General Win9x/2000/32 Software
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Background.
I am forever looking for good freeware
and shareware software for my server. Often I will find some excellent
programs, but they are often commercial programs, with time bombs, or limited
features until you pay for them. These generally wont make my freeware
page, but if they are still good I might still mention them here instead.
How ratings work.
When putting software on this page,
i use the following criteria to rate it:
1 Ease of use
2 Runs in Windows 95
3 Easy to use
4 Is just plain Awesome
As long as a product matches at
least two of these criteria it gets put below.
Ok on to the files! Below I have
listed my favorite apps utils, servers etc., and rated them.
I am a pretty hard when i rate; here is a rough
guide:
50% or above. An OK App. (C-)
55% or above. Not bad at all. (C)
60% or above. Pretty Good. (C+)
65% or above. Worth a look at (B-)
Worth Paying for.
70% or above. Great Effort. (B)
75% or above. Well worth buying.
(B+)
80% or above. Truly something very
special. (A-) Worth an Award.
85% or above. Pure Brilliance.
(A)
90% or above. Inspires Awe. (A+)
95% or above. Godlike in its greatness.
(A++) Worth a Prize.
At a glance color
code chart.
C |
Client Application |
S |
Server Daemon Application |
G |
Game |
M |
Misc Admin Utility |
|
The software.
File/link |
Code |
Description |
Restriction/price |
Requirements |
My Rating |
3am Laboratories Pty Ltd
RemoteAnywhere
21/8/02
Makers
Homepage
|
S |
A web based remote administration
& control tool, FTP server, and port mapper.
RemoteAnywhere offers several secure
features for remotely managing & controlling a computer with little
more than a web browser with Java and SSL - or a remote console, which
can be accessed using telnet or SSH. SSL is optional, but strongly
recommended for the simple fact
it is more secure than plain text http.
The web interface is its main selling
point, from here you have control of almost every aspect of the computer
(registry, users, access control, files etc.)
it can do everything short of walking
up to the computer and pulling out the plug.
Who knows, it may even do that
one day too! As it is, it can do the next best thing, you can even shut
the computer down!
It can also be used to remotely
take control of the computer, much like PC anywhere only without the need
for a client, and works like you are actually sitting at the computer.
Amazingly, it can also internally
generate its own SSL certificates and SSH keys..
Avoiding the need to spend additional
money for extra security. Very convenient.
If your after a remote admin util,
with good features and support at a good price, forget PC Anywhere - buy
RemoteAnywhere instead! |
Shareware-
30 Day time bomb.
Retail-
One installation per registration
unlimited client connections /
$99 US from Binary Research International
Inc. |
Win9x / NT / 2k / ME / XP |
92%
(Decent price to feature ratio)
I tried a much earlier beta version
of this once, it wasn't bad, but I never really gave it a serious look.
However - CONSIDERABLE improvements have been made since then. Most noteworthy
being the remote control option. This makes it a direct competitor to PC
Anywhere, but with more features, better support, and costs around $80
less!
I used the remote control option
more than other features; if they sold a product that did that alone, it
would probably still sell well. (especially considering their generous
volume licensing)
However, the other features are
not to be overlooked - they are all very useful, and give
more features and security than
the built in remote console on many windows installs.
Testing on windows 2000 and windows
98 machines, I found it worked almost flawlessly
in both cases, and wasn't too resource
hungry.
It had some minor irritations -
Remote control generates Java errors
under Netscape 4.75.
Proxies can cause a number of odd
quirks, most serious being you cannot always generate
a certificate.
Neither of these are a problem;
if you access the machine directly, using internet explorer. (which would
be the most common deployment anyway)
|
Tiny Software
WinRoute
Pro
Makers
Homepage
|
S |
This is a complete firewall, gateway,
DNS forwarder, caching proxy, NAT, DHCP server, email manager / server
and port mapper solution. It does all of these tasks with a fairly simple
user interface, while maintaining an acceptable degree of security.
I did notice however in all the
versions i tested, that the built in port mapper does not seem to work
as it should; at least in windows 95 - and nowhere does the (fairly good)
documentation explain why.
At a guess I would say that the
port mapper adds a remote nat table mapping, as opposed to normal port
binding like other port mappers - which may be why i could never get it
to work, as I needed a machine out side of my LAN to test it. |
Shareware -
1 month time bomb
Retail, 5 user to unlimited user
licenses available /
from $149 (5 user) to $1019 (unlimited)(US
Dollars) |
Win9x / NT / 2000 |
91% (Well made- but way over priced)
This is a great program, but it
costs a small fortune, there is a "Lite" version available as well, but
from my testing it is awful to use, and has a number of small but gaping
security holes in it which the makers are aware of; but from my email queries
unwilling to fix. I would recommend getting their personal
firewall as well if you intend to buy this, as it offers a slightly
improved firewall model.
This product gets updated every
few months, so I recommend downloading the version off their website instead
of the version I have here. |
Paul Smith Computer Services
vDHCP (v0.6)
Makers
Homepage
|
S |
This is a DHCP server for users
running any sort of windows server on a network. It is VERY easy to setup,
very reliable (it has never crashed on my server) and fairly reasonably
priced if you have a medium sized LAN. |
Shareware -
30 day time bomb
Retail -
Unlimited Address's,
Installation on one server per
license / £20 (UK), $30 (US) |
Win9x / NT / 2000 |
90% (Worth getting)
A very nice program, I use it instead
of the DHCP server built into my NAT software. Australian buyers may want
to look at the Australian distributors list, as the exchange rate is a
killer. Only prob I ever found was sometimes win95 machines would get confused
when renewing leases at startup, but they usually leased it fine after
login. |
Aryeh Eiderman
Netstrap Ltd
resiDNS(1.5)
Makers
Homepage
|
S |
This is a windows based Domain
Name Server. It works great on either a LAN for assigning subnet hostnames,
or if you need a full DNS for your webserver.
It can act as both a DNS proxy,
or as a fully functional DNS. It is also simple to setup once you are familiar
with the way a DNS works.
Click here
for more information. |
Shareware -
28 day time bomb
Retail -
Unlimited hostnames, One installation
per registration. /
Price is still being decided. |
Win9x / NT / 2000 |
90% (Very Useful)
Very compact and efficient program,
I have disabled my NAT's dns forwarding functions in favor of using this
instead. This program is always getting improved, so the download link
on the left may be an out of date version.
As always, check on the makers page
if unsure. |
Helmsman Research
Net
Diagram (13-5-2002)
Makers
Homepage
|
M |
This program elegantly combines
some features previously only in separate utilities like AnalogX Netstat
Live, AnalogX Packetmon, NetMonitor, and Tiny Personal Firewall's connection
status window.
This program monitors network activity
to your computer. It displays incoming + outgoing bandwidth as well
as who is using it. Bandwidth totals are displayed in a simple bar graph
window. It also monitors shared files and folders, and tells you who is
accessing them.
Perfect for people using file sharing
tools, or windows networking.
It also installs a Packet Capture
driver called Pcap which it uses to get network information.
This program is deceptively simple
looking.
When you run it, you see a small
window with "upload" and "download". Left is peak speed, above that
a Users and Files counter. Top right, the most recent connection IP is
shown. A graph also shows how much bandwidth is currently in use. A right
click is options, containing colors, "always on top" and transparency.
Clicking the users or files counter brings up additional information windows.
One shows all recently connected IPs (with separate upload and download
speed indicators), the other all the open shared files and folders. (and
who opened them) - Handy.
Note: Download latest version from
maker. |
Shareware -
30 day time bomb
Retail -
One installation per registration.
/ $24.90 (US)
|
Win9x / NT / 2k / ME / XP |
87% (Handy)
Overall a pretty good, screen efficient
program.
Simple looking, the most interesting
features are just a few mouse clicks away.
.
"Always on top" works especially
well (unlike some programs where you loose half your desktop) when combined
with transparency. You can be monitoring your network activity, and still
see any other programs your using. - Very Cool.
I did notice a few minor issues
however. It seems best suited for something like windows 2000, as in windows
95 for example, the Always on top, transparency and sharing monitor features
don't work.
I also found I had to manually hit
"refresh" to get up to date "open shared files" info. Potentially a problem
when you want to know who is on your server in real time.
There where also some purely cosmetic
things:
The Active connection window:
Clicking column headings doesn't
sort, and idle IPs remain in the window. This made watching all active
connections difficult.
The graph:
I would have liked the option for
a line graph, and the graph seemed sensitive to network spikes, often making
the scale too difficult to read.
Also, No "about" window. When you
pay money its nice to see who you paid, and your name so you feel good
about your purchase. |
Sierra Studios
Half-Life
Blue Shift
Makers
Homepage |
G |
The latest in Sierra's quake II
based engine games. This is a recent addition to the halflife franchise
of games.
In this game we once again take
the role of another character from the original game, this time playing
"Barney Calhoun" a security guard character often encountered in the other
two half life games.
Also included is the Opposing Force
Addon (where you play the role of one of the soldiers invading black mesa)
and an optional graphics upgrade.
I can only wonder what the next
half life game will be.. from the scientists or business suit guys perspective
perhaps? Or maybe the aliens?
(Note: if you download the opposing
force demo from sierras website, then copy the Op Force data dir from this
retail install, it may be possible to play the game without a half life
install, as the stand alone engine from the original release of opposing
force was used in the demo, i haven't tested this however, so it would
probably be very unstable, and offer no multiplayer) |
Retail -
One Client Installation only /
Price: around $49.95(AU) in most
large chain stores. |
Win9x / 32
Runs from CD
(for blue shift)
Halflife installed
(for Op Force)
Wont run in normal NT 3.* or 4.*
(needs directx 6 or better) |
70% (Handy on a bored weekend)
Although there are many interesting
boasts about the graphics and network gaming capabilities of this game
on the sierra website.. It was odd that the game itself didn't have any
obvious multiplayer options at all.. the network files for accessing WON
are installed, but there is no way to use them!
Interestingly most of the graphics
used on its promo page were from Opposing force, which although included
on the blue shift CD, you can't play unless you have a separate installation
of halflife, which is even stranger as blue shift includes a full game
engine when you install it.
The game itself is nice, but a little
short, I found it much too easy to complete. With the medium difficulty
setting i had beaten the game in a little over 7 hours. Opposing force
(included) actually seems longer, and has much more improvements than blue
shift.
Without Opposing force included,
this game would have reviewed at a pitiful 50% |
Webmaster Inc
Conference
Room
(v1.2/1.3 Win)
Makers
Homepage
|
S |
IRC and Webchat server
It contains EVERY thing you need
to start an IRC server, or network all in the one package.
Note: This download is an old version.
I suggest getting the latest from the makers page. |
Shareware - 10 User limit, and
30 day time bomb
Retail -
Between 1000 and 10000 connections
/ between $495
and $4295 (US) depending which
version. |
Win98 / NT / 2000 / Linux / Solarus
/ *bsd |
55% (nice but expensive)
This is a well designed IRC server,
it has every feature you could ever want. Unfortunately, it also costs
a small fortune, which is hard to justify for a generally non-profit service. |
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