Format Your Computer

It is unacceptable people to buy new PCs with high specs, and after a month they are as slow as hell.
You are victims and ignorant. First of all I am sure a person that manages to get his PC so slow will certaintly not need so high specs.
Anyway, that is not the point. After troubleshooting lots of PCs, I have some kind of strategy.
Do as I say, and your PC will be helathy and you will have what you need only.

Format your PC and install windows XP SP2.

Do not be tricked by paranoid people about security or ads in the television.All you need protection-wise is :

Install Microsoft Antispyware
and a silent antivirus like Symantec Norton 8 corporate which I am sure you can find on emule or other p2p networks.
Actually windows will release their own antivirus soon, so forget all the other companies, use microsoft protection for microsoft products.
Actually the microsoft antispyware is all you need, exept if you are executing any file you find on the net, in this case you need the antivirus.

for filesharing those are the recomended clients (the only clients that work correctly and are not dodgy in any way and are free spyware free and all this things) :
e-mule (edonkey network)
Azureus (bittorrent protocol)
DC++ (direct connect hubs)
other networks worth mentioning are AresGalaxy and soulseek (forget kazaa is not in the list).
I will make an article about those networks and how to use them effectively and optimise your settings another time, for now, if you have problems with your router/firewall just go to http://www.portforward.com
Those 3 programs will please all your needs for filesharing and will not slow down your pc or fill you with ads.

Video-Audio-Wise
Do not install divx codec for your own good. Instead install a codec pack.
I prefer the k-lite codec pack basic .After this it is almost certain all your video and audio files will play ok.
If you want to play real video, real audio and quicktime files, do not install the original players that slwo down your pcs and display ads every second. Instead install Media Player Classic found here and you will thank me after.
For video players, you can use the media player classic mentioned above and install those too, in case you are bored having always the same:
winamp and Windows media player and Power DVD

If you want to burn cds or emulate cd images use Nero or if you do not want to buy it or use it cracked, use Windows burning feature or the cd you got with your cd-dvd writer.
For image cd-dvd emulation (play those downloades illegal games etc use Daemon tools and not Alcohol or whatever is called.

For internet Browsing do not use the buggy firefox - mozilla look alikes. Instead use Internet explorer which is included with windows, and if you run the updates regularly and have Microsoft Antispyware installed is the proven to be the safest browser. Do not listen to those smart friends that appear to be techies and use Linux. I use linux too, but I admit that Internet explorer 6.0 is one of a kind. Anyway, use only this because I say so. And if you are not happy use Opera , but not mozilla.
Also for mail, do not use this mozilla thunderbird or whatever that is trying to mimic Outlook. Use the simplest client ever, Outlook express, or if you have office, use Outlook. If you get to know it, it is the most powerfull yet simple mail client.

For office of course use Microsoft office and not office want-to-be applications like openoffice etc.

For ftp use filezilla for client and server needs

For instant messaging use either MSN messenger (FACE IT, EVERYONE USES IT) and do not install skype, as MSN messenger does the same job. (You get exited because you can call landlines with skype but if you look closer, for international calls you can find lot cheaper 084x numbers and ... what was the last time you phoned a land line using skype? be realistic.

Of course if not allready go an get a google email address , but htis is another topic, for good web practices.


As you see, I have just recomended 90% of free products that will make your pc run smoothly.DO them, and stop paying for tech support or bugging your friends for your computer problems.
Feel free to post comments and questions or things to add here.

Those are the basic programs that you need for the internet.