Essential Windows utilities or apps?

[davidlv]

On a Mac, I would say Disk Warrior, Onyx and another mail client application are essential (hate Apple's mail app). Are there any such utilities or applications you consider essential for running Windows 7 in a VM?
Also, is there a forum out there somewhat similar to this one?

 

[Baby Mac]

Recommended Windows apps

For protecting your Windows installation I recommend AVG Free Edition antivirus. I use Windows' built-in firewall and backup programs.

Windows 7 has an issue where it refuses to remember you window size and location, preferring its own default setting instead. I use a program called Window Manager that fixes the problem. You tell it to remember the current size and position when you have the window where you want.

Windows 7 also likes to add "-shortcut" when you make shortcuts to other files, even though Windows XP did not. A registry edit resolves this issue. That and other registry hacks can be found at The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better

I often use a hard drive explorer called xplorer2 lite because you can view 2 areas on your computer at the same time in side-by-side windows, and the program can remember your default start location for both windows.

Other programs I use a lot are Opera web browser and Microsoft Word, but you can get them for either platform.

 

[Riboflavin]

AVG got pretty bloated after 8.0, I would actually recommend microsoft security essentials, it works pretty well and has a much smaller footprint.