Download interesting programs for your computer. Useful and necessary programs for your computer
Each operating system has its own advantages and disadvantages, weighing them, you have to make a choice in favor of one or another system. There are many programs for each OS, and as many more are being developed. Although Windows 7, one might say, is morally outdated, since after its release, Windows 8 has already appeared on the market and Windows 10 is preparing for an imminent release.
With the release of new versions of operating systems, improved versions of old useful programs appear or completely new software is being developed - this has happened since the appearance of Windows 7. To work in the operating system comfortably, various applications and programs are needed, the so-called software for Windows 7 For example, programs for downloading files from the Internet, for cleaning the system, antiviruses, browsers, media players and other useful programs will be useful.
Tweak-7
Tweak-7 is a system cleaning program. The utility works with various system settings, registry and startup list. Also, using the program, you can configure Internet connections, browser and mail.
Without using manual configuration of the system, you can trust the program and perform the automatic configuration of Windows 7. Tweak-7 generally optimizes work and accelerates the performance of the system. Additionally, several useful tools are integrated into the tweaker, for example, a defragmenter and a hard disk cleaner.
Start Menu X
Start Menu X was previously known as Start Menu 7, but the name changed with the release of Windows 8. The program is designed to optimize Windows systems, in particular, Windows 7. The utility is specially developed as a convenient replacement for the standard Windows Start menu.
Start Menu X allows you to create, modify and move menu items, which opens up many possibilities, for example, creating a list of frequently used folders to quickly open them. The utility differs from similar ones in its unique flexibility in customization, which allows you to create a menu to your liking.
Windows 7 Manager
Windows 7 Manager is another program for optimizing Windows 7. The functionality of the program includes the ability to configure Internet connections, clean up the hard disk and work with the registry, as well as a large number of functions, tools and settings for various system parameters.
By using Windows 7 Manager, you can speed up the startup or shutdown of your computer and improve the overall performance of your computer. The utility also provides detailed information about the system and hardware of the computer.
Download Master
Download Master is a very convenient and beautiful download manager. The program quite effectively solves the tasks assigned to it - download speed, continuation of interrupted downloads and management of downloaded files.
Download Master is tightly integrated with browsers, which allows it to replace the standard download tools itself. The program has a scheduled download function, can download files from ftp-servers and supports the installation of plugins to expand its functionality.
STDU Viewer
Free STDU Viewer is a simple and convenient tool for viewing electronic documents, text files and images. In the program, you can work simultaneously with several documents that open on separate tabs.
The functionality of STDU Viewer adds the ability to adjust the brightness and contrast of the document, search by documents, convert electronic documents to graphic formats and many others.
7-Zip
7-Zip is a free archiver that differs from others in its high compression ratio. The program has a wide range of features, high speed of archiving files, the ability to create self-extracting archives and the ability to protect archives with a password and encryption.
The archiver integrates into Windows Explorer, which adds to the convenience of working with the program. 7-Zip supports popular archive formats and at the same time works with its own format.
Windows 7 Codec Pack
Windows 7 Codec Pack is a set of necessary codecs for the correct playback of multimedia files. The set consists of the most popular codecs, utilities, filters, plugins and other tools.
Finally, I decided to write this article, long-awaited by many readers. As you understood from its name, we will talk below about the best free software for computer, without which I personally cannot imagine my digital life, which have been installed on all my computers for many years and which have never let me down.
There will be few pictures and a lot of different links, but I hope that all of them will be useful to you, so, as they say - do not switch ...
I want to say right away that absolutely all programs described on the website(there are hundreds of them) I like and all of them I checked (ran) personally - this is the main principle of the site.
Health when working at the computer
I give the first place free f.lux computer program, which helps me to preserve eyesight for many years when working at the monitor on long evenings and nights. I can't even imagine what would have happened to my eyes without her help. It eliminates the welding effect of the night shield by automatically adjusting the color temperature of the monitor (not to be confused with brightness).
This irreplaceable program works wonderfully in all versions of the operating system, up to Windows 10.
There are also excellent alternatives - also free SunsetScreen programs and (the second is generally a "bomb").
A few more and no less useful computer programs for maintaining health while working at a computer can be found in the corresponding section of the site. "Health and Comp"- I kindly ask you to pay attention to them.
Computer security
Virus protection is now completely free for my computer antivirus 360 Total Security, which is equipped with five (!) protection algorithms. In addition, it has an excellent digital waste cleaner and a system optimizer - an original decision by manufacturers, I should note.
I draw your attention to the fact that with proper fine-tuning, any antivirus can become the best for you. For example, I have been using the paid ESET Nod32 and the free Avast! Free Antivirus - both of them saved me many times from the invasion of malware.
I cannot remain silent about the free anti-virus scanner Dr.Web CureIt, which I used to bring hundreds of computers of my friends and acquaintances back to life.
I advise you not to forget and about a good firewall(firewall) - it also plays a huge role in keeping your operating system secure.
Descriptions of other free and effective means of protecting your computer from viruses can be found in the "Security" section of the site.
Programs to speed up your computer
There will be several winners in this nomination ...
Let's start by making your computer start up faster. Here my leader will be AnVir Task Manager - a powerful manager of tasks, processes, startup, services and services, a detector and destroyer of viruses and spyware. It was thanks to this magic program (and a couple more tricks) that I was able to speed up computer start up to 9.2 seconds- this is my personal best at the moment (with Windows 7).
The site has a section in which I stumbled upon many useful articles on this topic.
What acceleration of the computer can be without periodically cleaning it of digital garbage (logs, "tails" of once deleted programs, etc.). Here my reliable and trusted assistant is legendary "cleaner" CCleaner... This is the most "long-playing" program on my computers - I have been using it from the very beginning of my computer life.
Besides her there is a whole bunch of great "cleaners" but CCleaner is my favorite.
After cleaning the system, let's optimize its work - I think the leader in this business is the Advanced SystemCare program. This is a whole harvester that has collected a bunch of useful tweaks and utilities under its roof.
A very convenient and intuitive program. It can fully optimize the performance of your computer. There is also a manual mode - you yourself indicate what and where to improve in the system.
Described on the site and other great optimizers such as ToolWiz Care.
I continue to list the best free computer programs that I have been using for many years ...
Programs for comfortable work at the computer
There are also a couple of leaders in the nomination ...
The most amazing free computer program that has made my computer experience incredibly faster and better is StrokesPlus. It makes it possible to control the computer with mouse gestures.
I’ll tell you just a magical free program - it monstrously optimizes interaction with Windows Explorer. I can't imagine my computer life without it.
There is also an alternative to this program - gMote, but I like the first one much more.
The second best free software that greatly improves the usability of your computer, I think Clover. It adds a tab function to Windows Explorer (think of browsers). As in the previous case, this greatly increases the speed of navigating through folders.
This program works fine in Windows 7, but the top ten has a number of questions for it - I was helped out by a similar (but not so simple) utility called QTTabBar. With its help, I implemented the tabs at the bottom of the window and enjoy the convenience.
My favorite browser
I clearly feel how many readers have tensed and are already kneading their fingers to start holivar on this topic in the comments to the article. Therefore, I emphasize - PERSONALLY BY MY FAVORITE BROWSER is Mozilla Firefox.
For a couple of years I "sat" on Google Chrome, I really liked the version of Opera called Vivaldi ..., but Fiery Fox personally suits me best for its flexibility, functionality and the presence of add-ons for all occasions. In terms of speed, all browsers are like rockets today.
Whichever Internet browser you use - do not forget about best ad cutter... It will save your nerve cells, speed up surfing the net and protect you from clicking on fake links.
Automatic driver installation program
It is no secret that the fast and high-quality operation of all computer components depends on the availability of up-to-date drivers in the system.
The most convenient, simple, safe and high-quality free computer program that will automatically scan your system with lightning speed, find the best driver versions suitable for your long-suffering computer and update them is Snappy Driver Installer (SDI).
Hello dear friends! In today's article I will tell you about all the necessary programs for a computer, without the installation of which it will be very difficult or simply impossible to work with it.
To fully use all the capabilities of your computer friend, you need to install the necessary programs on him.
All the necessary programs must be on your computer or laptop, no matter what activity you are doing on it. They significantly expand or improve the functionality of your device.
After installing an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) on your computer, you have access to a number of programs built into it (the number and versions of programs depend on the version of the installed OS). Typically, the functionality of these programs is limited.
To use all the features of the software, we are advised to purchase it (for a few days, and a lot) 🙂 There are many ways to get around these restrictions, or use free software.
The list will contain both paid and free programs that have similar characteristics and perform the same task.
Each program will be analyzed separately. The pros and cons of the programs, their brief description, links to the developers' sites for downloading them will be indicated.
All the programs below work only under Windows OS (versions for each program will be indicated separately) So, let's get started ...
Regardless of whether you bought a new complete computer (with a pre-installed OS), purchased separate components and assembled the computer yourself, or simply reinstalled the operating system, you need to install the drivers on the hardware available in the computer to get started.
To see if all the drivers are installed in a computer with a preinstalled OS, you need to click the "start" button, then the "control panel" tab, then for Windows 7 select "device manager" from the list that appears, and for Windows XP click "system" and select there "device Manager".
This (or not this):) menu will appear:
It should not contain any red or yellow icons. If not, then all devices are installed and working normally. If there is, then it is necessary to determine by the name of the device what the problem is, and try to fix it.
Drivers for stationary computers come on disks (CD or DVD)
For laptops, they can also go on disks (when buying a laptop without an installed OS). If the operating system is installed, then most often the drivers are located in a special folder (software distributions, drivers, etc.).
Driver installation order
If you install drivers from a disk and there is an option for automatic installation, then you can use it.
This is the best way for an inexperienced user. The disadvantage of this method is the installation of unnecessary programs (various temperature sensors, fan speed control, etc.) that come with the drivers.
If you know what to set, then in the disc menu you can uncheck unnecessary programs and put only the necessary ones. Below I gave an example of a disk menu from my motherboard:
Installation of drivers can occur both in automatic mode and in manual mode, which gives us the opportunity to install all separately or only the drivers we need.
It is advisable to install the drivers for each device separately with a restart of the computer and in a specific order (desirable, but not necessary).
- Chipset
- Sound
- Video
- All other internal devices, and after them peripherals (printer, scanner, etc.)
As soon as we have all the devices installed or connected to the computer working, we can proceed to installing the programs so necessary for our work or entertainment.
Archivers
To continue further installation of the necessary programs, we first need to install an archiver, since almost all distributions of programs are packed into archives.
The most popular of the paid archivers is WinRar.
In my opinion, WinRar has only one drawback, it is paid for, but it fulfills 100% of the money spent on it. It is a great and reliable tool for storing, transferring and protecting any of your files. Whether it's a photo, text document or video. If you don’t mind the money, then this is the best option.
WinZip is also a paid archiver, but twice as expensive as WinRar. In terms of functionality, it is in no way inferior to WinRar, but the usability suffers. Due to these two shortcomings, its rather low popularity affects. You can see the comparative characteristics of these two archivers.
Now let's move on to the free and very popular 7Zip archiver.
7Zip has all the necessary functionality, and is considered one of the best programs for fast compression, storage and transmission of important information. The main advantages of this archiver are its own 7z compression format, which is ahead of WinRar in terms of speed and compression ratio. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions of the program.
Each of the presented archivers will provide you with everything you need to work quickly and efficiently.
Antivirus
Now let's talk about the next type of required software - antivirus software.
Antivirus software is one of the most demanded and popular among all computer users.
Antivirus is considered one of the most essential programs, not only because of its extreme practical usefulness (if properly configured and used correctly), but also simply as a necessary attribute of a normal computer, although many users do not pay any attention to the work of antivirus. They believe that if the antivirus is installed, then this is enough. Works, updates, well, okay. Many people simply have no time or are not interested in learning at least a little about the capabilities of the antivirus installed in them and the minimum necessary settings for it to work an order of magnitude more efficiently.
You can not afford to be very familiar with Word, Excel and other quite important programs for everyday work at the computer, but you cannot afford to be irresponsible to your data on the computer.
If the antivirus cannot prevent the threat, then (under certain circumstances) you can lose important documents, photos, etc., and no one wants this. If you do not have copies of the data destroyed by the virus, then consider that you have lost them almost irrevocably.
Therefore, choosing a good and suitable antivirus for you is a rather difficult task, even for an experienced user, and even more so for those who are less knowledgeable. Below I will give and briefly describe the most popular antivirus programs and give links to developer sites.
And remember, there is no perfect antivirus, regardless of whether you choose a paid or free program.
The most popular paid antivirus program in Russia is deservedly considered to be Kaspersky Anti-Virus. It has two of the most popular packages representing basic and optimal protection. You can see more details about the capabilities of these products. There are also versions of the program for mobile phones, tablets and Apple products.
If you decide to purchase Kaspersky Internet Security or Kaspersky Total Security, then by clicking on this link you will receive a program for checking the spelling of ORFO as a gift.
It is followed in descending order of popularity by Dr. Web and Eset NOD32. These programs are paid. Their functionality is quite enough to provide the user with good protection against various computer viruses.
Also Dr. Web provides an excellent free utility for detecting and removing Dr. Web CureIt!
Of the free antiviruses, I would like to highlight avast! Free Antivirus. It provides excellent protection against most existing pests and is simple and easy to use. There is a more powerful paid version called avast! Internet Security. At the end of 2013, the most powerful version of the antivirus appeared - avast! Premier.
Also, many users use less popular, but slightly inferior to their advanced counterparts in finding and destroying malicious code, antivirus programs. These include: AVG Anti-Virus Free, Comodo Antivirus, Avira. All of them are free, but they provide reliable protection for your computer. Very good antivirus McAffe. It is often the default on laptops. By clicking on the picture below, you can learn more about this antivirus. The site is in English. To enable any other in the upper right corner, select a special menu item.
Paid antivirus can differ from free antivirus, both for the better and for the worse. The algorithms for searching and detecting malicious code are different and you don't know which virus will get to you. It may be that a simple antivirus will easily catch an unexpected guest, and his sophisticated brother will let him through. Choose what suits you best, install, configure and surf the Internet in safety.
By the way, I myself have been using the free version of Avast for more than three years, and I am quite satisfied with its work. Viruses, of course, slipped through, especially trojans, but running a full computer scan and using the Dr. Web CureIt! (once a month is enough) solves this problem. The article describes in detail about this and other programs for quickly and efficiently scanning your computer for viruses.
After you and I have protected our computer from the unwanted effects of various malicious programs, you can calm down a little, think and decide. What should we install next? What programs do we need the most?
To do this, ask yourself. What more do you do with your computer? Work or play. After answering it, you will know exactly what to put in the first place, and I turn to the programs for viewing images.
Image Viewers
Image viewers or simply "viewers" are an integral part of any computer, because without their capabilities, you will never be able to view your photos or drawings. The absence of a program, which is so necessary in daily activities, in a computer, greatly limits your possibilities to use the unlimited potential of a computer.
All modern operating systems have a built-in program for viewing graphic images of almost any format, and it does an excellent job with simple viewing and for many this is enough, but for some users more functionality is needed. For this category, many different (both paid and free) programs have been specially developed for viewing a huge variety of graphic formats.
Once the most popular paid image viewer, ACDSee, it quickly lost ground to its free counterparts.
Thanks to the emergence of fully functional free programs for viewing all kinds of graphic formats, users have the opportunity to choose, and there is no longer the need for the mandatory use of paid image viewers.
These programs will allow us to view documents and read e-books in such popular formats as PDF and DjVu.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most powerful PDF reader and editor. Its capabilities far exceed the requirements of the average user and it is too "heavy", so I advise everyone to install the simple and fast loading Foxit PDF Reader. This free program is quite enough for viewing any documents or books.
WinDjView is fast and extremely easy to use program for viewing DjVu files. The DjVu format allows you to save printed documents and images with excellent quality in files that are significantly smaller than the original.
Separately, I would like to highlight such a program as STDU Viewer.
I started using it in 2015 and am very pleased with it. It easily replaces all three previous programs.
Her advantages:
- Reads all major formats of images, books and documents (see supported formats);
- Low weight;
- Free for non-commercial use;
- Can replace several utilities.
Disadvantages:
In fact, it has one drawback, it is a less convenient and practical interface when working with files and less functionality when working (in contrast to specialized software), so to speak, payment for universality. But many bells and whistles are unnecessary (like me), I looked through the document and forgot. So I strongly advise everyone to add this software to the list of necessary, more than anything else.
Video players
To view video materials in a variety of formats, we need to install a video player on our computer.
Here I will give only free programs for watching videos, since there is no need to use paid video players, due to their high price and absolute unnecessary for an ordinary user, for whom simplicity and usability are more important than sophisticated functionality.
Is probably the most popular video file player among the vast majority of users. The popularity of Media Player Classic is based on the fact that this player is present in such a popular codec package as the K-Lite Codec Pack, which will be discussed below. Its capabilities are quite enough for ordinary viewing of films and video materials, it is unpretentious and easy to use.
Media Player Classic once again confirms that speed and ease of use are important for most users, and additional features fade into the background. Also, this player can be downloaded separately. It's called MPC-HC, which essentially doesn't change anything. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions.
Next comes a nicer and more modern video player. This video / audio player has built-in codecs, which allows you to watch video movies (including DVD) and listen to music without installing any third-party codecs. KMPlayer has advanced video settings, which can significantly improve the quality of the video being played, as well as replaceable skins to change the appearance.
And finally, I will introduce a powerful and very easy-to-use media player.
VLC is a free, open source cross-platform player for any audio and video content. It, just like KMPlayer, has built-in codecs for playing audio and video files. Supports a huge number of formats and various streaming protocols.
To play video on your computer, you can use any of the programs presented here, making a choice based on your aesthetic needs. The capabilities of each of them are sufficient for use in most everyday tasks.
P.S. I myself constantly use all three multimedia players, depending on the format, the quality of the video file being launched and the mood :). For regular DVD Rip movies, Media Player Classic is enough, and for watching videos and movies in Full HDTV I use VLC media player. KMPlayer can play both DVD and HDTV with sufficient quality, although I rarely use it, I like it for its excellent design and capabilities.
Audio players
For high-quality playback and listening to music, we need to install a program for playing audio files.
Above in the article, we discussed multimedia players that are more suitable for playing video, although they all have the ability to play audio files. It is not very convenient to use them for listening to music, so I will tell you about audio players that are specially sharpened to perform this function with the highest possible convenience and quality.
The first representative of this class of programs is the very popular, beautiful and convenient audio pleer Aimp. In December 2015, the fourth version of this player was released. The player is absolutely free, and it makes me very happy :).
The Aimp player conquered and firmly occupied the niche of the former very popular and high-quality WinAmp music player.
Thanks to free, great appearance (you can change skins), user-friendly interface, high-quality sound reproduction, functionality and constant updates, it has won the hearts of many users around the world. If you choose Aimp, you will never regret it. Ideal for home use.
It has a modest interface, but at the same time has tremendous opportunities for expansion, customization and playback of high-quality sound.
The theoretical capabilities of Foobar2000 for high-quality processing of sound files surpass the capabilities of professional audio equipment.
Has a huge number of plugins.
An excellent turntable for those who like to play around with sound settings. It also works very well for office computers as it consumes very little RAM and has the ability to adjust transparency.
It is a fast, very small size (490kb in the archive), but at the same time a powerful and flexible tool for listening to music.
Supports major audio formats WAV, OGG, MP1, MP2, MP3, AIFF.
Due to its extremely spartan interface, using Evil Player is not very convenient, but it does its job perfectly with its main function.
For a home, where usually several people use one computer, it will be inconvenient, and for listening to background music in the office, it is very suitable.
Codecs
The most popular, stable, universal and necessary set of codecs for viewing and processing audio and video files is undoubtedly.
Due to the existence of five package options, any user can choose the one that suits him in terms of its functionality.
Basic(Basic) - Contains the necessary components to play all popular audio and video formats.
Standard(Standard) same as base, plus the very good and necessary Media Player Classic Home Cinema discussed above and a built-in MPEG-2 decoder for playing DVDs.
Full(Complete) Same as Standard, plus MadVR, GraphStudioNext, and a few additional DirectShow filters.
Mega(and so understandably) the same as the full package, plus ACM and VFW codecs for encoding and video editing, several additional DirectShow filters and tools.
Previously, there was a special 64-bit version of the codec designed to work in 64-bit operating systems, but now this is built in by default and you do not need to download anything separately.
For full descriptions of the composition and capabilities of different versions of the codec, follow the link above.
It is a set of the most necessary codecs for watching videos in the most popular formats and listening to audio files.
The package includes such popular codecs as ffdshow, DivX, XviD, x264, h.264, Windows Media 9, MP4, MPEG4, MPEG2, AC3, DTS, Flash Video Splitter, many filters, various plugins and other auxiliary tools for working with video and audio files.
This is a universal free application developed by the Adobe corporation that allows us to view pages with dynamic (interactive) content, beautiful special effects and video clips, and play flash games.
Flash technology is very widespread on the Internet, and using a computer without an installed Flash-player, you will not be able to fully use all the possibilities of the modern Internet.
This software is simply necessary for installation on any computer.
For instructions on installing Adobe Flash Player on Internet Explorer, Opera and Mozilla Firefox, click here.
Google Chrome comes with Adobe Flash Player built-in. Updated automatically.
Office programs
It is the most essential set of office applications created by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X operating systems.
This package includes software that allows you to prepare documents of varying complexity. Allows you to work with various types of documents: texts, spreadsheets, databases, etc.
Microsoft Office occupies a leading position in the word processor market, and its formats are the standard in the vast majority of enterprises' workflow.
The most popular applications from the Microsoft Office package are Microsoft Office Word for working with text data and Microsoft Office Excel for working with tabular data. But these applications are quite difficult to master on their own and during self-study we use the capabilities of these programs by 10-15%. Therefore, if you want to surprise your friends, girlfriends, comrades and employees at work with an advanced level of knowledge of Word, do your work more efficiently and faster, I advise you to go through.
Microsoft Office is an excellent product for processing text and tabular data, but its main disadvantage is the price.
The 2013 version costs about 15,000 rubles. This is a very large amount for us, therefore, in home computers, the vast majority of users have versions of this program, so necessary for many, unlocked in various ways.
Now let's look at the free office program OpenOffice.
It is the most popular free office suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and more.
Supports many languages and works great on all personal computers.
OpenOffice can be used completely freely for commercial and non-commercial purposes.
Office suite OpenOffice has less functionality and usability, so it will not replace Microsoft Office in enterprises, but for home use it is more than enough.
A simple text editor can also be a very good option (especially for laptop and tablet owners).
Browsers
(reads like internet explorer) is a browser developed by Microsoft Corporation. It is included in the set of all operating systems of the Windows family, and due to this it remains today one of the most popular web browsers on the Internet.
Most users who need the Internet from time to time will have enough of it, but those who spend more time at the monitor in search of information and entertainment may need a more flexible and customizable tool.
In general, the latest versions of Internet Explorer are user-friendly and work reasonably well with proper configuration.
At the moment, Microsoft is very actively promoting its Microsoft Edge browser, which comes with the Windows 10 operating system. According to user reviews, it is quite good and surpasses Internet Explorer.
Although the package includes many modules, the most common application from this package is Nero Burning Rom... He is responsible for writing, erasing, copying and cloning disks. Nero Burning Rom has established itself as the fastest, most convenient and high-quality program for burning discs. Supports burning of all existing discs and formats. The disadvantage of the program is that it is paid for, but it is cheaper than Ashampoo Burning. It is the best choice for burning discs among all programs of this class.
This is where I want to end the description of the set of necessary programs for any computer running Windows operating systems, and move on to not so necessary, but sometimes necessary software.
Such software includes programs for scanning text and images, translators, downloading files and torrents, communicating on the Internet, cleaning the operating system, convenient work with files, and defragmenters. Now about everything in order ...
Convenient file handling
The most popular program for conveniently working with files is. This is the best two-pane file manager. Has all possible options for convenient work with multiple files. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions of the program.
Using a free file manager is a good option. In terms of stability and functionality, it is inferior to Total Commander, but for many it will be enough.
Internet communication
Programs designed for communication via the Internet are divided into those that allow you to conduct a conversation through a microphone with the ability to connect video communication via a webcam, and simple communication using text. Almost all modern programs support all of these options for interaction between users.
The most prominent representative of this segment is Skype.
Skype allows all Internet users to communicate for free, regardless of their location. It is possible to call any mobile operator or city number at very low rates.
Easy to install, understandable and easy to use, Skype is simply a must for those users who want to make the most of the Internet.
The Mail.Ru Agent program can serve as a good substitute for Skype, but it has a big drawback, it is a lower quality of connection than Skype. Otherwise, it is a fairly convenient and high-quality product. Has millions of fans, thanks to the promoted ICQ instant messaging service (better known as ICQ). When downloading an agent (and other programs), be careful. Be sure to uncheck the box before downloading, otherwise a bunch of digital byaki will fly into your load. With all due respect to Mail.ru, they do not hesitate to clog up our computers with very annoying and, most importantly, absolutely unnecessary software for the sake of a penny.
Uploading files and torrents
All modern browsers have a built-in module for downloading files from the Internet, but their functionality and usability do not satisfy many users. An alternative to the standard methods of downloading information from the Internet can be programs specially developed for this. They are easily integrated into all major and popular browsers, have much more functionality, speed and reliability.
The best program in this class is.
Download Master is a convenient and highly efficient tool for downloading any kind of file. It will provide you with high download speed, the ability to continue interrupted downloads from the point of disconnection, a convenient interface for managing the program and downloaded files.
There is a portable version of Download Master Portable, which, being recorded on a USB flash drive or portable disk, will allow you to download from any computer connected to the World Wide Web. All versions of Download Master are free.
Another good program for downloading files from the Internet.
In terms of its functionality, Free Download Manager is in no way inferior to Download Master, but loses in ease of use, although many people like it, just because of its simplicity and the presence of only the necessary controls.
The next program is a torrent download. If you do not understand what is at stake, then read what torrent files are.
µTorrent is one of the most popular torrent clients worldwide.
The advantages of this program are its small size, convenient and intuitive interface, and most importantly, it is absolutely free. I advise everyone who downloads large amounts of data from torrent trackers.
Cleaning the operating system
To keep the operating system in good working order and remove unnecessary files and programs from it, we just need a program.
CCleaner is the best freeware program for optimizing your computer's registry and files. After finishing your work, you will see how much faster and more efficiently your computer will work.
CCleaner will instantly free up valuable space on your hard drives, while you can be sure of the correctness and reliability of the program. The program will not delete any necessary files. Built-in support for the Russian language, small size of the program and a clear and simple interface make CCleaner an indispensable assistant, both at home and at work.
Recently, to optimize and clean the operating system from various garbage, I began to use Advanced SystemCare. An excellent replacement for many cleaners.
Defragmenters
A very fast, powerful and reliable defragmenter.
Auslogics Disk Defrag allows you to optimize the file system, the placement of both system and regular files to speed up your computer. Supports background work. Free for commercial and home use.
There is also a portable version of Auslogics Disk Defrag, which can be written to a USB flash drive or removable disk, with the further ability to run the program on any other computer without installation.
Optical recognition of text and images
If you frequently work with text and graphic data, you may need such necessary software as programs for recognizing text and images.
It is a leader in the field of optical data recognition and has all the necessary functionality for fast and convenient translation of paper documents into electronic editable formats. It defines and allows converting to documents of various formats, both text and tabular data, and images. It does all this with maximum speed and quality. It doesn't matter what type of document it is defining, whether it's a photograph of a book or an ordinary text document. ABBYY FineReader will detect the data in both documents with the same quality. There is a built-in spell checker. The disadvantage of the program is that it is paid for.
For those who are not ready to pay for the OCR program ABBYY FineReader, there is its free analogue CuneiForm.
Functionality and quality of work of CuneiForm is inferior to ABBYY FineReader, but it copes very well with scanning simple documents and images. Any printed fonts are recognized.
The results of the work can be translated and edited in any office programs and text editors, and then saved in popular formats.
To improve the quality of recognition, CuneiForm uses a dictionary check. The standard dictionary can be expanded by inserting new words from text files. Suitable for everyone who needs optical data recognition from time to time.
Text translators
The electronic dictionary is the most powerful package for translating text from one language to another.
Supplied in home and professional versions, which differ in the set of dictionaries. Each of the versions has the ability to connect additional dictionaries. Has a huge standard base of words and popular phrases. Possesses the highest quality automatic text translation, selecting the translation of words according to the meaning and content of the translated material. ABBYY Lingvo is a very high-quality paid product that has left its competitors far behind, both paid and free. It is simply necessary for everyone who studies foreign languages and translates texts.
NeoDic is a free text translation software. It will help you cope with the translation of unfamiliar words by simply hovering the mouse cursor over the desired word or phrase. This type of translation is very convenient to use when viewing information on the Internet. The program supports the Russian language, has a small size and many settings that allow you to change the program to suit your needs.
This concludes my review of the necessary programs for your computer. The set of software presented above is sufficient for the full use of all the basic capabilities of a computer, which are used by the vast majority of users, at home or in the office.
You can download them from the official sites (this is not always convenient), using the links provided in the article, or go to the useful resources page and select the one you like from the listed catalogs of free programs, search and download the desired program from it.
If you liked this article, then you may be interested in my other materials. To view all blog articles, please follow the link to. The author of this article and the blog Computer for All is Alexander Osipov. Until next time on the pages.
For a long time I chose a new computer, and finally here it is - standing on the table, the Windows splash screen is on the screen, and what to do next, what programs need to be installed? Somewhere I saw something, somewhere I heard, in general, there is porridge in my head! Let this article be a small guide to the TOP of the most essential computer programs, according to the site.
No matter how hard Microsoft tries to improve its operating system, a clean OS can be used only in limited conditions - for example, at work, where the installation of additional programs is prohibited or there are no rights.
What to choose, paid or free programs
It just so happens that free programs alone are not enough, it comes out somewhere 50-50. I in no way call for the use of hacked versions, but our reality is that "cracked" programs are used everywhere. In my experience, to solve almost any problem, there is at least one free program that is enough for your head. But paid software is usually more user-friendly and comes with more features. But they are needed for voluminous work or for professional activities.
Antivirus is essential protection
I have already touched upon the topic of antivirus more than once, it is an absolutely necessary program that I download on any computer immediately after installing Windows. Perhaps antivirus is the program that is better to buy and live in peace. Paid versions eliminate the headache of finding updated keys and signature databases. The most common with us:
Which one to choose is everyone's personal business. No one will give 100% protection, so choose just which one you like best.
The free ones are good:
Alternative browser
For the convenience of using the Internet, you will need to install one of them to replace the standard Internet Explorer / Edge. Popular in our area:
All of them are free and very necessary programs. Today the Yandex browser is rapidly gaining popularity. It is undoubtedly one of the best browsers out there, but each has its own preferences.
In terms of speed and consumption of system resources, I prefer Opera. And those who like flexibility in customization can choose Mozilla FireFox. If you stay on the standard Internet Explorer, then at least update it to the latest version.
Archiver
By default, Microsoft Windows does not know how to work with such a common archive format as “.rar”. Probably in their west only zip is used by everyone. I install a wrapper that supports all the required archive formats, including “.zip”. WinRAR is built into the operating system, allowing you to work with archives from the context menu in the explorer.
Alternatively, I can recommend the 7-Zip program. It also has all the necessary functions, but it cannot pack in the “.rar” format. But it can unpack the ".7z" format.
Office suite
A must for working with texts and tables: Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Although I included this on the must-have list, not everyone needs it. But I haven’t come across a laptop without Microsoft Office or its free OpenOffice counterpart. Of the lighter office suites, I recommend WPS Office.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read PDF books. PDF is the most common format for documentation, books and instructions. It will work without a special program, but the functionality will be limited to the simplest actions. Acrobat Reader is completely free software.
Messenger, phone over the Internet
Programs for free communication around the world via the Internet:
- Skype - the most famous, but outdated, there is a detailed
- Viber - is actively gaining popularity
- WhatsApp is one of the most popular in the world
All programs support voice, video and chat. An irreplaceable thing for communication, in addition to social networks. For this, headphones and a web-camera (for video communication), as well as the installed program on both devices of the interlocutors. Messengers also allow you to make calls to landlines and mobile phones, but this is no longer free.
In order for you to be able to communicate with relatives and friends, you need to find out what programs they use themselves. But usually they install everything at once. Note that for Viber and WhatsApp to work on a PC, they must be installed on a smartphone too.
I have shown basic laptop software in minimal variety. For the more advanced, I recommend one more pack of software.
After installing the drivers, the first thing I do is install the file manager. This program provides convenient access to the file system, replacing the standard Windows Explorer. It is much more convenient to copy, move, modify files. I advise everyone! My work with the computer begins with the launch of Total Commander.
Mail client
To check their email, a person usually goes to a site like gmail.com and looks at their inbox. But it is much more convenient to use special programs - mail clients, especially if you have several e-mail boxes.
The program connects to the server and downloads all mail to your computer. You can view it without browser delays by quickly switching between boxes. I recommend either Mozilla Thunderbird. The standard Microsoft Outlook (built into Windows XP / 7 and Microsoft Office) and the Mail application in Windows 10 are not bad, but The Bat! I like it better because it is very easy to transfer mail to another computer or to a new operating system without the risk of losing important information.
Convenient video and audio player
I recommend installing separate video and audio players to replace the standard Windows Media Player. No matter how the developers try, they cannot combine both a video and an audio player in one program so that everyone will like it. For these purposes, it is better to use separate programs. For video playback, the following have proven themselves well:
Torrent rocking
Today, you can download something worth free on the Internet either from file hosting services, or using torrents. You will need the uTorrent program for this.
Password manager
In order not to remember all the logins and passwords that you will certainly begin to grow over, I recommend using one of the password managers. The program remembers all your passwords and stores them on the server. Subsequently, they can be used from anywhere, on any computer and browser. I recommend using either LastPass.
RoboForm is the first thing I install because it stores all my access to Internet services and applications on my computer. I also have an add-on to the Mozilla Firefox browser on my smartphone, with which I always have up-to-date logins and passwords on my phone.
CCleaner System Cleaner
I'm sure a useful thing for any system running Windows 7/8/10 is the CCleaner program. Designed for periodic, about once a month, cleaning the operating system and programs from accumulated debris. Basically, these are various temporary folders, files, caches, which not only clog up free disk space, but also often degrade the performance of the computer. Especially useful for improving the performance of browsers that start to slow down over time.
Optional settings
Only useful if you have special system requirements.
A set of codecs for video and audio
By default, Windows can only play the most basic video and audio file formats. To support other formats, you need one of the codec sets, such as the K-Lite Codec Pack or Win7Codecs. This installation is optional, because any modern multimedia player already has all common codecs built in, or it immediately offers to download them.
CD burning software
DVD drives are less commonly used than before, but they are still found in almost every computer. I use the program to burn discs. From the free one can recommend JetBee FREE or ImgBurn.
Outdated, somewhere else popular ICQ
A popular client for communication using the ICQ protocol ("ICQ" in the popular language). Previously, every computer used to be the de facto standard for instant messaging over the Internet, such as free SMS, only of a larger volume. You can also often see it in contacts on various service sites and online stores.
I use social networks, Telegram and ICQ at the same time. Thus, you can keep in constant touch with people. Instead of the cumbersome ICQ program, I recommend installing a convenient QIP client. The program is in Russian, has a simple and intuitive interface.
Bonus - Punto Switcher
This is the minimum of programs that are needed for a computer and I myself use them. I literally opened my Start menu and chose the most basic. I do not recommend using various Windows assemblies, such as "Zver", although some of the necessary software is already built into them. But it is because of them that unexplained problems with the computer then surface.
There is a constant demand for a variety of PC software, and it is incredibly high. For this reason, download sites proliferate very, very quickly, but finding the really best resources is surprisingly difficult. Need to download various programs to your computer? Especially for you, we have made a list that contains the best software sites on the Web.
SoftOk- https://softok.info/
Resource SoftOk is one of the youngest, but already gaining popularity resources. It features a modern design and a wide selection of programs for almost any need. Programs are grouped into convenient selections that allow you to choose a program for a whole set of parameters. Versions for operating systems iOS and Android are also present. 
Softobase - http://softobase.com/ru/
The most convenient and largest site where you can download programs for free on your laptop or PC. The database is constantly updated, so even the latest versions will always be available to you. All programs are divided into categories so that you can easily and quickly find and download the one you need. The site is also interesting because it contains reviews, videos, articles and answers to user questions.
Free Software - http://www.besplatnyeprogrammy.ru/
Free Programs Ru - a site for downloading programs for free with a primitive division into categories. It is easy to navigate it, traditionally there is a search by name, as well as a list of recommendations. Overall, this is a great resource for finding and downloading a basic set of applications.
SoftPortal - http://www.softportal.com/
Another of the largest sites where a huge amount of software for various devices is presented is SoftPortal. The assortment has options for a computer and a phone, there are sections for various operating systems (Android, Macintosh, IOS, Windows family), more than 20 categories of software by purpose. Audio, graphics, design, education, various utilities for the desktop - this is an incomplete list of what you can download, and what is important - for free and without entering codes and SMS. This resource is constantly updated and promptly uploads all the latest industry news.
FreeSOFT - http://freesoft.ru/
The next place is the site for downloading programs for the computer Freesoft. The main focus here is on software for Windows, but there are also programs for Android, MAC, Linux, and Apple's gadgets. It is important that this is a safe site where the uploaded content is carefully filtered and checked for malicious components.
Soft-File - http://soft-file.ru/
Further, the site for downloading programs - Soft-File. A rich software component, many articles, reviews, reviews - all this makes it very popular among users. You can find almost everything here - from mobile programs to office software. Hundreds of offers are categorized for easy searching, and the intuitive interface will save you time.
TopDownloads - http://topdownloads.ru/
TopDownloads is a simple and solid resource with daily updates that can be viewed in a separate list. Hundreds of new products and already familiar offers are divided into categories in a convenient catalog. Like many other free software sites, TopDownloads also offers reviews, news, and ratings by popularity. In addition to software, there is also music, videos, documents and much more.
As you can see, popular sites for downloading various software is a rather extensive topic, because electronic devices have long become an integral part of the life of all of us. Do you want to download a new game, driver or just need to update old software versions? We have collected for you the best sites for downloading programs, choose one of them - and find everything you need! Share the article with your friends on social networks, rate them high below and write comments if your favorite software site is not listed here! We also suggest that you definitely and right now look at our article about, which has become one of the most read in recent months! Maybe there you will find useful resources for yourself :)