Top 10 Freeware Programs

This is a list of the top 10 freeware programs that I use on a day to day basis. This list might have some stuff you already know of because some of these are pretty known but there should be some new ones too. Also if you have suggestions on things you use leave a message in the comments below. So without further ado lets get this started.

1. The most used freeware program I use is the Firefox browser. I really like this browser and have been using it for the past 3-4 years and has been great since day one. Firefox is cool because of all the add-ons and tweaks you can do to it. Thus creating a personalized environment for the user.

2. Google Chrome is another browser that I use. I haven't been using Chrome that long yet but really like how fast it is and how you can search Google.com right out of the search bar. Also the reason that I like to use two browsers is that somethings work better in other browsers.

3. XBMC or formally know as Xbox Media Center and thats just what it is a media center. One of the main reasons that I use XBMC is that I wanted a way to be able to watch movies across my home network on my television using a PS3. I like this program but one problem that I run across while using it on the pc is it uses a lot of cpu power to run so it can get a bit slow at times. It works good across the network to a PS3 or Xbox and you can stream pictures and music too.

4. iTunes music player is one that I use on the daily the one reason that I started using iTunes was because I bought a iPod and needed it to put music on it. Later down the road I seemed to like it more and more but right now it is getting a bit bogged down but still runs fine on older machines. I also like how iTunes can share it's library with other iTunes running on different pc's over the network thus only having to save your library on one computer.

5. Avira Antivir Personal anti-virus is a great free virus scanner. I really like how user friendly it is and updates and scans all on its own through scheduling that you setup. Also it's always looking for things that are suspicious and asks you about it.

6. Format Factory is a file conversion program for just about all media file types. I use this program for just about all file converting that I do. This is one program that comes very handy when you have file types that wont work in certain programs and changed into a format the program can read.

7. Gimp image editing software is a very powerful program that needs little resources to run on and compares to Adobe Photoshop in what you can do in the program. I have been using both Photoshop and Gimp for awhile but almost seem to like Gimp better. Gimp just seems to be easier to do things and get great effects.

8. CCleaner is a great little program to help you system out by doing a bit of cleaning and getting rid of things that are bogging your system down or just to tidy up. CCleaner has many different options that you can choose from and other features that are helpful like adjusting the programs on start up to uninstalling unused programs.

9. Revo Uninstaller is a great tool for fully uninstalling programs because it searches your hard disk to find all of the stuff that the programs uninstaller left behind. There are 3 different modes to choose from according to how you would like to scan your system after the uninstall is complete.

10. VLC Media Player is a very lite program for playing media files of all different types. I mainly use this program for watching movies because I have iTunes for all my musical needs. I like how I can watch so many different file types under one piece of software and it doesn't need very many resources from your computer so it can be used even on outdated machines.

There you have it a full list of 10 free programs that you should check out if you haven't already or give them another chance. This is just a list of things that I have found and really like and use all of the time and have worked great for me. If you want to add something you think I should check out or have something you would like to voice throw down a comment down below.

Spice Up Firefox With Personas

Are you tired of the plain Firefox look? Then why not spice it up a bit by using Personas. Personas is a utility for Firefox that lets you dress up Firefox by using skins. This Add-On is one of the better ones that I have found for making Firefox look more stylish and can be done in a matter of seconds.

To setup Personas it is really easy you just go to there homepage Here and then click on the Get Personas For Firefox - Free button to download it.

Personas download button

Once you have Personas downloaded and installed you can now go and take a look at there Gallery of skins Here. To preview a skin all that you have to do is scroll over the image of the skin on the Personas Gallery page. Now to set the skin so it stays all you need to do is click on the image. You can also click on View Details and then click on the Wear This button on the next page.

Firefox with skin applied (click on image to view a larger version)

If you can't find what you are looking for in the Gallery you can also make your own skins very easily by just going Here. Once you have signed up you can then see all of the information that you need to upload your own skins. What you will need to create your own is two images (one for the header and one for the footer). The header image needs to be 3000 wide x 200 tall and the footer needs to be 3000 wide x 100 tall. If you need more details on how to create your own you can visit this page Here. Also if you need a free image editing program to create your own skins a very good one is Gimp.

Now you can make Firefox look personalized to who you are in just a few minutes. Have fun and if you have any that you have created don't be afraid to post them up in the comments.

Taking Screenshots Of Whole Web Pages

Have you ever wondered how you can take a screenshot of a web page but not want to have to piece together a couple different pieces? Well using Firefox there is a simple way of doing this by just using an add-on called Screengrab. You can download this add-on from: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1146. Once you have installed Screengrab it is very easy to take screenshots of entire web pages.

First you will need to have Firefox open, then you just have to right click anywhere on the page then you need to go down to where it says Screengrab or you can click on the little Screengrab icon in the bottom right hand corner. From here you have two different options to choose from. You can either choose to save the screenshot as a picture file or you can choose to copy the screenshot to the clipboard.

Two Screengrab options: Save or Copy

To save the web page as a file you will need to select save. You will then have a couple more options to choose from: Complete Page/Frame, Visible Portion, Selection, and Window. For this article I am going to use Complete Page/Frame.

Saving complete page

After you have selected which ever option you wish to use you will then get a window asking where you want to have your image saved to. Once you have the location selected and the name for the file chosen you will then need to click Save and then you are done.

Saving screenshot

Now to copy the page is the same method as saving except to use the image you will first need to paste it into some where of your choosing. That is about it for using this handy little add-on for Firefox. Have fun taking screenshots of all of your favorite web pages in just a few clicks with Screengrab.


Original article can be found here: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/internet/firefox/create-screenshot-image-of-entire-web-page-in-firefox/

Multitask With More Speed Using Shortcuts In Firefox

Do you ever feel like you are using a ton of time because you have to move your hands from the keyboard to the mouse or just having to click so many things? Well there are shortcuts for many things in Firefox some of them I have already mentioned Here but in this article I will show some navigating shortcuts that I use almost everyday. So here they are, enjoy.

Open New Tab: Ctrl + T

Move Forward A Tab: Ctrl + Tab

Move Backward A Tab: Ctrl + Shift + Tab

Search For Words: Ctrl + F

Jump To Navigation Bar: Ctrl + L

New Tab With New Url: Type In your suggested Url the hit Alt + Enter

These are just the main shortcuts that I use in my everyday browsing but if you have some that you would like to add that you use on a daily basis just post them into the comments. Now you can get more things done in a shorter amount of time.

Surf The Internet Faster Using Firefox Url Shortcuts

Have you ever wanted to just type the Url of a site but not have to type the .com. You can do this very simply with shortcut keys with .com's and many of the others.

.com - Type the Url without the .com then hit Ctrl + Enter.

.net - Type the Url without the .net then hit Shift + Enter.

.org - Type the Url without the .org then hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter.

Those are the main ones that are used and can really help getting you to where you need to be faster without having to type as much. Also if you do not have Firefox installed you can get it here: www.firefox.com.

Find New Websites Using Stumble Upon

Have you ever found yourself bored or just having some extra time on your hands? There is a Firefox Add-On to suit your needs and it is called Stumble Upon. It can be downloaded from here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/138. Also if you do not have Firefox installed you can download it from here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/. To add this to Firefox all you will need to do is just click on the Add to Firefox Button on the Stumble Upon download page. All you will need to do after it is installed in Firefox make an account. Then from there choose the kinds of content that you would like to see then just start stumbling around the web. By clicking on the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons in the toolbar Stumble Upon will be able to show you more sites that will like better and also know what you don't like as well. I can assure you that you will have hours of fun browsing the web and finding a ton of new sites along the way.