Here I am assembling various things I want to share with everyone.  It will always be a work in progress.

Windows:

Things I do after a fresh install of Windows XP SP2:

1.)  As Windows XP SP3 has just been released it’s prudent to install that before connecting the computer to the internet.  (I will update this with a link when it’s actually available to the average joe in a few weeks)

2.)  In the control panel go to Add or Remove Programs, Add/Remove Windows Components, and uncheck the following:
- MSN Explorer
- Outlook Express (unless you actually use this)
- Windows Messenger
- Any games you don’t want

3.)  I always revert my theme to the Windows Classic theme (and turn on ClearType, but this is monitor specific advice).  I also right click on My Computer, and then to Properties.  I do the following:
- Under the Performance options, unless the computer is very old I just leave the Visual Effects tab alone.  In the Advanced tab I change my Virtual Memory to exist on one drive only, and set it to 1.5 multiplied by the amount of physical RAM I have, unless I have over 3GB in which case I disable the paging file altogether.
- Under Startup and Recovery I change the timeout to 10 seconds (I typically dual boot operating systems).
- I set Automatic Updates to download and let me choose when to install.

4.)  Update all drivers on the system.  Typically I already have these downloaded onto a thumb drive and they’re ready to go.

5.)  Install Antivirus.  Grisoft’s AVG Free Edition works for most people.  I use the Symantec Endpoint client the US Navy provides me and that works well.  If you feel like paying NOD32 and Kaspersky are both good, don’t bother with the whole “Internet Security” suites though, get the AV scanning software ONLY, anything else is bloat.

6.)  Under the Start Menu, click Run, then type msconfig and hit enter.  On the window that pops up click the Startup tab.  Here I generally slim down startup to just what I need.  I turn off everything else.  This will be specific to your system.

7.)  At this point it’s safe to go online.  Preferably you’re behind a router with NAT functionality.  If not, it’s not the end of the world though.

8.)  Some other software I always install:
- Daemon Tools
- TweakUI
- Launchy
- Digsby
- Skype
- WinSCP
- PuTTY
- Firefox
- HydraIRC
- Foxit PDF Reader
- VLC
- ffdshow
- WinZip, WinRAR, 7zip (trial versions of the first two are just fine, I don’t think they ever really expire)
- Alcohol 120% (I paid for this a couple of years ago.. amazing software, good for making images and burning them, lots of options)
- MS Office or Open Office

9.)  Some other misc tweaks:
- If you use Internet Explorer a great deal, go into the Options window and under Browsing History, change the option to “Every time I visit the webpage”, and for disk space to use, change it to 50MB (the lowest).
- I always set my homepage to about:blank
- Also set the option not to remember passwords.
- In any folder go to Tools, Folder Options and under the View tab, uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”, as well as make sure “Show hidden files and folders” is bubbled in.  After these are done click Apply to All Folders to ensure this is consistent across your system.
- Disable System Restore
- Disable unnecessary windows services using Black Viper’s guide located here:  http://www.blackviper.com/.  The “SAFE” options are good enough for most of us.

I’m sure I will think of more later.  Ghost this setup if you want to so you don’t have to do it over and over again.