The Open Source/Freeware Thread

[Datalyss]

Here's my list:

• Ad-Aware
• Adobe Reader
• AutoSizer
• Avast
• BitComet
• Clock Tray Skins Lite
• FileMenuTools
• Firefox w/ the following extensions:
  • Ad-Block Plus
  • Bookmarks' Full Titles
  • IE Tab
  • Menu Editor
  • Toolbar Buttons
• Hide Menu Bar
• IrfanView
• Limewire Pro
• OpenOffice
• POP Peeper
• Roboform
• Shockwave
• Stickies
• The Weather Channel (Desktop)
• Thunderbird
• TweakUI
• Zoom Player Standard

[avernus]

MY essentials are:
7-Zip
AVG 8 Free
KeePass
MusikCube
uTorrent + PeerGuardian
FoxIt
Media Player Classic
Firefox (dur!)
Eclipse for developing.

EDIT: Also, Notepad++ is the business!

[Hain]

Well this sucks. AVG Anti Spyware and AVG Anti-Rootkit tools are no longer available as freeware and one must purchase the internet security suite.

Also updated Security and Diagnostic tools. I have made a distinction between security applications and diagnostic tools on whether or not the tool provides real time security or is a user based scanning utility.

Searching through TrendMicro has lead me to a page that includes a list of all their freeware security solutions. Some are all ready on my lists and I wouldn't mind checking out more of their products.

• HouseCall is an application for checking whether your computer has been infected by viruses, spyware, or other malware. HouseCall performs additional security checks to identify and fix vulnerabilities to prevent reinfection.
• HijackThis™ is a free utility which quickly scans your Windows computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. HijackThis creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan.
• TrendProtect is a FREE browser plug-in that helps you avoid Web pages with unwanted content and hidden threats. TrendProtect rates the current page and pages listed in Google, MSN, and Yahoo search results. You can use the rating to decide if you want to visit or avoid a given Web page.
• Trend Micro CWShredder is the premier tool to find and remove traces of CoolWebSearch – the name for a wide range of insidious browser hijackers– from your PC.
• Transaction Guard is FREE software that protects you against spyware while performing sensitive online tasks on a public computer, like Internet banking or other financial transactions. Transaction Guard has two components:
  • Spyware Monitor – Monitors for spyware and notifies you of any intrusions.
  • Password ClipBoard – An on-screen keyboard for securely entering user names and passwords.
• TrendSecure is just four of their programs, one of which is not released yet except in the form of a beta. HouseCall™ Free Scan, RUBotted (Now in Beta), Trend Micro™ eMail ID (Beta), and HijackThis™.

[Hain]

I have created a simple but interesting locking mechanism on my Win XP system. I use KeePass to manage all my passwords. For portability I have KeePass installed on my flash drive. In essence, if my computer cannot find my USB drive with my KeePass KDB when booted up, it will lock the users out.

Things needed:

• TweakUI (or have your computer set to automatically log into a user)
• Fastkake
• USB or other portable memory device

Follow these steps

1. Use TweakUI to set your computer to auto login into your account ("Logon" > "Autologon")
2. Have a file on your USB drive that you will never rename or get rid of
3. Install Fastkake to somewhere on your computer
4. Open Notepad and type out a code similar to this one
   

   @E~CHO O~FF
   I~F E~XIST "J:\Augi_Database.kdb" copy /V /Y "J:\Augi_Database.kdb" "D:\My Documents\Augi_Databse.kdb"
   I~F N~OT E~XIST "J:\Augi_Database.kdb" "C:\Program Files\fastkake\FastKake.exe" lockscreen

   • remove the "~"
   • Replace the directory and file specific stuff with your own stuff
     Save that file as "lock_my_screen.bat" ("any file", with quotes) to... your desktop
5. Go to your Start button, right click, and click "Explore"
6. Navigate to "Startup" ("Programs" > "Startup")
7. Move the BAT to that directory.

Easy as that.

I am open to suggestions.

[biznatch]

Interesting stuff Augi, but what if that USB key fails one day? Are you locked out as well? Or do you have a backup of the file somewhere?

[Hain]

Originally Posted by biznatch

Interesting stuff Augi, but what if that USB key fails one day? Are you locked out as well? Or do you have a backup of the file somewhere?

This is my no way a super secure solution. One is not locked out, so long as one remember the password to one's account. That is the point. Lock out those that do not know the password. This can then easily be edited to point to a different or new drive/file.

[Hain]

Holy crap I think I just found a pidgin replacement!

It is called Digsby. It is an IM, email, and social networking tool in one. I don't need it to run my emails, Thunderbird handles that and my RSS feeds. But it runs perfectly with all my instant messengers, minus my IRC channels, but also updates crap from my myspace page. There seems to be something wrong with it's facebook plugin (it doesn't ask for a password and then says authentication error, gee-wiz I wonder why?), but the Facebook IM seems to work. It is still a beta but it might already take over for pidgin.

Cross Platform compatible.

[Cynthetiq]

someone told me about digsby months ago... i just tried it because you posted about it.

i don't care about the social network things at the moment, maybe when i register them for the family website stuff. Other than that, no big for that feature for me.

i do like trillian since it fits on my USB key, I'll try this out tho and see how it works for me.

[Hain]

View: Taking your laptop into the US? Be sure to hide all your data first
Source: Guardian
This post created with FASS

Abstract: "Last month a US court ruled that border agents can search your laptop, or any other electronic device, when you're entering the country. They can take your computer and download its entire contents, or keep it for several days."   click to show 

Taking your laptop into the US? Be sure to hide all your data first
hursday May 15 2008
by Bruce Schneier


Last month a US court ruled that border agents can search your laptop, or any other electronic device, when you're entering the country. They can take your computer and download its entire contents, or keep it for several days. Customs and Border Patrol has not published any rules regarding this practice, and I and others have written a letter to Congress urging it to investigate and regulate this practice.

But the US is not alone. British customs agents search laptops for pornography. And there are reports on the internet of this sort of thing happening at other borders, too. You might not like it, but it's a fact. So how do you protect yourself?

Encrypting your entire hard drive, something you should certainly do for security in case your computer is lost or stolen, won't work here. The border agent is likely to start this whole process with a "please type in your password". Of course you can refuse, but the agent can search you further, detain you longer, refuse you entry into the country and otherwise ruin your day.

You're going to have to hide your data. Set a portion of your hard drive to be encrypted with a different key - even if you also encrypt your entire hard drive - and keep your sensitive data there. Lots of programs allow you to do this. I use PGP Disk (from pgp.com). TrueCrypt (truecrypt.org) is also good, and free.

While customs agents might poke around on your laptop, they're unlikely to find the encrypted partition. (You can make the icon invisible, for some added protection.) And if they download the contents of your hard drive to examine later, you won't care.

Be sure to choose a strong encryption password. Details are too complicated for a quick tip, but basically anything easy to remember is easy to guess. (My advice is at tinyurl.com/4f8z4n.) Unfortunately, this isn't a perfect solution. Your computer might have left a copy of the password on the disk somewhere, and (as I also describe at the above link) smart forensic software will find it.

So your best defence is to clean up your laptop. A customs agent can't read what you don't have. You don't need five years' worth of email and client data. You don't need your old love letters and those photos (you know the ones I'm talking about). Delete everything you don't absolutely need. And use a secure file erasure program to do it. While you're at it, delete your browser's cookies, cache and browsing history. It's nobody's business what websites you've visited. And turn your computer off - don't just put it to sleep - before you go through customs; that deletes other things. Think of all this as the last thing to do before you stow your electronic devices for landing. Some companies now give their employees forensically clean laptops for travel, and have them download any sensitive data over a virtual private network once they've entered the country. They send any work back the same way, and delete everything again before crossing the border to go home. This is a good idea if you can do it.

If you can't, consider putting your sensitive data on a USB drive or even a camera memory card: even 16GB cards are reasonably priced these days. Encrypt it, of course, because it's easy to lose something that small. Slip it in your pocket, and it's likely to remain unnoticed even if the customs agent pokes through your laptop. If someone does discover it, you can try saying: "I don't know what's on there. My boss told me to give it to the head of the New York office." If you've chosen a strong encryption password, you won't care if he confiscates it.

Lastly, don't forget your phone and PDA. Customs agents can search those too: emails, your phone book, your calendar. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do here except delete things.

I know this all sounds like work, and that it's easier to just ignore everything here and hope you don't get searched. Today, the odds are in your favour. But new forensic tools are making automatic searches easier and easier, and the recent US court ruling is likely to embolden other countries. It's better to be safe than sorry.

· Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author: schneier.com/blog

I just read a great article by Bruce Schneier about securing your laptop when traveling. For those of you that don't know, Bruce Schneier is a Chuck Norris in the world of cyber encryption.

[Cynthetiq]

Originally Posted by Augi

I just read a great article by Bruce Schneier about securing your laptop when traveling. For those of you that don't know, Bruce Schneier is a Chuck Norris in the world of cyber encryption.

too much of a pain in the ass. I just stopped taking my computer unless it was absolutely necessary.

it also helps here in local US travel because they ask to remove it from the bag, which I usually have very well packed with a 2 laptops, 2 video cameras, 2still cameras, 1 dvd player, tons of batteries, and many cables.

re: freeware shareware

i installed this at a client
SyncBack

[Hain]

Isn't SyncBack great? My photography buddies love it since it is a one stop solution for backing up their media on their laptops and desktops.



The latest release of Firefox RC1 has fixed a lot of problems I was experiencing with flash based media. Also, coincidentally, my PDF Printer started working at that exact moment.


I tried PING and it seemed to work out on some systems. I didn't go through the full recovery process because they wouldn't let me but it recognized everything up till the final "Do it" step.


I used TrueCrypt to encrypt my hard drive with Windows on it... flippin awesome. I used an AES encryption scheme (fast, reliable, however standard government encryption scheme, that makes me believe that they could have means of by passing the encryption), and my idle system resources only increased by 2%.

[Hain]

Just so everyone knows: mIRC can go Spoiler: fuck itself. I have always hated that program and felt it to be convoluted. xChat is so much easier to use, and intuitive.

[Italianman137]

IMHO I use avast antivirus instead of avg. Its free also and it updates itself on its own and tells when the update automatically.
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Also to download videos from youtube.com just go to the video you want and add 'kiss' in front of youtube.com
eg. http://www.kissyoutube.com/video file name

[Hain]

JkDefrag (*****)(W) - "a disk defragmenter and optimizer for Windows ... Completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies, USB disks, memory sticks, and anything else that looks like a disk to Windows. Included are a Windows version, a commandline version (for scheduling by the task scheduler or for use from administrator scripts), a screensaver version, a DLL library (for use from programming languages), versions for Windows X64, and the complete sources." A really great tool. I have set it up as my screen saver to defrag stuff while the computer is at rest. It is fast and low memory footprint.


Recuva (****)(W) - "freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer" It is really nifty. Made by the same people that make CCleaner, it does what it says and looks simple to use.

[DaveOrion]

Originally Posted by Hain

Well this sucks. AVG Anti Spyware and AVG Anti-Rootkit tools are no longer available as freeware and one must purchase the internet security suite.

The free version of AVG 2008 does have Anti Spyware built in, along with their email scanner, link scanner, & resident shield. No rootkit though......

[boink]

hey, I'm looking to burn WMV and ? other video files to DVD that will play in a DVD player.

I did get ImgBurn and that didn't work well. vids played only in slow motion and in normal speed only played for 30-40 seconds and jumped to the next scene on the disk.

I got the free DeepBurn and I can't see anywhere in it's menues where it burns DVD's

the Roxio that came on my comp is Roxio De which is a crippleware Dell edition (why they stick it on my comp is a mystery to me, it's worthless)

they have Roxio Easy DVD (something like that) at best buy for $30 but it's a version they don't support any longer...

I'd rather buy a tool then get several free tools (file converter, shrinker, burner) I'd like to keep the process simple.

I was wondering is DVD shrink really necessary if the total size of the files is less than the 4.7 gig DVD RW discs ?

should I just start a new thread ? I did search the tech forum.

[Hain]

Videohelp is the best. Unfortunately, you won't find simple without paying in DVD authoring. I can't find the program I used oh so long ago to do precisely this, but I do remember DVD Flick does the job. I don't recommend using it to compress the video to fit to a 4.7GB DVD. I would use DVD Shrink for that.

As far as I know, ImgBurn was never designed to convert video to playable DVDs. The only features remotely near that is recognizing a set of DVD VOBs and burn those appropriately so that they play in an ordinary DVD player. It can take audio files and burn them as a playable audio CD... but that is it so far.

Originally Posted by boink

I was wondering is DVD shrink really necessary if the total size of the files is less than the 4.7 gig DVD RW discs ?

No, unless you want to make an ISO for ImgBurn (or another ISO burning application0 but this is unnecessary since ImgBurn for some time now can properly author a VIDEO_TS folder of VOBs.

[boink]

well, lets say I only have several files totalling 2 gig's in all, why would that need shrinking ?

I looked at Flix and after reading this

yes, yes, this thing does all it says it will and its reliable and all that but it is Gruelling SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

A 3 hour dvd with four episodes (homemovies of 43 minuts) took TWELVE hours to make!!!

granted this person may not be using it right but makes ya wonder.

[Hain]

I bet it was because they set it to compress the output to fit onto a standard DVD. That is why I never used it. There was something else, but I cannot recall the name as it is on my home server (shutdown till I get back to the States). I can't recall estimates but I am fairly sure I used Flick to convert 4 hours of videos in roughly 6 hours, then used Shrink to compress the output to a standard DVD (1.5 hours at maximum smoothness). I don't remember Flick taking so long when it was not set to compress things itself.

Like I said, use Videohelp. Their sections on converting X to Y are pretty extensive and they have long tables of tools all categorized by their functions.


EDIT: I would just like to stress the fact that when one "compresses" a DVD with programs like DVD Shrink, ratDVD, ShrinkTo5, etc, that the video data is not being compressed- as in lossless fashion- but is transcoded to smaller size in a lossy manner- video data is removed. How noticeable the lost data will appear depends on what algorithm is doing the transcode, also the time one wishes for the algorithm to run. The perceived likeness is referred as "transparency". Think of lossy transcoding as like looking through a dirty window: the less dirt, better you see the original picture, so the window is more transparent. Lifewise, the better the transcode, the less you perceive as different, the more transparent the transcode seems.

I personally use DVD Shrink to use a maximum smoothness algorithm, and do a deep analysis of the video to search for optimal stream bitrates.

In order for one to losslessly compress a video, they would have use something like MLC... but I haven't the foggiest idea how to use it.

[DaveOrion]

Originally Posted by boink

hey, I'm looking to burn WMV and ? other video files to DVD that will play in a DVD player.

I did get ImgBurn and that didn't work well. vids played only in slow motion and in normal speed only played for 30-40 seconds and jumped to the next scene on the disk.

I got the free DeepBurn and I can't see anywhere in it's menues where it burns DVD's

the Roxio that came on my comp is Roxio De which is a crippleware Dell edition (why they stick it on my comp is a mystery to me, it's worthless)

they have Roxio Easy DVD (something like that) at best buy for $30 but it's a version they don't support any longer...

I'd rather buy a tool then get several free tools (file converter, shrinker, burner) I'd like to keep the process simple.

I was wondering is DVD shrink really necessary if the total size of the files is less than the 4.7 gig DVD RW discs ?

should I just start a new thread ? I did search the tech forum.

I hope this isnt confusing but.............

Even if you buy the full version of Nero, that comes with a virtual drive to mount your ISO files to, you may still need DVD Shrink or DVD fab if you want to remove copy protection and shrink a dual layer to fit on a single.

I've always used the ISO method, with a virtual drive, its just easier. Shrink and Fab are easy to use and will convert Files to ISO, then just mount the ISO on your virtual drive and burn using whatever software you like.

And no, as Hain said, if the file is smaller theres no need to do anything. Its only when a file is bigger than what will fit on a standard single layer DVD that you need to compress it. Theres no need to make it bigger.

[Hain]

I think I am reading this wrong.

Why mount the ISO? There are plenty of apps, like ImgBurn (and even Nero), that can burn ISOs directly to disc. One need not even mount it for playing, as VLC will just read the VOB data within.

As far as I am concerned: one does not even need to create ISOs period. For new / large DVDs, ISOs will usually not fit on file systems like FAT[32], thus multi-system storage and access are difficult. VLC can play the VOB data exactly as if it were a DVD and ImgBurn will recognize this VOB data and burn appropriately.

I never knew Nero could mount ISOs. If I had I might have taken better care of the Nero software that came with my NEC burner.

[Cynthetiq]

Originally Posted by DaveOrion

And no, as Hain said, if the file is smaller theres no need to do anything. Its only when a file is bigger than what will fit on a standard single layer DVD that you need to compress it. Theres no need to make it bigger.

but bigger is better.... don't you remember the godzilla adverts.... size matters :P

[DaveOrion]

Originally Posted by Hain

I think I am reading this wrong.

Why mount the ISO? There are plenty of apps, like ImgBurn (and even Nero), that can burn ISOs directly to disc. One need not even mount it for playing, as VLC will just read the VOB data within.

As far as I am concerned: one does not even need to create ISOs period. For new / large DVDs, ISOs will usually not fit on file systems like FAT[32], thus multi-system storage and access are difficult. VLC can play the VOB data exactly as if it were a DVD and ImgBurn will recognize this VOB data and burn appropriately.

I never knew Nero could mount ISOs. If I had I might have taken better care of the Nero software that came with my NEC burner.

You have to buy the full version of Nero to get the virtual drive. The one that came with my burner didnt have that, so I got alcohol 120% off a P2p app, I think I told you. As far as the Iso's I just perfer that, you have one file instead of a file with many vobs and all that. Havent tried imgburn, I'm pretty happy with my current setup anyway, dont fix it if it aint broke.

All my drives are NTFS, havent seen a Fat32 in years........

Originally Posted by Cynthetiq

but bigger is better.... don't you remember the godzilla adverts.... size matters :P

Pretty funny........for an admin that is. (this is a joke and only a joke, it should only be taken as a joke & was in no way meant to harm, hinder or otherwise undermine the stability of the universe, carry on)

[Hain]

Yes you did tell me, but now that the discussion has moved here, I might as well ask again for those in out in TV Land.

It is convenient to use ISOs. I use WavPack/FLAC-images with CUE-sheet for all my ripped CDs; I understand. Until I start dabbling in DVD Audio (or Windows embraces ext file systems, HA!), I will stick with FAT32 for my data drives since it is universally compatible without extra clicks and mount/write privileges.

But what Cynthetiq said is correct, in uncompressed media details. If the transcoded media is larger, it generally will be of better quality, unless one has encoded the lossy media into a lossless container (shame shame shame).

[boink]

is there such a thing as a freeware winrar of some kind ? a ton of rapidshare seems to be winrar.


the whole WMV to DVD this is complicated...different brands of discs, mystery glitches between apps and hardware...much reading necessary. I think I'll buy the Roxio easy CD and DVD creator even though I read it won't recognise some type of sound encoding. it's only 29.99 at best buy.

[Hain]

7-Zip

[Sion]

Originally Posted by boink

is there such a thing as a freeware winrar of some kind ? a ton of rapidshare seems to be winrar.

for the past several years (since 05, I think) I've been using WinRar 3.51, which was downloaded as a free trial version (40 days). There is a nag screen at startup, but other than that, this trial version is still working. Now granted, some of the more advanced functions (password protecting an archive, for example) don't work, but archive compressing and uncompressing (i.e. the main function of the program) is still going strong.

this may have changed in the interim, I don't know, but thats how it used to be.

[DaveOrion]

7-Zip is free, free I say! I just dont pay for anything I dont have to & right now the only thing I pay for is DSL, period. I have free DVD sofware, spyware scanners, anti-virus, firwall, etc, etc etc, all of which have been mentioned in this thread and all are fairly easy to use. Thats why this thread is so cool, its free.

[Hain]

Since I am reminded:

How do I completely disable all auto runs? I currently use TweakUI, but that failed me the other day when a friend's USB drive tried to install software on my computer.

[Hain]

This is driving me up a fuckin wall!

I want an application for WinXP that will format a drive larger than 32GB to FAT32. I know it is possible- else how would all those external drives larger than 32GB be sold with that as the default file system?

I tried the application Swissknife, and it suck amazingly. Every time it either crashes or doesn't recognize the drive or doesn't initialize the drive for WinXP to see.

[Bilbert]

Pricelessware - "The best of the best in freeware as selected by alt.comp.freeware participants."



Pricelessware has been my go to site for freeware since I heard about the site on The Screen Savers. Lots of good stuff.

[Hain]

I recently made the switch to GNU/Linux, Kubuntu, and I can't get my TFP favy, Pawsoft's FASS, to work through Wine. I have been looking for other forum assistants, and wondering if anyone knows of more that I can try through Wine.

[Cynthetiq]

sadly... FASS is the only BBCode editor I've been able to find that is worth anything.

[biznatch]

Originally Posted by Hain

This is driving me up a fuckin wall!

I want an application for WinXP that will format a drive larger than 32GB to FAT32. I know it is possible- else how would all those external drives larger than 32GB be sold with that as the default file system?

I tried the application Swissknife, and it suck amazingly. Every time it either crashes or doesn't recognize the drive or doesn't initialize the drive for WinXP to see.

Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd
Give this page a look, might help you out. Sorry, I know it's a bit late maybe.

[biznatch]

Added some of the more recent suggestions/applications to the main post. Keep em coming folks!

[biznatch]

Found another winzip type app: "Windows/Linux: Open-source file archive manager PeaZip creates and extracts files from a number of the most popular archiving formats, including ZIP, RAR (read only), 7Z, and more. Our nod for file archive managers normally goes to previously mentioned 7-Zip, but with an attractive, user-friendly interface, customizable right-click options, and a standalone portable version you can add to your thumb drive, PeaZip has a charm worth checking out. PeaZip is free, Windows and Linux only."

[Hain]

Just want to say it again: Ubuntu is the best GNU/Linux system for someone that knows nothing about Linux. Wicked simple to install and with little to no reading online, I have figured most everything I need to run on it.

[biznatch]

The reason I stopped using Ubuntu is because I was unable to configure wireless on it. I spent many hours browsing forums, trying different things, but to no avail
Other than that, it was awesome. Extremely efficient, very fast, easy install

[Cynthetiq]

weird. I never got ubuntu to run on 3 different machines, even as a bootable CD.

I stopped trying and moved onto other things that were more productive.

[biznatch]

Were these machines laptops? I think ubuntu might have problems with the laptop screens(or video card) sometimes, so adding boot flags helped me get it on to my laptop. Actually, it's amazing, but all I had to do to find this out was google my laptop's model number (F730us) + linux (or ubuntu).
Often times linux fans will have figured it out and are helping others out with the same machine in linux forums.