A Windows user is nothing without his tools.  I mostly manage Windows systems –  I use Linux too, but mostly Windows.

With that in mind, here are my top 17 favorite Windows tools, all free of charge.  Many of these will be in other lists, and that’s good, it means they are tools that a lot of people recommend.  Others are more rare pieces of software, treasures I have found useful.

There are obviously many alternatives to this list, but the reason I chose each of these is because they stand apart from others I’ve found in terms of features, user interface, ease of use, and stability.  Perhaps tool X doesn’t do what you want because it doesn’t have feature Y… but for the most part, these products do everything I need them to do, so I recommend them.

1. jZip – A free alternative to WinZip.  It also supports more options, like reading .iso format.  Very useful.

2. FileZilla – FTP Client (and the server is good too!)  Not only is it free, but it’s also the best FTP client I have found.  It supports SSL and you can FTP through SSH if you have a linux server–very useful.

3. Paint.NET – A free replacement for Photoshop (or Paint if you’re still using that).  Supports simple layers and most of the common tools also found in Photoshop.

4. Firefox – Many people don’t bother to choose a browser, since Windows has been bundled with Internet Explorer since 1998.  But this is the browser of choice for people who do.  Supports tabs, error checking (for javascript), password saving, profiles, and is considered more secure than IE.  Beware, though, if you go to a lot of sketchy sites, you might eventually pick up a bug with any browser.

5. PrimoPDF – A driver that allows you to print anything to a PDF file instead of a printer.  Unfortunately the newer version has an extra dialog box after you create the file, which is a completely unnecessary hassle.

6. Thunderbird – A free and better alternative to Outlook, but the calendar system is a plug-in that you have to install, and it isn’t as good as Outlook’s calendar.  However, go web 2.0 and you can have GMail, which completely tramples both Outlook and Thunderbird in terms of accessibility and ease of use.

7.  DriveImage XML – Create an image of your Windows OS while it’s running?  No problem.  Works with Server 2003, XP, and later systems.  It uses Volume Shadow Services to perform the image in the background, so you can continue to use the computer while it’s imaging.  Amazing technology.  The restore, however, is a whole different bag of worms.

8. AVG Antivirus Free version – For home users, this is a good choice.  Avast! is another option, but I prefer AVG because it doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night by playing “Virus Database Updated!”  through your speakers.  Fair warning though, I seem to remember AVG has a web link protection that should be disabled, as it slows things down a lot while surfing the web.

True story:  My wife and I live in a studio, so we share the room with the computer we use for watching movies.  We have to turn the volume up to watch DVDs because of their dynamic range, so we watched a movie and then went to sleep.  You can see where this is going.  About 3am, Avast! decided to update the virus database and when it was done, it announced the fact to us at the top of our stereo’s volume.  We were wide awake after that.  Thanks Avast!

9. DosBox – Do you, like I, have a collection of old DOS games lying around doing nothing?  Well, DosBox can help you run them again, on Windows XP. Relive those old memories… Civ, King’s Quest, Tetris… oh yes.

10. Pidgin – An IM chat replacement that works with Yahoo, Aim, and Google chat (you can use your GMail account as a username!)

11. Notepad++ – What can you do without a robust file editor?  Notepad++ can search, edit, replace, all the things you need in an editor.  It has context formatting for many file formats and best of all, it’s free!

12. TrueCrypt – Need encrypted containers to store your files?  Need to encrypt your system drive in-place?  Look no further than this amazing utility.

13. VLC Media Player – Great media player, along with Media Player Classic

14. Winamp – Still free, still out there, still my favorite.  You may need to uninstall the terribly cumbersome Yahoo toolbar after installing this package.  I’ve noticed Yahoo has slipped their toolbar into Java and a few other free packages too.  Shame on you.

15. CD Burner XP Pro – Despite the name, it is free software.  It works on Windows XP and Vista, but not so much on Windows Server.  You’re not burning discs on Server anyway, are you?  I also use Alex Feinman’s ISO Recorder.

16. OpenOffice.org – What free software list would be complete without it?  Although, I admit, I don’t use it much since I have MS Office.

17. Audacity – The best free audio recorder and editor I know of.  It has a nice interface and is all around easy to use.

What are some of your favorite free windows tools?  Leave a comment.