My Programs

Everything else goes here. Just be respectful, of course, but RP rules don't apply.
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K
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My Programs

Post by K » Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:24 am

Here's a screenshot of my program list, maximized. If you have stuff that isn't listed here on a Windows computer, you might very easily have some bloatware. If you have a lot more stuff, you probably have a lot of bloatware.
Go to http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/index.aspx and check on the status of all of your programs, people. Deleting unnecessary software, known as bloatware, will make your computer run much more quickly and smoothly. Some of it may be malware, in which case you'll want Malwarebytes to cover your ass.
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Post by K » Thu Aug 29, 2013 10:59 pm

May as well take this opportunity to talk about my favored security and maintenance programs, especially since I've seen a bunch of computers lately that are absolutely infested with malware, spyware, adware, and viruses. Note that I only use freeware, so, no, I'm not telling you to go buy anything.
General rules: When installing, use all the default options except where I say otherwise. Agree to terms and conditions, you'll decide on donating later, uninstall previous versions, blah. If any ask if you want to "also install Ask Toolbar/Google Chrome/some other security program/make Google Chrome your default browser," say no to those. Google Chrome is another browser, like Internet Explorer (ew) and Firefox (yay), and it's all right, but Ask Toolbar is just adware, and you don't need any security programs beyond these.
Give these programs administrative access! Most of the time, it's not needed, but it often is on the first go-around, and admin access will only allow these programs to work to their fullest potential. These are trusted programs; giving them admin access will never cause your computer harm. Running these programs by right-clicking their icons and selecting "Run as administrator" is never a bad idea and will often be helpful. I can't stress this enough for the sake of fixing major infections.
I will be going over common usage. If a program tells you that one of its other functions is necessary for something, it probably is right. If you run into one of these instances and it isn't a simple matter of doing what the screen tells you to do, you can always hit me up to read with you.
I often recommend CNET.com for downloading software. To get something from CNET.com, go to the website, use the site's search to find the program that you want, then look at the search results. Under each article name is a symbol. If you're on a Mac, click the green "Download now" button next to the article with an Apple symbol. If you're on Windows, get the one with the Windows symbol. The item that you want is usually right at the top of the search results, and you can click on the article to make sure. Note: CNET.com has a download manager program that it advertises at the top of its articles. You don't need this. If you are reading an article and are ready to download, just hit the green "Download now" button in the upper-left corner of the article.
If you are sitting down for a big clean-fest, I recommend the following order because CCLeaner will get rid of a ton of junk files, narrowing down how much the other programs have to scan and making your computer faster in general. Pretty much any malware is going to give resistance to whatever you run of these, so Malwarebytes should be the first stop after that, and viruses can do the same, so Avast is a good next stop.
Is it safe to run other programs at the same time as these?
CCleaner: Sure, but the program that you're running will leave temporary files after CCleaner is done cleaning. If you intend to keep using the program after the scan, go ahead. You could just run the scan later, though.
Malwarebytes: It can be, but Malwarebytes is trying to scan everything, and I do mean everything. Malwarebytes is also pretty resource-intensive; if you try running other things at the same time, Malwarebytes' scan will lag up, and Malwarebytes will probably cause your other stuff to lag, too. Moving files from one folder to another, writing out a document, and the like is no big deal, but, for the most part, I'd let Malwarebytes do its thing while walking away and getting a snack. I don't recommend trying to run an internet browser while Malwarebytes is running unless it's something that is very efficient and not resource-intensive, such as reading/writing on Seinvocc or most other forums.
Avast: Not as resource-intensive as Malwarebytes, but apply the same principles to be safe.
Defraggler: No, not really. I mean, it's technically safe, but there's a good chance that some things won't defragment that could have been if you were just running Defraggler alone. Start some defragmenting, go eat dinner, come back, and then get back to whatever else.

CCleaner
Description: It's a simple, effective computer cleaner. It gets rid of junk files (temporary files, old logs, recycle bin contents, cookies, caches, stuff like that; not your personal files like pictures, videos, audio files, and documents) so that your scans have less to mull through and your computer runs better. It also has a registry cleanup tool that works wonders.
Download from: http://www.piriform.com has this and Defraggler. It's pretty simple; click the big, green "Download" button in the CCleaner ad or go to the Downloads page and select CCleaner from there, look under the free version (the one on the left that obviously doesn't include extra support or a price tag) for the option to download from piriform.com directly or the filehippo.com download mirror (I always go directly from piriform.com to avoid extra steps, but filehippo.com isn't going to hurt you, either.), and run the installer.
Updates: Assuming that you allow it to (It will ask when you install, and you can change this in the Options > Settings later.), it will check for updates when you start it up. If one is available, it will ask if you want to go get it. That will open piriform.com up in your browser and bring you right to the download page to run the installer again. When installing, I recommend allowing CCleaner to automatically check for updates. It is optional to add "Run CCleaner" and "Open CCleaner" to the Recycle Bin menu; you could just run the program the same way that you run anything else, though it doesn't hurt to have the options there, too, perhaps as a reminder or informant to someone else who uses your computer. I do not recommend "intelligently scanning for cookies." Don't get me wrong; this is not harmful. It's just unnecessary and a bit sloppy. With that option, CCleaner will keep track of the most common cookies that you will get (login cookies for Yahoo! mail, for instance, or for Youtube), and it will leave those cookies intact while it deletes other cookies. The effective meaning of this is that, after running CCleaner, in stead of being signed out of everything, you will remain signed in to your favorite websites. The problem with this is that those cookies do eventually build up, which generally makes little to no difference in actual performance, but optimization is still optimization. Besides, it just takes a moment to log into something, and you don't want someone to get onto your accounts from your computer when you're not looking, right? It's also no real benefit if you frequently switch accounts on your favorite sites.
Permissions: Admin permissions are basically never needed, but right-click it and "Run as administrator" anyway before running the registry cleaner just to be sure. CCleaner also has two tabs that are a list of things that it can clean up, and it has a bunch of items checked automatically. I recommend leaving those alone except to make a couple additions, except for the "Advanced" section. I don't actually touch that; CCleaner makes adjustments there as it sees fit, and it's good at that, so I let it do its thing.
To operate: Just hitting "Analyze" will simply show you all the stuff that needs to be cleaned, which is redundant, because hitting "Run Cleaner" will analyze them and clean them. The only trick to this is making sure that your checkboxes are correct, and then it's stupid simple. I run the normal cleaner at least twice per week. It doesn't take long, it just cleans up junk so that it doesn't take long the next time (and neither do other scans), it keeps the computer running efficiently . . . There's really no harm* in running this several times per day; it's just more sensible to do it in half-week chunks.
The registry cleaner will take care of plenty of registry errors. It has a checkbox list of what it takes care of; I recommend leaving all items checked. "Scan for Issues," "Fix selected issues," "Fix all selected issues," done. You will likely have hundreds or thousands of these if you've had run-ins with malware or bloatware. I omit the unused file extensions because CCleaner just doesn't realize that some of those file extensions are actually for use by some emulators and another program, Cockatrice. I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't hurt anything to clean them out, since the programs would just replace any necessary registries, anyway, but I just don't bother. I recommend running the registry cleaner least once per month plus once after each time that Malwarebytes or Avast finds something and cleans it.
Extras: CCleaner also has an uninstallation tool, though it's redundant with your control panel. You probably won't be using its system restore or drive cleaner tools unless you know what you're doing. It has a tool that lists programs that run at your computer's startup, too, and this tool allows you to disable or delete said programs, though I strongly recommend never touching that unless you are absolutely sure what you're doing without a shadow of a doubt. If you really try to, you can turn your computer into a paperweight. Don't be stupid, please. Options include the ability to individually delete cookies, the ability to exclude files/folders of your choice from CCleaner's influence, and the ability to add files/folders of your choice to be cleaned when you run it. Each of these options exists for advanced users only, and advanced users don't have much use for them, either, so you can safely ignore them.
*If you have a limited internet data plan, deleting your temporary internet files could cause a bit of trouble. Your internet browsers work by copying data off the internet into temporary files, then using these files to display the data in ways that we can see and hear. When you re-visit a site, your browser will pull recent temp. internet files and make edits as necessary in order to load quickly and efficiently. If you delete these files too frequently, it has to download totally new temp. internet files upon each visit. This isn't generally a big problem, but, if Verizon allows you 5 GB of data transfer (upload + download) per month and you're already pressing your luck, A) you need a better internet plan, B) you need to revise what you do online, and C) making your computer download more info all the time can push you over the edge, even if by just a little.

Malwarebytes
Description: It's a very powerful anti-malware program, so much that its free version is stronger than the paid versions of some other anti-malwares. Basically, for home users such as us, if Malwarebytes can't handle some malware that's in our systems, we have paperweights, not computers. Among security programs, I think of Malwarebytes as the "heavy."
New! Malwarebytes now also handles spyware!
Download from: You can get this from http://www.malwarebytes.org or CNET.com. There's no advantage to using one over the other. Get the free version; you absolutely do not need the paid version. I don't think that NASA needs the paid version.
Updates: Malwarebytes will inform you that it is outdated (though I don't think that the "outdated as of X days" estimate is entirely accurate) and download updates for you when you run it.
Permissions: Malwarebytes digs deeply. It will ask for permission to do anything when you start it up at all. Right-click it and "Run as administrator" so that you give it all the permissions that it needs. Very often, malware will integrate itself very deeply into protected areas of your computer, so Malwarebytes needs admin access to go into those areas and kill things.
To operate: Run a full scan when you first get it. If it finds anything, tell it to go ahead and kill what it finds, then run a full scan again afterward. It might ask to restart your computer and run on startup in order to get into the stuff that even just having admin permissions doesn't give it access to. If it asks to do this, accept; it knows what it's doing. Quick scans are good, too, but you certainly want a full scan at least once per month. Note that Malwarebytes will keep little text files as logs of its scans. They are so small that they will not take up any significant amount of space over decades, though. Your computer will be replaced before the logs slow it down.

Avast Free Antivirus
Description: There is a lot of competition in antivirus programs. AVG and Norton are top contenders and the only ones that I hear people say that they pay for and don't immediately lose my lunch. Still, they nag you with constant subscription reminders, they persistently advertise their other software, and, geez, do they fill your computer with tons of useless logs! AVG will sometimes give you gigabytes of logs in mere minutes. I want you to think about that for a second. Too late; AVG just slowed your system to a crawl. Try running CCleaner every couple minutes just to stay functional . . . Furthermore, because AVG and Norton are so mainstream, they're very heavily targeted, so you have to maintain constant updates just to hope that some hacker doesn't find a big enough vulnerability to mess you up while you're blinking. That being said, we should look at freeware. Among freeware antivirus programs, Avast is a top contender. None of those massive log slow-downs, no nags for paid subscriptions, still plenty of virus-smashing competence, and a software updater to boot. Though there are other freeware antiviruses that are also sufficient, I find that Avast, the "scout" of my security triumvirate, always has my back.
Download from: Get it from CNET.com or http://www.avast.com. As always, there is an option for a paid version, which you do not need. After you have it installed, it will ask you to "register." This is optional; you can keep telling it that you don't want to register and keep using the program indefinitely. I recommend just registering, though. It just asks for full name, e-mail, and phone number, if I recall. In any case, what is asks for is public information, anyway, so just jot it down, submit it, and it won't bug you for another year.
Updates: If you allow it, Avast has automatic updates for its definitions and program version. There are options for it to ask you for permission to update when updates are available and options for manual updates only; go into the "Settings" (button on the far right) and check the "Updates" tab to see for yourself. You can also click on the "Maintenance" tab button in the main interface to see and manually update definitions and program version.
Permissions: It won't ask for permission by default and will have shields constantly running in the background, which is good; you want constant protection, you want Avast to constantly be alert of threats, and these shields are very efficient, taking up little of your computer's resources. Still, before you run a scan, you should make sure to right-click and "Run as administrator" in order to deal with any heavily-rooted viruses.
To operate: As I said, it has constantly-running shields, so Avast will do a good job of letting you know when you're doing something stupid, it's saving your butt, and you need to back out and start running scans with everything. You do still need to run scans, though, so I recommend a full scan at least twice per month. As with Malwarebyes, quick scans can be handy, and individual folder scans can be handy, too, but I generally find that enough time to run any scan is enough time to run a full scan, and thoroughness is important to finding and dealing with the nastiest problems. From the home page of your Avast interface, if you click on "Scan" to go to that page, a quick scan will immediately start, so I just click that, stop the quick scan, and start the full scan. You can also click the "Security" tab, then the "Antivirus" side-tab, which will bring you to the same "Scan now" item page.
Extra: Avast's shields will sometimes identify some underlying problem that could be a part of, result of, or entire package of malware. On one of my friends' computers, Avast found an erroneous rootkit file that was a result of some malware that she had downloaded. If Avast finds something, it has popups to let you know, and it advises courses of action. It's good to do what Avast says, then run Malwarebytes (and perhaps CCleaner first in order to cut down on junk files to scan through) to clean up anything that Avast can't deal with. Let the shields tell you when something's wrong, then remember that you're dealing with just one bit of antivirus software; you have other programs for heavy work of different kinds.
Extra: Avast has a software updater for other software. It's not going to keep everything in your computer updated, but it will check your versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Java, Adobe products, and maybe a couple other programs. In your settings, you can allow it to try to download updates automatically, and it will be helpful, but don't just count on that without looking. If you don't have up-to-date versions of Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash Player (ActiveX), Adobe Shockwave Player, Java Runtime Environment (It's okay if you have two versions; you should have both 32-bit and 64-bit if your computer is 64-bit. You'll download them correctly from Java.com.), and your preferred browser, you will have problems running applications and you will have security loopholes. Even if the software updater won't always correctly download updates for some programs (I know that it has trouble with Google Chrome and Java, at times.), it's good to check it to see what you have to go download updates for.
Extra: Avast has a browser cleanup tool. It will check your browsers for toolbars and other add-ons that you don't want. It automatically excludes add-ons of high reputation, such as those that are Java-related, Adobe-related, Adblock Plus for Firefox, Simple Adblock for Chrome, and Hover Zoom for Chrome. Click on the tool and read for more details. Mind you that this tool won't really do anything that you can't take care of by uninstalling such things as Ask Toolbar from your control panel or going into your add-on settings for Firefox/Chrome and removing bad stuff individually, but this tool is still good for checking yourself, doing it automatically, and, if you have a big screw-up going and have a lot of stuff to clean up, doing it quickly.

Defraggler
Description: It's a program for defragmenting your disc drive(s). If you're not familiar with this, look it up. It's pretty basic maintenance stuff. There's a default Windows disc defragmenter included when you get any computer, but this one is just more efficient and faster.
Download from: See CCleaner.
Updates: See CCleaner.
Permissions: It will ask for permission to run, like Malwarebyes. To be sure that it's running on all cylinders, right-click and "Run as administrator".
To operate: Local Disc (C:) will be selected by default. You can analyze it to see how badly it needs defragmentation or you could just defrag. There's a quick defrag option, if you care, but I'd just run a full defragmentation at least every other month and be done with it.

Other programs of note
Avira: Without much experience with it, I can't call it entirely bad, but it is a sub-par, highly-targeted, freeware antivirus. Some people with more experience in it have said that it can sometimes be worse than the viruses that it tries to protect you from. I wouldn't touch it with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole.
Ad-Aware: This freeware antivirus and antispyware package has mixed reviews. Overall, its reputation is pretty good, but it is highly-targeted as a result, and it has unnecessary program conflicts.
McAfee: Everything McAfee is bad. Bad, bad, bad. McAfee software is, variably, about as wasteful and lag-inducing as AVG. It's very highly-targeted. It has conflicts with many other programs because the McAfee idea of keeping you secure includes actually taking away part of your control over your own computer for its own incompetent attempts at protection. The only reasons why McAfee even still exists are because it's a household name and because manufacturers are paid to throw in free McAfee security with their computers. People get suckered into it because they hear about it so much, don't hear about all the better options, and assume that hearing about it often means that it must be popular because it's good. These are bad assumptions. McAfee is bad. If you got a free bit of McAfee software with your computer, uninstall it immediately.
Spybot - Search and Destroy: Disregard this program. If you are currently running it, uninstall it. See the following post.

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Post by K » Tue Dec 03, 2013 1:54 am

This just in! The newest version of Spybot - Search and Destroy has been seriously screwing some users over. Though it's been a nice program in the past, it's now pretty much defunct. Here are some posts from a friend of mine who works on computers for a living, Jeremy Jones:
"Well I went from having a good day to stressing out majorly. Ran normal virus/Malware tests and then one for Spybot and after restarting from Spybot my Windows profile has been locked and I get signed in to a temp one.... Really hoping a system restore will fix it or I just lost all access to my shit until I can get a new HDD and reinstall Windows. Yea not using Spybot again."
"It was fucking Spybot Search and Destroy which would also explain why my gf has been having issues with her laptop since I installed it. Missing apps, random issues left and right was trying to think Wtf is going on. Now I know and never again will I use or recommend it. Use to be a great program now it just fuck your system up."

Now, the good news: Malwarebytes recently incorporated anti-spyware checks. Put briefly, if you update to the latest Malwarebytes version, uninstall Spybot - S&D, and otherwise maintain the programs that I listed above, you're solid!

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Post by Tori Keheraht » Tue Feb 25, 2014 11:30 am

For those of you who are new here, this is still Caleb. I have a moment to myself, so I'm gonna' talk about some other software issues that y'all should know.

Web Browsers
Browsers are the programs that download information from the internet, save that information in temporary files, read those files, and interpret their instructions to display the information in ways that we humans can understand. They're "how the Internet works" on your computer, allowing you to go to web pages and interact with them. Not all browsers are made equally. You can download different browsers from their home sites, if they're still up, or CNET.com, among other locations.
Internet Explorer: IE is trash. It's slow, unreliable (variably), inefficient, often outdated (In fact, on Windows XP and older operating systems, it's even impossible to upgrade beyond IE8, reportedly due to different ways in which newer OSs handle drivers.), insecure even when you allow security settings that are excessive and obstructive, and user-unfriendly, especially on the matter of dealing with its plugins. IE should only be run to get a better browser. Does that mean that you should remove it? No. As I'll mention an aspect of in the next section, IE is often referred to for other applications. Also, sometimes, you'll encounter a problem online that can actually be a problem with whatever other browser you're using or one of its plugins. You can try visiting the webpage on which you're having the problem in IE, and, if it works in IE and not, say, Firefox, you know that there's something wrong with your Firefox.
AOL Explorer: This is basically IE, but with integration of AOL applications. In other words, you take two piles of feces, fuse them, and you have this browser. Every time that you use it, a kitten dies.
Mozilla Firefox: This is a good one. It has its problems here and there, mostly compatibility issues that are generated by some erroneous plugin that you installed (The only add-on that I use is Adblock Plus. Others are unnecessary, and not all are trustworthy.), but it's mostly effective. It has reliability, speed, efficiency, security, frequent enough and automatic updates, and user friendliness. It's also easy to change its appearance and otherwise set options that are aesthetically pleasing or convenient. I actually did have a webpage compatibility issue with Firefox, before, but it remains as my favorite because a single issue is easy to pardon in light of the rest of its performance.
Google Chrome: At a glance, Chrome can seem like an aesthetically different Firefox. Notably, because its menus are organized differently than what one may be used to, it can be a bit inconvenient to set things up appropriately or change settings. It updates automatically and pretty frequently, but some friends and I have had issues with it not updating correctly and not having an option to update manually. People have also said that Chrome doesn't feel stable, as though the program is going to crash at any moment, or even as though a giant security hole will be found and exploited at any moment. Overall, it's not a bad browser, but it also has the distinct disadvantage of being Google, so I don't recommend it.
Safari by Apple: It's said to be a faster browser, but that's a claim that they all have, and few of them can substantiate the claim at all. Many people refer to it as the "Internet Explorer for Macs," because, whenever a company makes their own OS, they make their own browser to go with it, and that default browser has a habit of sucking. Recently, I saw an article about a major security hole in Apple, the Safari browser, and Mac stuff in general. It's also a line of code that is embedded in Twitter, Facetime, and some other junk. Needless to say, I don't recommend touching Safari.
Opera: I tried Opera once. Once. At first, it seemed to be just aesthetically different, but it started having speed issues, and I left it when I got fed up with the unreliability. Every operation felt like a struggle, like it was trying to decide whether it should load a page or just crash every time. The design was . . . minimalistic, which may appeal to some because everyone considers themselves to be an idiot on a computer, but just configuring some basic settings would be nice. Unfortunately, my exposure to Opera continued because Nintendo signed a contract with them so that Opera was the basis for the browsers on Nintendo consoles, such as the Wii and the DSi. If you've ever dealt with those, you probably have seen more than enough to hate Opera forever. Opera pretty much bowed out of the browser race and is still active almost exclusively because of Nintendo's mistake.
There are plenty of other browsers, and more still that have gone out of operation. Feel free to do some research and find one that you like better, but I recommend Firefox above all else, from my knowledge.

Adobe Flash Player
Description: The Adobe Flash Player is freeware software for viewing multimedia, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming video and audio, content created on the Adobe Flash platform. Most of the time, you'll see it as a plugin for browsers, but there are mobile versions and others that are built directly into some operating systems. Briefly put, you need a flash player in order to interface with many of the things that you see, hear, and do on the internet. It is essential. Note that you do not need "Adobe Flash" unless you intend to use it to make multimedia content, but you do need Adobe Flash Player.
Download from: http://www.adobe.com has this, Shockwave Player, Reader, and other things. On the download screen, there are three columns to pay attention to. The first column lets you select which version you want. Chances are that it will detect your OS correctly, though you may have to tell it whether you're using the 32-bit or 64-bit version (To find out, you can right-click "Computer" in the start menu and select "Properties" or go to "System" in your control panel.), and then you have the choice of getting the Internet Explorer version or the version for "other browsers" (Actually, depending on the OS, you may have to download individually for each other browser, i.e. once for Firefox, once for Google Chrome, once for whatever else . . .), and you need both! Even though you should never touch IE with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole, you should keep the IE Adobe Flash Player up to date. This is because some other applications that you may use will refer to your IE version, ignoring other versions that you may have installed. Download and run both installers! The second column has a checkbox that you need to un-check, because it is the, "Yes, I'm a sucker, so give me McAfee in the installer!" option. The third column is where a download button should be clicked after you've made sure that you've done the right stuff in the other columns.
Updates: Avast's software updater will tell you when updates are available. If you click on the "Update now" button, it will bring you to the download page. Re-download and re-run the installers whenever there's a new update. It also has built-in functions to check for and install updates, but you may need to do things manually if the function only updates one of the flash players. Also, you can use the "Check to see if your plugins are up to date" button on the Plugins tab of your Add-ons page (accessible via the Tools menu) in Firefox. Like Avast, this will direct you to the official site to download an update when there is one.
Permissions: There are none. Your web browser will automatically use Adobe Flash Player to make appropriate interfaces, because it's a plugin for the browsers.
To operate: See Permissions.

Adobe Reader
Description: This allows you to view, create, manipulate, print, and manage PDF files. That doesn't sound like much to many conventional users, but you'll sometimes download a car manual, game strategy guide, magazine, or other document in the PDF format, and you feel awfully stupid when you find out that the document that you wanted to read can't be opened by anything on your computer because you didn't take the extra couple minutes to download an up-to-date Adobe Reader.
Download from: http://www.adobe.com
Updates: See Adobe Flash Player, but without the built-in functions.
Permissions: Permissions are unnecessary. It's not like it's a security program. You also don't have to explicitly set it as your default program for PDF files; Windows will do that automatically.
To operate: Just click on a PDF file, and it'll open in Reader. Open Reader by itself and use its built-in instructions to make your own and stuff.

Adobe Shockwave Player
Description: Many interactive and/or animated modules on web pages require Shockwave Player to be viewed/played. It's just another essential part of using the web.
Download from: See Adobe Reader.
Updates: You have to do this manually, because Avast doesn't keep track of it. Every time or every other time that you go to update Adobe Flash Player, take a moment to update Shockwave Player, too.
Permissions: See Adobe Flash Player.
To operate: See Adobe Flash Player.

Irfanview
Description: Irfanview is software for viewing and editing pictures. I find the default Paint program to be sufficient for my edits, but that's because I have the artistic capacity of a tuna can, outside of music. Many of us find that Windows Photo Gallery is not very good for viewing pictures in different ways, and it's nice to view without annoying eyesores of borders and buttons. Irfanview is efficient and effective in giving us a better interface. It's especially inconvenient in Windows 8, which has it totally separate from the "desktop," so you can't view a pic and something else simultaneously.
Download from: http://www.irfanview.com or CNET.com
Updates: See Adobe Reader.
Permissions: See Adove Reader. When you run the installer, it will ask what files you want to set Irfanview as the default program for. Just click on the "all images" button to set all image file formats to Irfanview, and you're good.
To operate: See Adobe Reader. When you have a picture up, there are a bunch of menus and some buttons (though they don't take up 10% of your screen like Windows Photo Gallery) that you can use to see it differently or edit it. Things are either self-explanatory enough that I don't have to tell you about them, or else I don't know about them, either, so go to the official site or look up the terminology in question online to your satisfaction.
Extra: Irfanview has two components. One is what I described, and the other is called "Irfanview Thumbnails," which is an extra file explorer that displays images as thumbnails and allows you to seamlessly open them up in the previously described interface. The file explorer in modern Windows OSs, 7 and 8, as well as in some that are a bit outdated, such as the semi-modern Windows XP, is plenty functional for those that are used to it, so I rarely use Irfanview Thumbnails, but it's an integrated component, there's nothing wrong with it, and it does have its merits for usage in some cases of browsing through files.

Java
Description: Java is a programming language and computing platform. You need the Java Runtime Environment (the runtime portion of Java software, i.e. the part that you need to see stuff in your web browser) in order to interface with anything that is online and written in Java, which is basically half of everything on the net. It is beyond essential. Feel free to read about it more here: http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml
Download from: http://www.java.com
Updates: See Adobe Reader.
Permissions: See Adobe Flash Player.
To operate: See Adobe Flash Player.

LibreOffice
Description: Take Microsoft Office, add a couple programs (seven, not five), add better compatibility and conversion processes with all sorts of files (Word doesn't even recognize .odt documents, which is what LibreOffice Writer saves as by default because it's an efficient file format that remembers even the more obscure formatting differences.), make the interfaces smoother-looking and neater, take away the nagging notices to renew your subscription, take away the paid subscriptions altogether, and make the whole package into one program so that you don't have to maintain them all separately. Then, make it so efficient that it's smaller than any one of the Microsoft Office programs. Yeah, it's better in every way, and it's free. Why haven't you heard about it? Because Microsoft is a household name with a killer marketing agency. Before you mention OpenOffice, I know. OpenOffice was great, but they closed down and had a merger with LibreOffice.
Download from: http://www.libreoffice.org (CNET loves LibreOffice, too, but you should go to the LibreOffice site to download it because of the separate Help Pack download.)
Updates: LibreOffice can automatically check for updates when you open one of its parts and direct you to the official site to download it. Avast will also tell you when it needs an update.
Permissions: If you remove Microsoft Office before installing LibreOffice, it'll automatically become the default program for everything that it should be. Otherwise, you can go set your default programs from the control panel as usual. No special perms are needed, as is the case with everything that isn't a security/cleanup program.
To operate: You probably already know how, but there are online guides and stuff if you don't. Sharon mentioned that she has one, so I'll link that once I have a URL.

VLC Media Player
Description: Yeah, it's another media player for music/video/yada yada files on your computer. This one is good, though. There are a lot of junky media players out there, so most people just say, "Windows Media Player does it for me; I'm not gonna' research the other junk." I can't blame people, and they're mostly right. There are some files that have issues, though, and VLC Media Player has a nice, convenient interface. It also doesn't have the severe slowing, crashing, or security risks that others have. It does have features for recording your own files, and that's reason enough to have it in addition to or in place of Windows Media Player.
Download from: CNET.com or http://www.videolan.org
Updates: See Adobe Reader.
Permissions: I actually left Windows Media Player as the default program for music files and such, but VLC Media Player will automatically become the default for file formats that it can handle and Windows Media Player can't. Nothing special is needed, of course.
To operate: It's the editing/recording stuff that isn't obvious, eh? Look up an online guide or just click around and read its help text, because I'm not very experienced in it, either. I just click stuff and pay attention.

Other programs of note
Macromedia Flash Player: Once upon a time, Macromedia made a flash player, and so did Adobe. Then, Macromedia saw that Adobe had everything covered, decided that there was no point in competing because the applications are free, and bowed out. Macromedia Flash Player stopped updating after MFP 8. Adobe is now on their 13th version, and they were running parallel. If you still have a Macromedia Flash Player on your computer, do you see how outdated it is? Yeah. Get rid of it. Older programs are security risks, and they're just taking up space on your computer.
Microsoft Silverlight: This is Adobe Shockwave Player, except that it's not as efficient, but it comes pre-installed on your computer. That's how you've gotten by without Shockwave Player thus far. Uninstall Microsoft Silverlight and get Shockwave Player because it's better. Honestly, it's just not worth the effort to go into a deeper explanation.
Other office programs: There are other freeware or at least cheaper versions of Microsoft Office. Unfortunately, most of them are less capable than Microsoft Office, which is bad. This is why you hear anyone who knows anything about them advise LibreOffice. It's free, it's better, and it's way more lightweight (again, smaller than any of the Microsoft components), so where can you go wrong with it? You can't. LibreOffice is the way to go, even though there technically are other options.
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Tixxi Eldixac
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Post by Tixxi Eldixac » Sat Jul 05, 2014 11:20 pm

Here are my CCleaner settings, shown in a couple of screenshots cropped together. Don't panic about the scroll bar on the right in the Applications menu; the only thing that you can't see in these pictures is the "Firefox" icon and title above the first set of items to be cleaned.
Also, note that I, like many others, appear to have Avast 6 still in my computer. Unfortunately, Avast 6 had a fragmenting problem that Defraggler is unable to solve, so that icon will probably be noticed in CCleaner for many, many moons. It's not hurting anything, though.
CCleaner Settings.jpg
CCleaner Settings.jpg (147.54 KiB) Viewed 5239 times
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