11 Best Free File Manager Updated November 28, 2007
Windows Explorer is fine for simple file management activities but when you have some serious work to do, you need a multi-pane pane file manager. I use Directory Opus which is IMHO, the best product in this class but costs $59. A good free alternative is xplorer² Lite [1]. It offers a good part of the functionality of Directory Opus and is totally free. As a bonus, its user interface is very similar to Windows Explorer, so most users will find this tool easy to learn and use.
XYplorer is another strong contender. It uses a tabbed view rather than a two pane view which is better when working with multiple folders though not quite as efficient as the two pane approach when working with only two. XYplorer is packed with features included one of the best file-finders I've seen. It's one of those products that impresses more with use. In fact I suspect that if you use it for a month, you'll end up using it permanently. Until the 21st March 2006 it was freeware but has now morphed to shareware but a recent free version (V5.55) is available from the vendor's site [2].
Some folks just love Free Commander [3], a classic two pane Norton Commander style manager. It's certainly powerful but I find the interface a little dated. However it's free for both private and commercial use and that's a big plus.
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[1] http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm Free for private use, Win 95 and later, 1MBB
[2] http://www.xyplorer.com/free.php Free for private use, Win 98 and later, 836KB
[3] http://www.freecommander.com/ Freeware, Windows 95 and later, 1.61MB
12 Best Free Email Client

Thunderbird [1] is a free open source POP and IMAP email client developed by Mozilla.org, the same folks who brought you Firefox. Feature-wise it sits somewhere between Outlook Express and Outlook which means that it offers an upgrade to Express users and a downgrade to those who use the more advanced PIM features of Outlook.
All Outlook Express users should seriously consider switching. You’ll be rewarded with a more advanced product including built- in spam filtering, built-in RSS reader, message color coding, fast email search, anti-phishing measures, spell check as you type, inbox filters, Kerberos authentication, automatic updates and the ability to view your mail in conversational threads. On top of that, the product is more secure than OE and unlike the latter, is still being actively developed.
Further features can be added through free extensions. Notable among these is Webmail [2], an extension that allows POP3 access to webmail services operated by Yahoo, Hotmail, Lycos, MailDotCom, Gmail and Libero.
Thunderbird email files can be indexed by the Google, Yahoo! and Copernic desktop search programs.
Switching from Outlook Express is made easier by the fact that Thunderbird looks and works similar to OE. Tools within Thunderbird also allow you to easily import OE account settings and stored email. If you need assistance check out this excellent guide [3] from Mozilla.
If you want an alternative to Thunderbird then try Foxmail [4]. Despite the name it's not related to Firefox but comes out of China. It's an impressive product with features matching or exceeding Thunderbird and it's also really easy to use. My only real beef is the quality of the help files. Yes, they have been translated to English but rather poorly. So poorly that they are actually quite amusing. Don't let that deflect you though, Foxmail is a top product with eight million users world-wide and is a real alternative to Thunderbird. If you need help there's a good FAQ here [5]. Note: If after installing, the program comes up in Chinese, all you have to do is delete the file chinese.lgb in the installation folder.
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[1] http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird Free Open Source software, Win 98 and later, 6.0MB
[2] http://webmail.mozdev.org/index.html
[3] http://opensourcearticles.com/introduction_to_thunderbird
[4] http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/E-mail/E-mail-Clients/Foxmail.shtml Freeware, Win 95 and later, 5.5MB.
[5] http://www.hazeleger.net/psjs_faqs/index.html
13 Best Free Web Mail Accessory

It's a real plus to be able to collect your Hotmail, Yahoo! or other Webmail using your POP3 email client. It used to be simple but these days most Webmail services only provide POP3 access for premium paid accounts. However it's still possible to do it though by using a special utility designed for the job.
If you use Yahoo! mail then head straight for YPOPs! [1] that allows you to download your Yahoo webmail from within your POP3 email client such as Outlook, Thunderbird or Eudora. It's free, easy top set up using the instructions on the web site and is simple to use. I use it on multiple Yahoo accounts and it works wonderfully.
The second suggestion is a free utility called FreePOPs [2]. It's a much more flexible product than YPOPs! and will download mail from HotMail, AOL, Yahoo!, Juno, Libero and a myriad of other webmail services as well. It's power and flexibility can confuse new users but thankfully there is a clearly written tutorial for beginners [3] . FreePOPS is for receiving email only and has no sending capabilities.
A third possibility is the Open Source program MrPostman [4] which offers similar functionality to FreePOPs and allows access to email accounts on MS Exchange 5.5 as well. It needs a bit of fiddling to work correctly but you'll find a couple of links below [5], [6} that will help you. My only reservation is that product development seems to have ceased. Note that MrPostman requires the Java Runtime Environment to be installed on your PC.
Another webmail accessory you might useful is POP Peeper, a free utility that lets you know when new mail arrived in your Webmail account. It installs a little tray icon that alerts you to new mail in your Hotmail, MSN, Yahoo, Mail.com, MyWay, Excite, Lycos.com, or RediffMail accounts. It's particularly useful for users who have multiple webmail webmail services. It won't though, download your mail to your POP3 email client. To do that you need one of the products above. It does however, allow you to read and even respond to your mail within the product without opening your email program. This makes it very attractive to Webmail users who don't use a regular email client such as Outlook or Thunderbird.
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[1] http://www.ypopsemail.com/ Free GPL license, Win95 and later, 1.48MB
[2] http://www.freepops.org Freeware, Windows 98 and later, 813KB
[3] http://www.freepops.org/en/tutorial/index.shtml
[4] http://mrpostman.sourceforge.net/ Free Open Source, 1.5MB
[5] http://2mod2.com/mohot/ <= Installing Mr Postman
[6] http://sourceforge.net/forum/?group_id=68124 <= MrPostman forum
[7] http://www.poppeeper.com/ Freeware, Windows 95 and later, 818KB
14 Best Free Clipboard Replacement Utility
There are many clipboard managers out there but only a few that do what I want, the way I want.

Clipx [1] and Clipomatic [2] are excellent. They are both fast, lightweight, easy to use and use few system resources. When you press a programmable hotkey they launch a pop-up menu of clips to select. The clip selection can be made via mouse or keyboard shortcut thus enabling completion of the entire copy/select/paste process to be made by keyboard alone. They have options to record and display a variable number of clips, as well as to store permanent clips such as text snippets. Both use less than 1MB memory so any system can afford to have them running continuously.
Clipomatic is a bit slicker to use and has more robust permanent item functionality but its real limitation is that it is text only. ClipX will do everything Clipomatic will (although you need to add a plug-in to enable the permanent clip function, available from the same site as ClipX) plus copy images.
The only reason I've stopped using those two is because they only keep a limited number of clips. They can hold 30+ but everything they hold is displayed on the hotkey popup and if you set them high the popup gets pretty big and cluttered. If you keep the popup slim and small, you only get to keep a limited clip history.
There are other clip utilities that record full histories but most of them fail in simplicity of use. ClipMagic [3] and Yankee Clipper III [4] are two decent ones that record, sort, and archive huge histories and both do it well. But they are overkill; more like clipboard Personal Information Managers than utilities. And the cost of this overkill is the loss of simplicity of operation.
ArsClip [5] is a product that offers a perfect balance between functionality and ease of use. It has the fast and light features of Clipomatic and ClipX but also records a long history of clips. Intelligently, the popup only displays a limited number of clips but the rest of the history is just one click further away. The history is also searchable. ArsClip has permanent items, but expands the basic ability and lets you create several different groups of permanent clips (like forum responses, email addresses, sigs, etc.), each displayed as separate cascading menus on the popup. ArsClip also allows easy one-click editing of clips. To top it all off, ArsClip requires no installation and can be run from a portable drive so you can easily tote all your clips with you.
For those with undemanding clip management needs, ClipX and Clipomatic are both fine choices. They are efficient tiny utilities that, while simple, still enormously increase the functionality of the Windows clipboard. ClipMagic and YCIII are more like full-blown clip management applications rather than utilities, but do offer excellent sorting and archiving if you're a digital packrat. ArsClip is my favorite, offering speed and effortless functionality while hanging on to a wealth of data.
All of these tools offer great advantages over the standard Windows Clipboard. So pick what's right for your needs knowing that whatever you chose you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

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[1] http://bluemars.org/clipx/ Freeware, All Windows versions, 108KB
[2] http://www.mlin.net/Clipomatic.shtml Freeware, All Windows versions, 95KB
[3] http://www.clipmagic.com/ Freeware, Win98 and later, 1.88MB
[4] http://www.intelexual.com/products/YC3/ Freeware, All Windows, 1MB
[5] http://www.joejoesoft.com/vcms/97/ Freeware. All Windows 600KB.
15 Best Free HTML Editor

This is one of my most requested items but I've not been able to give any product my full endorsement. There have been any number of contenders: Amaya for example, impressed with its standards compliance but was incomplete while Selida looked slick but had just too many bugs. Finally a reasonably competent contender has arrived on the scene in the form of the Open Source Nvu [1]. It's not perfect by any means but it's the best out there.
In reality Nvu is nothing new but rather a reworking of the old Netscape Composer. Composer was always a solid product and the revamp has lifted the product into another class. Here is an HTML editor and site manager that's easy enough for beginners to use but powerful enough to build large sites. It's closer in concept to Microsoft's FrontPage more than any other product but unlike FrontPage it, thankfully, produces standards compliant code. Its easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor will delight HTML newbies while HTML honchos can simply click a tab to switch to code view. Multiple tabs can be kept open to allow simultaneous editing and there is excellent support for forms, tables and templates. An internal spell-checker is included. CSS is handled through the CaScadeS editor from Mozilla Composer. Nvu also has the handy ability to call W3C's HTML validator from within the product. It's also extensible via XUL.
Nvu can upload files to your site via FTP and has some basic site management features but this is not its strength. Indeed the FTP side of the program has proved so problematic for some users that they have switched to using an external FTP client for uploading their sites. Some users have also reported problems with their HTML getting scrambled.
Because of these bugs I don't recommend the official version of Nvu but rather the unofficial release called KompoZer [2]. This version is still not bug free but it's a lot better than the official release.
Overall Nvu is an impressive product that has yet to achieve its full potential. No, it's not a replacement for commercial products like DreamWeaver but for those looking for a free, easy to use, WYSIWYG HTML it's an easy first choice.
If you want an editor that puts you closer to the code then you might consider 1st Page 2000. It's a free, earlier version of Evrsoft's [3] excellent 1st Page 2006 editor and while lacking many of the features of the latter, is still a sound product. It's not the best choice though for HTML newbies. Note: The download seems to have been removed from the vendor's site. It is available elsewhere though [3].
HTML coders should also check out PSPad [5]. It's a general purpose programming editor but it supports HTML syntax highlighting and allows on-the-fly editing of your server code that relieves you of the need to separately upload code changes using FTP. As a bonus it can be run directly from the .exe file without installation.
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[1] http://www.nvu.com/ Free Open Source, Windows 98 and later plus Linux, 6.57MB
[2] http://kompozer.net/
[3] http://www.evrsoft.com
[4] http://www.voodoofiles.com/4836 Free, Windows 98 and later, 5.2MB
[5] http://www.pspad.com/en/ Freeware, All Windows versions, 3.4MB
16 Best Free Spam Filter for the Average User Updated September 2, 2007

This is a difficult category as ordinary users need products that are easy to use and frankly, most free spam filters are way too complex to set up and use. The best products in this class are in fact, shareware and not free. That said, MailWasher [1] is for most folks, the best free option.
MailWasher is an email preview utility that allows you to check your email on your mail server before you download it to your PC. The advantage of this approach is that you can kill unwanted messages including spam, viruses and large attachments before they get anywhere near your computer. MailWasher flags for you any messages containing possible spam and viruses for you to quickly check. It's a simple idea but quite effective and one which average users find easy to understand.
At the Mailwasher site you can download a free or "Pro" commercial version. The former lacks quite a few of the features of its commercial cousin. the most limiting of which is the ability to a access multiple accounts. However the last free version of MailWasher before it went commercial is still floating around the web [2] and it will handle multiple accounts. It too lacks many of the advanced spam detection features of the current commercial version but is still very effective. Alternatively, try XTerminator [3] which works much the same way as MailWasher and is totally free. I must say though, I prefer MailWasher's user interface.
If you use Outlook or Outlook Express for your email you have another choice, an excellent one actually, if you are prepared to have a small advertisement appended to the end of your outbound email.
SPAMfighter [5] is a network based spam filtering system that uses the opinions of over two million users worldwide to help classify spam and what's not.

Like all network based spam filters it requires no training: it's ready to go the minute you install it.

Each email is checked after it is received. If the email has been classified as spam by a lot of other users on the network then it deleted from your in-box and placed in a spam mail folder.
It works like a charm and is a commanding choice or Outlook users. If you can't tolerate the ads in your email you can have them removed for $19.95 a year.
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[1] http://www.mailwasher.net ( 3.05MB)
[2] http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/page2.html#Mailwasher (1.57MB)
[3] http://www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/xterminator.htm (1.87MB)
[4] http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-antispam.htm <=brief review of the best spam blockers
[5] http://www.spamfighter.comWindows ME and later, Outlook Express 5.5 and later or Outlook 2000 and later, 842KB,
17 Best Free Spam Filter for Experienced Users
There are many different spam filters available employing lots of different techniques. In my experience "learning" spam filters that use the Bayesian statistical approach out-perform most other types of filters I've tried. Not only are they better at detecting spam they are also less liable to classify your real mail as spam.
This effectiveness takes a little time to develop as the filter has to be trained to recognize your spam from your normal mail. It takes a week or so before results start becoming accurate and best results may take a month or more.
POPFile [1], a free, open source spam filter, was one of the first Bayesian filters and is still one of the best. It works as a proxy mail server so that means that it can be used with any POP email client. Setup is reasonably straightforward for experienced users but beginners may be better off with Mailwasher.
If you use Outlook there are several excellent free Bayesian spam filters available including SpamBayes [2] and K9 [3]. Both are simple to install though, like all statistical filters, they need to go through a training phase before they reach full effectiveness.
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[1] http://popfile.sourceforge.net/old_index.html (4.3MB)
[2] http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/ (3.6MB)
[3] http://www.keir.net/k9.html (113KB)
18 Best Free Popup Stopper

The need for popup stopper utilities has fallen away in recent months as many browsers such as Firefox now have this function built in. If you need a separate popup stopper and have good PC skills I suggest you try The Proxomitron. It operates by filtering and transforming all your Web pages on the fly. As a result you can not only stop pop-ups but pop-unders, ads, flash animations, status bar scrollers and just about anything else. Besides, next time you are asked what pop-up stopper you use, you can answer; "why, I use The Proxomitron" and how cool is that ;>)
The product's author Scott R. Lemmon unfortunately has passed away but support for The Proxomitron continues through its large enthusiast following. This is evident from the main download site [1] which offers several versions of the product including the last version Scott released before his death. The site also has setup instructions, resource links and lists of sites where you can test whether the product is working. There are a number of other enthusiast sites [2], [3] that offer additional information.
If you are a novice PC user I suggest you try the Google toolbar [4] rather than The Proxomitron. It's free as well and has an excellent popup filter built in. It's nowhere near as flexible as The Proxomitron, but it requires no setup. As a bonus it also makes Google searches easier.
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[1] http://proxomitron.info/ Freeware, All Windows versions, 1.38MB
[2] http://accs-net.com/smallfish/prox.htm
[3] http://www.sankey.ws/proxomitron.html
[4] http://toolbar.google.com/
19Best Free Desktop Search Utility
A couple of years back there were no contenders for this title. Today we have a wealth of choices. In a close race I would have to say X1 Enterprise Client [1] comes out in front because of the clear way it presents search results. It used to be a $99 product but you can now get X1 for free by downloading the 30 day version. After the 30 day trials expires some advanced features are disabled but you can continue to use the product forever. X1 is fast, reliable and can index the contents of 370 different file types including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, Outlook, Outlook Express, HTML, text, ZIP and Adobe PhotoShop It also indexes files for most of the popular e-mail clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Netscape, Eudora and Lotus Notes.
X1 can index html files but can't index your web browsing history. If the later is important to you, you may want to look at Google desktop search [2]. It not only will search your web history but offers an Outlook toolbar, integrated Gmail search and a novel desktop sidebar that allows personalized search, news, weather, photos and more. The Sidebar also includes a quite effective application launcher. Some folks love the Sidebar but others, me included, find it intrusive.
Exalead [3] is a little known but highly impressive desktop search program from France. It's great strength is the highly customizable nature of its search, probably the best of any product. It can also do fuzzy searches as well. If you need to make highly specified searches then do try Exalead, you wont be disappointed. Versions are available for English and French speakers.
All the products I've mentioned require Windows 2000 or later. If you are stuck with an earlier version of Windows then try the free Copernic Desktop Search [4]. Just because I'm mentioning it last don't think it's inferior to the others - it's a very competent and balanced product and one of the few freebies that supports network shares. Indeed many experienced users think that overall, it's the best available. If the email search results were as effectively presented as X1 I'd be inclined to agree.
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[1] http://www.x1.com X1 Enterprise Client, Free for personal use, Windows XP, 12.9MB.
[2] http://desktop.google.com Freeware, Windows 2000 SP3 or later, 2MB
[3] http://corporate.exalead.com/enterprise/l=en?p=produits_exalead-desktop_screenshots Freeware, Windows 2000 or later, 8.7MB
[4] http://www.copernic.com/en/products/...rch/index.html Freeware, Windows 98 and later. 3MB
20 Best Free Digital Image Viewer

Three good choices here. First there's the classic IrfanView. Irfan [1] is a first class product but one for which I have mixed feelings. That's why it's been in and out of my "46 Best Freeware" list several times. It's an amazingly capable product but it just doesn't work the way I want it to. Other users though, just love it.
A product I feel more comfortable with is XNView [2]. Like Irfan it is very versatile; it can read and display nearly 400 types of graphic files and convert any of these to over 50 formats. It displays pictures very quickly and these may be viewed full screen, as slideshows or thumbnails. It's quite capable at processing images, too; you can adjust brightness, color, apply filters or effects, crop photos, re-size, convert format and more. These operations can also be carried out from a batch file, which makes it ideal for converting large digital photos to smaller sizes for the web or emailing. It supports drop and drag, has many plug-ins, is available in 44 languages and has full cross-platform support including Mac. XNView has a lot of similarities with IrfanView, so many in fact, that it comes perilously close to plagiarism. Put positively, one may say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery however the developer of IrfanView must feel more than a little miffed. XNView is free for non-commercial use, all Windows versions plus many other platforms. The standard version for Windows is 3.3MB but I suggest you download the complete version with all plug-ins which weighs in at 6.8MB.
My third choice and personal favorite is FastStone Image Viewer [3]. This is a speed demon with a zippiness in displaying images that's reminiscent of the old ACDSee before it suffered feature bloat. It supports all major graphic formats and popular digital camera RAW formats as well. It's also got good basic image editing facilities, a great slide show and a very cute interface. Much to like here. Free for personal use, Windows 98 and later.
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[1] http://www.irfanview.com/ (874KB)
[2] http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html (3.3MB)
[3] http://www.faststone.org (3.0MB)