In light of recent hack attacks this is a great opportunity to raise awareness on internet security. Back when we were a forum we had a thread titled “PC Necessities for FREE (or almost)!” that is still valid.
As such, we’re taking the opportunity to share the information from there with you now. Please note it covers more than internet security programs (such as firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-spyware).
Overview
Many people think owning/using a computer means spending a lot of money for it to be useful and safe. But, that isn’t so. These days there are many computer necessities available for users at little or no cost. This article shall mention such necessities, by category, providing links and costs plus analysis for each product.
Anti-Spyware
If you’re online spyware is bound to infiltrate your system. There is a plethora of anti-spyware programs for sale but why pay when good free programs are available?
Our first recommended program is Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware SE. The NSA, here in America, uses an advance version to safeguard their PCs. Ad-Aware SE can be downloaded for FREE. There is an enhanced version costing $26.96 but the free Ad-Aware is more than suitable for most users.
The next recommended program is Spybot Search & Destroy. This completely open-source project is FREE. The author accepts donations via Paypal on the website. However, you don’t need to pay to use the program. In addition, Spybot S&D includes TeaTimer, which is a component that actively monitors your computer for attempted spyware intrusions.
Lastly, Microsoft has a free beta of a new anti-spyware program named Windows AntiSpyware/Defender. Microsoft bought Giant AntiSpyware who previously ran this as a paid utility. Now, owners of genuine/legal copies of Microsoft Windows can download the software to use on their machines. It will easily scan for spyware every day and has other user configurable options. Please note that using this program can cause a file called MSpNGs.exe to run in the background that may use up all your system resources.
We strongly recommend that users actively use at least 2 anti-spyware programs. I personally employ all three of the above and am as spyware free as possible. But, if you don’t have Windows as an OS or if you don’t trust Microsoft then we suggest you use Ad-Aware SE and Spybot Search & Destroy.
Rockstar Games has never came out with an official online version of any Grand Theft Auto PC game, but since the start, GTA fans have been attempting to make their own third-party multiplayer versions of the games. It all started with GTA III. A group of people got together and attempted to create a modded version of the game allowing you to see other people’s cars. Hackers worked until they found out how to get YOUR player’s coordinates out on the net, and receive other’s X-Y coordinates also. Though this was very crude, it was the start of something that hundreds of thousands of people enjoy today. The development of GTA3-Online FINAL never got released, and was not focused on at all once it’s successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, was released for the PC. This time, though, hackers were able to get much further in their effort to make GTA an online multiplayer game.
The creators of both MTA:VC and VC:MP were extremelly excited to start messing with the game’s source, and see what they could cook up. Not so long after the release, both “MTA:SA” and “SA:MP” were in production. Many months later, both MTA:SA and SA:MP are in stable releases, and thousands of people are sitting at their computer right now, playing San Andreas online. MTA:SA still limits users to stay in their cars, but is now a GREAT racing component for San Andreas. SA:MP, on the other hand, lets you do virtually everything you can do in single player—online, with tons of others. Enhanced with IRC chat, money trading, banking, racing, and much more, GTA San Andreas is now better than ever.
