Suggested Programs
Everything in bold below is what I consider an essential program that you should have.
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Ad-Aware Free - Cleanup utility - Free
Excellent utility to remove spy/ad/mal-ware from your computer. Works best when used along with Spybot Search and Destroy and CCleaner.
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Adobe Acrobat Reader - PDF Viewer - Free
View/Read PDF files.
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Apple iTunes - Music player and management - Free
Excellent music and video management program. Doesn’t support many video and audio formats, which is a bit of a bummer. But otherwise works perfectly.
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Audacity - Audio Editing/Recording - Free
Excellent yet simple audio editing program.
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Avast Anti-virus - Anti-virus/Anti-Malware - Free (for home use)
Perfect for home use. After installing the program, follow these instructions and go to the Avast section.
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CCleaner - Cleanup utility - Free
Easily removes garbage and temporary files from your computer. Recommended to run this once a week.
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Computer Hardware/Devices/Components
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Hard disk drive (a.k.a. hard disk, hard drive, HD, HDD) - Primary storage device for your computer. This is where all programs, games, documents, files, etc. are stored on your computer for long-term storage.
This is most like the long-term memory in the human body.
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RAM/memory - Very high speed, temporary memory that is used when you are using a program or application. Nothing can be stored to your RAM permanently due to the fact that all contents of your memory dissappear as soon as you turn off or restart the computer. It is generally recommended to have at least 2gb of RAM on your computer for optimal day-to-day use. While it doesn’t hurt to have more than 2gb of RAM, it is unnecessary to have more unless you will be using your computer for high-end gaming, video editing, graphics work, etc.
This is most like the short-term memory in the human body.
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Video Card (a.k.a. video adapter, graphics card, GPU, 3D Card, etc.) - The video card’s purpose is to process any visual elements of the the programs and applications you use into an image that you can see on your monitor.
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Configure Windows 7 Services
(Info pulled from http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm on 3/3/2010)
Service Name – Default – Recommended
- Active X Installer — Manual — Disabled
- Application Layer Gateway Services — Manual — Disabled
- Bitlocker Drive Encryption Services — Manual — Disabled
- Bluetooth Support Service — Manual — Disabled
- BrancheCache — Manual — Disabled
- Certificate Propogation — Manual — Disabled
- Credential Manager — Manual — Disabled
- Desktop Window Manage Session Manager — Automatic — Disabled
- Diagnostic Policy Service — Automatic — Disabled
- Diagnostic Service Host — Manual — Disabled
- Diagnostic System Host — Manual — Disabled
- Distributed Link Tracking Client — Automatic — Disabled
- Encrypted File System (EFS) — Manual — Disabled
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