Recommended Software Overview
What programs should you use? What programs should you avoid?
With so many options, it can be difficult to decide which programs are best.
Recommended Software is a list of programs we recommend you use.
We only recommend programs that have been used extensively and are confident that they will not adversely affect your computer.
You can be confident while using any product listed here.
Best of all, the programs listed here are Freeware.
There is no cost to using these programs, some have stipulations but no fees.
You can also be sure there is no Spyware or Viruses involved.
New software comes out every day, so be sure to check back periodically for updates, or follow our recommendation RSS Feed.
Maintenance Software Recommendations
We recommend that you download and regularly use and update all the following programs. It has been our experience that with the regular use of these programs, a system can remain free of Spyware and Viruses.
Avast! 4 Home Anti-Virus
Avast! 4 Home Anti-Virus is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for
home users and non-commercial use.
Both of these conditions should be met!
Our company offers the Home Edition free of charge, since, in our opinion,
it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention;
however, many users are not able to or do not want to pay for antivirus software.
Avast 4 Home is fully able to find computer viruses, to create and check the integrity of programs installed,
to test executed programs and opened documents, to test and check email and other functions.
Turn the Sounds off in Settings after installation, they take up too much memory.
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool.
It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space.
It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.
But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!
CCleaner cleans;
SpywareBlaster
Spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the fastest-growing threats on the Internet today.
By simply browsing to a web page, you could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted fiends!
The most important step you can take is to secure your system.
And SpywareBlaster is the most powerful protection program available.
SpywareBlaster can help keep your system spyware-free and secure, without interfering with the "good side" of the web.
And unlike other programs, SpywareBlaster does not have to remain running in the background.
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications.
Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you
that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies.
If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed,
if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked"
(or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware.
Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging.
Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.
Ad-Aware 2007
Ad-Aware is no ordinary anti-spyware, it is the original anti-spyware product,
offered to consumers worldwide to protect their personal and home computers from malware attacks.
And today, with over a quarter of a billion downloads, computer users put their trust in Ad-Aware
more than any other anti-spyware software program.
Ad-Aware Features:
Internet Software Recommendations
Even though Microsoft Windows comes with internet programs, we recommend that you use third-party programs.
Because most people automatically use the programs that come with Windows,
the Viruses and Spyware are usually written especially for them.
By using third-party programs, you will be less likely to fall victim to most of the Viruses and Spyware out there.
And by using the Maintenance software listed above, the chances of infection are reduced even further.
Opera
Why Opera? Safe, secure, powerful and fully customizable,
the Opera Web browser is faster and more secure than other browsers available on the market.
Opera delivers robust security and a far-richer feature set than any other Web browser and it's free.
Opera is the Web pioneer that delivered tabbed browsing in 2000,
and Opera 9.2 features lots of other great tricks for quick navigation,
including Speed Dial, a quick way to put all of your favorite daily sites at your fingertips.
You can also take, save and trade Notes attached to any Web site while browsing,
or Create Search shortcuts from any search field on the Web.
Whether you're going to work, working from home, developing Web sites, or just looking for a quick,
solid browser that can help you quickly access the Internet,
the free Opera Web browser delivers a superior Internet experience for every aspect of your online life,
with lots of extra tech tools for power users!
Miranda IM is the smaller, faster, easier instant messenger with support for multiple protocols.
Designed from the ground-up to be resource efficient while still providing a rich feature set,
Miranda includes support for;
Additionally, with the choice of hundreds of plugins, icons, sounds and other content,
Miranda IM gives you the ability to modify, customise and extend functionality to make it your own.
Thunderbird
Thunderbird makes emailing safer, faster and easier than ever before with the industry´s best implementations
of features such as intelligent spam filters, a built-in spell checker, extension support, and much more.
We designed Thunderbird from the ground up to boost users´ productivity.
That´s why we´ve made it easier for you to simply get your work done,
without the hassles of wading through advertisements and other junk mail.
Emailing should be efficient and convenient.
We make that possible using fully open and industry leading standards.
GreatNews is extremely fast.
Even with hundreds of rss feed subscriptions, GreatNews's response is always instantaneous.
You can opt to show news from all channels on the same page.
And you have full control over how many articles can be displayed at once.
GreatNews takes care of pagination for you.
GreatNews stores all your favorite articles locally, so you won't lose any article when the web site is down or updated.
You can also assign labels to articles so that you can retrieve them later by a single click.
Automatic news highlighting makes important news stand out.
Fully customizable with keywords, channel selections, and foreground/ background colors.
Other Software Recommendations
Sometimes there are other tasks to be performed. Some programs do not come included in Windows. Following are a few programs that perform specific tasks. All are free, all are very useful.
Acrobat Reader
This software lets you view and print Adobe PDF files on a variety of hardware and operating system platforms.
Acrobat Reader provides a host of features that enable you to submit PDF forms created with fillable form fields
to such applications as Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional and Adobe Form Designer.
Play back a variety of embedded multimedia content, such as QuickTime and MP3 files.
Read and organize high-fidelity e-books.
Activate search and accessibility capabilities built into your PDF files,
and display Adobe Photoshop Album slide shows and electronic cards.
The BullZip PDF Printer works as a Microsoft Windows printer and allows you to write PDF documents
from virtually any Microsoft Windows application.
This program is FREEWARE which means that it is FREE for personal and commercial use.
It does not contain any advertising or popups (Really!).
Features:
Money Manager Ex
Money Manager Ex© is a free, open-source, cross-platform, easy-to-use personal finance software.
It primarily helps organize one's finances and keeps track of where, when and how the money goes.
It is also a great tool to get a bird's eye view of your financial worth.
Money Manager includes all the basic features that 90% of users would want to see in a personal finance application.
The design goals are to concentrate on simplicity and user-friendliness - something one can use everyday.
Main Features:
Easily backup, synchronize, or restore your files to another drive, FTP server, ZIP file, networked drive,
or removable media. Highly configurable, SyncBack includes: detailed and easy to read log files;
email results; simulated backups and restore; file filters; sub-directory selection; copy verification;
background backups; auto-close of programs; easy and expert modes; profile groups; compare files,
and an extensive context sensitive help file.
SyncBack, developed by 2BrightSparks, is a multi-award winning solution with tens of thousands of users.
SyncBack provides a dependable way of ensuring digital files are safe with a simple interface that enables
the first time user to backup and save their valuable data within minutes.
As well as an ´Easy Mode´ for essential backup, restore, and synchronization tasks,
SyncBack has an ´Expert Mode´ that delivers advanced functionality.
If you need to backup to an FTP server or network and email the results this is where you´ll fine-tune the software.
KeePass
Today you need to remember many passwords.
You need a password for the Windows network logon,
your e-mail account, your homepage's ftp password,
online passwords (like CodeProject member account), etc. etc. etc.
The list is endless. Also, you should use different passwords for each account.
Because if you use only one password everywhere and someone gets this password you have a problem...
A serious problem. The thief would have access to your e-mail account, homepage, etc. Unimaginable.
KeePass is a free/open-source password manager or safe which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way.
You can put all your passwords in one database, which is locked with one master key or a key-disk.
So you only have to remember one single master password or insert the key-disk to unlock the whole database.
The databases are encrypted using the best and most secure encryption algorithms currently known (AES and Twofish).
For more information, see the features page.