This post is a continuation of “Top 20 Open Source Programs You Must Have….“ post i wrote sometime back. This is Part 2 of the 4 part series. If you havent yet read the previous part of thuis post i.e Part 1, then do read it before continuing reading this one !!
Top 20 Open Source Programs You Must Have…. ( Part 1 of 4 )
6. Media Player Classic :
It looks and works much like an earlier classic version of Windows Media Player. In fact, there’s not even an installation program ! You just need to double-click the file and it runs. Despite its simplicity, it’s a great program. It will play just about any kind of media file you can throw at it, and will even play DVDs.
Download Page (Source Forge)
7. HandBrake :
It grabs video from a variety of sources, including a DVD and a DVD image, and grabs audio from sources as well, including MPEG audio tracks. You’ll then be able to output a digital file in a variety of formats, including MPEG-4, AVI, OGM for video, or AAC, MP3, and Ogg Vorbis for audio. There are some very nice extras this program has such as being able to select individual DVD chapters, grabbing subtitles, and more. You get plenty of control over your recording, including selecting the bit rate, maximum file size for video, and bit rate and sample rate for audio.
Utilities
8. RogueScanner :
Run it on a PC attached to your network via Ethernet. When you run it, it immediately does a network scan, finding the wireless and wired devices attached to it. For each device, it lists the unique MAC address (a kind of serial number), the IP address, the manufacturer if it can figure it out, and model number if it can find that. It also tells you what kind of device it is, such as a router, printer, PC, and so on. And it will also flag any suspect devices it finds.Just compare the information it finds to what you know of your network. If there are any wireless devices connected that you don’t know about, you may have an intruder.
P.S – The program won’t work in Windows Vista, so you’ll need Windows XP !
9. ClamWin Free Antivirus :
If you want a clean, mean piece of antivirus software that does just one thing, protect against viruses, you’ll want this program. It has a small footprint, and doesn’t take up much system resources. It will scan your entire hard disk at once for viruses and spyware, or can scan individual files and folders. It also includes a Microsoft Outlook add-in to remove virus-infected attachments automatically from your e-mail. The program has one drawback, it doesn’t include real-time virus protection.
10. FileZilla :
This file transfer protocol may seem old-fashioned and ancient, but the truth is, it’s often the simplest way to transfer files between PCs, or between a PC and a server. It’s especially useful for transferring large files, because ISPs often block e-mail attachments over a certain size. And it’s great for transferring groups of files. FileZilla has just about every FTP feature you need. It’s a breeze to set up and edit new FTP connections. The interface is particularly easy to use, so that you can easily navigate external FTP servers and your local hard drive, and transfer files between then. You can also use multiple simultaneous connections to speed up file transfers.
The 20 open source programs will be covered in a total of 4 posts, this is Part 2 of the 4 part series……
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