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.

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!

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!

Computers for Christmas

We are introducing a new program for Christmas, where you will have the opportunity to adopt a computer for a child. With an individual donation of $10, you will enable Computers for Charity provide children and families in need in our communities with computers.

We have a limited number of Apple e Mac 1.4 Ghz Computers with 512 MB RAM and 80 GB Hard Disks. These are All in one systems that are still popular in a lot of schools. Donors will have the opportunity to nominate a child of their choosing to receive these very special Computers for Christmas!

What we need the churches to do:

We need two things from the Churches who would like to become Participating Organizations:

• Identifiy families in need in your congregation and communities

We need you to host the Family Nomination Request List to have families who would like to be nominated to receive a computer. (The Family Nomination Request List is used to help donors choose a family to nominate.)

• Finding donors who will adopt the computers for these families

Find a donor to adopt a computer for that family. You church can do this in any way it sees fit, (announcements, bulletins, Internet, phone calls, etc.) The donor will receive the Certificate of Adoption and the Family Nomination Form. He can then nominate a family or pick one from the Family Nomination Request List

We will provide you with the Certificates of Adoption and Family Nomination Forms. Those two documents are tied together by a Unique ID number. Please do not make copies of these forms! This will help us to eliminate fraud as people come to receive their computers. If a Unique ID has already been used we know that someone has tried to make copies to receive a computer fraudulently.The families will bring the Family

Nomination Form with the signature of the donor and the Participating Organization to pick up their computer at Turning Point United Methodist Church on a Tuesday between 4 and 6 PM. We will have these boxed, wrapped and ready to go under the Christmas tree!

How to become a Participating Organization

If your church would like to participate in the program or would like some more information, please contact us at: computersforcharity@gmail.com We will provide a package of information to get you started!

We will also list Participating organizations on our website so that families will know where to go to sign up for their Computer for Christmas!

http://computersforcharity.webs.com

Mixed feelings Dells partnership with Goodwill

If you haven't heard, Goodwill and Dell recently teamed up in a new computer recycling initiative. "The program’s goal is two-fold: divert nearly one million pounds of used computers and computer equipment from area landfills over the next year; and provide consumer education on the importance of environmentally-responsible computer disposal. Reconnect also can help create job opportunities for individuals with disabilities and other employment barriers."
This is right up my alley right. Yes and um...not so much. I'm happy to see large corporations getting on the bandwagon with e-cycling initiatives and I'm glad to see that some of the proceeds will go to help handicapped children. My daughter is handicapped and though we've never utilized goodwill's services, its nice to know they are there. But the question I have to ask is, WHAT HAPPENS TO THE COMPUTERS? I emailed the reconnect program rep and asked just that. Will they come back into our community as refurbished systems to help families and charities? The answer is no.

In fact Dell is taking these systems, at least the ones that are Dells and refurbishing them for profit. Profits a good thing, but not when its taking computers form people that need them. That is why at Computers for Charity we never, never sell a computer to anyone., We give them away for free. We provide the free training as needed to individuals and organizations to help them to get the most out of the computers we provide.

Dell is also taking the equipment that is not refurbished (which will be a lot!) and recycling it. Recycling in this sense means SHREDDING PERFECTLY GOOD COMPUTERS for the metal. The only sin these computers committed was not being a Dell. We have an inside joke at our shop when a new computer comes in. I look at it and say "Don't be Windows!". But we care not if it's a Dell or a Compaq or a Gateway. Computers can be refurbished for reuse no matter what the brand name. Reuse consumes 20% less energy than Recycling. That's why we only send equipment to be recycled as a last resort. We are not in this for a profit. Were in it to do the most good for the environment and for the people we help too!

The Dell representative told me that they can only work with Goodwill in this initiative and there was no way a local organization such as ours could benefit from this program. The refurbished systems still go form $450.00 and up still placing them out of the price range of a small non profit or a disadvantaged family (I know I can't afford that type of expenditure personally, especially not in this economy).As a supporter of Goodwill industries and a supporter of Dells initiative as a whole I see this as a positive trend. As a charitable computer refurbisher I fear the downside will be less computers available to local families and organizations who desperately need them.

My recommendation to those who want to see their outgoing equipment be put to good use would be to first check for a local non-profit charitable refurbisher to see if they will take your donation. There are plenty of them around in the big cities like Computers For Communities and Free Geek to name a few. Locally in Bowling Green, Ohio Computers for Charity is the only 100% charitable organization that is providing computer systems to people in need for free. We hope to be able to serve all of Wood County as the word gets out that we are taking computer donations for charitable purposes.

You can contact us at computersforcharity@gmail.com or visit our website http://computersforcharity.webs.com to see if we can take your donation. If we cannot take your donation Id be happy to recommend taking it to Goodwill as this is another environmentally safe and charitable way to dispose of your unused equipment.