The Computer Club Newsletter

April  2004

By Ron Uncapher

The Computer Club: Free is Free

We have been hitting antivirus and firewall issues pretty hard lately. The reason is the huge amount of spam, viruses, spy ware, ad ware, etc. that has been pummeling our email inboxes lately. I believe everyone who reads this monthly column has an antivirus program by now and it is up to date. However, if you want to know more about how to use and setup antivirus and firewall programs, you must come to the May 4 meeting of the Tellico Village Computer Users Club. After the Beginner Basics session, beginning at 6:30 PM, the main meeting will feature some of our knowledgeable members speaking on installation, setup, and use of these programs. It will be well worth your time.

Call me lazy, call me cheap. Both terms readily apply. I am lazy because I have chosen an easy subject to write about today. I am cheap because I prefer free products over bought products any day. And free computer programs abound just for the downloading. This is not an original idea. I just happened to be reading a magazine this month that featured free programs. I am not copying that article, but I am writing from my own experiences with freeware (as opposed to shareware for which you are expected to pay in order to continue using it.).

Now, don’t think that I download every free program. The program must have some redeeming value. You can go overboard with a good thing. I am going to describe some "freeware" today, but do not go to your computer and download and install all of it. The program must fulfill a true need and/or must improve the quality of your computing experience. I can say that all of the programs I mention here I have downloaded and used, at least for a while. If you install a program and then find you do not want it, then uninstall it by going to CONTROL PANEL – ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and REMOVE.

Regular readers have seen my comments on MAILWASHER. It is still free and I still use it. It is especially useful these days in intercepting and identifying spam and viruses before I download my mail. Go to www.mailwasher.com for more on its features. It is now available, for a price, to work with some (Hotmail) Internet mail. There are not many free anti spam programs available. Mailwasher comes the closest.

ZONEALARM is still free and among the best firewalls available. Go to www.zonelabs.com. There is a PRO version for about $40. Most of the freeware is given away with the hope that you will go for some other product or a product with more features at a price.

One of my favorite freebies is the GOOGLE toolbar (www.toolbar.google.com). It fits right into the toolbar of Internet Explorer. I hide it and right click to put it on the toolbar. There is more to Google that just internet searches. You need to go to www.google.com to see all of its features. One of those features is a pop-up blocker. It seems to work quite well. I just discovered a new Google that I have installed. The Google Taskbar is an extension of Google. It resides on your taskbar and can give you all the features of Google without opening you browser. A display screen pops up when you ask for a search. Clicking anywhere else on the screen turns Google off.

Another of my favorites is ROBOFORM (www.roboform.com). This is a password manager and form filler that includes a password generator. The free version holds 30 ID/password combinations. Of course there is a PRO version that doesn’t have that limitation. Unlike GATOR, ROBOFORM doesn’t contain any ad ware or spy ware.

A program that can be useful when you get rid of an old computer, or if you just want to make sure some files or data is unrecoverable, is ERASER 5.7 (www.heidi.ie/eraser). The web page tells you all you need to know. It is a secure data removal tool.

One program I will not do without is SPYBOT SEARCH & DESTROY (www.safer-networking.org). You may not be aware of it, but many web pages and downloads include Trojan horse like add-ons that watch your surfing habits and send that information back to someone who uses the info to tailor advertising of all kinds to your perceived likes. Some is benign, just a nuisance, but some will send back personal data. There is one that can record your keystrokes and send back passwords. SPYBOT S&D acts like an antivirus program against these elements. It searches you computer for known elements and suspicious elements using a database of spy ware characteristics as a comparison tool It then reports what it found and gives you the opportunity to clean it from you computer. . It should be updated periodically, like your AV program. Another similar program is AD-AWARE. I used it until I found that SPYBOT S&D was somewhat better.

I could go on and on but that would take more space than the Connection would give me. One more I should mention is ADOBE READER (www.adobe.com). Everyone should have it because so much is published in PDF format. If you haven’t had enough, go to CNet’s www.downloads.com for more freeware and shareware.

In closing, just remember to read up on the programs you are considering so that you understand what you are downloading. And, have you updated you antivirus program this week?