The Freeware Sharing Thread

[Cyber Burn]

A couple posts here reminded me of more of my favs.

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 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  ), 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.

[Outcast]

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?

[Cyber Burn]

Thanks Outcast, I appreciate the feedback. I'm hesitant to download unfamiliar programs, so a positive reply puts me at ease. 

[Amazo Version 2.2]

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.

[stumpy]

I don't do much of this myself, so I don't know how well it works, but OpenOffice.org (specifically Draw) is supposed to be able to open/edit/save PDF files, with an extension. 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. I actually did this with a few files at some point, but I don't recall if that was the site I used.

[detourne_me]

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.

[Cyber Burn]

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.

[Epimethee]

IIRC, LAME or Audacity can convert WAV to MP3.

[Cyber Burn]

IIRC, LME or Audacity can convert WAV to MP3.

Thank you Epi, I'll check these out.

[Amazo Version 2.2]

awsome. thanks for the pdf links.

[thalaw2]

Libre Office  Get it!

Nuff Said!

[Cyber Burn]

Does anyone know how to download or record You Tube videos? Thank you.

[ShawDAMAN]

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.

[Panther_Gunn]

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.

[Cyber Burn]

Thanks guys, I'll check these out. 

[thalaw2]

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.

[The Hitman]

I have used KeepVid (http://keepvid.com/) for years and have never had a problem with it.

[bearded]

i've spent hours trying to find a good html website creator. what do you guys use to create your websites?

[Cyber Burn]

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.

[hoss20]

I found a link to a filter for Word to open WPS files: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/hp011881161033.aspx

[Cyber Burn]

Once again Hoss, you are the man, Thank you!

[spydermann93]

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.

[stumpy]

Also, the RAD Video Tools is an option for your video converting.

[Cyber Burn]

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.

[spydermann93]

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.

[Cyber Burn]

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. 

[spydermann93]

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. 

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!

[Cyber Burn]

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.

[spydermann93]

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.

[Podmark]

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.