| Fixing Really Problematic Desktop Machines |
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| I work for as a network administrator for a small accounting firm in Calabasas, California. In addition to the day to day tasks, I occassionally do some consulting work, usually for smaller businesses that are on a tight budget and don't want to have a whole farm of clustered servers. There is a lot of stuff out there for those willing, wanting, needing, or simply curious to try something new. Below are a few links that may of interest, since you've already ventured this far and obviously have way too much free time on your hands. I get nothing by referring these sites; I'm just providing some free info... |
| Open Office is an open source multi platform office suite that is free to download, use and distribute. If you're tired of Microsoft Office, here's an excellent alternative that costs you nothing. |
| PDF Creator is a free printing utility that allows you to create PDF documents (viewable with the free adobe reader.) If you've ever sent a file that the receipient couldn't open because they didn't have the application you used to create the file, you should consider sending them a PDF of the document, because anyone can download the reader and thus view your file. |
| GIMP is a free photo retouching and image authoring software that you can download and use instead of buying Photoshop or some other expensive program. I use this pretty regularly and it's an awesome piece of software. |
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| No, this isn't REALLY what FRPDM stands for... but since you're here... |
| DVD Decrypter is a "ripper" useful for backing up and archiving your DVDs. If you travel but don't want to risk losing or damaging your lawfully purchased DVD, this is a useful tool for either copying the DVD to your hard drive so you don't have to bring your disc. Be sure to check the legality of using such software wherever you are.. |
| DVD Shrink is a utility that can compress a standard DVD movie to the smaller 4.5 GB DVD. Again, check the legality of downloading and using such software in your area. |
| A free anti virus program that is far less "top heavy" than McAfee, Norton and many of the other "commercial" anti virus products on the market.. |
| This is a free personal firewall that is a bit more robust than the standard windows firewall. Whether you go with the Windows firewall or you go with this, I certainly recommend that you have a firewall of some sort running.. |
| I certainly recommend encryption for personal email, although for some it's a major pain. However, this is my public PGP key if you'd like to send me an encrypted message. You can click on the link up and right to get a free app to generate your own key. |