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1.
AVG
Anti virus – from
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5
CAUTION: Don't use more
than one antivirus product. I have used this product for quite
awhile and like it much better than Norton, McAfee or Panda. It
doesn’t slow down my computer nearly as much. It will try to do
a full system scan at the most inopportune times, but I cancel
the scan and run one at a time of my choosing. It has been free
for a long time, but may not always be free. It is worth paying
for.
2.
Ad-Aware Personal – from
http://www.lavasoft.com/
Choose the free version.
It does not run all the time. You have to manually run a scan. I
recommend a weekly scan. The version you purchase runs all the
time in the background, slowing down your computer.
3.
Firefox Internet
Browser – from
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
Download and install
this browser and use it instead of Internet Explorer, AOL, or
MSN Browser. It is faster, probably more secure, but some web
sites will not work with, so keep Internet Explorer handy.
4.
Open
Office – from -
http://www.openoffice.org
Open Office can
replace Microsoft Office in most respects. You can also create
PDF’s! Open Office can read and create Word, Excel, and
PowerPoint documents. You can also save them in the Microsoft
formats so others that use Microsoft Office can read them.
5.
Microsoft Tweak UI - from
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
All kinds of great “toys”
to change the normal Windows experience.
6.
Wikipedia - from
http://www.wikipedia.org/
Online, continually
changing, current encyclopedia. You can look up words, subjects,
people, etc. Check it out!
7.
Web
based email – from
www.yahoo.com,
www.google.com,
www.aol.com,
www.hotmail.com
All of these offer free
email, contact managers, calendars and task managers that you
can access from any computer in the world that has an Internet
connection. Why worry about losing your emails from your
computer when you can get your email from anywhere? And, you
don’t have to change your email address every time you change
your Internet service provider.
8.
Remote control of your PC – from
www.LogMeIn.com
You can check your home PC
when you’re on the road. Set it up on your computer(s) and you
can log into your computer from any computer in the world that
has an Internet connection. How sweet is that?
9.
Picasa photo editing and organizing - from
http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/
While you’re at it, check
out all the other great, mostly free stuff offered by Google.
Beware though; only install the things you are really going to
use. Too much great stuff can put a huge load on your computer.
My rule is, “If I really like it and use it regularly, I keep
it, otherwise I remove it.” Google Earth is really a lot of fun,
too. Try it.
10.
Online storage
– from www.Inbox.com or
www.Xdrive.com
You can store your data on
one of these servers and access it from anywhere you have an
Internet connection.
If you
need any help with this or other computer issues, please feel
free to call me.
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