TSGL: List of what to put on a new PC?

[Don Penlington]

Geoff wrote:

Anyone care to share their configuration lists?>>

Depends entirely on what he wants to do, how much if any he wants to spend, 
and his level of expertise. Assuming he's a novice:

First, forget about the ghastly Winzip--it's much too cumbersome. Use 
Justzipit--does it all for you automatically with one click.
http://www.topshareware.com/JustZIPit-download-7110.htm

I wouldn't let Quicktime anywhere near my computer unless it were really 
necessary--it's too invasive for my liking, wants to install itself into 
startups every time you use it and won't take "no" for an answer. It's 
Apple's answer to sabotaging windows---and always has been.

As for the rest, I assume you want freeware. These are my essentials:

Graphics:

Irfanview
Freestone image viewer (the perfect screen 
capture/resizer/editor.)  www.faststone.org

Text:

Metapad (fast Notepad replacement with good easy auto-printing 
capabilities) http://liquidninja.com/metapad/
Clipomatic--Mike Lin's excellent Clipboard extender. 
http://www.mlin.net/Clipomatic.shtml And while you are there, get Startup 
Control Panel for managing startups. It's basic but easy.
Shortkeys---abbreviate words and phrases into double letters when typing. 
(eg typing dp turns into Don Penlington).     Saves typing in full your 
email and postal address, your name, and anything else you want. 
http://www.shortkeys.com/lite.htm
Quicklaunch. The easiest and neatest program launcher I've come across. 
http://www.partridgesoft.com/

Internet:

Maxthon---browser overlay for IE---still has many good features not 
included yet in IE7.
Free Download Manager--- download accelerator (really works) and manager. 
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/
    This one does everything Download Accelerator Plus and Getright do, and 
it's free!

Security:

Spybot
AdAware
SuperAntispyware
Winpatrol
AVG or Avira a-v (which I've downloaded but haven't tried yet but getting 
excellent reports and less resource-hungry than AVG)
ZoneAlarm Pro (firewall and active antispyware---not free) or Comodo firewall.

Frankly, I don't know of any good freeware active 
anti-spyware/malware/phishing protection other than good-sense.
But that's hard to find.

System:

Dialogue Box Extender (OSDEX)--"Dialog Box Assistant is a very simple 
program that becomes absolutely essential after you use it once or twice. 
This software adds two extra buttons to your Windows Open and Save dialog 
box. The left button shows you the list of most recently launched files. 
The right button shows you the list of most recently accessed folders. You 
can instantly launch a file or open a folder from the list without having 
to waste time browsing".
http://www.win-utilities.com/dba/index.html. Was free, now costs $20,--you 
might be able to hunt down an older version. Or I can email my old freeware 
version to anyone who wants---it's 400 Kb. I haven't tried it in Vista, but 
it's been with me since my W95 days and still works well (XP).
ERUNT--registry backups/restore. 
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/
TweakUI

Lots of others, but those are the ones I really couldn't live without.

Don Penlington


 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html