If you have a "My Download Files" folder in Windows Explorer, skip this step. Otherwise:  Go to Windows Explorer and click the root drive (C:\) Click File, New, and Folder Name the new folder My Download Files (and make a shortcut to your Desktop for convenience!)

To download the file: Click on the file you want to download If you're given a choice, elect to save it in your My Download Files folder Click Save

Following the download: If the downloaded file ends in .exe, double click it and follow the instructions If it ends in .zip, you'll need a special programme to open it. If you don't already have an "unzipping" programme then I suggest you get either WinZip or NetZIP (see below) which are the market leaders. A zip file is a compressed archive containing one or more files and while these files are being zipped unnecessary code is removed. This creates one single file that's much smaller than the original files and since a zip file is a single compressed file you don't have to wait for each file to download

A note for Mac users: many Mac-formatted downloads are compressed using the StuffIt (.sit) utility (versus the Zip utility). For these files, you'll need StuffIt, which you can find at Alladin Systems.

Some Great Utility Downloads NOTE: Some programmes require Visual Basic runtime files which are not included download. If you get an error message about a file not being found after you load a program – specially DLL or OCX files – then load the applicable VB runtime library

Tweak UI v.1.33 Free yourself from the tyranny of ordinary Windows with this extra set of tools (also called PowerToys) created by Microsoft developers. Adjust menu speed and window animation. Move the StartUp folder up the Explorer hierachy or move the My Documents folder to another drive. If you get the "No Help topic is associated with this item" message when you access the help menu, Tweak UI may have answers. The tool set also offers quicker fixes for adding and removing items to your right-click New menu. And you may get a second chance at recovering lost uninstall options, but only if you've installed the program while the original uninstall list in Control Panel is intact. Note: Because these tools are not part of Windows, they are not supported by Microsoft, and Microsoft's technical support team is unable to answer any questions about them. File Size: 113KB Price: Free Operating System(s): Windows 9.x, Windows 2000, Windows NT

TweakAll v.5.0.1.5 (1.2.3) TweakAll takes over where TweakUI leaves off. Dozens of opportunities to customise Windows the way you want it to be. Take back control of Windows with this Registry tweaking tool, like Tweak UI on steroids; features tweaks for 3dfx Voodoo video cards, etc and a TweakTray applet which includes system re-boot and shutdown. Freeware. This is one of the original (and, some say, the best) versions. Versions 1.0 up to 1.2.3 are designed for Windows 95/98/98SE only. (The later versions, which use plugins, are obtainable from CodeForge )

Paste 'n' Save You found some useful text on the Web or in a text document and you've copied it to the Clipboard. Now, before you can copy another text, you'll need to open up a text editor, paste the current copy and then save it. Forget it! Paste & Save will do this for you automatically. The programme helps you to sort your information by importance, has many useful features and handy interface.

IrfanView32 IrfanView32 is a fast FREEWARE image viewer/converter for Win9x/NT. Supported file formats: JPG/JPEG, GIF, BMP, DIB, RLE, PCX, PNG, TIFF, TGA, RAS/SUN, ICO, AVI, WAV, MID, RMI, WMF, EMF, PBM, PGM, PPM, IFF/LBM, PSD, CPT, MPG/MPEG, MOV and Photo-CD (Overview Photo-CD support). Some features of IrfanView: Preview option, Drag&Drop support, fast directory view (fast moving through directory), slideshow, batch conversion, print option, change the color depth, scan support, cut/crop and many many more ... FREEWARE for use at home!

ZoneAlarm v.3.7.143 Firewall software which monitors incoming/outgoing traffic from your Windows PC. Free for personal and at home use.

AI RoboForm Pro v.5 This is the only Web form filler you'll ever need. By allowing you to build a profile, RoboForm makes it easy to prefill all your standard responses to Web forms, saving you time and frustration in typing. Data is stored in a password protected file, along with other passwords, credit card data, and any other sensitive information you might want to access but don't want prying eyes to find. If you've been duped into downloading Gator at some point in your computing career, RoboForm will convert all your Gator data, so that you are no longer using a security threat to your system. There's a free version available with limited functionality, making the upgrade to Pro a functional improvement. (Win9x/Win2k/WinXP) $29.95

ICON FILES . . . Download my selection of basic ICO files   ClickMe ANIMATED GIFS . . . Download this collection of 68 amusing animated miniature GIF files which I call "Work and Play"  ClickMe ONLINE COLOUR CHARTS . . . Get your colours right with these great online colour charts   ClickMe EBOOKS . . . Download e-books for free   ClickMe

The software listed here below is essential to successful and trouble-free Windows computing
The Windows software below is designed and written by Gregory Braun. Click your mouse on the programme icons or underlined software titles listed below to view descriptions of those programs that interest you. All Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000 software titles are Y2K compliant and will work with Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows ME and Windows 2000 as well as Windows 9x/NT systems.
Notice: Any files downloaded are downloaded at the risk of the user

	Microsoft® Power Toys This collection of small utility programs and File Explorer extensions will enhance your Windows system and add several new features not currently available in Windows 95. Free: Download PowerToys (205K)
	Microsoft® Kernel Toys This suite of programs includes several useful MS Windows diagnostic functions and configuration utilities. Free: Download KernelToys (56K)
	Microsoft® RegClean v4.1a Cleans and repairs the MS Windows System Registry. Free: Download RegClean (773K)
	Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 Power Toys This collection of Internet Explorer plug-ins will improve your browser, adding new graphics settings, search options and other enhancements. Free: Download IEPowerToys (265K)
	Microsoft® Common Controls Library Y2K Update This upgrade from Microsoft fixes several Year 2000 bugs found in the COMCTL32.DLL. If your system has a File Version earlier than v5.80 or a Product Version earlier than 5.00.2614.3600 download and install this update module. Free: Download 50ComUpd (498K)
	DISKdata v2.2 Displays extensive information about your hard disks and the files stored there. Works with both FAT16 and FAT32 systems running MS Windows 9x or Windows NT 4. Free: Download DISKdata(389K)
	Microangelo™ This suite of icon utilities includes a professional icon editor and librarian, as well as a utility for customizing the Windows desktop and folder icons. Shareware: Download Microangelo (1.2M)

Celestia v.1.3.0 Free, open source real-time space simulation that lets you experience our universe in three dimensions
SP TimeSync v.1.3 Synchronize your computer's clock with any Internet atomic clock via network time protocol (NTP)
OpenOffice.org v1.1 beta Open Source project for the successor to StarOffice (a productivity suite; includes word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, and more).
98lite 4.5 Remove Internet Explorer from Win98, or give Win98 the faster Win95 GUI
AVG Free edition This anti-virus product has been continuously refined since it was first released in 1991 and now offers very impressive protection capabilities. It's relatively small, light on resources, has regular automatic updates and handles email scanning. There is a free and a pro version, the only difference being that the free version has a few non-critical features disabled and has no direct technical support.
DoubleDesktop v.2.0 Create two Windows desktops and switch between them easily
Diskeeper Lite Freeware v7.x Fully operational, manual only defragmenter for Win9x/NT/XP from Executive Software
Defrag with 3 options and after defragmentation, powers down the machine
ViceVersa Free Utility which compares, synchronizes, backups and mirrors folders and sub-folders. Plus version available
PolderBackup v2.61 Easy backup/restore program with many features to meet most basic and advanced backup needs
Mozilla Firefox Internet Explorer is a good browser but it has become such a target for malicious exploits that it is now a major security risk. There are several excellent alternatives but Mozilla Firefox is the stand-out pick.
TransText v1.20 Freeware Win9x/NT utility to have the desktop icon text background to be transparent and to set the icon text colour
Hook99 v1.2.0.2 customize the Win9x/NT start button and other taskbar effects ; also makes the background of desktop icons text transparent
TrayDesk v3.0 Small win9x/NT/2k app (10K!) which lets you hide (and show) all of the icons on your desktop
Star Downloader v.1.42 Freeware (non-spyware) download manager ; schedule and resume broken downloads ; hangup modem when done ; also supports proxy
SP TimeSync v1.3 Synchronize your computer's clock with any Internet atomic clock via network time protocol (NTP)
602Pro LAN Suite 2002 All-in-one server application (email, shared address book via LDAP, network faxing, internet sharing, firewall, Standard/Secure web Server with CGI support, DHCP server and more) for Windows 9x/NT/XP. Free for five users
Xitami v.2.4d9 Small, fast, free web server. Supports CGI scripts, ServerSide Includes (SSI), logging and many other features
SlimServe HTTPd v.1.1a free, simple, light-weight HTTP web server
SlimServe FTPd v.1.0 free, low-profile, high-efficiency FTP server
Colorcop v.5.1.3 Small, free HTML colour picker
Digital Camera Enhancer v.1.3 Excellent free tools to enhance and clean digital images. Must download for digital camera owners
Free Media Players Windows Media and Real players, jetAudio, and more
JPEG Wizard v.1.40 Powerful, yet easy-to-use application to manipulate JPEG images 
ImageForge Freeware image editing program
PaintStudio Lite v.1.2 Simple, easy to use freeware image viewing/editing application
OpenOffice.org v.1.1 beta Open Source project for the successor to StarOffice (a productivity suite ; includes word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, and more)
CDrun v.2.3 Freeware skinnable Audio CD player for Windows with CDDB support (autofill the album and track info for unknown CDs)
CDmax v.1.8.5 Shareware CDDB Audio CD player. When you're on the 'net, it will autofill the album and track info for unknown CDs
Ultimate Zip v.2.71 Easily compress/uncompress ZIP, CAB, TGZ, TAR, GZ and other files
Cadopia's Intellicad 2001 v.3.3 CAD program; supports Autocad 2000 DWGs, LISP files, etc
Free Serif Software  Older versions of software (ranging from desktop publishing, drawing and digital imaging to 3D design and web publishing) from Serif released for free. Requires free registration.
Isobuster v.1.4  Read and extract files from CD/DVD and Disk Image Files (e.g .ISO).
Metapad  An excellent replacement for Windows notepad, Metapad is a fully featured and compact 32-bit text editor. Freeware, well documented, and easy to install.
IrfanView For 9x/2K/XP. Includes scanner management and TWAIN acquisition, sophisticated image editing, format conversion, audio-video file playing and more. Freeware by Irfan Skiljan. CAVEAT: On the latest version, uncheck the two boxes installing an eBay toolbar and browser toolbar buttons - unless, of course, you want them!
Ultimate Paint  Easy to use and powerful. Shareware, basic functions are unrestricted but more advanced ones restrict saving.
CCleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner)  An excellent freeware system optimisation and privacy tool that removes unused and temporary files from your system allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space.
Spybot - Search and Destroy  PepiMK Software's freeware can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer.
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack   K-Lite Codec Pack is a big freeware collection of codecs and related tools. Designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your audio and movie files. This is the latest version compatible with Win98SE.
Java Runtime Environment  Java freeware allows you to run applications called 'applets' that are written in the Java programming language allowing you to play online games, chat with people around the world, calculate your mortgage interest, and view images in 3D. Many cross-platform applications also require this to run.
Blender3D One of the most popular freeware 3D animation tools. Calligari give away an older version of their TrueSpace software. It's pretty good.
DVD Shrink  Allows copying of DVDs to the smaller DVD+/-R format by reducing their size to fit.  Most people have said it's as good as DVDXCopy.  But it's freeware, and also lacks the "dial-home" spyware that comes with DVDXCopy.