The great software and hardware topic

[International Bastard]

Didn't see a topic dealing with software, hardware and pc problems. Had some questions.
-What are you guys using these days software wise? I'm interested in everything, media, downloading, optimising, browsers etc.
-What are you guys using hardware wise? Anything you can recommend?
-Have a connection issue where i can't seem to play anything online, can't get on GGPO or Kailera and the guides don't help. Any tips on settings/tweaks? I want to get back in it.
-Anything you guys want to add i didn't cover?

[Shiny]

I'm on a HP laptop with a 200 GB HDD and 4 GBs of RAM. It initially had Vista on it, but I was eligible for the upgrade to Win7. Love it so far. Funny how all my past computers altogether didn't have the RAM this laptop has.

Browser: Firefox + Chrome
Chrome seems faster, but I am used to Firefox and the addons. I'll have to look into what Chrome offers, as I love my AdBlockPlus and 1-click Weather. Why look out the window when I can look on my browser and see what it's like outdoors?

Multimedia: VLC for both music and video
I'll more than likely change back to Winamp after a while, as I've yet to download any media players outside of that. Would love to hear of a good option outside of Winamp that has skins. I'm a ree-ree who coordinates his music player to his wallpaper.

Downloading: uTorrent + Frostwire
uTorrent is still the standard for me. Frostwire is to pick up those songs that I hear throughout the day that I had forgotten about. It's the quickest option to grab a song or two in a hurry. Also interested in an alternative to Frostwire as well.

Security & Optimization: CCleaner + Norton 360 + Defraggler
I got N360 for free, so screw it. CCleaner is to clean up what it misses as far as internet cache and all that yadda. I run Defraggler near the end of the month just to keep up the speed of the computer.

Haven't dealt with GGPO or Kailera yet, but when I get a good computer controller I will attempt to join in. I also learned my lesson. All my precious data (music, 'instructional versions of games', and other miscellanea) is backed up on an external drive.

Also, hello IB.

[hebretto]

Hmmm if you can't connect even by DMZing your router then I can't figure out what might be wrong. Have you maybe tried another router to see if it works?

[The Master]

i aint no mod.... but shouldnt this be in tech support?