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YOUR QUESTION: Is there a good FREE antivirus software that I can use? Yes. Microsoft Security Essentials.
If you use your computer to access the internet then you need "real-time" antivirus protection. What is "real time"? "Real time" means that it protects your computer all the time, including as you open emails, and as you surf the Internet - - not just when you manually run a scan of your hard drive every once in a while. You want to stop viruses in their track BEFORE they infect your computer, and that's what "real time" antivirus software does.
Beware of other free antivirus software that A) is NOT real time and B) has annoying pop ups that try to get you to pay for their software. I am no longer recommending Avast to my customers because I believe their software borders on being "adware" by the way that they aggressively try to get you to pay for their software with pop ups. Microsoft Security Essentials NEVER "expires".
Microsoft finally woke up and realized that some consumers have been switching to MAC's because of A) the vulnerability of the Windows operating system to viruses and B) the extra cost of having to pay for antivirus software. So Security Essentials was born.
NOTE: Don't run two real-time anti-virus software programs at once or they may "compete" with each other and cause problems such as sluggishness, crashes, and false positive virus alerts. Therefore if you have an old expired version of McAfee, Norton (or other anti-virus software) installed on your computer then you should uninstall it, then install Security Essentials. Also note that Security Essentials does everything that Windows Defender does, so just remove Windows Defender as well.
FREE REAL TIME ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Security Essentials - Released by Microsoft in late 2009, it's FREE and easy to install anti-virus and anti-spyware software that doesn't have to be "registered", and doesn't display pop-ups that try to get you to pay for anything.
SCAREWARE?
Lately I've been hearing ads for sites like DoubleMySpeed.com. Upon visiting their web site, I found NO mention of any prices. I would later find out that they charge $39.98 for a one year subscription for their "Registry Cleaner and Optimizer" and $29.95 for their virus and spyware remover (presumably for 1 year). Let it be known that there are many FREE registry cleaners such as C Cleaner, as well as FREE anti-virus software products including Microsoft Security Essentials. At the DoubleMySpeed website you are instructed to download their software, which presumably will detect problems that slow down your computer. Just for fun I decided to test their software on a BRAND NEW installation of Windows with all of the most recent Windows updates and service packs. It found 167 ERRORS!!!!!!!!!!!! I ask how can a company that sells a software that finds 167 errors on a brand new system be trusted? It appears as though they are trying REALLY HARD to make you think that your computer has problems. Furthermore, as discussed further down this page, some experts have determined that registry cleaning causes more harm than good.
BELOW: DoubleMySpeed found 167 "errors" on a brand new installation of Windows XP
Registry cleaners can be dicey. There are no guarantees that a registry cleaner will save the day. If a computer is slow, my first suspicion is virus infections -- NOT registry issues. Furthermore it should be noted that any anti-virus software will address malware issues that exist in the registry. If you have "given up" and are on the verge of reinstalling Windows, my recommendation is to run C Cleaner only as a last resort AFTER running multiple virus cleaners such as Malwarebytes, Superantispyware, Spybot Search and Destroy, TDSS Killer, F-Secure Blacklight, and Sophos anti-rootkit because no anti-virus software is 100% perfect. Note that usually it take a professional to properly and completely rid a computer of viruses. Often viruses must be manually removed, with the virus damage then manually repaired.
NOTE: Tech contacts of mine also reported similar issues with DoubleMySpeed, with one showing 205 errors on a 100% fresh installation of Vista. Another reported 195 errors on a fresh installation of Windows XP SP2.
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What do you need to do to optimize and maintain your computer? Click Here for instructions.
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Is it necessary to clean your Windows XP registry? NO. Will cleaning your computer's registry really make your computer run faster?
Contrary to some companies (that are trying to SELL YOU a product) it is the opinion of Microsoft techs that the registry should be left alone, and all too often cleaning the registry causes more harm than it does good. CLICK HERE if you wish to read in more detail about this topic. If your computer has become REALLY slow, often a Windows "repair install" or complete reinstallation of Windows is the real solution if manual tweeks cannot fix it. If you do choose to clean your registry, C Cleaner is the most trusted registry cleaner, it's FREE and is also believed to be the mildest cleaner available. Be sure to create a restore point FIRST before cleaning the registry. It might be best to hand pick just only a few suspect registry items that get identified by C Cleaner. In conclusion, the registry is a "NO GO" area for even intermediate computer users, which is one more reason why the registry should be left alone.
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Stop paying for software! There's loads of great FREE "open source" software out there. Here's just a few....
AbiWord - Like MicroSoft Word. Save $159.00 (Amazon's price as of 7/16/09) by using AbiWord for free!
OpenOffice - Includes spreadsheet software like MicroSoft Office. Save $290.49 (Amazon's price as of 7/16/09) by using OpenOffice for free!
Gimp - Like Adobe PhotoShop. Save $589.99 (Amazon's price as of 7/16/09) by using Gimp for free!
GFI Backup - Free software to backup your critical data.
Celtx - Script writing software like Final Draft. Save $189.99 (Amazon's price as of 7/16/09) by using Celtx for free!
Ubuntu - Free Linux based operating system. Perhaps the operating system of the future that puts MicroSoft out of business?
J-Zip - Like WinZip only free. Save $39.99.
FileUnlocker - Can't delete files or folders? Try this free software first. Otherwise the Windows "command prompt" usually does the trick, although it requires familiarity with DOS commands, which most people don't know how to use.
DVD Ripping Software - "Ripping" basically means copying contents (of a CD, or in this case a DVD) onto your computer.
Smart Ripper - also rips DVD's.
AoA Audio Extractor - Extract and save just the audio portion of a movie file, such as a YouTube video that you can save via http://www.savetube.com - note that you may need to rename the saved movie file extension to .flv
CD burning software - This feature comes standard on all Windows XP computers! Learn how to use it.
CD Burner XP - Free application to burn CD's and DVD's with Windows XP. Save $48.00 (Price of Nero on Amazon as of 3/22/2010).
Anti-Virus Software - see Security Essentials above...
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Don't fall for Apple's Quick Time scam! If you try to SAVE an MP3 file found on a website, then you get prompted to PAY for QuickTime Pro...
Click "Save As Source" then "Buy Now" and you are directed to pay $29.99 for Quick TIme Pro...
Actually you DON'T need to pay for anything! Your browser allows you to easily save MP3 files. While still at the URL where the MP3 file is located (example: http:www.palisadesrepair.com/sound.mp3 ) simply click the "File" tab at the top left of your browser, then click "save page as". That's it!
Nice of Apple to withhold this information from you!
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YOUR QUESTION: I found some "freeware" on a website. It looks promising but how do I know for sure that it's not going to install a bunch of adware or viruses on my computer?
ANSWER: If the software downloads from trusted sites like www.Download.com , www.SourceForge.net , www.FileHippo.com , www.majorgeeks.com or www.cnet.com then it's probably safe. These trusted sites actually test and review software before they will list it on their respective sites. Please note that on these sites some software is free and some is "trial version" or "evaluation version" software. This is noted in the software descriptions.
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How do you know for sure if your computer is fully protected from viruses and hackers?
START > Control Panel > Security Center > Firewall, Automatic Updates, Virus Protection should ALL be set to "on".
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Avoid these new all-in-one computers! I'm getting reports that these computers have a tendency to overheat and fry within a year or two. Because the parts are all tied together you're then forced to replace the entire main circuit board, which is costly. Or if the monitor goes bad you can't separate it from the computer and throw it away as with a desktop computer monitor. Stick with desktops first then laptops.
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For the average computer user, I say don't encrypt folders. In the event of an unrecoverable hard drive crash, you will lose all of your encrypted data if you didn't previously backup your cryptographic key. Most computer users are unaware that they need to back up a "key" or certificate while logged on as the administrator of the encrypted folder(s). Usually data can be recovered off of a computer that won't boot (due to a Windows system that is corrupted beyond repair), buy keys and certificates cannot be created and recovered from an unbootable computer. Without that previously exported key or certificate the encrypted data is unreadable! This article explains it nicely if you wish to read in more detail. If you really want to encrypt a folder then consider using TrueCrypt instead.
This is the Windows encryption method that most users should avoid....
Right click a folder > Sharing & Security > General Tab > Advanced Button > Encrypt contents to secure data
Once encrypted, the text next to the folder turns green....
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To best protect your computer and data from a crash you should 1) create a drive "image" backup or a "clone" of your drive and 2) set your computer to "incrementally" backup your data to a secondary drive, which constantly saves new and modified data changes. If all of this sounds too complicated you should AT LEAST just back up your "documents and settings" folder (XP) or "users" folder (Vista) data to an external hard drive. Most programs save documents inside these folders by default. You will notice that these folders also include your desktop items. CLICK HERE for self help on backing up your "documents and settings" or "user" folder. Or you can manually hand pick important files to copy to a secondary drive.
To protect important files from corruption as you are working with them you should rename the file after perhaps each hour of work. For example you would rename "My2009TaxesSpreadsheet" as "My2009TaxesSpreadsheet-2" then later as "My2009TaxesSpreadsheet-3", etc.
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Do not post your main email address anywhere on the world wide web (including on web pages, Craig's List ads, Ebay ads, blogs, in chat forums, guest books, etc). If you must post it, use an alias email account instead (such as Gmail, Yahoo, etc) that you don't mind having to abandon if and when it gets engulfed by spam email. Programs known as "spam bots" are constantly scouring the Internet for new valid email addresses, to which junk email can be sent. Once an email address is posted for view on the www it can only take as little as a week or two before you are getting absolutely devoured with junk emails and viruses.
Instead post your email address in graphic format (as an image) so that only human eyes can view it as in this example (below). It also helps to disguise the letters so that more advanced spam bots cannot read it....
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TIP: Thinking about opening up your monitor to see if you can fix it? Don't do it! Even after you disconnect the power cord to the monitor, it still retains a lethal amount of electrical change that can kill you. Ditto for the small power supply boxes found inside of computers. These power supply units also hold lethal amounts of electrical power (AKA "charged capacitors") even when the unit is shut off and the power cord is physically disconnected! Some parts inside laser printers also hold dangerous amounts of electricity. So don't open up and "operate on" a power supply unit, monitor, or laser printer. |
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Do you turn your computer on and off a few times a day? It's better to leave your computer on because the act of physically shutting it on and off shortens the "lifespan" of your computer. Perhaps you may wish to only turn your computer off when you go to bed? Some businesses actually leave their computers on 24 hours a day. |
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TIP: Every time you start up your computer it runs a basic test of the essential hardware components needed to resolve (or "boot") to the desktop. The results of that test are usually signaled by a beep or beeps that sound during the startup of your computer. |
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When you start up your computer do you hear a different series of beeps? Those beeps give clues as to what specific part is not working (whether it be CPU, memory chip(s), keyboard, etc), and the "beep codes" vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. On many (but not all) computers you normally hear 1 or 2 short beeps each time your start up your computer, and that tells you that the essential hardware components have checked out fine. However if suddenly you hear a different series of beeps, this is just one likely indicator of some sort of hardware problem. The problem could be failure of a major internal part or it could be something simple such as a book left sitting on top of your keyboard that is pressing down on a key.
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QUESTION: I don't want to buy Norton Ghost. Is there a way to schedule automatic and periodic backups of my data?
YES: Schedule weekly backups Also see this tutorial.
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TIP: How long do hard drives last? If you have a drive that is 5 years old, does that mean it's probably on it's last leg? Should you replace it? No. Statistically if your hard drive is a lemon, it usually fails within the first two years. After that, statistically you're "out of the woods", and with each year there's only an 8% annual failure rate. So even if your hard drive is 5 years old now, statistically there's only an 8% chance that it will fail this year. So just continue to back up your data in anticipation of that eventual drive failure. Drives spin about 120 times per second. They will fail eventually! That's why you MUST back up your data no matter how old your computer is. |
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TIP: Are you using an older version of a certain software that doesn't seem to work as well as it used to now that you are running it on a newer version of Windows? Before you run out and pay for the latest software upgrade try this: Select (highlight by clicking once) the program's start icon or shortcut icon, then right click and select "properties" as shown below, then click the compatibility tab, then check "Run this program in compatibility mode for" and then select an older version of Windows. If for example you are using a version of the software that was released in 1999 then you might try selecting "Windows 98 / Me". Click "Apply" and see if your software runs better. You can always come back and uncheck this compatibility mode change. In this example on my Windows XP computer I'm having trouble with an old version of Adobe PhotoShop that was released during the Windows 98 era. This tool may or may not work.
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Select and right click:
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Did you know:
SquareTrade did an analysis of 30,000 new laptops and concluded that 1 in 3 laptops fail in the first 3 years. Cram a bunch of parts that get hot into a confined space and that's what happens. For that reason I say stick with desktops if you can. Definitely avoid all-in-one comptuers.
Is there an easy way to rid my computer of all the extra, unneeded programs that came bundled on my computer when I bough it?:
http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/removes
Since 7/31/09