Free Software - (Mostly for Windows PCs)

Computer Security and Protection
Be very careful with borrowed USB memory sticks or those brought home from shared computers at school, college or library. There is a very high risk of them picking up viruses that even their original owners might not know about. Just plugging in an infected USB stick can immediately transfer a virus to a PC (I know because I fell for it at work once, checking details of the owner of a 'lost' USB stick), and some viruses are nearly impossible to remove completely. It's not worth the risk when you consider the ultimate remedy might be a total hard drive wipe and a complete Windows re-installation and the risk of losing programs, photos, documents, projects, etc. What's worse, if you can recover your work, it might be infected. In that case, I would use a non-Windows PC to recover the files and use something like Libre Office to view documents.

With an infected computer, you might even decide to buy a new one and start from scratch, although Windows 10 'refresh' might get you out of trouble while risking losing some installed software. All this because little Johnny brought a game home from school on his USB stick. Eskia Computers in Spring Vale have clever ways to repair a PC if it gets this bad. Always keep security software up to date as in 'check for updates.' Also schedule the anti-virus scan perhaps once a week.

Iffy Fonts
Go to the 'Fonts' folder on the PC or laptop and look for any very large files there. Anything over perhaps a few hundred kBytes in size (say 1 MB) should not be there. One that I saw had supposedly Chinese fonts of around 30MB or more each, which looked well-dodgy. In any case, we don't need to see Chinese characters in this country. The trouble is that you can't always remove them either, which looks doubly dodgy. You might find that the usual Right-click > Uninstall Font method is not available (greyed out) and it would need a higher level of expertise to remove it (such as booting up from a Live Linux disc and using its file viewer).

Useful Freebies
Sometimes firewalls and anti-viruses from different companies don't happily co-exist and you might need to try a different combination. Some freebies are a bit dodgy because of bundled apps that you don't want ('PUPs' = Potentially Unwanted Programs). Some do sneaky tricks when installing unless you notice the small box to untick which sends your information to their servers. Even the reputable audio editor Audacity 'phones home' in the latest version and you never needed that function before.

My router has its own firewall built in, dialled up to maximum security as I don't go on porn sites or download hacked software, etc. Some common searches go misleading websites, so be extra careful. While searching for a camera user manual, I clicked on a website link which prompted a danger message to pop up from the router saying that the website was unsafe. The same happened while checking the link to a local sports club website which had been hacked. They had changed their website but the old link had become dangerous.

Do an in-depth anti-virus scan every so often to make keep safe. Try 'Microsoft Safety scanner' (link below) every so often as an extra precaution. It is free and updated every day, so you need to download a new one each time as it expires after a few days. That idea came from the excellent 'Computer Active' mag, of which you will find references all over the computer section here.

Anti-Virus
Computer mags rotate their support from time to time, so there might be better ideas out there but these are the better-known ones. There is often some linkrot to these sites, so some of the links here have been removed.

• Avast Free - This one is beating many of the paid-for anti viruses in technical reviews. It has high performance and does not slow things down too much.
• 'Free AVG' - A good and respected free anti virus - but it clashed with Comodo firewall a few years ago. In my opinion it was streets ahead of Norton which nobbled PC performance too much. Linux and tablet version are also available.
• Avira - Another free anti virus. Used to be called 'Antivir' and it still uses the same little umbrella symbol. Look for the 'Classic' version.
• Norton Power Eraser - Choose the Windows7 and above download. It does a fairly quick security scan as a stand-alone app (not installed). Go to its settings cog and enable the rootkit scan too. It will do a re-boot and re-enter the program when it re-starts.
• Windows Security - Windows 10 and 11 come with a good anti-virus built-in and the experts say that it works well. The most thorough scan is in 'offline' mode, which means it runs before start-up with nothing else in the way. In the Windows search box, type 'Security' and click on 'Security and Performance.' Under 'Virus and Threat Protection', click on 'Scan Options' and click on 'Microsoft defender Offline Scan' which will require a Reboot. When it is rebooting it will take quite a while but does a good job.

Firewall
According to Computer Active magazine, the Windows 10 firewall is also very effective now. It might be best to stick with it. These are some older suggestions in this list below which might now have become out of date

• Comodo Firewall - Click on their Firewall link. This appears to be better than Zonealarm which once caused problems on my PC. Also available for Mac.
• ZoneAlarm Free - I stopped using this at one after it failed to co-exist with an installed anti virus but computer mag reviews give it the thumbs up. I also suspected it as the reason why files I was working on would suddenly vaporise, as though they were being held in an ethereal form rather than actual files on the HDD. I'm still not sure about this one.
• See the 'Tweakers' page for network utilities.

Spyware, Potentially Unwanted Programs ('Pups') and Malware Detection and Removal
These can all co-exist with Windows anti virus or installed anti virus utilities. You just give them a run every so often.

• McAfee Stinger (Probably discintinued, link not working) - A small stand-alone scan tool which does not need to be installed and has been around for a long time.
• Malwarebytes - The free version looks to have been discontinued in favour of a free trail of the paid-for version. As it was, it could clean up after an infection but wouldn't prevent it. The version in 2022 started as the pro version trialware with full protection, reverting after 14 days to a limited free version, still useful to disinfect your computer after an attack. Hackers hate it. The following Malwarebytes links appear to have been changed and will lead to the same free trial of the paid-for app. You might still try them anyway:
  • Malwarebytes Adwcleaner - This is free and aggressively seeks out those extras which were installed without your knowledge or consent when you installed something else. Such things as unwanted toolbars and Pups. This is still available in 2023.
  • Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit - This little free utility from Malwarebytes digs deep into the file structure to detect and clean up the nasties.
• Microsoft Safety Scanner - This stand-alone utility only works for ten days and then you need to download a new one. The built-in Windows 10 or 11 anti virus is good these days but an extra sweep with something like this can't hurt. A quick scan will only take a few minutes but a full scan can be hours. It might even detect virus threats and increment a count but if they are unimportant the count goes down again. The download file is called MSERT.exe and comes in 32-bit or 64-bit flavours. You rarely see 32-bit PCs these days but there might be some really old ones about that could benefit from this.
• Norton Power Eraser - A good 'un, I say. Choose the 64-bit version unless you are using a really old PC. This does a reboot and goes deep to remove a lot of rubbish, including dodgy files. It might also remove things you don't want it to. See PC Mag.
• Superantispyware - This free spyware scan is worth having and one of those early things to install on a new PC, although it has become harder to find the free version and you are increasingly nagged to update to the paid-for version. It was launched more than a decade ago and does not conflict with any antivirus apps. On installing, you might be asked to install the Opera web browser (can't blame the author for making money) but it is not compulsory; so untick that option. You have to download updates and run a manual scan every so often unless you pay for the 'Pro' version. It will ask to be manually updated every few days. Don't fret if it finds a load of tracking cookies as they are fairly harmless - just click 'Next' after the scan has finished to delete them. They now have a pop-up which urges you to upgrade (not update) and this would lead you to the paid-for version.
  Update - Superantispyware is still safe but has become more persistent about urging you to 'Upgrade' to the paid-for version. You can safely ignore their pop-up messages.
• Spybot - A reputable spyware scanner that's been around for years, like the one above. It must do some good because the hackers try to block it.

Leaks

• Do I Leak? - Doesn't install anything, click the link to see what your DNS lookup reveals and a few other things. The results page offers some advice on browser settings.
• Fsecure Router Check - Nothing to install, just click the link and click 'Check Your Router' to see if it has been hacked or for vulnerabilities. Depending on the router type, you might occasionally like to check that the router's software is up to date. It should be set to auto-update anyway. Also, disable 'Remote Access,' UPnP and WPS. Change the Wifi password every so often too. I sometimes rename the wifi but it means having to reconnect all of the devices with the new name and new password.
• Bitdefender Home Security - Freebie download from a trusted source which shows what is using your network.

'Zero Day' Exploit
This one came up in June 2022 and might have been fixed by now (2023). It uses a Windows security feature against itself, with a document file as the way in and it might even be in a zip file. The cure requires a Windows Registry change, which means that one mistake can reduce the PC or laptop to the equivalent of a brick and ought not to be applied by any non-technical people. In other words, I'm not responsible if you damage your computer; get an expert to do it. Having said all that, I have done it to three machines without any problems (so far).

The problem is likely to arrive in email as an attached 'Word' or 'RTF' document file and it would probably look convincing. The way to block it requires doing these things properly or you can brick the PC. In Windows, it uses Regedit in administrator mode. here goes:

Launch Regedit. Search for:
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ms-msdt and single-click on it to highlight it. Don't click on the stuff inside it, just the ms-msdt entry itself. Now Right-click on that and choose 'export' to save it to somewhere safe. Give it a descriptive name and save it and it will end up with a filename something like 'ms-msdt backup fred' or similar. It won't hurt to save it in more than one location, perhaps on another device too.

Having saved it, right-click again, select 'Delete' and enter. It has now been removed from the Registry. The job is done and the machine has been protected from this particular problem. To reinstate it, supposing that MS provides a proper cure or update, double click on the file wherever you saved it and it will be put back in the right part of the registry.

The Strange Case of the Corrupted Recycle Bin
Perhaps not so strange after all if you search for solutions as it appears to be common enough. Here's what happened. While going through a plugged-in backup hard drive, I decided to get rid of some old software dating back years. As usual, I thought I had pressed shift-delete to send the folder on its way but, no, it went in the bin instead (on the plugged-in drive). Then a box kept on popping up saying that the recycle bin for that drive was corrupted.

How do you empty a corrupted recycle bin?
Answer - You don't. You just find a way to delete it and Windows provides a new one next time around. Ah, but deleting it is next to impossible from Windows as it is treated as a System folder and you can't get to it. There are all sorts of command lines which are supposed to do it, but don't. Scandisk didn't help either.

An easy solution. By chance, I often use an old netbook which runs Linux instead of Windows and you can see everything on an external drive, including that errant recycle bin. From there, it was easy to highlight it and delete it. And away it went, including all of its waste. Problem solved. But why do they make things so difficult in Windows?

So, It's Infected - What Can I do? (DiY)
I am not an expert but have gleaned a few tips from comupter mags. You will probably need to see the real experts, such as Eskia if you are in Penistone.

Plan A.
Get someone to download the 'iso' for Kaspersky Rescue Disc on a clean PC. This one is for serious trouble. The antivirus runs directly from the disc without installing anything on the PC. Download the 'krd.iso' file and burn a CD from it, the file is around 500 MB so will fit on a blank CD. If you don't know what that means, don't try to copy the iso file to a disk - it won't work but in Windows 10 there is a right-click option from Windows Explorer to 'Burn to Disk' and that it what you use. I suggest you also click the 'Verify' option so it makes sure it will work. Incidentally, I no longer recommend 'Imgburn' to write the disc because there are too many misleading 'Download' buttons on their website and the installation tries to push you into tweaking the web browser.

With the Rescue Disk file burnt to the disk, you will need to boot up your computer from it. Someone might have to adjust the PC's BIOS settings for it to boot from CD rather than the hard drive ('Boot Order').

Restart the computer with the disc in the drive and let Kaspersky try to update its Virus Definitions from the internet first. It runs a scan from outside of the normal operation of the PC and has proved to be effective on a badly-infected PC.

Plan B.
Download, install, update and run Malwarebytes, if you can. The virus might prevent it. Toe-rag virus writers are scared of Malwarebytes and will try to nobble it or stop you from downloading, installing, updating or running it. That means it is serious. If it crashes during the scan, you might get a glimpse of a filename that caused it for a moment. I once had a glimpse of a font file when my work PC was infected. It turned out to be about 30MB, which was far larger than any other font file. It might have come in on a document. Deleting it and running anti-virus appeared to cure the problem. An alternative is McAfee Tools Stinger for an Emergency Antivirus Check. It does not install anything on the computer, which gives you an edge if it usually crashes within minutes. It is an effective stand-alone program for emergencies and won't conflict with existing anti-virus programs.

Plan C.
Not tried but have a look at Norton Bootable Recovery Tool. Use it to create a rescue CD or USB stick. Their website says it does a very thorough job and might take some hours.

Plan D.
Forget the Do it Yourself approach and go see Eskia Computers (see below). It might be the best option anyway,

My recommendation:
For pre-Windows 10, Windows Security Essentials (for Anti-V and Anti-Malware) does the job nicely, if it is still available. By the way, some computer repairers might still be able to get Windows 7, 8 or Vista to update to Windows 10, as a legitimate upgrade (not pirate software).

Eskia Computers
Here's a little plug for my old mates at Eskia Computers in Spring Vale. Head towards the Dumpit site and turn right on to the next lane down after the Naylor/Myers' entrance. Go and see them for computer advice and if you need help with PC problems/upgrades/viruses. they know heaps more than I do. www.eskia.co.uk