Here is a selection of freebies most popular with our members. Click on the image to go to the download page. Do you have a favourite utility that's free to use and (preferably) open source? Tell us about it!
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7ZIP File archiving (compression) utility. Features open architecture, high compression ratio and strong AES-256 encryption. Reads and writes all popular compression algorithms except RAR (read only - proprietary format). All you will ever need, 7ZIP is Free Open Source software. |
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Ad-Aware Clean your computer of intrusive commercial "adware" which monitors your surfing & can activate unwanted adverts. |
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Adobe Reader Essential tool that enables you to display and print PDF files. Keep your reader up to date by checking this link. |
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Advanced System Care Incudes a good range of tools including an amazing registry cleaner and a smart de-frag. Go get it while you can. |
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Allway Sync Backup and synchronisation software. If you don't backup (and most do not) then start now. It has never been easier. The non-pro version is free to use and works flawlessly. |
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AVG Anti-virus Protect your computer from viruses with configurable automated daily updates and scans - for nowt! Now includes spyware detection. |
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bing search engine Search engine from Microsoft that hopes to displace Google from the top spot. We shall see. |
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COMODO System Cleaner Comprehensive and capable system cleaner from the well-respected COMODO range of PC tools from Iobit. |
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Copernic Desktop Search Find anything on your computer - instantly. Beats the others into a cocked hat - and it supports Firefox! |
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Cute PDF Writer From the same stable as the well known Cute FTP. Cute now bring their talents to this well-received PDF maker. Simple to use - just print your document to the PDF virtual printer. |
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Disk Identifier Discover the true manufacturer of your branded media. |
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Download Speed Test Use Tiscali's own tool to check your connection speed. Test at least three times to be sure of a reliable result. If, like an increasing number of us, you are getting a fraction of what you are paying for, complain to your ISP! |
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Filezilla FTP client from the Mozilla Foundation. Brilliant tool for server file management - simple file attribute control (CHMOD). Open source. |
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Firefox Web Browser Open Source web browser from the Mozilla Foundation. Highest standards compliance of any browser. Very extensible with jillions of cool third-party open source add-ons available. |
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Gibson Research Corporation Steve Gibson has been campaigning against the poor security of the Windows operating system for many years. His site has much useful information as well as many free tools. Be sure to check your port scan vulnerability with his "Shields Up" utility. |
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Google Chrome Paradoxically hiding the chrome, Google's browser offering is based on the 'webkit' open source rendering engine also used by Apple's Safari browser. |
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Housecall Free on-line virus scan from Trend Micro. |
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Malware Bytes Malwarebytes anti-malware is fast and doesn’t use a lot of resources, but unlike most, Malwarebytes provides live protection and full scans for all drives. It’s database is updated on a regular basis. Powerful, and (of course) FREE. |
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Open Office Open Source office application built from the ground up as one program. Is compatible with all other major office suites. Free to download, use, and distribute. Increasingly being adopted by governments in Europe. Why should I use Open Office? |
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Opera Web Browser The coolest, fastest, and most secure free web browser available? That's what Opera claim. It's a long time favourite of discerning surfers, and it's very pretty! Good level of standards compliance. |
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PDF995 Export any document to the popular Portable Document Format. Why would you want to make a pdf? Well, with a pdf you can be sure that the recipient of the file sees it just as you intended it to look, instead of how their application renders it. Now how cool is that? |
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PDFCreator creates pdfs from any file that will print. Not only pdfs, but many image formats like png, tiff, jpeg and more. Open source. |
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Safari Web Browser Apple web browser for Mac and PC. Built on the respected open source 'webkit' rendering engine. Good standards compliance. |
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IOBit Smart Defrag Claims to be the most flexible and powerful defrag tool at any price - and it's FREE. Defrags then removes all the spaces to make reading contiguous. |
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Sumo Paint Online Image Editor No longer do we have to buy applications, just go online and use them. This is a half-decent application that makes MS Paint redundant. |
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Thunderbird Open Source mail client with intelligent easy-to-use spam filter. Excellent full featured application from the Mozilla Foundation. Why would you use anything else? |
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Text Fixer You can remove line breaks from text but preserve paragraph breaks with this tool. A particularly valuable tool if you want to copy/paste text into an online editor, for instance. |
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Video to mp3 Video2mp3 extracts the music from the YouTube or other video and converts it to MP3 for download. One from grandson Sam. Nice one Sam. Thanks! |
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Wikipedia Online encyclopaedia that's free to use and free to edit. Open source. |
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Wiktionary Online dictionary that's free to use and free to edit. Know a word that's not in? Add it yourself now! Open source. |
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WinRAR File archiving (compression) utility. Works with most compression algorithms. Free download. |
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WinAmp Media Player It's still free, and still widely regarded as the best of the free media players. And literally thousands of amazing skins - if you decide to select one by browsing, then set aside a whole day and surround yourself with essential supplies! |
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Don't mess with the registry - repair or adjust your Windows time settings with this free executable from worldtimeserver.com . More free tools from their website. |
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Zone Alarm Free personal firewall stands between you and potential hackers, dialers and trojan horses. Unlike hardware firewalls, it controls stuff going out as well as in. |