WinPatrol is thing to have! It manages your startup programs, delayed startup programs, IE "helpers", ActiveX, running services, and actively running programs. Most use it just for the startup program management, but it's nothing that you can't do by just clicking Start-->Run-->Type in "msconfig"-->Disable all startup programs. And disabling startup programs is a GOOD thing - frees up RAM and all sorts of good stuff!
Also,
Spybot Search & Destroy and
Windows Defender for Spyware Protection.
Angry IP Scanner (For multiple OS') It finds other computers on your local network in a jiffy.
Scanner (Yeah, simple name) It scans your computer and gives you a graphic as to where the different quantities of files are located. If you know your computer should have more free space, use Scanner to find where all those extra files are and get rid of them.
Foxit Reader (For Windows) It's a GREAT .pdf reader. A wonderful alternative to Adobe Reader. Faster, not as bulky, and no annoying Adobe Download Manager.
Also, Ad-Aware 2008 was just released. I am very interested to see if it's even worth keeping in the computer.
Ad-Aware 6 --> Good
Ad-Aware SE --> Awesome!
Ad-Aware 2007 --> What happened???
Spyware Doctor is simply the best. It's a $30 subscription, but it's worth it. While no one program can catch every piece of spyware, Spyware Doctor is as close as it gets.
BitDefender. Like Spyware Doctor, this is as good as it's going to get for a home computer for just $30.
CamStudio is a great, free screen recorder for Windows.
Here are some sites for Windows freeware:
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4,
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8,
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11,
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13.
And some freeware for the Mac:
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8.
Knoppix Linux Live CD will help you save your files in case of a massive hard drive crash. Since it's a Linux live CD, you get all the features of Linux, but with programs that come with it especially for hard drive management. It has NTFS support and a very short learning curve.
Also check out
DistroWatch for more info on other releases of Linux.
Other recommended Linux distros for beginners:
Fedora Core,
Ubuntu, and
Debian.