(Computer) Software for Windows Users

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momopi_IHB

momopi_IHB

New member
Here's a list of personal recommendations I have for Windows machines. Most of the software here are freebies but accept donations. If you find their software useful, please consider donating a few bucks.





* Many people install MS Office by default, when they rarely use it, or only use Word for word processing. It's a complete waste and installing MS Office will make your Windows run slower (like XP SP2 did). If you only need occasional word processing, try AbiWord (free):


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AbiWord


http://www.abisource.com/


http://www.abisource.com/download/<-- don't forget to get plug-ins





Alternatively, you could install Openoffice, if you need to load Excel spreadsheets or power point files:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenOffice.org


http://www.openoffice.org/





If you want a lot of cliparts, try Oxgenoffice version of Openoffice:


http://sourceforge.net/projects/ooop





* For web browsing, I recommend Firefox:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Firefox


http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/





I also like K-Meleon for browsing mostly text pages:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-meleon


http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/





* For anti-virus, my favorite is Norton/Symantec Anti-Virus, Corporate Edition (never expires). I don't like Norton 360 or their internet suites, those are processor hogs.





If you cannot get a copy of NAV Corp Edition, there are other, free products avail like Avast, which has a great Boot-Time scan feature:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avast!


http://www.avast.com/





I also recommend Spybot S&D for anti-spyware:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spybot_-_Search_&_Destroy


http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html





Google pack also has a good program called PC Tools Spyware Doctor:


http://pack.google.com/





Make sure you only select what you want to download from there. They also have a free norton AV scanner, but it's a bit clugy. You can also get Skype to make free computer to computer calls. I usually install Spyware Doctor, then uninstall Google Pack Downloader utility to save memory.





* For registry cleaner, try Eusing free registry cleaner:


http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm





It's free and you can clean up to 1,000 registry entries at a time. They have a couple other goodies that you might find useful:


http://www.eusing.com/Products.htm





Some prefer CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com) for registry cleaning. They also make Recuva (www.recuva.com) undelete / file recovery tools, and defraggler (www.defraggler.com) file defrag utility.





* For image editing, try Photo.net:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint.NET


http://www.getpaint.net/





* For CD Burning, I like DeepBurner, which supports ISO's:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeepBurner


http://www.deepburner.com/





I prefer Deep Burner over CD Burn XP, but you can try both:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDBurnerXP


http://www.cdburnerxp.se/





Many commercial CD burning software install a lot of memory-resident crap, like Roxio. I'd recommend staying far away from those.





* For video codecs, I recommend K-Lite "mega" pack:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-Lite_Codec_Pack


http://www.codecguide.com/





* For accounting, you can try TurboCash or GNU Cash. I'm not an expert on either of these so you're on your own:


http://www.turbocash.co.za/


http://www.gnucash.org/





* For HTML editing, try KompoZer:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KompoZer


http://kompozer.net/





* For desktop publishing, try Scribus:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribus


http://www.scribus.net/





Note to Windows users: you may need to install Ghostscript first:


http://docs.scribus.net/index.php?lang=en&page=readme





* For vector graphics, try Inkscape:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkscape


http://www.inkscape.org/





* If your computer is running slow, check how much memory is installed. If it's less than 1 GB, consider a memory upgrade. If you're running an older system and need PC133/2700/etc memory, check pricewatch.com. Make sure your motherboard/system support the memory upgrade first. You can go to crucial.com to check what memory your computer uses.





You can also improve system performance by uninstalling any application or programs that you don't need, de-frag your hard drive, and run registry cleaners. Check this article from Microsoft:


http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898583
 
I''ll put a prop in for Paint.NET. It's a great software and I used it for the longest time in place of Photoshop (didn't have the money to buy it).
 
I've got an old laptop that I'm going to be reconfiguring to run off gos (google's operating system) with the hard drive being a CF card. 2.5in --> CF adapter. I've already done this with an iPod, making it flash based. So, that's my nerdy contribution to this discussion.





Any preferences on torrent software, Momo?
 
never mind. i forgot that gOS is the same as linux. it is just a slim down verison. i am actually using something like the gOS right now in my new asus EEE.
 
<p>I know a guy that gets all his software and music from here:</p>

<p><strong><a href="http://tinyurl.com/2shz2s">http://tinyurl.com/2shz2s</a></strong></p>
 
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