5 Free Programs That Can Fix and Maintain Your PC

      We've all seen the TV commercials - "PC running slow?", "Are spyware and viruses ruining your computer?". You know what's coming next, just go to www.soandso.com for your free evaluation. What they fail to tell you in these ads is that, while the evaluation is free, fixing whatever is wrong is not. You normally have to buy their programs to remove all the problems from your PC. This can range anywhere between $25 and $100. Or, if you really want to spend some money, take it back to the big box store that you bought it from. There, you can give $200 to $400 to the "Tech Squad", and have them run pretty much the same programs that I am going to show you here. Or even better, have them come to your house for a $150 service fee plus "labor and parts".

      Some people are afraid to work on their own computer, but you don't have to be. Anyone with basic computer knowledge can install and run these programs. When these applications are run on scheduled intervals (weekly/monthly), they will maintain your PC and keep it free from viruses and spyware, without slowing your system to a crawl. I will give you tips on how to run some of these programs in future articles. But, for now, lets take a quick look at these programs and get you started on the path to PC recovery.
 

• CCleaner: (http://www.piriform.com) - CCleaner is an optimization and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast and contains NO Spyware or Adware! You can use CCleaner with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome browsers, in addition to many others. It cleans temporary files, history, cookies, download history, and form history from these browsers. In Windows, the recycle bin, recent documents, temporary files, log files, and your clipboard will be emptied. And, as mentioned before, the registry cleaner will scan for and correct errors. CCleaner also contains a utility to safely remove files from your start up list (for those of you that have 27 different icons loaded in the bottom right hand corner of your screen) and can uninstall any program that you would like removed from your computer. I recommend that you run this, at least once a week.

• Eusing Registry Cleaner: (http://www.eusing.com) - Eusing Registry Cleaner enables you to scan your registry for invalid entries. It provides a list of all errors that were found, and you can choose to remove all items, or only selected errors. Before the program deletes any keys, it automatically creates a backup of the registry and allows you to easily undo any changes if needed. You can choose to scan the entire registry or only selected sections. Eusing Registry Cleaner will capture many more entries compared to CCleaner. Both programs seem to find errors that the other does not. Don't be alarmed to find 500+ errors the first time you run it, especially if you have an older machine. I would use this program weekly also, registry errors can rack up pretty fast.

•  SUPERAntiSpyware: (http://www.superantispyware.com) - SUPERAntiSpyware will remove all the spyware, not just the easy ones. It features quick and complete scanning of hard drives, removable drives, memory, registry, individual folders and more. SUPERAntiSpyware will detect and remove spyware, adware, malware, trojans, dialers, worms, key loggers, hijackers, parasites, root kits and many other types of threats. It's very light on system resources and won't slow down your computer like many other anti-spyware products. It also features real-time blocking of threats, preventing potentially harmful software from installing or re-installing on your system. You can run this bi-monthly, unless you are going to sites that you shouldn't be going to in the first place. If that is the case, then you will need to run it more often.

• Malwarebytes: (http://www.malwarebytes.org/) - One of the best named products on the internet, there's nothing fancy about Malwarebytes. It doesn't even display the usual main status screen. Instead, it opens at the scanner page, ready to do its job. Why more than one spyware application? Spyware is constantly changing, with new threats coming out on almost a daily basis. Keeping these programs current is the key to keeping your system clean. Both Malwarebytes and SUPERAntiSpyware will ask you to update when you start to run them. That way, you can stay up to date fighting even the most recent threats. Both of these programs will capture problems that the other one doesn't, and it's better to be safe than sorry. Can be run bi-monthly unless, again you are one of those people that like to "explore".

• Avast Free Antivirus: (http://www.avast.com) - Avast Free Antiviris one of the best antivirus programs out there. If you do a search for reviews for this, you will see that many experts rate it better than most of the products available, free or paid. The antivirus detection rates is on par with AntiVir and Microsoft Security Essentials. Avast has the most features, with full real-time capabilities including web, e-mail, IM, P2P, network shields and boot-time scanning. It stays running in the background and constantly updates, sometimes several times a day. Just be sure to turn your sound down or off before bed or you may hear "Virus database has been updated" coming out of your speakers at 3AM. You only have to register it yearly with your email address, other than that, it takes care of itself. Get it, run it, and keep it current and you will love this program.

      So, as you can see, there are many applications out there for what you need to keep a clean, fast computer. It can be a little overwhelming if you haven't done a lot of work on your PC. But with these tools and a little research, you can save yourself a lot of money and time. Please feel free to leave any questions / comments that you may have concerning these applications. You can put them here, or on Facebook (http://facebook.com/kenholak). Please feel free to friend me, especially those of you that play Cafeworld, I need more neighbors. Or you can email them to me (kenholak@comcast.net). I will also take any suggestions on future articles that you would like to see.