Awesome Free Software (v2.0)

[snoopy]

KeePass - http://keepass.info/

Free password management tool, that stores them all in a 256-bit AES encrypted database. You can even sync the database to a USB flash drive, and take it with you! I suggest you all start using it, and prevent your account from being compromised by a dictionary attack.

x2. Yay for only having to remember 1 password now, and not having passwords repeated.

[Isaac]

Notepad++ / Kyouryuu
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm

I just got it! I love this so much!!! I'm running it under wine, but it seems to be very stable and fast. All the features I want work! I'm very happy.

[Skyalmian]

Ext2Fsd
http://www.ext2fsd.com/
"Ext2Fsd is an ext2 file system driver for Windows (2k, XP, Vista and Win7). It’s a free software. Anyone can modify or distribute it under GPL2."

Features Ext2Fsd supports:

• ext2/ext3 volume reading & writing
• ext3 journal replay when mounting
• various codepage: utf8, cp936, cp950 …
• mountpoint automatical assignment
• large inode size: 128, 256, …
• large file size bigger than 4G
• CIFS sharing over network
• htree directory indexing
• ext4 extent read-only, no size truncating and expanding support
• Fast fsck (uninit_bg) and group block checksum support
• 64k block-size, support compatible to Linux ext4 and e2fsprogs
• OS: 2k, xp, vista, server 2003/2008, win7

[Ferno]

Data Recovery:
---------------------

Roadkil's Raw Copy

Great little tool for making a sector-to-sector dump of a failing hard drive


DiskGenius

Recovery software for partitions and files that have been deleted or corrupted

[Isaac]

http://www.sculptris.com/

This is a free zbrush-like sculpting application. Runs great in wine. Responds to pressure sensitivity on a wacom tablet, even under wine in Ubuntu.

[A Future Pilot]

http://navagon.co.uk/list.htm

That's got a good many great free programs!

[TigerRaptor]

(EMET) Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/d ... 5192c491cb

Nice little tool to help harden your system against many common threats. By applying different techniques to make successful attacks on your system more difficult.

[Isaac]

Synapse
https://launchpad.net/synapse-project
Description: Search & launch applications. "Synapse is a semantic launcher written in Vala that you can use to start applications as well as find and access relevant documents and files by making use of the Zeitgeist engine."

I use this for everything now. CTRL+SPACEBAR then type "ch", for chrome, or "fi", for firefox, or "word" and press enter to execute something. As a type I get a list of programs, the top being the one that will execute if I press enter. I can also use the arrow keys to select anything in this list. It works with my documents or applications. I don't use my start menu any more.

[snoopy]

Synapse
https://launchpad.net/synapse-project
Description: Search & launch applications. "Synapse is a semantic launcher written in Vala that you can use to start applications as well as find and access relevant documents and files by making use of the Zeitgeist engine."

I use this for everything now. CTRL+SPACEBAR then type "ch", for chrome, or "fi", for firefox, or "word" and press enter to execute something. As a type I get a list of programs, the top being the one that will execute if I press enter. I can also use the arrow keys to select anything in this list. It works with my documents or applications. I don't use my start menu any more.

You know that tabbing in the command line will do something similar to this, right? (double-tabbing displays all of the options that meet your criteria... single tabbing auto-fills up to the point where you need to provide some direction. I guess it forces you to complete the line before executing, and doesn't have any statistical means to picks your favorites in the command line.

[Isaac]

Synapse
https://launchpad.net/synapse-project
Description: Search & launch applications. "Synapse is a semantic launcher written in Vala that you can use to start applications as well as find and access relevant documents and files by making use of the Zeitgeist engine."

I use this for everything now. CTRL+SPACEBAR then type "ch", for chrome, or "fi", for firefox, or "word" and press enter to execute something. As a type I get a list of programs, the top being the one that will execute if I press enter. I can also use the arrow keys to select anything in this list. It works with my documents or applications. I don't use my start menu any more.

You know that tabbing in the command line will do something similar to this, right? (double-tabbing displays all of the options that meet your criteria... single tabbing auto-fills up to the point where you need to provide some direction. I guess it forces you to complete the line before executing, and doesn't have any statistical means to picks your favorites in the command line.

Oh yeah, all the time. However, it's not fast if it's not already open. Synaptic is faster launching/search in the desktop environment. You'd have to try it to see what I mean.

[Enzo-03]

PFPortChecker by Portforward.com - an easy way to check if a port is forwarded:

Most online port checks assume that you already have an application (such as your game or torrent) listening for the port test on your computer, and then assume that the test was OK simply because they were able to connect to your computer.

Also, web only port checkers are not able to test UDP since UDP is a connectionless protocol and there is no way to know if the packet actually made it to your computer without some sort of program on your computer waiting for that packet.

Our port test uses a local application to listen for the server trying to connect and the positively verifies that your port is forwarded.

Portforward Setup Static IP Address - Does what it says on the tin and much more:

• Scan your network for available IP addresses
• Pick the best IP address and DNS server for you, so you don't have to do anything.
• Save your network settings so you can take your laptop with you and always have the network settings you want available.
• DHCP release / renew. In fact PFStaticIP makes an excellent free WinIPCfg replacement.

Personally I find this useful for switching between static and dynamic IP addresses and setting my static IP address because I need to use dynamic for public networks such as my university network. I use static at home.

[Krom]

Personally I find this useful for switching between static and dynamic IP addresses and setting my static IP address because I need to use dynamic for public networks such as my university network. I use static at home.

Actually most modern routers have a trick you can use that makes assigning static IPs redundant. Look at your routers configuration page for DHCP reservations and set some up for the various machines on your network, that way you can leave your PC on DHCP/dynamic but whenever you plug it in at home it will always get the same local IP address.

[TigerRaptor]

Multiple application updater or installer. Select what you want and download it without toolbars and other useless software.

http://ninite.com/

Edit: Sorry Duper, forgot you posted this first.

[TigerRaptor]

UnThreat Free Antivirus. Uses the GFI Vipre engine.
http://www.unthreat.com/free-antivirus

Krom, I think this threat might need an upgrade to 3.0.

[Grendel]

May have been mentioned before, can't mention it often enough tho...

Nirlauncher, the ultimate diagnostic/troubleshooter/fixing tool for windows. Esp. if you bundle it with the Sysinternals Suite.

Also, Free AV moved here, Etherreal became Wireshark.

[TigerRaptor]

Emsisoft Anti-Malware, aka A-squared is free for on-demand and removal. Has a great detection rate that blows Spybot and SUPERAntiSpyware right out of the water, through the moon sending it out of the solar system to infinity and beyond! Also makes powerful combo when used with Malwarebytes or Hitman Pro.

They finaly improved the scanning speed and now has a lower false positives. So I now feel comfortable recommend it, unlike before.

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/antimalware

Portable version if you don't want the service running in the background. Bundled with a few other programs.

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/eek

[Isaac]

sudo apt-get install libav-tools

Convert png files to frames within a mp4 video:
avconv -i %04d.png -b 80000k ~/taking-houses.mp4

[roncli]

TextWrangler is a good free text editor for Mac OS X.

WinDirStat is a visual drive space analyzer for Windows.

Disk Inventory X is based off WinDirStat, but is for Mac OS X.

3D Traceroute is my favorite traceroute utility for Windows.

Open Broadcaster Software is a free utility to record and stream video over the Internet for Windows. Works with Descent Rebirth 1 & 2 and Descent 3.

[Grendel]

LameDropXPd and Lame ACM codec

[Isaac]

grep

Search multiple files within the current and sub directories for text and return the line that the text is on

example:
grep -rHn "some text to search" ~/

Filter a line

Example:
pstree -p
(returns big list)
pstree -p | grep "Google"
(returns a line or two)
apt-cache search convert | grep "audio"

[Krom]

On the subject of searching file contents for plain text or regular expressions:
Agent Ransack
Basically bringing back the good old "search file contents" feature that got axed in windows quite some time ago. Doesn't do any indexing so it has to read through the complete size of the files being searched every time, so it won't be super fast (I/O limited) but still gets the job done and shows the current progress in megabytes as it runs.

[Grendel]

Universal USB Installer -- also creates bootable DOS drives & Windows installation sticks.

[Skyalmian]

PortableApps is a becoming-well-known database of free software packaged as portable applications.

[flip]

http://www.easy2boot.com/

A great little bootloader.

[TigerRaptor]

One of the best on-demand scanners that easily competes with Malwarebytes and Hitman Pro with its high detection rate. Uses over 10 different anti-virus engines from companies like Avira, BitDefender, Kapsersky, Eset, and so on.
Zemana AntiMalware cloud scanner

Searches and removes Adware, Toolbars, PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) that often comes bundled with free software.
Malwarebytes Junkware Removal Tool
ToolsLib AdwCleaner

Since Chrome doesn't have NoScript. uMatrix is worth looking into.
Chrome
Firefox

uBlock Origin is a alternative to Adblock Plus. Easier on memory and CPU footprint.
Chrome
Firefox

[Parabolicus]

Foxit PDF reader
Free alternative to Adobe reader, only about 15 times faster and doesn't need a quick launcher that clogs up the system.

Somewhat ironic then that Foxit is pretty bloated these days, so I use SumatraPDF (https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html) instead. It's not exactly the most feature-rich reader out there, but it is lightweight.

[vision]

Somewhat ironic then that Foxit is pretty bloated these days, so I use SumatraPDF (https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html) instead. It's not exactly the most feature-rich reader out there, but it is lightweight.

Agreed. Sumatra is my default PDF viewer on Windows, but sometimes I'm forced to use Reader for some files at work.

[TigerRaptor]

I use to like Foxit PDF until it got bloated like you said. Now I'm using Nitro and it works well for basic needs.

[TigerRaptor]

Figure I'll share this one. Force stop and close all apps you don't want running in the background. Works so well, it even turns itself off when you're done.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... p&hl=en_US

[jr2]

WinLaunch
https://sourceforge.net/projects/winlaunch/
-- launchpad for Windows, throw mouse to top left to access. Supports multiple pages. Good way to keep the Desktop clean as well as a way to quickly launch stuff.

HashTab
http://implbits.com/products/hashtab/
-- Easy file hashing tool, adds a tab "File Hashes" to file properties dialog, to which you can drag another file to compare hashes. By default displays and compares CRC-32, MD5, SHA-1 but supports a total of 30 different hashing methods (right-click the hash type section and click Settings)

Everything
https://www.voidtools.com/
-- Instant file search tool. By the time you finish typing, the results are in. A must-have. Supports keyboard shortcuts to quickly launch a new search window.

Folding@Home
https://foldingathome.org/start-folding/
-- Allows your computer's CPU and GPU, when you're not using it, to form Voltron form a super-computer with others and tackle medical problems (such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, Cancer, and recently, COVID-19). Be sure to select whether is should fold while you work or only when idle. You can easily use your computer normally (as long as it's got nominal specs and it's slow) with it running, but if you're gaming or otherwise using a lot of your computer's potential, you should select to fold when idle or you might get a bit of a performance hit.

ShareX
https://getsharex.com/
-- Easily copy parts of your screen, active window, etc etc, and export to a multitude of destinations (including just a local file, of course). Supports keyboard shortcuts. Excellent little tool, check it out.

Lightshot
https://app.prntscr.com/en/index.html
-- Like ShareX, maybe a few less destinations supported, but also supports Mac.

PlayNite
https://playnite.link/
-- Universal Game Launcher. Supports almost all Game Stores (Steam, Epic Games, GOG, Origin, Humble Bundle, itch.io, Uplay / Ubisoft, Battle.net, MS / Xbox, and custom emulators. Downloads game metadata from the net so you have all the box art & info. Really nice. Regularly updated.

DBGL / DOSBox Game Launcher
http://members.quicknet.nl/blankendaalr/dbgl/
-- Frontend for DOSBox, makes it very easy to configure DOSBox and game for DOSBox, with downloadable profiles for games etc.

PortableApps
https://portableapps.com/
-- Get the Platform, for a central location to install, update, and launch PortableApps, or download individual Apps from the site for standalone use. Useful for keeping a bunch of tools / programs on a removable device for use with other computers without downloading / installing them, or just maintaining a your own tools / programs that don't have to be installed and survive Windows re-installs with all your settings intact (as long as the drive where it's located isn't wiped and you don't put it in \Program Files or \Windows, that is). A shocking number of the apps already listed here in this thread are available on PortableApps.

SuperF4
https://stefansundin.github.io/superf4/
-- Ability to force-close programs that refuse to close by normal Task Manager means, as well as point and click at what you want closed if you don't know the task name.

FastCopy
https://fastcopy.jp/en/
-- One of the best if not the best file copy utilities. Useful for saving time with large data transfers, as well as managing to recover what data is possible from damaged storage. Supports context menu (right-click) use, so you can keep it as an option but use normal copy / paste for everyday stuff if you want.

WinMerge
https://winmerge.org/
-- Easily compare text files side-by-side with differences highlighted and merge what changes you want. Also supports comparing file directories.

86Box
https://ci.86box.net/job/86Box-Optimized/
https://github.com/86Box/roms/releases
https://github.com/86Box/86BoxManager
https://winworldpc.com/library/operating-systems
-- PCem fork (updated more often with more features). Emulates an entire legacy machine, letting you choose individual models of Motherboard / BIOS, CPU, memory, Sound Card, Video Card, Network Card, storage devices, and more. Very handy. You'll need 86Box optimized for your specific CPU (1st link), the ROMs of the different devices supported (2nd link), and the frontend / manager (3rd link), and of course an OS to put on your new machine(s) (4th link). Updated often with more device support and fixes, so check back often.

HxD
https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/
-- Hex editor.

SysInternals / NirSoft / Roadkil / Rayer
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/
https://www.nirsoft.net/
https://www.roadkil.net/index.php
http://rayer.g6.cz/programm/programe.htm
-- Massive lists of useful utilities and tools. Some rather advanced ones too. Like Swiss Army Knives for your computer. Throw 'em on a drive and update them once in a while.