ericm’s Software Reviews - PC Computer Security

Now that so many of us are connected to the internet 24/7 there is a huge and pressing need for us to compute in a safe and sound way. You could make it your career trying to keep up in the area of PC security! The goal of this page is to assist you in keeping your computer safe. PC security is important. You need to take the time, do some research and protect yourself.

Anti-virus Software

For many years I was a fan of McAfee. I believe in recent years they have just gotten too big for their britches. For someone protecting us I found their marketing practices to be spammy, their service to be non-existent, and their anti-virus program to be close to being spyware. As a result I went looking for alternative anti-virus software and found two good programs which we use on various PCs. PS - You only need to pick and choose one of these apps.

AVAST Home Edition

These folks make good anti-virus software. They have a free version and a for pay version. They keep up with the latest viruses and automatically keep your computer updated. Checkout their website to get the software Avast.com

AntiVir PE

Same as I said above goes for these folks. Checkout their website to get the software AntiVit.com

All of our computers either use Avast or AntiVir. With free versions available for both of these vendors there is no reason any of your PCs should be unprotected

Anti-spyware Software

These days, and surprisingly still not widely understood is spyware. These are malicious programs that can enter through your browser and compromise your PC and even are capable of capturing and transmitting you personal data out into the web! Concerned? You better be!

I have yet to find one anti-spyware program that can do it all. There are a number of free ones that we use that do the trick.

SUPER Anti Spyware

This is our favorite program. It loads when you first boot your machine and lives in the system tray. Also provides protection so that your homepage cannot get hijacked. Very nice software. Download here. SUPER Anti Spyware

Spyware Terminator

This is a nice program that can be run periodically on either a scheduled or non-scheduled basis. Good and catching stuff the others miss. Download here. Spyware Terminator

Spyware Blaster

This is a very nice program that unlike the others prevents programs from being installed. Download here. Spyware Blaster

McAfee Site Advisor

Yes, I was pretty hard on their anti-virus software, but this program is a gem. If you use Google or Yahoo or MSN this program will give you a rating as to the relative safety of the site. Staying away from red sites (sites with spyware, or sites that spam you after you register) will keep you safer from spyware. Prevention worth a pound of cure. Download here. McAfee Site Advisor

File Security

Cryptainer LE

A super secure encrytion program that allows you to create a Windows folder and turn it into a Fort Knox location for your files. The free version is limited to 25bmb which for most applications is more than enough. Do not forget your password once you set it up because if you do you WILL NOT be getting back in!!! Download here. Cryptainer

OMZIFF

OZIFF is a portable file encryption program that can be used on any drive, but is the perfect program to use with your USB drive. For more information on OMZIFF click: free file encryption software