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- baalzebub, on 10/10/2007, -65/+416RE:["What do you install after a Windows re-format?"]
Linux...- niallabrown, on 10/10/2007, -43/+16Last time it happned to be I installed Ubuntu.
- dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -26/+8isn't ubuntu linux?
- AnarkeIncarnate, on 10/10/2007, -2/+42no, on Digg it is Ubuntu. Also, you can put up tutorials on how to "Do X in Ubuntu" that apparently cannot be done in any other OS
- shredswithpiks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+22let me re-word Anark's joke.... "no. Here on digg Linux is Ubuntu."
- potp, on 10/10/2007, -7/+6if its popular it aint Linux. well thats how Linux fanboi would like it to be anyways.
- jivemasta, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I plan on installing Fedora on my next re-format. Should be any day now.
- dgblackout, on 10/10/2007, -26/+8isn't ubuntu linux?
- wassim2k, on 10/10/2007, -11/+134Gee, I never saw that comment coming.
- janeuner, on 10/10/2007, -5/+44When I format my Windows hard drive, I put Windows back on it. Fortunately, I never have to format the {Debian,Ubuntu} boxes.
- DocHoliday22, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13To be honest I am so sick of formating that when my PC is full of crap I usually let it go and keep running it until it is unbearable...
- latova, on 10/10/2007, -18/+33What's this "windows" people are talking about?
- nreynolds, on 10/10/2007, -20/+4what the ***** is an "iPhone"?
- marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0A nerdy status symbol that's about as unnecessary as a Hummer is for dudes with no hair or small penises
- turrican, on 10/10/2007, -5/+35What the ***** is the internet?
- latova, on 10/10/2007, -1/+41A series of tubes.
- alexforcefive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+30The Internet is a communication tool used the world over where people can come together to bitch about movies and share pornography with one another.
- awhiteflame, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21Well, it's not a dump truck.
- gforce42, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I hear they have the internet on computers now.
- Atomic1fire, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1its an interweb of computers sharing content and information at a fast pace
- picsectionpleez, on 10/10/2007, -9/+4it's an Ubundu distro
- potp, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18WTF is a Ubundu
- nreynolds, on 10/10/2007, -20/+4what the ***** is an "iPhone"?
- toast1226, on 10/10/2007, -15/+4The same thing popped into my head the second I read the title. Great minds think alike!
- shdwghst457, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5wow, when i read the title i though of teh lunix like baalzebub did, and when i saw his comment i thought the same thing toast did! crazy.
- SpacemanSpiff, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5Fanboys think alike!
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Fools never differ...
(Yet another "Great minds...." comeback...
- soil, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1never tried it, but that's a great coment! Dugg!
- Loonacy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+38The first thing I do after I install Windows is restore GRUB.
- db113456, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I do understand your pain.
- retsig, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Damn you. You beat me to it by 21 hours, so close....
- themastersb, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11AVG? After a windows reformat I put on Avast!
- Lysandor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Arr! I think Avast! is much better
- RonDutt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12I have a small group of programs I can't live without: Firefox, uTorrent, 7zip, XP Codec Pack + MPC, AVG, Winamp, LogMeIn, PuTTy
Anyone have others they can't live without?- Macuyiko, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11and Notepad++, VLC, Daemon Tools, mIRC, Pidgin, TightVNC viewer too here.
- Neiby, on 10/10/2007, -4/+3I tried Pidgin but I hated the interface. I prefer Trillian.
- RonDutt, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I prefer TED Notepad over Notepad ++, personal preference :) Can' believe I forgot Daemon Tools though :P
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Mine: Putty - then I can ssh into my proper pc :D
- Neiby, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Putty is cool, but I like Teraterm Pro better. I don't use either very much anymore. I always use SecureCRT when I'm at work and they're paying for the license.
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Nice - thanks for the tips - i'll give those too a look some time
- Neiby, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Putty is cool, but I like Teraterm Pro better. I don't use either very much anymore. I always use SecureCRT when I'm at work and they're paying for the license.
- jcarlock, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3You should use vlc and itunes. I'm a linux faboi, but I stil respect a testeful well-written product. Codecs, and winamp, and MPC, why all that work....
- ledzep19752000, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8itunes, well written?
- Arramol, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8iTunes skips when I hit the back button on my browser. That disqualifies it from the "well written" category in my book. I prefer Songbird or XMPlay personally.
- cleon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I use VLC whenever I run into codec problems, but I vastly prefer MPC's interface (click on video to pause, move mouse to bottom of screen to access controls). Why VLC doesn't have these features is a mystery to me.
- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I always found VLC intuitive enough, I mean I got used to it and it was fine. In any case frankly as long as the player plays the video and seeks efficiently I don't really care so much about the UI.
- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I always found VLC intuitive enough, I mean I got used to it and it was fine. In any case frankly as long as the player plays the video and seeks efficiently I don't really care so much about the UI.
- marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0My problem with VLC is I cannot, for the life of me, find out how to only have one instance of VLC running at one time.
- RonDutt, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2I like a nice GUI and Media Library (none of that Apple crap :P) therefore I use Winamp...I have a slipstreamed XP CD with all the basics on there, not really any work involved..Stick the CD in, select drive to install to, go grab some coffee :)
- killingthedream, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0DVD Shrink, Soulseek, FanSpeed and Memory & CPU Observer are a few minus some of the previous mentioned.
- EXreaction, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Well, on XP Sygate Personal Firewall...
But that bitch Symantec bought it out to destroy competition, so there is no updated version that works in Vista. :( - themastersb, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2WinRAR. Who uses 7zip?... besides you
- dextermanas, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I do.
- grawity, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2PuTTY, Pidgin, Firefox, Total Commander, KeePass, Notepad2, iTunes (no, I really like it!), Winamp, foobar2000, PStart...
- Macuyiko, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11and Notepad++, VLC, Daemon Tools, mIRC, Pidgin, TightVNC viewer too here.
- rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2As I don't care about my Windows partition and I just want it to be usable for my family I throw copy of Windows UE on there. But the project has been shut down, sorry for ya'll.
- Septimus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Well over 60% of digg doesn't at least. (last time I checked that poll anyway)
- jcarlock, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3I didn't think of any answer BUT linux...
- spootmonkey, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2I knew that would be the first comment
- Tenoq, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Firefox, Kerio, Truecrypt (giving me access to my Thunderbird & Miranda), Nero, K-Lite Codec Pack.
- mikemx, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1for every 10 installs of linux there are probably 8 uninstalls.. when people realise it's a load of bollocks and they can't get anything done or get any decent software for it
- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I JUST installed Ubuntu, and I must say I have to disagree, name a software, and what it does and I'll find you a FREE equivalent. Plus Beryl looks way to good to pass up.
- Sunnz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1ebay lister.
- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I JUST installed Ubuntu, and I must say I have to disagree, name a software, and what it does and I'll find you a FREE equivalent. Plus Beryl looks way to good to pass up.
- swiecki, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1holy ***** i thought the same thing.
- Poland, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1My though exactly.
- bootle, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I stopped reading after it said "install vista"
- niallabrown, on 10/10/2007, -43/+16Last time it happned to be I installed Ubuntu.
- j0kerz, on 10/10/2007, -16/+80Recently, its Ubuntu. And no, I am not another commercial for switching to Ubunutu but I have had nothing but rock solid stability with this. I Havent regretted the decision one bit...
- DarkMeld, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16I still cant get the freaking widescreen to work. You'd think that since theres only two major companies (AMD and NVidia) theyd put in a package that automatically installs and sets the resolutions for you
- coldphoenix, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10and intel
- Tabris, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1Last I checked, Intel didn't make GPUs. ATI is now part of AMD.
- PsychoKodiac, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Intel is the largest producer of GPU's. They have more volume than Nvidia or ATI
- Tabris, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1Last I checked, Intel didn't make GPUs. ATI is now part of AMD.
- jsully, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11Do this:
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.confworking
(This will make a working backup of your X configuration file in case we screw it up)
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
(This launches the X configurator)
It should be pretty straightforward - we want to get to the part where you select the available resolutions, and make sure to select your widescreen one. Then restart X by doing a Control-Alt-Backspace. It should kick into the high resolution mode, if it doesn't automatically it will now at least list your widescreen mode in the Screen Resolution panel.
If something goes wrong and you can't get back into X do this to restore:
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.confworking /etc/X11/xorg.conf- DracoFlameus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4well I have the same problem... and that solution has already suggested in one or another ubuntu forum and doesn't work for everyone.. at least on my notebook it just made things worse.
- jsully, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4What did it do exactly?
- bagelpirate, on 10/10/2007, -12/+4All that to make it widescreen?
/hugs mac- LoudNoise, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Yes. That tiny amount of time spent is worth the money you forked out.
- Ravatar, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2It is.
- Sidzilla, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Once you have had a widescreen to work with you wouldn't want to go back.
/hugs XPS M1210, gently caresses it's wide screen, slowly undresses while gazing longingly at it's... nevermind. - PsychoKodiac, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1LoudNoise: Yes the extra money is worth it for something you know and understand. If you take average Joe and set him in front of a Linux computer and tell him to figure out how to set it to wide screen mode it would eventually cost him more money in time trying to figure it out than it would have to buy a system he is familiar with. Just apply what ever it is that you make per hour at work to what ever task you are doing and see if that task is worth your time.
- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Every person that asks me what kind of computer they should buy I tell them get a mac. a) because I know they'll need help at some point, and with a mac this is minimised, and b) no matter WHAT people say mac is the easiest interface possible. I'm not saying that I use mac's or even like them but I can acknowledge a good peice of coding when I see it. But then again I switched to Feisty solely because of Beryl, it was too good to pass up. And incidentally it isn't that much effort. All you have to do is copy and paste the commands supplied and thats it. Have you tried setting up dual monitor in a Mac?? Trust me its VERY difficult. This is the thing people don't realise if you give an average joe a mac they're fine with it, which is all well and good. But the moment you need to do something DIFFERENT with it, you're completely screwed.
- marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1@PsychoKodiac - Do you typically spend a lot of time @ work tinkering with your PC? Did you have to set up your own PC at your job? When I am at home, I don't continue to count my hourly rate towards time I spend. Otherwise I would have to start charging my girlfriend to hang out with me, Canonical for the time I spend (joyously) tinkering with Ubuntu, my cat for eating up my time having me pet it, etc.
Your average Joe can figure out how to do anything in Linux with usually one google search and one or a small series or cut and pastes into the CLI (If there isn't already a GUI way of doing it). With the next release of Ubuntu, there *should* be a GUI way to set up xorg.conf.
if you are using NVidia's drivers, they include a GUI to set up almost everything for xorg.conf and your video card.
- DracoFlameus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4well I have the same problem... and that solution has already suggested in one or another ubuntu forum and doesn't work for everyone.. at least on my notebook it just made things worse.
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Yeh - though the big shame is the drivers are proprietary so cannot be legally distributed under Ubuntu's terms. But then again when did you last install windows and find your resolution and graphics drivers installed...
- MikeCerm, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Vista automatically installs, and correctly configures graphics drivers. XP doesn't, but it's not hard to download and install video drivers in Windows. I've never had any luck getting Linux to support my video cards or monitors, which are all quite common. Dual-monitors are easy with Windows, and especially problematic with Linux.
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Quite right you are - I stand corrected. On the other hand newer distros with the new X are much better with video drivers - the big distro I know of that includes this is the new Ubuntu Alpha.
- Samurailink3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I found the nvidia-settings program quite easy to set up twinview. Can't say the same for ATI. ATI + Linux right now is a match made in hell.
- Samurailink3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I found the nvidia-settings program quite easy to set up twinview. Can't say the same for ATI. ATI + Linux right now is a match made in hell.
- marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Moss, with Fiesty, you simply need to allow Ubuntu to use those restricted drivers. All it asks you is that if you are aware that the drivers to be used are restricted and if you are cool with that.
- MikeCerm, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Vista automatically installs, and correctly configures graphics drivers. XP doesn't, but it's not hard to download and install video drivers in Windows. I've never had any luck getting Linux to support my video cards or monitors, which are all quite common. Dual-monitors are easy with Windows, and especially problematic with Linux.
- coldphoenix, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10and intel
- Godlike, on 10/10/2007, -7/+16You know, all that I ever hear about with linux is 'uptime' but my XP box is VERY POORLY maintained (because I hate fixing my own computers now that I do it 8 hours a day) and has month-long uptimes. Maybe in server technology you want that, but what the hell does it matter rebooting your home computer even once a week? or even three times a week?
The largest problem with windows: USER ERROR. Windows is just as complex as linux but the UI is obfuscated as to make the user believe that it is not.
The biggest crime of windows: being more user friendly and popular than linux- awhiteflame, on 10/10/2007, -9/+9I completely disagree with you. Windows is not any more user-friendly than Linux is. Ubuntu is a great example of it.
It's just that due to it's high frequency in usage, people tend to think anything-not-windows is not user-friendly.- Godlike, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1No, most people just dont give a flying ***** about computers and learning one platform is hard enough for them... end users will always follow that which requires the least learning and effort and that means things like what they already know.
Not that a better interface can't be designed (no ***** it can) but, the real key is cross-compatibility. The day they launch a linux build with both the hardware and software compatibility of windows that is free, is the day microsoft begins to die.
Yeah, begins... you won't ever see the death of that beast in your lifetime. Apple had it's day and did just as much shady ***** filling the schools with apples as microsoft ever did under the table, and then microsoft had it's day, and then apple had *****.
Did I sum it all up? It really is all about compatibility. I mean that part. - abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Ubuntu is NOT user-friendly. I hate it when people keep saying this. The fact is if you give the average joe a windows pc, he knows how to download and install programs, he knows how to shutdown. Its not a matter of friendliness its about what the user already is accustomed to. THAT is the most important factor. Personally I think Ubuntu (or even PCLinuxOS) should be looking to emulate windows as closely as possible. Once more people start using it they can slowly change it. Having something vastly different isn't helping people change.
- msgyrd, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Linux should not emulate Windows. The large majority of us Linux users switched because we're dissatisfied with the entire Windows experience, not because of the cost or the time involved in maintaining Windows. If I wanted a "free" Windows system, I'd just pirate it.
If multiple OSs confuse you, just stay on Windows where you're comfortable. I don't care if Linux never becomes the market dominant OS, as long as MS doesn't try to stop it from being usable.- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1No No, you misunderstand me, what I meant by emulate is that basically ubuntu should look and feel like windows. Most people don't have a problem with the UI of windows. True I personally don't like navigating three menus to open a program (thats why I used to use launchy - before ubuntu of course). Also people like to be able to download any new program that comes out by going to the site clicking download and isntalling. True the repositories do provide MANY programs, but it doesn't have everything (most notably is skype). What people hate about windows is the viruses, and the spyware. This is the number 1 reason I switched. Personally I use all open source applications (foobar, firefox, openoffice), the only reason I stayed on windows was because I really liked how easy everything was to install (such as drivers for my mouse/webcam, and of course games), however, the threat of spyware and viruses became a BIG headache and I started getting worried, and thats when I switched. Personally I would love a windows like interface as I'm used to it. MOst people are thrown of ubuntu because it simply looks different, thats it really.
- marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1@abhiroop - I call *****. How does the average joe know how to download and install programs in Windows?
Downloading and installing programs in Ubuntu are far easier than in Windows.
Im not sure why you mentioned shutting down.
- Godlike, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1No, most people just dont give a flying ***** about computers and learning one platform is hard enough for them... end users will always follow that which requires the least learning and effort and that means things like what they already know.
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5As with above I disagree. GNOME and KDE both offer a vastly superiour UI consistency accross applications. In GNOME for instance you can browse your files using a UI consistent with the music management tools available. On KDE you can change system settings in the same way you navigate KOrganiser's functions. In windows I can't even view a publisher document with the same UI as I use to write a word document. I mean come on - how does that make sense to new users?! I mean its not even like they are made by seperate companies - they are sold in the same frekin' package!
- Arramol, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5There was certainly a time when Windows was more user-friendly than Linux, but I personally have found that that time has passed.
- ta10n, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Ubuntu is pretty damn good, but it still isn'[t quite there. Until it has a broader range of hardware support, it just isn't good enough. If I have to dig through a config file, then it just isn't ready. I don't care whether it's ATI or AMD or whatever manufacturer or the community or even my fault. If it's more complicated than, "Insert card, click installer", it's more complicated than Windows (for aythe most part).
Disclaimer: I frequently use and like both.- Sunnz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree with everything you said except for config files... config files are just plain text file that you have edit with any average text editor, it is not like you have to disassemble binary blobs and reverse engineer it.
- Sunnz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree with everything you said except for config files... config files are just plain text file that you have edit with any average text editor, it is not like you have to disassemble binary blobs and reverse engineer it.
- awhiteflame, on 10/10/2007, -9/+9I completely disagree with you. Windows is not any more user-friendly than Linux is. Ubuntu is a great example of it.
- gcnaddict, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12I'm using Vista and I haven't had to reinstall it (or even clean viruses and spyware) ever since I got the RTM release November 8th. Just keep UAC (Sudo with an added annoyance of not remembering your settings) on and it stays *clean*. You guys might not realize it, but on a platform like Vista, UAC is a Godsend. It forces developers to use user level resources as opposed to always going admin level. Thus, if you ever do see a UAC prompt (Once a month for me), you actually have a reason to inspect it.
- DarkMeld, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16I still cant get the freaking widescreen to work. You'd think that since theres only two major companies (AMD and NVidia) theyd put in a package that automatically installs and sets the resolutions for you
- foobarf00, on 10/10/2007, -3/+45FireFox, Eclipse, Cygwin, Office, XAMPP, and PhotoShop.
- KesshoRyu, on 10/10/2007, -9/+6Which Office?
- manitoba98xp, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13When omitted, assume Microsoft.
- radiometric, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6There is only OpenOffice.
- sirber, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2Be fore all that I reinstall my pron, then a video player, so I can do something else while reinstalling all the cr*p
;)- deviouskoopa, on 10/10/2007, -2/+28You just censored the word crap. You fail at life.
- zackkitzmiller, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13Is installing pr0n something like copying it from your backup, or do you actually run an installer? cause i think then it's a virus.
- EXreaction, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Install Windows -> Install pr0n -> virus found -> Oh noes, what happened? This stupid POS Windoze by M$. Guess I gotta reinstall again...but one of these days, zip, zoom linux all the way! Ya here that, M$ is too good for me, thats why I steal it!
- Terc, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9I don't have anything left to install once I finish a windows reformat...
Start here to learn how to get all your programs installed and configured automatically, avoid typing in all the crap windows asks for during installation, and include updates and drivers too!
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/- corvairkid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I grab the latest update packs from this guy http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html along with a few others then roll everything up with nLite. (http://www.nliteos.com) Burn it to a CD-RW and away I go. Works great for me but YMMV.
- Terc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Yup, that's the same place I get mine from. (I quote myself "and include updates and drivers too!")
Add in drivers from http://driverpacks.net/ and you've got a disk that will work on any machine you use it on.
- Terc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Yup, that's the same place I get mine from. (I quote myself "and include updates and drivers too!")
- corvairkid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I grab the latest update packs from this guy http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html along with a few others then roll everything up with nLite. (http://www.nliteos.com) Burn it to a CD-RW and away I go. Works great for me but YMMV.
- ElRayQuieres, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2KatMouse. Absolutely essential. Makes the scroll wheel scroll though whichever window/frame the cursor is hovering over, instead of whichever random window/frame is active. If you install it, be sure to disable the mouse wheel button feature if you want your middle button to perform its usual functions.
- Verdanic, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I was looking for something that did just that, but I installed KatMouse and restarted only to find that it did absolutely nothing. Probably because I have SetPoint on here. I have an MX1000 though, and I like the ALT+TAB-ish program switch feature Setpoint offers.
- marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Wait...this is a feature you have to install further software to attain? WTF??!
- PRlME, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Winamp
- Tsen, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Ew. Horrible UI. Then again, music playing is just lose-lose in Windows. But don't worry--Amarok might be cross-platform soon.
- EXreaction, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3XAMPP is nice, but it just felt a bit bloated when I used it. I may have to give it another try once though.
And photoshop...well, it's the definition of bloat...but what are you going to use, paint?- RedRummy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Paint.NET FTW!!
- wiihuck, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3with a user name like foobarf0, i'm surprised you didn't mention foobar 2000 not making this guy's cut.
- pagemaster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2first I restore the backed up pr0n and then I...well I never seem to get that far
- dextermanas, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0It's Firefox, not FireFox. Fx, not FF.
- KesshoRyu, on 10/10/2007, -9/+6Which Office?
- idc5, on 10/10/2007, -3/+19Wow that's a huge list, wasn't there a program that lets your burn all the programs onto a cd, so you don't have to go through each of installation rather it installs all of them at once into your registry?
- thinkingserious, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I think so, I don't remember the name though... anyone?
- brahmafear, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7AutoIT -- http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/
- LordSkywalker, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10You really think you can fit all those on a cd? Or even a dvd? Maybe try a disk cloning program like Ghost.
- thinkingserious, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Currently they are on an external hard drive. If the installer can run without the need to be on a CD or DVD that would be cool. But I like your idea of using the cloning program, reminds me of doing the same in Linux (but its easier to update all the apps in that case). So I would still be SOL for the programs that I need to download to get the latest versions.
- Ramble, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11yes, nlite for XP systems and vlite for Vista systems should let you do that.
- Terc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4nlite absolutely rocks.
Learn a little batch or vbscript and you'll never need to sit though a reinstall again! - spyrochaete, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I'll note that nlite totally saved my butt a while back.
My socket 754 motherboard was just a little too old for the WinXP text install to detect SATA drives without an external driver. The only option Windows gives you is to install the driver via a floppy disk on drive A, but I had no floppy drive. Thus, I used nlite to burn a customized WinXP install CD with the NForce SATA driver slipstreamed. My SATA drive was detected and I installed WinXP without a hitch!
I've since used nlite to create more complex custom install CDs with device drivers and software applications preinstalled, plus I set a bunch of Windows options in advance such as showing hidden files and revealing filename extensions. nlite is one of the best free apps I've ever used.
- Terc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4nlite absolutely rocks.
- lostczech, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Myself I like to install the programs after such a reformat so I make sure I install the most up to date version of each.
- archibal, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Why not just reformat, build the system with what programs/updates/etc. you need, then take a base system image? I use Acronis True Image. I don't reformat and rebuild. I just reload my image after a few months and I'm right back to where I started.
- craterburnsu, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I use TrueImage, by Acronis. Almost a year ago now i formatted, installed all my apps i install on a new install, then imaged the drive onto 3 DVDs with trueimage. It's very easy to just pop the first DVD in, let it reimage itself back onto the drive, and off i go.
- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Personally I spend the most time on the internet, then word docs, and finally music/movies. Other than this triumvirate I do little else on the computer (except the occasional game). Since internet is the most important thing I use FEBE (Firefox Extension Backup Extension) to backup my COMPLETE fx profile. So all I need to do is install firefox install febe and restore my profile and thats it, I have my old fx back. Next openoffice is a peice of cake. And finally itunes and vlc. Other than that I too have about 50 different types of software I use (such as ccleaner, anti-virus, utilities, etc.). So overall other than the Windows aspect of it (actual install + updates) my re-install doens’t take all that long. Also I've noticed that although an image can be a good idea, I prefer to have a fresh start. Yes I know you take the image at the begining, but what if you made an error while installing, or you made some other random installation. I find if you're gonna go to the effort of re-installing its worthwhile doing a clean install.
- thinkingserious, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I think so, I don't remember the name though... anyone?
- t3soro, on 10/10/2007, -5/+119MS Office 2007 AND OpenOffice.org? And he calls himself a minimalist...
- thinkingserious, on 10/10/2007, -5/+16Just Outlook 2007, used for exchange. Then OpenOffice for everything else.
- BinaryCortex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Doesn't Evolution handle exchange?
- uziko, on 10/10/2007, -10/+1Why would you use openoffice if you have microsoft office 2007? Open office is ugly compared to office 2007. You are an idiot. And you make ***** sense dumbass.
- Phocion55, on 10/10/2007, -6/+12That's EXACTLY what you get when Microsoft forces another "standard" on you over a per-existing one!!! (ODF and O_XML)
- Ravatar, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2That's EXACTLY why you missed the point. Call me when OpenOffice has a mail client with good Exchange support.
- sirhomer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Call me when Microsoft releases specifications on their retardedly designed mail protocol.
Call me when Microsoft has a good mail client with IMAP (an open standard!) support. - HUKI365, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Call me when 90% of businesses use IMAP.
- Ravatar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+190% doesn't matter. The one I work for does.
- sirhomer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Call me when Microsoft releases specifications on their retardedly designed mail protocol.
- Ravatar, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2That's EXACTLY why you missed the point. Call me when OpenOffice has a mail client with good Exchange support.
- thinkingserious, on 10/10/2007, -5/+16Just Outlook 2007, used for exchange. Then OpenOffice for everything else.
- BuryIt, on 10/10/2007, -8/+154I install Kazaa Lite the K++ Edition, and Bonzai Buddy... just like Ramzi taught me.
- Slicebox, on 10/10/2007, -14/+2Damnit, you beat me in saying Bonzai Buddy...
- MrSunshine, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2From Wikipedia:
Released in 1999 and discontinued in 2004, BonziBUDDY, sometimes spelled Bonzi Buddy, BonziBuddy, or BONZIBuddy, (misspelled Bonzai Buddy)
- drjekelmrhyde, on 10/10/2007, -21/+4FF, AVG, DVD shrink, DVD fabdecrypter , office , windows powertoys, Nero, real beta 11, java, Flash, IE tab, Yahoo antispy, Adobe acrobat, bootskin, limewire, utorrent, soundcard driver , nview ,win dvd creator, XP keycode changer by mrdude, SP2, and all microsoft updates except WGA
- roastedbagel, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22Yahoo Antispy? n00b! (sorry, had to)
- evi1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+24I am really surprised AOL is not on that list.
- drjekelmrhyde, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1yahoo antispy is pretty good if you took time off sucking google dick
Realplayer 11 lets you download movies from site like youtube
//but as I can see you're still sucking googles *****
- roastedbagel, on 10/10/2007, -5/+102Bonzi Buddy, dial-up modem drivers, and Morpheus are the only 3 things I need for my fresh install of winME
- plizard, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2napigator!
- pbull, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Oh I forgot about Napigator...
How about Aimster?
- pbull, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Oh I forgot about Napigator...
- TennisElbow, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Don't forget Prodigy.
- lobofanina, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8^^^^^^^Crawls under desk and starts shaking uncontrollably from flashbacks of administering Windows Me machines^^^^^
- Nok1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Amen.
- plizard, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2napigator!
- Remmiz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18Foobar2000. All I need in my simple, meager life.
- skatastrophy, on 10/10/2007, -9/+2Firefox, Textpad, Trillian, AVG, ZoneAlarm
- AnarkeIncarnate, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2check out notepad++ instead of Textpad :)
- ApokalypseNow, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Notepad2 is also a worthy addition, and if you want a Trillian alternative, check out Pidgin
- damndj, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4first i run windows updates.. then mozilla.. then sound and video drivers.. then in no particular order:
7zip, putty, filezilla, foxit, foobar, itunes, utorrent, vlc, password safe, newsbin, last.fm, avast, daemon tools,
Those get installed right away, every time.- bilbravo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I make sure to have SP2 self-installer on a CD/USB stick before I format. Then you can at least be up to SP2 before exposing your machine to the harsh world of the internet.
Also nice to have Firefox on a USB stick so that you can download some anti-virus software before playing russian roulette with IE.- spyrochaete, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4WinXP disks include SP2 these days.
- jcm267, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I've had the same XP disk since Fall of 2001. Not everyone has SP2 handy.
- louiedog, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2What are you expecting to happen if you have a completely fresh install of XP and use IE to go directly to the firefox site?
- corvairkid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Some people own a pre-SP2 install CD. Though instead of keeping SP2 on a USB key, why not slipstream it in and save yourself a reboot? There's plenty of tutorials around the net or just use nLite.
- spyrochaete, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4WinXP disks include SP2 these days.
- hrhs556x, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1why 7zip? doesn't XP have it's own?
- venom8599, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Windows only handles .zip files. There are many other and better types of compression in use that 7zip can handle. Plus, to me anyway, the Zip functionality in Windows seems kind of clunky.
- spyrochaete, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6XP does a crappy job of handling archives, and it only supports ZIP (and CAB, I think). I much prefer WinRAR over 7zip but it's very expensive.
- Ahnteis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2$30 is very expensive?!
- LoudNoise, on 10/10/2007, -9/+1But OMG your file is like 0.01% smaller with 7zip!
- psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1newsleecher > newsbin x 1000. /discussion
- damndj, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Not really, but hey, that's your personal opinion and that's okay!
- bilbravo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I make sure to have SP2 self-installer on a CD/USB stick before I format. Then you can at least be up to SP2 before exposing your machine to the harsh world of the internet.
- Tweekster, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1045 things on his list and he is trying to claim he is minimalistic?
Firefox, winamp, putty and trillian. that is all you need. (possible a pdf reader at some point in the future)- JrGhoull, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4you just need what u need. in my opinion the term "minimalist" is objective. sure, 45 things are alot. but if he uses them all rather frequently, and has no other software clogging up his computer that hes not using, in my opinion, he is at least something of a minimalist. your list is a good one for basic every day computer needs. but when u need to do more than just everyday stuff, you start to need more and more software.
- Bamborzled, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3'in my opinion the term "minimalist" is objective'
You mean the term "minimalist" is *subjective*, not objective.
But that's quite a lot of stuff, in my opinion.
- Bamborzled, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3'in my opinion the term "minimalist" is objective'
- JrGhoull, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4you just need what u need. in my opinion the term "minimalist" is objective. sure, 45 things are alot. but if he uses them all rather frequently, and has no other software clogging up his computer that hes not using, in my opinion, he is at least something of a minimalist. your list is a good one for basic every day computer needs. but when u need to do more than just everyday stuff, you start to need more and more software.
- cardihack, on 10/10/2007, -10/+14Ubuntu...am I seeing a trend here???
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Ubuntu + Quanta Plus + The SQL Database tools from MySQL and I'm done!
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Ubuntu + Quanta Plus + The SQL Database tools from MySQL and I'm done!
- DAaaMan64, on 10/10/2007, -1/+74install vlc, reconnect external hard drive, continue to --> porn
- da5id, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8How did I miss out? My external hard drive didn't come with any porn on it.
- mercurysquad, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1you have to download and save it
- EXreaction, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4You just ruined it...
- mercurysquad, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1you have to download and save it
- da5id, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8How did I miss out? My external hard drive didn't come with any porn on it.
- Vektuz, on 10/10/2007, -3/+19He totaly forgot adblock plus
how can someone browse the web without a good advert blocker? Jeez, crawl out of stone age already and get with the program. Not only will it make your browsing faster and cleaner, but I remember last year it saved my ass from those nasty wmf exploits being spread by banners. If you ONLY have one add-on installed in firefox it should be some form of advert/popup blocker.- Loonacy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10What about those of us who like to support content creators by clicking their ads?
- Hawk7886, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Then you turn it off on those sites. There's no reason not to have a good ad blocker.
- Ahnteis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1You turn it to hide the ads, but still download them.
- awhiteflame, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I used AdBlock on its first release. I remember thinking how great it is. I recently got a new Mac and started using that primarily, and therefore Safari. I was surprised to find how non-intrusive most ads are now-a-days. It doesn't bother me near as much not to have AdBlock anymore.
- jcm267, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Or you can just download Maxthon browser, which has a very good adblocking feature built in. I was using digg for over a year before I turned it off and found out who that Snorg girl that everyone here was talking about was.
- dhakbar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2So let me get this straight... one option is to download an add-on for the web browser which is currently installed.
-OR-
The other option is to "just" download a different browser.
I don't think you know what that word, just, means.
- dhakbar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2So let me get this straight... one option is to download an add-on for the web browser which is currently installed.
- lobofanina, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2If you want to have all your favorite extensions working quickly, such as adblock plus, you can use yahoo widgets. Then a widget called "Firefox Backup", point firefox backup to your firefox backup directory. Click Restore firefox backup, Poof everything goes back to the way it was from your last firefox backup in under 30 seconds.
- saifatlast, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I think you just copy your user folder from c:documents and settings[username]mozilla.... or something into the new one firefox creates when you first install it.
Otherwise, if you google a bit, there are other programs that do it. Saves you from installing Widgets. - abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Yea best thing is to use FEBE, its firefox extension backup extension.
- abhiroop, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Yea best thing is to use FEBE, its firefox extension backup extension.
- saifatlast, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I think you just copy your user folder from c:documents and settings[username]mozilla.... or something into the new one firefox creates when you first install it.
- Loonacy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10What about those of us who like to support content creators by clicking their ads?
- schizogony, on 10/10/2007, -6/+4This reinstall list is just so the author can show off all the programs he's chosen.
- MalDON, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3I just did a re-install last night. Still had crap back from the Vista beta on here. Feels good to be clean again. Firefox was first, then all my web development apps.
- dukeochutney, on 10/10/2007, -4/+50the real issue here is why do we care what some random guy installs on his pc.
- Sidzilla, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10We are diggers.. we live vicariously through others. Viva la Geek!
- nicko68, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Welcome to Web 2.0, the ME generation.
BTW, I had eggs and bacon for breakfast. You can read more on my blog. :)- ta10n, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2What kind of eggs? How were they done? Crispy bacon? Url?
- MagicCake, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Pics or you didn't eat it.
- rad4Christ, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7FF, AVG, Steam, done.
And what's with the spyware installs all the time. If your'e smart, you won't have to worry about any in the first place, and I'd much rather just install/run one once a month instead of one sitting in my systray. - jason469, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13FireFox
Firewall
Photoshop
uTorrent
Peer Guardian
Dreamweaver
MS Office
FF Codec
Spybot Search & Destory
Tversity
Nero
iTunes
and some DVD programs. - ka9dgx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I've had WAY TOO MUCH practice with my HP DV4030US last year (4 times it went for service, they finally gave up and gave me a spiffy DV6000 to make up for the lemon)
Install these apps:
Firefox (All-in-One Gestures, Tab Mix Plus, Ad Block Plus), NotePad++, SpaceMonger, ThumbsPlus 7, Paint Shop Pro XI, Office 2000 (for work), WinAMP, Symantec Corporate AV (or AVG)
Set options to ALWAYS SHOW ALL menus, always show file extensions (Explorer), always show DETAIL view (hate seeing tons of icons)
Change IE to only use 50 Mb cache, and to NOT SEARCH from the address list
Turn OFF any "screen saver" crap
Import my old bookmarks file
Set up WiFi
Good to go!- madeingermany, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2checkout irfanview instead of ThumbsPlus.
just plugging for my favorite freeware ;)- ka9dgx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It looks interesting, and does the lossless JPEG rotation like Thumbsplus. The thing I use Thumbsplus for is tagging photos. The slideshow mode lets you tag the currently displayed image with Alt-Comma... which makes it REALLY easy to go through 1000 photos and pick the good ones.
Thanks for the tip though... I know a lot of people who just want to see what they've got... looks like a good alternative to recommend.
--Mike--
- ka9dgx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It looks interesting, and does the lossless JPEG rotation like Thumbsplus. The thing I use Thumbsplus for is tagging photos. The slideshow mode lets you tag the currently displayed image with Alt-Comma... which makes it REALLY easy to go through 1000 photos and pick the good ones.
- madeingermany, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2checkout irfanview instead of ThumbsPlus.
- shadowman99, on 10/10/2007, -4/+10Fedora
- Disease, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Dugg for not being Ubuntu
- compgeek, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3this guy installs way too much. my list (excluding drivers):
winamp pro
office 2003 professional (don't like 2007)
AVG free
zonealarm
LLTD update
Windows Live Messenger
Firefox 2.0 with fasterfox extension
Nero 7 premium
bit comet
and finally DVD Flick for making DVD's of torrented movies- allyant, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18"bit comet", Windows Live Mesenger... n00b!!
- Disease, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6You need Windows Live Messenger so that you can chat with the camwhores, duh.
- NiX0n, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1...
- amfantasy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7dugg down for bit comet, get that crap of my internets...
- allyant, on 10/10/2007, -2/+18"bit comet", Windows Live Mesenger... n00b!!
- SergeantPepper, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Though I install more programs, open source projects go a long way to satisfying almost all my needs:
Web Browser: Firefox
File Compressor: 7-Zip
IM Client: Pidgin
FTP client: Filezilla
Text Editor: GNU Emacs
Programming Language: Python
Office Suite: OpenOffice.org- awhiteflame, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4vim > emacs
Need I say?- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Kate > Emacs > Vim - why? because I don't need to be a genius to use them! And why Emacs over Vim? C'mon - menus people! Menus!
- awhiteflame, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Gvim, anyone?
- fr34k5h0w, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Ah but Notepad.exe rules them all
- kodek, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I mark my hard drive with a toothpick; a magnetic toothpick.... Beat you all.
- OneTwoOhSeven, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0"Don't get me wrong: Emacs is a great operating system - it lacks a good editor, though."
Thomer M. Gil
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Kate > Emacs > Vim - why? because I don't need to be a genius to use them! And why Emacs over Vim? C'mon - menus people! Menus!
- awhiteflame, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4vim > emacs
- wafflesomd, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Ethernet drivers, then firefox.
- azntiger1000, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Service Pack.
- ardklg, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3PCLinuxOS 2007. Then I copy over my VMware Win2K virtual machine with Photoshop CS, CorelDraw 11, Nero Recode, and Cool Edit Pro 2.0.
- pcp777, on 10/10/2007, -9/+0All you need is Battlefield 2, and if you're running more than 22 processes, you suck!
- JrGhoull, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1winamp, skype, aim, google talk, yahoo messenger, all the hardware drivers (of course), re-upload all my music and photos, dvd ripping and drm decoding software, ruckus
- Ryaaan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4ever heard of Trillian, Gaim, Pidgin?
- jcm267, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I can't believe there are people out there who actually use Yahoo messenger.
- tokage, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I'd rather use that over AIM.
Then again, I still use ICQ. (Over Trillian, anyway.)
- tokage, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I'd rather use that over AIM.
- jcm267, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I can't believe there are people out there who actually use Yahoo messenger.
- Ryaaan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4ever heard of Trillian, Gaim, Pidgin?
- tybris, on 10/10/2007, -4/+9I haven't done a reformat since Windows XP came out :(
- Hello1024, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Same here on 1 PC - the trick is to use non-admin accounts and forget the password to the admin one - then the tray icons never build up.
- jcm267, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Or you can just try to not install too much useless crap.
If you're a poweruser whatever, but most people only need a broswer, an office application, plugins like flash and divx, Windows Media Player, spyware removal software, and maybe some games.
Ever since I got this worm (I think it was nimda) my first month in college that attached itself to McAfee and changed all the executables to itself, I've gone without virusscan.. of course regular people who don't have the common sense that I do probably need it.
- jcm267, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Or you can just try to not install too much useless crap.
- striker1211, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Original Install Date: 12/25/2003, 8:39:51 PM
System Up Time: 2 Days, 11 Hours, 25 Minutes, 52 Seconds
Am i the only one that troubleshoots problems that occur instead of wiping the installation? - JanusIndustries, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0haha, That's how it should be! Same install for at least 6 years, and it has migrated through 3 computers, and is still runnin great!!!
- Hello1024, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Same here on 1 PC - the trick is to use non-admin accounts and forget the password to the admin one - then the tray icons never build up.
- ramsinks.com, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1drivers.
AV? lol.... - rob3, on 10/10/2007, -9/+2wow, how utterly boring
- OGla, on 10/10/2007, -14/+5I use a Mac. Never need to reinstall the OS. I use CrossOver to run the few Windows apps I need to at full speed whitout Windows.
- archer75, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I have managed to screw up a mac so badly I had to reinstall within two weeks of usage. I don't think I was doing anything out of the ordinary.
- KraftDinner101, on 10/10/2007, -4/+5why is this on digg? It's a persons personalized (for developing) list of apps and plugins, with no explanation as to what they are. Buried as useless knowledge.
- Sp4nk, on 10/10/2007, -3/+515000 *****' updates.
- corvairkid, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html and http://www.nliteos.com
Add your drivers, do your tweaks, create a bootable unattended disc, and away you go.
- corvairkid, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html and http://www.nliteos.com
- marm0lade, on 10/10/2007, -3/+18The user who posted this article would save himself A LOT of time if he just made an image of his HD after he got everything setup the way he wants it. Norton ghost FTW.
- asspants, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6I would like to find out who in the hell dug you down for saying this, then slap them in the face several times for being a moron.
- mossblaser, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0dd for windows and on linux I have a shell script that apt-gets my files and after that all the config files (neatley stored in my home dir) are automaticaly read and used - everything just as I like it. Of course I only ever reinstall when I get a new machine - why would I need to reinstall any other OS other than Mac OS or windows because of slowdown? (Cocky look, akin to the one I had when the WGA server went ***** up.)
- Shurikane, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Word. Nothing like making an image of your Windows setup and then never have to worry about reinstalling ever again. Hell, I do my best to make sure my installation is as lean and mean, and lasts as long as possible, unlike most members of my family who regularly infect each other to hell and back. Current record: 2 years of Windows ME. And it was still working fine the day I nuked it.
I honestly don't get people who are so hellbent on reinstalling Windows periodically. I speak from experience: if you manage your machine well, then you'll rarely need to reinstall, ever, unless you run into a major bad luck.
- asspants, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6I would like to find out who in the hell dug you down for saying this, then slap them in the face several times for being a moron.
- brahmafear, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2After initial install, DON'T connect to network to get Windows updates -- use Autopatcher. Better than exposing your unpatched machine to the network while it downloads updates.
But, other than that, I 2nd the vote for Unbuntu.- DanaG, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2> After initial install, DON'T connect to network to get Windows
> updates -- use Autopatcher. Better than exposing your unpatched
> machine to the network while it downloads updates.
Or connect to the internet through a NAT router.
- DanaG, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2> After initial install, DON'T connect to network to get Windows
- hartley, on 10/10/2007, -1/+24Seriously, I can't believe how many people use virus ridden p2p clients like kazaa, morpheus, and limewire.
This is why you had to reformat your Windows partition in the first place. - jim1977, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8AVG
Daemon Tools
µTorrent
AVG
DIVX and a codec pack
An office app - usually Open Office
iTunes - yup, bound by the iPod, again
PDF reader - usually Adobe
Firefox + about 10/12 plugins
Dustbuster XP - housekeeping package; removes unused & temp files
WINASO - automated housekeeping and registry cleaner
JKDegrag - very light file defragmenter - uses Windows defrag API like most defraggers, but runs faster and better and needs very little free drive space
I personally don't bother with ADAware and so on - when was the last time it actually did anything besides delete useless cookies in an attempt to look useful?
Firewall
Printscreen
And that's about that - the system does little besides run torrents and serve files to my laptop. Oh, and always run Windows from a separate partition to your files, duh, therefore no backing up before an reinstall that way. in a perfect world you should install apps to a different partition too, and backup your registry and before a reinstall.
Uh, that's about it, I guess. Everything else i get as I need it.- wassim2k, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Does AVG have to be installed twice?
- jim1977, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7OH GOD, yes. I probably meant to put 'run Windows update at the top.' Sorry about that and the other dumb errors, I'm pretty tired. And by that I mean I'm pretty and tired :)
- SysstemLord, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1dugg for saying this :"Don't bother with ADAware and so on - when ws teh last time it actually did anything besides delete useless cookies in an attempt to look useful?"
- wassim2k, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10Does AVG have to be installed twice?
- Muncher, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Firefox and 7-zip. And, of course, Steam. Games are the only reason it's a Windows re-format, after all.
- TennisElbow, on 10/10/2007, -2/+35This guy actually INSTALLS the "Alexa Toolbar"? You've got to be ***** me. Does he also make it a point to load CoolWebSearch and HotBar too?
- austintechhead, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I was actually thinking the same thing...
- thinkingserious, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3i use the Alexa toolbar because I'm always checking the rank of websites. Their new tool bar does that for me easily in the status bar.
- nationalist, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1why do people keep thinking alexa is spyware? nobody cares if they collect data for stats, like they already do
- lex0429, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4is this a trick question? Every M$ windows user knows the first things you install after a re-format are the tons and tons of updates, patches
- DMDekoth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Unless you have an up-to-date installation disc.
- Hello1024, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4The first thing after installing Ubuntu is install a ton of patches, which often are bigger than the Ubuntu CD itself, especially towards the end of the release cycle.
- aliguana, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1yeah, exactly. And there are LOADS of them. If I was re-installing WindowsXP today... I wouldn't, because I would spent the next six hours + downloading and installing the updates, rebooting, installing updates to the updates, rebooting, etc etc ad nauseum. I'd rather a clean install of Vista. Or Ubuntu. Life is too short.
- jim1977, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Whoops, ignore the dumb grammar I forgot to edit out - I'm pretty tired. :|
- drcreek, on 10/10/2007, -3/+9Porn.
- Seaton, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1God the porn transfer takes bloody ages, right after the iTunes media transfer.
- pault107, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Revert to my Ghost image, Windows update, update virus profiles, append new data to Ghost image and get to work.
- asspants, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering why in the hell more people don't use ghost images.
- tunapez, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2True that. Why waste hours when you can be done in twenty minutes, +updates. Any revisions? Make a new Image. Painless. Don't forget to redirect My Doc's to your data/slave drive.
Nobody out there installs sandbox? New to me, but so far so good(w/ AVG & S&D). I like MPC, RPalternative and QTalternative as well. Live Open or die. - cwalk, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I use Acronis TrueImage (I've found it better than Ghost), but I'm still with using images to restore my PC. Truthfully, I don't even use anti-virus/anti-spyware or anything of that nature since I've been using disk images. If I sense something is sketchy, I'll revert to a previous disk image (potential virus threat eliminated).
- asspants, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering why in the hell more people don't use ghost images.
- samuelcotterall, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5The only time I use Windows is to fix other people's computers, so inevitably those ***** drivers for discontinued cards that the company who sold user the computer neglected to provide on CD.
- JohnnyXmas, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Firewall, Spyware scanner, virus scanner, additional virus scanner(JIC). Spyware scanner that a pop ad says is better than my first one. . .
Extra RAM. . . - Schottdb, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Windows Update
Firefox(All-in-one gestures, Adblock Plus, Tabmix Plus)/Thunderbird
Pidgin
uTorrent
VLC
Avast!
CCleaner
Limewire
Winamp
Adobe Reader
MS Office
Google Earth
WoW/Vent
Daemon Tools
....and I'm happy- cloudyprison, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Nah Nah, man....you got it all out of order. Updates...then WoW/Vent.
- MalDON, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1wow.... tisk tisk
- logandurand, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Just so you know, WoW doesn't rely on any registry settings or whatnot, so you can just copy over the installation directory and be done with it, no need to reinstall.
- logandurand, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Just so you know, WoW doesn't rely on any registry settings or whatnot, so you can just copy over the installation directory and be done with it, no need to reinstall.
- logandurand, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Just so you know, WoW doesn't rely on any registry settings or whatnot, so you can just copy over the installation directory and be done with it, no need to reinstall.
- rudy23, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1windows update, edit plus, winzip, mcafee av, google desktop, irfan view, office 2003, securecrt fx, tightVNC, VPN client, Remotely Anywhere, azureus, K lite Codec Pack.
- purpanther, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2yeah irfan view!
- jimmiss, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Office, Nero, DivX/Xvid, PhotoShop, FoxIt Reader, Winamp, Media Player Classic, IM Client, Winrar, Firefox, CloneDVD/AnyDVD, Ares, Azureus
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