Software suite to new E6400

Hi guys,

What applications do you recommend installing on a brand new E6400?
Whats Anti-Virus, Firewall and so on...

I need to be prepared...

 

NOD32 is a good AV which doesn't use many resources.

I also use Firefox with FlashBlock, AdBlock plus and NoScript to improve browsing security and minimise unnecessary use of resources.

John

 

The I see things.
- Microsoft Office (to work with document)
- Your music player of choice (or Windows Media Player)
- Firefox (or web browser of choice)
- Shark007 Codec pack 32-bit + 64-bit (for Vista 64-bit and up)
- Any software that you need to work (in my case: Visual Studio C++, Flash, and few other software_
- Daemon Tools (to play my backup DVD movies so that I don't use the optical driver, allowing me to save battery)
- IM and e-Mail program
- Web browser plug-ins (Windows Media Player, Flash, Acrobat Reader, Java)
- Remove Roxio (imgBurn (free) and Vista burning software are great)
- If you will be under Win7, you don't need PowerDVD as the MPEG-2 codec is provided in the OS to play DVD movies, both in 32 and 64-bit (for 64-bit version)
- Remove all non-Dell/driver startup programs.
- Remove Dell Control Point startup item (NOT the onscreen notification)
- Clean registry with CCleaner.
- Ensure latest drivers and BIOS.

And that is all. NO Anti-Virus, No Firewall replacement software (Vista's Firewall is serious stuff), No spyware software. And just be careful what you download on it. Trusted sites only.

This way your system is always up to speed, system responsiness and maximizing battery life.

Once all done, attach your external HDD, and do "Complete PC backup" (Vista Business and up and Win7 Pro and up). This will create a system image of your computer and put it on a external storage device.
Then create a normal backup of your system, also placed on an external HDD.
This way, if you need to recover data.. you have Restoration points (go back in time on a file/folder/drive) and your backup drive. Virus, problem? You have your system image which you can restore in about 15-20min and have everything back how it was, and continue with your day (backup before restoring your system form the Complete PC Backup image).

Also, ensure that you have Windows Disk and driver disk with your system.