Recommended Software
Used For
|
Product
|
What Like About It
|
| Anti-Spyware |
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware |
Does a fantastic job
Easy to use
The free version is good
The paid version is even better
Available
at:
www.malwarebytes.org |
| Anti-Spyware |
Windows Defender |
Easy to use
It is an integral part of a fully
updated Windows
Available
at:
Go To Microsoft's website and
follow the links to Downloads, Look for Windows Defender
www.microsoft.com
|
| Anti-Virus |
Nod32 |
Efficient
at catching viruses and spyware
Quick
Does
not hog system resources (does not slow computer as much as most
of its competitors)
Reasonable
Price
|
| Communication |
Skype |
Basically free phone calls (via the
computer) to other people that have Skype.
If you establish a paid account Skype
will let you call from your computer to land lines. The rates for
this type of overseas call, are very competitive
|
| Computer Cleanup |
CCleaner |
This program helps clean all the junk
files left on your computer. It does a good job, and saves heaps
of time over the normal cleaning processes.
Downside: There are some things the
program will clean that you may not want cleaned. So it takes a
bit more then just installing and running. We would recommend that
experienced people use this program, or that you have a
professional install it.
Available
at
www.ccleaner.com
|
| Multi-media Player |
VLC Media Player |
While Windows Media Player takes care
of most songs and movies there are times you have a multi-media
file that it can’t play.
VLC is versatile and will open many
different types of Multi-media files.
It is free
|
| Photo Editing |
Adobe Photoshop Elements V4
and above |
Little cousin to Adobe
Photoshop (industry standard)
Less expensive than Adobe Photoshop
Easier to use than Photoshop (but does have a learning curve)
Edit photos, remove red-eye, organize photos, create calendars,
create slideshows
Very powerful program for the money |
Additional Programs We Use
Disaster Recovery
Acronis True Image 11
Home
Imagine, in an instant you lose the PC
data you've been accumulating for years? Your programs, business
files, photos, emails and music just vanish without any hope of being
accessed again. Bad enough on a home computer, but a total nightmare if you
use your computer for work. To avoid this nightmare, make sure you have a
reliable data protection suite to image your entire system and thus get
prepared for a possible hard disk failure, which in most cases happens
when you least expect it.
Mango Computer Tuition has been using Acronis True
Image for over 3 years and have used it to recover from a number of
disasters. The program has saved us twice from full system failures. .
Recovering from a systems loss could take days. Having an Acronis
Image the downtime was less than 2 hours, not days.
What's even better
After the Acronis Recovery our
computer looked and acted just like it did before the disaster, another
big time saver.
Some of the
situations Acronis can help you recover from
Crashed
Hard Drive
Corrupt
Windows Files
Computer
unusable because of Spyware
Computer
Corrupted by a Virus
Acronis
True Image 11 Home is intended for use at home and in a small to
medium business It is a tool that enables you to protect and recover data
on your PC. Its easy-to-use wizards walk you through the steps required to
protect and recover your data and system information. It can save you from
having to reinstall your operating system and other programs, along with
preserving your data
The
program features some other fantastic features which we will be testing
and reporting on at a later date.
This
software is currently selling for about $80.00 Australian.
Video
Tutorial Backup Your Hard Drive With Acronis True Image 11
Acronis® True Image 11 - total protection of your data
Word
Processing
(for
typing letters and other documents)
Microsoft
Word
Any version from 2000
upwards. Can't be beat for features and the compatibility of being in
wide use. Available in a variety of Microsoft Office software suites.
The program is a bit
expensive, but now you can buy a student version. The student version is
less expensive. You don't have to be a student as long as you are not
using the software for commercial purposes (things change so check the
End User License Agreement).
If price is a concern you
may find an older version. Often a friend has installed a newer
version and has the old one lying around. In some cases it would be
legal for you to use the older one on your computer (make sure you meet
the legal license requirements for using it).
