Essential software to know

Download: Foxit Reader Free. If your child already has the desktop version of Microsoft Word installed on their computer, you may not need to purchase an additional PDF editor. Microsoft Word can save documents as PDFs, as well as make minor edits to existing PDFs, which may be all your child needs for their classes. A recent addition to many required software lists in a password manager.

A password manager allows you and your children to create and save unique passwords for every service you sign into, without compromising security by writing them down or saving them in an unencrypted document.

Here are two great options for password managers. Bitwarden is routinely audited by third-party security firms to ensure its cloud is completely secure, but it also gives you the option to install it on your own server at home if you prefer to keep your passwords offline.

Bitwarden works with all major web browsers and some less-major, like Opera and Tor , and it integrates with Touch ID on iPhones. While the base version is free, you can also purchase a family account, which gives you 1GB of encrypted file storage, two-factor authentication, and priority customer support. Download: Bitwarden Basic Free, subscription available. If your child is going to use their devices to access the internet, you need some sort of security software to prevent a virus or malware infection.

If you provide a subscription-based service, this sort of software will be a must! Automating monthly invoicing and automatic payments can massively reduce your workload when it comes to billing. It can also make any necessary refunding process easier as well as help to keep a detailed record of all of your payments and keep a tally of any account credits or customers who are behind on payments.

Automating payments can help reduce the likelihood of your customers forgetting to pay their invoices. While this sort of software can come with its own issues, such as customers forgetting to unsubscribe and overpaying after they no longer use your service, the benefits will usually heavily outweigh the costs.

Perhaps the best benefit of using software applications to organise and optimise your workflow is that it allows you to work in a very structured manner. These software apps can help you to get the most possible value out of your marketing budget, and to improve your sales conversion.

More than this, the right app will make data collection for future analysis much easier, by automating the collection and keeping the data well organised to make interpreting the information easier.

Features Overview Time Tracking. Time Tracking for iPhone. Time Tracking For Android. Project Managers. Virtual Assistants. Accounting Software Accounting is, as everyone knows, an integral part of operating any business. Payroll Software One of the best accounting software options for small businesses to use is payroll software.

Bookkeeping Software Streamlined and easy to understand bookkeeping software programs are the lifeblood of any successful business of any size. Time Tracking Software Time tracking software allows users to engage in effective time management through the detailed documentation of work performance on different tasks. Project Management Software The best project management software can provide an invaluable logistical asset to your business operation. Customer Relationship Management Software One of the best ways to better understand your relationship with customers and to drive business growth is to use a CRM software tool in order to better analyse the ways in which your business interacts with its customer base.

Communication Software Effective and efficient communication, both internally within the business and externally towards customers, is vitally important to the successful operation of any small business.

If you only have a small team, you can effectively use it free of charge indefinitely, and pricing for medium and large size organizations is competitive, giving you plenty of flexibility. Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook. Subscribe to the KnowTechie Newsletter. Giveaway: Enter for a chance to win a Connect with us. Software Essential software for real estate offices Here are just a few of the most essential packages that can deliver tangible benefits for your business.

Paperless Pipeline Helming high-value real estate transactions is an innately challenging task. Canva Being able to quickly edit images and make them suitable not only for sharing on listings sites but also on social media is something every real estate organization needs to achieve today.

Slack Slack has become the go-to messaging platform for a multitude of businesses and industries, since it offers a holistic approach to inter-office communication and allows colleagues to collaborate with one another more efficiently and cohesively. Even if you never installed any software yourself chances are that there are various potentially unwanted applications on your PC.

These are called Bloatware, software that come preinstalled with your Windows. During day to day Windows usage, we install and use various software, some of which are used only once or twice, and then they stay on PC forever.

More software means more startup items, and services starting with your Windows, which eventually leads to the slow startup and overall performance of the system. Software Uninstallers remove stubborn software, associated registry keys, folder, files, and other temporary data. IObit Uninstaller monitors the installation of programs in real-time, which helps it to remove every software properly.

Do anything on your computer; the Temporary files will be created. The problem is not the creation of temporary files but their presence. A Program creates temporary or junk files in all stages of its life — Installation, Usage, Updates, and Uninstallation.

The computer cleaners and optimizers try to keep computers junk-free and optimized for performance. CCleaner is the most popular Disk and Registry Cleaner, and overall one of the most popular software for Windows. Fragmentation happens due to continuous copying and deletion of files. The Defragmentation process locates and combines the file fragments together, and rearranges them into fewer fragments to decrease the disk response rate, and improve the overall performance of your disk. The Auslogics Disk Defrag Free is the most popular and highest rated defragmentation tool for Windows.

The number of options and features present here are very impressive for a disk defrag program. Manufacturers have their own Recovery partition, which is kind of becoming pointless now with Microsoft adopting the rolling release model for Windows. You should create at least one more partition as soon as possible. You can leave 50GB for your C: Drive, and use the rest of the space for other partitions that will store all the User files.

Really, just install it and take a look at all the features and additional tools that it provides. What makes a Virus or Malware attack totally pointless?

Backup is the copy of your data that you keep on another partition of the same disk, on a removable storage device, or on your network. Creating regular backups of data should be the first task in the list of essential PC practices. You can recover your data from these backups in an event of data loss caused by a virus attack, faulty hardware, or any other reason. A Data Recovery software is a very alluring type of software.

Its significate increases drastically when something bad happens your files or drives. In those dark times, a software like TestDisk can help. In fact, TestDisk is one of its kind. TestDisk is an open-source program, and unlike most of its competitors, TestDisk does not have any data recovery limits, pro versions promotions, ads, or any other type of offers bundled with it.

It is meant more for the recovery of whole partitions or drives. If you want something smaller in scope then try the baby brother of TestDisk called PhotoRec. The Windows app is bare bones; it does not provide enough options to customize the video and audio output. Most of the times, Laptop and Desktop manufacturers include a paid DVD player along with many other sponsored software on Windows. Although paid, these are not the best or the most feature-rich software, however, they definitely use a lot of system resources.

Instead of using a sponsored software that has limited features, make your life easier by installing a great free video player called PotPlayer , a feature-rich video player that is low on system resources, plays all the file formats, receives regular updates, and has all the latest playback technologies such as HEVC, 3D, and Degree.