How to Make your computer run properly for free

This is a guide on how to cover all the basic functions a computer is used for using free/open sourced software. This includes word processing, watching videos, listening to music, photo editing, anti virus, anti spyware, pdf reading, web browsing and instant messaging. Email me or comment if you want additional info on anything.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Lots of Time

1. AVG Free Anti-Virus. So far, with this anti-virus software, I am yet to get a virus that is not removed within 10 seconds. It has the advantages of having real time protection, free auto-updates, and all the other gismos and gadgets necessary for a home-based PC.

2. Spyware Blaster. This little program automatically stops thousands of malware programs and sites from being displayed/downloaded onto your computer. It doesn't have auto-update (updates every 3 weeks or so) but it does not take long to get used to. You have to enable firefox support, but there is a tutorial in the program.

3. Spybot Search and Destroy. To my knowledge, this is the only free spyware tool that has a resident scanner. It has a powerful scanning engine, as well as an intuitive GUI.///AVG Anti-Spyware Free is great too, but the resident scanner only works for the first month after installation, then you have to buy the program. So this decision is up to you, do you want complete automation? If so, go with SSD. But personally, I prefer the AVG scanner better.

4. Open Office. Basically, this is a free, open source, version of Microsoft Office. It does pretty much all of the same things, has pretty much all of the same commands. This provides for an easy transition from Microsoft to Open Office. I don't personally use this program at the moment (got office for christmas), but I used to and it worked great.

5. Foxit Reader. This little bombshell of a program is the alternative to the Adobe Reader. "Wait," you might say, "Adobe Reader is free". Well, it is free, but it is a huge memory hog. This little program takes less than a second to open, so no more of that waiting 20 seconds for a PDF page to open up. Has an intuitive design, so it only takes a few uses to know your way around perfectly.

6. Windows Media Player 11. I love windows media player because it has a great library function, is esthetically pleasing, and can be formatted to run just about any video or audio codec (as I will say later).

7. Codec Packs. So I use 1 particular codec pack, Defiler Pack , in particular, because it is a lightweight codec pack that lets you play just about anything. Now, this pack comes with ffdshow, which is the second part of the Windows Media Player Does All segment, but I have had some trouble with the integrated one in the past. So my suggestion is, install the Defiler pack, de-select the ffdshow part. After installation, install FFDSHOW and install that. This will allow your Windows player to play all codecs save quicktime and real (which will be solved in a second).

8. Quicktime and Real Alternative. These aren't necessary unless you often use these file formats. If you often play Real codecs and Quicktime codecs, I suggest (for least amount of memory and hard disk space) to use Quicktime Alternative and Real Alternative. This is because these two alternative programs have no registration, and no background processes to slow down your computer. When installing these programs, if you want Windows Media Player to play everything, you have to select that particular box during installation, and you don't have to install the Media Player Classic. If you use iTunes, you will probably have some problems with the Quicktime Alternative, so you have 2 options. 1.Use the real Quicktime. or 2. Install in a certain order... First Quicktime Alternative, then iTunes + Quicktime, uninstall Quicktime, install Quicktime Alternative.

9. DScaler MPEG-2 Filter. This is the utility that will allow you to play DVDs in your computer. Not many people know this, but you need a program like this to use DVDs. Generally, your computer comes preloaded with some software to do this for you, but it is also generally bloatware (takes up lots of space and does next to nothing). This is a small, free way to do this.

10. Paint.Net. This is the open source version of Adobe Photoshop. Its easy to use, but yet has tons of functions that I don't understand for doing semi-professional editing. It is small, updates often, and works great.

11. ImgBurn. This program is not used for burning music or movies but instead for burning images, iso's or video files (vob...). This program is a little complicated to use but I will write guide to it soon. For a temporary free alternative, you can just use the trial of Nero . It works great, is kinda a memory hog but works well. Remember, to burn cd's, you can always use windows media player.

12. Firefox. This is a must have program, why use Internet Explorer when you can use Firefox? It is faster, more secure, more customizable, has more plugins, more addons, more everything. It is just simply superior. Enough said?

13. )Live Messenger. I think everyone knows this one. Used for instant messaging.

14. Skype. This is for having video conversations with people.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to have the links to all of these programs, go to my blog at (http://cmorin.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/load-up-your-computer-for-free/)

Resources

• This article on my blog with links to programs

[AbbyNormal]

on 4/7/2008 Thanks.