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| Note: The following programs are free of spyware and advertising to the best of our knowledge. Some were featured at club meetings. Others have been recommended by members, computer mags or Tech TV. Explore, enjoy, and check back frequently as we are continually updating this list.
AdAware swept the shareware/freeware awards in 2002 for its ability to cleanup spyware and other tracking software from your computer and is still one of the top two. Ad-aware SE Personal Edition is compatible with Win9x to XP. (1.5 MB) This is a great little utility that detects dead links and duplicates in your Browser Bookmarks making it easy to cleanup your favorites folder. It works with Internet Explorer, Opera and Netscape. After installation, run the program and then click on the green checkmark box to test your links. It will show which ones are valid, which are redirected successfully, and those that are inactive. It also has a sort feature which will move dead links to the top of the list for easy deletion. AVG free antivirus software form Grisoft fully compatible with Windows XP SP2. Now there's no reason not to be protected! The link to Free AVG frequently changes. If you have trouble finding it, type in free avg in the search engine of the Grisoft home page. Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner This speedy scanner detects a multitude of spyware, adware, Trojan, dialer, keylogger, and trackware components; sources of irritation that many anti-virus products do not deal with. The program will tell you how to uninstall the invasive spyware or put you in contact with the spyware developer for the most up-to-date and safe uninstall instructions.
Download Express is recommended by the folks at Tech TV's Screensavers to effectively double download speeds, even broadband. Uses multiple streams for speedier downloads, resumes interrupted sessions where permitted Posting your email address on a website is a sure-fire way to get an Inbox full of unsolicited email advertisements. The Enkoder protects email addresses by converting them into encrypted JavaScript code, hiding them from email-harvesting robots while revealing them to real people. This is a web based tool, not an app you can download.
An easy to use freeware RSS feed recommended by Smart Computing Magazine. It supports the latest RSS/ATOM formats. Less than 5 MB to download, this free browser is fast and full-featured and has been receiving great reviews as the best of the bunch. Tired of the hassles with Internet Explorer security holes? Give this a try! This is a free open source VoIP computer telephone application that is currently Skype's biggest competition. It has an easy to use interface and digital quality sound enabling you to talk with other Gizmo Project users anywhere in the world. Govern Mail links people to government representatives all over the world. You can visit their web pages and even e-mail all your elected reps at once. (803 KB) Great Podcast receiver for listening to Internet audio broadcasts. This is well reviewed as a precise spam filter for POP accounts. This handy utility will backup your profile in Mozilla, Firefox, Thunderbird or Netscape. Very handy when migrating to new machine. It allows you to backup and restore bookmarks, mail, contacts, history, extensions, cache etc. Mozilla is a free browser that is a "work in progress" as it is an open-source project similar to Linux. It is the Screensavers' pick as the BEST browser available, and it's free. Be sure to download the latest "stable" release unless you wish to help debug the latest build. (11 MB) v.1.7.1 Shavlik's NetChk Protect software bills itself as an alternative for Windows Update and is free to try for one year. It is a network solution that also allows you to manage updates from one location. Wireless networking is great-—until Windows XP gets confused and can't find your network. When Wi-Fi befuddlement strikes, launch NetStumbler, a utility that uses your Wi-Fi adapter to listen for nearby networks and then display detailed information about each access point. Useful for sniffing out Wi-Fi hotspots and troubleshooting problems, NetStumbler displays information such as Wi-Fi protocol, encryption type, access point ID, and signal and noise levels. If you have a global positioning system, NetStumbler can even map out access-point locations. This small program backs up and restores your mail and addressbook with one click ease. Outlook Express users will find this site a treasur trove of useful info and utilities. If you don't already have a popup blocker, give this free one a try. Tired of long distance phone bills? Use your computer as a telephone for free. Using VoIP technology, you can chat with other Skype users anywhere in the world with digital quality sound as long as you have Windows 2000, XP, Linux or a Mac. It works best with broadband Internet connections, but if you have a fast dial-up connection of at least 42k and shut off background online competition from updates and downloads, you can successfully use Skype. Recently recommended by TechTV as their favorite Spam filtering application to date, SpamPal is free! It's XP compatible, but does not work with AO,. HotMail, Juno, Yahoo, or MSN. (393 KB) Recommended by PC World and Tech TV, Spybot Search and Destroy is an essential tool to rid your computer of Spyware and finds things that AdAware misses. It should be used in conjunction with AdAware for the most complete spyware removal. (3.5 MB and worth it!!) Protects your computer from becoming infected and/or victimized by more than 1500 spyware programs. This is not a spyware remover like Spybot or AdAware. It works to prevent Spyware Active-X controls from automatically downloading malware to your computer, while not interfering with good Active-X controls. StripMail is a handy utility that strips the characters ">" and "|" from forwarded e-mails; formats the text into paragraphs, making it easier to read; changes the text's right margin, by indenting and can be used with any e-mail client. Download this program and clean-up the messages that you forward to your friends and associates! (267 KB) If you find ZoneAlarm confusing to configure, you might want to try this one touted as extremely user friendly. It succeeds in making your protected computers invisible to the outside world.
ZoneAlarm is a free firewall that has the ability to make you invisible when connected to the Internet. It is a "must have" for people with broadband connections who do not use a hardware firewall. (3.6 MB) The following pages are recomended resources from Rhonda Tomlison's Simple Web Design program. Free
website design templates
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to free browser, email and Internet related apps