Before the Install - What Software To Have On Hand?

[RadioJoe]

Looking for your thoughts.

I plan to purchase and install Win7 in the next few days. In advance, what other programs should I consider installing? I'd like to start the downloading now. The install machine is the only one in my house and I want to be prepared.

In addition to Win7, I will install MS Office 2007, PaintShop Pro 11 with a few other graphics programs, HTML authoring software, and Sony SoundForge 9.0 (audio editing.)

I'm not a gamer. I would like to do some desktop enhancements. I like graphics and love to create desktop/wallpaper images. To be honest, the machine is used for more Internet action than anything else.

First and foremost will be virus protection. I will probably continue to use Avast. Currently, I play it safe with Ad-Aware and SpyBot. I'm also considering dropping all of that for Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Thanks in advance.

Joe

 

[SIW2]

I can't advise on Graphics apps. Joe, as I don't use it.

Curious why you think MSE will be as good as Avast - let alone Avast plus the other security apps. you have been using.

 

[dave1812]

Looking for your thoughts.

I plan to purchase and install Win7 in the next few days. In advance, what other programs should I consider installing? I'd like to start the downloading now. The install machine is the only one in my house and I want to be prepared.

In addition to Win7, I will install MS Office 2007, PaintShop Pro 11 with a few other graphics programs, HTML authoring software, and Sony SoundForge 9.0 (audio editing.)

I'm not a gamer. I would like to do some desktop enhancements. I like graphics and love to create desktop/wallpaper images. To be honest, the machine is used for more Internet action than anything else.

First and foremost will be virus protection. I will probably continue to use Avast. Currently, I play it safe with Ad-Aware and SpyBot. I'm also considering dropping all of that for Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Thanks in advance.

Joe

Have you ever used paint.net? Free and works for many functions one normally uses a paint program for. Paint.NET - Free Software for Digital Photo Editing highly recommended.

Trucrypt to encrypt a section of your HDD to keep password files or other sensitive files away from prying eyes.

 

[satchmo]

It all depends on how you use your PC.

So I think only you know which applications are appropriate for your computer.

I just use Avast! to protect my computer, and Windows 7 recognizes it as an official anti-virus program.

 

[harpua]

There's a site that will actually automate the install of a bunch of free apps for you without any of the crapware or free toolbars etc. that sometimes come with these apps. It has a lot of useful apps like Skype, ImgBurn, Yahoo Messenger, Java, etc., and many other apps that you might be interested in. I have found it to be very helpful. It sure simplifies and speeds up setting up after a new install.

Here's the link: Ninite Easy PC Setup and Multiple App Installer - Great For Win7 Upgrades

 

[RadioJoe]

Thanks Harpua, I will definitely check out that one. I often visit SourceForge for open source programs.

Dave, Yes I have tryed Paint.net.

SIW2 and Satchmo, I am sure you are correct about Avast. Although, I have read some good comments about MSE. I have a tendency to stick to what works.

Thanks!

 

[MacGyvr]

I only run MSE for antivirus/antispyware. I haven't had any issues.

 

[pparks1]

The software that I use for most things include

VMWare Player 3.0 or Virtualbox 3.0.12 for virtualization (Free)
Notepad++ for file editing (free)
TrueCrypt for encryption needs (free)
ImgBurn for cd burning.(free)
ExactAudio Copy for CD ripping (free)
7zip for compression/decompression (free)
Handbrake for video encoding (free)
CamStudio for video screen captures (free)
FoxIT PDF reader (free)
PDF Creator for creating PDF's from the Print menu (free)
MediaMonkey as my music playback tool and sync tool for MP3 player (free)
TreeSizeFree to analyze disk space usage (free).
Firefox for web browsing and various extensions (free)
Putty and PSCP for ssh'ing into Linux and secure copying files (free).
Open Office for basic office functionality (free).


So, as you can see....Aside from the physical box and the copy of Windows....I don't spend much on Software.

 

[bigmck]

I just did the Win 7 install this weekend. Print the tutorial by Brink to have as you install. You might not need it, but it is nice to have.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

The install went good for me. Just be sure you have your data files backed up and I made a list of the programs on my computer so that after the install I could just go down the list and install them again without forgetting anything. You were asking about an anti-virus. I am a big fan of Zone Alarm Security Suite. They have the Windows 7 upgrade already. It costs about $20 a year to keep the subscription current, but I think it is worth it. There are also some good free ones out there. Good luck on the install.

 

[myzr7]

What you absolutely need in case Windows 7 doesn't have it is your nic card driver. If you have that driver you are good to go.

 

[veii]

There's a site that will actually automate the install of a bunch of free apps for you without any of the crapware or free toolbars etc. that sometimes come with these apps. It has a lot of useful apps like Skype, ImgBurn, Yahoo Messenger, Java, etc., and many other apps that you might be interested in. I have found it to be very helpful. It sure simplifies and speeds up setting up after a new install.

Here's the link: Ninite Easy PC Setup and Multiple App Installer - Great For Win7 Upgrades

Wow! Now that's a good program. Gotta be the nearest thing to "sudo apt-get install audacious audacity conky vlc devede dvdrip kdenlive ubuntu-restricted-extras grsync nmap ntop" (my Ubuntu setup command) that you can get on Windows. Certainly adds a great bit of previously Linux/BSD only functionality and ease of use.

Shame I didn't know about this when I setup my Desktop and lappy. Thanks for teaching me something.

 

[pparks1]

The only real issue with ninite is that it doesn't detect or discern between 64-bit and 32-bit.

 

[RadioJoe]

Good ideas, all of you.

 

[FrankenPengie]

Definitely Foxit PDF reader instead of Adobe. Also Irfanview image viewer/editor. I kept getting "surrogate com" crashes using the Windows Photo Viewer.

 

[RadioJoe]

From what I read, the "Photo Viewer" is not a part of Win7. I can only get it if I install the free Windows Live collection. Is this true?

On a side note: I kinda like the tools at Microsoft's TechNet site. They have a complete suite of System Internals.

Sysinternals Security Utilities

 

[dave1812]

From what I read, the "Photo Viewer" is not a part of Win7. I can only get it if I install the free Windows Live collection. Is this true?

On a side note: I kinda like the tools at Microsoft's TechNet site. They have a complete suite of System Internals.

Sysinternals Security Utilities

Photo viewer is on my installation. I haven't installed the "Live" stuff (at least not that I recall!!! )

 

[Sbrideau]

Drivers are good to have in case you get trouble after installing and can't get on the internet to get them. You shouldn't have to do anything with the drivers once installed though.

As for MSE, I'm currently trying it for the heck of knowing if it really is as good as people say it is, and I've been disapointed because it doesn't say when it updates, never pops up for anything, which I don't like, since I want antiviruses that actually show they're there, like the Avira Antivir pop-up in the corner of the screen when there are updates or anything that it does.

 

[mushroomboy]

There's a site that will actually automate the install of a bunch of free apps for you without any of the crapware or free toolbars etc. that sometimes come with these apps. It has a lot of useful apps like Skype, ImgBurn, Yahoo Messenger, Java, etc., and many other apps that you might be interested in. I have found it to be very helpful. It sure simplifies and speeds up setting up after a new install.

Here's the link: Ninite Easy PC Setup and Multiple App Installer - Great For Win7 Upgrades

****ING BRILLIANT!!! Where was I on this one? I was walking around with my thumb up my ass is what!!! Oh man that's great, that's going to be a keeper (like in austin powers!).

As far as AV goes, use the MS Defender or whatever that thing is. I personally hate AV as it's like having sex and then putting on a condom. Siffels anyone! I've got some for sale!!!

IMO for must have programs include:

Win 7 codecs (or any xvid codec pack and ffmpeg pack)
Pidgin!!! (**** any other chat program, they are all too bloated and ****ty)
Winamp... Why?  Cause it whipps the lamaz ass!!!
Daemon tools
Winrar, cause it kicks the **** out of winzip.  though bz2 beats all!
Minefield (formerly firefox)
Speedfan (for all those temps/hdd info)
Vuze (because they support linux!!!)
ImgBurn, CDBurnerXP, Infra Recorder (alternatives to k3b project)

 

[antt]

Drivers are good to have in case you get trouble after installing and can't get on the internet to get them. You shouldn't have to do anything with the drivers once installed though.

As for MSE, I'm currently trying it for the heck of knowing if it really is as good as people say it is, and I've been disapointed because it doesn't say when it updates, never pops up for anything, which I don't like, since I want antiviruses that actually show they're there, like the Avira Antivir pop-up in the corner of the screen when there are updates or anything that it does.

Im actually the opposite, I love MSE just because it does everything in the background. No annoying popups or audio (AVAST!) to deal with, just smooth running. It also helps keep non-savvy users from messing with things. If there are popups to play with, people will mess around with them.
Gotta love how it ties in with windows update too, i like to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to updating programs.

Oh and radiojoe there is a photo viewer in windows 7, and it works perfectly fine. The live suite contains an extra downloadable photo gallery, which can be used to organise and do basic corrections to your photos. Its a handy tool to have, it's auto-correct feature is pretty good.

I'd definitely make sure I had the network card and wireless driver handy before install. And be near an internet connection. If windows doesn't pick up the network drivers, you can install them and then jump on the net to get all the programs you need.

 

[harpua]

I would like to recommend what I think is a better FREE image viewer than the native Windows Photo Viewer, that you can install and make the default image viewer so it will automatically open your images when you click on any image files. The program is Faststone Image Viewer. It is highly customizable, fast, handles more file types than the Windows Photo Viewer, has better editing features (although I generally use other apps for that) and can be set to open images in full screen with no menus showing so you can really enjoy your photos. The menus "fly out" when you hover the cursor to the 4 edges of the screen, so they are there when you need them, but if you're serious about photography, it's nice to see your images, unobstructed, in full screen. Anyway, I think Faststone Image Viewer is pretty awesome so I highly recommend checking it out if you haven't already.

"FastStone Image Viewer is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touches the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image annotation, scanner support, histogram and much more. It supports all major graphic formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA) and popular digital camera RAW formats (CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF, SRF and DNG).

No Adware No Spyware
Free for Home Users"​