Essential Applications

wolfman

Just thought I'd create a Thread where people can post applications they feel are essential for their computer. I'll start it off with the following:

Norton Ghost (or similar imaging program) - £35
Easily one of the most essential apps to have. After perfectly installing and setting up Windows, take an image of it using Ghost. Then if anything goes wrong you can be up and running again from the image in 15minutes, rather than the few hours it takes to re-install.

Knoppix (https://www.knoppix.net/ ) - Free
Linux that runs from a CD. It's a great way to try Linux without the mess of having to install anything. Plus it makes a great tool if anything goes wrong with your Windows. Just pop in the disc, boot up Linux, then backup any files you thought you'd lost from your hard drive.

Mozilla Firefox (https://www.mozilla.org/) - Free
Light, fast and secure. The best web browser out there at the moment, guess we'll have to see what IE7 has to offer.

FileZilla (http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/) - Free
A great Ftp app, maybe not as good as FlashFxp, but it's free and does most things FlashFxp can do.

Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) - Free
Spyware protection, and although maybe not the best out there, it's free.

Kerio Personal Firewall (http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html) - Free
My favourite of all the free firewalls available. It uses very little resources, and isn't as bloated as other products.

Trillian (http://www.trillian.cc/) - Free (Standard), Pro ($25)
Less clunky than MSN Messenger and much more functionality, and you can set up your MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, AOL etc... accounts all in the one application. The Pro version even allows you to run more than one MSN account without merging them. Brilliant for keeping your work and social contacts seperate.

3M Post-It Notes Lite (http://www.3m.com/psnotes/) - Free
Post-It notes for your desktop. Brilliant for reminders, and stops you sticking stuff all over your monitor/desk.

Winamp (http://winamp.com) - Free
Still arguably the best Mp3 player out there. Light, and easy to use.

EphPod (http://www.ephpod.com/) - Free
Sick of iTunes, give this a try. A much better way of transferring MP3's onto your iPod.