How to clean your PC with Open Source Applications
June 27th, 2007 by admin
- Is your computer running slow?
- Do you feel your internet connection is not worth the money you pay for it?
- Random pop-ups open all over your screen?
YOU ARE PROBABLY INFECTED
There are a lot of open source applications that can make your online and offline experience a lot more pleasant.
I . Open Source Antivirus
A real-time Antivirus scanner (and so much more)
Winpooch has it all: a real time detection engine, an anti-Trojan and even a process manager. The interface is good looking and robust, it stays like a “good boy”: minimized and it it’s easy to use. It can update itself and can detect most of knows viruses. It’s better then you will expect and it will become your favorite pet.
Oh… And it barks when an application tries to mess up with your registry…It’s so cute!!! Gush…I sound like a girl.
B) ClamWin
Fast scanner ( not real time )
The things you must look up when searching for an antivirus is the possibility to deactivate it with 2 clicks of a mouse. You don’t need 24/24 protection. It’s a know fact that people get infected by running exe files from all kind of sites. If you download software from official sites you are safe. If you download a program that brags about features almost to good to be true then you are in danger.
If you are a computer geek you should install and disable them when you run trusted software on your computer to save memory and unnecessary scanning activity. If you don’t want to get 100% performance out of your computer you can leave them on all the time.
Remember
- to set automatic updates on
- not to run full scans to often
- with a real time scanner a full scan is a waste of time
II. Open Source Anti-spyware Tools
“Nixory is a GTK+ application, so it requires GTK+ 2.6 or better installed. If you don’t have GTK+ runtime environment, you can get it from”
Spyware is very dangerous and your security can be seriously compromised. Usually this kind of software hides deep in your registry and it’s bundle in packages with other software.
If you like looking around online then you must use Firefox or Opera as your browser. You are more protected and the communities tries really hard to keep up with updates to cover all the security issues. IE is a thing of the past and the Microsoft domination must be stopped.
Remember
- You must run these programs at least once a week.
- Enable auto updates
- Pay close attentions to warnings the browsers give you
III. Open Source Anti Pop-ups
This riddle is easy: The Firefox Browser Portable Edition
The age of IE and thousands of pop-ups has ended. Just install Firefox, press CTR to allow pop-ups and start clicking the toolbar to allow sites to open windows when you want to.
IV. Start-up programs
Use : you need to clean up 90% of you startup programs. Most of them are useless programs that only take memory space. Real Player, Quick Time , Daemon Tools , good tools ok, but only 2 clicks away in your start menu.
You have 3 main groups displayed by this program: Startup , Registry , WinIni. With one click of a button you can make start up programs enabled or disabled. It’s also a great way to keep track of everything that it’s launched with your system.
V. Open Source Task Manager
The truth is this tool is a bit rusty. Skilled programmers need to help this development and make it twice as better as the windows task manager. There are good alternatives but : “come on people” , we need an OPEN SOURCE TASK MANAGER.
Uses:
- checks for suspicious activity
- analyze what running process are doing
- close active tasks with a click of a mouse.
If you want to read more about XP Security you can try this Xp Security Guide.
This is a nice post.I have never seen these tools before.
Can you give many open source tools in another post.