Having had a complete hard disk failure the other day I have taken the opportunity to re-setup my main computer. I thought you might like to know how I had done it without using any purchased software.

I will assume that you have an Internet connection and Internet Explorer - otherwise you wouldn't be reading this! I use Be as my broadband supplier which gives me up 24Mb/s download speed (go here to test yours).

I will look first at programs that need to be downloaded and then at sites that allow you to do things. If you are not interested in downloading stuff, scroll down to where it says "Websites".

Downloads
The first thing I did on getting my computer up was to download and instal Google Pack. This contains a collection of free software such as Norton Anti-Virus, and Abobe Acrobat. I just makes downloading, installing and keeping them up to date nice and easy.

Included in it is the Firefox browser (instead of Internet Explorer). It is so much better than IE for lots of reasons. But one stands out - because I can have lots of browser tabs (or windows) open at once without having to open the browser lots of times. I just press Cntrl-T and a new tab opens. If I go to Tools>Option>General and press Use Current Tabs, whenever I open the browser all the sites I always look at will open automatically.

The next most important component of my setup is OpenOffice. This reads and writes all Microsoft Office files but is free and very good.

After that I downloaded Skype. This allows you to talk to anyone else who has Skype for free. You do need a microphone and speakers or a headset such as this. I also have a SkypeIn and Out telephone number on which people can call me from ordinary phones. I can receive calls on my computer or divert them to my mobile or have them go to voicemail. If they are on my contacts list I can then see who has left messages before I listen to them. I have also downloaded Powergramo which allows me to record any calls - and even turning them into mp3's for podcasting!

One more Skype add-in which is useful is Unyte. I can share my desktop with other people and show them how stuff works directly.

I also dowloaded RealPlayer (not because I like the program but because it's the only way to listen to the BBC which I do like!) and iTunes for listening to music and podcasts. Make sure you download the free RealPlayer, they are a scummy company who make it hard to find the free one - I hate that.

For recording and mixing tracks I recommend Audacity. To turn your recordings into mp3's you will need to download LAME - yes honestly - and follow the instructions.

I also, just for completeness, had to download a printer driver for my HP printer here. Weirdly, this was the hardest thing to find.

OK so after all this tedium here comes the good bit....

Websites
You can see why there is so much excitement around what is called Web 2.0 - using websites is just so easy compared to installing software - and all these are free.

My number one pick is Gmail. Quite simply it will transform how you use email. It gives you stacks (~3Gb) of storage and you can search your mail like Google - so you never lose anything and never have to file it. It never has spam and you can log on from anywhere. I use it to back up important documents, I just email them to myself. It's great for sending photo's and so on. Outstanding.

My number two pick is Basecamp. It keeps to do lists and an online diary and it helps me keep organised. Very easy to use. Not perfect and better ones may come along.

My number three pick is Writely. A web based word processor. Can output as a Word document or even as a PDF. No fears about computer crashes and you can share a document with others.

My last one is Google Reader. This is an RSS reader (there are others which may be better such as Bloglines). That means it will feed new stories from sites you are interested in (say bbc.co.uk) as they come through. A good way to keep up to date. A longer explanation is probably necessary but I'll keep it for another time!

The other site I love and use a great deal is A9. I use it to keep all my web bookmarks online. However, I have a feeling that the new Google toolbar is going to do the same thing only better....watch this space

Hope this is of some use. Let me know if you have other suggestions!