A few free programs that are very helpful!!

Please add your opinions & reccomendations

from WinCustomize Forums
I stumbled acress a program today that I find to be pretty usefull, it's called EULAlyzer.  The free version only runs as you call for it to which is what I prefer.   Whenever you have to read an EULA, just run this program and drag the crosshairs to the text you want to analyze.  It will highlight stuff that stands out such as talking about installing 3rd party software or adbots, ect. 
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/eulalyzer.html
http://www.download.com/EULAlyzer/3000-2086_4-10464852.html

I also just d/l a program called MP3TAG that works very fast and well for editing mp3 tags easily and lets you copy and past album covers (i have roxioEMC10 but too many issues on vista!!)  http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

Ausligics disk defrag works very smooth for a free disk defrag. I'm using this for now untill I find something really worth it for Vista (the one that comes with Vista sucks, at least the one on XP had some info to it)
http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/

Here is a great utility for doing minor edits on pictures and even can get plug-ins to play video and mp3 The best is you can easily resize a picture (by pixel, percent or there is even a button to quickly reduce it by 1/2 (VERY light on resources)
http://www.irfanview.com/

BLACKVIPER~ a great O/S service page  It has a list of all windows (even VISTA) services and what they do, and recommendations on what can be turned on/off in certain situations
http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/OSguides.htm

One thing that I need some opinions on is a good firewall for vista, but also not a resource hog.  I figure if you have read past where I mention turning off system services then I'm confident that you will have some educated opinions  I had ZONEALARM Pro, and 2 months after I paid for 1 year, I got vista. A year later and they do not have a version that works good with vista?! The zonealarm they have ready for vista is too buggy and a por version is still not available (they were gonna credit me for the time I've been subscribed but not using ZApro but now I'm calling them trying to get a refund to my credit card) Guess they're following same path as adaware 2007. 
I've tried outpost firewall and It woulda been  a sure choice for me but for some reason  surfing the web  slowed down to early dial-up pace  (ruled out kaspersky AV, firefox addons and IE, ect)    Next I tried Jetico Firewall but that one is too involved.  I have been looking at reviews but most of them list norton and big names like that (and all the user comments rave about how great it is) 
Please reply back with any suggestions for good Vista Firewalls (not worried if it is free or not) and any free usefull programs that people may not realize are out there
96,642 views 32 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
EULAlyzer


Yeah, I guess reading comprehension is a problem for some people.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
A lot of people who know computers swear by ESET/NOD software when it comes to Security. ESET bought out a new Smart Security Suite a few weeks ago and there have been some small bugs as you would expect but they seem to move fairly quickly to resolve them. It looks a good suite and includes anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware. There is a free 30day trial. Give it a try and here is a link............. WWW Link

As a matter of interest I'm still on Norton Internet Security and the other day I noticed there is there was a facility within the software to update your version. I had about four months left of my subscription to the 2007 version and after following the instructions - and a few little hitches - I was allowed to download the 2008 version for FREE!!! Yep, FREE. So if there are any of you out there on NIS or on any other Norton products you might like to try the same. I must admit I had a hitch when I ran into an installation issue on the 2008 version but I quickly managed to resolve that and it installed like a dream
CursorFX - Customize your Windows cursor
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Or you could just run Linux.

Ok, before the fanboys get all fired up, that was a facetious remark.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I never understood why people use software based firewalls on highspeed connections.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Windows Defender and OneCare together make a great package. It is what I am using now, and so far, no viruses, spyware or anything of that sort.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Leo - no one in their right mind uses Norton. That's just asking for trouble.

Phoon - good point. I've wondered the same thing. I think a few people out there are on the paranoid side of the fence.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
no one in their right mind uses Norton. That's just asking for trouble.


How true and sad. Norton used to be the top of the line AV solution at one time too.
I will say however, that the corporate product Symantec AV is good.
Personally, I prefer Trend-Micro. Pc-Cillin at home, Neat Suite at work.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Lets see
CCleaner
Spybot S&D
Avast AV
MS PowerToys. ( TweakUI )
....
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I never understood why people use software based firewalls on highspeed connections.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.

Off Topic but i really like to know

Seriously guys..does this mean I can actually uninstall my zone alarm and still be safe? I am currently on a router/firewall modem. Is it really save? I need all my resources to do other things.. please advice.. Thanks.
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top


I never understood why people use software based firewalls on highspeed connections.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.

Off Topic but i really like to know

Seriously guys..does this mean I can actually uninstall my zone alarm and still be safe? I am currently on a router/firewall modem. Is it really save? I need all my resources to do other things.. please advice.. Thanks.


That router/firewall is better assuming you actually set it up correctly. Huge assumption though.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
no one in their right mind uses Norton. That's just asking for trouble


I must whole heartily disagree. I've been using Norton for years. Never had a virus. Right now I'm running it on 3 machines 2 on XP 1 on Vista. I wouldn't trust anything else.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
ALMonty - ask Jafo about Norton. You'll see it has a evil side to it.
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It's like any other program, it works perfect on one computer and rips the other apart. I haven't had any problems so I'm sticking with it.  
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
ALMonty, you're absolutely right. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it's down to your own personal experience. I have known people who have had nightmares with Norton but personally my experiences are the same as yours. It's always protected my machines and been 'on the ball' to warn me with anything suspicious. I have no complaints with Norton on the Security side however their Systemworks package does not seem to be as efficient or as good as some of the other software around. I recently moved to PerfectDisk and TuneUp Utilities and have found that these two progs are top notch and really keep my machine fast and clean. I mentioned ESET at the beginning of the thread and I think I am going to change to their Security Suite when my Norton expires. I am a great one for listening to those who have computer expertize and looking at other forums and ESET certainly seems to be the big fav.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I am currently using Kaspersky (KIS7), as it was one of the first Firewalls that worked reliably on Vista64bit.

The main reason for me to get a software firewall additionally to the one in my router, was because I wanted easy control over which programs are allowed to access the Internet and which are not.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top

NIS may be OK....but NAV is a dog.

IF it works OK on your machine...and you have had no problems...good luck....cos 'luck' it is.

If it fubars and takes out your BITs service along with it you'll enjoy the fix.... a nice way to while-away your twilight years.

No Symantec product will ever go on one of my machines again.

Ever.

Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I use Avast AV on XP, Vista and Linux. Firewall just the default settings on XP, Vista and Linux and almost locked down on my router.
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top
Jesus, with all the (even on Vista) caveats you have on here I have to ask why you haven't switched to something else? why work this hard to overcome huge OS problems. Just switch OS's and half of your list becomes obsolete.
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I agree with greywar on this one.
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I always wanted to learn Linux, but instead I'm using vista (customized a bit, killed some useless services, the usual)too many people use my computer so I wanted to keep it at something they're familiar with Right now I have my cable modem going straight to my PC via ethernet cable. I guess my first step would be to get a hardware firewall router even if i don't network off the router. Eventually when I get PS3 i'll be needing a router anyway & i'll be able to install Linux on it!!!
Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I never understood why people use software based firewalls on highspeed connections.
A home router/firewall is very inexpensive, will do the job better, and will not hog resources.

Off Topic but i really like to know

Seriously guys..does this mean I can actually uninstall my zone alarm and still be safe? I am currently on a router/firewall modem. Is it really save? I need all my resources to do other things.. please advice.. Thanks.


That router/firewall is better assuming you actually set it up correctly. Huge assumption though.


And where might someone find the info for setting up a router/firewall correctly?
I'd love to turn off my software firewall, and still feel safe.
Thanks in advance.

Reply #23 from JoeUser Forums Top
And where might someone find the info for setting up a router/firewall correctly?


Hmmm honestly this isn't something and FAq or help page will really satisfy. Relying on tohers advice without personal expertise will probably just set you up for a false sense of security.

One major advantage of Zone Alarm and other software FW's is that they are a lot less dependant on the user getting it right. They also tend to be a bit mroe user friendly in terms of simply being able to quickly turn off protection for a moment or two to do something it is blocking and then clicking it back on.

yeah yeah, I know all that can be done in HW FWs too, save your commentary. My point is that if HW FW's are messing with your head the SW one's will likely be a better choice for non-security oriented end-users.
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for the info greywar. Now phoon can stop wondering why people don't use the router/firewall....... we don't know how.
Reply #25 from JoeUser Forums Top
we don't know how


Actually most security professionals don't get it right a good chunk of the time either. Most of us only find out where we goofed after an attempted access that hopefully gets stopped by another security layer lower in the stack.

It is amazingly hard to make anything secure and still have it be useful in any real way.