Some Favorite Free Software

I try a lot of different freeware; I keep some but discard most programs. The majority of those that I do keep are for occasional use only but every now and then I find something that I use a lot. In this article I am going to mention three of my all-time favorites.

IrfanView

This program has been in use on my system for years and has been mentioned in previous articles. However, it is so useful that it deserves repeated consideration. This graphics program is one of the best freeware programs that you will ever find. Year after year, its author, a Bosnian named Irfan Skiljan, keeps improving an already great program. Unless you get into graphics and photo editing in a fairly big way, this program has most features you might need. It has a host of free plug-ins that enables it to be a viewer and editor for a wide variety of graphical formats. It can create slide shows; do batch processes, and perform many editing jobs. It can also act as a player for many multi-media formats although that is not what I use it for. The figures below show some of the program menus. The Web site is http://www.irfanview.com/ Aside from its functionality, this program is a great example of how software should be (but rarely is) written. Not only is it compact and fast but also the author makes sure that you understand exactly what changes it makes in your system and gives the user easy ways to refuse or undo the changes.

Karen's Replicator

Karen Kenworthy has a host of free useful programs at her Web Site http://www.karenware.com/. I use a number of them but the one that I use daily is her very nice little backup program, "Replicator". I think that it is an excellent choice for the average PC user who does not want to get involved with elaborate backup software. The program allows for scheduled or manual backups of any folders that you choose. Only stuff that has changed since the last backup is copied and it goes very fast. Even folders with many files copy quickly. The figures below show several of the Replicator windows. A good way to use this program would be for backing up all of your personal data and files. Note added later: Replicator has been updated on November 19, 2005.

WinPatrol

This is a very good program for monitoring and controlling what runs on your system. As the figure below shows, there are tabs for a variety of functions including Startup Programs, IE Helpers, Services, Active Tasks, and more. This is a very handy way to see just what is going on in the system and what is installed. There is even an “Info” button where information about what a service or program actually does can be obtained. This program will help guard your system against spyware and other problems. There is also a paid version, which has even more information. The Web site is http://www.winpatrol.com/

IrfanView

Karen's Replicator

WinPatrol

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