What Computer Software Do You Need?

When you buy a new computer, you’ll need to consider the software you’re going to install. With everything from anti-virus software through to media players, PDF readers and web browsers, there’s a lot to think about. So we’ve made it easy for you by compiling a list of the essentials for you to choose from – allowing you to rest easy knowing you’ve not forgotten anything and that your computer’s performance will be just as fast as you expect.

To protect your important files and documents from malware and unwanted viruses, you’ll need to install a decent anti-virus software package. Bear in mind you can only use one program at once.

Using industry-leading technology, Avira is widely recognised as one of the best anti-virus software programs around. It’s great for keeping your confidential data private and blocks malware including Trojans, worms, spyware and viruses.

Boasting the ‘lowest impact on PC performance’, you can get on with the task at hand while Avast is running in the background – without having to worry about it making your PC slow and sluggish. You can also install a Home Network Security version which extends the protection to all the wireless devices in your home.

Easy to install, the Bitdefender Free Edition is compatible with the latest version of Windows, making it ideal for protecting your brand new PC. It’s also a popular program with gamers as it automatically pauses large system scans while you game, resuming them once you’ve logged out – so there’s no impact on your game performance.

Windows firewall comes built-in to your PC and is the recommended software to use for maximum protection. If you want to run a separate standalone firewall, choose the following. Remember, you can only use one program at once.

Stay protected while you browse the internet with ZoneAlarm Free Firewall. This nifty software monitors and blocks inbound and outbound threats, and disables malicious programs in an instant.

Google has some useful tools to take advantage of, which will assist you in your everyday computer use.

Keep the entire world at your fingertips thanks to Google Earth’s clever combination of maps, search, and satellite imagery to instantly give you access to information about a specific location of your choice.

Transform your digital photographs into professional-looking images with the help of Google Picasa’s editing and effect tools. It’s also a useful program for organising and storing your most precious memories.

Listen to the latest tunes, create your own playlists and sync music to your devices with the following media players and streamers.

Apple’s offering allows you to easily organise, watch and listen to your favourite TV shows and music – as well as buy the ones you want. It’s available for both Mac and PC.

Spotify allows you to listen to your favourite tunes for free, with adverts every 30 minutes. You can also easily create playlists and discover new artists. Alternatively, upgrade to the premium option to miss all the adverts and listen uninterrupted.

Customise and personalise the look of your Player, listen to your library of music or play media files with Windows Media Player. You can also stream radio stations live using Windows Media Guide so you can listen to your favourite hosts wherever you are in the world.

For writing documents, creating spreadsheets and compiling presentations, you’ll need to install an office application.

Combining Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access and Publisher in one software package, Microsoft Office is the trusted application for many computer users.

Compatible with a number of file formats, including Microsoft Office, Open Office contains key applications including a spreadsheet, word processor, drawing program and presentation manager.

Bear in mind that overclocking is something which should only be done if you are confident you know exactly what you’re doing. As it voids your warranty, you do so at your own risk.

• CPU

For real-time information about the performance of your CPU, rely on Intel Burn Test.

Stress-test the performance of your CPU to ensure your system remains stable while overclocking.

• Graphics Cards

Precision is in the name and that’s exactly what you’ll get from this software. Fine tune your GPU and easily overclock your refresh rate with EVGA Precision X.

Open, edit and save PDF files quickly and easily with a PDF reader.

Probably the most common and popular of its kind, Adobe’s offering can be used for searching, viewing, digitally signing and printing Adobe PDF files.

Free to install, Nitro Reader allows you to create PDFs, edit and review them, convert them to Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents (and vice versa), and offers seamless cloud connectivity for accessing your documents anytime, anywhere.

Keep your confidential data secure and free from malware and viruses with the help of our recommended spyware scanners, blockers and removers.

Choose from the free download or buy this software for extra features including malware clean-up, constant protection from malware and threats, malicious website blocking, and automatic scans and updates.

In addition to performing spyware scans and cleans, SpywareBlaster uses technology to prevent malware and threats from being installed in the first place. For the ultimate protection, it can’t be beaten.

For real-time, comprehensive information about all of your system’s tools, be sure to install the following programs.

Ensure the temperature of your processor remains stable and at a safe level with Core Temp.

Download CPU-Z for instant access to useful information about some of your system’s main devices, including the processor, memory, and motherboard.

For information regarding your graphics card, download GPU-Z for free.

Available in free and pro edition, this hardware monitoring software reads the temperature of your CPU, GPU and HDD so you can make sure they are running at optimum temperatures.

For detailed and precise information about the hardware in your PC, Speccy is available to download for free. Check statistics for your motherboard, CPU, RAM, graphics card and more, so you can make informed purchasing choices.

It’s important to clear the cached files on your system regularly to keep your computer at its optimum performance level. Here are some useful system clean-up tools.

A widely-known and trusted PC cleaning tool, CCleaner removes unused files and deletes your internet search history and cookies to help protect your identity when browsing the web. In doing so, it speeds up your computer.

Quickly and easily defragment your hard drive and speed up your computer with Defraggler. This tool can be used to defrag SSD, HDD and individual files.

Whether you’re trying to recover deleted or lost files, Recuva will find them quickly. It’s even able to recover files from damaged hard drives thanks to its advanced file recovery.

Choosing your web browser doesn’t have to be tricky. Here are the top three.

The speediest of the three, Google Chrome is ideal if you intend to spend a long time browsing the web.

Ideal for the safety-conscious, Internet Explorer uses built-in features to up your security while online, protecting you from threats.

Super speedy and secure, Mozilla Firefox is a great choice of web browser for those who spend a lot of time on the internet.

If you’re sending and receiving large files, installing a zip utility is a must. These handy tools allow you to compress files for easy sending, and extract received compressed files.

Free to use on any computer without having to register.

Download a trial version before you buy – WinRar not only compresses and extracts compressed files, it also backs up your data and reduces email attachments so you can easily send large files.

Browse the full range of software available at BT Shop today.