'Essential' Windows Software?

[hamheyelliot]

I'm into the content stage of a new little project I'm putting together, it's essentially a first-stop for more inexperienced Windows users to download useful free software which actually adds to the performance and security of Windows.

If you were installing a fresh copy of Windows, which software would you instinctively install? Think as basic as browser choice and anti-virus to small tools and utilities.

I'm looking for around 15-20 total pieces of software and they will become the foundation of the site! Think photo management all the way to tweaking/optimisation software.

In return for an accepted suggestion, you'll get your name, twitter avatar and backlink of your choice in a special contributors spot when the site is finished. It'll look and perform awesome-ly, don't despair.


Thanks for reading and a special thanks if you have some personal software suggestions of yours! :)

[scottish]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/181135/10_essential_windows_7_downloads.html
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/20-windows-7-free-apps-to-download-today-648954
http://download.cnet.com/windows/most-popular/3101-20_4-0.html?tag=sort

etc

[iLogan]

Skype
WLM
SAM Broadcaster
Virtual Audio Cables
TeamViewer
Office Suite
Adobe Suite

[hamheyelliot]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/181135/10_essential_windows_7_downloads.html
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows/
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/20-windows-7-free-apps-to-download-today-648954
http://download.cnet.com/windows/most-popular/3101-20_4-0.html?tag=sort

etc

Thanks, made me remember VLC! - The resource itself wont look much like a blog post at all, uncluttered and simplistic are my best bud clichés.


Skype
WLM
SAM Broadcaster
Virtual Audio Cables
TeamViewer
Office Suite
Adobe Suite

Thank you, looks like what I was expecting of a DJ setup! Most of these are likely a bit too specialised but Skype and WLM are on the 'how about this one?' list :)

[triston220]

Dropbox
Spotify
Notepad++
WinRAR
Visual Studio 2010
MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
TeamViewer
Wampserver
Sandboxie

[peteyt]

I'd recommend the following:
(1) Malwarebytes - one of the best anti-malware programs I've used and often recommended by professionals. Has a free and paid version (paid version allows for extra protection and scheduling I think). http://www.malwarebytes.org/
(2) Lavasoft Ad-Aware (has a free version and different paid versions) http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
(3) Spybot - Search & Destroy (Just a free malware program) http://www.safer-networking.org/
(4) AVG Free (Free version of AVG Anti Virus) - http://free.avg.com/gb-en/homepage
(5) ZoneAlarm Free Firewall (Free version of ZoneLabs Firewall) http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-gb/zonealarm-pc-security-free-firewall.htm
(6) CCleaner (for removing uneeded junk files, start up programs and other handy utilities) http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER
(7) Recuva (For recovering deleted files) http://www.piriform.com/recuva
(8) Speccy (For finding specifications on your PC - handy if your unsure of stuff, such as am I 32/64 bit, which OS version etc) http://www.piriform.com/speccy
(9) CPUID - (A collection of programs for getting basic/advanced computer knowledge, for example PC stuff, CPU-Z and PC Wizard for lots of information on hardware etc) http://www.cpuid.com/softwares.html
(10) FileHippo.com Update Checker (Checks a large list of freeware programs and lets you know of any updates) http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/
(11) Device Doctor (Like above but for checking driver updates) http://www.devicedoctor.com/
(12) Unlocker (Program for finding out what processes are using a file folder and can usually unlock it for removal - handy when trying to delete files that can't be deleted as they are apparently open).
(13) Process Explorer (Advanced process explorer/monitor) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653
(14) McAfee SiteAdvisor (Website warning system with reviews that works on a variety of browsers) http://www.siteadvisor.com/
(15) Format Factory (Program used for converting audio, video and image files) http://www.formatoz.com/

I'll probably think of more ha

[Matthew]

iTunes :P

[AgnesIO]

Disagreed with some of them.

Also, iTunes Matts?

Only if you have an iPod/iPhone/iPad that you actually use lol Horrible program.

[xxMATTGxx]

Disagreed with some of them.

Also, iTunes Matts?

Only if you have an iPod/iPhone/iPad that you actually use lol Horrible program.

I use it without owning one of them devices. Although the program annoys me but it has improved for Windows in the past few updates.

[AgnesIO]

I use it without owning one of them devices. Although the program annoys me but it has improved for Windows in the past few updates.

You can use it yeah, but from my experience it never ******* worked lol

[RyanDOT]

Windows Live Messenger
Mozilla Firefox
Skype
Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Office
WinRAR
iTunes
CCleaner
Disk Space Fan
Oxelon Media Converter

[hamheyelliot]

Thanks for all of these suggestions so far, if I've repped you there's definitely something on there for the list.

iTunes has improved massively! But Spotify even takes the liberty of finding and importing your iTunes library now, as well as being 10x more bearable and responsive for Windows :P

Cheers guys.

[peteyt]

Thanks for all of these suggestions so far, if I've repped you there's definitely something on there for the list.

iTunes has improved massively! But Spotify even takes the liberty of finding and importing your iTunes library now, as well as being 10x more bearable and responsive for Windows :P

Cheers guys.

I prefer Winamp for music and you can update your iPod and other portable devices with it to.

[GommeInc]

I use it without owning one of them devices. Although the program annoys me but it has improved for Windows in the past few updates.
I find Windows Media Player does the job a few thousands times better than that over-glorified bloatware, but I could just be unlucky or picky :P

[Calvin]

Probably already been mentioned but these are the ones I usually download first:


Windows Live Messenger
Firefox (that's the browser I mainly use but others such as Chrome or IE)
VLC
Ccleaner
Anti-Virus
Mozilla Thunderbird
Notepad++
Adobe Photoshop
ZScreen (screen capture)
WinRAR
Open Office

Noticed that's quite a lot but those are the ones I download to use mostly. Good luck with this Elliot.

[AgnesIO]

I find Windows Media Player does the job a few thousands times better than that over-glorified bloatware, but I could just be unlucky or picky :P

Same, Windows Media Center for me, but still far better imo

[Blobby.]

MSPaint

[Agnostic Bear]

mIRC + NNScript
Google Chrome
Zend Studio
Skype
7-zip
Steam
League of Legends (Just until Dota 2 anyway)

[N!ck]

LibreOffice rather than OpenOffice
Google Chrome
Firefox
CCleaner
GIMP or Paint.net
ImgBurn (invaluable for burning CDs/DVDs/Blu-Rays)
Media Player Classic (I prefer over VLC)
foobar2000 (a great little music library/player)
Adobe Reader
Java
Flash
Microsoft Security Essentials or Avast! antivirus

Avoid the likes of iTunes and QuickTime.

[peteyt]

LibreOffice rather than OpenOffice
Google Chrome
Firefox
CCleaner
GIMP or Paint.net
ImgBurn (invaluable for burning CDs/DVDs/Blu-Rays)
Media Player Classic (I prefer over VLC)
foobar2000 (a great little music library/player)
Adobe Reader
Java
Flash
Microsoft Security Essentials or Avast! antivirus

Avoid the likes of iTunes and QuickTime.

Does media player come with all the codecs. I used to use Media Player but I was sick of getting videos with media player and other programs that wouldn't play. VLC seems to be able to play every video I've thrown at it.

[GommeInc]

Does media player come with all the codecs. I used to use Media Player but I was sick of getting videos with media player and other programs that wouldn't play. VLC seems to be able to play every video I've thrown at it.
You can download them, but can't for the life of me remember if it did it automatically :/

[N!ck]

Does media player come with all the codecs. I used to use Media Player but I was sick of getting videos with media player and other programs that wouldn't play. VLC seems to be able to play every video I've thrown at it.


MPC-HC comes with quite a lot of them. I've never had an issue.