Sunday, January 1, 2012

Free Programs to Use to Keep Your Computer Clean and Protected

If you work online or just spend a great deal of with computers and technology, you have to know that keeping your computer clean, fast, and protected is crucial to the lifetime of your computer. Getting a good anti-virus software is the first step to doing that, but afterward, there are a number of additional programs you can use on your computer that are absolutely free. Listed below are just a few of the ones you may want to look into if you want to protect your computer for your multimedia career.

CCleaner

CCleaner is a great program for cleaning off unused folders from your computer in attempts to make more space. A lot of time if you uninstall a program from your computer, the folders it was associated with still hang around. CCleaner can go in and find those empty files and delete them off your hard drive. CCleaner can also go in and remove registry files from your computer that you no longer need, thereby freeing additional space without you actually having to manually do anything. This program can also delete temporary internet files and even clean out your recycling bin, as per the options you check. It's a great way to really clean up some space on your computer.

For additional free space, you may also consider defragging your computer. This will take a lot longer, but if you haven't done that in awhile, it can drastically improve the speed and performance of your laptop or desktop. For everyday cleaning, however, CCleaner can do wonders.

MalwareBytes

This program is highly praised in the computer world and again, it's totally free to download and use. This will help protect your computer against malware that may come in through various internet transactions. You can run frequent scans of every file on your computer, especially if you feel that something is just not right. MalwareBytes does take a little while to do a full scan, but if you just leave it running over night, you can see how many threats are present in the morning. From there, you can have said threats removed and certain files quarantined, if you so desire.

SpyBot Search and Destroy

SpyBot protects your computer against spyware, and it is a bit faster to run than MalwareBytes. It protects against a different set of threats though, so it is important that you have both programs on your computer for a more complete level of protection. SpyBot can get a bit annoying at times because it asks if you are willing to accept certain changes whenever you download a new program to the computer. This is a safety measure though and is there for your benefit. Rather than complaining about it, be thankful that you have another layer of protection for your computer.

Hijack This

Hijack This isn't a program for everyone. You really have to "speak computer" to be able to use it. Assuming that is your lingo, Hijack This can allow you to see what programs are running on your computer at certain times, and it will allow you to see if there are other parties on your computer. This can also help you detect if there is something that needs to be stopped on your computer that may be running in the background and slowing everything down. Again, make sure you know something about the behind the scenes components of your computer before downloading or using this program. Otherwise it will be nothing but gibberish to you.

Anti-Virus Software

There are free anti-virus programs out there for internet and computer security. These programs, however, don't catch everything. If you rarely use the computer, they can be just fine. I'll assume you're a web junky though, so you might just have to shell out some money for a really good protection system. I use Kaspersky, but there are tons of other programs out there to choose from. You will just have to determine which one you want to use.

With a little bit of research, you should be able to find plenty of programs to protect your computer without robbing your wallet. You'll be able to take your software development courses in no time.

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