It’s been my intention to start writing regularly in a blog of my own for a while now. I’ve found time and topics to be difficult to combine so it hasn’t happened until now. I’ve been thinking about some of the software I’ve come across or started using more regularly and originally planned on compiling them in an email to send to friends and family, but I suppose this is a better outlet for that sort of information. So here it goes.
Just recently I started using Windows full time again. For the last ~9 years the Mac OS has been my primary setup and I’ve loved it and will continue to love it and use it. Last year I used Windows for work but I never really used it much, especially not any more than I had to but, after returning to New Jersey Legal after a short hiatus, I’ve started using it again out of necessity, but this time trying to use it more regularly. It seems the trial presentation software that is most fully developed doesn’t exist for the Mac OS. The software I want to share is going to be Windows based for now and I can only vouch for its usefulness in XP but have at it all the same.
Secunia PSI
Secunia’s Personal Software Inspector will scan your installed programs for security gaps, vulnerabilities and coding flaws. It searches for outdated versions and provides a solution when possible. What I like about this program is it will provide you with a link to automatically update the programs whenever it can find that information and, if that’s not accessible, it will provide you with a link that will open your default browser and allow you to download/fix/update the software manually. I had a pretty bare bones install with all of the Windows Updates in place when I first ran this program and I was surprised by what it found. Everything from browser plugins to software I either thought was up to date or wasn’t aware of a newer version existing. I didn’t like that it put itself in my startup items as I don’t feel I need to run this everyday (though maybe I should) but removing that took care of my only negative towards it. It’s a free program and can be downloaded from Secunia’s PSI page.
CCleaner
CCleaner is great for cleaning up the crap that accumulates on your computer. Fitting that the program used to be called ‘Crap Cleaner.’ CCleaner will clean up your browser cache, history, cookies, and downloads for Firefox and IE and appears to do something for Safari, Chrome and Opera though it doesn’t say what and I haven’t looked to see on my own system. It’ll also tidy up your registry, recycle bin, clipboard, temp files and a bunch of other stuff that you can read about at the features page of their site. Pretty nice program, I run it ~weekly and I think it does a great job at what it’s supposed to do. CCleaner is also a free program and available for download on their Download page.
Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware
I’m fortunate in that I haven’t really found Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware program useful yet. Granted I haven’t downloaded much on my XP install as it’s easier to download most things on the Mac side, scan it with AVG and then move it over via Parallels, but I’m still happy it hasn’t found anything I might have missed. I’ve read great reviews on this program so I trust it’s doing its job and will find any malware should it be on my computer. Anti-Malware has a free trial which, as far as I can tell, is only limited in that it doesn’t allow live monitoring or scheduled scans/updates. If you find it useful and would like to unlock the live monitoring and scheduling it’s only $24.95 for personal use. Take a look at their Anti-Malware page for more detailed information and to download.
Eraser
Raise of hands- How many of you believe that sending your files to the Recycle Bin and emptying the Recycle Bin gets rid of your files forever? All of you with your hands raised are wrong. When you empty your Recycle Bin, the system makes minor changes to these files that indicate the space they currently are using is available to be used should another file need it. When we had small hard drives and would frequently be testing the limits of our storage space this wasn’t such a tremendous problem as the files could quickly be overwritten many times over with new files. The difficulty now is found in the size of our hard drives. It feels as though we have an infinite amount of storage space on modern computers, with many of us only using a fraction of the hard drive space available to us. This means that when you’ve deleted a file and the system has changed it’s properties to “available” there’s a high possibility that file won’t ever be overwritten as the computer won’t go back to that storage space, but instead continue using the storage space that has not yet been touched.
So how do you get rid of these file completely? I’ve posted some videotaped ways of destroying your data on our blog at work, so that’s an option. I’ve also posted a general level recommendation on wiping your data and keeping the hard drives in service on the blog as well, but without getting too specific on programs as there are so many options we didn’t want to pinpoint only one. At work we have both hardware and software solutions that will wipe drives, but what about consumer or individual level solutions? I personally use Eraser. Eraser gives you a handful of data wiping options (from a single overwrite to overwriting 35 times), allows you to configure differently between erasing files and slack space and also lets you schedule regular wipes if that’s your thing. Eraser is another free program and is available not only for your XP/Vista install but also as a portable app for your thumbdrive. Download from Eraser’s website.
AVG Free
It’s free and it’s only annoyance, to me, is the nagging window that is attached to the main AVG window when you open it. Not a bad trade. I’ve read reviews that it’s resource intensive for an AV, but I haven’t personally encountered that as a problem. From what I’ve seen, it’s a nice program that does what I want without being too intrusive. Download either the free or more fully-featured pay versions on their Download page.
TrueCrypt
TrueCrypt is an encryption program, allowing you to safely carry sensitive files on your thumbdrive without being too concerned over losing the drive providing you’ve used a great password for the encryption. This program allows a variety of different encryption methods so if you have a favorite flavor you can probably use it. It allows you to create an encrypted virtual disk or even encrypt an entire drive along with hidden volumes. They’re big on security and their website explains the benefits in a little bit more detail. The downside to the upside is if you forget your password to open the encrypted drive your files inside of it are lost forever. User beware and all that. This program is the odd one in that not only is it available for XP, Vista and as a portable thumbdrive version, but also available for the Mac OS. I’d suggest reading up on the program, it’s solutions and options before diving in but once you’re ready you can download your preferred version from their Downloads page.
If you have any programs that you feel are a must have on every new XP install, I’d love to hear them. Either leave them in the comments below, send me a message on Twitter(@RobertDeBord) or shoot me an email (robert at robertdebord.com)!