Let me say up front that although this PCWorld article names 29 items, my experience with the programs on the list is limited to 2: Eraser & Youtube Downloader. I can recommend them both, but you really have to be careful when downloading free (or any) programs. Read the fine print, and don't install any toolbars of extra programs that the provider may suggest. These are basically advertisements. As an example, when I look at many of your machines, I see Google's Chrome installed, and when I ask why, the usual answer is "I haven't a clue". Well I do. You have it because when downloading something else you were prompted to install Chrome, and the default answer was "yes", and so you have it but don't know why.

Both of the 2 programs I use, Eraser and Youtube Downloader work just fine without any toolbar or extras of any kind. So be careful not to include any extras. If you have questions about this, please either comment below or write me.

By the way, I use FLV Player (free) to play downloaded Youtube videos.

I should also add that I will be trying TrueCrypt at some point to encrypt files.

Top 29 Laptop Apps, Downloads, and Services