Software Recommendations

Security:

• Zone Alarm--(free)--Great firewall—I have used no other.

• AVG—(free)—Anti-virus protection—have used Norton in the past and like this much better. Definately cheaper!

• Spybot Search & Destroy--(free)--Spyware program. Also has a side program that will watch your registry and allow you to approve or deny changes.

• Adaware—(free)—Another spyware program.

• The Laptop Lock—(free)&mdash A program that allows you to control access to your documents should your computer be lost or stolen.

Utilities:

• SyncPst by Wisco—(shareware)—If you need to sync Outlook 2007 on a couple of machines, this program works flawlessly.

• Ccleaner (crapcleaner)--(shareware)--cleans temp, history, and other select files on your computer. Also can scan the registry for unwanted items. Note: Current version 2.04.543 and beyond contain file eraser capability eliminating the need for the eraser program listed below.

• SystemInfoProgram—(free)—Tells you everything you might or might not need to know about your computer. It's more detailed than Belarc Advisor.

• Zip Genious—(free)—zip and unzip files.

• Eraser—(free)—BE CAREFUL with this deleting program—once a file is erased, it is unrecoverable.

Audio/Video Playing, Recording & Editing:

• Winamp—(shareware- $20)&mdash I took the plunge a purchased Winamp because we decided to digitize our audio collection. I like Winamp's options and control over audio files and related data as opposed to Windows Media Player (which we don't use at all now).

• Audacity—(free)&mdash A great audio recording tool. I had trouble getting it to work on my Dell and finally found a driver here that solved the issue.

• Nero 7 Ultimate--(Shareware)--Copy, Make, burn, audio/video CDs & DVDs. Roxio came on my Dell. I have uninstalled Roxio & installed Nero. Once again--much happier!

• Windows Media Player 11--(free)--Audio/video player

• DivX Player--(free)--(just the player) I like this player best for videos.

• Windows Movie Maker--(free)--capture and edit video.

• Mp3tag—(free)—Allows you to edit Mp3 tags.

• Any Video Convertor Professional—(shareware-)&mdash Convert most video format to many others or extract audio from video into wav or mp3 format.

Photo Organizing & Editing:

• PhotoImpact 12—(shareware)-pricey, but I like how it works.

• Picasa2—(free)—From Google—I just started using it. It is an image organizer and minor image fixer. So far, so good.

• Photoinfo from Microsoft--A free program from Microsoft that allows you to edit EXIF data on photos.

• Webshots --A free program that allows you to organize & control wallpapers on your computer.

• Multiple Image Resizer .Net--(free for personal & educational)-- Nifty program that does what it's name implies plus much more. Such as oaverlaying another image, adding text, & adding borders

For the Web:

• FireFox Web Browser—(free)--with all of the extensions and add-ons available, Firefox is pretty cool. Also more secure that Internet Explorer. I've heard that Firefox doesn't play nicely with Vista, but I'm having no problems with it.

• Internet Explorer--(free)--I am using version 7. Supposedly more secure. I only use it for Windows Update.

• FileZilla FTP Client —(free)—FTP [file transfer protocal] Client

• Instant-Eyedropper —(free)—Have ever seen a color somewhere on your computer or on the web that you wanted to use in your own graphics? Instant-eyedropper will give you the color code of anything on your computer screen.

If you want a web server:

• XAMPP--Web Server Bundle--(free)-- This is bundled installation containing Apache Server, Filezilla ftp server, SSL, , MYSQL, and more. This takes a BIG headache out of making a bunch of stuff work togethewr. You are being served by it now!

• ActivePerl —(free)—Some web-based programs require the Perl programming language [Awstats for example]. This is an easy way to get Perl up & running on your server.

• Awstats —(free)—Log web traffic to your site(s). XAMPP comes with a traffic logger, but, Awstats is much more comprehensive.

• HTML-Kit—(free)—Web page designer program. I recently found this, & like it well enough that it is all I use.

• Web Album Generator--(free)-- Creates nice looking & easily navigated web page photo albumes.

Everything Else:

• RoboForm—(shareware)—password manager

• GoodSync V6—(shareware)—I've tried several back/sync programs. This is the one I will stick with.

• RootsMagic—(shareware)—Awesome genealogy software.

• Adobe Acrobat reader--(free)--A must for reading PDF documents.

• CutePDF Writer--(free)--Installs as a printer that allows you to print anything to a pdf file.

• GhostScript—(free)—I have no idea what it does, but you MUST have it in order for CutePDF Writer to work.

• Webshots—(free)—desktop background application—allows you to use your photos or download photos for your desktop background.

• Jarte—(free)—An awesome plain text editor that can also handle rich text as well as some other formats. It has much more functionality than Notepad & Wordpad. Jarte also uses a tab system allowing several documents to be open at the same time.

• Recuva—(free)—Did you accidentally delete a needed file? Or, do you have a corrupt thumb drive or SD card? Recuva may help you recover files in thes instances & others.

• QuickVerse—(paid)—Wish to have a bible on your computer? QuickVerse is just that with many, if not all, versions of the bible available. You can search, copy, print, or bookmark anything in the installed bible versions.

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