DOWNLOAD FREE COMPUTER SOFTWARE

Download free computer software for Windows & MAC, including AVG Antivirus, Personal Firewall, for Spyware Removal, Sun Java and Openoffice Office Suite.

Free Antivirus

AVG Anti-Virus FREE Edition - DOWNLOAD HERE - AVG Anti-Virus FREE Edition software is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (unless you have a very old computer!). AVG offers regular automatic updates and performs as well any paid for antivirus program at protecting your computer. It also scans emails and removes any viruses it detects. It is essential to have an antivirus program on your computer and essential to update it regulary, daily is best, to maintain optimum protection. Updates are also free with this program, unlike certain antivirus software which you have to pay for! Compatible with Windows Vista and Windows XP, this is the most downloaded software on CNET's Download.com (the best site for spyware-free software downloads - in my opinion!)

Free Personal Firewall

ZoneAlarm Personal Firewall - Free Download - Zone Alarm Personal Firewall will protect your PC from hackers, certain viruses and DOS attacks. It is essential to have a firewall on your computer these days and even more so if you have broadband. Minimum Requirements:
Windows Vista (32-bit): Pentium III 800 MHz or higher, Minimum system RAM: 512 MB, 50MB of available hard disk space. Internet access.
Windows XP: Pentium III 450 MHz or higher, XP Service Packs 2 and 3, Minimum system RAM: 128 MB, 50MB of available hard disk space. Internet access.
Supported browsers: Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0 SP1, 6.0 SP2 7.0 SP2, Netscape Navigator 7.2, 8.0 Beta, FireFox 1.00 and higher, MSN Explorer 6.0 and higher, AOL 9.0

Comodo Internet Security - Free Firewall & Anti-Virus - Comodo Internet Security software comes with a free firewall and antivirus but you have the option to install the firewall or antivirus on their own. If you use AVG antivirus software or another brand, then it's not advisable to run two at the same time and the same with firewalls, just run one at a time. I personally use Comodo and I find it good but I feel that you need to be a bit more than an internet novice to use it as there's more things to do than Zone Alarm.

Free Spyware, Parasiteware & Adware Detector/Scanner

Different spyware removal software tends to remove different spyware and viruses, so you may need to use more than one spyware detector to remove ALL the spyware from your PC. I've listed the following in order of efficiency, in my view, so start at the top and work your way down the list if you are getting pop-ups all the time (some will even say click here to remove a virus!) or adverts appearing all the time.

Ad-Aware SE Free Edition - FREE DOWNLOAD - Spyware and Adware removal. Ad-Aware detects and removes spyware, adware and parasiteware from Windows 2000/XP(32-bit)/Vista(32 & 64-bit) systems. Many people have downloaded software on the internet without knowing that there's other programs with it which spy on your internet movements, produce pop-ups, add unwanted advertising, add links to other people's websites via your browser, and worse such as stealing your personal information such as passwords, credit card details etc etc. Some even install themselves on your computer while you're surfing without your knowledge! These programs can also make your computer unstable and slow. Download Ad-Aware for free now to check your computer and remove it from your system if it's there. The only downside of this software is that it includes SOME harmless cookies in it's spyware reports but better safe then sorry, plus it won't affect YOU if they're removed.

Windows Live OneCare Free PC Safety Scan - Windows Live OneCare Safety Scan is a great little tool for finding viruses, spyware/malware and for cleaning all the rubbish out of your PC. Because it's a Microsoft tool, it's also safe to use on Windows based computers. You download a little bit of software but the rest is then done online. This finds files which the Windows Disk Cleaner doesn't and also lets you know whether you need to defragment your hard drive or not (Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools). As well as finding any viruses and spyware, your pc will run faster with all the rubbish removed. The scan takes a good few hours to do but it's worthwhile doing it monthly and it's totally FREE! Vista users must use the Beta version but it's been fine for me. Fully Recommended!

Trend Micro™ HouseCall Free Virus Scanner - Trend Micro™ HouseCall checks whether your computer has been infected by viruses, spyware, or other malware. HouseCall performs additional security checks to identify and fix vulnerabilities to prevent reinfection. It's another online scanner, so you only need to download a small bit of software. Some viruses disable your antivirus software stopping you from scanning, so this is a work around if that's the case, the same as Windows Live OneCare. I advise using the The Java VM Core Engine option but you will need to download Sun Java software to run it, if you don't already have it installed (advisable to have anyway). System Requirements:
Hardware:133MHz Intel&trade Pentium&trade processor or equivalent, 64MB of RAM, At least 30MB of available disk space
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98SE/NT4.0,SP6a/2000,SP2/XP,SP1/2003 and Windows MCE 2005, Linux Distributions that supports libc6, Solaris 2.6 and above
Software: Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 6.0 or later, Mozilla Firefox 1.0.5, 1.0.6, 1.0.7, 1.5, Mozilla 1.7.12
Display: Monitor that supports 800 x 600 resolution at 256 colors or higher
Macintosh support requires the following minimum system components: Macintosh Computer with PowerPC G4 or G5 Processor, MAC OS X 10.4 (Tiger), 512MB of RAM, At least 30MB of available disk space, Firefox Mozilla Firefox 1.5.0.1 and later.

Other Free Software Downloads

Cnet Download.com Software Downloads - Download.com is, in my opion, the best free software download site. You can download free software and trials or pay to download software, for Windows, MAC & mobile. The software is also tested spyware free which makes it safe to download. There are also reviews of the software so if it's rubbish, then people rate it as rubbish and say why. Brilliant site!

Sun Java Free Download - Before Windows XP came out, Windows operating systems would come with a free Sun java machine but Sun and Microsoft went their separate ways so Windows XP onwards comes without it (that's my understanding anyway!). Most websites use some kind of java code in their pages so if you don't have java on your PC, you won't be able to see it. You can check to see if you have java software on your PC here and it'll also tell you if you have the latest version. The Sun Java site is a trusted website to download from too.

Openoffice.org Free Office Suite - Openoffice is a group of software office programs rolled into one and made by a community of people. It compares very well to other office software, including Microsoft Office, from leading manufacturers. You can import documents from other office programs, including Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel and more. This office suite comes with:
Writer which is a word processor where you can write anything from a letter to a book.
Calc which is a powerful spreadsheet with all the tools you need to calculate, analyse, and present your data in reports or graphs.
Impress which you can use to create effective multimedia presentations.
Draw which you can use to make simple diagrams to 3D drawings.
Base which lets you manipulate databases seamlessly. Create and edit tables, forms, queries, and reports.
Math which lets you make mathematical equations with a graphic user interface or by directly typing your formulas into the equation editor.
All this for free but you can donate to the cause if you're impressed!

Windows Media Player - Free Download - Download the latest Windows Media Player to play CDs, sound & music files on your computer. Windows Media Player 11 is the latest version available for download and you can even view your photos on it! All other versions are on the same page for older Windows Operating Systems and Mac OS X.