Antivirus Software
Not as good as Nortons and other commercial software AVG is a free package from www.grisoft.com and provides a good start.

Another source of free software is the German AntiVir to be found at www.free-av.com/antivirus/allinonen.html.

Virus Help
If you need information on how to get rid of one of these nasties or check on the lates warnings and patches to guard against a new species ther is no better site than www.symantec.com. Some of the worms attack your computer ports and if the issue is serious enough got http://grc.com to to have your security checked.

Test Your Antivirus Software
Provided by EICAR, an international consortium of experts, this test file will quickly demonstrate the abilities of your antivirus software.
Log onto http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm

If you are technically minded or understand different mailing techniques test your AV software by going to: http://www.declude.com/Articles.asp?ID=99

Firewall Software
This type of software is a must these days and Zone Alarm stands out in my book. Available from www.zonelabs.com again at no cost. Another product particularly suited to notebooks because of its small size is Kerio Personal Firewall 2 available from www.kerio.com and is also amongst the best.

Test your Firewall
You can see how good your security is by using an excellent service provided by http://grc.com once you have installed it all.

Their Leak Test utility is excellent and test attempts for a program "getting out" of your computer. Just like a Trojan Horse would. It is worthwhile reading their comments before using this tiny piece of code. But it does provide the "final" proof of security of your system. Log onto http://grc.com/lt/leaktest.htm and then run it. As part of your health test please run Shields Up!! and select all available tests in turn.

Spam Manager
Having used this program from its inception I can vouch for its excellence. Mailwasher from www.mailwasher.net lets you view your mail before downloading , deleting if you wish and bouncing it back to the sender if need be. It also checks a range of spam or blacklist database on the net, takes care of these automatically and works like a charm.

Spyware and Adware
Use Adaware to clean up your system, freely available from www.lavasoft.nu .As statistics suggest 98% of those connected to the internet have intrusive software on their computers.
Spybot Search & Destroy from www.safer-networking.org/ is also an excellent tool.

Spy Sites Data Base
Use SpySites from Camtech to control Internet Explorer's permission levels in the restricted zone - a feature not made clear by Microsoft. Down load this free software here.

For a whole smorgasbord of tools check out the listing at PC World or check out the SpyChecker site.

Pop-up Stopper
Don’t you hate having dozens of windows spawned while visiting a web site- I do! Pop-up Stopper from www.panicware.com stops all that for good.

Cookie Stopper
Many such programs exist but Cookie Wall from www.analogx.com is perhaps the best. This company has for many years developed excellent software so I do not hesitate to suggest it to you.

Don't Get Hijacked
This free program sits in the background until something tries to change a setting in Internet Explorer. An alert box then pops up to warn you of the change. You can choose to keep the new setting or go back to what you had before. Browser Hijack Blaster monitors and protects against changes to the following:

Your current homepage
Your default homepage
Your search page
Browser helper objects (BHOs), which are often used as spyware if you recall one of my articles.

There isn't much to the interface. Indeed, the only option you can adjust is whether you want the program to stay minimized in the system tray when you boot up.
Unless you like being manhandled by every rogue program you meet on the Net, let Browser Hijack Blaster and Spyware Guard add that extra layer of protection.
Free from www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html

Pest Patrol
An excellent resource covering all kinds of malicious programs. Check it out and start perhaps with www.pestpatrol.com/pestinfo/ This site is loaded with information and useful tools so just keep digging till you find the information you need.

CHECK YOUR OWN BROWSER
Don’t for one minute think that your browser is not giving detailed information about you away. Yes, while you are on line.
To see what it is telling the world just follow this link and run all the checks. You could be shattered!
http://www.gemal.dk/browserspy/

INTERNET DOWNLOAD MANAGER
LeechGet is nicely designed and very informative. LeechGet is free for personal use and has more features than most managers. It works with IE as well as Opera, Netscape or Mozilla (even Firebird). Log onto www.leechget.net/ for the download.

Startup Programs
Yes you can dig around yourself but it is nice when somebody makes that task easy. A number of informative sites tell you all about it and here I suggest a few for you to have a look at:

www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm#Select
www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
www.blackviper.com/WinXP/strangeservice.htm
All the answers you need should be found amongst these.

An indepth site provides an encyclopedic list called
BUGS, GLITCHES & STUFFUPS and is well worth a visit if you have problems with spyware and hijacking of your computer or installed software.
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/Darnit.htm

A great list of free or very affordable software can be found at
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Downright_pages/downright.htm
Well worth a visit as the tool section alone covers things "essential".

File Compression -ZIP
A very nice "zip" program rated at five stars by most download sites comes from www.ultimatezip.com/download.htm. Again it is freeware. Or you can try Zipcentral from http://zipcentral.iscool.net/ which is also free and highly regarded.

So there you have the start of an excellent resource list which best of all is free to you.
Cant’ beat that price. Use these wisely and your computer should love you and make your life much easier too. You too will be a good housekeeper.

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