Need Advice, Please.

A Lurker Delurkered · Sep 16, 2003

I've just purchased a Pentium 4, 2.66G, XP-equipped laptop. I didn't
want to use XP (because of having heard so many adverse reports about
it being nearly as bad as spyware) but it came pre-loaded and will
void the warranty if removed. Therefore...

I need to find XP-compatible freeware software to do the following
things:

1. Antivirus

2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

3. Proxomitron-like program

4. PDF-creation software

5. Firewall

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Cleaner, iSystem Wiper, MRU Blaster...(or if any of these will suffice
for an XP system, I'd like to know this, too.

In short, I'd like to learn of any software that will make my XP
computing safer, faster, and/or more private.

Thank you.

A Lurker Delurked

My Name · Sep 16, 2003

5. Firewall

The old version of Outpost is free, and works with XP.

safesurfer · Sep 16, 2003

I've just purchased a Pentium 4, 2.66G, XP-equipped laptop. I didn't
want to use XP (because of having heard so many adverse reports about
it being nearly as bad as spyware) but it came pre-loaded and will
void the warranty if removed. Therefore...

I need to find XP-compatible freeware software to do the following
things:

1. Antivirus

2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

3. Proxomitron-like program

4. PDF-creation software

5. Firewall

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Cleaner, iSystem Wiper, MRU Blaster...(or if any of these will suffice
for an XP system, I'd like to know this, too.

In short, I'd like to learn of any software that will make my XP
computing safer, faster, and/or more private.

Thank you.

A Lurker Delurked

Antispyware use Spybot Search & Destroy, AdAware, and Spyware Blaster
Proxomitrin-like Why not use Proxomitron works fine in XP
Firewall I use Zone Alarm

Other utilities: go to http://grc.com/default.htm and get
DCOMbobulator, Shoot The Messenger, and UnPnP

Also http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
to get info about turning off XP's unneeded Services

Susan Bugher · Sep 16, 2003

A said:
I've just purchased a Pentium 4, 2.66G, XP-equipped laptop. I didn't
want to use XP (because of having heard so many adverse reports about
it being nearly as bad as spyware) but it came pre-loaded and will
void the warranty if removed. Therefore...

I need to find XP-compatible freeware software to do the following
things:

1. Antivirus

2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

3. Proxomitron-like program

4. PDF-creation software

5. Firewall

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Cleaner, iSystem Wiper, MRU Blaster...(or if any of these will suffice
for an XP system, I'd like to know this, too.

In short, I'd like to learn of any software that will make my XP
computing safer, faster, and/or more private.

Pricelessware is a good place to start. The descriptions include the OS
the programs can run on.

http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/PL2003AlphabeticalList.php

http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/PL2003CategoryIndex.htm

Susan

Christopher Jahn · Sep 16, 2003

And said:
I've just purchased a Pentium 4, 2.66G, XP-equipped laptop.
I didn't want to use XP (because of having heard so many
adverse reports about it being nearly as bad as spyware)
but it came pre-loaded and will void the warranty if
removed. Therefore...

I need to find XP-compatible freeware software to do the
following things:

1. Antivirus

AVG from http://www.grisoft.com

2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

3. Proxomitron-like program

I'd skip all this and use Mozilla instead of IE: it has these
features built in, and renders faster than IE for me:
http://mozilla.org

4. PDF-creation software

Open Office 1.3-whichever-release-candidate-it-is

http://openoffice.org

5. Firewall

Zonealarm.

--
:-)

Christopher Jahn
:-(

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/xjahn/Main.html

An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it.

YoKenny · Sep 16, 2003

A said:
I've just purchased a Pentium 4, 2.66G, XP-equipped laptop. I didn't
want to use XP (because of having heard so many adverse reports about
it being nearly as bad as spyware) but it came pre-loaded and will
void the warranty if removed. Therefore...

The adverse reports are from uninformed users that are just MS bashers and
I'm sure they will point you to all their evidence that others can refute.

http://www.xp-antispy.org/ click on the British flag for English.

I do not like this application as it turns off too many things automatically
and does not permit you to go back to default settings so use it with
caution. Right clicking on an item will undo the action. It does list
items that you can investigate as to enable you to set them to your liking.

DCOMbobulator
http://grc.com/dcom/

I need to find XP-compatible freeware software to do the following
things:

1. Antivirus

AVG V6.0 works great on XP.

2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

3. Proxomitron-like program

Proxo works great still.
http://asp.flaaten.dk/proxo/ hmmm site seems to be having a bit of a
problem now?
It has a great HOSTS file as well.

4. PDF-creation software

5. Firewall

Kerio V2.1.5

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Cleaner, iSystem Wiper, MRU Blaster...(or if any of these will suffice
for an XP system, I'd like to know this, too.

They are all compatable except for iSystem Wiper that I have never used.
Eraser -- http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/
http://www.imilly.com/winclean.htm you may have to place a shortcut to this
in the RUNONCE registry key.

In short, I'd like to learn of any software that will make my XP
computing safer, faster, and/or more private.

XP Services explained.
http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Of course Ad-Aware and SpyBot S&D
SpywareBlaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

WinPatrol
http://www.winpatrol.com/

George Richards · Sep 16, 2003

A Lurker Delurkered said:
I've just purchased a Pentium 4, 2.66G, XP-equipped laptop. I didn't
want to use XP (because of having heard so many adverse reports about
it being nearly as bad as spyware) but it came pre-loaded and will
void the warranty if removed. Therefore...

I need to find XP-compatible freeware software to do the following
things:

1. Antivirus

Check out this link
http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?table to find a
comparison of the AV software that is compatible with various OS's.

2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

Both Spybot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/ and AdAware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ work with XP.

3. Proxomitron-like program
Proxomitron

4. PDF-creation software

Cute PDF http://www.acrosoftware.com/

5. Firewall

I prefer ZoneAlarm
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?lid=home_zainfo .

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Cleaner, iSystem Wiper, MRU Blaster...(or if any of these will suffice
for an XP system, I'd like to know this, too.

Yep! All those will work on XP too.

Onno Tasler · Sep 16, 2003

A said:
1. Antivirus

AntiVir PE <http://www.free-av.com/>

Avast! said:
2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

Spybot Search and Destroy

3. Proxomitron-like program
WebWasher <http://www.webwasher.com/>

4. PDF-creation software

freePDF said:
5. Firewall

Already included in Windows XP

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Cleaner, iSystem Wiper, MRU Blaster...(or if any of these will suffice
for an XP system, I'd like to know this, too.

XPAntiSpy <http://www.xp-antispy.org/>
RegCompact <http://talismanic.net/codeworld/regcompact/>
TweakUI for Windows XP and MS Powertoys for Windows XP
(Both from Microsoft)

bye,

Onno

Justin Dustin · Sep 16, 2003

The built-in XP firewall works well for me.

John Corliss · Sep 16, 2003

A said:
I've just purchased a Pentium 4, 2.66G, XP-equipped laptop. I didn't
want to use XP (because of having heard so many adverse reports about
it being nearly as bad as spyware) but it came pre-loaded and will
void the warranty if removed. Therefore...

At least for me, it wasn't that as much as the required product
activation (which requires that you register and provide all of your
demographic information) and lack of full featured drivers for legacy
hardware that made me request Millennium Edition instead (and I would
have preferred 98SE, but it was no longer available.) Sooner or later,
I *WILL* remove all M$ crap and go with Linux. Still, it looks like
you're stuck with eX-Privacy.

I need to find XP-compatible freeware software to do the following
things:

1. Antivirus

You can use AVG version 6.0:

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

but since the company may stop providing signature files for that
version in the near future, you might want to use Avast! instead:

http://www.avast.com/i_idt_153.html

2. Anti-trojan/anti-spyware

A good firewall (listed below) warns you about trojans and the above
listed antivirus programs will remove them. As for spyware, both
Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy provide free signature updates:

Adaware:

http://www.lsfileserv.com/software/adaware/

Spybot Search and Destroy:

http://www.safer-networking.org/

You can use either or both. I don't use Spybot, because it appears
that it wants to run in the background. Still, others like the program.

3. Proxomitron-like program

You can still download Proxomitron if you look around (I don't use it)
but if you can't find it, try WebWasher:

http://www.webwasher.com/client/download/index.html?lang=de_EN

4. PDF-creation software

I don't use such a program, so I defer to the Pricelessware links:

http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/PL2003TEXT.htm#ConverttoPDF

5. Firewall

I was using ZoneAlarm but it consumes far too much in the way of
system resources. As a result I have started using Kerio:

http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html

Stick with the 2.1.5 version as others have mentioned problems with
newer versions.

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Cleaner, iSystem Wiper, MRU Blaster...(or if any of these will suffice
for an XP system, I'd like to know this, too.

As Susan says, a good starting point is the Pricelessware page:

http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/PL2003CategoryIndex.htm

In short, I'd like to learn of any software that will make my XP
computing safer, faster, and/or more private.

Keep an eye on the XP modules/programs that are calling out once you
get your firewall installed. I would be willing to bet that the
firewall included in XP doesn't alert you to any of those and that's
why it's a good idea to go with Kerio.

George Richards · Sep 16, 2003

Justin Dustin said:
The built-in XP firewall works well for me.

XP's firewall will only block inbound miscreants. It will not block adware,
spyware, malware, scumware and worms that you have (unwittingly!) installed
from sending messages from your computer to another. You should get a proper
firewall to secure your machine.

HTH

Mark Warner · Sep 16, 2003

John said:
I don't use Spybot, because it appears
that it wants to run in the background.

What makes you say that?

John Corliss · Sep 16, 2003

Mark said:
What makes you say that?

From their features page:

Permanent blocking of threatening ActiveX downloads
Permanent blocking of known tracking cookies for IE Yes Yes
Permanent blocking of threating downloads in IE

But this could be by changing IE settings.

John Corliss · Sep 16, 2003

John said:
From their features page:

Permanent blocking of threatening ActiveX downloads
Permanent blocking of known tracking cookies for IE Yes Yes
Permanent blocking of threating downloads in IE

But this could be by changing IE settings.

Just installed and ran Spybot. It doesn't run in the background. Nice
program- actually found some stuff that Adaware either missed or
doesn't consider to be spyware (Kodak's version of Backweb lite and
something used by Creative Labs for a "news update".)

Maureen Goldman · Sep 16, 2003

6. Various Utilities to clean the registry like JV16 Power Tools, Disk
Regseeker

A Lurker Delurkered · Sep 16, 2003

Thank you all!

The help you give is absolutely the best "freeware" anywhere!

A Lurker Delurkered

tlshell · Sep 17, 2003

(and I would
have preferred 98SE, but it was no longer available.)

I just purchased an OEM CD of Windows 98SE, it's still available but
not installed on computers. I paid $98 total for the full install
version CD, brand new, including manual and license, and it wasn't on
EBay either.

Mark Warner · Sep 17, 2003

John said:
Just installed and ran Spybot. It doesn't run in the background. Nice
program- actually found some stuff that Adaware either missed or
doesn't consider to be spyware (Kodak's version of Backweb lite and
something used by Creative Labs for a "news update".)

I didn't think that Spybot ran in the background, but then again, I
don't claim to know much.

The Immunize feature, coupled with Spywareblaster, seems to block damn
near everything *before* it gets a chance to install/infect.

I also like how Spybot flags all the Windows "recent" files and allows
you to clear them.

M.L. · Sep 18, 2003

You need to stop hanging out with MS-haters and get your OS info from
people who actually use it.

Check out this link
http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archives/products.xml?table to find a
comparison of the AV software that is compatible with various OS's.

If you want the best security for that brand new system of yours you
shouldn't limit yourself to freeware apps. IMO, the best anti-virus
apps are not freeware.

Both Spybot S&D http://www.safer-networking.org/ and AdAware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ work with XP.

Cute PDF http://www.acrosoftware.com/

I prefer Outpost firewall, secure out of the box and easy to
customize. www.agnitum.com

Sietse Fliege · Sep 19, 2003

John said:
At least for me, it wasn't that as much as the required product
activation (which requires that you register and provide all of your
demographic information)

John, activation does NOT require registration and you should not mix
them up.

I recommend you read MS-MVP Alex Nichol's WPA FAQ:
<http://winsupportcenter.com/win5/a/wpa.htm>

<quote>

a.. WPA does not send any personal information at all about you to
Microsoft. There is still an option to register the product with
Microsoft, but that is separate and entirely voluntary.

a.. If you have to phone in yourself to carry out an activation or
reactivation, you are not required to give any identifying personal
information.

</quote>

Need Advice, Please.

A Lurker Delurkered

My Name

safesurfer

Susan Bugher

Christopher Jahn

YoKenny

George Richards

Onno Tasler

Justin Dustin

John Corliss

George Richards

Mark Warner

John Corliss

John Corliss

Maureen Goldman

A Lurker Delurkered

tlshell

Mark Warner

M.L.

Sietse Fliege