My Favorite Free Software

Last Modified: Thu, 14 Sep 2023 14:27:29 +0000 ; Created: Mon, 06 Dec 2010 03:00:31 +0000

  • 7-Zip - Fastest archive program, smallest 7z archive, supports AES256 encryption
  • Aria 2 - Nice alternative to wget and cross-platform compliant. Also supports download acceleration through splitting. I use aria2c -s 10 -j 10 -x 10 URL for my options.
  • Crystal Disk Mark - Good for benchmarking drive performance in Windows. Good for both SSD and mechanical tests
  • Eraser - Wipes free space on disk drives or securely deletes individual files. For USB/SSD the free space wipe works, but I'm not sure about single file deletes.
  • Google Chrome - Standalone or offline installer
  • HandBrake - Nice video format conversion software
  • HxD - Hex editor
  • ImDisk - GPLv2 Free Ram Disk that works in Windows 7 64-bit and many other Windows versions
  • InfraRecorder - Create DVD/CD images and burn them
  • iPhone Backup Extractor - by JihoSoft -- Only version 6.0.3 has free contact and SMS extraction. Version 7 changed to require payment for that feature :( You may have luck with old URL at http://www.jihosoft.com/itunes/itunes-backup-extractor-free.html
  • http://www.offisync.com/ - Allows you to open Google Docs (and Google Apps) in Microsoft Office. It downloads and uploads automatically.
  • md5deep - Hash program for Windows or Linux. Doesn't handle Windows long file paths well.
  • Notepad++ - Useful text editor especially when you add the Hex editor plugin
  • Plop Bootmanager - Allows you to boot from USB by using a CD or ISO
  • SDelete - A free tool from Microsoft that is useful for zero filling free space. Very useful for preparing to shrink virtual machine disks.
  • Strawberry Perl - for Windows
  • Ventoy - Boot ISOs (Windows, Linux, etc.) from a USB stick. Installs into just the MBR. To add an ISO you just copy it to the USB and no extra config steps.
  • TrueCrypt - Disk encryption. R.I.P. Use VeraCrypt instead.
  • VeraCrypt
  • VideoLan - Plays every media type
  • WinSCP - Great tool for doing SFTP and FTP transfers. Also supports recursive auto-sync from local to remote.