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Setting up new laptop
burntheladle
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
After a spectacular hardware failure (two months out of warranty ><), I've been forced to get a new laptop and now I'm going through the tedious process of getting it set up properly.
My main question - what can I uninstall? I bought a toshiba satellite, which doesn't seem to have nearly as much crap on it as my HP did, but I assume there's still stuff I can get rid of? Do I really need Windows Live OneCare (wtf is window live onecare?)
I also need a new anti-virius & firewall. I was running avira and comodo, which seemed to work quite well but comodo was quite intrusive (lots of popups, all the time). Looking around is just confusing me - I don't know much about this stuff and all my computer-wise friends are telling me different things. Some are recommending Zone Alarm (which I'm relucant to use, as a few years back we installed a zone alarm upgrade and it completely stuffed my computer up); one is telling me I need Avast and nothing but Avast; and nobody is recommending norton.
Free would be nice, but I'd honestly rather effective, easy to use, and not massively expensive (and with a trial period would be good).
And... backups. I have multiple backups of all my data, but I'd like a backup of my system so that once I have it set up perfectly (all my programs installed, all the crap gone), I never have to do it again. What program do I need to do this with?
I know most of my questions are probably answerable through google, and I will keep trying to work it out, but I'm really confused and some help would be greatly appriciated
ETA: The things I am reading in google are saying that to uninstall bloatware, it's best to just reformat and reinstall windows. However, my computer didn't come with any vista discs, just an option to create recovery discs - which from my understanding, will just reinstall the bloatware along with windows?
My main question - what can I uninstall? I bought a toshiba satellite, which doesn't seem to have nearly as much crap on it as my HP did, but I assume there's still stuff I can get rid of? Do I really need Windows Live OneCare (wtf is window live onecare?)
I also need a new anti-virius & firewall. I was running avira and comodo, which seemed to work quite well but comodo was quite intrusive (lots of popups, all the time). Looking around is just confusing me - I don't know much about this stuff and all my computer-wise friends are telling me different things. Some are recommending Zone Alarm (which I'm relucant to use, as a few years back we installed a zone alarm upgrade and it completely stuffed my computer up); one is telling me I need Avast and nothing but Avast; and nobody is recommending norton.
Free would be nice, but I'd honestly rather effective, easy to use, and not massively expensive (and with a trial period would be good).
And... backups. I have multiple backups of all my data, but I'd like a backup of my system so that once I have it set up perfectly (all my programs installed, all the crap gone), I never have to do it again. What program do I need to do this with?
I know most of my questions are probably answerable through google, and I will keep trying to work it out, but I'm really confused and some help would be greatly appriciated
ETA: The things I am reading in google are saying that to uninstall bloatware, it's best to just reformat and reinstall windows. However, my computer didn't come with any vista discs, just an option to create recovery discs - which from my understanding, will just reinstall the bloatware along with windows?
What would Zombie Pirate LeChuck Do?
burntheladle on
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Kaspersky has one of the highest detection rates for a reasonably priced product, and also has a 30 day trial. It's more intrusive than Avast but still pretty good for staying out of the way.
I much prefer using a firewall on the router level than on the PC level, if only for the sake of resource use.
Otherwise you can give PC Tool's Free AV a try as well as Avast. AVG isn't so great anymore.
The other paid AV that's neck in neck with Kaspersky is NOD32. It's very lightweight and costs $30 a year, there is a version with a firewall.
EDIT:
If you want to get rid of trialware & junk then give PC Decrapifier a try, it's free. http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/
I used NOD32 for a while and I liked it - stayed out of the way and I didn't have any virus problems.
Eventually though I just started using whatever the software was that my uni had available for free.
As long as you have a legal key that you paid for you can download an ISO & burn it. Also with Vista the same key works for both x86 & x64 versions.
Technically the key on your sticker is only valid for the product already installed, and only with the machine it was pre-installed on.
My experience though is no one really cares.
I bought an HP that came with vista32 (and a metric ton of useless shit) pre-installed. I played with it for a day or so, trying to uninstall all the stuff I didn't want and what have you, but it still ran like molasses. So I downloaded vista64 from a totally reputable source and installed it, wiping the drive in the process. I never even thought seriously about burning the "recovery disc", and enjoyed the 12GB I reclaimed from the "recovery partition". Everything worked after install (well, the ethernet port worked, so I was able to download drivers) but it wouldn't activate. I ended up having to call the number, punched in the install ID and the guy asked what product I was installing and promptly gave me the other half of the secret code. After that, I had no issues activated when reinstalling, and even when that laptop died, I used the key on another machine with no problems.
As for AV and firewall software, use your modem/router and/or vista's firewall and ditch the AV. Seriously. Don't visit porn and warez sites in IE, don't open strange attachments, don't run "keygens", and keep vista up to date.
Or use Linux. No licensing and activation, no malware (yet).
Yeah, that's right with the recovery discs. Unfortunately, OEM bloatware is par for the course when you buy a new laptop.
As for firewalls, try AVG free. I swear by it, it's free (obviously), and it catches about double the viruses that Mcafee or Norton can. As for a firewall, you can't go past Windows Defender, it integrates into the OS, and compliments AVG quite well.
Anyway, under the assumption that you're running Vista, the point when your computer fails so badly that you need to do a clean install is pretty rare, if not non-existant, so just keep a decent backup of your files and programs, and you should be sweet should you need to re-format or whatnot.