneAlarm is widely known and in my opinion the paid version is pretty good but the free one is far too basic. Finally on firewalls I know quite a few people who use the free firewall from PCTOOLS and I have used it in the past. I'm not sure how effective it is but it's more or less one of those install and forget products.

SPYWARE ETC

I could be wrong here but I figure on best results SUPER ANTI SPYWARE comes out top most if not all of the time however you have to pay for it to get the all singing and dancing version. However saying that the free version although limited in what it does, does generally do the job well though it will only scan when you ask it too so if you don't remember it could be a problem. You could also look out for SPYBOT - SEARCH & DESTROY and AD-AWARE FREE

MAINTENANCE

Disk Defrag: Disk defragmentation leads to system slowdown which can result in slow start ups, shutdowns or even PC crashes. Auslogics Disk Defrag is designed for fast optimization of modern hard disks. It works well, is easier to use and faster then the one included with windows. You can also try Defraggler which is made by those good people from CCleaner, I have tried both and are both fine, I will say though that Defraggler does take a lot longer on it's first run, whether or not this does a better job I'm afraid I don't know at this stage.

Talking of CCleaner this one is a must for everyone. It is a system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. Widely used around the world this really does work and being free what more could you ask for? If I had one grip it would be that you have to run it manually, it would be nice if it could be set to run everytime you closed your browser, but hey beggars can't be choosers.

SCREENSAVER

I use this one all the time and it does just what it says on the tin. John's Background Switcher searches for pictures on your hard drive and displays them as wallpaper, it also works with Flickr, Facebook and a host of other sites. It just sits in your system tray and changes your background at the time interval of your choosing - go have a look

VIDEO & MP3 PLAYERS

Of course there is Media Player from Microsoft and the other usual culprits but if you want something that works with nearly every known format then have a look at the VLC Media Player. Just what it will player is too numerous to mention, so the only way of finding out is by going and looking yourself, I suggest you do.

For a simple nop nonsense MP3 player then SYSTrayPlay is the choice, it's an amazingly small yet feature packed and techie-preferred, SysTrayPlay (STP) audio player. A MP3 and CD playing application that is based on being light-weight on both design and on impact on system resources and provides a simple yet fully functional way to enjoy music as it is meant to be, heard not seen.