| Thursday, December 29, 2005 |
| Tonight's Tech Check was on Securing your system for free. |
Thanks for watching Tech Check on Fox 6. This post is a work in progress, as Sam and I are at a New Years party and forgot to post it sooner! (Check back later for the full post and links - Edited at 12:45 AM - links are now working...thanks for your patience!)
Tonight on Tech Check we talked about keeping your computer secure without spending a dime, something Sam and I have been doing for years now. All you need is a good (and free) antivirus program, a good anti-spyware program, a fully patched operating system, and a firewall. Below you'll find our choices for the best free security software:
Anti-virus software:
Sam prefers to use AVG by Grisoft, it's a great program, and is fairly simple to use. You can download the latest version for free by CLICKING HERE.
I (Chase) like to use CA's anti-virus, which offers a free updates for one year - you can get it by following this link: CLICK HERE - Registration is required.
Spyware Prevention Software:
An anti-virus program isn't usually enough to keep the latest spyware/adware threats off of your system, for that, you need a good anti-spyware app. We recommend Spyware Blaster by Java Cool Software, or Microsoft's Anti-Spyware tool. Spyware blaster works more on the prevention side of things, but Microsoft's Anti-Spyware will both prevent and remove spyware. It's a good idea here to choose one or the other as both might be overkill. Click here for Spyware Blaster or Click here for Microsoft's Anti-Spyware
Updated Operating System:
If you use Microsoft, it's a good idea to turn automatic update on - if you don't want to do that, or you have an older O.S. than XP, visit www.WindowsUpdate.com to download the latest patches. Not performing regular updates to your computer is a good way to get a serious malware infection!
Firewall:
A firewall hasn't always been necessary, but with the advent of rapidly spreading Internet Worms, it has become a must have security feature. If you are using Windows XP, and it is fully updated to Service Pack 2, the built in firewall is adequate, providing you are using the other tools above. You can also use Zonelabs.com's free Zone Alarm firewall - it has more features, and is more customizable, but it's also a bit more difficult to learn to use. Click here for the free version of Zone Alarm.
For more information on cleaning your system from an existing viral/malware infection, click here to visit our Security Page.
Oh, yeah - Be sure to read the post below on Safevideo.com - our new site featuring hundreds of videos Safe for work and Safe for home - It has Sports videos, funny videos, amazing videos and more! |
posted by Chase Thompson @ 6:58 PM   |
|
|
|
Updates and New Podcast
