Essential Freeware: Best Free Software Of 2013 PART ONE

We're not really cheap by nature around here, but we are against stupidity, and paying for something you can get for free qualifies as being stupid. Don't be a stupid sheep! Our first post is a list of the best freeware and free software we can find for the computer. Used correctly these programs can also help you speed up your PC, and so this list is more involved than most will be as it is in essence also a PC tune-up kit. Save lots of money, speed up your PC, and still get the best, or nearly the best, software for free legally.

This is Part One of a series. Our evaluations come from running these softwares on Windows 7 systems (both 32 and 64 bit) with between 2 and 16 megs of RAM. Most of these programs have options for other operating systems and devices but we have not tested those. We invite contrary opinion as long as it concerns, for this article, Windows systems only. We're willing to put any truth to the test but those tests must always compare oranges to oranges.

Please also note that unlike some future lists this one is UNRANKED in that these programs aren't being compared to each other, but to other comparable freeware and commercial software.

I. SYSTEM UTILITIES
It really makes no sense when your computer is loaded with RAM, and has triple the processor power needed to go to the moon, but still runs slow as dirt. A lot of the reason for this is junk that stays on your computer and unnecessary startup entries.

Before getting to the programs, we should state that as a general rule we have found it is best to TURN OFF ALL AUTOMATIC UPDATES. Despite the silly warnings and reasons often given for using them, in order for them to run they must be listed in task manager and so at all times use CPU resources whether running or not. When these auto-updaters run, often to check for new versions on every startup, they can often hang, causing problems for the rest of the system. These automatic updates also provide the vendor of the software with marketing and usage information, often without the user's permission. WE DO recommend you do MANUAL UPDATES on all your software periodically, however, especially those that deal with system protection and prevention of malware. So, WHENEVER you install software MAKE SURE you check that it is not set to update itself automatically. Thinking you have to do so is one of the biggest scams in computerdom.

We also recommend you delete any unnecessary programs from your computer using Windows-Programs and Features-Uninstall. We've spent hours just taking garbage and unnecessary bloatware off of brand new PCs.

Also, as for those programs which start up when your computer starts, namely those under the user-run registry keys, these SHOULD BE LEFT TO A MINIMUM. Which brings us to our first recommendation in this category.

1. CODESTUFF STARTER is always one of the first things we install on every computer. Starter is a nice small free front end to access system settings, it is clean and easy to navigate. Download this program and you will see all those things presently running on your computer, and those things which start up when you start your computer. The first thing you should do is look at those "Run On Startup" programs REALLY HARD and disable or, preferably, DELETE from your startup just about everything. Keep your antivirus if you so choose, and your necessary system applications like cameras and peripherals, but remove everything else. This of course does not delete the programs, and you can run them manually anytime you want by simply clicking their icons. Using your programs this way both decreases boot time and frees up system resources, at the cost of a mere double-click.

On a side note, even after installing Codestuff and deleting unnecessary items, you still ought to do a CTRL-ALT-DEL just to see what is still running automatically on your PC after reboot is completed. I think using this program you'll begin to see why your monster machine runs more like a 486.

2. PIRIFORM CCLEANER is another must-install on any new PC. CCleaner is small in size and effective, and though it provides an option to save any registry changes, I have yet had to use that option, and so it is also safe to run. CCleaner, when run, scans your computer for unneeded temporary files and deletes them. It also does a good job finding and repairing registries. If you want to empty your caches for your browsers it does this as well. Just a good program to have and run now and then, especially if your browser is acting strange, it could be something loaded into your cache that will return until it is deleted. CCleaner can do that for you.

3. FAST DUPLICATE FILE FINDER is a great tool that very quickly scans selected folders and/or drives for duplicate files. This is especially useful if you collect a lot of media. The user can choose percentage of similarity as well. Allows easy viewing of duplicate files so you can make sure the files are really the same.

Download these programs and let them do their thing. Remember to turn off the automatic updates. If you have followed the advice in this post you should already see a noticeable difference in your PC speed. We'll move on to Part Two in the next post.