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Tay Valley "System Info"Vol
1 No 2 - Oct 5/2005 This time out we’re going to take a look at what we believe is some of the best software on the market today. Bar none. What makes this especially interesting is that its all free and it’s the equal of virtually any commercial (read paid) software on the market. None of this list is unique to us or to any other source but not everyone has heard of these sites and the great software that’s out there just for the asking. Try some of them out. A note on security- If you stick to the major sites when you download these, you stand less of a chance of contracting some nasty, unplanned for, (who plans on getting viruses anyway????) virus or spyware or those other little nasties lurking out on the Internet. While file sharing networks like Kazaa and Limewire are extremely popular, remember that you have NO idea who you are connecting to and while the hosts try to ensure they filter out things like virii, they aren’t always successful. I would ask a couple of favours from our faithful readers. If its freeware, register the software if the author asks you to. The authors like to know who is using their work, and where they are (especially considering this is the WORLD WIDE web). Even the simplest programme requires a tremendous amount of time, effort and even cash to write, debug it and then upload it to the ‘web’ for our use. That’s in addition to the cost of building and maintaining a website to distribute it in the first place. If its shareware, please honour the author’s request for payment when the trial period is over or remove it from your system. The are specific instructions on how to do both in the help files of most of these programmes. Usually registering does more than just put a few bucks in the author’s pocket (not many of them get rich from this system). Frequently it also gives you support, added features, new versions and even access to other programmes from the same author. A note on piracy- There are a multitude of methods and sites where you can find cracks, keys and full versions of virtually any programme that has been written. Sometimes it’s even available before the retail versions get on the shelves. Although it is tempting to get something free, RESIST THE URGE to indulge your baser instincts. Why? Outside of the moral and legal issues about pirating software there are some more practical reasons for using the ‘real thing’.
In addition, there are people out there willing to part you from your cash (or credit card number) for a counterfeit copy of a programme. The basic tool for protecting yourself is your gut reaction to the price. If the price seems to be “too good to be true”…it almost always is. There are some pretty good instructions for telling the real thing from the counterfeit on the CAAST website. (http://www.caast.org). In a nutshell, you can frequently tell the difference by inspecting the package/disk closely. Poor printing, paper labels as opposed to silk-screened disks, and a “generic” license number (or certificate of authenticity) are all quite common. That’s the lecture, now on the good stuff. Our favouritesHere are a few of the standard sites for finding software and utilities. www.shareware.com,
www.download.com Drivers Sometimes getting a piece of hardware to function can be the most aggravating problem in running your computer. The most authoritative source of drivers is the manufacturer of the device. They know their own hardware best and will usually have the latest and most stable version available for download. Look in the support or drivers section. They’re not usually hard to find. Sometimes though, they
aren’t there, the site is down, the manufacturer doesn’t exist anymore or
has been absorbed by another company. In
that event, you’ll have to go to third party sites to find what you are
looking for. There are a host of sites that might list that elusive driver but in our opinion among the best of them is www.driverguide.com: If these guys don’t have it. It hasn’t been invented. Well almost anyway. This is one of the premier sites for finding drivers for almost any hardware, including those obscure cards, scanners, printers, etc, that you find at yard sales and thrift stores. These folks act as a kind of a repository for obsolete hardware drivers as well. This can be especially helpful if the manufacturer has gone out of business, or has quit listing your specific device on their website. A couple of notes…the website requires registration. Do it. You can’t download anything until you do. Its safe, no one will send you free gifts (read virii, worms, spyware, etc) and they won’t clutter your inbox with unwanted emails. Also…go back and write a review…even if it doesn’t work (they won’t be insulted). This is a user driven website and they need our input (and uploads if you have something to offer). You’ll be helping the next fellow who just can’t seem to find the right driver for his hardware. Word processing,
spread sheets, et al (MS-Office replacements) OpenOffice.org – is a free fully functional Microsoft office replacement. It has been around for a long time but is gaining ground and acceptance (the government of Massachusetts for instance has ordered all government offices to dump MS-Office in favour of this product.) The core was originally written by Sun Microsystems and then the code was released to the public domain where its been enhanced by the user/programmer community. Regardless of the price this is a very powerful product that can do as much or more than its commercial competitors. In fact this software is essentially a first cousin to Star Office, one of their commercial products. Photo viewers and editors (in addition to 602Suite above) Irfanview: In our opinion, this programme, especially with its plugins (little additions to add more functionality) is the Cadillac of picture viewers regardless of whether its freeware, shareware or commercial software. (this one is freeware). I’ve never seen a better one. Kodak Easy Share/One Touch: Looking for something simple to organize your pictures, and act as a basic photo editor and print manager? This could be it. Its original purpose is to support Kodak digital cameras, but it works equally well no matter what camera you have. Its also has enhancements for making premium Kodak photo papers work better (they’ll also work on non Kodak products but the results might vary depending on the brand and quality of the paper). If you have the right printer (almost anything that has been released in the past 3 or 4 years (and then some…go look to see it your printer is there) a little addition called One Touch can make your old printer do things that you didn’t know were possible (we’re talking about picture quality here). It ONLY works with premium photo papers and of course Kodak would dearly love you to buy its products (not a bad idea, after all these guys practically invented photography), but its worth the investment in download time. (If you lie to the software and tell it you have photo paper in the printer, it WILL print on any paper, but standard bond is so saturated with ink it’s a waste of paper and ink) Photo Filtre: This is a photo editor, not stripped down or crippled in any way. Its fairly powerful and while it won’t do as much as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, its big enough to get the job done, even for advanced users. It WILL take a little time to learn all of its capabilities but the time is worth the effort. There is a small help file where you’d expect it but the online help is quite extensive. Security/Anti
virus/Anti spyware Here’s a fact that may chill you a little and put the need for protection from the “bad” guys out in cyberspace into perspective. According to Sophos (a leader in keeping businesses free of virii, spyware and spam) a brand new, unprotected system will likely become infected with malicious software in 12 MINUTES. That’s hardly enough time to even check your email, let alone look for the weather forecast and read the latest headlines. First and foremost…go and get the latest updates for your version of Windows, and update Internet Explorer to the latest version. You’ll be glad you did. If you use another browser like FireFox or Opera, do the same. Get the latest version. Now, make sure that the firewall in Windows XP is turned on. If you don’t have XP try a free standing software firewall like Zone Alarm. Regardless of which software
firewall you use, you might also consider a hardware firewall. An easy way to
implement this is to invest in a router (if you have a DSL/cable connection)
even if you DON’T have a home network. The built in firewall will block a lot
of the junk that comes streaming your way when you connect because instead of
your computer being the end point in the path, the router is and it will
intercept the bad guys. In a world where going online can become a headache before you even get started, the programmes below have become the standard toolset for millions of computers around the world. They are effective and safe. AVG Antivirus - look for AVG Free. Like the name says, it’s free for use by individuals on their home computers. There is a more powerful paid version for home and commercial users if you are in business or need more flexibility than the free version provides. Spybot Search and Destroy - free to everyone. The author is not enthusiastic about commercial software. Read his text files. They’re quite interesting. (http://www.safer-networking.org) Ad-Aware spyware killer – this product is also free to home users. It was one of the first
anti-spyware products on the market and is still a leader. Again, there is a
commercial version that adds features and automates a lot of the tasks it
performs. Combined with Spybot S&D you have a very powerful system to weed out those annoying and sometimes crippling ‘gifts’ from the net. A few pointers for running these products-
Of course there are also the commercial products we all know including Norton Anti-Virus (and Norton Internet Security), McAffee Anti Virus, and others. In addition, the people at AVG, Symantec (Norton), McAfee and others also offer free removal tools for specific virii. If you can’t get rid of something using AVG for instance (rare) sometimes there’s a specific tool for individual infections. Utilities
A cautionary note- some of
the programmes listed below are very powerful and could affect programmes that you use all
the time. In extreme cases (very rare) they could even render your system unbootable requiring a full
reinstall (restore) of your operating system. Please
ensure you have good backups of critical data (don’t forget those pictures you
haven’t burned to a CD yet) and/or a current restore point (Windows ME and
XP). Back
off it you don’t understand what its about to do to your system. CCleaner: This little gem helps get rid of things like cookies, dead links, history lists, and a lot more. Use it carefully and read all of the instructions and warnings. It's very effective. Sisoft Sandra Lite: A fairly straightforward diagnostics/identity tool. Can’t figure out what modem you have? Want to test your hard drive or processor to see how it stacks up against other computers? This will do it. Nice interface. No headaches. Just information. Finally, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of other weapons in your fight to keep your system clean and operating efficiently. Among the most popular are CWShredder (for ridding yourself of Cool Web Search, a particularly difficult problem to fix) and HijackThis! which gives you a simple way to search for those hidden components of the offending virus, spyware or ad-ware. They are easy to find on the web and are very effective. This is only a tiny sampling of what’s out there on the net and at your favourite computer store (hopefully, that’s us). Do a little exploring (safely of course) and you’ll get a lot more out of your computer than the basics. Maybe even enough to make it fun again, instead of a chore to keep things in check. Wouldn't that be nice for a change?
System slow? Have virii or spyware you want to get rid of? Our other newsletter may help. -30- All content is copyright (C) 2005/2008 Tay Valley Systems, Perth, Ontario, Canada |
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