Software for a new Vista Laptop?
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Thread: Software for a new Vista Laptop?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 1999
    Location
    St. Louis, Mo. USA
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    Software for a new Vista Laptop?

    I just bought my daughter a new Dell laptop for college with Vista pre-loaded.

    I'm brand new to Vista (kind of a die-hard XP guy).
    What software would you suggest I load before sending her off? Since she's going away, I won't have the luxary of being able to fix her computer (kinda sad thinking about it).

    I'd prefer the free versions, if possible.
    With my XP machines, I always loaded:
    Spybot S&D
    AVG
    CCleaner
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Maryland, USA
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    17,806
    avast!
    http://avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

    Comodo
    (Install the Firewall only -- no AntiVirus)
    http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

    MalwareBytes
    http://majorgeeks.com/Malwarebytes_A...are_d5756.html

    SpywareBlaster
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpywareBlaster_d2859.html

    SuperAntiSpyware
    http://majorgeeks.com/SUPERAntiSpyware_d5116.html

    ThreatFire
    http://www.threatfire.com/download/

    WinPatrol (May not need this with Vista?)
    http://www.winpatrol.com/

    CCleaner (Uncheck Yahoo! Toolbar when installing)
    http://www.ccleaner.com/

    --

    Adobe Reader (Uncheck Google Toolbar)
    http://www.adobe.com/go/EN_US-H-GET-READER

    Adobe Flash Player (Uncheck Google Toolbar)
    http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/?promoid=BUIGP

    Adobe Shockwave Player
    http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/

    Sun's Java (Uncheck MSN[?] Toolbar)
    http://www.java.com/download

    Mozilla Firefox
    http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/personal.html

    Apple QuickTime
    http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

    Windows Media Player (version 11)
    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win.../download.aspx

    --

    If they do not have Microsoft Office installed, they may also need the following:

    Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 2007
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

    Microsoft Word Viewer
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

    Microsoft Excel Viewer
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

    Microsoft Visio Viewer 2007
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

    After installing any of these, make sure you visit Microsoft Update and install any updates marked as Critical
    http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/

    --

    When done setting up their computer, visit the following two links and make sure everything is up-to-date:

    Microsoft Update
    http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/

    Secunia Online Software Inspector
    http://secunia.com/software_inspector/

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 1999
    Location
    St. Louis, Mo. USA
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    Terrific answer and VERY thorough! Thanks!
    I'll start installing tonite!
    WinXP/98 dualboot - P4 2.4b 533FSB
    Asus P4PE/L MoBo
    512MB Corsair DDR PC2700
    HDD1 - 160gig Seagate HDD2 - 60gig Maxtor
    Antec SOHO File Server w/400 watt PSU

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Pensacola, FL
    Posts
    313
    If it's Vista 64 bit some of those programs will not work, like SuperAntiSpyware. If you have 64 bit you have to make sure it's compatible with it.
    squid13

  5. #5
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    Arkham Asylum, Cell 13
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    I'd rather use Foxit than Acrobat Reader.
    http://www.foxitsoftware.com/downloads/index.php

    VLC is a better media player than WMP.
    http://videolan.org/vlc/

    I prefer Avira to Avast, but Avast is pretty good.
    http://www.free-av.com/

    If you don't have MS Office, you can try OpenOffice.
    http://www.openoffice.org/

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Maryland, USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by MPTech View Post
    Terrific answer and VERY thorough! Thanks!
    I'll start installing tonite!
    You're welcome; And Thanks.

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