Free Software
Other Research
PC Pitstop’s Top Free Software report shown below reflects our on-going attempt to expand the scope of identifying and reporting free software titles. As with previous reporting, we have limited this software listing to the top 100 titles based on the prevalence of the software for folks running the PC Pitstop applications and on-line scans. We are continuing the task of identifying free applications and it is our goal to become the most comprehensive listing of no cost software available.
The popularity percentage displayed in the freeware popularity ranking below represents the percentage of all PCs (which ran the PC Pitstop diagnostics scans last month) that had the particular freeware title installed on their PC. The Rank value is just a numerical representation of where the particular software falls in the overall list.
Free Software Popularity
(Based on PC Prevalence Percent)
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Rob Cheng
Steve Hogan
Lyle Schuknecht
Steve Bass
Harry McCracken
Chris Pirillo
Bill Pytlovany
John Dodge
Leo Notenboom
Bob Rankin
Windows Secrets
GFI VIPRE
Windows Talk
Powerpoint Tips
Techlicious
Make Tech Easier
Dave's Computer Tips
Burn World
Excel Tips
Windows Observer
Ask Dave Taylor
Word Tips
Tips4PC
Windows Club
Windows Guides
PCTechBytes
Everything Microsoft
Terry Stockdale
I am perplexed at the diverse opinions people have of the same softwares. Some praise (this or that) AV and some folks say it is crap. Even independant testing labs offer different opinions about the same software. Kinda scary ain’t it. One thing I know about any program that can delete a file from your computer (read registry cleaners, antivirus) is you better damnwell know what is safe to delete or you can lose a file you need. This has happen to me and unless you are an expert with your OS/and or the programs you are running you can’t know if you are going to need a file later. Some registery cleaners will advise you of this(like it’s a big help). Antivirus programs are known to miss some viruses I guess due to the technology they use. It would seem the solution would be to to run 2 or more AV’s with different technologies to increase the chances to catch as many viruses as possible. However we are told we can’t have 2 AV’s on our computer at the same time without having conflict between them. I have read that the paid AV’s are not neccessarly better than their free versions so I am at a loss to know what to do
I have heard some good views on Vipre. Any comments on that one?
I fried my computer twice a couple of years ago by viruses not detected by AVG. Tech recommended Avast instead. I have found that it detects viruses that AVG doesn’t. Blocks and prevents entering sites that download malware.
Just to even the playing field: I have been using firefox for several years, and loved it… I have recently switched back to IE 8… Firefox is dropping to many Popunders! This scares me more than popups. So far I don’t get any popunders with IE8.
BTW, I use UBUNTU with VMWare as well… Vmware is awesome!
My system:
Win7 Ultimate x64 (I got it free for doing a stupid house party)
CCleaner; Malwarebytes; Avast! Free (no viruses, yet); Vmware
I think that anyone who uses their system for entertainment should consider MyMovies. It is a great program for cataloging your movies within Media Center!
I concur with GadgetGuru and bigfoot. I’m not a geek in computer wizardary, but my experience with IE and Norton and McAfee have crashed my systems and slowed them to snailmail speed. I dumped them and use Firefox or safari and have a professional INVIUS looking after my XP-SP3 system and have no problems. Thanks for all this great content data.
I concur with everything said by GadgetGuru:-
XPsp2 is most stable OS on most machines, including laptops. Turn off auto-update! Use SafeXP to make XP safer to use.
Avoid Vista at all costs!! I spend a lot of my time rolling back Vista to XP! Windows 7 is still full of bugs.
Anti-virus software also consumes much of my time. Nortons and now AVG are just too overweight and will significantly slow your machine. The current version of Avira seems the most stable and is where AVG was 3 years ago, in terms of it’s performance loading. Better still, dispense with AV software and install Linux instead!
PCTools firewall is also worth a mention, although for most it is superfluous if your router firewall is working properly.
Some other favourite tools are:
BGinfo (boot time info displayed on desktop)
HijackThis (useful for debugging PC problems)
CCleaner (what it says)
ATITool (graphics card tester/overclock tool)
ShellExView (manages shell extensions – some of which can cause serious software conflicts)
Testdisk (data recovery and hard disk crash recovery)
SVChost Process Analyzer (services manager for SVChost sessions)
SIW (System info for windows – used all the time!)
And for me, Firefox beats all other windows browsers. Avoid latest versions of IE!
I enjoy a few of the products from Piriform. Good to see Ccleaner near the top.
Nice list.
I would add CodySafe Free (http://www.codysafe.com/codysafe/codysafe-free-in-sketch.html), Freeraser (http://www.codyssey.com/products/freeraser.html) and an AdminPack – collection for IT stuff (http://www.codyssey.com/apps/portable-suites/admin-pack.html)
As someone who has been building systems, publishing software and beta testing for Microsoft, Hp and Intuit for 27 years, READ THIS if you want to own & use a computer that will give you the BEST bang for your $$$:
1. If you buy or own a PC from Dell, Hp or Sony: Remove ALL the “crapware” (software that they get paid to install such as trialware versions of McAfee or Norton) and your system will run faster & with less problems.
2. Install & use Maxthon 1.67 (or latest version). It is a little known browser that runs VERY fast and in the years I’ve been using it I’ve NEVER gotten 1 virus from a website.
3. If you are running Windows Xp SP2, congratulations. You have the best operating system today but DO NOT screw it up by downloading all the updates & patches. Until Microsoft releases Windows 7 SP1, DO NOT upgrade.
4. Hard drives. Install Win 7 on a clean freshly formatted hard drive (preferably one from Samsung or Hitachi because Seagate and WD reliability disappeared years ago).
5. Read product reviews you find at newegg.com, epinions.com and amazon.com BEFORE you buy new hardware or peripherals and you’ll avoid lots of headaches. They’re not 100% but the consensus opinions are usually spot on and full of great tips.
6. NEVER buy the very first product from ANY company that had to meet a deadline (such as getting it into stores by a set date). If you do, you are 1000000% guaranteed to be buying a product with defects and disappointments. I know this from years of buying them!
7. BEFORE you try ANY new software I suggest 2 things:
A. Clone your entire hard drive using XXclone
B. Make a System Restore Point
Since this is part of a Top Software blog, here are some of my favs:
Maxthon
Window Washer
Mailwasher
xxclone
Your Uninstaller
Belarc Advisor
My WORST list includes:
Windows Xp SP3
Windows Vista (as bad as Windows ME)
ANYTHING from Norton
ANYTHING from McAfee
@ s f guidry (person who that “paid” for CCleaner)
FYI, CCleaner is a freeware program. You don’t ever have to pay a cent to use it. Period. I don’t know where you downloaded CCleaner from but you definitely ran into a scam. Download CCleaner for FREE from the Piriform’s official website (piriform.com).
Not surprised that many of my programs in your top 20!
CCleaner (Excellent), MyDefrag (Bees Knees), Foxit Reader (Better than 100Mb+ Adobe bloatware!), AVG Free (Yet to be caught 10+ years!), 7-Zip (Does it all!)
Great sight Guys, keep it up!
You should provide FREE TIME or WEATHER / NEWS the rest of this stuff are software creations nobody could sell to make a fast buck.
I don’t see free “Maximum Reflect” on the list. It has saved me hundreds of hours of time by letting me restore an image of a hard drive. Everytime I set up a computer for my customer I always make a backup image and store it on blue ray so in the future if they have problems I can restore it back to new in just a few minutes. For me it is clearly the best piece of software out there.
In response to the person that was trying to delete VLC media player….don’t…it has no spyware, it is basically THE best Video player around. It is light but powerful. It will play more video formats than any other player (some even if they are not finished downloading yet)
Panda Cloud for sure have switch everything over to it and its the only thing I put on my clients computers.
I tried CClean and found out that it isn’t free. It found over 1600 problems and would only repair 20 unless I paid 29.95 for the full registry. Doesn’t appear free to me.
I just installed Maxthon2 Browser to give it a try, (I use Firefox,) why does “Internet Explorer” ask if I want my P/W saved in Maxthon2 ???
G’day folks. I repair computers. i run a few very trusted programs to cleanup and cleanout all the crap and junk from within the hdd of pc’s. leaving them clean, fast and give instructions to clients to run these weekly. Programs i use are : Free windows registry repair, CClean, super Anti spyware, AVG lastly i run auslogics defrag to optimise my hdd. Thats it. I normally run cclean nightly using the windows, applications and registry quick clean nightly as only takes less than 2 mins. Hope this helps those with cleaning up cluttered and slow pc’s. Cheers
I use Norton Security, I have not had any problems with it at all, fast, reliable, deffently not a pc hog anymore. Ive used Comodo before and it was pretty much stuck on my last machine, it did not want to remove, same with Avast. Those two barely picked anything up, mostly cookies.McAfee is also ok. I’ve been using, building and fixing personnal pc’s linux and windows based for 12 years. So choose what you will use carefully.I’ve always said If you don’t know it, don’t touch it.
I use Comodo Dragon browser and it is not only faster but a lot easier to use. It’s free, too. Even better and more secure than Chrome. Go to Comodo and try their FREE Internet Security firewall/antivirus. I’ve been using their stuff for a year or more, now, and it’s better than all those others I saw mentioned. I know, I’ve tried them all. Above all, dump McAfee. Or any others that you have to subscribe to. They all suck. FREE is better.
i run norton internet security combined with ashampoo’s free firewall the fire wall is great works great and has stopped more attacks then norton, i love norton its alot better then it use to be, but not free. If u have an Anti-Virus program (free) i would include the firewall from ashampoo. it does not work on win 7 as far as i know, XP and Vista it does.
it starts working as soon as u install it. it will stop Norton from getting online so make sure you click on allow when asked,
have a great day
I’ve heard good things about Microsoft Security Essentials, too. In fact reviews I’ve read said it’s much better than AVG or AVAST, so I recently switched from AVG Free anti-virus.
I just want to know what antivirus the guys and girls at pcpitstop use on their work and home computers lol , i recon i would have to get that ! though i am VERY imoressed and thrilled with bit defender and the prices are fine as you get a licence for 3 computers…. but come on guys and girls tell us what you use at work and home hey???
Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows: Microsoft Security Essentials Review (September 28, 2009)
http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/mse.asp
“There’s been a lot of interest in Microsoft Security Essentials and I think it will prove quite a hit with users. It’s free, effective, lightweight, and quiet and is, in other words, exactly what I’m looking for in a security solution. And it comes with no strings at all. As long as you’re running a genuine Windows version, you can install this product without worrying about up-sell advertisements, yearly renewals, or other silliness. And you can do so on as many Windows-based PCs as you own. I’d like to see it just included with Windows, but what the heck: Free and easy is the next best thing. Microsoft Security Essentials is highly recommended, to all Windows users.
–Paul Thurrott
September 29, 2009”
Too many people get all bent out of shape arguing about the best browser. Like any predominant software category the leaders of the field all have their strengths and weaknesses and the one at the front of the pack will always be subject to higher scrutiny and targeted heaviest for attacks and weakness discovery. Get over it.
“the nail that sticks out, gets HAMMERED”
From a security standpoint though Microsoft has made great improvements and yes it may be at the cost of some of its performance.
http://nsslabs.com/browser-security-malware-3Q2009
During Q3, 2009 NSS Labs performed the second group test of web browser protection against socially engineered malware. This report examines the ability of five different web browsers to protect users from this leading threat. The results are based upon empirically validated evidence gathered by NSS Labs during 12 days of 24×7 testing against fresh, live malicious sites.
•Apple Safari v4
•Google Chrome 2
•Microsoft Internet Explorer v8
•Mozilla Firefox v3
•Opera 10 Beta
I like and use Firefox and Thunderbird in my W7 Pro 64 system. Some sites demand IE so I use it where necessary. IE8 I find significantly slower than FF or Chrome….don’t like Chrome.
Other nice freebees are “Ashampoo”, “Power Sound Editor”, “CCleaner”, “7-Zip” and “MSE”. MSE has worked very well preventing, finding a clearing virus/spyware intrusions that other protection programs have missed.
I like Linux, Ubuntu 9.10 AMD64 specifically, but when everything is shaken down I don’t see that Ubuntu has enough advantage over W7 to make me use it exclusively….despite its clear security advantages. Each to his own, however.
thanks to this site team
I have been using Norton Internet security for several months now & it seems to be very good compared to several years ago,when it was a hog on your harddrive.I haven’t had anything to slip by it yet.I go to some bad places on the web.
User thumbs up for CCleaner, Avira, Malwarebytes.org, and SuperAnti-Spyware.
Gee….I’ve been in the Computer Business a long time and spent thousands of $$ getting trained. I heard lots of comments like the above. Some are smart and some not!
My suggestion to you out there in “THE CLOUD” (Which is the Internet):
1. If you use Microsoft Products…fine! Don’t use I.E.! Period. Many fact above are true…by default, I.E. is “THE BROWSER”! Why does it always have to have updates and HOT FIXES? More Malware attacks I.E. Use Firefox or any other Non-Microsoft Product that your comfortable with! PERIOD!
2. Contrary to what one said above, Adaware is a free program if the right program is selected!
3. Spybot, Search & Destroy is hand-in-hand with Adaware.
4. CCleaner is an excellent program, free and I provide this to all clients free.
5. Window Washer is a VERY VALUABLE program and hopefully you can find a friend that has a copy of it. It “WASHES” your computer and deletes cookie files and other contaminates. It’s not FREEWARE!
Just knowing how to PUSH the “ON” Button on your computer isn’t enough folks! Knowing how to tweak and use just what I have listed here is somewhat enough to keep you clean….but you HAVE TO KNOW hot to tweak it and when to run them. It’s jsut more than turning the unit on and off.
The item #63 in this free software list is not actually a registry cleaner or registry repair application. It is a Windows registry defragmention and compaction application that is included in that companies excellent Registry Clean Expert application. I have been using Registry Mechanic for many years and I.M.H.O. this one is much more adept at detecting registry errors than Registry Mechanic actually is. There are a lot of copycats in the registry repair market. Symantec’s Norton Utilities behaves as if it is a Registry Mechanic clone. In the favor of Registry Clean Expert is the fact that it is not a subscription based application requiring an annual licence renewal. Pricing starting at $29.95 makes Registry Clean Expert a moderate investment in relation of what the application actually does very well. If there is one breed of applications I would not recommend to anyone, it is the automated driver update applications that make promises very few actually keep by proposing the installation of NVIDIA GEFORCE graphic card drivers while PCI-e slots are populated by either NVIDIA QUADRO NVS or QUADRO FX graphic cards. Unless you are purchasing a pre-configured computer, the possible computer hardware configurations and permutations can easely number in the hundreds of millions. The probability of developping a fullproof hardware detection engine is as unlikely as winning a 9 numerical digit lottery. Computer wisdom should imply that if something is not broken, do not attempt to repair it. Driver updates are only usefull if they address and correct an O.S. or application compatibility issue with any installed computer hardware component. Automated driver update applications and B.S.O.D.’s make a very effective combination at making your life miserable by wasting valuable time at resolving driver issues and conflicts that are only being compounded by utterly inept applications. Any application hiding under the umbrella of the Better Business Bureau’s seal of Approval does not necessarely have the B.B.B.’s seal of approval. The B.B.B. does not actually rate these applications, it only enforces ethical business practices. Many applications being sold electronically make outragous feature and functionality claims that do not bare close scrutiny. If they are truly as good as their conceptor’s indicate, we could purchase them on retail store shelves. Governmental agencies will never police the internet, that responsability clearly falls in the hands of honest computer users that have to remove the bad apples in the internet bushle. If you and I took the time to setup a website, we could also post anonymous user testimonials emanating from non existent or untracable customers claiming to be satisfied. In the case of editorial reviews of software applications, we must not forget that the conceptors of these applications often do advertise on the website performing the editorial review. That fact places serious objectivity concerns since editorialists may have been coerceted to give an aplication a 2 thumbs up rating. As recent financial fiasco’s involving Enron, Worldcom and Adelphia have thought us, when money is involved, honesty and integrity can be conveniently disregarded to protect the financial interests of a minority at the economic expense of a much larger majority.
There is one freebe that does not appear on this list of free software.Have any of you downloaded True Image W.D. Edition from Western Digital’s website. A very functional scaled down version of True Image 2009. It requires a one time installation that can create a BIOS bootable USB key from which all your partitions & logical disks backups can be conveniently saved on a internal SATA or external e-SATA hard drive or possibly even DVD+/- R media. The actual size of the files saved on the USB key is 18.4MB for WinXP Home SP3. Since Western Digital did post this free download. Customer support appears to apply only to purchased W.D. retail drive kits that are bundled with True Image W.D. Edition. Although I already have a registered version of True Image Home 11, I do find this one to be absolutely idiot proof. In it’s full retail incarnation True Image Home can play havoc with critical M.B.R. data stored on the system drive. Multi O.S. afficianados must use great care in using the Acronis Secure Zone & Recovery Manager. The purpose of performing backups is to safeguard invaluable data rather than ending up with a non bootable computer.
I deleted “free” Vlc media player however the its icon refuses to be deleted. I was told that majority of those “free” programs are spywares and only few trusted should be downloaded.
How to get rid of the VLC madia player icon on my desk top?
A lot of “free” programs are free only for 30 days or they want you to buy some other products, subscriptions, utencils….
Ad-Adware, like many other, is not FREE. You need to spent money on their advertisers to get an “impotent” “free” program.
Internet Explorer maintains it’s lead mainly because it is the de-facto web browser supported by financial institutions offering secure 128 bit internet banking. Banks are somewhat slow at adding activex controls that fully support add-in browsers offering 128 bit encryption. They obviously know that I.E. is a Windows embedded application that is extremely difficult to remove or uninstall from the Windows operating system. With Internet Explorer you do not have to ask yourself the question if your bank will support it. It does so because I.E. is so widespread.
its so nice to have firefox, i should have before why I have delayed.
Thanks
To supplement my earlier post here is a site that has a review of 10 browsers and it looks like they did a pretty thorough job. They compared everything from initial start up time to security to features and support.http://internet-browser-review.toptenreviews.com/
In my opinion, though less customizable Apple does everything better (except for phones google wins. That includes browsers. Safari is by far the fastest and most stable browser I’ve ever used and I’ve use IE, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Netscape, and Flock. And to the person lookin for AV software if your willing to pay Norton is great but I would go with The all in one that these guys offer PC Matic I think.
I have quite a few of your recommended free software. The other day I found a new browser its called’Maxthorn 2″ it’s
very fast and more stable than the current Fire fox.
Ditch it all and switch to Linux. You don’t need any stinking Anti Virus when using Linux. However, should you decide to stick with the pain in the rear OS called Microsoft then I would go with AVG as Avira Anti Vir Personal seems to be loaded with alot of adware trying to get you to actually by the next package up on the totem pole. Which in my opinion kind of defeats the purpose of the product. Plus there is no way to turn off all the adware notices from the company short of deleting the software, which is what I did after 1 day. Good luck.
Pc World ran tests on the anti-virus scanners and found that Avira AntiVir Personal was far superior to AVG 8.5 free citing that AVG was bad on detecting malware…also, they said the top ranked #1 antivirus software was Panda Cloud AntiVirus and that McAfee basically sucked. I have used McAfee for many years but over the last 8 months one of my PC’s was attacked with over 52 viruses and MaAfee (updated and running) did not detect a single one of them.
Anyone care to comment on whether I should ditch McAfee and which of the above antivirus software products do you think will work the best??? Before I leap, I want to hear some feedback. Thanks!
It is nice to know there are updates and advances. However, and more often than not, I find the older utilities work faster, better, and with more reliability.
Lesson: Upgrades, updates, and newer aren’t always better. If it isn’t broke…DON’T fix it.
Microsoft Security Essentialss is also available x64
every time i tried to install ie 8, I get errors, i don’t
know what i am doing wrong!
simona
Still using IE6, small & fast. Every other website tells me to lose it before June…or else.
WHAH!!
Added to IE8 comments.
IE8 is safer to use than it was, but it is slower then molasses on a cold day in January when opening and clicking the URL within the selected URL.
Because it’s bundled with every version of Windows and installs by default. And why does IE keep taking plugin cues from FireFox?
Firefox may be the best browser around, but maybe not. Why does IE keep its lead?
Firefox (#1), deserves its place there; best browser around!
Thanks Guys!