Category: Freeware (Page 3 of 4)

Goodbye, CCleaner

January 28, 2021 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

For years, CCleaner was many people’s go-to program for cleaning up a Windows computer. It quickly finds and deletes temp files and other junk from a system. But these days, there are more reasons to get rid of it than keep it around.

First, it’s main function is replicated by a built-in Windows tool called Storage Sense. You can find this under Windows 10 by going to Start -> Settings -> System -> Storage. Turn it On, if it isn’t already. This allows Microsoft to clean your temp files for you, silently in the background, on a recurring basis.

But beyond being replaced, CCleaner may trigger your antivirus warnings. Microsoft and other companies sometimes mark CCleaner as a bad guy or a “Potentially Unwanted Program.” This may be because Microsoft takes a dim view of anything offering to “clean your registry” (please do not use this part of CCleaner!), or because CCleaner has a history of unsavory data collection.

I’ve also taken issue with CCleaner in past years, because it has led users to accidentally download Avast Antivirus onto their systems. This has caused conflicts for people with pre-existing antivirus on their systems, as two antivirus will usually fight each other and cause system problems.

TL;DR: CCleaner should be removed, and you can usually easily uninstall it by going to Start -> Settings -> Apps. You find it in the list of apps, click it, and then use the Uninstall button.

Editing and Converting PDF Files

November 24, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 2 Comments

If you need to edit a PDF, the best way is to contact the creator of the file, and ask if they can provide you with the original, editable file that the PDF was based off of. But that’s not always possible. Other solutions are out there!

The most obvious may be to go to Adobe and get their Adobe Acrobat program. But that comes with a cost. It looks like Adobe Acrobat DC Pro currently has a pricetag of $15/mo.! Other FREE solutions are out there!

There are many websites that offer a bevy of PDF editing tools. And they are largely free. Simply upload your PDF to their site and they’ll allow you to edit, convert to a different file type, delete pages and more! You can Google for “online PDF tools” or consider these sites that I have used and appreciate:

And if you have any concerns about uploading your data to some unproven website, that’s perfectly understandable! You don’t have to, because some of these websites also offer a free software download. You can install their tools as a program on your computer, and make your edits while offline and solely on your hard drive.

IrfanView Graphic Viewer

November 23, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

IrfanView has been around for over 20 years. If you use it, you’ll notice its menus and overall look still have that Windows 98 look! IrfanView is a small program that will help you view and edit your image files.

But why would you use it (over more modern apps)? This program does exceedingly well at opening old, archaic file types. If you have found some old pictures that you can’t open, IrfanView can probably help. Some examples:

If you find an old digital camera in your junk drawer, and it’s full of photos in the FlashPix format, IrfanView can open those files.

If your designer gave you some archival files in the Photoshop format, IrfanView can handle them.

And once you open such files in IrfanView, you’ll also be able to use the Save As… function to convert your your files to JPG or other modern formats.

IrfanView is free to download for personal, educational and charitable use. If you want to use it in a professional setting, they ask $12 per license.

Windows Live Mail Keeps Breaking

November 8, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

I’m sorry to say it, but it is time that we move past using Windows Live Mail. Many of you still use it and love it, as your primary email client. But despite how awesome this program has always been, it is no longer reliable. Microsoft sunsetted this program back in 2012, but users were allowed to keep using it. Now in 2020, it is becoming clear: every time Windows 10 receives a biannual update, Windows Live Mail may stop working.

When Microsoft breaks WLM, you’ll know it because it will

Not allow you to view your individual messages
Not allow you to send/receive messages
Claim you are low on memory or disk space

This breakage can be fixed, but I’m now seeing that the fix is short-lived. Because a repair on Windows Live mail may only last you 6 months, give or take, I must now a) recommend you move away from using Windows Live Mail and b) describe the fixes. I don’t want to “make work” for myself, and doing anything else would be unconscionable.

Since the fixes are more than many people can undertake, again, I encourage you to get ready to move to different email access. Instead of using Windows Live Mail, you could move to Mozilla Thunderbird or Windows Mail. But in many cases, switching to the Webmail site for your email is the best and most direct option. Please consider that option first!

The rest of this post describes the fixes for when WLM misbehaves. Please do NOT attempt these steps if you are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the advanced techniques therein. BlueScreen Computer cannot accept any responsibility for any damages/data loss that occur from attempting the following repair tactics.

WLM Repair Option #1

Remove your Email Account and re-add it.

For this method, you will need to know your mail server names and other account settings. Comb through your email account screens and take notes before you proceed, or call your ISP or email provider afterwards for info and help.

Also note that this is intended for IMAP account setups. If you have previously setup your email in WLM as a POP account, you may irrevocably lose emails or folders in this process.

Open WLM and dismiss any error pop-ups.

Go to File -> Options -> Email Accounts.

Select your email account and click the Remove button.

Once your email address is gone from this window, use the Add… button to set it up again.

WLM Repair Option #2

Delete the App Data for WLM

As in Option #1, you will need to re-add your email account after these steps. Take note of your account settings in advance, or be prepared to call someone for help with the settings. And if your email account was set up as a POP, this may cause the loss of your current emails and folders..

Press the Windows Key and the ‘R’ key to open a Run window.

Type %localappdata% and click OK.

Enter the Microsoft folder, then enter the Windows Live Mail folder.

Delete all files and folders inside.

Reboot, reopen WLM and go to File -> Options -> Email Accounts to re-add your email account.

WLM Repair Option #3

Use a Windows Registry Reset

This option involves editing the registry, and you almost never see me recommending this to anyone. A mistake in the Windows Registry can harm your entire computer, and no one wants that. Do not attempt this unless you are uber-confident with your computer skills.

Press the Windows Key and the ‘R’ key to open a Run window.

Type regedit and click OK.

Drill down to Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows Live Mail

Right-click on the Windows Live Mail folder and (one at a time), create the following DWORD entries:

RecreateFolderIndex
RecreateStreamIndex
RecreateUIDLIndex

As you create each new entry, open it and change its Value Data to 1.

If for any reasons these values are already present, do not recreate them, but open each and change the Value Data to 1.

Reboot and reopen WLM.

LibreOffice: Free Office Software

October 8, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 1 Comment

There are plenty of reasons to pay for Microsoft Office, but if you don’t have any, don’t immediately buy it. Try LibreOffice first– it’s legitimately free and can do almost everything that Word, Excel and PowerPoint can. You might just save $150 (for Microsoft Office 2019) or $70/yr (for Microsoft 365).

LibreOffice has been around for years, and is maintained by a non-profit company and nice tech community members. You can install LibreOffice on Windows, MacOSX and Linux machines. If you want an app for your mobile device, it looks like The Document Foundation recommends a partner company, Collabora, for that.

But to be absolutely clear: LibreOffice is a full-featured program that can stand-in for Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It can open your existing Office files without changing or harming them. LibreOffice will open Word, Excel and PowerPoint files that are sent to you, allow you to edit & save them, and send them off to other Microsoft Office users.

There is no risk here, and if for any reason you don’t want LibreOffice after using it, you haven’t burned any bridges! You may uninstall LibreOffice at any time and move to another Office suite, without consequence.

Changing the File Type Defaults

Once you install LibreOffice, though, you should tweak a few settings, so that it saves your new files in Microsoft formats. By default, Libre offers to save your files in Open Document formats, which aren’t widely used. Follow these next steps to make sure that all of your new work will be compatible with everyone else:

Open LibreOffice and go to the Tools menu, then to Options.

On the left, click the Plus Sign next to Load/Save, then click General.

To the right, change ‘Document Type’ to ‘Text Document’.
Set the ‘Always Save As’ field to ‘Word 2007-365 (*.docx)’.

Next, change ‘Document Type’ to ‘Spreadsheet’.
Set the ‘Always Save As’ field to ‘Excel 2007-365 (*.xlsx)’.

Lastly, change ‘Document Type’ to ‘Presentation’.
Set the ‘Always Save As’ field to ‘PowerPoint 2007-365 (*.pptx)’.

Click OK at the bottom, and you are done.

PS: MacOS users cannot go to Tools -> Options in these programs. Instead, go to LibreOffice -> Preferences, and then the rest of these instructions should line up.

Free Photo-Editing Software

September 29, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Adobe Photoshop is the mainstay professional-grade photo-editing software, but it costs $21/mo to use. Adobe Photoshop Elements is a simpler version, for person use, and costs $100 (sometimes $50-80 when on sale at Amazon or Costco!) to buy it outright. But if you’re like me and love a $0 pricetag, check out these free photo-editing software offerings:

Best Freebies

GIMP is very similar to Photoshop, and can be installed on Windows, MacOS and Linux computers.

Paint.net is for Windows computers only. It was started as a replacement for MS Paint, but evolved into something much more capable.

Pixlr and Photopea should work on any computer, regardless of the operating system, because these load inside your web browser. That means there’s nothing to install, and all you need is a solid internet connection and a working browser.

PhotoScape X has a free version, available through the Microsoft Store and the Mac App Store. Besides photo-editing, it seems capable of helping with basic photo viewing and making collages and more!

And SumoPaint offers photo editing, along with a lot of other free creation tools!

Free Adobe Offerings

Thanks to this rise in free creative software, Adobe also has some no-cost offerings. Adobe has released a free, ultra-basic, chopped down and rather hampered version of its photo-editing software. It’s called Photoshop Express, and it installs as an app. You may download it on Android devices as well as Apple devices. And the Microsoft Store offers it as a free download for Windows computers.

Adobe also offers a free web-based creation tool, called Adobe Express. The new version of Adobe Express is in beta, so you may have a brief sign-up wait. But it has some amazing abilities to it, that make it a combination photo-editing, illustration and graphic design tool.

Norton Power Eraser

July 9, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 2 Comments

Norton Power Eraser is another one-time scan tool for Windows computers. Similar to AdwCleaner, it will scour your PC for malware and other baddies and offer to remove them. If you are concerned that something got past your full-time antivirus, this is another good tool to run.

https://support.norton.com/sp/static/external/tools/npe.html

NPE is a little different from ADWCleaner, though. While it won’t clean up shovelware or junk items, it will more explicitly target rootkits and well-disguised infections. To do this, it will insist on rebooting your computer before its system-scan. This is so NPE can inspect everything on your computer as it loads into memory.

When the scan is finished, inspect the results. Norton Power Eraser sometimes targets legacy (very old) programs for removal. If there’s anything listed that you know is trustworthy, you may uncheck it and save it from removal. Everything else can go!

Bringing Back the Games from Windows 7

June 29, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

When people move from Windows 7 to Windows 10, a common question is Where did my games go? The Solitaire and other games included with Windows 7 are absent when you boot up your Windows 10 PC for the first time. And that’s a big disappointment for most.

Microsoft would rather you go into the Microsoft Store and download the Microsoft Solitaire Collection. It’s free for everyone, but it’s just not the same as the old-school games. If you want the Windows 7 Games, check out this page:

https://winaero.com/blog/get-windows-7-games-for-windows-10/

Alternate link here or here.

Scroll down to Step 1 and you’ll find a download link for the games, just as they were on your Windows 7 PC.

If you use this, make sure to save the link or downloaded file for future use. After major updates to Windows 10, many users report that these games have gone missing. Apparently, Microsoft really doesn’t want you using them anymore, and they will remove them for you. But you are free to use the link or downloaded file anytime you want to reinstall them.

AdwCleaner

June 16, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 2 Comments

AdwCleaner is a tool that I commonly use to check computers for malware. You can too, for free! It performs one-time scan that won’t interfere with your current antivirus. Simply download it, let it scan, and allow it to remove whatever it deems suspicious. It will also offer to disable unnecessary junk software after it locates any malware.

AdwCleaner may need to reboot your computer as it strips all the junk away, and things may be greatly improved afterwards. But if you notice anything wrong after using this scan-tool, you can always use System Restore to roll back its changes.

AdwCleaner is now owned by Malwarebytes and is available to download here (currently for PC only).

PS: another good one-time scan tool is Norton Power Eraser.

Windows Live Mail

May 26, 2020 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

An email client is a program that is used to view your email on your computer. There are many email clients, like the Windows 10 Mail app, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Microsoft Outlook. But the one that many just can’t give up is Windows Live Mail.

Microsoft made that program as a successor to Outlook Express and Windows Mail, and it was fantastic for its era. But it stopped getting updates in 2012 and was officially shuttered in 2017. Microsoft has removed it from its free downloads. If you go looking for it, they will steer you hard to use Mail in Windows 10.

These days, more and more people don’t need an email client, as web-based email is easy enough to use. And Windows Live Mail is a bit dated and may refuse to work with some modern email addresses (like Hotmail and Gmail). But if you insist, you can still install and use Windows Live Mail. WLM is available in this download at CNET:

https://download.cnet.com/Window…/3000-20418_4-10805747.html

And just in case they ever take that down, I’ve got an archival copy of the installer in my Google Drive, here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BDWbuv6SH0fWa-1fo7waNikr1inFbenN/view?usp=sharing