Need a free alternative to your compression software?

7-Zip by Igor Pavlov has completely replaced the WinZip application we paid for. 7-Zip can pack and unpack all the standard compression type files like ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR and it’s own 7z format. The best part is that it can unpack the following compressed formats: RAR, CAB, ISO, ARJ, LZH, CHM, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB and NSIS.

7-Zip has a small footprint and has the option to add context menu items to Explorer such as ‘Extract to’ and ‘Extract here’. The speed of compression as well as decompression along with it’s straight forward interface make 7-Zip a great addition to anyone’s computer application toolbox.

Have you ever received a file that you thought was suspicious?

The VirusTotal website will allow you to upload a file that it’s servers will scan for viruses and other malware. The cool part is that the site does not use just one virus engine and database – it uses a whole list of virus identifying software including big anti virus software like Norton and McAfee and my current favourite AntiVir.

Of course this site can not completely protect you from viruses and you should always use some sort of anti virus software.

We have used the site a few times to check on files to confirm their infection. The complete scan is done by all the virus engines while-you-wait. Updates are sent to the browser screen periodically.

If you think a file contains a virus and your anti virus software does not alert you, this site is can give you a second opinion.

This is one of the best software products available for free. OpenOffice allows you to do all the things that Microsoft Office does and more.

OpenOffice comes with:

• Writer – a powerful word processor that includes a lot of functionality including the ability to open any document your poor, unguided friends might have written in Microsoft Word.
• Calc – a spreadsheet tool.
• Impress – a presentation designer.
• Draw – a diagram and drawing tool.
• Base – a database.
• Math – a graphical mathematical equation creation tool.

Writer is likely the most used application. It opens most Microsoft Word documents without too many formatting disasters. A great feature of Writer is the ability to export directly to pdf. Yes you heard correctly. You can export any of the documents you create using Writer to pdf!

By using this tool instead of purchasing other software like Microsoft Office or Adobe Acrobat, you can likely save yourself around $1000. It is perfect for most personal documents that do not need special features that these expensive and bloated software products provide. Even some businesses have turned to open source document creation by using OpenOffice.

Keep your hard earned money in your pocket and download OpenOffice for free.

Have you ever had your hard drive crash with your documents or photos? Online backups can help save you a lot of headaches. They backup the specified documents automatically over the Internet to the servers owned by the backup service.

We have tried a couple different online backup utilities, however Mozy is by far the best we have seen.

It lets you choose exactly which files you want to backup. Other configurable options are bandwidth and backup start times. Mozy lets you encrypt your files with their key or one you choose. However, do not forget your key (if you choose one), otherwise trying to recover your backups will be impossible and you will be, as Mozy’s FAQ states, ‘hosed’.

Mozy is easy to setup and overall operation is very slick. The best part is that, as of this writing, the first 2 GB of backup space is free. You can even backup multiple home computers to the same free account. Try it out and save your documents from future computer disasters.