First few things I do on a clean install

[freemymind]

Useful apps/programs I like
All free here

#1 Firefox I can't stand exploder. then I add Foxmarks, and Video Down loader add-ons and some decent themes.

no particular order:
Notepad++
Cain & Abel
Netstumbler
DVDshrink
Wireshark
Nmap
Nessus             
Putty               SSH
VMware server   virtual computers/ISO
TightVNC          remote X
Adobe Reader    read pdf
Belarc Advisor    system info
Spybot search and destroy  spyware
RegscrubXP  Registry tools and tweeks
Open Office  Office
Blender  3D
VLC media player
Winamp mp3's

AVG free antivirus

and I like most of the apps covered here for USB drive:
http://portableapps.com/

will come back and add links and such. I know not all these are really tools but allot of this stuff just makes life better when dealing with windows.

[ManaGod]

Agreed, These do make life easier when doing diff things on the computer.

I'll tell ya, the tool on this site I loved was Net Tools 4, now there's a useful tool!

*goes off topic*
Yo I'm new here, anyone know why some of the Zips I download in the win32 database have passwords?

What do I do about it?

*EDIT* Ops I found it http://www.leetupload.com/database/%21%21%21Password%20for%20most%20archives%20is%20in%20here.txt

[9077]

http://im.qq.com/qq/mo.shtml?/download/qqe.shtml

maybe this IM can make you more interest on Chinese.

if you don't know how 2 reg the account
mailto me please.
I'm answer you from Sept. 3rd to 6th.

[nullCypher]

The very first things I do on a fresh install: disable hide extensions for known file types and hide system files in folder options. The first, hiding extensions can be a security hole too. Replace trojan icon with text-file icon and name it readme.txt.exe.