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Some Free Software to keep your pc safe |
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Here is a selection of free programs that I have used and can recommend that will help you to keep your PC safe and running smoothly.
Anti-Virus I usually recommend AVG. It is effective and the antivirus-only version is free for non-commercial use. It can be downloaded from http://free.avg.com.
Firewalls (I have 2 suggestions)
Zone Alarm produce a free basic version of their firewall software. It can be downloaded from www.zonealarm.com (Look for the link to "Download the free version").
An alternative is the firewall component of Comodo Internet Security (CIS). Comodo is a leading web security company who make their full internet security software suite freely available. The firewall component is consistently well reviewed; the antivirus component less so. I suggest installing only the firewall (you get the option during the installation procedure). You can download CIS from www.comodo.com.
Both of these firewalls have to learn how you use your computer. At first they will pop up frequent warning messages asking for your approval whenever a program tries to connect to the internet. This is normal. As long as you are happy that the pop-up is a result of something you have asked the computer to do just tick "Remember this answer" and then click "Allow". The firewall will not ask about that one again and will soon stop bothering you (but go on protecting your computer). Spam Filter If your email software does not offer spam filtering you could do worse than try Mail Washer. There is no longer an official free version, but you can download an older free version from http://321downloads.com. ( Last time I looked it was on page 2).
Anti-Malware (anti-spyware / anti-adware) No anti-malware program is 100% effective. It is a good idea to use more than one so that they cover each other's "backs". There are many programs available - but be careful - there are a lot of rogue anti-malware programs, some of which which will actually install malware rather than prevent it. Here are a few safe ones... Windows Defender is Microsoft's own product. You can get it from the Download pages of their website at www.microsoft.com . Once installed it will keep itself up to date as long as you have Windows set to perform automatic updates. Defender will both monitor activity on your computer and prevent malware being installed and perform regular scans to clean up any malware that gets through. Spybot Search & Destroy is another program that will both set passive protection (Spybot calls it "immunisation") in place to prevent malware being installed and allow you to run scans to find and remove any that does get installed. Unlike Windows Defender, Spybot is not automatic and you must actually run the program each time you want to use it (always update it before anything else). You can get Spybot from http://safer-networking.org. Malwarebytes Antimalware is particularly good at removing spyware / adware infections. You can get it from www.malwarebytes.org.
Disc Maintenance Ausologics Disk Defrag is a hard disc defragmentation program that is more friendly than Windows' own offering (and a bit quicker). You can get it from www.auslogics.com. To clean up and remove temporary files from your hard disc drive use Windows' own Disk Cleanup. You should find it in the Start Menu (probably under All Programs → Accessories → System Tools).
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