Take Out the Trash

On occasion I am asked about what protection software is used at the beach house. There are 5 programs that are the foundation of ongoing maintenance for Windows PCs. This quintet works to keep the network creep free. They are:

AVG Free Edition

SpyBot Search & Destroy

AdAware SE Personal

SpywareBlaster

CCleaner

Another program that is extremely important is the web browser. Internet Explorer is not favored here in the land of flipflops and Hawaiian shirts. Too many popups and their popup killer is as annoying as the actual garbage they "control." Several browsers used in the past, Opera, Flock, Sea Monkey, etc., are good. This said, go download Firefox. After installing it go ahead and let it install the needed plugins when they show up. Usually, there are only 3 or 4 needed and they install quickly and it's pain free. These are utilities that take the place of Microsoft's ActiveX which is the root of a lot of browser security problems. Is this my favorite web browser? No, but it is my favorite browser that works inside Windows. Linux and FreeBSD using the KDE platform are awesome. Anyway, use Firefox. It's quick, user friendly and has a ton of addons that can be fun.

The above listed software is free to download. The links are all to a great download site, MajorGeeks. The individual companies will take donations or have upgrades that are affordable. Don't go fooling around with just any spyware protection. Nowadays most of it IS spyware. But, it's your computer so if you want to junk it up with a "rocket science" mentality, by all means go ahead. This combination of tools and routine maintenance will keep most machines in good running condition. Don't shrew at me about Norton Antivirus. It's a waste of money. If you use McAfee you probably won't be able to find your way back to this page. McAfee sucks. If AVG upsets you for some weird reason then try TRENDMicro.

I will recommend one more tool and have saved it until last because you may want to purchase the full version. They have a free version, but it is like the above software, you have to manually update it. It's EWIDO. There is a 14 day trial period that permits full usage. Please update before scanning anything. Ewido has saved several machines in the past year due to its ability to find deeply embedded nasties. BTW, Grisoft, the parent company of AVG Antivirus, recently purchased Ewido. Please remember you download at your own risk.

If you have a problem and can't seem to make it go away, there are other sites listed in the Cybersouth Links List. It is up there at the top of this site right under the picture. If all else fails or you have questions concerning proper installation of this software, email me.

Hope this helps. IMHO, anyone caught writing spyware or virus garbage should be hung by the neck until dead. Let 'em drop to a quick stop.

"If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done."
-Scott Adams