Links
TOP 10 BEST FREE SOFTWARE
List taken from the links below. No particular order.
Adblock — simple browser plug-in that blocks banners, pop-ups and video ads
Angry IP Scanner — network scanner to scan IP addresses, ports, other features
PuTTY — SSH and telnet client
Mp3tag — edit tags, information on artist, album, title, album cover.
LibreOffice — best free office suite
Gramps — Genealogical Research Software
FileZilla — FTP application
VLC — free and open source cross-platform multimedia player
Notepad++ — best editor for hard coding (ASCI)
Rufus — Create bootable USB drives the easy way
IT Guides & Forums & Tools
How Stuff Works — good place to start if you want to learn about computers
iFixIt — free repair manual for Apple products, game consoles, phones, etc
Tek-Tips Forum — 800+ forums aimed at computer professionals
TechNet — Microsoft resources for IT professionals
Experts-Exchange — Microsoft MVPs - IT consultants answer IT problems
Cheat-Sheets — cheat sheets, round-ups, quick reference cards, quick reference guides & sheets
RouterPasswords — largest and most updated default router password database
Black Viper — Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7/2008R2/8 Service Configuration
CoolTechZone — Guide on "How to hide your IP address on the Web"
HiFi Engine — audio components images, specs, reviews, owners manuals, etc.
IT Retailers
PCPartPicker — help do-it-yourself PC builder
Memmory Express — by far the best Canadian hardware retailer
Newegg Canada — another good hardware retailer
MonoPrice — specializing in high quality cables, components, accessories for computer and consumer electronics
CableSupply — owned and managed by Networking and IT Professionals
PriceWatch — kind of gives you an idea where hardware prices are
Xoxide — this hardware retailer is for the super geek, very specialized items
TechSupplyDirect — purchase corporate level workstations and servers
ChipScapes — digital art form based on computer chips
PC Hardware & Software Support Phone Numbers
Software - Free
Browsers
Vivaldi — highly customizable browser
Firefox — Mozilla Foundation browser
Google Chrome — Googles highly rated browser
Browsers Plugin Software
VLC — free and open source cross-platform multimedia player - multiple CODEC installation
Leawo Blu-ray Player — free Blu Ray player that actually works
Adblock — simple browser plug-in that blocks banners, pop-ups and video ads
Unchecky — simple browser plug-in that blocks banners, pop-ups and video ads
4K Video Downloader — Simple way to download YouTube videos
Backup & Re-Installation Software
Ninite — Download multiple Applications with one easy sweep
Chocolatey — automation package manager for Windows
Cobian Backup — best free backup utility for all versions of Windows
Recuva — Recuva rocovery for Windows
Backup Start Menu Layout — application to backup and restore Win10 start menu layout
Macrium Reflect 7 — Backup, disk imaging and cloning solution
DriveImage XML — Windows XP/Vista/7/8 clone backup utility
Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder — utility that retrieves your Product Key (cd key) used to install windows
PC Decrapifier — removes shovelware from new laptops and PCs
Productivity Software
LibreOffice — best free office suite
ShareX — screen capture, file sharing and productivity tool
Paint.NET — free image and photo editing software
GIMP — free photo imaging program - (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
IrfanView — graphic viewer
Sketckbook — powerful creative sketching tool
Audacity — free, open source, cross-platform audio software
Inkscape — Open Source vector graphics editor
Gramps — Genealogical Research Software
Utility Software
Ultimate Windows Tweaker — Also older versions available
Classic Shell — Highly customizable start menu with multiple styles and skins for Windows 8
8GadgetPack — Use Gadgets on Windows 10 / 8.1 / 8 — Tech Gadget Pack
FAT32 Formatter — format drives larger than 32GB using FAT32
Treesize Free — disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool
Prime95 — Torture Test utility that allows maximum stress testing on the CPU and RAM
HFSExplorer — Read Mac-formatted hard disks from Windows
PortableApps — software to work from your USB drive with a sleek customizable menu
CrystalDiskInfo — detailed information of hard disk & SSD
Burning, Mouting, Ripping, & Compression Software
CDBurnerXP — free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray
Free ISO Creator — ISO creation tool no complicated settings and options
DAEMON Tools Lite — Mount mdx, mds/mdf, iso, cdi, bin/cue, cue, flac, nrg, isz images
IZarc — ultimate freeware archive utility
Video & Audio Software
HandBrake — Convert video from nearly any format
OBS Studio — Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming
Olive — Free and open source software for video editing
FreeRIP — RIP to WMA, MP3, Ogg, Wav, or FLAC audio files
Mp3tag — edit tags, information on artist, album, title, album cover.
Remote & Network Software
FileZilla — FTP application
qBittorrent — Free and reliable P2P Bittorrent client
Team Viewer — Remote control any computer or Mac over the internet within seconds
UltraVNC — easy to use program that allows you to control another PC remotely
join.me — simple screen sharing and remote control, requires only a web browser and internet connection
Security Software
Glary Utilities 5 — deletes temporary, log, history, cookies (files) from PC
VeraCrypt — free open source disk encryption for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux
KeePass — light-weight and easy-to-use password manager
Bitwarden — open source password manager
Anti-Malware Software
Spybot Search & Destroy — free Spyware removal
Malwarebytes — identify and remove malicious software from your computer
SUPERAntiSpyware — removes ALL the Spyware, not just the easy ones
Hardware and Software Audit Software
Belarc Advisor — builds a detailed profile of your PC's software, hardware, network, missing hotfixes, etc.
Monitoring Software
WebXray — tool for analyzing third-party content & identifying companies which collect user data
CPU-Z — tells you all about the CPU you're running, it's the standard all computer geeks use
GPU-Z — utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU
HWiNFO — Comprehensive Hardware Analysis, Monitoring and Reporting for Windows
CoreTemp — monitor processor temperature
HWMonitor — monitors PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, fans speed
Websites With Various Free Software
SysInternals — amazing Windows utilities by Mark Russinovich
Alex Nolan Utilities — numerous useful system utilities
NirSoft — utilitiies for passwords, Outlook, network, command-line, etc.
Roadkil.Net — numerous useful system utilities
Meazure — measure objects on the screen
Convert for Windows — converts units of distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, etc.
OldVersion — Old Software Downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux and Abandonware Games
Software - Licensed
SpinRite at GRC — Steve Gibson hard drive data recovery software
ArtRage — an inexpensive, fun, and easy-to-learn program for experimenting with digital art
CoffeeCup Software — web building software
Alcohol 120% — burning, image making, image mounting application
Power ISO — Create, Edit, Compress, Encrypt, Split, Mount, Extract ISO file, ISO/BIN converter, Virtual Drive
WinRAR — powerful archive manager. Decompress RAR, ZIP and other files
Software - Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows — Windows home page
Ubuntu Linux — most popular Linux version
Mint Linux — my personal favorite
Kali Linux — penetration testing arsenal that aids security professionals
RedHat Linux — popular server base Linux OS
FreeNAS — Free and Open Source NAS software appliance
VirtualBox — creation of a virtual operating system on a host machine
WinWorld — preservation and sharing of vintage, abandoned, and pre-release software
WindowsReinstall — Reinstall or repair Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000, 98, 95, etc.
Software - Network & IT Utilities
DNS Benchmark — GRC Domain Name Speed Benchmark
Angry IP Scanner — network scanner designed to scan IP addresses, ports, and many other features
DD-WRT — Linux based alternative OpenSource firmware suitable for WLAN routers
JustWebProxy — surf the internet anonymously with just a web browser
Unlocker — Unlock "cannot delete file: Access is denied" files
Tor Project — anonymity online -defend yourself against network surveillance and traffic analysis
Ophcrack — free Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables
Nagios — IT infrastructure monitoring
PuTTY — SSH and telnet client
Vernalex — SYSPREP driver scanner
SolarWinds TFTP
Wireshark — capturing and protocol analysis of network traffic
SysInternals - Mark Russinovich — host of advanced system utilities and technical information
Revo Uninstaller — Remove junk files and unnecessary program files
Cain & Abel — password recovery tool for Windows (sniffing the network, cracking encrypted passwords)
Ultimate Boot CD — diagnosing, repairing, removing spyware, cloning, rescuing data, etc
Hiren's BootCD — diagnosing, repairing, removing spyware, cloning, rescuing data, etc
VOGONS — VOGONS vintage drivers
Rufus — Create bootable USB drives the easy way
Etcher — Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives
Programming
Wirth's Law — "Software is getting slower more rapidly than hardware becomes faster"
CODE.ORG — Every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science
Assemby Language — GRC explaining the beauty of Assembly
W3Schools — great site to start programming in HTML, Scripting, etc
ProgrammersHeaven — every programming language imaginable
Visual Studio Code — Microsoft's free and open source code editor
Notepad++ — best editor for hard coding (ASCI)
NoteTab Light — feature-rich text editor
Bloodshed — C++ editor and compiler
FreeBASIC — free/open source (GPL), BASIC compiler
Wifeo — Offers ready-to-use and customizable Website designs
Hello World Collection — "Hello World" is the first program one usually writes
e4004.szyc — Intel 4004 Microprocessor Emulator
Web Based Utilities
WebGL Samples — Web based benchmark
HTML5 test — tests how well your browser supports the upcoming HTML5 standard
10 Minute Mail — for joining certain site that require email registeration
ReScam.org — Website to waste scammers time - Funny stuff
Fast.com — simplified broadband speed test
Speedtest — advanced broadband speed test
Fingerprints — Fingerprint stops eavesdropping
Test My Cam — automatically connects to your webcam to test if it is working
A Web Whiteboard — online whiteboard you use your computer or smart device to easily draw sketches, collaborate, and share
join.me — simple screen sharing and remote control, requires only a web browser and internet connection
What's My IP Address — public IP address, port scan, location, etc.
Popular IP Tools — IP Geolocation, Blacklist Check, MX Lookup, and many more
MAC Address Database — MAC addresses assigned by the vendor
Jotti's malware scan & Virus Total (Google owned) online service that enables you to scan suspicious files
Perfect Passwords — GRC's Ultra High Security Password Generator
ShieldsUP! — GRC's internet security vulnerability profiling services
';--have i been pwned? — check if your personal data has been compromised
RAID Calculator — Calculates array characteristics in RAID 0, 1, 10, 5, 6
DiskCalculator — Hard Disk Real Capacity Calculator
Laptop BIOS Password Recovery — Dell, HP, Compaq, Sony, Samsung
TypingTest.com — learn to type online
Interesting Websites
World's first website — What did web pages look like 25 years ago [Aug. 23, 1991]
William Shakespeare — Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Hosted by MIT [1993]
Transistorized — 1999 PBS documentary
Way Back Machine — Internet Archive - Way Back Machine
Old Internet Again — vintage web browsing on vintage computers
Random Facts Slides — slide show of random facts
Neverending Playlist — listen to your favorite artist online - for free!
goosh.org — google-interface behaves similar to a unix-shell
Cell Size and Scale — viewpoint on technologies manufacturing process
Windows 93 — fun look at Windows that never existed
Acronym Finder & NetLingo & File Extension — WYSK
Babbel — learn a new language for free
TED — Ideas Worth Speading
BrainyQuote — Famous Quotes
FOAAS — Fuck Off As A Service
Maximum PC Magazine — nearly a decades worth to read online - Google Books
Statistics
Market Share — Market share for Browsers, Operating Systems, Search Emgines, etc.
Google Trends — Googles top searches results
W3School — Browser Statistics and Trends
Worldometers — Real time world statistics
World Internet Usage — Users and Population Stats