Windows Help & Advice - UK (2019-12)

48

NETWORKMONITORING

AXENCENETTOOLS

axence.net

A fullsuiteof 10 networktools,

frommonitoringtoscanningto

tracingroutes.There’sevena

littlecheekyinternalWindows

tomfoolery,allspunofffrom

Axence’spro-levelIT

managementsuite.

Alternately:PRTGNetwork

Monitor

49

NETWORK

TROUBLESHOOTING

WIRESHARK

wireshark.org

A bitheavyweight,butWireshark

doesitsjobsowellthatwehaveto

recommendit. If youwanttoknow

what’sgoingonwithyournetwork

andwhya functionwon’tplayball,

it’sthemostaccomplishedprotocol

analyseraround.

Alternately:ColasoftCapsa

50

FIREWALL

TINYWALL

tinywall.pados.hu

Don’trelyonyourrouter,oreven

Windows,todothejobofbatting

backmisbehavingpackets,or

stoppingsnoopersfromprobing

yourports.TinyWallis super-

lightweightandmakesfora useful

additionallineofdefence.

Alternately:ZoneAlarmFree

TheTorbrowser

hasa bad

reputationbutits

privacystrength

isunmatched.

scrubbingjob,orsetupa batchjob

todealwitheverythingat once.

Justbewaryofthepop-ups.

Alternately:Advanced

SystemOptimizer

44

ANTIVIRUS

BITDEFENDER

FREEEDITION

bitdefender.com

Manyfreeantiviruspackagesare

notworththedrivespacethey’re

writtenon.Bitdefenderis: It’snot

tooheavyonthehassle,includesa

qualityAVenginewithfrequent

updates,anda slickinterface.

Alternately:Windows

Defender

45

POST-INFECTION

SPYBOTSEARCH

& DESTROY

safer-networking.org

Installpre-emptively:If yoususpect

somethinguntowardis onyour

system,Spybotis likelytobeable

tohuntit downandexterminateit.

Alternately:Malwarebytes

46

ENCRYPTION

BOXCRYPTOR

boxcryptor.com

Doyoutrustyourcloudstorage

provider?Enoughtostoreyour

PRVW SHUVRQDOÀOHV RQOLQH ZLWKRXW

obfuscation?Probablynot.Butwith

Boxcryptor,youcanconstructan

encryptedstoragearea– andif the

providerencrypts,it’sdoublesafe.

Alternately:VeraCrypt

47

INTERNETPRIVACY

TORBROWSER

torproject.org

RRXWLQJ\RXU ,QWHUQHWWUDIÀF YLD 7RU

PDNHV \RX YHU\ GLIÀFXOWWR WUDFN

andhelpsyouresistonline

ÀQJHUSULQWLQJ7KH 7RU EURZVHU

makesdoingsoincrediblyeasy.

Alternately:IridiumBrowser

Windowsisstillworththecashcomparedtoopensourceoperatingsystems.

Hearusoutasweusethis

boxinanarticleaboutfree

appstotellyounottouse

them:sometimesitjustpays

topay.

Therearetimeswhen

a freepackagecan’tdo

theexactthingyouwant

• forexample,if you’re
  interactingwitha business
  withveryprecisestandards,
  a documentthatLibreOffice
  producesmighthave
  subtledifferencesthat
  makeitlookterribleon
  thatfirm’sMicrosoft
  Office-packingmachines.
  Anopen-sourcepackage
  comeswithnoguarantees,
  nosupportandno
  comebackif everything
  goeswrong.Itmighthavea
  forumfullofenthusiastic
  amateursandsomeofficial-
  lookingdocumentation,but
  itdoesn’thaveany

DON’T CHEAP OUT

guaranteeof

professionalism.If it’s

missioncritical,don’trely

onfreesoftware.

Often,freeappseither

lackcriticalfeatures(many

existsimplytoteasea paid

upgrade)orcan’tkeepup

withthequalityoftheir

paid-foralternatives.For

instance,whilewe’ve

recommendedShotCutas

a freevideoeditor,itis

nowherenearascomplexor

wellbuiltassomethinglike

AdobePremiere.Even

Cakewalk,ourpickforfree

audiorecordingandediting

anda formerlypaid-forapp,

isn’tthebestchoiceinits

sectorbecauseit’sa little

behindthecurve.

Thentherearetheniche

appsforwhichthereisno

freealternative.Whilethere

isnoharminexperimenting

withLinux,itisnot,for

most,a productionOS.In

comparison,Windows 10 is

rocksolid,compatiblewith

justabouteverything,hasa

hugesoftwarelibrary,and

despitethefactthatyoucan

runitinunactivatedmode,

youreallyshouldpayforthe

licence,oratleastattempt

totransferanoldWin 7

licenceupthechain.

© MICROSOFT

© ERASER.HEIDI.IE

Windows 10

Essential free apps

December 2019 | |^19