New boot disk - What freeware to reinstall (here is my list, for starters)

 Unfortunately, my kid lost his boot disk recently and I had to reimage
WinXP and now it's time to add all the freeware back.

Silly me - in addition to no backups, we don't have a well defined list of
freeware that was installed - so, we're starting from scratch, again. :(

I wish I had kept a list. I'm trying to remember from memory what needs to
be installed on a laptop to make it useful.

I think these are the required software additions for my NEW running list
of freeware aps that must be on a typical windows XP pc.

Mandatory Operating System Patches (for laptops):
- Windows XP SP2
- Wireless encryption http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917021
- Any others?

Required freeware capabilities (from memory):
- Browse the web with Firefox to replace IE
- Email with Thunderbird to replace OE
- Create PDFs with CutePDF to replace Acrobat
- View photos with Irfanview & edit with Paint.NET
- Firewall with ZoneAlarm to replace Windows Firewall
- AntiVirus with Avast to replace McAfee
- Archive with IZArc to replace WinZip
- Office documents with Sun OpenOffice to replace MS Office
- Security with TrueCrypt to replace PGP
- Usenet with XNews to replace google groups
- Torrent with Bittorrent to replace ftp
- Ipod with SharePod to replace ITunes song transfer
- Audacity & MultiID3 tag editor to replace iTunes editing
- Backup dvds with DVDFabDecrypter
- Convert avi to DVD with DVDFlick
- Burn DVDs with ImgBurn
- Maps with GoogleEarth
- RealAlternative to replace RealPlayer
- QuicktimeAlternative to replace QuickTime
- Media Player Classic to replace Windows Media Player
- GNU Flash Alternative to replace Macromedia Flash Player
- Skype to replace land lines
- AdAware, SpywareBlaster, & Spybot Search & Destroy for privacy
- Ccleaner to maintain a clean PC & registry
- Any others?

I'm sure I missed a half-dozen or more critical freeware necessities for a
typical laptop. Can you help me refresh my memory.

What other freeware do most people need to set up a decent Windows XP PC?

  Erica Eshoo wrote:


You may have taken it for granted and not mentioned it, but either
Automatic Updates, or regular visits to Windows Update...


DriveImage XML to avoid going through this again. :-)

http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm

PrevX CSI.

http://www.prevx.com/freescan.asp


Cheers.

 
  [ ... ]


  [ ... ]

Or, manually download each update and save it in your installs folder.
That way Microsoft doesn't get to slide through another unauthorized
spyware installation when you have auto-install turned off.


Gary

--
Gary Heston  gheston@hiwaay.net   http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Yoko Onos' former driver tried to extort $2M from her, threating to
"release embarassing recordings...". What, he has a copy of her album?

 

Since when is this freeware?  Or is the online scan part actually free?

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail.  Don't e-mail me.  I am
kidding.  No I am not.

 -Lost wrote:

Yes, it's free. CSI is different from the fullblown Prevx. It doesn't
scan all files, just checks for active spyware or malware, and is
consequently very fast. There is an EXE that can be run online or saved
to disk, but to run it requires a non-proxied internet connection.

I think it's a useful companion to realtime protections.

Cheers.