Ewert Technologies Blog

You have just bought a new Personal Computer, but before you can get any use out of your computer, and be productive with it, you will need some sofware.  Your new computer  may have come with some bundled 'free' software;  if it did, be careful, much of the software that you thought was free, is actually only a free trial, which may expire.

In this series of articles, I will tell you how to set up a powerful, productive computer, for free!   In this first article I will discuss security software.

The first thing you need to do, after getting a new computer, is to make sure it is secure.  To secure it, you will need, at a minimum, a good firewall, good anti-virus software and anti-malware software.

A firewall, is a software program that acts as a shield or wall around your computer, sort of like a castle wall.  With the firewall, you can control which programs on your computer are allowed to access the internet, and can help block hackers on other computers from gaining access to your computer.  A good firewall provide a balance between giving good protection and bombarding you with too many prompts and warning about potential problems.

Your anti-virus software's job is to find any viruses on your computer, warn you about them and then erradicate them.  A good anti-virus software should be able to run scans of you entire computer, scans of individual files and folders, allow on access scans (scans files as you use them), and allow scanning of emails and attachments.

Anti-malware software's job is to find any malware or spyware programs that may be on your compter.  These programs are designed to find and track some of your personal information, and then send it back to its creator.  Anti-malware software should be able to find and remove these types of programs.

Hackers, virus and malware programmers are continually changing their tactics, and so it is very important that you keep your security software up to date.  Any security software you use, should prompt you when updates are ready, and/or make it very easy to update.

The following is a list some of the more popular security software that is available.  Some of them come in suites (i.e. contain combination of firewall, anti-virus and anti-malware).  They all have free versions available, and most have paid versions as well.

1. Zone Alarm (http://www.zonealarm.com) - Firewall
2. AVG Free (http://free.avg.com/) - AntiVirus
3. Avast!  (http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download) - AntiVirus
   
4. Comodo (http://www.comodo.com/products/free-products.php) - Firewall
   
5. Malware Bytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org/) - Anti-Malware

I have used all of the above, at some time in the past, and think they are all good.  Currently, on my main computer I use:

Firewall: Comodo
Anti-virus: Avast!
Anti-malware: Malware Bytes

In my next article I will discuss general productivity software.