Synovative's Plan for a Reliable Windows Desktop
A work in progress

We have been asked, from time to time, how  we choose to configure a Windows XP desktop for reliable performance.  Here are  the guidelines and features that we have chosen to provide this reliable  solution.  For non-commercial (i.e. Home) users, this solution is low in cost.   Some utilities are freeware.  Some are share-ware.  Some are commercial porducts($).  Others are donation-ware.  Our current aim is to provide the Home user with as low a cost solution as  possible. Commercial sites usually are required to purchase the software  products that are free to home users.

We have aimed to minimize the exposure to  viruses, spyware and ads at a reasonable level of risk.  We attempt to configure for best performance.  We tie it all together with our SOUP software  offering.

Hardware

We recommend Dell desktops and laptops.   Get a machine with Windows XP Pro, at least 1 GB of main memory (2 GB is  better) or Windows Vista Ultimate with at least 2 GB of main memory (4 GB is better) and 2 hard drives.  Do not get an Intel Celeron processor.  Laptop  owners will need to acquire an after-market USB external hard drive to act as  the second hard drive.  (We suggest the Western Digital Passport drive.)  We recommend that all PCs have a second hard drive to  store backup copies of key files kept in your "My Documents" folder.  We configure SOUP to backup the My Documents folder to the second hard drive.  Make  sure that all applications place their key data files in a folder using their application name within the My Documents folder.  At the top level, keep your My Documents folder showing only folders.  Place data and documents into named  folders where the names will keep you organized.

We recommend that all broadband  connections, even at home sites, have a firewall router.  We recommend you get one made by Linksys.  If possible avoid wireless LAN connections.  Consider using Ethernet over Power Lines in your home to interconnect PCs, rather than wireless.

Protect your hardware and operating system  files with an APC (American Power Company) standby power unit.  The 500 watt  unit, model Back-UPS ES 500, should work just fine.  Make sure you have a small  extension strip so that you can plug your System Unit, Monitor, Router and  Cable/DSL modem into the standby power.  Do not plug your printer into the  standby power plugs.

Software

We do not recommend the use of "automatic  updates" or "scheduled tasks."  They consume the resources of your PC and slow it down.  Weekly updates, assisted by a feature of SOUP, should keep you  current.  If you are a heavy surfer of the Internet, then turn on the automatic update option in your Anti-virus program.

We recommend that you do not install  toolbars and search bars.  Most bring some form of spyware to your PC.  Be smart  about what you choose to do while on the Internet.

We recommend that a core of utilities be installed and configured.  The notes on what to install can be found on the “How to Build” page within the “Support” section of this site.

We recommend the use of the following  programs and utilities:

Windows 7, Vista Ultimate, XP  Professional Windows Office  XP, Windows Office 2007 Microsoft Security Essentials Norton  Norton Antivirus (Commercial sites  only) RoboForm  (to  keep your web logon userids and passwords) WinZip  (to  decompress files sent in .ZIP format to you over the Internet) (XP only) Java  (to  run the latest Java applications from Web Sites) TweakUI  (to  provide minor customization to the way Windows acts) (XP only) Acrobat Reader  (to display files in Adobe Acrobat format: .PDF  files) Picasa  (to  manage your digital  images) CCleaner (to  remove features of Windows and Applications that are usually not used.) Update Checker from File Hippo (to easily check for updates to a large number of programs at one time) SOUP (to assure  that updates occur at a reasonable interval, provide backup of your My Documents  folder to a second drive  and a couple of additional utilities)

Links to the above utilities can be found  on our download page.  These links are also present on our "How to Build" page.