Originally posted by shooter
View Post
I tested W7 and if felt like XP meets Vista without the crap. (or less crap)
Something else to consider is trying to ONLY install "Portable Applications". This means you set them up old school in that they don't make any registry changes or put crap in your Docs and Setting folders etc. It's just a stand alone version of an application that you could move around.
This way, if you need to "clean your computer". Boot your BartPE disk that has snapshot, point to your "clean snapshot image", re-image your C: drive and then you are back to "clean state" without the hassle of losing your settings. I use FireFox because I can run it stand alone and kill all the .sol Flash Cookies (very evil what flash is doing with the spying, do some searches on this issue and see how you are being tracked if intersted). Anyway, here are some other apps that you can run stand alone and avoid windows getting "bloated" during normal usage. (by the way, run them on a thumb drive or another partition to keep things clean).
vlcLAN = fantastic, you don't need anything else and you can steam to your mobile device if it supports browser based streaming (windows mobile for example)
FireFox = Make sure you get the base addons that will kill all the Flash Cookies if you care about privacy. Also, be careful not to add too many addons as it will affect your performance.
Ccleaner =
Orbiter = This is for any of you who have children. Check out this opensource project, you will be impressed.
GnuCash = you don't need Quickbooks\Quicken (they sell your information anyway and will be happy to turn over your data to the IRS, so go opensource here. GnuCash has come a Long way.
OpenOffice = I have been extensively tesing with OpenOffice and I have reached the point where I have forgot I am running it. It just works and works great. Give it a try and save your 500.00 for a NT license.
Synergy = if you have more than one PC, get this. Just get it and use it. If you need help, just ask.
SumatraPDF = DO NOT INSTALL ADOBE UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO. It is GARBAGE BLOAT SPYWARE. But other than that, it's ok, lol.
KeyPass = OpenSource is the only solution I would allow to store my passwords. This is a great tool because if you are like me, you have way too many passwords in your life. This will help you get it under control. If you want a password consolidator and don't want to keep it in a spreadsheet, this is a great play.
PNotes = A great little PostIt note pad for your PC. Not for everyone, but nice to know about.
ClamWinPortable = great virus checker if you want something that won't take over your system.
CacheSet = mentioned earlier. For advanced users only.
JKDefrag = why use any other defragger. I dont install the windows backup, defragger, or any of their crap. I just use JKDefrag (which runs as my screensaver), snapshot.
Speaking of security, I would suggest that after you get setup, just change yourself to a restricted user. You may need to give yourself rights to Ninja's folders, or switch to power user, but as a restricted user, you will be much safer. I don't run a virus program because they all stink in my opinion. Instead, I use the Anti-Vir (the best in my opinion) bootable ISO with Network support (snags the latest definitions before running a check). So you just boot your PC from the Virus disk, scan your system, and know that you are really scanning the right way. Scanning from within a system is WORTHLESS. A good virus will hijack your virus scanner anyway and you can't be 100% certain that you are getting a true analysis. With a clean boot from a read only disk, you know that your scan is accurate. It's your world, I am just sharing what I have found to work and work well and also offer you the best performance.
In my opinion, Norton is worse than the spyware it pretends to fight and I don't trust them with all their marketing crap. Junk if you ask me. Antivir is free and fast and has one of the best, if not the best scanning results in its peer group. So there is another 100.00 per year you can put toward your NT License.
With the Internet and Computers where they are today, I have simply resolved to keep a tweaked, clean C: image and burn it back to my C: partition the moment I sense degradation. I am so sick of third party applications behaving as though they are the only application on my system that I will just blast the whole thing clean with an image that was tweaked to date.
Finally, and especially with NT, you really want to consider Raid0 or the like. (I don't want to start a RAID debate) With drives so cheap, get a SATA raid controller (if your board doesn't already have one, most newer ones do) and a matching Hard Drive, double your capacity and your performance. This is a very cheap upgrade and will make a great difference when working with large amounts of data. You will definitely noteice performance overall. This is due to the fact that you are working in parallel with your hard drives. So it like two lane highway compared to one lane. Common sense here. So imagine how much faster your system will be when your pagefile.sys (swapping) is increased by 2x (debatable).
Ok, not perfect, but a rough outline to serve as guidance. I hope this helps someone. I sure spent a world of time testing and while I am sure there may be better solutions, I found this to be tight and clean.
Comment