CNET TV

Many of you are getting new PCs these days, either as a gift, or just because there's a shiny new operating system out there. But once you get it fired up and the operating system installed, it's time to populate it with good software. Don't just take all the dreck off your old machine people. Use this as an opportunity to start fresh. Let me give you the seven essential pieces of software for your new PC.

First, there's security. You need an antivirus app, and it's not something you need to pay for. CNET's Download.com gave AVG Free Antivirus edition five stars out of five. And if you're not a big company, it won't cost you a dime.

Now that you're protected, it's time to browse the Internet. Don't just go with the Web browser that came with your operating system. There's Opera, and Google Chrome, and Firefox, and so many other options. And you know what? I'm not going with any of them. I recommend Sea Monkey. Why? Because it has the Firefox Web browser, but it also bundles e-mail, an IRC client, and Web page editor as well. If IRC and Web editing doesn't matter to you, then maybe go with Firefox and Thunderbird for e-mail. However, to get the most bang for your byte, I say go Sea Monkey.

Next, you need to tell all your friends of your experience on your new computer. So get an IM client. On Windows, I recommend Pidgin. For Mac use Adium. They both are free, open-source multiservice clients that work great.

Next, it's time to save you a few hundred bucks. Don't go out and drop dough on Microsoft Office. Open Office from Openoffice.org is better than it's ever been. I use it daily for word processing, spreadsheet manipulation, presentations, and more. If you're an Excel superuser, you may have issues with it, but for the average Joe, it's going to do everything you need--for free!

Productivity is covered. Now for some entertainment. For that, you need VLC media player. It can handle almost anything you throw at it. Have DVDs won't play in that piece of crap software that came with your PC? VLC will handle it. Music? Any format you can think of. And it's got that magic price you love.

Two more and we're done.

Now you need a graphics editor. How else will you put your friends heads on celebrity bodies. For Windows there's nothing better than Paint.NET. It's free and powerful. For Mac? It's tough. I like Acorn, which is free to download but $50 to keep. For free that stays free, try Seashore, which is based on the GIMP engine, or Skitch.

Finally, one last security piece of software. Antispyware. You can go with a cocktail of Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destory, Windows Defender, and so on. That's not a bad idea, but if I was backed up against a wall and forced to pick just one, I'd pick Hijack This. Trend Micro has given us one of the most powerful malware removal tolls you can find, and it's freeware.

Now there's certainly many other apps you need, such as registry cleaners, torrent downloaders, FTP clients, and so on, but they start to stray into niches that vary for different types of users. I can say without a doubt that these seven programs are essential for you to install on every PC, no matter who you are.

And you could also get a free Magic 8 Ball Yoda. I admit it's a bit beat up, but that's why we call it a "lame prize," right? So post your answer to the trivia question in the comments below and cross your fingers that your name will be drawn.

Oh, and someone asked that we start posting the answers to the trivia questions. Duh. Why didn't we think of that. So the answer to last week's Worst Downloads question was Alien Communicator.

Best of luck this week!

A MiFi is a nifty little device you can get from Sprint or Verizon here in the States. It receives a cellular data signal and then rebroadcasts it as a Wi-Fi connection.

However, one annoying thing is that when you plug it into a USB port, it insists on acting as a modem instead of a Wi-Fi access point. This means that you can't charge it from your laptop and share it the data connection. I ran into this issue at an airport when I wanted to charge the MiFi and share with my colleague, but I couldn't find an electrical outlet.

Thanks to Allison Sheridan at the NosillaCast Podcast for the solution.

Since the MiFi is a router, you just need to reconfigure it.

Log in to your MiFi at 192.168.1.1 and click on advanced, and then on config file.

Download the configuration file. Knock the .sav extension off when you save it.

Open it in a text editor.

Right near the top of the file you'll see an entry called routeroverusb. Change that bit from a zero to a one.

Now save the file.

Go back to your router screen, browse to the config file, and upload the modified file.

Your MiFi should act no differently when plugged into your USB port than when it's not, except it will still charge.

This only works on the MiFi 2200. If you're in Europe, you may have a different model. For those folks, Allison suggested getting a charge-only USB cable, missing the pins for data communication, preventing your MiFi from acting all modem-like.

Tom and Rafe discuss life with Windows 7, Entourage, Seagate hard drives, Ubuntu and more.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

These 10 videos from CNET TV cover a range of useful tips for Windows 7 users, including how to make a system repair disc, how to customize the Start menu, what some of the best hot keys for the operating system are, and more.

There's also advice on how to upgrade from either Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7, how to fix Ethernet driver problems in VMWare, how to burn an ISO directly from the newly enhanced Windows Explorer, and how to get to the jump list from your left mouse button.

Windows 7's calculator is packed with features. Who knew?

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Some of my personal faves we haven't yet turned into videos. Desktop junkies will love that you can now set up a desktop wallpaper slideshow. From the desktop, right-click and choose Personalize, or go to Appearance and Personalization in the Control Panel. Click Desktop Background at the bottom, and change the picture location to the folder you want. Alternatively, you can choose images from across multiple photos. Unfortunately, the Aero Glass taskbar color won't change to complement each new slide, but you can set it to rotate images as often as every 10 seconds.

I can't vouch for its efficacy, but another trick is that Windows 7 includes a monitor color management tool which photographers and graphic designers are sure to appreciate. You can get to it either through the Screen Resolution window's Advanced options, then clicking Color Management, or going to Run and typing DCCW.

If you right-click on a program or a shortcut launcher, you can now pin it to either the Start menu or the Taskbar, which should save you from having to run the program to get it onto the taskbar. Another functional redo has been visited upon the Calculator. There are new views for Programmers and Statistics, and there are new features for quickly doing unit conversion, date differentials, and using templates to create customized finance calculations.

There are far more Windows 7 tips and tricks than these, of course. If you have a favorite, tell us in the comments below.

Every three months we corral Seth Rosenblatt to forage through the latest downloadable software and come up with a list of the worst. Why? Because Seth loves a challenge. And you people love "Top Worst" lists. It's all about the schadenfreude, isn't it?

Anyway, this Top 5 still has a lame prize, so get to watching, and then return here and post your guess in the comments. We'll draw one winner from the first 10 people to get the answer right.

I tried reinstalling VMware Tools, but nothing worked. Nothing, that is, until I tried this handy tip I found on Dave Taylor's Web site. The problem is in a VMware configuration file. Let me show you how to find and modify it to make your Ethernet work.

Shut down the virtual machine. Even if it's suspended, I recommend firing it up and shutting it all the way down.

Now you need to find the virtual image of Windows 7.

It's likely in Documents, in a folder called Virtual Machines.

The image for your Windows 7 is likely called something like Windows 7.

Whatever your image is called, if you're sure it's the right one, control or right click and choose "Show package contents."

Now find the file that ends in .vmx.

Right or control click on that file and choose "Open with." Then choose Text Edit, or whichever text editor you prefer.

Once the file opens in your editor, scroll down until you find these four lines that start ethernet0.

You're going to add a fifth line.

Type ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"

Now save that file and close it.

Go restart the virtual machine.

You should now have the ability to surf the Internet.

Chris Mitchell from Muninetworks.org joins us to discuss Net Neutrality and who should own the pipes.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

ISO images are files that contain an image of an entire disc. Usually, you download them from the Net and burn them to a CD or DVD to make an install or boot disc.

Windows 7 makes it easy to turn ISO files into discs.

Let's say you've downloaded a lovely ISO of the Linux operating system Ubuntu. If you burn it to a CD, you can boot off the CD and experiment with Linux without having to mess installing it.

Here's what you do.

Put your blank disc in the drive.

Double-click the ISO file. It will be listed as a Disc Image File under type.

Select the proper drive letter.

Press Burn.

And sit back and let it burn.

When you're done, you'll have a proper CD you can boot off of.