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Essential Additions

Tweak UI

No self-respecting Windows user should work without Microsoft's Tweak UI. This collection of diagnostic and interface tools ought to be part of Windows, but it's not. Microsoft includes it with the Windows 98 CD, but Win 95 users must download it from PCWorld.com's Downloads. The most recent Tweak UI release works with all versions of Windows. Among the utility's most-appreciated features: It gives you the ability to turn off the annoying "Shortcut to..." preface to shortcut names.

Sync-It

If you have to reset your PC's clock at least once a week because of a mysterious slowdown in your system's time, download Sync-It. This program features Atom, a utility that synchronizes your system's timepiece with the most accurate clocks in the world. Add it to your StartUp folder so it launches whenever you boot up.

X-Setup

If Tweak UI has whetted your appetite for powerful Windows-enhancing utilities, download X-Setup, a Windows add-on that's popular among techno-geeks and intermediate users. This Tweak UI on steroids permits you to specify such preferences as what text IE's title bar should include (see screens below), and whether to send your global unique identifier (GUID) to Microsoft (which some people claim compromises the user's privacy).

AkFontViewer

See if this describes you: You have hundreds of fonts, but you can't recall what any of them look like. Instead of double-clicking each TrueType font in the Windows\Fonts folder to look at each font, download the free AkFontViewer utility and view them all in one scrollable window (see below).

TurboBrowser

Users have lodged innumerable grievances against Windows Explorer, but TurboBrowser 2000 goes a long way toward remedying most--if not all--of those complaints. This Explorer replacement goes the extra mile, offering such features as backup, compression, folder comparison, folder renaming, and many other welcome goodies.