Programs for new computer

Finally, I can dig myself up to post new content. Yesterday, I couldn't access Google and Yahoo and there is a advertising pop up on my notebook. So, I realized that my computer was infected by some kind of spyware. First, I tried to remove it by myself through msconfig and regedit, but it's not work. Therefore, I had to format and reinstall Windows. After installing Windows, I still needed to install other software that I normally used. Sometimes, I forgeted the program that I don't frequently use. So, I want to list basic programs, that I used, as a reminder for me and which might prove useful to others.

Open source and Freeware

• Firefox - Popular web browser.
• Adobe Flash Player - Flash player plugin for Firefox
  
• 7zip - Archieve utilities, free and support zip, 7z, rar, etc.
  
• Imgburn - Nice image burner. support ISO, BIN, CUE, etc.
  
• Orbitdownloader - Download manager. After testing many download manager, I find it most favorable because of its GUI and usability.
  
• Unlocker - Release windows lock unused resources.
  
• Notepad++ - IMHO, Best editor for Windows.
  
• Daemon-tools - Virtual CD emulator.
  
• AIMP - Very nice music player from Russia, replacement for winamp.
  
• Itunes - necessary for apple product's owner such as Ipod, Iphone.
  
• KMPlayer - Movie player, can play almost every format without codecs
  
• Real Alternative - Needed for playing real's files (.rm) on KMPlayer
  
• Launchy - Launcher for windows. ALT+Space and there you go..
  
• Pidgin - IM, support many protocols, MSN, Gtalk, IRC etc. I hate to open many programs. Digsby is also great, but it doesn't support Thai yet.
  
• Skype - Free calls on the internet.
  
• Paint.Net - Less feature than Photoshop, but adequate for normal user.
  
• Picasa - Photo managerment from Google
  
• Sun JDK - Java for developer, normal user use JRE
  
• Eclipse - IDE for java developer
  
• Adobe Acrobat Reader - PDF file reader
  

Commercial

• Microsoft Office - I'm not used to OpenOffice yet. So right now, Microsoft Office is still good option.
  
• RealVNC - Remote control program, I use it to control my PC.
  
• Foxit PDF Editor - Editing PDF file with cheaper price than Adobe Acrobat.

Note: commercial software = nearly free software in Thailand because you can find a lot of pirate cd.

However, when I completed reinstall Windows and all programs, I still get pop up in my new Windows. Therefore, I had to reformat again (What a waste of time!). This time, I back up my windows with Norton ghost in Hiren's boot CD and install program one by one. Finally, the problem was in patch file for acrobat 9.0 which I loaded from Bittorrent. It contained virus. So, I switched to Foxit instead. I spent 2 days on reinstalling windows and finding spyware. This story shows that pirate software is dangerous, please use with caution.