I have made such a list a few times in the history of this site. What is interesting is that about half that software has stood the test of time, the other half didn’t as my needs changed or I found a better alternative…

My Classics

Acronis True Image - I had DriveImage but it let me down, This is a lot friendlier as it lets you get single files out of partition backups and works most of the time without even a reboot. I am a bit annoyed as they totally changed their lineup and I went from having the “pro” version to only being able to upgrade to the “home” version. Not that big a deal except the “business” version has a feature I really want, the clever support for restoring on different hardware. And there’s the principle of the thing, so I might check the competition (paragon, O&O etc.) again
Total Commander - the tool i have owned the longest and still use. Does everything
Wirekeys - I dont use its features as much as i should. Lots of shortcuts and tools to simplify your life. I really should make the effort to add a new feature to my “learned” list every week
Object Desktop - lots of tools to customise windows. I have had it since OS2 times but might stop renewing this year as all the new transparency in almost all the toolsseem to cause problems on my ATI system (i tend to play games in a window!).
Penguinet - great little tool for ssh, scp. I have also used the freeware Tunnelier on my less used pc
Regrun - watches what is happening on my pc and blocks anythig suspicious
Ashampoo Burning Studio - I like it as a quick and easy CD/DVD burning tool
Ulead PhotoImpact - a good graphics editor that I find easy to use. Have had it since version 3 and about to upgrade to v12
Spinrite - disk failure insurance
No Hands Backup - i like the way that backup program thinks
Ace Money - simple financial program. Worked better than the commercial offerings for me
Jriver Media Center - my media player this year. Does a bit too much (i’d prefer it didnt try to “play” slideshows with my images) but has a few wonderful features such as the smarlists, good rename/retag options, and media server options.
Opera - my browser of the year. Just works ery nicely out of the box, no need for a million add ons to make it useful
Local Website Archive - web page archive capture. I use it all the time, for recipes, articles, software finds, order receipts… it’s the only one that works with opera, firefox and about every browser i have used. I just wish it could capture selected snippets only, and multiple pages at once, as the workflow is a bit clunky for me.
ACDsee - the best workflow I have found for scanning and tagging all my negatives
Flexible Renamer - the best renamer i have found, thanks to its preview function (http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA014830/FlexRena/)

other software I use:

AMP font viewer - a way to browse, install and deinstall font
A virus scanner - dont care too much which one, as long as it has a small footprint. Using bitdefender at the moment but it has a few annoyances. So I might try another one next year.
Ascomp Synchredible - a really well done sync tool.  Don’t use it much at the moment with less PC’s to sync
Ashampoo Uninstaller - don’t actually use it very much lately but I really should to watch what is installing what where. I have a lot of the ashampoo tools because they are quite ok and can be gotten cheap.
Browsers ie, Kmeleon - used to use slimbrowser and firefox but opera suits me better
CloneCD + Any DVD - lets me get virtual CDs for many of my games so I dont need to juggle CDs/DVDs (or can use them on laptop without the energy drain of a drive). AnyDVD bypasses all the “sorry you cant play this CD on a pc” nonsense.
Context - my previous editor of the moment, a great little tool
Crap Cleaner - freeware quick cleaner. just dont let it install the yahoo toolbar . I also have Registry First aid and regrun for the registry. And the ashampoo cleaning tool but i dont use that one as much. not sure why, I think CC is just quicker to use.
Dachshund’s anticrash - back when i was in win98 and even 2000 it helped a lot. i still have it installed but i have no idea if it still is needed
Fraps - now and then i record gaming footage
Gamedrive - Gamedrive can make a virtual CD of any game or software CD so that one does not need to juggle CDs anymore. I still have and use it but I tend to use CloneCD for any new games I get.
Hostsman - a great way to change DNS on the fly, when testing websites etc.
Internet Download Manager - works really well for me
O&O Defrag - a good defrag tool
Open Office - sure does the job better abd better every time. I just havent “liked” an office suite since the good old lotus smartsuite but i dont need to like them, just use them.
Pikybasket - allows to easily pick and move files. neat little free tool
Poco Mail - a great mail client but has started to struggle with the amount of mail in it. Might upgrade to give the new version a chance but a bit worried I might waste my money.
Pspad - my editor of the moment
quick notes - i registered it but i keep forgetting to use it.
Registry First Aid - i found it a better registry checker and cleaner than any i have used in a long time
Regrun Gold - i have mentioned it a few times already, protection for the registry
Remote Administrator - was great when i had a laptop - turned off at the moment
SpywareGuard & Spyware Blaster simple, free protection
Stardock’s tools - mostly i use windows blinds and object bar (although haven’t reinstalled that one yet)
Topstyle 3 - still a great stylesheet editor. Incidentally i still have my registration email from homesite 1, when it was bradbury’s own software, so I have been a faithful customer of his for a very long time…
Trillian - my multi IM of the moment. I tried easy message (i liked it but it stopped), Miranda and a busload of others and have yet to find a really good one. Trillian seems to mess up with icq so it is likely to be replaced
UltraIso - another media tool to create/convert disk images. from a very helpful company
v-com system utilities - disk check and other tools
Winmerge - file diff, freeware
Winorganizer - i really need to use a pim and i own that one (not up to date) but I dont seem to use it very much anymore
Xara X - very nice illustration software. I also have Freehand 9 and inkscape. Seem to use PhotoImpact for simple illustration anyway.

Other Graphics Tools - ashampoo photo commander, ulead photo explorer - tools to browse and manage images, but neither really works the way i would want it. Am still testing others. I do use photo commander to make screenshots, and gcs.
Other Media Tools - videolan and democracy.