Whats On My Computer? Part 1

People often ask me for advice on what software they should purchase for this or that purpose. I'm probably the wrong person to ask this question because I'm the working poor and as such, I don't go out and buy the 'latest and greatest (AS SEEN ON TV)' software. That does not mean that I do without.

Through the years I've tested, played with and reviewed many different types of software. I've come to the conclusion that free software often is not only a cheaper alternative but in many cases a better alternative to paid software. I'm not talking shareware here, but free software. Sometimes you have to pay to enable extra features but in a lot of cases the features that are offered are more than enough to do the task at hand.

Just so you know I practice what I preach lets talk about my computer. My laptop came pre-installed with Windows Vista. Now I'm not a total Windows hater here but you all know Vista left a bad taste in many of our mouths. So was the answer to upgrade to Windows 7? Not a chance. Windows 7 is Vista fixed basically, so for Microsoft to ask me to shell out another $200 dollars for what should have been a free patch irked me. So I dealt with Vista for a season and eventually decided to go the Linux route.

Linux has a lot going for it but there were still a few Windows programs I wanted to run so I decided on a dual boot. Dual booting allows me to either boot into Linux or Windows. So I have use of both operating systems. Now this is not the idea configuration as this takes up a great deal of hard drive space and you have to reboot the computer to get to either OS. Another option would be running Windows in a Virtual Machine inside of Linux. I decided on VirtualBox for this and started out by installing Windows XP for testing purposes.

Downloading and installing VirtualBox was a snap as it is in the Ubuntu software repositories. So you go to Applications, Ubuntu Software Centre and search for VirtualBox. Then you just click the install button. This is how Windows Add Remove Programs was originally envisioned by Microsoft but there has never been anything to add in Windows. Now they have Windows Live to download some free stuff for Windows 7. It pales in comparison. The Ubuntu Software Centre is amazing and new applications are added every day. Over 3000 titles and counting. You can find everything you need there.



The creation of a Virtual Machine in VirtualBox was easy and installing Windows XP went exactly like installing on a real computer. The next step I took was installing Microsoft Security Essentials because even though I'm running XP inside of Linux, the Windows OS is prone to viruses. I also updated XP to service pack 3. Now if Virtual XP system gets a bug it wont affect my Linux OS. Its like having XP in jail where it can still live and work but it can't harm anything but itself. VirtualBox allows you to take a snapshot of the system at anytime and you can always easily restore to that state.



As you can see from the screen I have a fully functional XP installation running in a window on my Linux box. I can use it to watch Netflix, since this is one application that requires Microsoft Siverlight to run. This s is the best of both worlds because I can launch my windows apps without rebooting my computer to log into Windows. Next step will be to obliterate my Vista partition and install Vista in a VM just like I did XP. I don't have the hard drive space in my Linux partition to do this at the moment.



Linux is the idea way to run Virtual Machines. I have run them under Windows before and the problem is that Windows is a big resource hog. So your VM gets stuck with whatever Windows has left over for RAM and CPU cycles. Usually not much. Under Linux my XP installation ran perfectly with only the 512 MB of RAM I allocated to it.

If you are interested in trying Linux, we would be happy to help you with the install. We will even set up a dual boot or install the Virtual Machine for you if you have the Windows installation disk.

Part two of this series will cover the programs that I run under Windows...

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!