What software will you be putting on your m15x?

I started thinking, of what software I will be installing on my virgin m15x (arriving wed.) I wanted to know what other free/purchased software ya'll are running.

I was thinking about (probably in this order):
Partition Magic 8 (Should I make a partition? Not for dual booting, but I hear it helps maintaining and in performance.)
Norton 360
Norton Ghost
(insert spyware scan) any suggestions? Free/not free.
Diskkeeper
Dvd Shrink
Dvd Decrypter
Transcode 360 + My Movies (for streaming to my xbox 360 + big screen)
Itunes
Win Rar
Adobe Photoshop

Anything I need to uninstall right off the bat? It's my understanding AW doesn't put much bloatware on their systems.

Please share what software/games you have, and what you like!

 

nothing is installed on the m15x except good stuff. hardly any bloatware. i dont think you need win rar with vista. i will be putting no virus /spyware protection. (have not had a virus in years) can you tell me more about that 360 program. because when i try to play certain movies on my 360 via pc they dont work . thanks

 

thoth I appreaciate that you did this. I am actually waiting for the black m15x. So I'll be needing the must-have freewares soon!

Will you benchmark your system as soon as you get it? I'll be doing that first just to see if my 8800gtx and cpu performs on par with average setups. So I'll suggest you do like "Out-of-the-box" benchies!

for instance, softwares that will be install in order:
win rar
fraps
3dmark06 (i would probably skip this since I am not into 3dmarks; not like I will be playing 3dmarks all night wouldn't I?)
games (Crysis,CoD4, anything etc)
cpu-benchmark software (maybe multi-tasking benchies or Prime95 or whatever)
Anti-Virus (Avast! or anti-Vir or whatever <-- freewares)
OpenOffice / Microsoft Office
Transcode 360 + or Orb or whatever

and the list goes on..

hopefully, this helps.

 

Well, it depends what kind of file the movies are. With transcode360, it integrates into the windows media and converts files like .vob faster then real time into files your 360 can handle.

Honestly, I haven't tried this setup yet, but in theory, transcode 360 + my movies + tons of movies in .vob format should work.

 

for me i have to install

Kaspersky 7.0
Microsoft Office
w/e games i need to install
Community Codec Pack
Winamp
Win rar

that should be good enough for now :/

 

Hm let me think...

Avira Antivir Premium
Microsoft Office
World Of Warcraft, Crysis and etc
Win rar
Itunes
Utorrent
And hundreds of other unneeded software.

 

for me..

an anti-virus program (not sure what yet)
ms office
games!! OFCOURSE
itunes
firefox (love using it)
3dmark06
fraps

 

Can anyone tell me what he/she means by hardlyany bloatware?
What is the exception?
I'll probably would install a second OS (linux distro) with dual boot. So I will have all my network tools to work with (for free).
under Windows:
a virusscanner (and @alienware/user :you will not notice a virus that is well written therefore you can't say whether you had a virus or not. Unless of course you're not websurfin'. There are 'trusted' sites being hijacked just for this purpose and you will not be able to notice it)
Games, a lot..
MS Office, Firefox, Azureus, TrueCrypt, Photoshop, Nero, loads of mediacodecs, alternative quicktimeplayer and alternative realplayer, fraps, Alcohol120.

 

Always the first is Total Commander and Deamon Tools

 

I installed...
Virtual Drive Pro
Hdfab Platinum
MS Office
Community Codec Pack
Everest
Videora Converter
Advanced windows care
Firefox
Also Run Backtrack 3(beta) off of a USB Stick. For all my network tools

 

Microsoft Office Suite
Crysis
Dawn of War: Soulstorm
Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
Dawn of War: Winter Assault
Dawn of War
Steam: TF2, CS:S, CS 1.6
World of Warcraft
Supreme Commander
World in Conflict
Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Unreal Tournament 3
COD 4
Firefox
Ventrilo
Adaware
Zone Alarm Pro
Meh - Games

 

I'm installing Bit Torrent. That's all I need. o.0

okay fine

office '07 ultimate
wmp 11
napster
winamp
hypercam
crysis
gta:sa
gta:sa console
gta:3
gta:3 control center
msn messenger
firefox 3 beta 1
firefox 2
ie (latest edition if not installed)
photoshop elements atleast
total video player
superpi
adobe reader 8
ms virtual pc
(idk about antivirus yet) maybe avg
foobar 2000
umm something like nfs:carbon
windows xp pinball - imported
windows 95 demo pinball - imported
microsoft encarta 2003
microsoft gif animator
mta:san andreas
opera : ?
quicktime : ?
swiftswitch
speedfan
san andreas multiplayer
win rar
winzip
total video converter
hopefully I have some of the install files.. I save those...

plus all ~25gb videos/documents/music/custom things from my laptop

 

all anti-virus programs are pointless

 

would care to explain the reason?

 

I'll be installing in no particular order:

Nod32 Anti-Virus
Microsoft Office Professional Edition
Firefox (cant stand IE7)
Abelton Live 7
Traktor 3 DJ Studio
Adobe Creative Mastersuite (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, After Effects etc)
Various Codecs
GTA:SA
Crysis
COD4
Azuerus
iTunes
iPod to Computer Pro
Skype
nCleaner/System Mechanic

And im sure there will be more...

 

There can be no reasonable explanation for that remark...

 

For those who have posted that an anit-virus program is not needed, I assume that these people never get online. Antivirus software is the first and most essential software to install on a new computer. Some viruses can easily go undetected, while others act quickly and do extensive damage. Don't press your luck.

There are a few other apps that I think are good for a high end notebook,

1. A CPU, GPU temperature monitor.
2. A frame rate tool such as FRAPS
3. Disk defragmenter-comes with Vista or 3rd party.
4. Any web browser other than IE-Firefox or Firefox clone.
5. Any email browser other than Windows Mail.

I don't waste my time with 3dMark06-I would say that one is strictly optional since it doesn't reflect actual game performance.

 

Damn after reading i saw how many programs I forgot.. well anyways, this gave me an idea of making a list

 

Nice list of games, Rebmik,

 

loggie? What's wrong with firefox? It is the safest web browser..

 

First I got rid of that YouCam crap. Then I installed:

World of Warcraft
Winamp
Crysis
Unreal Tournament 3
MSN
Azureus
The Orange Box
SpeedFan
RivaTuner
Fraps
Ventrilo
Firefox
SysTool
Office 2007
DivX
And copied over all my music.

In no particular order.

 

I will install:
Everest Home Edition
Cpu-z
Clock-Gen
Riva Tuner
Core Temp
Fraps
iTunes
CoD 4
Crysis
World in Conflict
Autodesk Maya
Alias Motion Builder
Adobe Suite CS3
DivX
Firefox
iTunes
Extract now
Google Earth
MSN Messenger

i think that is all, i will install in no particular order

 

A lot of stuff has been mentioned before, but I would recommend to add the newest TuneUpUtilities to prolong the systems life.

And yes: A virusscanner is essential.

At this point you could get also an anti- malware/spyware prog ala spybot search&destroy

Paendrag

 

In order

1. Firefox
2. Itunes
3. Aim
4. Steam and all of my games on it
5. Photoshop
6. limewire
7. Ventrilo
8. Winrar
and ill see what else i need from there on out

 

I find virus scanners to be quite useless... Im just careful with my computer. (sort of)

 

If you`re sitting behind a rooter/hwfirewall I admit that its not absolute necessary, but if you`re directly linked to the web I would recommend one. Sometimes you install some shareware prog and you get ports opend you didn`t know about. But thats OT. Everybody can handle that as he/she wishes.

 

i find it funny how the only game that will push the system that is listed is crysis......... what about assassins creed/

 

My friend a firewall does not stop any virus nor spyware........
It's meant for traffic filtering/ shaping and some have modules for contentfiltering but no virusscanning is done on that level...about trojans, most firewalls are configured to let all outgoing traffic pass for eas of use so your virus scanner should get the trojan before it can do any harm.
But you sure are correct about the virusscanner: it's a necessary resource eating evil

 

Anti-virus and software firewalls are resource sapping nanny programs for chumps. All you need is decent computer sense to run safely without them.

Gonna load mine full of games and Visual Studio.

 

I gather your common sense means shutting down all network traffic? A 'decent computer sense' will not help you in anyway.

I'm replying to this remark because it has been my job to secure networks for over 12 years and I still keep meeting people that think like you but they are diminishing.......shame I make a good living out of cleaning up the mess they leave

Oh and Peandrag my friend you probably refer to a proxy as a 'full' firewall but this filters (normally) only http requests so it can safe you from bad websites that much is true!

 

Then those people are not like me.

I've ran without anti-virus or a software firewall for the last 4 years and haven't had a single problem. I know what every single running process and service is on my machine. I know exactly what starts up. I know exactly which programs use internet traffic.

When MSBlast hit a few years ago, I had secured my own machine against it, and any customers that phoned in with the problems it caused before Sophos (business anti-virus) had released any update to catch it.

I'm also always manually cleaning my brothers machine from viruses, and he runs AVG.

Like I said, it's all down to common sense. A/V is safety net for uneducated gullible people AFTER they've already tried to install some ActiveX control, or downloaded a random executable off a dodgey site when trying to find a crack, or visiting dodgey porn sites.

Also having A/V installed isn't peace of mind. I'm always sorting out spyware/adware infested machines from computer/internet illiterate friends who have some A/V installed and thus think they're invincible.

A/V is no replacement for common sense.

 

still don't have my m15x, so this list is a work in progress

whatever the latest scandanavian / former eastern bloc AV software complete with russian hacker backdoors is hot this month
everest
some benchmarking crap
steam, and all that valve junk
cod4
oblivion
office 2k7
visual studio.net 2k8
sql server 2k5 (unless i get 2k8 from work first)
mysql5
probably a virtual XP install
also maybe dual-boot to XP
maybe fiddle with ubuntu
losta different browsers

gotta say im surprised to i didnt seem more dev software on these lists, i got this as a gaming rig but also as a dev rig as well.

 

A/V is a helping tool and pardon my saying but a nice rootkit is able to inject code in known (allready running)apps and/ or runs hidden services you can't see in your msconfig nor taskmanager... Nothing to do with common sense! A trusted site can easily have been hijacked for this purpose.

 

Yes but a nice rootkit doesn't just send itself to your computer and run itself. There are also better tools than the default msconfig and taskmanager to see what loads, and what is running.

A/V may be a helping tool, but it's also a resource hog, and in my past experience it's pretty useless at defending me against anything I could have seen coming a mile off anyway.

Because MSBlast transmitted itself so rapidly, and in such an unconventional way, all A/V was useless to defend your PC against it. On the day it hit, I'd manually cleaned and defended my works PC against it and was talking our customers through doing the same by about 11am, and then at about 2pm Sophos had got around to releasing a definitions update to do the same.

When we get a virus infected machine in to work on, all the techies will run a virus scan, and if it's not fixed after, they immediately resort to a format and reinstall. They too are clueless and rely entirely on A/V. They have no idea how to fix stuff like this manually.

Like I said, I don't run it, and have no problems at all. I know people that do run it, and have many problems. The only difference between me, and these other people as far as I can see is a bit of common sense when using the internet. I think this common sense is far more valuable if I had to pick between the two.

 

Even when you consider yourself special it still is unheard of to give the peeps here the wrong impression not to use a scanner. Again: a rootkit can be enclosed in a virus transmitted by a trusted webpage just by entering the webpage. Also nobody referred a virusscanner as the ultimate tool. 99% of the people don't have the knowledge to protect them and a scanner will help them more then boasting about your common sense.
But be my guest do as you please.....

 

I'm not boasting or considering myself special. I'm saying it would benefit someone if they actually took the time to learn about viruses and how they work, along with learning how their operating system works, rather than just installing A/V and adopting the ignorance is bliss strategy. I think this would eliminate alot of the zombied machines that have been turned into spamming hosts because their ignorant owners have A/V installed, and so put the blame instead on Windows just being slow and unstable.

I always get the same response when I say I don't run A/V, yet here I am without issues. The problem, as always it seems is with the users.

 

True, but that is an ideal situation, however I'm dealing with paying customers that don't want to hear me preach on how it should be and they cover 99,9% of the world also you can't expect from peeps to understand everything about their OS or PC. It's the same with cars I guess its something else to know how to drive then to understand how they work. I can feel very angry when customers say: "oh I don't care as long as it works" but hey that's the way the worlds works I guess. And after I clean up the mess I get payed . Luckily it is a small part of my work and is only applicable on new customers.
My job is to prevent...and a scanner helps more then a lecture I found out (the hard way).

 

Yeah that's how it does work it seems. I guess if I was the leader of the world, I'd ban all under 18's from the internet, and force people to learn about viruses, scams, spam, and basic O/S workings before they're allowed to be connected. To pass a British driving test you need to know basic car safety and engine maintenance now.

I'd also make sure all online games that use VOIP must have a required by law inbuilt check whereby if the user is male, and the voice is over a certain pitch, they immediately get banned. lol

As for "cleaning up and getting paid", we get exactly the same thing here from people running A/V. We seem to make our money on ignorance, independant on what protective programs they have running.

 

I thing is certain, we sure keep this thread alive...

under 18 + voice under a 'certain' pitch = female? That would be an easy game.
LOL
Any girl who would like to comment on that?

Last online game i played is eve online but no voice is there VOIP for games? SIP clients in conference?

Oh on topic:

even more games

 

No what I mean is. If the user is confirmed to be male, and the voice is over a certain pitch (indicating pre-pubescent boy), they are banned from the game. They can trial the system on Xbox Live as that would be a real proving ground

 

lol the idea I have of a girl playing a game is more like the WOW show of South Park (the big dude killing all others)anyways. awesum show by the way..

on topic:

games+

 

I'm looking forward to installing AudioSurf and putting it up to a projector using the HDMI out.

 

Hmmmm 70 posts @100 the title 'Notebook consultant' right?

Eekie wanna rap about scanners some more??

(Sorry last 1 offtopic)

 

Not sure what post count triggers it. When I first got here I didn't realise it was set by the forum and thought there were a lot of notebook consultants on here. I thought it was some kind of self-employeed job lol.

I think scanner talk has been done now. I just don't think they're any kind of solution to the zombied spamming machines, and I know it's reasonably safe to run without one.
I know the first part from working in the trade, and having friends and family dump their computer problems on me. I know the second part from running my own machines without scanners, and without problems.

You're never 100% safe, no matter which route you take. Just as a meteor could land on your head any second now.

Another example is like ABS in cars. A lot of people think it would be ridiculous to run a car without it, and there are good reasons to think this, although if you learned how cars work, and how to drive well, you would learn a technique called threshold braking, which is more effective than ABS. Even a technique called cadence braking, if properly applied gives you more control stopping on slippery surfaces.
Another mistake due to ignorant reliance on safety software, and not knowing how things work is using ABS in the snow which is far less effective than manual controls of brakes allowing you first to cut down to the tarmac.

My point is ignorant reliance on such safety software, whether it be A/V or ABS is no substitute to knowledge. Both A/V and ABS work well with a good knowledge, but if you had to pick between the two, I think the knowledge is more of a solution.

Also running without A/V, or ABS isn't foolish if you know what you're doing.

I'm a bit of a car geek too

 

I'd atlease get a free firewall/security like avg.....

 

I was just kidding about prolonging scanner rap
You already explained how you think and I agree with you on one point which is that it is not the ultimate tool but like I explained before it is vital to end users in general.
And as for ABS example: for the bigger part of the worldpopulation I dare to say it is more a question of having brakes @all

edit: skip the general

 

Back on topic, one thing I wont be putting on my M15x is Crysis

Did anyone here ever play Red Faction multiplayer on PC? It's an old game, using a one-off game engine and it doesn't work on my 8800GTX desktop card, no matter what driver I use. I'm now wondering if it will work on 8800m GTX architecture.

This is looking promising too: http://www.battlefield-heroes.com/

 

thanks for sharing that! that looks fun.. although.. i don't understand why it's free.. hmmm.. i'd think it'd be an awesome FPS with a funny story line and a good multiplayer game.

 

anyone know a good codec pack, that supports almost all codecs? (quicktime, .rm, and the HDdvd codecs)
Also it shouldn't install any players, programs, or spyware. Just the codecs, I will be using media player classic to play the videos

thanks

 

i like the community codec pack. it plays anything i want to watch