Any good "Free Downloads" you want to share?

[ils747]

Hi, just wondering if you know of any good free downloads.

If you haven't got netscape 4.7 which includes Real Audio which usually costs $US30
go to www.netscspe.com. (http://www.netscspe.com.)

[Blacksheep]

Try http://freeservers.com

Lots of little gizmos but be sure to keep your virus checker turned on. It's like strange women - you never know what your getting until you've got it!

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Info noted. Plse report further.

[Methusalah]

The two sites I have found quite useful, so far, are:

1. TUCOWS.com and 2. ZNET.com

but it is not all free.

[This message has been edited by Methusalah (edited 16 January 2000).]

[pilot-lite]

http://www.shareware.com is always worth a look-in.

pilot-lite

[OzmateBugsmasher]

About the most usefull bit of gear I have found for web surfing is a free product called Webwasher by Seimens Computers.

It sits in your system tray, and removes all the banner adds from your browsing. they are never downloaded (speeding up the amount of real data you get per hour) and filters out those annoying pop-up windows that seem to abound at certain websites....

I have tried many banner killers in the past but this actualy works. I highly recommend it.


Since 19th Nov 1999 it has filtered 7,708 images (from 30,113 that would have been received if it wasn't running), 128 Windows, 957 Scripts from 36,921 connections from my 262 megz received over the same period.

BTW it also keeps a pretty good stats window if you want it. :)
http://www.webwasher.com/

Have fun!


BTW, I try to turn if off (just click once on the system try icon) and click on one of the banners on pprune every once in a while.. anything to help Danny pay the bills. Webwasher can be turned off and on whenever you like without resetting your net connection, settings etc.

(Edited to fix Recomment to Recommend... Gawd, can't believe I didn't see that clanger earlier. Also added the note about the banners on PPRuNe ) :)


[This message has been edited by OzmateBugsmasher (edited 04 February 2000).]

[ils747]

Thanks OZmatebugsmasher (Long Name)

The filter works really well, i've been testing it for a few days now before commenting and it actually works. Some ads still get through but i notice a lot less.

Good one!!!

[This message has been edited by ils747 (edited 20 January 2000).]

[pilot-lite]

I've got to agree with ils747, great little program!

If any of you want to get in amongst the nut and bolts of Windows can I suggest http://www.regedit.com

Dozens of cool little tweaks, and plenty of genuine performance gains to be had, all for free. I changed my MTU settings and get about a 25% increase in download rates.

WARNING

Messing with the registry can bugger up Windows in a BIG way. At an absolute minimum, back up the registry before making any changes, and if you aren't totally confident in making changes to the very heart of your system, back up everything.

END OF WARNING

Having said all of that, there is lots to be gained. Give it a try, it can make Windows a much nicer place to work.

pilot-lite

[Feline]

Very slick piece of free software is World Time. I have version 5.3 (which among other things gives me Big Ben Chimes every fifteen minutes!)

Web site is <http://www.felinefuture.com/pawprint/wt>

{and no, is not any relation, just someone else who likes cats!)



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Feline
(I Sit, I Watch, I Smile)

[spannersatcx]

www.gozilla.com (http://www.gozilla.com) for a download program that searches for the best/fastest download of files. You can pause/restart/download after disconnection etc www.ferritsoft.com (http://www.ferritsoft.com) for web ferrit that searches all the best search engines and narrows down and gets rid of duplicate entries. Both free and both excellent tools.

[OzmateBugsmasher]

also, try http://www.nonags.com/nonags/index.html for acres of free gear

[InFinRetirement]

If you want free animations, graphics, counters and a host of other things. try www.fg-a.com (http://www.fg-a.com) 10/10
www.completelyfreesoftware.com (http://www.completelyfreesoftware.com) 8/10
www.freeware32.com (http://www.freeware32.com) 8/10
www.freewareandstuff.com (http://www.freewareandstuff.com) 7/10 but some goodies.
www.thefreesite.com (http://www.thefreesite.com) 8/10
www.mcjeff.com (http://www.mcjeff.com) 12/10 the best graphics and stuff you'll find.

One other: This is the best search engine of the search engines! www.copernic.com (http://www.copernic.com) A brilliant programme.
Have fun.

[This message has been edited by InFinRetirement (edited 02 February 2000).]

[WX Man]

That web washer link posted by Bugsmasher is, well, smashing. IT's brilliant. Fully reccommended to anyone and everyone- I even managed to get it to work on the office computer, quite an achievement I think!

[TBone]

Well then... could somebody assist with the configuration of WebWasher ?

I've tried every possible combination of entries I can think of and the damn browser just sits there saying 'detecting proxy settings'.

I've followed the instructions, puzzled it through myself and can't find the answer.

I've got a direct PPP connection to the net, and no (ISP) proxy configured.

Cheers in advance.. :)

[OzmateBugsmasher]

Okay, This is how to set up web washer for IE5.

The theory is:

Your browser asks for a webpage, normally (in your case) it just goes and gets it directly. Now we want to put WW in the way, so that it (ww) goes and gets it, filters out the crap and then passes the rest to your browser.

Setup:

Webwasher:
The main default page should be all you need,

'enable http proxy' should be checked and greyed out
'Local HTTP Proxy Port" should be 80 (or 8080 if you like, this will be used by IE for its requests)
'allow others to use my computer as a proxy' should be unchecked.

IE:
under 'tools/internet options' Connections tab

In the 'dial up settings' bit, select the account you're using to acces the internet and then click Settings.

Under 'proxy Server' (1/2 way down) make sure 'use a proxy server' is clicked and then click on 'advanced'

You should only need to fill in the top proxy setting (HTTP Proxy), set it to 127.0.0.1 and the port to whatever you set webwasher to above (80 or 8080).

127.0.0.1 is the default IP address for the 'local' machine (ie the box on your desk)

You should be able to ping 127.0.0.1 (Type ping 127.0.0.1 from a command prompt)

what we have done is tell IE to get all its HTTP pages through a proxy that is on the local machine (127.0.0.1) and is listening on port 80 (or 8080), this is webwasher.

Close up the IE options all the way by clicking the OK's and you should be set.

You will need to make sure that Webwasher is actually running while you're online, or your browser will not work. if you want to see the adds, just click once on the webwasher icon and a cross will come up, the filtering will be turned off until you click on it again.

Hope this helps.


Oh if your ISP likes you to use a proxy at their end, you will need to set up IE the same as above, but put your ISP's proxy settings (eg, proxy.yourISP.co.uk) in the webwasher setup page, this tells webwasher to get the web content from the ISP's proxy, in effect you are using 2 proxy's in a row, browser goes through Webwasher (to filter out the rubbish) and webwasher goes through the ISP's proxy (to increase speed and reduce the ISP's bandwidth). This is where it can get confusing.

[This message has been edited by OzmateBugsmasher (edited 06 February 2000).]

[TBone]

Now I swear I'd done that before, and it didn't work. However, thanks to your straightforward guide, it now does.

And it's good !

Ozmate... cheers :)

[ils747]

Here's another site to take a peek at. Some good stuff here.
www.desktopfreebies.com (http://www.desktopfreebies.com)

[Blacksheep]

Here's a little goldmine:-
http://www.thefreesite.com/

Includes a realistic critical review of each freebie, but as always, keep your virus protection active ;-)

------------------
Info noted. Plse report further.

[This message has been edited by Blacksheep (edited 09 February 2000).]

[OzmateBugsmasher]

Glad to be of assistance TB.

[Thrust]

cybersky.com has a great shareware program for star-gazers. I use it quite a lot to check out which planet is which as dawn approaches on those long night sectors. Good for any location.

[Methusalah]

As a FREE search engine have you tried inference.com? This will lead you to something called "Zurfrider" which you have to BUY from Zurf.com.(aboutUS$30:00). Having said that, it is, I believe the most comprehensive and adaptable search engine on the web. BUT, if you don't want to pay, try 'inference.com' for FREE!!!

[This message has been edited by Methusalah (edited 09 February 2000).]

[Narada]

Some of these aren't FREE (some are!), but I found them so useful I got to tell you about them.

Essentially they do similar things (give you multiple simultaneous virtual desktops), so get the one you like.
http://winfiles.cnet.com/apps/nt/desktop-virtual.html

I have both 4screens and DesksAtWill registered and like them both. I haven't evaluated any of the others yet.
.

[gaunty]

For a fantastic search "tool" that uses all of the top search engines automatically for you, you gotta try,
www.dogpile.com (http://www.dogpile.com)

[ils747]

Hey Gaunty, another bookmark added, excellent. It's amazing what the different search engines come up with...Good one!

[Ausatco]

Free Agent from www.forteinc.com (http://www.forteinc.com) is a great little news client. Email is hobbled, IIRC, but I cannot recall just how. The full version, Agent 1.7 is well worth the cost. Spam (email) and ******** (news) filtering options are extremely powerful and easy to implement.

SpamEater www.hms.com (http://www.hms.com) is a free spam filter that scrubs spam from your POP3 mailbox before you download it. Set it up correctly and spam doesn't even get to Agent to be filtered! SpamEater Pro is the commercial version, and again worth the very reasonable cost.

Feline, I love World Time http://pawprint.net/wt/ too! My better half is Canadian and we have friends and family all over North America. She is always wanting to know "What time is it in ....?". World Time clocks are permanently set up, automatically accounting for summer time as needed. Time at any place on the globe is just a mouse-click away. It also syncs your puter's clock every time you log on, so if your on-board clock is crappy and inaccurate, it will get reset every Internet session :)

OzMateBugSmasher, after reading your wrap of Webwasher I downloaded and installed it. Superb - thanks a million for the pointer. I have it working through a secure shell (SSH) and port forwarding, which compresses text-based traffic between my ISP and me on the fly, considerably accelerating the downloading of any text-based stuff - news, email and in particular the text (HTML) component of web pages. With Webwasher cutting out the crap, things now fly pretty well on my steam-driven 28.8 connection. I found a good description of how to set up SSH port forwarding at www.zipworld.com.au/~frankp (http://www.zipworld.com.au/~frankp). Links there to download required software.

Set up Webwasher as per instructions (thanks OMBS for your help) and set up TeraTerm to forward local port 80 to proxy address port 8080. (See frankp's screenshot of setting up TeraTERM's port forwarding and change the first 8080 to 80.) IE5 talks to Webwasher talks to SSH prog talks to ISP's proxy. Amazing thing is it all works! :)

PS Not all ISP's provide secure shell (SSH). Those that cater to techies and fiddlers tend to - they seem to be the smaller independents, big mainstream ones like Bigpond and Ozemail (both downunder) seem not to http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif Don't know what it's like elsewhere on the globe.

[This message has been edited by Ausatco (edited 12 February 2000).]

[Flying Banana]

Psst, you aint seen me right!

Try http://nachopage.freeservers.com/utilidades.htm

look for oscar 2k and download that at the bottom of the site.

little proggie that contains all the serial number for about 12000 apps plus has key generators for another couple of hundred.
oh and even supplies urls to download the apps from :)

ALLEGEDLY!

[blackadder]

Try http://www.davecentral.com , easier to nav than Tucows etc.
Enjoy!

[InFinRetirement]

If you want a search engine that beat the crap out of all other search engines get
Copernic 2000 for free. Just go to www.copernic.com (http://www.copernic.com) and you got it. It's brilliant, finds anything. Makes your eyes water!

[ils747]

For all you UK residents here's a beuty. www.Freewin.co.uk (http://www.Freewin.co.uk)

It's not really a download, it's a quiz where you can win a prize every hour, 24 hours a day. It's Free though. Unfortunately I don't reside in the UK but best of luck to those who are eligible!

[TBone]

InFin - strictly speaking Copernic doesn't beat the crap out of all the other search engines... it *is* all the other search engines :)

Still, great download... cheers

Now for my recommendation - I downloaded Copernic from a total of six web sites in the same download. One of the ftp sites in the Netherlands started dropping off below 5k/sec so I switched to a German site, then back to a UK one.

How ? Gozilla...
www.gozilla.com (http://www.gozilla.com)

Sits there in the background, monitors your downloads and recommends the best site to download them from. If the server starts to slow down at any point, click a button, and it switches to another one, picking up at the same point in the download.

You can also pick up 'broken' downloads or disconnect and pick it up at some other time with out the server running any particular software.

The pooches plumbs :)

[Eric]

If you're into MP3's, here's a handy little gadget! www.napster.com (http://www.napster.com)

[InFinRetirement]

TBone. That GoZilla is something else aint it? I have had it for some time. Almost forget you got it until you download and then up it pops and does the business.

Can't believe some of the things you can get for free!!!

[Methusalah]

Ref my earlier post re "Zurf Rider", from zurf.com, this too is much like copernic 2000, it is a combination of all the other search engines and you can configure it so that it doesn't waste time looking into search engines that are irrelevant. i.e. if looking for 'needlework' you can delete, say, 'Dutch Sex Clubs' etc. or other engines that are topic specific.

[stevepole]

Blatent Plug alert!!

Free Flight and Duty software.

Made for us ozmates, but will probably be suitable for other windswept and interesting places. (If not, let me know what needs changing)

Does lots of groovy things to make the chore of entering/working out F&D's heaps easier.

Go grab it at:
www.users.bigpond.com/stevepole (http://www.users.bigpond.com/stevepole)

[ebijl]

A very useful program is Window Washer, a.o. to be found on the www.anonymiser.com (http://www.anonymiser.com) page. It annuls everything that leaves traces on your computer after visiting a web page such as cookies, history files etc.
The program is free for 30 days but once one removes the entries the program makes in the win.ini file, it works forever. So make a back up of the win.ini file before installing the program and rename the back up win.ini after installation!

[Eric]

"Tweakui" (ie Tweak the User Interface) downloadable from Microsoft was a developer's tool that has loads of twiddly bits, one of which is called "paranoia" by which you can delete histories, and all traces of where you've been - why anybody should want such a utility I can't imagine. ;)