Which programs do you use after formatting a computer?

This is what I make sure is always on my machine, and are the first things I load on:

BitTorrent
Media Player Classic
VideoLan
WinAmp
Combined Community Code Pack (CCCP)
ffdshow
Spybot Search & Destroy
CDisplay (Comic Display)
ACDSee
Pegasus Mail
mIRC
FireFox
PhotoShop
Illustrator
ZoneAlarm
Nero Burning ROM
AVG Anti-Virus
DC++
Sam Spade
SoulSeek

http://ninite.com/

…why not load most of your free and open-source programs all at once? Ninite does just that. First, go to the Ninite site and pick the programs you want (for instance, Firefox, iTunes, and Skype). Next, download Ninite, which installs the apps on your PC without introducing additional crapware. Ninite is free for personal use. – PC World

And my personal list, in no particular order:
Dropbox
Photoshop
Firefox
Chrome
Filezilla
Malwarebytes
Microsoft Security Essentials
Foxit Reader
Microsoft Office
Picasa
iTunes
Gizmo5
IrfanView
VLC Media Player

First off, ditch AVG; it doesn’t work. The older versions were decent enough, but the newer ones are ineffective resources hogs.

My list of “must haves” on the Windoze side is:

- Avira One of the most effective anti-virus programs at any price, and it’s free :)
– Spybot S&D I use other anti-spyware programs for sweeps, but I keep Spybot around for the Teatimer resident shield)—
– Firefox Derp!
– Media Player Classic: Home Cinema edition Unlike VLC, I have actually gotten MPC:HC to run. VLC has balked on six different PCs under three different operating systems, so I won’t use it. It’s also a bit better than the non-HC version in slight but noticeable ways, mostly due to being more recently updated.
– XnView I prefer it over Irfanview.
– Foxit PDF Reader Screw Adobe Ass-robot! Fucking slow-ass bloatware…
– MLDonkey and Sancho GUI It handes BitTorrent and eDonkey, as well as other P2P protocols in a lightweight, easy-to-use package. A little rough to configure properly though…
– Wordweb Every once in a while (especially when tired) I have a frain bart and need a little help remembering my vocabulary.
– SUPER Handy transcoding utility
– OpenOffice Enough MS Office compatibility to do what I need to do and no pesky price tag.
– CutePDF
– 7zip
– Pidgin
– Warzone 2100 Okay, I’m addicted. So sue me!
– Battery Bar Pro (Laptops only)
– A darkish wallpaper of some version of Nissan Skyline. Currently a gunmetal R36 concept car on a neutral background.

First things :
0. Network Magic ware for my home network
1. Antivirus and antispyware:
[Avasti! then SpywareBlaster and AdAware and Malwarebytes and HijackThis and WinPatrol]
2. Firefox FIRST then chrome and opera and safari and maybe flock
[then my fave Firefox addons and all my bookmarks] then configure all the other browsers and add bookmarks
3. My printer and scanner drivers and apps
4. My major apps Adobe CS4 and MS Office 2007
5 favorite system utilities from cnet and elsewhere such as Recuva, Auslogics defrag and reg cleaner, tweakui, keyfinder and others
6. set up and test sound and video apps
7. Get Babylon running
8. Install a variety of open source apps such as OpenOffice,Gimp,Scribus,Avidemux etc
9. specialty programs for my graphics such as Extreme Thumbnail Generator
10, 11, 12 tweak settings tweak settings fiddle with desktop and everything endlessly

I just install applications when I find that I need it. Adding stuff to add stuff seems silly.

an antivirus program ranging from AVG to McAfee to others, Threatfire, Firefox, OpenOffice, Final Media Player, Winamp, Kill Winamp, Spybot, Recuva

Firefox
Chrome
Thunderbird
Open Office
Notepad ++
Writemonkey
VLC
Whatever game I was playing when my system went belly-up and had to be redone, just about the time I realize that I didn’t save all the saved games for it (I’m looking at you, Fallout 3.)

@johnpowell So… there are no applications that you use a lot? Absolutely nothing beyond the base OS that you need often enough to warrant pre-emptive installation?

@mrentropy Writemonkey is fantastic. Thanks for the tip. ;-)

@Andreas You’re welcome! I like to use the typewriter sound, also.

THANK you all for great tips and info!!!
Just one more thing….
Is there a great software where it can help me (automatically or not) check drivers and install them???
I downloaded “check driver” but it keep asking me to download and install exact same thing over and over again :(

Have you looked at Filehippo?

@mrentropy I just checked filehippo but it seems like it doesn’t have the software I am looking for
Thanks for you help anyway!

Virus protection
Firefox (HOTSHEET) as my home page.
Thunderbird
Yahoo Messenger
MS Office
WinZip
RealFlight®

Plugins will come along as needed. As will everything else.

Try cnet TechTracker

@jerv :: Of course there are things I know I need that I will install right away. Textmate, Transmit, Transmission, Firefox, and Photoshop will get installed right away.

But it seems worthless to just install a bunch of apps that you will only use once. I still stand by my advice. Don’t install a bunch of shitty apps that a random person on the Internet finds useful. Install stuff when you find a need for it.

@johnpowell
I think I know what you are trying to say!!
but “shitty apps random person on the internet find useful” could also be interesting or somewhat helpful…and most of the stuffs people provide in this posting is very basic “MUST HAVE” + some interesting programs…
PLUS I already found few programs/site that was really useful (filehippo, and ninite)

thanks for sharing your opinion anyway ^^

@johnpowell Very true. It’s just that I find uses for everything on my list at least once every other day.