Guides, category explainers and tool decisions
16 setup guides, 11 category explainers and 82 tool decision pages covering how to choose software for a new PC.
The main list answers what should I install. These pages answer the harder questions: in what order, why this one instead of that one, and which advice is worth ignoring. Every one of them is written around a decision rather than around a search phrase.
Program details in the tables come from our directory data. The reasoning is editorial, and the About page explains how the list is put together and how to correct it.
Setup guides
| Guide | What it answers |
|---|---|
| New PC setup order | A working sequence for a fresh machine: updates, a browser, a password manager, a backup, then everything else. Order matters more than the list. |
| Reinstall checklist | What to capture before wiping a machine, and the 24-hour sequence that gets it back to working without losing a licence, a bookmark or a file. |
| Remote work machine | A work-from-home setup that survives a bad connection: local copies, a real mail client, a remote path and a backup that does not depend on the office network. |
| Privacy-first setup | Four changes that matter and a long list that does not. How to reduce what a new PC reports without ending up with a machine that cannot log in to anything. |
| Developer machine | Terminal, editor, version control, then runtimes only when a project asks for them. The minimum setup that handles most local work without accounts or subscriptions. |
| Avoiding bundled installers | The download portals, fake update buttons and pre-ticked extras that put unwanted software on a new PC, and the four checks that stop them. |
| A backup you can restore | The three-copy rule, the difference between sync and versioned backup, and the one five-minute test that tells you whether your setup works. |
| Free vs paid | A practical line between free tools that fully solve a problem and the three situations where paying is the cheaper option. |
| Older PC tune-up | The small set of changes that genuinely help an ageing machine, and the category of software that makes it worse while claiming to fix it. |
| Checking a download | What an official source actually guarantees, what it does not, and a short verification routine you can use on any site including this one. |
| Antivirus decision | The old advice was to install an antivirus immediately. Here is what changed, what independent labs actually test, and the few cases where a second opinion still helps. |
| Moving to a password vault | A practical migration from passwords saved in the browser to a real vault: export, import, the five accounts to change first, and the recovery plan nobody writes down. |
| Browser privacy settings | How to test your own browser, the three defaults worth changing, where blocking breaks sites, and why fingerprinting is the part a setting cannot fix. |
| Opening archives safely | ZIP and RAR files are how files arrive, and also how a lot of bad files arrive. What 2025's 7-Zip advisories changed, and a routine that costs ten seconds. |
| VPN or mesh network | Both get called a VPN. One changes who carries your traffic; the other connects your own devices. Here is how to tell which question you are actually asking. |
| Free creative toolkit | Start from what you want to make. A small, defensible set of free creative tools, with the trade-offs reviewers keep pointing out. |
Category explainers
| Category | Programs | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Browsers | 4 | The browser is the app you use more than all the others combined. Pick it on purpose, not by default. |
| Files & Organisation | 6 | Windows Explorer is fine until you need it to do something quickly. These are the tools that fix that. |
| Media, Recording & Capture | 10 | Nothing on this list asks for your email address, installs a toolbar, or tries to sell you a codec pack. |
| Graphics & Design | 7 | Professional-grade image and 3D tools that happen to be free. None of them require a subscription. |
| Documents & Notes | 8 | Read, write, and keep track of things locally. None of these want a login before they will open a file. |
| Communication | 6 | Chat, mail and calls. Prefer the ones that encrypt by default and let you leave with your data. |
| Privacy & Security | 10 | Four habits beat any paid product: a password manager, two-factor authentication, encryption for the files that matter, and updates installed promptly. |
| Developer Tools | 12 | A working machine in nine installs. Everything here is free, and nothing phones home with your source code. |
| System & Hardware | 8 | The tools you reach for when a machine is slow, full, or running too hot. All of them read first and warn before they touch anything. |
| Backup & Sync | 5 | A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a backup. Pick one tool from this list today, not after the drive fails. |
| Network & Remote | 6 | Reach another machine, move files between them, or find out what is actually travelling over the wire. |
Individual tool decisions
82 programs have their own page with a straight answer on when to install them and when to choose the alternative:
Firefox, 7-Zip, Everything, VLC Media Player, ShareX, GIMP, LibreOffice, Sumatra PDF, Obsidian, Thunderbird, Signal, Bitwarden, VeraCrypt, Visual Studio Code, Git for Windows, Rufus, WizTree, Syncthing, Tailscale, RustDesk, Malwarebytes, WireGuard, KeePassXC, HandBrake, Audacity, OBS Studio, Blender, Joplin, Notepad++, Docker Desktop, Brave, Vivaldi, Google Chrome, PeaZip, Q-Dir, Bulk Rename Utility, WinMerge, mpv, Kdenlive, Shotcut, Flameshot, Greenshot, Krita, Inkscape, Paint.NET, IrfanView, XnView MP, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, PDF24 Creator, Calibre, Zotero, Discord, Telegram Desktop, Zoom Workplace, Element, Cryptomator, Proton VPN, Mullvad VPN, O&O ShutUp10++, BleachBit, Windows Terminal, Microsoft PowerToys, Node.js, Python, DBeaver Community, PuTTY, WinSCP, AutoHotkey, Ventoy, HWiNFO, CPU-Z, CrystalDiskInfo, CrystalDiskMark, Revo Uninstaller Free, FreeFileSync, Duplicati, Restic, Backblaze Personal Backup, AnyDesk, FileZilla Client, qBittorrent, Wireshark
Where the opinions come from
Some of these pages cite independent reviews, audits and surveys. The sources page lists every one of them and explains how we paraphrase and link to published work.
How to read this page. How to read this page. Platform, licence and publisher details come from our directory data. Where an independent review, audit or survey is mentioned, it is summarised in our own words with the source named and linked; our /sources page sets out that policy. The recommendation, the trade-offs and every 'skip it if' line are our editorial judgement. We do not run benchmarks, publish measured performance figures or host installers, and every download link goes to the publisher's own site. If a detail is out of date, our About page explains how to tell us.