• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 20:09
CET 02:09
KST 10:09
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview11Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info3herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational14SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 26-Feb 1): herO, Clem, ByuN, Classic win1RSL Season 4 announced for March-April5Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win3Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win0BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion8
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Jan 26-Feb 1): herO, Clem, ByuN, Classic win StarCraft 2 Not at the Esports World Cup 2026 HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win Oliveira Would Have Returned If EWC Continued
Tourneys
RSL Season 4 announced for March-April HomeStory Cup 28 $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7) KSL Week 85 OSC Season 13 World Championship
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[A] Starcraft Sound Mod
External Content
Mutation # 511 Temple of Rebirth The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 510 Safety Violation Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report
Brood War
General
Can someone share very abbreviated BW cliffnotes? Liquipedia.net NEEDS editors for Brood War BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion [ASL21] Potential Map Candidates
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2 [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10
Strategy
Zealot bombing is no longer popular? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Let's Get Creative–Video Gam…
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1607 users

Recommended software for my new laptop

Blogs > avaTar[
Post a Reply
Normal
avaTar[
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Mexico301 Posts
February 12 2011 17:49 GMT
#1
Hello guys!
I dont post it on tech support since i am a computer newbie and just want some casual advice.
I recently got a new semi-decent laptop, 2.3ghz and 2 gb ram with windows 7 starter,and im running with a 1mbps internet conection.

What browser/antivirus/torrentdownloader/media player/cute freeware would you recommend for me working with this specs and the fact that im just a college student with no intentions of streaming or anything fancy like that.

Thanks to anyone that can recommend/review some program for me!

*****
Empyrean
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
17045 Posts
February 12 2011 17:54 GMT
#2
Browser: Chrome
Antivirus: Don't bother, just don't be stupid
Torrent: uTorrent
Media Player: I use VLC, but dunno about this one
Cute Freeware: Rainmeter and F.lux
Moderator
DragoonPK
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
3259 Posts
February 12 2011 17:59 GMT
#3
-Chrome for browser, I used to use firefox but google just sprang ahead with their product.
-Antivirus, search for "Microsoft security essentials", its a free anti-virus program that you can download as long as you have a geniun copy of windows. Highly recommended, does really well and is small in size and smooth to run.
- Utorrent for torrent program, its my favorite torrent client because of its small size and relatively smooth interface .
- VLC for media player, it runs ANYTHING very well, and search for "CCCP" its a codec pack that gives your computer the ability to run a variety of different video/audio formats etc.

That should be a good start :D! Hope it helps ^^
XCetron
Profile Joined November 2006
5226 Posts
February 12 2011 18:07 GMT
#4
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=87753
meep
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States1699 Posts
February 12 2011 18:07 GMT
#5
On February 13 2011 02:54 Empyrean wrote:
Browser: Chrome
Antivirus: Don't bother, just don't be stupid
Torrent: uTorrent
Media Player: I use VLC, but dunno about this one
Cute Freeware: Rainmeter and F.lux


Agreed here, Antivirus isn't particularly needed if you're actually careful of what you're doing.
I use Vuze for torrents since I've used it for a long while now.
VLC works with most video (and audio) formats out there, you really can't go wrong here.
閑静 しずか (ノ・_・)ノ
Chairman Ray
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States11903 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-12 18:51:01
February 12 2011 18:13 GMT
#6
Browser: Firefox/chrome
Antivirus: AVG free
Torrent: Vuze
Media Player: VLC
Others: Ccleaner, mirc, gom player, skype, ventrilo
limonovich
Profile Joined September 2010
England226 Posts
February 12 2011 18:22 GMT
#7
Music player: foobar2000
Video player: MPC-HC
Torrent uTorrent
Browser: Chrome/Firefox/Opera/Anything that's not IE or Safari
CCleaner
mIRC
Teamspeak 3
Ventrilo
7zip or winrar or both
Foxit reader (adobe's one is crap)
notepad++
trololo
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-12 18:26:55
February 12 2011 18:26 GMT
#8
This is what I have on my laptop

editor: gvim
browser: firefox
media: VLC + foobar
antivirus: windows security essential (this is actually good)
documents: adobe, ms office
zip: 7zip

others: utorrent, f.lux, ccleaner

almost everything else I can live without
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Jusciax
Profile Joined August 2007
Lithuania588 Posts
February 12 2011 18:27 GMT
#9
Browser: Chrome
Antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials (free if your windows is geniune, quite resource friendly)
Torrent: uTorrent
Media Player: VLC
bmml
Profile Joined December 2009
United Kingdom962 Posts
February 12 2011 18:39 GMT
#10
http://ninite.com/

Check that out for easy setup on a clean PC.
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
February 12 2011 18:51 GMT
#11
On February 13 2011 03:39 bmml wrote:
http://ninite.com/

Check that out for easy setup on a clean PC.

wow, that's an awesome website!
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
avaTar[
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Mexico301 Posts
February 12 2011 19:10 GMT
#12
wow thanks a lot guys, Im checking out all of those programs. As for a DVD/CD burner what would you recommend?
Sufficiency
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada23833 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-12 19:31:13
February 12 2011 19:29 GMT
#13
I think what you need is Linux (say Ubuntu)... It has everything you want on it.

If you *have* to use windows, then for media player I recommend CCCP.
https://twitter.com/SufficientStats
jlim
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Spain943 Posts
February 12 2011 19:41 GMT
#14
On February 13 2011 03:22 limonovich wrote:
Music player: foobar2000
Video player: MPC-HC
Torrent uTorrent
Browser: Chrome/Firefox/Opera/Anything that's not IE or Safari
CCleaner
mIRC
Teamspeak 3
Ventrilo
7zip or winrar or both
Foxit reader (adobe's one is crap)
notepad++


Exactly my setup. I'm amazed lol

For antivirus purposes, microsoft security essentials has really impressed me. A must if you have original windows. I also like to have comodo firewall.
Ayush_SCtoss
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
India3050 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-12 20:31:25
February 12 2011 20:17 GMT
#15
Browser: Chrome and/or Opera
Antivirus: I assume you want free ones so Avast! or AVG
Torrent: Vuze
Media Player: VLC, MediaGo, Winamp, Itunes (I only use VLC for movies and the rest for songs and other stuff)
Freeware: Rainmeter, CCleaner, Skype, WinRAR,
Edit: Oh and Rocketdock will do you good too.
End my suffering
AyeH
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States534 Posts
February 12 2011 20:19 GMT
#16
Get AVG antivirus. It's nice and doesn't slow down the computer. I use uTorrent as well.
Is it in you?
ggrrg
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Bulgaria2716 Posts
February 12 2011 21:19 GMT
#17
Browser: Chrome although Mozilla is decent, too
Antivirus: Do yourself a favor and don't slow down your laptop with something useless. although if you wish to go to shady porn/warez sites you might need some anti virus (it probably won't help anyway though)
Torrent: uTorrent
Media Player:
For video: VLC is great. You might also consider "k-lite codec pack" with windows media player classic.
For music: Winamp
divito
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Canada1213 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-12 21:35:39
February 12 2011 21:34 GMT
#18
Browser: Flock
Music: Songbird, Grooveshark
Video: VLC
IRC Client: mIRC
Messenger: Digsby
Graphics: Photoshop CS4
Coding: Dreamweaver CS4
Productivity: MS Office 2007
Burn Software: Nero 7 Ultra Edition
RSS Aggregator: Built-in Flock
BitTorrent Client: BitComet
FTP Client: FileZilla
Emulator: DAEMON Tools + PowerISO
Voice Chat: Ventrilo, Skype, Mumble
Mail: Thunderbird
Anti-Virus/Security: None
Skype: divito7
CCa1ss1e
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada3231 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-12 22:33:59
February 12 2011 22:33 GMT
#19
I have a Panasonic Toughbook CF-52 running XP Pro.

I am running:

Browser: IE/Firefox
Antivirus: AVG free
Audio/Video: Winamp + VLC
Productivity: Office 2007
DVD Burning: Wondershare
Virtual DVD: Daemon Tools Lite
BitTorrent: Bitlord
Video Recording: Fraps

Also have tons of other software including VMware stuff from College.. but that's all on my external. Can't think of anything else atm.. I don't have too many gadgest besides the usual.

XD
~ The Ultimate Weapon
triangle
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States3803 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-12 22:39:10
February 12 2011 22:38 GMT
#20
Browser: Firefox/chrome, depending on if you use extensions. I use firefox.
Antivirus: Malwarebytes. In the past, I've had an issue where windows security essentials has failed to detect a virus (ran in safe mode, scan came out clean, virus still there) but I've never had that problem with malwarebyes.
Video: CCCP. I don't really like VLC because of the crappy seek bar.
Torrent: uTorrent
Music: I used to use winamp, but I've gotten increasingly frustrated with it so eh.
zip: 7zip
Useful freeware: Launchy
Also known as waterfall / w4terfall
SayfT
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Australia298 Posts
February 12 2011 22:40 GMT
#21
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Core Temp, CPU temperature reader, shows how hot your cpu gets during games or while being idle, gives a sound warning (can be turned off) when the cpu gets under dangerous heat, very good little app.
For no man will ever turn homewards from beyond Vega to greet again those he knew and loved on Earth
CCa1ss1e
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada3231 Posts
February 12 2011 22:45 GMT
#22
VLC truly does have an annoying seek bar. I'm not sure if you can customize it, but that's what I like about Winamp. Arrows to seek, buttons on the keyboard to pause/play/stop. VLC is good because it plays almost any .avi, .mp4 etc without issues. Winamp I had to download a codec pack for it.

Winamp is cool because I used it when I was growing up, the classic skin looks like a perfect player, lolz.

XD
~ The Ultimate Weapon
IamaGrapeMan
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Canada165 Posts
February 13 2011 00:06 GMT
#23
diskeeper 2010 defrag software
Ethelis
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States2397 Posts
February 13 2011 00:50 GMT
#24
On February 13 2011 07:38 triangle wrote:
Browser: Firefox/chrome, depending on if you use extensions. I use firefox.
Antivirus: Malwarebytes. In the past, I've had an issue where windows security essentials has failed to detect a virus (ran in safe mode, scan came out clean, virus still there) but I've never had that problem with malwarebyes.
Video: CCCP. I don't really like VLC because of the crappy seek bar.
Torrent: uTorrent
Music: I used to use winamp, but I've gotten increasingly frustrated with it so eh.
zip: 7zip
Useful freeware: Launchy


Definite +1 for the Malwarebytes, its a REALLY great scanner in my (unfortunate) experience.
Disabled gamer - Diamond 3 (LoL) D+ Rank scrublord on BW. Bisu doesnt need DTs, He uses probes. just ask Flash.
writer22816
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States5775 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-13 01:00:19
February 13 2011 00:56 GMT
#25
Do not use AVG free, it's ridiculously bloated (147mb setup file, are you serious?) and has a history of fucking your computer up with its update files. Get either Avira or Microsoft Security Essentials, much lighter on the resources and better detection rate.

Browser: Chrome
Torrent: uTorrent
Media Player: CCCP + latest Media Player Classic Home Cinema for video, foobar for audio
Other: Depends on what you do, I like Daemon Tools, Thunderbird and Foxit Reader
8/4/12 never forget, never forgive.
TheNessman
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States4158 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-13 01:45:12
February 13 2011 01:45 GMT
#26
Has anyone mentioned Open office? its a free version of all the things you have to buy from microsoft. Google it highly recommend.
~~! youtube.com/xmungam1 !~~
Entropic
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Canada2837 Posts
February 13 2011 02:44 GMT
#27
LaTex
Matlab

^_^
Disregard
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
China10252 Posts
February 13 2011 02:54 GMT
#28
On February 13 2011 03:39 bmml wrote:
http://ninite.com/

Check that out for easy setup on a clean PC.


Nifty! Great site when I reformat PCs. :D
"If I had to take a drug in order to be free, I'm screwed. Freedom exists in the mind, otherwise it doesn't exist."
starfries
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada3508 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-13 03:09:58
February 13 2011 02:58 GMT
#29
On February 13 2011 03:39 bmml wrote:
http://ninite.com/

Check that out for easy setup on a clean PC.

thanks for this, I used it just now. tech support formatted my laptop when I asked them to replace my keyboard <_<

edit: also I know a lot of people like to go without AV but honestly MSE is lightweight enough that it's worth making it that much harder to get a virus. "Don't do stupid shit" is easy enough (not opening attachments, not going to sites with warnings, etc) but there is a lot more to it, like running on a limited account and being able to spot malware with tools like sysinternals. For lazier people it's worth it to use an antivirus.
DJ – do you like ramen, Savior? Savior – not really. Bisu – I eat it often. Flash – I’m a maniac! | Foxer Fighting!
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
00:00
WardiTV Mondays #71
CranKy Ducklings104
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft554
Nathanias 127
ProTech14
Vindicta 5
StarCraft: Brood War
Artosis 636
Shuttle 52
NaDa 21
910 21
yabsab 8
Dota 2
monkeys_forever169
League of Legends
C9.Mang0342
Counter-Strike
taco 466
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox111
PPMD60
Other Games
summit1g11554
shahzam497
Maynarde115
Livibee46
PiLiPiLi4
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1021
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 100
• davetesta39
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21499
League of Legends
• Stunt310
Other Games
• imaqtpie1523
• Shiphtur216
Upcoming Events
Wardi Open
10h 51m
PiGosaur Cup
23h 51m
WardiTV Invitational
1d 10h
Replay Cast
1d 22h
The PondCast
2 days
WardiTV Invitational
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
RongYI Cup
4 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
[ Show More ]
Wardi Open
6 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-02-02
HSC XXVIII
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Acropolis #4 - TS4
Rongyi Cup S3
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W7
Escore Tournament S1: W8
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.