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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 now 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" and never needs to be "registered" or "renewed". Note that Microsoft's "Windows Defender" antivirus program has become obsolete, so uninstall it as well as any other spyware / adware software that you may be running. Security Essentials actually disables Windows Defender. It's OK to leave other AV software such as Malwarebytes installed on your computer that is not real time.
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. It's OK and even recommended to also install Malwarebyes (FREE edition) antivirus software on your computer. The free edition is not real time.
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 "renew" it or pay for anything.
Once installed, Security Essentials will scan emails as you receive them, scan executable files when you open them, scan websites for viruses as you visit the sites, etc. That's what "real time" antivirus protection is all about.
Additionally, once in a while the green tent icon (located in the task bar in the bottom right hand corner of you desktop) will turn orange, notifying you to perform a manual scan of your computer for viruses. You might ask why would this be necessary since Security Essentials already protects against viruses in real time? This is because last week you may have downloaded a newer virus that Security Essentials missed because Microsoft discovered and wrote the fix for it only 2 days ago. That's why it's important to perform manual "quick scans" periodically.
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Always have AT LEAST TWO backups of your critical data! Counting the data on your computer, that's 3 copies in total. Shockingly I am always encountering customers who have all of their critical data (such as irreplaceable family photos and documents) stored on just one hard drive. Understand that hard drives eventually fail. Hard drives are the most common part that fails. But hard drive failure isn't the only disaster that can happen. Besides the obvious threat of fire or theft, there are many other "perfect storm" scenarios that can occur which can essentially cause you to lose some or all of your data. That backup that you always thought was in tact might be corrupted. You might accidentally replace your "new" files with your "old" files. If you use the Windows XP "Files & Settings Transfer Wizard" you might forget to create the floppy disk needed to migrate your data.
NEVER rely on online backups alone! In March of 2009 it was reported that Carbonite lost 7,500 customers data. I have personally heard stories of other online backup companies essentially losing customer's data.
I suggest periodically burning backup CD's (or DVD's) of your most critical data, whatever that may be (such as emails, jpg's, tax documents, word documents, etc). Store some of your CD's off site at a relative's house or in your safe deposit box. Then create an exact clone of your hard drive. And finally you should schedule automatic and periodic backups of your data. Read more about scheduling weekly backups. Also see this tutorial.
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 constantly create a new file for "My2009TaxSpreadsheet". As you are working, create a new file called "My2009TaxSpreadsheet-2" then later create another new file called "My2009TaxesSpreadsheet-3", etc. This could be a life saver if you have spent hours, if not days working on one file.
CLICK HERE for self help on backing up your "documents and settings" or "user" folder.
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How do you find where certain key words are on a web page without manually straining your eyes to scour over every word?
Windows has a built in tool that does this for you automatically. Just hit "Ctrl" + the letter "F", then type in whatever word it is that you're looking for. In the example below I typed in the word "reluctant" and Windows automatically scrolled down to the first occurrence of the word and highlighted it with a green background...
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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? Will cleaning your computer's registry really make your computer run faster?
It is the opinion of some 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 - You don't need Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office to create, open, edit and save Microsoft word document files. AbiWord does essentially the same thing. Save $159.00 (Amazon's price as of 7/16/09) by using AbiWord for free!
OpenOffice - You don't need Microsoft Office or Microsoft Excel to create, open, edit and save Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files. OpenOffice does essentially the same thing. 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!
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.
Key Finder - View your 25-digit Windows CD product key. Useful if you have lost the "certificate of authenticity" sticker that is usually found taped to the side or underneath your computer. If your hard drive ever dies, you must have your product key to reinstall Windows or be prepared to repurchase Windows!
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.
Easeus Todo - Free drive cloning software. Hard drives eventually fail. An Easus Todo clone backup will make replacing the drive so much easier!
GFI Backup - Free software to backup your critical data.
FileShredder - Need to permanently delete sensitive files from your hard drive so that they cannot be recovered? File Schredder overwrites files multiple times with random data to the point that even data recovery software cannot recover the files.
G-Parted LIVE CD - Free partition software for advanced computer geeks. Like Partition Magic only free, and it repartitions your drive without having to reboot. Note that Vista and Windows 7 have repartition capability already. Use this software for Windows XP only.
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. That's right. You don't need Nero or other programs to burn CD's.
CD Burner XP - Free application to burn CD's and DVD's with Windows XP. Again you don't need this software to burn CD's with Windows XP, however you might find this program easier to use. 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 but you don't need to...
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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GET RID OF AOL's BROWSER!
Are you still using AOL? Why??? Stop using and uninstall AOL's slow, bloated interface / browser! I recently installed AOL 9.5 on a brand new installation of Windows. It took a ridiculous 30 minutes to install the monstrosity of AOL files and advertisements. Then it was slow, sluggish, caused freeze ups (because AOL is both a CPU hog and a bandwidth hog), caused pop-ups to appear, and if that wasn't enough it also hijacked and slowed down other browsers on the computer!!! Understand that you can set AOL as your home page on ANY browser and you can access AOL email from ANY browser. Do yourself a huge favor by GETTING RID OF AOL IMMEDIATELY!
Furthermore you don't need to pay for AOL. AOL email is free. Just visit mail.aim.com for AOL's free, convenient e-mail account transfer tool which automatically 1) copies your address book from your old e-mail account to your new AOL e-mail account, 2) notifies everyone in your address book of your new AOL address, and 3) forwards e-mails sent to your old e-mail address to your new AOL mailbox.
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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, "scareware" 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 almost certainly 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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YOUR QUESTION: Besides running anti-virus software on my computer is there another program that can help block a virus in it's tracks?
ANSWER: I recommend a FireFox add-on called "NoScript". You must use Firefox (not Internet Explorer) to be protected by NoScript.
Once installed, when you visit a webpage that has scripts (which may or may not launch viruses) you can decide whether to allow or disallow them. Keep in mind that even every day sites like Facebook use scripts. Blocking certain scripts will very often block legitimate web page content. Other times blocking scripts will block advertisement images and advertisement pop ups. If and when you visit a suspicious web site that you think may contain a dangerous script (which may install a virus on your machine) NoScript blocks that script so that you can simply navigate away from the page. Antivirus software is only about 95% effective, so NoScript is an added line of defense against viruses that picks up when antivirus software might fail. The downside is that NoScript is dependent on you the user knowing what web page or script to say no to or just ignore.
Once installed, each time you visit a new web page that detects scripts, you will see a bar appear below your Firefox browser,
with an "options" button located in the bottom right hand corner. The "options" button will continue to appear until you click to allow or disallow each script. For example when I tested visiting www.NFL.com I had to click the "Options" button 4 times to accept 4 different scripts before the "Options" bar finally went away. The important thing to remember is that you do NOT have to click to accept or deny each script when the "options" button appears. If you see all of the web page content that you need to see then just ignore the "options" button.
If you are still having trouble figuring out how NoScript works, there are several YouTube videos about it that various people have posted. Give NoScript a chance for a few weeks and you'll get used to it.
NoScript in not a program. It is a browser add-on, which means that you will not find it under XP's "Add Remove Programs" or Vista / 7's "Programs and Features". If you decide that you don't like NoScript you can disable or uninstall it by going to TOOLS > ADD-ON'S
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ANSWER: If you can listen to it, then it has been downloaded to your computer. The trick is knowing where to look for the file.
First change your folder options (located in your "Control Panel") to "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" and uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types". These changes are made under the "View" tab.
If using Internet Explorer and Windows 7 or Vista then look in C:\Users\[User Account Name]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
NOTE: Do not type [User Account Name]. Instead type your unique account name.
NOTE: You will have to manually copy and paste in the location because Content.IE5 is a hidden administrator account folder. Otherwise if you navigate down to C:\Users\[User Account Name]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\ the folder "Content.IE5" will not appear.
In the Content.IE5 folder you would look around inside other folders for a very large file. Note that the file name will be a randomly generated name like KYWG7RW. It will not be the name of the song you are downloading. Copy and paste the suspected MP3 file to your desktop, then rename the file extension to .mp3
NOTE: To make things easier try cleaning your temporary Internet files before playing and then looking for the MP3 file.
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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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Here's 2 reasons to use FireFox instead of Internet Explorer: 1) Virus authors target the Internet Explorer browser more often. 2) Internet Explorer passwords are encrypted. Firefox's are not. Very few people ever back up their cryptographic key. This means that if their computer ever becomes unbootable (due to hard drive failure, etc) then their stored Internet Explorer passwords will be lost. Hopefully they wrote down or remembered those user names and passwords that they use to log in to various web sites!
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Should I buy a desktop PC, a laptop or an "all-in-one" computer? If portability is not important to you then definitely buy a desktop because it should last a LOT LONGER! Mid or full tower desktop computers also use standard parts (such as hard drive or power supply) which are cheaper to replace if they ever fail. Just remember that heat fries computer parts. Laptops cram a lot of hot parts into a confined area. I say never spend more than $500 on a laptop. Anything more is just too much to spend on something that is not designed to last!
Conversely, desktop computers are well ventilated and therefore it is very uncommon that the motherboards, RAM and CPU ever fail on a desktop. Like the energizer bunny, desktops just keep staying in service for a long long time!
Avoid all-in-one computers (computer located inside the monitor). These computers have a tendency to overheat and fry within a year or two because too many hot parts are crammed too close to each other. Because the parts are all tied together, if a part fails you're then forced to replace the entire main circuit board, which is very 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.
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.
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For the average computer user, I say don't ever 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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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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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.
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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Do you have an older version of a certain software that just plain doesn't work now that you are using Vista or Windows 7? Before you run out and pay for the latest software upgrade, try installing a "Virtual PC" (AKA a "Virtual Machine"). In fact I actually edit this web site with an old software called Microsoft FrontPage using a Virtual PC on my Windows 7 computer! FrontPage is NOT compatible with Windows 7, but by installing a virtual machine this has allowed me to continue using my old software as I always did with Windows XP.
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?:
Since 7/31/09