Essential Windows Programs, Tell us yours here. Options

[The Thoughtful Muse]

Ares, gotta have my music and videos.
Kapsersky Anti-Virus 6.0, obvious reasons.
Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware 2006 are a must-have (I think 2007 is pretty much the same save for a few new features and more memory being eaten up).
Windows Defender, buggy as it sometimes is rumored to be.
Jasc Paint Shop Pro X. It can do whatever Photoshop can, but it's cheaper. ^.~
CCleaner. Love that program. Cleans up registry problems and get rids of annoyances like temporary files and things. Also enables you to uninstall programs and configure startup. Must-have for me.
Quicktime and Winamp.
And last but not least, Winzip.

[empreality]

Firefox - Self Explanatory
AVG - Good Anti-Virus, with tiny resource usage(Now shows as 246k for me)
SpyBot S&D - Self Explanatory
CCleaner - Easy way clean up after a few hours of porn, and keeps the computer nice and tidy.
iTunes - Works with iPod seamlessly and updates all my podcasts easily.
Photoshop CS3 - Self Explanatory
uTorrent - Gets "the job" done.
pidgin(GAIM) - Good multi-client instant message client, and unlike Trillian which forces me to pirate a new copy of Trillian Astra all the time, this one is free from the start.
Your Uninstaller! 2006 - Basically works like a normal uninstaller, but also deletes the left over files like folders and registry keys.

Alcohol 52% - Allows me to mount CD/DVD images on a virtual drive so I don't have to waste CD/DVD that I end up putting back into my computer anyways.
VLC media player - I use this mainly for .mkv files which are usually HD-DVD/Blu-Ray rips and VLC does a nice job running such quality videos, especially since my hardware is not really HD-friendly.
nero - Burns movies/music when I want to watch them on a bigger screen, or listen to in the car which doesn't have a way to plug in mp3 players.

Spyware Blaster - Keeps Internet browsing a lot more secure.
Google Earth - Makes you realize that the Earth is really really really big, and gives you photographic proof. Makes you go "OMG I can see my house from space!!!" and lastly, COME ON! It's freakin Google!

[Wizi]

I ran a quick topic search and didn't found that one.


jv16 Power Tools

a really powerful program which I personally use for performing a deep scan in my registry and cleaning all the garbage. The other useful option is the startup manager to see exactly what's being loaded every time.

[Qubeat]

for sure "Killcopy" a russian program that helps copying Files without loosing data.

[vbetts]

Windows Vista programs

Both of these are vista optimization programs, and work really well.
1.Vlite
2.Vispa

[boinkytwo]

1. Deep Freeze - My best defense against virus, malware/adware, scripts, anything that alters any part and function of my system.

2. Kaspersky - Backup defense against virus, etc.

3. Advance System Optimizer - Aids me to do system tweaks with ease, It can do some system maintenance too like registry defrag, junk file deletion and a lot more.

4. Any Disk Imaging Software - For disk backup, of course.

5. Firefox - My standard/default web browser.

6. Thunderbird - My standard/default e-mail client.

[whytsyed]

Nod32 - Best antivirus protection I've seen with the lowest performance impact.

Daemon Tools - .Iso mounting program.

Diskeeper Professional - Defragging and beyond.

Shareaza - P2P client that connects to Edonkey, Gnutella1, Gnutella2, and has bittorrent functionality.

Office 2007 - M$ Office.

Photoshop - Helps me pay the bills.

Azureus - Torrent App.

IEPro7 - If you actually use Internet Explorer, it's a must. Ad and flash blocking, user scripts, plugins, among other things.

Free Window Registry Repair - Free and keeps Vista running smoothly.

WinRAR Crystal - For all my unpacking needs.

Acronis Disk Director - Suite of disk tools including boot manager, which helps me dual boot OSx86.

[-Mac +Windows]

Here is My List:

OS: Windows XP/Vista (torrent sites)

Browser: IE7 (what else?)

PC Optimization: Uniblue Speed up my pc

OS EMulator:VMware

Download Manager: FreeDownLoad Manager

Audio Recording Mixing: Mixcraft

Media Player: Windows Media Player

Image Burning: ImgBurn

File Extraction: ExtractNow

Antivirus: Paretologic Anti Spyware

Registry Cleaner: Paretologic Regcure

Partioning Software: Partiton Magic 8 Pro

Torrent Downloader: Azureus

Unlocking Software: Unlocker

Chat: Google Chat

Desktop Search: Windows Desktop Search

Coding Software: Microsoft Visual Studio 2008

CD Mounting: Daemon Tools

Document Editing: Microsoft Office 2007

Data Recovery: Active Undelete

Web Design/FTP: Microsoft Expression

Drive Imaging/Writing: SelfImage

Multimedia Editing: Ulead DVD Movie Factory

Vista 3D Window Toggle for XP: Topdesk

Just want to say this list has been in compilation for over 5 years. I have tested thousands of products and these have always come out on top so here it is. Some of these are not free but every one of them has been cracked so just search and you will find cracks. teamicu.com has them all

[mac-mini]

a disk formatting tool xD

[Numberzz]

A Windows without a CD Mounting app is no Windows at all.

[Colonel]

A Windows without a CD Mounting app is no Windows at all.

Daemon Tools....?

[microsoft whiz]

AIM- Chat Program

WinRAR- UnRAR Pro

DAEMON TOOLS- ISO And Other Image File Virtual Mounting

[FreakyMac]

Heres my list

OS: Windows Media Center 2005 SP2
Music: iTunes (For my iPod)
Video/DVD: VLC Media Player
File Extraction: 7zip (Small and Fast)
Torrent Downloading: uTorrent
Office: OpenOffice.org
Browser: Firefox
Email Client: Thunderbird.

[apowerr]

Firefox- Internet
Trend Micro PC Cillin- AV
uTorrent- Torrents
Photoshops CS3- It's better than GIMP
AIM, MSN, Xfire, Skype- Sorry but no all-in-one client covers all of these
Fraps- So I can know my FPS
Office 07- Better than OpenOffice and iWork (in my opinion of course_
And all of my games

I try to avoid iTunes for Windows as much as possible. I despise it, it's a performance hog and just looks out of place in the Windows environment. Plus the only BSODs I get are when I'm using iTunes. In fact just yesterday my friends PC BSOD'd because of iTunes.

[Colonel]

I try to avoid iTunes for Windows as much as possible. I despise it, it's a performance hog and just looks out of place in the Windows environment. Plus the only BSODs I get are when I'm using iTunes. In fact just yesterday my friends PC BSOD'd because of iTunes.

I've been using iTunes since it first came out for the PC and I have never once experienced a BSOD because of it...

[shanike]

office 2007 - work. no, openoffice won't meet specs.
QiP - icq client software, free.
MS virtual PC 2007 - essential virtualization tool
remote desktop, remote assistance
ultraVNC - remote control
paint.NET - freeware imitation of photoshop, i'm not a pro and this suits me more that the real thing.
vdownloader - download videos from youtube etc.; does not require installation
utorrent - torrent client
irfanview - the ultimate picture viewer
infrarecorder - cd burning tool, opensource, but works only on some burners.. i'm lucky, though..
itunes - ipod, music.. and yes, it's a good app, if you know how to use it.
itunes art importer - cool and simple app.
zune desktop theme - because that default blue theme got ugly as the time passed on.
powerarchiver - best archiving tool. ever.
object dock - dock for win
media player classic + k-lite codec pack - all you need to watch video
total commander - the ultimate file manager + freecommander 2007 at work.
bonkenc - opensource audio encoder, can manage almost all formats + cdripping + cddb
daemon tools - who needs cd's anyway?
+ dozens i've forgot...

[mtotho]

Operating System : Windows XP Pro SP2 (soon to be SP3) if you want media center for its skin, just Download it (google Royale Theme)

Anti Virus/System Tools
Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition -Extremely small footprint, as good as norton antivirus(symantec liturally owns Norton.. as in they have purchased the company) w/o annoyances.
Spybot S&D
HitMan Pro - does everything, its free.
Perfect Disk - Disk Defragmenter/ faster and more options than default windows defrag

Common/Needed:
Adobe Reader
EasyBCD - Edit Vista Bootloader
SpeedFan - Accurately monitor system load and temperatures
Winrar - Best archiving program
MS Office 2003 (way better than 2007, 2007 is too complicated and definately bigger footprint)
Vmware Workstation- Emulate Operating Systems.

Benchmarking:
Prime95- Very good stress tester
Cpu-z- See processor info
Sandra - Simple benchmarking program where you can benchmark everything
3D Mark -Best video benchmarker


Media:
Daemons tool- Best mounting Tool/Small Footprint/Free
DivX Codecs - Best Media codecs for video playing.
WinAMP- Unless your an apple fanboy or need itunes for your iPod, use this. Much smaller footprint, better for listening to music on your computer
uTorrent- small footprint, not flashy, efficient Torrent App.
Nero-To make disks of any type
PowerISO/MagicISO- For those nasty file formats such as apples .DMG and the stupid .Daa format

Other:
Acronis Disk Director Suite- Partitoner, i think its better than Norton, and personally i dont like Norton (other than Symantec) also Partition magic doesnt work on my comp.

If possible, avoid Installing iTunes/Quicktime, they are possibly the worst 2 programs you can put on windows (it is fine for mac).
Use Winamp and WMP+DivX Codec instead or just Winamp

I build and rebuild atleast 3 computers a week (be it my own or for someone else) and i fix about 20 computers a week (hardware, viruses, etc.) These are the programs i use, i have good experience and these are simple programs that work. For Antivirus Symantec corporate is all you need. And run Hitman pro once a week.

[Wayfarer247]

Internet - Firefox
Antivirus - Avast! Home Edition
iTunes - Music
Rainlendar2 - The best Desktop Calendar out there. Small, cute, effective, and extremely useful. Check it out!
Start Menu - Vista Start Menu: Because really, the start menu you find in Vista and Xp just don't cut it. This has been the best small application I have found.
Unzipping - 7-Zip.
Video - VLC

[Hartner X]

A must have program for Windows users are AVG Free, its one of the absolute best antivirus programs. It uses very little CPU power, is fast and the best, its FREE!

AVG Free

[semi-fly]

Adobe Acrobat
CCCP
Firefox + ADBlock
Microsoft Office 2007 or Open Office
Nero
Newsleecher
Norton Anti-virus
PowerPost
QuickPar
uTorrent
WinRAR