Top 20 Software Programs To Install On A New Computer

I just had to reinstall all my programs because I got a computer motherboard crash, which I turned into a good opportunity to upgrade my computer!

So I thought this would be a great time to evaluate which software programs are the most essential.  I have used a ton of software program, and I'm always up to date on the latest marketing software too.

So let's get started

1 Firefox

The first thing I install is firefox.  I can't stand internet explorer, and firefox has the bet add ons especially for marketing.  But I'll get to the addons I use in another post.

2 – Jingpro

I love jing.   It record your screen for up to  5 minutes, and it can easily and quickly annotate a screenshot.

Very intuitive, very simple.

The 5 minute limit is good for short training videos, but what I use it most for is delegating.   Often times it's best to talk over the screen and explain the changes you want to see using a video and audio than simply by explaining yourself in text.  Much quicker too!

By the way, I upgraded to the pro version that allows you to remove watermarking and allows you to save in mp4 instead of flv.  (Higher quality).  This is essential if you want better quality and easier uploads to video sites like Facebook, and YouTube.

3 – Camtasia Studio

Camtasia studio is the best program for recording video trainings.
There is no time limits, and it's made by the same company (Teachsmith) as jinpro.

It's the defacto leader in screen recording.

A lot of people don't know it's a pretty good video editor also.

4 – Microsoft Office

I like the templates better than anything at open office.  When I install this, I make sure to deselect any program I don't use using the “Customized Install” tab, like outlook which is a pain to remove once it's installed on your computer.

The ones I install are:

Word
Excel
PowerPoint
And publisher

I used to use expression web, but now I exclusively use wordpress and have my team make changes to any pages I have that are still in HTML

5 – Anti-Virus Software (Options)

I install Avira or Avast which are both free.  (I actually have Avast on my desktop and Avira on my laptop to create a little diversity.)

Another option is Microsoft Security Essentials,  which is also free.

6 – Malware Bytes

This is not the same as antivirus.  And way better than windows defender.  I use the free version, and I recommend you don't install windows defender which annoyingly needs an update every couple of days.

7 – Market Samurai

The bad boy of keyword research and seo.
This is the defacto tool of all the top marketers I know why because it rocks.  Ot can be a little difficult to wrap your head around, but I'll be doing a webinar on how to use it shortly.  So opt-in to my e-course above to make sure you're on my list.

Not only keyword research by tracking your rankings of your sites AND your web 2.0 properties (think hubpages/squidoo/Youtube/Press Releases/Articles/Anything!)

Plus, it has the best instant SEO competition data can you find.

Get a FREE trail of Market Samurai from the banner above.

8 – Dropbox

Dropbox is a real tie backup and sync program that's free.
It's one of those programs that just awesome at what it does.

Basically I use it to sync a folder where I store my business stuff I'm currently working on and it syncs between my desktop computer, my laptop and my iPad.  Automatically.

9 – iTunes

Ok, so this isn't so much of a business program, but I love the iTunes genius.  It works way better than a mix tape and creates an on-the-fly playlist based on what's in my library and the central anonymous database it has.

Totally rocks!

10 – Lastpass

I used to use Roboform.  But Lastpass is far superior.  Excellent for securely sharing passwords with partners or assistants also.

It's also a lifesaver when you go on vacation and end up using a shared computer!

Part 2 – Coming out Tomorrow!