Retrieve Saved Passwords

Use this tool to retrieve passwords in plaintext that you have instructed Windows to remember:
http://www.snadboy.com/

Word of advice... don't set Windows to remember your passwords!

Protected Storage PassView

This tool allows you to see the contents of the Protected Storage area in Windows. The Protected Storage area is used by Internet Explorer to store information entered into web forms. It can contain very sensitive information that can be retrieved by spyware such as credit card numbers.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/pspv.html

To clear out the Protected Storage area on your PC, open Internet Explorer, and click Tools, Internet Options. Select the Content tab and then click the AutoComplete button. To eliminate the threat, clear out all the checkboxes, and click the Clear Passwords and Clear Forms buttons.

Reference Article:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122176,00.asp

Free Backup Utilities

A list of free backup utilities can be found at
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/collection/0,collid,1352,00.asp

Restoration v2.5.14

Use this tool to either:

• retrieve a file that has accidentally been deleted
• delete a file permanently

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23108,00.asp
See also: List of Recovery / Deletion Programs

Free Anti-Virus Tools

PC World has a list of free anti-virus tools. Some of them are full-featured tools, some just scan your system but won't remove the viruses.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/collection/0,collid,1259,pg,1,00.asp

Full-featured tools:
AVG Anti-Virus System Free Edition
Panda ActiveScan
HouseCall - created by PC-Cillin developer; only scans viruses

Scanning tools:
McAfee FreeScan
Symantec Security Check

Force Delete

ForceDel is an application that will delete files that Windows will not allow you to delete (e.g. if there is a sharing permission).

It runs from a DOS prompt and can be found at http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,25367,00.asp

Paint.NET

I haven't tried this image editing program yet, but some people at slashdot was calling it better than GIMP. It only works with Windows XP, or on Windows 2000 with .NET 1.1 installed. Apparently it doesn't have advanced image conversion which GIMP does, but is suppose to have a nicer user interface.

http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/
A mirror site is also available if the above link is slow.

GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

Another free tool for image manipulation. Includes photo retouching, resizing and other common image manipulation functions.

Make sure you download the WINDOWS version, not linux.
http://www.gimp.org/