This section has been created to give normal computer users a list of useful free software to help keep their system and daily activities running as smooth as possible. I use a lot of these different software myself.

Your best bet for web surfing. Provides a much faster and safer browsing experience than stock Internet Explorer, this browser is a must have on your computer.

Download: Get Firefox

As a fairly new software, there hasn't been very many major tests with this one, and because of that hasn't appeared as a major contender on many sites. However I decided to try this out a few months ago, and found it to be very good. Simple, easy to use, and pretty fast while still being very effective. I definitely would recommend this over AVG, Avast and Antivir.

Download: Get PC Tools AV

I have yet to run many tests with this one, but I find that it is recommended through a lot of other places as being one of the best. Because not programs will find everything, I would still recommend also trying out Ad-Aware or Spybot S&D along side it for extra protection.

Download: Get SuperAntiSpyware

CCleaner optimizes and cleans unused files on your computer, freeing up any needed disk space. It does a great job of not only cleaning out windows files, but other programs as well that might often be overlooked. With it is also a registry cleaner that does a great job of making sure your system runs fast at all times.

Download: Get CCleaner

From the same people that made CCleaner, they also made a really good free hard drive defragmenting program. It runs fast and gets the job done. You can even defragment specific files by selecting them in the file list in the program. I would recommend this over the stock windows defragmenting program.

Download: Get Defraggler

I have yet to try this one out also, but has been recommended over many sites as a great CD/DVD burning program that does everything you could want it to. I currently use Infrarecorder although I will probably be switching to CDBurnerXP myself soon. ImgBurn is also on my recommended list for being powerful and lightweight.

Download: Get CDBurnerXP

A great free open source alternative to Microsoft Office, with basically all the same features and compatibility. I use this software myself, and highly recommend it, especially for those not wanting to fork out the cash for MS Office.

Download: Get OpenOffice

This is a great lightweight media player with all the necessary codecs built in. If you can play a file in Windows Media Player, trying playing it in this. Alternatively, you can also download the CCCP which is a pack of codecs which also includes a few media players.

Download: Get VLC Media Player

Both software are great alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and Jasc Paintshop Pro, and has much more features than the stock MS Paint. Try them out, see which you like best.

Download: Get GIMP | Get Paint.NET

Here is a list of other free software that are useful but would be too long to write up on every single one..

Recuva: Download

· Easy to use file recovery program. Made by the same people as CCleaner.

Virtual CloneDrive: Download

· For a simple, fast, image mounting and virtual drive tool. Also see Daemon-Tools.

Pidgin: Download

· Simple and easy to use IM program which connects to MSN/Yahoo/AIM and more.

Foxit Reader: Download

· Lightweight and simple PDF reader. Good alternative to Adobe's.

Notepad++: Download

· A fast, easy, and lightweight notepad replacement with much more powerful features.