Image Viewers and Editors |
ACDSee |
Image Viewer
This is the image viewer I recommend above all others.
1) It's the most efficient and effective image viewer out there.
- it's very fast
- it works well even on old computers
- the image quality is good (compared to other viewers)
- it can automatically resize an image to fit your screen or alternatively display them in actual size
- it can also list files as thumbnail images for a quick review
- if you don't like it, you can try Thumbs32, another good program
2) It is very organized, and I personally found it easy to use.
- it has a file manager of its own, and I use it even more than the Windows 95 Explorer
- using the file manager, you can very quickly sort files, particularly image files
- both the Win 95 and the Win 3.1 version allow you to quickly move a large number of files at once
3) It has several nice features.
- The latest versions allow you to have a shortcut menu, so that you can doubleclick on the shortcut and quickly enter a particular directory without having to manually move from directory to directory to get there.
- It provides a slideshow option. Just select any image and press the ENTER key and use the spacebar to change to the next image (you can also use PageUp and PageDown buttons to move back and forth).
- Many people joke that with the slideshow option, you can always keep one hand or even two hands free at all times. ;)
- You can quickly generate a file listing of files in a directory
- The latest version allows you to change a large number of filenames quickly (like Changename 5.0)
Download
ACDSee download page
You can find many important details about this program in FAQ 6 D.
PicaView32 |
Image Previewer
From the makers of ACDSee, this is an addon to Win95. Every time you right click on an image file, it shows you a preview of it (even if you're browsing while using the "Open file" command).
There are many advantages to this, and I've found it a nice convenience. Of course, this can be a bad thing if your wife uses your computer too. ;)
Download
ACDSee download page
Thumbs Plus |
Image Viewer
This is another image viewer I have reviewed. I like ACDSee a lot more, but as always another person might like Thumbs Plus more. It's all personal preference. My review is around the bottom of this FAQ.
Win95 (version 3.3)
Win 3.1 (version 2.0)
Webpage:
Ember picture viewer |
Image Viewer
I have not tried out this viewer yet.
Webpage
VuePrint viewer |
Image Viewer
I have not tried out this viewer yet. It views Jpeg/gif images.
Download at:
Webpage
LviewPro |
Image Editor
This is a basic image editor.
- it allows you to edit image dimensions (the size of an image on the screen)
- it allows you to adjust image quality (to save disk space)
- it allows you to convert one image format to another
- it allows you to perform screen captures (create an image file from what's on your screen)
- it is not very fancy, so for more sophisticated uses, Adobe Photoshop is much better
- this program is not for everyone
I recommend you set your file associations so that whenever you double-click on an image, LviewPro will launch it (instead of ACDSee for a few reasons). Lview Pro 1.0 and 2.0 have major differences. I use 1.0 because it's smaller.
Movie Players |
Microsoft Media Player (aka NetShow) |
All-Purpose Movie Player
Microsoft has released the beta Microsoft Media Player Netshow. It can play these formats:
Download Pages
Winamp |
.mp3 player
Winamp is an excellent and free player for .mp3 files. Mp3 is the most popular format for compressed music, and you'll find that any site which offers high-quality music will typically offer it in .mp3 format. For lower quality, .ra (RealAudio) is often used.
Website
Download
Plugins
Winamp plugins allow you to play almost any music/sound format out there (Realaudio, special music formats from games, etc...)
This is a summary of how Mp3 encoding performs its high level of compression
"MP3 manages to produce such good sound by fooling its listeners. It does this usingperceptual audio coding, whereby the music's component frequencies are extracted (psychoacoustic masking) and frequencies you can't really hear are removed. Extensive listening tests were conducted under controlled conditions, and the results used to tailor MP3 to the tastes of human ears."
This is basically the same idea with .jpg compression. Information that is not easily perceptable to humans is discarded (which tends to make up a majority of the information recorded).
Vmpeg |
Mpeg Movie Player
This program will work for either Win95 or Win3.1. It runs well on even slow computers, so if other players don't run well, you can try this instead.
RealPlayer 5.0 |
Realmove and Realaudio Player
Among a few other things, this plays .rm files. If you don't know what ".rm" files are and haven't seen them before, then you don't need it - yet. For the free version, click on the button on the top left that says "free" and choose to download RealPlayer.
Note: Some .rm movies can only be played by Realplayer G2. RealPlayer G2 is what is suggested for faster computers, since the minimum requirements are too high for some older computers.
Apple Quicktime |
Quicktime Movie Player
This is the official player for playing Quicktime movies. Microsoft's media player should support this already, although this player seems faster for specifically playing Quicktime.
The website is at:
Apple Quicktime Website
The download page is at:
Apple Quicktime Download
Quality Motion Player 5.0 |
Quality Motion Movie Player
This plays .qm files. Sort of like the Japanese equivalent of Realplayer. The url is here, thanks to Casahobo:
They have Mac versions as well.
Just figured out why qm didn't work for some people. If you read the notice at the website, it says: Active Movie 1.0 required. It is definitely required (I have confirmed this). You can download it in the next section
ActiveMovie 1.0 |
All-Purpose Movie Player
Activemovie will play most movie formats. It's free.
Now I told some people about this, and they told me that they already had active movie 1.0. It turns out that you need a relatively recent version of Active Movie to run QM, possibly (?) because the older version didn't support other languages.
Vivo Player |
Vivo Player
This is a plugin or player that will play vivo videos.
I have never used this before.
Download
I don't use D'peg. Instead, I strongly prefer using ACDSee for a lot of reasons.
Find duplicate files on your hard drives (and CD-ROMs/CD-Rs)! DupFinder will search
directories you specify (and optionally subdirectories under those) for files that
are identical. If you download lots of graphics files this will be extremely useful!
Home Page:
This is highly recommended for those who collect a large number of files of any type. This is because if you get a list of files that have unusual or annoying names (like 1000.ukn, 1001.ukn, 1002.ukn, etc...) you'd save time and trouble by using this program.
To use this program for renaming a list of files:
As I mentioned, one thing I really like is the ability to edit filenames as if the list was a text file. In addition, this can also be useful if you want to make a text list of all files in a directory (I sometimes yse this when I make a large index page of assorted files for a site). Still, if all you want is to get a list of files, some other programs do this better (i.e. provide image filesize and dimensions as information)
"RealVideo Tools for Windows includes RMCut, RMPaste, RMEdit, RMDump and RMTools. These tools allow you to cut and paste RealVideo files and edit file attributes." (Quoted from Zip)
Here's a repost of someone'e instructions for using the program:
For locations to download newsreaders, check FAQ 2B.
For locations to download Masking Tools, check FAQ 1.
1) You can set Gozilla up so that while using Internet Explorer or Netscape, every time you click on a link leading to a specific type of file (for example, .mp3, .zip, etc...), Gozilla will add that file to its download list. Then you can later tell Gozilla to start downloading everything on the list. Gozilla is very good at this, becase it tests the network to see what method and path is the fastest way to download a file (it tries to avoid traffic jams and can optionally download multiple files simultaneously).
2) Gozilla has the ability to resume broken downloads if possible. For example, suppose you were downloading a 50 megabyte file and you get disconnected from the net halfway at 25 megs. Gozilla can resume download at the 25 megabyte mark, provided that the place you're downloading from recognizes the resume command (most sites do).
3) Gozilla works with both Websites (http) and FTP sites (ftp).
4) You can create multiple download folders and assign each folder group a priority. Gozilla will download the ones in the higher priority folders first unless it decides that traffic to those files is too high.
5) Gozilla also provides statistics like download estimation times (for all files, before you even start downloading any of them). Of course, estimations aren't exact, but Gozilla's estimation tends to be much more reasonable than those provided by Netscape and most other utilities.
6) In addition to analyzing network performance, Gozilla will also try to determine alternate download sites (in order to find the fastest one). For example, for one 20 megabyte download I wanted to make, Gozilla found 41 FTP sites that carried the exact same file (and was able to determine through tests which one was the fastest of all at the moment).
7) Best of all, Gozilla has the "leech" command that will scan a .htm file for links to images and then allow you to choose which images to download. The newest version of Gozilla has improved this command. ;)
Recommendation: Learn what all the settings in Gozilla do. I recommend that you set up Gozilla so that it does not automatically start up (so that it only works when you manually run it). This is because you don't always want Gozilla to be downloading your files (if it's only a 10kb file, why bother getting it the fancy way?). However, Gozilla is perfect for downloading 20 large files from a website or for protecting yourself from losing a download because of an interruption.
Go!Zilla v3.0 1.3MB United States West Coast
: This program is only recommended for those who have a good computer (Pentium 133+). For slower computers and Win 3.1 users, try Getright (see below).
http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/pcmag_info.html?fcode=000SBP
Complete instructions for this program are rather complicated, though both people I've helped use this program seem to be using it alright, so I hope you are smart enough to figure it out if you try it. Here's a hint on using: If you want to stay on one particular page (without following links to another), uncheck the box that says download all filetypes and uncheck the box for downloading .htm and .html files. Also, the very first option you see varies a lot; most of the time you want to download from the domain. Keep in mind that the advantage of this program is that it is automatic (you can sleep as it works). The big disadvantage is if you don't configure it just right, it won't do what you want it to. ;)
Note: The reason I don't recommend spiders like Anawave for casual surfers is because they often face many complications...
Win95 Complete Netscape Gold 3.04
Macintosh Complete Netscape Gold 3.04 .bin format
Win 3.1 Complete Netscape Gold 3.04
On the other hand, if your computer is new, Netscape 4 would probably suit you best, since having a fast computer will nullify most of the downsides. ;)
It only has a 30 day trial period, so unless you are addicted to web browsing, I don't think you'd be interested. ;)
http://www.operasoftware.com/
Note: If you hate CuteFTP, you can try WS_FTP instead.
WS_FTP
FTP Client
FTP Voyager
http://www.filedudes.com/win95/genutil/files/iptoolb2.exe
You can download it here:
http://www.cyber-squall.com/msw/swolf/index.html
http://www.eudora.com/
I prefer Xferpro, but I don't have the url available for that (hey, I'm lazy). This uuencodes/decodes for newsgroup posts (the ones that look like a bunch of random letters, each line starting with the letter 'M')
If you want to practice uudecoding files, try here. It is a text file similar to the files you might see on a newsgroup. Note the header "begin..." and the "end" at the end. Also note that each line must begin with the letter M. Multipart files are no different. Just use a plain text editor like windows write and paste them together into one big file.
Wincode
Wincode
For locations to download newsreaders, check FAQ 2B.
For locations to download Masking Tools, check FAQ 1.
Some of the most important programs are listed in Dr. Who's Cryptology FAQ.
Anywhere Antivirus
I've downloaded several gigabytes of programs alone (yes just in programs) and never once in all these years have I gotten a virus. That's because I never download something without knowing it is safe beyond a reasonable doubt, and I recommend the same level of caution as well. Remember that there are always alternatives, so if you want a program, there should always be a reliable place to download it.
By the way, to those of you who have heard stories (before you even start asking), you can't get a virus by viewing an image using an IBM PC (if your computer crashes from viewing one, it's always because of a bug in the viewer). Macs are a different matter, but for various practical reasons such viruses are very uncommon.
Also, without any exception, a virus is only harmful if it is executed. Your computer must either run a virus program (or a program with a virus attached) or attempt to boot from a floppy disk carrying a boot sector virus. One trick to get you to execute a virus is to put it in a .doc file (known as a macro virus). I have no idea what Bill Gates was thinking when he allowed .doc files to carry executables, but Microsoft has since released fixes to this.
How this works is each user generates two keys, one being the public key. This key can be given to anyone at all without any worries about security (often they are posted in a public directory). Under normal conditions, any message or file encrypted using this key can only be decrypted by the one who has the private key AND knows the password associated with the private key. So, to send someone a message using PGP, you must first find out their public key.
Pretty good privacy. It is what the title suggests. The demo has all the essentials.
Casahobo cautions that PGP is what the name suggest and does not mean gauranteed privacy, adding that the US (which controls PGP) has the backdoor key. In addition, I must add that it is only secure provided you can trust the recipient.
Compression for Win95
The above page contains many links to archiving programs.
http://www.winzip.com
Probably the most important tool Pkzip has is the ability to salvage incomplete zips (it will recover whatever parts of the zip that wasn't damaged).
Pkzip for Win95
Pkzip Webpage
Winrar 2.05 for Win95:
Rar 2.05 for Dos:
Info
Download Page (for other versions)
Windows 95
Macintosh
DOS
Misc
Some of these links were mentioned by Ziggy. ;)
If the link doesn't work, go to www.excite.com and search for lha213.exe AND download
The following explains how to install the DOS version of Lha so that it works automatically through Winzip. These instructions can be found in Winzip's help file and are not written by me.
1. LHA is distributed as a self-extracting archive called LHA213.EXE. First download LHA213.EXE from your favorite online service.
If you follow the above instructions, you will now be able to unzip .lzh files through Winzip.
Another version can be found below
Thanks to Ziggy for a few of these links
http://www.zip98.base.org/zip98.exe
Description
http://www.netzip.com/
Note: This is 30 day shareware.
ftp://ftp.infoflex.com.au/pub/flexed/fe32_32.exe (Win 95)
ftp://ftp.infoflex.com.au/pub/flexed/fe16_32.exe (Win 3.1)
http://tucows.channeli.net/adnload/dlflexedpro.html
Flexedit Webpage:
Front Page Webpage
http://www.mysoftware.com/files/banners.exe
http://www.mysoftware.com/files/buttons.exe
http://www.mysoftware.com/files/bkgrnds.exe
This section is for a set of free and shareware programs produced by Ultimatum.
You can visit their sites at:
This program converts between hexadecimal and decimal numbers. It's useful if you make webpages and want to manually design colors.
Important Note: I do not in particular recommend the following programs for most people. They are only intended for those who are already looking for such programs. Otherwise, they probably won't be that useful to you. ;)
Note: This program is useful because it allows you to convert Internet Explorer bookmark files into Netscape bookmark files.
This allows you to manage links and can check if links still work
This allows you to generate batch scripts so you can by clicking on an icon (much like a shortcut) automaticlaly run several programs the way you want.
This edits how Win95 boots
This program views .nfo files
This optimizes the Win95 cache
I do not recommend this unless you know what you're doing. ;)
I do mention a few tips and instructions on how to use this in one of the other FAQs.
FZC
FZC + 6 megabyte wordlist
February 16, 1998 by Fernando Papa Budzyn
I haven't tried it yet, but someone posted a link to an interface for FZC
This will allow you to store multiple items in your clipboard for convenience. ;)
http://www.partridgesoft.com/cliphist.htm
Or, if you don't want to download software, you can try using Shodouka Launchpad:
One program that I've found useful is located at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/
Winsettings
Some of the links here die out occasionally, so I have arranged for someone with a good connection to upload some of the files...they won't be up for a while though.
Image and Movie Tools
JSheriff
Image/File index generator
This program will generate an index listing of files you have or check to make sure you have recieved all files on a given list. Often you will see this type of file posted to newsgroups, accompanied by the files named in the list.
http://www.eboa.com/Sheriff/
http://nbritt.hypermart.net/sheriff/JSheriff.zip
Dpeg
Duplicate Image Detector
This program can check for multiple copies of the same image in the folders you select.
DupFinder
Duplicate Image Detector
This program can check for multiple copies of the same image in the folders you select.
Unique Filer
Duplicate Image Detector
This program performs the same function as Dpeg listed above.
Changename 5.0
Bulk File Renamer
This program is really good for renaming a large number of files in sequential order.
Realmovie Tools 1.1
Realmovie Editor
A beta program for editing Realmovie files, posted by Zip.
Newsreaders and Masking Tools
Internet Tools
Goz!lla
Download Manager
This program is a very efficient program for helping you download files from the web. Here are the most useful features:
Go!Zilla v3.0 1.3MB United States East Coast
Go!Zilla v3.0 1.3MB Canada Ontario
Go!Zilla v3.0 1.3MB United Kingdom
Go!Zilla v3.0 1.3MB Germany
Go!Zilla v3.0 1.3MB Australia
Go!Zilla v3.0 1.3MB Hong Kong
GetRight
Download Manager
This program is very similar to Gozilla. I have not tried it out myself, but it has been recommended by many others. I recommend this for anyone whose computer is not fast enough to run Goz!lla smoothly.
Handsdown
Download Manager
Like Gozilla and Getright, this is also a download manager. It has a feature that allows you to use your clipboard to make your list of downloads.
Anawave Websnake
Web Spider
This is a webpage spidering program, the webpage equivalent of a newsbot.
Netscape Navigator
Web Browser
There are a few advantages of Netscape Gold 3.04.
Opera Web Browser
Web Browser
This is an alternative browser that adheres to html standards and is small but efficient.
NewsPost
Newsposter
This program allows you to post to newsgroups.
Netterm
Telnet Client
You can use this to connect to telnet sites.
CuteFTP
FTP Client
Most of you might not need FTP (most browsers support reading FTP anyways), but if you want a good program to upload, I recommend CuteFTP. It is a shareware that has all the essentials.
WS_FTP
FTP Client
This is an alternative to CuteFTP
FTP Voyager
This is an alternative to CuteFTP
IP Search Toolbar
IP Lookup Utility
This is a simple program for pinging and resolving IPs. If you don't know what it's for, you probably don't need it. ;)
Sam Spade
IP Lookup Utility
This is another program that resolves IPs and gives a detailed readout. So, it has both disadvantages and advantages compared to IP Search Toolbar. You can see an online demo here:
Submit Wolf
IP Lookup Utility
This program lets you submit your url to many search engines.
Eudora
E-mail client
This is a popular e-mail client.
Usenet tools for newsgroups
News Hunter 4
News Server Scanner
This program can be used to search for new free servers.
News Hunter 4
Wincode / XferPro
MIME Encoder/Decoder
Wincode and XferPro decode Mime encoded files that are found on newsgroups. I strongly recommend you use a good newsreader that has this feature built in, but if you have no alternative, you can try these programs instead.
Newsreaders and Masking Tools
For Security
Virus Scanner
Virus Scanner
Casahobo suggests an online virus scanner to protect you from downloading something that could harm your computer. Even if you have one, be careful what you download nonetheless.
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)
Data Encryption
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a program that allows you to do a one-way encryption of any file or text. One way means that under normal conditions only the intended recipient may decrypt the file or message (once it's encrypted, not even you can decrypt it). If the recipient wants to reply, they encrypt their message so that only you can decrypt it.
File Compression and Archiving Programs
Winzip
Archive Manager
Winzip handles almost all archiving formats.
Pkzip
Zip Archive Manager
This is not as easy to use as Winzip, but it has some important tools that Winzip does not have.
Winrar
.Rar Archive Manager
This program will unpack .rar files, a common format for large archives that need to be split up (into .rar .r01 .r02 .r03 etc).
Lha Archive Program
LHA Archive Manager
Here's an analogy. Lha:Japan::Pkzip:US. Well, more or less, at least.
2. Use the File Manager or Explorer to create the folder C:\LHA. You can use a different folder but then you will need to substitute that folder name in the following instructions.
3. Use the File Manager or Explorer to copy LHA213.EXE from your download folder to the C:\LHA folder.
4. Double click on LHA213.EXE to run it. This will cause the files in LHA213.EXE to "self-extract" into the C:\LHA folder.
5. Start WinZip. Pull down the Options menu and select Program Locations.
6. In the LHA field in the Program Locations dialog box type
c:\lha\lha.exe
Zip 98
Archive Extracter
This program can decompress various .zip formats.
"A full featured Compression Program that will Decompress the following formats: ARC, ARJ, ARJSFX, CAB, GZIP, LHA, LHASFX, RAR, TAR, ZIP, ZIPSFX and ZOO. ZIP98Plus will also compress ZIP and LHA files. Everything is built into ZIP98Plus (NO OTHER EXTERNAL PROGRAMS ARE REQUIRED). ZIP98Plus also includes ZIP98, a complete full featured ZIP file format program. Both programs are Windows 95, 98, and NT compatible. ZIP98Plus and ZIP98 are extremely easy to use with a user friendly windows interface. Now the "new or experienced" user can take full advantage of compressed files that are found on the Internet. "
Netzip
Zip Extractor
This program can decompress .zip files.
Fast Inflate
Archive Extracter
This program automatically searches the current directory for all .zip files and unpacks all of them.
Windows Commander
General purpose shell and decompressor
Here is Tucow's description: A very useful file manager that integrates many features and is a great Windows Explorer replacement that includes FTP capabilities. Also includes a compression tool that allows you to compress/decompress ZIP, ARJ, UC, ACE, LHA and much more.
HTML tools and word processors
Editpad
Word Processor
This program requires a good computer to run fast, but it can be very useful and completely free.
Download the English version of EditPad
Download the Danish version of EditPad
Download the German version of EditPad
Download the Spanish version of EditPad
Download the French version of EditPad
Download the Italian version of EditPad
Download the Dutch version of EditPad
Download the Polish version of EditPad
Download the Portuguese version of EditPad
Download the Portuguese version of EditPad
Download the Swedish version of EditPad
FlexEdit
Html Editor
This is the program I used to write RamFAQs.
http://www.infoflex.com.au/flexed.htm
Thumbnail generator
Thumbnail generator
This is the program allows you to generate thumnail indices (a picture containing a catalog of several smaller pictures).
Front Page
Html Editor
This is the program I used to write RamFAQs.
Banners, buttons, and backgrounds
Webapge graphic tools
These programs will help you make banners, buttons, and backgrounds.
http://www.swiftsite.com/banners/bantrial/downloads.htm
http://www.swiftsite.com/buttons/buttrial/downloads.htm
http://www.swiftsite.com/backgrounds/backtrial/downloads.htm
Ultimatum Software
Hexadecimal to Decimal converter
Linkman
This is the perfect way to compensate for the illogical way IE manages bookmarks, and it allows browser integration (so you can double-click on a link and it will open up on your browser).
Batchrun
Startedit
.nfo viewer
Cache optimizer
Crackers
Fast Zip Cracker (FZC)
Zip Cracker
If you don't know what this is by now, you probably don't need it. Most of the time that someone asks me how to use it, they intend to try cracking a zip that's already been cracked anyways. ;)
If you want a test file to practice cracking, try here.
Miscellaneous
Cliphistory
Japanese Language Tools
If you want to view Japanese characters on your computer, you can try Kanjikit 97, which works with Netscape:
You can also try the Typhoon/Tsunami translator for translating (it only gives you a rough translation, and it's almost a 10 meg download).
If you need a japanese reader or word processor (including dictionaries)...
Assorted Downloads
Rar for DOS (268 kb)
WinRar (481 kb)
This programs allows you to customize Windows 95 or 98. I have not tested it yet.
Alternative Programs
CompuPic
This program is an image viewer that has two nice features. It makes pretty good thumbnail indexes (an image with small thumbnail versions of a series of files). It even allows you to view images as raw data (if you're into that kind of stuff. ;) It also uudecodes files (such as those textfiles you might find on a newsgroup).
Download.com
Direct Downloads
