15 free security programs that work

Don't use any of them in the list below except for one that some of you may have heard of.

Goes by the name of CCleanner. ;)

Some may want to peruse?

But fighting back is easy. We've found 15 great pieces of software -- firewalls, spyware busters, antivirus software, rootkit killers, and general Internet security tools--designed to protect you against any dangers that come your way. They're free, they're powerful, and they're easy to use. So what are you waiting for? Start downloading.

15 free security apps

Thanks Humpty, that reminded me I haven't reinstalled AVG AntiRootkit.

Some of those programs are crap. I tried that AOL security monitor thing once and found it pretty useless.(I guess if you cant remember to install an AV, turn on auto updates and the windows firewall then you need it... otherwise dont bother.) The transaction guard seems worthless too. Why use an onscreen keyboard? If you have a keylogger on your system they probably already know everything anyway(just keep your system clean. :P).

I tried the "File shredder" that was mentioned, as it was compatable with Vista.

There was no shell integration as promised and the help section buttons refused to work at all. There was also no progress bar when deleteing files. I didn't even bother with the wipe free space option - I uninstalled instead.

If any other vista user try this, it would be interesting to know whether it was just my machine that was the problem.

I think they should reword just one word in the CCleaner bit because it may make people that haven't ever heard of CC leary.

When I used this utility for the first time, it deleted a whopping 835MB of files.

I'd change "files" to "junk files", or just "junk".

I tried the "File shredder" that was mentioned, as it was compatable with Vista.

Eraser will soon be Vista compatible, there is a beta release already available: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

Eraser will soon be Vista compatible, there is a beta release already available: http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/

Thanks, got that one bookmarked, although I think I'll wait for the final release.

Cheers

Thanks, got that one bookmarked, although I think I'll wait for the final release.

Probably a good idea with Erasers potential to do serious damage.