A few free programs that are very helpful!!
Please add your opinions & reccomendations
Sunday, November 25, 2007 by Choopocabras | Discussion: Personal Computing
I stumbled acress a program today that I find to be pretty usefull, it's called EULAlyzer. The free version only runs as you call for it to which is what I prefer. Whenever you have to read an EULA, just run this program and drag the crosshairs to the text you want to analyze. It will highlight stuff that stands out such as talking about installing 3rd party software or adbots, ect.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/eulalyzer.html
http://www.download.com/EULAlyzer/3000-2086_4-10464852.html
I also just d/l a program called MP3TAG that works very fast and well for editing mp3 tags easily and lets you copy and past album covers (i have roxioEMC10 but too many issues on vista!!) http://www.mp3tag.de/en/
Ausligics disk defrag works very smooth for a free disk defrag. I'm using this for now untill I find something really worth it for Vista (the one that comes with Vista sucks, at least the one on XP had some info to it)
http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/
Here is a great utility for doing minor edits on pictures and even can get plug-ins to play video and mp3 The best is you can easily resize a picture (by pixel, percent or there is even a button to quickly reduce it by 1/2 (VERY light on resources)
http://www.irfanview.com/
BLACKVIPER~ a great O/S service page It has a list of all windows (even VISTA) services and what they do, and recommendations on what can be turned on/off in certain situations
http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/OSguides.htm
One thing that I need some opinions on is a good firewall for vista, but also not a resource hog. I figure if you have read past where I mention turning off system services then I'm confident that you will have some educated opinions
I had ZONEALARM Pro, and 2 months after I paid for 1 year, I got vista. A year later and they do not have a version that works good with vista?! The zonealarm they have ready for vista is too buggy and a por version is still not available (they were gonna credit me for the time I've been subscribed but not using ZApro but now I'm calling them trying to get a refund to my credit card) Guess they're following same path as adaware 2007.
I've tried outpost firewall and It woulda been a sure choice for me but for some reason surfing the web slowed down to early dial-up pace (ruled out kaspersky AV, firefox addons and IE, ect) Next I tried Jetico Firewall but that one is too involved. I have been looking at reviews but most of them list norton and big names like that (and all the user comments rave about how great it is)
Please reply back with any suggestions for good Vista Firewalls (not worried if it is free or not) and any free usefull programs that people may not realize are out there
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/eulalyzer.html
http://www.download.com/EULAlyzer/3000-2086_4-10464852.html
I also just d/l a program called MP3TAG that works very fast and well for editing mp3 tags easily and lets you copy and past album covers (i have roxioEMC10 but too many issues on vista!!) http://www.mp3tag.de/en/
Ausligics disk defrag works very smooth for a free disk defrag. I'm using this for now untill I find something really worth it for Vista (the one that comes with Vista sucks, at least the one on XP had some info to it)
http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/
Here is a great utility for doing minor edits on pictures and even can get plug-ins to play video and mp3 The best is you can easily resize a picture (by pixel, percent or there is even a button to quickly reduce it by 1/2 (VERY light on resources)
http://www.irfanview.com/
BLACKVIPER~ a great O/S service page It has a list of all windows (even VISTA) services and what they do, and recommendations on what can be turned on/off in certain situations
http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/OSguides.htm
One thing that I need some opinions on is a good firewall for vista, but also not a resource hog. I figure if you have read past where I mention turning off system services then I'm confident that you will have some educated opinions
I had ZONEALARM Pro, and 2 months after I paid for 1 year, I got vista. A year later and they do not have a version that works good with vista?! The zonealarm they have ready for vista is too buggy and a por version is still not available (they were gonna credit me for the time I've been subscribed but not using ZApro but now I'm calling them trying to get a refund to my credit card) Guess they're following same path as adaware 2007. I've tried outpost firewall and It woulda been a sure choice for me but for some reason surfing the web slowed down to early dial-up pace (ruled out kaspersky AV, firefox addons and IE, ect) Next I tried Jetico Firewall but that one is too involved. I have been looking at reviews but most of them list norton and big names like that (and all the user comments rave about how great it is)
Please reply back with any suggestions for good Vista Firewalls (not worried if it is free or not) and any free usefull programs that people may not realize are out there
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TXpatriot
Reply #22 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:25 AM
And where might someone find the info for setting up a router/firewall correctly?
I'd love to turn off my software firewall, and still feel safe.
Thanks in advance.
Reply #22 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:25 AM
I never understood why people use software based firewalls on highspeed connections.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.
Off Topic but i really like to know
Seriously guys..does this mean I can actually uninstall my zone alarm and still be safe? I am currently on a router/firewall modem. Is it really save? I need all my resources to do other things.. please advice.. Thanks.
That router/firewall is better assuming you actually set it up correctly. Huge assumption though.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.
Off Topic but i really like to know
Seriously guys..does this mean I can actually uninstall my zone alarm and still be safe? I am currently on a router/firewall modem. Is it really save? I need all my resources to do other things.. please advice.. Thanks.
That router/firewall is better assuming you actually set it up correctly. Huge assumption though.
And where might someone find the info for setting up a router/firewall correctly?
I'd love to turn off my software firewall, and still feel safe.
Thanks in advance.
greywar
Reply #23 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:40 AM
Hmmm honestly this isn't something and FAq or help page will really satisfy. Relying on tohers advice without personal expertise will probably just set you up for a false sense of security.
One major advantage of Zone Alarm and other software FW's is that they are a lot less dependant on the user getting it right. They also tend to be a bit mroe user friendly in terms of simply being able to quickly turn off protection for a moment or two to do something it is blocking and then clicking it back on.
yeah yeah, I know all that can be done in HW FWs too, save your commentary. My point is that if HW FW's are messing with your head the SW one's will likely be a better choice for non-security oriented end-users.
Reply #23 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:40 AM
And where might someone find the info for setting up a router/firewall correctly?
Hmmm honestly this isn't something and FAq or help page will really satisfy. Relying on tohers advice without personal expertise will probably just set you up for a false sense of security.
One major advantage of Zone Alarm and other software FW's is that they are a lot less dependant on the user getting it right. They also tend to be a bit mroe user friendly in terms of simply being able to quickly turn off protection for a moment or two to do something it is blocking and then clicking it back on.
yeah yeah, I know all that can be done in HW FWs too, save your commentary. My point is that if HW FW's are messing with your head the SW one's will likely be a better choice for non-security oriented end-users.
TXpatriot
Reply #24 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:54 AM
Reply #24 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:54 AM
Thanks for the info greywar. Now phoon can stop wondering why people don't use the router/firewall....... we don't know how. 
greywar
Reply #25 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:12 AM
Actually most security professionals don't get it right a good chunk of the time either. Most of us only find out where we goofed after an attempted access that hopefully gets stopped by another security layer lower in the stack.
It is amazingly hard to make anything secure and still have it be useful in any real way.
Reply #25 Tuesday, November 27, 2007 2:12 AM
we don't know how
Actually most security professionals don't get it right a good chunk of the time either. Most of us only find out where we goofed after an attempted access that hopefully gets stopped by another security layer lower in the stack.
It is amazingly hard to make anything secure and still have it be useful in any real way.
TheD2JBug
Reply #26 Thursday, November 29, 2007 10:47 AM
Reply #26 Thursday, November 29, 2007 10:47 AM
uhm , there is one thing good about a software firewall , is that if it's configured correctly it can alert you of unwanted outbound connections.
Oh as for NAV, I recently fixed a PC for a friend it was running slow. I assumed that because he had an updated NAV on his machine he was ok for viruses. So I cleaned up his tasks , ran CCleaner and Spybot and cleaned up the PC and it was still running slow. So since he only had 50 days left of his Symantec license , I uninstalled NAV and set him up on Avast. When Avast ran it's boot-time scan we found 10+ viruses which Avast proceeded to remove, both from his login and his restore points. Now his machine works OK ( I still think it needs a format and reinstall , since it's an old WinXP install on a laptop ).
NAV will never see the hard drive of a machine I own, ever. Nor will I reccomend it to anyone.
Oh as for NAV, I recently fixed a PC for a friend it was running slow. I assumed that because he had an updated NAV on his machine he was ok for viruses. So I cleaned up his tasks , ran CCleaner and Spybot and cleaned up the PC and it was still running slow. So since he only had 50 days left of his Symantec license , I uninstalled NAV and set him up on Avast. When Avast ran it's boot-time scan we found 10+ viruses which Avast proceeded to remove, both from his login and his restore points. Now his machine works OK ( I still think it needs a format and reinstall , since it's an old WinXP install on a laptop ).
NAV will never see the hard drive of a machine I own, ever. Nor will I reccomend it to anyone.
Phoon
Reply #27 Thursday, November 29, 2007 4:29 PM
a minimal amount of self education goes a long way. A basic linksys router/firewall is very very easy to set up.
Reply #27 Thursday, November 29, 2007 4:29 PM
Hmmm honestly this isn't something and FAq or help page will really satisfy.
a minimal amount of self education goes a long way. A basic linksys router/firewall is very very easy to set up.
pgp_protector
Reply #28 Thursday, November 29, 2007 4:58 PM
I never understood why people use software based firewalls on highspeed connections.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.
outbound traffic control is one reason for Software Firewalls.
Reply #28 Thursday, November 29, 2007 4:58 PM
I never understood why people use software based firewalls on highspeed connections.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.
outbound traffic control is one reason for Software Firewalls.
danioc
Reply #29 Thursday, November 29, 2007 6:01 PM
Reply #29 Thursday, November 29, 2007 6:01 PM
I'm using Vista Firewall Control 1.2 for some time now and it's a quite good firewall and it's also free (have a pro paid version too but the free is good enough)
http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html
For Antivirus, Avast! Home Edition (free too)
http://www.sphinx-soft.com/Vista/order.html
For Antivirus, Avast! Home Edition (free too)
NightTrainthedark
Reply #30 Thursday, November 29, 2007 6:03 PM
so easy, even I couldn't screw it up.
Reply #30 Thursday, November 29, 2007 6:03 PM
A basic linksys router/firewall is very very easy to set up.
so easy, even I couldn't screw it up.
GinaStar
Reply #31 Wednesday, December 5, 2007 12:57 PM
Reply #31 Wednesday, December 5, 2007 12:57 PM
We used to use Norton for our security at the office and we use a custom designed database program in Microsoft Access. Our database started having serious crashing problems and we traced the problem down to an incompatibility with the Norton Anti-virus. At that time, we changed over to McAfee. After a couple of years, we started having problems with it causing our database to crash. (lol..our database was originally programmed in Access 2.0..that will give you an idea how long we've been using it). We now use AVG Free in combination with CCCleaner, AdAware 2007 and Spybot and have not had any problems with either our database or our computers getting viruses. lol..the only one in our office that has gotten a virus is the boss..he doesn't know not to click on popups..even tho we've told him (many, many times!!) and even the best anti-virus progam won't protect from that!!
Leo the Lion
Reply #32 Thursday, December 6, 2007 2:30 AM
Reply #32 Thursday, December 6, 2007 2:30 AM
If anyone is in the market for a free Firewall Comodo Firewall Pro was put thru' it's paces today by the Softpedia experts and got a 5 Star rating.......Can a program that is this good really be FREE..........Yep........Here's the review if you are interested.
WWW Link
WWW Link
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Reply #21 Monday, November 26, 2007 11:57 PM