New Computer - What software is essential?

Question

I've just got myself a Dell XPS420 which comes with McAfee.

What other utilities should I add to keep it safe, not a software mess and running as good as possible?! Ta!

Answer 1

get rid of the Mcafee for a start go for malwarebyets and Avast is my suggestion.



malwarebytes.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/







Avast.

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html







Avast is probably the best in the world.

.

Answer 2

i agree with mshearer123 on the Mcafee part there's noting wrong with mcafee its just that i would imagine its a 3 month license not a full 1 year license and so in 3 months time you'll have to buy mcafee or change anyway unless it is a year license



if it is a 3 month license stick with it for 3 months then uninstall it and switch to AVG free



same if its a year just switch in years time



http://free.avg.com



i also use winpatrol it monitors start up programs and if these change by your activity or by potential viruses then winpatrol warns you giving you a chance to stop the virus in its tracks as even with any anti virus installed there is always a possibility that a virus slips through the firewall so with winpatrol you have that extra protection



http://www.winpatrol.com



for zip files i use alzip its free and dead easy to use



http://www.altools.com/Downloads.aspx (download v 6.7)

Answer 3

To function the computer - An operating system like- Wndows Xp or Windows Vista



General use- Microsoft Office(A package which conains Powerpoint exel and all those things)



Anti-virus- Norton or Mcafee or any good one



And speaker softtwares if seperate.

Answer 4

Add Ubuntu Linux. Keep your windows as a spare and make your computer into a dual boot system. I run Ubuntu, a FREE linux based computer operating system. I suggest you start to learn about Linux. The form I use is Ubuntu. Its not hard. I am off the windows world completely. Its all free, no viruses, or spyware effect it. I suggest Ubuntu, open suse 11, Linux Mint or Ultimate Edition Ubuntu. Sorry its a long answer, but really now that you need something, maybe that will give you incentive to check it out. You can keep your windows too. Just run a dual boot system. Here are some good links.



http://ultimateedition.info/

http://www.ubuntu.com/

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/

http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_11.0

http://linuxmint.com/

http://ubuntuforums.org/



Hope this gets you onto some good stuff. If you need further help, drop me a line.

Answer 5

you're able to desire to setting up the sturdy stuff.... no longer this loose junk. Vlc and WinRar/WinZip is rather a lot the sturdy stuff I see. in case you already know wheat style of information superhighway provider you brother has, like Comcast HSI, then your brother can gett loose McAfee spyware, information superhighway protection, and AntiVirus for loose. And use Nero, Roxio, or NTI for the Cd Burning, they seem to be some sturdy and sturdy cd burning softwares. and ensure you dont supply him some crappy OS. Microsoft place of work 2003 expert. completely replace the pc and turn on computerized Updates. supply him a television Tuner or some thing and throw in domicile windows Media middle version.

Answer 6

not to degrading McAfee but i'd suggest you to uninstall McAfee and install a more lightweight and reliable antivirus and you could have it for free they are Avg, Avast, and Avira.



What does it mean by essential software ? i think essential to me might not be essential to you.

But lets take it to software category...

1. Office application (eg. OpenOffice, ThinkFree Office)

2. Antivirus (AVG, Avast, Avira)

3. Image viewer (XnView)

4. Picture editor (Photscape, Paint.net, GIMP)

5. movie player (VLC, Mplayer)

6. Dictionary (theSage)

7. Download manager (FDM)

8. Network bandwidth meter (NetMeter)

9. etc..



all of it you can have it for FREE!!!

since there are lots of opensource and freeware



you might interested to take a look at http://www.purelegalcomputing.com

search for category, i tried it my best to only post credible free/opensource software.



Good luck with your new PC, remember stay away from piracy :)

Answer 7

Remove mcafee. get AVG, kaspersky or defender pro internet security which also is from kaspersky labs. The updater runs automatically on defender pro and the firewall keeps your computer safe without slowing it down. Either one or the other the three of them work fine.

Answer 8

Spybot Search and Destroy



CCleaner



Microsoft Works



Microsoft Office if you are prepared to buy it.



Mozilla Firefox is much better and quicker than any other internet browser.



I hope this helps you. The other thing to make your computer run better is to remember to defragment your harddrive by going to my computer, right click on local disk/harddrive, click properties, then click tools and then click defragment now.

Answer 9

Well

This is a good link for downloading Xnview for free http://bitly.com/1no5PFe

I strongly recommend it.

Cheers ;)

Answer 10

Hi there,

get Xnview for free here http://bitly.com/1no62by

It's a must have program.

Cheers.

Answer 11

I could give you my basic set of program.



Norton Corporate Edition 11 (very good program for Vista)

ThreatFire (adware, maleware real time scaner ) free

Widow Washer (I use this program almost 6-7 years)

WinRAR v3.70 (for vista)

Firefox 3.0.4

AdbeReader 9.0



Anything else is your choice.

Answer 12

as an antivirus i reccomend nod32 as it will still sustain a pretty fast connection unlike norton antivirus which slows your internet down loads unless you specially change the gateways on your router and computer, also nod is a good antivirus, for a good fire wall i reccomend sygate

Answer 13

get rid of mcafee and install AVG free first of all.

Then depending what you need



office = open office

winrar

msn

itunes

Answer 14

try Norton Security Centre for Security



FinallyFast for Speed internet connection ( you will have to pay)



Winamp - for online stream music



FireFox- the best online browser

Answer 15

Fire wall - atleast thats what I think it's called.