Everyone,

I want to start a thread where everyone can share good, free applications for your PC (sorry, Mac users...)  Two things that I would ask:

1)  The application must be free.  No shareware, pay-trial, etc.  The app does not have to be GNU, but it must be freeware.

2)  Provide an Internet link so that others may download the program.

Here we go!

PriFinitty 2

If you have a Quad (or more) processor, this apps for you!  It allows you to do your own load balancing, assigning processes to run on various cores, etc..  For instance, I use Acronis Nonstop Backup and Carbonite, which both (especially, the former) can be very CPU intensive.  They are both assigned to run on Core 4 only (along with a bunch of other nonessential processes), which prevents them from "taking over" my PC when I am trying to use it!  Also, this app is great for video games, which I assign a 'high' priority to, giving excellent response times.  You can download it here:

http://edgemeal.110mb.com/PriFinitty/index.htm

Get the 2.47 version.

Sunrise Sunset Calculator

Get this little app for telling you when the sun rises and sets; also tells "minutes until darkness."  Good to know when the kids need to be inside!

Toddler Keys

Have "little fingers" in your house who like to push buttons on your PC?  Well, this app is cranky and will cause some of your DVD applications not to run; in addition, it does not always work.  However, on some occasions, it does work, so when the "little ones" are next to the computer, giving it a little "refresh" will do the job, preventing the untimely bending of your DVD tray.  Available here:

http://tk.ms11.net/

(Aren't those pictures so cute!  They've grown-up since the initial release.)

FilleZilla Client/Server

Good, free FTP client/server stuff, in you are in to that, available here:

http://filezilla-project.org/

Cisco Network Magic

If you have Nintendo DS systems in your home, then you already know that you have to use WEP network security.  The Cisco Network Magic app will, however, let you see your entire home network.  Its good for those paranoid moments when you have nothing else to do but want to see if you have any "snoopers" on your home network.

Just download the free trial and forget about upgrading:

http://www.purenetworks.com/nmlp/home-networking.php?src=google&gclid=CPGx8K_q6acCFcW8KgodBQOybw&kw=cisco+network+magic

Secunia Personal Software Inspector 2.0

Worried if your applications are out of date?  Always hitting that "Check for update" button?  Worry no more.  Secunia Personal Software Inspector 2.0 will do that job for you, well, at least on some of your applications.  But, it's free and useful:

http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

Altirra

As far as I can tell, it's legal.  If you have old Atari ROM files, you can download this somewhat cranky Atari emulator and enjoy your old Pac Man, Super Breakout, etc., games.  Runs best using the command line options:

http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html

Core Temp

This one might save you some money.  It's probably good not to let your PC heat-up to its maximum temperatures (which will, probably, depending your BIOS, firmware, etc. result in a hard shutdown), so this app will keep an eye on your CPU temperature and will perform a graceful shutdown (if you configure it to do so) in the event of excessive heat.  Available here:

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Active@ Hard Disk Monitor 1.5.20

Great program for keeping an eye on the SMART status of your internal hard drives.

Make sure that you get the 1.5.20 version.  The developer is now charging for the 2.0 versions.  Available here:

http://download.cnet.com/Active-Hard-Disk-Monitor/3000-2086_4-11106032.html

I look forward to you sharing your favorite and free PC applications!