Cursedbythegods 0 Posted May 8, 2005 I'm in no trouble currently, but I do wish to make my computer run faster,look better,be more customized,and free up some space. If anyone recommends any (open-source preferred) or freeware programs to tweak,defrag,or speed up my computer,safer programs,imaging programs,etc... ...please tell me. Right now I use... Security and Cleaners. *CCleaner *Regcompact *HijackThis *Microsoft AntiSpyware *Ad-aware SE *Sygate Personal Firewall Imaging Programs *Gimp *Blender3d Alternates to Microsoft *Firefox 1.0.3 *Thunderbird 1.0.2 *Gaim *Deadaim *OpenOffice 1.9 beta (or the newest beta as of May 30) Other *Konfibulater *Python 2.4 *7z Any good tweaks and overall nice habits/guides would be appreciated. PS, tell me what I should get rid of here... This topic could eventually be altered to newbies who wonder what they should get etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tarun 0 Posted May 8, 2005 Spybot should be in the list. Defrag: PerfectDisk 7 Firewall: Outpost Pro. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cursedbythegods 0 Posted May 8, 2005 Spybot should be in the list. Defrag: PerfectDisk 7 Firewall: Outpost Pro. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You have to pay for those if I remember correctly (not spybot but the others).I want free stuff for I am poor. :-P Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gunner 0 Posted May 9, 2005 Instructions: Click Start Click Control Panel Click Switch to Classic View Click View Click Details Click Display Click the Desktop tab Click Customize Desktop Uncheck Run Desktop Cleanup, and then click OK Click the Screen Saver tab Choose (None) for the Screen Saver Click Power Change Turn off monitor to Never Click Apply, and then click OK Click the Appearance tab Change the color scheme to Silver Click Effects Uncheck Use the following transition Uncheck Show shadows under menus Click OK Click the Settings tab Change Screen resolution to 1024x768 pixels Click Advanced Click the Monitor tab Change Screen refresh rate to 75 Hertz Click Apply Click Yes Click OK Click OK Click Folder Options Click View Check the following boxes: Display the contents of system folders Display the full path in the title bar Display the full path in the address bar Show hidden files and folders Uncheck the following: Automatically search for network folders and printer Hid extensions for known file types Click Apply Click Apply to All Folders Click Yes Click OK Click Internet Options Click Use Blank, and then click Apply Click the Content tab Click AutoComplete Check Forms, and then click Apply Click the Connections tab Click LAN Settings Check Automatically detect settings, and then click OK Click Setup Type area code, and then click OK Click OK Click Next Click Next Select Set up my connection manually, and then click Next Select Connect using a broadband connection, and then click Next Click Finish Click the Programs tab Change HTML editor to Notepad Uncheck Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser, and then click Apply Click the Advanced tab Uncheck the following: Enable Install on Demand (Other) Enable page transitions Notify when downloads complete Show Go in the address bar Check the following: Use inline AutoComplete Use Passive FTP Do not search from the Address bar Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed Click Apply Click OK Click Mouse Click the Pointer tab Change Scheme to 3D-White (system scheme) Uncheck Enable pointer shadow Click the Pointer Options tab Uncheck Hide pointer when typing Click Apply, and then click OK Click Sounds and Audio Devices Check Place volume icon in taskbar Click Sounds Tab Choose No Sounds for the Sound Scheme Click No Click Apply, and then click OK Click System Click the Advanced tab Click the Settings button under Performance Select Adjust for best performance Check the following: Show window contents while dragging Smooth edges on screen fonts Use drop shadows for icon labels Use visual styles on windows and buttons Click Apply, and then click OK Click the Error Reporting tab Select Disable error reporting Uncheck But notify me when critical errors occur, and then click OK Click the System Restore tab Check Turn off System Restore on all drives Click Apply, and then click Yes Click the Automatic Updates tab Select Turn off automatic updating Click the Remote tab Uncheck Allow Remote Assistance Click Apply, and then click OK Click Taskbar and Start Menu Uncheck Lock the taskbar Check Show Quick Launch Click the Start Menu tab Select Classic Start menu Click Customize Check Display Favorites Check Show Small Icons in Start Menu Uncheck Use Personalized Menus Click OK Click Apply Click OK Click User Accounts Click Change the way users log on and off Uncheck Use the Welcome screen Click Apply Options Close the Window Exit the Control Panel Open My Computer Right-click on the hard drive icon and select Properties Uncheck Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast searching Click Apply Select Apply changes to X:\, subfolders and files, and then click OK Click OK Reboot machine, Call me in the morning. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DjLizard 0 Posted May 9, 2005 Refresh rate should be as high as your monitor and resolution can accept -- the higher, the better for your eyes. The rest I didn't read Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cursedbythegods 0 Posted May 9, 2005 Refresh rate should be as high as your monitor and resolution can accept -- the higher, the better for your eyes. The rest I didn't read <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Same here.Those things were sorta pointless, but appreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
agumon 0 Posted May 9, 2005 *defragment your hard disk... *remove un-necessary start up entries... i recommend starter... or just use run -> msconfig... *disable indexing service... right click on your hard disk and properties, uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching"... then select "Apply changes to subfolders and files". "Ignore All" if any files cannot be dis-index... *set static page file size this are few things i can think of... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tarun 0 Posted May 9, 2005 I find using XP-AntiSpy as a faster way to disable a bunch of junk that you don't want. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bpm3k 0 Posted May 20, 2005 The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bi0haZarD 0 Posted May 20, 2005 Neat little Photoediting program i found. called "Paint .Net" runs off the .NET Framework so you'll have to have .NET Framework installed for it to work. very nice freeware version of photoshop basically. Paint .NET Screenshots Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DjLizard 0 Posted May 20, 2005 CCleaner is #36 on that list, but for some reason, apparently falls short of the 'Empty Temp Folders' program (bah). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rridgely 0 Posted May 21, 2005 The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I dont have microsoft office and have been using Star Office 8 (I got it for free during the beta trials). I love it, it makes powerpoint and excel documents with ease, plus they seem to be fully compatible with ms office. The only thing I didnt like was the word processor. I went to the above mentioned site and saw a link for abiword and it works perfectly. I do have ms works and this is deffinately a step above that pos. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eldmannen 0 Posted May 27, 2005 AntiVir http://www.free-av.com/ A free (as in beer) anti virus scanner. Works on Windows, Linux, BSD, Solaris. Does not contain any big bloated interface with skins. Does not eat up all your processor power or memory. Simple and great. 7-Zip http://www.7-zip.org/ File archiver that supports alot of format such as 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, Z, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB. It is completly free software which is released under the GNU LGPL, its open-source. It has its own .7z format which offers superior compression ratio. ABC (Yet Another Bittorrent Client) http://pingpong-abc.sourceforge.net/ Is a free, open-source Bittorrent client, you can use it to download files from Bittorrent with is. Miranda IM http://www.miranda-im.org/ Free, open-source (GNU GPL), multi-protocol IM (Instant Messanging) client, that you can use to chat with people on Jabber, MSN, ICQ, IRC, etc. It is highly customizable and very easy to use. It is very simple and bloat-free. Doesnt hog your processor power or memory. DC++ - Your files, your ways, no limits. http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net/ Is a free, open-source DC (Direct Connect) client under the GNU GPL that connects to DC hub's for P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing with other users. Has TTH hashes, etc. FileZilla http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/ Is a free, open-source (GNU GPL) FTP client, it is easy to use, it is great, its competly spy/adware free. Mozilla Firefox http://www.getfirefox.com/ Great web browser, free, open-source. Secure, safe, tabbed browsing. Can disable Java, Javascript, third-party cookies, third-party loading of images, etc (to get rid of banners), it blocks popups, etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
