Firewall: Hardware one ! Anti-Virus: McAfee 7.0 Pro Advanced Windows Tuning (software like tweakXP): Just mine, scripting them. Download Utilities: none E-Mail: outlook express is fine (found nothing better for home use in fact) Webdesign: Dreamweaver Graphics Development: Ulead Photoimpact XL Hard-Drive optimization tools (defraggers for example): don't use that stuff Windows error Checking (Like Norton Utilities): don't use that stuff Antything else that comes to mind: IrfanView, Turbolaunch, WS-FTP LE