The Friends of Thringstone

The WebMaster suggests that you might consider some of the FREE software listed here.

Where there are free and paid for versions of software, the free version is sometimes less obvious that the paid version - but it is there!

There are sometimes restrictions on who can download and use the free software - sometimes businesses are expected to use the paid version, so check that you are fully eligible to use the software.

The suggested software is believed to be effective and safe.

However, the decision of whether to install any software is yours, and yours alone.

Neither the WebMaster nor Friends of Thringstone can accept any liability for problems that may arise with use of the software linked to from here.

The Thringstone webmaster suggests some software you may find useful
Description	Download Link
Emergency Tools	If you have a virus or spyware problem, these sites can often help to clean your computer.
Trend Micro™ HouseCall is an application for checking whether your computer has been infected by viruses, spyware, or other malware. HouseCall performs additional security checks to identify and fix vulnerabilities to prevent reinfection.	http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/
McAfee Stinger - Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system.	http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=stinger

Windows Update	Microsoft are always releasing updates that improve the security of your PC - make sure you download them regularly.
Down load vital security updates for yor computer from the MicroSoft website:	http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
Get a free PC safety scan Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC. Check for and remove viruses Get rid of junk on your hard disk Improve your PC's performance	http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

Office Software	There is a FREE alternative to almost every program you will ever need.
Everything you need - for Free	http://www.openoffice.org/
PDFCreator is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application.	http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator
CD & DVD Burner	http://cdburnerxp.se/

Memory Stick software	Carry your favorite programs in your pocket, and use them on any computer.
Carry your office on a memory stick	http://portableapps.com/

Anti - Virus	Anti-virus programs protect you from software viruses that can come from the internet. Ensure only ONE anti-virus program is installed on your computer
AVG Anti-virus	http://www.grisoft.com/ww.homepage
Avast Anti-virus	http://www.avast.com/
Comodo Anti-virus	http://antivirus.comodo.com/
7-Zip is a free archiving tool that can handle most archive formats:	http://www.7-zip.org/

Anti - Spyware / Adware	Spyware can collect information from your computer e.g. bank account details. Adware can cause adverts to "popup" when you don't want them to. Make sure you run an anti-spyware/adware program at least once a week.
Protect yourself against SpyWare:	http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted software. Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted sites in Internet Explorer.	http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Ad-Aware FREE protects you from Adware:	http://www.lavasoft.com/
Advanced Windows Care	http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html?Str=download

Firewall If you use a third party firewall make sure you disable the built in windows firewall.	A firewall attempts to hide your computer from malicious hackers on the internet. Even if you have a hardware firewall, it is recommended that you also use a software firewall. But DON'T use more than one software firewall.
Zone Alarm - Firewall	http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Comodo - Firewall	http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Utilities	Keep your computer running smoothly.
UltraDefrag is a powerful free disk Defragmentation tool:	http://ultradefrag.sourceforge.net/
Recuva - Recovers deleted files	http://www.recuva.com/
Eusing - Registry cleaner	http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm
Shields Up - Internet Vulnerability Profiling	https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
VOIP Preview - Connection speed test	http://www.voipreview.org/voipspeedtester.aspx
Traceroute, Ping, Domain Name Server (DNS) Lookup, WHOIS, and DNS Records Lookup	http://network-tools.com/

Web Browsing	Web designers will often assume that you have the following software loaded on your computer.
You will need ADOBE Reader to view our Minutes, get it FREE by clicking on the icon:
Apple QuickTime - movie viewer	http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
Adobe Flash Player is the high-performance, lightweight, highly expressive client runtime that delivers powerful and consistent user experiences across major operating systems, browsers, mobile phones, and devices.	http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

The Thringstone webmaster suggests some software you may find useful

Description

Download Link

Emergency Tools

If you have a virus or spyware problem, these sites can often help to clean your computer.

Trend Micro™ HouseCall is an application for checking whether your computer has been infected by viruses, spyware, or other malware. HouseCall performs additional security checks to identify and fix vulnerabilities to prevent reinfection.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/

McAfee Stinger - Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system.

http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=stinger

Windows Update

Microsoft are always releasing updates that improve the security of your PC - make sure you download them regularly.

Down load vital security updates for yor computer from the MicroSoft website:

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Get a free PC safety scan
Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC.
Check for and remove viruses
Get rid of junk on your hard disk
Improve your PC's performance

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

Office Software

There is a FREE alternative to almost every program you will ever need.

Everything you need - for Free

http://www.openoffice.org/

PDFCreator is a free tool to create PDF files from nearly any Windows application.

http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator

CD & DVD Burner

http://cdburnerxp.se/

Memory Stick software

Carry your favorite programs in your pocket, and use them on any computer.

Carry your office on a memory stick

http://portableapps.com/

Anti - Virus

Anti-virus programs protect you from software viruses that can come from the internet.
Ensure only ONE anti-virus program is installed on your computer

AVG Anti-virus

http://www.grisoft.com/ww.homepage

Avast Anti-virus

http://www.avast.com/

Comodo Anti-virus

http://antivirus.comodo.com/

7-Zip is a free archiving tool that can handle most archive formats:

http://www.7-zip.org/

Anti - Spyware / Adware

Spyware can collect information from your computer e.g. bank account details.
Adware can cause adverts to "popup" when you don't want them to.
Make sure you run an anti-spyware/adware program at least once a week.

Protect yourself against SpyWare:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted software. Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted sites in Internet Explorer.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Ad-Aware FREE protects you from Adware:

http://www.lavasoft.com/

Advanced Windows Care

http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html?Str=download

Firewall
If you use a third party firewall make sure you disable the built in windows firewall.

A firewall attempts to hide your computer from malicious hackers on the internet.
Even if you have a hardware firewall, it is recommended that you also use a software firewall.
But DON'T use more than one software firewall.

Zone Alarm - Firewall

http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

Comodo - Firewall

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Utilities

Keep your computer running smoothly.

UltraDefrag is a powerful free disk Defragmentation tool:

http://ultradefrag.sourceforge.net/

Recuva - Recovers deleted files

http://www.recuva.com/

Eusing - Registry cleaner

http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm

Shields Up - Internet Vulnerability Profiling

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

VOIP Preview - Connection speed test

http://www.voipreview.org/voipspeedtester.aspx

Traceroute, Ping, Domain Name Server (DNS) Lookup, WHOIS, and DNS Records Lookup

http://network-tools.com/

Web Browsing

Web designers will often assume that you have the following software loaded on your computer.

You will need ADOBE Reader to view our Minutes,
get it FREE by clicking on the icon:

Apple QuickTime - movie viewer

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Adobe Flash Player is the high-performance, lightweight, highly expressive client runtime that delivers powerful and consistent user experiences across major operating systems, browsers, mobile phones, and devices.

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

http://www.friends-of-thringstone.org.uk/