There are great tools out there, but some of them are really hard to find. I know I have trouble finding good and useful tools. I started the page that is linked on blog side-bar that I will keep up-to-date with the useful tools I use.
Here is the link to that: http://devcomponents.com/blog/?page_id=137
If you have tools you use that you find you can’t live without post them in comments… I love finding new useful tools that make me more productive.
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I love VisualSVN for backup/source control.
Some tools I like to use:
VMWare – Has fewer issues with creating a dummy Active Directory network for testing plus a little nicer feature/interface wise.
Inno Setup – Great deployment tool, really customizable. Scripts exist for downloading any .Net framework version if it’s not installed and then installing the framework. (Not very feature rich in the interface department, but ISTool is a great tool if you want a GUI).
MultipleIEs – Great for testing your website under multiple IE versions.
Camtasia Studio – Great for creating demonstrations and screen capturing. Can export to a nice flash player.
FrameworkX Remote Deskto Gadget (For Vista and XP) – Neat and small UI for Windows RDC.
Here are some: 7-zip, IZArc, Snagit, IcoFX, Defraggler, ImgBurn, XML Notepad, Sysinternals tools, Reflector, regjumper, Orca, PureText, Unlocker, VirtualCloneDrive, DPack, Attribute Changer