What to install on the m11x

Hey guys i'm getting my m11x r2 soon and wanted to get ready for it. What should i install, right now im planning to install firefox, video codecs, steam + games, and maybe norton 360 2010. wanna see what recommendations that you guys would have and what you guys have installed on your m11x. thanks =]

 

I know you've probably heard this before, but Norton sucks. Norton is really gonna make your FPS drop. Maybe try Nod32, it doesn't use too much resources.

Besides that, I can't really think of anything else. It's really up to what you want. If I think of anything I'll edit this post


EDIT: Just remembered, you may want to download fraps.

 

Some basic utilities I install on all my windows systems:
MyDefrag
7zip
CCleaner
FoxitReader
uTorrent
Dropbox
TeraCopy
Notepad++
Process Explorer
Autoruns

Most of those can be obtained in a unified installer from ninite.com

I'd also recommend Nod32 over Norton/Symantec.

For testing and monitoring:
wPrime
CPUID HWMonitor or HWiNFO32
Prime95
GPU-Z
Fraps
EVGA Precision

 

ninite.com, save some time! (it packages every program you click to add into one installer). from there, vlc (so you don't need to get video codecs), open office (if you dont have ms office), essentials or avast (instead of norton since norton is bloatware--these two takes up much less resources), foxit or sumatra or cutepdf (pdf viewers much smaller than adobe's--like 180% smaller lol), ccleaner (cleans temporary files, registry, etc.--very good program), defraggler (very fast defrag program), teracopy (replaces the built in file copier and has nice features like pausing), 7zip (unzip any type of archive files)

edit:Beat!! what's that about great minds

 

just went to the Ninite Easy PC Setup - Silent Unattended Install Multiple Programs At Once website seems pretty good, thanks guys =]

 

Indeed.

One thing I'd recommend is the CCCP media pack. It uses Media Player Home Cinema with FFDshow and will play virtually anything. I can't tell you how much I prefer it to VLC. VLC would be my distant second choice.

 

Just my $.02, I install very few things on my computers.

I use mostly free/opensource Windows apps, and as a consequence I can get most of them in "portable" format. I only install things that I really want to have shell integration.

What this means is I have to create my own icons and I can't always double click a file to open it, but the benefits are that there is absolutely no cruft in the registry, no automatic updaters running in the background, no start-up items to disable, etc. It keeps my machines running faster longer.

About the only "applications" I'll be installing are FireFox, VLC, 7-Zip and UltraEdit.

 

I'm not a fan myself. I don't think it uses the GPU for hd decoding on the m11x. Playing the included sample video wildlife.avi, Task Manager shows VLC uses 5-15% of the CPU, while MPHC takes up 20-30%. (edit: that's with k lite codec pack though, not cccp, but I don't think it matters; MPHC's webpage says it only works for 8xxx-9xxx nvidia cards http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/DXVASupport.html)

 

Must-haves for me

Microsoft Security Essentials
Hwmonitor
Ccleaner
Smart Defrag
Game Booster
VLC Mediaplayer
USB Eject
Winrar & .7z

 

The first things that will be going on my lappy are as follows:

Opera
Oblivion
iTunes
All my Steam games

Pretty much all recreational as I'm not that tech-savvy.

 

You may also use microsoft security essentials as an antivirus...its free from the microsoft website, it updates almost everyday to ensure you are protected from the latest threats and I have no complains with it, ive been using it for almost a year now, it hardly takes up resources and you even barely notice its there.

 

You may want to install Zork, Doom, Duke Nukem... maybe ultima 4 avatar.

I would start with those...



StevenX

 

I still have my 5.25" Zork (I, II and III) diskettes for the Apple ][+ I had back in the day.

 

NO WAY SLICKIE!!! My first computer was an apple 2 plus. My grandfather bought it for me. He purchased the very first computers for the city of arlington school district and they were all apples. That is soo cool you have your zork disks.

+1 rep and +10 coolness!

StevenX

 

Yeah, my parents bought the ][+ for their business, but I spent way more time on it than they ever did. Not one, but two! 5.25 floppy drives. At about $450 each.

Wish I still had it...

 

XBMC is a cracking piece of software i always put on before too long. No messing around with codecs etc.

 

VLC is complete garbage, I've never seen it work myself. Yet installing CCCP( CCCP - Combined Community Codec Pack) with MPC has played every file I've ever thrown at it flawlessly. Couple that with CoreAVC 2.0 and you have yourself a system that will play 1080p files without even farting.
VLC needs to die off.

 

Wow, strange. I've never seen it fail. That's why we have multiple options I suppose!

 

i have been using vlc for like 4 years now always use it to watch my animes

 

What I ALWAYS install is:
WinRar
iTunes
iDump
Msn
Antivirus
Microsoft Office
Google Chrome (Also some Download content for Chrome as WOT, TV Chomre, Traducor, etc)
HyperCam
Windows Movie Maker
QuickTime Player
Macromedia Flash
And my favorite online free game MMORPG, "Flyff"


The new softwares I install recently and I reccomend are:
CPUID HWMonitor
Steam
Fraps

 

VLC and MPC are great... both avail "portable"

 

I've finished my installs and "me" config, pretty happy so far with the Windows performance. Now it's time to actually play one or two games and see how it goes.

There seem to be a lot of "Alien*" processes running though, but I can really only identify the Alienware Control Center as a running app. Going to have to do some searches to identify what that's all about...

 

Use Process Explorer for a clearer idea of what process are associated with what applications.

 

For your antivirus, I'd recommend either Avast! Free Edition or Microsoft Security Essentials.

As much as I typically hate Microsoft products that aren't Windows or Office, they did a really good job with the Security Essentials package.

 

Tnx for the tip.

 

I believe that due to mankinds laziness, great inventions have come about. I installed Salling Clicker (its shareware) and then basically I can use my Symbian 40 phone as a remote via bluetooth. I tried other programs but Salling Clicker worked the best for me as I could browse my pc from my phone and then play videos without creating playlists.

And thus new levels of geekiness and laziness have been reached.

 

I'd have CCleaner and run it every time you feel your laptop gets sluggish

 

For videos I use KMPlayer, CCCP and CoreAVC.


I've used KMPlayer and CoreAVC to play 720P videos on netbooks that don't have ION chipsets.


KMPlayer has more options than MPC and CoreAVC offers CUDA acceleration.

For antivirus I've used Kaspersky for a while now. I swear by it over other options but like everything else your mileage may vary.

 

Do you notice any difference in battery life with CUDA / GPU acceleration of video playback? In the very limited testing I did, I saw my battery life go down. Yes, I reduced the load on my CPU by using GPU / CUDA acceleration, but ended up losing battery life overall because the nVidia 335M was active.

 

I don't know about battery life, but I have used CoreAVC on netbooks with integrated Intel graphics to output 720P, so you shouldn't have any issues even if you turn CUDA off.

 

Can you not do GPU acceleration with the IGP? With it on and VLC set to use the IGP, it uses a much smaller amount of CPU playing hd video (for 1080p, it switches around between maybe 15-25% without it but stays at ~2% with it) with the taskbar icon confirming the 335m isn't on, so I assumed it worked. Anyway, with it on using the IGP, battery life seems improved, though I haven't turned it off again to verify that.

 

I'm using CoreAVC with MPC-HC on the IGP.

Playing a 1080p bluray ripped to mkv my CPU sits at 20-24%. Same video source played back without CoreAVC and my CPU sits at 50%.

I really don't see the point of firing up the 335 for video playback. The IGP on its own can handle high-bitrate 1080p without breaking a sweat.

 

Skip Norton 360 and get something basic like Microsoft Security Essentials. If you need more protection than that you probably shouldnt be around a computer.

 

iirc vlc doesn't use gpu acceleration. I used to have to use powerdvd to play 1080p mkv files on my hp hdx16 because it would eat with vlc since i would skyrocket to 100% cpu
edit: that was without any codec packs installed