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10 Ways to Secure Your PC
BY Kevin Rose 
Keep your computer safe and secure.
While you're enjoying that broadband connection, downloading files, watching Web videos, flipping from webpage to webpage, your computer is sitting there ripe for the picking by hackers looking for fresh victims.

Before you get hacked, protect yourself. Here are my top ten ways to secure your computer.
  1. Turn off file sharing
    File sharing is one of the first things a hacker looks for to access your computer.

  2. Install a firewall
    Even the built-in Windows XP firewall is better than nothing.
  3. Scan for spyware
    Kill that spyware and adware with my two favorites,
    Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy.
  4. Antivirus
    My favorite antivirus program is
    Norton AntiVirus. If you want to save cash try the free AVG Anti-Virus.
  5. OS updates
    Update your operating system frequently. Always run the latest patches and drivers for your system.

  6. Security scanner
    Run some type of outside security scanner on your machine. I recommend the demo version of
    Retina or the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.
  7. Secure instant messengers
    Everyone wants to keep their IM conversations private. Try
    Trillian Pro for 128-bit encrypted AIM and ICQ conversations.
  8. Secure email
    Hotmail get hacked again? Try
    Hushmail. Hushmail uses 2048-bit encryption to keep your email safe and sound. Hushmail has been around for ages and I've heard many great things about it.
  9. Secure your files
    Looking for a local file encryption solution? Get
    PGP Disk to encrypt all your sensitive files. Store your files in the ThumbDrive Touch, a USB drive that uses biometrics in a built-in fingerprint reader to protect your data.
  10. Safe passwords
    Keep your passwords safe, secure and uncrackable with
    Personal Vault.
FREE MEDIA PLAYERS

Windows Media Player

WINAMP

DivX Codec and Player

VideoLAN

REAL PLAYER

JET AUDIO

ACES MEGA CODEC

XP Codec Pack

Vista Codec Package

FORUMS Q&A

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Task List Programs

Windows Process Library

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AFTERDAWN.COM

Lists of latest items of specific types of content, such as latest news, software or guides can be found at the pages in question. You can navigate around our pages using the navigation tabs at the top of the page.

AFTERDAWN

AVG FREE EDITION
AVG Free is available free-of-charge to home users for the life of the product! Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers.

AVG FREE ANTI-VIRUS

ZONEALARM
Award-Winning Firewall
Solid security foundation for your Internet connected PC.Safely approves programs for Internet Access. Stops intruders from accessing your PC. Makes your PC invisible to hackers.

ZONE ALARM FREE FIREWALL

ADAWARE SE
Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. With the release of Ad-Aware SE Personal edition, Lavasoft takes the fight against Spyware to the next level.

AD-AWARE SE

SPYBOT S & D
Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet cover. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you don't see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies.

Spybot-S&D

FAST DEFRAG
Good memory optimization means speed and stability.  Using our unique technologies we offer the best protection against system crashes. We also help you to quickly recover the maximum amount of free memory possible without removing operating system active components. FAST Defrag can monitor and log information about memory, processor, running applications, startup, installed programs, executable components and many more.

FAST DEFRAG

CODESTUFF STARTER
As a primary purpose, Starter allows one to view and manage all the programs that are starting automatically whenever operating system is loading. It enumerates all the hidden registry entries, startup folders' items and some of the initialization files, so that the user could choose to temporarily disable selected entries, edit them, create new, or delete them permanently.

CODESTUFF STARTER

DISK CLEANER                                                             Easy to use one-click cleaning  Cleaning Presets Quiet mode , i.e. for cleaning when booting ('/q') Extendibility by plug-ins Speed -Temporary Internet Files -Internet Cookies -Internet History -System Temporary Folder

Disk Cleaner

WINTASKS PROCESS LIBRARY
In the recesses of your computer, 20-30 invisible processes run silently in the background. Some hog system resources, turning your PC into a sluggish computer. Worse yet, other useless processes harbour spyware and Trojans - violating your privacy and giving hackers free reign on your computer. WinTasks Process Library is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to know the exact purpose of every single process.

Windows Process Library

SYGATE FIREWALL                                                  Protects against Trojans, spyware, worms and other known & unknown threats Prevents unauthorized or malicious applications from bypassing the firewall Enables even inexperienced users to easily customize and fine-tune security policies Provides best of breed evidence logs for intrusion analysisEasiest-to-use PC firewall and still free for personal/home use

Sygate Personal Firewal

Speakeasy Speed Test

CLICK PIC TO TEST YOUR UPLOAD AND DOWNLOAD SPEED

THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE

DOWNLOADING MUSIC AND MOVIES
DOWNLOADING COPYWRITED MATERIALS IS AGAINST THE LAW, HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME LEGIT REASONS TO USE FILE SHARING. YOU CAN ALSO CATCH VIRUSES AND WORMS BY DOWNLOADING. MAKE SURE YOUR ANTI-VIRUS IS UP TO DATE
HERE IS A FREE ONE http://free.grisoft.com 
AND USE A FIREWALL
HERE IS A FREE ONE http://www.zonelabs.com/
HERE ARE SOME OF THE DOWN LOAD SERVICES

FREE DOWNLOADS

PUBLIC ENEMY FREE DOWNLOADS

LIMEWIRE

Kazaa Lite Revolution

iMesh

BearShare

MOVIE & MUSIC BIT TORRENT SITES
YOU NEED TO RUN PEER GUARDIAN IF YOU USE THESE SITES, IT'S FREE
 

PeerGuardian 2

CLIENTS

BIT COMET

Guide to using BitComet (BitTorrent Client)

U TORRENT

A beginner's guide to UTorrent

Azureus

Guide to using Azureus (BitTorrent Client)

File Sharing Place

TORRENT SITES

DEMONOID

THE PIRATE BAY

TORRENT PORTAL

SEEDPEER

BIT TORRENT MONSTER

MINI NOVA

ISO HUNT

BITE NOVA

TORRENT BOX

TORRENT LOUNGE

BT JUNKIE

MIX TAPE TORRENTS

1337X

BITTORRENT

TORRENT MATRIX

FULL DLS

TORRENT HELPERS

TORRENT FREAK

SLYCK NEWS

VCD GEAR

UNZIP THEM ALL

FILE EXTENSION DETAILS

FREE PROGRAMS

The Elder Geek on Windows XP

Malicious Software Removal Tool

Firefox - Rediscover the web

PCWorld.com

The 40 coolest free applications around

The Web's best free stuff

COMPUTER SCANS

Microsoft Windows Update

Symantec Security Check

Shields UP

PC PitStop

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer

The Belarc Advisor

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP

TECH NEWS

WEB TECH GEEK.COM

ZDNet News

The Register: Security News

PCWorld.com - News

Security Park IT and Computer Security

Internet News Reuters.com

DIGG

REDDIT

TECH SHOPPING

PCWorld.com - Reviews

BEST BUY COMPUTERS

TigerDirect.com

RADIO SHACK COMPUTERS

FREE DOWNLOADS

TOP 100 FREE DOWNLOADS FOR XP

Download.com

ZDNet Downloads

SnapFiles

Freeware Files.com

PCWorld.com - Downloads

FREEBITS FREEWARE

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