Most often used freeware/shareware (in absolutely no order)

FeedDemon

Feed demon is my current pod catcher, during the install It’ll ask you if you want
to open an account with them for syncing feeds, this isn’t necessary and you can
continue on. Free and pretty decent.

DopplerRadio

I used this pod catcher for years, and I liked it enough to recommend it if you’re looking
for a different catcher

Mp3-tag studio

I use this for bulk editing my mp3 tags before transferring to my i-pod or Sansa.
Properly set up, it will set the tags according to folder location, and mass set
them all (like if you want the genre’s set to be the same on your podcasts).
The XP version comes in 2 flavors: The free version has minor banner advertising
that isn’t remotely distracting, the paid version removes this. Oddly the Vista
version is a free beta with the advertising that works just fine.

Easy CD-DA Extractor

My favorite Music Utility. It will: rip audio from CD’s, convert the music to format
of your choice; get the artwork for the album; convert audio between formats
(including .flac); burn audio CD’s and video DVD’s. Typically all my CD’s get
converted to the lossless .flac onto my hard drive for long term, and get separately
converted to MP3 for transfer to the Sansa. It comes as a trial, then $35 to buy; well worth it.

Total Recorder

I’ve had this for years. It records any audio going through your desktop by installing
itself as a virtual audio card. It’s just been a handy utility over time. The Standard
Edition($20) is probably what most people would need, The Pro Edition($36) includes
editing features and the ability to add on screen recording(an additional $36).
Also available are some audio restoration plug-ins.

Handbrake

It used to be best known as a DVD ripper, but the latest release removed the decryption
component, and concentrates on video conversion. It will still do dvd’s, it just
won’t decrypt them(for that see AnyDVD, below). It will also do most video files
(including TS_folders) but won’t do WMV’s. It has a variety of video presets
such as I-pods and PSP’s. This is free.

AnyDVD

DVD decrypter used to work just fine, but it’s been having problems with the latest
DVD’s. AnyDVD is constantly updated, so your odds for the latest Disney Movie is
pretty good. Use this to rip the DVD to the harddrive, then use handbrake to convert
to the format of your choice. AnyDVD throws itself somewhere in the chain between
your DVD and the computer and sits there decrypting on the fly; seems to work OK.
The bad news is that this used to come with a lifetime update policy, I was lucky
and bought it just in time. Now you’re buying a subscription for updates for X
number of years up to lifetime depending on the price. Prices starting At $62
and go up from there.

DVD43

Another decrypter that works in the backround. This one is free, but it had some
issues with the tougher CD’s (read Wall-E).

Gadwin PrintScreen

Great free utility that will actually print your screen or selected window when you hit
the “print screen” key (remember that key?), will save to a file if you so desire.

BSR screen recorder

Great low cost screen recorder for tutorials and the like. It will record audio
from the screen or your microphone. This was the only lower cost program that would
let me zoom in and out during the recording. Note: on Vista you’ll need to disable
the Aeroglass to record properly. This comes as a trial that has a watermark in the
corner of the screen, so there’s plenty of opportunity to try it out. Also available
is a cool post editor that lets you add in text, callouts, simple editing. I did have
some problems with audio syncing when pasting clips together because of variable frame
rates, and editor would bomb out (I’m not sure if that was a Vista problem).
Ultimately, I moved to Camtasia Studio($300) as just more reliable. But again,
for low cost screen recording check this out. The recorder is $40, the editor
is an additional $50. You may want to also check out FrontCam and HyperCam

VLC media player

Everybody has this I know, but on the off chance you don’t have this and need to
play some screwball video format, here you go.

Truecrypt

Got a folder full of stuff that you don’t need the wife and kids getting into?
This turned out to be the perfect solution. Basically, it creates an encrypted
file of a specified size with a password. Truecrypt will open the file and windows
will treat it as a hard drive to read and write from, and then you close it. Free,
well vetted and simple.

KompoZer

If you need to throw up a web page fast and need a quick and dirty WYSIWYG editor,
other than Microsoft Word this is the best way to go.

HTML kit

When you start fooling around with straight HTML, after a while you realize that
you need an editor to make life easier. There’s a few, I just happened to run across
HTML-Kit. The basic editor(free)will do color coding, tag insertion, preview, online
validation, templates, and other stuff that I haven’t even got to yet. For $65 you
get a lot more features (unfortunately they do such a crappy job of explaining the
features that I’m not going to shell out. Too bad, I would have jumped for$40)
(additional eventually I did buy the advanced “HTML-Kit Tools” and while I think it is
a good product, I do have issues with lack of spell checker, and the fact that it
requires you check into their website periodically to renew the license, I forget
whether it’s every 3 months or 6 months, but I just can’t recommend it because of that.)

SpeedFan

This is another utility that everyone has. It monitors the various Temps available
on your motherboard and processor and will do a log if so desired. Came in handy,
when my tower fans were driving my wife nuts and I had to see if I could get away
with turning them down to low.

PTgui

This is photostitching software. I know everybody’s camera come with a free stitcher,
but this is a more professional version the will match the photo’s well and also
supply it as photoshop layers for adjustment. It’s pricey at $104 (pro version
at $195, support for HDR and more image correction features), but the results are excellent.