Windows programs you must have

I've long been a computer guru (as far as my family goes at least). I understand how computers work and can usually diagnose problems relatively quickly. Most of this comes from a combination of past experience and a mastery of how to use Google. Below are some of the programs I've found personally helpful and know you will too.

1. CCleaner
The C stands for Crap and boy does it get rid of it. CCleaner is one of the easiest programs you'll ever use and also one of the most efficient. If Piriform ever started charging for it, I would gladly give up the money. The program is broken down into four sections: Cleaner, Registry, Tools, and Options. Tools is essentially an Add/Remove programs function, and I rarely touch options. Cleaner, though, is the whole reason for the program. Here you scan your computer for tons of random files that you will never need. The first time you use the scan it will generally yield well over 1 GB of random trash that's floating around on your computer. (Two notes: Unless you uncheck the options, Ccleaner will clear your browser histories and usernames. Also, the scanning will permanently delete the files it finds). The second section, Registry, is also powerful and useful. Rarely would I recommend messing around with your computer's registry, but CCleaner is light enough to not cause any major harm and heavy enough to be useful. If you're like me and you're constantly adding and deleting files (video games for example) then there's going to be a lot of data left behind that you don't necessarily need anymore. The registry, combined with the scan, will help to remove all of that. Ccleaner is a must.

2. Mozy
About once every two years you'll turn on your computer and find that it's not working -- that's normally when the minor heart attack sets in. What will happen to all of your files? What will you do without your 3 years of photos that you've been saving on your hard drive? With Mozy, you can bypass these questions and go back to watching LOLcat videos. Your computer might be trashed but the files you want are safely stored on a server far far away from your now defunct HD. There's a few reasons why I like Mozy. For one, it's unintrusive. It only asks you a few questions here and there to start, and it really doesn't need too much supervision otherwise. Another great feature is that it's free, well, at least for the first 2 GBs, but you get the free space for as long as you like and if you refer friends, you can get 500MB more space per friend! I've been using Mozy for over 3 years now, and though I've only had to rely on the file restoration one time, it's been great knowing in the back of my mind that if my computer ever decided to go kaput (like it almost did a week ago) I would have been fine. If you need more space (unlikely), it'll cost $5.99/month.

3. VLC Media Player
Never worry about not being able to open a video/music file again. Ever.

4. Windirstat
A great program with great visualization, Windirstat will look at all the files on your computer and let you know what's taking up the most space. It provides a helpful, interactive graph on one half of the program and your actual files on the other half. Want to know what's taking up so much space on your hard drive? Windirstat will help you out. There's been a few times when I've found old movies, seasons of TV shows, and even video games that I forgot to uninstall. Windirstat helps you free up space on your computer, plain and simple.

5. System Restore
This one comes already loaded on your computer but nobody I know uses it, and that kills me. If you use System Restore and you happen to get a virus, no matter how bad the virus is, you can return your computer to a healthy state in minutes. Essentially, you set your computer to automatically set restore points -- snapshots in time of how your computer was doing at that current moment -- and anytime you get a virus, you simply restore back to a healthier computer. Example, you set restore points every week. If you get a virus on May 16th, you just restore your computer to the week before (May 9th) and voila. Your computer is healthy again. BONUS: Any documents you've saved since the 16th? They're all saved for you. How is that possible? I don't know, but it's awesome. I've worked on about 5 computers over the past year and if any of them had System Restore the job would have been over in a few minutes. Start using this, and tell your friends to. You can find it under Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.

One final note, you can find most of these programs and more on File Hippo, one of my favorite sites to download useful programs ranging in topics from video playing to virus protection.

Edit: tree bombs.