View Full Version : Essentials for new computer
Maxbert
3rd Sep 2009, 20:48
A (brief) search turned up no clues, so here goes (apologies in advance SD...)- I am typing this on a spanking new laptop equipped with Vista (free upgrade to Win 7 ordered, should arrive from October) and a free version of McAfee. I have updated and paid for the McAfee Internet security stuff, and use my ISPs firewall and anti-spam.
That said, any advice as to what other freeware I should install? Old lappy had AdAware, Spybot, Bitdefender (paid for), and Eusing free registry cleaner. I also had FixIt Utilities, but I managed to do more harm than good with that one...
New lappy will be mainly used for web browsing, as well as video / audio editing, not forgetting PPRuNing, natch...
I plan to rest on my laurels with Mcafee, and will download Eusing, but... the others? :confused:
Many thanks for your ideas and experiences...
Maxbert
Sprogget
3rd Sep 2009, 21:09
Personally, I don't leave home without...
FFdshow tryouts - best video codec ever.
Winrar
Primo pdf
CC Cleaner
Auslogics disk defrag
Acronis Tru Image (not free but brilliant)
Firefox + Download helper + Adblock plus & Daily Dilbert.:)
Add NoScript to Firefox and you have a deal, but enable the top-level domain option, which makes it much more friendly. Best free anti-virus at the moment is Avira (http://www.free-av.de/en/trialpay_download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html). Rather than Adobe Acrobat, get Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/).
If you have data you want to safeguard, I recommend Dropbox (http://www.getdropbox.com/), which instantly backs up any data you put in its directory, and lets you roll back changes. Skype (http://www.skype.com/) is great, too.
Atlas Shrugged
3rd Sep 2009, 23:32
This is good:
TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux (http://www.truecrypt.org/)
Atlas Shrugged
3rd Sep 2009, 23:35
As is this:
Advanced SystemCare Free - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com (http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare-Free/3000-2086_4-10407614.html?tag=contentBody;mostPopTwoColWrap)
although not sure if it works with Vista.
Why is it that we seem to have more programs on our computers to clean the crap and stop the nasties from getting in, than actual software these days?
Sprogget
3rd Sep 2009, 23:49
2nd dropbox.
mixture
4th Sep 2009, 08:04
Maxbert,
To be perfectly frank, the best protection "freeware" is YOU, the user.
If you take proper precautions, you don't need to install half a ton of freeware stuff that will only sit there eating up your RAM and disk space.
Two examples :
(1) Try to do your day to day work and web browsing as a standard user (NOT the Vista Administrator account with UAC enabled, I mean a real standard user with limited privileges). I can't begin to tell you how many problems you can avoid by doing this !
(2) Think twice, click once. Don't just blindly click on dialogue boxes and pop-ups ......
Also, you should INVEST in (i.e. buy, not freeware !) a good piece of defragmentation software to keep things tidy. E.g. Diskeeper which can run in the background.
ericlday
4th Sep 2009, 08:30
Mixture.....you have given what is probably the wisest piece of free advice concerning computers, hope that people take note.
Maxbert
5th Sep 2009, 10:41
mixture- Agree 100%, wise advice which, as all common-sense advice, needs to be reinforced occasionally :ok:
Thanks all!
Maxbert
PS New über-laptop equipped with Mcafee (full version, paid for), Eusing registry cleaner, that's it, although I will invest in defragmenting software.
I have also chosen the anti-spam, anti virus and firewall options from my ISP (upstream protection).
M'bert
Mac the Knife
6th Sep 2009, 07:02
Warning - Advanced SystemCare Free terminally borked the carefully arranged Desktop on one of my systems.
I was able to reimage it so no great loss, just a waste of time.
:sad: