Internet Download Manager

The name might not be the most creative, but the Internet Download Manager does exactly what it promises: helps you download and organize files. The best part is that you can schedule downloads and use filters to get the specific files you want.

The compact interface is packed with options, but the main features are easily accessed from a toolbar at the top. We would have liked to see a bit more user guidance up front, but a tutorial does cover the basics, and there is a more detailed Help file if you get stuck. You can also go the easier route with the program's integrated Web browser options, which work with nearly all of the most popular browsers, including Internet Explorer and Firefox. Each time the program recognizes a video in FLV format on a site like YouTube, you'll see a button, and it's one click and you're off and running. From the main interface, all you have to do is add the URL for a video to get started. A new window shows you the status and allows you to pause the recording and set up a few options for what to do with the file once the download completes. As advertised, the speed was good and we didn't have any issues with test files we downloaded, which included MP3s, FLVs, and MPEGs. Our favorite feature was the scheduler, which was easy to set up and lets you choose where and when the program will download files. We especially liked the fact that if you lose your Internet connection, the program will resume downloading your selected or scheduled files once everything's up and running again.

The download and installation of IDM was easy and fast, and it uninstalled cleanly. If you're looking for a program that you can basically set and forget to video downloads, this is a good option.

Editors' note: This is a review of the trial version of Internet Download Manager 6.12 build 15.

Internet Download Manager is a tool for increasing download speeds by up to 5 times, and for resuming, scheduling, and organizing downloads. The program will resume unfinished downloads due to network problems, or unexpected power outages. The program features a full-fledged site grabber that downloads files that are specified with filters, for example, all pictures from a Web site, different parts of Web sites, or complete Web sites for offline browsing. The program supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and MMS protocols, and has an adaptive download accelerator for MP3 audio, FLV and MPEG video files. The program also features Download Video and Audio Panels for Internet Exporer, Chrome, Opera, Safari, Firefox and other Mozilla based browsers that appears on top of a web-player and can be used to download flash videos from sites like YouTube, MySpaceTV, Google Videos.

What's new in this version: Version 6.18 build 2 resolves compatibility issues with Google Chrome 30, fixes downloading of groups of links for several file sharing sites, adds support for high DPI settings, adds a feature to take over https downloads in Google Chrome, adds a feature to show download this video/audio panel for https videos in Google Chrome, resolves problems with downloading videos from several sites, improves IE 11 integration (Windows 8.1), and fixes all known bugs.

Download Internet Download Manager

WinRAR (64-bit)

WinRAR is a lightweight, flexible, and easy-to-use archiving utility that can unpack most archive formats, as well as compress to both RAR and ZIP. Free to try for 40 days ($29 for single license), WinRAR is a top dog in the compression category.

WinRAR's interface is about as simple as it gets. Start creating (or add to) an archive by dragging and dropping your files into the interface or by browsing through the Folder Tree side panel (when enabled). From there, the most common functions are laid out in the form of colorful, mostly intuitive icons along the top, which can all be customized by downloading themes from the company's Web site. You can Add files to, Extract, Test, Delete, or even Repair archives right from the main interface. Drop-down menus house the program's more advanced features, including self-extracting archives, archive locking, benchmarking, and autodeletion of temp files.

WinRAR - Compress files and unpack archives - Download Video Previews

With WinRAR, both creating and unpacking archives is blazingly fast. And according to WinRAR's developers, the most recent version of the program takes advantage of multicore processors to achieve even faster compressions rates, depending on your hardware profile. It is worth noting, however, that these speed boosts do use up a significant chunk of RAM (approximately 120 MB). Compression ratios vary depending on file type, but in general seem on par with or better than other archiving programs.

Overall, WinRAR is a winner because of its speed, simple interface, flexibility with file formats, and powerful advanced features. If you're looking for a one-stop archiving shop, look no further.

WinRAR is a 32-bit / 64-bit Windows version of RAR Archiver, the powerful archiver and archive manager. WinRAR's main features are very strong general and multimedia compression, solid compression, archive protection from damage, processing of ZIP and other non-RAR archives, scanning archives for viruses, programmable self-extracting archives(SFX), authenticity verification, NTFS and Unicode support, strong AES encryption, support of multivolume archives, command line and graphical interface, drag-and-drop facility, wizard interface, theme support, folder tree panel, multithread support and Windows x64 shell integration. WinRAR provides complete support for RAR and ZIP archives and is able to unpack and convert CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, ACE, UUE, BZ2, JAR, ISO, Z, 7-Zip archives. WinRAR is available in over 40 languages.

What's new in this version: New RAR 5.0 archiving format. You can use "RAR 5.0" option in archiving dialog or -ma command line switch to create RAR 5.0 archives. Older software including older WinRAR versions is not able to decompress RAR 5.0 archives, so if you plan to send an archive to other people, it is necessary to take the compatibility issue into consideration. You can select "RAR" instead of "RAR5" option in archiving dialog to create RAR 4.x archives compatible with previous WinRAR versions.

Download WinRAR 64-Bit

WinRAR (32-bit)

WinRAR is a lightweight, flexible, and easy-to-use archiving utility that can unpack most archive formats, as well as compress to both RAR and ZIP. Free to try for 40 days ($29 for single license), WinRAR is a top dog in the compression category.

WinRAR's interface is about as simple as it gets. Start creating (or add to) an archive by dragging and dropping your files into the interface or by browsing through the Folder Tree side panel (when enabled). From there, the most common functions are laid out in the form of colorful, mostly intuitive icons along the top, which can all be customized by downloading themes from the company's Web site. You can Add files to, Extract, Test, Delete, or even Repair archives right from the main interface. Drop-down menus house the program's more advanced features, including self-extracting archives, archive locking, benchmarking, and autodeletion of temp files.

WinRAR - Compress files and unpack archives - Download Video Previews

With WinRAR, both creating and unpacking archives is blazingly fast. And according to WinRAR's developers, the most recent version of the program takes advantage of multicore processors to achieve even faster compressions rates, depending on your hardware profile. It is worth noting, however, that these speed boosts do use up a significant chunk of RAM (approximately 120 MB). Compression ratios vary depending on file type, but in general seem on par with or better than other archiving programs.

Overall, WinRAR is a winner because of its speed, simple interface, flexibility with file formats, and powerful advanced features. If you're looking for a one-stop archiving shop, look no further.

WinRAR is a 32-bit / 64-bit Windows version of RAR Archiver, the powerful archiver and archive manager. WinRAR's main features are very strong general and multimedia compression, solid compression, archive protection from damage, processing of ZIP and other non-RAR archives, scanning archives for viruses, programmable self-extracting archives(SFX), authenticity verification, NTFS and Unicode support, strong AES encryption, support of multivolume archives, command line and graphical interface, drag-and-drop facility, wizard interface, theme support, folder tree panel, multithread support and Windows x64 shell integration. WinRAR provides complete support for RAR and ZIP archives and is able to unpack and convert CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, GZ, ACE, UUE, BZ2, JAR, ISO, Z, 7-Zip archives. WinRAR is available in over 40 languages.

What's new in this version: With WinRAR 5.0 we have implemented a variety of innovations further boosting the performance of WinRAR. The new RAR5 archive format includes many improvements of existing features of WinRAR and creates RAR5 files with a higher compression ratio and significant speed gain relative to the competition. Furthermore the RAR algortythm RAR algorithm has been upgraded to include 256-bit AES encryption - further ensuring that all saved data is fully protected. WinRAR 5.0 can now create larger dictio... See all new features

Download WinRAR 32-Bit

Free YouTube Downloader

We love YouTube downloaders because they make it so easy to grab and save video from YouTube's inexhaustible, ever-expanding supply. Whatever you like, if it's on video, it's probably on YouTube in one form or another. HOW's Free YouTube Downloader is one of the easiest tools for that job we've found. It not only downloads videos from YouTube but also converts them and files from your hard drive into formats you can play on your iPad, iPhone, and similar devices. It offers several quality levels, including HD quality, and plays your converted file when the job is done, if you want it to.

Convert YouTube videos to multiple formats

See more Download Video Previews on Download.com's YouTube channel.

Ads pay the bills for freeware, and though Free YouTube Downloader contains no adware, we had to click through several screens to get to the actual program's download. It's worth the effort, though, since Free YouTube Downloader's easy settings and minimal user interface (think media player) let you quickly configure downloads and keep an eye on them in a corner of the screen while you do other things. We browsed to a YouTube page and copied and pasted its URL into Free YouTube Downloader's entry field (you can also browse to and add your own files). We selected Windows Media Video from an extensive drop-down list of Output Format options. We also selected the highest output quality, Full High Definition (1080p). We clicked Settings, too; these let us set always-on-top, a default output folder, simultaneous download and conversion, and language options. The browser-based Help file uses screenshots to make each step clear.

Once we'd made our selections, we pressed Download. Free YouTube Downloader began downloading and converting our video almost instantaneously (your connection will affect the speed) and finished by asking if we wanted to view our video. The video opened and played normally in our default media player. After that, we started downloading and saving videos we wanted to watch later. We like the way Free YouTube Downloader lets you choose a device-specific format for conversions, too. Don't forget to watch some of those videos you'll be saving with Free YouTube Downloader!

Would you like to watch your favorite videos from YouTube whenever and wherever you please? All this and more is possible with Free YouTube Downloader. With this download manager you can save YouTube videos in various video and audio formats. We support standard quality, high quality and even Full High Definition video.

What's new in this version: Version 3.5.173 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Download Free YouTube Downloader

Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield - Maintain and protect your privacy - Download Video Previews

The bottom line: The Internet connection protector Hotspot Shield encrypts your traffic to protect you from all kinds of spying while your computer communicates with the rest of the world. It's a must-have utility for anybody who uses public Wi-Fi networks.

Review:
The Internet connection protector Hotspot Shield encrypts your traffic to protect you from all kinds of spying while your computer communicates with the rest of the world. It's a must-have utility for anybody who uses public Wi-Fi networks, but it's also an excellent tool for ensuring on any network connection that you can access sites and data according to your tastes, and nobody else's. Hotspot Shield's Virtual Private Network services are used by more than 10 million people at the time this review was written, according to the software publisher AnchorFree, making it the largest VPN in the world.

The browser-independent Hotspot Shield establishes an encrypted connection to the Hotspot Shield servers, and turns all HTTP traffic to the safer HTTPS. By rerouting Web traffic and providing you with a new IP address hosted by AnchorFree, the company is able to ensure that your data isn't plucked out of the open by man-in-the-middle attacks or wireless network spoofing.

Recent changes include automatic detection of Wi-Fi connections nearby, the ability to work on corporate networks, and no longer requiring administrative privileges to install.

In our tests, we noticed that sometimes the program would actually resolve pages faster than when connected without it. This occurs, most likely, because of the geographic location of the company's servers. During a day of hands-on testing on the notoriously pokey CNET public Wi-Fi network, we noticed that Hotspot Shield Elite was remarkably fast. There were no connection lags despite the rerouting, and the program admirably handled high-definition streaming videos from sites such as Vimeo, YouTube, and CNET TV. We'd recommend the program for improving the Wi-Fi speeds alone, nevermind the additional security benefits.

The free version of Hotspot Shield does come at a cost. The installation opts you into a toolbar, which redirects your default search and home page, and a desktop icon. Also, whenever you activate Hotspot Shield, it will open a new tab to AnchorFree.com and begin autoplaying a video. That's seriously annoying, even in a free product that offers such a valuable service. Still, the toolbars and redirects are optional.

Once installed, it appears as a red icon that turns to green when activated in both your system tray and in your browser. Clicking will toggle it on or off. Choosing the Properties option opens a window that tells you that you're connected. Hit the Details link to learn more about your connection, including the VPN IP address, amount of data sent in and out, and how long you've been connected. The data transfer rate makes for a useful, quick-and-dirty gauge for people with data caps.

Hotspot Shield's paid upgrade is called Elite, which runs ad-free and on faster servers. Elite costs $0.50 per 24-hour session, with a minimum $10 deposit, or $5 per month, or $29.99 per year. Payment options include credit card, PayPal, prepaid cash cards or mobile phone payments via premium SMS. Along with built-in site malware protection, Hotspot Shield Elite comes with tech support, preferential bandwidth priority (read: faster Internet speeds) and serves you no additional ads from AnchorFree.

The company has created multiple ways to circumvent download blockers in countries with strict censorship, too. If you can't access a Web page with the download, you can send an e-mail to win@anchorfree.com for the Windows version or mac@anchorfree.com for the Mac version, and the small installer file will be sent directly to you.

Note that although the Windows version number and the Mac version number don't match, AnchorFree says the features are the same.

Even with the installation shenanigans, we highly recommend Hotspot Shield for anybody concerned with privacy. In today's world, that ought to be anybody connecting a computer to the Internet.

With over 100 million downloads, Hotspot Shield is the world's most popular Virtual Private Network (VPN) that secures your browsing session, detects and blocks malicious websites, makes you private and anonymous online, and allows you to access any blocked content.

Hotspot Shield allows you to:

• Secure your Web session, data, online shopping, and personal information online with HTTPS encryption.
• Browse the Web anonymously and privately, without being tracked.
• Access any blocked content from school or office networks.

What's new in this version: This release includes Japan virtual location option and bug fixes.

Download Free Hotspot Shield

Free CUDA Video Converter

CUDA Video Converter is a software program for converting your videos into different formats, both video and audio. With clear user guidance and a simplified approach, this is one of the easier tools for reformatting and performing minor edits on your videos.

The interface is easy to understand. The key functions are all set out on a single page and it's easy enough to figure out how to get started with the instructions they offer on the program itself as soon as you startup. The features included the expected Conversion as well as, Clip, Merge and Edit. In our testing Clip and Merge were the most useful since it allowed us to put a collection of videos into a single file and trim off any parts of the clips that we didn't want to see in the final video. Edit had some interesting special effects, flip and cropping features, but they weren't quite as useful as the other features. For video conversion, the wait time is reasonable. The Help page, which takes you to a Web site, is actually very helpful and easy to understand with its step by step instructions so you can learn more as you go along.

This software was easy to download and install. It also uninstalls cleanly. This is a free version of the software, but it can be upgraded. The free version has a few buttons and options faded out, but a lot can be done with just the free version. We would recommend this to the novice user and more advanced user alike.

Free CUDA Video Converter has the capabilities to convert all popular video formats from HD to HD, HD to SD and SD to SD, transform between audio formats, extract audios or pictures from videos, and create video from photos. New features: 1.New interface; 2.Add Flip Fuctions, Add Blind Functions; 3.Video Converter is now powered with NVIDIA CUDA 5X faster in conversion time; 4.Added video profiles supported by the newest iPhone 4. Key features: 1.Supported High-Definition videos: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, AVCHD Video (*.m2ts, *.mts), Apple TV h.264 720P, MKV, HD WMV, MPEG2/MPEG-4 TS HD Video, etc. 2.Supported general video formats: AVI, MPEG, WMV, DivX, MP4, H.264/AVC, MKV, RM, MOV, XviD, 3GP, FLV, etc. 3.Transform between MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, M4A, AAC, AC3, MP2, OGG and such audio formats; extract audio file from HD/SD video. 4.Capture pictures in batches from video; create a video from pictures. 5.Support multi-core CPU, multi-threading and batch process, and provide the highest speed possible to convert video files. 6.Compatible with iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, PS3, Xbox, Zune, Wii, NDS, PMP, mobile phone, MP4 players, and other multimedia devices. 7.Allows transfer the converted files to iPod, iPhone and PSP directly. 8.Merge multiple files/clips into one and further add fun transitions between every two videos/pictures. 9.Clip off any favored segments and optionally merge them into a new one. 10.Split a single file into several files by preset time or size. 11.Crop frame size; adjust brightness/saturation/contrast and add artistic effect; add watermarks. 12.Add multiple subtitle files and soundtracks of different languages in your video. 13.Lots of video, audio, picture, tag and expert parameters are adjustable. 14.Select multiple output formats for one source file at one time and get them converted within one click. 15.Run the software in the background.

What's new in this version:

Fix bug for winXP/2000/2003

Add Flip Fuction, Add Blind Function.

Improve "Mux",Now supports multiple video and audio files.

Fixed the compatibility issue MP4 files.

DownLoad Free Cuda Video Converter

Advanced SystemCare

All it takes it a single visit to a compromised Web site to snare a nasty piece of malware or to pick up cookies that track your every browsing move. And there's nothing worse than a computer that is bogged down so much that it impedes your ability to work or play games. Advanced Systemcare aims to remedy whatever ails your computer by not only cleaning up junk files, malware, and invalid registry entries, but by giving your computer a boost to optimize your PC experience.

Advanced Systemcare's interface is broken down into four maintenance categories so as to not overwhelm you: Quick Care, Deep Care, Toolbox, and Turbo Boost. We started with Quick Care and with the Quick Malware Removal feature. We clicked Scan and the program quickly went to work and came back with no issues. (In all fairness, we regularly run full PC scans using our own security software, so we didn't expect the program to find anything here.) Next up to bat was the Registry Fix, which came back with a whopping 597 problems. We found this a little fishy since we had just tested a very reputable registry cleaner that had found and fixed all of our registry issues. Still, we went through the process of checking and unchecking which files we wanted the program to fix. Once we clicked the Repair Now option, the program went to work and the problem registry entries were remedied in a matter of seconds. The Deep Care feature takes it all a step further by offering deeper scans, as well as a Registry Defrag option, which we successfully used to tidy up our registry. We were a little miffed that the program didn't ask us if we wanted to back up our registry before making any changes. However, we'll give it a slight pass because the program does include a Rescue feature that lets you undo any registry changes, and offers the ability to create a restore point, which we recommend you do before you touch your registry. Our final stop on the tour was the Turbo Boost feature. From there, we selected Work Mode, which let us manually disable unnecessary services and background applications. We were skeptical of it actually doing anything to speed up our computer, but we have to admit that we did notice a slight difference in our computer's speed, and for the better. The program does include an online help guide, though we don't think you'll need it for handling basic cleaning tasks.

Pay close attention while installing Advanced Systemcare because it'll install an IObit toolbar if you don't decline. The program also leaves a folder behind after uninstallation. Still, we recommend it as a worthwhile program for keeping your system running on all cylinders.

Free registry repair and cleaner - Advanced SystemCare Free 6. What does it help? Slow down, freeze, crash and security threats are over. Advanced SystemCare Free is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes an one-click approach to help protect, repair and optimize your computer. Scanning and finding what other utilities miss, it can keep your PC error-free and smooth than ever. This fantastic program is available free of charge. Why Advanced SystemCare Free? New PC Performance - Do you remember the feeling of a brand new PC when you first bought it? Why not try Advanced SystemCare Free, a free PC tune-up utility that focuses on the performance of your PC. Computer Crashes without Reason - Have you ever encountered your PC crashes and you even did not know why. After months or years of using your PC, there might be plenty of changes, which added burdens to your PC but never get cleaned. What Advanced SystemCare Free does is to clean the stuffs that are left over and clean craps to make your PC neat and clean. Registry Repairing and Cleaning - As an elementary part to a PC, if it does not working well, then your computer will be in big trouble. What does Advanced SystemCare Free do? It cleans the records which is unnecessary to your PC but makes the PC running slow and produces troubles. It also repair parts that are missing and make the PC complete. What's new in Advanced SystemCare 6? + Brand New User Interface + New Surfing Protection Technology + New Performance Monitoring Technology + New Generation Technology + New Internet Boost Technology + Enhanced Registry Fix Technology + Improved Active Optimize Function + Improved Turbo Boost Function + Improved Toolbox + More Discovered by you

What's new in this version:

• Version 6.4.0.292:
• Updated database for Malware Removal for better security
• Updated database for Privacy Sweep for better privacy protection
• Updated database for Surfing Protection for safer online surfing and searching
• Updated multiple languages to the latest
• Updated and optimized multiple tools in Toolbox
• Added Support for Windows 8.1
• Fixed general bugs

Download Advanced SystemCare