This is all FREE software that is tested and reliable. Get it if you want your computers running clean and want to avoid most problems.
What you absolutely need is on this page: Internet and security software. Follow the "more good stuff" links for additional good, free software that most people can use. The cool thing is that open source and free software has undergone a quantum leap in quality in the last couple years. Much of it is now as good or better than what you can buy. That's neat. - MP
More good free stuff:
Office Applications | Graphics, Audio, and Media Players
More Internet | Utilities and Other Stuff
Internet and Security Software - If nothing else, install these!
You just need this stuff. With broadband, always-on connections (DSL and cable) and all the crud that can get onto your computers from e-mail and simple web browsing, you need to protect yourself from the outside world. It's just the way it is. I put the following software on every computer I can.
Download Firefox, install it, and use it as your default web browser.
Microsoft's Internet Explorer has had major security problems in the
past, and because it still has the largest market share it is still the
largest target for hackers. Firefox is open source, which means that
there are a lot more people looking over the way it's written to see if
there are security flaws that need correcting. Yes, the "bad guys" can
see it too, but fortunately there are more "white hat" good guys out
there who catch and fix things more quickly. First step to secure your
computer: use Firefox. |
If you use web-based e-mail, don't worry. If you use Microsoft Outlook,
download Thunderbird and use it instead. It's good, reliable, and it
works pretty much the same as Outlook. |
Everyone:
(1) NEVER open attachments unless you know exactly what they are. If you have to e-mail the sender and ask what it is, so be it. Don't trust an attachment just because you know who the sender is, because the sender might have accidentally triggered a worm that e-mailed YOU from the sender's computer.(2)Turn off your automatic preview window so that you can delete suspicious e-mail before you even view it. Sometimes the act of just viewing your e-mail can cause problems, or at least tell spammers that you do exist.
(3) Turn off automatic timed retrieval of your e-mail and use the next software (POP Peeper) instead:
POP Peeper lets you screen your incoming e-mail messages before you
even download them into your usual e-mail program. ("POP" is "Post
Office Protocol", which is how many e-mail messages are received on the
Internet.) |
If an anti-virus program came with your computer, it was probably a
90-day trial. If you don't pay the annual fee for updating the virus
data, your anti-virus program becomes more and more useless. If you
aren't subscribing to an anti-virus program, uninstall what you have
and install the free AVG Anti-Virus program. Use it. It has automatic
updates. It may not be the "best" one out there, but it's far better
than anything that isn't consistently updated. |
You need a firewall, especially if you have broadband Internet (DSL or
cable). A firewall prevents unwanted information from traveling in OR
out. Some firewalls block unwanted incoming messages only. But with the
amount of spyware and adware out there, you also have to block outgoing
messages from programs that you might not know you have running on your
computer! Zone Alarm does this. Download and install the free version
(Follow the "Zone Alarm" links. "Zone Alarm Pro" is the pay version.)
Use it! |
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For the nasty stuff that Spybot and Ad-Aware don't catch, HijackThis
will help. Unlike all the rest of the programs above, this one takes a
little work. Don't be randomly clicking and deleting things when you
run this program. HijackThis gives you a list of everything (good and
bad) that's running on your computer. Then Google becomes your friend,
as you check each thing in the list to see if it's good or bad. When
you do find a virus or spyware, there are a lot of good "white hat"
discussion boards that will usually tell you how to get rid of it.
Often they will ask you to post a log from HijackThis so they can help.
WARNING: do not be deceived if you come across websites that tell you
to download and run a special program to delete spyware! Many of those
programs are spyware themselves! Be cautious! |