Statistics Research uses computers primarily for computing, documentation and presentation. From my personal experience and for my personal research purposes, R and LaTex are the most powerful and flexible tools to achieve everything I need in these two categories.
1) [$200-$300] upgrade the memory of the computer to at least 1GB (2-4GB recommended)
2) [$200] Add MS office products (quick fix for teaching, service, research communications)
3) [$100] Add Adobe Acrobat (full package)
4) If it is a cheap option, an external hard drive is nice to have for future back-ups.
When waiting for the new computer: download the latest antivirus softwares.
Antivirus:http://www.columbia.edu/acis/software/nav/
Pestpatrol: http://www.columbia.edu/acis/software/pestpatrol/
After receiving the new computer.
Install the antivirus pacakges and turn on windows firewall.
Connect to the internet and install the following applications.
1) [Free] Download MikTex from http://www.miktex.org/
2) [Free] Download and install R from http://cran.us.r-project.org/
3) [S/N in Email] Download and install WinEdt (for LaTex and for R) http://www.winedt.com/
4) [Free] Download ghostscript and ghostview http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/
5) [Free] Download and install a package allow you to use WinEdt as GUI for R
http://www.statistik.uni-dortmund.de/de/content/einrichtungen/lehrstuehle/personen/ligges.html#R
Beware: the installation might be tricky. Follow the read-me carefully.
6) [Free] Download and Install WinZip from
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