A Big Geek's collection of Free Software to help you improve your computer knowledge
and experience.  Nearly all of the software linked to is Freeware, however, some is Payware.
 You can save a considerable sum of money by using Free Software rather than buying a
retail product.  An example is OpenOffice vs. Microsoft Office which costs over $100.  
Another example is Picassa Photo Software available in the Google Pack to the right.  

Most of the software that isn't free has a trial period where you can use the program for
free to see if it meets your needs.  If you don't see the free software application you're
looking for then try the Downloads Sites section to the right.
Music Editing & Players
Jet Audio - Free
Any Audio Convertor - Free
Mike's Radio World - Free Radio
Screamer Radio - Free Radio
dBPowerAMP - Free Trial
WavePad - Free
Audacity - Free
AudioGrabber - Free
Amazing MIDI - Free
What's That Called?
Quintessential Player - Free
foobar2000 - Free
Computer and Technology Sites
AnandTech.com - Hardware news.
PCSTATS - Great set of Beginners Guides
Tom's Hardware - PC Hardware information
including  VGA Charts and CPU Charts
TechSpot - News for PC Enthusiasts.
Yahoo Tech - A good site for technology.
TweakPC Hardware Guide
Maximum PC - My favorite PC magazine.
CNET
PCWorld.com
ZDNet.com
Trusted Reviews - IT Reviews and News.
Steve's DigiCams - Digital Camera Reviews.
Office and Productivity Applications

Free PIMS - Great Site!

Office and Word
OpenOffice - Free
ThinkFree Online - Free online Office
AbiWord - Free Word alternative
Jarte - Free Word Processor
Windows Mobile - Free

SPAM Filter
Lockspam 3.0 - Free

PDF Readers
Adobe Reader - Free
Foxit Reader - Free

PDF and Document Converters
PDF reDirect - Free
BullZip PDF Printer - Free
CutePDF - Free
PDFCreator - Free
OmniFormat - Free.  Convert 75+ file formats.
Zamzar - Free.  Online File Conversion

Notes
EverNote - Free
LockNote -Free
FreeMind - Free.  Tree-Like "mind map"

Faxes
eFax - Free incoming faxes
Fax1 - Send faxes $.12/page

Viewers
PowerPoint viewer - Free
Excel viewer - Free
IrFanView -  Free Graphics Viewer

Zippers
7 Zip - Free
ZipGenius - Free
FreeZip - Free.  
WinZip - Free for 45 Days

Finance
Mint - Free. Personal Finance Manager
Ace Money - Free

Miscellaneous
EssentialPIM - Free Organizer
iCarbon - Free.  Printer + Scanner = Copier.
SketchUp - Free.  Easy-to-learn 3D software.
LogMeIn - Free.  Remote access to your PC.
PrinterAnywhere - Free.
ieSpell - Free. IE Spell Checker.
FreePops - Free.  Access email using POP3.
Graphics and Gaming
TweakGuides - Great Site!
GPUReview - Compare GPU's
NVIDIA - Drivers and Games
ATI - Graphics Cards
Widescreen Gaming Forum
Fraps - Free video capture
DriverCleaner
GameSpy.com
FilePlanet.com
GamersHell.com
GameDaily.com
Gamespot.com
GamesRadar.com
1up.com
Saitek
Matrox - TripleHead2GO
Computer Information and Diagnostics
EVEREST Ultimate Edition (Personal) - Free Demo version.
BelArc Advisor - Free PC Diagnostic plus lists software product keys.
CPUID - Free program provides Info on your CPU.
Autoruns - Free.   Most comprehensive startup monitor of auto-starting locations.
PCPitStop - Free online diagnostic of your PC.
SiSoftware Sandra Lite - Free Info & Diagnostic utility.
System Info for Windows - Free
SpeedFan - Free program to Monitor and control your computers cooling fans.
Bios Central - Useful site if trying to troubleshoot a Bios problem.
The Definitive BIOS Guide - Guides to Optimize BIOs.
ProcessLibrary.com - Free  Information on processes running on your computer.
Process Monitor - Free
Process Exploer - Free
Computer Help and Support
Tech Support Center - Free help from Smart Computing (Phone - 1-800-368-8304)
Dave's Computer Tips - Free Bi-Weekly Newsletter & Online Resource for PC Users

Cleaners and System Optimizers
CCleaner - Free System Optimization tool removes temp files & cookies.
Advanced Windows Care Personal Edition - Free
Glary Utilities - Free.  Tools & utilities to fix, speed up, maintain & protect your PC.
Zappit - Free.  System Cleaner similar to CCleaner.
Disk Cleaner - Free.  Quickly & easily free disk space that's used by temp files.
AbsoluteShield Internet Eraser - Cleans up all the tracks of your Internet activities.
TweakNow - Free Registry Cleaner (only delete items marked safe!)
CloneSpy - Free Duplicate File cleanup tool for windows.
File Shredder - Free secure file delete utility.
BCWipe - Free.  Erase the content of any file.
Eraser - Free secure data erase tool to wipe files on your hard drive.
PC De-Crapifier - Free.  The PC De-Crapifier is great for new computers.
Tweak VI - Free.  Optimizer for Windows Vista.
Revo Uninstaller - Free.  Finds and Removes files left by Windows Uninstaller.

Defragmentation Utilities
Auslogics Disk Defrag - Free.
Auslogics Registry Defrag - Free.
IObit SmartDefrag - Free.  Has an "Install it and Forget it" Feature.
JkDefrag - Free.
Registry Clean Expert - Free.  Cleans the Windows registry.
PageDefrag - Free.  Defrags paging and registry files.
Diskkeeper 2008 - Free 30 Day Trial.  Now with InvisiTasking™ technology

Operating System
Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 - Free.  Run multiple operating systems simultaneously
Ubuntu - Free.  A complete Linux-based operating system.
Windows SteadyState - Free.  Very useful program for PC's with multiple users.
BartPE - Free.  Build a Preinstalled Environment bootable Windows CD or DVD.
BootSafe - Free.  Makes rebooting into Safe Mode a snap.

Portable Applications for USB Drives
Firefox Portable - Free.  You can find just about every type of Portable App here
SanDisk Recommended "U3 smart" Programs - Various Apps, some Free.
U3 Software Central - Some Free.

Screenshot Capturing
ScreenPrint32 - Free
Screenshot Captor - Free

File Transfer and Sharing
FolderShare -  Free.  Create a network to synchronize, access, or share files.
Pando - Free.  Send and receive large files up to 1GB.
Qnext - Free.  "The Swiss Army Knife of Internet communications tools."
TransferBIGFiles.COM - Free
Avvenu - Free.  Access Photos and Share Files from anywhere.

Encryption
TrueCrypt - Free.  Disk encryption software for Windows XP/2000/2003 and Linux.
Cypherix - Free.  Cryptainer LE 128bit Encryption Software
EasyCrypto Deluxe - Free encryption utility.

Backup Solutions
SyncBack Freeware - Free.  The Backup program Big Geek Daddy Uses.
Mozy - Free.  Backup 2GB of Data online for Free.
GoodSync - Free.  Synchronize data between PCs, laptops, USB drives and more.
BackPack Professional 4 - Free.  Easy to use backup program.

Folder and File Management
QTTabBar - Free.  Add Tabs to your folders like Tabbed Browsers Firefox and IE7
xplorer2 - Free program to Explore your system files and folders.
ExplorerXP - Free.  Displays the total size of each folder and has a tabbed interface.

File Restoration and Recovery
Restoration - Free.  Recover files that have been deleted from Recycle Bin.
FreeUndelete - Free.  Data Recover Program for deleted files.
IsoBuster - Free.  CD and DVD Data Recovery tool.
File Scavenger® Version 3 - $49.00.   A  file "undelete" and data recovery utility.
Unlocker - Free.  As the name implies this utility unlocks files locked by Windows.
Voice Over Internet
Yahoo Messenger - Free
Windows Messenger- Free
Skype - Free
CD and DVD Copying and Editing
These links are provided for legal use only and not to condone illegal copying and/or
distribution of copyrighted material.  If you don't know how to rip a DVD here's a good
article explaining the process:  All You Need To Know About Ripping DVDs
For more guides checkout AfterDawn

DVDFab HD Decrypter and  Free DVD - Both of these are awesome Free Programs
CDBurnerXP - Free.  Burn CD's and DVD's.
DVD Shrink -  Free. However, it's no longer supported w/updates.
SlySoft.com - Best $$$ Programs like AnyDVD, CloneDVD, CloneDVD Mobile
DVD Decrypter - Free program like DVDShrink and it is also not supported anymore.
AVS Video Tools - $$$  The program BGD uses to convert files to different formats.
Video DVD Maker - DVD Maker Free, DVD Maker Pro, and a Converter program.
DVD43 - Free Decrypter
WinAVI Video Converter - $$$
Benchmark Tests
Futuremark - 3DMark06
Maxon - CINEBENCH
HdTach 3 - Hard Drive Testing
Passmark - Benchmark &Testing
Blogs and Websites
Blogger - Free.  For an example see My Blog
Windows Live Spaces - Free.
Vox - Free.  Privacy Control feature.
UnlimitedMB - Offers a Free website
BitTorrent Clients
uTorrent - Free
Rufus - Free      
BitTorrent - Free                  
BitTornado - Free
BitComet - Free                   
Azureus - Free        
ABC (Yet Another BitTorrent Client) - Free
Media Players & Creators
Media Player 11 - Free.
Media Player Classic - Free.  
VLC Media Player - A Free
WinAmp - Free
Apple QuickTime - Free.
Super - Free  
Podomatic - Free. PodCasting.
VirtualDub - Free.  Video Editing.
Miro - Freel.
Before downloading the
Google Pack be sure to
choose your products.
Test your Internet connection speed at Speedtest.net
Speakeasy Speed Test
Circuit City Brand Logo 88x31
Everything Else
Advanced Search Bar - Free.  Toolbar
Widgets - Free Widgets from Yahoo.
Printable Maps - Free.  Printable U.S. maps.
800 Numbers - Free.  Find 800 Numbers.
Call the Future - Free.  Call a # in the future.
Future Phone - Free.  Call Internationally.
Pix2Fone - Free.  Cell phone wallpapers.
Altiris® Software Virtualization Solution™ -
Free 120 Day trial
OpenDNS - Free. Safer and Faster DNS.
jiwire - Free.  Find wireless hot spots to use.
Free Software - Links to Free PC Programs
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