There are a lot of free software packages out there. The systems I am most familiar with are Windows and Linux. What I am providing is not an exhaustive list of packages.
For U.K. government advice on security, see this website - Cyber Essentials
- For anti-virus support: Use Windows Defender - it comes free with modern versions of Windows.
- For anti-malware support. Use https://www.malwarebytes.com/. The free version has to be run manually to work. The paid for version is continually running, checking your computer is OK.
These days the hackers hold your data hostage - they encrypt it and demand a ransom from you to get your data released - this is commonly known as "ransomware". There are various service providers for this (Crashplan and Dropbox) but I don't use them. Best thing to do is to keep all your software CDs in a safe place (if there are any discs, that is) and keep spare copies of your data, possibly on recordable CD or DVD or USB thumb drive /flash drive / memory stick or external USB hard drives.
- ReactOS a free, open-source Windows replacement. Tries to run Windows applications and device drivers.
- sysinternals by Mark Russinovich.
- PowerToys from the Microsoft App Store
- 7-Zip to handle additional archive files
- VLC media player
- paint.net
- GIMP - GNU Image Manipulation Program
- WinDirStat - find out where all your drive space is being used up
- Guide to creating a bootable DOS USB stick (Thomas Krenn).
- FreeDOS an open source DOS compatible O.S.
The GNU people have created a page about free programs and the commercial programs they aim to replace right here.
With Linux (I use mainly Ubuntu - or Debian Linux or lubuntu on older computers and someone I know really likes Peppermint Linux (Debian based) OR Antix Linux (Debian based)), the challenge is knowing which packages your free software is in.
To install Ubuntu Linux, you'll need an .iso file, downloadable from here. If you want to download a flavour of Ubuntu Linux, take a look here here. If you want a different Linux, take a look at DistroWatch to find out about other distributions of Linux.
There are other flavours of Ubuntu Linux, for those who aren't keen on Ubuntu. The Register, in this article, discusses Linux Lite which doesn't require as much memory as Ubuntu.
With Linux, there are at least two databases about packages. The package database on your computer tracks what is installed and which version it is. The databases on the server(s) track information about the packages held on the server. The use of a Package Manager in Linux is particularly helpful as, in Ubuntu's case, the software is installed from servers holding repositories of free software. A package manager can also acts as a kind of safe "Google for packages to install". If you want some software to accomplish a particular task, run your Package Manager and take things from there. Also, because of the databases mentioned previously, a "Software Updater" programme can run every so often and tell the user about newer releases of currently installed software.
Alan, another refurbisher of unwanted systems, likes to use antiX Linux on his old systems, something I haven't experimented with... another thing I haven't experimented with is xubuntu or AlmaLinux,an RPM based distro that is currently 1:1 binary compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For information about different Linux or BSD operating systems, see DistroWatch.
There is also Tiny Core Linux (core is text only, TinyCore has a GUI and CorePlus has extra apps). The book, "Into the core - A look at Tiny Core Linux" is available online.
- Startup Disc Creator (aka usb-creator-gtk) - for creating install media for different releases of Linux etc. Brasero to record isos onto DVD or CD
- To create a USB memory stick to boot a single iso, use usb-creator-gtk. If you want multiple isos on a memory stick, see Ventoy.
- Rufus create bootable USB flash drives (nice GUI etc) in Windows.
It's early days yet and I haven't tried this myself. However, postmarketos might be of interest.
- See here for a list of popular paid-for Windows programmes and links to their Free Software equivalents that can be used on Windows and Linux..
- Download LibreOffice from www.libreoffice.org or install the package libreoffice. Many people use it instead of Microsoft Office. LibreOffice provides tools for word-processing (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation tool (Impress), drawing and flowcharting and simple Desktop Publishing tool (Draw), database (Base) and "Maths" for editing mathematics. See here for free information.
- For serious Desktop Publishing use Scribus. Either download it from here or install the package scribus. Try Googling for a "scribus tutorial" for more information..
- For photo or image manipulation, download GIMP from here:- https://www.gimp.org or install the package gimp. A user guide can be found here. .
- For diagrams etc, a scalar graphics editor (that treats drawings as a series of individual shapes), see something like Inkscape. Tutorials can be found here. Or you can install the package "dia" to edit diagrams - see here for more details. For mind maps, try the package "freemind" to install it on Linux, you can download it for Windows from here.
- For fun, free fonts see https://www.google.com/fonts.
- To wipe confidential files and free up disk space, see BleachBit.
- To create a USB memory stick to boot a variety of ISO files, see Ventoy listed under Creating bootable installation media.
- To display technical info about your system see CPU-Z (for Windows) or CPU-X (for Linux)
Some Linuxes come on "live CDs". This means that you can start a computer with the CD/DVD inside it and have it run Linux without modifying your hard disc. A live CD/DVD is stored on a server with a filename ending in ".iso". In order to use it, you or a friend need to download the iso, use special software to put it onto recordable CD or DVD, and follow the instructions.
- If your Windows computer is heavily infected with viruses, search on https://www.microsoft.com/ and search for "Windows Defender Offline" where you can download an iso, record it to CD-R using special software, and then use that to boot your computer and remove rootkits and other sneaky nasties. You can possibly use CAINE (see below) to copy data off the hard drive (see below).
- CAINE is for Linux experts only and is the "Computer Aided INvestigative Environment" and I have used it to rescue data from a poorly Windows system.
- Rescuezilla (GitHub) see article on The Register. Good tool for imaging and restoring drives.
- Clonezilla is a live CD that is a (hard disc) partitioning and cloning programme. It needs plenty of disc space but is intelligent - it only copies sectors that have information in them.
- aban is an open-source alternative to dban. They will both wipe one or more hard discs attached to your computer.
- GParted will resize, copy, move and potentially rescue files on a computer's hard disc.
- Hiren's Boot CD is a "first aid kit" for your computer.
- memtest86+ will help you check your PC's memory, if you suspect that your computer is faulty..
- Rescatux & Super Grub 2 Disk will fix filesystems, wipe passwords (Linux/Windows), make a user a sudoer.
- SystemRescue CD is a collection of many Linux packages. It is intended for use when you need to fix a problem on your computer.
This can come in a number of formats. Some as packages (aka .deb files), some as Snaps. There is a debate over which is the better format. Here is a mixed collection of software that I like to use on a day to day basis:-
- LibreOffice - office package already mentioned previously on this page.
- emacs - a text editor with a LISP programming engine (I am still getting to grips with emacs Lisp)
- bash - a command line / scripting language that is built into Ubuntu Linux
- Firefox - web browser
- Stuff to try: usbguard - dealing with rogue USB devices , usbview - graphical representation of USB devices plugged in, fuse-emulator-gtk - Specrum Emulator
Created : Years Ago. Last update : 20th June 2024 [(This page online)](https://github.com/ian-bruntlett/TECH-Manuals/blob/main/tm-free- software.md) Validating a web page.