Work computer vs. Home computer

Most of us who work(ed) have some sort of computer to do the company's business with (Government's, for the Public Slaves like myself).

That work computer will likely be loaded with all sorts of expensive software to help you get the job done. Just a call to the IT Department, and the grumbly tech comes running to install the latest and greatest on your work machine.

Then you go home.

You can't afford all that stuff you're used to using, so you use old hand-me-down versions, pirated stuff or you do without.

The "Digital Goddess", Kim Komando, comes to your rescue today with a compilation of FREE software that handle all those chores. Most of her referred programs even mimic the original, so there's not much learning time.

Browse this selection to see if there's anything you need.

One warning before you start: I referred someone last week to a program she linked, and she reported back to me that the download tried to hijack her browser and install a toolbar she didn't want. She backed out successfully, but now I advise those using Kim Komando to have a watchdog, such as Win Patrol, that watches your Windows processes, and alerts you (giving you the opportunity to cancel the intrusion) when any new process tries to install itself. You can refuse most of the toolbars easily enough by looking in the fine print of whatever installation page you're on for a box to uncheck, and if you do get stuck with one, they install as Programs, and you can uninstall them with All Programs>Control Panel>Remove Programs. There are removal tools out there for them, as well, because some of them, like the notorious Yahoo! Toolbar, will reinstall itself if even a shred of it remains in your Registry. Make sure you are getting your removal tool from a reputable outfit, though. Some of the removal tools will actually pollute your machine with unwanted stuff as well. If all else fails, uninstall the entire browser and start over.

Keeping an up-to-date computer going without resort to buying or pirating software is quite the challenge, but it's education in itself, and when you've mastered the concept, you've topped the learning curve as a computer user.

Comments

[Geoff]

sourceforge has a lot of good stuff, if you don't mind digging...

[Kurt P]

I usually head over to majorgeeks.com when I want a free something programmish.