Some must have software for anyone trying to get the most out of your system. Here are a few that I use.


Anti-Virus

AVG 7.5 - this baby runs in the background using very little resources. Right now it's using ~3 -4 Mb of memory on my 9300. Plenty of updates to help keep your computer virus free.

You can find it here get the most up-to-date version. The paid version includes a lot of cool features too, though I have never used it.

Avast - Another good anti-virus program, that also provides a free version. Never used this myself, and the person who posted it never said what he liked best about it.

You can get it here



Hardware Control

NHC - Simply put. This program can control the voltages on your CPU, has plenty of options to help save/conserve power making. Lots of user friendly options. If you want to undervolt your CPU, this is the tool. If you have done a pinmod (9300s) and think adding a few more voltages might help stable the CPU, this is your program. *Does NOT work with Vista

You can find it here

I8KFanGUI - This neat little program can allow you complete control over the speed of your FANs in your Dell laptop. *Does work with Vista

You can get it here

I9KFanGui - This program is basically the same as the one above, but it does have a different layout, and it's the one I prefer to use personally on my i9300. Never had a problem with it.

You can get it here

ATi Tool - If you want to overclock your video card, this program should be at the top of your list. Works with nVidia as well so don't let the name fool you. Just make sure your card isn't locked out, and overclocking can be as easy as moving a lever up and down.

You can get it here

RivaTuner - RivaTuner is a complete powerful tweaking environment, providing you everything you may need to tune NVIDIA GPU based display adapters. The widest driver-level Direct3D / OpenGL and system tuning options, flexible profiling system allowing to make custom settings on per-application basis, both driver-level and low-level hardware access modes, unique diagnostic and realtime hardware monitoring features and exclusive power user oriented tools like built-in registry editor and patch script engine make RivaTuner's feature set absolutely unmatched.

You can get it here

Driver Cleaner Professional 1.5 - This program will completely remove your video card drivers. Perfect for upgrading video cards and drivers.

You can get it here


Hardware Information

CPU-Z - Now this program is THE program for overclockers. It also works great with NHC. It will tell you information about your CPU, RAM, Motherboard, and other system devices.

You can get it here

GPU-Caps Viewer - This program is similar to Ati-Tool and CPU-Z, only it's for your video card. (Note, you can not use this program to overclock the card) It will just tell you all the information you need to know about your GPU. Nifty program, and it's less than half a Mb download.

You can get it here




Benchmarking Programs

3Dmark05 and 3DMark06 - This program will test your entire computer. It's better suited towards gamers, as it mostly tests the 3D aspect of your computer. So if you like to play games, you can use one of these as a reference to let you know what that new video card, cpu and/or ram did for your system. I will say that the video card upgrades gives you the most points in the benchmark though.

You can find them both here

PCMark05 - This program will test your overall computer computing ability. This is for people who don't necessarily use their computer as a gaming machine, but for normal home usage. Very nice benchmarking program, especially if you do a lot of home work on it, such as photo editing, web browsing, word processing, ect...

You can get it here

Super Pi - This program is for testing the raw processing power of your CPU by calculating Pi, the smaller the number the better the results. This is a great program if you overclock your CPU. You can see what those extra 200Mhz can give you.

You can get it here

wPrime - This program is similar to Super Pi, only it does Square Root calculations. Again, the lower the number, the better.

You can get it here



Spyware Removal

Ad-Aware SE Personal - This program will move some of the easy adware from your computer, its updated frequently and very easy to use. Just get the free version, unless you want some of the features of the paid versions.

You can get it here


Advanced WindowsCare v2 - cleans up registry, spyware, etc, and repairs problems with the Performance Aspect of your computer. It works good enough I saw a difference in my PCMark score, so it's doing something right.

You can get it here

CCleaner - CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

You can get it here

AVG Anti-spyware Free - AVG Anti-Spyware Free is a free anti-spyware protection tool developed by GRISOFT for home use. We invite you to join the millions of satisfied customers worldwide who have downloaded the software and now enjoy the benefits of AVG Anti-Spyware Free.

You can download it here


System Utilities

Active Ports - This is a cool program. Very nice GUI program for showing ALL active/open ports on your windows machine, what process has them open and what the remote address is. Pretty useful.

You can get it here

Process Explorer - This has to be the best program for Windows. If your familiar with LSOF in Linux, this is Windows GUI version. It will tell you all kinds of infomation about all running processes, including locations, parent programs, ports it's using, etc... Can be a very handy tool for tracking down problem programs.

You can get it here


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Alright guys, if you have any programs that you use and think others should know about it, let me know and I'll add it to the list.

saved for future use

Never used AVG, but I really like Avast and they have a free version too. NHC is great, but nothing for Vista users yet so I'm waiting for that version. I like 18K big time and it does work with Vista.

I added Avast to the list, I've personally never used this myself but I have been using AVG for a little while and so far I am pleased with it's results. I almost forget it's running down there.

-low overhead.

-doesn't cause conflicts like Norton/McAfee.

-reliable, doesn't crash.

-updates often.

-free version is very good, but pro version has scheduling etc which is better.

-I introduced the Server version to our organization and have the Pro version on all workstations. VERY good results.

-Have Avast for almost 5 years now (I renew in 3 year chunks which provides very good value). I will continue to use Avast indefinitely.

-does what it's supposed to do. I get a LOT of spam and Avast always does it's job.

-come to think of it, I've probably used AVG (I've evaluated every package out there at least once). I always come back to Avast and will not leave ever again.

No one else has any programs/software that they use?

maybe one of these: rivatuner (not so much), gimp, fraps, a defragmenter, and possibly driver cleaner
Edit: forgot driver cleaner wasnt free anymore but theres a link to an older version around here somewhere...ill find it later

Advanced Windows Care v2 is nice, cleans up registry, spyware, etc, and repairs problems with the Performance Aspect of your computer. It works good enough I saw a difference in my PCMark score, so it's doing something right.

<a href="http://www.iobit.com/AdvancedWindowsCarePersonal/">Get It Here</a>

I love driver cleaner, but since it wasn't free anymore I didn't include it. Was hoping to find something similar that was free though.

for those who were wise and kept their previously free downloads of drivercleaner thats definitely on the list =). Rivatuner also for OCing. Doesn't work in vista apparently but nTune does. Did anyone mention CCleaner??? Great for getting rid of all that old crap

That might have something to do with the fact that there is a thread almost the exact same that was made about a week before yours


Oh... it was made by me

except hes trying to consolidate all the programs in one post...

I'm gonna try to find Drivercleaner 1.5

Found it and added it.

I like this one a little better, cause it is divided up and gives good descrips, also its not games, and office, and photoshop..

all the stuff everyone knows about, its the stuff that is somewhat underground to the common internet cruiser, and provides great performance increases and security.

Photoshop provides none of this.