New Notebook (Hardware and Software ?s)

I ordered my ZX5000 last week with advice from this forum and am eagerly anticipating its arrival. While I am waiting, I have been asking people at work lots of questions. I thought I would fire off a couple of their responses and see what everyone on here thought.

1. Format the hard drive when it arrives to remove all the junk programs.

2. Partition the hard drive into 3 sections; 1 for the O/S, 1 for any applications, and 1 for documents/data.

I know I should install some anti-virus/firewall/spyware software.

3. Can anyone recommend any good ones? I checked online and Sygate looks like a popular firewall and bitdefender has a good anti-virus program and spybot is a quality spyware program. Does anyone recommend anything different?

Thanks again. This site is uber-helpful.

 

It depends on what kind of user you are. My responses are assuming a general user with not a ton of technical knowledge.

1) No. It's easier to unistall that garbage through windows than to re-install the OS and all the drivers.

2) No. You can accomplish the same thing with folders. You might set up a partition though for backup.

3) I like Norton, and with a decent system it shouldn't slow you down. I tried the freebie from CA but didn't care for it too much. AdAware is a good one for ridding the machine of crap after you've been running for a bit.

Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com

 

AVG anti virus free editioni
sygate firewall
spybot search and destroy
adaware

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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1) Only format the HD if you are going to install a different OS, such as upgrade from XP Home to Pro, or from XP to Linux. Otherwise, uninstall.
2) I agree with Brian...one partition for backup, if you want.
3) I would actually recommend against Norton. Although the virus protection is excellent and easy to use, it uses a lot of system resources just idling. Go with McAfee or AVG. Just as good virus blockers, and they leave a lot more of your system open.

 

I use McAfee as well and am quite happy with it[ ]

In fact, I didn't even use the Norton free trial disc that came with the ZX, I went right to McAfee instead.

 

Norton is slow bloatware. Why buy a fast computer only to slow it down? I have used AVG, McAffe, Panda, and PC-Cillin.

Here is what I think:

AVG: Doesnt hog resouces and is fast yet it is the ugliest looking program I have ever seen. It is kinda complicated to the average user.

Mcaffe: I used the latest version and I liked it. It is fast, doesn't hog to much resources, and looks nice. Only thing I don't like is it has a required Security Center that basecally reminds you to purchase/try their otehr software. It kinda gets in your face to much.

I then used Panda for a while. It doesn't look as nice as Mcaffee, but the technology seems very old. Whenever you open Outlook it gets in your face and starts some useless scanning even though the email hasn't even been recieved. It is also pretty slow (but faster than norton).

Trend Micro PC-Cillin: The highest reviews where given to this product by CNET, so I figured to try it. It looks really nice, is very fast and doesn't slow down my computer 1 BIT!!!! It picks up EVERY virus. I mean EVERY virus. I can't stress that enough. Norton is such bloatware that it doesn't even do that right. After uninstalling Norton, PC-Cillin picked up all the viruses that Norton missed...and that is a grad total of 9! PC-Cillin also comes with a built in EASILY configurable Personal Firewall. It looks the best, works the best, and in my opinion (along with CNET/ZDNET) it is the best!

Overall, I would say PC-Cillin is #1 by a HUGE MARGIN! Followed by McAffe far behind at #2, then Panda, AVG, and lastly...the worst...norton.

If norton is all you have used, get rid of it and try pc-cillin...you wont go back!

 

Thanks for the input guys. I'm leaning towards McAfee or Pc-Cillin and will be using Sygate and Spybot as well.

I was just wondering how I'm supposed to access the internet to download these programs (my friend has suggested Download.com) with my new computer without having any protection software on it already (unless I buy McAfee or Pc-Cillin elsewhere). Will the short time I'm connected not make a difference or is there a different way to transfer the programs to my new notebook?

I know this might seem like a silly question but I don't want anything to happen to my new baby. I'm going to give it lots of TLC. [ ]

 

So long as you're firewalled you'll be OK. I'd get Firefox or regular Mozilla and switch to that, after visiting Windows Update and downloading the big pile of security fixes that Microsoft will have waiting for you. After all that, then go get the other stuff. Some sites requirer IE but most of the time I use Firefox. It's better and much less prone to security holes.