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 (http://www.symantec.com/nav/nav_9xnt/) - One of the most popular virus scanners out there. My personal choice.
McAfee VirusScan (http://uk.mcafee.com/root/package.asp?pkgid=100) - Also another of the more popular virus scanners out there.
Eset Nod32 Antivirus (http://www.nod32.com/)
Kaspersky Antivirus (http://www.kaspersky.com/)
Kaspersky Online virus checker (http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus/) - Kaspersky also offer a free, online virus check for those who don't want to buy a virus scanner (tisk tisk).
AVG Antivirus (http://www.grisoft.com/)


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 (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?lid=nav_za) - Very user friendly but still powerful. Comes in several version - including a free one
McAfee Personal Firewall (http://www.mcafee.com/myapps/firewall/ov_firewall.asp)
Norton Personal Firewall (http://www.symantec.com/sabu/nis/npf/)
Sygate Personal Firewall (http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm) - 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 (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) - Along with Spyware: S&D, a must have on your PC. Looks good, updated regularly.
Spyware: Search & Destroy (http://security.kolla.de/) - 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 (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/index.html) - 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 (http://www.microsoft.com/ie) - Out of fairness I put this here. I think Firefox is much better but IE is still the most widely used.
Opera (http://www.opera.com/) - Another alternative to IE.
Avant Browser (http://www.avantbrowser.com) - 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 (http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/index.html) - 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 appealing,
Pegasus Mail (http://www.pmail.com/) - 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.

Some decent suggestions,

Have you tried all of the ones you suggested, or if so, have you tried any others out there.

Personally I think Norton and Mcafee miss too many Viruses and other problems that some better virus programs will catch.

I have checked many Virus review websites and Norton and Mcafee no longer occupy the top 2 or 3 spots, there are other better Anti Virus Solutions around now, that outperform Norton and Mcafee, both of which ,take up much more space and resources on your computer than any other anti virus programs.

Here is my complete list, all suggestions here are tried and tested by me, and taken from other top review sites as the best.

I would never suggest Norton or Mcafee, and until you put those 2 up against the rest and actually test them out, you would understand why they fail to beat out some other newer programs.

For Spy ware protection and general help cleaning up the computer and registry, Anti Virus protection and software download websites, old and new game downloads, CD & DVD Burning help,I recommend, the following files, as I have found 1 or even 2 is not always enough, as 1 may find something the others do not, so protect yourself with several programs, if may be a pain, but a necessary one.

I have personally tested each program on this list and I had taken them from the top review sites around the net as ones already chosen as the top performers.

Spyware
Microsoft New SPyware program-Formerly Giant spyware, they bought it out.
Spysweeper
Spybot search and destroy
Adware SE
Aluria's Spyware Eliminator
Spyhunter
&
Spyware Blaster, this one prevents certain items, before they are even installed, it does not clean
Pest Patrol

I would suggest at the very least 3 or more of the above programs.

Registry and Fix and Repair programs
Fix it Utilities 5 this one has an excellent Scandisk, better than the one with your OS
Advanced System Optimizer
Ace Utilities
System Mechanic 5
Registry First Aid
Tuneup Utilities

Any 2 or more of these.

And download the Google toolbar with built in pop up stopper for your browser is good.

And a good solid Anti Virus Program or 2, updated weekly.
PC-Cillin
AVG Anti Virus
Bit defender
Etrust EZ Anti virus

Also free online Virus scans
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php
http://www.thepcmanwebsite.com/virus_help.shtml
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus
http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/antivirus.shtml

I would suggest using 2 of these.

A good defragging Program or 2
Diskeeper Lite or Even better the full Pro version
Perfect Disk
O&O Defrag V4 Professional Edition 4.0.508

Also run from Start/run type in chkdsk then let that run then type in chkdsk /f to help fix WinXP errors.

Also use the below website, that tests and reviews some of the best programs out for many

Different things, they give you side by side comparisons and rate each one in many categories.
http://www.toptenreviews.com/

If you need computer parts try this website
www.newegg.com they are the best and fastest retailer, I have ever dealt with on the net, great service, delivery and solid competitive pricing.

PC Security Checks
http://www.grc.com/

Download sites for reviews and trying out new products
http://www.Soft32.com
http://www.tucows.com
http://www.topshareware.com/
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/2001-20-0.html?legacy=cnet
http://www.download.com/

Old Games Downloads & Abandonware

http://www.the-underdogs.org/ No cost, just get a password and join for free, it’s loaded with older computer games and they rate them.

http://www.freeoldies.com/ more of an old game search engine

http://www.argosoft.com/games/dos.html strictly old Dos games

Good Peer 2 Peer file sharing Programs
These are all better and Safer than Kazaa Lite

Ares Installs 1 file that Spyware may detect, but it’s just the program file itself, so ignore it. Good solid file sharing progam.

WinMX Sometimes slower than Ares, but neither install Spyware or Adware.

Bearshare has tons of items and is fast, but it loads down your computer with Spyware, Adware and who knows what else, but for that 1 hard to find file, they may have it, but beware of all the problems.

DVD & CD Burning review, Help and Download sites
http://dvd-burning-software-reviews.com/ mainly reviews DVD software
http://www.burnworld.com/ A very thorough and complete website on burning.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/ Another huge Burning website

Also you suggested some email clients, what about Incredimail.

It runs almost like a Eudora and Ms OUtlook clone, but has so many more options and things to use than those 2, it would be an excellent choice to suggest as an email program.

Also for spyware and such, if you used only the 2 you suggested, you would find yours system most likely infected with things those 2 don't find, I would suggest, 3 or 4 maybe of the top programs available. :cool:

If a mod comes across this - could you sticky it please.

Done. :)


First, I'm going to second Firefox and thunderbird :)


A few other nice goodies:

gaim (http://gaim.sourceforge.net): An IM client that talks AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and quite a few more.
naim (http://site.n.ml.org/info/naim/): Puts other IM clients to shame. I don't know if there is a windows port. The GUI is ncurses, and leave your mouse at the door. :)

The GIMP (http://www.gimp.org) image manipulation program. Very nice.
OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org/) office suite.

TightVNC (http://www.tightvnc.com/)...

bittorrent (http://bittorrent.com/): The solution to massive file distribution. This program is _NOT_ illegal.

The Open CD (http://theopencd.sunsite.dk/): A nice compilation...

I agree 100% with Wendy on Norton and McAfee.Symantics tech support $2.95 a minute for live info.And I'm in the UK! The software slows all but 3GHZ processors.Now you know why your latest PC goes awol after start-up.Old code dressed up like mutton.New for 2005? A firewall.But hey,at $50 why worry?
And if you want it completely removed,you have to download a 'free' tool from Symantic to finish the job.

McAfee Virus Scan 9.0? Firewall dropped,but for $40 you can get McAfee Firewall Plus.A snip at the price.But not to worry,I'm sure your PC can take the resource strain!
:D

All the above is my opinion only,and in no way reflects the thoughts and views of any other members of my family or friends.They all use other products anyway! ;)

I have used the two on separate computers.One running Windows 98SE,which I use to dual-test products and apps,and the other on my slow? 2.4Ghz XP flavor.Both anti-virus product are not my cup of tea (or coffee).


After a hard day surfing the net,tired,fed up and need to relax?
Then visit the end page... http://www.mythologic.net/end

PC Cillin is an excellent Anti Virus Program, in tests I ran at the computer where I work and from reviews of it online, it found and fixed more Viruses and problems than the other top Anti Virus programs, they offer it in an Excellent Security Suite, that has many good solid programs with it, at a good price, its an easy to use program also.

I also use AVG Anti Virus, which is free, it is nearly as good as PC Cillin, both outperformed NOrton and Mcafee in my tests and many other reviews I have found on the net, it seems these 2 previous top performers have dropped the ball slightly, also Panda which use to be a top program has slipped some.

I also love Cyberlinks Bitdefender just as much as Cillin and AVG.

;)

So I was surfing on the net today, and I cam across an online spyware remover which works pretty good. The site has a few DL's that you can use to block some stuff apearently (not sure what though) and of couse a full user friendly program that you can buy.
Have any of you used this one before?
What do you all think of it? Is it good?


Spyware Guide Database (http://www.spywareguide.com/index.php)

http://www.spywareguide.com/images/title_short.gif

You know, guys, as a mail, gmail is the best out there. Just try it, when someone asks you if you want to get the invitation.

Nother free and good AV would be clamwin, very powerful and free I might add clamwin checks every single folder, registry files etc. and its regularly updated oh and forgot, its also better then what you pay for, had a friend that ran norton and other av's, well clamwin picked them all up, they were all trojans. And I mean its powerful.
www.clamwin.com, download it and update it then go for it and it'll find them if you have them.

Hi,
Did anyone mention 2 free ones?

The CWShredder below only applies to CoolWebSearch Spyware, but it does a great job with deleting it.
http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder.html

Also, CCleaner is a great free cleaner that will clean temp files, others, and some Registry entries no longer used:
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Best wishes,
fredg

Most seem to use AVG anti virus, if they use a free one.

But, AVAST seems to be the choice of many that have used AVG and now switched.

http://www.download.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10337351.html?tag=lst-0-3

fredg

I must update that first post I did with all these programs when I stop being so lazy :P

Another couple of good programs:

WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com/) - Useful little program from stopping spyware, IE hacks etc. Prompts you whenever a program tries something that could be spyware trying to change something.

Webroot Spy Sweeper (http://www.webroot.com/products/spysweeper/) - This spyware removal tool isn't free but they do provide a 30 day trial. When CNet did an "obstacle course" for the most popular spyware programs out there, this came first (Spybot S&D was second, Ad-Aware 4th).

Webroot Spy Sweeper (http://www.webroot.com/products/spysweeper/) - This spyware removal tool isn't free but they do provide a 30 day trial. When CNet did an "obstacle course" for the most popular spyware programs out there, this came first (Spybot S&D was second, Ad-Aware 4th).I used webroot on my machines for that 30 day trial, spysweeper is a great program and worth the money... money I don't have so I can't get it lol
But good none the less.
Webroot also has window washer, pretty good too and an internet accelerator which is also a good program

Have you ever tried...

DVD shrink-can get rid of the previews on your dvds
DvD decrypter
Dameon tools
Litestep- alternate shell for windows Xp and 98

I must update that first post I did with all these programs when I stop being so lazy :P

Another couple of good programs:

WinPatrol (http://www.winpatrol.com/) - Useful little program from stopping spyware, IE hacks etc. Prompts you whenever a program tries something that could be spyware trying to change something.

Webroot Spy Sweeper (http://www.webroot.com/products/spysweeper/) - This spyware removal tool isn't free but they do provide a 30 day trial. When CNet did an "obstacle course" for the most popular spyware programs out there, this came first (Spybot S&D was second, Ad-Aware 4th).Have used winpatrol for 2 yrs. And great program from stopping your home page from being hijacked in the first place as it lets you know something is trying to change your home page and asks you if its OK. Never had a problem w/my home page yet. Would not be on the net without it, ever.

I could name a million things... ehhh well not quite. But I'm tired so I'm going to list these two freebees.

Hijack This (http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/) - Sorry if someone mentioned it already. It's a free spyware remover.

And

Free utilities (undelete,etc) (http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/download.htm)

Ohh I'll throw in a site too.

www.techbargains.com

Later

KazzaLite 2.02 (no spyware / no adverts) (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=37)

AOL SPEED (Quickens Your AOL) (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=28) (recommendation - If you are using AOL, try something else)

McAfee Advert Stinger (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=1)

Rnav2003 Norton Remover (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=2)

Trend Microsystem Cleaner (anti-virus) (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=3)

Second Copy 2000 - Backup Software (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=11)

Google Toolbar (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=15)

Slim Browser - Like Internet Explorer without all the junk (http://www.techpronow.com/download/?url=&dlid=22)


I've been collecting freeware software, and I have made this list.
These programs do not require registration or $$.
They are freeware, and I have used all of them, and they are good.

There is no warranty (as with all freeware) use at your own risk.

http://sourceforge.net/
http://freshmeat.net/

I don't care what version of Kazaa you use, the files you down load from it, will eventually ruin your system and you will reformat at some point, you will regret using it, it's a great progam for files, but too many bad ones.

I use ARes, mainly for Mp3s.

Copernic desktop search is an awesome free program and you mentioned many people are switching from aVG anti virus to Avast, why switch, I found out over the years, that it takes a minimum of at least 2 Anti virus programs to protect you completely, I use both and many times one finds and catches things the other does not, so use both, also, Anti Vir is just as good, use all 3, I use it also, with no problems,

Spybot and Adware se of course.

And you can get most anything free with whatever bit torrent sites are left open.

:D

True, you must be careful with Kazaa files. But I haven't contracted a harmful virus for 2 years. Nimda is all thus far.

I use AVG 7 Free Edition and Zone Alarm.

I never use spyware protection/removal, or ad blockers.. Too much overhead, and very un-necessary if you are wise about how you surf.

I must tell you, your either the luckiest person in the world or full of crap, because some websites, can attach trojans just by going there, and how the heck can you be careful, when they come hidden in emails, websites, you name it.

I used kazaa 2 yrs also, lite version, fought it constantly, does your system run as smooth as the day you bought, do you use kazaa or surf all that much, if you do and can maintain a pefectly running system with no crap on it, then like I said, your either the luckiest in the world or full of crap, I wonder which it could be.

:cool:

It could be that I am lucky or smart.

Which of the two?

I'll tell you. My privacy settings are set to medium, I don't block cookies, I don't filter URLs, I don't use popup blockers or adware, and the biggest threat that I have had in two years is Nimda.

You asked if my system runs as well as when I first got it? No. It runs better.

I hacked the registry, and msconfig file so that 60% of the crap that Windows likes to load with no real purpose, doesn't load now. So I start with lower overhead when I first boot.

As for dodging viruses. I am not a 14 year old video game player, porn addict, or illegal software connoisseur. So just by choosing a particular lifestyle I dodge many bullets.

But, for the music, ebooks and freeware that I download, I have dogded the bullets for years just by using AVG and Zone Alarm. That's it.

If people are proned to download hazardous material, illegal material, or if they are a porn addict. Then I suggest beefing up your software arsenal with as much protection as you can find.

Oh, and another safety tip, is becarely of which attachments that you open.
If you don't know the person, or if the title of the attachment is suspicious, then delete it. Or scan it with AVG, and it will weed it out if it's a virus.

Smart has nothing to do with it, many viruses, trojans and other problems are nearly unavoidable, if you surf much at all, download files, use email, chat, or anything else with your computer.

So of course if it's true, then Lucky of course is the correct choice, also the LUckiest SOB, I have ever known, and in the 16 yrs. I have dealt with having, fixing, building, selling and playing on computers, I have never met anyone that lucky.

That's why I have questioned it, you must only visit a very minimum number of websites, and only download a select few files, either that or your computer has spyware, adware, viruses and or trojans on it, and you just don't know it, I repair computers and I run into that all the time, most people think everything is fine, and that just the one little problem that cropped up is why they call me, then I run my programs and check their computers and find out, they are corrupted in more than 1 place.

Anyone that tells me, they have not had any computer problems in 2 yrs, well, LOL, is all I can say, it's impossible, if you do much of any of what I wrote above.

I like to surf a lot, download many files, I download 100s of files a yr. probably tops a 1,000 easily, for my own use and for testing, new ones out.

And even at good sites, like Tucows, zdnet, download.com and other reputable download sites, I Have found a virus or trojan infected file, and on 1 occasion, from zdnet, yrs back, it disabled, my Mcafee anti virus, that's another reason I no longer use Mcafee or NOrton or Panda.

But anyway, I also, use chat programs, peer 2 peer, tons of email, from many sources, so I expect to have problems, but if you had visited, zdnet and downloaded the file I did and received that virus, then you would have had the same problem, the ones that did not get that problem were lucky, some were not, so you must be in the lucky category, anyone that claims being that smart is the reason is absolutely diluted and dilusional and I feel sorry that they really believe their own ego is so big, but then again, I have known a lot of men, that have that it was big, and then I found out later, that it really was not all that big as they thought, so you are probably one of the ones, that actually have a smaller one, but just either don't know it or want to admit it.

Have a good day, and this is my last post on the subject, this post, has covered it all, you did say in your post, LUcky or smart, well I guess, LUcky, LOL, yeah right. :p

Yes I would recommend avg free to anyone. Since 98 when I used win98 I have only contracted 3 viruses though. But avg weeded them out. Of course I had over 200 pieces of spyware that thanks to webroot I got out. But I keep s&d as a extra measure. But that was surfing a lot of the time. Not illegal sites or porn, just free download sites etc. oh and tucows, good dl site

Wendy-

I gave you a few tips.

Once you have downloaded 1 of your 1000's of downloads. Scan it with AVG before opening it.

While it is in it's zipped format, it is not harmful.

If you are opening downloaded files (exspecially illegal ones) without scanning them first, then you are setting yourself up for problems.

AVG has found viruses on my computer, in zip format. But none of them were active. I was LUCKY enough to scan them before opening them up.. LOL

Good LUCK with your virus problem. I will be happy knowing that I am LUCKY enough to use common sense while surfing.

BTW- It doesn't take a computer repair technician to know that viruses are inactive while they are in ZIP format.

AVG can and does find viruses in ZIP files BEFORE they are opened.

After they are opened they become active.

But if you scan your email attachments, and your ZIP files BEFORE opening them. You'll be fine.

These internet scare tactics are lame.

The only people who need to be scared of viruses, are those who fail to use common sense while surfing.



Reminds me of a story.


After a long day of work, two men enter the same bar.
One man sits down at the bar and orders a beer.
The other man orders a Wiskey on the rocks.

A young woman introduces herself to the first man, they have conversation, exchange phone numbers and promise to meet each other again.

The second man introduces himeself to a different woman, asks her to go home with him, and they have sex.

The next week both man walk into a clinic to get tested for STDs.

The first man takes his test with confidence, and leaves.

The second man is nervous, takes his test and goes home.

The first man gets his test results, he is clean and has no STDs.

The second man gets his test results and finds that he has 3 STDs.


The moral of the story. Becareful of who (or what) you take to bed.

If your going to sleep with random people (or download random programs), use a LOT of protection.

Wisdom goes a lot further than protection though.

Certainly viruses are possible for anyone. But the chances of getting a virus is far less if you use wisdom.

Like I said, two years 1 virus (it was only nimda)...

The year before these last two years I had a lot of viruses. I just learned from my mistakes.

Yep, couldn't have said it better, zip files are not open, they cannot be opened till you open them, if they are decompressed and they contain a virus you are hereby screwed. If you take precautions to scan them first before you open them then you are protected from the virus, if its in the file. Common sense will tell anyone who's had at least one virus to scan everything coming in, matter of fact if the computer starts acting a little abnormal, I make sure I'm updated and then scan. One step in the fight against such stuff is to use Firefox while browsing. Oh and I've had a few bad ones, almost got hit by (mydoom) virus as well. Only three in all those years, and well from taking measures to protect myself. All three were java bugs basically

I have also heard that McAfee misses viruses, but... I have used McAfee antivirus for a lot of years now and have cleaned viruses out of a lot of other people's computers with it and frankly I still believe it the best.

I have never had a virus get past McAfee and a lot of them tried. Your settings make all the difference in the world and mine are set to the max.

My humble opinion

Another good cleaning program is window washer. Its made by the same company as Spy Sweeper and is very good at cleaning the unused stuff on your computer.
You can download it at www.webroot.com

Defragmenter:

Executive Software's Diskeeper (http://www.diskeeper.com)

It's got a free trial.

For real image mapping try GoogleEarth (http://earth.google.com/). It's awesome!

For real image mapping try GoogleEarth (http://earth.google.com/). It's awesome!!

You bet, great advice and for an added treat go to GoogleMoon http://moon.google.com/

This one is the same as Google earth, but with the moon. If you bring the magnification up all the way on any part of the Moon, Google has a little surprise built in.

Windows Print Screen feature is junk.
I've tried several and have now used Print Screen Deluxe for many years.
I love it.

Adobe PhotoshopElements.

It's got many of full blown Photoshop's features but is only $89. Blows Paint Shop Pro away, in my opinion.

Here's a comparison of it and full Photoshop (http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshop/f/elementscompare.htm).

I save everything... so use Outlook Extract to keep my OE folders cleaned up

From the site:
"OutlookExtract is a tool that helps you to extract your e-mail messages and Attachments contained in Outlook and Outlook Express either as Mime (*.eml), as Mapi (*.msg) or decoded as Text or Html Files. You can also convert them to Pdf format."

I tried a bunch before buying this one. It works great.

http://www.outlookextract.japler.com/index.htm

I have been using Admuncher (http://www.admuncher.com/) for about 18 months and I no longer suffer from website adverts of any kind !


Ad Muncher Usage Statistics for v4.6 Build 10270
Adverts removed by Ad Muncher: 819,369
Approximate bandwidth saved: 6,401 MB
Counter started: August 19, 2004

AS you can see I have 'saved' over 6 GIG of download just by not having adverts, makes for a lovely clean surfing environment.

It quite happily works with all browsers and hardly uses any resources.
I use this with Firefox with the adblock extension, its sweeeeeeet

This is for Networks of 5 or less Cpu's
Network Magic

I thoroughly tested it out on 4 different networks, as I work on computers,
My own has 2 Wireless laptops and 2 hard wired, and it shares printers, files and tracks who is on the network, its an excellent program.

It does work with my win98se cpu, but they don't include win98 in their ads.

If you have an older Router, you may have to call them for some help, but it has worked with the one's I have tried so far, it's an extremely easy progam, and it's free if you have AOL.

www.networkmagic.com

OK, I'm going to update this post. So I'll combine all suggestions into one (probably with how recommeded them to). Any other suggestions - keep them coming.

Ben,whilst I agree with you in that it looks a good program (Admuncher),you have to pay after one month,as it's shareware.As I use Firefox,and Mozilla 1.7.12,there is a "free" adblocker for Firefox.Yes I know Admuncher is supposed to work in any browser,but I hardly use IE.Any thoughts?

I could not do without a Windows Explorer replacement program,

The one I like is PowerDesk or Explorer Plus, which is a Powerdesk clone, they are great for running your entire library of files.

Also Picture finder Por of Free Picture finder, 2 great programs for finding and retrieving pics off the net, you type in the name and it finds them, I use it for my Movie and Tv Star Photo collections.

I use Frostwire for downloading Music, I tested it against Kazaa, Limewire and a couple of others,it won out in speed, reliability and overal search results and for being safe to use.

If you enjoy making slideshows, then try ProShow Gold
For Pc Fix it and or Utility programs, then try Advanced System Optimizer, Ace Utilities, Tune Up Utilities any of these 3 or all of them are great to have.

For adware/spyware
Adware SE
Spybot
Spysweeper
Spyware Doctor

I like to use on occasion to scan my system with Emco's Malware Destroyer and Bazooka

For Anti Virus Protection
Nod32
Ewido
PC Tools Anti Virus

Free Online scans are Panda,Trend Micro and Kaspersky and Ewido has an excellent Malware scanner.

Ben,whilst I agree with you in that it looks a good program (Admuncher),you have to pay after one month,as it's shareware.As I use Firefox,and Mozilla 1.7.12,there is a "free" adblocker for Firefox.Yes I know Admuncher is supposed to work in any browser,but I hardly use IE.Any thoughts?
Nez, as I mentioned I also exclusively use FF with Adblock and admuncher still picks up adverts ;)

There is a very easy way around the one month thing, just reinstall ;)

Other useful programs I use for different things.
For Bit torrent downloads I have found ABC downloader as a solid and easy to use program

For Building web pages, I always use Ms Frontpage, its easy to use and as long as your webhost allows Frontpage access, then your set.

Wallpaper Master, a free and a pay version
Aymail is an excellent mass emailing program
Your uninstaller is the best uninstalling program, I have found,the only one that uninstalls while in safe mode if you have a problem program.

And just for playing music with a small simple excellent program, Winamp 2.81 was voted on the net as the best Music player around, you can find version 2.81 for free download.

A for your backup program, I like GEnie backup, so easy to use.

That's it for now.:)

Wendy,
I've installed PCcillin 2006 and have two free AVG's 7.1-375a690 & 7.1-375a691. The 690 is 21Meg and the 691 is 15Meg. Which one would be more appropriate to run with PCcillin, which do you advise, or dosen't it matter. AND

Which do you think is the better firewall PCcillin or Zone?

Keith

ZoneAlarm is better than Pc cillin, I have used and tested both, cillin came with my motherboard, I never really liked it at all.

Right now after years of using a firewall, I reformatted and went without one, and just use a number of Anti Virus and Spyware protections and so far after 3 months, no problems from not using a firewall, but either AVG should work.

I think the best anti virus programs are Ewido, Nod32and Kaspersky.

Also their onlin scans along with Panda and Trend, free scans online should be periodically used.

fredg mentioned it once, but recently switched to avast antivirus, has a nice look to it and has a good record of catching viruses.
http://www.avast.com/

Check it out at the virusbulletin website, avast is not all that good, maybe as a 2nd line of defense but not as your no.1

I know people will argue with me but its not a good idea to have multiple programs doing the same job running at the same time... there will be people that swear they don't have a problem but from experience 1 works better for me.. IMO... I run Zonealarm security Suite 6 but I turn off the spyware and virus scanners and I use spyware sweeper and avg to take care of them.. they have never ever let a virus or spyware program install yet

This is not a download program but it has save some friends. Back up your register manualy by going to regedit make sure you are at top of register go to file / export and save file ( I like something like regrestore(datesaved) to restore m but it has save some friends. Back up your register manualy by going to regedit make sure you are at top of register go to use file / import. It has worked when reg restore failed.

Free remote computer access: www.logmein.com
(they have a paid service, but the freebie works wonderfully)

I'm also a big fan of a productivity tool called Rainlendar. If you don't have access to a calendar/appointment/diary program like what's in Outlook, Rainlendar is way cool. I love setting it up to show this month, last month, about 25% transparent (on WinXP), opaque on mouseover, and to pop up reminders for events I have to remember. It works great standalone, but there's also a server piece (I'm running that part on a Linux machine) that you can use to make all the Rainlendars on all your machines show shared events.

I have access to Outlook calendar, but I have rainlendar configured to go into the appropriate Outlook profile and pull events there into Rainlendar. Works great.

Rainlendar is localized, unicode aware, and there's Windows and Linux versions.

http://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php

While Clamwin is free and stuff, it is updated more regularly, which means it can get to viruses faster, BUT how well does it keep them off?

Norton and McCaffee are really bad.

NOD32 is by far the best, although not being rated high - the south african government use it and they haven't had a virus intrusion in the last two years or so - or so my bud who works for them tells me :P

Norton and McCaffee are really bad.

NOD32 is by far the best, although not being rated high - the south african government use it and they haven't had a virus intrusion in the last two years or so - or so my bud who works for them tells me :P


I agree!

Make sure you have no cookies in your puter and always run defrag

I frequently visit a number of sites that feature only software that is free. My favorite is Free Internet Security Software (http://freeinternetsecuritysoftware.com). This site has done a great job of finding the best free internet security software of all types. The free products from Comodo are especially amazing. We have totally replaced expired trials and expired commercial software such as Norton Antivirus with the free programs this site has collected. The web master has also answered a number of questions for me about product selection. This is the must visit site for free internet security software that can totally protect your computer!

Bitdefender anti virus is FREE and I've used it since 2002, and it has never let me down.

Wendy225 thanks for the information it helps me a lot to find which is the best antivirus well, as you suggest I try one of them

Can't think of anything new, cause most of it has been named already. But I'm going to throw a vote in for Avast. I used to use McAfee but they have become too big for their britches, and at this point I can't even install it cause it's having a fit over some security setting and I have never figured out what it wants. (I've done this offline, and turned everything on my computer down/off.) And Norton just stinks. I liked their old stuff but not anything w/in about the last 10 years. It many times locks up the computer, and it's obtrusive as heck. It doesn't play nice with other things.

The Avast has worked for me, is unobtrusive, and I've never had to turn it off for anything. I too have gone without an "official" firewall and just keep the Netshield and Web Shield on in Avast. Haven't had a problem.

And rather than disagreeing with Tommy, I'm going to agree with him that I don't like having more than one program to do the same job, IF it runs in residency. i.e. I won't use more than one firewall, AV, etc. However, I have two spyware ones (Ad-Aware and Spybot, the second of which I believe is much better) and they don't mind each other, I assume because they're not running unless I tell them to.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (http://securitynewsfromthenet.blogspot.com/2008/03/malwarebytes-anti-malware-105.html)

ThreatFire's ActiveDefense technology (http://www.threatfire.com/) does, and has proven to provide up to 243% more protection when combined with traditional AntiVirus products

RaccoonWorks - Download (http://www.raccoonworks.com/Downloads.html)


Network Speed Test software

You can test your local area network Speed..


Regards,
ABB

Honestly I didn't read through all the previous posts,, but an amendment to orignial,

Virus Scanner- AVAST Anti-Virus

Internet browser- Safari


I find avast to be a pretty low resource hoger :)

Data Recovery Tools - Recuva
Handy Recovery
I suggest Recuva because it shows more data and, and it seems to find more bits of deleted files than Handy Recuvery..

Avg antivirus is a good one along with malwarebytes antimalware

For mozilla Firefox try flashgot it is dead useful when it comes to audio and video

A Good Security Setup. (Which is what I have + All Free)

Antivirus = AVG Free 8.0

AntiSpyware = Malwarebytes' Anti Malware, SUPERantispyware

Firewall = Online Armor 3.0

*for unsure apps I use run sandboxed with "sandboxie"

My typical setup includes Auslogics Free Disk Defrag (open source, works on every platform, is fast and efficient) Malwarebytes v1.34, Spybot S&D 1.6.2 and a corporate edition of Symantec AV or McAfee or TrendMicro. And my personal favorite, XP Cleanup batch file that scans and removes anything and everything CCLeaner and those others can't / don't get rid of, download it here:

https://www.box.net/shared/fdmuimtvr1

Copy DELTREE to C:\Windows\System32 folder then edit the batch file as you see fit, double click to run, for full time cleaning, toss into the system startup folder and have it run every time the computer boots up.

Also, my favorite cleaning tool, copy the following and create a new shortcut on your desktop:

%SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:35 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:35

Run it and check ALL the available boxes and remove any removable drives and sit back and watch it clean!

It's amazing that everything he stated to do, the geek squad will charge you $49.99 to do as an "optimization" on your computer. Half the crap he mentioned isn't even scratching the surface of optimization. Perhaps it's just best if he boxed his computer up and took it back to the store as he clearly doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks. I mean hell, steps a,b and c are all the same steps, just in a different location on his list, ?! You want a firewall, invest in a router. Want something that opens/decompresses Zip files, the feature's already built into windows! Come on! Stop installing more software that does what's already installed by default on the system! The man seriously has no clue!

BUT! If you want to add additional software, then go to my website and follow the steps there and I can personally guarantee you'll get a screaming fast computer. My techniques are tried and true and the batch files available there are constantly being updated for maximum effectivness. But don't blame me if you can't follow directions.

Most of this is already covered here: https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/computers-beginners/frequently-ask-questions-about-computers-233870.html