Here is a list a programs that is recommended to have on your computer , all of them are not necessary, but are rather useful:
Protection (Spyware/Malware/Virus/Protection)
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Spybot Search & Destroy - Searches
your computer for spyware and malware.
Spywareblaster - This program
protects you actively from bad sites.
Ad-Aware SE Personal - Another
spyware/malware scanner. Used in conjunction with Spybot and you should be pretty clean.
IE-SPYAD - Puts over 5000 sites in
your restricted zone, so you'll be protected when you visit innocent-looking sites that aren't actually
innocent at all. (submitted by Saint777)
AVG Anti-Virus - A free anti virus
program.
Panda Antivirus - Free trial, but you'll be
more interested in the free online scanner. (submitted by
amtcubus)
Zone Alarm - A free (and good) firewall
program.
Sygate - Personal Firewall - Another free
firewall that is good. (submitted by albion)
Kerio Personal Firewall - A firewall program. Free
for home and personal use. (submitted by Oykotinim)
Avast - A free (home edition) anti-virus
program. (submitted by kazuki05)
A sqaured - A Trojan scanner. (submitted by
Saint777)
Google Toolbar - A nice integrated pop-up blocker.
(submitted by Saint777)
Browsers/Internet
-----------------------
Firefox - A popular alternative to Internet
Explorer, and less prone to security flaws (for now).
Opera - Another good browser, has nifty session saving and tabbed
browsing built in. (you don't need extensions)
WinZIP - Most common ZIP program.
WinRAR - Another ZIP program, handles the ever growing RAR
extension.
UltimateZIP - Another program that handles
multiple ZIP extensions.
7ZIP - Got a weird ZIP extension? Try this program.
WinAce - An archiving program that boasts better compression
than WinZip. (submitted by sgof)
[url=http://www.leechget.net/en/[/url]Leech Get[/url] - A download accelerator that speeds up your downloads and allows
for pausing and resuming of downloads.
Download Accelerator - Speed up your
downloads, allows you to pause and resume downloads. (submitted by UnknownFact)
SmartFTP - An FTP program, with added functionality.
(submitted by ocelotisun)
DC++ - A free direct connect protocol. (submitted by
amtcubus)
Audio/Video/Authoring
-------------------------
Media Player Classic - With the right
codecs, you can listen to and watch anything using this player.
BSplayer - Another versatile media player like Media Player
Classic.
VLC Media Player - A media player that can play almost
anything, multiple subtitles, and audio and video tracks. (submitted by Holt)
Zoomplayer - An all around
media player. (submitted by inoesomestuff)
XviD Codec v.103 - A codec that is often required for
movies/video clips.
K-Lite Codec Pack - Install a bunch of codecs you
might need. (I use it without any problems.)
GSpot - Missing a codec? Use this program to find what
codec the video or audio is using.
DiVX - Another player for
DiVX format.
Foobar - A very nice audio player, open source, with many
extensions.
WinAmp - A popular audio player.
Quicktime Alternative -
Don't want to install Quicktime? Install the codecs for it, and play your MOV file in Media Player Classic or
BSplayer.
Real Player Alternative -
Don't want to install Real Player? Install the codecs and play real media files in Media Player Classic or
BSplayer.
QuickTime - If you don't want to use the
alternative. Needed for many sites who stream video.
Real Player - If you don't want to use the alternative. Not
so common anymore, but it pops up from time to time.
iReverter - If you have an iRiver H300 series MP3
player, then you will need this program. (submitted by Aa-chan)
iTune - A popular audio program that is synonymous with
Apple iPod, it can also convert your songs into MP3 format. (submitted by litterstars)
Nero - A popular CD/DVD burning program, it can also
encode an AVI file onto a VCD/SVCD. (submitted by DaNuke)
BeSweet - An audio conversion program with some signal
processing features. (submitted by OUtMaN)
Imaging
----------
IrfanView - A free image editor, does your basic crop and resize,
among other things.
ACDSee - An image viewer/manager. Free
trial. (submitted by sillymoogle)
Terragen - A landscape rendering program. Free
while it is beta. (submitted by kazuki05)
Chaoscope - A 3D strange attractors rendering
software. (submitted by ocelotisun)
Apophysis - A flame fractal generator.
(submitted by ocelotisun)
PhotoImpact - Imaging software, free trial.
(submitted by amtcubus)
Other
--------
KillBox - For stubborn programs that
cannot be removed. (submitted by Saint777)
Set-up Instructions for Spybot S&D
and Adaware SE - Very important for setting up Ad-Aware SE and Spybot S&D for maximum effectiveness. (submitted
by Saint777)
Open Office - A free alternative to Microsoft Office.
(submitted by Firefox)
CCleaner - An optimization tool for Windows. It cleans out
temp folders, registry cleaner, and third party applications. (submitted by ocelotisun)
Messenger
--------------
Trillian - A good
All-In-One messenger program for AIM, MSN, ICQ, and Yahoo. (submitted by Holt)
Bit Torrent
--------------
Azureus - A decked out version of the original Bit
Torrent client. Use to download torrent files (for legal purposes only). (submitted by Holt)
BitComent - Another good Bit Torrent Client, which does not
use Java. Use to download torrent files (for legal purposes only). (submitted by jhujhiti)
Sites
--------
Doom9 - Helpful for your Audio/Video needs.
SourceForge - Resource for "open source"
programs.
These are the programs that come to mind. All these programs aren't necessarily needed on your computer, just
programs recommended, and most are free. I will add more if I find any, feel free to add any programs you would
recommend having on your computer.
