-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Best Freeware Programs for DOS and Windows 3.1x =============================================== Last updated 19 June 1996 This is a list of some freeware programs I like. As far as I know, all are free for personal use. This includes public domain programs, freeware, "postcard-ware", and shareware programs which are free for personal or non-commercial use. It can also include demos, if they are reasonably fully functional, can be freely used, and are not time-limited. Some of these programs require payment if used for commercial purposes. I've tried to indicate an FTP location whenever possible. Corrections and suggestions are welcome. I update and post this list to Usenet groups alt.comp.freeware and comp.archives.msdos.d about every two weeks. Programs new in this version are marked "*NEW*". The list is also available through the World Wide Web at: http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~an448 The latest version is usually available by FTP at: ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/info/free96??.zip ftp://ftp.winsite.com/pub/pc/win3/misc/free96??.zip Compiled by: Yves Bellefeuille . PGP mail welcome. ======================================================================== Table of Contents: Section A: Application Programs Section B: Compression / Decompression Programs Section C: Utilities Area 1: 4DOS / NDOS Utilities Area 2: Disk Utilities Area 3: Directory Utilities Area 4: File and Text Utilities Area 5: Screen and Graphics Utilities Area 6: System Utilities Area 7: Other Utilities Section D: Anti-Virus Programs Section E: Text and Hex Editors Section F: Communication Programs Section G: Miscellaneous Programs Section H: Windows 3.1x Programs ======================================================================== SECTION A: APPLICATION PROGRAMS Galahad - Old-fashioned but serviceable word processor. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/editor/gal210a1.zip, gal210a2.zip, gal210a3.zip and gal210a4.zip I'm interested in suggestions for free spreadsheets, database programs, word processors, DTP programs, CAD programs, and so on! SECTION B: COMPRESSION / DECOMPRESSION PROGRAMS Quick guide: To decompress: Use: ============== ==== *.arj ARJ *.com UNP *.exe UNP *.gz GZip *.lha LHA *.lzh LHA *.tar PCTar *.tar.Z First GZip, then PCTar *.tgz First GZip, then PCTar *.uue UUdecode (see File and Text Utilities) *.z GZip *.zip Info-Zip *.zoo Zoo ARJ - Supports multi-disk archives and self-extracting archives. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/arj250a.exe Diet - Compresses executable programs while leaving them executable (similar to PKLite). ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/execomp/diet145f.zip GZip - To compress/decompress files using the Unix .Z format. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/unix/gzip124.zip Info-Zip - PKZip compatible archiver, but doesn't support multi-disk archives. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/unz520x.exe and zip20x.zip LHA - Supports self-extracting archives. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/lha255e.exe LZExe - Compresses executable programs while leaving them executable. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/execomp/lzexe91.zip PCTar - To unpack files in the Unix "tar" format. Use "tar -xvqf filename.tar". ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/archiver/pctar.zip UNP - Unpacks files compressed with PKLite, Diet, LZExe, EXECOMP, etc. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/execomp/unp411.zip Zoo - An old archiver still used in the Unix world. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/zoo210.exe SECTION C: UTILITIES AREA 1: 4DOS / NDOS UTILITIES 4UTILS - Two utilities for 4DOS: a DESCRIPT.ION editor and a 4DOS-aware file finder. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/4dos/4utils86.zip AREA 2: DISK UTILITIES *NEW* ATAID - Shows characteristics of ATA/IDE disks. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/diskutil/ataid011.zip Core - Measures hard disk performance. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/diskutil/core292.zip DOG - "Disk OrGanizer", disk defragmenter. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/diskutil/dog316.zip FDFormat - Formats diskettes to greater capacities. For 3.5-inch diskettes, try "sector sliding" with "X=1 Y=2". ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/diskutil/fdform18.zip FIPS - Changes partition size and adds new partitions without deleting data. Source included. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/diskutil/fips15.zip Partition Resizer - Another utility to non-destructively resize, add and delete partitions. Nicely documented. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/diskutil/presz112.zip *NEW* Spindown - Powers down IDE drives after period of inactivity. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/diskutil/spindn12.zip Wasted - Shows disk space wasted due to partition size. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/diskutil/wasted20.zip Request: I'm looking for a utility to back up and restore the MBR, the DOS boot record and the FATs (similar to MIRROR and IMAGE). AREA 3: DIRECTORY UTILITIES ACD - "Another Change Directory", jumps directly to any directory (similar to Norton's NCD). ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/dirutil/acd233.zip DirMatch - Compares two directories side by side. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pcmagutl/dirmat31.zip *NEW* Locate - Finds files by name. Many options. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/filefind/floc116.zip Prune - Renames, moves and deletes directories; prunes and grafts directory trees. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/dirutil/prune10.zip Sweep - Executes a command in a directory and across all its sub-directories. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/pcmag/vol4n24.zip AREA 4: FILE AND TEXT UTILITIES BFind - Boolean find, supports AND, OR, NOT, etc. Unfortunately slow. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/textutil/bfind604.zip COMT - Converts COM files to executable ASCII text for transmission by E-mail. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/fileutil/comt010d.zip FGrep - Fast GREP, finds text in files. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/textutil/fgrep183.zip List - File browsing utility. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/fileutil/list91m.zip *NEW* Udec - "Universal decoder" for UUencode, XXencode, MPack (MIME), Ship and HexBin (Mac). ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/decode/udec1_1.zip UUencode, UUdecode - Converts binary files for transmission by E-mail. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/decode/uuexe651.zip AREA 5: SCREEN AND GRAPHICS UTILITIES DVPEG - Graphics viewer. Supports GIF, JPEG and others. ftp://sunee.uwaterloo.ca/pub/jpeg/viewers/dvpeg30l.zip GifExe - Makes "self-viewing" GIF files. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/gif/gifexe44.zip *NEW* JPEG - Converts JPEG graphics to and from BMP, GIF, TGA and other formats. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/graphics/jpeg6a.zip (get jpeg6a32.zip if you have a 386 or better) NANSI - A faster replacement for ANSI.SYS. Supports keyboard redefinition. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/screen/nansi33.zip PCMouse - Gives "cut and paste" ability to DOS programs. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/screen/pcmou15a.zip ScrUtil - Simple screen blanker for DOS and Windows. (No longer supported by author.) ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/screen/scrutl91.zip Snipper - Captures text from the screen and saves it in a file or sends it to the printer. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pcmagutl/snippr26.zip ZANSI - An even faster replacement for ANSI.SYS. Doesn't support keyboard redefinition. Remove before running MEMMAKER. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/screen/zansi12.zip Zeno - Speeds up screen writes via BIOS. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/screen/zeno25.zip AREA 6: SYSTEM UTILITIES CacheChk - Verifies size and speed of cache memory. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/sysinfo/cachchk4.zip CompTest - System information and benchmarks. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/sysinfo/ctest260.zip Escape - Cancels execution of programs during system crashes. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/tsr/escape20.zip InfoPlus - Lots of information about your system. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/sysinfo/ifp1p158.zip MSD - Microsoft Diagnostics, system information. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/sysinfo/ga0363.zip ROM2 - Backs up and restores CMOS data (for use when battery dies, etc.). ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/sysutil/rom2.zip AREA 7: OTHER UTILITIES Bat2Exec - Compiles BAT files to executable format. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pcmagutl/bat2ex15.zip CAL - Similar to Unix's cal, shows calendar for any year or month. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/calendar/cal33.zip Clock - Shows clock in upper right corner, also supports alarm. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/clock/clok132.zip DUMPEM - Display and edit conventional, expanded and extended memory. Includes memory diagnostics. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/memutil/dumpem.zip FILEC - File name completion utility. Configurable. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/sysutil/filec106.zip Key-Fake - Feeds keystrokes to a program. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/pcmag/vol4n26.zip Now & Then - Runs programs at specified intervals (every day, every week, etc.). ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/bootutil/nowthn12.zip Strings - Adds string handling (and many other) functions to BAT files. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/batutil/strings2.zip TSR Utilities - Removes TSR programs from memory without rebooting, and other memory utilities. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/memutil/tsrcom35.zip SECTION D: ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAMS ADinf - Advanced Diskinfoscope. Integrity checker. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/virus/adinf931.zip (often updated) Antivirus Toolkit Pro Virus Encyclopedia - Loads of information on computer viruses. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/virus/avpve.zip DiskSecure II - Protection against Master Boot Record viruses. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/virus/dsii242.zip F-Prot - Anti-virus scanner. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/virus/fp-223a.zip (updated about every two months, finger f-prot@complex.is for latest version) FixUtils - Suite of anti-virus utilities. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/virus/fixutil6.zip SECTION E: TEXT AND HEX EDITORS Hex - Unlike most hex editors, this one lets you insert and delete bytes. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/binedit/hex51.zip NE - "No Edlin", simple text editor with spelling checker. Don't use in a "DOS box" under Windows! ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/editor/ne300b.zip SLED - Small yet surprisingly complete text editor. ftp://ftp.achilles.net/pub/users/sam/sled/sled.zip TDE - Thomson-Davis Editor, configurable text and hex editor. Very complete. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/editor/tde40.zip TED3 - "Tiny EDitor" for text files up to 64 kb. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/editor/ted3.zip Zap-It - Binary file and disk editor. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/binedit/zapit307.zip I'd be particularly interested in hearing about editors capable of handling large files (1 Mb and above). SECTION F: COMMUNICATION PROGRAMS MS Kermit - Reasonably complete, but only supports Kermit. ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/archives/msvibm.zip QModem - Complete communication program, demo of commercial product. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/qmodem/qm46td-1.zip and qm46td-2.zip TXZM - Texas Z-Modem, very small communication program. Supports Z-Modem only. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/termutil/txzm241.zip Special request: I'm still looking for a good fax program! SECTION G: MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS FZC - Fast Zip Cracker, brute force cracker for PKZip encrypted files. ftp://ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/cryptanalysis/fzc104.zip PGP - Pretty Good Privacy, encryption program. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/crypt/pgp263i.zip SFS - Secure FileSystem, encrypts a partition or a disk. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/crypt/sfs110.zip WPCrack - Finds passwords of Word Perfect 5.x files. ftp://ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/cryptanalysis/wpcrack_a.zip ZipCrack - Brute force cracker for PKZip encrypted files. ftp://ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/cryptanalysis/zipcrkmq.zip SECTION H: WINDOWS 3.1x PROGRAMS 1MbFort - Increases free low memory under Windows. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pcmagvol/vol14n06.zip *NEW* Anansi - HTML editor. Still in beta, but very impressive so far. http://www.noord.bART.nl/~har2312 DOSBar - Adds a button bar to DOS windows. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/sysutil/dosbr142.zip FTaskman - Replacement for Windows's Task Manager. ftp://ftp.csusm.edu/pub/winworld/tasks/ftask124.zip *NEW* IconJack - Extracts icons from EXE, DLL and ICO files. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/pcmag/vol14n12.zip *NEW* InfoBar - Displays clock and system information. More configurable than MinInfo. http://goofy.iafrica.com/~dalen/software/infb111.zip LViewPro - Graphics viewer. ftp://ftp.std.com/ftp/vendors/mmedia/lview/lviewp1b.zip MinInfo - Shows free memory and free resources, also time and date. ftp://ftp.csusm.edu/pub/winworld/memtools/mininfo.zip More Control - Control Panel add-on. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/sysutil/morecn10.zip *NEW* MWTask - Replacement for Windows's Task Manager. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/taskman/mwtask13.zip PFE - Programmer's File Editor. Text editor capable of handling large files. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/editor/pfe0602.zip SAW - System Analyst for Windows. Complete information about hardware, Windows, drivers, etc. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/sysutil/saw110.zip Stiletto - Button-bar task switcher and launcher, calendar and clock. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/desktop/stile19t.zip *NEW* SuckMeister - Task switcher and launcher. Very small "footprint". ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/taskman/sm135.zip SuperPad - Notepad replacement for large files. Doesn't support printing. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/pcmag/vol14n07.zip UltraClip - Clipboard replacement. Supports OLE. ftp://ftp.csusm.edu/pub/winworld/clipboard/uclp20.zip UnixCorn - Adds Windows commands to DOS programs. (Free only to non-US residents.) ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/shell/unixcn20.zip Wayfarer - Replacement for Windows's Program Manager. *Very* configurable. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/shell/wayfarer.zip WCL - WinComm Lite, communication program. Demo of commercial program, annoying compulsory registration. ftp://ftp.delrina.com/pub/product/windows/wincommlite/wcl.exe WinFileX - Creates "default" association for File Manager. ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/win3/fileman/wfilx120.zip ======================================================================== Acknowledgements: I got the idea for this list from two great lists of shareware programs. The first is the list of the best shareware programs by Timo Salmi, moderator of the FTP site at garbo.uwasa.fi. His list can be found at ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pd2/bestp43b.zip. Thanks especially to Timo for his encouragement and his help. The second is Samuel Ko's list of the best shareware programs. Unfortunately, this list seems to be no longer maintained. The last version (May 1994) is available at ftp://ftp.coast.net/SimTel/msdos/info/useful35.zip. I've adapted Samuel's table of contents for my own list. Special thanks to Konrad Hinsen for suggestions and assistance and to Stig Linander, Andrew McLachlan and Ian Smith for many useful suggestions. I'd also like to acknowledge the contribution of Frazer Crump, who was the first, to my knowledge, to post a list of best freeware on Usenet group alt.comp.freeware. Disclaimer: To my surprise, the administrator of one of the commercial FTP sites has complained that his own site was not featured prominently enough in this list. With regret, I therefore feel that I should make the following disclaimer. This is a list of software, not a list of FTP sites. I list FTP locations as a convenience to the users, so that they may find the programs I mention more easily. I make no judgement on the merits of FTP sites. If any FTP site has a more recent version of one of the programs I mention, I would appreciate being informed of this. And, of course, users's suggestions are always welcome. ======================================================================== Compiled by: Yves Bellefeuille . PGP mail welcome. Comments, corrections, suggestions and criticism welcome. This list may be freely reproduced, provided that any changes are clearly indicated. ======================================================================== -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3i Charset: cp850 iQCzAgUBMciX2KdbnFWa/K4dAQFZYgTwxZwjByZ6W3GC6koynZeV4yh1Tl/LRhwu lTVgGqk+lCP4mwmZVcqZVB+5IBIUu56AnWty26sjGBujHQ/vVNjyN5qThvWMEzVI 8amRbpI0L4IUPqGXen6PPZ0Vxq0JhXKssOlw2iJnLb6oHytQv58D6H1qfrxbbXb2 pA6yOGxiOQgMQHKi8hlIUiF3GzFxe9evA5JqudT6uYPF22Pf4x0= =hhuV -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----