I have been asked by several users for software to use on their PCs at home so I decided to put together a list of some of the applications that we have used and recommend. This is by no means a complete list of everything but it is a start and covers many of the basic applications that most home users need. I will update it from time to time as well as list new applications as we come across them. Also, if you know of any not listed here please use the comments section to let us know.
AntiVirus
Avast – Good antivirus program that is free for home (non-commercial) use. You will have to register every year but there is no cost for home use.
AVG – Another good Antivirus program that is also free. We have not done any head t head testing but have had good success with both.
Office Apps
Do you have a broadband connection and the need to create and work on documents but do not want to buy MS Office? Go to thinkfree.com and you can create and even store your documents through a web app. It works surprisingly well and is very compatible with MS Office. The first time you run it it takes a while launch because it has to download the files that it needs to your PC. Subsequent After that first time it loads and launches pretty quickly.
Remote access
Need to work on your PC from home or vice versa? Logmein.com is a free utility that allows you to connect and remotely control a PC using an internet connection and a web browser. There are different options that will offer more for a price, but the logmein basic allows remote control of your PC and works pretty well.
AntiSpyware
While Microsoft’s Windows Defender is not the best antispyware application out there it is ok and it is also free. Another good one that is free is Lavasoft’s Ad-aware Personal, which does a pretty good job as well. Neither one is 100% but you can run them both and should do a pretty good job of getting a lot of spyware cleaned up.
If you have a lot of spyware on your PC it will probably take a lot more than just the two apps above to clean up your PC. It can sometimes be a lengthy and time consuming process that requires a lot of research and work to track down all of the offending apps and clean them up. Look for a complete How To article coming soon on spyware and methods for removing it.
There is an abundance of Anti-Spyware apps out there and you can see a list of them here as well as reviews about each.
Links to the above apps:
Antivirus applications
Avast
AVG
Productivity:
ThinkFree.com
Remote Access:
Logmein.com
Antispyware:
Windows Defender
Lavasoft AdAware
CWShredder
Greaet article. I've been using logmein for a long time now and I reccomend it to everyone I know. I love being able to access my files from a friend's house or when I'm out of town. Glad to see you like it too!
Adaware is also fantastic; cleaned my computer right up. I'll have to check out the rest of these programs soon!
Posted by: roppongi | September 05, 2006 at 10:51 AM