Tools and Software

I've been thinking about this for a while and the blogging format seems like a decent way to communicate this type of information. There are a number of software tools out there that make Internet life easier. Here are a few of the indispensable tools and practices.

1- Get rid of Norton System Works and AntiVirus:
A decade ago, Norton was indispensable, now it is a complete burden on your system that creates more problems than it solves and generally mucks up and slows down the operations of your computer.

2- Turn on Windows Firewall:
By this time, if you're a Windows user, you should be running WinXP. Use the native firewall. It's quite good and keeps life easy. For your frequent Internet access points (home and work) you should have a hardware firewall installed. This is far more secure and frees up system resources.

3- Keep your Anti-Virus software up to date:
If affordability is king, try AVG's Free Edition. It's been rated quite well, is frequently updated, and has all the features you could want including email scanning. - It's free so you don't have an excuse anymore.

4- Get Cloudmark:
While this isn't a free solution the Cloudmark Desktop is the best defense against SPAM that I've discovered. The software uses a common set of spam profiles submitted by other Cloudmark users. The only way a piece of email can be labeled as spam is if it has already been flagged as spam by other users. So if you're in the situation like myself where you rely on email for new business, you don't have to worry about email leads being flagged as spam. Only mass-delivered email will ever be flagged. This software is worth every penny!