Tag Archives: Free
More Freeware Options
Every geek that I know has a favorite media player. Mac geeks swear by iTunes because they’ve been brainwashed by Steve Jobs. Some Windows geeks love Windows Media Player because it has Windows in the name. And let’s not forget about Real, WinAmp, or the numerous other “standards” that people use. Despite these options, some people have and have discovered new and better ways to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special or listen to their vast MP3 collection.
I’ve mentioned before how I am able to watch various movies and TV shows at my desk while I’m working. Because these files come from an assortment of locations, I have to deal with a large number of codecs and other hoop jumping in order to watch everything that I want.
I hate Apple so I’ll never get caught using iTunes if there’s an alternative. I used to be a total WMP guy. Note that I say “used to”. About a year ago I discovered VLC Media Player. I started using it because it handled DVD playback much better than WMP. A side effect of my switch was that I no longer had to try and determine which codec pack I needed to watch the latest episode of a particular show; VLC handled every file that I threw at it flawlessly. Because of this amazing efficiency, I was able to watch what I wanted when I wanted. Not an hour later after trying an assortment of codecs.
For a long time, VLC was my media player of choice. The only drawback is that I wasn’t able to use the keyboard controls on my Logiech MX5500. Since I have this keyboard at home and at the office, this was a huge drawback but the pros far outweighed the cons so I kept using VLC.
A few months ago, I discovered a new media player: GOM. This is another free media player that handles DVDs as well as just about any video format you throw at it including Real Media, Quicktime, DivX, Xvid and FLV. The nice thing about this program though is that it uses internal codecs so, in most cases, no codecs are installed on your system. To date, I haven’t run into anything that GOM couldn’t handle which makes me very, very happy. My keyboard buttons also work with it so I don’t need to try and hit that pause button with my cursor.
While I still primarily use WMP to listen to my MP3 collection, when it comes to video files, I always run to GOM. If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy the video files on your computer, I’d suggest giving GOM a try. Of course VLC isn’t too shabby either.
How Does Free Sound? Part II
Or The Freeware Strikes Back. Choose your title. I won’t be offended.
Last week I published a post about some of my favorite freeware utilities that I like to use before I reinstall Windows. They don’t need to be used exclusively before a reinstall, but they have proven to be very useful to me. There are a few more free apps that helped me as I reformatted two different computers on five different occasions over the past few weeks so I thought I’d bring them to your attention.
ProduKey
With all of the product keys that are required to legally use software these days, it can sometimes be difficult to keep everything straight. Produkey will scan your computer for installed Microsoft programs and then provide detailed information about them such as product keys and product IDs. All that you need to do is run a scan and then print out the results. It’s a very handy tool that no geek should be without.
GParted Live CD
How many times have you needed to create or modify a partition on a drive but didn’t want to go through the lengthy process of doing so? There are some great programs available that make this very easy but they usually cost money. GParted Live CD is, of course, free. I’ve used both Partition Magic and GParted Live CD. After using GParted, I’ll probably never go back to Partition Magic. The interface is self-explanatory and proved very easy to use. You should add this one to your list of must have tools.
Now that we’ve covered a few applications that will come in handy before you reformat your computer, it’s time to move onto those that will make your computer useful. I’ll cover some of these in part three of our series.
Y’all come back now! Ya hear?
How Does Free Sound?
Years ago, it used to be that when I needed a program, I’d either buy it or find somebody who could give me a copy. With the internet the way that it is now, nearly every application you could want can be found online. However, downloading copyrighted software poses its own set of problems that may not be worth the money you’d be saving by downloading the latest version of Adobe Photoshop. Therefore, I propose an alternative: freeware.
Over the past few years, freeware has taken a giant leap forward. Most people are familiar with applications such as Open Office and Linux that have taken a piece of Microsoft’s pie. Whether these people have used these applications is beside the point. My point is that there are viable alternatives to expensive programs out there that don’t cost a dime. On this note, I thought that it would be fun to share some other free applications that I have fallen in love with over the years.
Roadkil’s Unstoppable Copier
This is a great program that I just discovered a week or two ago. Have you ever tried to copy a file and received a stupid prompt that you could have done without? Or maybe you failed when trying to copy a file that was larger than 4GB to a FAT32 partition. I’ve done both and this little app took care of all of my issues. It’s great for backing up data to an external hard drive before a reformat.
Amic Email Backup
This is a handy application for Windows users that will back up your mail databases. As those who have worked tech support know, email is generally a big deal, especially to stuffy executives. It’s no less important to my wife who freaks out every time that just restoring her Outlook files doesn’t make everything “like it was”. This is a great tool that is easy to use and I highly recommend it.
DriverMax
I hate trying to keep my drivers current but it’s something that most geeks would recommend doing. DriverMax makes it easy by scanning your system and then telling you what needs to be updated. It will also export your current drivers for those times when you want to reinstall everything but don’t want to spend days looking for that rare driver.
I have a lot more freeware that I’d like to introduce you to but since I’m busy at work, I’m going to have to save it for a part two. Stay tuned…
