Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #419 issued January 19, 2007

Home > CFS Weekly Newsletter #419: issued January 19, 2007

Enter your search termsSubmit search form

Search the CFS site Search the Web

This electronic newsletter is registered – ISSN 1441-6840
Welcome to the CFS Weekly Newsletter.
The programs listed here are completely free for non-commercial use, even though some may be shareware or commercial products. None are time-limited and all are fully functional. If you know any that aren't exactly as specified, please let us know and they will be removed immediately.
If the link below does not work (does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid. Please use the CFS Site Search facility (above) to locate the program.
COMPLETELY FREE SOFTWARE

Cerberus – Win9x/ME/XP
Cerberus is a Metroid-style arcade/adventure game where aliens are attacking your spaceship from within and you must regain control. It features great graphics, excellent gameplay, good challenges & puzzles, lots of powerups to collect, a wide variety of enemies, and more. This is a fun way to kill and hour or three (maybe 33 if you are slow). The author says that "Cerberus is the flagship of the space fleet and leads the exploration of the galaxy. Named after the mythical guardian of the Underworld, it acts as a gatekeeper between the human world and the mysterious alien planets." This ship is designed to act as a safe way to transport and examine aliens before human contact but, of course, the aliens escape so you must destroy them. The opening screen has you fighting Homini, a green humanoid alien. This is not an easy alien to defeat as he takes lots of hits without apparent damage and you must circle around to avoid his blasts while delivering your own. The sad part is that when you die, as you probably will many times before learning how to defeat him, you must sit through a long, drawn out splash screen which, after a few times, becomes most annoying (even with the music turned off – which we did almost immediately – and clicking on the spacebar to prevent the storyline from appearing!). Use the arrow keys to move around, the spacebar (the selection/change weapon key), and the Shift key (the firing button). The ship is divided into 5 color-coded sections which you must navigate, getting past closed doors (sometimes you unlock them by shooting them, other times you must kill specific aliens) to find the ultimate Boss alien, Morphia (who looks like a huge black humanoid). Along the way you collect a number of weapons, including a sabre (essential for defeating Morphia) before entering the command room and getting control of its computer. Cerberus is an awesome experience and one which most gamers will enjoy. We loved! Access this 1.70MB download from: Win95 General Games

Free Window Registry Repair v1.1 – Win98/ME/XP
Free Window Registry Repair is an easy-to-use, one-button Registry cleaning tool that checks 15 different sections of the Registry for errors, and then prompts to delete them. It features a custom scan, auto backup with option to restore, simple interface, and more. Most users know that the Windows Registry, the repository for all your system and program settings, can get choked with redundant entries which can cause your computer to slow down and not operate at its peak efficiency. Free Window Registry Repair is a terrific way of cleansing the plaque from your Registry. It is so simple that even a Novice can use it but sophisticated in its operation that it can detect, and remove, redundant entries and errors. Deleting the wrong Registry key can cause problems so it automatically backups up the Registry and allows you to restore it – or any of the previous scan backups. It can even create a System Restore Point under Windows XP. Registry cleaning is essential, but most advanced cleaning tools seem to require a diploma in computer science to use them – but not Free Window Registry Repair. It is just as suitable for the novice as it is for the advanced user. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 767kB download from: Win98 Windows Enhancements

KRISTAL Audio Engine v1.0.1 – Win98/ME/XP
KRISTAL Audio Engine is a multi-track recorder, audio sequencer & mixer for recording, mixing & mastering digital audio. It features 16 audio tracks, 32 bit floating point audio engine, 44.1 - 192 kHz sample rate, 3-band parametric equalizer, 2 VST insert slots per channel, 3 VST master effect slots, ASIO low latency audio driver support, 4 plug-in slots (includes 4 plug-ins – KristalMultiDelay, KristalChorus, KristalReverb & Kristalizer), excellent HTML Helpfile, and more. It supports WAV, AIFF, FLAC & OGG Vorbis file formats. This is a powerful audio mastering tool that can handle professional quality sound engineering and recording, and is free for personal, educational and non-commercial use. It has an amazing selection of top-end features but is still easily usable by novices to the audio scene. It requires ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) audio drivers, and the Windows driver we link to from the CFS site requires a WDM audio driver (most audio card manufacturers supply a WDM driver). KRISTAL Audio Engine allows you to connect your microphone, or guitar, and play using VST effects in realtime. It allows for multichannel hard disk recording via ASIO or MME (Windows Multimedia Extension), with audio clip fade-in/fade-out/crossfade and unlimited undo/redo. This is a serious tool for serious audiophiles and sound engineers. It is also reasonably easy to use for anyone who wants to experiment with, and learn, audio engineering and mixing. We were impressed! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, and that Windows 98 & ME users require Internet Explorer 6 or later. Access this 3.51MB download from: Win98 Multimedia Programs

SpamBayes v1.0.4 – Win98/ME/XP
SpamBayes is a statistical anti-spam filter with an emphasis on scoring messages by training the program to be able to recognize good (ham) and bad (spam) mail. It features an Outlook plug-in, POP3 proxy filter, IMAP & Hammie filters, and more. This is really a suite of mini applications, cobbled together through an HTML-based configuration interface. The secret to using SpamBayes is to "train" it to know what is good mail and what is not. Before you can start training it, you must first configure it by telling it your POP3 mail details (unless you are using Outlook), and those you should find in your e-mail client. If you are using Outlook Express you must configure it for POP3 (or IMAP) just the same as any other e-mail client – it is only Outlook itself which has its own plug-in. If you don't configure the program properly it will not work, and that is the major problem for many home users who don't know their IMAP from their SMTP. It is an effective spam filtering system but it does require at least intermediate computer knowledge. We liked the concept behind SpamBayes – it is generally more effective than most other spam filters we have seen – but its configuration is not as simple as we would have liked to have seen. We consider it requires plug-ins that can "read" the configuration of your mail boxes through any of the major e-mail clients – Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Eudora, Pegasus, etc. This would elevate it from being almost a "geek's tool" to a tool capable of being used by virtually any PC user. SpamBayes is still one of the best anti-spam filters around and is well worth grabbing. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 2.88MB download from: Win98 Internet Related

Space Oddity – Win9x/ME/XP
Space Oddity is an update on the old Space Invaders game, but with a twist. It features 1- & 2-player modes, 16 normal levels (plus several bonus levels which include racing, target shooting & fighting an intergalactic octopus), lots of powerups, good animated graphics, and more. This is a strange Space Invaders' clone, but it works, and works well. Apart from the bonus levels where you go racing or target shooting, there is a huge variety of enemies to shoot – and these include eyeballs and weird looking smiley faces! However, the concept remains true to the original in most aspects and you simply blast away, trying to avoid being shot (or bombed) by the waves of attackers. Space Oddity also includes powerups which can turn your spaceship into a powerhouse, so there are a number of elements that aren't common to most Space Invaders games. We thought that many of the ships on the screen were a little small and we would have liked to have seen them at least 50% larger (and even double the size they currently are) so they are easier to fight on a 1024x768 or larger screen. Even on the default 800x600 screen they are really quite small. Space Oddity is a great version of the Space Invaders classic shooter genre. Try it for yourself. Access this 4.13MB download from: Win95 General Games

ABC Amber ICL Converter v1.03 – Win9x/ME/XP
ABC Amber ICL Converter is a tool to extract icons from an ICL (icon library) file and convert them to the desired format. It supports all popular graphic formats (BMP, WMF, EMF, ICO, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, PCX, PCC, DCX, PBM, PGM, PPM, TGA, etc), offers command line support, saves to PDF (does not need Adobe Acrobat to be installed), supports multiple languages, is skinnable, and more. This is a terrific program for anyone who wishes to extract icons from ICL libraries and save them to a nominated format. In most cases they would be saved to the ICO format but, with support for so many formats, you have your choice. The PDF format becomes a "book" with one icon per page at the default size (usually 16x16 or 32x32). ABC Amber ICL Converter extracts the icons quickly, and most of the formats produce quite good results. Unfortunately there is no built-in preview, and you cannot choose which icons to extract – it is either all or none. If you are searching for a particular icon to extract from one of a number of libraries you could find this program quite frustrating because you would have to open all libraries, and then search through all of the files to find the one you want. It would be easier to scan each ICL library using a built-in previewer and then extract only the icon(s) you want. That aside, ABC Amber ICL Converter does everything it is supposed to do, and does it well. A good tool for anyone with ICL libraries. Access this 1.19MB download from: Win95 Graphic Programs

ClipGuru v1.91 – Win98/ME/XP
ClipGuru is an easy-to-use Windows' Clipboard enhancer that enhances the native clipboard functionality by remembering items (both text & graphic) copied to the Clipboard and storing them in user defined sets for later pasting. It features clip access directly from the desktray icon, the ability to save clips into their own sets, you can search within clips, optionally save images as PNG instead of JPG, it can suppress duplicates, it optionally starts with Windows, and more. This is an excellent Clipboard enhancer or extender that lacks some minor bells and whistles but is small and very fast. It saves your clips between sessions, and you can save text and images in special sets that can be used as boilerplate. It was able to capture, and save, a 10MB test file with 490,000 lines of text, so there appears to be no practical clip-size limitation (apart from normal computer memory restrictions). With its simple interface, ClipGuru is one of the better Clipboard extenders we have used. 10 out of 10! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 843kB download from: Win98 Desktop Utilities

Cheat Solitaire v1.04 – Win9x/ME/XP
Cheat Solitaire is a cardgame that plays just like Windows' Solitaire (Klondike) but, if you don't want to play by the rules, you don't have to. It features unlimited undo, you can see & use cards hidden in the 7 foundation piles, you have unlimited redraw in Vegas games (turns over each card, not in 3s), and more. This isn't really a game for serious cheaters but rather for those who, having lost a game, can then continue on and play it out by bending (or breaking) the rules. It has a similar look 'n feel to Windows' Solitaire but a much wider "interpretation" of the rules. Winning a game of Cheat Solitaire does not give that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you win a normal game of Solitaire, but at least you can actually take a game to its conclusion. Once finished, you get a "cheater's score" to let you know how many times you cheated to win. You could even run a competition with yourself to see how few cheating moves you need to finish a game... We liked the ability to be able to look down into a foundation pile and select cards buried deep. Cool. There is an option to "Automatically Play Cards" and this is handy if you don't want to have to manually move each card up into the appropriate stack once all cards have been turned over. Cheat Solitaire is a great way of actually finishing a game of Solitaire, even if you can't take credit for winning the game. We liked! Access this 355kB download from: Win95 General Games
UPDATES
Beerwin's PlainHtml – an HTML source code editor with a selection of mini-tools – has been updated to version 3.5 with a new, significantly larger download size of 13.3MB. The author advises that changes in this version include: adding MDI (multi document interface), added many JavaScript samples, redesigned GUI, numerous small changes & additions, and bug fixes. Unfortunately word wrap is still not implemented. Get a copy of this much updated program from: Win98 Internet Related
BugHunter – a DOS antispyware tool (suitable for Windows, including XP) to assist in finding and removing malicious software – has been updated to version 2.1 with a new download size of 96kB. The author advises that changes in this version includes a completely redesigned Engine with a very expandable database. It has a new GUI layout, enhanced features, bug fixes, lots and lots of new signatures, documentation updates, FAQ updates, and many code fixes. It can now identify malware by name. The authors says that this version "contains both of the features the original reviewer had commented about. The ability to select what happens to detected malware, and the ability for BugHunter to identify it... The GUI layout has changed as well." Get this excellent tool from: DOS Desktop Utilities
COMMENTS
We would like to thank the regular visitors to the CFS site who have told us their favorite freeware. If you have a favorite program which isn't listed on the CFS pages we invite you to share that information with everyone through this site and this newsletter. If you are an author of a freeware app (or would just like to suggest a program) and would like it listed on these pages, please fill in the Submit Software form.
If you enjoy the Completely FREE Software site please don't feel shy about letting others know.