Friday, July 24, 2009

PC Security Recommendations

There are many choices for personal computer security, below are some items that we have used to keep our computers clean, secure, and running smoothly. They are all free and will provide, at the very least, a basic level of protection.

At a bare minimum, your computer should have an anti-virus and firewall application on it. Remember that you should always keep your computer up to date on service packs, hot fixes, patches, anti-virus, and firewall definitions in order to ensure that it remains as secure as possible.

If you have any questions on the items we have recommended, please feel free to send us an email.


Disclaimer: Due to the nearly unlimited possible combinations of hardware and software, we cannot guarantee that these items will work for you. We do not receive any funding or kick backs for these recommendations.

Anti-Virus -

AVG Free Anti-Virus
has been around for quite a while and has proven themselves to be trust worthy. This can be configured to download the most recent AV definitions automatically.

Spyware and Ad-ware Removal -

Ad-Aware Free has an excellent reputation in their respective field.

Spybot Search and Destroy is another great tool that in addition to removing unwanted spyware and adware from your pc, it can prevent it from being installed in the first place.

Firewall -

ZoneAlarm
is another of those products that has an excellent reputation.

System Optimization, Privacy and Cleaning -

CCleaner is a tool that I use all the time. It is a very powerful application that helps keep my computer running well. One of the nice features with this one is that it can be set to check for
updates for itself.

Disk Defragmentation -

Defraggler has a funny name, but on occasion I have found that this would defragment a hard drive better that the built-in defragmenting tool. This tool can also be set to check for updates to itself.

File Recovery -

Recuva is another very handy tool when you have deleted a file and need it back. While it may not be able to recover all deleted files, it does an excellent job and is easy to use. This tool can also be set to check for updates to itself.


Even though the software listed above is free, if you find that it works well for you, please feel free to visit the manufacturers respective sites and make a donation to help keep the software free.