What programs could you not do without? The ones that you install immediatly after formatting your computer?
For me, the only ones I can think of while I'm sitting here at work are:
Winamp - Yes, I'm one of the few people that still use winamp. Most of the people I know have switched over to WMP long ago. I'm not sure why I still use winamp - it's always served me well, and I've not seen a need for switching to WMP.
Microsoft Office - Obvous... I havn't found anything that works better (or is more universally compatable)
Norton Anti-Virus - I've always used norton, and once again, I havn't found anything that works better.
Daemon Tools - I much prefer using this over Alcohol 120% (Which I used to use). It does it's job well, and I've never had a problem making a cd or dvd copy from an image mounted by it.
Nero Burning ROM - I've tried many burning apps, searching around for a free one, but nothing works quite as well as a cracked copy of Nero
AdAware - Same situation as Nero, I've tried many others, but AdAware works best (especially the cracked SE versions, lol)
Jam it back in, in the dark.