Software roadmap for deployment on 9262

I upgrade my business laptop about once every 3 years, and by the end of that cycle the O/S is usually cluttered and dirty, in need of a fresh install to make things right again. When I order a new box, I always say I won't let that happen again, but with the needs of clients changing and all the nickle & dime software that gets loaded & removed over time, windows can get ugly.

If you want to keep that box frosty as the day you got it, here is my roadmap of software that you may want to consider. I have already burned my DVD with everything below, to install on the 9262 I have on order with Xotic.

If anyone has any other suggests, I would like to hear...



(1) Mozilla Firefox
(2) Gavotte Ramdisk
(3) Kapersky Internet Security
(4) Your Uninstaller!
(5) WinPatrol
(6) MS Autoruns
(7) Registry Mechanic
(8) AusLogics Disk Defrag
(9) Notebook Hardware Control
(10) FoxitReader
(11) EASEUS Partioning Software
(12) TweakUI
(13) Custom START and STOP command files for services & processes you don't use every day


About the list,

(1) Opera or Mozilla ? Opera is better, mozilla has the bigger following

(2) Create a 64Mb ramdisk. In XP, set your environment variables TMP and TEMP for users & system to point at the ramdisk. Same for Firefox, set the Temporary Internet Files to the ramdisk. When the box reboots, the ramdisk is destroyed cleaning out your history and tmp files automatically. And temp files in RAM are faster than cache to disk

(3) Ya kno, Firewall and Antivirus, in one tight package

(4) If you have never used an uninstaller other than Add Remove Programs, you'll dig this. Many product uninstalls leave things dirty when they uninstall, this app extends the windows uninstall process and does a more complete job of cleanup, plus other utils related to cleaning up junk files.

(5) Manage startup processes, services, & more, easier than msconfig

(6) From MS, this is a companion for WinPatrol, sometimes it's good to see everything running on your box, and the ORDER they load up in, nicely organized

(7) Ya, you need to keep the registry clean and regedt32 is the hard way to go about it

(8) You kno...

(9) See NBR resources for this temp monitoring of cpu, disks, & gpu

(10) Adobe reader is a bizzare, bloated pig - try this lightweight pdf reader

(11) Nice, lightweight, and capable

(12) If you are inclinded to change the windows UI

(13) A lot of software loads up with windows, hogging up windows load times & ram. If you have software that runs as services and processes, that you do not use every day, create custom command files for START and STOP of those services/processes, and then make those services and processes "manual" starts, so they do NOT load with windows automatically. You can load them after windows starts, only on days when you need them, with a single click from your desktop. Here's an example how:

For this example, I will create stop and start cmd files for Apple iTunes/iPod (software I don't need every day, but by default Apple software loads up with windows).

(a) Create a folder on your desktop, "XP Services". Open the folder
(b) Create subfolder "Apple iTunes".
(c) In that folder, create a cmd (text) file called START_iTUNES.cmd and save the file, with the following content:

NET START "Apple Mobile Device"
NET START "IPod Service"
START /D "c:\program files\itunes" ituneshelper.exe

(d) Also in that folder, create a cmd (text) file called STOP_iTUNES.cmd and save the file, with the following content:

NET STOP "IPod Service"
NET STOP "Apple Mobile Device"
TASKKILL /F /IM iTunesHelper.exe

(e) In WinPatrol, set the startup for the services "Apple Mobile Device", "IPod Service", and process "ituneshelper.exe" to "Manual"

When you want iTunes, click the START_iTUNES.cmd file. When fini, ditto for the STOP cmd file. You can create cmd files like these for any services and processes you don't use every day, to make windows load faster and keep max ram available, and put shortcuts to the cmd files on your desktop for convenience.

From here my roadmap switches to performance tweaks for windows, you can find documented everywhere you look.

 

Nice list.

It is a really good idea to be prepared for what you want/need with a fresh os install. I'll probably use alot on your list, replacing some with my personal favorites like so:

(3) AVG Internet Security
(11) Acronis Partition Manager
(14) K-Lite Codec Pack (Working with media, it's just easier than gathering them up one at a time)
(15) Winrar
(16) Everything Else (job / personal interest specific softwares)

 

winrar and a media player is a must... though it is a business laptop so maybe not so much for you. Don't think M$ office will fit on a disk, but what about open office?

 

I've got gigs of software to go on the box in addition - the list I published was just to show a base config for anyone setting up a new box, if they want to keep it clean and healthy...