el344

I have a new laptop -- an incredibly fast compared to my old machine Dell Latitude E7440. As I was setting it up, I wondered if there were useful or just plain neat utilities I don't know about.

My standard install is dropbox, ghostery (thanks to this forum), notepad++, malwarebytes, windows security essentials, gadwin print screen, filezilla, 7 Zip, VLC media player, Chrome and Firefox.

What am I missing? What do I need to replace with something better?

WIRunner

....... plus extension for both chrome and firefox

I recommend getting the Hola Unblocker if you watch much video online. Its a nice way to get around country restrictions.

I am not a big fan of WSE though (there will be a lot of disagreement with this I'm sure), I've been using Webroot for years now, and have been extremely pleased with its performance.

sonofzeus

revo uninstaller.
opera.
ditto.
avast.
tor.
popcorntime.

Mrtrash757

I second this. Project free tv is great for shows too.

Also remember to remove bloatware to keep the machine in tip top shape

CPRich

ccleaner. To get rid of the c.

javabytes

Ditch WSE and get something better. There is a thread on antivirus with plenty of discussion and resources that should help you find a worthwhile alternative.

Personally, I like Fences to organize my desktop. CutePDF writer is often very useful for me too.

sama

TeraCopy, makes the copy pasting and moving the files easier

Tsun

f.lux, app which automatically adjust your display settings to the time of the day - must have for me.

Camarones

Enable disk encryption via boot password or biometrics if available.

ScottC

On a new laptop, I always start with this:

https://ninite.com/

nkedel

As others have said already, an ....... plugin (I use ....... Plus on Firefox, and ....... on Chrome.) I also like Privacy badger. Make sure plugins are set to click to play in both (or use Flashblock). You may also want to set up a hosts file or DNS proxy if you want to be really paranoid.

I'm not a fan of Filezilla. I'd also want Putty, and Cygwin, but those are somewhat dev-specific. If you don't need Java, I'd avoid it; I need it (in more than one version for work.)

I try to always download and install the newest Flash player manually.

Keepass is worth grabbing if you don't have another password manager.

Eraser is good.
If you have an older copy, Truecrypt is handy.
CCleaner is handy.
Treesize Pro is handy, but commercial. Anyone have a free/open source alternative?

I also still run the desktop Google Talk app so that I can have two accounts logged in, one via the App and one via Hangouts in Chrome (the app is also more reliable about staying signed in.)
Skype, if you use it, or any other communications apps.

I use both Google Drive and Dropbox.
Either Adobe Reader (formerly Acrobat Reader) or Foxit Reader.
I have a paid (if quite outdated) license to Acrobat so have both the older version installed and the current Reader -- Foxit is nice as it has a PDF printer function if you don't have a paid Acrobat. (I don't know of a decent open-source PDF printer; I used to recommend "PDF Creator" but these days the download is full of adware despite being an alleged open-source program.)

Picasa is a good free photo organizer and light-weight editor.

Calibre (plus the Apprentice Alf plugin pack) is invaluable if you use ebooks and in particular if you buy from Amazon/Kindle but want to use other reader software.

If you use Kindle, don't forget to get the Kindle for PC app.

If you play games, don't forget to download and run the directx runtime updater (direct from Microsoft.)

MP3Tag is very handy if you have a large music collection.

Sysinternals Autoruns and Process Explorer (both downloadable from Microsoft) are very handy.

RDCMan, VNC, or NoMachine NX client can be very handy for getting to remote machines.

VirtualBox will be useful for some...

A ISO-to-bootable-USB tool is very handy... YUMI and RUFUS both work well.

--

Since it's a Dell, it's also worth making sure the BIOS and drivers (except for Intel video and your WLAN card if Intel-made) are current with versions on Dell's site, and replacing the Dell-provided Intel video driver (and the WLAN card if an Intel model) with the current one off Intel's site.

For that model, especially make sure that your touchpad driver is current -- if you have the original one that started shipping in Sept or so it has some known improvements since the beginning of the year.

nafrance

I'm personally a fan of: http://portableapps.com/
I do run a lot of other apps suggested here, but I find using the portable versions 'cleaner'. The PortableApps.com installer does updating, management and offers a nice 'menu' system.

Loore1967

Try TuneUp Utilities it help alot almost everything about you laptop.
For player try to use GOM player and Gom tray.
For protection Avast is one best free application out there.
You may need Adobe Reader when you try to open a pdf file.

el344

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I did discover that Filezilla in now packaged with multiple other completely unwanted programs when downloaded directly from Filezilla that install with no warning. Malwarebytes picked them up immediately but it took awhile to clean it all up.

sonofzeus

Sumatra works fine for me.

Google Docs works too.