new system - tips & software you'd recommend

rancid-a

rancid-a

rancid-a

Associate
Joined
10 Aug 2008
Posts
729
Location
Dewsbury
Hi guys :)
Just bought a modest PC (i5 660, 80Gb Intel SSD, 1Tb Samsung HDD, ATI 5570 GFX card & Windows7 64bit) Not really for gaming, just watching movies, browsing and later on when I manage to find a reasonably priced Photoshop CS4-5, some artwork/design.

Anyway the computer is pretty much fresh out of the box, so any tips on what (free/inexpensive) software to add to begin with?

I've got KIS 2010 but am reluctant to install it incase it slows my PC down, like my old one. Microsoft Essentials instead?
I've also got a back up thing called Acronis, not sure if it works with Windows 7, maybe just use the normal system restore fuction?
What about partitioning my second drive?
Anyway enough questions from me, I'd be really greatfull for any tips you have.

Cheers :)

(PS Damn. Should have posted this in the software section, sorry mods)
 
Last edited:
Well, my own personal set of must-have utilities are:

Memoclip Pro - a clipboard monitor which means you never need lose something you Ctrl+C again. The one MS provide with Office is terrible, this one is sublime (although it could do with a search facility)
StrokeIt - mouse gestures in windows, will speed up your productivity tenfold (possible exaggeration)
Some method of enabling X-Mouse - In winXP this was easy, I know I've done it in my 7 dual boot but can't remember how; x-mouse means when you move your mouse over a window, it becomes active, so no more clicking on each window to activate it. You won't see anywhere like the benefit from this if you've only got one monitor as opposed to multiple, note, but still vital in my book
NetLimiter - ace little network interface monitor that can show you realtime bandwidth of any running processes using your network card, and enable you to rate limit them if you desire. Good for keeping torrents and such going whilst gaming
Coolmon & Samurize - two little monitor applications that show you what your PC's up to, y'know, % cpu being used, amount of ram in use etc. Coolmon stays visible at all times, as it's plain text and small, samurize i hide on an auto-hiding toolbar as it has graphs and stuff. Not sure if 7 makes things like this redundant
Ultramon - if you were to get multiple monitors, this will help you make the most of them (i hugely advise getting multiple monitors, it's the best upgrade you'll ever make. speaking of which)
A Second Monitor - brings so much joy
 
Thanks everyone :)
Tetsujin I'm going to have to check some of those out, never heard of any of them and they all sound cool! :) A second monitor will have to wait a while though :)

Thanks everyone - Ravenger, nice to know MS Security Essentials isn't so much a system hog :)
 
Moving to Software

MSEssentials or Avast/Spybot S&D
CCleaner
FBackup or SyncbackSE
Steam


This is handy for new installations
http://ninite.com/

All free except SyncBackSE but this is a great piece of software for £20.
 
Last edited:
Memoclip Pro - a clipboard monitor which means you never need lose something you Ctrl+C again. The one MS provide with Office is terrible, this one is sublime (although it could do with a search facility)

Got to try this could save me rage at work when I lose my work :D
 
-MSE is great, have it on my ThinkPad. I've been using Avast on my desktop for a couple of years now. I haven't had a problem with either.

-Opera for browsing, Chrome as a backup.

-inSSIDer for checking out your local wifi networks

-Sharepod for managing my iPod (way faster than iTunes, and lets you copy songs from the iPod to the computer)

I have other stuff, but they've pretty much all been mentioned above.

Oh, forgot to mention:

-foobar2000 music player; extremely customisable, simple to use

-MPC Home Cinema for watching video files
 
Last edited:
If you have KIS, use that instead of MSE. MSE is good but if you have KIS, you might as well use it. If you have a Barclays account, you get KIS for free. Works perfectly. Haven't paid for KIS in many years!
 
Tetsujin said:
Some method of enabling X-Mouse - In winXP this was easy, I know I've done it in my 7 dual boot but can't remember how; x-mouse means when you move your mouse over a window, it becomes active, so no more clicking on each window to activate it. You won't see anywhere like the benefit from this if you've only got one monitor as opposed to multiple, note, but still vital in my book
Click to expand...

how do you set it up to do this? in xp
 
Filezilla for FTP
VLC for video
WinDirStat or TreeSize for finding what is using up all your HDD space
Process Explorer [from Sysinternals Suite] for a real Task Manager.
Autoruns [from Sysinternals Suite] for seeing everything that loads with Windows
Notepad++ for a more capable plain-text editor

Rainmeter for snazzying up your Desktop - if you have the patience to find meters you like and set stuff up.

There are others, but they have already been mentioned as far as I can see.
 
A[L]C;17842010 said:
how do you set it up to do this? in xp
Click to expand...

You need a little thing called TweakUI which came as part of a thing called "Powertoys for Windows XP", which was an officially released thing so should be findable. If not, let me know.
 
VLC(Videos)
Chrome
Foobar(music)
uTorrent
Msn
Microsoft security essentials(antivirus)
Malwarebytes(spyware/malware)
imgburn (burn data/image)
burrrrrn! (burning music)
convertxtodvd(not free but a very good dvd burning program)

Pretty much what I install on my PC whenever I do a fresh install. Personally I would do a 2nd partition & save things there & keep your main C:\ as clear as you can (just important programs). Also makes it easier if you want to reformat in the long term.
 
sync toy is a great little app for syncing files always comes in handy, also macrium reflect for image backups awsome app does the job a dream!

Are there any alternates to ultramon? i have a dual setup and i find it really annoying when i am gaming on 1 monitor and click the 2nd monitor to browse quickly and it minimizes my game to the desktop on the 1st monitor :(
 
liamcrane said:
Are there any alternates to ultramon? i have a dual setup and i find it really annoying when i am gaming on 1 monitor and click the 2nd monitor to browse quickly and it minimizes my game to the desktop on the 1st monitor :(
Click to expand...

I don't know how any other multi monitor system could alter that, as far as I know it's Windows causing it. Most games I've played recently (which, ok, is only starcraft 2 and WoW) have "run in windowed mode, maximised" as an alternative to "actual" fullscreen, which will get around this issue.
 
Thanks for that mate worked a treat :D

Are there any real good alternatives to ultramon though or is this definatly worth the buy? It annoys me not having another taskbar on my 2nd monitor :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom