Essential Software for Windows Computers

There is an incomprehensible amount of software available for Windows, and that can get daunting when looking around for alternatives to leading brands that may be out of your price point. Here we are going to walk you through several types of software that we recommend to be on any PC, and what we use for each category when performing a re-system on a customer's computer, and what you will find on any pre-owned system bought from us.

Anti-virus and Malware Protection

Anti-virus and Malware Protection is a must have on any system, as it keeps your data and personal information safe from hackers, and dangerous software that may damage your computer. These kinds of software scan your computer using a specific search criteria downloaded from the protection provider.

In store we offer two different anti-virus and malware protection, BullGuard and Kaspersky, starting from £24.99 for an annual membership. We do also offer free protection known as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which is completely free for basic protection from malicious online threats, and comes pre-loaded on all pre-owned systems bought from us.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has a premium model that offers a more advanced protection system to the basic model, and will actively check your system in the background at very little expense to your computers performance.

We also recommend Super Anti-Spyware. This is another free software that we install on all of our systems as well as Malwarebytes, that we highly recommend, and also has an advanced version which requires a paid subscription.

We recommend that you try Malwarebytes for free at the link below:

https://www.malwarebytes.com/

Super Anti-Spyware:

http://www.superantispyware.com/

Office Suites

If you've ever bought a brand new computer from the likes of Currys PC World, there is a good chance that the sales assistant tried to talk you into purchasing Microsoft Office with the laptop for "a discounted price."

An Office Suite isn't essential, but you will be surprised how much you will need it when you least expect it, and Microsoft Office is pretty much the best out there. But if you're in need of a quick fix and don't want to spend any money on something you don't use often, we would recommend two free office suites that can do everything Microsoft Office can do.

Libre Office is our preferred choice of office suite, and the one which we install on all of our pre-owned systems to save you the hassle of having to panic when you need to alter a document quickly. We also recommend Open Office we we occasionally install instead of Libre Office depending on the computer. Either software are as good as each other, the choice of which to use is completely your choice.

Check out Libre Office and Open Office at the links below.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

https://www.openoffice.org/

Video Players

If you plan on using your computer to watch any videos that are saved on to your hard drive, Windows Media Player just won't cut it. We recommend VLC Media Player as it is capable of playing nearly all video and audio formats that are available.

If you prefer to listen to music then there is no argument that iTunes is the best audio player out there. iTunes is completely free and organises your music in several catalogues, making it easier for you to find your favourite artists, albums or songs. The only downside of iTunes is that it will not recognise memory sticks, portable hard drives, or Android based mobile devices. However, if you have an iPod, iPad, or iPhone, it will allow you to easily transfer music from your computer to your Apple devices.

Check out VLC Media Player:

https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Check out iTunes:

https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/