Good Pc Programs

[Pwnzilla]

I use both AVG and ZoneAlarm. Both free and both good. Overclocking tools to consider are: CPUZ is good for checking processor, Orthos is good for stressing cores to check temps, Core Temp is good for checking CPU temps (not every flavor of CPU is supported). Motherboard Monitor (if you mobo is supported is good) or SpeedFan as well. Core Temp will give the most accurate reading as it uses the on chip sensor. Memtest86 is good for checking for RAM errors.

[PooT]

I was going to post this in the Tech Disc. but saw this so I decided to put it here.

Ever have one of those damn unwanted files that you cant get rid of?
like right now, im trying to delete what i thought was Saw 4 but ended up bein some stupid thing requiring a codec that doesnt even exist. Every time i try to delete it, it tells me "Cannot delete, program being used by another person.. blah blah blah". Well, i found the answer.

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

It's free but they do accept donations :P

awesome program, would be a great add to the list.

[Pwnzilla]

This has always worked for me. No third party software required.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/delete_undeletable_file.htm

[Zinmasterb]

Not a program, but great for making your school reports look fancy.
http://www.network-science.de/ascii

[Colossus]

Originally Posted by DarkCreator

A really good Free firewall program is, "Comodo," (found at http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/). It got a 90%+ rating in one of those PC mags and on top of that its FREE!

A little program that I find really useful as well is entitled, "CPUZ," (found at http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) and it does all of this:
CPU:
-Name and number.
-Core stepping and process.
-Package.
-Core voltage.
-Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.
-Supported instructions sets.
-Cache information.

Mainboard:
-Vendor, model and revision.
-BIOS model and date.
-Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.
-Graphic interface.

Memory:
-Frequency and timings.
-Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table.

System:
-Windows and DirectX version.

agreed CPUZ rocks

[Dwarf Eater]

Could be blind, but I didn't see CCleaner in the list. Very useful for clearing out all of that hidden temp crap your system builds up. Best record so far -- ran it on a friends PC and removed over 7GB of garbage/temp files/cookies/etc...

http://www.ccleaner.com/

[Dragonoth]

Ok so I have been re-vamping my computers security. I got zone alarm(firewall) and AVG(anti virus). Now what should I get anti-spyware wise?, I went to download.com and looked at all they got and read a bunch of reviews but I trust you guys a lot more.

[Pwnzilla]

You don't want to run more than one anti-virus program as they can create issues with one another. However, you can run multiple spyware programs without issue. It is actually beneficial to run multiple programs as one can catch issues another might miss. Three that I use are:

AVG Anti-Spyware
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download...yware/us/frt/0

Spybot Search & Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

Ad-Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

One other item to consider is rootkits. I use:

AVG Anti-Rootkit Free
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/39798/us/frt/0

[Dragonoth]

Thanks once again pwn, I think ill pick up that CCleaner as well.

[Torr]

I don't have links handy, but you can look up all of this stuff online. My general clean up order goes (every couple of months):

(1) Your anti-virus software (I use McAfee because it's free with Comcast. I run it more often than every two months but as part of my cleaning regimen I do it again).

(2) A-squared Free. Good at finding trojans and worms.

(3) Rootkit Revealer. It tells you all of the programs that have hidden themselves from Windows. It isn't an automatic tool though and after you find rootkits you need to look them up on thier forums to see if they are harmful.

(4) CCleaner.

(5) Page Defrag. I use this instead of the built-in Microsoft version.

(6) Contig. DOS prompt program that finds what Page Defrag doesn't.

I used to use Regcleaner but it doesn't like multi-core CPUs for some reason. Oh and I forgot, before I run these programs I like to backup my registry using Erunt. Every 6 months or so I use a program called DriveImage XML to backup my entire drive to my external one.

Everything I listed is free to use except for the Anti-Virus (which is free from Comcast though). If I switch to FIOS I might pick up Kaspersky or something like that, haven't decided yet.