Ok I'm going to start this topic on useful FREEWARE programs that people can download because I'm sick as hell of seeing people uploading FREE programs to Rapidshare and other hosts.
Mods please make this a sticky and members if you know of any GOOD freeware programs that are useful. Please add them in a reply with some info like in the Apps section...
HJSplit

HJSplit is a popular set of freeware file-splitting programs created by Freebyte.com in collaboration with various programmers. HJSplit supports many platforms (Windows 3.x/95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP, DOS, Amiga, Java, etc.). All versions are compatible with each other and allow you to exchange files between these different platforms. E.g. a file split on the Amiga can be joined on Windows 2000 and vice versa.
Link to site:




Code:
http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/



Spybot-S&D!

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.
Site Link:




Code:
www.safer-networking.org/



Ad-Aware

Ad-Aware Free's on demand scans detect and remove spyware and other forms of malware.
Site Link:




Code:
http://www.lavasoft.com/



AVG Free

Antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows available to download for free
NEW! LinkScanner® Active Surf-Shield checks web pages for threats at the only time that matters – when you’re about to click that link.




Code:
http://free.avg.com/



Avast! Home Edition

Protect your system and valuable data against computer viruses with Avast! Home Edition.
Site Link:




Code:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html



Please note: With this software you have to register as a free user to get the free user serial. Link to register as a free user is below.




Code:
http://www.avast.com/eng/home-registration.php



Opera Web browser

The most full-featured Internet power tool on the market, Opera includes tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, integrated searches andadvanced functions like Opera's groundbreaking e-mail program, RSS Newsfeeds and IRC chat. And because we know that our users have different needs, you can customize the look and content of your Opera browser with a few clicks of the mouse.
Site Link:




Code:
http://www.opera.com/



Firefox web browser

Firefox has security, speed and new features that will change the way you use the Web.
Site Link:




Code:
http://www.mozilla.com



VLC media player

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, aac ...) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.




Code:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/



Image Grabber II

Image Grabber II is a free tool that can grab screenshots from any video file (avi, mpg, dat, asf, wmv, qt, mov, rm, rmvb, vob)and save the screenshot as customized thumbnails to a single file or multiple files.
Download Link




Code:
http://www.videohelp.com/download/ImageGrabberII.zip



K-Lite Mega Codec Pack
The K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of DirectShow filters, VFW/ACM codecs, and tools. Codecs and DirectShow filters are needed for encoding and decoding audio and video formats. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your audio and movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular audio and video formats and even several less common formats.
Site Address:




Code:
http://www.codecguide.com/download_mega.htm



Microsoft® Windows® Malicious Software Removal Tool
This tool checks your computer for infection by specific, prevalent malicious software (including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom) and helps to remove the infection if it is found. Microsoft will release an updated version of this tool on the second Tuesday of each month.
x86 (32bit)




Code:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=ad724ae0-e72d-4f54-9ab3-75b8eb148356



64bit




Code:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=585d2bde-367f-495e-94e7-6349f4effc74



Microsoft Windows Defender

Windows Defender is a security technology that helps protect Windows you from spyware and other potentially unwanted software
Note: Windows Defender is a standard feature of winodws Vista and Windows 7. If you are running a Genuine Copy of XP, then download and use this tool free.
x86 (32bit)




Code:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d



64bit




Code:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=61f0c114-6ffe-4fad-8ca5-74f236e9283b



Windows Messenger & Essentials
Windows Essentials is free software that you download to your desktop to help you organize and manage your stuff on your computer, so it’s easy to share .
Ok people who don't know or use this program. Install windows messenger and all other options. This is a fantastic FREE package.
If you know outlook 2007, than this is basically the same thing. Outlook just has a few more options.
I totally think anyone who downloads this would love it and see the worth in the software. Not only for Messenger and Emails, but also the calander and organiser with it.
Site link:




Code:
http://download..com/



More info on Essentials




Code:
http://windows.com/HowItWorks



BitWise IM
Encrypted Cross-Platform
Instant Messaging
for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux
Text, Files Transfers, Whiteboards, Voice & more
Use BitWise to protect yourself from IM-based attacks
See how BitWise's security protects you
Site link




Code:
http://www.bitwiseim.com/



Belarc Advisor

The Belarc Advisor will build a detailed profile of your installed applications and hardware, including Microsoft Hotfixes, and displays the results in your Web browser.
All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server.
This is Like a Free Version of Everest if you have used that.
Site Link:




Code:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html



mediainfo

MediaInfo supplies technical and tag information about a video or audio file.
Site Link




Code:
http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en/Download



gspot

MediaInfo supplies technical and tag information about a video or audio file.
Site Link:




Code:
http://www.headbands.com/gspot/



netresview

NetResView is a small utility that displays the list of all network resources (computers, disk shares, and printer shares) on your LAN. As opposed to "My Network Places" module of Windows, NetResView display all network resources from all domains/workgroups in one screen, and including admin/hidden shares.
Site Link:




Code:
http://nirsoft.net/utils/netresview.html



SoftPerfect Network Scanner v4.2.1

SoftPerfect Network Scanner is a free multi-threaded IP, NetBIOS and SNMP scanner with a modern interface and several advanced features. It is intended for both system administrators and general users who are interested in computer security. The program pings computers, scans for listening TCP ports and displays which types of resources are shared on the network (including system and hidden).
In addition, it allows you to mount shared folders as network drives, browse them using Windows Explorer, filter the results list and more. SoftPerfect Network Scanner can also check for a user-defined port and report back if one is open. It can also resolve host names and auto-detect your local and external IP range. It supports remote shutdown and Wake-On-LAN.
site link




Code:
http://www.softperfect.com/products/networkscanner/



AutoGK
AutoGK includes everything you need to rip DVD to AVI/DivX/XVid in very easy-to-use interface. It also supports other MPEG2 sources, such as HDTV, DVB captures and transport streams.
AutoGK contains following codecs and tools:
- VirtualDubMod
- AviSynth & AviSynth Filters
- DGMPGDec
- VobSub
- XviD
Site Link




Code:
http://www.autogk.me.uk/



Incredimail xe

Advanced, feature-rich email program that offers you an unprecedented interactive experience
site link




Code:
http://www.incredimail.com



NEW!! Incredimail Version 2.0
site link:




Code:
http://www.incredimail.com/english/download/beta/



TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source Disk Encryption Software

Main Features:
Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB drive or hard drive.
Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
Parallelization and pipelining allow data to be read and written as fast as if the drive was not encrypted.
Provides plausible deniability, in case an adversary s you to reveal the password:
Hidden volume (steganography) and hidden operating system.
Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS.
site link




Code:
http://www.truecrypt.org/



SoftPerfect File Recovery

SoftPerfect File Recovery is a free and useful tool to re accidentally deleted files from hard and floppy disks, USB drives, CF and SD cards and other storage media. It supports the popular file systems such as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS and NTFS5 with compression and encryption. If your important files disappeared and you can’t find them in the recycle bin, try this software product and get the files back to life. Easy to use, no installation is required.
site address:




Code:
http://www.softperfect.com/products/filerecovery/



Renamer v6.0 final

Rename multiple files with change (very powerful), search/replace, insert, trim and many other batch operations. Features undo, preview, 'change'-operation and can work in sub directories on specified extension. Can also change name to ID3 v1 tags and modify files' ID3 tags which makes it perfect for renaming MP3's.
site link




Code:
http://www.albert.nu/default.asp?sub=programs/default.asp?sub=renamer/main.htm



Process Patrol

If you want to use free file sharing programs, then you're stuck with boatloads of adware and spyware. Even if you manually kill a process with the Task Manager, a sibling process will often restart it immediately. Well now you can regain some control over your computer! Process Patrol kills unwanted processes on your machine, with a scan schedule that you specify. This allows your freeware to startup successfully with all of its adware. Then Process Patrol kicks in and kills the adware, freeing up memory and CPU cycles.
site link




Code:
http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/LFWV/ProcessPatrol.html



Startup Control Panel

Startup Control Panel is a nifty control panel t that allows you to easily configure which programs run when your computer starts. It's simple to use and, very small and won't burden your system. A valuable tool for system administrators!
Site link




Code:
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml


