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First Ten Programs on New Install?
reddigitaldragon asks: "Some people re-install once a year, but if you're anything like me your machine is formatted at least once a month. After the OS is in, then come the favorite/must have/most used programs to install. My first installations for Windows (I use it; get over it): Trillian, Winrar, Firefox, Winamp, SmartFTP, Azureus, NMap, GKrellM, PowerDVD. What are your First 10 installed programs?" What are the first 10 programs you would install on a Windows machine? How about for a Unix machine?
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
Real men don't install programs, they write them.
-1 : TACO! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?
Easy.... all of those wonderful Claria (Gator) products!
eWallet - Give you personal info to a spyware maker!
Dashbar - I don't know what it does, but it must dash!
WeatherScope - I've got to know my weather!
PrecisionTime - I've got to know exactly what time it is.
DateManager - How else do I know date it is?
WebSecureAlert - Who else to trust your security to than a spyware maker?
and then...
AOL 9.0!
Internet Explorer 6.01
Windows Media Player 9.0 - DRM Special Edition
Pr0n
Casual Games/Downloads
I use 7-zip, it is free (speech and beer) and reads and writes most archive formats, including zip, rar, tar, tgz, etc.
Did you mount a military-grade, variable-focus MASER on an unlicensed artificial intelligence?
Might I suggest adding a calculator to round out that list?
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
bash less enlightenment wget vim screen nmap phoenix/firebird/firefox Eterm xmms
:(){
Bonzi Buddy's pretty high on my list; not only that, I don't even have to ask to install it! Friendly lil thing ends up there on its own.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Thats about it, everything I install after a reimage of my machines!! Other things get tagged on, but those are the core!
If anyone has suggestions for alternatives, im open. But they have to be good! Im currently looking for a new .net IDE as sharpdevelop has a few bugs, and since its written in c#, i cant help fix em :(
As for UNIX, I use OpenBSD so its got a pretty sane base install. I usually drag in a few custom admin scripts ive developed over the years, and my .profile for ksh, but thats about it. The box then gets configured for its custom job.
Emacs. Hell, that is ten programs. And it is as big as one hundred.
Laboratree - Scientific collaboration based on OpenSocial.
Linux!
TweakUI is the first thing I install. I can't stand the default Windows Explorer setup.
I think you missed Windows security fixes, Adobe Acrobat and WinSCP.
Follow your Euro bills at EBT
Maybe if AVG/Mcafee/FProt/Norton Antivirus was among those 10, you wouldn't need to reinstall every month?
Updated drivers followed by Antivirus and Mozilla is what goes on my Windoze boxen first.
Well, I use my PC as a game box with some browsing only (with SSH if I need to access one of the unixish machines) so here's my stuff:
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Trolling is a art,
In the long honored tradition of slashbots, we must all mark him as foe and shame him for using an OS different from our own. For shame! For shame! How darest thou useth Windows, and how darest the Editors post a story that proclaims that windows is a good OS!!! Mark him as foe, mark him as foe I say!
For those who are wondering, I use Linux, but have many friends who use windows because, quite frankly, they have no business using Linux. All they do is play games. Windows is great for certain uses, just not any of my uses... uh, I mean, FOR SHAME!
I _race_ furiously to download and get a firewall installed, then do the windows updates. I've had machines be comprimised while downloading the firewall for the first time, damn those subnet scanning kids move fast :)
When installing a Windows PC, it's a good idea to have The OpenCD handy. It includes (among other things) CDEx, Mozilla, GIMP, PuTTY, TightVNC and WinPT.
siener's youtube channel
Do yourself a favor: next clean install, apply XP-SP1, then Clean=(Delete LocalSettings\Temp, Windows\Temp, Defrag) & boot Knoppix and backup your partition with Partimage (to a network location mounted with NFS), if needed.
.reg file or something. Imaging with 3 or 4 gigs of apps to back up takes a long time and gets to be a pain in the ass.
Then apply all Windows Updates, and image again. Then install your drivers, and "core apps" (be very conservative), and tweak your profile a little, and image again.
Then restore one of these three images as needed, and update as needed. Install your games on a separate partition.
It gets tricky if you actually use your XP partition for real work (MSOffice, VStudio) instead of just for video editing and games and use the much superior Debian Sid for web browsing, email, and programming. Unlike games, its hard to put apps on a separate partition and simply "install" them with a
So now I just do my mini-backup, revert to ghost image, apply pending windows/app fixes and upgrades (with a text file on my desktop to keep track as I do them the first time), install any new "needed" software, clean up stuff etc, and then make me a fresh image of that for next time.
Well, I decided to reformat my PowerBook's drive just for the experience. It wasn't at all necessary, as it is with Windows after a few months of use.
Heres my list of programs installed since the reformat a month ago:
LaunchBar
Yep, thats the beauty of the Mac: a rock solid system that doesn't necessetate reformating, and a good suite of software preloaded.
-- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
I install Mozzie first, then I download and run Spybot Search and Destroy and run the cleanup/immunize functions, and then I install AVG. Nothing else is an "absolute" but I usually install them. (I don't install Visual Studio on other people's boxes, of course!)
John
Fink
Sendmail
Bring Perl Current
SpamAssassin and SpamAssassin Milter
Microsoft Office (Yuck! Please get us an Aqua Native Open Office!)
Mozilla Firefox
RealMediaBurner (as close to Nero as you're going to get)
BitTorrent
MultiDesktop
CarbonCopyCloner
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
the Cygwin installer.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
Wouldn't this guy's time be better spent reading a "Computers for Dummies" book so he wouldn't have to re-install every month?
I don't like 7-Zip, there are some compatibility issues I've found with encrypted Zip files, and the user interface is really clunky.
Instead, use the other free alternative, IZArc. It handles everything, plus 7-Zip, actually. The user interface is very clean and contains at least as many features as WinZip. Gets a full recommendation from me!
...
A fine text editor!
Here's what I do: Bitty Browser & Andromeda
This is proof that Windows is easier to install than Linux-- obviously, Linux users are too scared to reinstall their OS every month, whereas for Windows, it's a joy!
A.
- Cygwin - get the POSIX environment on!
- PuTTY - the only terminal I've found that handles colors and stuff right.
- TightVNC - get to some other computer
- OO.o
- vim - I'm not even a VI guy, but it's fast and has nice hooks into explorer and I'm too lazy to deal with registering TextPad or whatever. JEdit's also nice, but way too slow for casual use... I usually go straight to emacs for that kind of editing.
- Mozilla / Firefox / etc. - and the plugins:
- Flash
- Acrobat Reader
- StumbleUpon toolbar - it's like having your own personalized fark (not that I read fark, but this is probably why)
- Winamp - get the groove on
- MPlayer - it handles just about all the codecs
- MultiDesk - usable multiple desktops for Windows... like getting that 10% productivity improvement for having dual monitors without having to pay 100% more in displays. If only it had a visual pager...
- Windows PowerToys - because every little option matters
Usually hit windowsupdate several times first, of course.More on Linux and MacOS X later, I guess...
Black Ice is a ridiculous product with many security issues of its own. Do your own Googling.
The best of the worst in software firewalls IMHO is Norton Internet Security. Good support, and if it hoses your TCP/IP stack (like most any software-based firewall has a tendency to do over time...), there's at least well documented support.
If they're a dialup user, security patch the hell out of the box and be done with it. If they're broadband, figure out a way to put a hardware solution in there. Don't compromise the stability of the TCP/IP stack with software filtering. I don't know how many machines I've had to rebuild the stacks on because of shitty software-based firewalls for Windows.
And, as always, YMMV.
Can you ping me now? Gooood! | Manhappenin.Net - Things to do
Nobody in their right mind installs either of those crapware apps. Quicktime Alternative and Real Alternative work great.
The least likely to apps/options to reinstall:
1) Gator.
2) Bonzi Buddy.
3) Microsoft Bob.
4) Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6 (the one that broke TCP/IP and led to the rush release of SP6a).
5) Any recent RealPlayer release chock full of adware/spyware.
6) Any release of Microsoft Outlook Express.
7) Microsoft KB835742 Security Update (the recent one that causes random Win2K boxes to reboot to a BSOD or have 99% CPU utilization).
8) The Microsoft Office "Clippy" option.
9) Microsoft Outlook Preview Pane.
10) Universal Plug n Play.
Any linux distro comes with so much stuff, I don't think there are even 10 things that I install after I'm done the OS install...
I'll grab bittorrent (official client), firefox, thunderbird, and I think that's about it.
Heres an Os X user's list
That was actually hard. So much comes with Os X, that it REALLY is a great Os right out of the box. Anything else at the end of the list is just little apps that really aren't important. Also, i just don't format as much as i used to when i was on Windows, which was a little more conservative than the poster at about every 3 months.
* Drag Thing: A highly addictive replacement for OS X's Dock. Really improves productivity.
* MS Office: Open Office isn't ready for prime time on OS X. I'm not sure it will ever be ready for professionals who exchange complex documents, though it's great if you have a small shop and use OOo's default file format.
* Toast 6: The most convenient disk duplication suite I have ever used.
* Fink: There aren't many Linux programs I *must* have on OS X, but this will get 'em.
* Photoshop: I have an older iBook with a small drive that gets GIMP instead.
* Corel Graphics Suite: Gotta have it for layout. Now that Corel has abandoned Mac, however, I'll be moving to Adobe Creative Suite.
* Thunderbird: I'd probably use Thunderbird fulltime if the Mac version were to be integrated with the OS X addressbook. But it's pleasant to play around with.
* Mozilla Firefox: Safari is my default, but it's a very young browser. Firefox renders whatever Safari won't.
* Starry Night: An entertaining and useful program for backyard astronomers. You needn't own a telescope to appreciate SN. Explore the universe from your armchair.
* Updated iLife suite: I've become addicted to iTunes and use iPhoto to organize my personal snaps.
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
VLC -, like you mentioned, Free media player is a great media player, it blew me away. Better then Window's media player, and I know that my porno viewing habits are not going straight to Bill Gates.
One you didn't mention is Filezilla which is a good GPL ftp program instead of SmartFTP if you want to try another one out. (I must confess I use LeechFTP since I haven't gotten use to Filezilla just yet, although if you are into hosting files Filezilla is even better).
I just finished creating an automatic install DVD of Windows XP Pro. On this DVD it installs Windows XP Pro, installs my programs silently, and automatically installs all patches and hotfixes. This saves me a bunch of times from doing this the manual way. Right before I wipe Windows and reinstall, I move all my important data to my second hard drive.
.NET Framework
;)
For more information please visit the MSFN Unattended XP CD at http://unattended.msfn.org/index.htm.
In keeping with the direction of the first post, here is my list of my first 10 installed programs...
1. Hotfixes and security updates galore!
2.
3. Windows Media Player 9
4. DirectX 9.0b
5. Office XP with Service Pack 3
6. TweakUI
7. Winamp 5.0.3a (no video codecs)
8. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack
9. WinRAR 3.30
10. ETrust Antivirus 6.0
I have a bunch of other installed programs on the DVD, but I thought I would share only a couple.
Cheers!
HOSTS file from
http://someonewhocares.org/hosts
NETWORKING
* Mozilla Firefox
* Firefox extensions: RadialContext, User Agent Switcher, bookmarklets, Magpie
* Filezilla (an ftp client that looks a lot like CuteFTP)
* Klipfolio (a news ticker / rss viewer)
* Trillian (an instant messenger, with the microscopic skin)
* PuTTY (a set of SSH clients)
* Cygwin/X (a port of X11, including an X server)
MEDIA
* BSplayer (a media player that handles DivX files well, even on SMP machines)
* foobar2000 (an audio player, uglier but leaner than Winamp)
* AC3Filter (a DirectShow filter for decoding AC3 audio)
* Subtitle Workshop (for converting between subtitle files of different formats)
* HACP (a lightweight cd player that understands CD text and online CD databases)
* IrfanView (an image viewer similar to ACD See)
* XnView (another image viewer)
* Exact Audio Copy (an excellent CD audio extractor)
* Real Alternative (a replacement for Real Player, without the bloat)
UTILITY
* Ad-Aware (for finding and removing spyware from your computer)
* Spybot - Search & Destroy (another spyware removal program)
* AVG Anti-Virus (not crashy like Norton AV, but updated less frequently)
* IZArc (an archive & file compression utility similar to WinZip)
* pdf995 (for easily converting your documents to Adobe PDF files)
* ListXP (a lightweight raw file viewer modeled after Vernon D. Buerg's list for DOS)
I reinstalled my sons Win2k box, (dual boot Linux) applied all patches, defragged, and shut down.
Booted into Knoppix, made a bz2 compressed image of both his installs in ~5 minutes. Burned to 2 CDs.
Wrote it back to disk, worked fine. Took ~3 min to overwrite.
I keep a 250MB USB flash drive loaded with these installers for when I go to my friends and families' houses and have to fix their computers. This, plus a Bart's PE WinXP boot disk and a SP1-slipstreamed XP install disk pretty much can get me to the point of pulling down anything else I need from the Internet. Which ten are most important depends on the computer and the person I'm helping.
If I can get a bigger thumb drive, I would add PowerDVD, the XP SP1, all the hotfixes, Audiograbber, Mozilla Thunderbird, a VNC client and server, Retrospect Desktop and one game. I'd like to add Partition Magic and Ghost but can't figure out how to use it and stay legal under the licensing. I will also add an OpenOffice disk when I get a moment.
If I encounter Win9x I make them upgrade before I will help them (I'll perform the upgrade if they ask.) I make them pay for the licenses for anything I use though. I also make sure they have a backup protocol and run at least one backup so I don't have to repeat my work.
-- Gary Goldberg KA3ZYW 301/249-6501 AIM:OgGreeb Digital Marketing Inc., Bowie, MD