I’ve just updated my sites with WordPress 2.1 and I’m impressed with the changes.  Little things here and there, plus notables like major editor reworking and autosave.  If you’re running a WordPress site update now to version 2.1 and enjoy the free software.
WordPress 2.1

I’ve mentioned GParted before as an excellent free partition manager.  HowToForge.com has posted an excellent walk through to get the hesitant started.
Modify your partitions with GParted without losing data

The next chapter in the Total War series has been out over a week now and I’ m bleary eyed as I type from spending way too much time trying to conquer Europe while holding the holy lands in Sega’s Medieval II Total War.
I’ve been playing since the first title Shogun Total War took us to Feudal Japan, then to Medieval Total War and Rome Total War. Each title had an expansion pack to give you just a little more, keep you going a few more rounds.
For the uninitiated, …

Here’s an amazing web site for those who just want to open a file.  Media Convert lets you upload your file and select the format you’d like it in.  It’s that easy.
Media Convert

This one is very nice for any site, survey or app you don’t fully trust or want to form a lasting relationship with. Put in your email address and the time you want the temp address for and Spambox gives you a @spambox.us email address that forwards to your real account. For free, of course.
Spambox.us

This one comes from my friend J:
I figured out how to sort the start menu alphabetically all the time.
In regedit go to:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
MenuOrder]
Right click Menu Order and select Permissions
Select Advanced Uncheck “Inherit from parent the permission…”
Click “Copy” when the dialog box appears
Click “Ok” to return to “Permissions for Menu Order” for all Group or User Names, uncheck “Allow” for the “Full Control” permission (leaving only Read selected to Allow).
Click “Ok”
After a restart, the Start Menu will be sorted with folders first and then alphabetically. Nicey nice.

AOL has continued their “freeing” up with 5GB of space free from X Drive. I remember using X Drive years ago until they started charging. It’s a slick little service, with the desktop app mapping a network drive for you and performing a decent backup service. More space is available for a fee, but I’m cheap.
X Drive

Some of you may be Excel gurus, slicing and dicing your way across cells, but most of us just try and get by.  Microsoft has a nice page of 56 commonly used formulas, starting from the basics and moving up a few rungs.  I was finally able to click YES at the bottom on a Microsoft web page when it asked me it I found it useful.
Examples of commonly used Excel formulas

Microsoft has made Vista RC1 available for download.  For the curious amongst us, or those who downloaded the beta, for free it’s worth a look.
Microsoft Vista RC1

Available for free are the original MechCommander, MechCommander Gold and MechCommander 2, as well as the manuals. I have fond memories of these the first time around and they’re a great addition to the growing list of free PC games.
MechCommander.org

This one has been around for a while but made news by it’s buyout to LogMeIn. Hamachi creates a local network over the internet. It can be used for multiplayer games, private file sharing, and lots more. It handles NAT-NAT easily and installs itself as a software network adapter.  Check out the free version and set up your own VPN for whatever ails you.
Hamachi

Everyone needs to create a PDF file at some point for distribution, archiving, whatever.  The open source and free way to do it elegantly and simply is to use PDF Forge.  Installs as a printer driver and has lots of options for the finished product.
PDF Forge

This is a multi platform media player, completely open source and full of playback goodness.  I was thrilled with in on my Pocket PC, and it’s ready for fourteen other platforms.
VLC Media Player

SUPER is a nice GUI for a bunch of freeware and open source encoders that lets you convert multimedia files from one type to another.  The interface is a it busy but it handles everything you need.
SUPER (Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer)

No, not for calculating the best way to work during rush hour.  PRTG Freeware Edition is a relatively simple way to monitor up to three devices for bandwitdh usage, such as your router (internet traffic), server or suspected issue.
PRTG Traffic Grapher

A nice and tidy one page collection of free security related programs, including anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware.
Security-Ops

This is a very nice simple undelete utility, in the vein of the old DOS command. It brings up what you can try and retrieve, you select the files and that’s about it. No install needed, just run the EXE. It will also permanently delete files from your hard drive, in a counter restorationary sort of way.
Restoration

While this is written for Linux the creators of GParted have a Live CD version that works very well.  I suggest you know what you’re doing with partitions before you get into this, but GParted does everything you would need to do for hard drive partitioning, without buying Partition Magic.
Gnome Partition Editor

PC Magazine just gave an Editor’s Choice to Comodo Personal Firewall, a free product that was rated better than ZoneAlarm.  Perusing their site reveals a free anti-virus client, free password manager and free S/MIME certificate for Outlook.  Worth trying for that price.
Comodo Group

After a bunch of users have logged onto a system those profiles start to bog things down.  Microsoft released the abovementioned utility to clean up after those errant profiles and speed up the restart/shutdown process.
User Profile Hive Cleanup Service