As a "tech guru," nary a week goes by that I'm not called upon by a friend, neighbor, relative, or co-worker to deal with a PC that has been slowed to a crawl by scamware, malware, or other threats. As such, I've come to rely on an arsenal of tools, many of which are free. It's no exaggeration to say I regard them as indispensible and have them on my USB drive with me at all times. I hope you find them useful. If you have your own list of must-have's, send me an email, and I'll share them as Reader Comments. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
Is your computer besieged by pop-up messages telling you it's infected? Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware quickly detects, destroys, and prevents malware, including scamware and threats that other security software fails to detect. The optional real-time Protection Module uses advanced heuristic scanning technology and can be activated for a one-time fee of $24.95.
Hitman Pro 3.5 behavioral scan and multi-vendor cloud confirmation anti-malware [ Download 32-bit version | Download 64-bit version ]
Cost: Unlimited free scanning and free 30-day version to remove detected malware
Hitman Pro 3.5 locates, identifies and removes viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits and other types of malware. It can be downloaded and run straight from a USB Flash Drive, CD/DVD, local or network attached hard drive and will quickly reveal the presence of any malware. Hitman Pro uses innovative cloud computing techniques to detect and remove potential malware threats with minimal impact on system performance. Scanning is free for the life of the product and removal of malware is free for the first 30 days. Thereafter, a paid subscription is required to remove malware. Available for Windows XP/Vista/2000/2003/2008 and Windows 7. [ Pricing ]
Avira AntiVir Free Version
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
Avira AntiVir Personal is a comprehensive, easy-to-use antivirus program, designed to provide reliable free virus protection for home-users. Not licensed for business or commercial use. Available for Windows or Linux. [ 73-page User Guide in PDF Format ]
CCleaner
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history and is a full-featured registry cleaner. Process Monitor
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. It provides rich and non-destructive filtering, comprehensive event properties such session IDs and user names, reliable process information, full thread stacks with integrated symbol support for each operation, simultaneous logging to a file, and much more. Also check out Process Explorer and the entire Sysinternals Suite.
Unlocker
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
This free extension for Windows Explorer comes in handy when you encounter messages like "Cannot delete file: Access is denied." or "There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in use." Simply right-click the offending file or folder, select Unlocker from the contextual menu, and kill the process that is keeping you from sending the file or folder to the recycle bin.
Norton Security Scan
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
Norton Security Scan. It will automatically scan your computer every week, providing a second opinion with regards to other installed security software without risk of conflicts. [ Free Symantec Security Check ]
McAffee Avert Stinger
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
Stinger is a standalone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system.
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
Cost: freeware [ Download ]
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is for private, non-commercial, single computer use only. The use of AVG Free within any organization or for commercial purposes is prohibited. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition may not be bundled with other software programs, hardware components, or any other services. Version 8.5 has been somewhat of a disappointment, but a free version of newly-released Version 9.0 should be out in a few weeks.
- G DATA AntiVirus
Cost: trialware [ Download ]
G DATA AntiVirus 2010 trial version is superb at cleansing machines that are already hopelessly infected, plus it's reasonably priced if you decide to buy it. Pricing: $24.95, single-license (download); $34.95, 3PC (download)
Viewer Comments |
| "I use most of these plus Advanced System Care Free. This program seems to find a few stragglers along the way." | Jim |
| "I swear by the Belarc Advisor, a great PC auditing tool that is free for personal use. It builds a detailed report of your installed software/hardware, missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status and more, all viewable in your Web browser. The information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server." | Margaret W. |
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