Windows XP Free Utilities And Resource Guide

[g-unit1111]

This thread is intended as a list of all of the best freeware utilities and applications on the internet, as well as a thread to help you get started with your new pre or self built PC and the applications that will get the most out of it.

****NOTE: Tom's Hardware nor its' parent company Best Of Media, LLC does not make any claims as to the ownership of these properties or will provide technical support for them. This information is strictly to use at your own risk.****

The items marked with an asterisk (*) have both paid and free versions. Otherwise these programs are free of charge and open source. This is not a complete list. If you have suggestions of programs to add please do not hesitate to contact myself or one of the other moderators through PM and we will evaluate and add to the list. As per the terms of service of Tom's Hardware and Best Of Media, LLC, we have a strict policy on piracy, therefore torrent sharing utilities will be immediately excluded from suggestions so don't ask.

****NOTE REGARDING WINDOWS XP: Most of these applications are mainly designed for Windows Vista, 7 and 8. Most of these utilities should work fine with Windows XP even though Microsoft is discontinuing support for XP sometime in the near future. If anyone has any experience working with any of the applications below on Windows XP do not hesitate to let it be known and what your level of success with said programs are.****

Web Browsers** :

- Fire Fox (current version 26.0.5): http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
- Opera (current version 20.0.1) : http://www.opera.com
- Internet Explorer (current version 10.0): http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/download-ie
- Google Chrome (current version 33.0.17) : http://www.google.com/chrome

*NOTE*: Apple no longer supports Safari for Windows. Existing installations will still work fine but Apple is currently offering no new downloads or updates at this time.

Media Players:

- iTunes (current version 11.0.1) : http://www.apple.com/itunes
- Windows Media Player (no link - already pre installed on most PCs)
- Winamp (current version 5.6.6 ) : http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=374929
- Quicktime (current version 7.7.5) : http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Run Time Applications (Required for most online streaming and video playback sites) :

- Microsoft Silverlight IE Plugin - http://www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight/Get-Started/Install/Default.aspx
- Spotify: https://www.spotify.com/us/download/windows/
- JAVA: http://www.java.com/en/
- Microsoft .NET Framework (current version 4.5) : http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30653
- Adobe Flash Player: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
- Adobe Shockwave: http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/
- Pandora: http://www.pandora.com

Compression Tools:

- 7 Zip: http://www.7-zip.org/
- Pea Zip: http://peazip.sourceforge.net/
- Win Zip*: http://www.winzip.com/win/en/index.htm

Benchmarking & System Information Software:

- CPU-Z: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
- Prime 95: http://download.cnet.com/Prime95-64-bit/3000-2053_4-75869492.html
- 3D Mark*: http://www.3dmark.com
- Belarc Advisor: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Instant Messaging, E-Mail, And Video Chat:

- Skype: http://www.skype.com/en/download-skype/skype-for-computer/
- AOL Instant Messenger: http://www.aim.com/download#windows
- Yahoo Instant Messenger: http://messenger.yahoo.com/download/
- Mozilla Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/download/?product=thunderbird-24.3.0&os=win&lang=en-US

Office Suites & Document Utilities:

- Microsoft Office 365*: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/
- Apache Open Office: https://www.openoffice.org/
- Adobe Acrobat Reader: http://get.adobe.com/reader/
- CutePDF: http://www.cutepdf.com/

Security:

- AVG Free*: http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
- Ad Block Plus: http://adblockplus.org/en/firefox
- Malwarebytes: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/
- Ad Aware: http://www.lavasoft.com/

Online Storage:

- Dropbox: http://www.dropbox.com/downloading
- CuteFTP: http://www.cuteftp.com/trial.aspx
- Google Drive: http://www.google.com/drive/about.html

Image Uploading, Management, Presentation, and Editing:

- Paint.NET: http://www.getpaint.net/download.html
- Google Picasa: http://picasa.google.com/
- GIMP: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
- FotoFlexer: http://fotoflexer.com/http://fotoflexer.com/
- Prezi*: http://prezi.com/prezi-for-business-2/?gclid=CKu3v6nC_LwCFYFhMgodNwwATg

Game Streaming:

- Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/about/
- EA Origin: https://www.origin.com/en-us/download

Other Useful Applications & Utilities

- Google Earth: http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/agree.html

Cell Phone Sync Managers:

- Samsung Kies (for Galaxy Smart Phones And Tablets older Than Version 3): http://www.samsung.com/us/kies/
- Samsung Kies Air (for newer Galaxy Smart Phones And Tablets) : http://www.samsung.com/us/support/faq/FAQ00029016/29184/ECS-V994BEGSTA
- HTC Sync Manager: http://www.htc.com/www/software/htc-sync-manager/

** - For further information on the differences between the various web browsers available this article is a helpful guide to choosing the browser that best suits your needs: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/chrome-27-firefox-21-opera-next,3534.html