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Clean Up & Protect a New Computer section is now available, and in process of being completed.
Clean Up & Protect a New Computer
Numerous people I know complain about their computers being too slow, full of spyware, or just plain non-usable after about a year or two of purchase of a new computer. (especially those with pre-packaged software from Dell, HP, and such) 99% of these issues are avoidable with some preventative maintenance before attempting to do anything useful with it.
Nobody should use a Windows-based computer of any variety until they follow the following guidelines:
Upon obtaining a new computer:
Uninstall any and all software that you do not use.
Install Spybot Search & Destroy, update it, and run its Immunize function. Run Windows Update. Run Immunize again, and run a full spyware check.
Install all utilities listed later in this article.
Schedule the maintenance procedure to run immediately and weekly. (mentioned later on)
Periodic Preventative Maintenance
Check for updates to all of your software, especially Windows Update and updates to your antivirus and spyware software. Immunize with Spybot.
Uninstall any toolbars or other software that you may have installed by "accident" or no longer use. Run a full spyware check in case something doesn't politely remove itself.
The Software List
Internet Apps
Firefox + AdBlock
Java, Flash Player
Thunderbird
Pidgin
FileZilla
uTorrent
VLC
Utilities:
7-Zip http://www.7-zip.org/
Foxit Reader
Sumatra PDF
IrfanView + IrfanViewPlugins
D-Tools Lite
Authoring:
Audacity Audio Editor http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
OpenOffice
GIMP
CDBurnerXP
Antivirus / AntiSpyware
Spybot Search & Destroy
Avast!
ClamAV
Spyware Blaster
Peer Guardian
Comodo Firewall
Program Name
Version
Last Updated
Last Checked
Licensing
OSS
Category
AVG Free
8.138
8/19/2008
Free
No
Anti-Virus
TuxGuitar
1
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Authoring: Guitar Tabs
OpenMPT
1.17.02.48
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Authoring: Tracker
Firefox
3.0.1
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Browser
CD Burner XP
4.2.1.864
6/29/2008
8/19/2008
Free
No
CD/DVD Authoring
D-Tools Lite
3.47
8/19/2008
Free
No
CD/DVD Authoring
Nero
8.2.8.0
8/19/2008
Pay
No
CD/DVD Authoring
BitPim
1.0.6
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Cellular Tools
Thunderbird
2.0.0.16
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
E-mail Client
7-Zip
4.57
12/6/2007
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
File Compression
Pidgin
2.5.0
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
IM: Pidgin
PurplePluginPack
2.4.0
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
IM: Plugins for Pidgin
GIMP
2.4.6
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Image Editor
mIRC
6.34
8/19/2008
Shareware
No
IRC Client
JRE 6
6u7
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Java
K-Lite Codec Pack
4.1.7s
8/19/2008
Free
No
Multimedia
VLC
0.8.6i
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Multimedia: Player
Winamp
5541
8/19/2008
Free
No
Multimedia: Player
FileZilla Client
3.1.1
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Network Tools
nmap
4.68
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Network Tools
uTorrent
1.8 build 11813
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Network Tools: Torrent
RealVNC
4.12
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Network Tools: VNC
OpenOffice.org
2.4.1
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Office Suite
Foxit Reader
2.3
8/19/2008
Free
No
PDF Viewer
Silverlight
2
8/19/2008
Free
No
Plugin: Silverlight
Python
2.5.2
2/21/2008
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Python
Audacity
1.3.5beta
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Sound Editor
EBCD
0.6.1
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
System Recovery
jDiskReport
1.3.1
7/30/2008
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
System Tools
nLite
1.4.8
8/19/2008
Free
System Tools
vLite
1.2rc
8/19/2008
Free
System Tools
jEdit
4.3pre15
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
Text Editor
Lightning
0.8tb
8/19/2008
Free
Yes
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