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Software Reviews

by drfung

The reviews and opinions below are posted by SnapFiles visitors. They do not necessarily reflect our opinion, and are solely based on the experience of individual users.

a-squared Free
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/Vista

qleft  Very powerful, but...  qright

a-squared Free version 4.5.0.21
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

Limited in scope. It will ferret out all manner of trojans and miss other malware. It is therefore a tool to use in conjunction with another recognized antispyware product. (I'll assume an antivirus is already present).

    Review date: Oct 25, 2009

SearchMyFiles
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  Needed a replacement for vista search  qright

SearchMyFiles version 1.15
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

Downloaded this program (v1.15), and found it did what the native Vista search couldn't do - provide a simple interface to find files quickly with minimum end-user input. The references in an earlier review regarding cpu utilization may either have been addressed or the machine I use Vista on is sufficiently powerful for it not be affected. Definitely worth trying (works in XP also).

    Review date: May 09, 2009

PDF-XChange Viewer
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  Does what Foxit achieved initially  qright

PDF-XChange Viewer version 2.04007
  • Interface: 5
  • Features: 5
  • Ease of use: 5
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 5

AcroReader had become bloatware/security nightmare many years ago, and I had been using Foxit as a replacement, without complaint, until the latest v3.0 came along. Performance was down, and the license agreement coming up on installation is geared to the TOOLBARS, not the reader - they lost me right there - reminded me of RealPlayer (ouch). How about optionalize this more clearly guys? I went looking for alternatives and found PDF-XChange. Wow - back to what I want in a pdf reader, I'm impressed. I don't need any bells and whistles, I installed the "portable" version. I recommend you give it a try even if you are set on product x,y or z already, I think this product will impress, both in features and performance.

    Review date: Dec 28, 2008

K-Lite Codec Pack (Full)
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  Can solve some issues  qright

K-Lite Codec Pack (Full) version 3.15
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 2
  • Value: 4
  • Overall: 3

Provides a single solution for multiple file types. It does require some initial configuration beyond the standard installation to play dvd's I found (by default it's MPC did not play the audio until tweaked - see under View - Options). Even though it states the current version will run on 98/ME it will not. Find v2.88 for these systems. For those looking for a less "intrusive" player than comparable commercial ones, I'd say go for it.

    Review date: Jun 23, 2007

7-Zip
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  Does the job nicely  qright

7-Zip version 4.32
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

This product has certainly improved and is now definitely a contender. I have moved from Power Archiver to IZarc and now to 7zip and find it works very well. Certainly something to try, by default it does NOT take over associations, you can do that in the options.

    Review date: Jun 20, 2007

Autoplay Repair
  • Freeware
  • WinWin XP

qleft  Works as claimed  qright

Autoplay Repair version 2.1.0
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

Autoplay was messed up for USB devices (two gibberish entries). TweakUI could not remove them, same for control panel file associations. Registry mods did not work. This program solved the issue immediately, though it requires dot-net be onboard. It did want to call home(?) however. (Notified and blocked by firewall). It gets the job done.

    Review date: Nov 10, 2006

Windows Defender
  • Freeware
  • WinWin XP

qleft  Better than nothing  qright

Windows Defender version BETA 2 1347
  • Interface: 3
  • Features: 2
  • Ease of use: 3
  • Value: 3
  • Overall: 2

I ran this on a pc that was obviously affected by spyware and/or adware. It found nothing. I then ran ad-aware, the free version, which found 300 instances of malware (not including any cookies). Let's say I wasn't altogether impressed with the product. (Yes, I did update it before I scanned).

    Review date: Oct 23, 2006

F-Prot Antivirus for DOS
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP

qleft  Great, but long in the tooth  qright

F-Prot Antivirus for DOS version 3.16F
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 4
  • Overall: 4

For Win 98 / FAT32 o/s this is a really great program. Unfortunately it does not fare well with XP/2000 NTFS. If you are still using the older systems though, it is great for second opinion scans. Updates are not incremental, you are looking at 4m downloads, which can be slow over dialup.

    Review date: Aug 27, 2006

Eusing Free Registry Cleaner
  • Freeware
  • Win98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista

qleft  Excellent utility  qright

Eusing Free Registry Cleaner version 1.1
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 4
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 4
  • Overall: 4

This was recommended to me, so I gave it a shot. I usually use EasyCleaner for registry maintenance because it has never "trashed" a machine on me. I have to say the Eusing product found a bit more than EasyCleaner and still has not trashed the machines I've used it on. Make sure you get the v1.1, previous version had an issue deleting some "Open With.." keys.

    Review date: Aug 27, 2006

avast! Home Edition
  • Freeware
  • Win98/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7

qleft  Decent a/v  qright

avast! Home Edition version 4.7.869
  • Interface: 4
  • Features: 3
  • Ease of use: 4
  • Value: 5
  • Overall: 4

Installed to replace the troublesome AntiVir PE. It took a little time to optimize, I did not like the skinned interface, so if you prefer a more conventional one, do a custom installation and de-select skins. It does everything it is supposed to do, and overhead is minimal. I have some concerns on precisely how well it does in the antivirus tests, but it does pass the various certifications. I use F-Prot free DOS on my 98 machine and Bit Defender 8 Free on my XP laptop as a double check every month. So far, they have given no indications that avast! missed anything.

    Review date: Aug 27, 2006

Avira AntiVir Personal
  • Freeware
  • Win2000/XP/Vista

qleft  V6 was excellent, v7 problematic  qright

Avira AntiVir Personal
  • Interface: 1
  • Features: 1
  • Ease of use: 1
  • Value: 1
  • Overall: 1

AntiVir v6 was an excellent free antivirus program. Sadly, v7 seems to be plagued with issues, from no-loads to no updates and system crashes. Constant registration and expiry popups annoy. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be an acknowledgment of the severity of the issues by the vendor. Check their forums, the problems are still present. I tried to get this program to work on multiple Windows (XP and 98) and hardware (desktop and laptop), and simply abandoned it in frustration in favor of avast! v4.7, which works like a charm.

    Review date: Aug 27, 2006

Tanida Quiz Builder

Tanida Quiz Builder

Create educational quizzes in Flash format that can be distributed online or as standalone .EXE file.

Spytech SpyAgent

Spytech SpyAgent

A powerful monitoring solution to record PC activity, including keystrokes, email and more.

Demo Builder

Demo Builder

Create interactive Flash movies and tutorials to show how applications and systems work.