Freedom Reborn

Community Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: MJB on December 23, 2008, 06:39:33 AM

Title: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: MJB on December 23, 2008, 06:39:33 AM
Original post (http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=45830.0) by Zuludelta (http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=925).

Here's a thread for sharing freeware (free applications). If you know of a free program you think other people might find useful, feel free (he he) to post details and download links here.

THREE IMPORTANT RULES FOR THIS THREAD:

- In accordance with the forum rules, post only links to legal freeware. No links to warez/pirated software or freeware hosted on unauthorized sites.

- only post links to freeware that you are sure is safe. Do not link to free programs that install malware (viruses, rootkits, spyware, etc.). If you're not certain whether a program is malware-free, better to err on the side of caution and not recommend it here. 

- no spamming/advertising.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on December 29, 2008, 11:37:51 PM
Hey, the thread was migrated to the new board!

After doing some hard drive winter cleaning, I'm going on record in withdrawing my earlier recommendation for Mozilla's Firefox browser. The current iteration of Firefox has fallen victim to code-bloat (Firefox 3, with a couple of minor browsing add-ons, was taking up 25 Mb on my drive), making it as bad a resource hog as Internet Explorer. I did a casual side-by-side comparison of Firefox 3 and the latest IE7 and found IE7 worked marginally faster when it came to accessing certain graphics-intensive sites, although both were unsatisfactory in terms of their digital footprint (and IE is always more prone to security compromises, as per usual).

Anyways, I've since migrated to Opera (http://www.opera.com/download/) (the same browser I use on my portable Linux installation and one of the first non-Netscape/IE browsers I used on Windows), although the bookmark migration process was a bit of a pain (Opera doesn't provide an automated way to migrate nested folder bookmarks from Firefox 3). It doesn't have as large an installed user base as Firefox, much less IE (and thus, will probably be less likely to be supported by some non W3-compliant sites), but it offers all the necessary features for modern content-rich surfing at about a quarter of Firefox's size. 
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on January 09, 2009, 09:18:53 PM
   Hope it's alright if I post this here, but does anyone know of a good image converter that I can use to switch my tga files to dds files? Thanks.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Previsionary on January 09, 2009, 09:23:58 PM
dds converter and XNView both do that.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on January 09, 2009, 09:34:24 PM
EDIT: ninja'ed by Prev!

Alternatively, you can use the DDS-Import/Export plug-in for Photoshop (assuming you have Photoshop installed) on this page (http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html), especially if you want a "lossless" conversion to .dds format.

If you're trying to convert a large number of files to .dds format, try using NConvert (found on this page (http://pagesperso-orange.fr/pierre.g/xnview/en_ncfeatures.html)). It's a batch-conversion utility written by the same guys who made XNView. 
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on January 09, 2009, 11:02:44 PM
   Very cool, thanks. I'll give these a try.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on January 16, 2009, 10:54:54 PM
Here's something for the most security-conscious of users:

Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/node/6) - been using this program for a while now but reading it mentioned on Steven Grant's weekly comics column put me in mind to mention it here. Every IT guy knows that a deleted file isn't really "deleted," it just sits in an unused portion of the hard drive waiting to be overwritten by new data, and it's only then that the file becomes unrecoverable (in a nutshell, that's how your PC's OS is able to do system restore operations and recover deleted files, and how file recovery guys salvage lost files). Eraser ensures the total deletion and unrecoverability of a file by overwriting it 35 times with random data patterns. It's probably the best freeware security solution for ensuring that nobody will ever see all those incriminating photos of you at last year's office Christmas party (short of killing all the witnesses and physically destroying your hard drive, of course). Alternatively, it's also a great way to get rid of worms that like to hide in your Windows System Restore partition or to ensure that the old PC you donated to your local charity doesn't retain any sensitive data like corporate documents (I bet Madoff wishes he'd heard of it), passwords & bank PIN numbers.

How effective is it? Well, it's so effective that allegedly the CIA and the NSA use it to "sanitize" their Windows-based computers. Oh, and the source code is also freely available for download at the developer's site.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on February 04, 2009, 01:00:07 AM
BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing) (http://boinc.berkeley.edu/) - What BOINC basically does is allow you to volunteer your computer for processor-intensive computational tasks. When your computer is idle (like say, when left alone while downloading a large file or doing some onerous task like encoding audio/video), BOINC kicks in and "borrows" some of your CPU's processing power. If your computer has a CUDA-enabled NVIDIA video card (GeForce 8100 and above), BOINC can use your GPU as well. Newer versions of BOINC also come with a neat screensaver, so you can pretend your computer room is some sort of high-tech mad scientist laboratory.

Of course, you get to choose when BOINC kicks in (anywhere from after 0 minutes of idle processor time, to 15 minutes, to 60 minutes, to a purely user-determined contingency), and you get to choose which research projects to donate your computer's processing power to. I donate my idle CPU/GPU cycles to the University of Washington's Baker Laboratory, which does basic research into protein structures, knowledge that can be applied to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer's Disease as well as infectious illnesses and cancer. Other BOINC-affiliated projects and institutions include the Swiss Tropical Institute (they do transmission simulations and outbreak predictions for malaria), The World Community Grid (an IBM-headed non-profit project which uses networked computers to provide bulk processing power to AIDS/HIV researchers, dengue fever epidemiologists, muscular dystrophy research, and cancer research) and the granddaddy of distibuted computing projects, SETI@Home (The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence basically uses volunteers' computers to search for faint radio signals in different regions of space).     

It's a great alternative for those who can't afford to do traditional volunteer work (either due to time, financial or physical constraints).
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on February 21, 2009, 03:19:51 AM
Just noticed that the link to the original thread in MJB's initial post isn't working. Here's a working link:
http://freedomreborn.net/archive/index.php?topic=45830.0

And now, to pimp some more free stuff:

WhoLockMe Windows Explorer Extension v2.0 (http://dr-hoiby.com/WhoLockMe/index.php): A nifty little (only 23 Kb) tool that can prove to be a timesaver in the right situation. WhoLockMe adds a new "WhoLockMe?" option to the Windows Explorer context menu (the menu that shows up when you right-click on a file or folder icon in Windows). Clicking on this option generates a small program window that shows which programs/processes are currently accessing the file and gives you the option to immediately "kill" the process, thus unlocking the file and making it available for deletion.

Anybody who's ever tried to delete a file or folder only to be met with Windows' annoying little beep sound and the frustratingly vague "Make sure that the file is not currently in use" error message and spent precious minutes looking for the hidden process using the aforementioned file or folder will appreciate this tool.       

Tested for Windows 2000 and Windows XP only, although it might work on Vista (don't hold me to that, though).
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: MJB on February 21, 2009, 08:21:59 AM
I didn't have a link to the original post so thanks for pointing that out. Fix'd. :)

Does anyone have a good free anti-virus program they would recommend?

-MJB
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on February 21, 2009, 11:49:25 PM
Quote from: MJB on February 21, 2009, 08:21:59 AM
Does anyone have a good free anti-virus program they would recommend?

I always install Avira Antivir (http://www.free-av.de/en/download/index.html) as the default anti-virus program on the PCs I help assemble (and I use it myself as well). Don't confuse it with the more popular but much less reliable AVG Antivirus (I've heard many people, even PC hobbysists, confuse the two). It's stable, comes in three languages (English, French, and German), has a pretty idiot-proof user interface and update routine, and there's a lot of community support for it (most of the forums devoted to the program are in German, though, but Google Translate can probably help, even when it does produce mangled translations). It also detects malicious HTML code embedded on webpages that you visit (a feature you have to pay for with most other free antivirus programs). I haven't had an infection take a hold of my system in the 5 years I've been using Antivir (although using a good firewall and being security-conscious 24/7 probably has also helped).
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: GogglesPizanno on February 22, 2009, 12:31:01 AM
Ive always used the free version of Avast
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: catwhowalksbyhimself on February 22, 2009, 01:15:04 AM
I always use AVG free edition (http://free.avg.com/).  It gets consistently high rating by the computer magazines, or at least did.  It's always worked well for me.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on March 03, 2009, 01:13:54 AM
   Does anyone know a of a decent freebie program that has a database like Microsoft Access? I have an assignment coming up that Access is required for, but I don't have the program. Thanks.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on March 03, 2009, 01:37:48 AM
Try OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/). I switched to it from MS Office about 8 years ago and haven't looked back since. OpenOffice has a database module called OpenOffice.org Base that offers most of the basic Access functions in a similar interface (at last check, I think the developers said it could do about 80% of everything Access can do), although of all the OpenOffice modules (Writer, Calc, Impress, etc.), I hear it's the one that's most behind in development (but hey, it's absolutely free).
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on March 03, 2009, 01:45:25 AM
   Much appreciated zuludelta, I'll give that a try.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: herodad1 on March 03, 2009, 07:53:30 PM
i have ALOT of trouble sending skins/meshes to others that ask for them.what safe,free, and easy to use method of sending files can i use?
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: zuludelta on March 04, 2009, 06:02:05 AM
Quote from: herodad1 on March 03, 2009, 07:53:30 PM
i have ALOT of trouble sending skins/meshes to others that ask for them.what safe,free, and easy to use method of sending files can i use?

Whenever I have to send a large file and can't be bothered to upload via FTP, I send it using Sharebee (http://www.sharebee.com/). Sharebee simultaneously uploads the file to other file-hosting services (which include zShare, Rapidshare, and Megaupload). Sharebee will then provide you with the download links to those file hosting sites (a 100 MB file usually takes anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes to upload on a DSL or cable modem connection).

File size is limited to 150 MB, although you can send larger files by splitting them with HJSplit (http://hjsplit.en.softonic.com/), a free and useful tool for splitting large files into smaller segments and re-joining them (your recipient will obviously need to have HJSplit installed on their PC in order to re-assemble the segmented file).   

Just one note of warning: some of the file-hosting sites that Sharebee uploads to are notorious for pop-up and pop-under ads (a small price to pay for the free service, IMHO), but in my experience, they are free from malicious HTML or third-party cookie installers.

EDIT: I forgot to mention SendSpace (http://www.sendspace.com/), a file-hosting and sharing site that has gotten good reviews and offers twice the file storage capacity of Sharebee's affiliates.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: DrMike2000 on March 04, 2009, 07:02:01 AM
Synergy is an awesome free Open Source program for anyone running multiple computers.

It allows you to treat two or more PCs as part of the same virtual desktop, controlled by the same mouse and keyboard. You can even copy and paste text between the two.

I ran into it over a year ago and modified it a bit to be able to broadcast keystrokes to multiple computers, so it can be used to dual-box City of Heroes.

Its available on my ever-lovin' website: www.fundamentzero.com
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: thalaw2 on May 06, 2009, 12:58:15 PM
check out www.portableapps.com to get your portable applications use on.  You can put these apps on a thumb drive and you're good to go on any PC.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Epimethee on May 12, 2009, 12:34:42 PM
Quote from: herodad1 on March 03, 2009, 07:53:30 PM
i have ALOT of trouble sending skins/meshes to others that ask for them.what safe,free, and easy to use method of sending files can i use?
www.drop.io is a great site. Simple, no aggressive advertising, etc. It even has a specific Firefox extension available. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Gremlin on June 15, 2009, 08:37:31 PM
Hey, is there a good program (or even Excel spreadsheet) that lets you do hourly breakdowns of all the days in a week? You know, a weekly planner dealie?
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Midnight on July 04, 2009, 02:36:18 PM
Quote from: Gremlin on June 15, 2009, 08:37:31 PM
Hey, is there a good program (or even Excel spreadsheet) that lets you do hourly breakdowns of all the days in a week? You know, a weekly planner dealie?

Google Calendar (http://"http://calendar.google.com") has a good "Agenda" mode. I think Sunbird  (http://"http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/")does too.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Kommando on July 04, 2009, 05:23:49 PM
Foobar 2000 (http://www.foobar2000.org/) is a nice alternative to WinAmp.  Its just has basic functionality and does not use a lot of resources.  You can find a special edition that comes with equalizer presets (I just downloaded the equalizer presets) here (http://sjeng.org/foobar2000.html).

For video I use VLC (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) and Media Player Classic (http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/).  For codecs I was using CCCP (http://cccp-project.net/), but recently changed to the K-lite Codec pack (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_lite_codec_pack.htm).
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: AdamTheNerd on July 09, 2009, 12:52:39 AM
Quote from: zuludelta on January 16, 2009, 10:54:54 PM
Here's something for the most security-conscious of users:

Eraser (http://www.heidi.ie/node/6) - been using this program for a while now but reading it mentioned on Steven Grant's weekly comics column put me in mind to mention it here. Every IT guy knows that a deleted file isn't really "deleted," it just sits in an unused portion of the hard drive waiting to be overwritten by new data, and it's only then that the file becomes unrecoverable (in a nutshell, that's how your PC's OS is able to do system restore operations and recover deleted files, and how file recovery guys salvage lost files). Eraser ensures the total deletion and unrecoverability of a file by overwriting it 35 times with random data patterns. It's probably the best freeware security solution for ensuring that nobody will ever see all those incriminating photos of you at last year's office Christmas party (short of killing all the witnesses and physically destroying your hard drive, of course). Alternatively, it's also a great way to get rid of worms that like to hide in your Windows System Restore partition or to ensure that the old PC you donated to your local charity doesn't retain any sensitive data like corporate documents (I bet Madoff wishes he'd heard of it), passwords & bank PIN numbers.

How effective is it? Well, it's so effective that allegedly the CIA and the NSA use it to "sanitize" their Windows-based computers. Oh, and the source code is also freely available for download at the developer's site.

Dunno if this has been mentioned, but Eraser does more than just keep your data safely destroyed. It lets you destroy pesky corrupted files and files refusing to be deleted even after a restart or uninstallation.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: AdamTheNerd on July 09, 2009, 01:04:05 AM
Sorry to double post, but I thought that Firefox www.mozilla.com/firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/firefox) is worth an obvious mention. IrfanView http://www.irfanview.com/ (http://www.irfanview.com/) is a huge asset to anyone without access to Photoshop, or a similar program and needs to view pictures with obscure/infrequently used file extensions. WinRAR is also another great, obvious download. And finally, for those looking to "Mac it uP" without wasting precious computer resources, check out www.rocketdock.com (http://www.rocketdock.com) for an awesome, versatile, and easy to use application launching program.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: thalaw2 on September 18, 2009, 02:24:12 AM
Virtualization

You gotta try Virtualbox (http://www.virtualbox.org/).  Run an OS within an OS.  It can even run Windows 7...imagine running Windows 7 within Windows XP!?!?!  For Linux users it's a must have if you find yourself switching between Linux and Windows XP/Vista.  With this you can just run a virualization of Windows and not worry about viruses or losing data or other headaches.  It's a great piece of freeware. 
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: stumpy on September 18, 2009, 03:11:33 AM
A couple posts here reminded me of more of my favs.

Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.org/cygwin/) is a unix shell that runs under Windows. I am primarily a Windows user these days, but I was long ago hooked on the power of the various unix shells (csh, bash, etc.) and tools (sed, grep, etc.). Among other things, Cygwin lets you open a unix shell in a Windows command box, and provides a wide variety of unix tools (even Make tools, gcc, etc.) from there.

7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) is a compressed archive format (like the various zip formats) that usually achieves significantly higher compression ratios than standard zip. Moreover, the 7-zip software at 7-zip.org can compress to standard ZIP, GZIP, TAR, etc. formats as well as to its own 7Z format. It can also extract archives from any of those formats and MSI, ARJ, RAR, CAB, and several other formats one is likely to run across. That makes it sort of one-stop-shopping for compression/decompression tools. And, it can easily install with Windows shell integration so that any of the supported formats automatically use it to open. The application has a Windows Explorer-like interface, so double-clicking an archived file opens it up as though it were just another folder.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Kommando on February 25, 2010, 06:59:12 AM
I'm looking for something that will let me convert .swf files to another video format.  I have a few utilities that will convert .flv, but when I try them on my .swf files they only seem to recode the audio.  Years ago, WB had a couple of web cartoon series on their site.  I managed to keep copies of the Lobo and Gotham Girls series, and I want to convert them to MP4 so I can put them on my iPod.  I haven't had trouble converting other videos (though I still have to figure out how to hard code soft subs for some anime), and I find that the Youtube Downloader (http://youtubedownload.altervista.org/) program is a very handy little thing for re-encoding video.  But yeah, converting .swf eludes me so far.  Any help would be appreciate.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Panther_Gunn on March 27, 2010, 04:07:34 AM
I'm looking for something that can make edits (and also save, of course) .mpg video files.  I mostly just need it for making trim edits at the beginning & end of videos, but a fade-to-black (with accompanying sound fade) would be very useful, as well as being able to edit the audio and video tracks seperately.  So far, everything I've found won't save to .mpg.  I'd rather leave things in that format, mostly for compatibility sake on multiple computers.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on July 24, 2010, 07:18:47 AM
Quote from: stumpy on September 18, 2009, 03:11:33 AM
A couple posts here reminded me of more of my favs.

Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.org/cygwin/) is a unix shell that runs under Windows. I am primarily a Windows user these days, but I was long ago hooked on the power of the various unix shells (csh, bash, etc.) and tools (sed, grep, etc.). Among other things, Cygwin lets you open a unix shell in a Windows command box, and provides a wide variety of unix tools (even Make tools, gcc, etc.) from there.

7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) is a compressed archive format (like the various zip formats) that usually achieves significantly higher compression ratios than standard zip. Moreover, the 7-zip software at 7-zip.org can compress to standard ZIP, GZIP, TAR, etc. formats as well as to its own 7Z format. It can also extract archives from any of those formats and MSI, ARJ, RAR, CAB, and several other formats one is likely to run across. That makes it sort of one-stop-shopping for compression/decompression tools. And, it can easily install with Windows shell integration so that any of the supported formats automatically use it to open. The application has a Windows Explorer-like interface, so double-clicking an archived file opens it up as though it were just another folder.

After losing everything in a crash (I only had about half put on disks), I'm hoping to be back in the game within the upcoming week. That being said, I need a new rar/zip program that will let me access the files that I will be downloading (and there will be alot  :banghead:), is this 7-zip user friendly (idiot proof)? Can it open winrar/winzip files without problem? Can it save to those formats as well? Thanks.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Outcast on July 24, 2010, 10:06:41 AM
Quote from: Cyber Burn on July 24, 2010, 07:18:47 AM
is this 7-zip user friendly (idiot proof)? Can it open winrar/winzip files without problem? Can it save to those formats as well? Thanks.

I think 7-zip is very user friendly because i'm able to use it without any problems. Yes it opens both rar and zip files without any problems. I usually use it to save as zip files so i don't think it can save as a winrar file? :)
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on July 24, 2010, 04:24:05 PM
Thanks Outcast, I appreciate the feedback. I'm hesitant to download unfamiliar programs, so a positive reply puts me at ease.  :thumbup:
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Amazo Version 2.2 on February 14, 2011, 06:10:12 PM
g'morning everyone, would anyone happen to know if there are any freebee pdf editors out there. just something that can make alterations to existing pdf files, or something that can copy them and put them onto a word document or someother editable file type? thanks.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: stumpy on February 14, 2011, 11:26:52 PM
I don't do much of this myself, so I don't know how well it works, but OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org/) (specifically Draw) is supposed to be able to open/edit/save PDF files, with an extension (http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/pdfimport). The only time I tried it, it was very slow in opening the PDF file, but that might have been specific to the file I was editing.

I have also run across free online services that allow you to convert documents from PDF to other formats and back (e.g. PDF to RTF or DOC). Then you could edit them with whatever editing software you like and then save it as a PDF again. One example is www.freepdfconvert.com (http://www.freepdfconvert.com/convert_pdf_to_source.asp). I actually did this with a few files at some point, but I don't recall if that was the site I used.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: detourne_me on February 15, 2011, 12:06:27 AM
I don't do much either,  bbut I'm sure Foxit has an editor.  They have one of the best free PDF readers out there.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on February 15, 2011, 12:51:35 AM
Hey guys, does anyone know of a program that will allow you to convert sound files such as (.wav) or (.cda) to (.mp3) format? I thought I had one, but for the life of me, I can't find it. Thank you.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Epimethee on February 15, 2011, 03:33:59 AM
IIRC, LAME or Audacity can convert WAV to MP3.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on February 15, 2011, 06:03:46 AM
Quote from: Epimethee on February 15, 2011, 03:33:59 AM
IIRC, LME or Audacity can convert WAV to MP3.

Thank you Epi, I'll check these out.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Amazo Version 2.2 on February 15, 2011, 02:51:17 PM
awsome. thanks for the pdf links. :thumbup:
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: thalaw2 on July 29, 2011, 01:42:09 AM
Libre Office (http://www.libreoffice.org/download/)  Get it!

Nuff Said!
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on November 18, 2011, 06:11:27 PM
Does anyone know how to download or record You Tube videos? Thank you.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: ShawDAMAN on November 18, 2011, 06:32:28 PM
These 2 sites have worked well for me:

http://www.mediaconverter.org/

http://www.zamzar.com/

You paste the link to the video in the appropriate box and it converts it to a usable video format like WMV or AVI.

There is also discrete applications, such as FLV converter, or "youtube downloader,"  that do the job, though I've found them to be a bit buggy.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Panther_Gunn on November 18, 2011, 09:50:59 PM
I've got one called Freemake Video Downloader (www.freemake.com) that supports You Tube, Google videos, and quite a few more.  It's locally installable (not through a web page), and you just paste in the URL, and away it goes.  It also will work on other non-listed sites, but it's hit or miss.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on November 18, 2011, 10:01:34 PM
Thanks guys, I'll check these out.  :thumbup:
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: thalaw2 on November 21, 2011, 10:06:33 PM
Wish I had seen that request earlier....I use downloadhelper add-on for firefox.  Works like a charm for all audio and video content.  Will even convert flash to avi.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: The Hitman on November 21, 2011, 11:08:27 PM
I have used KeepVid (http://keepvid.com/) for years and have never had a problem with it.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: bearded on November 22, 2011, 08:43:30 AM
i've spent hours trying to find a good html website creator. what do you guys use to create your websites?
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on November 22, 2013, 10:08:43 PM
Hey fellow Freedom Forcers, I don't know if anyone is actually still following this thread (I seem to be Necroposting), but I have a couple of questions.

1. Does anyone know of a program that will convert (.WPS/Word Processor) files to Microsoft Word? My old PC was Windows 98 and I'm currently running Vista.

2. Without giving out too much personal information, I am in need of a program that can convert (.AVI) video files to either (.Mov) or (.MP3) video files. Basically I need a video converter that can convert videos for someone using a Windows OS at home and a MAC elsewhere. According to the person that I am looking for this for, he needs to convert videos from (.AVI) files to either (.Mov) or (.MP3) files. He told me that he had a program that he was using (But didn't remember the name), but the trial period ended and he can't use it anymore.

Any help I could get for this would be awesome and extremely appreciated. Thank you.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: hoss20 on November 23, 2013, 12:39:56 AM
I found a link to a filter for Word to open WPS files: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/hp011881161033.aspx
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on November 23, 2013, 12:43:19 AM
Once again Hoss, you are the man, Thank you!
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: spydermann93 on November 23, 2013, 01:44:46 AM
For your video needs, Any Video Converter will do what you need it to, I believe.  It's free and I've used it to convert files to .mp3 (I don't remember if it does .mov, but it should) many times.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: stumpy on November 23, 2013, 01:56:03 AM
Also, the RAD Video Tools (http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm) is an option for your video converting.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on July 15, 2014, 07:08:37 PM
Hey guys, I've been using "XnConvert" to mass convert TGA Files to DDS Files, but recently noticed that the converted files are kind of getting messed up. Does anyone happen to have any other suggestions for programs that can convert TGA Files to DDS Files?

Thanks in advance for any help on this.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: spydermann93 on July 16, 2014, 12:35:59 AM
I use a different batch converter for Paint.NET.

I believe that it is this one: http://pdnbulkupdater.codeplex.com/

I can't remember though, as it has been a long time since I installed it.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on July 16, 2014, 01:09:39 AM
Thanks Spyder. I'm going through the FX I've been making and am realizing that I have to re-do quite a few of them. Very frustrating.  :banghead:
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: spydermann93 on July 16, 2014, 05:32:29 AM
Quote from: Cyber Burn on July 16, 2014, 01:09:39 AM
Thanks Spyder. I'm going through the FX I've been making and am realizing that I have to re-do quite a few of them. Very frustrating.  :banghead:

I once had an issue with Paint.NET that gave all of the skins that I converted a blue-ish hue.  Mr. Fantastic had green skin and purple clothes. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, and it was hilarious! :lol:
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on February 21, 2015, 08:28:44 PM
Quote from: spydermann93 on July 16, 2014, 12:35:59 AM
I use a different batch converter for Paint.NET.

I believe that it is this one: http://pdnbulkupdater.codeplex.com/

I can't remember though, as it has been a long time since I installed it.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get this to work with the current version of PaintDotNet. It's a bit frustrating, but it can wait for another day.


I do have another question though. I've been using Freemake Video Downloader for quite a while now without issue, and while there have been some sites that won't let me download their Videos, that really hasn't been a big issue for me. But I did find a Video that I would really like to download, but Freemake won't download it, neither will any of the other programs/sites that I've tried.

It's a Video from Aol, and I'm thinking that eventually the Video will eventually be dropped, and will no longer be linked to, but I'd really like to keep this Video for future use (Preferably in MP4 Format). Here's a link to the Video: http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/18/cracking-the-price-code-you-ll-save-big-money-with-this-informa/21144031/?ncid=webmail2

Would anyone happen to have any suggestions on how I could download this Video? Thank you in advance for any help that could be given on this.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: spydermann93 on February 21, 2015, 08:54:51 PM
Quote from: Cyber Burn on February 21, 2015, 08:28:44 PM
Quote from: spydermann93 on July 16, 2014, 12:35:59 AM
I use a different batch converter for Paint.NET.

I believe that it is this one: http://pdnbulkupdater.codeplex.com/

I can't remember though, as it has been a long time since I installed it.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to get this to work with the current version of PaintDotNet. It's a bit frustrating, but it can wait for another day.

Yeah, it doesn't work with the current version of Paint.NET, I'm afraid. I'm trying to search for the version that it does work with, and I'll post a link to it here when I find it.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Podmark on February 23, 2015, 06:28:24 AM
Are there any decent sites where you can set up a forum for free? There's an online game I've been playing and we're looking for a meeting place to coordinate. The only thing is it would need to be private where only members can view the forum, other than that it could be pretty basic.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: stumpy on February 23, 2015, 11:00:42 PM
You might try http://www.zifboards.com/ (formerly Invision Power Boards and maybe still called that). I haven't used them myself, but I know that Tomato has Trinity of Freedom set up there. I know he had some of the forums either hidden or password protected, so that might do for your purposes.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Podmark on February 24, 2015, 05:37:45 AM
Thanks, I'll check that out.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: HarryTrotter on April 02, 2015, 10:11:24 AM
If somebody is still searching for convertor there is always Format Factory.It converts anything into anything,seriously.
Anyone else using XBMC/Kodi?
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Outcast on March 26, 2016, 12:38:33 PM
I was looking for a good free software to enhance the volume of my pc. I have some problems hearing some files even with my volume set at maximum.

So far what i've managed to find and try was this DFX Audio Enhancer.

http://www.fxsound.com/dfx/download.php

The free version works pretty well enough to increase the volume. The only catch is that the software's free version doesn't work continuously. It turns off after a given time but you can switch it back on again no problem. The only reason it does this, is to ask you whether you want to purchase the paid full version.

Anyway if you guys know of a better software that can do the same or better, i'd be interested to try them out as well.
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: SickAlice on February 05, 2017, 04:57:26 PM
Makehuman is a standalone 3d program for creating and/or modifying human meshes for games made easy so people who have no knowledge of modelling can still make models. Additionally they provide Blender enhancements to use with the program
http://www.makehuman.org/

System performance/gaming:
Fire 1.5.3 V1-CFWX5 is a simple program that does the long work for you and clears all the useless junk from your system in order to speed up your graphics card.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/i333uqj76qmvql0/Fire+1.5.3+V1-CFWX5.rar

ReShade
https://reshade.me/ (https://reshade.me/)
I don't know much about this one. Basically my understanding is it takes an existing game and makes it HD. I saw a comparison shot of Super Mario 3d World and the ReShaded version actually looked better than the original which is a wonder given how good that game looks in the first place. Anyways I'm planningon trying this out with Freedom Force sometime. Also my assumption is this probably while increasing quality decreases performance. If anyone toys with it give me a PM, I'd love to know the extent of it.
 
Title: Re: The Freeware Sharing Thread
Post by: Cyber Burn on November 27, 2017, 07:50:27 AM
Can anyone recommend a good DVD Burner? I was using Freemake Video Converter, but the last few updates have increased the number of interruptions on the DVDs I've put together. It's a pain watching your child in a performance and then have a good sized Freemake Logo pop up every couple of minutes.