Essential Programs Essential Programs Many documents these days are supplied in the PDF format, and you need a  special reader to view them. The format was invented by Adobe Systems, but  their own reader is not only huge and slow, but, amazingly, is also buggy! Use  Foxit Reader instead. It’s fast, small and accurate. Irfanview is a picture viewer. It has long been a favourite because it is small  and fast, and it can open just about any type of picture imaginable, and  when it can’t there is usually a plug-in available to do it. A very handy  program to have.  When people want to send you a set of files together, it is often convenient for them to bundle the files into one archive and then send that. Quite often, they  will be sent in RAR format. WinRar is the program to use to extract the  individual files from the archive.  Windows Media player is good, but there’s a lot of file types it can’t play. It can’t play dvds for example. The VLC player can play most things you throw at it with ease. Often we’ve tried to play obscure files without success, only to find that  VLC player can do it. It can also act as a media server, streaming your  broadcasts. Unfortunately, there is a lot of video embedded in web pages that is in the  proprietary Quick Time format. The player for that is vast, and does its’ best to  take over your computer. To avoid that, this is a stripped-down version which  just plays the Quick Time files. Please only use it if you have to! It comes  bundled with the respected Media PLayer Classic. This is another proprietary format you may have the misfortune to run into.  Again, the player for these RealPlayer format files was huge and took over your  machine. This, again, is a stripped down player. It also comes with the Media  Player Classic mentioned above, so if you get this, there’s no need to install MPC again when you are installing it. This is, we think, a fairly comprehensive set of programs, that should serve for any of your day to day needs. However, if there’s any type of program you need that isn’t covered here, then send us an email and we’ll see what we can do. If you want to take your CD collection and convert it to mp3 files, then   Audiograbber is the tool you need. It uses a high quality codec, and the  conversion is entirely digital. It will also look up a free database for you to get  the names and album of all the tracks to save you the bother. We don’t use any other software for mp3 conversion, there’s no need. There are many free programs available on the internet that enhance the performance of your system in some way. They either enhance or add functionality. Or are simply the best around. Here are programs we use all the time, and they’re all best in class. Click on the pic in each case to go to the download page. If it’s a Filehippo page, the latest version of the program will be available via a link at the top right of the page. Quintessential Media Player is a feature rich media player for Microsoft Windows. It supports all popular audio formats including MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, and CDs.  QMP is highly skinnable and has a robust plug-in architecture. If you want to burn files to a dvd or cd, create an ISO copy of a disk, create a  music cd that will play in your mp3 player, or anything else you can do, this is  the program you want. ImgBurn does all this with ease - and a sense of humour, to boot! Audio Media Players / File Viewers Browsing / Telephony Firefox. This is the second-most used web browser in the world. It is far better  and safer than the number one browser. (Check our browser test on the search page.) It can also do more things via a vast number of add-ons written for it by dedicated - and mostly unpaid - enthusiasts. Get this and set it as your default browser, then set our search page as the default home page!  The world famous Skype. Using this, you can have voice and video calls to  anyone else in the world who also has Skype on their computer. All for free. And for a small fee, you can also phone mobiles and landlines. If you have family  spread across the globe, then this is definitely what we would call essential! Office / Illustration If you are someone who hasn’t ended up with a copy of Microsoft Office  somehow (you can get the Home & Student version from our Top Products   page), then this is for you. It is an open source version, and it is compatible  with the Office file formats, although there can be glitches here and there. This is a big download. Fast connection recommended! If you have a flair for graphical design, then Inkscape is for you. It’s a large and full-featured vector graphics program which is in the same league as programs  like Adobe Illustrator. It has a big learning curve, but patience is rewarded for  those with talent. This link will download the Filehippo Update Checker, which will check to see if  you have the  most recent versions of the programs that are installed on your  computer, and invite you to update any that need it. The site is a very fast  download site in its’ own right. CCleaner (won’t tell you what the first ‘C’ stands for!) It’s job is to remove  rubbish that clogs up your system and can lead to trouble if nothing is done  about it. It cleans up the stuff left behind when you uninstall or update  programs, and makes sure that the registry is correct. NOTE: When installing, remove the  ticks from all but the first item, or you will  end up with things you don’t want. Also, before running it, make sure the  ‘Cookies’ option is unticked in both the Windows and Applications columns. If you ever create your own web site, the method that is used for transferring  the files from your computer to the server is known as the File Transfer Protocol. Filezilla is the premier free ftp transfer program, looking, as they all do, like  Windows Explorer, with the home and remote folders visible. Just supply the  required info and then transfer the files. Utility Programs Over time the files on your machine get scrambled and it takes increasingly long for your computer to open them. Defraggler will put them back together again. Used regularly it helps keep your computer in top condition. This is made by the same firm that brought you CCleaner, above. HCR