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Technology > Software & Downloads > Five free must-have downloads

Five free must-have downloads

17th Jan 2012

Ged McMahon

22 comments

There are a lot of great downloads available on the internet. The team at YOURLifeChoices want to share their top five favourites. Each of these downloads are guaranteed to make your life much easier.

KeePass

Today’s world is full of passwords. We have them for email, bank accounts, online shopping, social media, online subscriptions, work computers, mobile phones - the list goes on and on.

KeePass is a very useful and safe way to store all your passwords in one place. It’s also simple to use and includes a handy application that helps you to create more secure passwords.

LogMeIn Express

If you’re the resident computer expert in your family, or you’re constantly asking a friend for help with your computer, LogMeIn Express could be a very valuable tool. It is a fantastic way to share screens securely.

This means that instead of having a confusing phone conversation where you talk about “megabytes”, “watchamacallits” and “thingamabobs” the person helping can be on your computer screen and fixing the problem straight away.

Rescue Time

If you tend to get distracted online while you should be actually doing work, then Rescue Time could become a very valuable time management device. It monitors the websites and apps that you use during the day and then graphs how you spent your time. You can even set a chosen time frame where all distracting websites will be blocked so you can get your work done.

PDF to Word

PDFs are a great way to share information with others but sometimes you just wish you could make a change to them. Now with PDF to Word you can do exactly that. This download allows you to convert PDFs into Word docs or Excel files.

Shrink Pic

Emailing photos to friends and family can often be difficult owing to the large size of the photo. This either requires you to resize the pic manually or means the attachment never makes it to the intended recipient. The beauty of Shrink Pic is that it automatically resizes your photo. This makes the process much quicker and means people never miss out on seeing your great pictures.

Can you think of any other great free downloads that you would like to share?

twinkey
17th Jan 2012
3:37pm

Perhaps it would be good to advise when Free Downloads are only Free Trials
e.g. PDF to Word 14 day free trail.
Maureen

ariescards
17th Jan 2012
4:05pm

I find the free AVG Anti Virus 2012 edition of programme ideal for a non-profit type website and I always use the free CSE HTML Validator Lite v11.O to check my codings before I upload any of my pages.

I also use the free version of Easy Thumbnails for downsizing my designs for the index pages of my selection.

I have a free Aries House of Greeting Cards Website and I find the above very helpful.

noddy45
17th Jan 2012
5:10pm

I have to agree with Maureen, many sites offer free downloads but it.s only after you do the download you find out it is only a trial version of the software & for those with limited download it can be a waste of time & broadband.
Ian

bertreus
17th Jan 2012
6:45pm

I don't like being told something is free when it's shareware or trialware.

Vaycee
17th Jan 2012
7:59pm

What about Open Office - I've heard varying reports about this program. I agree with ariescards about AVG which I have used. There are a number of free anti-virus programs out there. I'm currently using Avira.

oscarmitre
17th Jan 2012
10:27pm

Libre Office is a good alternative to Open Office, it was created in response to a conviction that Open Office was becoming too corporate. Neither is as polished as MS Office and I find that if I prepare a document in Libre Office and send it to someone who opens it in MS Office that it isn't perfect but for printing and for general (i.e. not business-related) use LIbre Office is really good.

Given that there are problems with trialware and proprietary software is very expensive I made the move to Linux some years ago and now gain access to software that is free (as in free beer). Yes there is a learning curve but distributions such as LinuxMint are making it easier to migrate from Windows to LInux.

Londoner
17th Jan 2012
11:08pm

Teamviewer is another, and some say better, alternative to LogMeIn Express.

Daphne
17th Jan 2012
11:39pm

Audacity is a great free program for recording audio - speech or music - and converting to WAV or mp3.

Format Factory - also free - which helps you convert formats of audio or video.

JAlbum for creating classy slideshows of your photos

Stellarium for finding out which celestial objects are in your area of the sky.

Vaycee
18th Jan 2012
8:30am

Thanks oscarmitre I'll look into that. Working with a computer group for seniors there has been talk about the benefits of Linux too, but as everything seems to come loaded with Windows I'm not sure whether I'd benefit

Jock
18th Jan 2012
10:56am

Unfortunately these free downloads are ok if running windows,no good for Apple users like myself if your not running windows programmes.

oscarmitre
18th Jan 2012
12:06pm

Vaycee I work with a community learning group that offers diverse adult education to members of the community and I have run a course on digital image editing for participants. I used a freeware programme called PhotoScape and found that the learners took to it very quickly. Others might also be interested, it has a wide range of facilities and has the advantage of being cheaper (can't get much cheaper than free!) and while it may have far less features than PhotoShop or GIMP is much easier to learn, especially for small jobs.

On Linux, I will be looking at introducing an educational programme to allow those learners who are on lower incomes to buy a cheaper, second-hand computer that may have low end specs, get them to migrate (slowly) from Windows (usually XP) to a Linux flavour and to work with the many thousands of free applications that are available. I'm hoping they will get a very useful computer at a fraction of the cost it would if they did the same thing with a proprietary OS and applications.

Vaycee
18th Jan 2012
3:21pm

Thanks oscarmitre - we use GIMP and I think I have heard mention of PhotoScape. Good suggestion for those that perhaps don't want to use the more fully featured GIMP. How does it compare to Picasa and Windows Live (other than the obvious offline use)?

terrib
18th Jan 2012
4:28pm

I use Firefox as it is less likely to crash. I also use Open Office and have managed to get my friends & family to use it saving heaps of money. Bill Gates may do a lot of good but it is our money he is doing it with!
I use Malwarebytes and Avast & find they keep my computer nice & free of viruses.

Histoman
18th Jan 2012
10:51pm

I use Fast Image Resizer for sending photos via e-mail. Once it is set, every time you send a picture, it will automatically resize it for you using it's memory.

oscarmitre
18th Jan 2012
11:47pm

Vaycee I only use Picasa for indexing photographs and I don't use Windows Live for anything so I can't really comment in terms of comparisons. If it helps I did find the learners took to PhotoScape very quickly and appreciated its features, especially in touching up a photograph. One other I remembered today - PhotoFiltre (the developer is French hence the spelling, but it's in English thankfully!) - and it's also very good freeware.

terrib - Avast is a gem isn't it?

Vaycee
18th Jan 2012
11:49pm

Ah yes I have come across (well heard about) PhotoFiltre too - I'll be looking into some of these for our students. Thanks

terrib
19th Jan 2012
3:12pm

oscarmitre....yes I find avast among the best, it is not invasive & works quietly in the background keeping the computer clean. My son put me on to it as before I was using AVG but it was a huge program for resource & a devil to get rid of.

textappa
8th Feb 2012
8:19pm

OFFERS OF FREE (NOT !!!) SOFTWARE AND HOW TO AVOID WASTING EXPENSIVE DOWNLOAD ACCESS.

Sorry for barking, but it's simple...really. Just go to CNET Downloads and refine your search.

On the left side-pane select your system (Vista,XP,Win 7,etc) and wait for new page.
Then select Editors Picks and wait.
Then select Free, (NOT - Free to Try, or Paid) and wait.

Having done that you can browse and graze across a field of genuinely Free software programs in the thousands. Do remember to click on Editors Review and just as importantly - read all the user reviews.

If you have a specific program in mind, there is a small search window in top right corner.
But don't search until you have set up Sytem, Editors Picks, Free preferences

Enjoy........Woof!

Vaycee
10th Feb 2012
10:34am

Woof indeed - thanks textappa for this tip, but it's not as simple as you describe - websites change so often. However, I've found some interesting stuff in any case. Although there doesn't seem to exist any more the Editors Review, clicking on Reviews and selecting Software took me to a page where there is a link to "Editor's picks" on the LH menu. I shall continue to investigate.

textappa
14th Feb 2012
6:16pm

Hi Vaycee, re: CNET.

You will find a tiny link to Editors Review just below the name of each program.
Then on that page you get a list of system specs (including Free or not) in left pane.
Having read Ed's review, scroll down forever to Users reviews, which could run to several pages (Page 1,2,3,etc link at bottom). Some are horror stories, but read them all and make up your own mind - sort wheat from chaff! Happy Hunting.

13th Apr 2012
7:45am

good one textappa ive been useing cnet for just over 10yrs never had a problem (codger)

13th Apr 2012
8:07am

re keepass just downloaded it and deleated it full of viruses.

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