Download the most popular programs. Interesting computer programs

After installing a new version of OC Windows on a computer, most users do not know which programs to install first.

We have compiled for you top most popular programs without which not a single person can do. Please note that all programs are divided into categories, each of which has a choice of several versions.

Popular computer programs

#1 - Browser

The browser for most users is the most popular program. It allows you to visit web pages, communicate in social networks and watch movies. That is why it is at the top of the list of the best computer programs.

• - stable browser with Google search engine.
• - similar to the previous one, the main bias towards Yandex services.
• - old and comfortable.
• - a browser with many additional options.

#2 - Antiviruses

As you know, there are many malicious viruses on the Internet that harm your computer. Before entering the global network, you need to protect yourself with an antivirus.

Here is a small top 5 of the most popular antivirus computer programs:

• No. 1 - - a well-known product with a paid license.
• No. 2 - Doctor Web - free, tested for years.
• No. 3 - - the most popular antivirus, distributed free of charge.
• No. 4 - 360 Total Security - a novelty that has proven itself well.
• #5 - AVG Antivirus Free is an effective and easy antivirus solution.

About the best free antivirus programs,.

#3 - Adobe Flash Player
A must for all browsers. This plugin will allow you to play movies on any sites. First of all, install the browser, then this player.

#4 – Skype

#5 - Torrent client

This program is common among those who like to watch movies. Torrent client allows you to download large files from the network at the highest possible speed of your Internet.

• uTorrent is the well-known and most used utility for downloading from the Internet.
• Zona is less known, and also for films.
• MediaGet is a good analog.

№6 - Nero

second part top best for computer starts Nero. Most users now use flash drives, but there are those users who need disks these days. The program allows you to burn data to any type of disc (C or DVD).

No. 7 - DAEMON Tools

Allows you to open images of large files. The program can mount a virtual drive. Most often, the program is used to install or run games.

No. 8 - Office programs

Any person at some point may need to open a document, create a table, calculate a formula, or create a postcard. For this purpose, there are several packages with the necessary set of programs:

• Microsoft Office is the most widely used suite used by millions of people. With this set of programs, you can type text, create presentations, spreadsheets, and more.
• Libre Office is an analogue.
• Open Office is a good free replacement.

#9 - VLC Media Player

Audio and video player. The program can play online streams, show subtitles, and also increase the maximum volume. The right product!

#10 - TeamViewer

This program is known mainly to more advanced users. It allows you to control your computer remotely via the Internet.

This TOP still lacks many useful and very necessary utilities, such as: Total Commander, Evernote, Adobe Photoshop, KMPlayer player and many others. Some people like the simplest Paint. You can add this rating in the comments with your favorite.

On this, our TOP of the most popular computer programs has come to an end. We definitely recommend that you install the proposed utilities, without which it will be very difficult for you to work at your computer. Search and download software that will make your computer a real working machine!

Video on the topic (another version of the TOP useful and necessary):

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Hello dear friends! In today's article, I will tell you about all the necessary programs for a computer, without installing which work on it will be very difficult or simply impossible.

To fully use all the features of your computer friend, you need to install the necessary programs on it.

All the necessary programs must be on your computer or laptop, no matter what activity you are doing on it. They significantly expand or improve the functionality of your device.

After installing an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) on a computer, you have access to a certain number of programs built into it (the number and versions of programs depend on the version of the installed OS). As a rule, the functionality of these programs is limited.

To use all the features of the software, we are advised to purchase it (for money, and a lot of it) 🙂 There are many ways to get around these restrictions, or use free software.

The list will contain both paid and free programs that have similar characteristics and perform the same task.

Each program will be analyzed separately. The pros and cons of the programs, their brief description, links to developers' sites for downloading them will be indicated.

All the programs below work only under Windows OS (versions for each program will be indicated separately) So, let's get started ...

Regardless of whether you bought a new computer assembly (with a pre-installed OS), purchased individual components and assembled the computer yourself, or simply reinstalled the operating system, you need to install drivers for the hardware in your computer to get started.

To see if all the drivers are installed on a computer with a preinstalled OS, you need to click the "start" button, then the "control panel" tab, then for Windows 7 select "device manager" from the list that appears, and for Windows XP click "system" and select there "device Manager".

This (or not this) :) menu will appear:

It should not have any red or yellow icons. If they are not there, then all devices are installed and working normally. If there is, then you need to determine the problem by the name of the device, and try to fix it.

Drivers for desktop computers come on discs (CD or DVD)

For laptops, they can also go on disks (when buying a laptop without an OS installed). If the operating system is installed, then more often the drivers are located in a special folder (software distributions, drivers, etc.).

Driver installation order

If you install drivers from a disk and there is an option for automatic installation, you can use it.

This is the best way for an inexperienced user. The disadvantage of this method is the installation of unnecessary programs (various temperature sensors, fan speed control, etc.) that come with the drivers.

If you know what you need to install, then in the disc menu you can uncheck unnecessary programs and put only the necessary ones. Below I have given an example of a disk menu from my motherboard:

Drivers can be installed both automatically and manually, which gives us the opportunity to install all individually or only the drivers we need.

It is desirable to install drivers for each device separately with a computer restart and in a certain order (desirable, but not necessary).

1. Chipset
2. Sound
3. Video
4. All other internal devices, and after them peripherals (printer, scanner, etc.)

As soon as we have earned all the devices installed or connected to the computer, we can proceed to install the programs that are so necessary for our work or entertainment.

Archivers

To continue the further installation of the necessary programs, we first need to install the archiver, since almost all software distributions are packed into archives.

The most popular paid archiver is WinRar.

In my opinion, WinRar has the only drawback, it is paid, but it works out 100% of the funds spent on it. This is a great and reliable tool for storing, transferring and protecting any of your files. Whether it's a photo, text document or video. If you do not feel sorry for the money, then this is the best option.

WinZip is also a paid archiver, but WinRar is twice as expensive. In terms of functionality, it is in no way inferior to WinRar, but the usability suffers. Because of these two shortcomings, its rather low popularity affects. Comparative characteristics of these two archivers, you can see.

Now let's move on to the free and very popular 7Zip archiver.

7Zip has all the necessary functionality and is considered one of the best programs for fast compression, storage and transfer of important information. The main advantages of this archiver is the presence of its own 7z compression format, which is ahead of WinRar in terms of speed and compression ratio. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions of the program.

Each of the presented archivers will provide you with everything you need for fast and productive work.

Antivirus

And now let's talk about the next type of necessary software - antiviruses.

Antivirus software is one of the most sought after and popular among all computer users.

Antivirus is considered one of the most necessary programs, not only because of its extreme practical usefulness (with proper configuration and proper application), but simply as a necessary attribute of a normal computer, although many users do not pay any attention to the operation of the antivirus. They believe that if the antivirus is installed, then this is enough. Works, updated, well, okay. Many simply have no time or are not interested in learning at least a little about the capabilities of their antivirus installed and the minimum necessary settings so that it works much more efficiently.

You can afford not to be well versed in Word, Excel and other fairly important programs for everyday work at the computer, but you cannot afford to be irresponsible about your data on the computer.

If the antivirus fails to prevent the threat, then you (under certain circumstances) may lose important documents, photos, etc., and no one wants this. If you do not have copies of data destroyed by a virus, then consider that you have lost them almost irretrievably.

Therefore, choosing a good antivirus that is right for you is a rather difficult task, even for an experienced user, and even less knowledgeable, even more so. Below I will give and briefly describe the most popular anti-virus programs and give links to developer sites.

And remember, there is no perfect antivirus, regardless of whether you choose a paid or free program.

The most popular paid anti-virus program in Russia is deservedly considered Kaspersky Anti-Virus. It has two of the most popular packages representing basic and optimal protection. You can see more details about the capabilities of these products. There are also versions of the program for mobile phones, tablet computers and Apple products.

If you decide to purchase Kaspersky Internet Security or Kaspersky Total Security, then by clicking on this link, you will receive an ORFO spell checker as a gift.

Behind him, in descending order of popularity, are Dr. Web and Eset NOD32. These programs are paid. Their functionality is quite enough to provide the user with good protection against various computer viruses.

Also Dr. Web provides an excellent free virus detection and removal tool, Dr. Web CureIt!

Of the free antiviruses, I would like to highlight avast! Free Antivirus. It provides excellent protection against most existing pests and is simple and easy to use. There is a more powerful paid version called avast! internet security. At the end of 2013, the most powerful version of the antivirus appeared - avast! Premier.

Also, many users use less popular, but not much inferior to their advanced counterparts in finding and destroying malicious code, antivirus programs. These include: AVG Anti-Virus Free, Comodo Antivirus, Avira. All of them are free, but at the same time they provide reliable protection for your computer. McAffe antivirus is very good. It is often installed by default on laptops. By clicking on the picture below, you can learn more about this antivirus. Site in English. To enable any other in the upper right corner, select the special menu item.

A paid antivirus can differ from a free one, both for better and for worse. Algorithms for searching and detecting malicious code are different, and you don't know which virus will get to you. It may be that a simple antivirus can easily catch an unexpected guest, and his fancy fellow will let him through. Choose what suits you best, install, configure and surf the Internet safely.

By the way, I myself have been using the free version of Avast for more than three years, and I am quite pleased with its work. Viruses, of course, slipped through, especially Trojans, but running a full computer scan and using the Dr. Web CureIt! (once a month is enough) solves this problem. The article describes in detail about this and other programs for quickly and efficiently scanning your computer for viruses.

After you and I have protected our computer from the unwanted effects of various malicious programs, we can calm down a little, think and decide. What should we install next? What programs do we need the most?

To do this, ask yourself. What do you do more with your computer? Work or play. After answering it, you will know exactly what to put in the first place, and I will move on to image viewers.

Image viewers

Image viewers or simply "viewers" are an integral part of any computer, because without their capabilities, you will never be able to view your photos or drawings. The lack of such a program, necessary for everyday activities, greatly limits your ability to use the unlimited potential of the computer.

All modern operating systems have a built-in viewer for graphic images of almost any format, and it does an excellent job of simple viewing and for many it is enough, but for some users more functionality is needed. For this category, many different (both paid and free) programs have been specially developed to view a huge variety of graphic formats.

Once the most popular paid image viewer ACDSee, it quickly lost ground to its free counterparts.

Thanks to the emergence of full-featured free programs for viewing all kinds of graphic formats, users have a choice, and there is no need to use paid image viewers.

These programs will allow us to view documents and read e-books in popular formats such as PDF and DjVu.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most powerful PDF reader and editor. Its capabilities far exceed the requirements of the average user and it is too "heavy", so I advise everyone to install a simple and fast loading Foxit PDF Reader. This free program is enough to view any documents or books.

WinDjView is a fast and extremely easy to use program for viewing DjVu files. The DjVu format allows you to save printed documents and images with excellent quality in files much smaller than the original ones.

Separately, I would like to highlight such a program as STDU Viewer.

I have been using it since 2015 and am very happy with it. It easily replaces all three previous programs.

Her virtues:

• Reads all major image, book and document formats (see supported formats);
• Light weight;
• Free for non-commercial use;
• Can replace several utilities.

Flaws:

In fact, it has one drawback, it is a less convenient and practical interface when working with files and less functionality when working (unlike specialized software), so to speak, a fee for versatility. But many bells and whistles are unnecessary (like me, for example), I looked through the document and forgot. So I strongly advise everyone to add this software to the list of necessary, more than anything else.

Video players

To view videos in a variety of formats, we need to install a video player on the computer.

Here I will give only free video viewers, since there is no need to use paid video players, due to their high price and absolute uselessness for the average user, for whom simplicity and ease of use are more important than fancy functionality.

- probably the most popular video file player for the vast majority of users. The popularity of Media Player Classic is justified by the fact that this player is present in such a popular codec pack as the K-Lite Codec Pack, which will be discussed below. Its capabilities are quite sufficient for normal viewing of movies and video materials, unpretentious and easy to use.

Media Player Classic once again confirms that for most users, speed and ease of use are important, and additional features go by the wayside. Also, this player can be downloaded separately. It is called MPC-HC, which essentially does not change anything. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions.

Next comes a more beautiful and modern video player. This video / audio player has built-in codecs, which allows you to watch video movies (including DVDs) and listen to music without installing any third-party codecs. KMPlayer has advanced video settings that can significantly improve the quality of the video being played, as well as changeable skins to change the look.

And finally, I will present a powerful and very easy-to-use media player.

VLC is a free, open source, cross-platform player for any audio and video information. It, like KMPlayer, has built-in codecs for playing audio and video files. Supports a huge number of formats and various streaming protocols.

To play video on your computer, you can use any of the programs presented here, making a choice based on your aesthetic needs. The capabilities of each of them are enough for use in most everyday tasks.

P.S. I myself constantly use all three multimedia players, depending on the format, the quality of the video file being launched and the mood :). For ordinary DVD Rip movies, Media Player Classic is sufficient, and for watching videos and movies in Full HDTV, I use VLC media player. KMPlayer can play quite well both DVD and HDTV, although I rarely use it, I like it for its excellent design and features.

Audio players

For high-quality playback and listening to music, we need to install a program for playing audio files.

Above in the article, multimedia players were analyzed that are more suitable for playing videos, although all have the ability to play audio files. Using them to listen to music is not very convenient, so I will tell you about audio players that are specially designed to perform this function with the highest possible convenience and quality.

The first representative of this class of programs is the very popular, beautiful and convenient audio player Aimp. In December 2015, the fourth version of this player was released. The player is absolutely free, and it is very pleasing :).

The Aimp player won back, and firmly occupied a niche, the former very popular and high-quality WinAmp music player.

Thanks to its free, beautiful appearance (it is possible to change skins), user-friendly interface, high-quality sound reproduction, functionality and constant updates, it has won the hearts of many users around the world. If you choose Aimp, you will never regret it. Ideal solution for home use.

It has a modest interface, but at the same time it has huge opportunities for expansion, customization and playback of high-quality sound.

The theoretical possibilities of Foobar2000 for high-quality processing of audio files exceed the capabilities of professional audio equipment.

It has a huge number of plug-ins.

An excellent player for those who like to play around with sound settings. It is also very well suited for use in office computers, as it consumes very little RAM and has the ability to adjust the transparency.

It is a fast, very small size (490kb in the archive), but at the same time a powerful and flexible tool for listening to music.

Supports major audio formats WAV, OGG, MP1, MP2, MP3, AIFF.

Due to the extremely spartan interface, using Evil Player is not very convenient, but it does an excellent job of performing its main function.

For a home where several people usually use one computer, it will be inconvenient, and it is very suitable for listening to background music in the office.

Codecs

The most popular, stable, versatile and necessary set of codecs for viewing and processing audio and video files is undoubtedly .

Thanks to the existence of five package options, any user can choose the one that suits him in terms of its functionality.

Basic(Basic) - contains the necessary components to play all popular audio and video formats.

standard(Standard) Same as the base version, plus the very good and essential Media Player Classic Home Cinema discussed above, and a built-in MPEG-2 decoder for playing DVDs.

Full(Full) same as the standard set, plus MadVR, GraphStudioNext and a few additional DirectShow filters.

Mega(and so it is clear) the same as the full package, plus ACM and VFW codecs for encoding and editing video, a few additional DirectShow filters and tools.

Previously, there was a special 64-bit version of the codec designed to work in 64-bit operating systems, but now it is built-in by default and you do not need to download anything separately.

To view full descriptions of the composition and features of various versions of the codec, follow the link above.

It is a set of the most necessary codecs for watching video in the most popular formats and listening to audio files.

The package includes such popular codecs as ffdshow, DivX, XviD, x264, h.264, Windows Media 9, MP4, MPEG4, MPEG2, AC3, DTS, Flash Video Splitter, many filters, various plug-ins and other auxiliary tools for working with video and audio files.

This is a universal free application developed by Adobe Corporation that allows us to view pages with dynamic (interactive) content, beautiful special effects and video clips, play flash games.

Flash technology is very common on the Internet, and using a computer without a Flash player installed, you will not be able to fully use all the possibilities of the modern Internet.

This software is simply necessary to install on any computer.

For instructions on installing Adobe Flash Player for Internet Explorer, Opera and Mozilla Firefox browsers, click here.

Adobe Flash Player is already built into the Google Chrome browser. Updated automatically.

Office programs

It is the most essential set of office applications created by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X operating systems.

This package includes software that allows you to prepare documents of varying complexity. Allows you to work with various types of documents: texts, spreadsheets, databases, etc.

Microsoft Office occupies a leading position in the word processor market, and its formats are the standard in the workflow of the vast majority of enterprises.

The most popular Microsoft Office applications are Microsoft Office Word for working with text data and Microsoft Office Excel for working with tabular data. But these applications are quite difficult to master on their own, and in self-study, we use the capabilities of these programs by 10-15%. Therefore, if you want to surprise your friends, girlfriends, comrades and work colleagues with an advanced level of Word proficiency, to do your work more efficiently and faster, I advise you to go.

Microsoft Office is an excellent product for processing text and tabular data, but its main disadvantage is the price.

The 2013 version costs about 15,000 rubles. This is a very large amount for us, therefore, in home computers, the vast majority of users have unlocked versions of this program, which is so necessary for many, unlocked in various ways.

Now consider the free office program OpenOffice.

It is the most popular free office suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases, and more.

Supports many languages ​​and works great on all personal computers.

OpenOffice is completely free to use for commercial and non-commercial purposes.

The OpenOffice office suite has less functionality and usability, so it will not replace Microsoft Office in enterprises, but for home use it is more than enough.

A simple text editor can also be a very good option (especially for owners of laptops and tablets).

Browsers

(read as Internet Explorer) is a browser developed by Microsoft Corporation. It is included in the package of all operating systems of the Windows family, and thanks to this, it remains one of the most popular web browsers on the Internet today.

For most users who need the Internet occasionally, it will be enough, but for those who spend a little more time at the monitor in search of information and entertainment, a more flexible and customizable tool may be needed.

In general, the latest versions of Internet Explorer are comfortable and work quite well when properly configured.

At the moment, Microsoft is very actively promoting its Microsoft Edge browser, which comes with the Windows 10 operating system. According to user reviews, it is quite good and outperforms Internet Explorer.

Although the package includes many modules, the most common application from this package is Nero Burning Rom. It is responsible for writing, erasing, copying and cloning disks. Nero Burning Rom has established itself as the fastest, most convenient and high-quality disc burning program. Supports recording of all existing discs and formats. The downside of the program is that it is paid, but it is cheaper than Ashampoo Burning. It is the best choice for burning discs among all programs of this class.

On this I want to end the description of the set of necessary programs for any computer running operating systems of the Windows family, and move on to not so necessary, but sometimes necessary software.

Such software includes programs for scanning text and images, translators, downloading files and torrents, communicating on the Internet, cleaning the operating system, convenient work with files and defragmenters. Now about everything in order ...

Convenient file handling

The most popular program for convenient work with files is . This is the best dual pane file manager. It has all possible options for convenient work with multiple files. There are both 32 and 64 bit versions of the program.

A good option would be to use a free file manager. In terms of stability and functionality, it is inferior to Total Commander, but for many it will be enough.

Internet communication

Programs designed for communication via the Internet are divided into those that allow you to talk through a microphone with the ability to connect video communications via a webcam, and simple communication using text. Almost all modern programs support all these options for interaction between users.

The brightest representative of this segment is Skype.

Skype allows you to communicate for free to all Internet users, regardless of their location. It is possible to call any mobile operator or landline number at very low rates.

Easy to install, clear and easy to use, Skype is a must-have for those users who want to use the Internet to the maximum.

A good replacement for Skype can be the Mail.Ru Agent program, but it has a big minus, this is a lower communication quality than Skype. Otherwise, this is a fairly comfortable and high-quality product. It has millions of fans, thanks to the promoted instant messaging service ICQ (better known as ICQ). When downloading the agent (and other programs), be careful. Be sure to uncheck the box before starting the download, otherwise a bunch of any digital badies will fly into your load. With all due respect to Mail.ru, they do not disdain to clog our computers with very annoying and, most importantly, absolutely unnecessary software for the sake of a penny.

Downloading files and torrents

All modern browsers have a built-in module for downloading files from the Internet, but their functionality and ease of use do not satisfy many users. An alternative to the standard methods of downloading information from the Internet can be programs specially designed for this. They are easily integrated into all major and popular browsers, have significantly greater functionality, speed and reliability.

The best program of this class is .

Download Master is a convenient and highly efficient tool for downloading any files. It will provide you with a high download speed, the ability to continue an interrupted download from the place where the connection was interrupted, a convenient interface for managing the program and downloaded files.

There is a portable version of Download Master Portable, which, being written to a USB flash drive or a portable disk, will allow you to download from any computer connected to the World Wide Web. All versions of Download Master are free.

Another good program for downloading files from the Internet.

In terms of its functionality, Free Download Manager is in no way inferior to Download Master, but loses in ease of use, although many people like it, just because of its simplicity and the presence of only the necessary controls.

The following program is a torrent downloader. If you do not understand what is at stake, then read what torrent files are.

µTorrent is one of the most popular torrent clients in the world.

The advantages of this program are its small size, convenient and intuitive interface, and most importantly, it is absolutely free. I advise everyone who downloads large amounts of data from torrent trackers.

Cleaning the operating system

To keep the operating system in good working condition and remove unnecessary files and programs from it, we just need a program.

CCleaner is the best free program to optimize your computer's registry and files. After finishing your work, you will see how much faster and more efficiently your computer will work.

CCleaner will instantly free up valuable hard disk space, while you can be sure that the program will work correctly and reliably. The program will not delete any necessary files. Built-in support for the Russian language, the small size of the program and a clear and simple interface make CCleaner an indispensable assistant, both at home and at work.

Recently, to optimize and clean up the operating system from various garbage, I began to use Advanced SystemCare. Great replacement for many cleaners.

Defragmenters

Very fast, powerful and reliable defragmenter.

Auslogics Disk Defrag allows you to optimize the file system, placing both system and regular files to speed up your computer. Supports running in the background. Free for commercial and home use.

There is also a portable version of Auslogics Disk Defrag, which can be written to a USB flash drive or removable disk, with the further ability to run the program on any other computer without installation.

Optical text and image recognition

If you frequently work with text and graphic data, you may need such necessary software as programs for text and image recognition.

It is a leader in the field of optical data recognition and has all the necessary functionality for quickly and easily converting paper documents into electronic editable formats. It defines and allows you to convert to documents of various formats, both textual and tabular data, and images. It does all this with maximum speed and quality. It does not matter for her the type of document being defined, whether it is a photograph of a book or a plain text document. ABBYY FineReader will detect the data in both documents with the same quality. There is a built-in spell checker. The downside of the program is its cost.

For those who are not ready to pay for ABBYY FineReader OCR software, there is its free counterpart CuneiForm.

The functionality and quality of CuneiForm is inferior to ABBYY FineReader, but it copes very well with scanning simple documents and images. Any printed fonts are recognized.

The results of the work can be translated and edited in any office programs and text editors, and then saved in popular formats.

To improve the quality of recognition, CuneiForm uses a dictionary check. The standard dictionary can be extended by inserting new words from text files. Suitable for everyone who needs optical data recognition from case to case.

Text translators

The electronic dictionary is the most powerful package for translating text from one language to another.

It comes in home and professional versions, which differ in the set of dictionaries. Each version has the ability to connect additional dictionaries. It has a huge standard database of words and popular phrases. It has the highest quality automatic translation of the text, selecting the translation of words according to the meaning and content of the translated material. ABBYY Lingvo is a very high-quality paid product that has left its competitors, both paid and free, far behind. It is simply necessary for everyone who studies foreign languages ​​and translates texts.

NeoDic is a free program for contextual text translation. It will help you cope with the translation of unfamiliar words by simply hovering the mouse over the desired word or phrase. This type of translation is very convenient to use when viewing information on the Internet. The program supports the Russian language, has a small size and many settings that allow you to change the program to suit your needs.

This concludes my review of the necessary programs for your computer. The set of software presented above is sufficient for the full use of all the main features of the computer that the vast majority of users use, at home or in the office.

You can download them from official sites (this is not always convenient), using the links provided in the article, or go to the useful resources page and select the one you like from the listed directories of free programs, search and download the desired program from it.

If you liked this article, then maybe you will be interested in my other materials. To view all blog articles, please follow the link to. The author of this article and the blog Computer for Everyone is Alexander Osipov. See you on the pages.

18.03.2016

When installing or reinstalling Windows you will need to reinstall the most necessary programs in the work. If you are doing this for the first time, a banal question may arise regarding what programs are needed?

There is no single list for everyone. The set of preferred programs varies from person to person. In this article, we will talk only about the most necessary ones, including those that you will use from the first seconds of working with the new operating system. So ?

Start with drivers

A newly installed Windows 7 system on a computer is able to immediately open many different formats and file types. However, if you install the same system on a laptop, you may encounter difficulties. It may lack suitable drivers for various devices. For example, for a video card. And here you can stumble over the problem of performing some of the operations familiar to you. Full communication with the computer in this case will become impossible.

There are two ways out of this situation. The first is to find a disk that usually comes with any computer or laptop. If the computer has been upgraded, then such a disk may not be suitable. For a laptop, there is the following option - download the drivers from the official website of the manufacturer. The company, as you understand, is indicated on the case and, most likely, is written in rather large letters, and the model is most often written on the bottom of the laptop after the manufacturer's name with the note " Model».

If for some reason the above option did not suit you, use the program, which you can download at official website. This program will automatically select the necessary set of drivers for your computer.

There is another, the most difficult and time-consuming option - manually searching for each of the drivers on the Internet. For such work, we recommend that you be patient and have a good antivirus.

CompDude warns : If you are looking for drivers on your own, choosing each separately, be sure to download them only from the official website of the manufacturer of a particular component or device.

Install an antivirus

Having sketched out a list of necessary programs, do not rush to download and install them. Everything has its time! First of all, you should make sure that your computer is protected by installing an antivirus. Before installing an antivirus program, you should not use the Internet, visit any sites that you are not sure about. Having picked up a virus on the network, you may need to return to the very beginning, namely, to the beginning of the installation of Windows 7. Use only trusted sites, consult with friends. Make sure the downloaded version of the antivirus is up to date. Outdated software will not be able to protect your computer from modern viruses. If possible, update the antivirus database.

For more information about which antiviruses exist, which one is better to choose for your computer and laptop, as well as where to download the appropriate antivirus software, you can find in .

Specialists Microsoft release updates at regular intervals Windows, which also includes all sorts of improvements, bug fixes, etc. Installing these updates will increase the security of your computer against threats that constantly strive to ruin your life. However, this is far from the only reason why you just need to take care of updating the system. Many programs need the latest versions and improvements. They may slow down, not work or not be installed at all. Versions with built-in updates and basic software are not uncommon on the Internet. By installing one of these assemblies, you may not need to update the system in the near future. However, a quality assembly that can meet all your expectations is extremely difficult to find.

Codecs for audio and video
Operating system Windows 7 includes a standard set of codecs for video playback and audio playback. However, these codecs do not support all formats. Most likely, you will encounter difficulties in playing some video files or music. To increase the number of formats, you will need to install an additional codec pack. One of the most complete collections - which you can download by this link. This collection includes a pretty good Media Player Classic. Thanks to him, all popular file formats will be available to your computer.

So anyway, what programs are needed for a windows 7 computer?

You have made the minimum preparation of the system: installed codecs, drivers and antivirus. Now let's look at the programs needed to open and work with all the files that the average PC user may need.

1. 
   A browser is a program for searching all sorts of information on various websites. Thanks to it, you can download the necessary program, find your favorite movie or music, send a letter, chat on social networks and share multimedia files. When installing Windows 7 browser will automatically install Internet explorer. Its functionality is not suitable for every user. However, thanks to him, you can download from the Internet any convenient for you.

On our website you can find an article about what browsers exist for a computer and, having read , choose the one that suits you best.

1. Microsoft office.

This software package was created for editing and creating text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. Most users cannot imagine a computer without programs excel and Word, which are the main subroutines Microsoft office presented on official website.

If you do not have enough money to buy this program, use its free counterpart openoffice.org, or other software with similar functionality.

1. Audio and video player.

Although this is not mandatory, it is still desirable software, since few people are satisfied with the functionality of a standard media player integrated into Windows.

Perfect for watching videos WinPlayer or VLC that support all current video formats. The possibilities of playing them are limited only by the capacity of your video card and the performance of the PC as a whole.

But for audio playback, the good old, well-known to everyone will be quite enough or alternatively, AIMP . If you like to listen to music in lossless formats, we recommend using a simple and convenient foobar 2000 , which can be downloaded from this link.

This program will help you view images that are stored on your computer. Internal, similar system program Windows 7 , of course, will be able to open all the pictures and photos, however, the abundance of its capabilities is extremely small. This forces users to look for additional programs such as ACDSee Photo Software or others similar. The first is a professional program that allows you not only to open and view, but also edit images. The second one is free, however, many photo lovers like it. You can download it at official website.

1. Foxit reader.

The program is designed to view files in pdf format. Almost all modern companies produce their catalogs, drawings, documents, brochures in this format. Programs from Windows, working with pdf does not exist today. Competitor of modern and nimble Foxit is a well-known program Adobe Acrobat Reader which you can download from this link.

Download Foxit reader you can on official website.

1. Archiver.

A proven archiver that is designed to reduce the volume of files. This program will help you send files by e-mail by combining them. You do not need to send and drag individual files into the letter, just transfer the archive created in advance. Competitors of this program are free 7- Zip, winzip and others.

You can download the trial version at developer site.

Thanks to this program, you can write data to CD and DVD media. These carriers are losing their popularity every year. This is facilitated by the growth of information on the Internet, hard drives and Flash media. A standard Windows 7 program such as Windows Media can burn music discs, DVDs, and CD media. Windows DVD Maker can help you create a DVD video disc. This is where the functionality of standard Windows programs ends. For those who want to have a little more options, we recommend installing Nero Buring ROM or Ashampoo Burning Studio . These are the most convenient and fairly popular programs in this area. However, a free one is enough for an ordinary user, which you can download from here.

A program that creates a virtual emulation of a CD / DVD drive. This program will be able to open images of game discs, programs you found on the Internet. A disk image is a complete copy of a laser disk with information recorded on it. Such a disk should be inserted not into a mechanical drive, but into a virtual drive that works similarly. - free, fairly popular program. The analogue of this program is alcohol 120% and derivatives.

Download DAEMON Tools Lite you can by this link(official site).

1. Skype.

Program for instant exchange of data and messages, as well as video messages. You will be able to make video calls to users from all over the world, as well as write them text messages, exchange multimedia files, and arrange conferences.

For more information about Skype, as well as where to download it, you can read here. . If for some reason this program does not suit you, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with.

1. Punto Switcher (optional).

A unique program to automatically switch languages ​​on your keyboard. The most popular keyboard layouts in our country are Russian and English. If necessary, the user can change the layout himself, using hot keys or the language button on the desktop. However, the rapid parallel communication in social networks, Skype and ICQ can make you make an involuntary mistake. Russian text will be typed in English layout. You will get something similar to “dfjnkjdfldf”. The program will automatically track the language of writing and, if necessary, change the layout on its own. You can download this utility .

The programs we have reviewed are useful, but not required. If codecs, drivers are installed, an antivirus is installed, the system is updated, everything will work. The specifics of the job and your preferences will help you understand what programs are needed for a windows 7 computer? The list presented by us may be very different from the list of programs you need.

Are you new to the computer world and want to learn about useful programs for your computer? Then we will offer your attention a list of necessary programs for a computer, which will include software solutions for certain tasks. Next, we will consider the programs that are necessary to work in the Windows operating system.
The content of the article:

The most necessary programs for a computer

The concept of the most necessary programs for a computer includes programs that are needed for full and comfortable work. The necessary set of programs for the computer includes:
Antivirus
Not so long ago we told you about. In our opinion, it is the antivirus that should be installed on the computer one of the first, since it is a program that ensures data security. The best anti-virus solution for a computer today is Kaspersky Anti-Virus.
office suite
In order to be able to work with office documents: a set of text documents, spreadsheets, databases, etc., you need to install office applications. The most popular office suite is Microsoft Office, which includes a set of all the necessary applications. With Word you can create a set of text documents, thanks to Excel you can create spreadsheets, and Access will help you work with databases. In addition to Microsoft Office, there are other office suites, but they are less functional, but free.
Archiver
The archiver is designed for archiving files for the purpose of their compact storage or further sending to electronic media or via the Internet. One of the best archivers is the WinRAR program, which has wide functionality, and besides, by and large it is free.
Browser
A browser is a program with which you can view Internet pages. The most popular browsers today are Google Chrome and Yandex.Browser. These programs are, of course, absolutely free. It is worth noting their convenience, speed, stability and the presence of a large number of useful functions.
Codecs
To be able to watch videos of various formats, you need to install the K-Lite Codec Pack. This package is free, so we also recommend downloading it to watch movies in mkv, mov, and many other formats. In addition, the Media Player Classic comes with the codecs, which includes a wide range of settings.
Audio player
If you love listening to music, then you will probably have a huge number of songs stored on your computer. To make it convenient for you to listen to music, you need to install an audio player. The most popular programs are Winamp and Aimp.

List of useful computer programs

When we have considered the most necessary programs, now we can mention useful programs for a home computer.

Free useful programs for your computer

Online messenger
An online messenger is a program that allows you to exchange text messages, emoticons and files with other people via the Internet. The best example of such a program is QIP 2012. In addition to the well-known and popular ICQ protocol, QIP has support for a large number of other protocols, which makes it a versatile and functional messenger. A convenient program for chatting with friends online.
Voice and video communication
To experience all the benefits of the Internet, voice and video communication will help you. Surely you have already heard about such a program as Skype. Thanks to it, you can make free voice and video calls to your friends, acquaintances and relatives who also have this program installed.
Automatic keyboard layout switcher
Very often, when we are typing, we forget to switch the keyboard layout and we end up with "gibberish". To prevent this from happening, install the Punto Switcher program. Thanks to her, if you forget to switch the keyboard layout, after spelling a word incorrectly, this program will automatically correct it and change the layout. In addition, the program has a number of other very useful features that will be useful to almost any user.
Graphics editor
In the process of using a computer, sooner or later you will encounter the need to process the image. For example, cropping an object that accidentally fell into the frame in a photograph, or making an avatar out of a photograph. In this and other cases, a graphics editor is used on a computer to work with images. Paint.NET is a good free graphics editor with a lot of features.
Work withPDF files
A large number of books, instruction brochures, etc. which are digitized in PDF format. Adobe Reader must be installed to read this file format.
Virtual disk drive
This type of program is designed to create disk images and run them virtually. For example, you downloaded a disk image from the Internet that contains a program or game. In order to open this image file on a computer, a virtual drive is required. The virtual drive virtually opens this image as if it were a real drive and a real disk. The DAEMON Tools Lite program will help you cope with this task.

Torrent client
If you haven’t encountered “torrents” yet, then you will definitely come across it again, and we assure you that more than once. The official client program is uTorrent.
Mail client
Most users work with e-mail through the browser, and not through the mail client, as it was before. This is due to the fact that the modern interface and capabilities of mail systems, as well as the speed of the Internet, allow you to do this directly. Now mail clients are used in most cases in order to work simultaneously with several mailboxes. For example, if you have several mailboxes on the Internet, then the mail client automatically checks them for new messages and loads them into the program, instantly informing you about the received letter. Mozilla Thunderbird is the email client we recommend. It includes all the necessary properties that are needed to work with mail.
Notebook
Notepad++ is a professional notepad with a lot of features - some of you will find it very useful.

Paid useful programs for a computer

In addition to the list of free programs that are necessary to work with a computer, there are also paid ones. Of the paid programs, we recommend installing the following software on your computer.
File manager
A file manager is a program designed to manage files both on a computer and on a remote server. That is, if you often move files on your computer from folder to folder, or often access them, then the file manager will provide you with convenient work. The most famous file manager is Total Commander. Although we have included it in the list of paid programs, you can use it without activation by clicking on the desired button when starting the program.
Working with CDs
For a wide range of settings for recording CDs and DVDs, a lot of programs have been released. Of all these programs, it is worth noting the Ashampoo program, which has great functionality and a very beautiful interface, but, unfortunately, it is paid. Of the free analogues, we can recommend Nero Mikro.
System Utilities
And finally, we want to say a few words about such a program as AIDA64, which provides the user with information about the installed components on the computer, perform a stability test, performance test, etc. The program is conditionally paid, since without activation it cuts off a large number of its functions, but, nevertheless, those functions that are available in free mode are quite enough to get the necessary information about components.

Analogues of system programs

Most of the programs that we described above have analogues that are initially installed with the Windows system. As you understand, the functionality of such programs is, of course, lower than those proposed by us, but, nevertheless, it is worth talking about them.
Text editor
Let's start with a text editor. An alternative, though more of a mini counterpart, to Word is WordPad. WordPad has a minimum list of functions with which you can type a text document, visually arrange it, save it on your computer, and even print it. But the biggest downside is the lack of spell checking. If this is not categorical for you, then WordPad will replace Word for you, but will not replace other Office applications.
Archiver
The operating system has a built-in archiver that works exclusively with zip archives, in principle this will be enough to complete the minimum list of tasks, but to open rar archives and other formats, you will need a separate archiver.
Browser
Windows has its own built-in Internet Explorer browser, but using it to visit WEB resources is not the best option. Yes, IE can be considered as an alternative to other browsers, but only as an alternative, not as a mainstream browser.
Audio/Video player
Watching videos and listening to music can be done using Windows Media Player, but again, this is an alternative.
Graphics editor
Windows has a very good graphics editor - Paint, it will cope with the simplest actions for image processing. In addition, in Paint you can not only process images, but also draw.
Notebook
In order to make a few notes, Notepad, which is included in the package of standard Windows programs, is quite suitable.
Burning discs
Recording and erasing discs can also be done through the system explorer, but it will not cope with more serious recording tasks.
You can tell about the list of programs that you use in the comments, sharing your experience with beginners.