100 Essential Downloads for Windows: Page 2

Anti-Malware

1. Norton Anti-Virus

A very popular security option, Norton Antivirus protects against viruses, sypware, worms, and rootkits. It's sold as a one-year subscription which includes all updates during that period. Price: $39.99 (15-day free trial).

2. Ad-Aware

Downloaded by more than 200 million users, Ad-Aware is one of the most popular anti-adware and anti-spyware products on the market. It's easy to use, and it lets you decide whether to keep or delete detected adware. Price: Free for personal use ($26.95 for commercial version).

3. Spybot Search and Destroy

Spybot Search and Destroy finds and removes adware, spyware, dialers, keyloggers, trojans, and usage tracks. It also blocks Active X downloads and tracking cookies. Price: Free (Donations accepted).

4. Cloudmark Desktop for Outlook/Outlook Express

Cloudmark claims to be "the simplest, most effective spam blocker for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express." It also blocks e-mail viruses and phishing scams. Price: $39.95 (15-day free trial).

5. CA Anti-Spam

Formerly known as Qurb, CA Anti-Spam has won numerous awards from industry publications. It works with Outlook or Outlook Express to block spam and phishing scams. Price: $29.99 (30-day free trial).

6. Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Kaspersky Anti-Virus offers "Triple-Threat Protection": hourly anti-malware updates, intelligent proactive heuristics, and real-time behavior analysis. Together, they protect against viruses, spyware, and many other types of malware. Price: $59.95 (30-day free trial).

7. Sunbelt Personal Firewall

It may not be as well known as some of the other companies selling security software, but Sunbelt offers a firewall that gets top praise from critics and users. It's a two-way firewall (protects incoming and outgoing traffic) that's a definite step up from using the built-in Windows firewall. Price: $10.00 (Free trial version).

8. Spy Sweeper

SpySweeper offers both real-time protection against incoming threats and the ability to scan your system for existing spyware. It's not only the most popular anti-spyware solution on the market, it's also won more than 45 awards from consumer and industry groups. Price: $29.95.

9. Geek Superhero/Desktop Armor

"Protecting your computer from Internet scoundrels," Geek Superhero comes to the rescue with anti-malware/anti-phishing software with an endearingly goofy comic-book look. If all the superhero nonsense is too much for you to handle, Desktop Armor provides exactly the same protection without the silly name and graphics. Price: $25 (Free trial version).

10. SpamPal

While most anti-spam software refuses to the reveal the secrets of how they identify spam, this open-source option explains exactly how it decides which messages might be spam and lets you choose which lists to use. It's not the flashiest program, but you can't beat the price. Price: Free (Donations accepted).