Welcome to stevethornburg.com
This site is devoted to computer security technology and related issues. My intention is to provide helpful information for home users and IT professionals. As
time permits, I will add links to various articles and/or tutorials that I feel would be beneficial to the general public.
This page will focus [mostly] on software
that I use, and that I find to be helpful (on Windows systems).
If you have some particular topic you would like referenced here, please send your
comments. Thanks!
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28.DEC.07 |
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| This site is |
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Computer Security Software for Computers running a Microsoft Windows Operating System
The security tools and other listed software are free for personal use unless specified otherwise.
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Note that in the "RECOMMENDED" column, there are some items marked "MAYBE".
The reason is that as time goes on, newer and possibly better products are released.
I'm not too quick to abandon an old product unless there's a good reason to. Also I
have a lot of computers, so sometimes I still have "old" software running on some,
while "new" software is being evaluated on others. The Adobe Reader and Foxit is
one such example. AVG Free Edition and Comodo AntiVirus is another case where
I say "MAYBE", because I don't run any free antivirus software - I use ESET NOD32.
But I do understand that many people need to run a free one, and I would much
rather see them run a "good" free one if possible. If anybody out there can give
me "hands on" feedback about AVG or Comodo AntiVirus, I would appreciate it,
and would post the information here for everybody to benefit from it. Thanks!
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Computer Security and other Software for Windows - Best in their Class
Note that the "updates" column is often my "best guess", and may vary
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| TITLE |
CLASS |
DOWNLOAD |
SIZE |
PRICE |
UPDATES |
XP |
VISTA |
USER |
RECOMMENDED |
 |
| 7-Zip |
zip/unzip |
web site |
< 1 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
| Adobe Reader |
PDF reader |
web site |
< 23 MB |
free |
> monthly |
✔ |
✔ |
beginner |
MAYBE |
Download size varies, and is higher if you allow it to carry the Google Toolbar (1.1 MB) and/or the Photoshop Album software(8.4 MB).
I recommend neither of those items, but it's a personal choice - I am unaware of problems with either of them. See "Foxit", below.
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| AVG Free Edition |
anti-virus |
web site |
< 30 MB |
free |
> daily |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
MAYBE |
| Belarc Advisor |
info |
web site |
< 2 MB |
free |
< monthly |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
| CCleaner |
utility |
web site |
< 3 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
| Comodo AntiVirus |
anti-virus |
web site |
< 35 MB |
free |
> daily |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
MAYBE |
If you really can't afford anti-virus software, then this is the one to use.
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| Comodo Firewall Pro |
firewall |
web site |
> 9 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
MAYBE |
→ NOTE that the newest version introduces severe system performance degradation in some cases. (28 DEC.07)
If you know of a fix or workaround for this issue, please advise. Thanks!
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| Comodo Verification Engine |
anti-fraud |
web site |
< 2 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
anybody |
YES |
| Filezilla |
FTP client |
web site |
< 3 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
MAYBE |
If you really can't afford FTP software, then this is the one to use.
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| Firefox |
browser |
web site |
< 6 MB |
free |
varies |
✔ |
✔ |
anybody |
YES! |
| Foxit |
PDF reader |
web site |
< 3 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
beginner |
MAYBE |
Note that there is a separate download required for the almost-90-page user manual, approximately 1.5 MB.
To get Foxit, go to the DOWNLOADS page and select "Foxit Reader x.x (.exe)" - it's the smallest download in that section.
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| FTP Voyager |
FTP client |
web site |
< 6 MB |
$ 39.95 |
varies |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
This is the best FTP software for Windows, period.
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| HOSTS file |
anti-malware |
web site |
< 1 MB |
free |
> monthly |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
| IrfanView |
utility |
web site |
< 1 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
anybody |
YES |
General image viewer and converter, best in it's class.
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| Microsoft Word Viewer 2003 |
Word reader |
web site |
< 12 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
- |
anybody |
YES |
View, print and copy Word documents, even if you don't have Word installed.
Note that there are links for free Excel and PowerPoint viewers on that same page.
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| NOD32 (ESET) |
anti-virus |
web site |
< 12 MB |
$ 39.00 |
> daily |
✔ |
✔ |
anybody |
YES! |
This is quite simply the very best protection you can buy.
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| Notepad2 |
Notepad |
web site |
< 300 KB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
anybody |
YES |
Replacement for Windows Notepad, more features, easy to use.
NOTE that on Vista, Notepad2 works only with File Virtualization enabled, as of November 4 2007.
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| Process Explorer |
utility |
web site |
< 2 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
advanced |
YES |
You can think of Process Explorer as "Windows Task Manager on Steroids" - this utility is an excellent tool.
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| ProduKey |
utility |
web site |
< 35 KB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
anybody |
YES |
Shows product keys for various products. Indispensable if you need it.
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| Replicator |
backup |
web site |
< 3 MB |
free |
varies |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
| Rootkit Revealer |
malware fix |
web site |
< 300 KB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
advanced |
YES |
| SmitFraudFix |
malware fix |
web site |
< 1 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
This tool removes Desktop Hijack malware, and is the best in it's class.
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| Sun JRE |
multi |
web site |
≤ 14 MB |
free |
> monthly |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
| TCP View |
utility |
web site |
< 200 KB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
advanced |
YES |
| VirtualBox |
security |
web site |
< 20 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
advanced |
YES |
| Windows Defender |
anti spyware |
web site |
< 5 MB |
free |
< weekly† |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
YES |
| WinRAR |
zip/unzip |
web site |
< 2 MB |
free |
unknown |
✔ |
✔ |
intermediate |
MAYBE |
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Items "in green" are strongly recommended for any Windows system.
†Windows Defender is included with Vista. I recommend using it on XP as well.
Updates vary, as there
will be "signature" upates more or less frequently depending on threats, and
there will be "engine" updates on occassion as well, but less frequently than the signature updates.
Note that Windows Defender will not run properly on Windows 2000. |
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| Items "in blue" are recommended for any "computer literate" individual, and are very helpful tools. |
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| Items "in pink" are recommended for advanced users only. Don't say I didn't warn you! |
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| Common mistakes: |
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Many people believe that they need to run multiple anti-spyware applications, and some people even run multiple anti-virus applications. That is not a good idea, and in fact can severly interfere with the performance of your system. For anti-spyware applications, it is acceptable to have multiple installations *IF* those applications do
not monitor the system in "real time" - such as is the case with Windows Defender. It is not uncommon for "real time" monitoring software to actually interfere with each other, and to cause system instability. For anti-spyware applications that run "on demand" only, there should not be a problem. Note, however, that in most cases, uning "on demand"
applications is like calling a doctor after you have been hit by a truck. My advice is to avoid being hit to begin with, and save yourself a lot of pain.
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Running multiple anti-virus applications on a typical "home computer" system is not a good idea, as you will generally have problems as a direct result. My advice, and I can not repeat this enough, is to get a GOOD anti-virus application. Unfortunately, there is no free anti-virus software available at this time (November 2007) that really
does an adequate job. I strongly recommend using ESET NOD32 to protect your system. It is the best one I have found so far, and I've tested many different anti-virus products.
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P2P sofware such as Limewire, Kazaa, Gnutella and others, is high risk software as far as security is concerned. Over the years, the vast majority of infected systems I've seen were the victims of malicious users on P2P networks - even outnumbering foolish users opening email attachments. Malicious P2P users are responsible for any number
of issues, such as insertion of viruses and/or spyware, identity theft, denial of service attacks, spamming, and illegal distribution of copyright protected materials (for which the RIAA has successfully sued tens of thousands of people so far, and there is no end in sight). My primary reason
for recommending NO P2P software on your computer is because of the very high rate of infection of systems using P2P software. Don't say you were not warned!
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Many people run multiple "instant messenger" clients, such as AIM, MSN, Yahoo and others. The "IM" clients are not as prone to attack as they were a few years ago, but it still happens. And system instability is often an issue when running multiple clients. Symptoms include overall slow performance, periodic "crashing", randomly
changing configuration of other software (which should never be affected, but sometimes is), and sometimes missing icons in your system tray.
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Many users continue to - after years of warnings - open email attachments, or click on links in email that is from an unknown and/or untrusted source. Infection by email remains high on the list of computer security problems. My recommendations regarding email include . . .
1) Change your password(s) often, and never share password(s)
2) Do not use "preview" mode
3) Read your email in "text mode" only
4) Do not open emails unless you are sure you know and trust the sender
5) Do not open ANY attachment unless you have anti-virus that checks it
6) Do not click on links in email, unless you are sure that the link is safe
7) Delete all emails - unread - from any senders that you do not know
8) Never reply to spam, and never forward any "chain letter" emails
And, if you use a web mail client, you may want to spend a little time learning how to Set a Hacker Alarm on Your Web Mail Box.
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| Software Applications Summary |
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Thanks for visiting this site. I hope the materials and/or references provided here are helpful, and I shall continue to update the site as time
permits. If you find any dead links, typos within the text, or anything else that should be fixed, please let me know. Your feedback is
greatly appreciated.
You can contact me via secure web form here, or email me directly at the address shown below . . .
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You can use the "masked" email address shown to the left, or you can
click on it to
open a web form (in case you don't have any convenient email client available).
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