Setting up Vista for home use

[Bounty]

I'm going to install a few apps on a brand-new Vista laptop for a friend, but don't know all that much about Vista. The plan is to -

- Install Avira
- Run Windows Update, make sure the firewall is enabled, and enable automatic updates
- Install Firefox with Adblock
- Install a newer version of Nero
- Install Office '07

Since the laptop'll only be used for internet browsing and office work, with the occasional DVD, this should be enough - is there anything I missed? Any program or setting that might be needed?

[Ryan Thunder]

Assuming Avira's an anti-virus/spyware program, looks like you're set.

I recommend looking through any active services and disabling the ones you won't be using, to improve performance.

I'd love to tell you which ones you probably won't need and how to get at them to disable them, but, well, I forget.

Sorry.

[Bounty]

I'm not going to touch services. It's not a gaming laptop, so a marginal performance gain, if any at all, is not worth breaking stuff down the road.

How's Windows defender? Can I just leave it running?

[General Zod]

I'm not going to touch services. It's not a gaming laptop, so a marginal performance gain, if any at all, is not worth breaking stuff down the road.

How's Windows defender? Can I just leave it running?

I've never had any problems with it. As far as multimedia files, if you plan on downloading any videos at all you might want to pick up the CCCP. It has codecs for virtually any video type you could want to play.

[phongn]

I recommend looking through any active services and disabling the ones you won't be using, to improve performance.

This is terrible advice.

[Ryan Thunder]

I recommend looking through any active services and disabling the ones you won't be using, to improve performance.

This is terrible advice.

Oh? Why do you say that?

[Bounty]

It's a moot point now, I've already sent the laptop on its merry way

Fully updated, Antivir running, Firefox with Adblock as the default browser, plus I installed some freeware like Picasa and PDN. I doubt any of it'll get used... The new owner is a sweet middle-aged lady who doesn't use anything but Excel.

Video codecs were not a priority; it's got a fully updated WMP11 which should handle most of the video she might want to see.

[phongn]

Video codecs were not a priority; it's got a fully updated WMP11 which should handle most of the video she might want to see.

My only suggestion here would be to install QuickTime and RealPlayer as well (or at least the alternative forms) in case the user wishes to view those videos as well. Also, I would disable the Avira nagware screen.

I recommend looking through any active services and disabling the ones you won't be using, to improve performance.

This is terrible advice.

Oh? Why do you say that?

Because:

1. Microsoft knows their operating system better than you do.
2. Disabling services can lead to unwanted side-effect, particularly if you don't know what needs to be turned on or off.
3. The default set of services is fine.
4. Operating system memory management and scheduling is good enough to minimize the impact of additional services.
5. This is for somebody else. What if they end up using a disabled service? (Yes, you could set it to Manual, at which point said service automatically loads when needed, but why bother?)
6. Most "performance tweaks" are done by users who don't have a clue as to what said tweak really does and therefore should not be doing them. Furthermore, said "tweaks" are unlikely to have ever been properly performance-tested.

[Kitsune]

I've never had any problems with it. As far as multimedia files, if you plan on downloading any videos at all you might want to pick up the CCCP. It has codecs for virtually any video type you could want to play.

I have had some codecs problems myself (with XP in this case) and this seemed to solve my problems.....thanks for the info

[Bounty]

QT may have been a good idea, but I can always pop over to set it up. How do you disable the Avira nagscreen?

[phongn]

QT may have been a good idea, but I can always pop over to set it up. How do you disable the Avira nagscreen?

Here, though surely Google would've told you how.

[Xon]

The biggest issue with Vista is just make sure it has enough memory and the end user either has an account with no password (and thus that account can not be used for network logins) or a strong password.

Add Office, some media codec, and maybe firefox if you care.

And by enough memory, it is called putting as much as you can fit into the machine and use. This is good advice no matter what the OS is.

For Windows OS tweaks, I heartly recommend this 3 step program from here; Spoiler

Supported OS versions:
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7

Instructions:
1) Install Windows
2) Leave it the fuck alone
3) I meant that!

[Stark]

That advice goes double if it's for a 'normal person' and not an 'enthusiast'; Vista is fine at resource management (given enough RAM and post-SP1 anyway) and dicking around with details when the only noticable result is problems down the line is ridiculous.

[General Zod]

The only "tweaking" you should ever have to do in Vista is to turn Aero off, if you have a version that supports it. Once you do that it runs just handily on a mere 2gb of ram.

[Bounty]

That's what I figured - through I kept Aero running because it's not getting in the way and it does look cool if you don't have to stare at it too much. Back in the day I tried all that process disabling nonsense, but in the end it broke more than it helped; my current XP install just has as few apps as possible starting up and it runs just fine for the occasional game.

And by enough memory, it is called putting as much as you can fit into the machine and use. This is good advice no matter what the OS is.

4GB. Should be plenty for home and kitchen work, methinks.

[phongn]

The only "tweaking" you should ever have to do in Vista is to turn Aero off, if you have a version that supports it. Once you do that it runs just handily on a mere 2gb of ram.

Aero doesn't cause a noticible performance hit with newer integrated graphics solutions and doesn't use that much RAM. Might as well leave it enabled.

[General Zod]

The only "tweaking" you should ever have to do in Vista is to turn Aero off, if you have a version that supports it. Once you do that it runs just handily on a mere 2gb of ram.

Aero doesn't cause a noticible performance hit with newer integrated graphics solutions and doesn't use that much RAM. Might as well leave it enabled.

I suppose, but I've got Vista installed on an older laptop and it makes a very noticeable dent in performance. Plus it's a mostly useless feature unless you want your OS to look shiny.

[Stark]

Aero doesn't cause a noticible performance hit with newer integrated graphics solutions and doesn't use that much RAM. Might as well leave it enabled.

You said 'integrated graphics solutions'! That's awesome!

[phongn]

I suppose, but I've got Vista installed on an older laptop and it makes a very noticeable dent in performance. Plus it's a mostly useless feature unless you want your OS to look shiny.

Key word there: "older."

You said 'integrated graphics solutions'! That's awesome!

[Ryan Thunder]

Oh? Why do you say that?

Because:

1. Microsoft knows their operating system better than you do.

True.

2. Disabling services can lead to unwanted side-effect, particularly if you don't know what needs to be turned on or off.

I have SQL server on this computer and it insists on filling my disk with... oh, Vaul knows what it's putting in there. I haven't even opened the manager for almost a year now, so I disabled the service that seemed to be responsible for that mess. It's since stopped.

3. The default set of services is fine.

Also true. I remember now that when I went to do this the first time there wasn't anything that seemed to be worth turning off.

<words>

Yeah, all very true.

[Xon]

4GB. Should be plenty for home and kitchen work, methinks.

Historically, some people have this bizarre fetish of skimping on memory.

For example; Dell used to ship WinXP boxes with 256mb of memory. It really doesn't take much to use that up and hit paging hell with simple internet browsing and maybe email.

[Kitsune]

I fixed an E-Machine for a friend which I need to still send him......It had XP with 128 Meg of RAM.
I had some older style memory but could still only upgrade it to 512. Runs decent but not super.