So recently I decided to put some software on my new PC. I'm making this thread to ofer suggestions and for others to suggest software that is free and is of some use. Here's what I have:

Launchy - Alt+space pops open a window and you type in what you want it to run. Initially it's just like the search bar in Vista's Start Menu, but you can configure it to point it to where it can look and to what types of files. It also has a lot of plugins adding some pretty cool functionalities.

PeaZip - Like 7zip, but I noticed it had a few extra formats it supported so I tok the plunge and switched.

WinDirStat - Ever wonder where all your HDD space is going? This quickly scans your entire HDD and breaks down the size of every folder and file, it even has a very nice to scale GUI component.

Notepad++ - Notepad on steroids. Supports many programming languages, as well as user defined languages.

foobar2000 - The most minimalist and functional audio player. It also runs just about any format I have encountered while using very little system resources. Supports plugins and skins as well.

Audacity - Everything I have needed to edit sound files.

PDFCreator - Print documents as .pdf files on your system.

Revo Uninstaller - A very thorough uninstaller. After a program is uninstalled it scans your PC for leftover files and registry keys. Should be a little careful with what you do in the registry though.

WinSCP - Very small aand efficient FTP client. Love it to death.

Digsby - Be careful when installing this, they try to push off some bullshit stuff. However this is the first IM that I have used that integrates not only your IMs, but also your social sites such as Facebook, twitter, MySpace, and linkedin. Very nifty but it could use a little more work on the resources.

WinMerge - Compares 2 files. The special thing is that it compares them using hex so you can compare any given files, even ones with different extension. Haven't doen that yet but I know that for the same file types it wrks wonderfully.

TeraCopy - Replaces the regular Windows copie and in the process gives you more info, control, as well as the ability to copy files aroud much faster.

That's my list, I know I have more but I just can't think of them this late at night. What do you people suggest?

I get Maximum PC by mail, every month there's a CD in it that's loaded with freeware....Love it...Sometimes there's new things, sometimes there's trials in addition to the free offerings, but always worth looking at...

Youtube Downloader

and NoScript

Use Orbit Downloader. It works with just about all Flash media, even Pandora.

Sumatra PDF Viewer -- Views PDF files and it's faster than Adobe Reader, with a smaller RAM and disk footprint. <blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf>

VLC Media Player -- Plays just about any kind of video file on the planet, without needing additional CoDecs. <videolan.org/vlc>

uTorrent -- Small, fast BitTorrent client with RSS support. <utorrent.com>

Firefox -- Standards compliant web browser with a multi-tab interface and support for emerging standards. <firefox.com>

Thunderbird -- A great replacement for Windows Mail. Capable email and newsgroup client. <mozillamessaging.com>

InfraRecorder -- Looks, feels and works like Nero. It's still a little rough around the edges, but will (hopefully) eventually be a worthwhile replacement for it. <infrarecorder.org>

ImgBurn -- Allows for more customisation of ISOs than InfraRecorder, but doesn't have InfraRecorder's great interface <imgburn.com>

AutoGK -- A suite of free software that simplifies the encoding of DivX and XviD video files. <autogk.me.uk>

That's all I can think of for now.

People put too much garbage on their computers as it is...

That is why I use Ccleaner, clean up the crap in my Com

Open Office

If you need to put parental controls on your Firefox (which I do need) then suricate is a really good add on. Basically its the entire suricate user community that creates the database of blocked websites, but it is really easy to make your own white list.

I know most people on here aren't parents and in fact would not want their parents to see my suggestion, but if you are a parent then this is worth a look.

Inkscape - vector graphics editor, like Adobe Illustrator

Scribus - document design tool, like MS Publisher