Downloads
If you’re anything like us, your PC is where you spend a fair proportion of your time. It may even be key to you making a living, so you want to make sure that it’s secure and well protected against those people out there who’d love nothing more than to wreck it, get access to your personal details, or simply use your PC for their dirty work, sending junk mail out to millions of users.
So, we’ve put together a selection of programs that we recommend you install and use on your computer to provide the level of protection that you need.
Please be aware that these are all produced by other companies – we can’t support them in any way. We just want to make you aware of what’s out there!
Firewall Protection
A firewall is a way of keeping unauthorised users away from your PC and especially for users with a broadband connection to the internet, this is a “must”!
Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) and later versions come with a built in firewall – we recommend activating this.
However, If wish you can use ZoneAlarm – this is a free firewall (although it has versions you can pay for to get extra features) and this will add another layer of security to protect your PC.
You can download ZoneAlarm from:
Anti-virus
Anti-virus software is essential to help stop programs being installed that are designed to harm your computer.
We recommend Norton Anti-Virus and Norton Internet Security for home users and Symantec Endpoint Protection for business users.
These products will cost you, but they are produced by one of the recognised leaders in internet security solutions.
Adware Protection
Adware is software which will typically monitor your activity on your computers, then pops up those annoying adverts that you may have seen, normally in a browser window that you never opened yourself.
If you’re happy to have software you didn’t install running and watching your every move, don’t bother installing this.
However, if you want to protect yourself against adware and remove the tracking cookies etc, we recommend you install this and run a full scan on a weekly basis.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Spyware Protection
Spyware is notoriously dangerous, and is typically installed without your knowledge by other programs that you may download from the internet.
Spyware will watch your use of your computer, potentially logging your keyboard presses as you use internet banking etc. and can then forward your details on to the author of the spyware to use as he sees fit (and you can be sure it won’t be what you’d want).
Spyware can also cause your PC to dial premium rate numbers via its modem, leaving you with a massive phone bill, or can redirect your browser to pornographic or other inappropriate web sites.
Spybot – Search and Destroy is one of the most popular programs for getting rid of spyware and it’s FREE – we recommend you install it, and run a scan once a week.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/
Windows Update
This is essential for any Windows PC or server and keeps your computer up to date with the latest updates and security fixes for Windows and for Microsoft Office.
If your using Windows XP you will need to connect to the latest version of the Microsoft Update site. This replaces the original Windows Update site and offers the latest updates not only for Windows, but all Microsoft products.
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7 you can simply connect to Windows Update by clicking the icon in your start menu then selecting “Check for updates”.
Remote Support
On occasion it can be conveninent for JHCS to be able to interact with your desktop without actually visiting your site. This tool will allow us to connect to you and help resolve your problems. Just click the link below and save the file to your desktop. (please be aware, remote support may incur charges)