Free programs come with a price

Computer Care: Free programs can be great, but sometimes at a price

By Arthur Glazer glazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: September 17, 2011 12:30 a.m.


All too often, free programs aren't worth what you paid for them. Many are junk; some are only malware, not even real applications. Others come with bloatware attached to them, which leaves you wondering where that new desktop icon or browser toolbar came from.

Let's separate the wheat from the chaff. There are some good, free applications out there; you just need to know where they are. These are not pirated or trial versions, but genuine, legal programs of quality available for download at no cost.

A free download is not necessarily a free program. All downloads are free. A cornucopia of no-cost downloads exist, from tiny utilities to full-blown office suites. If you can't afford Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop or even Windows, read on.

Eight years ago, I purchased Office 2003, but since then two newer versions have come out. I can't keep up with it. Although they are wonderful productivity suites, they are costly, to say the least.

Then about the time Office 2007 was released, I discovered the free Open Office suite online. At openoffice.org you can download a perfectly free and useful Microsoft Office-like suite of programs, from a word processor and graphics program to something for your spreadsheets and presentations.

Recently I've graduated to a newfound suite: LibreOffice, downloadable at libreoffice.org. Unable to put my finger on why, I just like it better. It's a similar, free, user-friendly, professional-quality productivity suite. Both suites are able to read and save to the familiar file formats (doc, xls, ppt, etc) and both have helpful tutorials on their websites.

Another huge money-saver is Gimp, the Photoshop alternative available at gimp.org/downloads. Although version 2.7 has been released, it is considered by its developers to still be buggy or unstable. That's the way with open-source software. They release versions that are yet a work-in-progress. Get version 2.6, available on their download page. It is stable.

Something that all of us need and usually pay for annually is an anti-virus program. Most of the big companies now have free versions and they are getting better all the time. The big caveat here is that as important as this type of program is, you get what you pay for.

There is no support and fewer options than with the paid versions of the programs. Many of the older free anti-virus apps lacked a scheduler, meaning you had to click the "scan" button on a regular basis. Not so anymore. But you do need to set up a schedule.

They usually update virus definitions by themselves, but you should still check for newer program versions regularly. AVG, Avast and Avira all have good free programs, although often they are hard to find (even on their websites). Remember that they are in business to sell products.

Some free utilities that I favor include Ccleaner, Malwarebytes, Advanced System Care, Foxit Reader and Revo Uninstaller. Good sources for these utilities are either from the authors' websites or places like download.com and PCWorld.com.

A good site to watch is giveawayoftheday.com. They have lots of games and screensavers, but you'll also find a useful utility there every now and then. You only have 24 hours to download whatever their daily offering is, and again, support is not included.

For saving and storing your documents in the cloud, there are many choices. Google Docs, Amazon Cloud Drive, Sky Drive and IDrive are all free. I like Dropbox. The more people you turn on to it, the larger your free storage space grows.

If you are a Charter Communications customer, look on their website after you log on to your account and sign up for the unlimited free storage space they have available for you.

Free doesn't stop at programs or storage. A Windows alternative is the open-source Linux operating systems and there are copious amounts of different versions for download. Look into Ubuntu or Debian as the most popular free Windows-like environments for your computer.

When installing open-source programs or operating systems, there is not much to be cautious about. But free commercial programs are another thing altogether. The ploy is often to lull you into a sense of false security with free bait.

Repeatedly, you find that an extra program or malware has been installed after that new one you intentionally installed. Scrutinize each window you come to, every box that is checked and each time you click "Next" and "OK." All it takes is one window that is not OK to bring your system down. Stay away from programs that have come to you in an email or especially in a pop-up. You will most likely infect your computer that way.

If in doubt, Google the program in question and see what others say about it. The Internet is a great resource for information as well as for programs.

There are new free apps appearing online all the time. You should remember that not all is bad, but unfortunately free programs often come with a price.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Search Engines

Computer Care: Search engines are your browser's GPS
Knowing how to type entries can speed up and narrow your searches

By Arthur Glazer
glazer.tech@gmail.com

POSTED: September 3, 2011 1:00 a.m.

Internet Web browsers get you where you're going online. But what if you don't know where you're going? It's like driving without a map or global positioning.

Enter the search engine. Think of it as a GPS for your browser.

The method by which I search for things on the Internet is Google. Others are Yahoo, Microsoft's Bing and the all-inclusive Dog Pile.

Search engines do more than point the way. With the proper tools, they have the ability to guide you exactly where you want to go and more.

There are some helpful shortcuts when using search engines. Using Google try these: "Define: your word," when looking for definitions. You can also highlight any word on a page and right-click for a definition.

Use it as a calculator. Type, "300/3" or 300*3 or whatever calculation you need. It's that simple.

You can also type, "Sunrise Any City," "Weather Any City," "Time Any City," "cm in inches," and "Movies 30501." UPS or USPS tracking numbers can be entered directly in the search bar for results.

Most search engines have built-in Boolean logic. That means there are a few search terms you can use to narrow down what you're looking for. This is helpful when looking for websites.

The most common Boolean terms are AND, OR and NOT. They must be typed in caps for them to work.

Let's say you were researching the census in Georgia. You could type "census Georgia." The AND is implied. It's like typing "census AND Georgia." Your results would yield Georgia census results.

But if you typed "Census OR Georgia," the results would differ dramatically. You'd get both census results from all over, plus all kinds of data about Georgia.

Adding a minus sign (-) is the same as saying NOT.

If you want to discount an area in your census search, you'd say, "Georgia census - Atlanta," or Georgia census NOT Atlanta. That would give you results without Atlanta being counted.

By placing your search terms in quotes, you ensure every word that you type in your query will be part of the search. The search engines tend to ignore prepositions. If you were looking for information on freedom of speech, place the search terms in quotation marks to be sure the entire phrase is being searched for, not individual words. Search with, "Freedom of speech."

Google has an "Advanced" link at the top of its results page, to the right of the search box. Click on it to discover a plethora of ways to hone in on your search. Also click on the plus sign near the bottom of the Advanced Search page. It will open options concerning dates, region, usage rights and more.

Using the advanced mode will greatly enhance your search capabilities.

Some websites are dated. You may be surfing for info and land on a page only to discover it's from 2003. Depending on your topic, an outdated article may or may not be important, but keep it in mind.

Searches engines like Google are free thanks to the ads on every page. The trouble is, many Web surfers don't know the difference between an actual hit and an ad. Advertisers are counting that.

Often, the top two hits on a page are paid-for ads. So is the entire column on the right-hand side of the page (on Google). Ads state that they are such, but sometimes the pale color of the font that says, "Ad" is so light that it's barely noticeable, especially on a laptop if the lid isn't at just the right angle.

This is the cause of many surfers' search results being tainted. Even a genuine hit can steer you in the wrong direction. You can also be misdirected by a hijacker, often resulting in a virus.

Occasionally when I search for a device driver, I click a link from my search results and end up on a page that sells utilities that install drivers, not at all what I wanted.

The best way to find something is to simply type your query as if you were talking to your computer.

Type, "How do I find drivers for HP OfficeJet 6500?" You will be taken directly to the proper HP download page.

Try it with anything. I was working on my daughter's car. I asked it, "How do you change the gas filter on a Volvo?" I was taken to a bunch of You Tube videos and some helpful pdf files.

Google will mark a direct hit with a star and a checkmark to help you find your way.

After you find the websites you've searched for, you'll need to save them.

Rather than have one long scrolling list of your Favorites or Bookmarks, create customized folders to store your sites in. With Chrome, for example, click the star to save a page, then click the "Edit" button and choose "New Folder."

Organize your folders so they make sense to you. It will make finding those websites easier later on, once you have them sorted.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.