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Must Use Software
for security
A good Antivirus Software. There are many good ones such as NOD, Norton, McAfee ect ect ect... Be sure to update the program and check for viruses at least monthy!
A good firewall. There are many good ones such as BlackICE, Norton, Zone Alarm, McAfee, SyGate, ect ect ect... Be sure to update the program at least monthy!
Adaware. Free Great program for searching for adware/spyware. The program is free but I recommend getting the Pro version as it comes with AdWatch which runs in the background providing you with real-time protection. Be sure to update the program and scan for adware/spyware at least monthy! Get Adaware here: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
Spybot Search and Destroy. Free. Another great program for searching for adware/spyware. It is free. Be sure to update the program and scan for adware/spyware at least monthy! Get Spybot S&D here: http://www.safer-networking.org/
Spyware Blaster. Free. Unlike the above two adware/spyware programs, this one doesnt search for them. It prevents them from ever being loaded onto your computer. It does this by blocking certain bad sites. Be sure to update the program at least monthy! Get Spyware Blaster here: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
Spyware Guard. Free. This program is created by the makers of Spyware Blaster. It offers real-time protection against spyware/adware. Be sure to update your program at least monthy. Get Spyware Guard here: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/
Spy Sweeper. Paid. This program scans for adware/spyware and offers real-time protection. It costs money but I think there is a free trial. And if you search around, you can probably find a "patch". Be sure to update the program and scan for adware/spyware at least monthy! Get Spy Sweeper here: http://www.webroot.com/
CWShredder. Free. This program only scans for the Cool Web Search spyware. The reason why you want to use this program for removing it rather than other spyware/adware programs is because most tend to forget to completly remove ALL of the Cool Web Search. They will remove some of it, but most tend to leave a couple of dangerous files. This program scans for all the files of Cool Web Search and removes them. A must use for checking to see if you are infected with Cool Web Search. Get it here: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/
FireFox. Free. Most people use Internet Explorer as their web browser when they surf the web. Well, I will tell you thats a very bad thing. IE is a bad brower with so many security holes, blulky, useless options, needed features and just plain bad. Well, I would recommend getting FireFox. It is probably the best web browser you will ever come across. It isnt bulky, has great features, great security, updated frequently, built in popup blocker that actually works (unlike IE in Windows XP SP2) and did I mention it has great security? A must get. You can get FireFox here: http://www.mozilla.org/
IP blocker. Free. If you use p2p programs such as Kazaa, Emule, Edonkey, Bit Torrent ect ect ect an IP blocker is a must need. An IP block is just that. It blocks IPs. By using a list, it blocks bad IPs. There are two IP blockers that are worth downloading. ProtoWall and PeerGuardian. Protowall is by far greater than PeerGuardian. It blocks IPS on all types of ports while PeerGuardian doesnt. Protowall is also driver leval meaning it can block connections before a connection is even made, unlike PeerGuardian. Sadly, Protowall is only available for NT based Windows operating systems. This includes Windows 2000, XP, and 2003. All you older Windows users im afraid you have to get PeerGuardian. It works, but not as good. Get Protowall from: http://www.bluetack.co.uk and get PeerGuardian from: http://www.methlabs.org Please note, you dont need both IP blockers. If you have Protowall, you are set. You do not need PeerGuardian. Be sure to update the IP list at least monthy.
IP updater. Free. If you use an IP Blocker it would be very wize to update your IP list. Cause it would be pointless blocking obsolete IPs. The best Bad IP updater would be BlockList Manager. This program downloads several IP lists, compilies them into one list, and exports them into varous programs (IP blocker, Emule, Kazaa, ZA, ect ect ect). It removes dublicates and has a lot more features than just updating the IP list. The other type of program is Bad Ip Updater. This program is very basic and only downloads one list and exports it into one location. It isnt very good as its limited, and has bugs. I recommend you get The Blocklist manager as it is way more powerfull. Get The BlockList Manager here: http://www.bluetack.co.uk/ or get the Bad IP updater here: http://www.aldostools.com/
Defragmentation. It is very wise to defrag your computer at least monthy. The built in one that Micrsoft provides isnt that great. I recommend you get a third-party one, as they are much better. Unfortunatly, many of them have to be paid to use. You could buy them, or find a "patch". Hell, you can even use the Window's built in one. It isnt that good, but it works.
Catch cleaner. Free. You may not (or maybe you do) know that Windows is famous for leaving temporary files and not deleting them. By cleaning these unneeded files you can get back lots of space depending on when was the last time you cleaned all your temporary files. Two great catch cleaners are Crap Cleaner and Clean Up. These are free and clean a good amount of useless files. Be sure to clean your computer at least once a month. Crap Cleaner can be found here: http://www.ccleaner.com/ and Clean Up can be found here: http://cleanup.stevengould.org/
XP-Antispy. Free. This is very simple program that gives you the option to turn off certain aspects of Windows that you may not want running. This program can be run on other Windows besides XP. using this you can turn off error reporting, acquiring licenses automatically in Windows Media player, disable ActiveX, disable Messaging Service, ect ect ect. A great program for disabling many hidden things in Windows. Get it at: http://www.xp-antispy.org/
DO NOT USE A EMAIL PROGRAM! If you use a Email program such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, I am telling you not to. This is one of the number one ways viruses spread. From your email using the address book. Since the emails get stored locally onto your computer, you are more prone to getting viruses. I recommend viewing your emails online such as Yahoo! The emails are stored onto the Yahoo server and they have a virus scanner. Yahoo email is free and they give you 100mbs. And if you are stubborn and have to get an Email client and want all your emails stored locally onto your computer then I recommend getting ThunderBird by Mozilla. This is the same company as FireFox so you can be sure that its good. Though I dont recommend using an Email client, you can get ThunderBird free here: http://www.mozilla.com/
Windows Update. Free. Everybody knows that Windows is full of bugs. One of the many reasons to update Windows when patches come out. Be sure to check for updates at least once a month. Get updates here: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
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There you go. Just some usefull programs that are a must need. Now, some of these programs may seem redundent but let me tell you they arent. Not one of these programs can do everything. Adaware cant find all adware/spyware and Spybot cant do it either. But by using all of these programs together, you can keep your computer 99% clean and safe.
A great site to visit for Spyware/adware information are http://www.wilders.org and http://www.spywareinfo.com/
This post has been edited by Mavol: 02 June 2008 - 05:55 PM
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