Monday, September 22, 2025

Essential Free Software for a Fresh Windows PC


 After first boot, a few trustworthy tools make Windows nicer without costing anything:

  • Browser: Edge or Chrome/Firefox—sync bookmarks and enable hardware acceleration.

  • Compression: 7‑Zip for archiving and ISO extraction.

  • Media: VLC plays nearly every video/audio format.

  • Office: LibreOffice or web‑based Google Docs for documents and spreadsheets.

  • Screenshots & Notes: Windows Snipping Tool plus Obsidian or Notepad++ for quick edits.

  • Security: Keep Windows Security enabled; add Malwarebytes Free for on‑demand scans if you like.

  • Updates/Drivers: Patch My PC or vendor tools to keep apps and firmware current.

  • Utilities: ShareX for annotated screenshots; qBittorrent for legal torrents; Rufus to make bootable USB drives; CrystalDiskInfo for drive health.

  • Backups: Use Windows Backup/History or a simple tool that mirrors important folders to an external drive.

Install only what you need; every background updater adds overhead. Pin your top apps to the taskbar and remove the rest from Startup.

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