Format your shit

Here is a list of programs I've found generally useful in my 5+ years of pirating everything from games and comics to movies and programs. Some are helpful if not essential for pirating specific kinds of media, some are useful for all kinds of piracy, others are generally useful for making Windows 10 (and maybe other MS systems too) significantly better. There are probably alternatives for many of these that could be better than what I use, if so, feel free to reccommend better versions. Included are download links for each. If you don't trust, you could always search them up yourself.

###Essential Programs

* **7zip** - packs and unpacks files, a basic of downloading pretty much anything. WinRAR is a decent alternative, but it has more functions than you'll likely need, is only free as a trial, and has a load of other annoying issues. I personally prefer 7zip, as it's simpler, cleaner, and faster.

  * https://www.7-zip.org/download.html

* WinRAR - Alternative to 7zip. I find it has more functions than you'll likely need, is only free as a trial and then annoys you with a pop-up, and has a load of other annoying issues. I personally prefer 7zip, as it's simpler, cleaner, and faster, but it's up to you, you might find this works better.

  * https://www.rarlab.com/download.htm

* **Daemon Tools (DT Lite)** - Emulates a CD drive, key for running .iso files, common for installing pirated PC games as they need to pretend to have a CD. DTLite should work fine for most of your needs. Unfortunately, it is premium software, so no free DL direct link, but cracks are quite easy to come across on The Pirate Bay.

* **WinCDEmu** - a free alternative to DTLite I just found. No promises on this one, I haven't tested it. I'd go with DTlite unless you can't find a crack.

  * http://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/ - **WARNING I DONT KNOW IF THIS WORKS**

* **Qbittorrent** - torrent clients are needed to run torrents (Be cautious on The Pirate Bay and think if the file size sounds right before you open it, never run a .exe installer unless you're very sure it's clean and/or it has loads of comments verifying. I've learned this the hard way). Suggest you exit the program completely and tell it to delete the download from memory on completion if running on metered or monitored connection or if using a VPN.

  * https://www.qbittorrent.org/download.php

 **Alternative torrent clients** - If you want some more alternatives, here you go; https://redd.it/835kkb


* **VLC** - all-in-one media player and converter, useful for ripping audio from videos or getting non-universal video and audio file types to play on a less sophisticated systems, like phone or console.

  * https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

* **MPC** - alternative to VLC

  * https://mpc-hc.org/

* **VirtualBox VMWare** - Emulates an entire computer of your choice. Can be used to test run questionable programs and downloads. Helpful if you need an old operating system for old games like abandonware or MSDOS games. A must if you want to run 16-bit programs.

  * https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

* **Boot Disks** - Needed for getting VirtualBox running. My main systems are Windows XP for any game from 2004 or older, but you'll want to create a boot disk of your own system if you want to test something on a system similar to yours, which is a good idea for checking if a suspect torrented program/file is legit.

  * https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Boot-Manager-Disk/Windows-XP-Home-Startup-Disk.shtml

  * https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

* **OBS** - capture video of your screen. Nice for let's plays, recording weird things on your pc, or recording music manually if youtube music videos are heavily protected and copyrighted.

  * https://obsproject.com/download

* **Audacity** - audio editor. Useful for trimming audio ripped from youtube videos (Sometimes you have empty sections, intros, or outros, or you just want an audio clip from a certain part of a normal video, say for a soundboard)

  * https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

###Browsers

* **Firefox** - more secure and easily modified browser than Edge or Explorer. Recommend going through add-ons to get the video downloadhelper, ublock origin, and youtube downloader add-ons. If you're planning on more illegal stuff, there's also add-ons to help downloading through MEGA and torrent, as well as VPNs.

  * https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

* **Tor** - heavily encrypted web browsing, allows access to the deep web (don't go there until you've studied up and even then until you've found some useful sites to visit or at least some .onion crawlers.) If you just want an idea of what's out there, watch some of Someordinarygamers Deep Web Browsing series on Youtube. Gives you a decent idea of the array of stuff that's really there from a guy who knows more or less what he's talking about, and often enough of a glimpse at the most useful stuff to glean all the information you'd need out of it. Most of it's just trolling, hoaxes, honeypots, and scams, but some is legitimately useful guides, downloads, interesting files, or some spoops to get your horror fill.

  * https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en

* **Opera** - a good backup browser if firefox add-ons cause issues but you still want more security than Internet Explorer, as it has a built-in proxy, helpful for circumventing isp blocking your downlaod links or access to The Pirate Bay.

  * https://www.opera.com/download

###VPNs and free security

* **Hotspot Shield** - a VPN (Virtual Private Network). VPNs reroute your internet through another country to make you appear to be somebody completely different. Useful for illegal downloads if you're paranoid about being caught by your isp (This is typically only a problem if you do this over at home internet. Connections over Starbucks, libraries, universities, or some workplaces typically don't care.) or having a lot of trouble accessing a site due to isp limitations. Like most vpns, they offer a tiny amount of data for free and more costs money. There are loads more out there, and probably many better ones. Feel free to suggest alternatives, I'm on the lookout for them.

  * https://www.hotspotshield.com/

* **Tunnelbear** - VPN, operates similarly to Hotspot Shield

  * https://www.tunnelbear.com/

* **Malwarebytes** - free antivirus. Works as well as premium antivirus programs, but often less annoying, and of course, free. The only caveat is you have to manually update. As with most antivirus programs, you should make sure the directories you install illegally downloaded programs and games to are excluded from scans, as it may false flag and delete your cracks, breaking the program and requiring a re-install.

  * https://www.malwarebytes.com/

* **Roguekiller** - hunts down and kills certain kinds of viruses many antivirus programs have trouble detecting, a good backup for malwarebytes. Be careful of false positives on PUPs and PUMs if you like to mod your OS or browsers.

  * https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/#download

* **MBAR** - scans and destroys rootkits (deep viruses)

  * https://www.malwarebytes.com/antirootkit/

###Control

* **Autoclicker** - makes your mouse click at specified speeds automatically on command, useful for visual novels/ eroge if you want to skip to the "good" stuff or if you're into clicker games for some reason.

  * https://download.cnet.com/Auto-Clicker-by-Shocker/3000-2084_4-75742161.html

* **Remouse** - Lets you program your computer to repeat a set of key commands. It's only a free trial, the full version is imo a little overpriced (7$ for a pretty simple program), and I have yet to find a crack, but it still lets you loop it enough times to require attention only every few minutes if used properly. The annoying part is you can't save your scripts in trial mode, so you gotta reprogram every time you start it. Useful for rapidly DLing image galleries, just program in a sequence of right-click, V, enter, right arrow, repeat. The trick is the timing.

  * https://www.remouse.com/downloads.html

* **Joy2Key** - global mapping of controller keys as keyboard buttons. Helped me in a game or two where I had hardware issues from using a bootleg controller or the game wouldn't let you remap the controller buttons and the controls were odd (Most Bethesda games).

  * https://joytokey.net/en/download

###Other Stuff

* **PC Decrapifier** - cleans obsolete default programs to clear space and speed up pc. Invaluable on Windows 7 or newer MS systems.

  * https://www.pcdecrapifier.com/download

* **Connectify** - wi-fi hotspot manager, useful for getting devices that have trouble connecting to wi-fi (like 3DS or any device other than a PC over encrypted connection) connected through your comp. Offers a premium version, but you can use this version free as long as you deal with it occasionally bothering you to buy the full version and manual updates.

  * https://www.connectify.me/

* **Batterybar** - better battery meter for laptops, tells time remaining, time to charge, better visuals, and battery wear.

  * http://batterybarpro.com/

* **IrfanView** - A better image viewer than the terrible default on Windows 10 that takes 30 seconds to start up.

  * https://download.cnet.com/IrfanView/?part=dl-&subj=dl&tag=button

* **Applocale** - This can be useful for getting programs and games that are coded for certain regions/languages (such as many eroge and visual novel cracks), but only on MS systems older than Windows 10. It often doesn't work with Windows 10, but there are work-arounds.

  * https://microsoft-applocale.en.lo4d.com/

* **CCCP Codec Pack** - Can fix some incompatibility issues with more unusual media file types

  * http://www.cccp-project.net/

* **BitWarden** - Manages your passwords. Personally, I just use a notepad file with cryptic alternatives for site titles to confuse any who find it, but this is definitely a more secure and organized option.

  * https://bitwarden.com/

* **Snipping Tool** - A little known default program on most MS systems that lets you screenshot part or all of your screen or a window. Just find it by searching your programs (The lower left icon should have a search function).

###Some useful links to get you started

* **The Pirate Bay** - not as bad as people say, just be cautious and smart especially about file sizes. Those are often a dead giveaway if a download is legit or not. If you're downloading a 2 hour movie and the download is less than 200 MB, be suspicious.

  * https://thepiratebay.org/ | TOR uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion

* **nicoblog.org** - downloads of many PC games and some other games

* **putlockertv.se** - stream movies, download with video downloadhelper

* **fmovies.se** - same stuff as putlocker

* **anilinkz.to** - stream anime and cartoons, download with video downloadhelper. Use an adblock if you can, the ads can be annoying and slow you down even on high speed connection.

* **My Abandonware** - Really old games. You'll probably need to emulate Windows XP or earlier with VirtualBox for some of these.

  * https://www.myabandonware.com/

* **kissmanga.com**

* **readcomiconline.to**

*Edit: Added a possible free alternative to DTLite and alternative torrent clients. Also reorganized and added a few more links.