Computer Hidden Tips and Tricks and Hacks

There are millions of free and open source projects available, many of them better than any commercially available product. Below is a short listing of what we think is the best out there, broken down into ten categories.

Anti-virus and malware protection

Most PC users realize that they need some type of protection on their computer or may have an installed anti-virus program from their computer manufacturer. What most don't realize is that there are free programs that are just as good and in some cases better than the commercial products. Below are our recommendations

Anti-virus program: Avast! or AVG

Malware / Spyware protection: Malwarebytes

Backup solutions

There are dozens of free and commercially available backup programs for computers. Unfortunately many of those backups are stored locally, meaning if your house were to catch fire, get robbed, or if you simply lost your backup discs all your data would be lost. This is why when dealing with important data we suggest users use online backup services.

Online backup solution: Mozy * or Dropbox
* Free 2GB of online backup for personal use

Browsers

Although Microsoft Internet Explorer comes pre-installed on Windows