My Favorite Free Programs

Anti-virus/anti malware solutions

Alot of customers have come to me with some very stubborn viruses and malware problems. Most of them are using some sort of anti-malware program. When a virus strikes and they run their anti-virus, they either detect nothing, or they detect the malware, but the program will not clean it out of the system. This includes alot of high dollar, big name products, as well as some of the often used free solutions. There really isn't one program out there that can do it all, so customers need a couple of prgrams that specialize in certain aspects, and do it well.

1. Malwarebytes Antimalware. www.malwarebytes.org

This is a small program with a small computer resource footprint. It doesn't hog memory like other programs. It downloads fast, updates fast, and is very efficient when rooting out problems. It is my number one goto program for eliminating malware. The one possible negative is that if you want real time scanning, you need to pay for the pro version, which may be worth it to you.

2. Superantispyware. www.superantispyware.com

This is another free program similiar to Malwarebytes. It's a goody. One of the best aspects of this program is that it is portable. You can download it, update it, then copy the program folder to a usb drive. Then take that usb drive to an infected computer and run the program from the USB drive without having to install it to the infected computer. Like Malwarebytes, it's free unless you want real time scanning. If you do, the price is reasonable.

3. Microsoft Securty Essentials. www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

A new, and free anti-virus real-time scanner for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Its getting good reviews. In my own testing, it is missing things that Malwarebytes is picking up, but it is a good "second opinion" program that runs full time, without hogging system recources.

4. Online Scanner. Eset www.eset.com/onlinescan

Online scanners are pretty good if, for whatever reason, you don't want to download and install a program to your computer. This is one of the better utilities. Perhaps the computer you are scanning isn't yours and you don't want to install something you don't have permission for from the computer owner. This does require the account you are logged on to, to have administrator privileges. A online scanner is a good "second opinion"

Reigistry and File Cleaner, System Utilities

1. CCleaner. www.piriform.com

Outstanding file cleaner and registry cleaner. This may speed up the boot process somewhat and overall system speed. Free to download and use. They take donations if you are really impressed with their product. Another good program on the Piriform site is Reccuva. Free utility to recover deleted files.

2. Smart Defrag. www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html

A defrag utility with more options then Windows own Disk Defragmenter. Free to download and use.

3. AutoRuns. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

Great utility to shutdown programs that you don't want running on startup. It is a more enhanced system utility that operates much like the Microsoft System Utility Configurator (msconfig). It's an advanced tool, so you may want to play with it only with the help of an advanced computer user.

4. Sisoft Sandra System Information and Benchmarking tool. www.sisoft.net

Want to know what type of memory you have installed? What to know more about your hard drive or motherboard or other internal parts without cracking open the case? This tool has it all. It's a fabulous tool for learning about your own computer, and it's benchmarking tools will allow you to see if changes you have made actually did you some good. Its an advanced tool, but it's a tool you can use with little knowledge.

I have all these outstanding utilities on MY computer and I run them in the place of other more expensive and system hogging programs. Only Microsoft Security Essentials runs real time, so they are not taking up system recources. If you have question about why we don't use other programs you may find beneficial, well, maybe we do, or maybe we did before finding better. Perhaps you got something that others should know about that we haven't heard of. Contact us and lets talk about computers. Keep in mind all the utilites in the world won't make up for the fact that you may have

1. Insufficient memory

2. A bad hard drive

3. A poor internet connection

4. Terrible browsing and downloading habits

5. A computer that isn't downloading updates regularly.