This page contains a list of programs thats a must have for every windows user. some of them are free and some aren’t, but they’re all top notch in their own realm. I personally recommend all these through hands on experience and extensive usage. Note that there may be other products that do the same job, but I am not listing alternatives here, I am only listing the programs that I personally use on my machine, the software that I personally recommend and that I feel will be suffecient to run all operations on your computer smoothly and efficiently.

1. PC Protection

► SpyBot Search & Destroy | License: FREE
Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer. Spybot also can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your system, which is especially useful if you share your computer. Modules chosen for removal can be sent directly to the included file shredder, ensuring complete elimination from your system. For advanced users, it allows you to fix Registry inconsistencies related to adware and to malicious program installations. The handy online-update feature ensures that Spybot always has the most current and complete listings of adware, dialers, and other uninvited system residents.
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► Ad-Aware Personal | License: FREE
With the ability to scan your RAM, Registry, hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising, and tracking components, Ad-Aware 2007 easily can clean your system, allowing you to maintain a higher degree of privacy while you surf the Web.

Ad-Aware 2007 includes a redesigned engine, improved code sequence identification, incremental definition updates, one-click Web-history cleanup, multiple browser support, and other new features. Version 7.0.2.3 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Note: After installation, the program will ask you for a registration code. Just hit Cancel to run the free version.
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► Avast Antivirus Home Edition | License: FREE
Avast Home Edition is a complete ICSA certified. Avast includes the following components: On demand scanner with skinnable simple interface, just select what do you want to scan in which way and press the Play button; On access scanner, special providers to protect the most of available e-mail clients; Instant messaging- ICQ, Miranda; Network traffic - intrusion detection, lightweight firewall; P2P protection for Kazaa, BitTorrent; Web shield - monitors and filter all HTTP traffic; NNTP scanner -scans all Usenet Newsgroup traffic and all operations with files on PC; Boot time scanner - scans disks in the same way and in the same time as Windows CHKDSK does.
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► Spyware Blaster | License: FREE
SpywareBlaster doesn’t scan for and clean spyware–it prevents it from being installed in the first place. SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, dialers, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted programs. It can also block spyware/tracking cookies in IE and Mozilla/Firefox, and restrict the actions of spyware/ad/tracking sites. With the built-in Check for Updates feature, you can help ensure your protection is up-to-date. SpywareBlaster also includes a System Snapshot feature, which lets you take a snapshot of your computer in its clean state and later revert, undoing many changes made by spyware and browser hijackers.
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► ZoneAlarm Firewall | License: FREE
ZoneAlarm is designed to protect your DSL- or cable-connected PC from hackers. This program includes four interlocking security services: a firewall, an application control, an Internet lock, and Zones. The firewall controls the door to your computer and allows only traffic you understand and initiate. The Internet lock blocks Internet traffic while your computer is unattended or while you’re not using the Internet, and it can be activated automatically with your computer’s screensaver or after a set period of inactivity. Zones monitor all activity on your computer and alert you when a new application attempts to access the Internet. Version 7.0.362 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.
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2. Audio-Video Editors + Converters

► AVI/MPEG/ASF/WMV Splitter | License: Shareware - $34.95 to purchase.
AVI/MPEG/ASF/WMV Splitter splits, cuts, or trims a large video file into smaller video clips. Using the included video player, you can easily cut files by time or the selection as needed. The program supports AVI, DivX, MPEG, RM, ASF, WMV, and WMA files, as well as large video files, even larger then 2GB. It’s very fast, without any quality loss, and features a user-friendly interface.
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► AVI/MPEG/RM/WMV Joiner | License: License: Shareware - $24.95 to purchase.
AVI/MPEG/RM/WMV Joiner combines multiple video clips into one large movie file. You can join multiple (same-format) AVI, MPEG, VOB, RM/RMVB, or ASF/WMV video files into a single continuous file. The program supports AVI, RM, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, VOB, and ASF/WMV files. You can join as many video files as you wish, and the program makes it easy to take apart and rearrange the clips into any sequence.
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► Total Video Converter | License: Free to try; $45.95 to buy
Total Video Converter converts all video files to 3GP, MP4, PSP, iPod, SWF, FLV, DVD, VCD, AVI. Total Video Converter is a complete solution for video conversion which supports reading, playing all kinds of video and audio formats and converting them to the popular video formats. Total Video Converter includes a powerful media conversion engine internally so that you can convert media files with very fast speed.
→ Get it here..

► GoldWave | License: Free to try; $45.00 to buy
GoldWave is a professional digital audio editor. It is one of the most popular and highest rated audio editors for Windows. Use it to play, edit, mix, restore, and analyze audio, or apply special effects, such as fade, equalizer, doppler, mechanize, echo, reverse, time warp, noise reduction, pop/click filtering, and more. It is perfect for voice-over or dictation work, editing music for dance programs, creating podcasts, restoring audio from old vinyl records, or just having fun. New files can be recorded from a cassette deck, turntable, radio, microphone, etc. or digitally copied from an audio CD. Real-time visuals are displayed during playback and recording. See audio in ways you’ve never seen it before. GoldWave supports MP3, OGG, WAV, WMA, and many more audio formats and performs batch conversions and processing.
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3. CD Burners

► Nero 8 Ultra Edition | License: Free to try; $79.99 to buy
Nero 8 Ultra Edition is a software solution that brings the digital world to your PC with features that make it fun and easy to create multimedia projects with high-quality, professional results. Create MP3 mixes and edit vacation videos in high-definition format. Share content around the world with simple Internet upload functions. Burn a disc with just one click, and then enjoy it in any room in your house with versatile streaming features. Rest easy knowing your data is safe in the event of a system crash or a damaged disc. Nero 8 Ultra Edition lets you live the digital life with cutting-edge technology and world-class features.

Version 8 adds support for Windows Vista, increased Blu-ray and HD-DVD recording and playback support, an improved graphical interface, and improved video-menu authoring and transition effects.
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4. Video and Audio Codecs

► K-Lite Codec Pack | License: FREE
K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools. Codecs are required to encode and/or decode (play) audio and video. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play 100%% of all the movies that you download from the internet.
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5. Image Editors and Viewers.

► ACDSee Photo Manager | License: Free to try; $49.99 to buy
If you want to organize, find and share images quickly, ACDSee 10 is the perfect solution. Use keywords, categories and your own Windows filing system to instantly locate the right image. Easily correct or improve those less than perfect photos. Share your favorites by email, on your free online album or as high-quality prints. Version 10 allows to see your photos on a virtual calendar, upload your photos to Flickr, add effects to selected areas of your photos, and create Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.
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► Adobe Photoshop | License: Free to try; $650 to buy
Photoshop is the professional standard in digital imaging, with an endless selection of drawing tools, filters, and color-adjustment capabilities for manipulating items in almost any way. Originally designed for bitmap images, Photoshop lets you create eye-catching typography by placing text on paths or within shapes, perform shadow and highlight correction, explore expanded color-matching features, parlay efficient layer comps, and preview, search, and share images. Oh, and it’s also the premiere program for managing home digital printing.
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6. Hard Disk Utilities.

► DriveImage XML | License: FREE
DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives. The program allows you to backup logical drives and partitions to image files, browse these images, view and extract files, restore these images to the same or a different drive, copy directly from drive to drive. Image creation uses Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe “hot images” even from drives currently in use. Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools, so you’ll never again be stuck with a useless backup. Restore images to drives without having to reboot. DriveImage XML also runs from a WinPE boot CD-ROM.
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► Easy Recovery Professional | License: Free to try; $499.00 to buy
EasyRecovery Professional can recover all file types, plus it has added viewing capabilities to allow you to preview recovered files. For the most severe recovery situations, EasyRecovery Professional contains added raw recovery support for over 290 specific file types including document files, MIDI music files, voice files, digital media files, and more! Plus, you can utilize the Emergency Boot Media to recover data from systems that cannot boot to Windows. Features include: · The most advanced data recovery, file repair, and disk diagnostic capabilities available. · Superior disk diagnostic tools including Ontrack Data Advisor®. · Improved file type searching capabilities. · Added viewing capabilities support providing a view identical to the display of the file in its native application. Note : EasyRecovery Professional Trial identifies and allows you to view inaccessible or deleted data and corrupted documents recoverable with a full edition of EasyRecovery Professional, while offering full repair capabilities for Zip files!
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7. Internet Utilities.

► Internet Download Manager | License: Free to try; $24.95 to buy
Internet Download Manager is a tool for increasing download speeds by up to 5 times, and for resuming, scheduling, and organizing downloads. The program will resume unfinished downloads due to network problems, or unexpected power outages. The program features a full-fledged site grabber that downloads files that are specified with filters, for example, all pictures from a Web site, different parts of web sites, or complete web sites for offline browsing. The program supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and MMS protocols, and has an adaptive download accelerator for MP3 audio and MPEG video files. Internet Download Manager can be used to download FLV videos from YouTube, Google Video, MySpaceTV, and other popular sites. It integrates into Opera, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Firefox, MSN, AOL, and into any application that uses FTP, or HTTP protocols. Internet Download Manager fully supports Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7.
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► Azureus | License: FREE
Azureus is a easy-to-use Java BitTorrent client, with support for 27 languages. Azureus connects to the BitTorrent network. BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer protocol designed to transfer files. Users connect directly to send and receive portions of a file, while a central tracker coordinates the action of all peers and manages connections without knowledge of the contents of the files being distributed. With BitTorrent, users upload at the same time they download, so network bandwidth is managed as efficiently as possible. BitTorrent is designed to work better than other file-transfer protocols as the number of people interested in a certain file increases.
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► FileZilla | License: FREE
FileZilla is an FTP program for file uploading and downloading to and from your FTP site, server, or host. The program lets you transfer files and navigate among folders, Web sites, and your computer. This software enables you to perform multiple file transfers simultaneously.
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► Mozilla FireFox | License: FREE
Mozilla Firefox is a fast, full-featured Web browser that makes browsing more efficient than ever before. Firefox includes pop-up blocking; a tab-browsing; integrated Google searching; simplified privacy controls that let you cover your tracks more effectively; a streamlined browser window that shows you more of the page than any other browser; and a number of additional features that work with you to help you get the most out of your time online.
→ Get it here.

8. Media Players.

► VLC Media Player | License: FREE
VLC (initially VideoLAN Client) is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MP3, and OGG, as well as for DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It also can be used as a server for unicast or multicast streams in IPv4 or IPv6 on a high-bandwidth network.

The most prominent additions to version 0.8.6 are probably Windows Media Video 9 and Flash Video. Other important changes are improved H.264 decoding, better Windows Unicode support, and a full-screen controller
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► RealPlayer 11 beta | License: FREE
RealPlayer 11 beta gives you the ability to download videos from thousands of Web sites with just one click. Watch them whenever and wherever you want. Find the Internet Video youre looking for, and Real it in. Download Internet videos with one click, build your own video playlists, or burn your favorite videos to CD or DVD with RealPlayer Plus.

Version 11 beta adds the ability to download streaming audio and video from the Internet, among other features.
→ Get it here.

► Windows Media Player 11 | License: FREE
The latest iteration of Windows Media Player adds a lot of useful bells and whistles, succeeding in many ways as a competitor to iTunes for Windows. A tree-style file directory makes it easy to find the music you want quickly, and a simple search box gets you where you want to go immediately. A five-star rating system lets you rate your music, then organize it by rating, so it’s easy to group your favorite songs. Drag-and-drop functionality and a handy Create Playlist button take any confusion out of the process of making your own playlists. Creating the perfect mix CD is equally as easy–simply drag and drop songs into a Burn List in the right panel, then click Start Burn to finish. Ripping was reasonably fast on our test machine, and the program let us pick our preferred bit rate and audio file type.
→ Get it here.