What to install on a tiny Windows laptop
When you're hard-pressed for RAM, you've got to choose your applications wisely.
(Credit: Acer)At the end of December, my colleague Seth Rosenblatt put together a thoughtful and in-depth Windows Starter Kit that collects the best-of-breed freeware applications for all categories. But what if your new Windows computer can be balanced on the palm of your hand and contains only a whiff of RAM?
Take, for instance, the tiny Acer AspireOne laptop that my mother purchased on little more than a whim and a phenomenal deal. Not for kitchen lookups of recipes or way to win dinnertime debates, as I had imagined when we first slipped the preemie out of its box, but as a way to look up Wikipedia articles, send late night e-mails, and perhaps play a Hulu or YouTube video before nodding off.
With a piddly 512MB of RAM, my mother's new little gem can ill afford to suffer extras, especially when meeting specific, domestic demands. No, it's time to get ruthless.
Despite its diminutive capacity, Little Gem came with plenty crapware on it, and more auto-installed after registration. I fired up the thorough Revo Uninstaller (to uninstall after all is said and done) and fed it an appetizer of Google Desktop and Google Toolbar. (There will be few files to find.) Adobe Reader likewise went out, the free, lighter FoxIt Reader taking its place.
Internet Explorer gets to stay for the time being, only to facilitate Microsoft's automatic updates. While the lighter Chrome would be the natural browser choice, Firefox won over for the time being, so that the folks can use the Foxmarks Bookmark Synchronizer extension to share bookmarks with the main computer. McAfee's Site Advisor security add-on for Firefox (and IE) is another perk, and one that also offers peace of mind.
Googlepedia is another useful, time-saving add-on that will bring my mom's Wikipedia articles to her if she begins a search within Google. I might also consider installing CustomizeGoogle to blast away ads.
My mother is thus far unshakeable in her use of Outlook for e-mail, but if she can content herself to simply send messages by starlight and forgo reorganizing her in-box, we can rip out the entire Microsoft Office suite. Web applications such as Google Docs will work fine should the occasion arise, and if spreadsheet making and memoir writing go full-scale, Go-OO would likely serve her purpose.
Keeping my mom's new Internet nugget light and lean takes top priority, but the applications she needs for a streamlined experience won't fit everyone's profile. Which small, resource-saving applications do you use to keep from gobbling up all your RAM?
Jessica Dolcourt reviews the latest and greatest smartphone apps, in addition to a healthy dose of Windows software. E-mail Jessica and follow her on Twitter. 
Simple enough, for me.. With just 512MB of RAM too.. and an old Centrino processor..
I've replace my antivirus (used to be from Avast Home to Avira Free, then to eTrust and Symantec, before it was..) AVG Free with ThreatFire. Though may not sound promisingly protective, it worked like a gem. Less lag, more memory space, and it captured more malware than I have expected (which AVG and the others missed or did not manage to handle properly which lead to infections).
Then, disabled the Microsoft Firewall and grab in ZoneAlarm. Far better to trust the 5-years-and-still-using firewall than Windows standard, which still lets a few malware in as if they 'leaked' through into the system from the Internet.
Auto-startup items were disabled. From Bluetooth, to Live Messenger, to even the modem software (which was found to be useless, not needed, except to show green for connected and red for disconnected; lame). Don't forget the services; I disabled Indexing Service, Automatic Updates, Task Scheduler, and some other (which are basically SQL/Database related).
OK, anyone using Acer will know they have these emPowering software. Got rid of all except the ePower and eSetting, load up is drastically faster without the security or presentation tools. Never used from the first seconds I had this laptop.
Other things would include simple software. Got FireFox as an alternative web browser. And yeah, that's all. You just need to do the msconfig thingy to get rid of useless startup items, and tools like Advanced Windowscare Personal to keep registry and privacy in place. Cool uh? Though till now, can't seem to find ways to extend hard disk life; they still start suffering after 3-5 years, despite having a fan on it.. Anyway, was happy I managed to get better performance now out of the system, and improved battery life (compare 2.5hrs when new, then after tweaks it managed up to 4hrs, and now about 1-2hrs when it has aged 3years, despite the daily discharge and charging).
Simple enough, for me.. With just 512MB of RAM too.. and an old Centrino processor..
I've replace my antivirus (used to be from Avast Home to Avira Free, then to eTrust and Symantec, before it was..) AVG Free with ThreatFire. Though may not sound promisingly protective, it worked like a gem. Less lag, more memory space, and it captured more malware than I have expected (which AVG and the others missed or did not manage to handle properly which lead to infections).
Then, disabled the Microsoft Firewall and grab in ZoneAlarm. Far better to trust the 5-years-and-still-using firewall than Windows standard, which still lets a few malware in as if they 'leaked' through into the system from the Internet.
Auto-startup items were disabled. From Bluetooth, to Live Messenger, to even the modem software (which was found to be useless, not needed, except to show green for connected and red for disconnected; lame). Don't forget the services; I disabled Indexing Service, Automatic Updates, Task Scheduler, and some other (which are basically SQL/Database related).
OK, anyone using Acer will know they have these emPowering software. Got rid of all except the ePower and eSetting, load up is drastically faster without the security or presentation tools. Never used from the first seconds I had this laptop.
Other things would include simple software. Got FireFox as an alternative web browser. And yeah, that's all. You just need to do the msconfig thingy to get rid of useless startup items, and tools like Advanced Windowscare Personal to keep registry and privacy in place. Cool uh? Though till now, can't seem to find ways to extend hard disk life; they still start suffering after 3-5 years, despite having a fan on it.. Anyway, was happy I managed to get better performance now out of the system, and improved battery life (compare 2.5hrs when new, then after tweaks it managed up to 4hrs, and now about 1-2hrs when it has aged 3years, despite the daily discharge and charging).
McAfee and Symantec products should stay far away from any computer. Performance hit is too great. Prefer Avast or Avira. Don't need browser plugins. Combined with built in firefox phishing scanner, adblock plus, and flashbloack, and some common sense web browsing can be safe.
Office, even version 2007 works surprisingly well on a machine with only 256MB RAM(as long as there's no Symantec or McAfee plugins installed). Open office and its derivatives are pigs, though free. I prefer the free Softmakeroffice 2006 for netbook use.
Even if there's online programs, I like having offline programs so I can use my netbook if I'm sans internet. Office suite, MS streets and trips (instead of Google maps), wikitaxi (you need 6GB of disk space to hold the wikipedia database, though it's very quick), feeddemon so I can download my RSS feeds before going standalone. Most Windows netbooks ship with 160GB drives, so space for these programs aren't really a problem, and they don't run unless you want to.
Of course if you want to be adventurous, Crunchbang is a lean version of Ubuntu that works well on netbooks.
Browser: Opera
Why: sensible with resources, synchronization features (in lieu of Foxmarks), ranked as one of the safest browsers.
Why Not: problems rendering with some sites
Alternative: Seamonkey for mail and browsing needs - the alpha version will be more like Firefox than old-school Seamonkey, and I sincerely hope it doesn't gobble up everything in sight.
Office Programs: Abiword (Gnumeric for Spreadsheet)
Why: way lighter on resources than OpenOffice, more stable than Go-OO (although it should not be dismissed), plugins, opens a variety of formats
Why Not: can be confusing for some, plugins can be tricky, Gnumeric has issues with rendering features in xls files
Alternative: Thinkfree Office is not a bad choice either, with a familiar interface that fits like an old slipper.
Antivirus: Avira
Why: Very light, free, excellent detection and protection, protects against rootkits
Why Not: no removal of spyware
Firewall: Windows Firewall (for home use only)
Why: Behind a heavily policy-enforced router, light on resources
Why Not: Poor protection (see leaktests)
Antispyware: Adaware
Why: Free, effective detection and removal
Why Not: No real-time protection
We have been compiling this for quite a while at the EEE PC forum. http://eeeuser.com/
I've got it here:
http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=469181#p469181
These are for Windows XP.
For movies you might want to use Media Player Classic or VLC.
( Don't forget to load the codec s I use K-Lite )
I have decided to forgo Pigin, for a web app Meebo. www.meebo.com
Others love Gimp for art work, but I go with the much lighter Paint.net
I agree I miss the Quick Launch bar but mainly because I could have handy icons out in the open but the rest hidden since all my computers are used by any family member walking by, LOL.
Office XP 2002 (old but works for my purposes, plus I already own it)
Foxit
AVG antivirus
Firefox, with Adblock Plus, Customize Google, Foxmarks, etc
VLC media player
Gmail notifier, so I don't have open my browser to check my inbox
I stuck with Windows Firewall and didn't install any anti-malware programs, since I am a very prudent internet user and haven't had an infection in years.
Then I ran msconfig to prune the startup processes (like disabling the bluetooth manager, since I don't have BT). Lastly, I ran CCleaner to clean the registry and delete all the straggler files, and then defragged the HDD.
I do agree that some of these lil' puppies come crammed with junk - ATTENTION netbook manufacturers - CUT IT OUT!!!! Put just the OS and system drivers...let the buyer decide what we want to cram on them.
- by jadester January 24, 2009 3:52 PM PST
- I have the same mini netbook - mine came with 110 GB hard drive and 1 GB RAM. I also took out Microsoft Office (I'd rather use Open Office), which installed easy with no issues. I also took out the Norton as I use a free gem antivirus - AVG. I use the Windows firewall and I've never had any issues with it and have had no viruses. I also use Spyblaster and Windows Defender for spyware. So far so good, nothing has hit my little buddy. I use it often at home and on the road. I am a photographer, so this is a great tool for when I am travelling. I have several free programs for photogs on the netbook. All in all, I love it. I just need a mouse as I'm not proficient with the touch pad.
- Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (27 Comments)