Posted on 08/21/2004 1:49:32 AM PDT by Capitalism2003
just got a slightly faster web connection and am looking to download come quality freebies ;)
What do you consier absolute "must-have" freeware programs?
All opinions greatly appreciated.
It is possible your earlier version is not updating.
Do a google search for SpyBot. Version 1.3 is the one being offered for download.
Let me know if that changes things for you.
Bookmarking
As I have repeatedly noted in posts in this thread, I now have the latest version of Spybot. And it is working just fine. Thanks.
I applaud your suggestion of IRFANview. Great little powerful jpg viewer and resizer.
Non techies (and EVERYONE really) should only use config.msc
See www.blackviper.com for a list of unnecessary services that slow down XP.
correction, the command to access the service menu is SERVICES.msc
You can go through the items and manually disable the unnecessary ones by right clicking.
Just an observation.
There's a startup tab too. Right next to services. Pruning startup programs is pretty safe and easily reversed if one must.
I tried to download Mozilla... I get a message from IE (I'm running windows XP) that says "To help protect your security, Internet Explorer blocked this site from downloading files to your computer."
Kinda f'ed up, if you ask me.
Whenever I install and os on a new system I always install from the web ..Adobe reader, Winzip, Ad-award, (used to but no more Real Player)
Note XP has a built in "unzip" but I have run in to problem with it on binary files
Off the Start Menu go to Settings, Control Panel. Open Internet Options. Click the second tab, Security. Click the Custom Level button to find Security settings for ActiveX, Downloads, Java permissions and a few other items hackers love to exploit. File Download should be set on "enable". If that's already checked close the Security Settings box and note the 3rd and 4th icons, Trusted sites and Restricted sites. Highlight Restricted and hit the Sites button to see if Mozilla.org has somehow been listed there (it shouldn't, but I don't put anything past Microsoft). That is the place you want to inlude all the garbage cookie/tracker sites like doubleclick.net and hundreds of others if you plan to continue websurfing around with Internet Explorer. The other icon, Trusted sites, should allow you to include any site you don't want Windows security hassles over (like freerepublic.com, mozilla.org, etc.). Browsing the internet trying to keep this stuff in mind is like donning a deep-sea diving suit for casual sex.
I don't know what else could be the problem, but I heard that the Windows XP Home Version has some built in scripts that restrict users in ways other versions don't (I'm on XP Professional so I have no personal experience of this). Five years ago there was a "browser war" between Microsoft and Netscape that Bill Gates seemed to take rather personally. Mozilla is a refined, more efficient and Windows friendly version of Netscape run under something else Gates despises, an open-source organization. Security pros everywhere are agreeing on one thing lately: sh**can Internet Explorer for Mozilla, Firefox (a smaller Mozilla without the email server & webpage maker - whoops, cheating Microsoft out of profits from their Frontpage program!) or the very small and quick Opera browser.
IE, Outlook and Outlook Express continue to be the targets of choice for the world's computer evil-doers, so the smartest thing one can do is to bypass these problems entirely with non-Microsoft products. On top of the peace of mind that affords I no longer have weird freezes and blue screens that I can only believe were attributable to all the security shore-ups Internet Explorer required. I'm already angry to find that XP's Service Pack 2 is so large that I'll have to reformat and reinstall everything if I want to implement it (silly me, expecting an Operating System and it's required files to take up less than 4 Gigabytes). If anyone else has anything to add I would appreciate the input.
Saturday bump!
new favorite:
http://www.OpenOffice.org
Complete office suite compatible with MS Word, only it costs $0.00 instead of $200! :)
Bookmarking this thread for referrals. Thanks to the techies out there.
ping--- software
Thanks. Saving for my hubby.
double bump
found another great little freebie. EscapeClose. The free version is on the bottom of the page, Whatever you are in the middle of, you can simply press escape and your mouse pointer is moved directly to the minimize or close boxes on the top right corner of the screen. Very neat.
http://www.sanapesoft.com/escapeclose.htm
This thread has gotten so long, I think people start reading through and downloading about 20 programs, then forget about adding their own favs...maybe it's time for a new one ;)
bump
BM
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