Windows Updates:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

Norton Internet Security 2007
http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/overview.jsp?pcid=is&pvid=nis2007

Firefox and Firefox backup:
http://www.mozilla.org/
http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

Java:
Automatic update: http://www.java.com/en/download/windows_automatic.jsp
Manual download : http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Opera:
http://www.opera.com

Belarc Advisor - Free Personal PC Audit
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

SmartFTP
http://www.smartftp.com/download

ConquerCam
http://www.conquercam.com

DivX
http://www.divx.com/divx/download/

Easy Thumbnails
http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/

IrfanView
http://www.irfanview.com

Yahoo! Messenger
http://messenger.yahoo.com/

WeatherBug
http://www.weatherbug.com

Flash and Shockwave
http://www.macromedia.com

Izarc
http://www.izarc.org

TClockEx
http://www.rcis.co.za/dale/tclockex/index.htm

Hamster Dance Screen Saver
http://www.haroldandrews.com/uploads/hamster2-setup.exe

Melanie's Calvin and Hobbes Desktop Theme
http://www.haroldandrews.com/uploads/calvinhobbes.zip

Quicktime
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download

RealPlayer
http://www.real.com

Acrobat Reader
http://www.adobe.com

Winamp
http://www.winamp.com

Scwebcam - Desktop cam
http://www.harmlesslion.com/cgi-bin/showprog.cgi?search=SCWebCam

ISO Recorder - Free .iso burner
http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

DVDShrink - Free DVD backup
http://www.dvdshrink.org/what_en.php

DVD Decrypter - Links and other info.
http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/

System Information for Windows - Everything you need to know, including licenses and passwords.
http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html

I'll have to edit this and add a few more.

Aww...I'm so happy to see my theme in there!!

I'm using it too. VERY pleasant on the eyes. The sounds are ok too.

Firefox 2.0.0.3 has been giving me problems. 2.0.0.2 and below not one problem, now 2.0.0.3 pops up with M$ error reporting thingy every other day. annoying, been going back to IE7 cuz tired of it.

I prefer
FileZila
http://filezilla.sourceforge.net

now cuz SmartFTP no longer free, and old program I used to like WS_FTP giving me problems. I downloaded it illegally before, and I guess the time limit er something ran out, cuz it giving me errors, and since u can't change activation code without reformatting, I figured, it better to try something free.

SmartFTP is still free, Tom. Here's the 32bit Vista ready download link:

http://www.download.com/3000-20-10028635.html

Firefox has been working well for me. I'm even using it about half the time now.

30-day trial

normally it does me too, but I've had the hardest time with 2.0.0.3 for some reason, on all my PC's. not sure whats going on.

2.0.0.2 and below, not 1 error, now all of a sudden, MS error reporting least once a day, sometimes several.

http://www.smartftp.com/purchase/ <- Read the license.

30 day trial only applies to commercial users. It's still free for personal use. I've been using the same copy since this winter.

oohhh!! cool! thanks Harold

You're really making me earn my pay tonight.

well, thats what I'm here for

http://www.blackviper.com/index.html

Black Viper's site is finally back online after being gone so long.

http://www.ccleaner.com/
Crap Cleaner cleans up alot of junk files. I don't use issues or tools or options when using it as issues messes with the registry

I added several links to the bottom of the master list. Let me know if there's better programs that I should list in addition or instead of what I have. Thanks!

Bitdefender 10 has a free version on their website harold It's a good virus scanner

http://www.bitdefender.com/site/Downloads/browseEvaluationVersion/1/42/
That's the link for the free version of bit defender 10

I'm throwing in Norton Internet Security right now. I just renewed with them last month. I've been happy with them this last year. Thanks.

Harold, maybe you could add Mozbackup up there; it's a tool to backup Mozilla favorites, settings, extensions, etc. I use Firefox and backup religiously.

http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Spyware blaster is up to version 4.0

Spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the fastest-growing threats on the Internet today.
By simply browsing to a web page, you could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted fiends!

The most important step you can take is to secure your system. And SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available.

# Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted software.
# Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
# Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted sites in Internet Explorer.


SpywareBlaster can help keep your system spyware-free and secure, without interfering with the "good side" of the web.

And unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does not have to remain running in the background.

Melanie, I finally got it in for you. Thanks for the link.

I would first run spybot search and destroy, then CCleaner and and if you dont have an Antivirus program you can use Avast or AVG, and for your firewall a good program is Zone Alarm. Install these programs and run them regulary. This will keep your system clean and running properly.

I also like raxco's Perfectdisk for defragging but it is shareware

50 Windows Tips & Tricks

Source: www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive

..."
1 Access My Documents from the Taskbar (XP and Vista)
Right-click an empty section of the Taskbar and select toolbars, then New Toolbar. Navigate to the My Documents (XP) or Documents (Vista) folder and click the OK or Select Folder button. In its default position to the far right of the Taskbar, the toolbar provides menu access to the entire contents of the folder.

2 Extra speed with Readyboost (Vista)
Plugging in a USB memory key is one of the easiest ways to speed up Vista. When the Autoplay menu appears, select ‘Speed up my system’, or right-click the drive in Computer and select Properties. Move to the Readyboost tab, tick ‘Use this device’ and use the slider to choose how much space should be given up. Not all USB memory keys are fast enough to provide this boost.

3 Save folders after a crash (XP)
If you have lots of folders open in Windows XP, when one of them crashes, they will all close. This can be avoided by using a hidden option. Open the Control Panel, then choose Folder Options. Move to the View tab and scroll down through the list of options until you get to one called ‘Launch folder windows in a separate process’. Place a tick next to it, then click OK.

4 Disable Aero Glass (Vista)
Vista’s Aero Glass transparency effects may look great, but they also drain a computer’s processing power. To speed up a struggling computer, right-click the desktop and select Personalize. Click the link ‘Window Color and Appearance’ at the top of the screen and untick the ‘Enable transparency’ box before clicking OK.

5 Save memory (XP)
When you run programs, Windows XP stores files known as DLLs in memory. When you close the programs, it usually leaves them there for later use but this can slow down the computer. If you are fine editing the Windows Registry, this can be fixed – but make suitable backups first and take great care. Click Start, then Run, type regedit and press Enter."....

http://pidgin.im/
or
http://www.trillian.cc/

are both instant messager programs that will replace yahoo im as well as msn, aim, and icq If your in to webcams and voice chat youll probably want trillian but I had problems sending files with it that I did not have with pidgin.

Also pidgin works with more messager services and supposedly takes less memory then trillian