Just remember that all programs are downloaded and installed at your own risk Original listing compiled by Rick Maybury for the Daily Telegraph Connect column.

Part 1 :- Internet Security and Privacy

AVG Anti-Virus FREE Edition
freeware, 6.8Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP,
free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Everybody should own a decent anti virus detection program especially if you are connected to the Internet. All file downloads and emails should be checked and regular system scans are not a bad idea. AVG provides similar features as many commercial products and offers regular updates to its signature (virus detect) files.

Agnitum Outpost Free
freeware, 2.6Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP,
www.agnitum.com/products/outpost/

ZoneAlarm free firewall
freeware, 5.7Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP,
www.zonealarm.com
Since the introduction of broadband Internet connections to the masses, it has become even more necessary to protect your computer from hackers and other unwanted attempts to access your computer files. The two programs above are free versions of commercial packages and are powerful enough to stop remote accessing of your files. They will even prevent malicious programs on your PC making unauthorised use of your internet connection to send out personal or private information. Only install one of these programs as they may not work correctly together.

Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition
Freeware, 2.5Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP,
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Spybot Search & Destroy
4.3Mb, freeware, 2.5Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP,
www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Even with a sophisticated firewall and a good anti virus software package, you can still be caught out with spyware and adware – little programs embedded in downloaded software. These two packages are just the business to clear out these nuisance files along with other infections such as worms and Trojans. It is very important that you type in the web addresses correctly as other similar sounding sites offer commercial packages that may not be as good and could have their own adware embedded. You can run both programs on your system to get a really good wash and brush up.

TUGZip
Freeware, 3.7Mb, Windows 95, 9x/NT/2000/XP,

www.tugzip.com
Decompression utilities are essential if you are downloading files from the website. Perhaps the most famous is WinZip but another rather excellent program that can handle most compression types is TUGZip. The program will also compress and encrypt files for you to export. Beware the download can be quite slow due to the authors resources but your patience should be well rewarded.

Tweak UI (UI stands for 'User Interface')
WindowXP

www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Windows9X www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/PowerToys/Networking/NTTweakUI.asp
A useful utility that is part of the Microsoft PowerToys suite and is a nice package that allows you to customise the way your own PC works without having to delve into the Registry folder. The package is free, not supported by Microsoft but completely safe to use. Be sure to read the instructions for Windows 9X versions, as the installation is a bit peculiar.

CCleaner
Freeware, 296kb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP
www.ccleaner.com
Windows keeps track of all your website visits and stores them in a file called index.dat and is hidden deep in your directory. CCleaner will erase the data in this file along with a lot of other information you may not wish to be stored on your computer. Ideal for those who want to keep their surfing private.

Cookie Monster
Freeware, 400kb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP
http://ampsoft.freeservers.com/english/Utilities.html#
Cookies are those very small files that get stored on your computer by lots of websites that you may visit. The idea is that they speed up the loading of their specific site and they can also personal preference information about the surfer. Their folder also tends to get larger and larger. They need keeping in check and this program does the job admirably by letting you keep the ones you want (if any) and clearing out the rest.

Hijack This
Freeware, 157kb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP

www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/index.html
Now and again, even the most careful web user picks up the odd undesirable add-on, the most common being the homepage hijackers and advertising add-ons. This little program will scan your browser and Windows registry folders and lists them in a log file. Any unwanted items can then be highlighted for deletion. The log can be a powerful tool for an expert to identify browser problems and other nasty add-ons hiding on your computer.

Netstumbler
Freeware/beggarware, 1.3Mb, Windows 9x/XP
www.netstumbler.com/downloads
Here is a little utility for Wi-Fi users. The program will search for and display details of any wireless LANs (local area networks) in the vicinity which could cause interference or allow others to log on to your PC or network. It also offers a whole host of options to help set up your own network. Primarily aimed at XP users but may well work with Windows 9X set-ups. It is recommended that you read the release notes before downloading and installing.

Pest Patrol
Shareware, $39.95, 4.2Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP
www.pestpatrol.com

Spy Sweeper
Shareware, $29.95, 3.8Mb, Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP
www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php
These two packages do similar jobs to AdAware and Spybot, they offer a little more in the way of regular updates and on-line support. Beware however, there are a vast amount of free and commercial adware and spyware packages around and some are not as bone fide as they ought to be and can cause problems with generated false reports and even deliberately infecting the PC with spyware or adware. The ones listed here are very good and do not embed their own pop ups or other scams.

Antispyware
www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
This is not a program but a site where you can check out a list of rogue products and suspect spyware sites. If you are concerned about a specific spyware package – check it out here.

Part 2 :- Multimedia

Real Alternative
Freeware, 5.7Mb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP

www.majorgeeks.com/download4094.html
Those of you that have RealPlayer installed know what a pain it can be with its constant add ons and updates. This package will play pretty well all of the RealPlayer formats including BBC radio programs streamed over the Internet. It is necessary however, to uninstall RealPlayer and RealOne Player if you want to install this version.

Total Recorder
Shareware$11.95,1.3Mb,Windows98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP

www.tucows.com/preview/193458.html
A nice general-purpose audio recorder that will record virtually any sound coming into or generated by your PC. It will even record streamed Internet broadcasts and is compatible with .wav and .mp3 formats.

Winamp
Freeware, 4.3Mb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP

www.winamp.com
You cannot go far wrong with this as your system media player. It will play music and video from a multitude of formats. There are plenty of features for customising the front end. Does just about everything Windows Media Player does and makes an excellent substitute.

Irfanview
Freeware, 850kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP
www.irfanview.com
Ideal for digital camera owners, the package is filled with a whole range of picture editing tools to enhance your digital photos. It is compatible with the most common image file formats. This package is brimming with effects and can view pictures as a slideshow if required. There also a loads of plug-ins that can be downloaded from the Internet.

DVD Photo Slideshow
Shareware $29.95, 4.0Mb, Windows 98/SE/ME/XP
www.dvd-photo-slideshow.com
Want to turn your digital pictures into a slideshow that can be viewed on either your PC or via a DVD player on your television. This program will create slideshow Video CDs or DVD. Pick your pictures, add titling, background sound, commentary and even professional looking picture transitions.

Windows Movie Maker 2.1
Freeware, Windows XP
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Zwei-Stein Video Editor
Freeware, 3.3Mb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP

www.thugsatbay.com/software/index.html
Video editing for free? We have two packages here that are just that. The latest version of Windows Movie Maker (v2.1) comes with the Service Pack 2 upgrade. If you do not have XP then maybe the Zwei- Stein Video Editor is for you. The English manual is not so good and it needs a bit of getting used to. That said it offers a whole host of features found on commercial editors. It can assemble up to 256 video clips, add titling and has a DV capture facility.

Photorescue
Shareware, $29, 820kb, Windows 2K, XP
www.datarescue.com/photorescue
Got a corrupted digital camera memory card – disaster!! Help is on its way with this simple program that will rescue images from a wide range of memory cards. As it is non destructive, it will not have an adverse affect on the card’s contents. The trial version will show you if anything can be recovered. The full licensed version will recover the lost image files.

Part 3 :- Alternatives

Linux, Open Source/freeware
www.linux.org
Some time ago, Derek showed us a commercial version of Linux, the alternative to Microsoft’s Windows operating systems. Free versions are available for download from the Internet. They offer Office type applications such as word processors and spreadsheets, web browsing, networking and even multimedia utilities. You can even have Linux and Windows co-existing on the same machine.

Abiword
Freeware, 5Mb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP, Linux
www.abisource.com/
This package is an open source/freeware word processor that resembles Microsoft Word without all the bells and whistles and is fully compatible. It carries all the main word processor functions, boasts a 30-language spell checker, word count, mail merge and tables. The list of functions goes on and on. There is a huge range of plug-ins available which extends the packages capabilities even more.

Open Office
Open Source/freeware, 65Mb Windows 98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP, Linux, Mac OS
www.openoffice.org/
Your very own freeware Office Suite containing 5 main components comprising Writer (word processor with many Microsoft Word features), Calc (spreadsheet package with Excel compatibility), Impress (presentation program with drawing tools etc), Draw (graphics package to create diagrams and illustrations) and Database Tools (a database program). All the programs are fully integrated and have some compatibility with their Microsoft equivalents. There is also a large friendly user group base assisting with packages development.

Mozilla, Firefox & Thunderbird
Open Source/freeware, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP, Linux, Mac
www.mozilla.org
An alternative web browser and email client. The traditional Internet Explorer and Outlook Express due to their popularity are often targets of virus writers and hence your security. An alternative may be the answer

Deepnet Explorer
Freeware, 2.4Mb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP
www.deepnetexplorer.com/
This freeware browser has some special extras in the shape of a controversial integrated Peer-2-Peer file sharing facility and built in RSS Newsreader. It has Internet Explorer compatibility including tabbed pages and a pop-up stopper.

Part 4 :- Utilities

Spacemonger
Freeware, 103kb, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP
www.werkema.com/software/spacemonger.html
This little tool will let you know how much all those applications and data files are actually taking up on your hard drive. Using a simple to understand colour coded graphics display it will show you exactly what you have stored on your machine and how much room it is taking up. You can zoom right in for even more detail

Restoration
Freeware, 162kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP
www.geocities.jp/br_kato/index.html
This handy package can recover deleted files from the Recycle bin after it has been cleared. It also has the facility to make sure deleted sensitive files remain unrecoverable if so required. It is even small enough to run off a floppy disc.

Regseeker
Freeware, 307kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP
www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm
The registry is when your PC houses all those configuration settings for Windows and the applications installed on your PC. After a while the registry accumulates a host of redundant entries that will in time slow down your machine or even cause unexpected problems resulting in the registry becoming corrupt and Windows grinding to a halt. This program is a safe and easy registry cleaner that will identify those superfluous unused entries. Once identified you have the option to keep or delete. A safety measure is incorporated in that all deleted files are automatically backed up and can be easily restored if anything goes awry.

Ezback-It-Up
Freeware, 988kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT4/2k/XP
www.rdcomp.net/ezbackitup/index.php
This is a fast and efficient tool for backing up the hard drive. It will copy all the critical files to a separate drive partition, a second drive or a CD-R (formatted for UDF or packet writing). It will make incremental back-ups, i.e. by copying and updating the files that have been created or modified since the previous backup. There is a built in scheduler that will run in the background at your convenience. All backed up files are recorded in its permanent log.

RJH Extensions
Freeware, 673kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/NT/2k/XP
www.rjhsoftware.com/rjhextensions/
This program offers a range of improvement add-ons to window explorer such as printing the contents of a folder, shred files so they cannot be recovered and encrypting files using the powerful Blowfish algorithm. Once installed the new features are displayed by right clicking on a file or folder.

Convert
Freeware, 152kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/2k/XP
www.joshmadison.com/software/convert/
A general conversion package that will convert values in over 20 different categories including temperature, speed, pressure, angles, power, density and flow. A useful tool to have close to hand.

Belarc Advisor
Freeware, 605kb, Windows 98/SE/ME/2k/XP
www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Want to know what drives your PC? This program goes beyond the normal information readily available about your system such as processor speed, memory size, hard drive capacity and so on. This program scans your system and offers the smallest details about your PC and the programs stored on it, including most licence and registration codes. Probably not an everyday usable program but could be invaluable to someone trying to diagnose a fault. Ideal to take a snapshot of your healthy machine while it is still running.

Word Toys
Freeware, 1.5mb, Word 2000, 2002, 2003
www.wordtoys.com
A nice little utility for Microsoft Word users which is a suite of 30 tools and enhancements which allows you to customise Word to your personal preferences. There are keyboard shortcuts to accented characters, quick find document recall from up to a month previous, double save to two different locations – ideal for backup and many other features. There is even an out of office feature that will leave a message on the screen if you are away from your desk.

Autoruns
Freeware, 140kb, Windows 95/98/SE/ME/2k/XP
www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/autoruns.shtml
A small freeware utility that will list all the programs that run automatically from the registry when Windows is loaded. An ideal package if you suspect something is causing problems at boot up. The listed items have a check box next to them to allow the user to stop any suspect program launching during the boot up sequence.