Moving back to Windows - have things changed?

Conrad11

Conrad11

Conrad11

Soldato
Joined
12 Jun 2005
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I am moving back to Windows full time and I'm wondering what software to go for/changes I need to make to Windows 7?

I am getting the following:
Dell Inspiron 13z:
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor ULV SU7300 (1.3GHz, 800MHz, 3MB) UMA GFX
- 13.3" WLED High Definition ( 1366 x 768 ) TFT Display with TrueLife™
- 4096MB 1067MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
- 80GB Intel G2 SSD.
- DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
- Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11 a/b/g/n 1X2) 1/2 MiniCard
- Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Module
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500MHD
- 1.3 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera

I will be installing a Fresh Windows 7 Pro 64bit on there. Is there any Windows 7 optimizations I need to do? Or anything I MUST do for my hardware?

As for software:
Antivirus:
I read in the sticky that Microsoft Security Essentials is pretty good now (that's a change!) So I guess I'll be using that.

Browser:
Firefox with usual extensions and TwentyTen theme.

CCleaner:
just to get rid of the crap.

MPC-HC:
so I can have hardware decoding and I don't need codec packs. Is there a guide for adjusting the setttings for the best quality/performance? Also, should I get 32bit or 64bit...does 64bit work well and have hardware decoding?

Firewall:
inbuilt is fine for me.

Rainmeter:
10ft HUD - this looks nice I have never used it though.

Dock:
Should I use rocketdock or objectdock?

Theme:
Most people use Win7 Blend (or something like that) so I guess I'll just use that. Is there anyway to make the actual star bar a little smaller? Any other decent modifications that I can do?

Backup :
I want something like Time Machine. Is there an equivalent for Windows?

Music Player:
No idea on this one, I hear iTunes for PC is rubbish still, so what do you think? Foobar or something like that (never used foobar before)

Office:
Should I go with Microsoft Office or get something like OpenOffice, having come from Pages on Mac I am used to something different and I'm assuming OO can open and save in the right formats (export to PDF etc...) or should I definately get Office?

Email
No idea on this one, would probably use Outlook if I got office but otherwise this is up for grabs. Is Outlook Express any good these days?

Zipper
7zip has always been good to me so I will continue to use that. Does anyone have a link to those decent quality icons that someone released on the forums or has 7zip sorted that out now? Do I go with the 64bit or 32bit version?[/b]

Dashboard:
Has anything come out for windows that is like dashboard.

PDF Viewer:
I remember reading that FoxIT reader was considered better than Adobe Acrobat. Is this still the case or should I just go for Acrobat Reader?

FTP Client:
No ideas for this one, any suggestions?

Text Editor:
Syntax highlighting is needed for coding. Is Notepad++ still the king? Is there anything with a nicer interface?

Quick Image Editor:
Any recommendations? This is for when Photoshop is too much. I remember Paint.NET being OK, is this still the case?

And the usual others...:
Skype, Spotify, uTorrent, Photoshop, Netbeans (for JAVA), Visual Studios (for C Sharp).

------


Any essentials that I have missed?
 
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You have everything pretty much covered, with regards to MPHC not sure if 64 bit is the way to go when I tried it I had trouble with the codecs, performance wise you'll want to install some good codecs rather than use the built in ones, personally I recommend core avc, may it's only about $10/£10 but the performance is great, can run HD on my netbook.

IIRC open office suppports nearly all MS office files and can save in those formats, give it a try for yourself and see.

Music wise I just use WMP/Spotify/Grooveshark.

You may wish to switch off search indexing in windows 7, I don't find it too useful but it will do a lot of disk work indexing files. Also note that these days windows defrag is automatically on in the background working away, I turn this off on my laptop to save on resources and use auslogics defrag when I need a defrag.

I use foxit reader on my laptop, so much lighter and it's not bugging me for updates ever 10 minutes.

MS security essentials is indeed good, it replaces windows defender too.

Don't forget search preview for firefox.

That's about all I can think of for now, win 7 is pretty solid so apart from the indexing thing there isn't much you need to do.
 
my 7zip icons

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17984444&highlight=7-zip+icons

They're only tested with the latest stable release :) 4.65, I use 64bit 7zip




I use the 32bit media player classic hc

very latest releases are here

http://xvidvideo.ru/media-player-classic-home-cinema-x86-x64/

paint.net is great

I use notepad2, but I rarely edit anything..
foxitpdf = great
email, I use gmail

music, I use winamp lite, foobar has a lot of users, songbird might be worth a look

dock, pointless and just creates explorer timeouts (imo)

firefox, add "adblock plus", and select the 'easylist' subscription
 
Skyfall said:
You have everything pretty much covered, with regards to MPHC not sure if 64 bit is the way to go when I tried it I had trouble with the codecs, performance wise you'll want to install some good codecs rather than use the built in ones, personally I recommend core avc, may it's only about $10/£10 but the performance is great, can run HD on my netbook.
Click to expand...

Is there any other codecs you could recommend that are free?

You may wish to switch off search indexing in windows 7, I don't find it too useful but it will do a lot of disk work indexing files. Also note that these days windows defrag is automatically on in the background working away, I turn this off on my laptop to save on resources and use auslogics defrag when I need a defrag.
Click to expand...

Well I am putting an Intel SSD in there so will it really make that much of a difference. Definately need indexing on, it's something I will definately use.


bledd. said:
my 7zip icons

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17984444&highlight=7-zip+icons

They're only tested with the latest stable release :) 4.65, I use 64bit 7zip
Click to expand...

Thanks.

I use the 32bit media player classic hc

very latest releases are here

http://xvidvideo.ru/media-player-classic-home-cinema-x86-x64/
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. Is there much difference between the SVN and stable releases at the moment? Do much people use the SVN?
 
performance wise you'll want to install some good codecs rather than use the built in ones, personally I recommend core avc, may it's only about $10/£10 but the performance is great, can run HD on my netbook.
Click to expand...

The 13z is a powerful notebook and there is no need to install external video codecs at all if MPC-HC is being used.

CoreAVC is a software decoder whereas the H.264/MPEG2/4/*HD* filters built into MPC-HC are DXVA and fully work on the 13z (I used to have the same notebook) so will actually help battery life due to them using the GPU instead of the CPU to do all the processing when HD videos are played.

As bledd has mentioned, install MPC-HC from here and if you often watch videos with subtitles and various audio channels (Anime, Asian movies etc) then it may be an ideal solution to also install the Haali Media Splitter (part of Matroska Lite pack) to make content selection when playing such media more compatible.

But yeah there's no reason to use the 64bit version of MPC on Windows.

Flash 10.1 (beta3) will also use the GPU on webpages with Flash using the latest Intel media accelerator drivers.

Just remember to install the latest Intel Graphics Media Accelerator driver, the stock ones don't fully support Flash 10.1.

Edit*
Media Player Classic HomeCinema (x86/x64), svn 1699 is the latest as of right now but they update every day if they can so just download the installer and install over the current version you have unticking the option to reset settings - this will do a nice clean upgrade.
 
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Thank you for the clarification on that. Nice to get some suggestions from a 13z user.

So your recommendation it to just use MPC-HC (internal codecs) as it will increase the battery life but also install the Haali Media Splitter if I use MKVs a lot (which is do - and they have subtitles). Is there any guide for setting up MPC-HC to get the best performance/battery life?

Looks like FileZilla for the FTP software too.

The one thing I am really interested in finding out at the moment is something for Backup. Something similar to Time Machine in OSX if possible?

Thanks guys.
 
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The default settings on the latest builds of MPC-HC will sort you out just fine really but since you're going to install Haalo it will be worth disabling the following internal filters:

Matroska.

Windows 7's Backup and restore is quite robust with many backup and restore options, Windows Shadow Copy will also provide with adequate individual restore and browse functionality, I'm not experienced with Time Machine but by the looks of it a combination of Backup and Restore and Shadow Copies (Previous Versions) will give a similar experience to Time Machine quite easily.

Will you be using Firefox by the way? if so then you could use FireFTP as your FTP client, it offers slicker integration with the browser such as being able to load files into new http tabs, copypaste directly ftp/http urls and if using BBCODE then paste images etc very quickly.

Of course if you're using any other browser then FileZilla is probably the best free Windows client out there :p
 
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VLC uses internal codecs so system installed codecs are not needed, the same as MPC/HC.
 
Filezilla is very good. My FileZilla is always open, ready and waiting! :D

I don't know why you would turn off Indexing or background defrag. You won't even notice them as they aren't resource hogs at all. :)
 
Khaaan! said:
Will you be using Firefox by the way? if so then you could use FireFTP as your FTP client, it offers slicker integration with the browser such as being able to load files into new http tabs, copypaste directly ftp/http urls and if using BBCODE then paste images etc very quickly.
Click to expand...

I'll have a look at FireFTP. How good is it? Have you ever had a crash from it?
 
FireFTP? Never :)

It's very good, you can even FXP to another FTP.

fireftp.jpg
 
I used to use fireftp, was pretty good, personally I think I may have preferred it to filezilla, filezilla just never really seemed particularly finished or that user friendly.

I use smart ftp these days though, an indulgence but imo the best FTP program out there.
 
Skyfall said:
CCCP is probably the best all in one pack.
Click to expand...

Sudden said:
Seconded.

Been using it for ages and love it. Comes with mpc-hc too so saves an extra download ;)
Click to expand...

Although good, I've opted for Shark007's W7 64bit codec pack due to it making Windows Media Center work with just about every file type on the planet.

For your browser, dont discount the latest beta of Opera with Aero Glass.

The best free Photo editor Ive come across is the little known Helicon Filter. It really is worth a try and I use it on a daily basis.
 
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