Great Windows Programs I Use Almost Every Day

I was in a class last week with several windows admins who unaware of some great windows programs, so I thought these programs used for common tasks might be worth linking to here. I use at least one of the programs listed on a near daily basis, especially VLC & PDFCreator. All these programs are free, but not all are open source.

• Make all your mp3 files the same volume level without compromising existing audio quality using mp3gain
(see the included help file for step-by-step How To... instructions)


• Copy video DVDs to a folder or an .ISO using DVDFab HD Decrypter
  
  
• Mount ISO CD & DVD images using a CDROM emulator using Virtual Clonedrive (license allows for business _and_ personal use)
  
  
• Create data CD & data DVD ISO files (the entire disc in one file) using the READ MODE in ImgBurn
  (ImgBurn can also burn .ISO files in WRITE MODE)
  
  
• Create PDF files using PDFCreator (here's how to get PDFCreator to work with Vista)
  
  
• Download using the BitTorrent protocol with the µTorrent software
  
  
• Use VLC to playback nearly any audio or video file _without_ installing additional codecs
  
  
• Make Flash video tutorials/walkthroughs to share with colleagues using Debugmode's Wink software (also free for business and personal use)

PDF Security Features with PDFCreator

Several applications will let you create PDF files in Windows for free. Many contain nagware. The Open Source PDFCreator has a version that eschews toolbars and fluff, and includes features that allow 128-bit encryption for PDF files you'd like to protect with passwords and other security options. Here's a tutorial/walkthrough on using security within PDFCreator.