How to Keep Your PC Safe and Running at Peak Performance

I know you all love seeing my latest photos, so I am going to share  a few virus, spyware, malware , and PC maintenance software programs that will  make it just that much easier for you to do just that. My computer is a very big part of my life, personal and business. I use the computer for doing everything from processing photos to planning trips and nothing is worse than a slow or unresponsive computer. Your computer is just like a car or any other machine, it needs to have maintenance done to keep it at its peak performance and health. This is especially critical for your own personal safety against cyber theft of your personal data. It is also important if you run heavy programs like Adobe Photoshop and/or do extensive gaming. Below I will go over many of the great software and freeware programs that I use along with other things that you can do to keep your computer running at 100%. Below are some of the tools I use to do just that. There may be better alternatives to what I have wrote about or for your particular situation. I talk about a lot of freeware also because I feel free is better then none. The paid versions of these products will almost always be a better, safer choice.
 

Where to Start

Major Geeks is a great place to start looking for software and freeware but we need to use a web browser to get there. The most popular used web browser is IE (Internet Explorer). After months of dealing with IE freezing up, crashing, and running slowly, I decided to try Google Chrome. The first versions of Chrome were not that stellar. It is an excellent choice now. Other choices also include Netscape and Firefox but I personally did not see a night and day difference like I did when I started using Google Chrome. Google Chrome has a cleaner look and runs like a dream. It is much faster and much less problematic. I can count the crashes Chrome has had on my fingers for the last couple of years. A few small issues I have found with Chrome has been some slight compatibility issues were a popup that you want to open doesn’t or secured areas of some sites. These sites have always been smaller company sites in my experiences. Two other small issue, that have been improving, is the print functionality and PDF usability. So about once a month I have to use IE or Firefox for a few seconds to get what I need when Chrome falls short. Some of these problems are on the website’s end and not the fault of Chrome. The pluses of Chrome heavily outweigh the negatives.

Google Chrome +’s

Cleaner
Faster
Stable

Google Chrome -’s

Minimal Site Compatibility Issues
Minimal PDF and Print Function

You can download or learn more about Google Chrome’s web browser here www.google.com/chrome

Once you have Google Chrome, don’t forget to clear out your browsing history once in awhile to speed things up and free up some space.

This is how you can do this.

Click the tool icon in the upper right of the Chrome browser window. Click on “Under the Hood” on the left. Click on “Clear Browsing Data” in the privacy section and you are all done.
 

Software Surplus Store

So back to Major Geeks. Major Geeks is a website dedicated to hosting tons of computer software and freeware for your computer. They offer tons of great programs including virus protection, spam-ware, computer diagnostics, data recovery, firewall, and driver utilities just to name a few headings from their massive list. Major Geeks is also a great resource for information on all the programs that they offer. This is a must have stop on your way to smooth PC operation.

You can find your way to them here. www.majorgeeks.com
New to Major Geeks? Start Here
Their Must Have List

Major Virus Defense

The most important thing you need on your computer is an anti-virus program. A lot of computers come preloaded with Norton Anti-Virus or McAfee Anti-Virus. Both of these anti-virus programs are very good at what they do. They consistently rank in the top spots in independent tests and reviews. Their major flaw is that they quit updating when your subscription runs out and they are very heavy programs that can severely slow down your computer. I use AVG’s anti-virus program. AVG also always ranks in the top spots of those same independent tests and reviews but AVG’s key difference is how their program does not bog down your PC. AVG is a very PC speed friendly. AVG also offers a free version. The free version is also very, very good at what it does but does not offer all the bells and whistles and security packages of the paid version. At the very least I would recommend AVG Anti-Virus Free.

Learn more about AVG here. www.avg.com
Download AVG Anti-Virus Free
 

All In ONE Super Tools

One rule of thumb is that you should only have 1 anti-virus program but multiple malware programs. So when talking about other software besides an anti-virus program there are many choices. Major Geeks is a great place to learn which ones are right for you. Below I will list the program I like and use to do my dirty work. The all in one tools usually many tasks bundled into one program. Some of the tasks include malware detection, registry fixes, short-cut cleaner, junk file deletion, defrag, etc. I use Advanced SystemCare Free. This is one of many highly rated programs and it does a nice job of detecting and fixing issues that my other programs have missed or don’t do. The main drawback to freeware is that you need to manual update them which can be easy to forget. These programs can be upgraded (for a fee) and will automatically receive updates. Advanced SystemCare Free is one of few that with let you know when a new update is available which is nice. The downside is that this freeware tries to make money by trying to add itself to your search bar or recommends sister programs. All of these add-ons can be easily avoided but I figured you should be made aware.

You can learn more and download Advanced SystemCare Free here. www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html

Fight For Your Right

Everything else that I run cleans and protects against malware and spyware. These programs are also all freeware, so make sure to remember to keep them updated. Not a whole lot I can say about these programs besides that they work well and are top rated for what they do. I use Spybot Search and Destroy and Malewarebytes.

You can read more about Spybot Search and Destroy here. www.safer-networking.org

You can read more about Malwarebytes here. www.malwarebytes.org

I hope this helps you to get your PC on a better more enjoyable path. I would love for you to subscribe to my newsletter.

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