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Mark Norgren
Asked: 2009-05-01 05:14:39 +0800 CST

What is your list of programs to install to Windows after a fresh install?

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I am looking for others' list of program that absolutely must be installed to a fresh install of Windows before going any further. I hope to compile a list here to use as reference for all new Windows installs/restores. Automating this list of programs installation is the next step.

Some great lists so far! I will continue to monitor this and then make a list of everything I use. Another thought, has anyone come up with a way to automate this? Possibly going to each programs download page, downloading the most recent version, and installing? I may way on this as well, any ideas would be appreciated!

As far as the type of machine, most of mine are hybrids i.e- server, workstation, development machine. So all of the above!

windows linux

28 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Basically, here is my software list (maybe not completly up to date) :

    Edition

    • Pspad: A free and really powerful editor.
    • NVU: An HTML editor.
    • Kompozer: The NVU bug-fixes release.

    System

    • Process Explorer: Replace the default windows task manager by Process Explorer!
    • Autoruns: Want to know what is launched when Windows starts? Try autoruns!
    • CubicExplorer: An alternative to the Windows Explorer, with bookmarks, tabs...
    • Supercopier: Replace the default copy tool of Windows.
    • Unlocker: A process is locking a resource on your disk? Use unlocker to solve this problem.
    • Console²: Change the DOS command for Console², with tabs, better UI...
    • Taskbar shuffle: Rearrange the programs on your Windows taskbar by dragging and dropping them.

    Tools

    • Stroke It: Execute commands, start programs only with a mouse gesture! Magic!
    • 7-zip: A free file archiver.
    • Ditto: A copy-paster manager, to not be limited to one element in your clipboard.
    • Dirkey: Use Ctrl-0 to Ctrl-9 to access your preferred directories on your disks on Windows Explorer.
    • Print screen: A free tool to create screenshots, with a lot of options...
    • Launchy: Type Ctrl-Space, then write the first letters of the application, and it's launched!
    • Keybreeze: Almost the same thing as Launchy.
    • PDF Creator: To transform any document to the PDF format (a new printer is added in your configuration).

    Development

    • Tortoise CVS: A CVS extension for Windows Explorer.
    • Eclipse: Java development IDE.
    • Netbeans: Another Java development IDE, much better as Eclipse when you need to create Java application with Swing (this is my opinion ;o) ).

    Multimedia

    • Foobar 2000: A powerful media player. But needs a lot of configuration...
    • XnView: A powerful image viewer. Also offers lot of conversion controls.

    Internet

    Firefox plugin

    Edited to add links, as requested.

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  3. Don't forget an anti-virus (fox example Avast) and a PDF reader...

    By the way, if you're only reading PDF, do not install Acrobat Reader but a lighter PDF reader like Foxit reader. You will gain a lot of time while opening PDF !

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  4. I would just add

    • Total Commander - excellent file manager, also works as ftp client and more
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  5. In addition to some of those mentioned above: MagicDisk. It mounts ISO images in Windows so it isn't necessary to burn a bunch of CDs/DVDs. And it's freeware.

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    • putty
    • winscp
    • SciTE
    • 7zip
    • Java
    • Python
    • JEdit
    • unxutils
    • vlc
    • firefox
    • OpenOffice
    • PasswordSafe
    • TrueCrypt
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  8. Every computer:

    • latest video drivers
    • Symantec Endpoint 11 (antivirus)
    • Lavasoft Ad-Aware
    • Royale theme for WinXP (integrated in my install disc)
    • OpenType Font File Properties extension (Microsoft)
    • User Profile Hive Cleanup (Microsoft)
    • Windows Media Player 11
    • Microsoft Management Console 3.0
    • ThumbView Lite, PSP Thumbnail Handler, VTF Shell extensions
    • Matroska shell extension
    • Taskbar Shuffle
    • Visual Tasktips
    • IconViewer
    • Kel's Vista Drive Indicator
    • Windows Media Player Tag Support Extender
    • Combined Community Codec Pack
    • SHN Plugin (another codec)
    • DirectX 9.0 Web Setup
    • Internet Explorer 8
    • ODF Addin for MS Office
    • Psychedelia Visualizations Pack for Windows Media Player
    • Save as PDF and XPS for MS Office
    • Nero Burning Rom
    • O&O Defrag Professional 11
    • APC Powerchute Personal Edition
    • Quicktime
    • everything from Sysinternals
    • Daemon Tools
    • Adobe Acrobat Pro
    • Process Tamer
    • Paint.NET
    • Adobe SVG Viewer (until IE supports SVG natively)
    • Unlocker 1.8.7
    • WinRAR
    • WinSplit Revolution

    My computer:

    • ClipX
    • FileZilla
    • Virtual PC 2007
    • Microsoft Pro Photo Tools
    • Firefox, Opera, and Safari (for cross-browser testing)
    • Windows Mobile emulator
    • Blackberry emulator
    • Dexpot 1.4
    • FeedReader
    • Google Earth
    • hextreme
    • icoFx
    • Notepad+
    • Oomph microformats plugin for Internet Explorer
    • Mozilla Prism
    • Spiceworks
    • uTorrent

    There's probably more that I can't remember.

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  9. I cant believe only two mentions of VLC. It plays anything you can throw at it!

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  10. TreeSize Free.

    Gotta have it. It keeps my disk usage in check.

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