Great Fitness

The Ten Coolest (and free) apps you do not

As a professional technology geek, I sometimes get their hands on the most cool tools and utilities. Mostly out of necessity, as I am in a critical situation and the need to get something fixed. When I'm in the area and we need to find this little application that does exactly this cold I need, I do not have time to grab my credit card and buy what I need.

So I turn to the Open Source community, and thanks to geniuses who make up this community, I am almost never disappointed. To learn more cool ten (and free) applications you do not … but!

What is considered one of the coolest Ten (and free) apps? First, to qualify as one of the ten coolest (and free) of applications, there are criteria. They can be any old street applications, they must be able to answer a set of standards. The criteria are:

1. They must be free. And that means not having to buy them before downloading. However, Free does not always mean no money. A good amount of time and effort to make these applications for you and me take, for donations to authors are strongly encouraged. In other words, if you find an application that does not charge you to use it, consider making a donation to the developer (s) as a means to enable them to continuously improve the product, allowing others to enjoy the software as well. Plus, it's just good ju-ju!

2. They can not be "trial-ware" or "nag-ware." Shareware was really big in the 90s. Try before you buy it has been the mantra heyday. Well, these ten coolest (and free) applications should not have the thing happens to all shareware. No messages with how many days are left to try their product. No element with disabilities who receive unlocked if you buy the product. None of this crapola. Zilch, nada, zip! Again, in order to have good karma come your way, you should donate to the software manufacturers, but these software authors politely and legitimately ask for a donation, but does not disable functions in order to hold hostage your software until you pay for it.

3. They should be easy to use. Now, I do not mean necessarily brain dead easy. I mean, again, in this day and age, it still needs to be some sort of blip on the radar of evolution to even use a computer, let alone the ten coolest (and free) applications that will make your life much easier. So easy to use means that the average user can use these services if they read the how-to accompanying them. OK, you've been warned! If you do not read the how-to smoke, and do not give authors of the software, your PC starts spitting, do not me crying on the bad ju-ju. Good things come to those who do nice things for others (and who read the how-to's that come with the software).

4. Applications are created by professionals. There have been tons of stories of how this person or that has created the most cool app or a computer in their garage is not sleeping (or shower) for days, living on Doritos and Full Throttle. However, to make the cut, there must be some kind professionalism behind these applications. The main reason is that if I'm going to use an application on a client site that I am a consultant, he has to watch right and good work. Using these applications, I am in a way to approve them. So if my name is attached to something, he has to make me look good. Thus, even when it comes to software, the value of production figures. Some guys who "tinkering" creating some utility that was written evil may very well tip from a PC. I'm just going to make sure it is not one of his I do work.

5. Applications must be useful. Just because an application is free, and it's cool, do not always mean he will do something useful. This is not flying toaster (dang I'm old!) Or dance of strangers, they are useful applications that will speed up your PC protect yourself against viruses and malware, optimize your Internet bandwidth, and restore the health of your hardware and hard disk. How Is this for helpful?

And now for some of these …

Well, now you know what it took to these applications to the great class, we'll list them for you now. But before that, let me give you some warnings that I do. It would not be responsible of me to do otherwise.

Disclaimer

Neither, nor I, nor HelpfulAdvisor.com, or any person or organization affiliated with HelpfulAdvisor.com is responsible for the use of the software listed in this article. HelpfulAdvisor.com offers no warranties or guarantees of performance or improvement following the use of these applications. HelpfulAdvisor.com does not support these applications, and any support or assistance required, would be the responsibility of the user to get by all means made available by the author software. By using the software and applications listed in this article are solely at the discretion and responsibility of the user individual.

Ok, now that we have the makings of the legal way, here are the ten coolest (and free) applications that you use not … but!

Of the applications!

Please note that all the software mentioned in this article can be downloaded free by going to http://www.HelpfulAdvisor.com .

10. DriveImage XML RunTime.org

What makes this application very cool is that it does the same something that commercial software does, and it is great! DriveImage XML is a tool for disk image that takes a snapshot of your entire hard drive and stores it for recovery anytime you need it. This is powerful because taking a snapshot of your entire hard drive will allow you to restore your hard disk, operating system, settings, preferences, applications, everything, if you need to upgrade your hard drive, or replace a failed disk. Comparable commercial software runs anywhere from $ 100 to $ 1000, yet it produces, it's free!

9. Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows (UBCD4Win) by Benjamin Burrows

Is there ever a time when your Windows XP just collapsed and could not start it? Or worse, your hard disk to become infected with viruses and malware that you could not do anything once you've done enter? Well, the Ultimate Bood CD 4 Windows comes to the rescue, literally!

Back in the days of DOS and Windows 95/98, a boot disk was a formidable weapon against computer crashes and virus infections. That's because back in the day (showing my age again!) A floppy disk could contain the most essential starting so you can at least boot your PC and run an anti-virus or maybe get your reader to get data off, or to restore a backup from a system crash.

Today, Windows XP uses an encrypted file system called NTFS. Long story short, there is no way all the information NTFS boot can fit on a floppy, let alone, not many PCs that have more disk drives. So, UBCD4Win, solves all that and more by being a Swiss army knife for your PC.

As it is packed with features, essentially, that you download the program, select the features you want the bootable CD to have, and voila! By booting from a bootable CD, you can restore a disk image created by DriveImage XML (see No. 10 above), or you can clean the pesky virus, or you can make a variety of other things. For me, it critical speed when working with PCs. Benjamin and excellent team work!

8. ClamWin Antivirus ClamWin Pty Ltd

This is one case where technology ends up helping Linux Windows users of the world. ClamWin Antivirus is a virus open source anti aimed to be as comparable in functionality and reliability as a commercial product. And, in my opinion, they are very, very closely.

It is based on ClamAV engine that was developed for Linux servers and workstations, and is carried in a graphical Windows-compatible. He has great features like updates of virus signatures that you can program either hourly, daily or weekly. You can schedule scans for specific directories or entire disks. You can right click and scan individual files, and best of all, it integrates directly into MS Outlook.

Apart from the virus scan Outlook, the only thing I can see this application is missing is the real-time virus detection feature that most commercial products. Of course, real-time analysis can be a resource hog, so it can be a blessing in disguise IIN. I found ClamAV to be able to handle most threats out there, and does a very good job. And if there is a virus that you can not sticky not get, well, the Ultimate Windows Boot CD 4 (see No. 9 above) may be your next option.

7. Defrag by IObit Smart

Although Windows comes with a defrag utlity, it is certainly room for improvement. Enter Smart Defrag. This utility will literally where Windows Defrag has never done before. Ok, I went on top on this. But here's the thing. Smart Defrag is easy to use. It is also capable calendar, where you can set the time and day to run the defragmentation. To be fair, this can be done with Windows Defrag If you use Windows Scheduler with her. In the case of Smart Defrag is any independent, eliminating the need to use two separate programs.

Now, are you ready for the best feature is that Smart Defrag Windows Defrag not working? There must be something that gets this utility on the list, no? Ok, here it is. This defragmentation utility can be configured to work in the background. That's right. When you make your regular work on your computer, this utility will work with you in the background. The software has a threshold that will stop the defragmentation if it starts using too many resources on your PC. It's great because you're always sure your defrag will not slow your PC.

Always have a disk defragmentation is extremely valuable to your PC, because it speeds up access to your programs, and facilitates the efforts on your hard drive. This is the defragmentation utility that you can not beat the price.

6. Tune XP by DriverHeaven

Did you know that Windows XP has several hidden parameters that could actually speed up your PC? In fact, the default installation settings can actually be slowing down your PC, even after a new installation!

Well, now you can harness the hidden powers of Windows XP and give your PC to increase the speed it deserves. Best of all, you can give him that boost without buying a single piece material and a stick of RAM. Although this utility is powerful, it is a bit advanced, so it is highly recommended to read the help file before using.

5. 7-Zip 7-Zip.org

This is another of those great utilities that replaces what has already with Windows XP. Windows comes with a file compression and archiving utility called WinZip. However, 7-Zip does some things better than WinZip. On the one hand, 7-Zip compresses files much smaller than WinZip, which for small archive (. Zip).

For two, 7-Zip supports a number types of archive types than WinZip. This is particularly useful when downloading from the Internet, to see that the compressed file you just download is not recognized by WinZip. Therefore, this utility can be sure that what you download can be unzipped and useful for you.

4. Cobian Backup by Luis Cobian

Have you tried using the NT Backup that comes with Windows? Yeah, me too, it is difficult to say the least. Well, save your troubles are over. Cobian Backup is fast, easy to use and extremely flexible.

Imagine a backup utility to compress your backup file into one large file or several smaller ones. Imagine a backup utility that automatically saves your backup file on any drive you select, or better yet, will upload your file via FTP to a web server off site of your choice. Imagine a backup utility that you can schedule or run directly on site.

Cobian Backup is so flexible and versatile, you'd be surprised that may be offered as a donation-ware. However, going to the website of Luis Cobian, it appears the next version will not be open source. Therefore, you better understand Black Moon while you can.

3. Mozilla Firefox Web Browser

In my arsenal, this is considered as essential gear. That's because Firefox allows safer navigation of the Internet without being acosted by all pop-ups, automated downloads Active-X that spy on you and your PC, or other forms of malicious software that help your browser Exporer regularly.

Anyone who surfs the net can appreciate pop-up free, malware free surfing. Firefox also has many add-ons that are already a poweful browser even more bestial. There are download accelerators, proxies, extensions of YouTube, and all sorts of tricks to make your time spent Internet as cool as ever.

If you need to keep Internet Explorer because some sites that absolutely need this browser you use, at least download and use Firefox for the other times you do not need IE. You'll find that you spend less time raising cats through malware and mailicous Active-X on your browser. And that, dear reader, spells more enjoyable for you on the Internet, which is how it should be.

2. Free Download Manager by FreeDownloadManager.org

This is called an accelerator Download. A acclerator download does just that, to accelerate your downloads. The concept is cool because you can also queue your downloads, and when they download, they will download faster using this technology as saying, download a standard browser. This is because your browser launches a unique session to download your selected item. However, a download accelerator will open several sessions at once and download files across multiple sessions. Therefore, the Download occur more quickly and increase your bandwidth for downloading.

Free Download Manager is very well and has tons of nice features. He even offers support for BitTorrent to download torrent files, and allows you to manage very powerful downloads. This tool can be integrated into Windows and is compatible with Firefox and Internet Explorer. I can not live without this app, and I think after having used a few times, you will not be able to.

And now, the number 1 Coolest (and free) app you do not …

1. CCleaner by Piriform, LTD.

This utility used to be called CrapCleaner, but he has since softened Title to be fair CCleaner. Maybe it was something politically correct to do so, who knows. All I know is this tool works! The basic premise is that this tool will find all files and little that is left behind by Windows and other applications you use on a daily basis, even irregular.

Junk Files can add up. When they add up, they rob your PC of valuable hard disk space, and what is worse, it can steal your PC's performance. By running CCleaner at least on a weekly basis, you can clean all unnecessary files and free space. When you run this utility on SmartDegrag by IObit (number 7 on our list), you keep your PC tuned and ready for action.

We're not done yet. CCleaner is also an exciting opportunity that allows you to clean the registry of your computer. A clean registry is the second half for a fast running PC. When the software is installed on Windows, stuff that is written in the register. However, when the software is uninstalled, the entries in the register are not always deleted. Call it lazy or sloppy programming, or simply a way of Life in the Windows world. In any event, a record is inflated by a PC running slow. CCleaner help you keep that in check.

CCleaner also has other cool stuff like a boot manager that helps you manage your programs that launch at startup. Who, you'll guessed, biting your system resources and slow your PC, unless you trim the applications you do not have to have both boot Windows.

Overall, CCleaner is one of most utilities to clean junk files, clearing the cache your Web browser, clear your basket and allowing your PC to reclaim space that is otherwise taken over by "tricks" used only to slow down your machine. Because this tool is very easy to use and so powerful, he has earned our position as number one on our list.

A Closing

Although the software on our list is open source, or no cost to get these applications and time costs money develop and make available to the public. These applications are in many cases supported by grants of the user considers just for using the product. If you download and find one of these applications useful, please consider a donation to the developer (S). You can do this by going to their respective websites and clicking on the donation link is usually highlighted on their barns.

All software in this article may be downloaded for free by going to title = "HelpfulAdvisor.com" http://www.HelpfulAdvisor.com>

About the Author

Jay Medina has over 20 years experience in the Information Technology industry. He has held positions with prominent companies such as America Online and has consulted for organizations such as Aaron Spelling Entertainment and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

As part of Jay’s business experience, he has started two technology consulting firms of his own, and made them rather successful by holding to the simple premise of being willing to serve others.

Currently, Jay is a technology consultant for an international consulting firm that is a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture, and he runs an online magazine called HelpfulAdvisor.com.

Jay’s goal for HelpfulAdvisor.com is to be a trusted resource for entrepreneurs and small businesses to get the kind of information, advice, and services that are usually hard to come by for start-up businesses with very little capital.

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