This week I took some time to talk to our tech team here at Netsville to find out some useful programs to use on your computer. I found these five programs very interesting and even started using them myself. My computer has been running better than ever after installing some of these programs. If you have any programs you find very useful I would love to hear about it in the comments below. Lets take a look at these five programs.
Avast
Avast is one of the most known and used antivirus brands in the world. With over 200 million users worldwide, Avast is the most used antivirus software on the market. The best thing about Avast is they have a free version.
“We give a quality product, Avast! Free Antivirus, away for free. Customers like it and recommend it to others. In addition to the free product, we offer paid-for consumer solutions and a business products line.”
This product is so great because it’s a complete tool that protects your computer from threats on the internet, email, local files, instant messages and more. The virus protection, also called on-access or resident protection is free.
Avast scans browser plugins to find installs that have poor reputation and may be malicious. The Free Antivirus includes fully functional antivirus, antispyware and heuristics engines. When it comes down to it the free antivirus, Avast seems to be the most useful antivirus software on the market.
TOR
The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the internet. This is possible by connecting through a series of virtual tunnels rather than making a direct connection, allowing individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Tor also allows users to reach otherwise blocked content and destinations.
The reason behind using Tor is because it prevents people from tracking you and your family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, when these are blocked by local internet providers.
Tor also offers hidden services that let users publish websites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the website. Tor can also be a place for people to go to that want to retain private information such as chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors or people with illnesses that don’t want anyone else to know about.
Tor is a great service that protects you from a lot of things on the Internet. The common Internet surveillance known as “traffic analysis” which can see what pages you’ve viewed, what products you purchase and down the line.
Ccleaner
CCleaner has improved over one Billion computers in the world. Trusted by millions and critically acclaimed, this is the world’s favorite PC optimization tool. As your computer gets older it collects unused files and settings which take up hard drive space slowing your computer down. CCleaner cleans up these files, instantly making your computer faster again.
Websites and advertisers track your online behavior all the time. They are able to track everything you view, buy, search and watch online. They are able to do this because of the cookies that stay on your computer. CCleaner erases your browser search history and cookies so any internet browsing you do stays confidential and your identity remains anonymous.
CCleaner can make for a quicker startup when you turn your computer on. Many programs run silently in the background when you start up the computer. This program helps you to get to work or get to gaming even faster by allowing you to disable unneeded programs.
This program gives you an overall cleaner, faster computer for you to use. If you feel like your computer has not been running as fast as it once had, I would recommend you give the free version a download and see if it can help get your computer running well again.
OpenVPN
OpenVPN is an open-source software application that implements virtual private network (VPN) techniques for creating secure point-to-point or site-to-site connections in routed or bridged configurations and remote access facilities.
OpenVPN can be used for various connectivity but has become popular for anonymous and private access to the Internet. What’s great about OpenVPN is the fact that it is open source software and everyone can freely use it and modify it as one needs to.
This works by a client – server mode. Basically there is an OpenVPN server which is connected to the Internet and then OpenVPN clients connect to the server, providing them with full Internet access. Building your own OpenVPN server does require technical knowledge, therefore there are recommended proven service provider like VPNTunnel.com
You can download this service on basically any device. It runs on Windows PC, Mac, Android, Iphone/Ipad. This is a great service if you are interested in having privacy on the Internet.
Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a great tool to use for your email. It is a free, open source, cross-platform email client. Thunderbird has add-on features that Microsoft Outlook does not have yet.
Open source add-ons are a plus when it comes to Thunderbird. Forget waiting around for Microsoft to update Outlook for features you need. There is a community of developers working on the Thunderbird add-ons all the time.
If you are an RSS reader like myself, Thunderbird allows you to read the RSS feeds right in the email client. You can browse the list in separate folders and then delete the posts you’ve already read.
Thunderbrowse is another great feature that allows you to load links right in the email client. It can open the links in a new tab as well. This is great so you don’t have to open up a web browser every time you want to click a link.
I use Thunderbird for my email and have not had a problem with it yet. It also allows you for quick easy searches from your whole inbox and in each separate folder.
All five of these programs can really improve your life and the life of your computer as well.
Based in Rochester, New York, Netsville is an Internet Property Management company specializing in managing the Digital Marketing, Technical, and Business Solutions for our customers since 1994. For more information, please click here.
