LINKS:

GAMES:

MULTIMEDIA:

TUTORIALS:

TRIBUTES:

RECENT ADD-ONS/UPDATES:

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DOWNLOAD FILES FROM THIS WEB SITE AND SAVE IT TO A TEMPORARY DIRECTORY (EXAMPLE: C:\DOWNLOADS), AND THEN RUN THE FILE FROM THAT DIRECTORY. OPENING THE FILE AND RUNNING IT FROM THE INTERNET IS NOT ADVISED, AS THE FILE CAN BE DAMAGED OR CORRUPTED DURING THE DOWNLOAD/RUN PROCESS.

ANTI-VIRUS:

NOTE: It is not advised to have more than one antivirus software product installed on your computer at any one time, as it may cause unforeseen issues with the operating system, making it unstable.

Avast! Free Anti-Virus. FREEWARE. Avast! Free Anti-Virus represents the best free antivirus protection currently available on the market. This edition is FREE OF CHARGE for non-commercial & home use. Its features include: Anti-spyware built-in; Web Shield; Anti-rootkit built-in; Automatic updates; strong self-protection; Virus chest; Anti-Virus kernel; System integration; Simple user interface; Integrated virus cleaner; Resident protection; Support for 64-bit operating systems; P2P and IM shields; Netword shield. By: Alwil Software. This is the anti-virus program that I use.

AVG Anti-Virus Free. FREEWARE. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is trusted antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows available to download for free. In addition, the new included LinkScanner^® Active Surf-Shield checks web pages for threats at the only time that matters - when you're about to click that link. By: AVG Technologies. Can't go wrong with AVG, either. Comes down to personal preference.

DiskHeal v1.48R. FREEWARE. DiskHeal is a utility that performs various tweaks to optimize your PC in terms of appearance, security and also performs tweaks for common applications as well. In addition it allows you to fix common errors which are caused by certain viruses as well. Can’t open your drive just by clicking it? Getting error messages like “Could not find something” or an "Open With..." dialog? Disk Heal fixes these problems in just one click: Fixes Task Manager inaccessibility; Fixes Folder Options inaccessibility; Fixes Registry Editor inaccessibility; Fixes File/Folder inaccessibility. Has a virus hidden your files/folders and you cannot unhide it? Use disk heal to fix this problem. By: Computer Realm. NOTE: This program was designed originally for Windows XP, and has not been thoroughly tested on Windows Vista.

ANTI-MALWARE:

Sophos Windows Shortcut Exploit Protection Tool (2.37MB). The Windows Shortcut Exploit is a zero-day vulnerability in all versions of Windows that allows a Windows shortcut link to run a malicious DLL file. This free, easy-to-use tool blocks this exploit from running on your computer. This tool will notify you if you happen to browse to an exploited link and it will block the exploit from running. By: Sophos.

ANTI-SPYWARE:

Ad-Aware. FREEWARE. Ad-Aware is no ordinary anti-spyware, it is the original anti-spyware product, offered to consumers worldwide to protect their personal and home computers from malware attacks. And today, with over a quarter of a billion downloads, computer users put their trust in Ad-Aware more than any other anti-spyware software program. By: Lavasoft.

HijackThis!. FREEWARE. A free utility that generates an in depth report of registry and file settings from your computer. HijackThis makes no separation between safe and unsafe settings in its scan results giving you the ability to selectively remove items from your machine. In addition to this scan and remove capability HijackThis comes with several tools useful in manually removing malware from a computer. By: Trend Micro.

Hijack This! Log Auto Analyzer. FREEWARE. This system has been designed to help you quickly find information about everything contained in your HJT logs. We tap the greatest information databases we've been able to find to help you figure out which items in your log are OK and which ones are bad! Any information we have on the items will be displayed when you run your mouse over that line. Wherever possible you will be linked to a specific thread for help on that item. Everything is color coded to help you determine which category each item falls under. We cannot guarantee this to be 100% accurate and is to be used for reference purposes only. By: I'm Not A Geek.

WinPatrol. FREEWARE. As a multi-purpose security and support utility "Scotty the watchdog" (as he's affectionately known) replaces multiple system utilities with its enhanced functionality. WinPatrol PLUS provides easy to understand descriptions of over 16,000 programs. As a robust SECURITY MONITOR, WinPatrol will alert you to hijackings, malware attacks and critical changes made to your computer without your permission. By: BillP Studios. A must have utility...I highly recommend this item.

CD/DVD TOOLS:

DeepBurner. FREEWARE. DeepBurner is a powerful CD and DVD burning package that utilizes power and efficiency. It takes away the hassle of making CDs, DVDs, auto runs, creating and printing labels and booklets. The program supports a very wide range of internal and external (USB 2.0 and FireWire) CD and DVD writers. Burn audio, data and ISO CD's and DVD's. By: Astonsoft Ltd.

DIAGNOSTICS:

TuneUp Utilities. Make your PC faster and more stable. Customize Windows to suit your needs. Make your PC easier to use. Turbo Mode: Disable unnecessary background programs and concentrate all the PC processing power on your active programs! Maintain System: Keep your PC running like new! With only one click, you can clean up your computer and improve system stability. Fix Problems: As easy as pie: Solve Windows problems quickly, easily, and reliably or restore deleted files. Live Optimization: Accelerate the startup and response times of your programs. Increase Performance: Get the most from your PC and experience fast performance — while working and gaming. Cutomize Windows: Give your Windows a custom look and feel: cool new start screens, icons, and animations. By: TuneUp Corporation. This is the only software I have on this page that you must pay for - but I believe in it that much.

DRIVERS:

DriverMax. FREEWARE. DriverMax is a new tool that allows you to download the latest driver updates for your computer. No more searching for rare drivers on discs or on the web or inserting one installation CD after the other. Just create a free account, log in, and start downloading the updates that you need. By: Innovative Solutions.

INTERNET TOOLS:

Comodo Verification Engine (1.27MB). FREEWARE. Instantly identify real web sites from fake ones by simply moving your mouse over their logo. An anti-phishing site authentication program. Feel confident that your sensitive information is not being "hijacked" by fraudulent sites. Verify the authenticity and identity of web sites you are doing business with. Supports all major web browsers. If you purchase items over the Internet, this software is a must have! By: Comodo Group.

Comodo Firewall Pro. FREEWARE. The program provides a smorgasbord of information and options for advanced users, but it's simple enough for beginners, and runs smoothly and silently in the background. The most obvious new features include support for Windows Vista. if you are looking for a personal firewall, look no further. Received a five star rating from Download.com! By: Comodo Group.

Flash Player.  FREEWARE. Adobe Flash Player is the high performance, lightweight, highly expressive client runtime that delivers powerful and consistent user experiences across major operating systems, browsers, mobile phones and devices. Installed on over 750 million Internet-connected desktops and mobile devices, Flash Player enables organizations and individuals to build and deliver great digital experiences to their end users. NOTE: This version is for Internet Explorer only.

Java Runtime Environment. FREEWARE. Java software allows you to run applications called "applets" that are written in the Java programming language. These applets allow you to have a much richer experience online than simply interacting with static HTML pages. Java Plug-in technology, included as part of the Java 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (JRE), establishes a connection between popular browsers and the Java platform. Java allows applications to be downloaded over a network and run within a guarded sandbox. Security restrictions are easily imposed on the sandbox. By: Sun Microsystems.

LimeWire Basic.  FREEWARE. The world's most popular P2p software. NOTE: Caution MUST be used when downloading files using LimeWire, as the software does NOT scan the files posted for viruses, spyware or malware. Make sure you have a good anti-virus and spyware program installed before downloading files with LimeWire, and make sure that their respective definition databases are up-to-date.

Shockwave Player. FREEWARE. Shockwave Player is the web standard for powerful multimedia playback. The Shockwave Player allows you to view interactive web content like games, business presentations, entertainment, and advertisements from your web browser.

uTorrent. FREEWARE. A small and incredibly popular BitTorrent client. Most of the features present in other BitTorrent clients are present in µTorrent, including bandwidth prioritization, scheduling, RSS auto-downloading and Mainline DHT (compatible with BitComet). Additionally, µTorrent supports the Protocol Encryption joint specification (compatible with Azureus 2.4.0.0 and above, BitComet 0.63 and above) and peer exchange. And unlike many torrent clients, it does not hog valuable system resources - typically using less than 6MB of memory, allowing you to use the computer as if it weren't there at all. By: BitTorrent, Inc.

Windows Live Messenger. FREEWARE. Includes support for the IM Initiative! Every time you start a conversation using IM, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. So any time you have an IM conversation using Windows Live Messenger v8.1, you help address the issues you feel most passionate about. It's simple. All you have to do is join and start an instant messaging conversation. By: Microsoft.

ZoneAlarm Free. FREEWARE. ZoneAlarm is an easy-to-use firewall that blocks hackers and other unknown threats. By: ZoneLabs.

MULTIMEDIA:

AIMP2. FREEWARE. AIMP2 is a free audio player developed in Russia with support for large number of formats and playlists. It works with multiple playlists immediately, allows creation of bookmarks and also has a playback queue. Built-in audio converter to convert audio files to most of the major types of formats available.

Audacity 1.3.7 RC2 (4.10MB). FREEWARE. Simply one of the best FREE audio file conversion programs available. An open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems. By: Sourceforge.

Audacity LAME Encoder (196KB). FREEWARE. MP3 encoder for Audacity. Install Audacity v1.2.6 before installing this encoder.

Audacity VST Enabler (61KB). FREEWARE. VST Encoder (for professional musicians) for Audacity. Install Audacity v1.2.6 before installing this encoder.

Bink Video (1.42MB). FREEWARE. An ubiquitous game video codec - it has been used in 4,000 games! It is this popular because it looks great, it uses absolutely minimal CPU and memory, it runs on all of the platforms out there, it supports high-end features like 5.1 audio and pixel shaders, and has a terrific run-time API. Finally... a true-color codec good enough for game developers. By: RAD Game Tools.

  DirectX. FREEWARE. Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio. DirectX 9.0 includes security and performance updates, along with many new features across all technologies, which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX 9.0 APIs. It is required by almost all PC games and 3D applications.

K-Lite Mega Codec Pack. FREEWARE. K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codec's, DirectShow filters and tools. Codecs and DirectShow filters are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video formats. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular audio and video formats and even some rare formats. A must have utility...I highly recommend this item.

K-Lite Codec Pack 64-bit.  FREEWARE. NOTE: This version is for 64-bit operating systems. K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codec's, DirectShow filters and tools. Codecs and DirectShow filters are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video formats. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular audio and video formats and even some rare formats.

K-Lite Video Conversion Pack. FREEWARE. This pack contains the following applications: Avidemux: A very powerful tool for editing video files. It supports almost every type of video file as input. It can do lots of things:, cut, remux, convert, etc. It contains its own decoders and encoders for all common audio and video formats, so it does not need any codecs; ImgBurn: A tool for burning DVDs and DVDStyler: A basic DVD authoring tool. With this you can create your own video DVD, complete with a custom menu. A must have utility...I highly recommend this item.

PRODUCTIVITY:

OpenOffice.org (128.05MB). FREEWARE. An open-source, multiplatform and multilingual office suite comparable with Microsoft Office. It is compatible with all other major office suites and is free to download, use, and distribute. It was previously known as StarOffice before it became an open-source project. OpenOffice comes with OpenWriter - a word processor, OpenCalc - a spreadsheet, OpenImpress - a presentational package, and with Base - an easy-to-use database manager with a fully integrated database. It is the first office suite to use the new OASIS OpenDocument format, the future-proof international standard for office software. If you are looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office, but want to keep compatibility with Microsoft Office, then this is the program for you. By: OpenOffice.

SYSTEM TOOLS:

Auslogics Disk Defrag. FREEWARE. Disk fragmentation leads to system slowdowns, PC crashes, slow system startups and shutdowns. The Auslogics Disk Defrag is designed to optimize today's large hard disks. Highly recommended by c/net. Does the job of the more expensive "pay-ware" programs currently available. By: Auslogics.

CCleaner. FREEWARE. CCleaner is a system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system, allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware. By: Piriform Ltd.

Empty Temp Folders v2.8.3. FREEWARE. Empty Temp Folders helps you manage folders that contain temporary files, left over by other applications. These folders may have names like temp, tmp, msdownld.tmp, cookies, temporary internet files or history. It will also let you list and delete cookies, history files (Recent) and URLs (Temporary Internet Files). And, it also has a search function to let you find temporary files outside the normal temp folders. Any program can leave behind temporary files or backup files anywhere on your hard disk. These files have file types like .tmp, .bak, .$$$, .old and .log. You can add your own file types and let emptemp find these files for you. Then you can delete some or all of them. By: Finn Ekberg Christiansen. I highly recommend this item.

Enhanced Windows Backup (NTBackup). FREEWARE. Windows backup software that enhances Windows' built-in NTBackup software, to create a comprehensive solution for protecting the information and programs on your computer. Windows Backup, or NTBackup as its often known, provides state of the art backup features such as Volume Shadow Copy, System State, Active Directory backup etc. NTbackup lacks certain key features which are seamlessly added by Enhanced Windows Backup. Enhanced Windows Backup can be used for PC Backup and Server Backup in the home and office. Enhanced Windows Backup substantially extends the capabilities of NTBackup, providing an effective integrated backup solution that can take on leading edge but expensive solutions like Backup Exec and Retrospect from companies like Veritas, Symantec and Dantz. By: SoftSwift.

Everest Home Edition. FREEWARE. A system information, system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for home PC users, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. It offers the world's most accurate system information and diagnostics capabilities, including online features, memory benchmarks, hardware monitoring, and low-level hardware information. This is a must have utility when you are planning or upgrading your computer! A must have utility...I highly recommend this item.

InstallRite v2.5c. FREEWARE. Records modifications made to your PC during the installation of software, hardware, or configuration changes and provides "application cloning" as opposed to "disk cloning", simplifying software distribution. By: Epsilon Squared. Great little program for monitoring the installation of software.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer v2.1. Microsoft’s free security and vulnerability assessment scan tool for administrators, security auditors, and IT professionals. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is an easy-to-use tool designed for the IT professional that helps small- and medium-sized businesses determine their security state in accordance with Microsoft security recommendations and offers specific remediation guidance. Improve your security management process by using MBSA to detect common security mis-configurations and missing security updates on your computer systems. By: Microsoft.

Revo Uninstaller. Where the built-in and sluggish Windows Add or Remove Programs option fails, freeware Revo picks up the slack. Revo provides some powerful tools: Advanced mode adds program-specific Registry key access to the context menu. The Tools Optimizer holds the Autorun Manager, Windows Tools access screen, and a Junk File finder/killer. The Autorun Manager provides one-stop shopping for startup tweaking. Windows Tools pulls together various and disparate basic utilities under one umbrella, and the Junk killer is just killer. The Tools Tracks Cleaner accesses cache-cleaning features, include standard browser cache functions as well as crash memory dump files, MS Office cleaners, system-wide and program-specific search histories, and more. Another cool function is the Hunter, which offers click-and-drag uninstall and process-killing functionality. By: VS Revo Group. A must have utility...I highly recommend this item.

System Protect v1.83. FREEWARE. Easy-to-use computer protection software that helps keep your operating system stable and protected. Prevent deletion of important programs, files and folders caused by viruses, antivirus/antispyware programs, other users on your computer such as kids, or unintentional removal. Works similar to the Microsoft "Windows Defender" program, but is much more reliable and stable. By: Xacti Corporation.

WINDOWS (all versions prior to Vista):

NOTE: The following items are designed for use on ANY of the Windows operating systems.

Microsoft Windows Installer v4.5 (3.17MB). FREEWARE. The latest version of the program that allows you to install any program in to the Windows operating system. One of the very few "must have" updates from Microsoft! I highly recommend this item.

Microsoft Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (350KB). FREEWARE. Allows you to safely remove Windows Installer-related registry settings from your computer in the event of a problem, such as when programs do not completely remove and uninstall their files from your system, which can result in your computer becoming unstable. NOTE: Microsoft offers no support for this tool, even though they developed it.

Schedule Tasks Without User Account Password Registry Entry (8.16KB). Run this registry (.reg) file to allow users to add tasks to the Windows "Scheduled Tasks" option in Control Panel without having to enter the user account password.

WINDOWS XP:

NOTE: The following items are designed specifically for use on the Windows XP operating system.

Iomega Automatic Backup Pro v3.3.0.12 (51.9MB). FREEWARE. Provides a "set it and forget it" solution to back up your important files, even your entire computer. Backup up files on a scheduled or continuous basis. Save multiple versions of individual files. You can select individual files or entire directories, plus set up "filters" to exclude certain file types. You can also compress your backups to save hard drive space as well as encrypt them for security purposes. NOTE: This program is designed for Windows XP only.

bcupdate2 (43.5KB). Use this small file to help try and correct the issue of "NTLDR is missing" error message when you start up your Windows XP based system. As described in the Microsoft Knowledgebase Article #320397, if too many files are copied to the root folder of a boot volume that uses the NTFS file system, you may receive the following error message the next time that you restart the computer: "NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart." If you remove files from the root folder, the Master File Table (MFT) allocation index does not reduce to its original size. If this file does not work, follow the instructions laid out by the Microsoft Knowledgebase in article #883275 (Windows XP, Windows Server 2003). NOTE: This program is designed for Windows XP only.

Microsoft Windows XP Daylight Savings Time Update (KB931836) (500KB). FREEWARE. This year, Daylight Saving Time (DST) extends by approximately four weeks. In compliance with this provision in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, DST dates in the United States and Canada will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November). Within the US and Canada, any systems, software applications or electronic devices relying on DST information to properly use or display time will be affected by the US Congress’ DST change – for example, your desktop or laptop computer, your Outlook Calendar, Blackberry devices, servers (e.g., Microsoft Exchange) and similar date-dependant applications. Without software updating from the application vendors, appointments and reminders may appear an hour later. This is not a vendor specific issue. Installing this update enables your computer to automatically adjust the computer clock on the correct date in 2007 due to revised Daylight Saving Time laws in many countries. NOTE: This program is designed for Windows XP only.

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) (316MB). FREEWARE. The Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes previously released Windows XP updates, including security updates and hot fixes. It also includes select out-of-band releases, and a small number of new enhancements, which do not significantly change customers' experience with the operating system. Windows XP SP3 provides a new baseline for customers still deploying Windows XP. For customers with existing Windows XP installations, Windows XP SP3 fills gaps in the updates they might have missed for example, by declining individual updates when using Automatic Updates, and updates not available through Windows Update. NOTE: This program is designed for Windows XP only.

SysRestorePoint (42KB). FREEWARE. A small Visual Basic (VB) utility that will allow you to create a System Restore Point, with no user intervention, via the "Scheduled Tasks" option in Control Panel. The problem with the Windows XP "System Restore" is that it only creates ONE restore point each day, typically around 3:00AM (by default). This means that if you encounter an error after the restore point has been created, you lose all of your information until the next restore point is created. SysRestorePoint allows you to create MULTIPLE restore points throughout the day, so you can now pick a restore point closer to the error, thus saving more recent files and settings in the operating system. By: Doug Knox. It is recommended that you also download and install the Schedule Tasks Without User Account Password Registry Entry file to avoid errors when attempting to schedule tasks without the user account password. NOTE: This program is designed for Windows XP. I highly recommend this item.

WINDOWS XP POWERTOYS:

NOTE: The following items are designed specifically for use on the Windows XP operating system.

Alt-Tab Replacement PowerToy (533KB). FREEWARE. In addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.

CD Slide Show Generator PowerToy (547KB). FREEWARE. View images burned to a CD as a slide show. The Generator works on Windows 9x machines as well.

ClearType Tuner PowerToy (2.47MB). FREEWARE. Use ClearType technology to make it easier to read text on your screen, and installs in the Control Panel for easy access.

Color Control Panel Applet PowerToy (1.43MB). FREEWARE. Professional-level photographers and designers know that getting consistent, accurate color from file to screen to print and beyond is a requirement for great results. This new tool helps you manage Windows color settings in one place.

HTML Slide Show Wizard PowerToy (415KB). FREEWARE. This wizard helps you create an HTML slide show of your digital pictures, ready to place on your Web site.

Image Resizer PowerToy (520KB). FREEWARE. Resize one or many image files with a right-click.

Open Command Window Here PowerToy (513KB). FREEWARE. Adds an "Open Command Window Here" context menu option on file system folders, giving you a quick way to open a command window (cmd.exe) pointing at the selected folder.

Power Calculator PowerToy (523KB). FREEWARE. Graph and evaluate functions as well as perform many different types of conversions.

RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer PowerToy (5.78MB). FREEWARE. Are you a serious photographer? Now you can organize and work with digital RAW files in Windows Explorer (much as you can with JPEG images). This tool provides thumbnails, previews, printing, and metadata display for RAW images.

SyncToy v1.4 PowerToy (971KB). FREEWARE. With new sources of files coming from every direction (such as digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops, SyncToy can help you copy, move, and synchronize different directories. I highly recommend this product.

Taskbar Magnifier PowerToy (514KB). FREEWARE. Magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.

TweakUI v2.10 PowerToy (146KB). FREEWARE. Get access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more. I highly recommend this item.

Virtual Desktop Manager PowerToy (549KB). FREEWARE. Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar.

Webcam Timershot PowerToy (609KB). FREEWARE. Take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate.