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Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate, Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker (Fred Griffin Real Estate)

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Rainmaker
1,052,211
Candice A. Donofrio
Next Wave RE Investments LLC Bullhead City AZ Commercial RE Broker - Fort Mohave, AZ
928-201-4BHC (4242) call/text

Irfanview.
Adobe DC / Creative Cloud.
Malwarebytes.
Office 365.
Chrome.
Carbonite.
Protonmail and I still use also Windows Live Essentials. 

Apr 25, 2022 06:26 PM
Rainmaker
289,719
Dario Ferreira
Attleboro, MA
Internet Marketing & SEO

I highly recommend MalwareBytes Premium.

Apr 25, 2022 06:12 PM
Rainer
97,120
Rosemary Rizzitello
Bloomfield, NJ

Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate If you don't mind me asking what brand/ size did you get? I can't help you with the programs you need to install but I'm gonna learn on what others recommend. Good luck with your new laptop. 

Apr 25, 2022 01:56 PM
Rainmaker
1,502,998
Ryan Huggins - Thousand Oaks, CA
https://HugginsHomes.com - Thousand Oaks, CA
Residential Real Estate and Investment Properties

Most importantly: OOSU10  (O&O Shut Up 10) and OOAB (O&O App Buster) for disabling the more annoying privacy stealing aspects of Win10.  Needs to be rerun after each windows update as sometimes setting get put back to the default by Microsoft.

SnagIt

Foxit PDF Reader/writer

BleachBit

Gimp

Infranview

Firefox, Brave and Chrome... because some sites just don't work in Brave or Firefox.

Notepad++

VPN software

Anti-Virus, might be able to get away w/Windows Defender depending on what your use of the system is.  I don't use that for my main but on the Windows 7 laptop that I use to program radios and run INPA to diagnose my BMW, defender is fine.

Password manager

Putty for telnet... just in case.

IF you're doing audio editing, Audacity

IF you're doing video editing Open Shot.  Blender for 3D animation/titles

IF you're doing serious photo editing, Dark Table to compliment GIMP and Inkscape for SVG graphics

F.Lux to dim the screen at night and remove the "blue light" (special).

FileZilla for FTP... just in case

Open Office

 

Beyond that, I'd install the GoG.com client to get old school video games running.  Nothing says fun like running Commander Keen on Windows 10 or 11!  Discord if you need it.  An email client.

Apr 25, 2022 10:02 PM
Rainer
195,422
Karen Climer
Demetree School of Real Estate - Orlando, FL
Teaching people to pass the real estate exam

I would install whatever programs you need.  There is no reason to install a bunch of random programs unless you were looking for a slow PC.

Just install whatever programs you have been using.

Apr 25, 2022 02:16 PM
Ambassador
5,829,143
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Hi Fred- I use Google Chrome and gmail. I use Google Docs. I use Ribbet for photo editing. I also use Carbonite which backs up my documents and photos to the cloud. 

Apr 25, 2022 04:49 PM
Rainmaker
2,781,173
Richie Alan Naggar
people first...then business Ran Right Realty - Riverside, CA
agent & author

Kaspersky anti-virus is on the ball. Google chrome for browser. Leawo on Blu-ray. Windows office has it all. Windows accessories too. Internet explorer works as my email or windows email. That's all I know or care to know Fred 

Apr 25, 2022 02:02 PM
Rainmaker
901,535
Carla Freund
Keller Williams Preferred Realty - Raleigh, NC
NC Real Estate Transition & Relocation 919-602-848

You have some great suggestions here. I've not heard of many of them. I use Mac. My husband is tech so he also helps setting up my new laptops. All the best!

Apr 26, 2022 04:39 AM
Rainmaker
679,404
Diana Dahlberg
1 Month Realty - Pleasant Prairie, WI
Real Estate in Kenosha, WI since 1994 262-308-3563

Looks like you got some great advice from the AR Family!  Wishing you the best in your new purchase!

Apr 25, 2022 07:09 PM
Ambassador
3,587,960
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

I need to buy a new computer but I'm not the techie guru in the family.  Gary takes care of all this for me.  I'll have to ask him what he recommends.

Apr 25, 2022 04:44 PM
Rainmaker
1,196,798
Doug Dawes
Keller Williams Evolution - 447 Boston Street, Suite #5, Topsfield, MA - Topsfield, MA
Your Personal Realtor®

I'm not the guy to answer that. When I bought my new laptop I had Windows 11 Professional installed which covered much of what you asked. I use Chrome for a browser and also use a VPN

Apr 25, 2022 07:55 PM
Rainmaker
921,504
Annette Lawrence , Palm Harbor, FL 727-420-4041
ReMax Realtec Group - Palm Harbor, FL
Making FLORIDA Real Estate EZ

Subscribe to Office 356.
Setup the VPN.
Install a mass storage device on local network. You do not need Google or OneDrive scanning your data.
Enable ALL windows security programs such as Windows Defender.
DO NOT INSTALL in any situation MacAffee.
Do not allow Yahoo to become default browser.
Install corkboard or chalkboard to record the 18 passwords you need to change every month.
DONE.
Install no other program that does not have a purpose regarding a task that needs to be completed.
Nearly all tools are cloud based such and CANVA or Filmora and requires no download.

My personal preference is to purchase the lowest cost gaming computer available. These typically have super fast processor and cores, 16 GB Ram and superior graphics. 
However, one additional criteria is 'MORE PORTS'  Adding passive USB hubs to expand on the 2 usb ports on a laptop is asking for troubles. I have a laptop (Surface) for portability and an 'all-in-one' to get work done.

Apr 26, 2022 06:50 AM
Ambassador
4,693,341
Brian England
Ambrose Realty Management LLC - Gilbert, AZ
MBA, GRI, REALTOR® Real Estate in East Valley AZ

I am not much of a techie so I probably can't help.  I stick with the basics and use the google suite of products for the most part these days.

Apr 26, 2022 06:06 AM
Rainmaker
5,216,409
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Chicago, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Most, if not all, will have better advice than me!

Apr 26, 2022 04:10 AM
Ambassador
6,393,494
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

ms office, firefox, foxit reader, mindjet mindmanager, topofusion, several gis programs, several malware, spyware, and antivirus programs, paragon, skyslope, zipforms,

Apr 25, 2022 10:07 PM
Rainmaker
693,775
Ray Henson
eXp Realty of California, Inc. (lic. #01878277) - Elk Grove, CA
Realtor

There is a lot of great advice on this thread.  I am sitting here listening to Pandora.  I love it and use it all the time.

Apr 26, 2022 10:39 AM
Ambassador
3,345,091
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

My tech people set up my computers.  Doubtful I have many, if any, free programs.

I use MS office professional which is also paid for annually. 

All of my backups are set up to run automatically.

I do use many free WordPress plugins. 

I pay a premium (over $500/yr) for VPN hosting which provides all kinds of security.  Well worth it to keep hackers out and my sites up and running. 

Apr 26, 2022 08:20 AM
Rainer
378,517
Don Baker
Lane Realty - Eatonton, GA
Lake Sinclair Specialist

smart pdf pro is a paid item that I use a lot and the microsoft office suite for a lot including outlook for email and chrome is my browser of choice, but it doesn't work for everything.

Apr 25, 2022 04:24 PM
Rainmaker
1,844,301
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

I'd go with what Ryan suggested.

Canva I didn't see. Ribbit & IPiccy.

Infranview IMHO is garbage. I actually am still using Picasa & it's working.

Apr 26, 2022 09:02 AM
Rainmaker
5,868,554
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

You have lots of information, not sure I can add anything more.   I used to have Kaspersky, but Geek Squad stopped selling it, due to being Russian, and were rumors they were stealing information.   I now use Web Root.

Apr 26, 2022 07:05 AM
Rainmaker
5,005,659
Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Hi Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate ,

Good questions and answers/suggestions! I'm glad Kathy Streib featured your post in her "Ah-ha" moments for the week. Thank you for sharing.

May 03, 2022 03:06 PM
Rainmaker
1,257,045
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

Wow!  Do we have some pros here or what?!  LOVE carbonite for back-up. Recently had to wipe my laptop so may have to buy a new one as it's still slow and it was $$$ Dell touch screen PC. Ouch!   Lots of great advice here.

May 03, 2022 11:35 AM
Rainmaker
763,883
Tony Lewis
Summit Real Estate Group - Valencia, CA
Summit Real Estate Group Valencia & Aliso Viejo

CC Cleaner

May 02, 2022 04:57 PM
Rainmaker
2,928,473
Grant Schneider
Performance Development Strategies - Armonk, NY
Your Coach Helping You Create Successful Outcomes

Fred - first of all I would go with Microsoft 365 Suite and Adobe is my choice for PDF and Photo Editing,  I don't like Microsoft's browser.  I would go with Firefox and or Google Chrome.  Those are my biggies.

May 01, 2022 10:23 AM