Keep Your PC and Yourself Safe for Free

I'm constantly amazed at the vast number of people who are online without software to keep their PC and even their lives safe. Most are casual users who, I assume, are thinking, "I won't be online that long and, besides, the software is just too expensive for me to buy." What else could they be thinking to take such daring risks online? If a hacker can get your email address and associate it with you, the person can get other information about you. Although many people have switched to high-speed connection or wireless connection, the same things can happen to those people that have happened to those on dial-up. Hackers can find you within seconds of you logging into the Internet.

I must admit that in order to find what you need to stay safe online, you must first be online to find those websites. It's a "catch 22" situation. The manuals that come with your brand new PC do have a small section where the manufacturer tells you about software they suggest but it's always the ones like McAfee and Norton Utilities which will cost you anywhere from about $29 to $50 to have and maintain. Don't get me wrong. Both of these companies have excellent software. They're just too expensive for what I can afford and I bet there are quite a few who are like me. What I use to feel aggravated about was that there should be some decent free software out there somewhere that would suffice my needs. And there was! I just didn't know about it because I didn't know where to look.

You must have been told somewhere along the way that you must have a good anti-virus program before going online. As I mentioned before, both McAfee and Norton Utilities excel in this area. But Grisoft also knows their stuff when it comes to anti-virus software programs and they have a free version for those who need it for their home or their self-employment operation. The AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition virus database updates are available and automatically installed per the scheduled tasks that you have full control over. You just need to be online at the time you scheduled the program to start its download. If you can't be online at that time, just manually start it the next time you are online.

Since my first time online in January of 1999, I have encountered a large number of people who have problems with their PC when I've have rarely had a problem of any kind. In most of those cases, the person has neglected to use the disk cleaner or the disk defragmenter that is part of the software package installed in the PC before it is bought. True, these two programs are not the best on the market but they're better than none at all. Further more, there are several free software programs that can be downloaded to be used in addition to the ones already installed. The one I chose was CCleaner 2.03.532. It completely cleans out all unused and unnecessary files. It has a backup feature so that if something is removed that you want later, it's retrievable. The added feature I was surprised at was the registry cleaner. I never know how much junk could accumulate there. All of that is retrievable too.

Although Grisoft has a super software program for stopping spyware from getting into my PC, I chose SpyCatcher Express 2007 4.5.2 build 51 from Tenebril because it's as good in my opinion and is a slightly smaller program that means it isn't taking up as much space on my harddrive. According to Tenebril, SpyCatcher Express "goes beyond traditional signature matching by incorporating a three-pronged method for threat detection (profiles, behavioral analysis and contextual intelligence) to ensure cutting-edge protection." The feature, Deep Defense "prevents the installation of rootkits, removes aggressive spyware, intercepts all API calls and blocks reinstallation of aggressive spyware." I just know that the program works for me.

I have chosen to use Firefox as my browser but I still have Internet Explorer for an reason that may come up for me to switch. Internet Explorer has a security package you can download free that will help with blocking ad pop-ups. Unfortunately, it isn't working at 100 percent. If you prefer to use Internet Explorer, I suggest you download Super Ad Blocker 4.4.1012. According to the creators of Super Ad Blocker, it will block ALL advertising, "including Flash ads, rich media, fly-ins, slide-ins, pop-ups, pop-unders, spyware and adware ads, and messenger ads. The program blocks over 100,000 major spyware applications, sponsored search-engine ads, and Gmail-sponsored links." It also has privacy cleaning and automatic updates. It's a worthwhile program to have.

With all this said, these software programs do not avert any responsibility from you or me to use common sense when using the PC and being online. We need to be sure about what we are clicking to or just not give into the temptation of clicking to certain pages when we surf the Internet. We need to be careful about what sites we give privacy information to when we decide to sign up for something or buy an item.