Completely FREE Software - CFS Weekly Newsletter #460 issued January 18, 2008

Home > CFS Weekly Newsletter #460: issued January 18, 2008

Any Word All Words Exact Phrase

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(does not take you directly to the program listing) it is probably because the site has been upgraded and the link is no longer valid.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

Last of the Patriots v1.40 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Last of the Patriots is a retro sci-fi RPG/shooter set in 2167 when ex-war hero Zeke Johnson rejoins the space corps for one final mission into hell itself. It features street-fighting, flashbacks, moral dilemmas, huge battles, save game, and more. This is a fun role-playing-game (RPG) that is combined with a shooter and set in the future. In Last of the Patriots you are faced with numerous moral dilemmas and the game is as much about how you face those moral issues than it is about fighting – sometimes it is best you fight, sometimes it is best you don't. The graphics are straight from the 90s, and there is a certain amount of animated bitmapped blood (graphic but not realistic enough to warrant concern), but the game is lots of fun to play and the moral aspects are an interesting variation. We did note that Last of the Patriots has some low level coarse language, and this might be a concern for anyone with younger children. Overall, this is an excellent RPG that should provide many hours of entertainment. Last of the Patriots is worth a look if you like this type of game. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 16.2MB download from: Win98 General Games

Registry Cleaner v2.00 – WinXP/Vista
Registry Cleaner is a one-click Registry cleaner that scans, cleans, and repairs Registry problems. It removes references left behind after uninstallation, incorrect removal of software, missing or corrupt hardware drivers, & orphaned start-up programs. This is a simple, though effective, Registry cleaning tool that requires minimal effort from the user and provides a good level of cleaning (though it doesn't clean everything – other cleaners are needed to ensure that your Registry really is as clean as it can be). You can check the details of what it proposes to eliminate, and uncheck any items you don't want removed. We noticed that the author's site does not link to the actual download for this program so we have included the direct download link on our site. Registry Cleaner is a great little program. We loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 836kB download from: WinXP Windows Enhancements

TuberPlayer v1.05 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
TuberPlayer is an audio player. It features support for all popular formats (MP3, WAV, OGG, MO3, IT, MOD, MTM, S3M, UMX, XM, WAV, etc), loads PLS & M3U playlists, minimizes to the desktray, has a mute button, pan reset button, uses few system resources, and more. This is an awesome audio player that plays all major audio formats except CDA (CD audio). It is small, simple to use and even looks good. One major advantage of the TuberPlayer is that is minimizes to the desktray (next to the clock) so you can set it playing and go back to work with background music to sooth the savage beast within you. TuberPlayer is part of the promotion for the author's shareware game, "Adventures of Tuber", and includes a sampler soundtrack from the game (accounting for over three-quarters of the download size!). With support for all the major audio file formats (except CDA!), TuberPlayer is a great little player and a worthwhile download. We were impressed! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 3.21MB download from: Win98 Multimedia Programs

HDD Low Level Format Tool v2.36.1181 – WinXP/Vista
HDD Low Level Format Tool is a low-level hard disk drive formatting tool that completely destroys all data on a disk. It supports all common interfaces (SATA, IDE, SCSI, USB & Firewire), supports all popular manufacturers (Maxtor, Hitachi, Seagate, Samsung, Toshiba, Fujitsu, IBM, Quantum & Western Digital), supports large (LBA-48) drives up to 240,000GB, supports low-level formatting of memory cards using a card-reader, and more. This is a "must have" tool for everybody with a computer. At some stage you will wish to update your equipment and your old hard drive could end up with someone who could use recovery tools to access your old data – passwords, banking information, etc. The best way to ensure that no-one can recover your data is to carry out a low-level format (a function that was once common in the BIOS setup but has stopped being included). A low-level format will clear partitions, MBR, and every bit of user data. HDD Low Level Format Tool will cleanse your hard drive (or USB drive, memory card, etc) of all data and ready it for re-partitioning and/or re-formatting. In the process it will re-certify the drive. HDD Low Level Format Tool is easy to use and will detect all supported drives. The user then has the option to select a drive, receive the data about that drive and, optionally, carry out a low-level format on it. There is ample to checks to ensure you do not accidentally format a drive. One thing to remember is that it will not format a partition on a drive, but the entire drive, all partitioning information, etc. This is a thorough cleansing. We loved HDD Low Level Format Tool and consider it an essential tool for all PC users. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 497kB download from: WinXP General Programs

Funny Gems v2.0 – Win98/ME/XP/Vista
Funny Gems is a "falling gems" puzzle where you must destroy gems match up 3 or more of the same type & color to make them disappear. It features both timed & normal modes, hint, excellent animated graphics, highly addictive gameplay, high score, and more. This is an excellent variation of an old game. Rather than just click on 3 or more identical gems to make them disappear and have the ones above tumble down, in this version you remove gems to make the ones above fall and, when three or more are grouped horizontally or vertically, they automatically disappear. The game has two modes – a timed mode where you have a limited period of time in which to remove as many as possible, and the so-called "normal" mode in which you get a certain number of clicks which are reset at the end of each level. You can call up a hint if you get stuck. Funny Gems is a great way to kill an hour or two, and is a game the whole family can play. We liked! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95. Access this 6.16MB download from: Win98 General Games

FrameSize v1.0 – WinXP/Vista
FrameSize is a digital photo frame file resizer to convert standard format photos (typically 4:3) into widescreen format (typically 16:9) suitable for digital photo frames. It allows the user to change the output width & height, displays a mask on the photo that can be moved around to obtain the best result from the desired format, can open files sequentially (suitable for resizing all images in a folder), offers image rotation, it is easy to use, and more. This is a great tool for anyone who either has a digital photo frame and wishes to resize existing images to fit, or who has a widescreen TV/monitor and wants to resize slideshow images to suit the widescreen format. Simple in its operation, FrameSize is a cropping tool that allows you to set the mask dimensions (default is 480x234) to conform to the device that is displaying the image. By altering the default dimensions it can be used for other screen formats and sizes. FrameSize is not a magical photo manipulation tool but an image cropper that makes it easy to get a collection of images suitable for your presentation layout and dimensions. Our only disappointment was that we could not alter the quality of the JPG output image. However, even with that minor complaint, we loved! Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 331kB download from: WinXP Graphic Programs

Slide-in Maker v1.0 – Win9x/ME/XP/Vista
Slide-in Maker is a tool that creates a Java pop-down ad window that bounces from the top of Web browser. It features a creation Wizard with preview facility, pop-down windows have built-in close button, and more. This is an excellent little program for anyone who wants to add a pop-down window to their Website. It comes with a Wizard to assist you to create your own pop-down ad but we had a problem with it – Slide-in Maker ignored the changes we made within the program and created code that reflected its default, even though when we used the previewer it created the correct code! Most strange. However, it was very easy to manually modify the code offered so that it reflected the changes we wanted made (code changes were obvious, even to a relative novice HTMLer). If you are looking to add a sliding window (it doesn't have to be an ad) to your site, and you aren't frightened to manually add code, then grab a copy of Slide-in Maker. It's excellent! Note: at the time of writing we could not find the direct download from the author's site so we linked directly to the author's download address. Access this 7.54MB download from: Win95 Internet Related

Swarm v1 – WinXP/Vista
Swarm is a fast-paced, adrenaline pumping space shooter in an explosive shoot 'em up style. It features 100 levels, 4 levels of difficulty, lots of weapons, lots of powerups, on-screen radar, awesome pseudo-3D ray-traced graphics, great sound effects, and more. This is an amazing shooter with smooth action and lots of nasty looking enemies to kill. In this game you must collect all the EZTs on a level and you are aided in your quest with a small blue guidance ring to point you in the direction of the next one. Sometimes they have already been captured and you must blast the enemy to retrieve the EZT. Once you have retrieved them all, you enter a Stargate-style device to move to the next level. Unfortunately, Swarm (the free version from MostFun.com, there is a shareware version available from the publisher, Reflexive) is spoilt with a huge download and advertising. To download this game you must first get a small 666kB helper file that, when launched, downloads both the game browser or agent and the game. We are unsure of the size of these two programs, but the game itself claims to be 11.94MB, though we noticed over 46MB of traffic when this file was being downloaded and installed! The game browser (which you can use for other games from the same publisher) is a further 11MB. This makes Swarm a massive download. The game browser installs itself in the Startup folder and loads every time Windows loads. We suggest that you delete the shortcut to this game browser so that it only loads when you want to play the game. The advertising is somewhat invasive but you get to view some television-style ads which, if you click on them, will take you to the advertiser's Website. Both the agent and the game are slow loaders, even with a fast computer, and this can be most annoying. Even with all the negative aspects (including the download size and the advertising), we thought Swarm an excellent game – one of the best space shooters we have seen. If you have the patience (and a fast broadband connection) try it for yourself. Note: we have been advised that this program is not suitable for Windows 95, 98 or ME. Access this 666kB download (the helper file) from: WinXP General Games
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.