What to install on a new PC
Posted by The Technocrat | Filed under Geeky, Software
So my friend just had me help him buy a laptop from Dell (he had an Employee Purchase discount), and I'm helping him set it up. It's a Dell XPS M140 with Windows XP Media Center Edition. What would you consider an 'essential application' for him? Now, before someone chimes in with the 'OSX' or 'Gentoo' comments, think about what you would recommend to someone other than yourselves, possibly your mother or first-time computer user. You're still on the mac/linux thing. OK, he wants to leverage his investment in Win32 software. (ok, stop with the 'Wine' already)
I'm thinking the following:
A VirusScan utility. Preferably something like Symantec Antivirus or other application that comes on a CD. Costs money, but so does a hijacked box. I can't recommend Norton, I've seen way too many machines destroyed for it to be a coincidence… haven't been impressed with the free offerings, but the last time I tried was about 18 months ago, and haven't had a reason to test since then…
A browser. Firefox. Possibly with Google toolbar (for the spell-check, he's a blogger also) and StumbleUpon (we all get bored) Got any other killer extensions?
An email client / RSS aggregator. Thunderbird 1.5, but I would set him up myself. I'll be writing a post later on the annoyances of Thunderbird, and how once you get them sorted out, it rocks! (default settings are counter-intuitive, though – what's with putting my signature underneath the inline reply text???) The RSS is a nice addition. It's an easy-to-use tech that most people have never heard of.
Spyware protection. Spybot Search and Destroy with TeaTimer and IE. Update the def's and scan, WinXP MCE had a few red flags out of the box…
Productivity suite. He had a free copy of Office XP through his graduate program, but otherwise I'd advise people to use OpenOffice. A few days ago I completely uninstalled Office XP (my org's standard). Only annoyances so far are difficulty graphing in Calc. Definitely set it up to save as Microsoft file format by default though, otherwise no-one else will be able to open your stuff. (for now. When the next version of office natively supports the open office standard, wait 5 years fr everyone to upgrade, then switch the defaults back…) If they don't already have Office, install OO and go spend the $373 they save on a new __________? Multifunction printer? iPod? 7 day thermostat and light bulbs? (ok, shameless, nerdy plug) $20 donations to each of the free softwares listed here?
PrimoPDF. This free utility will allow you to make anything printable into a pdf file, no adobe products needed. (except viewer).
What else? I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Post your suggestions with the URL's.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Donec libero. Suspendisse bibendum.
Cras id urna. Morbi tincidunt, orci ac convallis aliquam, lectus turpis varius lorem, eu
posuere nunc justo tempus leo. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Donec libero. Suspendisse bibendum.
Cras id urna.
April 28, 2006 at 8:41 am
I no longer recommend Norton/Symantec to my friends.
I have gone with ZoneLabs Zonealarm Internet Suite now which has Anti-spyware, anti-virus and firewall built in.
Since using that in combination with Firefox I have not had one intrusion or infection from ANYTHING!
The Fasterfox extension for Firefox is cool.
I tend to rely on web-based office apps now more than anything local. Obviously as he has a laptop this might not be an issue. I did a little roundup of them over at my blog.
After installing XP and getting it up and running, I always found that office was the app that started the machine on its slow grind down to a reinstall 12 months later.
Sysinternal’s Pagedefrag is good to have running at startup too. it defrags your pagefile and other system files which are normally locked during OS use.
April 28, 2006 at 9:13 am
Couple of things, first, AVG does a pretty good job on the AV front and its free. Most definitely good enough for a home user. If they get their Enterprise setup a bit better it will make inroads there as well.
Second, Performancing for Firefox, http://www.performancing.com. Great extension for bloggers. Also, don’t forget Adblock.
Third, Windows Defender Beta 2 is actually a pretty good Anti-spyware/malware app. Its free (for now) and it intergrates nicely.
April 28, 2006 at 9:37 am
Great suggestions all around!
@1: fasterfox and pagedefrag = happy me
@2: There definitely are a lot of good extensions for firefox, and it’s usually dependant on the user to choose the ones right for them. That said, optimization and popup protection would definitely be a must for anyone. I’d be wary of recommending a for-now-free product to someone, because I wouldn’t want everyone I recommended calling my mobile phone the day Microsoft decides to start charging…
April 28, 2006 at 9:40 am
I’d vouch for installing Opera side by side with FF. Also, I couldn’t make the day without winamp and VLC. And although it slows down your computer a bit, I think Google Desktop is an invaluable tool. Personally I’d go without any anti-virus or anti-spyware software, although I wouldn’t recommend anyone else to do so.
April 28, 2006 at 10:00 am
Ah yes!
VLC
Well remembered!
No anti virus and no anti-spyware? Brave!
Unless you know what you are doing I suppose.
April 28, 2006 at 11:32 am
If my friend either didn’t have an internet connection, or had a very good router firewall and never used a browser, I could see possibly going without an always-on virusscan or antispyware app.
Anything less, and you are surely crazy, my friend.
fyi, my latest test showed a machine connected directly to a broadband internet connection is discovered and assaulted in about 8 minutes…if that long.
totally forgot about VLC – good call also, be sure to set it up as the default player…
April 28, 2006 at 12:29 pm
Anti-Virus: Personally, I love Norton. I use everything except System Doctor (the tray monitoring application) and Ghost. Both of those are RAM heavy. The rest is reasonable on a laptop with 512MB RAM.
When I had AVG, it ran on my computer for around 6 months, and let lots of viruses in in that time. When I installed Norton, I saw everything than AVG had missed, was stunned, and never used AVG again.
Spyware Protection: I use Ad-Aware, Spybot, ZoneAlarm Pro, and CCleaner. Although CCleaner isn’t a spyware protector, it is one of the better cache cleaners I have found, and thus earns it place here.
Browser: I have both Opera and FireFox on this PC. I mainly use Opera, but some of the extentions for FireFox are good. I mainly have them both for bug-testing reasons though. Otherwise I would just have Opera. It’s faster, and less RAM heavy.
Office Suit: If you have Office XP/2003, use it. If not, Open Office is another great way to go. Don’t buy Office XP/2003 unless you get it at a really good student price.
Others: WinAmp for sure. I also use GoogleTalk and Trillian for IMing. I would also say that if he is a blogger, then Zoundry might be of interest. It seems really good (although I don’t use it THAT much.)
If he does a bit of programming, then EditPad is also a good choice. Better than Notepad.
There are also some “pretty” applications, in the form of the Yahoo Widget Engine, and YzDock, Ubericon, YzShadow, and (of course) the UXTheme Multi-Patcher. Can’t have Windows without that. People need to be able to install new skins!
April 28, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Don’t get me started. Just as a reminder to myself I have published the full list of applications I install on new systems on the following URL.
[url edited: sorry...offer something useful here]
April 28, 2006 at 5:53 pm
all good stuff. Don’t forget though, this is basically an install guide for “n00bs” I would have put uTorrent on there if it were a list of good apps, but don’t forget this is for a machine you’ll be giving to Gramma.
April 29, 2006 at 5:38 am
taoski » I of course know very well what I’m doing.
Antispyware and antivirus software mainly only protect me from things that are in my control. A firewall is a different thing though.
I can mention that I have had my computers infected three times in my life, and I fixed by hand all three times. 1) My first computer got infected by form.b, a boot sector virus. I noticed that reading data from disks became a little bit slower, so I got a low-level disx utility and even found a hidden message from the virus creator.
Next time was a piece of spyware bundled with some software. I removed it manually. The same with a worm that got in 2 minutes after I turned my firewall off. Don’t know now why I did that…
April 30, 2006 at 7:09 am
Does’nt it seem odd to you all that you have to recommend several types of anti-spyware products to people?
Why have’nt they made one that just picks everything up?
And one for the list – maybe a good codec pack?
Matroska anyone?
May 1, 2006 at 5:01 am
I personally would look at a virtual drive software. This is very useful if you download ISO’s, because it means you don’t have to burn everything to disc. Alcohol 52% is good. You can get a free trial, and I don’t think the full software is particularly expensive. I’ve been told Nero do one, so if you have a nero pack you may already have one.
January 10, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Are there any new companies developing antivirus firewall applications? The old ones do not work for me
March 20, 2010 at 6:21 am
What a great point you make. Yes, some people just don’t need to comment to feel they have participated to the fullest. That’s not their style.
March 21, 2010 at 7:32 am
Adding extra laptop memory is one of the easiest methods to boost the performance of your system to the optimum level. When you add extra laptop memory to the system, you are able to play the games at a much faster speed.
April 20, 2010 at 3:07 am
There can be few questions rising in your thoughts relating to machinery. Where I can purchase this machinery? Tips on how to get the best inexpensive costs? The way to test the standard of the machinery? Sure, these questions are apparent and you’re going to get the answers as well on this article.
May 2, 2010 at 5:52 am
Halo sehr tollen Weblog betreibst du. Ich selbst hab auch vor kurzem eine eigene Seite programmiert, nähmlich eine Suchmaschiene. gerade noch erreichbar unter beta.jerome.de . Währe nett wenn du mir sagst wie du sie findest bzw. was noch verbesserbar daran ist. Ein Redesign kommt erst im laufe des Tages noch hinzu. Dankeschön – 345zhf4
May 3, 2010 at 1:52 am
hello there, i just saw your blog on yahoo, and i must comment that you compose awesomely well via your website. i am truly impressed by the method that you compose, and the message is superb. in any case, i would also like to acknowledge whether you would like to exchange links with my blog? i will be to the great extent than happy to reciprocate and put your link on in the link section. anticipating for your respond, i would like to convey my appreciation and cheers!
May 8, 2010 at 4:20 pm
This article is truely amazing, thank you for that! Keep up the good work! I also got a site about laptop information wich provide you info about where to buy latops, speed of laptops etc. I hope you drope by so we could share some information. Ones again , thank you!
May 8, 2010 at 4:26 pm
I think your blog is really great! Keep up the good work! I also got a site about laptops with proper info. My site is mainly about laptop-information , where to buy laptops and alot more! I hope you visit me site soon and ones again thank you for sharing articles on this amazing site!
May 18, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Helo there, well I can see that your statement is rather good as it contains lots of insightful information. Well, was wondering whether you would willing to exchange contacts with my website, as I am looking to build web links to further spear point and gain better web exposure for my site. I do not mind you putting my contacts at the sitewide page, just having this links on this particular link is more than enough. Also, would you please reach me at my web portal if you are interested in swapping links, I would really value that. Thanks and hopefully to get a reply from you shortly!
May 20, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Thanks again for the article post.Much thanks again. Will read on…
June 17, 2010 at 8:34 am
Spyware can be a absolute pain and in some cases very damaging. I find that I need to have a spyware blocker else my computer just gets inundated with spyware. The top selling blockers such as spyware doctor do actually work and are worth the investment. Some of the ‘free’ spyware blockers are actually spyware in disguise!
September 9, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Also Mein Still ist sprich mit Menschen und warte nicht bis sie mit dir reden ..wers brauch der brauchs
November 6, 2010 at 12:28 am
That is very ridiculous but I basically do believe that it could possibly have some good results. After all, they do have the best userbase for this new venture. If you have time.Please enter my blog better laptop