Tree of Knowledge

Bob's Software Favorites

Microsoft continues to leave important tools out of its operating systems, or provides less than stellar ones. I use all these tools, in some cases for many, many years, and they're usually the first programs that get installed on a new computer. So you get the latest versions, I have linked most programs to the product's web site home page. Many of these programs are free, or shareware. Just click the disk!
The first Must-Have item on my list is a Zip program. WinZip is the standard, and still one of the easiest to use. But I'm partial to WinRAR these days. It's got some nifty features expanding WinZip's capabilites.

If you're online, you NEED virus protection. Norton AntiVirus is one of the best. Not to say that others aren't great as well. This is one area where one-upmanship is still the goal of any anti-virus company. Some retailers and service providers are now including free anti-virus programs. AVG AntiVirus is my favorite of the free programs, and I think highly of Malwarebytes AntiVirus as well.

If you've got a Zip, CD-RW, or other removable drive, and backup software was not provided, Second Copy provides an effortless way to back up your important data files.
Way better than Windows Backup.

Paint Shop Pro is an easy to use and powerful graphic editing program. Doesn't have ALL the bells and whistles like the big guys, but doesn't cost big bucks either.

Did you ever delete a file? And emptied the Recycle Bin too? Sure you did. We've all done it. Emergency Undelete is a very easy-to-use recovery program that will restore files you thought were gone forever. 462K

Want an idea of where all that space on your hard disk went? Well, you can right-click of every directory, then on properties, but TreeSize Pro knows and tells all, in text or charts.

Check for duplicate files in your computer. Dupeless finds them, even if they have different names, different locations, or different disk drives. You'll be amazed at what you find.

If you are using Internet Explorer or Edge, consider FireFox. It is smaller, faster, with plenty of new features, more in compliance with Internet standards, and doesn't have all the built-in problems and other security breaches that IE has been suffering though.

	Microsoft continues to leave important tools out of its operating systems, or provides less than stellar ones. I use all these tools, in some cases for many, many years, and they're usually the first programs that get installed on a new computer. So you get the latest versions, I have linked most programs to the product's web site home page. Many of these programs are free, or shareware. Just click the disk!
	The first Must-Have item on my list is a Zip program. WinZip is the standard, and still one of the easiest to use. But I'm partial to WinRAR these days. It's got some nifty features expanding WinZip's capabilites.
	If you're online, you NEED virus protection. Norton AntiVirus is one of the best. Not to say that others aren't great as well. This is one area where one-upmanship is still the goal of any anti-virus company. Some retailers and service providers are now including free anti-virus programs. AVG AntiVirus is my favorite of the free programs, and I think highly of Malwarebytes AntiVirus as well.
	If you've got a Zip, CD-RW, or other removable drive, and backup software was not provided, Second Copy provides an effortless way to back up your important data files. Way better than Windows Backup.
	Paint Shop Pro is an easy to use and powerful graphic editing program. Doesn't have ALL the bells and whistles like the big guys, but doesn't cost big bucks either.
	Did you ever delete a file? And emptied the Recycle Bin too? Sure you did. We've all done it. Emergency Undelete is a very easy-to-use recovery program that will restore files you thought were gone forever. 462K
	Want an idea of where all that space on your hard disk went? Well, you can right-click of every directory, then on properties, but TreeSize Pro knows and tells all, in text or charts.
	Check for duplicate files in your computer. Dupeless finds them, even if they have different names, different locations, or different disk drives. You'll be amazed at what you find.
	If you are using Internet Explorer or Edge, consider FireFox. It is smaller, faster, with plenty of new features, more in compliance with Internet standards, and doesn't have all the built-in problems and other security breaches that IE has been suffering though.

"If it can't be expressed in figures, it is not science. It is opinion." Robert A. Heinlein

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