Useful and necessary programs for the computer

If before computers were something inaccessible to ordinary people and used by units, now stationary computer systems, laptops or mobile devices, which also can be attributed to computers, will surprise no one. Manufacturers - tens of thousands, operating systems are hundreds, but in each of them there are mandatory and necessary programs for the computer. Let's briefly describe what is needed for the normal functioning of any computer system.

Programs necessary for computer operation

If we talk about the most necessary software, first of all, we need "OSes". We will start from the fact that it is already installed.

What is the necessary set of programs for the computer? It can be divided into several basic categories: device drivers, software packages for system protection (antiviruses), utilities for OS maintenance, applications for working with office documents, programs that provide full Internet access, archivers, packages for improving the quality of video playback or Audio, as well as specialized software, responsible for the advanced capabilities of computer systems.

Windows programs

So, let's look at the simplest programs for a computer. The list of Windows, unfortunately, does not meet all the requirements of modern systems. The thing is that after installing the most "operating system" it has a minimal set, mostly oriented towards the use of system utilities.

In fact, for a regular user, it does not represent any interest. Nevertheless, you can find something here. This applies to Windows diagnostics. But, depending on the version of the operating system itself and "hardware", not all devices can have the appropriate driver. As already understood, the effect is the partial or complete inoperability of a component. That's why correctly installing the right driver is one of the priority tasks for any system.

Drivers

What programs are necessary for the computer from this point of view? First of all, the "native" utility called DirectX. In earlier versions, it was not available, and you had to install it manually. Now DirectX is included in the standard set of Windows OS.

It is worth noting that this is a universal utility not only for diagnosing the main "iron" or some software components. Also, DirectX is a program for setting up a computer and a tool for learning the version of device drivers. With its help, you can determine whether to install a new driver, and generally, whether it is in the system itself.

Install missing drivers

To do this, you can use the standard features of Windows. For example, "Device Manager" in the Control Panel. All devices with missing or incorrectly installed drivers are marked in yellow. Using the "Properties" menu on the tabs, you can find the buttons for installing, updating and removing the driver, as well as disabling the device itself.

For example, when it is disabled, the system will prompt you to detect a new device and prompt you to install the appropriate software from your own distribution. This does not always help. If an installation error occurs, you must install the driver from the original disk, any removable media, or from the Internet if the network connection is active.

Minimum list of necessary programs for a computer in Windows

As already mentioned, in the Windows operating system the list of programs is very limited. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for an ordinary user to work with what is available immediately after installing the operating system, since many of the tools so necessary in the work are simply not available. Consider the most basic. Applications can be found using the "Menu" / "All Programs" / "Standard" sequence.

Here you will find installed utilities, as well as the folder "System", which contains the necessary programs for the computer, responsible for diagnostics, maintenance, administration and recovery of the system.

Standard Programs

As for the average user, at best it can only need four applets from the entire list (say, in Windows 7): Paint, Explorer, Notepad and WordPad.

However, it should be noted that the graphical editor and the viewer of Word documents have extremely limited possibilities not only for editing the corresponding files. These applications are not yet able to recognize some other formats. That's why it's worth installing additional software that can work with other types of files.

In addition, in the Start menu itself there are utilities such as Internet Explorer for working on the World Wide Web and Outlook Express for the simplest actions performed with e-mail.

Utilities

Among the utility programs included in the standard Windows set, there are three components that are worth noting separately. The most necessary programs for the computer (not counting the rest) are represented here: System Restore, Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmentation.

The first utility responds, as is already clear, for restoring the system to an earlier operable state (checkpoint). The second provides removal from the hard disk of unnecessary or unused files and folders. The third one allows to defragment, moving frequently called programs, files and directories to the fastest areas of the hard drive, which visibly speeds up access to them.

Microsoft Office

Speaking of what are the necessary programs for the computer, you can not fail to mention such a well-known software package, like Microsoft Office. Without him, today is nowhere.

The applications included in this package allow you to work with almost all the main types of standard documents known today, not counting some specific formats. Let's select the most basic programs:

- Microsoft Word - text editor with advanced features;

- Microsoft Excel - the editor of tables and tabular data;

- Microsoft Power Point - system for creating presentations;

- Microsoft Access - a tool for working with databases;

- Microsoft Outlook - an application for e-mail with a large functional set.

Of course, there is still a lot of everything, but it's unlikely that an inexperienced user will use absolutely all the programs presented in the standard office suite.

Antiviruses

Now go to the cornerstone. Antivirus protection has become an integral part of any system. It's no secret that there are a lot of viruses, as they say, for every taste. Here you and the viruses, the action of which disables the system, and crackers OS and passwords to gain access to confidential information, and Trojans, and computer worms, and keyloggers, etc. Just simply can not be listed. Therefore, in order to be completely confident in its security, each user should use anti-virus packages with the latest databases. It is better if the virus signature databases are updated automatically. But it already depends only on the developer and the antivirus being installed.

It is clear that in this list you can find a lot of packages. There is a definite choice to make. For example, not every free program has enough capabilities and means to prevent virus attacks or unauthorized access. On the other hand, not everyone can pay for paid applications. Here you can install trial versions, extending keys (like NOD applications), or using "hacked" utilities, although this is illegal. Which package to choose, it is necessary to decide for yourself. It is worth paying attention to the fact that professional software products such as "Kaspersky", although they provide the maximum protection, nevertheless, to a very high degree use the system resources of the computer.

However, in any case, such a program for the computer system in terms of protection is mandatory for installation.

System maintenance

In terms of services, optimizing and speeding up Windows, there are not so many tools. In this case, it is better to install third-party utilities such as TuneUp Utilities, Ashampoo WinOptimizer, Advanced System Care and others. Such packages can optimize the system "in one click" (1-Click Maintenance) and offer many additional modules.

In fact, any of these applications is a program for setting up a computer in terms of its system part. In some cases, it is necessary to install special applications that are responsible for updating device drivers or correct removal of unused ones. However, in most cases they are paid. In general, you can install such packages only at your own peril and risk. So do not particularly engage in experiments.

the Internet

"Native" Windows tool for working on the Internet (Internet Explorer) many dislike. And there is for that. We will not go into technical details. At least this browser seems too slow and uncomfortable to work with. Therefore, it is still jokingly called a tool to find and download Opera.

However, browser systems can now be found very much. This is, say, Opera, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Yandex Browser, etc. The list can be continued almost indefinitely. Here, you just have to test each application to choose the best option for yourself.

Do not forget about specialized bootloaders, which can speed up downloading files. It can be anything: from usual "Masters of loading" and programs from file-sharing networks to almost illegal programs working with torrent trackers.

Archivers

The archiver application is an integral part of the system, especially when the user actively uses the Internet, downloads applications, installs new software products from removable media, etc. It's no secret that any programs for installation on a computer are delivered in the form of an installation file Setup (sometimes with additional information files, less often in the form of dynamic libraries that are connected to work through hosts such as DX, VST, RTAS, AAX, etc.). But, as a rule, such files take up a lot of space. In order to save disk space, they are packed into special archives with a smaller size.

Once the archivers and allow you to extract all data from files of this type. The most famous ones are WinRAR, WinZIP, 7-ZIP, etc. But here, as with browsers, it is better to immediately learn all the features of the application, and only then use it for everyday tasks.

Connecting tablets and smartphones

With regard to connecting mobile gadgets, recently gaining incredible popularity, here you can use the "native" utilities that come with a smartphone or tablet. For example, for "apple" devices it's iTunes, Samsung gadgets are programs like Samsung Kies, etc.

If the software is not bundled, you can find universal utilities on the Internet that allow you to work on a computer terminal or laptop with a certain device through communication via USB or Bluetooth.

Multimedia

We can not say a few words about the playback of audio and video. Here the problem lies in the fact that not always in the system there are special codecs and decoders responsible for the correct work with files of these types. Technologies for encoding and decoding audio and video on-site are not worth it. So it's better to install the last package containing all the tools. The simplest version can be the software product K-Lite Codec Pack. This, as they say, is a universal remedy for all occasions.

However, when you set the parameters in the task, select all the components. Perhaps some of them will not be needed, but you should not take risks. Whether it is not enough, what situations can arise.

Conclusion

It is important to understand that this article provides only a brief overview of the programs and applications that are necessary for the operation of the computer or the use of its advanced capabilities. However, it should be noted that this is a basic functional set, without which no modern user can manage. Naturally, there is still a huge variety of tools that allow not only to expand the functional base, but also to gain some convenience in the work. However, as already understood, it is simply impossible to describe them.

The only thing that can be noted is the desired installation of the means of partitioning the hard disk into logical partitions. After all, if the system "flies", the information stored in the virtual partitions will remain unchanged. And after the system is restored, you can use the saved data as if nothing had happened.