Jump to content
GreaseSpot Cafe

Programs that work well


Vertical Limit
 Share

Recommended Posts

I thought i'd list a few programs that have proven to be very good. Please add some if you know of any that have stood the test of time.

--

IE Zoomer. You can right click a picture on a webpage and zoom in on it or make it zoom out. Make it bigger or smaller you know. And it's free.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1656355,00.asp

--

Phone Plus. An excellent caller id program with a phone book. You must have a caller id enabled modem for it to work though. 30 day trial then it'll cost you a little. I have had it for years. Once it logs the number you can add it to the phone book and give it a name. Next time they call it will tell you who's calling audibly if you want it to. Worth a look.

http://www.imptec.com/index.html

--

AdawareSE. Free. Ad removal tool.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

--

Spybot s&d (search and destroy) Free. Ad removal Tool

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

--

Please add more to the list.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PixResizer http://bluefive.pair.com/pixresizer.htm

A free program that resized digital images and converts from one format to anyother. Works on pictures one at a time or on a group in batch mode.

Terrific for when you take a large pic with a digicam for printing and want to post or email a smaller version. Also for making thumbnails for a web site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a great topic, Vert. I would suggest to everyone that you do your research before purchasing or downloading software. Some programs will cause the very problems they claim to eliminate. Ad Aware and Spybot, however, do have very good reputations.

We installed Zone Alarm for a time. It probably isn't a horrible program, I've read some decent reviews of it. However, when we later decided to go with Norton's instead, we had a hell of a time getting it installed and running properly because of Zone Alarm. It turns out the Zone Alarm program overwrote some important files and registry keys. It also turns out these files and registry keys conflicted with Nortons. Now that we have Nortons up and running properly, we are very pleased with it.

I will again repeat, do your research and choose carefully.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks abigail

yeah I use norton too. But it seems to have an awful lot of stuff running in the background, taking up memory you know. But it works well.

Here's another one...

mailbox verifier

http://www.mailutilities.com/mv/

Make sure you have all the settings set correctly, there are a few, then it'll work.

It will check your mail for you and alert you when you have a message. Good for those who use outlook express, because oe doesn't notify you like yahoo and msn messenger does.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vertical, this thread is a great idea. Thanks!

I have one if you use Outlook (not Outlook Express)

It is called Spam Bayes It is a free add on program that filters Spam out of your email and puts them in a folder called Junk Mail or in one called Junk Suspects.

The good thing about this is you "train" it by where you put messages you receive. It is almost 100% accurate for me. There are updates for it occasionally and you can check for updates from within the program.

Spam Bayes

PS - Speaking of Outlook Express, it is no longer supported by MSFT. Outlook Express was invented because the full blown Outlook 97 and following originally sucked and there were complaints.

But now Outlook has come of age in my opinion starting with Outlook 2003. It is widely used solid and getting rave reviews. Switch if you dare, but only if you have XP. Outlook Express is fading fast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

igotout

I tryed outlook once and it screwed things up. You know how you can right click a picture or doc. and hit send to email? With oe I could send it straight to the oe email but when I loaded outlook I lost that ability.

What happened? Can I make oulook my default email and regain that ability? Do I need to uninstall oe first?

I don't know if I want to try it again. I have outlook on disk bundled with office 03 but I didn't load it. The other stuff works fine though from office 03-word-access-excel-powerpoint-publisher.

O and I am running xp home edition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm - I can right click on a picture and "Send To Mail Recipient". What was the problem? Was the SEND TO missing when you right clicked? If so, that is another issue, I believe, and one that is easily fixed. Were you able to manually attach a picture to the email?

I would give Outlook 2003 a try. But always go to Office Updates and apply the latest updates. It is automatic for the most part.

No you do not have to uninstall OE. Just go to Internet options and make Outlook your default email client.

Those Power Toys are nice, especially the famous Tweak UI. I have used Tweak UI for years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah-Send To - "Mail Recipient" was greyed out. Anyway I may give it a try. Thanks for the info.

WordWolf comeon tell us about 'em icon_smile.gif:)-->

btw mailbox verifier can check all your mail programs. Cause if you don't have your messengers running they won't tell you when you have new mail. MV will check it without them running too. hmmmm sounds like i'm selling it, but it's free and i really like it.

Anyone check out phone plus? I think it's an awesome program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use and really like:

AdAware 6.0 to search for and clean out spyware.

I use SpamPal to pre-sreen my mail,

McAfee Virus Scan to monitor my system for viruses and scan my network,

PopUp Stopper to control popups,

Speakonia so I can listen to my e-mail [as well as listen to things I write, to check grammer],

Word / Outlook for work,

Weather Bug to monitor local weather,

Tag Master to strip ugly tags from my music,

Quick Verse 8 to do research,

WallPaper Changer to display all my photos,

EasyClean, RegClean, TweakUI to clean and arrange my system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, Galen, Steve is right and it's a bitch to get rid of too. icon_frown.gif:(--> That is why I said at the begining - do your research before you put anything on your puter. Even the most innocent looking program can be problematic.

Call me paranoid, but after everything we went through to get this machine running again - I won't even download aol im again.

Vert, the problem with a lot of free virus scanning programs is if they do find a virus - you still have to pay money to get rid of it. Might just as well buy something with a good reputation and protect yourself before it happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is true, Vert. The same would be the case with the spybot type programs. For example Adaware will pick up the CoolWebs ( what a nightmare that one is) but it can't get rid of it. In fact so far, the only solution I've found to that one is to track it down and delete it manually.

Same with VX2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've learned that these MVP,s on the newsgroups know what they are talking about. If it finds a virus I don't know if it'll clean it for you or not.

But there are fixes for viruses out there for free. These MVP's can point you in the right direction to get the fix.

Just type in "microsoft newsgroups" in your search engine and have fun learning!

Try them newsgroups for problems with anything....well....related to windows anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...