Thursday Thirteen #5

1. ZoneAlarm: This firewall kicks so much ass! Awhile back I had some dialers running off my system, after installing Zone they no longer could gain access to my system. It also allows me to choose what programs I want to have access to the internet and alerts me when an un-authorized program is trying to gain access. Automatically keeps itself updated at no charge to you.

2. Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition: Scans your RAM, Registry, hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising, and tracking components. It cleans house on icky data-miners and other crap that’s loaded to your computer while you surf. You’ll need to manually update this one (just a couple buttons clicks), but updates are always free!

3. a-squared Free: Detects and removes malicious software (Malware) like Trojans, Dialers, Worms and Spyware. Again, updates are free with just a couple clicks of a button!

4. CCleaner (aka Crap Cleaner): An optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system – allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. I like this one because it takes care of all those damn temp files that clog up your system and slow it down. Updates are free, just a couple clicks of a button and bam! Done.

5. AVG Anti-Virus: This anti-virus scanner is a god-send! It does everything, automatic scans of your system, email scanner, scans programs as they are run so you can make sure that nothing is getting by you. It even comes with a “Virus Vault”–a nasty little pit for current viruses that won’t allow them to escape. Updates are free and can be scheduled so you can just let it do its thing!

6. McAfee AVERT Stinger: Already got an infected system? Stinger may be able to help! Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It performs digital kung-fu on things like the Sasser Worm, Sober, and many other bad boys. There’s a complete listing on the site of just who this program can take out. I keep a CD with the latest version in my desk so incase I ever get infected I can start kickin’ some tail immediately! To get “updates” you’ll have to check their site for the latest version.

7. CWShredder: Having “Cool Web Search” problems? This program was designed specifically for CWS and its variants. Including the Cassandra that hijacks your browser. Updates are done with a couple clicks of a button!

8. Kill2me 1.11: A removal tool specifically for the Look2Me parasite. This tool removes versions 115-122 (most recent) on all Windows versions.

9. FireFox: Not going to preach much on this one–everyone else is doin’ a fine job for me. But it is nice

10. Thunderbird: The e-mail client produced by the folks who made FF. I like it, it’s nice and simple.

11. Google Earth: Because I’m a big fat dork and like maps this program is too cool for school in my book! The Hotness and I like to cruise around the world–this morning I went and saw Saint Peter’s Basilia, Vatican City *chuckle* It’s a bitch on dialup users though so be forewarned. Would be good for the kiddos too I suppose…

12. Good Keywords: A tool for finding the ideal set of keywords for targeting your web pages. Use Good Keywords to find suitable keywords sets, create your meta tags, brainstorm product ideas, etc. I’ve used this only a couple times and have yet to really test and see if a page targeted with it’s suggestions actually does better than one that isn’t. Either way it’s pretty neat.

13. CoreFTP Lite Free Version: This is what I use for my FTP needs. It’s simple, quick to set up and I love it! Features like SFTP (SSH), SSL, TLS, IDN, browser integration, site to site transfers, FTP transfer resume, drag and drop support, file viewing & editing, firewall support, custom commands, FTP URL parsing, command line transfers, filters, and much, much more!

*phew* I’m worn out now, have a great TT y’all!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
::Chickadee::Chloe::Nicole::Dawn::PJ::Lisa::
::Dariana::Bettersafethansorry::Veronika::Stacie::
::Virenda::Norma::Lena::Laura::JK::Emily::

(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)