How to Get Free Software to Protect Your Computer

Americans spend hours surfing the Internet everyday. We look for information, chat with friends, complete homework, send and receive email messages, share pictures with family or do online banking. We don’t want to worry about the safety of our computers when we are online. To be safe, we must have certain programs on our computers before we surf the Internet. Some will stop others from getting into our computers while others erase our tracks after we are done. These free security softwares protect our computers.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Get free Anti-Virus. Go to Avast website and download this antivirus. Click Install. Follow on-screen instructions during installation. Enter a valid email address when requested. Click Ok to register the product. Click Ok when installation is complete. Click Ok to reboot your computer. See Resources below for additional information.

2. Get free Firewall. Download Zonealarm firewall free from Zonealarm. Click Install. Enter a valid email address to register the software. Click Ok to complete installation and start firewall protection. See Resources below for more information.

3. Remove Spyware. Get Spybot Search and Destroy from Safer-networking. Click Install, then Run. Spybot Search and Destroy scans your system for spyware and key loggers. When scanning is complete click Ok to delete any spyware found. See Resources below for additional information.

4. Encrypt your folders. Download TrueCrypt open source encryption software free from TrueCrypt. Click Install. Follow on-screen prompt to complete installation and begin encrypting your drives, folders or usb drives in real time. See Resources below for additional information.

5. Clean your online tracks. Download Privoxy from SourceForge. Click Install and follow on-screen prompts to complete installation. Privoxy automatically cleans your tracks, removes cookies, disables banner and filters web page data. See Resources below for additional information.

Tips & Warnings

• Your computer is not safe if you don’t have protection. Download and install these softwares if you have not done so already. Do not surf the Internet without protection. Hackers can steal your personal data. These softwares are free and they protect your computers.
• You must update these softwares if you install them in your computer. Most will update automatically. Others you must update manually.
• Scan your computers with these free softwares regularly for complete protection.