Comments on: 4 free programs that will keep your PC in great shape

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:01:57 +0000

Great list and it does not include the usual hyped up (i.e. crappy) programs that other similar lists like to feature.

Like someone else already noted – Spybot’s S&D is a great program when trying to find spyware/ad-aware/malware. It works great with Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware which offer a free home user program.

By: My tools and toolbox

My tools and toolbox — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:42:19 +0000

[...] course, none of this does you much good without a PC that’s running in tip top shape. Click here to find out what I use to keep my PC running [...]

By: Shawn

Shawn — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:10:31 +0000

@Corbett – Let’s put it this way; if we’re talking paid antivirus, McAfee is definitely the lesser of two evils compared to Norton’s products.

If you’re looking for the best paid protection out there, NOD32 is hands down the best paid AV product I’ve used. It’s very competitively priced ($40/yr. for one user) and does a great job protecting in real time and doing its job when scanning your PC.

By: ryanbush

ryanbush — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:59:58 +0000

Thanks for the resources! I’ll be downloading shortly.

By: Corbett

Corbett — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:32:39 +0000

Shawn, in your opinion, is McAfee Security Center just as good/worse/better than AVG (if you don’t mind paying for it)?

By: STEWART

STEWART — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 11:38:03 +0000

STEWART…

Please, you have to elaborate on this one. I remember this software that was supposed to remove spyware was actually quite good….

By: Jeff Trune

Jeff Trune — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 01:49:12 +0000

Hmm… I didn’t know that about Spybot S & D or AOL AVS. Good to know-thanks. I recently switched to Avast and I like it pretty well (AVG has never ran well for me), and I also like to run Windirstat once in a while to show me what’s taking up my hard drive’s space. It’s not useful very often, but once in while is nice (especially since I’m terrible at keeping my files organized).

By: Shawn

Shawn — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:15:15 +0000

Jeff,

Thanks for commenting. I often use Spybot for one-time cleanups but I’ve had many users say its active HIPS detection is too strong and often blocks legitimate programs.

Avast is a good alternative to AVG for sure.

The main issue I’ve had with AOL’s AVS is that it doesn’t always detect when a PC comes out of idle and continues to background scan using 100% CPU. Try using Photoshop or a video editing program while *that’s* going on. :)

By: Jeff Trune

Jeff Trune — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 04:53:31 +0000

I also like “spybot search and destroy” for spyware removal, “advanced windows care personal” for spyware, as well as for registry fixes and system optimization, as far as antivirus is concerned I like Avast, but you can also get McAfee for free from AOL with an AOL account-(search “AOL active virus shield on google).