A fresh start... any advice?

I've just started fresh... out with the old (hard drive and accumulation of crap) and in with the new (4x bigger hd).
Before I go downloading my old programs... what would everyone recommend I do?

Any tips on what I should do / watch out for when starting fresh? Anything at all, like how I should save files, even.

Previously, I used WinAmp, Nero for burning, adaware, spybot s&d, LimeWire for file sharing, etc...

What's the best for: music playing, file sharing, burning software, etc?

So far, all I've downloaded are Firefox to browse with, adaware, and spybot s&d.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

Really? No anti-virus or firewall? Or did you just forget to mention them?

If not -- download AVG or Avast (that's what I use) for the anti-virus.

Download Sygate of ZoneAlarm (that's what I use) for the fire-wall.

Definitely download SPYWARE BLASTER -- it's not a scanner, it keeps spyware from getting it in the first place.

All are free and all available here on Major Geeks main page.

 

I used to have Norton... and used a couple others as well.
Any pref. between Avast and AVG?
I also used to have ZA, then Sygate. Again, any pref. / main difference with them?

 

Besides what Pegg said I would get CCleaner or CrapCleaner. It gets rid of temporary files left over from programs like internet explorer. I would also get a good program to get rid of left over registry entries from programs you download. A great one i use is RegCleaner but be aware that you should only delete things you know are junk, if you delete the wrong things for some programs, it will make those programs stop working. All the programs I said are available here on majorgeeks.com

 

One thing I do when I start fresh (it's such a great feeling, isn't it? Your computer feels so uncluttered!) is do all the Windows updates first before installing anything else. I've had problems in the past with updates (i.e. sp2) having conflicts with programs I've already had running. But, so far when I've downloaded the updates first and then run the programs, I haven't had much of a problem.

I second the Spyware Blaster, Avast, CCleaner plugs. I also like to use jv16 Power Tools to clean the registry and keep tabs on start-up progams and the like.

As far as suggestions for audio...I really like Jet Audio (I'm pretty sure you can find it here on MG). I've found the sound quality to be a bit better than WMP and WinAmp. It's library organization leaves a bit to be desired, but all in all it's a great media player.

 

If you did a search - you'll find polls and discussions about ZA and Sygate...Probably just a matter of preference really.

I like to refer people to this thread if they're going to use ZA because it shows ideas about configurations:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=41094

Same with searching for which one to use between Avast and AVG -- I switched from "causing most of my troubles McAfee" to Avast and have never looked back.

And definitely, if you're computer is clean and happy, put in SP2 now before you start loading up other programs.

 

Check out the post on partitioning hard drives, as a suggestion.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=33604

Thanks to Halo, for the original suggestion in this post. Bazza

 

Thanks folks... I think I'll go with Avast, return to Sygate, and maybe return to using CCleaner.
I'll try Spyware blaster again, too.

Still looking for best P2P, burning, and mp3-organizing programs.
I'm thinking... LimeWire, maybe Nero/EZ CD creator/Adaptec ?, and Media Monkey?

 

I'd suggest deep burner or cd burner xp, both available in the back-up section of MG.
http://majorgeeks.com/downloads3.html