ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE
FOR KEEPING YOUR PUBLIC COMPUTERS CLEAN
Computers are strange beasts. They can do so
much for you and at times can be totally frustrating. Hacker attacks, worms,
viruses, trojans, cookies, caches and spyware can all pose undue hardship
and threat to the well-being and smooth operation of your computer. On this
page, the folks at Whotspot will try to demystify and simplify the process
of keeping your computer clean, secure and smoothly running. This is
particularly important for public access computers.
Kiosk Management is our Software-only
solution that is available for purchase for any Windows XP
computer you own. It is perfect for Internet Cafes, libraries, schools and
other venues that already have their own PC in place. It is perfect for
start-up business owners as a cost-effective means of WiFi enabling,
securing and generating revenue from low-cost clones or other PC's.
WHAT EVERY COMPUTER NEEDS
We highly recommend that you install the
following utilities on your PC. We have found that 90% of all reported
problems can be attributed to spyware, viruses or hackers getting into your
PC. We have used these products on all our computers for many years without
problem.
THE BEST
THAT MONEY CAN BUY
|
| BEST ANTI-VIRUS
SOFTWARE McAfee  
|
Stop Viruses,
Trojans, Worms and More The easiest way to protect your PC from computer
viruses. Automatically checks for new versions and
virus updates, so your protection stays up-to-date.
Now contains new features like automatic file
cleaning and scheduled scanning. |
THE BEST
FREE SOFTWARE
|
| BEST
FREE SPYWARE REMOVER
Spybot - Search &
Destroy
http://spybot.safer-networking.de/
|
Spybot - Search &
Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware
files and modules from your computer. Spybot also
can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your
system, which is especially useful if you share your
computer with other users. Modules chosen for
removal can be sent directly to the included file
shredder, ensuring complete elimination from your
system. For advanced users, it allows you to fix
registry inconsistencies related to adware and to
malicious program installations. The handy
online-update feature ensures that Spybot always has
the most current and complete listings of adware,
dialers, and other uninvited system residents. |
|
BEST FREE ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
AVG
ANTI-VIRUS
http://free.grisoft.com
|
AVG Free Edition is the well-known
anti-virus protection tool. AVG Free is available
free-of-charge to home users for the life of the
product! |
BEST
FREE SOFTWARE FIREWALL
Sygate Personal Firewall 5.6
http://www.tucows.com/preview/213160
|
This firewall automatically
protects your PC from hackers and other malicious
attacks. It includes full-ICS support, protocol
driver-level protection and enhanced logging. |
|
ZoneAlarm
http://www.zonelabs.com |
Zone Labs is the
award-winning leader in personal and distributed
firewall protection for over 30 million PCs
worldwide.
Zone Labs now protects you and your PC across all
major Internet activities, including email, Web
surfing, online shopping, banking, instant
messaging, and more.
Zone Labs products are easy to use, yet powerful.
Novices can protect themselves with little effort
because Zone Labs products come with optimized,
out-of-the-box security settings. Savvy users can
fine-tune Internet security controls to meet their
precise needs.
|
ADDITIONAL PROTECTION FOR PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTERS & KIOSKS
In addition to the above
products, publicly accessible computers are particularly vulnerable because
of the multitude of users and security of information. for example, it would
not be prudent to allow one users to retrieve banking or credit card
information from the previous user. This can and will occur if you do not
take steps to ensure your public access computer or Kiosk is protected.
At
Whotspot, we sell a Whotspot Kiosk Management solution which provides
this extra protection. It locks down the computer and
prevents unauthorized downloading and execution of files. It
blocks users from accessing the operating system, It removes
all traces of activity when the user logs out.
(more information...)
CleanCache
If you
would like to provide a FREE, Do it yourself type of
solution, that as a minimum removes users tracks, empties
the cache, and deletes all cookies automatically, we
recommend CleanCache. This product has won a number of
awards and has been demonstrated on Tech TV. It is
freely available from
http://www.buttuglysoftware.com/ (don't be put off by
the domain name - it is legitimate! You will also need to
ensure that you have the latest version of Microsoft's .NET
Framework installed on your PC. Instructions for doing so
are available on the same site. In fact, if your
installation fails, you will be given a message and link to
Microsoft's download site in order to properly install the
missing components.
|
BEST
CACHE-CLEANING
SOFTWARE - FREE
ButtUglySoftware
http://www.buttuglysoftware.com/ |
CleanCache
is one of those utilities that no self respecting pc should
be without. Why? you ask. Well the simple answer is
Security. We all go through the rather laborious chore of
deleting cookies and temporary internet files and yet, even
though we do this religiously, the details we have just
deleted are still there. Hidden yes, but still there. Well
to be honest they are stored in files called Index.dat
which, frankly, are not easy little critters to delete. Well
not unless you are using CleanCache. |
So what does CleanCache do?
CleanCache does exactly what its name suggests. It cleans
out cache's. To be exact it will clean out typed URL's; the
contents of auto complete; recent document history; run
history; search history; MRU registry entries; the Recycle
bin; clipboard; Outlook Express outbox, delete and sent
items and a host of other files.
CleanCache clears all of the selected caches' quickly and
effortlessly, giving you peace of mind that information you
don't want others to see is well and truly disposed of. It
can so this automatically. You set it up once, and then it
will load secretly each time your computer is started.
We are
providing the following screen shots in order to simplify
the configuration of CleanCache for you.
After
installing the software, it will give you the option to run.
Please do so. If it doesn't, then you will find CleanCache
in your Start Menu, Programs. When you install the
software, we recommend that you do not create a desktop icon
- i.e.., uncheck that option.
