There are many sites on the Internet that let you download Utilities, Games, Clip-Art, wallpaper and other things. We will try to list only the better - more useful - Utilities.

Although many of these have been tried and tested, every computer is different so no guarantees can be made. Usually you can uninstall using the Windows Uninstall "Utility" in the Control Panel. Your Anti-Virus program should stop any embedded virus although these are rare in Downloads. The other danger is Spy-Ware or Ad-Ware and the best protection against these is to not download any offered extras like tool-bars. Your Anti-virus program will likely also catch these anyway. All programs on this page will work on Vista and probably Windows 7 unless otherwise indicated.

Revo Uninstall - When programs are deleted, not all components are removed. For that you need a program like Revo Uninstall. Not only does it remove programs from the registry, but alos all other traces. But be careful - you can inadvertently delete too much although it does do a system restore backup first.

Restoration - Restores deleted files. It works well at doing this - very small and simple - does not need to be installed - just download, unzip and run. It also allows permanent deletion of those deleted - but only do this (permanent deletion) when you are finished with a computer - it may corrupt important files and require a re-install of Windows! Perhaps a better program for permanently deleting files is Eraser - also free.

Widgets and Gadgets
If you don't have Vista or Windows 7, to create Gadgets on your Desktop, use Google Desktop. Usually trouble free but not recommended if you do have Vista or Windows 7. Google desktop includes a computer search engine which is better than the one that comes with XP and about the same as the one on Vista/Windows7.

Computer Performance Utilities
PCPitstop - this is not a program but is a site that will run diagnostic tests on your computer remotely. You can register as a member (this probably means you get ads) or run it anonymously (recommended). To do this, click "new member" and install the ActiveX controls (yes, this means you have to use IE and not Firefox) plus the program they suggest. Follow the suggestions and requests for information then view the report. Don't worry, your Anti-Virus program will protect you if they have suddenly decided to be malicious. You'll get reports and suggestions on a wide range of things - worth doing!. Note that they also have a "PC Optimize program" which is a program that downloads and installs on your computer. This will scan for problems for free but will cost you US$29.99 to buy it and fix the problems found!
Speed Test - Tests your download speed - but over simplified. Does not tell you much about your computer.
Process Explorer - To find out which processes are running in XP and Vista, press CTRL-ALT-DEL keys simultaneously. But the list of Processes under the Processes tab is often not very helpful. How do you know if a process is benign? It would help if you knew who it belonged to (e.g. Microsoft). The Process Explorer from Microsoft does exactly that. Very useful.

Miscellaneous
PrimoPDF - a totally free PDF Converter - anything that can be printed can be converted to a PDF document. Better than many alternatives and totally free. More on Adobe Reader. There is one anomaly, pdf documents created by Primo can't be read by the default pdf reader in many Macs. Either ask Mac users to download Adobe's free Reader or convert using Adobe's Adobe Acrobat program - perhaps using their service which The files created by PrimoPDF are larger than those created by Adobe's Acrobat 9 Pro but that is not usually a problem.

Power Toys - Microsoft's collection of add-ons for Windows XP (only). The "toy" especially recommended is "Tweak UI" which allows you to adjust mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more. Needs Windows XP SP1 or SP2 to run.

CKRename - a free utility that batch renames files. Easy to use, powerful and flexible. Source site is unreliable and full of ads but states software is free. So download zipped file from here. Version 1.08.

System Tray Day Date - XP only Ever wished that the clock in the system tray would show the Day & Date as well as the time? In XP, if you make the toolbar wider (higher), you get this but with a normal (slim) toolbar you'll need TClockEx. This is a free utility that not only provides the date as well as the time - but also provides a graphical indication of physical memory in use. The program works on Windows versions Windows 98 to XP. It has been tested and works well for me.

Converting formats If someone sends you a file that you can't open, it's probably becuase you don't have the corresponding program. You'll then need a "reader" which opens this program's documents as "read-only". If you open the program using this, to edit it in your own program, select the content you want and copy and paste it to your own program. More - a selection of Readers.

Edit a web site - If you have a web site but don't want to buy Dreamweaver to edit it, the best available editor is Kompozer. It's far from perfect but it's about as good as you are going to get without paying money!

Upload to a web site - If you are working on a web site you'll need an FTP program - by far the most popular free FTP program is FileZilla.