Necessary Utilities - Antivirus, spyware remover, registry cleaner, Optimizers, and Disk Recovery Programs

If you use a computer to operate your business, you will soon need some or most of these software utilities. This is true especially if you use the Internet - which most people do.

Viruses are always a real threat. New viruses are being created and released all the time. If your business is important, you need to have reliable and updated antivirus protection.

Equally malicious and destructive is spyware, adware, and malware. You don't want to have your investment go down the drain at the click of a mouse just because you were negligent.

I have listed some of my favorite utilities here. There are links to some trial versions; some are freeware. You can download what you need.

Spyware remover software

Spyware is any software which takes information from your computer to another without your knowledge or consent. Sounds spooky, but it happens everyday. In some cases, this could mean a serious problem.

Is someone monitoring your keystrokes?

Maybe, you don't even know there is a problem. Or, you suspect that there might be. Are you sure your keystrokes are not being monitored? Identity theft is a big problem nowadays.

It is so easy for someone with devious intent to use a floppy disk, a CD, or your Internet connection to install monitoring software on your computer.

These little programs can operate without you knowing they are running on your computer. That means they will not even show up in Windows Task Manager processes list.

What you can do

To find out if there are prying eyes under your keyboard you need a Spy Cop. If you have important information that you would like to keep out of the hands of your boss, spouse, private investigators, identity thieves, X's and others, think about this...

"SpyCop is the leading commercial computer Monitoring/Surveillance spyware detector designed to detect Chat Loggers, Email Recorders, Commercial Keyloggers, Password Recorders, Screen Recorders, and related products."

Read more about the capabilities and uses of SpyCop Anti-Spyware program. This very important utility comes in the home edition and the corporate edition.

Trojans, Web bugs, and Advertiser Tracking Cookies

Other forms of spyware include Trojans, Web Bugs, and Advertiser software. Some of these are your activeX, script files and cookies.

Some of these can be really annoying and even destructive. They make you computer run slow and may even hijack your browser. I have seen this happened several times.

Your default search may be changed, your home page is reset - all this is the work of malware. Advertisers also track your browsing habits so they can target their advertising.

Get rid of all of these with what I call "aggressive" action against spyware. Click here now to get a free scan with Spyware Nuker.

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Antivirus software

AVG antivirus has helped me a lot. Back in 2000 when the Nimbda worm nearly crippled the Internet, it was the AVG utility that saved my computer.

You can get a free download from www.grisoft.com. Don't think that because it is free that it is not good. It is a good product. Plus, it works alongside other more reputable antivirus programs such as Norton Antivirus.

I have also used Norton and Panda Antivirus programs. You can get Panda antivirus as part of a package when you buy System Mechanic Pro. Read my experience with System Mechanic Pro and how I used it to recover files that were deleted from my hard drive.

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Hard Drive recovery - data recovery software

If you've ever lost your data you know how easy a computer can raise your blood pressure to the ceiling.

That's why they invented the Recycle Bin in Windows. But what about when you can't even get to the recycle bin? Disaster!

Well, don't start the knockout count yet - if you have the Hard Drive Mechanic.

This program will help you get back your data if:

• You accidentally formatted your hard drive
• Your computer will not boot
• The partition table of your drive is corrupted - by virus or accidental erasure
• Your computer crashed
• Windows XP or 2000 refuse to recognize your drive; saying it encountered an "Invalid Drive Specification" when you know it shouldn't

If your drive is physically damaged, such as by a magnet, a hammer, or by fire, then no software (alone) can give you back your data. In this case you need lots of money and a forensic recovery specialist.

If that is not the case, you and Hard Drive Mechanic can bring back your data.

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Registry Cleaner Software

Use:

• remove non-referencing items from your system registry so your computer is more efficient
• configure your computer startup settings for faster bootup

Utility:

• CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner - Get a free 15-day trial download here. It comes as a self-extracting file (1.07MB). It took just 6 seconds to download over my DSL connection. You will love the power it gives you over your PC. It shows you all the invalid references and settings that could cripple your computer. Here is the link to the free download of CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner software.

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Password Reminder

Have you ever been caught between (a) not wanting to use the same password for program and every service to which you subscribe, and (b) trying NOT to use the same old password every time, BUT keep forgetting what your password is?

Maybe, you have lost a password needed to use an important program such as your accounting software, or your online subscription.

For me, I have trouble remembering the many passwords for many affiliate program subscriptions. Well, if you are that human as I am in that regard you can try a good password reminder.

With Password Reminder, you can just roll a microscope over the asterisks and reveal what your password is. It even gives you the BIOS password, Internet Explorer passwords, and Outlook or Outlook Express email passwords.

So, instead of trying to remember hundreds of passwords, remember just one, and let Password Reminder remember the rest... because you have business to think about.

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Popup Blocker

Popup windows can really slow you down while you surf the web. There are a lot of popup blockers available, but the best I have found is the plain Google Toolbar.

It is free - except for the information Google transfers from your computer. However, they declare that they do it, and that the information is not personally identifiable.

Get the Google toolbar here.

In case you want to use something a bit more fancy and task-specific, try PopupKilla. In fact, you won't just be able to block the popups, you will be able to scan and find code on your computer that trigger those popups as well.

This is the link to the PopupKilla website.

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Speed up your computer & Backup your data

You have noticed that your PC does not run as fast as when it was new. What is going on? Well, it won't get any better.

Even if you do a memory upgrade, you still have a lot of clutter on your hard drive. It's "natural" or should we say, common.

I guess, if we can generate so much trash in one week, your computer - doing all that work - will generate 'bits' of trash that accumulate as well.

But a slow system is no fun - not today. We have to speed up and clean up in order to keep up.

I think the best utility I have seen to speedup a PC is SpeedUpMyPC. It is highly recommended by tech experts on radio and on the web.

The company, LIUtilities, also has a WinBackup program that is more user-friendly than the generic Windows backup utility. Click here for more info on SpeedUpMyPC and WinBackup utilities.

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