What freewares would you insall in a fresh system?

greatdivide

Level 1
Thread author
Verified
Nov 20, 2015
26
hey guys. my nephew just bought a laptop and has no budget to buy premium programs. he's into downloading torrents a lot and visiting weird sites. what can you recommend him to stay safe while still enjoying his downloads?
 

Der.Reisende

Level 45
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Malware Hunter
Dec 27, 2014
3,423
QTS360 (Clean Up Your PC & Improve Performance | 360 Total Security) - you should take your time to max out the settings
ZAM free - Zemana AntiMalware Free - Limitless Scan and Malware Removal!
Auslogics Disk Defrag - I've just installed Disk Defrag Free, a great tool to make your PC run fast and smooth (However it is not a security soft)
Google Chrome with a good AdBlocker (I have very good experiences with ABP), but people here suggest uBlock (Origin) usually, also WOT extension, HTTPS everywhere

Regarding to the planned use of the laptop - take ShadowDefender in consideration - it is not free, but the low price for the lifetime license is worth it - try out the 30 days trial. Also, it is very easy to use.
Shadow Defender - the easiest PC/laptop security and privacy protection tool

EDIT: Don't forget about backupping to an external HDD - but don't connect it to the Laptop the whole time, for it can be infected easy then and backup will be lost in case of infection.
 
H

hjlbx

Security Related:

  • NoVirusThanks Exe Radar Pro will significantly increase system security. It can be strengthened even further if the user adds all vulnerable processes shipped with Windows and removed most of the trusted vendors.

NVT ERP is gold.

  • uBlock Origin

Non-security related:

  • JAM Software UltraSearch
  • PeaZip or 7z
 

Rajat

Level 2
Verified
Oct 20, 2015
94
CCleaner
Registry Recycler
Gom Player/ KLC Codec Pack
Antivirus
Eagleget Downloader
Google Chrome/ Mozilla with extensions like Adguard & Ghostery
OpenOffice org
Adobe Reader/ Sumatra Pdf Reader
Winrar
Microsoft Dot Net
Microsoft Silverlight
Any free Driver Updater
 

bunchuu

Level 8
Verified
Well-known
Mar 17, 2015
370
1. google chrome or mozilla firefox (for browsing other freewares)
2. 7-zip (free compress/decompress file)
3. foxit pdf reader
4. ccleaner (remove temp files after installation)
5. Daemon lite (in case you need iso file virtual drive)
6. eagleget or download ninja (download manager)
7. qt bittorent
8. K-lite media player/VLC media player
9. libre office (if you dont have MS office)
10. update (driver, plugin, OS etc)

security:
1. firewall (in case you don't trust OS firewall)
2. Qihoo TS 360/avast/avira (choose one)
3. Adblocker and tracker handler extension for browser (adguard/ublock/adblock/ghostery/disconnect-your choice)
4. back up software (easeUS/macrium reflect etc)
5. adware cleaner or JRT

my last tip: turn on UAC
 
S

Smith83

Last edited by a moderator:

uninfected1

Level 11
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Jan 28, 2016
525
Hi @greatdivide. I only use freeware so, securitywise, naturally I recommend everything I use. Just click on 'Config' below for details.

You don't specify the nature of the torrents your nephew downloads but, to cover all bases, I recommend the use of the free Betternet VPN, and use it in tandem with the excellent Tixati bittorrent client. It has a VPN disconnect feature which automatically stops downloads when the VPN disconnects. I also suggest using Peerblock.
 
Last edited:

greatdivide

Level 1
Thread author
Verified
Nov 20, 2015
26
wow. i'm overwhelmed by your responses. thank you very much. he's into tv series like game of thrones, limitless, etc. he also downloads a lot of music. i actually shared my myfastfile account with him. basically, you just upload your torrent in there and they convert it to direct link so you get 100% speeds.
 

Morvotron

Level 7
Verified
Mar 24, 2015
307
Downloads a lot of music, then this will help. No need to worry about malware.
Or maybe download the song from iTunes, it's not that expensive.

As a matter of security, i would recommend this freewares:

-Sophos, as a free antivirus solution. Protects and prevents pretty well.
-MalwareBytes as an on-demand scanner. Complement it with Zemana Antimalware.
-MalwareBytes AntiExploit to avoid online exploits.
-NoBot to scan for keyloggers and miners (on-demand)
-Ccleaner for system optimization and cleaning

-As a browser, maybe a Chromium based one.

And most important, always all your softwares updated, and all Windows updates applied and installed. Don't use old OS as XP.
 

jamescv7

Level 85
Verified
Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
On demand scanners: Zemana AM and Hitman Pro.
Antivirus: none (built in as possible)
Cleanings tools: CCleaner + CCEnhancer
Browsers: Google Chrome and Opera browser.
___________________

Usually many users prefer to install WPS Office as an alternative to MS Office because of its free and practicality on interface.
Virtualbox (VM)
 

RmG152

Level 12
Verified
Jan 22, 2014
577
What freewares would you insall in a fresh system?

My baseline list:

- Opera (with ublock)
- Sumatra PDF
- Cryptoprevent (1 use only)
- Spybot Anti-beacon (1 use only)
- Aimp
- Pot Player + "MadVR + Lav" (on medium or better hardware)
- Bandizip

Recommendation for your friend:
- Some Sandbox (shade or sandboxie) for "visiting weird sites"
- Crystal Security
- NoVirusThanks Exe Radar Pro
- Malwarebytes Anty-exploit or emet (or both if you know how to configure).
- Peerblock
- and maybe Zemana free + Malwarebytes.



Recommendation: Never install codec packs.
 

Ink

Administrator
Verified
Staff Member
Well-known
Jan 8, 2011
22,361
The following list are the software I would install, they ignore OS Settings and Updates, or 3rd party Security software:
  • 7zip**
  • CCleaner
  • Geek Uninstaller
  • Google Chrome**
  • Expression Design 4 (Freeware)
  • Rufus
  • Search Everything (VoidTools)
  • Steam
  • Sysinternals (Process Explorer and Autoruns)**
  • TakeOwnership (.reg)**
  • WinAero Tweaker
** must have
 

Sandboxie Help

From Sandboxie
Verified
Developer
Feb 26, 2016
23
If you're doing anything online, you should be doing it in a sandbox.

This way, you don't have to rely on def updates, heuristics, etc.
How do you know if those updates, etc are accurate? current? True zero day? Ransomware? Etc.
When you're in a sandbox.... and you suspect your infected, or your A/V scanner says that, just delete the contents of that sandbox and move on!
This not only applies to "weird" sites, but can also block programs from access personal files or folders on your host machine that your want to keep private.
 

Svoll

Level 13
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Nov 17, 2016
627
For what your nephew is doing, and putting myself in his shoes:

uTorrent 2.21
CyberFox with uBlock Origin, NoScript, HTTP+ Everywhere
7ZiP
Media Player Classic
CCleaner
MusicBee

Xvirus Personal Guard
Malwarebytes Free
Voodoo Shield

The best advice I can give is have him join MT, post his security config, listen to the advices and he will learn to be secure himself and find his own setup :D
 
M

MalwareBlockerYT

My Setup:

- 7Zip
- Ccleaner
- Clean Master
- Glarys Utilities
- Wise Folder Hider - I use this to hide my Shared Folder with malware samples so only I can view them - stops people coming around messing up my PC ;)
- VirtualBox if you want a free VM (I personally use VMWare Workstation 12 though)
- Steam
- Origin
- Uplay
- Battlenet
- MalwareBytes Free
- Adwcleaner
- VoodooShield Free
- KeePass 2.0
- Comodo Backup
- IOBit Uninstaller
- VPN - eg. Windscribe or Betternet - I use both of these (one on my Host & one on my VM).
- Avira Browser Safety extension
- Google Chrome
- AdGuard, Adblock or uBlockorigin
 

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