and you thought there was no free lunch...
There are some fantastic, truly free applications listed on this page - some of these make you scratch your head and wonder why they give it away for free. Hopefully the information below helps you save time, money and headaches..
free virus scanners
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This is a good, fully functional antivirus application that you can install locally and have actively protecting you in the background. |
Online scan only (i.e., you can't run it constantly in the background), but a good option if you're antivirus didn't detect something, or if you don't have any antivirus and need a quick fix. |
Another good online scan similar to Panda; if you've read the above description of Panda's ActiveScan, you can apply the same to this one as well. |
If you're infected with the AntiVirus 2009 scam, MalwareBytes will get rid of it - at no cost either. It will get rid of other spyware too, but so far we've only used it for the annoying malware noted above. |
network speed test
Not sure if you're getting the speed your provider promised? Or maybe something else is going on - we've seen everything from overheating hardware to incompatibilities between firewalls and internet service providers slow networks to a crawl. Whatever your reason, if you want to see how fast (or slow) your internet connection is, try SpeedTest.net.
remote control of your pc
LogMeIn is a great free tool for remote controlling your PC over the internet (and it's secure, as long as you provide a secure password). Why would you want to do that? Well, suppose you're on vacation and need to gain access to your computer, or if you are a small business owner and need to check something on your office computer at 10 pm on Sunday night, remote control sure beats hopping in the car and driving down there. Just visit LogMeIn.com to get started.
home/child web content filtering
Both employees and kids sometimes get into things they shouldn't be getting into. Employees for the most part should be trustworthy and focused on their work; with kids the stakes are higher - you don't want to limit them so much as you wish to protect them. Here are a few good options:
K9 Web Protection - Here's a free content filtering software that's part of the Blue Coat Community Outreach program, an effort to raise awareness in child internet safety.
In addition to K9, you can find ratings of paid content filtering software here.
cell-phone safety
So it seems almost no one can live without a cell phone these days, even (or perhaps, especially) kids. Besides, what parent doesn't want the option to get in touch with their child immediately? However, as we've seen so often in the news lately, cell phones also can be (and are) used irresponsibly, anywhere from passing "electronic notes" in school, inadvertent texting with child predators, to sexting. If you want a means of encouraging your child to use their mobile responsibly, try My Mobile Watchdog.
