USEFUL COMPUTER-RELATED LINKS:
Free Anti-Virus
Products
AVG Free Anti-Virus -- Free download
http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
Also available on c|net Download.com
Avira AntiVir -- Free download
http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials -- Free Antivirus download (32-bit & 64-bit)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/default.aspx
June 2011 - lately I've had several client systems using MSSE that got infected, so I moved them to AVG.
Avast Free Antivirus -- Free download
http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download
Also available on c|net Download.com
Free Online Anti-Virus Scanners
F-Secure -- Free online scanner/cleaner
http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/downloads/
BitDefender -- Free online scanner/cleaner
http://www.bitdefender.com/scanner/online/free.html
Panda Software -- FREE on-line virus scanner
(Use the link below if the above link fails.)
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/
Malware / SpyWare / Adware
Removal Products
MalwareBytes -- Free malware removal
Also available on c|net Download.com
Hitman Pro -- Rootkit removal (32-bit & 64-bit)
http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro
Also available on c|net Download.com
AdAware -- Free Standard Edition!
Also available via c|net Download.com
SpyBot - Search & Destroy -- Free! (Donations Accepted)
www.spybot.safer-networking.de
Also available via c|net Download.com
Anti-SPAM Products
Both of these programs are free, and you can use both at the same time if you wish. Myriad anti-SPAM products are available, several of which are freeware, while others are just free for an evaluation period.
K9 -- Free Edition!
K9 is intelligent. It starts out somewhat dumb and you have to train it to recognize what you consider to be spam. After a few days of training, its accuracy improves to over 90%. And it is not based on your Contact List. It is a bit more involved to install and configure. You must manually create a Spam folder in Outlook/OE to receive messages considered Spam. You must also create a rule to move messages flagged by K9 as Spam into that Spam folder.
MailWasher -- Free Edition!
Also available via c|net Download.com
MailWasher is entirely manual. It filters anyone not already in your email Contact List, but you have to set it all up manually, and add new contacts as you gather them. MailWasher is probably inappropriate for users who often receive valid email from strangers (such as new customers), as all messages from new contacts will be filtered.