There’s plenty of free software around but these three are really worth taking a look at. They all save a load of time or money and are actually fun to use.
WinDirStat - Where did all my disk space go?
Very handy program which shows you what is using up all your disk space. It’s great for weeding out files you’d forgotten about and freeing up space. It has saved several of our clients the expense of buying more disks for their server. One found that colleagues were saving copies of DVDs onto the server; another found that 20% of the space was used by peoples’ personal MP3s and JPGs.
RescueTime - Where did my day go?
Free online service which watches what you’re doing on your PC and provides graphs and stats on where you spent your time. (e.g. I spent 8 hours working yesterday, 3 of them in Outlook, 1 in Sage, 2 in our helpdesk package and the rest on suppliers’ Internet sites. I should probably cut back on email so that I can spend more time on FaceBook).
Google Sketchup - Quick and easy 3D plans
This recommendation came from Kyle McClements at our client Bilfinger Berger, who work on big construction projects. I asked him if he knew of something which would a beginner could use to draw 3D plans without spending a fortune on AutoCAD. Although it is very powerful and full of features, Google Sketchup is really simple to learn and can almost become addictive.