Vista clean install confirmation

[pally01]

Hi to all. Before getting into the meat of my query, I'd like to say that this site and these forums are truly excellent. Good advice, well-written etc. I am very glad to have found PC Mechanic.

Now, on to my question. Last night, I completed my first build of a p.c. and it booted into BIOS without a problem on the first power-up! I am very happy that I made it this far on the first try. I solicited advice on another forum on this site regarding the components to use, and followed the advice closely. I'm running Asus P5B Deluxe, X1650 Pro vid card, Seagate 7200.10 250 gb, Antec Sonata II case.

Anyways, I am installing Vista Ultimate O.E.M. and have read through the forums to gain a handle on how I think I want to approach this. Please let me know if these steps are correct:

- run Vista install disk.
- do not upgrade chipset drivers (I read here somewhere that this caused issues)
- install latest X1650 driver
- install the firewall available from Sphinx (the Vista firewall isn't very robust?)
- install virus protection. I could use some input here. Another thread recommends Trend Micro. Are there any robust anti-virus makers that are free?

Please comment on anything I missed, wrong order of steps etc. I am very eager to begin the install but will wait for good advice from here!

[ME-GEEKGIRL]

Hello and Welcome to PC Mechanic

Grisoft AVG 7.5 Free (http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/) offers Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).

Zone Alarm Free Edition (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?lid=dbtopnav_za) Easy-to-use firewall blocks hackers and other unknown threats. Stealth mode automatically makes your PC invisible to anyone on the Internet.

[glc]

AVG 7.0 is discontinued and ZA is not Vista-compatible yet.

[ME-GEEKGIRL]

Yes AVG 7.0 is discontinued but they now offer the 7.5 version for free. All you need to do is d/l AVG 7.5. Double click to install, and it gives you a repair option. No need to uninstall 7.0

I am using those both AVG and ZA on my Vista with no issues :rolleyes:

Download Zone Alarm Windows Vista (http://en.utilidades-utiles.com/download-zone-alarm-windows-vista.php)


Sorry the above link showed 7.0, but it lead you to 7.5 version. I apologize and also fixed it

[pally01]

Thanks for the input, glc & ME-GEEKGIRL.

I have completed my Ultimate installation and have installed AVG too. Didn't get too far with Zone Alarm and have Sphinx on instead right now. Will try Zone Alarm again and see what the issue may be...

So far my p.c. build and Vista install have gone extremely smoothly! Many thanks to all on this site!