I do a lot of computer OS installations and setup, so I decided to make a list for myself so that I don't forget to install something. If you're interested, read on!
- Antivirus
- Avast - https://www.avast.com/en-us/index
- Avast is my go to FREE antivirus software.
- McAfee - http://www.mcafee.com/us/
- I like McAfee for a pay product because the WebAdvisor browser plugin is FANTASTIC. I prevents you from making really bad clicking decisions. It also notifies you before you click an internet link that it might lead to a dangerous site.
- Bitdefender - http://www.bitdefender.com/
- I've been looking for a good lightweight antivirus for older computers. Not sure if I'm settled on Bitdefender. Another option I've been looking into is Avira (https://www.avira.com/).
- Backup
- CrashPlan - http://www.code42.com/crashplan/
- FREE local backups to an external hard drive.
- Online data storage
- Dropbox - https://www.dropbox.com/
- Disc burning
- ImgBurn - http://www.imgburn.com/
- Disc image (ISO) mounting
- Virtual CloneDrive - https://www.elby.ch/en/products/vcd.html
- Text editor
- Notepad++ - https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
- I used to use TextPad, but I started using Notepad++ because TextPad would screw up Unicode text. However, Textpad does regular expressions better than Notepad++.
- TextPad - https://www.textpad.com/
- File searching
- Agent Ransack - https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack
- Photo editing
- Paint.NET - http://www.getpaint.net/index.html
- I prefer Paint.NET over GIMP because it does everything I need and it's much lighter than GIMP.
- GIMP - https://www.gimp.org/
- Photo resizing/converter
- XnView Shell Extension - http://www.xnview.com/en/xnshell/
- Right click to resize/convert images.
- Browser
- Internet Explorer - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/download-ie
- Preinstalled with Windows. Yeah that's right. I use Internet Explorer.
- Chrome - https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/
- My backup browser.
- K-Meleon - http://kmeleonbrowser.org/
- My preferred lightweight browser. If you know one that's even more lightweight, please speak up. I do do a lot of work on old computers (see previous posts).
- Video player
- VideoLAN Client (VLC) - http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
- Media Player Classic (MPC) - https://mpc-hc.org/
- Backup video player
- Music player
- Foobar2000 - https://www.foobar2000.org/
- Clementine - https://www.clementine-player.org/
- Recently found out about this one, so I'm giving it a try.
- Office suite
- Microsoft Office
- LibreOffice - https://www.libreoffice.org/
- Does a better job creating/opening Microsoft Office files over OpenOffice.
- Note taking
- Microsoft OneNote
- I'm a late comer to digital note taking, but I started out using OneNote, so I'm stuck with it.
- Evernote - https://evernote.com/
- FREE note taking application.
- Remote control
- Logmein - https://secure.logmein.com/
- Web-based remote control software. It was GREAT when it was free, but these days you have to pay. Oh well, but it's great for getting to your computer over the internet.
- TightVNC - http://www.tightvnc.com/
- I ONLY use VNC inside the network because it's scary. I use it to remote control computers that run videos, play music, etc.
- Remote Desktop
- Preinstalled with Windows. I only use this for development purposes. Not good for much else.
- TeamViewer - https://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx
- Easy to setup and use. I use it to help friends and family troubleshoot computer issues over the internet.
- VOIP
- Skype - http://www.skype.com/en/
- Make sure to download Skype for desktop. I'm not a fan of the Windows Store App version of Skype.
- Email client
- Microsoft Outlook
- Yup, I like Microsoft Outlook.
- Mozilla Thunderbird - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/
- If you need a FREE free email client, then I supposed Thunderbird will do it. I remember not liking it very much because it did a bad job of handling IMAP.
- PDF writer
- PrimoPDF - http://www.primopdf.com/
- PDF reader
- Adobe Acrobat Reader - https://get.adobe.com/reader/
- PDF file manipulation
- PDFsam - http://www.pdfsam.org/
- Split and merge PDF files.
- File compression
- WinZip - http://www.winzip.com/win/en/index.htm
- Windows Explorer
- Preinstalled with Windows. Pre-Windows 7, the ZIP compression tool builtin to Windows Explorer was AWEFUL. It had a 2GB file size limit. These day's it much better, so you don't really need WinZip, but I like WinZip.
- WinRAR - http://www.rarlab.com/
- If you need a FREE file compression tool, WinRAR works. Or you can also use 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/).
- File decompressor
- Universal Extractor - http://legroom.net/software/uniextract
- Explode manufacturer packaged setup files and other setup files to manually install drivers.
- KVM
- Synergy - http://synergy-project.org/
- Software-based keyboard and mouse sharing.
- Hardware temperature monitoring
- HWMonitor - http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
- Hardware information
- CPU-Z - http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
- Good for determining current computer hardware specifications to research potential upgrades.
- Messaging
- Chrome App Launcher - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/launcher
- Google got rid of GoogleTalk, so now I have to use Hangouts via the Chrome App Launcher.
Development
- Development IDE
- Visual Studio - https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/visual-studio-homepage-vs.aspx
- Yes, I'm a .NET developer.
- Virtual machine
- Oracle VirtualBox - https://www.virtualbox.org/
- Git client
- SmartGit - http://www.syntevo.com/smartgit/
- SourceTree - https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/
- Using at work, but I was recommended SmartGit. At the moment, I don't have much of a preference.
- Database
- SQL Server
- Only because I do a lot of work with Microsoft products.
- Oracle - http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/downloads/index.html#database
- FREE to download for development. The typical drawback is tooling. Oracle DOES NOT come with good clients. If you have access to Toad (http://software.dell.com/products/toad-for-oracle/), use that. Otherwise, try SQuirrel (http://squirrel-sql.sourceforge.net/).
- MySQL - https://www.mysql.com/
- My go to FREE quick and easy database.
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