Features

The web's best 50 free downloads

20071016 [PC Pro]

Tools

1. Startup Control Panel
www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
Size: 34KB

We're not going to pretend this application does anything particularly glamorous, but for quickly gaining control of your system's startup programs it's invaluable. Categorised by the locations that startup programs can hide themselves away, each entry can be disabled, deleted or edited - the latter being particularly handy for changing command-line switches. Once you delete an entry, it stays in a holding area rather than disappearing completely, keeping everything tidy but giving you a backup if something stops working.

2. Microsoft SyncToy
www.pcpro.co.uk/links/157synctoy
Size: 1MB

SyncToy is one of Microsoft's PowerToys, and is an excellent tool for backing up files over a network. The program allows you to create folder pairs - each folder can be anywhere on your network - and then keeps the contents of the two folders synchronised. It even keeps track of when you rename files, so changes are reflected in the other folder. This also applies when you move or delete files.

3. ImgBurn
www.imgburn.com
Size: 1.5MB

Spend a lot of time with Linux? If so, you'll be familiar with the hassle of finding software that can handle ISO files. ImgBurn weighs in at a shade over 1.5MB, yet is incredibly handy. You can burn ISOs to CDs and DVDs, and there's a utility for erasing RW discs. Alternatively, you can capture an ISO image from an existing disc, which is useful for long-term archiving.

4. Stardock ObjectDock
www.pcpro.co.uk/links/157objectdock
Size: 12MB

The Start Menu is all very neat and logical, but let's be honest: if you only use a few major applications the Mac OS X dock is a prettier and more accessible interface. And now you don't need to buy a Mac to get it: ObjectDock is a beautiful, fast, free implementation of the OS X dock for Windows that's even more versatile than the real thing, with customisable graphics and live mini-thumbnails in Vista.

5. IsoBuster
www.isobuster.com
Size: 2.6MB

IsoBuster is a handy tool for extracting files from a CD, DVD or Blu-ray disc image without needing to burn it to a disc. It supports a huge range of formats, including ISO, BIN/CUE pairs, Nero images and even Apple DMG files. In addition, you can use it to explore the structure of physical discs and attempt data recovery from damaged media. The free version has limited UDF support, but is otherwise fully usable.

6. AbiWord
www.abisource.com
Size: 5.16MB

AbiWord is billed as "word processing for everyone", and with versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux it pretty much has the whole computing gamut covered. As you might expect from a word processor that arrives in a mere 5MB download, there's no great sophistication here: its basic feature set is roughly comparable to Google Docs & Spreadsheets, but without any of the online service's grating delays or awkward interface. The streamlined feature set and large icons make it a great choice for the kids' computer, and it writes to virtually all the major document formats (including DOC, RTF and ODT), so compatibility won't be an issue. A DOCX converter is on the way.

7. SyncBack
www.snapfiles.com/get/SyncBack.html
Size: 1.8MB

This deceptively powerful little app is a fuss-free backup manager. Simply point the software at the files you wish to back up, set the destination drive and SyncBack does the rest. Handily, the software runs a simulation of the backup first, so you don't spend half-an-hour backing up your C drive only for it to choke on a troublesome file near the end. The scheduler can be set to wake your PC for out-of-hours backups, and there's a bevy of advanced options to perform backups to an FTP server, compress documents into a Zip folder or close certain apps before running.

8. Free Download Manager
www.freedownloadmanager.org
Size: 1.64MB

So much more than just a download accelerator, FDM handles everything from the basics like resuming broken downloads and finding mirrors, right through to creating multiple connections and setting up scheduled downloads. It can download everything from a website in one go, or just selected file types and extensions, and there's even a social side, as you can request other users' opinions of a file before you download it. Better still, it's soon to be open source.

9. VirtualDub
www.virtualdub.org
Size: 1MB

VirtualDub is a legend among open-source apps. Written according to old-school principles, it aims to be the fastest tool for capturing, processing and re-encoding video files from one format to another. Performance-critical sections are hand-coded in assembly language - a practice almost unheard of in these modern times, but it certainly pays off, with VirtualDub regarded as one of the fastest encoding applications there is. It isn't especially easy to use, but technically it's near-flawless.

10. TweakUI
www.pcpro.co.uk/links/157powertoys
Size: 146KB

TweakUI gives you easy access to all of Windows XP's hidden user interface settings that the normal Control Panel won't let you play with. Want menus to pop up more quickly? Don't like the little arrow that appears on shortcut icons? TweakUI lets you change these defaults and many, many more. It isn't just cosmetic, either: useful functions include automatically logging on a particular user at startup and disabling autoplay on selected drives.

11. Taskbar Shuffle
www.pcpro.co.uk/links/157shuffle
Size: 635KB

No prizes for guessing this tool's party trick, but you might be surprised at how useful it can be, particularly for those with a dozen applications open at once. With support for XP and Vista, Taskbar Shuffle adds the much-needed ability to rearrange not only your taskbar buttons, but System Tray icons, too, as well as swiftly changing their auto-group settings. Best of all, you can set it to be transparent, so all you get is the extra features with none of the shouting.

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