Pimp that Windows part 2 - Freeware your pc
Browsers, Freebies, HowTo, Tech Blogs, Windows Enhancement, Security, Technology, Software, Windows, Freeware, Blogging, Privacy November 29th, 2006
Freeware your Windows in 13 steps
Disclaimer : While i know that most of these freeware are safe and stable because i installed and tested them,i will not be responsable if something goes wrong with your installations.Some of them are buggy and some are beta.
If by any chance you do get in troubles with one of the installations,you can always leave a comment and I or someone else will help you fix it.
Read first the entry and download the freeware needed.Make a new folder into My Documents and download there to avoid clutter and find them easily.You can find Pimp that Windows Part 1 here.
Note: Most of the apps listed here are linking to FileHippo.com, a trustable downloading source.
Let’s start with the essentials.We only need freeware and we will only use freeware.
1)Start by securing your Windows
( I recommend Comodo or Avast Home)
(I recommend Comodo Firewall or Zonealarm Free)
Avg Antispyware (becomes freeware after 30 days)
(I recommend Lavasoft with Avg or Spybot with Windows Defender)
- Spyware Blaster .Don’t even think about leaving this one out.
Beware of the rogue antispyware software!
Quick note : I’ve tested Comodo antivirus together with Comodo firewall and the antivirus was hanging.Remove it if it causes troubles and replace it with another one.
2) Compress/Decompress
Now we need a compression freeware such as 7Zip or Zip Genious. They both open all type of archive formats.
3) Pick a browser
Choose from : Firefox ,Avant ,Opera ,Maxthon (fast,secure and reliable) or install them all.It’s all up to you.
4) Pick an e-mail client
Choose from : Thunderbird (Recommended) ,Pegasus Mail , Incredimail (fat in graphics),Eudora or just use Outlook.
5)Pick an antispam for your e-mail client
Choose from : Spamihilator, SpamBayes ,Comodo AntiSpam ,K9
6) Check your system information
Let’s move to the next step now and have a look to the device information with SandraLite ,CpuZ or Everest Home Edition.To monitor your pc’s voltage and tempetarure use SpeedFan.
If you would like to see some deep information about your computer such as software and your licence keys,your missing patches and your systems vulnerability,then i recommend Belarc.
7)Style it your Windows
Our next step is to get rid off the classic look of your Windows and to do so,please follow this link to Pimp that Windows part one -Looks and Easy access.You’ll find there everything you need to transform your desktop from a boring one to a fancy one.
Communication
No need to go deep into this one. Pick your favorite from : MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, Skype.
Need more? Go here.
9) Video/Audio Tools
I don’t know what you would prefer so i provide you with a link to some of the best video/audio players,music files organizers and sound editors.
While we are here,let’s pick up some burning tools as well.
10)Image tools
Some of the best image and graphics editors at the moment are GIMP or Gimpshop,Paint.NET, Blender,Inkscape.Of course,there are others,but i am only giving you now the best ones.
To view your images ,use FastStone Image Viewer or use Picasa (it organizes your images as well).
To take a screenshot use Fast Stone Capture
11)Desktop and related utilities
Time to take care of those office stuff and let’s start by installing OpenOffice.org .We all know by now what is for so let’s go on with a PDF Creator then a Notepad++ followed by a desktop publishing freeware PagePlus SE.
When you are done with we’ll go over to Html/css/php editors and we’ll have the following : Nvu editor -see some screenshots here,then if you are into php you’d want to have PhpDesigner 2006 and TopStyle Lite for your css needs.
To publish entries to your blog,choose between Qumana and Windows Live Writer.
Transfer your files with FileZilla or SmartFtp.
To catch up with the news,use the GreatNews (rss) Reader
I will skip over the Desktop search and file sharing.But if you want to install any of them,head over to Filehippo and pick your file sharing or here for desktop search freeware (scroll down the page).
12)Maintenance
Let’s move to the next step and take care of the maintenance. You’ll only need few tools here.By the moment we are done with installing everything,we’ll need to defragment and put all the files next to each other,check for some reg keys and some other important tasks.
There’s no need to install 20 apps in order to keep our system clean and runnung smooth.
We need 3 instead from which 2 are multifunctional.
Advanced WindowsCare - will take care of the errors on your pc,clean it,prevents security threats and so on.What can i say? It’s a great one.
RegToy -Now that’s a tweaker.It has lots of features that tweaks your system from startup to shut down.Some of the included features are :cleaning junk files and registry,cleaning ram,rename,encrypt and split files,uninstal manager…etc.
This one is a beauty.
Iobit SmartDefragmenter - This tool does your job.Just set it to defragment and that’s it.If you don’t want it,then just use the Windows defragmenter.
Extra:
CCleaner - this is just an addition and it is not really necessary to install it because the Advanced Windows Care and RegToy will take care of the same things.Anyway,install it if you want.
13)Back it up
Time to back up to make sure we haven’t done all this work for nothing.
Go and grab Comodo BackUp or just use the original backup app incorporated into your Windows.
After you’re done with all the installations,clean the junk files,do a quick scan and when you are done,secure your files by backing them up.
That’s all for now.You are done!
About
Cheers Carol,some really good stuff there.
Gee, that’s quite a list of applications. You really need a new faaaasssst machine and lots of RAM (2GB+) to run all this.
Where would you recommend to go for learning all these “new” applications?
For OpenOffice.org, may I suggest “Plan-B for OpenOffice.org - support for non-technical users?”
K
Well,have a better look and see that most of these applications are very lite so no,you don’t need a lots of ram nor a fast pc to run them.
Also,they aren’t new…most of them.
You can learn about them by following the links and read their description and faqs…if that’s what you mean.
A lot of RAM? Huh? You don’t have to run these non-stop…
May I suggest Scribus, a desk-top publishing app I’ve recently come across, as an alternative to PagePlus? And, if you’re using Firefox, the Sage extension is a very good on-line news reader.
Thanks Carol, great recommendations for topic , i do not think we need too much RAM
You don’t need at all much ram for these freeware,Miguel.Most of them are under 10-15 mb.
I use most of what you’ve posted here ,what can i say,i love open source.It’s just nice to see all these apps in one place.
Good job Carol.
Thank you Marc. I love open source too and i should have put more of them into this entry.
As for running them ‘non-stop’ after you choose which programs you wish to use in step 1, they do have to be ran at all times, or the purpose becomes obsolete. Step 2, WinRAR can compress most filetypes, and can decompress any compressed filetype. It’s not OpenSource, but it is the fastest and most universal I’ve seen, also styling windows always tends to limit resources, even if, slightly. The amount is measurable. Step 8, Trillian, located http://www.Trillian.cc , allows you to connect to MSN, Yahoo, AOL, ICQ, and IRC, also provides proxy support. The most resource friendly, and free, spyware management tool I have ever encountered is ‘WinPatrol’ located http://www.winpatrol.com/. It disables Spyware from changing your ‘HOSTS’ file, and stopping it in it’s tracks when it tries to start-up with your computer, installed spyware is harmless unless executed, and with WinPatrol, it never gets another chance to be executed. That is all, BinaryBrother@Gmail.com
Hello,
Thank you very much for your great work, I pimped my Windows and it looks really nice now!!
If you happen to have the time could you explain me what you mean by maps?
Do you mean you can switch between different desktops?
I would really be interested in that!!
Anyway, thanks again for everything
Have a nice day
Fred
Hello Frederic and thanks for the comment.
I would explain you what the maps mean but i don’t know where you saw that. Could you point me at it please?
Hello Carol,
Thanks for the quick response.
I took the map concept from “Pimp That Windows part 1″
” 2° Map it and Clean it
If you are a freak like me with tons of maps, you’ll want to mark your most important folders so they can be more visible( docs, downloads, music, videos .etc).
For example, on my desktop i have 7 maps and each and every one of them are having a different icon and different colors.
All my desktop icons (shortcuts) have been organized by type ,ex: photo software, tools, tweaks, fun, web tools.
The icons have been placed in the those 7 maps so i can avoid a cluttered desktop and to have easy access to what i need.
If you haven’t done that yet, then it’s time to do it. Now! ”
As you see, I am just following your orders
Thanks
Have a nice day
Fred
Oh,i was talking about maps as in folders i general.
Maybe i should change that sentence.
Could you post a screenshot of your new desktop?
You can use Faststone Image capture.
Hi Carol,
How can I post the screenshot I took?
Thanks,
Fred
Just upload it to one of the photo-hosts such as photobucket.com and then paste here the direct link to the photo.
Hi Carol,
Just wanted to let you know that the link to Pimp 1 in the paragraph above is broken.
You have some really good links to things! I really enjoyed looking through them, and even downloaded one so far! Thanks for a great blog!
Hi Shannon,
The page is working fine and i also asked a friend to check it for me and it seems to be opening with no problem.
Please try refreshing your page or clearing the cache and let me know if it works.
Thank you for your comment.