I use the following software most of the time to fix/backup/recover etc. things with respect to all things computing.

I will attempt to keep this up to date. Note that I have nothing against Microsoft, I think their software is wonderful personally, but if people do not want to pay for software, there are alternatives out there which does pretty much the same job as a product that you would pay for.

OpenOffice - Simply the best alternative to Microsoft Office if you are on a budget, or just don't like Microsoft. 

Offline Updater - Allows me to update operating systems and office suites without requiring an internet connection.

Ubuntu - Great alternative operating system to Windows.

AVG - Free antivirus software for personal use only.

Avast - Free antivirus software for personal use only.

Antivir - Free antivirus software for personal use only.

PC Tools Antivirus - Free antivirus software for personal use only.

Comodo - Free antivirus software for business and personal use.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Free antivirus software for business and personal use, made by the big boys themselves. 

Firefox - Excellent web browser made by mozilla.

Chrome - Another web browser made by google, nice and fast.

Thunderbird - Great email package for those unable or wanting to purchase outlook.

Recuva - free deleted file recovery software.

Teracopy - File copying software that allows you to copy only those files that have not been copied. Great for when you were not able to copy all the files. Can also skip files that are in use, without having to start all over again.

Smart Defrag - Great free defragging tool that's also nice and fast. 

Picasa - Free photo editing software from Google. Sorts and organises your photos on your PC also.

Ad-aware - Finds and removes adware and spyware software on your PC. Free and paid for versions available.

Speedtest.net - Great service to find out the speed of your internet connection. Nothing to install, just select a server.

VSO Image resizer - Free. Resizes images, change formats, make changes in batch sizes

Rocket dock - Free application launcher that sits on your screen.

Movie Maker -Excellent piece of software madeby Microsoft for creating anad editingyour own home movies. Best of all, it's free. Note there isone version for XP and another for Vista.

Mail passview - Displays passwords and other information for email clients.

IE Passview - Displays usernames and passwords saved in Internet explorer.

Pricespy.co.nz - Not so much software as a place to find the best possible prices for hardware (and some software). New Zealand only.

Zonealarm firewall - Free firewall for personal use. Very good.

Spam filter - Free spam filter for use with outlook, outlook express and windows live mail. Needs to be trained but is very effective if trained properly.

Comodo Backup - Free backup software for personal and business use. These guys also make a whole lot of other free software, including antivirus, firewall etc. Can't vouch as to how good they are but looks fairly professional.

Cobian backup - Free backup software for personal and business use, personally my favourite.

Syncback Freeware - Free backup software for personal use only.

Hjackthis - Great software to determine if your web browser has been compromised. Also checks what is automatically started when you turn on your PC.

Sophos Antirootkit - Checks your PC for any antivirus rootkits.

Malwarebytes's Antimalware - Searches for and removes a great many malware programs on your PC. Highly recommended.

Superantispyware - removes spyware from your PC. Have heard good things about it but seems to be a bit of a memory hog.

UltraVNC - Remote access your windows or linux box from anywhere online. Requires you to configure firewalls.

logmein.com - Remote access through a web browser. No firewalls to configure. Free version available for personal use. Seems that logmein has removed some of the functionality from the free version and has moved into the paid for versions, not a great fan of that.

teamviewer.com - Remote access through a web browser. No firewalls to configure. Free version available for personal use. 

gmer - Application that detects and removes rootkits. Had a problem with a PC that would not allow me to access Microsoft and antivirus websites. Could not find malware, viruses until I ran this little nifty thing. Problem gone, love it.

Last Updated on Thursday, 15 April 2010 10:42