Free productivity software
OpenOffice – I recommend OpenOffice as an alternative to Microsoft Word
Notepad++ – similar to Notepad, this is a basic text editor, and I find it extremely helpful for making to-do lists
Audacity – I use this audio recording software to provide feedback to my students in mp3 format, and it’s very easy to learn and use
ShadowExplorer – if you are using Windows Vista or Win 7, and you accidentally delete a file or files, you may be able to recover the lost files using this program, which makes use of the “shadow copy” of your hard drive that Windows creates periodically.
Free anti-virus/anti-spyware/anti-malware protection
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware – I recommend trying this software if you think that you have a virus
Microsoft Security Essentials – this is what I use for real-time protection
Comodo Firewall – this is a great firewall, though I only use the firewall (I select middle option for “Optimum” protection, and I also join the threatcast community)
PeerBlock – this is for use with torrent programs like uTorrent
Mozilla Firefox – if you haven’t yet switched to Mozilla Firefox, I suggest you do so right now (it will copy your Internet Explorer bookmarks for you and even your browsing history, if you want)
My favorite Firefox add-ons
AutoPager – this automatically loads the “next page” for you, and it works for many websites, including Google
NoScript – this automatically blocks flash videos from playing, giving the user control over what videos are played, and helping to prevent both virus attacks and memory overload
Video DownloadHelper – this makes it easy to save flash videos, including YouTube videos
Morning Coffee – I set it up so that when I push the coffee button, and all of my various email login pages open in different tabs
1-ClickWeather – this adds the weather forecast to the top of the browser (to right of the “Help” menu), so I never have to actually look outside