We all like freebies, right? Share links to your favourite free software here!

If there are any problems with this list then please let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I can.

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| Graphic & Web Design Software

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GIMP

About as close to a free Photoshop as you're legally going to get.

Paint.net

Supports many pro paint package features and is a worthy alternative to GIMP.

Open Canvas

The last free version of Open Canvas.

Art Weaver

Paint program with natural media brushes for that traditional look.

Picasa

Google's own photo editor. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

Inkscape

Free vector art package. Excellent drawing tools.

PhotoPlus

Photo editing software from Serif. (thanks, michaelleung)

PagePlus

Desktop publishing (DTP) software from Serif. (thanks, michaelleung)

WebPlus

Web design software from Serif. (thanks, michaelleung)

DrawPlus

Drawing and vector graphics software from Serif. (thanks, michaelleung)

Srapbook

Image manipulator from Serif. (thanks, michaelleung)

Photo Pos Pro

Photo editor that's now freeware. (thanks, Rohan15)

Terragen

Free 3D landscape generation software. Impressive results, but untested.

Blender

Free 3D software. Pretty amazing results.

Bryce 5.5

Impressive free 3D software.

Google SketchUp

A nifty 3D design program. Plus with the 3D Warehouse you can find tons of pre-built models. (thanks,

ceemdee)

Notepad++

A source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages.

Notepad2

Notepad with syntax highlighting and more. (thanks, Miaghstir)

irfanview

Picture viewer & mass converter. (thanks, dougaiton)

Photoscape

A simple, easy to use photo editor.

Aviary

Web based graphics application. (thanks, michaelleung)

CADView 7

Use CADView/7 to view CAD drawings created in FastCAD, EasyCAD, or FastCAD/DOS. (thanks, iuliand)

Photoshop Brushes:

Trendy Robot

PS Brushes

Brusheezy

Free Photoshop Filter List

This is one impressive list of Photoshop filters. I have no way of knowing which versions of Photoshop they work with. But they're free. So give them a

try.

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| System Tools

|

Tweakui

A very useful Microsoft utility that lets you sort out numerous issues with XP that for some reason they didn't provide as standard with XP. Remove

autorun, 'shortcut to' prefix and alter a whole load of other things you wish they'd given you the option to sooner.

Power Toys

This is the rest of the Microsoft Power Toys. It also includes Tweakui, but I found that particular download to be broken. Hence the previous link.

MyDefrag

An efficient replacement for the standard Defrag that comes with Windows.

Disk Defrag

Auslogics Disk Defrag is designed for fast optimization of hard disks. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

CCleaner

Cleans the crap out of your system and registry.

PC Decrapifier

Removes most of the preinstalled software that's included on OEM PC's. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Recuva

Recuva recovers mistakenly deleted files. (thanks, KavazovAngel)

7Zip

Powerful alternative to conventional zips.

Teracopy

Copies files faster. With resume, error recovery and more. (thanks, djdna)

Fast File Renamer

Renames multiple files at the click of a button. (thanks. djdna)

AL Zip

A comprehensive alternative to Winzip. If you don't want the banner, you could always try sabotaging the banner.dll in the install directory, if you

have a firewall. Please note that newer versions are shareware trial versions.

IZArc

Zipping utility. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

Eraser

A security tool for Windows which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully

selected patterns.

Darik's Boot and Nuke

Creates a boot disk that can completely destroy all data on every hard drive on a computer.

Wise Registry Cleaner & Wise Disk Cleaner

A powerful free registry cleaner and registry optimizer & disk space cleaner. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

Duplicate File Finder

Auslogics Duplicate File Finder will help you to get rid of duplicate files. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

Portable Apps System

Run a huge set of programs from a CD or USB stick without needing to install anything. (thanks, DrWevil)

Registry Cleaner

This award-winning free registry cleaner will clean, repair and optimize the Windows registry to speed up your computer and eliminate frequent crashes.

(thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

information&langx=en&a="SANDRA Lite

An information & diagnostic utility providing information on your hardware and software. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Freemeter

System monitor. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

CPU-Z

Gathers information on some of the main devices of your system. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

PC Wizard

Advanced system information program. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

PerfMonitor

A processor performance monitoring tool. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

HWmonitor

A hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors: voltages, temperatures & fans speed. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

Daemon Tools

Mounts iso images as virtual drives. Ideal burning companion.

Slysoft Virtual CloneDrive

Virtual CD/DVD drive. (thanks, chautemoc)

PowerISO

A powerful CD/DVD image file processing tool, which allows you to open, extract, create, edit, compress, encrypt, split and convert ISO files, and mount

these files with internal virtual drive (nagware). (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel

Virtual CD software from Microsoft. (thanks, Lone3wolf)

MagicDisc

Virtual CD/DVDs. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

CDBurnerXP

An easy-to use cd/dvd burner/copier. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Astroburn Lite

A free and very good cd/dvd burning tool (thanks, apexultima)

Imgburn

A lightweight burning application for CD, DVD and Blu-Ray.

ISO Recorder

Burns CD and DVD images and creates ISO images from folders.

VirtualBox

Virtualization program to run OSes on virtual machines. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

Revo Uninstaller

Program-uninstaller, which checks registry and deletes forgotten files. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

Sysinternals Suite

Includes:

Process Explorer - A better replacement for the process manager included with

Windows.

Autoruns - to easily check up on what starts up automatically with Windows,

also disable/enable/remove

Everything can even be run directly from the 'net, as they have a windows network share available at \\live.sysinternals.com (enter the "tools"

folder, and the latest version of all the tools are there, or enter "files" or the website already linked above to get zip files of them). (thanks

Miaghstir)

Windows PowerShell

Command line shell and scripting language helps IT professionals achieve greater control and productivity. (thanks, sk8ing667)

Process Viewer for Windows

View hidden system processes with detailed info. (thanks, iuliand)

Secunia PSI

Easily check up on which of your installed programs are outdated, and download updates for them. (thanks, Miaghstir)

FreeCommander

For those who prefer the two-pane UI of NortonCommander and TotalCommander, but want a free alternative. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Fsum

Command-line tool to check file hash and checksums (md5, crc, sha2... just about any type of algorithm). (thanks, Miaghstir)

Microsoft Security Essentials

Provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. (thanks, chautemoc)

Driver Sweeper

Cleans out old drivers. (thanks, chautemoc)

Update Checker

Update checker. Checks your software against File Hippo's databse. (thanks, chautemoc)

SoftPerfect Network Scanner

Quickly locate new shares and devices over a windows network. (thanks, iuliand)

Multimon

Extends your taskbar to your other screen. Also adds a button to each window to quickly move it from screen to screen. (thanks, Carra)

Gridvista

Divides your screen into two, three or four sections in which you can drag & drop windows. (thanks, Rohan15)

Clipx

Adds a cache to your keyboard. Remembers your last 25 ctrl-c/x images, files or text and lets you paste them. (thanks, Carra)

VMWare Server

A hosted virtualization platform that installs like an application on any existing server hardware and partitions a physical server into multiple

virtual machines. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Microsoft Virtual PC

Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Bochs

A highly portable open source IA-32 (x86) PC emulator. (thanks, Miaghstir)

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| Internet

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Firefox

Needs no introduction.

%20chrome">Google Chrome

Opera

Another extremely competent internet browser.

Safari

Apple's own internet browser. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Mozilla Thunderbird

An email client from the people that brought you Firefox.

uTorrent

Still the most popular BitTorrent client. Use it for legal downloads only, of course. (thanks, tor)

Seamonkey

Containing an Internet browser, email & newsgroup client, HTML editor, IRC chat and web development tools.

FileZilla

The best free FTP software that I've used.

WinSCP

Another free FTP program. Untested.

Free Download Manager

Increases your download speed and resumes broken downloads. (thanks, acare84)

Gigaget

Download manager which utilizes Net Grid technology. (thanks, Rohan15)

Pidgin

Multi-protocol IM client. (thanks, chautemoc)

Triilian

Trillian has been a powerful part of the effort to bring interoperability to IM. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Adium

A free IM app for Mac OS X. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Digsby

A multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber. (thanks, Vagabond)

HTTrack

Downloads whole websites to your HDD for offline browsing. (thanks klaymen)

JDownloader

Simplifies downloading files from One-Click-Hosters like Rapidshare.com or Megaupload.com. (thanks, makodo)

MozBackup

A backup utility for Firefox and Thunderbird. (thanks, Mentalepsy)

Hamachi

Lets you connect two computers via the Internet by creating your own private network and protecting it with industry-standard encryption algorithms.

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| Security

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ZoneAlarm Firewall

I've used quite a few free firewalls, but this one is the most intuitive and secure of the ones I've tried.

Avast Anti Virus

The best free anti-virus software there is. It's also not just an annoying advert for the full software either (like AVGfree). Registration is required,

but free.

Adaware

Adware detection and removal.

SuperAntiSpyware

Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware and Remove Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers, Parasites, Rootkits, Rogue Security Products and

many other types of threats. (thanks, djdna)

Spybot S&D

Spyware remover.

Malwarebytes

Malware remover. (thanks, Robbeasy)

HiJackThis

Generates an in depth report of registry and file settings from your computer to aid in the removal of malware from your system startup routine.

Warning: use with extreme caution. Only use if you know exactly what you're looking at. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

KeePass Password Safe

It is a very efficient password database application. (thanks, DrIstvaan)

Truecrypt

Creates a virtual encrypted disk or encrypts entire partition or storage device, also with intsalled OS. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

KeePass Password Safe Linux

As above, but for Linux users. (thanks, tor)

Avira Antivirus Personal

Another good, free anti virus. (thanks, LoneNite)

PeerBlock

Blocks communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring your p2p activities & more. (thanks, GreatFox)

Comodo Free Firewall and Program Guard[/url]

Firewall and Anti-Virus. (thanks, Lone3wolf)

KeyScrambler

Encrypts your keystrokes online. (thanks, Lone3wolf)

Steganos Password Manager

Helps you to organize, administrate as well as sort your passwords. Only accessible with the master password. A highly secure encryption guarantees

secure data protection. Ensures strong passwords. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Steganos Safe One

Two virtual Safes securely protect files. No access without the correct password. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Steganos LockNote

The mechanism to encrypt and decrypt a note is part of it. Secure, simple, independent. No installation required. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Steganos FreeCrypt

Easily encrypts and decrypts your text with the encryption standard AES 256 Bit. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

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| Entertainment & Multimedia

|

Foobar

This media player offers full support for all major music file types, directory playing, volume levelling and mass ID3 tag editing. It's also very light

on memory usage. It doesn't get any better than this.

Winamp

A very popular media player. Latest version includes long awaited kitchen sink feature.

JetAudio

The best audio ripper I've found. Also includes other typical media player features, but I just use it for ripping.

GOM Player

A media player with no shortage of features, including a codec finder. (thanks, Aviadmd)

AIMP

Winamp-like media player. (thanks, DrIstvaan)

VLC Media Player

Plays music and video.

Billy

Tiny portable audio player. (thanks, yettenet)

Songbird

Open source music player powered by Mozilla. (thanks, chautemoc)

iTunes

Needs no intro. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Media Player Classic Home Cinema

A lightweight but advanced media player. It features built-in support for most formats and has a 64bit version. (thanks, tor)

TrakAx

Multitrack recording and more. (thanks apexultima)

Mp3tag

Advanced mass editing of audio file tags. Supports supports over a dozen different file formats. (thanks, tor)

Exact Audio Copy

An audio grabber for audio CDs. (thanks, KavazovAngel)

Spotify

Spotify allows you to share songs and playlists with friends, and even work together on collaborative playlists. (thanks, apexultima)

GBPVR

Free front end for media computers and HTPCs. Like an all encompasing media centre. Linux and Windows. (thanks, DrWevi)

Handbrake

An open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. (thanks, michaelleung)

MediaCoder

For Vista & Win7 Users who can't use Super, Media Coder may well be your best bet. (thanks, Miaghstir)

GOM Encoder

POwerful video encoder. (thanks, Aviadmd)

DVDFab HD Decrypter

Backup video DVD on hard drive. Freeware without advanced features. (thanks, iuliand)

Super

Plays and encodes music and video.

1by1

Little and portable audio player. Uses directory structure to browse the audio catalog. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

Mp3DirectCut

Fast mpeg audio editing. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

XNView

Another picture viewer like Irfanview. Supports also videos. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

WinFF

A free video converter using FFMPEG. (thanks, michaelleung)

Movie DVD Maker

Burns DVD and provides interactive DVD menus. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

StaxRip

Will convert anything that Super doesn't. Has a friendlier interface and auto download all components it may need (VirtualDub, AviSync, x264, etc).

(thanks, Throdax)

InfraRecorder

For DVD / CD recording. Nice clean interface. (thanks, DrWevil)

Sharepod

An iPod manager. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Yami

The self-proclaimed Yet Another iPod Manager.

Format Factory

Converts all popular video,audio,picture formats to others. (thanks, Vorax)

Audacity

Audio editor with a decent array of features.

Wegame

Game recorder and screenshot grabber. (thanks, chautemoc)

VDownloader

Downloads videos from Youtube or similar sites. (thanks klaymen)

Codecs:

Free Codecs.com

|

| Office

|

Open Office

If you want free office software then this is without equal.

AbiWord

A highly competent word processor. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Sumatra PDF

A very lightweight PDF reader. No web browser plugin. (thanks, tor)

Foxit Reader

A very lightweight PDF reader. Also has a browser plugin. (thanks, tor)

PDFCreator

Installs a virtual printer that lets you create PDF files from any application that can print. (thanks, tor)

PDF-Xchange Viewer

PDF-Viewer with tabs and some other free functions like sticky notes. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

CutePDF Writer

Ad-free PDF virtual printer. (thanks, iuliand)

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| Programming

|

vim

Vim is an advanced text editor for programmers that seeks to provide the power of the de-facto Unix editor 'Vi'. (thanks, Snickersnack)

PSPad

Editor for developers for Microsoft Windows systems. (thanks, Carra)

Programmer’s Notepad

Notepad for programmers. Who'd have thought? (thanks, ulthuan)

|

| Gaming Tools

|

Game Booster

Designed to help optimize your PC for smoother, more responsive game play. (thanks, Aviadmd)

Please note: Game Booster should be used with caution.

DOSbox

DOS emulator for Windows. But then you knew that. (thanks, Qbix)

SCUMMvm

A virtual machine that lets you play your SCUMMy games on a wide variety of modern OS.

Boxer

DOSbox for Macs. (thanks, TheCowSaysMoo)

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| Other

|

Stellerium

A great resource to show what stars/ constelations are which outside. (thanks, DrWevil)

Celestia

A beautiful interactive simualtion of space. (thanks, DrWevil)

Lupo PenSuite

A completely free suite of portable programs and games. (thanks, Roh

KeyScrambler

Encrypts your keystrokes online. (thanks, Lone3wolf)

Steganos Password Manager

Helps you to organize, administrate as well as sort your passwords. Only accessible with the master password. A highly secure encryption guarantees

secure data protection. Ensures strong passwords. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Steganos Safe One

Two virtual Safes securely protect files. No access without the correct password. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Steganos LockNote

The mechanism to encrypt and decrypt a note is part of it. Secure, simple, independent. No installation required. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

Steganos FreeCrypt

Easily encrypts and decrypts your text with the encryption standard AES 256 Bit. (thanks, JudasIscariot)

|

| Entertainment & Multimedia

|

Foobar

This media player offers full support for all major music file types, directory playing, volume levelling and mass ID3 tag editing. It's also very light

on memory usage. It doesn't get any better than this.

Winamp

A very popular media player. Latest version includes long awaited kitchen sink feature.

JetAudio

The best audio ripper I've found. Also includes other typical media player features, but I just use it for ripping.

GOM Player

A media player with no shortage of features, including a codec finder. (thanks, Aviadmd)

AIMP

Winamp-like media player. (thanks, DrIstvaan)

VLC Media Player

Plays music and video.

Billy

Tiny portable audio player. (thanks, yettenet)

Songbird

Open source music player powered by Mozilla. (thanks, chautemoc)

iTunes

Needs no intro. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Media Player Classic Home Cinema

A lightweight but advanced media player. It features built-in support for most formats and has a 64bit version. (thanks, tor)

TrakAx

Multitrack recording and more. (thanks apexultima)

Mp3tag

Advanced mass editing of audio file tags. Supports supports over a dozen different file formats. (thanks, tor)

Exact Audio Copy

An audio grabber for audio CDs. (thanks, KavazovAngel)

Spotify

Spotify allows you to share songs and playlists with friends, and even work together on collaborative playlists. (thanks, apexultima)

GBPVR

Free front end for media computers and HTPCs. Like an all encompasing media centre. Linux and Windows. (thanks, DrWevi)

Handbrake

An open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. (thanks, michaelleung)

MediaCoder

For Vista & Win7 Users who can't use Super, Media Coder may well be your best bet. (thanks, Miaghstir)

GOM Encoder

POwerful video encoder. (thanks, Aviadmd)

DVDFab HD Decrypter

Backup video DVD on hard drive. Freeware without advanced features. (thanks, iuliand)

Super

Plays and encodes music and video.

1by1

Little and portable audio player. Uses directory structure to browse the audio catalog. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

Mp3DirectCut

Fast mpeg audio editing. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

XNView

Another picture viewer like Irfanview. Supports also videos. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

WinFF

A free video converter using FFMPEG. (thanks, michaelleung)

Movie DVD Maker

Burns DVD and provides interactive DVD menus. (thanks, FoxbodyMustang)

StaxRip

Will convert anything that Super doesn't. Has a friendlier interface and auto download all components it may need (VirtualDub, AviSync, x264, etc).

(thanks, Throdax)

InfraRecorder

For DVD / CD recording. Nice clean interface. (thanks, DrWevil)

Sharepod

An iPod manager. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Yami

The self-proclaimed Yet Another iPod Manager.

Format Factory

Converts all popular video,audio,picture formats to others. (thanks, Vorax)

Audacity

Audio editor with a decent array of features.

Wegame

Game recorder and screenshot grabber. (thanks, chautemoc)

VDownloader

Downloads videos from Youtube or similar sites. (thanks klaymen)

Codecs:

Free Codecs.com

|

| Office

|

Open Office

If you want free office software then this is without equal.

AbiWord

A highly competent word processor. (thanks, Miaghstir)

Sumatra PDF

A very lightweight PDF reader. No web browser plugin. (thanks, tor)

Foxit Reader

A very lightweight PDF reader. Also has a browser plugin. (thanks, tor)

PDFCreator

Installs a virtual printer that lets you create PDF files from any application that can print. (thanks, tor)

PDF-Xchange Viewer

PDF-Viewer with tabs and some other free functions like sticky notes. (thanks, DukeNukemForever)

CutePDF Writer

Ad-free PDF virtual printer. (thanks, iuliand)

|

| Programming

|

vim

Vim is an advanced text editor for programmers that seeks to provide the power of the de-facto Unix editor 'Vi'. (thanks, Snickersnack)

PSPad

Editor for developers for Microsoft Windows systems. (thanks, Carra)

Programmer’s Notepad

Notepad for programmers. Who'd have thought? (thanks, ulthuan)

|

| Gaming Tools

|

Game Booster

Designed to help optimize your PC for smoother, more responsive game play. (thanks, Aviadmd)

Please note: Game Booster should be used with caution.

DOSbox

DOS emulator for Windows. But then you knew that. (thanks, Qbix)

SCUMMvm

A virtual machine that lets you play your SCUMMy games on a wide variety of modern OS.

Boxer

DOSbox for Macs. (thanks, TheCowSaysMoo)

|

| Other

|

Stellerium

A great resource to show what stars/ constelations are which outside. (thanks, DrWevil)

Celestia

A beautiful interactive simualtion of space. (thanks, DrWevil)

Lupo PenSuite

A completely free suite of portable programs and games. (thanks, Rohan15)