Alpha Post

Hello! My first words published live to the world. Exhilarating! So recently I purchased a new Dell Insperion I1720 laptop with a Core 2 Duo w/ 2.00GBs of RAM. It runs Windows Vista, and is very nice new and clean. Its even sporting a powerful NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT video card. :D Unfortunately, Windows Vista's Defender only protects against Adware and Spyware. These are programs that could infect my computer, and give all my precious information away. And while I am glad Windows protects me from Spyware, Windows does not protect me from viruses. Viruses are much nastier versions of Spyware, and their intent is malicious. They will hide in my system and wait for a secret command, then they will systematically destroy my shiny new computer. : ( So I decided to fortify! I updated Windows Defender with all the new Spyware information, then hit the web for some good anti-virus programs. I came across many programs but finally narrowed it down to 3 very good programs, that all happen to be free! First I choose McAfree VirusScan, which has a long upstanding track record. I also downloaded and installed PC-cillin Virus Protection, which offers a variety of other searches and looks for different viruses than McAfree. The third choice is a program called Adware, by a revolutionary company named LavaSoft. It offerers day to day updates, Spyware searches, and Virus Searches. It also lets you quarantine, and create System Restore points, two very important topics I will discuss later. Adware also allows for quick searches, on specific drives only, and is very nice if you don't have a lot of time. Adware is a must for Vista users, as it has an extensive list of Spyware that Windows Defender does not. Another helpful, but optional Spyware program is Spybot Search and Destroy. This has an extremely extensive list of Adware, and Spyware programs, but you can't specify the drives you want to search; so Spybot tends to take a long time. Spybot also has many features that give Vista user's more control over their interface. You can change what begins at system start up, perform IE tweaks, Uninstall programs easily, and even shred logs and computer history information. By now my new shiny computer has been locked down. I know no viruses or spyware have infected me, and I feel safe to go to sleep tonight.