Get our latest top picks
Subscribe to our Top Picks RSS Feed or enter your email address below to get the feed delivered to you by email:
|
Follow Gizmo |
 |
 |
 |
Register/Login
Top Rated
Gizmo's Freeware is Recruiting
We are looking for people with skills or interest in the following:
- Mobile Platform App Reviews for Android and iOS
- Anonymous Surfing Service
- Rootkit Scanner and Remover
- Streaming Media Recorder
- PDF Writer
Interested? Click here
Best Free Windows 64-bit Software
|
Other Language?
|
 Read this article in Spanish Read this article in Chinese |
|
Introduction
|
|
Here are the top freeware picks for 64-bit Windows in their various categories. This list will continue to grow as we add new categories and new products. Go to the page index for the category you are interested in or read more about 64-bit Windows by following the links in the related articles. Where a product has a review in another category I will usually provide an excerpt from that review. Other comments will usually relate to 64-bit compatibility and operation. My primary goal is to find the best native 64-bit applications ( The secondary focus of this article is to identify 32-bit applications that are compatible with 64-bit Windows ( Although we do mention Windows XP Pro 64, all testing has been under 64-bit versions of WIndows Vista, 7 and 8. Let me know if you have an idea for an application or category I could cover. Anyone can leave a comment at the bottom of this page, Registered users (free to anyone) can contact me in the forum under Contact Info or may post in the 64-bit Freeware forum. |
) in each category. Where a 64-bit application is recommended the Quick Selection Guide will only include details related to the 64-bit version and not the 32-bit version, if any.
). These 32-bit applications will usually run slower (due to emulation of the 32-bit environment) but are either the best in their class or have features that will be particularly useful to many 64-bit Windows users.|
Best Free Windows 64-bit Software - Page Index
(or click here to view as one huge page)
|
||
This list of the best software for 64-bit Windows has 48 categories with 91 products consisting of 51 native 64-bit applications and 40 compatible 32-bit applications. To read brief descriptions of the items, click a page number.
|
||
|
What's New: Currently testing applications on Windows 8. Items added or updated: |
||
|
Related Articles, Reviews and Useful Links
|
Related Articles
Related ReviewsUseful Links |
|
Editor
|
|||
|
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Remah.
If you have had a similar experience then you should consider becoming a reviewer too. |
| Date | Change | Editor |
|---|---|---|
| November 2011 | Major update completed: convert to a multipage article, reformat product reviews, add categories, remove screenshots, and start adding new products. | Remah |
| October 2011 |
No change to content. Quick Selection Guide converted to the new format. Add change log. |
Remah |
| April 2011 | Latest update | Rik |
| June 2009 | Article created. | Rik |
|
Tags
|
|
Freeware for 64-bit Windows 7, Freeware for 64-bit Windows Vista, 64-bit Windows freeware, Freeware for 64-bit Windows, 64-bit freeware |
Back to the top of the article.
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
Comments
Could you enlighten me as to how imaging your system has any impact on the layout or size of your Registry? This is a new one on me and I fail to see how it works.
Rik
hey rik,
did you ever find out how imaging your system could or would clean and reset your registry... or whatever she was talking about? i don't think the first 63 sectors (0 - 62) of the ole hard drive had the mbr-
mental boot record intact any longer.
I can't see how it would work following a standard image and then restore. Perhaps I'm missing something?
Rik
IMHO, defragmenting everyday with Defraggler is not a good idea if you use MyDefrag or JKdefrag. Nor is using any other defragmenter. It completely ruins the optimization that JKdefrag peforms by rearranging the files and filling in the much needed gaps that were set up. This actually causes more fragmentation, slower disk performance for Windows, and a lot more wear and tare on the hard drive. The author of JKdefrag says that defragmenting once a week is plenty.
With that said, I am having doubts about whether Mydefrag actually optimizes the way JKdefrag used to. Whenever it is finished I see a completely filled in hard drive with no gaps and many "space hogs" at the front of the disk. Looks like old-school Windows defrag to me! I haven't had a chance to visit their forums about this yet but I'm thinking of just using the old JKdefragGUI in XP mode, or trying to adapt it's scripts to MyDefrag format.
I have to say it's worth it. Discovering Jkdefrag might have been the single biggest boost in performance my system has ever seen. I really have no need for constant system upgrades anymore with tools like these.
The app you use is a matter of personal taste although MyDefrag is, I believe, a better choice. As you point out, using two such tools is NOT a good idea.
Thanks for your valuable input.
Rik
I am running Minefield Firefox beta with 64 bit Flash plugin, available at Adobe as: flashplayer10_2_p3_64bit_plugin_111710. This is experiential but works fine.
I would agree.
Rik
My 2 cents: I believe that Malwarebytes should rank a little higher. That software has bailed me out couple times and especially when a trojan took away my admin rights. It was the only one that was able to eliminate the threat and restored my pc rights.
Glad it worked out for you unfortunately that is not how antivirus software is tested and would be a very blind way to go about it. Look for sites that test all kinds of AV software, look at their data and results and compare them with all the listed AV programs. The major thing to look out for is failed results, that is the key detail that determines a good AV vs a bad one.
Me personally I use Microsoft Security Essentials why?
Because:
1. It's light on system resources and free for life.
2. Actually 64bit unlike most claims made by top antivirus software.
3. Fast scanning.
4. Virus definitions updated daily.
5. 99% detection rate well at least I have yet to see it fail.
Things I don't like about it:
1. Constant beta state.
2. Updater doesn't work as it should you have better luck with schedules.
3. Anti-spyware kind of sucks, kills your resources if you have it on auto and are doing multiple things.
4. Its not designed with all the kinks and eye candy in mind, so it lacks allot of major security additions but being lightweight and free makes it worth the price point. If all you need is a solid AV then MSE should fit the budget.
Remember that the review is based on side by side evaluation. Frankly, this is no substitute for personal experience.
Thanks for the valuable feedback.
Rik
- sir what is much better? windows 7 32-bit or windows 7 64-bit? tnx.
'Better' in a PC sense is difficult to quantify. Personally, having switched to 64 bit Windows and Linux, I wouldn't move back.
Best regards,
Rik
Good review... thanks it help us a lot in understnding the Win7 x 64
Those of you who are "computer experts" and tried to remove it manually by deleting all the traces it leaves in the system (files, registry, DLLs, etc.) and failed don't feel too bad, you are not alone, it is known that removing it is a very hard task, since in that aspect it does a great job in preventing an easy uninstall.
Generally removing software using Windows features is the best approach as you point out. Sometimes this doesn't work so knowing your 'way around' the system is a valuable skill.
Rik
This is a great list. As for me, I will be getting a Computer running a 64 bit OS and so this information prepares me for the unseen and unknown. Thanks a million!
Have you tried Foxit reader (pdf-reader)?
Sorry for the delay in replying I have been unwell.
I have tried Foxit and found a serious bug which is still with the developers.
Rik
What serious bug in FoxIt Reader? I've been using it for years without problems. PDFXChange is not much of an alternative to the bloated Adobe PDF Reader. For example, PDFXChange uses a whopping 96MB of memory (91MB above baseline) just to display a 696KB PDF file compared to FoxIt at only 11MB (3MB above baseline).
Eusing Free Registry Cleaner is also as safe as CCleaner but removes far more junk over that of unsafe-to-use commercial registry cleaners. I run CCleaner, Eusing and PowerTools Lite (in that order, from weakest to strongest).
File Splitters / Joiners
As of 11/11 Version 3 of HJSplit is available, and it now plays nice with Win7/64:
freebyte.com/hjsplit/
I prefer IgorWare's File Joiner for joining, and there is a 64 bit version:
igorware.com/file-joiner
Both are fully portable (no installer).
Regards,
Alan
Great stuff...except cmon, registry fix it / speed it up tools?
They only benefit two groups of people. Those that sell them and techs that get to fix systems they have been run on.
You can do a better job manually although it requires considerable effort and technical knowledge. It is something I only do every 3 months or so.
Rik
Very true. Brings back lots of happy memories of the money made servicing computers completely trashed by these things. RegSeeker was favourite at the time I was doing this. Even better, a lot of folks would be back inside a month with the same problem :D It seems that the only good advice is that which you choose to take.
you guys should not laugh at the less fortunate who still believe in the tooth fair... i mean registry optimizers. kind of reminds me of snake-oil salesmen.
Sorry for being away, hospital is great fun :)
Frankly I never use them. I don't really trust such apps and can do a better job myself, sad as that might seem!
Rik
No browser can match the functionality of Opera which works perfectly under 64 bit Windows and always has. There are a very few sites that don't work with it, but this is getting much rarer since Opera is now the most common browser on handhelds and tablets. For these sites, IE is the backup.
I use 7-zip which is perfect. The Everything Search Engine is a must, but is more annoying in Win 7 than in prev Windows - everytime you use it it asks if you want to install. Comodo Security worked very well until the latest updates, which clash with all sorts of stuff - burning software, ISO mounting software, you name it's a nightmare. COMODO is unfortunately too restrictive to be practical. I've pulled it. And I'm quite a geek, so it would drive average users mad.
Opera is out of its league when compared to Firefox or IE although I appreciate that choosing a browser is a very personal thing.
Comodo works fine on all the PCs I have installed it on so you might want to look at other possible causes for the problems you have.
Rik
Choosing a browser is a very personal thing. I do use Opera for testing purposes. It is a solid, well designed, and well written application.
Many thanks for the feedback.
Rik
to felixnoir,
search everything does not do that to me (thankfully) se7en x64 pro. as for comodo, until i learned how to finesse the settings it use to give me the blues big time. i use imageburn and ultra-iso, and of course 7-zip for manipulating .iso files and comodo hasn't bothered them ...yet
i also use nero essentials that came with all my burners and no problems. it's a shame about search everything and comodo for that matter. i actually have these on se7en x32 & x64 enterprise as well. maybe it's something on your end.
good luck
There is 64 bit versions of CCleaner at last (version 3):
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Go to the builds page to get portable / U3 versions:
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds
It is running fine on my machine, though I'm not sure what 64 bit brings to the party. No doubt Rik does :)
Regards,
Alan