Computer Tune-up (Windows PCs)

Free Windows Software

Legal, free and reputable programs

• Open Office - Near-equivalent to Microsoft Office originally from Sun Microsystems. High compatibility with MS Office formats (reads/writes: doc, docx, txt, xls, ppt, etc.), just set up the preferences and forget it. Exports Acrobat 'pdf' files. Macros are different to Microsoft but you might regard that as an antivirus feature. There are loads of 'extensions' available for such as foreign dictionaries, clipart, thesauruses, et cetera. Compatible with the latest Microsoft Office formats. Big download.
• Oxygen Office - Enhanced version of the free Open Office above with all the same features and more, including clipart. The download page pushes free antivirus software but it is downloaded separately. Very big download, more than 200 MB. Alternative download at Sourceforge.
• Art of Illusion - Fiddly 3D modelling program. AutoCad it ain't.
• 7-Zip - This is a file archiver with a high compression ratio, like Winzip and WinRaR but free. Pack/unpack: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2 and TAR. Unpack only: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, MSI, WIM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS. Old-fashioned user interface but it works OK.
• Gimp - Advanced image editor (sort of Photoshop, Paintshop Pro sort of thing), but fiddly. I never liked it. Supposed to be very powerful if you can spend time learning it.
• XnView - View and convert a wide range of graphics formats. Useful for moving files about and sorting photos into folders. Built-in video viewer. I recommend it.
• Audacity - Record and edit sounds in this basic wave editor. A sort of poor man's Sound Forge or Wavelab. Add the 'VST enabler' - to enable VST plug-ins.
• Wavosaur - Free basic wave editor with support for VST plug-ins and ASIO. Simpler than Audacity but it has some goodies like an oscilloscope and spectrum analyser.
• Scribus - Desk Top Publishing (DTP) handy for newsletters, ransom demands, etc.
• Camstudio - Capture on-screen events for powerpoint, etc. Handy if you want to make a 'How to use this program' presentation.
• Monex - Personal finance manager with double-entry bookkeeping, whatever that is.
• VLC Player - Play DVDs, etc. for nowt.

Other Free Software and Stuff (the first group are 'must haves' for computer protection). Always keep security software up to date (as in 'check for updates').

• 'Free AVG' - My favourite antivirus.
• Avira - Another free antivirus. Used to be called 'Antivir' but it still uses the same little umbrella symbol. Look for the 'Classic' version.
• Malwarebytes - Small program which does a quick but very effective scan. Download the free version. I recommend this one and you don't need to uninstall the antivirus to use it.
• Spybot - Reputable spyware scanner. Must do some good if virusses try to disable it.
• Windows Defender - Free spyware scanner from Microsoft. (Vista and Win7 have it built-in already)
• Zonealarm - The famous firewall that's better than XP's. This link goes straight to the file download (it's hard to find on the website). Right-click the mouse over the link and then click 'save target as'. During install, stick to the free options. They try to trick into you into paying for the advanced version.

Mostly Utilities

• Piriform - free programs:
  • CCleaner - Decent cleanup utility. But I advise against using the more advanced registry options, only the first cleanup bit.
  • Defraggler - Lightweight program to defragment hard disc drives and memory sticks. Works well.
  • Recuva - Useful to recover accidentally deleted files from hard disc or corrupted camera card.
• CPU-Z - Little free-standing program which displays and saves essential hardware details, such as: CPU, mobo, memory config, graphics, various frequencies, etc.
• Foxit Reader - Reads Acrobat pdf files without the slow performance of Acrobat bloatware. It is still freeware although the web page imples otherwise. Click 'Download' and ignore the (pay-for) 'Pro' version.
• DVD Flick - This is really good for burning Video DVDs from just about any sort of video files, including Youtube 'flv'. Highly recommended.
• Imgburn - Simple way to make/burn CD images and a few other optical drive utilities.
• Picasa - Picture editing utility from Google but files emailed from it can be poor.
• FLV Player - View downloaded 'flv' files. Versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Quick Media Converter - Useful for converting video clips such as Flashvideo (flv), DivX, Xvid, WMV, Quicktime, DVD, VCD, Playstation, WMV, WMA, Wii, etc. and some sort of webcam support too. Ignore the heavily advertised AVS link as it isn't entirely free. QMC is itself free.
• Networx - Handy utility to keep track of online usage. Set it up to give a warning when you are close to the monthly download limit.
• Gutenberg Project - Download free books. Mostly quite old classics.

Free Web Browsers:

• Opera - The first tabbed browser. Very fast and definitely my favourite. Versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Firefox - A very good browser with a lot of enthusiasts. Its usage comes second after Internet Explorer. Versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Safari - Primarily a Mac web browser but now available for Windows.
• Chrome - Google's web browser, but do really you trust Google to not record all of your browsing activity. They are a bit sneaky, you know.

Sort-of Free:

• Serif Software - These guys sell some software but give away their older versions.

Eskia Computers
Here's a little plug for my old mates at Eskia Computers in Oxspring. They have been very helpful to this website. www.eskia.co.uk

Tweakers:

• www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/tv/testcards/gallery/testcardf.shtml - Just a little something to adjust a monitor or tv with. Test Card F - as used by the BBC:
• www.blackviper.com - Useful website for tweakers.
• www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/lowSNR.htm - Useful ideas about slow internet over ADSL.
• www.majorgeeks.com - Major Geeks. Driver updates and much more:
• Macromedia 'Contribute' - User guidelines. An out-of-date page I made for work, when they all thought I knew about this stuff. Might interest a webmeister or two.
• www.hdtune.com - Check the hard disc for efficiency. I found the free version useful when investigating lumpy video capture. Pro version costs money.

Computer Tune-up and Maintenance (Out of Date Section)
Don't touch a thing unless you know how to get out of trouble and - most important - don't ask me. If your copy of XP is old, I recommend the Service Pack 3 update. In time-honoured computer tradition, this section starts with number zero.

Please Note
Sections here started in 2000 and were intended for Windows 98 and Windows 2000 Operating Systems. They have not been updated much and are well out of date now. Many of the problems on older PCs were with limited memory and storage but these days that is not a problem. Some of it might still be relevant but you must regard the advice as being at your own risk.

It is good policy to make changes one at a time and reboot the computer between changes if you are not confident, then you can undo things more easily. Windows XP has a useful 'roll-back' feature. First thing to do is install an antivirus program and a firewall make sure that they are frequently updated (they all have an update facility). An unprotected computer on the internet will certainly attract trouble within a short time.