Good free software

[Crocoduck]

I've been using LastPass password vault to store my login info instead of the password manager thats built into my browser. It's been working out really well for me and I feel like it's safer. It seems to work with all the popular browsers, in fact it's the only one I've tried that works with my favorite Opera.
http://lastpass.com/

What do you need three browsers for..?  ???

In all my ventures on the Internet, I've until this day managed with just one.

Asmodean I have more then one Yahoo email account and find it handy to use different browsers for different accounts so I can read one with having to log out of the others.

[Davin]

What do you need three browsers for..?  ???

In all my ventures on the Internet, I've until this day managed with just one.

Asmodean I have more then one Yahoo email account and find it handy to use different browsers for different accounts so I can read one with having to log out of the others.

The other reason is for web development, you use multiple browsers to test the site to make sure it works in all the most common browsers.

[Asmodean]

What do you need three browsers for..?  ???

In all my ventures on the Internet, I've until this day managed with just one.

Asmodean I have more then one Yahoo email account and find it handy to use different browsers for different accounts so I can read one with having to log out of the others.

The other reason is for web development, you use multiple browsers to test the site to make sure it works in all the most common browsers.

Those are fair enough reasons. Although I normally use other people to do the second one for me 

[lmbarre]

My current favorite browser is Safari.

[joeactor]

Currently switching from FireFox to Chrome.

So far, I'm liking it.  Chrome doesn't hang as much, and appears to suck less memory and processor.

Wish it had as many plug-ins, but I'm sure it'll catch up.
Hey, it's number 2 now, or so I read.

Other thing, after using it I'd consider getting a ChromeBook instead of a laptop next time around (maybe)

[unholy1971]

Nice list.  Thanks for sharing.

[znk666]

Not sure if these were already posted but fuck it.

Advanced system care
Efficiently clean up your system within a matter of clicks!

http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html

[Asmodean]

Not sure if these were already posted but fuck it.

Advanced system care
Efficiently clean up your system within a matter of clicks!

http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html

I don't trust them system cleaners to deliver what was promised... For one, my registry is never more than six or seven months old, so it doesn't get massive enough to slow down even the cheapest of my computers. For two, if I happen to have 100Gb of data on my OS drive, well, that takes hardware time to sort through - nothing except the delete button will help there. For three, the vast majority of "problems" the cleaners I've tested (Only because I was paid to, mind) found on the machines I tested on, were pretty damned bogus (Or just from the eighties, when RAM was about the size of today's Registers)

[xSilverPhinx]

I use Advanced System Care. Thing is, if you want the full repair service, you have to buy their premium product.   Oh well, better than nothing.

[The Magic Pudding]

I don't use any system care utilities.  It pays to install things with care, not to just accept the auto option and not to install every thing that comes along.  If you run msconfig and select startup you can deselct a lot of things that don't need to run at start up.

[Tank]

I use Advanced System Care. Thing is, if you want the full repair service, you have to buy their premium product.   Oh well, better than nothing.

Don't you just love software that will tell you that you have a problem, then not fix it!

[Asmodean]

I use Advanced System Care. Thing is, if you want the full repair service, you have to buy their premium product.  Oh well, better than nothing.

Don't you just love software that will tell you that you have a problem, then not fix it!

That is the regular scam with such programs. They tell you there is a problem and that there is also a cure, presented in their patented and highly recommended premium package, which can be all yours for a modest fee of (Insert modest fee here).

The thing is, the software I tested did as advertised, but it was overall way too panicky, fixing "errors" which did not have anything to do with system stability and performance. For example, you have some rests of long-since-uninstalled programs on your drive and in your registry. They do NOT slow down your machine to a noticeable degree unless installing then uninstalling software is your main hobby.

Malware, spyware and the like? Well, yes, adware can slow your machine down, as can some forms of viruses, which can also lead to lessened stability and functionality. However, using an all-in-one bundles against such is a bit like piling a bunch of freight containers on a cruise ship.

For those less versed in computer technology, antivirus and firewall programs are usually sufficient protection. If you think you are infected with something and your 100$ antivirus fails to identify the damned thing as a threat even a few days to a week after the infection, then it's likely to be benign.

The OS can often repair itself unless severely broken, and if it gets that broken, you've probably been messing with it in the first place.

[The Magic Pudding]

I just had to wipe all of the stuff off of my hard drive because my laptop had a virus, so I don't have a lot of pictures saved any more, but here is an old one that I found in my photobucket account.

That quotes from the Pets thread, it seemed such a waste, maybe if hard drive crashed you receive a lesson to back stuff up, but that sounded like nothing should have been lost at all.

[Asmodean]

Why wipe the drive before salvaging benign files in the first place?

[Ali]

I just saw this.  So, the virus was infecting every program that I opened, and then I couldn't open anything any more.  Also, I'm not super computer literate other than knowing the basics like how to surf the internet and somehow get myself infected in the first place, so there's that.  My husband messed with it for about a day and a half, and then basically came to the conclusion that a system restore was probably my best bet.  He did ask me if there was anything on my computer that I couldn't stand to lose, but my laptop is basically a toy that I use to browse the internet with.  I did have a bunch of pictures on it, but all of the ones that I wanted to print were already printed.  I think I had the option to go through and try to save some stuff, but at that point I was just frustrated and wanted to be done with it, so I told him to just restore it to factory settings.  Which solved the problem, but also wiped all of my old pictures.