Here's a serious contribution for a change – what follows is a list of problem-free freeware that every person should have on their computer. Period. These programs I actually use and have on my computer right now, so you can trust that they are pretty easy to use and can work for everyone. Download links are at bottom.
Antivirus – AVG Free. Produced by Grisoft, this is probably the best free antivirus program out there.
Pros: I've been using it on my parent's DSL-connected PC for several years now, and have had no problems. Updates are easy and often, and the GUI is user-friendly.
Cons: No technical support. I have heard occasions where AVG Free has found non-existent viruses, but have not actually witnessed that myself.
Antispyware – This is a mixed bag, but I can tell you you will definitely want Spybot Search and Destroy.
Pros: The best part is its protection faculties – while this isn't considered the best program for scanning for spyware, I have never found any spyware when the option to “Block loading of bad pages” is enabled, along with the Teatimer background process. I've tested it. This blocks everything (or so it seems).
Cons: This isn't the easiest program to use. There is a lot of help provided, but this is a powerful program that asks for a little attention before you can use it to its full potential. Scanning isn't as good as other programs.
Firewall – I've really only used Zonealarm Free, which is pretty simple, except updating is a pain in the a**. You have to download the whole program and basically install it again. I don't recommend it unless you really want protection, because it really does do its job.
I've read a lot recently that the firewall that comes with XP SP2 actually suits most people just fine. And I think I have to agree. DSL/Cable connections are a little more risky, but if you don't have any sensitive data on your computer, the Windows firewall should do just fine. But you need XP and Service Pack 2.
Cleanup – One program really stands out above the rest here – CCleaner. It is very easy to use, and can detect your installed programs and knows which of their files are temporary and can be removed safely. You have the options to clean or not clean certain kinds of entries, such as remembered passwords or URLs you've typed recently.
Also, it can clean your registry of unnecessary entries, telling you why each entry can be removed, and (this is the best part) allows you to back them up before you remove them. I really haven't seen that anywhere else. Made a mistake? Double-click on your backup and the entries are back in the registry like nothing happened.
There is nothing wrong with this program at all. Get it and find out how much leaner and meaner your computer can be.
Office – OpenOffice.org is really good since 2.0 came out. It has document compatibility with Microsoft Office, and in the options you can choose to save all works in Office formats. If I didn't know better, I'd say I was using Microsoft Office right now. The money in my pocket tells me the difference.
The only problem is that macros are encoded differently, so power users/business might want to stick with Microsoft until someone comes up with a way to convert between the two.
Image Editing – Paint.NET, which evolved out of a college project, really rocks. It uses the .NET Framework 2.0, so you'll need to download that first, but trust me, it's worth the wait. It's also got optimizations for multi-core processors, meaning if you have a dual-core AMD or Intel it will run that much better. I don't do image editing much, but I can tell you that this is the next best thing to Adobe Photoshop.
Multimedia – MediaMonkey is really a great undervalued program that it great at cataloguing large (50,000+) music collections. It can automate many tasks, and you can write your own scripts in a number of languages for it if you're so inclined. It can rip, burn, convert, re-tag, etc. all at the same time, so if your PC is powerful enough you can get multiple tasks going, and monitor all of them at the bottom of the screen. Want one to go faster? Raise its priority. There is also a plugin available that allows you to catalogue and watch movie files as well. All attributes that can't be tagged directly on the files are stored in a database file, which you can backup easily.
The only con to this is some options are disabled in the free version, but they are ones most of us can live without. I'm actually considering buying this at some point – it is well worth it.
Download links:
http://majorgeeks.com/AVG_Free_Edition_d886.html
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=388 (Zonealarm)
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2471 (Spybot S&D)
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4191 (CCleaner)
http://www.openoffice.org/
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4548 (Paint.NET)
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa731542.aspx (.NET Framework)
http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4907 (MediaMonkey)
So that's the list. Download and enjoy!
Sincerely,
Samuel Taylor – Always A Good Decision.
P.S. I'd appreciate if you commented (you don't have to be a registered Blogger to comment), or at least pass this list on if you found it helpful (click the e-mail icon below this post).
Keep coming back for updates and more helpful info! Sam T.
Or just use linux and not need any of that software at all!
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