|
 |
Competitive
prices and fair value. |
 |
Quality products
and services. |
 |
In-stock
availability … or we'll get it ASAP. |
 |
Personal service
… before, during, and after the sale. |
 |
Committed to
Alaskan jobs, businesses, and a healthy economy. |
Our Privacy Policy
| |
Internet & Network Tools
 |
My personal favorite is SpamEater
Pro made by High Mountain Software. SpamEater Pro is a
standalone program that has a proven 90% or better hit rate and it gets
smarter as you use it! Some of it features include the ability to
check multiple email accounts; ability to define your valid email addresses;
ability to import your entire Address Book so messages from these people
don't get blocked; spam is automatically removed (and archived) before it
gets to your Inbox; ability to retrieve archived spam messages; they
continually update filters for spam and you can also create your own filters
easily, plus much, much more... |
With the amount of spam being sent
ever increasing, SpamEater
Pro is a tool that you can't afford to be without - and you can use it
FREE
for 30 days! If you decide you can't live without it, registration costs
only $24.95.
|
If you want a program that
integrates directly into Outlook or Outlook Express, try iHateSpam.
The also have a free evaluation period. After which it only costs
$20.00. Their version for Outlook tends to work better right now then
that for Outlook Express. |
|
Although I've never personally
tried it, McAfee SpamKiller 4
has received excellent reviews and operates as a standalone
program. It does, however run a little more, at $39.95 for the
download version or $49.95 on CD. |
|
Or you could do what I did after
getting feed up with over 2,000 junk emails a month - bite the bullet and
change your email address with your ISP. If you decide to go this
route, be very careful this time with who you give your real email address
too. You can always give out your old email address if you don't want
to hear from someone. |
If you run an internet browser
other than Internet Explorer, such as Netscape 7.02, Mozilla 1.3.1 or Opera
7.11, there are settings (though hard to find) that help block pop-ups and
pop-unders.
The latest versions of the Mozilla
and Netscape
browsers include a Popup Manager that permits you to block pop-ups from some
(but not all) sites. To block all pop-up and pop-under ads, choose Edit,
Preferences, double-click the Privacy & Security category,
select Popup Windows, choose Suppress popups, and then click OK.
To block all pop-ups in Opera
, choose File, Quick preferences, Refuse pop-up windows. Another
setting, File, Quick preferences, Open requested pop-up windows only,
lets some desirable pop-ups open as expected; but the setting also may block
some video-playback windows.
Sure a few programs such as
ZoneAlarm, AdSubtract and Norton Internet Security have some ad blocking
features but if you want to get serious about ad-blocking and pop-up
prevention then give WebWasher
Classic 3.3 a try. It works with Internet Explorer, Netscape,
Mozilla or Opera and does so without a lot of manual configuration.
Besides that, it is Free for Home or Educational use.
Another good, Free, popup
stopper is Pop-Up
Stopper v3.01 from Panicware. This program also allows you to
briefly disable the blocking by double-clicking the system tray icon or by
pressing Shift or Ctrl when following a new link. It also features a new
ad-blocking technology, an improved interface, sound and visual options to
play when an ad is blocked. If you want more features yet they offer
three additional versions that have Free Trial periods. You can
compare them here.
Although, there are many programs
that can search for and eliminate Spyware,
the two I like are LavaSoft's new Adware
v6 and Spybot
- Search and Destroy v1.2 by PepiMK
Software. Both of these programs are Free for Home use.
I have been using Adware the longest and the one I'd recommend for novice
computer user. However, Spybot - Search and Destroy found over 40 things
that Adware missed, the first time I ran it. (In all fairness though,
this was before Adware v6 was available). The downside to Search and
Destroy is that the interface isn't as intuitive and you will probably have to
refer to its Help file and Tutorials to get the most from it. Its deep
scan is still the best overall.
If you are an extremely paranoid
individual, the safest thing you can do is stay off the internet and keep your
computer in the basement, behind locked doors.
If you are currently using a
Dial-up connection, you really aren't at too much risk, however. Dial-up
connections log-on to one of several modems at your ISP. At logon, a
Dynamic IP Address is assigned to your computer that changes with nearly every
connection. This makes you quite the moving target. You will have
had to of made someone pretty mad to go to all of the time and effort of
trying to hack your computer.
Users with always on connections
such as DSL or Cable must put up a defense. This is typically know
as a firewall. There are two types of firewalls, hardware and software.
Hardware firewalls are the
best. Companies such as D-Link,
Linksys and NetGear
make several good ones that sell for less than $100. These are usually
in the form of a Router, Switch or Residual Gateway. (Geek talk).
If your budget won't allow for a
hardware firewall, the next best thing is a software one.
If you are running Windows XP, it
has a built in firewall, but you must make sure that it has been turned
on. Open Control Panel, switch to "Classic View" if
necessary and then double click on Network Connections. Your
always on connection will probably appear as "Local Area
Connection". If the firewall feature is activated, it should say so
in this window. If it does not then Right Click on the icon and choose
"Properties". Under the "Advance" tab, click in the
box within the "Internet Connection Firewall" to place a checkmark
and then click on "OK".
If you are not running Windows XP
or if you want better protection still, I recommend ZoneAlarm.
They make several different versions. ZoneAlarm is Free; ZoneAlarm Pro (has
a Free 30 day evaluation period) and ZoneAlarm Plus cost $39.95. To
compare the features of each click here.
Being on the paranoid side myself,
I use all three with very few problems.
Optimize your Computer...
Must Have Stuff...
|
