Just thought I would add to the list....

Disk defrag - Ashampoo Magic Defrag 2. Having a lot of computers and hardrives, I am always forgetting to set a defrag going before I go to bed. If I set it up as a task, chances are, even in the middle of the night, it will interrupt my work. So I find this app very useful. It defrags your drives while your computer is idle, and stops when you use the computer. It can be paused, or stopped if you are editing video, producing music etc.

Firewall - zonealarm. A very useful, unobtrusive firewall.

Browsing - Firefox.... of course!

FTP - WS FTP pro. I have been using this for years now for FTP, and secure FTP.

SSH - SecureCRT. Been using this for years to access my remote servers.

System Mechanic Pro 7 - I use this, but I do get problems with it sometimes, though it is very handy for a lot of stuff.

My favourite app of all, is obviously my USB missile launcher! When all else fails......

Windows does that anyway

Maplin?

No PCworld I think lol

Windows defrags in the background? That's never worked for me. In any case, you have to tell windows defragger to run in the first place. What I like about Magic Defrag is that it's always there and I don't have to worry about it. Best of all my drives never become fragged in the first place, because magic defrag pounces on any itty, bitty bit of fragging as soon as it fragging well frags! I do a lot of video and music production, and fragging is a major no no. Having stuff running in the background is also a major no no, so I can just stop magic defrag, and if I forget to start it again, and don't reboot, it will start it's self when I close my video/music software.

it defrags in the background. Leve a windows PC for an hour or so and it will start chattering away.

I use the auslogics defrag myself tho. Its a lot more agressive than the MS one

X-Setup Pro - http://www.x-setup.net/product/home.asp?lang=EN excellent GUI interface for the novice as well as the experienced user. The mother of all tweakers I rely on it consistently. I know it's not free ware but it is a tool worth owning in my opinion.

LViewPro 1D2 - I purchased this viewer way back when Windows 3.1 came out. The best part about this piece of software is it keeps on ticking. Whoever wrote and designed it had a lot of foresight. It's been a staple in all of my releases of windows. Yes the original works on Windows 3.1, Windows 98, Win2K, Windows XP and Windows Vista. One heck of an investment. Of course this version is no longer available for sale but if you can find it I would suggest that you scarf it up. The viewer does have some rudimentary editing capability but for those that are really into photo editing there are other products that much more capable and richer in features. As a simple viewer and screen capture utility this one ranks up there.

Here are two file managers I like, ExplorerPlus and Directory Opus. Explorer Plus is easier to use and has a better file viewer (in my opinion). Directory Opus has many more features, like searching for a file modified after a certain date, plus a steeper learning curve. Both are far superior to Windows Explorer and are worth the purchase price.

ExplorerPlus http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil...scription.html

Directory Opus from the site: http://www.gpsoft.com.au/DScripts/Download.asp

Directory Opus Forum: http://resource.dopus.com/index.php

yeah directory opus is good

i got it free in a PC magazine disk ages ago

I'll add a couple more links that people might find worth while
What's Running - http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx free software that will give a detailed list of running applications on your PC and more. Win2K/XP/2003

Given the numerous requests from people that lose their passwords and are locked out of their systems there is a solution. I'm not sure how the moderators of DaniWeb will take this one and I would understand completely if this solution is removed from the board.

A simple google on "source forge ophcrack project" will give you all the information you need to know. I personally have used this solution successfully on Win2K and XP systems. I provide this solution based on the fact that in some cases it is absolutely necessary for people to get into their systems and recover their data especially when alternative solutions are not available. This solution is only for lost or forgotten user passwords.

And, with all the geeks and gurus here, nobody mentioned

Z-Tree?

Same stuff as the old X-Tree but for Windows and much more powerful. I would trade this for Windows Explorer anyday, anytime.

I'm still running trials on various IS programs...so far, I like Comodo's firewall. VERY strict, but very customizable. Their AV solution needs work (tho it is only beta) and their AS is...odd. I have no idea if it's successful, but it seems to be doing its job. It monitors, but cannot do a "system scan" like others. Very odd, but hasn't caused any problems so I kept it.

Firewall: Comodo Firewall Pro
Antivirus: Comodo (Beta)
Antispyware: BOClean (Comodo)/Windows Defender (active), Ad-Aware 07/Spybot S&D 1.5 (manual)
Browser: Firefox (going to check out Opera...haven't had a chance yet)
Messenger: Pidgin (GNU license. Isn't as pretty, but has more options than Trillian basic. Work-in-progress.)
File Compression: 7-Zip -> has its own (really good) compression and also reads standard types such as zip, rar, etc.
Media player: iTunes -> Hey, it's free and I like how it organizes my music. Haven't found better yet.
Remote Desktop: LogMeIn -> useful for us mobile technicians!*

If anyone has a good suggestion for a replacement to Quickbooks (using 2006 atm), that would be awesome. I heard GNUCash is good, but not polished enough. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions? Ideally, it would have a database import so I don't have to rebuild my client lists and past invoice data. (Am I just asking too much?)

*Regarding the LogMeIn pop, the actual software is free for basic service and can be accessed through the website. I use their Ignition utility (cheap, but not free -> the only utility listed here that's not) to install the software on their systems (with their permission, of course) and access my own at home for invoicing while on-site (meaning no paying Intuit $20+/mo for online invoicing when I can do it legally free). Ignition installed on my main system let me keep an eye on all the clients' computers to make sure they are staying online (I don't access without their go-ahead first, of course.) I just find Ignition to be INSANELY useful when I'm on a job. It installs to a USB drive!