Monthly Maintenance

       Well It's the beginning of a new month! First thing I think of is: time to clean up the computers! That's right. I use a lot of freeware. That is software, that is free for those who don't know. These utilities do a great job of keeping the nasties out! (ie:malware, spyware, etc.) The main drawback to freeware is that it doesn't scan automatically. You the user must initiate the scans! So the important thing to do is remember to do them.
      I use Microsoft Security Essentials for my primary anti-virus. As with everything I will mention here, it is free. It is also a very effective anti-virus. It was ranked last year right next to Norton Internet Security, which is $50 per year. So you are up $50 already.
      I also use MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. This program pulls out malware like trojans with ease. If you can get it on an infected computer, it can remove the bugs and save you a trip to the tech shop!
      Next is SuperAntiSpyware. This utility also pulls out a lot of bugs that are dug in deep! I have used it to pull out the Defender virus which pops up and says your infected when you are not in fact.
      For these two I always update the profile to the latest version and run the scans, in the order which I named them.Once those scans are done I run Glary Utilities to clean up any registry errors that may have appeared.
       Every other month I run WinDirStat. This program scours your hard drives and shows you which programs are hogging up space on your drives. I have cleared 15G of temporary files from a DVD copy software program! I never knew the temp file was even there until I ran this scan!
       Another tip is to use Revo Uninstaller to remove software from your computer. It will run the softwares uninstaller and then scan from fragments it leaves behind. Once the scans are complete, you can just click and clean up the little bits! Very nice program,
      All of these can be downloaded at http://www.download.cnet.com. Just type in the software name and download it! Good luck and happy computing folks!

Your friend,
Steven