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First of all, you do need to have Windows XP or Windows Vista preinstalled. This is not some hacking guide.

Keep in mind this stuff is not written for you people as audience, but could be interesting nevertheless. If you've got other programs that are completely free, or programs that are exceptionally good in a free shareware version (without limitation that undo the efficiency of the program), let me know. Also, if you think there's a better alternative for any of these programs that I've not heard of, let me know as well. I do know about the browsers and virusscanners, though, and I'll only list one program for each type of program. In the end, I want to compile a list of programs that works on both Windows XP and Windows Vista and will create a perfectly free and fully functional system to use. Linux (Ubuntu) software is not being considered for the list, although I might someday do a list like this for Ubuntu as well.

I've personally used the software listed here and many of the alternatives for this software as well. I've chosen these as the most efficient or accessible programs available, and on my PC they all worked without problems. This does not in any way imply that all of them work on your PC like they did on mine, and I am not responsible for anything happening to your PC thanks to using any of these programs.

Without further ado, the list.

- AVG Free | required
AVG Free is a fully fledged anti-virus program that not only has a highly polished finish, but is also more than usable for home use. It offers scheduled scanning, manual scanning, healing and quarantine of infected files. Also, Grisoft issues free updates for the program, keeping the virus definitions up-to-date. There are no downsides to the use of AVG Free, making it a perfect, free utility. AVG Free is a complete version, although you can upgrade to AVG Professional at any time against a small compensation.
Link: http://free.grisoft.com/

- Glary's Utilities | required
For many, many years, I've used a bunch of programs to keep my system tweaked to the maximum. I used seperate programs to do random things, like removing empty folders, emptying caches, optimizing RAM memory, cleaning the registry and more. Now, I don't do that no longer. I ran into a hidden gem. Glary's Utilities offers a wide range of utilities all under a single, easy to use interface. There are far more options hidden in the program, including file undelete and other extremely useful modules. Also, the OneClick menu allows you to run through the most essential tasks in just a single click of the mouse. I am genuinely impressed.
Link: http://www.glaryutilities.com/

- OpenOffice.org | required
Almost every person knows the Microsoft Office Suite - Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Only few of us know that the actual price of the suite is over 350 dollars. If that's too much, or you don't like the Office 2007 interface, or you just refuse to use anything Microsoft for some reason, OpenOffice.org is a great alternative to Microsoft Office. Not only does it fully support almost every format of document, spreadsheet or presentation (including the infamous 2007 formats), it's also laid out very similar to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice.org is completely free.
Link: http://www.openoffice.org/

- IZArc | required
There was a day in which WinZIP was the absolute master of compression technology, and honestly, until version 9 I used the program with a lot of pleasure. However, WinZIP 10 didn't allow users to use the program after the original '30 day' period, and on top of that the .rar format started to get popular. I switched to WinRAR and until very recently, I saw it as the absolute master in the compression tools. IZArc is very much like WinRAR, without the nagging screens and even lighter on memory. A real recommendation for anyone using a lot of compressed files, or someone who wants to compress files.
Link: http://www.izarc.org/

- Mozilla Firefox | required
Yes, I know. This one could potentially spark a whole outcry about which browser is best, but in my opinion, Mozilla's Firefox is the best browser out there. Offering wide compatibility and great features, Mozilla outdoes many browsers out there, delivering the most complete browsing experience available at this moment. Firefox is completely free, and does not future any nagging screens.
Link: http://www.firefox.com/

- TeraCopy | required
Ah, yes, if there's one thing people hate about Windows XP or Vista, it's the horrible handling of a task as simple as copying files. No longer! TeraCopy is a must-have that takes over from Windows, allowing crashed copying sessions to continue, not hanging when dealing with damaged files and even restoring partially damaged files. Basically, TeraCopy replaced Windows standard crashing/hanging behaviour when something odd happens while copying with actually useful behaviour. A must have.
Link: http://www.codesector.com/index.php

- MagicDisc | optional
Ever needed to mount an .iso file, or similar extensions? MagicDisc allows you to easily and quickly mount .iso files and on top of that, it even allows you to mount multiple images. It can even compress and decompress CD/DVD images ánd create such files. As if that's not enough, it features not a single nagging screen during normal use and uses a minimum of memory.
Link: http://www.magiciso.com/tutorials/miso-magicdisc-overview.htm

- EasyBCD | optional
If you find yourself in the situation in which you want to dualboot your system, or tripleboot, or more, EasyBCD allows any PC to have a little screen from which you can boot most OS'es. EasyBCD is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac, WinPE and FreeBSD and offers a clean and simple utility that can diagnose your system as well. It can write to the MBR out of itself, and it can restore the MBR to how it was before you added the bootscreen. Highly recommended for great ease of use.
Link: http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1

- Ashampoo Burning Studio Free | optional
Nero Burning ROM is a great program, yes, but I wonder how many people actually own the license for the program. Luckily, there's a free alternative for the program, called Ashampoo Burning Studio Free. It offers complete Data, Audio, Video, DVD ánd Bluray burning options, and is fast with burning the data to the disc and can compete with the likes of Nero. You can upgrade Ashampoo Burning Studio Free to the latest video, which is a somewhat more complete version of the program. The program features optional ads, which you can turn of by not subscribing to the 'news channels'.
Link: http://www.download.com/Ashampoo-Burning-Studio-Free/3000-2646_4-10776287.html?cdlPid=10827403

- SyncBack | optional
SyncBack is a commercial product, however, older versions are available for free, fully functional but with a nag screen on starting the program. That nagging screen is the only drawback for this program, as besides that, it can do almost any backing up task you can imagine, from backing up to synchronizing and from doing so to a local directory to a FTP location. For such backing up power, I'll take that nagging screen for granted, and personally, until I find an equal application without that nag screen, I'll keep recommending SyncBack.
Link: http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/freeware-hub.html

- uTorrent | optional
uTorrent is a program that theoretically allows people to download data from at far faster speeds than most alternatives. By downloading so-called torrent files, files of only a few kilobyte, the program is loaded with so-called trackers, that keep the seeders and peers for your download monitored. Seeds are people who have the full download on their PC and are uploading the file, while Peers are people who are still downloading the file, like you. The more seeds there are, the faster uTorrent will download the file. Seeing that it allows for selective downloading of files inside a torrent and is extremely light on memory and small on harddisk, this is the Torrent application I recommend. uTorrent features not a single nagging screen, and is completely free.
Link: http://www.utorrent.com/

- FrostWire | optional
FrostWire, like it's motherproject LimeWire, is a Peer-to-Peer filesharing program that allows people to use the GNUTELLA network, one of the largest file sharing networks currently available. The software allows people to easy search the network and to quickly download files from the network. Music, movies, software and the like are all available on the network, but do remember downloading things you don't legally own is illegal and in most countries punishable by law. Unlike LimeWire, FrostWire is completely free and features no nagging screens.
Link: http://www.frostwire.com/

- Last.fm | optional
Last.fm is not really a program in the usual sense of the word, I guess. Last.fm is a website, and you'll need to register to use it. The software, however, allows you to quickly and easily access the most popular functions of the Last.fm website. Last.fm is a 'method' that analyzes the music you listen to and forms a listening profile based upon the music you play. Based on that data, it recommends other songs and creates personal radio stations to listen to. To be able to analyze your music, you'll need the Last.fm software installed on your PC. The program features no nagging screens, and the total is a free service, although you can get additional features against a small monthly fee, to stream your music from every PC in the world.
Link: http://www.last.fm/

- Spybot Search & Destroy | required
Adware is one of the most frequent, persistent and chronic spyware available. Adware opens pop ups with advertisements on your PC, and sometimes alter system- and browser settings. Luckily, Spybot Search & Destroy is a quite complete protection against all forms of spyware, and does so quickly and efficiently. Spybot Search & Destroy is really a complete package, monitoring registry changes, malicious programs and suspicious behavior. There are no nagging screens and the program is totally free. Do note that some messages can be rather daunting and complex, but using common sense should get you pretty far.
Link: http://www.safer-networking.org/

- COMODO Firewall Pro | required
COMODO is a freeware firewall that outbeats the highly popular ZoneAlarm Free hands-down. Actually, it makes the latest version of ZoneLabs' firewall look like a downright joke. COMODO offers people a free, full firewall that's actually fully functional without paying a single dollar for it. It works thoroughly and is extremely simple to use, although the flood of warnings after installation might look a bit complicated. Just use common sense with allowing and disallowing programs to use the internet as in the end, a Firewall is only as good as the user is. A PLUS version is available for $39,99.
Link: http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html

- IOBit SmartDefrag | required
IOBit SmartDefrag is something special here. Note that this is only a BETA version and could potentially eat your Hard Drive, although there has not been a single report of such an incident. SmartDefrag is one of those programs you start up once, and never bother about again. In the background, and with minimal resource use, it'll work to keep your hard disk defragmentated completely. Now, isn't that convenient? It would be if it was paid for, but as you might have suspected: it's completely free.
Link: http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html

- Vista Start Menu | optional
If you're tired of the old Windows Start Menu, and you'd prefer to use a more advanced solution, the Vista Start Menu by OrdinarySoft is worth trying. It replaces the old Windows Start Menu and allows quick and easy access to your data, includes the valuable search bar found in Windows Vista and allows you to search the Internet, your PC and other important locations with ease. It supports hotkeys to be set, has power buttons, a lot of options and some nifty features that'll definitely keep you working fast. There's a pro version starting at $19,99 for a single-PC license with some additional features.
Link: http://www.vistastartmenu.com/

- TeamViewer 3 | optional
Remote Assistance is a great idea, but one problem is that it seems to only work occasionally. In the case it doesn't, or in the case you just need an easier solution which does not require any form of setting up on the side of the 'client', Teamviewer 3 is the solution. The server application is simple, and the client application does nothing besides showing an ID and password the server can use to connect to the client. From there on, the server can assist the client, send files, view the desktop and control input, Of course, the client can disconnect this at any time. Do note, TeamViewer 3 has a nagscreen when shutting down.
Link: http://www.teamviewer.com/

- Mozilla Thunderbird | optional
For those of us that haven't moved on to internet e-mail like Hotmail or G-mail (or those of us who have but prefer to see mail through a program), Mozilla Thunderbird is the best choice of application. Thunderbird allows you to check your mail with included spam-filter and RSS-reader, but, like all Mozilla software, allows for the use of additional highly convenient add-ons, extensions and other little tricks to optimize your e-mailing
experience. Thunderbird is compatible with MozBackup, a program that allows you to transfer settings, mail and the like from Mozilla software between computers. Thunderbird is open-source and completely free.
Link:
http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/

- Digsby (new!) | Optional
Digsby has been gaining a reputation on the internet for quite a while now, and thats something that isn't extremely surprising seeing its impressive list of features. Digsby communicates with MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, GTalk, Jabber, Facebook Chat & Widgets. Digbsy checks E-mail for G-mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL/AIM and any POP3 or IMAP email account. Digsby keeps track of your social networks, like MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Quite customizable, straight-forward and surprisingly, with webcam/audio support for all support IM-platforms that support such functionality. At the price of free, that's quite an impressive list of functionality.
Link: http://www.digsby.com/

- Orb | optional
Orb is one nifty piece of software that allows you to actually stream contents from your home-computer to any other computer connected to the internet. By installing Orb, you can visit their website at http://mycast.orb.com/, enter your password and login and access the folders you shared through Orb on your PC. Orb has an inbuilt video and music player, can display documents and images and basically turns your computer in a convenient and secure webserver. No hassles with port-forwarding and all that stuff, no tweaking speeds, Orb does everything by itself everytime you log on to the webinterface and allows you to access all content on your 'always-on' PC from your laptop, a friends house *cough*or at work*cough*.
Link:
http://www.orb.com/

- Rainlendar (new!) | optional
Rainlendar is a calendar application in the form of a little widget on your desktop, and is highly convenient in use. The free version of the program allows you to maintain several calendars, has a To Do list, displays your upcoming appointments/events in a clean overview and displays all of this in a small and customizable interface. For those of us who have a bad time with organizing life, this tool is especially useful on 'clean' desktops in combination with RocketDock. For those that require syncing; it can sync back and forth with Outlook in the paid version ($9.95), which also allows syncing with your Google Calendar.
Link:
http://www.rainlendar.net/

- Foobar2000 | optional
Foobar2000 is an extremely light musicplayer, capable of handling massive amounts of music quickly and efficiently. However, the normal interface is nothing short of crap. If you want to use Foobar2000, I'd recommend grabbing the following plugin to foobar2000 called AvA foo and following the instructions on the AvA foo page carefully. Until Amarok2 is launched for Windows - Foobar2000 is completely free and features no nagging screens, and is customizable far beyond WinAMP.
Link: http://www.foobar2000.org/

- VLC Player | optional
Many mediaplayers need certain codecs to play certain files. Not only does this lead to people cluttering their PC's with codecs for each file they want to play, it's also pretty much a complication and a step away from usability. Luckily, there's VLC Player. VLC Player can play almost every video file you throw at it and is pretty much the most efficient video player I've seen in a while. What more is there to tell, besides that it's completely free and has no nagging screens?
Link: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

- Audacity | optional
Users of Windows Vista will have run into one tiny little inconvenience when recording sounds - the program that's sent along with Vista to do so, the famous Sound Recorder, was stripped of all usefulness. In the case you agree with me about that, Audacity will prove useful to you. For any normal recording task, be it voice or music, Audacity allows you to record, edit and output the audio in quite advanced way. Audacity allows editing of all big audio filetypes, including MP3 and OGG. It can merge, split and much more, even for multi-track recordings if your hardware supports it. In other words, it's quite complete.
Link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

- SmartFTP | optional
If you need a simple FTP program for Windows, and you refuse to use the excellent "FireFTP" Firefox add-on, SmartFTP comes to the rescue. SmartFTP is a simple-to-use, simple-to-setup and simple-to-ignore-the-nag-screen program, that is split up in the recognizable two-halves system where you can simply drag files from and to your FTP server. SmartFTP features quite a number of advanced options too, including encryption, auto-reconnect and file upload continuation. The commercial license, or the license that removes the nagging screen, costs $36,95. Luckily, you'll never be forced to pay for the program.
Link: http://www.smartftp.com/

- RocketDock | optional
Want to keep your taskbar and (or) your desktop clean, and like the Macintosh dock (which basically is a 'bar' at the top, bottom or sides at the screen)? RocketDock uses 10MB of RAM memory, and is extremely userfriendly. It allows you to drag and drop files to the RocketDock, minimalize programs to the RocketDock instead of the taskbar, skin the RocketDock in the most absurd ways and much, much more.
Link: http://www.rocketdock.com/

- Task Coach (new!) | optional
There's always things we need to plan, and nowadays, many people work from behind their PC. A lot of us need to work on several things and Task Coach is a completely unmissable application in doing so. It allows you to keep track of how long you've worked on a task, set deadlines, set timeframes and use subtasks - an option that is strikingly missing from many commercial-grade programs. Task Coach allows you to work more efficiently and analyze your scheduling. Perfect for designers, programmers and other computergrounded folks.
http://www.taskcoach.org/

- SpeedFan | optional
Ever wanted to monitor your systems Hard Drives, temperatures and fan speed? SpeedFan allows you to not only do this, but also to control most of these options for the more advanced users. An ideal tool if you're diagnosing overheating.
Link: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

I strongly don't suggest that. Mostly for the fact that Limewire is crawling with viruses, some of them that AVG can't stop. And most the music downloading stuff is illegal.

I call it "The hard drive wiper".

Other than that, good guide. Limewire = bad

You only need windows for gaming you could get Ubuntu or Debian linux for a tru free computer.

OpenOffice (Windows or Linux) - Word, Excel clones etc.

Gimp (Windows or Linux) - Photoshop clone.

Firefox Seamonkey (Windows or Linux) - Dreamweaver web editor kind of clone

Apache (windows or linux) - Replaces Microsoft Ineternet Information Server

Okay, people, leave the darn Linux stuff. I explicitely explained why I didn't list those to avoid some overfanatic zealous fans from dripping in here. Yes, I like Ubuntu. No, I don't want to discuss Ubuntu or any Linux distro here. I want to know whether this list is complete for normal peoples' everyday use.

Yes it is. (I personally dont trust operating systems not made by windows. XP is perfect.)

add http://rocketdock.com/ to your list

I never attempted it, but what I heard from people who used it, it is mainly downloading programs that gives you the virus. The only music I download from it are CD's I own, but when I rip them on my comp, skip. So I download them to fix that problem. Or DVD's that I own that I wanna make vids from. After some study, if you legally own the product, there is nothing stopping you from having it on your computer, even if you get it that would otherwise be considered illegal. (I researched it a few years ago...)

Yes, Limewire is crawling with viruses, specifically backdoor programs. While downloading something, it passes through your wire the same time with the legitimate download. For me, Trend Micro can't detect them while it's being downloaded but can see them when they're sitting on the drive.

Hey Dink, I've downloaded RocketDock and will be testing it's usefulness and usability for a few days.

I haven't used Trillian but I can recommend Pidgin. It's free and really complete. It supports lot's of different chat programs all in the one. Really easy to use as well!
http://www.pidgin.im/

Along with Trillian and Pidgin, you've got Miranda IM, which is very flexible and custoimizable, while taking a very low amount of your RAM.

Beats it how? When I formatted my PC last, I tried Comodo for a few weeks, sure it was nice at first but it's a real pain to work with when using many different applications that use the net, I recall having many issues with LAN, such as file sharing with it installed. So since then, I've gone back to Zone Alarm and have had no such issues.

Also your list lacks things like Winamp, XFire?, Avast/AVG, Notepad++, and even backup utilities, every coder should have one :p.

PSPad for web design

If I can make a suggestion, Digsby is a growing IM/Social Networking program that is coming along very well. It includes support for a whole lot of IM Protocols, Social Network Protocols, GMail, etc. If it weren't for the lack of IRC and XFire support, I'd be using it instead of Pidgin on my Windows Vista install at the moment.

It's currently somewhat of a memory hog for what it does, but that's what one of the major things they're working on at the moment.

May I also suggest 7-Zip instead of Winrar? It can unzip the same formats across the board, plus the 7-Zip formats, without the nag screen you describe.

Also, if you want an alternative defrag program, yet don't want to deal with the possible side effects the beta program above can cause, Power Defragmenter supposedly works well.

you forgot Paint.net

PSPad and Notepad++ are being downloaded. It sounds as if they'll be contenders.

I'm positive about Trillian, actually. I'm in on the Alpha testing for the latest version, Astra, and I've never, never seen such a complete and slick IM program.

I'll admit I've never used 7-zip, and I've downloaded it and will use it for a few days. I'll also run some tests to see if there's any speed difference between them and possibly update the list if I find that 7-zip is indeed better.

I'm quite certain about the Defragmentation thing, too. I've tried PowerDefragmenter, but the winning option for SmartDefrag really is the background defragmentation. Alternatively, I'd recommend JkDefrag, which runs as a screensaver.

ZoneAlarm fails at most leak tests, and COMODO is the only free firewall that passes them all. I've had no problems with my LAN, not even with some more advanced networking maneouvres. It does have an extensive 'training' mode, but if you just read all notification and answer smartly (or use the "What should I answer" button), you'll end up almost 3 times as protected as ZoneAlarm Free can do. Oddly, ZoneAlarm Pro achieves the same results as COMODO's firewall.

Actually AVG is the first program on his list

don't forget mirc! Hurray for mirc!

Oh, and Azureus.. I'd recommend that over utorrent. Though utorrent does rock socks.

Don't forget about spybot search and destroy. It's my spyware remover of choice over adaware.

Let's see, mediacoder for transcoding. Very handy for taking stereo sounds and making them monaural for use as 3d sounds in dbp.

Filezilla for ftping.

And xvid for xvid/divx files.

Also if you like to encode films or video clips for your Pocket device then erightsoft's SUPER is in my opinion the best!
It supports so many different codecs in the one program and creates great video files!

Only complaint is that the website is near impossible to navigate!


EDIT: It's not just for pocket devices though. If you need to convert to a different file format then this is great!

+1 for PSPad
+1 for spybot search and destroy
+1 for avast
+1 for xfire

what about alcohol 52%?

and how abouts the whole Mozilla Suite?

Hi there!

If you don’t have a zip/unzip programme, I fully recommend the one I use:
JustZIPit from http://free-backup.info/justzipit.html which is completely free.

JustZIPit does not have a user interface -- only a progress bar. In fact, all of JustZIPit's functionality is accessed through explorer’s context-menus.

After installation, you will see JustZIPit UNZIP commands on your context menu when you right-click any ZIP file. You will also see JustZIPit ZIP commands when you right-click on a folder or file.

Drawbacks: You cannot choose the path of the resulting file. In fact, you have no extra options included in the application. It unzips files into the location that they were downloaded. There's no special folder created in another 'unzipped' folder such as in WinZIP.

gearce
(GRC)

Yes, thats what I meant. The whole download network has 6 feet of viruses on the files that you have to scrape through to get to a file, most of them deadly.

I strongly suggest Opera to that list too for those who wants diff browser from Firefox. Also Avast! Anti virus program to that list too because its really really good.

Also you need to add some spyware removers (i use windows default one) and Malware removers.

Oh yes and dont forget Daemon Tools it can also mount image files nicely

Well Ive used limewire for years on end quite heavily and I havent had a virus since 2001 (which didnt even come from limewire). I dont even use virus or adware software regularly, just once in a while to do a system check up. Maybe im just scrupulous about what I download, but everytime somebody says 'I got a virus' I fail to understand, since its always with a shady file I wouldnt download in the first place.

I'd suggest foobar and VLC media player - first for music files, second for videos (plays almost any media files without plugins!)

Concerning Limewire, I side with draknir_ here. If you keep the downloading to files you actually own, you'll already limit the problems. Also, if you evade executables and the like, you'll be even safer. I've used Limewire ever since it came out, and I've never ran into a virus from the network. My little sister, on the other hand, has conveniently been denied access to the program through UAC. It all comes down to the user.

Opera and Avast! are indeed great alternatives, but as I said, I'd like to make a complete list of programs that is 'canonical', sort of. This list of programs I'll carry along from this day forth to where-ever I'm needed to fix a computer, and possibly just let people fill in a checklist about what they want. That's why I want to avoid choices - choices make people doubt and think too much - I've learned that standing in the store.

If anyone knows a good, free and functional backup program, I'd be interested to hearing about that. I've been using RocketDock for a day now and I must say that moving my desktop into that convenient little bar at the top is kind of... organized. I like the program, but I'll toy around with it some more. It makes me wonder whether I'll divide the list into Recommended and Optional programs.

Spybot Search and Destroy was on that list originally, you know. I installed it twice and in two cases the person I fixed the computer for said it looked too technical and that they wouldn't dare to use it. Ad-Aware was my second choice, so I put it up there as it has similar protection level according to most tests (although S&D comes out slightly higher), Ad-Aware it is somewhat heavier. I'm trying to balance usability and efficiency. I might reconsider Spybot, though, as it seems to offer some substantial advantages.

Whoa, Foobar looks impressive. I've downloaded it straight away, and it might replace WinAMP in the end. I'll toy around with it, but I'm kind of reluctant about it as we'll end up using two applications, one for music and one for video. Maybe that's better, as WinAMP's video playback ain't that perfect neither.

Considered Daemon Tools, but since it has some compatibility issues with some games and software, I've at first replaced it with Alcohol 120% and later with MagicDisc. I've never been disappointed with the last one, as it emulates everything perfectly (even PS2 CD's since I sold my PS2 and now use an emulator).

JustZIPit has been noted, although another alternatives (7-zip and IzArc) have been proposed as well. Probably those latter make more chance, I'm afraid. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Haven't used Notepad++ or PSPpad yet. Will have a look at them later today.

Rather than WinRAR (which is actually a trial version) I have yet another suggestion - IZArc. It really is free (no adware either) and supports many archive formats like: 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN, BZ2, BZA, C2D, CAB, CDI, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MDF, MBF, MIM, NRG, PAK, PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO, etc. (Yes, it really can pull out files from inside ISO images!)
It has a nice Windows interface (similar to WinZIP and WinRAR) which supports dragging and dropping files in and out, spanning disks archives, creating self extracting archives, 256-bit AES encryption, repairing damaged ZIP files and makes it very easy to convert a compressed file from one format to another. Well worth checking out as I think its the most complete archiving utility ever.
http://www.izarc.org/

Yeah, someone told me about IZArc just before you (I mentioned it in the post above yours). So, that'd be the second recommendation for it! I'm eager to check it out

Well since LimeWire has alreaday been mentioned, I might just as well suggest that instaed of it you download FrostWire, the beefed up and faster version, which is completely free.

http://www.frostwire.com/

Also, my vote goes to Pain.Net, a beautiful little program,and Foobar2k.

Haa! I must have been typing mine while you were typing yours. Definitely check it out though. It goes on all my machines now.

Some others to consider are "Quicktime Alternative" and "Real Alternative". They replace the bloated, memory hungry and spyware driven commercial versions of Quicktime and Real Media Player. (By 'spyware' I mean they call home over the Internet and keep things running in the background). The alternatives work like normal codecs and come with Media Player Classic which is much faster and simpler than the modern versions of Windows Media Player - but you can choose not to install that.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_alternative.htm
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/quicktime_alternative.htm

For video conversion I recommend Super(C) which can covert pretty much any video format to any other video format. This includes support for Flash Video (FLV), DVDs (VOB), VCDs and recording streaming video from the net. It also supports video suitable for the Nintendo DS, the PSP, the Zune, the iPod and mobile phones (3GP and 3G2) amongst many others. It looks complex at first and the interface could do with improvement but it works REALLY well.
http://www.erightsoft.com/Superdc.html
(They haven't made it easy to download so scroll all the way to the bottom and click 'Start Downloading SUPER (C)', then click on 'download and use' near the top).

Super also needs beast computer to work -.- ...

I use http://media-convert.com.

And i dont really think "Avast!" as alternative because it removes some stuff better than AVG and some not.. But in my opinion its better as like opera but i guess they are just personal issues

Honestly, for people like this I've been strongly recommending ubuntu, it's far more user friendly once it's up and running.

It's even super easy to install as long as all of your hardware is supported without extra configuring.

But since this is about windows software, if people think spybot is too hard to use, then they should be paying for proper av.

I have spybot s+d. It does a pretty good job, but usually Norton AV does all the dirty work.




I got a deadly trojan from downloading GIMP (wrong mirror, maybe) and had to wipe my hard drive.
Either way, some people are luckier with limewire than others. Even the free things can be covered with viruses.

Okay, been using RocketDock happily, and it will be added as optional. Frostwire will replace Limewire as it really does seem to get higher speeds from the GNUTELLA network (odd but true). IZArc will from now on replace WinRAR in the list. Also, foobar can be quite usable with an additional plugin called AvAfoo. On top of that, VLC Player has also gone through the test. Those two will be added to the list.

Spybot Search & Destroy is still a bit of a hesitation - I mean, it sure looks more professional, and honestly, it seems to work much better than Ad-Aware, but it's still difficult for the non-savvy. I might reconsider it, as I've been charmed by the current version of the program.

I'll make the edits and rewrite part of the list later today. Expect it up by the evening, early night (keep in mind that for me, it's 14:27 or 2:27pm now, you can do the math).

Good list of software, never heard of IZArc, I'll be trying that out.

IZarc rules

You should add the Winamp Desk Band (the one by Darius & HWC which you can find at Winamp.com)

I found IZarc horrible compared to 7-zip it was really slow on my system

I don't know about that - I just tested it and on my PC, IZArc takes an average of 7 seconds less on a 700MB file. As return, it has no nagging screens. I could add to the list that a medium class PC is required for most of these applications. Although most programs work on a 2,8Ghz and 256MB RAM PC, I'd personally recommend a mediumclass processor and 1GB RAM.

I nominate WinGrep for fast searching within files. There's a nag screen when you exit the program, but it's not timed so you can just click to close it.

It's essential when you're searching through hundreds of files looking for text.

http://www.wingrep.com/

I'll look into Wingrep, thanks for the recommendation.

i think i have more than that with a c2d e6850 and 4 gigs of ram maybe i just didn't really give it a chance, i try it again

Only 4GB? Pffft.

Samoz is trying to make my pc feel like a wimp.

I'm still looking for a good backup application. I'm afraid I haven't found any good, free ones yet.

You could just upload your entire PC to an uploader and print out the link.

Okay, BurnAware, the CD/DVD burning tool I recommended has suddenly popped up as a virus at my girlfriends laptop, and on a redownload, so has it on mine. The file seems infected with a virus called Klone.P. I'll go after it to see if its a misdiagnosis, but until then, I disrecommend using it.

For backup I have used SyncBack from 2BrightSparks in the past. Its very good for scheduled backing up and disk synchronising. SyncBackSE is not free but if you look in the 'Downloads' menu you can find the Freeware version V3.2.18.0.
http://www.2brightsparks.com

For an alternative CD and DVD burning package which is also free, I have used DeepBurner in the past. Again, there is a 'cost' version and a totally free version which is perfectly adequate for most people.
http://www.deepburner.com

Thanks there, Zappo. I'll check into the backup application, but for the CD/DVD/Bluray burner I think I've fallen in love with a certain program. I just want to make sure there are no flaws with the program at all, and if so, it'll be on the list before you know it.

Okay, I've replaced BurnAware with Ashampoo Burning Studio Free. I'm also looking into new applications I've run across. Also, checking the backup program.

yes i am hahahah