Anti-Rootkit

• Panda ARK [ http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/antirootkit ] Panda Anti-RootKit scans computers for hidden items in running processes, the Windows registry, and local hard disks. On detecting a malicious rootkit, Panda ARK completely eliminates it along with all of the programs it could be hiding, including files, processes, registry entries and the ADS's associated to the rootkits. Download requires free registration (you can enter bogus information). Or you can try this [ direct download ].

Anti-Spam

• Mailwasher [ http://www.mailwasher.net ] The easiest way to check and manage your e-mails before you download them.

• A-Squared [ http://www.emsisoft.com ] An on demand anti-malware scanner. You must setup an account (free) in order to use the automatic updater.
  
  
• Ad-Aware [ http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware ] Ad-Aware Personal provides advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components.
  
  
• AVG Anti-Spyware [ http://www.ewido.net/en ] Ewido anti-spyware is now AVG Anti-Spyware. .After the installation, a free 30-day trial version containing all the extensions of the full version will be activated. At the end of the trial, these extensions will be deactivated and the program will turn into a feature limited on-demand-only freeware version.
  
  
• Spybot Search & Destroy [ http://www.spybot.info ] Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer.
  
  
• SpyCatcher Express [ http://www.tenebril.com ] SpyCatcher Express protects all Web surfers by providing the safest and most advanced anti-spyware solution available as a free service. It protects against next-generation, mutating spyware and puts users back in control of their PCs. Uses a highly effective resident shield to stop malware in their tracks.

• AntiVirus [ http://www.pctools.com/free-antivirus] PC Tools AntiVirus Free Edition provides world-leading protection, with rapid database updates, OnGuard real-time protection and comprehensive system scanning to ensure your system remains safe and virus free. PC Tools products are trusted and used by millions of people everyday to protect their home and business computers against online threats.
  
  
• Avast! [ http://www.avast.com ] Full-featured anti-virus package with Anti-virus kernel, Automatic updates, Simple User Interface, Virus Chest, Resident protection, System integration, P2P and IM Shields, Integrated Virus Cleaner, Network Shield, Support for 64-bit Windows, Web Shield, Internationalization.
  
  
• AVG [ http://free.grisoft.com ] AVG Free is an anti-virus protection tool developed by Grisoft for home use; it has fewer options than the pro version, but still includes the following: automatic updates, real-time resident shield, virus quarantine, eMail scanner, and the ability to schedule scans.
  
  
• BitDefender [ http://www.bitdefender.com ] BitDefender 8 Free Edition is an on-demand-only virus scanner which incorporates the award-winning BitDefender scanning engines. Very simple and easy to use. Includes automatic updates and the ability to schedule system scans.
  
• For more anti-virus programs check out these links:
  [ http://www.free-av.com ] [ http://www.clamwin.com ]
  [ http://www.vcatch.com/home.html ]

Browser

• Firefox [ http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ ] Firefox helps to protect you from viruses, spyware and pop-ups. Enjoy improvements to performance, ease of use and privacy. It's easy to import your favorites and settings and get started. Many extensions are available at [ https://addons.mozilla.org ]. Here is an Adblock file that works very well: adblock-filters.txt
  
  
• SeaMonkey [ http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey ] All-in-one: web-browser, advanced e-mail and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML editing made simple -- all your Internet needs in one application. Many extensions are available at
  [ https://addons.mozilla.org/seamonkey/extensions ].

eMail

• Thunderbird [ http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird ] Enjoy safe, fast, and easy email, with intelligent spam filters, quick message search, and customizable views. Brought to you by Mozilla, Thunderbird makes email better. Many extensions are available at [ https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird ]. For built-in calendar functionality check out the extension Lightning.
  

Firewall

• Comodo [ http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com ] Comodo Firewall Pro is a full version freeware firewall - not a feature limited edition. Very simple and effective to use with its default settings, CFP has many advanced features and settings that you can use to customize it to your liking. Securely protect your computers from internet traffic both incoming and outgoing. Your computer will be protected while it is booting up. Blocks crackers, spyware, and trojans from communicating over the internet. Protects you by stopping intruders from accessing your PC; makes your PC invisible to crackers.
  
  
• Firewall Plus [ http://www.pctools.com/firewall ] PC Tools Firewall Plus is a powerful personal firewall that protects your computer by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network. By monitoring applications that connect to the network Firewall Plus can stop Trojans, backdoors, keyloggers and other malware from damaging your computer and stealing your private information.
  
  
• ZoneAlarm [ http://www.zonelabs.com ] Solid security foundation for your Internet-connected PC. Blocks crackers, spyware, and trojans from communicating with the Internet. Stops intruders from accessing your PC; makes your PC invisible to crackers. Provides general security controls. The freeware version of ZoneAlarm is a simple firewall only, and does not contain all of the settings that are available from the full version.
  

• For more firewalls checkout the following links:
  [ http://www.r-firewall.com ]
  

File/Disk Management

• 7-zip [ http://www.7-zip.org ] 7-Zip is a file archiver with a very high compression ratio when you use the programs native "7z" format. Also extracts and compresses other archive formats such as .zip, and .rar. 7-Zip is free software distributed under the GNU LGPL.
  
  
• Allway Sync [ http://www.alwaysync.com ] Allway Sync is a free file and folder synchronization software for Windows. It uses innovative synchronization algorithms to synchronize your data between desktop PCs, laptops, USB drives and more. Allway Sync combines bulletproof reliability with an extremely easy-to-use interface.
  

• Gimp [ http://www.gimp.org ] GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the open source equivalent of Adobe's Photoshop. It is freely distributed software for such tasks as photo editing, retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems, in many languages.
  
  
• GIMPShop [ http://www.gimpshop.net ] GIMPShop is a free Open Source image editor that is similar to the popular Adobe Photoshop. Specifically GIMPShop is a version of the GIMP that has been edited to be more user-friendly for Photoshop users.
  
  
• Inkscape [ http://www.inkscape.org ] Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and grouping. Inkscape also supports Creative Commons meta-data, node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing, and more. It imports formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and others and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.
  

• Foxit [ http://foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php ] Foxit is an extremely FAST reader for PDF's (Portable Document Format) that allows you to view and print PDF documents. It is small (the download is less than 1MB), so it downloads quickly. It doesn't need any installation (copy it to a folder in which you want to keep it), so you can start to run it as soon as you've downloaded it. And It starts up immediately, so you don't need to wait for an annoying "Welcome" screen and patent numbers to disappear.
  
  
• Lightning [ http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/lightning ] Lightning brings the Sunbird calendar to the popular email client, Mozilla Thunderbird. Since it's an extension, Lightning is tightly integrated with Thunderbird, allowing it to easily perform email-related calendaring tasks. Should I use Lightning or Sunbird?
  
  
• OpenOffice.org [ http://www.openoffice.org ] OpenOffice is a complete office suite that is fully Microsoft Office compatible and 100% free. Easy to use and has a familiar user interface. Create documents, spreadsheets, eye-catching presentations, design dramatic illustrations, and even convert your files into PDF's.
  
  
• Sunbird [ https://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird ] Mozilla Sunbird is a cross-platform stand alone calendar application, built upon Mozilla Toolkit. Our goal is to bring Mozilla-style ease-of-use to your calendar, without tying you to a particular storage solution.Should I use Lightning or Sunbird?
  
  
• WordWeb [ http://www.wordweb.info ] WordWeb is an indispensable dictionary & thesaurus that is free for personal use. It can be used to look up words from within most programs. Highlight the word in question and click the WordWeb icon in the tray for an instant word check. It also works great as a spell checking program, and it allows you to search the internet if the program does not find the word for which you are looking.  

•   = Vista compatible