As our country and community address hard financial times I think it is important to try and address needs in as frugal a way possible. Sometimes the best solutions cost money but if that money can be more productive for you somewhere else then I would suggest using a free solution that is highly regarded versus spending money you cannot afford.

Many of my technology peers would tell you most of these things are not new but I find them to be very useful and wanted to share them with the community.

1. Windows Firewall

A firewall reduces the potential for a network worm to exploit software on your computer to gain access to it without any intervention from you. While modern software vendors are pretty diligent about releasing patches we don't always have time to install them or realize the urgency of installing them. I would include instructions but found that with most people running Windows XP, Vista or now Windows 7 the instructions or even links would be cumbersome to include in the article. Please search “turn Windows Firewall On” and include your operating system in the last part of the search text.

2. Free Anti-Spyware

Two such programs are Microsoft Windows Defender (www.windowsdefender.com) and LavaSoft Ad-Aware (www.lavasoft.com). I recently read an article where Ad-Aware was very highly rated but my personal experience has been pretty good with MS Windows Defender. The bulk of modern malware is being encountered on the web through your web browser (MS Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.). This is a necessary tool to reduce the chance of having problems while browsing the web.

3. Free Antivirus

Two such programs are AVG (www.avg.com) and AVAST (www.avast.com). Antivirus software is still essential, and even though it may not detect all of the threats that exist it is still a key tool to keep you safe on your computer. Suddenlink and AT&T both offer a version of antivirus and antispyware software to their subscribers.

4. CCcleaner

CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com) is a free tool that cleans your computer in much the same fashion some of the online services would charge. If you find that your computer is slower than you expect and you have run antivirus and antispyware software and not seen any results this may be a solution for you. It has worked for me but always be sure and backup your computer prior to doing any major configuration or system changes.

5. PDF Writer

My favorite is CutePDF (www.cutepdf.com). Today you might have customers, vendors or friends that use a variety of different computers or software that by their nature are not easily compatible. Portable Document Format (PDF) writing software allows you to share documents with almost anybody and ensure the document displays in the way that you intend it to.

6. FOG (Computer Imaging Software)

This is probably the most technology-centric thing that I will cover but if anyone is still just building a computer from scratch and finds themselves doing it more than once or twice a year they should consider Disk Imaging (a complete copy of a disk) as a solution to speed up the process. This becomes very important if an office gets a virus infection that is not easily cleaned. It can allow you to have a computer up in running with a completely new operating system in less than 10 minutes. For more information, visit www.fogproject.org.

7. Free books

Free books available at Google (http://books.google.com) are some of the all time great books that have crossed into the public domain. There are wonderful books on almost any topic. As I explore more of the classics I really find I enjoy them and some things truly are timeless.

Please be safe in your online computing habits. The statistics from 2007 showed that as many as 90% of home computers have spyware. Keep in mind that some spyware is less harmful than others but really if it can be solved for free why leave any of it on your computer? If you have a virus or spyware make it a top priority to get it addressed.

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Robert Beckerdite is senior engineer and owner of Beckerdite Consulting, which provides local technology services focused on technology, legal and healthcare business sectors in Humboldt County. Robert is a member of the Redwood Technology Consortium.

Copywright 2010, Eureka Times-Standard Newspaper. The print version of this article first appeared in the 2/25/10 edition of the Times Standard.