I thought it would be a good idea to get a list of useful programs that we could keep here. If a mod comes across this - could you sticky it please. It would be quite helpful. I'm bound to have missed some programs, so if there is some that you think should be on this list - post here or PM me and I'll add them to the list.
With all these programs, there is no right or wrong one to use. Many of these programs are free or at least will offer evaluation periods. Try a few of them and see which one you like the best.
Virus Scanners
If you don't have a virus scanner on your PC - get one and fast. New viruses are released every week and some scan spread all around the world in a matter of hours. The news nowadays is constantly filled with talks of new viruses trying to do this and that. The best way of putting a stop to them is to have a virus checker constantly running on your PC. Here are a few to select from:
Norton Antivirus - One of the most popular virus scanners out there. My personal choice.
McAfee VirusScan - Also another of the more popular virus scanners out there.
Eset Nod32 Antivirus Kaspersky Antivirus Kaspersky Online virus checker - Kaspersky also offer a free, online virus check for those who don't want to buy a virus scanner (tisk tisk).
AVG Antivirus Firewalls
Firewalls are another great way to stop many threats out there on the internet today. A firewall will only let programs send/receive if you say it can. This way you can make sure that your internet browser can access the internet, but any nasty spyware that sneaks in won't be able to. Windows XP comes with a built in firewall but if you don't have XP, or want more control, consider the following.
ZoneAlarm - Very user friendly but still powerful. Comes in several version - including a free one
McAfee Personal Firewall Norton Personal Firewall Sygate Personal Firewall - Free for personal use
Spyware Removal Tools
Do you keep getting annoying adverts popping up while surfing the internet? Does your browser keep setting your homepage to some rubbish? Well then you have some spyware on your PC my friend. Try downloading one of these bad boys to get rid of it,
Adaware - Along with Spyware: S&D, a must have on your PC. Looks good, updated regularly.
Spyware: Search & Destroy - Another great spyware removal tool.
Combined with Adaware, your PC should be adware free.
Also check out the sites for McAfee, Symantec (Norton) etc. for Spyware removal tools as well. You will have to pay for these ones I'm afraid though.
Internet Browsers Firefox - Unless you have been hiding under a rock somewhere, you should have heard of Firefox. It's a free internet browser that is rapidly taking away market share from IE. It's faster, safer and has a number of nice extras like themes and extensions.
Internet Explorer - Out of fairness I put this here. I think Firefox is much better but IE is still the most widely used.
Opera - Another alternative to IE.
Avant Browser - Before Firefox, this was my browser of choice. It is actually just a wrapper round IE adding some extra features to it like tabbed browsing.
Email Clients
Fed up with Outlook Express? Well why not try on one of these email clients for size.
Mozilla Thunderbird - Firefox's sister program. Lovely email client with tonnes of features. Like Firefox you can download extra themes and extensions to make the app even more appealling,
Pegasus Mail - Some nice features like allowing you to OK attachments before they are downloaded from your email server.
I'll add some more useful programs on here later, but for now - this will do. Some linux programs may also follow I guess. Finally, sorry for being so bias towards Firefox/Thunderbird. As you can tell I'm not Microsoft's biggest fan.
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