Safe on the cheap

It’s true that – more often than not – going cheap is not the best solution. You get what you’ve paid for. Still, there are some freeware computer security titles that are better than others. Heck, some of them would give even the most expensive security applications a good run for their money.

Another thing the titles below have in common: they all run smoothly on both XP and Vista. And, since they are freeware, you can use them as often as you like.

Here they are, in random order:

1. AVG Antivirus, Free Edition: This one does it all, and with minimal resource-hogging, too. Crowds of computer users have been using it for years now and most (and, may be, all of them, even) haven’t have a viral problem crop up that it couldn’t handle yet. Automatic updates, automatic system scanning and virus quarantine are but a few features this freeware gem offers. Go grab it at AVG Free Anti-Virus.
2. Spybot Search & Destroy 1.5: While this anti-spyware application is getting a little long in the tooth, it still performs three tasks under one headline. It includes a spyware scanner, an active system-tray program to detect spyware activity, and an inoculate feature that prevents many spyware applications from getting their hooks into your system through a browser window. Run a scan once a week if you’re a heavy surfer, and bask in the warm glow that you’re well-protected. You can find it easily at Spybot Search & Destroy.
3. Irfanview – Free Image Editor: This beauty will provide universal access to your PC’s collection of images. You can do basic editing such as cropping, resizing, rotating and more, just for starters. This program can also create thumbnails, batch process entire directories of images (re-sizing them, adjusting colours, etc.) and dozens of other functions. When associated with your images, it allows simple and low-resource viewing of any number of images, for free. You can find it, as well as many useful plugins, at Irfanview.
4. CCleaner – System Optimizer As any PC user will agree, systems get bogged down over time with junk files and unwanted programs that leave messy bits of themselves even after installation. CCleaner comes to the rescue to restore your sluggish system to a faster time. It actively ‘takes out the trash’ from your PC. It looks for junk left from IE and Firefox sessions, as well as temporary files, broken shortcuts. It even scans the registry for clogs and errors. In only a few minutes’ time, your PC will be running like it was fresh out of the box. Get CCleaner at www.ccleaner.com – your PC will thank you.
5. Auslogics Defragmenter for Hard Disk Drives: Given the massive storage capacities of modern hard drives, it only makes sense to keep them organized. But even though you may have your files placed perfectly in cascading directories, there’s a hidden catch: your files may be fragmented, slowing your PC as it tracks down all the bits of a file. By defragmenting your drive once a month or so, you can keep your PC performing at peak efficiency when finding and loading files. Auslogics Defrag is a much faster alternative to Windows Defrag, so snag it at Auslogics Disk-defrag to make your drives hum happily.

If you have one, fine, if you don’t, go and buy yourself a USB key, and save those applications on it, in addition to saving them on your computer: and they’ll likely save you a ton of trouble when it strikes. Investing in a USB key is a wise move, anyhow, and using it to store free software is a move worthy of a genius.

For more about similar programs, read Five must-have security applications.