Important and Useful Software
In this age of ever changing software, high-speed Internet access and
daily virus alerts, DXF Enterprises would like to recommend, in some cases
very highly, some software that you may find very useful. These are listed
in order of absolutely necessary to simply being well written and useful. For other useful information, visit our support page.
| Virus Scanner |
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Recommended countless times, it cannot be overstated enough! The most important thing is to keep up with weekly updates - without it you might as well not have any protection at all.
Norton Antivirus
McAfee VirusScan
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| ZoneAlarm |
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ZoneAlarm is a personal firewall (that's right, for your home PC) and it's in the essential category. Unlike other firewalls (for example the LinkSys DSL/cable modem router) it provides protection
not only from outside attacks, but from attacks from within your computer. For example, you may install some software that you trust, but with it may come software that contacts
outside vendors and may share information about your PC. Worse yet, you may have a hidden virus that may steal your passwords and even interrupt keystrokes and send them to malicious users over the Internet.
ZoneAlarm monitors ALL internet activity, in and out of your PC, and asks for your permission before allowing a program to access the Internet. This is a must-have for home users of DSL or Cable modems,
though even dialup users will benefit!
ZoneAlarm (personal version is FREE)
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| PGP Personal Security |
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If you value your personal data (e.g. bank account numbers and passwords, finances, etc.) you should look into this product. It has the ability to create an
encrypted file that you can mount as a hard disk (using a pass phrase). Once it's mounted as a drive you use it just like any other drive - it is completely transparent.
When the encrypted file is not mounted, it cannot be read by anyone - strong encryption ensures that it cannot be broken even by the best hackers! It can also make
self-extracting encrypted files, which you can then email to your recipient (provided you tell them the pass phrase).
This product is essential for
laptop users (which get stolen frequently), but even other users may benefit. For example, say you share your computer with an office mate or roommate. Or even if your kids use
your computer, you may want to protect important data. This software can also encrypt outgoing email and has other features; however, those are more difficult to use.
PGP Personal Security
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| WinZip |
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Still useful, even in the age of high-speed access, WinZip can compress a huge file(s) into a small "zipped" file which can easily and quickly be distributed to others.
WinZip
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| Pegasus Mail |
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This is an email client, similar to Outlook or Eudora. While not essential, this program has some very powerful filtering features, supports multiple users and has a very
good interface. Aside from being free, it is also not prone to the various virus and worm attacks that Microsoft Outlook is.
Pegasus Mail
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