10 easy ways you can support the Zombie Walk For Charity other than donating money!

The 2012 Zombie Walk For Charity will be unique in a few ways. It will be Bowling Greens first official Zombie Walk. It is a free roam walk with participation of many Downtown Businesses. It will benefit 3 charities: The BG Christian Food Pantry, Computers for Charity, and BG Teen Center. The Walk is supported by the Bowling green Chamber Of Commerce and the Downtown BG Organization, as well as many other community organizations. So, this is a cause you know you should be supporting but how?? Here are 10 free and easy ways!

1. Volunteer: What is there to do before the walk? Tons of stuff! We need people to help us promote by making phone calls, distributing fliers and helping us pull off some fun publicity stunts if you want to get Zombified before the Walk. Trust me, if you commit to a little time, we have plenty of things that we need warm bodies for!

2. Spread the word on social networks: All of us are connected to one or more social networks these days. Like our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/zombiewalkforcharity. Then share the link with friends who may be interested. Don't stop there, share with your friends on other social networks or tweet some news about the ZWC. Actively encourage your friends to follow suit and next thing you know our page will go Viral, which is idea for a Zombie Outbreak!

3. Add a link to the Zombie Walk in your email signature: This can be done in most email clients easily including Gmail and Yahoo Mail in the settings. Just a simple "Please support the BG Zombie Walk - http://zombiewalkforcharity.webs.com/" will suffice. Or if you know how you can get fancy and embed a small banner pointing to our site. That way your sharing the ZWC  every time you send emails, without spamming the recipient!

4. Shop at ZWC Sponsor Businesses and let them know it's because you supprt the Walk: It is crucial that we let businesses know that supporting thne Zombie Walk will result in a net gain in their bottom line, not just on the day of the walk but also before and after the event. Withoout our Business Sponsors their would not be much to do during the walk and we would not have anywhere to start and end the walk. So please visit our Sponsors Page - http://zombiewalkforcharity.webs.com/sponsors and actively shop at these merchants, even if it means going a little out of your way!

5. Write a blog post: Almost everyone has an outlet for blogging these days — whether that means a site running WordPress, an account at LiveJournal, or a blog on MySpace or Facebook. By writing about the Walk and including links to our pages, you’re helping to spread awareness among your social circle and your contributing to our page edging up in the search engine rankings! I am available for interviews if you want to go that route. call me: 419-371-1611!

6. Create A Video: As mentioned, blog posts are great, but a picture really says a thousand words. The web has become a lot more visual in recent years and there are now a large number of social tools to help you express yourself using video. When you record a video plea or call to action about the Zombie Walk For Charity, you can make your message sound more authentic and real. You can use sites like 12seconds.tv, Vimeo, and YouTube to easily record and spread your video message!

7.Tell A freind in Person: Social networks are great for reaching lots of people at once but nothing sticks in peoples minds like a good old conversation. Familiarize yourself with ZWC happenings on our website and share with your friends and aquaintences. heck share with total strangers for that matter. Memorize the address - www.zombiewalkforcharity.webs.com so you'll be able to direct them to more information.

8. Put up posters: We have lots of styles to choose form and the are all free and easily downloaded from our website - http://zombiewalkforcharity.webs.com/apps/documents. If everyone just prints up one and places it in a prominent location we will have the city blanketed in no time and save a ton of money. We could never cover all the areas our supporters can cover anyhow, so Please put up posters and encourage your friends to do likewise! If you don't like our offerings feel free to make and distribute your own (Please send me a copy so I can post yours on our site for others to share)!

9. Actively participate on our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/zombiewalkforcharity: Excited about the Zombie Walk? Give us a shoutout on the page! Have suggestions or comments? Drop us a line on our page! Questions or concerns? Ask right on our page! The more public activity on the page, the more people see the page! When I've gone on a posting spree, the page has reached 1,099 unique people! Imagine if we all were posting!

10. Actively participate in the discussion forums: We have News forums on the ZWC site designed to allow you to leave comments, links, html code and pictures. So if you have developed a cool banner, video or poster, you can post it in the news forums for active discussion! If you use the forums it simplifies things for us, instead of having to chase down information from multiple email accounts and sites! - http://zombiewalkforcharity.webs.com/apps/blog/

So there you go! 10 easy and free ways to support Bowling Greens first Zombie Walk For Charity. I'm sure you can think of more. If so you now know where to share your ideas! Please don't hesitate to contact us at zombiewalkforcharity@gmail.com with any questions! Thanks for your time and I look forward to seeing hearing from you in the near future!

Jeffrey Kill - Director of BG OH Zombie Walk For Charity

Charity Cookout

We will be having a volunteer appreciation cookout at my house next weekend on Saturday July 7th at 4:30 PM, We will be serving hot-dogs, hamburgers, chips and some generic sodas. BYOB side dish, deserts or different beverages of your choice if you like.

This will also serve as an informal meeting to discuss some awesome plans I have for forming a new board, fundraising and the future of the charity!

Map to location on bottom. Please try to make this one but if you can't email me and let me know what date will work for you and I'll host another one soon.

Jeffrey B. Kill
Chief Technology Officer
Computers for Charity
419-371-1611
jeffbkill@yahoo.com
419-807-8015

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It's Not Over

Dug up a couple of local articles of one of our biggest projects. Are we a one hit wonder?

Of course the answer is no! We accomplished much over the years and yet ended up loosing our location due to no fault of our own. Things happen in life. You get knocked down, but you get up again stronger and wiser. We have to move forward and maintain a positive attitude, not resting on past accomplishments alone but looking to the future and the next big project. Let me share a little from recent experience.

I just finished a long hospital stay to deal with some serious health issues. I still have a lot of treatment to go before I'm going to be fully "up" again. But I will be. The experience has inspired me. God worked through me at my weakest moments to have an impact on the health and well-being of a few fellow patients. I was blessed, they were blessed. Even in our weakened states we were able to lean on and provide strength to each other. That is all a charity is folks. Not the strong helping the weak. We are all weak. But together we can help each other and provide hope and encouragement to a broken world.

Do I feel I made a major impact on the world? Not at all. i planted some small seeds at best. But one of my fellow patients just may go on to change the world. We survived. We overcame. Now we can regain our strength and look upward and forward with new insight and wisdom.

Right now the state of the charity is Still in critical condition. But I am not letting it die and I know its supporters and volunteers through the years aren't either. The new goal needs to be to form a new board, and a fundraising committee. If anyone reading this is, or knows of anyone who is talented in these areas please email me at jeffbkill@yahoo.com. Lets get the resources together to resuscitate Computers for Charity.

Attention!

To all partner organizations, clients and donors:

At this time we cannot honor computer vouchers or take donations of equipment until we have secured a new location to operate out of. We apologies for the inconvenience this may cause you. Please check http://computersforcharity.webs.com for updates on this status.

For volunteers: 

All meetings are cancelled until further notice. Check your email for updates on volunteer activities and the status of Computers for Charity. 

Contact us at computersforcharity@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Computers For Charity Is Homeless

Homeless? Yep. You might ask yourself that 'If you helped so many people, why can't you help yourself?'. Well the answer is simple. We were preoccupied with the needs of others and before we even know what had happened our host church had evicted us.

This was after three years of us serving, strictly as volunteers. no one received a paycheck here and yet we put in sometimes 20 hours per week or more. Most of us had full-time jobs too! So it's a given that some of us are very upset at the way we got 'handled'. But we need to handle that in the same spirit that inspired us to volunteer our time for this effort. With charity and love and respect for our fallen fellow man.

We shall bless those who curse us and if they wanna keep hitting Jeff Kills cheek, he will turn the other to be smacked round too. We all need this lesson. My Dad always said that 'No good deed goes unpunished'. Now I ask you, the reader of my unconventional blog, what the heck does that mean? Well, it just means this, every time you attempt to do something good in life you will face adversity.

Adversity comes from various places. It can be internal: Your own soul telling you something is amiss in life and you gotta change it. It can come from God: you may be resisting something and He wont let you stray to far from his ultimate plan if you stick with him. It may be from Hell: Satan don't like your spiritual progression, so he will hinder and discourage you wherever he can. Or it can just be people; being human, trying to do the best they can. Sometimes the best they can do is the worst for you (or your cause).

Our volunteers have given quietly and selflessly for three years to a cause that they believe in. We have seen all the above factors come against us before. We had a hard road to begin with and I love you guys (and gals) for sticking with us. We have an unconventional charity but yet we have succeeded in so many ways. We are still the only place in NW Ohio that provides functional computer systems to people free of charge. We've done a lot in 3 years and I can't wait till we can meet in that new place and reconvene this awesome endeavor!

In the meantime, we currently have 58 days to move and we have no place to go. We need help with this move so if any of you can offer it in the form of boxes or a truck or most importantly connections that will allow us to find a better place to reside. One more in tune with charity hopefully. then lets get to work on it!

For the reader of this blog who has not been around I say, please come by, check us out. we are a diverse and accepting kind of people. We help all, and show love to all who come to us. This is why we volunteer our computer skills to anybody who needs them. Heck your just really missing out if you don't hang with us at least for an evening. It's always an educational experience, even for seasoned computer gurus.

So, If you can help us to find a new place or help us to move to a new place please don't hesitate. Now is the time to help. If not we may not be around when someone else needs us!

for more info go to http://computersforcharity.webs.com/

Top 10 Free Antivirus Programs (and more!)

After exhaustive research and painstaking evaluations I have come up with a list of the best antivirus programs money doesn't buy.

Researching this article was as hard as I thought it woulds be. Not only is it hard to find truly free antivirus programs for your PC, it can also wreak havoc on your system to install bad antivirus programs and then try to remove them. Some of them hook into the registry and won't let go. Others installed software drivers that were a pain to remove. One crashed my system and caused me to have to do a startup recovery. I endured all this to save you the trouble of having a horrible experience trying to find a free antivirus program that would both meet your needs and offer you the best protection without trashing your OS.

I was also surprised by some of the programs that I had previous shunned that now are actually a good option for protecting your system. It was a difficult task to actually find 10 programs that offer real-time protection and don't kill system performance. In the past I've had some bad experiences with certain programs that now have been streamlined and fixed and have made this list. My hats off to the programmers who heard our tears of frustration and worked hard on getting it right.

You need to be aware that companies that offer free antivirus software are not just benevolent souls trying to protect you. You need to pay attention so as not to install things like extra tool-bars or changes in your search engine during the install. Many of these programs have nag screens and recommend that you upgrade to enhance your protection. Many tout extra features that you are missing by not installing the full version. In the case of the software in this list you need not worry. What your looking for here is real-time protection that runs in the background. This means that it not only can scan your system either on a scheduled basis or on demand, and protects you from harmful executable files before they are executed.

I have excluded certain factors from my tests like scan times, and resource usage during full system scans. These are irrelevant measures of a products ability to protect you from malware and these types of scans can be configured by the user to occur during times that the computer is not in use anyways. Heck, I set mine to run when I'm in bed and don't care if it takes it 6 hours and uses 100% of my CPU to scan the system! Factors like virus detection rates and features are also complex and I used my own arbitrary research to check these out. All of these programs will provide you with decent protection from the most prevalent malware out there.

I will also provide a list of programs that you can use in conjunction with your free antivirus program to enhance your security. Even if you pay top dollar for the so called best antivirus program as I have in the past, you still want to have companion programs for on demand second opinion scanning and even additional real-time scanning.

So on with the list. I will start from 10 being the least desirable but still viable program to 1 being my top pick and rest assured i will be using my top picks on my own system.

10. ClamWin AV: ClamAV has been around for a long time. It's main strengths are that it is an open-source product that can be modified to meet your needs. It's weaknesses are that it has a high false positive detection rate and sometimes misses adware and spyware that other free AV's readily detect. For the basic computer user I would steer clear of this on as a stand alone solution to your antivirus needs. But for experts, this is a great program. ClamAV is integrated into many other security tools and is no slouch in this lineup, but it just does not have the muster or the features to stand on its own.

9. Moon Secure Antivirus: Moon Secure AntiVirus is a free antivirus software download which claims to the best free and open-source antivirus solution for PC. My first impression of it however was not so positive. Under windows Vista it crashed after the installation. Once I clicked on the shortcut though it launced itself into the system tray and updated flawlessly. Being open-source, the program does not have a ton of bells and wistles and the graphics are somewhat arcane, almost feeling windows NTish. But it is a lightwieght, real-time antivirus solution that updates itself frequently. With the right companion antivirus, I could almost see myself trusting this one to provide fast and fair protection. But not with other free offerings out there which offer much more functionality.

8: Digital Defender Free: Never heard of this one before? Neither had I but I was pleasantly surprised by a well rounded antivirus product that is lightweight and efficient. Digital defender took a while to install and even longer before its virus database was updated, so my security center kept telling me my computer was unprotected. I had almost uninstalled it and then out of the blue it updated itself and wanted to run its first scan. This program has a clean simple interface and is free of nagware. It falls behind others in virus detection and only garnishes a fair level of protection in my book. Still it is worth your while though as opposed to having no protection.

7. PCtools Antivirus Free: If your looking for basic protection for your PC this will suffice. It has a lot of disabled features that unnerve you when you open the interface so you won't feel very safe with this one. It feels way to much like the fake antivirus programs that are all over the net. Everything you click on offers to sell you enhanced protection! However it does have real-time and on demand scanning so you will be protected. I just am not a fan of all the nag screens to upgrade. I have also worked on computers with the full version of this program as well as Spyware Doctor, its close cousin and neither impressed me as they slowed down the computer considerably and I still had to remove viruses with Malwarebytes or SuperAntiSpyware from these computers. You'll even notice your computer lagging a bit with just the free version but as I said it does work for basic realtime protection.

6: Kingsoft PC Doctor Free: A partially cloud based antivirus that you can use as a companion program or a full fledged antivirus application. This program features a pretty, tabbed user interface with a lot of extras like system repair, optimizer and cleaner. I have other favorites for many of these tasks but it is nice to see them all in one clean package. You will enjoy not only having decent antivirus protection but the wealth of other system cleanup utilities at your fingertips. Kingsofts strengths are also it's weaknesses however. As you are well aware in life, if you try to do everything you can't be the best at everything. You end up being mediiocre at most tasks (My own curse in life!). Overall I was impressed by this program but the virus detection rate and removal are only fair and I would not trust this program alone to protect my PC.

5. Avast Antivirus: In the past I have called Avast crapware. It's installation and removal were complex and it was a hog of system resources. It also had an annoying interface that looked like a media player. The last thing I want is my antivirus program concerning itself with being hip over protecting my system! The latest version however, surprised me with it's simplicity, new streamlined interface and the level of protection it offers. Not my top choice but still a viable real-time antivirus solution. Loaded with lots of features under the hood including a sandbox mode. Note to Windows 7 and Vista users: You will want to do a custom install to avoid installing the desktop gadget and WebRep browser addon.

4. Avira Antivir Free: Avira was a top contender at one time as it had the best detection rate in the industry, at some point in 2009 its competitors caught up with it. Avira also added a nag screen popup during scans that can be a real annoyance. The program however is simple, quick and and unoffensive otherwise. It does what it advertises and does it well and it has some other slick features like rootkit scanning, cracking locked files and spyware detection, but other programs on our list do that too.

3. AVG Free: An old standard that used to be our top pick. They have added some nag screens and and the virus detection rate has fallen behind other free products. AVG also has had some issues with corrupt updates in the past that ended up leaving your system vulnerable. these issues are fixed now but took AVG down a notch in our trust level. Just the same this is a solid program that gives you a better than basic level of protection. Millions of users swear by AVG and we do to or it would not be on our list.

2. Comodo Internet Security: For a free program this one is feature rich as well as powerful, almost too powerful. Installation was simple although I could do without the additional links to Geek Buddy that it installs by default. Thankfully you can uncheck that during the install. I would recommend allowing Comodo to change your DNS to their secure DNS unless you are using your own custom DNS settings. It's a nice feature that will help you to avoid even going to those poisoned websites in the first place. This is by far one of the most complete free antivirus programs available for free that I have used. I actually switched to this at one time because of AVGs update issues but it does not make the top of the list because of its level of complexity, and its virus detection rate. Although the virus detection rates should hardly be an issue with all the other features at your disposal including HIPs and Cloud protection as well as it's sandbox feature.

1. Microsoft Security Essentials: Iv'e been using this for over a year now and after uninstalling it and installing all these other programs could not wait to get back to it. Microsoft hit the nail squarely on the head with this one and the main reason is 'simplicity'. MSSE has the best detection rate of all the free products I have reviewed here as well as being easy to install and unobtrusive to the end user. It does not require the user to give their email address and personal information to work. It does not nag you to buy the full version and it does not expire, nor does it hog system resources, even diring a scan. It simply runs in the background and lets you know when it catches a bug. It's what antivirus programs used to do in the old days. It just works. All you need is a valid copy of Windows XP and up to install this one (Sorry Windows pirates). I still use a combination of Microsoft Security Essentials as well as a companion antivirus program. More on that in the next section.

So now that you have the choice of some free antivirus programs to protect your PC what else do you need? No matter how good your antivirus porgram is you should have a companion antivirus program. This will provide a second layer of protection for your PC in case something happens to your current antivirus program or it simply fails to detect a new piece of malware. I'm going to giver you my top choices for these in the same order as the antivirus list.

3. Panda Cloud Antivirus: Panda Cloud Antivirus protects you while you browse, play or work and you won't even notice it. It is extremely light as all the work is done in the cloud. Panda Cloud Antivirus provides you with the fastest protection against the newest viruses thanks to its cloud-scanning from PandaLabs' servers. Panda Cloud Antivirus is truly install and forget. Don't worry about updates, configuration or complicated decisions ever again.

2. Threatfire Antivirus: Will your antivirus software catch the latest malware that just came out today? In most cases, no, because it simply does not know how to detect it yet. But ThreatFire's ActiveDefense technology does, and has proven to provide up to 243% more protection when combined with traditional AntiVirus products.

1. Immunet: Immunet Protect Free Antivirus is a free companion antivirus solution that combines the speed of cloud computing with the benefits of Collective Immunity to protect entire online communities against real-time virus threats. Immunet Protect adds an extra layer of fast antivirus protection that is always up-to-date using real-time cloud-based detection, so it won't slow down your PC.

There are Many other programs that could be included in this list. We still have on demand antivirus programs and update checkers to discuss. I would say if you are protected by one of the top three programs listed here that you are pretty much safe. If you add the additional level of a companion antivirus program to your protection all the more so. If you buttress that protection with on demand scanning, firewall protection and secure browsing as I discussed in my previous post then you really don't need to sweat a virus infection.

If you think you currently have a virus, please don't hesitate to contact us. Removing an embedded virus can cause irreparable system harm! We can back up your data, remove the bug and have you on your feet in a matter of no time.

Check out http://affordableconsultant.webs.com/ for a list of other great services we can provide you. Affordable Computer Solutions is a part of Computers for Charity that helps to raise funds to continue in our mission!

XP and Vista in VirtualBox on Ubuntu 10.10

Now, to get Win 7 and Mac OS X running in a VM on the same computer...

I'll Post the results.

Rebels With A Cause

Anyone who has known me knows I have a hard time accepting authority. My High School years were typified by clashes between myself and teachers, the principal, parents and eventually the law. I just could not accept that in a free country, there were so many things I was not to do. Now as an adult I realize many if my battles were misplaced. However, when it comes to certain things I still bring the same level of defiance, energy and intensity into the mix. At Computers for Charity we've manged to assemble a whole crew of life's rebels and miscreants together for a good cause.

When someone says "You can't do that", we have to disagree. We've found through trial and error that many things people say you can't are simply limitations of their own mind. That old PC may not be suitable for Windows 7 but our techs are not deterred by that. We prefer not to pollute the world with another Windows operating system destined for obsolescence. We prefer to install something less prone to viruses and more secure and stable anyhow. We prefer to use Linux.

This too is frowned upon by the world. Why not give people something that really works? For one Windows doses not always work. For instance on a Dell laptop that we had the installation disks for, we installed Windows XP. After the install the tech was attempting to install drivers for the computer form Dells website. The computer had no sound, no networking and only basic video drivers. At this point we could see why the user had discarded this computer. Instead of hassling with the drivers we booted to an Ubuntu Live USB to test the hardware. Under Ubuntu the computer worked flawlessly.

It's outside the box thinking to work with an alternative OS like Linux. If we only stuck with the status quo we would be out of luck in a lot of cases. That's why I have become a huge fan of Linux since we started this whole endeavor. It fits my personality. It breaks the rules by offering something for free (a great desktop operating system), that others are paying hundreds of dollars for. And they are not enjoying as good of an experience with the whole Windows 7 upgrade thing either. What kind of person does it take to work with an OS that has only about 1% of the desktop market? It takes a rebel.

The whole Idea of fixing computers that are slated for disposal makes no sense to a lot of people, and for obvious reasons. We acquire a lot of junk along the way. Sometimes computers are discarded for good reasons. It would be nice if every computer we received was the result of an upgrade. Unfortunately we see a lot of bad hardware that takes a lot of troubleshooting and perseverance to pinpoint exactly whats wrong with it. Once we identify a faulty component it can be replaced. In many cases its multiple components. Computer techs are well compensated for this reason. Who would take on this kind of work just to give it away for free? Only a rebel.

Thank God for the rebels. Thinking outside of the mainstream is not always easy or fun in our modern society either. People tend to question your motives and your methods. Our thinking, attitudes and appearance may be outside of the norm but that does not make us bad people.However, when your really in need of computer help do you really want to deal with the snooty guy from the computer store who will charge you $50.00 just to look at your computer? We do that for free. We can save your data, kill your malware, get you connected, fix your OS or install a new one. We are not hindered or easily deterred because we have suffered a lifetime of persecution for honing these very skills that are now a lifesaver to you. We love the challenge as well as the opportunity to teach you a few things along the way. I guess all I'm saying is give geeks a chance. We may not be James Dean rebels, but we are the kind of guys you can count on. If you need a computer or need yours fixed we can help.

Diagnosing Windows Problems

Diagnosing Windows Problems

What is Computers for Charity?

What is Computers for Charity

Computer Basics

Computer Basics

Top 10 Free Downloads for 10-10-10

At Computers for Charity we see a lot of broken computers. Some simply have nasty virus and spyware infections, lost hard disk space do to program overloads, or even registry corruption that slows the system to a crawl. If you use Microsoft Windows you know its an ongoing battle to keep your system clean and running smooth. Here are some powerful and free utilities you can use to maintain your system. This list is by no means exhaustive but will give you some tools to cover the most common problems Windows users face.

SUPERAntiSpyware

This is a great program that can remove even the most serious pests. If you have tried other antivirus programs and they did not cut the mustard, try this one for on demand scans. Its free, fast and effective.

"It detects and Removes Spyware, Adware and Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers, Parasites, Rootkits, Rogue Security Products and many other types of threats"

CCleaner

For cleaning up all the junk files that Windows accumulates and fixing broken and missing registry entries this is the easiest and best tool we can recommend. Use it before and after removing virii and uninstalling junk programs form your computer to optimize your systems performance.

"CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small, fast download."

Revo Uninstaller

The freeware version of this program is a great addition to your arsenal. Use it to remove programs that you can't remove with Windows Add/Remove Programs. Actually use it every time you uninstall a program if you want to be rid of all the files and registry entries that get Left behind.

"The Uninstaller tool lists the installed programs and components for all and current user. With a choice of views, as well as a context menu, information on program components is available: program properties, their registry entries and links to manufacturer's web site, for a start.

The 'Search' option finds installed applications just by typing the first few letters of their name. Revo Uninstaller scans for leftovers with advanced algorithms that are so precise, fast and very effective in search for leftovers of Windows Services, Drivers, File associations, Shell Extensions, COM components, Windows Installer components, program settings and more!"

Malwarebytes Antimalware

Did your antivirus program miss something? Keep this program on hand to run on demand scans of your system for the baddies that get past your regular anti-virus program.

"Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is considered to be the next step in the detection and removal of malware. In our product we have compiled a number of new technologies that are designed to quickly detect, destroy, and prevent malware. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect."

Microsoft Security Essentials

Running a Windows system and need a real time antivirus program to protect your computer? Sure you can pay and annual fee for Norton or McCafee but its expensiove and a lot of people simply let their AV expire, leaving thier computer vulnerable to Viruses and Trojans. Look no further than MSSE to protect your system from the most common threats. MSSE outperformed even the detection rates of both McCaffe and Norton in a lot of recent test. If you gotta have windows then you gotta have Microsoft Security Essentials!

"Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times."

HijackThis

When you get malware, it often will change a lot of your system settings such as your home page, search defaults and other settings. To fix these after you remove the pest use HijackThis. It will show you all your start up items and browser settings and allow you to return them to factory default

"Scan your computer with HijackThis version 2.0.4 to find settings changed by spyware, malware, or other unwanted programs. HijackThis version 2.0.4 is now Windows 7 compatible. It generates in-depth log reports for Windows-operated systems, including Windows 7."

Defraggler

Its a fact of life. Your hard drive gets fragmented over a time. Once you have a clean system your computer will still need a good defragmenting to make it run sweet again. Defraggler will simplify this process with the ability to defrag individual drives, files, folders etc.

"Use Defraggler to defrag your entire hard drive, or individual files - unique in the industry. This compact and portable Windows application supports NTFS and FAT32 file systems."

Dropbox

For quick data backup you cant beat Dropbox. Drobox creates a folder on your hardrive that you throw files into. It backs up these files online, allows you to have web baseds access to them from any computer as well as sync your dropbox folder with multiple computers. 2 Gig of storage for free. Not enough for your music or video collections but more than ample to back up and share important documents. We use it every day to share our charities files between our office staff.

"Put your files into your Dropbox on one computer, and they'll be instantly available on any of your other computers that also have Dropbox installed (Windows, Mac, and Linux too!). Because copies of your files are stored on Dropbox's secure servers, you can also access them from any computer or mobile device using the Dropbox website."

Malicious Software Removal Tool

If your Windows computer does not have this already, you know there is a problem and a possible virus that's preventing Windows Update from Downloading it. It comes with XP Service Pack 2 and updates monthly without you even knowing it. Use the the Malicious Software Removal Tool to clean serious infections and allow you to install important security patches form Windows Update.

"The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software—including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom—and helps remove any infection found.

When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed."

Parted Magic

Windows wont boot at all or is so messed up you can't do anything? You need more than a windows utility. Linux to the rescue baby! Parted Magic allows you to bypass your windows installation and do recovery operations from the safety of a Linux GUI. Parted Magic is a bootable CD, a partition manager, a disk cloning utility, a file recovery center, and more. It is packed full of handy utilities that will allow you to save your data even if the hard drive has been formatted! Try it if all else fails. Its Linux. Its cool.

"This is a Linux based boot CD that is primarily a partitioning utility. More than that though it offers a host of other programs that canm be used to rescue a DOA system. The Parted Magic OS employs core programs of GParted and Parted to handle partitioning tasks with ease, while featuring other useful programs (e.g. Clonezilla, Partimage, TestDisk, Truecrypt, G4L, SuperGrubDisk, ddrescue, etc...) and an excellent set of documentation to benefit the user. An extensive collection of file system tools are also included, as Parted Magic supports the following: ext2, ext3, ext4, fat16, fat32, hfs, hfs+, jfs, linux-swap, ntfs, reiserfs, reiser4, and xfs."

And our favorite download site for finding these utilities and more in their latest incarnation is filehippo.com. If you've never heard of filehippo, check it out today! Free downloads of utilities to do just about anything you want to do on a Windows computer. At Computers for Charity, we are all about free!

Why Donate to Computers for Charity?

There are a host of reasons to donate to Computers for Charity;

• Of course, if you donate to charity you will gain certain tax benefits. All of us are looking for ways to pay less money in taxes.

• If you donate to Computers for Charity you will be able to help others, and keep more of your own money.

• By donating to Computers for Charity, you do not have to worry about selling the computer equipment, whether an individual system or a warehouse full! No expenses for repairs, liability issues, advertising expenses or other costs associated with the liquidation of your assets.

• Your generous donations will assist our charitable programs and other charity organizations we have partnered with, a substantial source of much needed educational and vocational assets that will be used to the betterment of those truly in need.

• You will also reduce your IT clutter in an environmentally friendly manner.

Who would have thought that such great benefits could come when you donate a computer?

Computers for Charity evaluates each and every donation on a case by case basis. Whenever viable, our volunteer staff will repair, refurbish, and properly prepare donated computers for placement, free of charge, to non-profit organizations. We aslo provide vouchers to chaities so they can send clients directly to us for computer placement. The importance of us giving this kind of attention to improving donated property prior to placement cannot be over-emphasized! This feature of Computers for Charity results in significantly greater income and benefit for the community and you the donor by often dramatically increasing the maximum legal tax deduction.

Sometimes a non-profit will just need some PCs whereas others may need cabling, custom or off-the-shelf software, training, help in setting up a computer lab, technical advice and so on. Often, they have no idea what they want or need and we try to help them determine that. The Computers for Charity volunteers try to meet as many of these needs as we can. As volunteers relying on donated equipment and limited resources this is not always possible. But we give it our best effort and assist them as much as possible.

Thousands of PCs have been given away to various non-profit organizations in the community. We have also helped set up computer labs, provided custom software, provided routers, network cables, printers, and other equipment and served as a place where people from the non-profits (as well as students and other members of the community) can come and learn how to build, troubleshoot and repair PCs as well as gain other computer knowledge.

These are some of the benifits of your donations of computer equipment to Computers for Charity.

Christmas time is fast approaching and we are looking to host another Computers for Christmas program. At this time we do not have the types of donation needed to fufill this. It is imperative for all of you who care about our mission to get the word out to your places of employment and businesses in the community. We can help them to clean up that computer clutter that may be left over form a recent upgrade, and provide them with a tax deduction while helping those in need.

Visit our website for our schedule and contact information.

Newer is not always better. Not even in computers.

Windows 7 is good for fast, newer computers, however, what about your business computers? The economy has forced business to stretch the life of their old machines or to purchase lower-grade new computers. Linux is a perfect candidate. Linux offers software compatibility support where believe it or not some companies have not upgraded their software to be compatible with Windows 7! Windows 7 also takes a great deal more amount of memory and CPU speed. With Linux you can run your favorite Windows app in a virtual machine anyhow and not loose any of your favorite programs from XP.

As for the home user, there will most likely be a split. With the current environment a large population will only upgrade computers as they need to due to component failure. The technology has not advanced enough to warrant considering 5+ year old XP machines obsolete to the point of a necessary replacement. Home users are growing wary of being forced to upgrade both software and had ware at the whim of Microsoft.

This does leave the techno crowd and those who love to have the newest and best and have the disposable income to spend but this population has been smaller as of late. This is also the population where Linux and Mac tends to be competitors. Before you pay a dime for Windows 7, try a Linux desktop distribution. If you don’t like it, what’s the worst that’s going to happen? You spent no money other than for a burnable CD or DVD, a little time, and you just have to wipe your disk again before installing Windows 7.

Windows and Mac OS are like a toy car that you buy off the shelf and play with. Linux is like the same toy car made out of Lego You can play with it as it comes or you can remove and modify components (or the whole thing) and tailor it to your liking. To illustrate the point, Linux comes with many different choices of window managers, desktop environments, file managers, package managers (packages are what Linux calls programs), etc. The idea is to be able to tailor a distribution to exactly what you need and like.

There's nothing in Windows 7 that Linux can't do, and in most cases, do it better. Linux machines are quicker and more efficient. Linux desktops are more innovative and less static. Linux apps are more powerful, cheaper and less partisan, and Linux security has never been better. But best of all, we have complete control over the future of Linux, as opposed to allowing Microsoft to run roughshod over us in forcing the upgrade to Windows 7.

Don't forget that for any operating system, no matter how similar to to a commercial OS it might be, there is a learning curve involved. This is especially true of the software available and how to download it Generally software is downloaded from repositories using a package manager included with your distro. By and large you will not find commercial software in repositories, but will find thousands of free open source equivalents. Most of these are as powerful as the popular commercial ones, but require that you familiarize yourself with them. Take some time to do this and you'll be a really happy Linux user.

So, you think you may want to dip you toe into the Linux waters at this point? Ok, I have a couple of suggestions.

Try a Linux "live CD" first. Most Linux distributions have live (aka bootable) CDs that let you actually use the Linux OS of your choice directly from the CD. It will run slower, due to running from the CD drive, but it will give you a real feel for the Linux OS you may be contemplating. In addition, it will let you know, before you actually install it to your hard drive, whether or not it can support all your hardware. That way, you know beforehand exactly what to expect!

Even if you never get further than a Linux live CD, you will want to keep it around. Linux live CDs make extremely good disaster/recovery tools. One of my favorite uses is to clone my Windows XP partition. Just boot the live CD and clone one partition on one drive to an identical partition on another drive. A good bootable Linux CD like Knoppix should be in everyone's tool box, even if they're a die-hard Windows user.

Here's another last bit of advice. I recommend dual booting only one absolutely safe way: buy a second hard drive and install Linux on it. You can even use a USB thumb drive for this! This is also the easiest way to get into Linux. No tricky hard disk-partitioning to worry about. No way to mess up your current Windows install. Absolutely the easiest and safest way.