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BOOT CAMP 442 (19/09/06)
Ten
Top Freeware programs, part 1
Looking back
through the Boot Camp archives I was surprised to see that it has been two
years since our last PC freeware roundup. I still find it heartening that
individuals and companies are willing to literally give away high quality
computer software that in some cases could easily make the authors and
publishers a lot of money.
Of course
some of the more specialised utilities are simply not commercial products and a
good number of freeware programs are essentially loss leaders, luring users
into upgrading to paid-for applications with a better specification. Then
there’s the dark side of the giveaway software market. An alarming number of
free programs seek to deceive or carry malicious payloads. Malware cleaners and
diagnostic utilities are easily the worst offenders, often reporting ‘false
positives’ or actually infecting a machine and frightening the PC owner into
paying for a product or service they don’t need, or to clear up the mess the
program has created.
Needless to
say all of the programs we’ll be featuring have, as far as possible, been
thoroughly vetted and given the all-clear, though I must stress that you use
them entirely at your own risk, and any technical queries should be referred to
the authors, rather than us. If you find any of these programs useful and
continue to use them please pay the licence or registration fee, or make a
small donation to the author. It’s only fair and it will help ensure that this
lively, innovative and genuinely altruistic corner of the PC market continues
to thrive.
Over the
next three weeks we’ll be looking at three groups of freeware and shareware
programs, starting with Privacy and Protection in part one. Next week it’s the
turn of Fault Diagnosis and Repair utilities and in part three we’ll round off
with Multimedia and Imaging applications.
This week
you will see that we’ve included no less than three anti-virus scanners but you
should only install one of them on your PC as they can interact with one
another. You should only have one Firewall on your PC at a time as well, so if
you install a third party product disable the built-in Windows firewall. You
can, however, install two or more malware scanners, in fact I encourage you to
do so, and you should use them regularly to keep your PC clear of infection. If
you experience problems with any of the following links you can find them all
listed at: www.pctoptips.co.uk/software
ADAWARE
One
of the oldest and most reliable malware scanners, and that includes the
paid-for programs. Regularly copied and cloned, so be on the lookout for fakes,
and check the spelling! It is regularly updated, fast and reliable, though
unable to catch everything so use it in conjunction with Spybot and Windows
Defender to keep you PC clear of nasties
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
ANTIVIR PERSONAL EDITION CLASSIC
Compact anti-virus scanner. Not as
feature-rich as some rival programs but virus protection is comparable with
many commercial products, and that’s what counts.
www.free-av.com/
AVAST! FREEE HOME EDITION
Powerful anti-virus program with a very
high level of protection, including coverage for emails and network traffic.
Easy to use and set up with very frequently updated signature file. The only downside is the annoying American voice,
which tells you when the database has been updated.
www.avast.com/
AVG
The first and still one of the best
freeware anti-virus programs. Sophisticated and highly configurable; the
occasional (and usually quickly fixed) conflicts with other programs are a
small price to pay for the very high degree of protection.
http://free.grisoft.com/
CCLEANER
If you value your privacy then Crap
Cleaner will erase all of the hidden records and logs that your PC maintains,
and this includes the notorious ‘index.dat’ file, which secretly monitors your
web surfing activities.
www.ccleaner.com
SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY
Another classic malware cleaner, it looks
a bit old fashioned but it still does an excellent job, detecting and
destroying the nasty little infections hiding on dubious websites. Ideally it
should be used with another cleaner, like AdAware or Microsoft Defender, to
keep your machine spick and span.
www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
WINDOWS DEFENDER
Officially
still in its Beta test phase, though it’s been doing a decent job of protecting
PCs for the past two years, most recently as Microsoft AntiSpyware and before
that as a paid-for program called Giant AntiSpyware. Defender will be included
as standard in Windows Vista, which is due to be launched early in 2007.
www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
XRAY PC
Based on a powerful Malware detector
program called Hijack This, X-Ray PC checks Windows System files and the
Registry and cross-references the results with an on-line database to identify
infections, which it flags up clearly at the end of the scan. Very simple to
use and suitable for novices.
www.x-raypc.com/
ZONE ALARM
Vastly superior to the XP Firewall as it
blocks both incoming attacks by hackers, and prevents programs installed on
your PC from using your internet connection without your permission, possibly
sending personal and private information to fraudsters.
www.zonelabs.com/
NEXT WEEK – Ten Top Freeware
programs, part 2
JARGON FILTER
FALSE POSITIVE
Intentional (but sometimes
mistaken) alert, generated by anti-virus and malware cleaner programs, intended
to frighten user into buying program
INDEX.DAT
Hidden and protected file
inside Windows that automatically logs web addresses visited using Internet
Explorer, potentially since the day the PC was first switched on
SIGNATURE
FILE
Frequently
updated inert samples of virus code, used by anti-virus software to identify
infected files
TOP TIP
Here’s another Firewall for you
to try, this one is called Agnitum Outpost Free and over the years it has
proved to be highly efficient at controlling both incoming and outgoing
connections between your PC and the Internet. The allowed and restricted lists
are easy to manage and it can filter out web-page advertising and trackers,
pop-ups and other intrusions. A little more sophisticated than the opposition
but highly configurable and well worth getting to know.
http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpostfree/download.php
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© R. Maybury 2006, 1409
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