Neowin's Freeware Alternative List

I'm not a fan of Microsoft's .msi installer files. They're slow, they don't let me pick start menu groups, and they are a major overkill for lots of tiny program installations that I use where a simple rar file (okay zip would work too) would be much more suitable. So sometime last year I spent a night hacking together a simple tool that lets me take these miserable .msi files and extract their contents. Since others may find it useful too, I figured I'd put it out here.

Less MSIerables

If it's not 100% legal, then I'm sure a mod will delete this. :D

February 9, 2006

Just check out this site i found yesterday when i'm trying to find a DVD Cutter.

http://www.vcsoftwares.com/

It has lot of freeware....

SpeeDefrag 3.0

Defrag your hard disk fast by SpeeDefrag . . .

Mp3 Knife 3.0

Extract clips from your mp3 by Mp3 Knife . . .

DVD Knife 2.0

Extract clips from your DVD by DVD Knife . . .

Copy Cat 2.0

Copy scratched DVD's n CD's by Copy Cat . . .

ShutDown After 1.0

Schedule win shutdown by ShutDown After . . .

ImRe 1.0

Resize multiple Jpeg images in one click . . .

I downloaded DVD Knife 2.0 for DVD cutting, its cool saves required clip as a .VOB file with same DVD quality. ShutDown After 1.0 is also cool when you go to sleep and wanna turn off computer auto, really cool when you have dialup connection that bills for the time online.

February 11, 2006

ccrypt is a nice command line multiplatform encrypter/decrypter.

http://ccrypt.sourceforge.net/

Attribute Changer easily change multiple file/folder attributes and timestamps.

http://webplaza.pt.lu/~rpetges/

DragKing AutoHotKey script executable that copies text selections in windows automatically to clipboard.

Hi Net Recorder is a free app to download streaming media.

http://en.hoonnet.com/english1/recorder_intro.html

Edited February 11, 2006 by bananix

February 12, 2006

CD/DVD Authoring, which should perhaps appear as a sub menu to CD/DVD recording.

MediaCD http://www.botproductions.com/mediacd/whatismediacd.html

Very simple program to create great-looking media autorun discs, Flash, Quicktime, WMV, Real, AVI .....etc.

February 15, 2006

Tray clock with skins

http://www.drive-software.com/windowsclock.html

February 17, 2006

Amazing list, very handy indeed. Thanks a bunch!

February 17, 2006

M?tamorphose File -n- Folder Renamer

http://file-folder-ren.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=Main

Free, open source mass renaming program that combines great flexability with an intuitive interface.

February 18, 2006

Registered more than 1 year ago, but never posted, just lurked! :)

This time I think I can contribute with this free tool I made:

http://mark0.net/soft-trid-e.html

It's a file identifier; it look inside files for known pattern, and can tell (often, not always, obviously) what a file is without looking at filename & extension. Handy when you happen to receive some misnamed file, or with some strange extension.

Bye!

February 18, 2006

i cant believe this has not been posted yet:

GParted

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/index.php

GParted stands for Gnome Partition Editor.

February 18, 2006

I recommend a freeware, StartEx, which manages your favorite apps.

I use it a lot every day. I bet you will love it.

It categorizes your apps into colorful groups which lets you launch a program immediately instead of wasting time searching in your big Start menu.

This is why it is called StartEx.

Unlike other normal app launchers, StartEx don't occupy any desktop space or system tray space. I think this is the best feature. It hides at the top left corner of the screen most of the time.

Once you want it, just move your mouse to the corner and a yellow button will appear.

Clicking the button reveals a customizable drop menu.

The menu contains your program icons which well categorized into colorful groups.

You can customize the color of each category to your preference, and also add or remove categories as needed.

StartEx fully supports Drag&Drop. Adding a new icon is as simple as dragging it onto the menu,

and you can also move items between categories in the same way.

Really worth a try.

Homepage: http://www.zalentino.com/startex/

I've post it in a new thread, but I realize this is the right place to post.

February 19, 2006

FTP Client - Upload Express @ http://www.killcode.com

Upload files to specific locations on your FTP using the right-click menu.

http://www.heavymessing.com/images/uploadex1.png

It is a very small and handy tool. It even copies the url of the file you uploaded so it is ready to paste straight away :)

February 19, 2006

Nerwork Tools

NetSetMan http://www.iljaherlein.de/netsetman/

NetSetMan is a network settings manager which can easily switch between 6 different, visually structured profiles including:

* IP Address

* Subnet Mask

* Default Gateway

* Preferred & Alternate DNS Server

* Computer Name

* Workgroup

* DNS Domain

* WINS Server

* Default Printer

* Run Scripts

February 21, 2006

I didn't see a group for this item but thought folks might like to try it out. I've created a free P2P backup system that encrypts your docs and picture data and sends it to up to 10 other users. You can "donate" space on your hard drive for others to use as backup and retrieve your files anywhere with your logon.

Anyway, it's in Beta and I'd appreciate as many users as want to show up. You can read more at http://www.myiback.com

The majority of the code is open-source, but for now the GUI client is not (although it IS free to use). At some point, I may charge a buck or two to keep the lights on, but I'm more interested in doing some good than making money.

February 21, 2006

Defragmentation Software -

Diskeeper 9 Lite is included as part of the Intel Desktop Utilities located at;

http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/software/idu/

Programming Software -

Microsoft is giving away cut down (express) versions of their development tools;

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition

Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition

Visual C# 2005 Express Edition

Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition

Visual J# 2005 Express Edition

This promotional offer lasts until Nov 6th, 2006.

Download from; http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/

February 22, 2006

Anyone here have issues with VLC video player?

I'm running it in Windows XP (using BBLean 1.6) and I have 1 GB of RAM. When I open a video and click ahead in it, the picture becomes blocky and takes a few seconds to refresh. I also noticed a problem when I stream videos that appear in Firefox. When I used Windows Media Player, I had the option of "play" "stop" and the volume. Why don't those appear when VLC runs in the browser?

Anyone else have this problems?

February 22, 2006

RSS Readers

Serence KlipFolio http://www.serence.com

A nice skinnable RSS reader.

February 22, 2006

Has anyone used NetVeda Safety.Net for it's web filtering features? Is it any good, like Zone Alarm Pro with Web Filtering?

February 22, 2006

Why hasn't this list been updated recently?

How about miniaim? http://miniaim.net/

February 23, 2006

AlexaTraffic Viewer (for SEO)

http://www.drive-software.com/ (In the bottom of page)

download: http://www.drive-software.com/download/alexatr.exe

February 25, 2006

OpenWengo

http://www.openwengo.org/

Winpooch

http://winpooch.free.fr/home/index.php

February 25, 2006

USB apps

BusRunner http://www.kmgsoftware.com/Products.aspx?start=busrunner

AutoRun USB devices

USBDLM http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html

USB Drive Letter Manager for Windows can define a list of drive letters to use for new removable drives.

iTunes Agent http://ita.sourceforge.net/index.html

iTunes Agent is a small application resting in your system tray constantly looking for new MP3 players and other music capable devices connecting to your system. When a device it recognizes is connected to the system, it will create a playlist for the device in iTunes and it will synchronize that list with tracks on your device.

Synchronize non-iPod MP3 players.

February 26, 2006

Hi,

Im looking for a DVD Ripper. The first place i checked was this alternative list, but it wasnt on there. So can anyone recomend me a iso/img to avi software?

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