Mm, New Computer Smell

Inzigna

I'm about to unpack a brand new desk top computer tomorrow and it's been a while since I've owned my own PC, so...

I decided to start a new thread to learn and talk mainly about utilities (preferably free) that could help your desktop. Stuff like free anti-spyware/adware/virus software or office utilities like OpenOffice would be great. Sure, users that are foreign to the computing world (like me) could search up Google and explore; but nothing beats having people with real experience using the various software and good old discussion as to what is the best out there.

To sum it up, what are the best utilities/software that one needs (subjective of course) on their computer?

subedii

For media files, I usually use Media Player Classic, or VLC. MPC Tends to start faster and I prefer the interface, but VLC can often play some of the more obscure formats that MPC has trouble with (or say for example, can also skip ahead in .flv files where MPC just restarts usually).

Mace1370

AVG has a free version of their anti-virus which has always been pretty popular.

freakish light

for larger monitors VLC's scaling is shit (at least in my case) so I've started using SMPlayer. The only problem is occasionally I'll get video files with moderate to terrible stuttering, where the picture just freezes and the audio keeps going. Everything looks so much better in fullscreen with SMPlayer vs. VLC, though, that I always try the former first.

I think the consensus around is that Microsoft Security Essentials has become a pretty unobtrusive and clean antivirus for people who don't really want to screw around with it that much. It stays out of the way and doesn't draw a lot of system resources.

And of course, no computer would be complete without Steam.

SniperGuy

Use this: http://ninite.com/

it's wonderful. Installs everything you need, customizeable, very few clicks required.

DanHibiki

I use Foobar2000 to play music. It's nice because it doesn't run a shit load of things in the backround, doesn't take up a lot of memory, doesn't constantly connect to the internet for some reason or bug me for updates like certain other programs starting with 'Win', 'Real' or 'i'.

ZeroNow

Aww I thought this thread might have been about the smell of freshly unboxed hardware which I loooove so much (yes I am sad, but tell me you disagree).

AVG is a MUST. I tend to get VLC player and the Combined Community Codec Pack so I can play anything through windows media player (better interface in some areas).

Then Steam ofc, MSN, Windows Live Mail desktop are pretty standard. Theres no reason me even mentioning them!

Inzigna

SniperGuy wrote: »

Use this: http://ninite.com/

it's wonderful. Installs everything you need, customizeable, very few clicks required.

Apologies for the late reply folks, was out to work. I find this little app amazing, and I was wondering why it isn't more commonly known. Or perhaps it's just me. :P

Regardless, just a question for you guys, what free anti-virus software is best? AVG seems to be more common, but I've heard good things about AntiVir and Avast. Should I not be concerned at all and simply choose the one that I prefer?

Glal

For my (video) media needs I use Media Player Classic as my player and FFDshow as my codec pack. Alternatively, the current Windows Media Player is actually quite nice as well (I'd recommend FFDshow either way), I just like MPC's loading speed.

[edit] I'm usually ping-ponging between AVG and Avast. Right now I use the latter, because of some problems updating the former at some point. Avast is pretty good, just make sure you disable the annoying noise it makes when it updates its database.

ronya

Avast as well; the latest free home user version of AVG is starting to act too much like adware for my tastes.

Paint.NET.

VLC + some icon pack to replace the bizarre-looking default cone icons. MPC + some codec pack if you watch a lot of media in obscure encodings. MediaCoder to convert media from one format to another. You might not need all of these.

7zip + appropriate 7z.dll for icons.

Notepad++.

Some PDF reader - if you use Adobe Reader, turn off Adobe Javascript.

uTorrent.

ImgBurn to burn disks. Virtual CloneDrive to rip disks.

Klorgnum

CCleaner
Sequoiaview - Gives you a visual representation of all the files on your hard drive and how much space they take up. Really handy for tracking down missing hard drive space.

Glal

Klorgnum wrote: »

Sequoiaview - Gives you a visual representation of all the files on your hard drive and how much space they take up. Really handy for tracking down missing hard drive space.

As an alternative, JDiskReport. The nice thing about the pie chart graph (apart from being easy to gauge) is that you can just click on the segments to enter them, so it's very easy to see both what's the problem globally and locally.

scootch

windows media player and use CCCP. this will allow you to stream all of your media to ps3 if you have one.
utorrent for torrent
peerblock to stop unwanted ips connecting to you.
7zip for unpacking needs. not compatible with some rar files.
avast for virus protection
open office for free microsoft office replacement.
Firefox, Chrome or Opera. they're all pretty great.

zerg rush

Glal wrote: »

Klorgnum wrote: »

Sequoiaview - Gives you a visual representation of all the files on your hard drive and how much space they take up. Really handy for tracking down missing hard drive space.

As an alternative, JDiskReport. The nice thing about the pie chart graph (apart from being easy to gauge) is that you can just click on the segments to enter them, so it's very easy to see both what's the problem globally and locally.

And if you like it oldskool, Spacemonger

Satsumomo

I used AVG for over 3 years, maybe even more, and it was great.

But recently it has been not too good. It let a virus right through, a deadly virus for XP systems, but harmless for Vista/7. Still, AVG never saw it on my external HDD. It's one of those viruses that infects EXE files, and just keeps on spreading. I plugged my HDD on an XP laptop (That had AVG as well) and on reboot it started to act weird, shutdown and then come back with a clusterfuck of system errors. That's how I knew something was wrong, and used Avast to scan my HDD and of course found several files infected with that virus.

Not too long ago, AVG once again allowed a virus to go through from my USB drive and that's when I had enough and switched to Microsoft Security Essentials. So far so good, it hasn't let anything through except some adware, which seems to have been installed by another program, but Malwarebytes picked it up and got rid of it.

So I'm recommending either Avast (Free, good protection, but has a horrible user interface) or Microsoft Security Essentials. AVG just didn't cut it for me anymore

Tooter-Fish

I've been using J-Zip for a couple of years and have never run into any problems and I'm seeing most people recommend 7-zip instead. Any reason for that?

Edit: Why am I just now seeing this Ninite thing. I'm constantly reloading friends and family members PCs. Thanks for the tip on that.

joshgotro

Install Ubuntu.

Elementalor

I get a lot of false positives with AVG(mainly attacking my spybot). BTW I like spybot and ad-aware, they're nice for cleaning up internet bloat.

For antivirus clamwin is ok. Kaspersky is also pretty good if you're buying.

cwoac

The "well, duh" list of installs once a new machine has finished patching.
av: security essentials
compression: 7-zip
web: firefox (+adblock, noscript)
editing: vim (ok, so I'm old skool)
av: cccp (once thats on, everything just plays.)

joshgotro

cwoac wrote: »

The "well, duh" list of installs once a new machine has finished patching.
av: security essentials
compression: 7-zip
web: firefox (+adblock, noscript)
editing: vim (ok, so I'm old skool)
av: VLC player (once thats on, everything just plays.)

Yep

LewieP

DanHibiki wrote: »

I use Foobar2000 to play music. It's nice because it doesn't run a shit load of things in the backround, doesn't take up a lot of memory, doesn't constantly connect to the internet for some reason or bug me for updates like certain other programs starting with 'Win', 'Real' or 'i'.

I just started using this a few months ago and it is really nice. I have a pretty huge amount of music, and Foobar is the only player I could find that was functional, easilly modifyable, and most importatnly fast.

I had switched from Musikcube, which is also really great, but not quite as fast as Foobar.

freakish light wrote: »

for larger monitors VLC's scaling is shit (at least in my case) so I've started using SMPlayer. The only problem is occasionally I'll get video files with moderate to terrible stuttering, where the picture just freezes and the audio keeps going. Everything looks so much better in fullscreen with SMPlayer vs. VLC, though, that I always try the former first.

Ooh, I just got a 1920x1080 monitor, so I might give this a try.

Casually Hardcore

Music: Foobar2000
Antivirus: Avast!
Movies: MPC
Internet: Google Chrome

Inzigna

joshgotro wrote: »

Install Ubuntu.

I actually ever wanted to install Ubuntu on a laptop just to see the hype over it, but I'm gonna leave the desktop as it is for now. Heh.

SequoiaView looks amazing, I'm going to have to try that out. Is IBM's Lotus Symphony favored over OpenOffice or are they both slightly crappy versions of Microsoft's Office Suite?

EDIT: I do have Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to waste an install since I won't be doing much office processing on this desktop. Hence the question about Lotus Symphony and OpenOffice. By the way, I've had some pretty bad OO experiences before, so I'd like to hear if IBM's solution is superior.

shadydentist

Inzigna wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Use this: http://ninite.com/

it's wonderful. Installs everything you need, customizeable, very few clicks required.

Apologies for the late reply folks, was out to work. I find this little app amazing, and I was wondering why it isn't more commonly known. Or perhaps it's just me. :P

Regardless, just a question for you guys, what free anti-virus software is best? AVG seems to be more common, but I've heard good things about AntiVir and Avast. Should I not be concerned at all and simply choose the one that I prefer?

Are you running Windows 7?
I've found Microsoft Security Essentials to be my favorite antivirus. Otherwise:

-lightweight music player: Foobar2000
-More full-featured music player: Songbird
-Video: VLC (CCCP + WMP works okay, but I really dislike the most recent WMP)
-File Compression: I've always used AlZip, but I should probably give 7-zip another look
-PDA reader: Foxit Reader
-Web Browser: Chrome
-Worst music player: iTunes

I've also grown to hate OpenOffice. The word processor is okay, but the spreadsheet program is a steaming pile of terrible.

LewieP

I used to use Spybot quite a lot, but haven't yet on my current install. What do people think about it?

notmetalenough

shadydentist wrote: »

Inzigna wrote: »

SniperGuy wrote: »

Use this: http://ninite.com/

it's wonderful. Installs everything you need, customizeable, very few clicks required.

Apologies for the late reply folks, was out to work. I find this little app amazing, and I was wondering why it isn't more commonly known. Or perhaps it's just me. :P

Regardless, just a question for you guys, what free anti-virus software is best? AVG seems to be more common, but I've heard good things about AntiVir and Avast. Should I not be concerned at all and simply choose the one that I prefer?

Are you running Windows 7?
I've found Microsoft Security Essentials to be my favorite antivirus. Otherwise:

-lightweight music player: Foobar2000
-More full-featured music player: Songbird
-Video: VLC (CCCP + WMP works okay, but I really dislike the most recent WMP)
-File Compression: I've always used AlZip, but I should probably give 7-zip another look
-PDA reader: Foxit Reader

-Worst music player: iTunes

I've also grown to hate OpenOffice. The word processor is okay, but the spreadsheet program is a steaming pile of terrible.

Amen! Their spreadsheet program is nigh unusable. It is the sole reason why I went out of my way to buy a copy of Office for my new computer.

MikeRyu

I tried using AVG recently and it slowed my PC down to a crawl and I had to uninstall. I might try one of the anti virus programs suggested here.

Inzigna

LewieP wrote: »

I used to use Spybot quite a lot, but haven't yet on my current install. What do people think about it?

I don't use it extensively, most of the time I just keep it on the computer I'm using, just in case. What I really like is the file shredder though, especially when I deal with documents (:winky:) that I don't want people to be able to recover. But I can't say for sure if it works since I've never tried recovering them. For all I know, the utility could be simple .gif of a shredding machine.

Atheraal

Another vote here for Microsoft Security Essentials. It really does seem to be the best free option available by far, these days.

edit: download link

MikeRyu

Atheraal wrote: »

Another vote here for Microsoft Security Essentials. It really does seem to be the best free option available by far, these days.

edit: download link

And from Microsoft too... Who'd a thunk it?

Karilmat

I, too, have just purchased a shiny new computer and found this thread very helpful. I'm not really up to date on the anti-virus software, though, and wanted to make sure that Avast and MSE will play well together if I download them both. Also, I assume both products are about as good as those one can purchase from, say, Kaspersky or BitDefender?

Thank you, H/A!

MikeRyu

I have tried using Microsoft Security Essentials and it's just like AVG, it's friggin huge and slows everything down massively. It's gonna have to go.

leaf

Inzigna wrote: »

LewieP wrote: »

I used to use Spybot quite a lot, but haven't yet on my current install. What do people think about it?

I don't use it extensively, most of the time I just keep it on the computer I'm using, just in case. What I really like is the file shredder though, especially when I deal with documents (:winky:) that I don't want people to be able to recover. But I can't say for sure if it works since I've never tried recovering them. For all I know, the utility could be simple .gif of a shredding machine.

Why don't you run R-Studio on it to see if it's recoverable then? I have yet to have a hard drive fail or corruption that this program couldn't recover data from.

Inzigna

leaf wrote: »

Why don't you run R-Studio on it to see if it's recoverable then? I have yet to have a hard drive fail or corruption that this program couldn't recover data from.

I'll see how that goes!

By the way, I posted this in the technology forum to no reply, and since it's to do with my new computer (alongside my journey to know more about computers), I thought I could sneak it in here:

"This may sound awfully dumb, but I've not been in the computing loop for a long time and found something that I wanted to clarify. I purchased a new computer that was to come with the 1792MB GTX 260, but upon running DxDiag, I was shown "Approx Total Memory: 489MB".

So my question is, is this normal or have I been cheated? And if it's normal, I would appreciate it if someone would explain to me why this is so. Apologies if this question sounds awfully stupid. "

EddieDean

joshgotro wrote: »

Install Ubuntu.

Absolutely this. It comes with everything you could want, and the means to get things not already installed is the easiest and clearest of any OS.

It's VERY friendly with dualbooting too, if you want to just try it out without changing Windows, or use Windows for games (as I do), and is the easiest OS to install.

I could go on and on about other ways it's user-friendly and otherwise excellent, but I find that people either care to know more or don't, so if you're interested then either a) do the above suggestion and try it out (it really is that easy to learn) or b) look online, the community's great, or c) ask me any questions and I'll be happy to help.

[Note: I was a long-time Windows user (admin level knowledge), have had plenty of (surface) experience with Snow Leopard, used Red Hat Linux at uni, and switched to Ubuntu Linux (as my main, like i say i still use Windows XP for games) two years ago and never looked back.]



Edit: Oh, and that ninite site is fantastic, definitely going to use it every time I reinstall XP.