Firewalls and Security Essential Software

Internet Security (Firewall & Antivirus)

With most home users switching to broadband and "always on" connections, a good firewall and antivirus suite is essential. Radford Computing recommends Zonealarm Internet Security Suite as it offers unrivalled firewall protection and one of the highest detection rates for antivirus scanning. It also provides spyware detection, parental control and spam filtering. Some may find the amount of warnings notifications a tad annoying, but it offers the safest and most secure suite to protect your system.

Spyware Protection

Spyware are unwanted programs that provide the user with no value, but may send information about your surfing habits to other companies, or download other more malicious programs. Thousands of these programs are created each day, so good spyware protection is essential. At Radford Computing we recommend Webroot's Spysweeper or PC Tools Spyware Doctor, both have excellent detection rates and update their definitions daily, if not several times a day. We'd use one of these products in conjunction with Zonealarms built in spyware detection, and maybe run a scan once a week.

Backup Software

Backup software is a must to keep your data safe and secure should the unthinkable happen to your hard drive. It doesn't really matter how you do it, as long as you do it and regularly, but there are some great programs to help. Top of our list is Acronis True Image Home. There are lots of options built in to back up emails, or my computer, my data or my application settings, or you can take a complete image of the drive.

CD/DVD Burning Software

Another great way to back up your data is by using Nero Ultimate to write your information to CD or DVD, but it does much more than this, allowing you to copy virtually any type of CD or DVD that isn't copyright protected. You can also create you own disks or images of disks, all from a very intuitive menu.