A smart freeware program that can clear all forms of mal-ware from your computer. Spybot S&D is a powerful application that offers a default mode and an advanced mode.

When you install this program, you are immediately given the choice to update, which is of course all important when dealing with the various forms of spyware that you want to be protected from. Unfortunately, when updating, progress can seem rapid and then stop for no apparent reason, for several minutes before finishing off the job.

Once you get over that small hiccup, you are prompted to create a system backup, just in case the program happens to remove something that is actually quite important for the smooth running of your system. It should go without saying that making this backup is recommended after which you may finally immunize your system from a growing database of malicious processes.

The program has plenty of options for tweaking and customizing scans as well as some unrelated functions like the secure shredder and a start-up manager.

Although this is a powerful piece of anti-spyware software, it may be better to see it as part of your security solution. For example, team this up with Ad-Aware SE and you should be covered from practically every form of threat to your online safety.

Download SpyBot Search & Destroy 1.6.0 in Softonic

Phun is a typically Swedish invention - functional, free, educational but fun at the same time. If you're studying physics then you should get a lot of enjoyment out of this "game".

The game allows you to explore the forces of gravity and friction plus aspects of density, elasticity, viscosity and inertia in a range of fun ways. Phun basically allows you to create two-dimensional objects and then see how these react according to different physical forces. The game is hugely effective at creating realistic states and effects and forces on your objects. It's a shame that it doesn't support 3D objects although the developers say this has been done to make the interface simpler which they've certainly achieved. To think that this project was developed by a student at Umea university is quite amazing too. In this latest version, they've added lots of nice little extras such as the ability to choose object color, follow objects (right-click them to do so, and right-click the background to stop), optimize any scene containing water, remove water from a scene and holding down shift while rotating now results in increments of 15°. Note that you can watch Phun in action here.

A great little application that proves simple physical concepts in an fun and interactive way.

Download Phun 4.11 Beta in Softonic

The target of this mod is to combine the powerful NAFC system and all the other Xtreme features with all the good features from MorphXT/ StulleMule and other mods.

The developers have added a lot (like WebCache) but still there is much to do. Some features you may find in the StulleMule mod were originally coded for and in this mod before being added to StulleMule.

Download eMule ScarAngel 0.49a 3.0 in Softonic

High resolution photos from modern digital cameras are often too large to send by e-mail, or at least, take a long time to upload.

Sometimes, if you're in a hurry, you just want to get your photos sent off without worrying about whether it's going to attach or not. Imgares is a batch photo editor that allows you to reduce both size and e-mail or upload transfer times. All you have to is drag and drop your photos into the application window (as many as you want), change the size and click "Start" - there's not much too it beyond that. This makes it very limited on the one hand but also extremely quick on the other. After resizing however, the program does allow you to rotate photos, add text to them and even make a slideshow in movie format. The useful bit is that this can all be performed in "batch" processing mode so you can process, resize and label as many images as you want at once. If you do choose the slideshow function, there are several transitions you can apply such as Zoom In and Zoom Out, light effects and some rotation options.

This is one of the most basic photo editing applications you may ever use but for those who need large numbers of photos resized instantly, look no further.

Download Imgares 1.43 in Softonic

If you miss those good ol' arcade titles you used to play in your Nintendo Entertainment System, whine no more: NES is back on your favorite web browser!

FireNes is a Firefox add-on that lets you play more than 2,500 NES titles of all times, covering all sorts of interests and styles. Games appear listed in alphabetic order on a sidebar to the left of your screen (if you don't see it, open it with Tools > FireNes), from which this list you can choose the one you want to play and run it with a double click. The sidebar also includes two other tabs (Top and Favorites) to manage games in a different way. It would have been great to have some kind of search tool to quickly locate certain games though.

When launched, games appear on a small-sized window that runs independently from Firefox. Controls are limited to arrow keys, Enter, Ctrl, Z and X, though sometimes the game does take a while to react to them. Also, I noticed that some games are a bit buggy, but you can always let the author know by filling in a small form. In any case, FireNes features such a huge collection of games that you'll surely find that one title you were hooked on a few years ago.

With FireNes you can use Firefox for more than browsing webpages: play more than 2,5000 NES games and remember gaming prehistory!

Download FireNes 1.1 in Softonic

Audials One is designed as downloader and converter for music that, via it's subscription fee, allows you to download and copy music without fear of infringing copyright laws

The program tries to help you discover the kind of music you will like Simply select the music genre that you're into and click on "Start". The music is all copyright free because it has been recorded from over 15,000 internet radio stations that the program is affiliated to. If you don't find the kind of music you're looking for among the 100,000 artists listed in the MusicFinder database of regularly-played music, you can use the Audials One Internet meta-search engine to locate and download the MP3s you want. Whatsmore, the program comes bundled with a limited audio, video & DRM converter plus a simple CD & DVD burner to burn your favourite tracks. The converter is especially useful for recording music onto mobile devices with around 30 different formats supported. The aim to is to allow you to play your music, audio books and videos on mobile phones, MP3 players, MP4 players, PDAs, PSPs, auto radios and Apple iPods. In addition, there's direct access to podcasts from the community of listeners plus ID3 tagging options to organise your library.

This is a solid music program for those that want to download and share music legally although inevitably, the full subscription fee may put some people off.

Download Audials One Music Video Loader & Converter 3.1 in Softonic

Vista Manager is a powerful software tool to tweak, optimize, maintain and tune up your Windows Vista, it bundles more than 20 different utilities in one. It will help your system to be stable, fast, secure and personal.

Information

Get detailed system and all hardware information on your system; show all detailed information of running processes and threads on your machine; Vista Manager offers 1-clicking and cleans your system automatically.

Optimizer

Tweak your system to improve windows startup and shutdown speed; tweak your hardware to increase system speed and performance.

Cleaner

Find out which files or folders engross your disk space and shown with chart; Find and clean junk files to increase Hard Disk space; Duplicate Files Finder can scan your computer for files with the same size, name and modification time; Registry Cleaner can easily checks your registry and repair incorrectly linked registry entries, automatically remove invalid entries; Registry Defrag rebuilds and re-indexs your registry to reduce application response time and registry access time.

Customization

Control what is started on Windows startup; edit context menus of mouse Right-Clicking; customize system desktop, menus, toolbar and notifications settings; automatically change your desktop wallpaper on background.

Security

You can improve desktop, menus, Windows logon securities, and enable numerous hidden performance options of system, disable system updates and error reports; hide and restrict to access drives, specify which applications are not allowed to be executed on your computer; encrypt/decrypt and shred files, change the location of system folders; Privacy Protector can maintain your personal privacy by eliminating the tracks that you leave behind; create lots of randomization password once.

Network

Optimize your Internet connection speed, manage all shares items; tweak your Internet Explorer easily.

Download Vista Manager 1.5.2 in Softonic

NoScript provides extra protection for your Mozilla/Firefox or Flock browser: this extension allows JavaScript and Java execution only for trusted domains of your choice (e.g. your home-banking web site).

This whitelist based pre-emptive script blocking approach prevents exploitation of security vulnerabilities (known and even not known yet!) with no loss of functionality.

You can enable JavaScript/Java execution for sites you trust with a simple left-click on the NoScript status bar icon (look at the picture), or using the contextual menu, for easier operation in popup statusbar-less windows.

Download NoScript Extension 1.7.6 in Softonic

If you work across two or three different computers then you'll need someway to keep track of all your bookmarks and make sure you've always got them to hand.

If you use Firefox, then Foxmarks is the best solution I've used. Simply signup to the Foxmarks website and all your bookmarks are uploaded so you'll never need to be away from them again. From now on, whichever computer you have Foxmarks installed on will automatically synchronize with it so that your Firefox browser has exactly the same bookmarks between different machines. The program asks you when synching whether you want to delete or overwrite your current bookmarks. The great thing is that you don't need to do anything after that - Foxmarks keeps you constantly updated with the right bookmarks. Your bookmarks are always backed up on the Foxmarks website in case you have any crashes on your local machine and it doesn't conflict with any other firefox extensions. The only annoying thing is if you leave it in synch mode and sometimes when you want to close Firefox, it won't do it until your bookmarks are synched which is a bit frustrating if you are in a hurry.

A brilliant extension that means you don't have to constantly worry about your bookmarks across different machines.

Download Foxmarks Extension 2.1.0.12 in Softonic

While the developers claim that "Free 100% Real-Time Protection" is something that most similar programs charge for may be stretching the truth somewhat, Spyware Terminator & Web Security Guard is very powerful spyware solution.

The program includes all the options you expect to find in such a product including options to manually carry out or schedule scans as well as options to deny or allow access to certain programs to your PC. The program is not just a spyware scanner however as it also includes an antivirus scanner. The developers have also seen fit to include a "Web Security Guard" which carries out the the job that most anti-phishing and pop up blockers in Internet Explorer and Firefox already carry out. This feature also features user generated website reviews along with warnings as to whether the site could be potentially harmful or not. Note that the developers warn that if you are using an unsupported operating system (such as Windows 98 or ME), you it may be better to use version 1.9 which offers the same protection but is much lighter on resources as the one drawback of this program is that it is rather slow to start and close and can hog your memory at peak scanning periods.

This is a comprehensive security solution that has all avenues of attack covered although if you're already using a virus scanner, you may be better to stick with it as it seems the weakest part of what is generally an excellent package.

Download Spyware Terminator & Web Security Guard 2.2.3.444 in Softonic

If you’ve ever had to publish, send or receive particularly large files sizes, you’ll know that it can throw up all kinds of problems – crashed servers, blocked inboxes and transfers that suddenly just hang-up. Pando aims to take the pain out of this process and according to the developers, 3 million people agree that it does exactly that.

Pando is based on a P2P network that enables you to send files of up to 1GB in size by e-mail or by publishing it to the web. It supports all multimedia file types including video, audio and photos meaning it’s great for people who deal with audio-visual files regularly.

For most users, the major benefit will be with e-mail attachments and the good news is, there's no need to change your existing e-mail client. Pando works by creating a torrent-like link file which you can then send in the body of your e-mail for the recipient to click on. There’s no need to be online when the recipient downloads the file and there’s no compression, FTP or dodgy web uploading applets to deal with. The reason you don’'t need to be online is because Pando sends files to its "super-node" servers, which means that there's always at least one "seeder" online at any given time. This seed is guaranteed for 14 days so even if you log off, your recipient can still view it. Obviously, the more people that share it too, the faster the download.

For those unfamiliar with FTP, Pando is fantastic since it works on the same principle as a Bittorrent client. Once the small interface is opened, you can drag and drop or select “add-file” to create a ".pando” file which you can then e-mail to whoever you want once it is uploaded.

The main drawback is that the recipient has to have Pando installed to receive the file. If you transfer files to someone regularly, this is not a problem but if it’'s just the odd file you want to send, then it could be a nuisance to ask someone to install it just to see your file. Be warned also that Pando cannot guarantee security although the developers assure that Pando has 256bit AES end-to-end encryption built in making it technically one of the most secure ways to transfers files online today. The only way that someone could realistically compromise your security however is by hacking into your e-mail account.

Whilst Pando is obviously open to abuse by sharing illegal files, most people go to the major Torrent sites to do that, meaning Pando is refreshingly free of any copyrighted material flying around and causing problems. Overall, it’'s a great solution for those unfamiliar with FTP who need to send big files regularly.

Download Pando 2.1.5.1 in Softonic

Video DownloadHelper installs in the Firefox toolbar to enable you to download in just a few clicks.

When it animates, clicking on the video icon downloads it directly. This simple extension downloads anything from YouTube videos, to MySpace, Google Video, DailyMotion, Porkolt, iFilm and more. You can select the folder you want to download videos where you will find them in FLV format. To make things even easier to keep track of, the files are added to the list of Firefox downloads like any other file. So you can see in a glance exactly what you've downloaded and how many videos you have in your collection. The only problem you might find is that sometimes, the downloads don't start immediately. It can take time depending on the streaming on the video site server but also, it seems that the program itself has to process the file before it starts downloading. The latest version has introduced some major innovations in the interface which make it much faster to use. One example is that FLV videos that you view are now remembered by the program so you can view your viewing history at any time and request the download of several videos in one batch or go directly to their original page. You have to enable this function via the system preferences and select 'enabled' in the 'History' tab. The developers have also reduced the number o duplicate entries that used to plague the previous version and there are fewer memory leaks so it's lighter on your RAM.

A useful FLV video downloading tool for Firefox users and the latest improvements have fixed many of the speed problems which hampered it before.

Download Video DownloadHelper 3.1.1 in Softonic

EF Commander is a file manager for the Windows which comes complete with bubble and online help. You can search directory trees and directories and perform actions, including Run, on files. You can also check file attributes and edit files with search-and-replace and drag-and-drop functionality.

The application allows you to use the internal editor or associate one of your choosing to edit files, easily view files and configure the buttons to suit your needs, and get system and disk information with a click of the mouse.

Download EF Commander 6.61 in Softonic

Revo Uninstaller has been made portable. Well, maybe not exactly. The developers of the original app have created a new portable version, which means that it can be saved to your USB memory device and run directly run from there, as it doesn't require installation.

Don’t this new Revo is a lesser version just because of this portability feature. On the contrary, it includes the same array of tools to keep your system perfectly clean and healthy. With Revo Uninstaller you'll be able to remove any software from your PC, erasing all possible traces left behind it. What's more, the program includes some handy tools to clean web browsing traces, erase junk files, check what programs are set to launch with Windows and more.

The original Revo Uninstaller is already one of those must-have apps that help you perform the necessary cleaning tasks in no time. This Portable version is even better, because you can take it with you and use it any time you need it. In fact, I could only find one small bug: I missed having a progress bar when scanning the system for junk files.

Uninstall software, clean junk files and optimize your system's performance the easy way.

Download Revo Uninstaller Portable 1.71 in Softonic

Undelete Plus is a quick and effective way to retrieve accidentally deleted files, files removed from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from a network drive, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down. If you've ever accidently deleted a file or experienced problems with your system after a major change, check out undelete plus

Download Undelete Plus 2.95 in Softonic

Backing up your drivers is one of the best things you can do to your PC - if the worst happens, you know that you can always restore damaged and corrupt drivers in seconds.

In most cases when Windows is running slower, faulty driver installations are to blame. The problem is that Windows automatically stores versions of older drivers just in case you want to roll back but sometimes it these conflict with the new ones. Drivermax basically backs-up and restores driver in a very attractive and well presented interface. It has a powerful export wizard to help you export the drivers you need to backup by copying the required files to a folder or compressed ZIP file. After reinstalling Windows, the program can ensure that all drivers are reinstalled within 5 minutes according to the developers. While the process is nowhere near this quick - or straightforward because many drivers may not work properly first time round due to the special way they need to be installed - it is on the whole very easy to use and efficient. It certainly saves you the hours of searching and installing that you'd usually have to go through. The Import Drivers wizard is similarly straightforward and will take up to 10 minutes depending on how much you've got installed on your PC.

A powerful driver installation and restore tool that is easy enough for beginners and does the job in decent time.

Download DriverMax 4.3 in Softonic

Ant Movie Catalog is a free (opensource) program made to manage your collection of movies in DVD, CD (VideoCD, DivX, ...) and tapes.

Features:

• Can store catalog in two file format: its own binary format or XML
• Can store pictures inside catalog or link to external files
• Supports PNG, JPEG and GIF
• Loans management
• Statistics with chart and pies
• Can display the list as a tree, where movies are grouped by a specified field
• Printing, using customizable templates
• Import information from Internet (using scripts)
• includes scripts for IMDB (US), DVDFR (FR), Allociné (FR), Culturalia (ES)
• User-customizable links to do a search on movie websites
• Information importation from various media files
• Scripting technology, using Object Pascal language, allowing to modify catalog

Download Ant Movie Catalog 3.5.1.1 in Softonic

Writing PHP code and testing it on-the-fly can be a real hassle but this offering from DzSoft promises to ease the pain of coding by acting as a virtual server that can process code and display the results.

DzSoft PHP Editor is primarily a code editor, and includes the majority of features that you’d expect from this type of software. However, while most rival code editors tend to generalize, offering syntax highlighting for a multitude of languages PHP Editor is specifically tuned to the needs of web programmers who are working with the Hypertext Preprocessor language. Evidence of this can be found in the inclusion of common code and functions libraries and the ability to run and preview your work.

At first glance the program doesn’t appear to have a particularly intuitive interface. The design wouldn’t be out of place in Windows 95 and the main editor window is a typical reproduction of Notepad with each line numbered for easy reference. What appears to be a navigation bar on the left offers some hope of functionality, and once you get stuck in to coding it really delivers. The explorer bar tracks everything and records the location of each include, function, variable, and class you use. Should you wish to specifically save a reference point you can add up to nine bookmarks, although you can’t assign names to them - an addition that would have helped clarify what function each snippet serves.

To use the run and preview feature you must install PHP on your PC, a simple operation when compared to setting up your computer as a server that can process PHP. With a syntax check also included, this tool comes highly recommended to anyone that will be writing significant bodies of PHP. DzSoft PHP Editor may be a little rough around the edges, but with its outstanding functionality, that can be forgiven.

Download DzSoft PHP Editor 4.2.0.0 in Softonic

I use Gmail so much now that in many ways, I prefer it to even using Outlook. However, integration with Windows is nowhere near as good as Microsoft Outlook for obvious reasons.

gAttach! bridges that gap somewhat by allowing you to attach files directly to Gmail or Google Apps Mail directly from Windows. In other words, just right click on a file, select "Send To" and "Mail recipient" and the plugin will automatically open your Gmail client with the file already attached. It not only attaches files directly from Windows Explorer - it also opens up a whole new world of attachment possibilities from Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

There's not much more too it than that - it integrates perfectly into Windows Explorer. However, you may experience some glitches. If you are sending a file attachment whose filename is in a different alphabet to the one you use normally (e.g. your computer uses English but you're sending a Spanish attachment), it may not recognize or attach the file. It's also limited by Gmail's 20MB file attachment restriction. If you're logged into your Gmail, it won't prompt you for your details but if you are not, then it does ask you for your username and password which you may or not feel comfortable submitting.

For any Gmail fan, this is an excellent utility that makes attaching and sending files so much easier than opening your web client all the time.

Download gAttach! 1.2008.7.7 in Softonic

Wise Disk Cleaner is a utility that helps to locate and eliminate those temporary archives that, with time, can litter your hard drive to critical point. The app can clear a wide range of different types of files including temporary Internet files, Windows updates, temporary user files, system files, and redundant archives.

One of the best things about Wise Disk Cleaner is that it allows you to add your own folders with temporary files not in use or those that you simply want to eliminate when executing the program. The program is very simple to use, and it's just a case of running a quick scan of your files then marking those that you wish to eliminate.

Download Wise Disk Cleaner 3.5.1 in Softonic