PC/MAC Programs

IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/W7/W8/W10.

It will convert from almost any image format into any other as well as a lot more besides.

• Batch reformat and/or rename. E.g. normalise the size of from a high definition image to a lower definition (smaller size) for web site publication on the web

• Screen image capture - select whole desktop, a window, client area of a window or a custom selection using a "hot key"

• Annotate an image (especially useful for a screen capture)

• Play (but not convert) video files

Irfanview supports "Plugins". These provide additional functionality. These need to be download separately.

IrfanView is now available in 32 and 64 bit versions. The full range of plug-ins is not yet supported in 64 bit versions so currently it is recommended to use the 32 bit version.

Full Disk Backup

Aomei Backupper is a full disk backup and restore solution for Windows systems. It is designed to take a backup of the current state of your windows computer that can be used if ever you have an issue which corrupts or damages your commuter. It will backup all essential partitions on your system disk drive.

It is designed to backup to an external disk drive e.g. a plugin USB disk. It does support incremental backups so that only changes are from a previous backup are recorder.

The free (for personal use) version can successfully backup and restore computers. The paid for version has additional features

To access the correct download follow the link "For Home" and select AOMEI Backupper Standard from the options.

Backupper can create recovery media (on DVD or USB memory stick) that can used tbe booted up and used to restore a computer even if the internal disk drive has totally crashed and is irrecoverable.

While the bootable media (DVD or USB) can be easily created by Aomei Backupper it will probably not immediately work with a recent Windows computer as the security settings will normally prevent booting from external media. This is security feature but the setting can be changed if you access the "EFI Boot" settings in the computer BIOS. You will need to refer to the manufacture's documentation for instructions on how to access this setting menu. REMEMBER to change it back once you have corrected the problem!

Backupper is intended to be used to backup an entire disk drive. This only needs to be run occasionally e.g. after a Windows update or a software istall. It is NOT recommended for daily backup of user files. It does have a file backup feature for files but Cobian Reflector is designed and recommended for this regular task.

A Soroban Guide has also been provided to take you through how to use the program. This is still in draft so please inform the author if you find any errors.

File backup

The main advantage of this program over alternatives, and the reason I am using this program is that is can copy open files on all versions of Windows since XP.

A number of backup jobs can be created and run on a schedule when this is combined with the versioning feature it can provide a totally automated backup regime.

Versioning is very useful. A backup cycle can be created where it will take a full backup periodically. In between it can take differential (all changes from the previous full backup) or incremental (all changes from last backup) backups. You can configure how many backup cycles to retain.

The program author is very specific - the program is a backup program only. Many alternatives also offer synchronisation facilities. These can be dangerous - if you delete a program from your own computer then it may automatically be deleted from the archive. Recovery is not automated - you use Windows Explorer to copy files back from the backup.

Cobian support was shut down in 2013 although the program continued to be available for download. The original author has now produced a new version and it is now fully supported again. Full details are on his website.

Disk partition image backup

This program will backup a complete partition, or a set of partitions, to another drive. This might be another partition on the same drive, an external USB drive, or a Network share on another computer or external drive.

The program will backup XP or later computers while they are running. The program takes an image of the drive. It is not a file by file copy but the program does keep an index of the files and will enable single files or folders to be extracted from the archive. It can use a feature of XP and later computers called Volume shadow copy enables it to safely copy open files.

Restoration of an image to an empty disk requires a bootable disk. The site gives a link to a Live CD (i.e. bootable) with DriveImage already installed. This is a Linux distribution and is the easiest option.

There is a downloadable Help file on the web site. You need to follow the instructions to "unblock" it to be able to read it.

File Synchronisation/Web upload

A free/donation ware utility that can synchronise or mirror a folder structure to another device.

The source or destination can be a local or networked disk drive or an FTP server

The operation can be set to:

• Synchronise - make both sides match each other

• Mirror - make target match the source including deleting files that are no longer on source

The basic version is free with no adverts. They offer a donation ware version that releases further functionality (believed to be related to performance) that needs to be renewed annually.

This program is being used to mirror all files to this website from the master copy maintained on a laptop.

Macrium is no longer a free utility for backing up a running XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers. Existing Macrium images can still be read by the latest version of Macrium! Use Aomei Backupper for all new backups.

Although this program is still available I now use Freefilesync for maintaining my web site

Syncback is still an excellent backup utility and continues to be improved so return from time to time. FreeFileSync is however easier to configure and is now being used to maintain this website.

A free cloud based storage service. Now recommended in preference to SpiderOak.

The data is encrypted in the remote file store making its contents safe from prying eyes. It s designed to work as a shared team store. Many users can share the data and it is very easy to add new team members and control their level of access. It is also capable of sharing files between a phone and computer file store.

Any file changed is updated to the cloud store and then replicated to all registered users.

It is available for many platforms although the contributor has only tested PC and Android variants.

TeamDrive has been rebadged in the USA (for reasons unknown) to Synqion. It appears to be the same executable program. Attempts to access the Teamdrive site from the USA are redirected to Synqion. TeamDrive and Synqion are registered at the same address in Germany.

WeTransfer

This service can be described as a "cloud like" service. It enables a file, or the contents of a folder, files to be uploaded to a remote server for collection by another party.

The file or files will be retained for a defined interval. The default is 1 week.

The free version limits the total size of the uploaded files to 2 GBytes. There are options to pay for larger file limits.

A comprehensive and versatile document/text/code editor. Key features include:

• Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding depending on file type

• User Defined Syntax Highlighting and Folding

• PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expression) Search/Replace

• GUI entirely customizable: minimalist, tab with close button, multi-line tab, vertical tab and vertical document list

• Document Map

• Auto-completion: Word completion, Function completion and Function parameters hint

• Multi-Document (Tab interface)

• Multi-Document (Tab interface)

• Multi-View

• WYSIWYG (Printing)

• Zoom in and zoom out

• Multi-Language environment supported

• Bookmark

• Macro recording and playback

• Launch with different arguments

An Open Source feature rich Drawing package

An evolving, fully featured, drawing package. It contains may features that are provided by the Microsoft Visio drawing application.

Inkscape has a huge, and evolving, set of features that seem to work well.

Inkscape is designed to store it files in a standard format Scalable Vector Graphics (or SVG). Limited testing has been done to check that this file format can be imported directly into LibreOffice Writer documents and Visio. It is expected that if multiple layers are used these may be "flattened" to a single layer during the import. Feedback would be appreciated so this entry can be updated.

Note: Inkscape is capable of providing "connectors" but this feature is still immature and does not yet come close to the equivalent capabilities of LibreOffice Draw or especially Microsoft Visio. Other drawing features are however well supported.

LibreOffice Draw is part of the LibreOffice suite

Please refer to the main LibreOffice entry

Have I been pwned?

Enter your email address to find it you email is known on a list of harvested emails

You are very likely to find your email in there! It does not matter too much if your email is in there as long as your email account is protected by a good password and that password is not shared with other

Report phishing to uk authorities. Forward the suspicious email to report@phishing.gov.uk

The link goes to the government site which gives more information and includes what to do about texts etc.

If you receive a Spam email you can report it using this link. Spamcop will forward it to the domain owner.

You do need to register with Spamcop to do this!

Thunderbird is a comprehensive email client that also incudes calendar and upcoming event features. It also incudes an address book. It also supports a range of "add-ins" that extend its functionality. It can import from a variety of email clients including the obsolete Microsoft Livemail.

It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms and the download will (probably) pick the appropriate version. If not choose the System and Languages link below the download button. This also allows you to choose the platform and the language you want to work in. for me it selected en-GB!

It s very easy to configure for all your email accounts. I have six.

It has many other features I have not explored.

I abeen using Thunderbird as my email client for some years after abandoning the obsolete LiveMail.

This is no longer available - Use Thunderbird.

File merge and encryption

This free program will combine a set of files or folders into a single file (similar to the widely used Zip program) but will then additionally apply encryption to the combined file. It uses a password to encrypt the data. The same program can be used to decrypt the resulting combined file.

A typical use of this program would be to generate a file that can be shared over a public Internet service such as WeTransfer, or stored on an USB drive that is then given to another person.

When used in this way the password must be shared using an alterative method to that used so share the encrypted file. To maintain security this password must NEVER be sent over the same channel as the data. Examples include a telephone call or text message.

Although compression is applied to the data the resulting single file may be too large to be shared over the internet. In this case a File splitting/combining program could be used to fragment the encrypted file so it can be shared, each fragment shared, and then recombined at the receiving end.

The native Windows Zip facility provides file compression to reduce the size but other tools would have to be used to combine compression with encryption., These tools tend to be Windows only but this program claims to be compatible with MAC as well.

File Zip, merge, split and encryption

This free program will combine a set of files or folders into a single file (similar to the widely used Zip program) but can then perform any of the following:

• Will merge files/folders into a single ZIP file

• Will encrypt the zip file or decrypt using a password

• Can split a zip file into a configurable number of chunks and then merge back into the original zip file

This is the only free utility program that provides all of the tools needed for safe file sharing that I have found that will work on Windows, MAC and Linux platforms

A typical use of this program would be to generate a compressed file (containing a number of embedded folders/files) that can be easily, and safely, shared over a public Internet service such as WeTransfer, or stored on an USB drive that is then given to another person.

When encryption is used then the encryption password must be shared using an alternative method to that used so share the encrypted file. To maintain security this password must NEVER be sent over the same channel as the data. Examples include a telephone call or text message.

A free cloud based storage service. Now recommended in preference to SpiderOak.

The data is encrypted in the remote file store making its contents safe from prying eyes. It s designed to work as a shared team store. Many users can share the data and it is very easy to add new team members and control their level of access. It is also capable of sharing files between a phone and computer file store.

Any file changed is updated to the cloud store and then replicated to all registered users.

It is available for many platforms although the contributor has only tested PC and Android variants.

TeamDrive has been rebadged in the USA (for reasons unknown) to Synqion. It appears to be the same executable program. Attempts to access the Teamdrive site from the USA are redirected to Synqion. TeamDrive and Synqion are registered at the same address in Germany.

Truecrypt no longer exists. It was suddenly, several years ago, withdrawn without explanation

Veracrypt has ported this code and now supports a backward compatible product. See the Veracrypt entry.

This program is a replacement for the now defunct TrueCrypt

Do you want to keep your information private?

This program allows you make a disk file (created by the program) appear as a new disk drive. All normal file accesses work. You can create folders within the "virtual" disk. The important thing however is that the virtual disk is encrypted. You have to enter a password/phrase to open the virtual disk. The encryption ought to be strong enough for most purposes and would prevent anyone who did not know the password from seeing the data.

Veracrypt is a Free Open Source encryption package. It creates one, or more, "disks" that, when the encryption key is entered, appear just like ordinary disk drives to the system. A bewildering number of encryption algorithms are supported. I am comfortable with the level of security provided by AES which is also one of the fastest.

The contributor has not evaluated this program, feedback welcome

File merge and encryption

This free program will combine a set of files or folders into a single file (similar to the widely used Zip program) but will then additionally apply encryption to the combined file. It uses a password to encrypt the data. The same program can be used to decrypt the resulting combined file.

A typical use of this program would be to generate a file that can be shared over a public Internet service such as WeTransfer, or stored on an USB drive that is then given to another person.

When used in this way the password must be shared using an alterative method to that used so share the encrypted file. To maintain security this password must NEVER be sent over the same channel as the data. Examples include a telephone call or text message.

Although compression is applied to the data the resulting single file may be too large to be shared over the internet. In this case a File splitting/combining program could be used to fragment the encrypted file so it can be shared, each fragment shared, and then recombined at the receiving end.

The native Windows Zip facility provides file compression to reduce the size but other tools would have to be used to combine compression with encryption., These tools tend to be Windows only but this program claims to be compatible with MAC as well.

File encryption Tool

This tool is designed to encrypt a file using a secure encryption method. It is available for Windows, MAC and Linux platforms.

A typical use would be to encrypt a file containing sensitive data before exchanging it with another person. A new file is created that can only be opened, using the same program, by entering the password.

If sending the encrypted file over the Internet whether by email, or by some other form of file sharing, the password should be exchanged by a different method:

• text message

• telephone

• post

• etc.

Free File Splitter

There is sometimes a need to split a large (typically a video) file into smaller chunks so that it can be emailed. This program is designed to do this.

There will obviously as be a need recombine the files at the recipient's computer.

This program can perform both functions.

No installation is required.

If you want to combine file compression (e.g. Zip) together with file splitting (for sharing over a size limited link) and encryption (for privacy) then and need cross platform support then consider PeaZip as a viable alternative

File Zip, merge, split and encryption

This free program will combine a set of files or folders into a single file (similar to the widely used Zip program) but can then perform any of the following:

• Will merge files/folders into a single ZIP file

• Will encrypt the zip file or decrypt using a password

• Can split a zip file into a configurable number of chunks and then merge back into the original zip file

This is the only free utility program that provides all of the tools needed for safe file sharing that I have found that will work on Windows, MAC and Linux platforms

A typical use of this program would be to generate a compressed file (containing a number of embedded folders/files) that can be easily, and safely, shared over a public Internet service such as WeTransfer, or stored on an USB drive that is then given to another person.

When encryption is used then the encryption password must be shared using an alternative method to that used so share the encrypted file. To maintain security this password must NEVER be sent over the same channel as the data. Examples include a telephone call or text message.

Free Download Manager speeds up the download process by splitting the download into a number or parallel "threads".

It organises the downloads in folders under different categories (although it does not always get this right!).

It allows the download traffic to be prioritised so that downloads do not hog the available bandwidth.

Downloads can be scheduled with the computer shutting itself down when completed although I do not use this feature very often.

A new feature is a Web site spider function which claims to support mirroring of web sites - see HTTrack entry. This feature has not been tested.

File Synchronisation/Web upload

A free/donation ware utility that can synchronise or mirror a folder structure to another device.

The source or destination can be a local or networked disk drive or an FTP server

The operation can be set to:

• Synchronise - make both sides match each other

• Mirror - make target match the source including deleting files that are no longer on source

The basic version is free with no adverts. They offer a donation ware version that releases further functionality (believed to be related to performance) that needs to be renewed annually.

This program is being used to mirror all files to this website from the master copy maintained on a laptop.

Copies the contents of a web site to the local disk for off-line browsing. Works very well.

This program was used to capture the entire GXCC web site prior to it being moved to a new host.

The web site has since been substantially revised.

Install Windows 7 Games on W8, W10 or W11

Please be aware that if upgrading from W10 to W11 you MAY need to reinstall the games as there is an issue with the older version running on W11. The new version is backwards compatible.

The installer includes:

• Solitaire

• Spider Solitaire

• Minesweeper

• FreeCell

• Hearts

• Chess Titans

• Mahjong Titans

• Purble Place

I have not tried them all! It also includes Internet versions of spades, Checkers and backgammon which I suspect do not work.

You can be selective and choose which games are installed.

Powerful Image processing

Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or scientist, GIMP provides you with sophisticated tools to get your job done. You can further enhance your productivity with GIMP thanks to many customization options and 3rd party plugins.

This is a powerful and well regarded editing tool aimed at professional use. It requires some knowledge of image processing terminology to use effectively.

Stitching Images

A free program from Microsoft that stitches individual images into one composite image. It seems to work extremely well.

Note that the Microsoft download link no longer works. The links shown are alternative download links for 32 and 64 bit versions.

Please note however that this program is no longer supported!

The Microsoft site however still has a very brief description of the program.

The 32 bit link will download a 32 bit version. This does NOT work on 64 bit computers

The 64 bit link downloads a ZIP file that does contain the 64 bit installer (MSI file) along with other irrelevant data.

IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/W7/W8/W10.

It will convert from almost any image format into any other as well as a lot more besides.

• Batch reformat and/or rename. E.g. normalise the size of from a high definition image to a lower definition (smaller size) for web site publication on the web

• Screen image capture - select whole desktop, a window, client area of a window or a custom selection using a "hot key"

• Annotate an image (especially useful for a screen capture)

• Play (but not convert) video files

Irfanview supports "Plugins". These provide additional functionality. These need to be download separately.

IrfanView is now available in 32 and 64 bit versions. The full range of plug-ins is not yet supported in 64 bit versions so currently it is recommended to use the 32 bit version.

A number of free Nikon utilities for photo and video management

These are all contained in a single download

ViewNX-i

View, sort, edit and archive stills and movies with ease. Nikon's ViewNX-i is an intuitive image hub that makes it simple to organise, process and share stills and movies from one central platform.

With three dedicated workspaces, you can switch instantly between image sorting or map and web upload operations. The integrated ViewNX-Movie Editor makes it easy to edit, trim and manage movies, and ViewNX-i works seamlessly with Nikon's Capture NX-D for instant access to more advanced functions. Sidecar files ensure non-destructive image processing, and you can post images to social sites directly from the ViewNX-i platform.

Capture NX-D

Capture NX-D is a basic photo processing software, it can be used to enhance JPEG and TIFF images through adjustments to brightness, contrast, tone curves, and much more

Nikon Transfer 2

Is an application to transfer RAW and JPG images from camera or SD card to a location on a PC or Mac such as the My Pictures folder or Finder folder. It has various options that users can specify before transfer of images. These include setting the primary destination of the images, renaming, synchronizing image information like the data and EXIF data and if required deleting the original from the SD card after it's been transferred

XnConvert is a batch image converter program. This is from the same vendor as XNView but according to the website it is enhanced and has multi-platform support.

The site indicates that some conversions require 32 bit components. It is not too clear what the implications are but it suggests that for now you should use the 32 bit versions.

This version has not been evaluated by the contributor - feedback would be appreciated.

Xnview is an image converter program.

There is an alternative program from the same source that appears to be more flexible and is multi-platform that appears to have additional functionality but has not yet been evaluated.

XnviewMP is an image converter program. This is from the same vendor as XNView but according to the website it is enhanced and has multi-platform support.

This version has not been evaluated by the contributor - feedback would be appreciated.

Skype is Microsoft's version of Instant Messaging, Internet telephony amd Video calling.

A version of Skype is preinstalled on Windows 8 and Windows 10 or downloadable from the Windows App store but this is the App version. This link is for the Desktop version. For Windows 8.1 and windows 10 where the App can be run in a resizable Window (rather than full screen) there may be less need to install this version.

Open Office is an office suite that rivals Microsoft Office. It can open Office 2003 documents (in particular Word, Excel and PowerPoint).

This program is falling further behind LibreOffice. The author strongly recommends installing, or migrating to LibreOffice as soon as possible, as this is more likely to be able to open/save in the latest Microsoft formats.

Alternative list of LibreOffice help and tutorial Documents

An alternative download site containing a comprehensive set of documents and tutorial information for download covering all aspects of LibreOffice including example documents in many cases.

This site includes a web view of the documents, in some cases, in addition to the ODT and PDF download links

This set includes:

• Getting Started with LibreOffice

• LibreOffice Writer Guide

• LibreOffice Calc Guide

• LibreOffice Impress Guide

• LibreOffice Draw Guide

• LibreOffice Base Guide

• LibreOffice Math Guide

• and others

LibreOffice help and tutorial Documents

A comprehensive set of documents and tutorial information for download covering all aspects of LibreOffice including example documents in many cases.

The presentation of the downloads is more complex than the alternative site but it also includes earlier versions as well as the current versions

This set includes:

• Getting Started with LibreOffice

• LibreOffice Writer Guide

• LibreOffice Calc Guide

• LibreOffice Impress Guide

• LibreOffice Draw Guide

• LibreOffice Base Guide

• LibreOffice Math Guide

• LibreOffice Tutorial

• LibreOffice Basic Reference cards

• Plus "How tos" and Tutorials as well as Desktop Reference cards

This site contains a set of video tutorials covering most aspects of LibreOffice is considerable detail. It has several major topics which include multiple videos covering:

• LibreOffice Base: Database software (note this is NOT compatible with MS Access)

• LibreOffice Calc: Microsoft Excel compatible spreadsheet

• LibreOffice Draw: Drawing package

• LibreOffice Impress: Microsoft PowerPoint compatible presentation software

• LibreOffice Writer: Microsoft Word compatible word processor

Each LibreOffice application has a series of well organised tutorial videos that take a beginner from first principles to advanced topics. Each topic has downloadable sample files.

This site is not directly associated with the Document Foundation, the owners of LibreOffice. They have however produced good quality tutorial information for LibreOffice. The video tutorials have not been updated for the current version of LibreOffice so some details may not be identical to what you see on the latest versions. For example the menus may have had some tweaks and the toolbars had cosmetic changes. I have found the Base tutorials very helpful.

This site has similar video tutorials for a number of further software packages that have not been evaluated

LibreOffice is a highly functional Office suite that provides most of the features of Microsoft Office. It can open Microsoft document formats and can also save in these formats. The conversion is not always perfect but inconsistencies are fixed in the regular updates.

A feature of LibreOffice is that if can export a document directly to a PDF file. This includes creation of Forms that can be completed in Acrobat Reader or other PDF readers that support form filling.

There is a regular update schedule where bugs and issues are addressed.

LibreOffice is designed to be platform independent and there are versions available for Windows, MAC and Linux.

Please note that LibreOffice has a database capability but this is NOT compatible with Microsoft Access.

LibreOffice has two alternative downloads:

• The first download contains the latest features. To quote from the web site: If you're a technology enthusiast, early adopter or power user, this version is for you! The contributor uses this version.

• The second download is slightly older and does not have the latest features, but it has been tested for longer. It is still maintained with any bug fixes.

Note that LibreOffice has a separate download for the Help Files. If you choose the UK English installer you do not also need the help file. If you need another language then you may need the Help file.

LibreOffice and Apache Open Office are both originally derived from the same source code .This was "forked" several years ago and have since followed separate development paths. LibreOffice has been actively maintained since the split. See Apache Open Office for more information.

Excellent Free Password Manager

This program will enable you to organise all our passwords if a safe manner. It protects the date with a password that you must be able to remember but that is the ONLY one. All others are held in an encrypted data store and are only accessible via the master password.

The program will store the URL of a website (or the field can store a shortcut to a program) and open the site or run the program. It can store a Username and password for access to sites where registration is required and it can then automatically type the username and password into the login fields on the login form. Furthermore it can store any number of custom fields and can type those in as well.

As it is so easy to make the program type the password there is no excuse to use weak or short passwords. KeePass can generate strong random passwords. Via a plugin it can generate passphrases that can be remembered.

The passwords can be organised into folders and these can be searched. What more you you want. In fact there is a chance that it can do it! It has some other tricks up its sleeve!

The program can synchronise a local database with another instance of a KeePass database on another computer so that the password file can be shared. It pairs well will cloud services such as DropBox or an alternative called TeamDrive (and probably others). The KeePass file is well encrypted so the passwords are probably secure but DropBox's security is known to be weak. I am currently using TeamDrive which encrypts all of the data written to the cloud server to share the password file with another computer.

Note that there are two versions of the program. Both of these are actively supported by the developer.

• Version 1 is more portable (technically it does not use Windows specific libraries.

• Version 2 depends on the Microsoft .Net functions and hence needs additional software (mono) to be installed to use it on Mac or Linux - see web site for details.

There are also ports to smart phones.

After using this program for several years I could not manage without it!

Mail PassView is a small password-recovery tool that reveals the passwords and other account details for the following email clients:

• Outlook Express

• Microsoft Outlook 2000 (POP3 and SMTP Accounts only)

• Microsoft Outlook 2002/2003 (POP3, IMAP, HTTP and SMTP Accounts)

• IncrediMail

• Eudora

• Netscape 6.x/7.x

• Mozilla Thunderbird

• Group Mail Free

• Yahoo! Mail - If the password is saved in Yahoo! Messenger application.

• Hotmail/MSN mail - If the password is saved in MSN Messenger application.

• Gmail - If the password is saved by Gmail Notifier application.

For each email account, the following fields are displayed: Account Name, Application, Email, Server, Server Type (POP3/IMAP/SMTP), User Name, and the Password.

Does not need to be installed. Can be run from a USB memory stick.

Open Office is an office suite that rivals Microsoft Office. It can open Office 2003 documents (in particular Word, Excel and PowerPoint).

This program is falling further behind LibreOffice. The author strongly recommends installing, or migrating to LibreOffice as soon as possible, as this is more likely to be able to open/save in the latest Microsoft formats.

This program provides a means of creating PDF files by installing a PDF "printer". All you need to do is to print the document to the printer and a PDF document is created.

It gives several alternative options for output as well as PDF. These include PNG and TIFF. It also allows the print quality to be selected as well as more advanced options such as water4mark, background or foreground overlays etc.

During installation the program installs an additional program Ghostscript lite which actually does much of the work. Don't be fooled bu the initial download size of 8 Mbytes, Ghostcript is a further 9 Mbytes.

Windows 10 now contains its own PDF print software.

Foxit is a program that displays PDF documents in a similar way to Acrobat Reader. Recently there have been more security concerns with this product than with Acrobat

Although Foxit also provides a printer driver so that windows programs that do not natively support PDF output can "print" to the Foxit PDF printer, which will create a PDF file, this feature has been supported directly in Windows for some time.

LibreOffice is a highly functional Office suite that provides most of the features of Microsoft Office. It can open Microsoft document formats and can also save in these formats. The conversion is not always perfect but inconsistencies are fixed in the regular updates.

A feature of LibreOffice is that if can export a document directly to a PDF file. This includes creation of Forms that can be completed in Acrobat Reader or other PDF readers that support form filling.

There is a regular update schedule where bugs and issues are addressed.

LibreOffice is designed to be platform independent and there are versions available for Windows, MAC and Linux.

Please note that LibreOffice has a database capability but this is NOT compatible with Microsoft Access.

LibreOffice has two alternative downloads:

• The first download contains the latest features. To quote from the web site: If you're a technology enthusiast, early adopter or power user, this version is for you! The contributor uses this version.

• The second download is slightly older and does not have the latest features, but it has been tested for longer. It is still maintained with any bug fixes.

Note that LibreOffice has a separate download for the Help Files. If you choose the UK English installer you do not also need the help file. If you need another language then you may need the Help file.

LibreOffice and Apache Open Office are both originally derived from the same source code .This was "forked" several years ago and have since followed separate development paths. LibreOffice has been actively maintained since the split. See Apache Open Office for more information.

PDF995 is a free PDF "printer" program. I use it now in preference to the Free PDF generator as it installs easier and has more features. In particular I wanted to be able to be able to merge two documents together to be able to produce invoices on company letter headed paper.

There is a downside - the free version of this program will always attempt to access the PDF995 website to display their home page. I can live with this but, strictly speaking, it is adware and not freeware. I would use Bull zip PDF or Foxit when I need a PDF printer.

Windows 10 now contains its own PDF print software.

Remote Access

This program has not been exhaustively tested but provides a viable alternative to TeamViewer if access to TeamViewer has been blocked by an ISP.

This program provides several remote access and sharing capabilities

TeamViewer enables Remote Support of a computer by a person sat at a remote computer. It can be used to control an unattended computer or to provide support to a user that has a problem.

TeamViewer is available in two versions. There us a Quick Support version which has its own entry. This version needs to be installed but has more features including being able to start with the Operating System enabling remote control to be available before user login. Note that this has not been tested on any platform other than Windows.

The computer being controlled has a computer ID which is always the same and will display a password which is deferent each time the computer is restarted. This is an important security feature.

When this installed version is being used on the computer being controlled a password can be preconfigured with its own account password to enable login immediately on boot. It is therefore useful for support on unattended computer systems. In this case TeamDrive must also be configured to start with the Operating System. This feature has not been tested on any platform other than Windows. This works even booting into Safe Mode.

This version can be used to connect to a remote computer which uses either Quick Support or has this version installed

As with all such Remote Access software - you have to trust the person that can connect in this way.

If there is additional information on the use of TeamViewer on other platforms, and in particular on the Start with OS, please email the contributor with details.

If the remote client is connected to the Internet using TalkTalk as their ISP you may find that this is blocked as many scammers have been exploiting TeamViewer and persuading inexperienced users to install the Quick Support option and gaining access to the unsuspecting user's device. TalkTalk block all access to TeamViewer unless you enable access via the TalkTalk web site or via a support call. In this case AnyDesk is a viable alternative.

Remote access can be made from Android, iPhones, etc. to PCs, MAC or Linux computers but not vice versa.

This program Allows this computer/Device to be accessed remotely

TeamViewer Quick Support enables Remote Support of a computer or device by a person sat at a remote computer. This version of the program does not need to be installed.

When run the program displays a Computer ID and a Password. This information needs to be given to the person who will be providing support. Note that the Computer ID will always be the same but the password will be different each time you log into to the computer.

As with all such Remote Access software - you have to trust the person that can connect in this way.

If this client is connected to the Internet using TalkTalk as their ISP you may find that this is blocked as many scammers have been exploiting TeamViewer and persuading inexperienced users to install the Quick Support option and gaining access to the unsuspecting user's device. TalkTalk block all access to TeamViewer unless you enable access via the TalkTalk web site or via a support call. In this case consider AnyDesk is a viable alternative.

Remote access can be made from Android, iPhones, etc. to PCs, MAC or Linux computers but not vice versa.

Where a user has a problem with their computer and needs support from someone more experienced Remote Access from a more experienced person can help to resolve then problem.

This document describes how TeamViewer, a well regarded and safe remote support package can be used by another person to connect to your computer and diagnose or even correct the problem. In the document the person requiring support is called the "User" and the person providing support as the "Expert"

This document describes how to set up the User's PC or MAC as well as the Expert's computer (which does not need to be the same as the User's computer). This includes adjusting the security settings on the MAC to enable the program to run.

One unexpected aspect of using TeamViewer is that scammers have also started using the app and pretend to have identified a problem on your computer and offering to help. When connected they can make changes and demand money to fix the problems they have introduced. One UK internet Service Provider, TalkTalk, blocks access to TeamViewer. The document describes how to remove this block to enable TeamViewer to be used.

This document describes how to use TeamViewer on both Windows PCs and MAC computers. TeamViewer however is also available for other devices and, while some details of the user interface may differ, any of these platforms can be used in a similar manner.

Zoom

Zoom is an easy to use, cross platform, video based meeting/conferencing system that supports one to one meetings as well as large conferences. It is free for small meetings that last no more than 40 minutes.

Zoom has recently changed the free session behaviour. You can no longer reconnect immediately . There is now an imposed delay of about 10 minutes before you can reconnect.

There is a fee for larger meetings and to remove the 40 minute limitation.

Zoom enables a desktop, or individual Windows, from any participant to be shared to all parties in the call which makes it ideal for giving presentations when all participants are unable to attend in person.

A specific use for screen sharing is to enable remote support as Zoom enables one user to grant remote access to another so the remote user can take control of their computer.

IrfanView is a very fast, small, compact and innovative FREEWARE (for non-commercial use) graphic viewer for Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/W7/W8/W10.

It will convert from almost any image format into any other as well as a lot more besides.

• Batch reformat and/or rename. E.g. normalise the size of from a high definition image to a lower definition (smaller size) for web site publication on the web

• Screen image capture - select whole desktop, a window, client area of a window or a custom selection using a "hot key"

• Annotate an image (especially useful for a screen capture)

• Play (but not convert) video files

Irfanview supports "Plugins". These provide additional functionality. These need to be download separately.

IrfanView is now available in 32 and 64 bit versions. The full range of plug-ins is not yet supported in 64 bit versions so currently it is recommended to use the 32 bit version.

Have I been pwned?

Enter your email address to find it you email is known on a list of harvested emails

You are very likely to find your email in there! It does not matter too much if your email is in there as long as your email account is protected by a good password and that password is not shared with other

File merge and encryption

This free program will combine a set of files or folders into a single file (similar to the widely used Zip program) but will then additionally apply encryption to the combined file. It uses a password to encrypt the data. The same program can be used to decrypt the resulting combined file.

A typical use of this program would be to generate a file that can be shared over a public Internet service such as WeTransfer, or stored on an USB drive that is then given to another person.

When used in this way the password must be shared using an alterative method to that used so share the encrypted file. To maintain security this password must NEVER be sent over the same channel as the data. Examples include a telephone call or text message.

Although compression is applied to the data the resulting single file may be too large to be shared over the internet. In this case a File splitting/combining program could be used to fragment the encrypted file so it can be shared, each fragment shared, and then recombined at the receiving end.

The native Windows Zip facility provides file compression to reduce the size but other tools would have to be used to combine compression with encryption., These tools tend to be Windows only but this program claims to be compatible with MAC as well.

A large and comprehensive collection of utility programs. Here is a list of the headings, each of these contains number of individual programs:

• Password Recovery Utilities

• Network monitoring tools

• Internet Related Utilities

• MS Outlook Tools

• Freeware System Tools

In addition there are links to other Freeware sites.

The site asserts that are no adverts or sponsor links in any of the installers.

Note that some of the other links are also provided to other useful good, but not free programs.

A tutorial about finding out it your computer has been hacked. It contains links to a set of "toolkit" programs that can assist in assessing where there is any unwanted software on your computer.

Bleeping computers is a reliable source of malware identification and remediation.

Alternative list of LibreOffice help and tutorial Documents

An alternative download site containing a comprehensive set of documents and tutorial information for download covering all aspects of LibreOffice including example documents in many cases.

This site includes a web view of the documents, in some cases, in addition to the ODT and PDF download links

This set includes:

• Getting Started with LibreOffice

• LibreOffice Writer Guide

• LibreOffice Calc Guide

• LibreOffice Impress Guide

• LibreOffice Draw Guide

• LibreOffice Base Guide

• LibreOffice Math Guide

• and others

LibreOffice help and tutorial Documents

A comprehensive set of documents and tutorial information for download covering all aspects of LibreOffice including example documents in many cases.

The presentation of the downloads is more complex than the alternative site but it also includes earlier versions as well as the current versions

This set includes:

• Getting Started with LibreOffice

• LibreOffice Writer Guide

• LibreOffice Calc Guide

• LibreOffice Impress Guide

• LibreOffice Draw Guide

• LibreOffice Base Guide

• LibreOffice Math Guide

• LibreOffice Tutorial

• LibreOffice Basic Reference cards

• Plus "How tos" and Tutorials as well as Desktop Reference cards

This site contains a set of video tutorials covering most aspects of LibreOffice is considerable detail. It has several major topics which include multiple videos covering:

• LibreOffice Base: Database software (note this is NOT compatible with MS Access)

• LibreOffice Calc: Microsoft Excel compatible spreadsheet

• LibreOffice Draw: Drawing package

• LibreOffice Impress: Microsoft PowerPoint compatible presentation software

• LibreOffice Writer: Microsoft Word compatible word processor

Each LibreOffice application has a series of well organised tutorial videos that take a beginner from first principles to advanced topics. Each topic has downloadable sample files.

This site is not directly associated with the Document Foundation, the owners of LibreOffice. They have however produced good quality tutorial information for LibreOffice. The video tutorials have not been updated for the current version of LibreOffice so some details may not be identical to what you see on the latest versions. For example the menus may have had some tweaks and the toolbars had cosmetic changes. I have found the Base tutorials very helpful.

This site has similar video tutorials for a number of further software packages that have not been evaluated

Zoom

Zoom is an easy to use, cross platform, video based meeting/conferencing system that supports one to one meetings as well as large conferences. It is free for small meetings that last no more than 40 minutes.

Zoom has recently changed the free session behaviour. You can no longer reconnect immediately . There is now an imposed delay of about 10 minutes before you can reconnect.

There is a fee for larger meetings and to remove the 40 minute limitation.

Zoom enables a desktop, or individual Windows, from any participant to be shared to all parties in the call which makes it ideal for giving presentations when all participants are unable to attend in person.

A specific use for screen sharing is to enable remote support as Zoom enables one user to grant remote access to another so the remote user can take control of their computer.

Video editor

A comprehensive cross platform video editing program that can:

• Change video format

• Can change resolution/compression

• Add titles/subtitles etc.

• Clip and join video segments

• etc!

The Handbrake website has comprehensive documentation available.

A versatile media player

VLC is a versatile, cross platform, media player that will play more or less any video format "out of the box".

It is regularly updated and supports pretty well every format available.

This program is a WYSIWYG web page editor that facilitates editing of HTML Web pages and CSS style sheets.

This version looks promising, and is being used to maintain the HTML pages on the club web site. It does seem to fully support HTML5 and CSS3 standards as claimed. The preview pane renders the XML source correctly as HTML and displays it correctly.

The user manual is a separate, chargeable download. The contributor has managed without - any feedback?

Cross Platform Code Editor

This program has evolved from the well regarded Visual Studio created by Microsoft. Microsoft made it Open Source and the community has enhanced its capabilities.

It supports many programming languages but has excellent support for all that is needed for Web Site creation and maintenance.

In particular it will:

• Check the validity of each code statement and warn you if it is invalid

• Supports HTML, CSS, etc. needed for web site development

• Offer suggestions to "autocomplete" code elements as you type

• Offer hints as to what code words might be appropriate depending on the context - called intelliSense

• Allow you to test your code in your default browser without having to upload it to a web server (you do have to save it first)

• and a lot more besides

The link goes to the generic product web site. Selecting the Windows option takes you to the Microsoft store from where it can be downloaded. There is also a link to an Android version. Unfortunately there is no version currently available for MAC computers, phones or tablets!

This program provides a comprehensive Wifi analysis tool. This can be used to investigate your signal strength and to see if any other neighbouring networks are also using the same channel that you are using which can lead to performance issues. You can use this information to decide whether an alternative channel might be better. Note that in urban areas some overlap is inevitable especially on the 2.4 Ghz band.

It can also plot signal strength with time. A typical use would be a "walk test" to see how your signal strength changes as you move through your home. This assumes you are usng a laptop of course (but an Android version is also available).

It can support both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz bands and provides links to comprehensive on-line help files from with the program.

This is currently my preferred WiFi monitoring tool.

This free Open Source program was at one time provided by Microsoft and enables XML documents (like this one) to be created and edited.

Support is now provided by its own team and seems to be regularly updated.

This program does not fully support HTML 5 tags and the preview page, while still useful, does not show the page correctly. It is therefore helpful to save the file and preview in an HTML 5 compliant browser to see the full rendering of the page.

Depite the limition mentioned above this program is now being reguarly used for most of the changes to this set of pages on this web site.