Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with freeware

Are there any free Mac programs to remove PDF encryption?

raddevon — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:39:12 -0800

Are there any free Mac programs to remove PDF encryption? I purchased a PDF book which I would like to transfer to my new Kindle. I have done the transfer, but the Kindle cannot open the book. I assume this is because the book is encrypted. Does anyone know of a free program for the Mac which will remove this encryption?

Where can I find a freeware macro recorder?

ptsampras14 — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:47:42 -0800

Where can I find a freeware macro recorder (with smart recording ability)? I am looking for a freeware macro recorder, which I cannot seem to find. By recorder I mean no coding required. I already tried that and it was much too complex. With this recorder I also would like the feature to only record the mouse coordinates with key press which I think alot of programs refer to as "Smart Recording". Any help is appreciated.

Is there an application that will map all my friends?

yankeh — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:34:59 -0800

I'm looking for an online or freeware map application that allows me to chart where I know people across the globe. This would serve the same purpose as a paper map on the wall with pins in it but would have more flexibility (zoom-in, link to info about the place etc.) If, for example, I were planning a trip to Thailand, I could open the map app and see that I have a couple acquaintances there and where exactly they live. Even better if it will link up with my address book and/or facebook and do some of the data input work for me.

Programs to work with Census data?

qldaddy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:51:36 -0800

How do I create a cross-tab from Census data (SF3)? I would like to create a cross tab that shows disability status by household (or family) income at the census tract level of detail. I cannot get that table from American Factfinder. Saw the link that said "download the data and you can generate your own cross tabs". Downloaded data - got big old text (ascii) file that does not easily import into excel or access (the only two potential programs I have now). Now I have big old text file and shattered hopes.

I think I am looking for a (preferably free or shareware) program that will open and analyze this data with a minimum of fussing on my part.

Or, maybe I am looking for something completely different. You'd propbably know better than me.

Thanks in advance.

Program to walk users through logical steps

atm — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:47:21 -0800

I need the hive's help badly on this. I'm trying to find a program to walk a user through logical steps based on their answers to questions along the way. I guess the best way to describe it is: I need a program that will let me write a question for a user to answer and show two answer choices (with nothing on the screen but the question and answers). When the user clicks on an answer they are sent to the screen set up for that answer. Then that screen has another question with two answers. When the user clicks an answer they are sent to the next appropriate screen, and so on until their path ends.

Basically I think I'm trying to find a flowchart that the user steps through, where each screen is a question, and the user is sent to the next question depending on their answer to the previous one.

I don't want to use a regular flowchart because people tend to want to move/read/jump ahead without fully completing the step they're on. Of course I'd like a free one. Thanks all.

Fix an Outlook pst file for free?

ODiV — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:31:00 -0800

Corrupt PST file. How can I fix it for free? Microsoft's SCANPST.EXE recovers an empty file (which is still at 1GB, interestingly enough). I can find recovery programs online that have a free demo and will show me that they can recover the emails, but won't unless I shell out cash (Recovery Toolbox for Outlook, Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST Repair, etc).

Are there free options that I'm failing to find? My Google searches are pretty useless for turning up anything of value lately.

Personal Knowledgebase Software?

AltReality — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:52:27 -0800

I am thinking about setting up a personal knowledge-base of items at work (Help Desk). Looking for a freeware app with a very simple notepad style interface, that will store mostly text based notes. A few preferences inside... I am tired of trying to keep all the data for all the apps we support in my head and on various notes around my desk. My company doesn't have a real knowledge-base solution, instead preferring to keep everything in word/excel documents in a rag-tag folder structure. I would like to keep my KB articles in a stand-alone app...no web space available. Can't store this data on an external site due to it's sensitive nature. So here's the preferences, but all recommendations are welcome :)

Preferences:

Free

Lightweight/stand-alone (not web-based)(Notepad style interface with a sidebar showing a list of articles is what I imagine, but can't find.)

Ability to insert/attach files (Word/Excel mainly)

Ability to export and share data with co-workers

Ability to search would be nice, but not required

I do not need wiki ability. Writing all notes in wiki mark-up would be very difficult, and my co-workers wouldn't want to learn it

I have been playing with Evernote, and it is nice..I may use it for other projects, but I don't think it will quite work for what I'm trying to do.

Mac freeware for PDF Markups?

el_lupino — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:39:03 -0800

MacFilter: Anyone know of a free way to add markups and comments to PDF files in OS X? I had a copy of Acrobat Pro until this time last year and grew to love its comment and markup features for PDF files. I read lots of journal articles in PDF and putting a comment in the margins as one would with a pen in Ye Olden Dayes was a big plus. But my current employer doesn't have the budget for a license and I'm not really eager to drop the full price myself. Any suggestions? A big plus would be saving files with comments in a way that could be read by Adobe Reader later, for my students.

Know any good mini-spreadsheets for XP?

No-sword — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:03:17 -0800

Can you recommend a mini-spreadsheet program for Windows XP, preferably freeware? It will be running on a tiny laptop in a place with no internet access, so OpenOffice is too big and online solutions are too... online. I'm imagining a sort of super-stripped-down Excel: No macros or fanciness, just the ability to enter numbers and strings in a table, add them up, and export to a real-Excel-readable format for later collation on a desktop PC.

I'm hoping for recommendations of specific software and places to get it from, rather than "Here's the 'spreadsheet' section of VersionTracker, there are hundreds" — I'm an OS X guy, I have no intuitive feel for choosing and obtaining Windows software. Thanks in advance.

Film Scheduling Resources?

Bobby Bittman — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:44:49 -0800

Anyone know of some good freeware film scheduling software or templates? I'm producing a short film in the next few months and I've lost the templates I usually use. They were old anyway, more for student filmmaking. Now I'm looking for software or paper templates that will help me keep things on track and make sure that, week by week, I'm getting done what needs to get done as we inch closer to the shoot dates.

Thanks!

Texting from PC

CollectiveMind — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:51:58 -0800

I want to text message from my PC and I'm not interested in international texting. Is there reliable freeware that doesn't need the carrier of the number I'm texting to, and doesn't load me or the recipient up with spam? I'll even pay for it, but I'm tired of going through my cellphone. Another question is, would the recipient and me get a text charge?

What's the best shareware (not freeware)?

teg4rvn — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:52:05 -0800

I'm interested in a random sampling of opinions regarding software. What titles do you swear by shareware over freeware alternatives? I don't want this to be a debate about freeware or open-source vs. commercial or shareware. I'm just curious what titles people think it's worth their $5 to $50 to pay for an app vs trying to use a freeware version of the same.

Here's what I pay for (among others):

Reqall Pro
Ultramon
WifiHopper

Considering:

Evernote Premium

Extra credit for smaller software developers( I don't want 100 people telling me Photoshop is better than GIMP). No iphone apps please...they're so cheap as it is.

Why this post? There appears to be a zeal for always finding the freeware equivalent of a mega-commercial app [PS vs. GIMP]; the moderately priced download-only software seems to get left out.

Good WinXP sound recorder for bad eyes?

de void — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:25:59 -0800

What's a good Windows XP open source/freeware sound recorder that is easy for someone with vision deficits to use? Suggestions for a microphone also welcome. Details and... Stepdad's father will be doing a piano performance in a week. Stepdad will be flying with his Win XP notebook to attend and would like to record it, direct to MP3 if possible (but I can help him with .wav to mp3 conversion if necessary).

He has some significant vision deficits (nearly blind in one eye, huge amount of correction in the other) and uses the sight disability features in windows (large fonts, mouse pointer trails, screen magnifyer), so a complicated/cluttered interface would be a drag for him.

Money is an issue as well, so open source/freeware would be ideal.

Suggestions for a cheap-ish microphone with decent recording ability that travels well are also welcome.

digital photos scan resize resolution freeware frame

cuddles.mcsnuggy — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:01:07 -0800

Seeking software for scanning old paper photos into digital format. I'm hoping to find something that will automatically crop to borders of the photo so I don't need to manually crop every one in Photoshop. Bonus points if it will automatically resize all the scanned images into a specific resolution size. Mom's birthday is Wednesday and I have a digital photo frame. I'm planning to spend part of the weekend scanning old family photos from albums and saving onto an SD card to use in the frame. There are dozens, possibly a couple hundred, photos. I don't have nearly enough time to manually crop and resize every single digital pic so I turn to you, o' wise MeFites for guidance! My scanner is a Canon MP600, the frame is an 8" Matsunichi PF800M with 800x600 pixel resolution, and I have Photoshop CS4, but I'd rather not use Photoshop since it's much too slow and complicated for the simple stuff I need to do. I just want something quick and easy that'll let me hit "scan," and tah-dah! I'll have frame-ready photos in a flash. I prefer something free (or very cheap) that I can download from online since I need it right now. Does such a beast exist?

Learn To Draw In Only Twenty Seconds Using The Internet

scrump — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:07:57 -0800

I'm a writer who needs to learn how to draw illustrations for my manuals. And I need to learn fast. I'm a technical writer with access to Photoshop, Illustrator, Paint Shop Pro and GIMP. My company has decided that we need to do our illustrations in-house instead of outsourcing the work.

I have no real experience drawing, and need to be able to generate good-looking, PDF-ready illustrations describing DNS software and concepts using these tools. What are the best, quickest, freely available tutorials I can use to get up to speed on how to draw things and make them not look like my four-year-old did it?

We do not have budget or time for formal classes: we have to learn to do it ourselves. The desired outcome is a step above Visio line diagrams, but the company doesn't expect us to become Picasso, either. Some good examples of our intended outcome are here, here or here.

Some of you may want to editorialize in this space about how this is insane and my company is insane for wanting this. Please don't. I'm operating under the constraints given above, and them's the breaks. I have no influence whatever over the decision, and it is not up for discussion.

Audio files for non-audiophiles

fusinski — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:27:21 -0800

What is the simplest way (free or otherwise) to convert M4P and M4A audio files to MP3 en masse?

Freeware workflow calendar? Yes, my childhood dream was to be this boring.

melissa may — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:55:37 -0800

Where can I find a freeware date-generating task calendar? I have a 9-step workflow for a process that repeats every couple of months. The process always follows the same steps and same amount of time is always allocated for each step: 1 week for task A, 2 weeks for task B, 3 days for task C, and so on. What I’d like is a freeware program that syncs each step of the task with a real-time calendar and generates a schedule. Basically, once I define the number of days each task takes to finish and an end date for total completion of the project, the ideal calendar could generate due dates for each step of that task. When I worked in publishing we used a crufty in-house Access program to create production schedules, but there has to be a better alternative. I’ve looked at Google calendar but as far as I can tell, you can set a task to repeat, but you can’t generate due dates for a multi-task project. I’ve read this article but the programs that seem to come closest (like Central Desktop) have way more functions than I need and are out of my nonprofit budget ($0).

If repetitive multi-step processes were only an issue with this project, I’d just look at a calendar and generate due dates myself, but I’ve got other similar projects coming up and it sure would be nice to be able to quickly generate schedules, play with different end dates, etc. Again, budget = zero so freeware is ideal, but if you know of a professional product that gives deep discounts to nonprofits feel free to say.

Looking to engage the mind and have some fun

watercarrier — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:23:18 -0800

Really cool freeware word games? I'd like to find some very cool freeware downloadable - not online - word games that challenge, entertain and are fun - age group - adult. Nice graphics and maybe some music would be nice. Tried google-fu but that turned up a lot of confusion and really would like to try asking those that know about the genre here on meta.

Where can I find free nature soundscapes to download?

st0rey — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:58:21 -0800

Where can I find more free nature soundscapes like the Thunderstorm at SimpleNoise.com to download? Dolphins, Oceans, Tides, that sort of thing; I am familiar with Aire Freshner, the nature noise generator, but ideally I'd like them in MP3 format for my ageing portable player.

Free autodialer for gradeschool.

dragonsi55 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:52:08 -0800

Free autodialer? My son's school, which is financially challenged, used to have an autodialer to update parents on current events. This was great for the community; many parents are overwhelmed, and information isn't always timely when it comes from the kids. Also, 3 of 5 schoolbuses are being cancelled, and it would help coordinate 'walking school buses.' All participation would be voluntary. I've seen some free ones online, but originating in Moscow, McAffee-flagged, etc. Any safe suggestions?

Help me fix my text!

Infernarl — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:24:28 -0800

Is there a free program like Textsoap for Windows Vista? From their website:

"TextSoap is a text cleaning utility that maintains formatting while it cleans up text." For example, it can remove extraneous carriage returns or spaces in text copied from a website and turn it into normal document style text.

I am often trying to print things out, such as game FAQS from gamefaqs.com and they are formatted in such a way as to make them fit on hundreds more pages than necessary. Such a program woud allow me to automatically reformat such a document into normal text.

WMA and MP3 to CDA - Freeware

bleucube — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:47:09 -0800

Leaving on a trip in 12 hours. Wife wants a mix of wma and mp3 converter so she can play it in the car. Looking for freeware. Have a bunch of wma and mp3 and need to convert to cda so it can play in car. Looking for freeware that can run on Windows Vista. I used to use Imageburn but it keeps on crashing. I cannot find a free alternative - please point in the right direction.

Thanks!

Help me think of fun freeware for a gift computer

louche mustachio — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:47:57 -0800

I won a computer at work. I'm giving it to Mr. Mustachio tommorrow night. What are some fun freeware prorams and Firefox add-ons I can install before I give it to him? So, we had a retired computer lottery at work, and I won an HP Compaq nx9030 laptop. My BF's computer went kablooey several months ago, so I'm giving this computer to him. I've already downloaded Firefox and set the theme to Red Cats (because they look like his much beloved kitty) and now I'm trying to think of other cool add-ons and freeware programs to install to make the machine less nekkid and more fun. I'm pretty broke, so it's going to have to be freeware, Firefox extensions, and fun bookmarks (which I'm already working on, along with trying to decide if I should make the desktop wallpaper a picture of his cat or a crude MS Paint drawing of a penis.)

Any thoughts? I have all night tonight and tommorrow afternoon. He's not very confident with his computer skills, so anything I download should have a nice, intuitive interface. If it makes any difference, he likes all kinds of music, international politics and history, science fiction, and cats. Oh, and crude drawings of phalluses, but I've got that covered.

Recommendations for freeware PC music composition software?

inbetweener — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:02:34 -0800

Soundtrackers and music composition software - OctaMED for today? Back in the day I used to mess around on my Commodore Amiga composing tracks using OctaMED.

Haven't used anything like it since I got my first PC back in 1995 but I'm quite keen to start playing around with music again...

I'm sure music composition software has moved on leaps and bounds in the last 13 years, and I wondered if anyone has any recommendations for freeware that serves the same purpose for today's PC?

Thanks!

Best web audio/video players

avocet — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:24:38 -0800

What are the best embedded open source/free audio/video players? I'm looking at finding a flexible media player for an arts related site I'm working on. Although I'm looking for something that will handle an audio playlist (i.e. like the ubiquitous myspace player) bonus if it can also handle flash video as well. I really like Flowplayer but it is $75 for a license and while that is a fair price, I'd rather find something free and open source with an active community around it. I'm looking for something to manage .flv and .mp3 files and would appreciate some more options. Thanks!