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Want to correct Windows problems, make your PC or mobile phone more capable, and get things done faster online--all without opening your wallet? Check out these 112 incredibly useful, incredibly free downloads, sites, and services.
This year, we divided our picks for the Best Free Stuff into 17 categories, listed below. If you can't decide where to start, take a look at the greatest hits--some of the classics we've spotlighted over our 15 years of picking free apps, services, and sites. Or try a few of our favorite social networking and video assistants, programs and services we couldn't have even imagined that long ago.
Of course, we also have selections in popular categories such as PC customization, security, and productivity, as well as photo and system utilities, lifestyle enhancers, timesavers, and more. [Note: All in our list were free as of 2/28/2010 but that status can change over time.]
For a more detailed look at our Fantastic Freebies, see the stories listed in the box to the right.
All-Time Greats
- Ad-Aware Free: Stops spyware
- Audacity: Records and edits sound
- BitTorrent: Easy online file sharing
- Dropbox: Online file syncing
- Evite: Fast party planning
- FreeConference.com: Unlimited conference calls
- IMDb: Movie facts and trivia
- OpenOffice.org: Microsoft Office alternative
- The GIMP: Tool-rich image editor
- Trillian Basic: Chat with friends on many instant messaging services
Antivirus Utilities (Tested By PCWorld)
- Alwil Avast Home Edition: Capable and thorought malware detection
- AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.5: Excellent detection and disinfection
- Avira AntiVir Personal: Good PC disinfection
- Microsoft Security Essentials (beta): Nearly perfect in disabling infections
Audio Apps and Services
- AudioTag: Easily ID songs you can't name
- Buddha Machine Wall: Calming music source
- Grooveshark: Great place to listen to music
- Mp3Tag: Universal tag editor for audio
- Myna: Advanced audio editing
- Speakershare: Share your best PC speakers with your other computers
- TunesBag: Access songs from any browser
Backup Utilities
- Backupify: 1GB of storage, weekly backups; download backups to your PC
- Comodo Time Machine: Backup utility protects files, folders, and programs
- Macrium Reflect Free Edition: Images your hard drive for PC restoration
- SDExplorer: Access 25GB of online storage from Windows Explorer
- SpiderOak: Gives you 2GB of online backup; saves selected files when changes detected
- SyncToy: Easy home-network syncing
- Todo Backup: Images your drive or a partition
Browser Add-Ons, Apps, and Utilities
- CeeVee: Online résumés with custom sharing
- Lazarus: Recover info typed into Firefox
- MailBrowser: Manage Gmail contacts, attachments, and more
- MyBrainshark: Add narration to a presentation by speaking over the phone
- PDF to Word: Turns PDFs into edit-ready docs
Collaboration Services
- LogMeIn Express: Secure screen sharing (great for troubleshooting your dad's PC)
- MiNeeds: Connect with and receive bids online from local contractors
- Tinychat: Disposable chatrooms
- Yammer: Facebook-like communications features for businesses
- Zoho Discussions: Add a feature-rich discussion forum to any online destination
Desktop Customization
- BumpTop: 3D desktop that allows you to pin up notes and photos
- DeskHedron: Create up to nine 3D desktops that you can flip through
- Fences: Organize desktop icons and make them disappear when you want them to
- InterfaceLift: PC wallpaper library
- Krento: Rotating 3D circle for app launching
- Rainmeter: Attractive, seamlessly embedded desktop overhaul
- StandaloneStack 2: Animated shortcuts for easy access to folder contents
- T3Desk: Minimizes programs to the PC desktop
Mobile Apps and Services
- BlueRetriever: Helps recover lost gadgets
- Connectify: Turn your laptop into a Wi-Fi hotspot
- Instapaper: Bookmark Web pages; strip them to text-only for easy mobile reading
- OverMyMinutes: Helps you stay within your cell-phone plan allotment
- Xpenser: Track expenses via the Web
Photo Utilities
- Easy Poster Printer: Print small to giant posters from your digital images
- The Golden Hour Calculator: Find the best light to shoot photos
- Paint.Net: Lightweight Photoshop alternative
- Phoenix: Web-based image editor
- Shrink Pic: Autoresizing of digital images
Productivity Tools
- DoPDF Free PDF Converter: Fast and simple PDF conversion
- Drop.io for Outlook: Share large files in Outlook
- Ecofont: Special design allows this font to consume less ink
- Everything: Thorough indexing and fast search of your desktop
- FlockDraw: A Web-based 'cocktail napkin' for shared ideas
- Fonolo: Gives you access to phone menus for customer service numbers
- iCurrent: Free news site with personalization
- Liaise: Outlook add-in keeps tabs on all of your important action items
- MakeSomeTime: Keeps tabs on invoices, projects, and billable hours
- ScreenToaster: Create and e-mail or upload a video of a screen that explains something
- Tom's Planner: Easy Gantt charts
Security Utilities
- KeePass: Organizes and protects all of your important passwords with just one password
- OpenDNS: Protects kids from online violence, pornography, and other unsavory Web material
- SuperAntiSpyware: A robust malware fighter
- Web of Trust: Vets the links you click in your browers for security issues
Self-Improvement Assistants
- BudgetSketch: Track where your money will go before you spend it
- DailyBurn: Presents charts and graphs to track your fitness program
- Habitforge: Train yourself in new habits with the help of daily reminders
- Learn10: Ten new foreign-language words daily
- RunKeeper Free: Use your iPhone to keep track of your jogging sessions
- YouTube EDU: Videos of Ivy League lecturers
Social Networking Tools
- Brizzly: Performs a makeover of the Facebook and Twitter interfaces
- FacePAD: Download photo albums from Facebook, via Firefox
- FriendShopper: Shop online with friends
- Microsoft Silverlight 4 Beta Client for Facebook: Better photo-upload tool for Facebook
- OutSync: Copy friends' Facebook photos into your Outlook contacts records
- PhotoGrabber: Download photos of you found in other users' albums
- Splitweet: Tweet to single or multiple accounts at the same time
- TwInbox: Outlook add-on brings Twitter tweets to your inbox, and more
System Utilities
- Better Paste: Autostrip formatting from text with a keyboard command
- FixWin: Easy repairs for common PC annoyances
- Ketarin: Keeps your third-party apps up-to-date
- Portable Ubuntu Remix: Runs Linux applications on your Windows machine
- Teracopy: Fast file copying on the PC
- Ultimate Windows Tweaker: Optimizes all areas of Windows 7 or Vista
- Win7 Library Tool: Add the contents of networked folders to libraries, and more
- Wizmouse: Makes your mouse's scrollwheel work with any window it hovers over
Timesavers
- Belvedere: Automated file manager works with the rules you set
- Cache My Work: Autoreloads the apps running when you restart your PC
- Ninite: Installs your all favorite free apps in the background, after a Windows reinstall or anytime
- PhraseExpress: Monitors your typing for shorthand text and expands it to larger snippets
- Read It Later: Mark material for later enjoyment in Firefox or on your smartphone
- Rescue Time: Monitors your apps and sites and provides graphs on how you spent your day
Video Tools and Services
- Boxee Beta: Plays back PC and Web-based media on your HDTV
- Classic Cinema Online: Watch classic films
- Clicker: Aggregates Internet videos
- DoubleTwist: A great iTunes alternative for media
- Hulu Desktop: Desktop app for Hulu's video
- Jinni: Select movies and videos to watch based on keywords such as plot or mood
- Libox: Private network to share large media files
- ShowMeWhatsWrong: Lets people record and share screencasts of what's ailing their PC
![Best free website design software download Best free website design software download](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125785151/396917127.jpg)
Windows 7-Style Features for Older PCs
- AeroSnap: Let Windows XP and Vista utilize the Aero Snap features of Win 7
- Seven Remix XP: Gives XP's icons, box, buttons the look of Win 7 graphics
- Taskbar Shuffle: Reorder XP and Vista taskbar items with a simple drag and drop
- Windows 7 Shortcuts: Add Win 7 time-saving keyboard shortcuts to XP and Vista
- WinShake: Brings Win 7's Aero Peek and Aero Shake features to earlier versions of Windows
About the authors: Adam Pash is the editor of Lifehacker. Rick Broida writes PCWorld's Hassle-Free PC blog.
To comment on this article and other PCWorld content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.
There are countless pirated software download sites on the internet to download premium software illegally. Likewise, popular torrent sites offer cracked software for free. Apart from being illegal, such activities put you at the risk of notorious malware and viruses.
So, instead of taking a walk down the dark alley of torrents and malicious websites, take a look at our list of safe software download sites to download full version software for free and legally.
Before doing that, in case you are looking for some legal ways to download free games, apps, and movies, etc., for free, take a look at our popular lists for 2019:
Software Giveaway Websites To Download Paid Software For Free
1. SharewareOnSale
SharewareOnSale is one of the best free software download sites and provides multiple paid software for free every day. The site not only provides full version software for free but also offers discounts on software. Paid programs are available for free for both Windows PC and Mac.
They also host Android and iOS full version apps for free or at discounted prices. At the time of publishing this post, itransGo is being offered for free on this site. On the product giveaway page, there is a big list of free software for you to download and try.
2. GiveAwayOfTheDay
GiveAwayOfTheDay have been providing paid PC software for free to its users for more than 5 years. They offer one or two software every day. Software that are offered here are available for download for a period of 24 hours and are absolutely free for that time, i.e., the version of the software offered is not a trial version but a registered full version. This website can turn out to be useful when you need a particular software but you don’t wish to spend a lot on it.
The website also provides reviews of the software they offer and other software from that publisher. Subscribers get notified of giveaways in their newsletter. They also offer Andriod and iOS apps for free.
3. Giveaway Radar
Giveaway Radar is your go-to site if you are looking for PC software giveaways in 2019. Here you can find software from various safe download sites and from different providers, all in one place. However, they do not cover anti-virus and VPN giveaways.
So, Giveaway Radar is not a free software giveaway site in itself but shows links and descriptions to giveaways throughout the web. Keep it bookmarked as it gives you a quick view of all the on-going giveaways on various free software download sites. The website also has a category of long-term giveaways that you can check out.
4. Giveaway Club
Giveaway-club is another best and free PC software site that offers licensed Windows software for free but without technical support. Software are offered free only for a limited time for a day or two. You can activate the license of the software only if it’s installed on the correct date. All the software are divided into three categories: Windows, Games, and Mac. Depending upon your need, you can choose the options and grab the software of your need.
5. TopWareSale
TopWareSale offers full version software giveaway and discounts daily. You can buy top-rated programs at the lowest prices, and they even provide premium software for free. Software are available both for Windows and Mac OS. These software cover different categories like multimedia, design, antivirus, internet, office, business, etc. Apart from the daily free giveaway, you can also check out other heavily discounted tools.
6. Tickcoupon Giveaway
Its giveaway section is categorized into Security, Utilities, Audio/video/photo, Backup & Recovery, Servers, and development so that you can easily browse it. Apart from Windows and mobile, they also have a “Giveaway for Mac” section.
Tickcoupon provides coupon codes that offer discounts for programs and giveaway deals. This giveaway website also publishes news from software developers regarding promos and deals on software.
7. Techno360
Techno360 also offers full software for free. It is among the safe download sites that offers software for Windows and Mac. They usually provide a single-user license for up to a year for the software.
8. TechTipLib
TechTipLib also provides free full version software for download, and their giveaway can last from days to a month. But to avail their offers, you have to like TechTipLib’s social accounts. It is not only a free software download site but also has over 6,700 articles on topics such as Windows, Apple, iPhone, iPad, MS Office, freeware, SEO, WordPress themes, ebooks and much more.
9. Download.hr
It is primarily a software and game giveaway site where you can find paid software free or at a discounted price. They host giveaways for Android, Mac, Windows, and iOS. Users use their forum for discussions on giveaways and offers.
10. Most I Want
Most I want is another free software download website that stacks a good list of paid software. The website holds different kind of Windows and Man paid software such as system utilities, video and image software, security software, games and more.
The site also organizes free license giveaway for software. For instance, the last one was for the AVG Internet Security software where the website offered 1-year free subscription.
While the navigation and interface are user-friendly, it has a Google custom search for search queries, making it difficult for users to search for specific cracked software.
11. MalwareTips
MalwareTips is one of the best websites when it comes to free and best-cracked software for download on Windows PC. Unlike other sites, MalwareTips is a forum website which includes different types of content like Tech News, Reviews, malware samples and more.
It has just started a giveaway forum where few registered users have started posting a giveaway for security-related software and more.
Are giveaway cracked software safe?
Well, it depends upon the hosting website. However, most of the times you can tell by the content that the giveaway software is probably a hoax. Keep this in mind when the hosting site is a forum where different people are offering up paid software for free.
Did you find this list of 9 best websites to download paid PC software for free to be helpful? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: Best Websites To Download Paid PC Games For Free And Legally
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