Privacy & Security Articles

Beginner Geek: Add a New User Account in Windows 7

If you’re a home user who skipped the Windows Vista release and are moving from XP to Windows 7, one thing you might want to do is create new user accounts for other members of the household. Since the interface is laid...

Brian Burgess Oct 26th, 2009

Run Apps in Sandboxie to Keep Your System Clean and Secure

Are you worried about running an application on your machine because you’re not sure how it will affect it? Today we take a look at Sandboxie, which lets you run your browser, email, or other apps in a secure sandbox en...

Brian Burgess Oct 21st, 2009

How to Lock Down Your Facebook Account

Facebook definitely allows you to easily communicate with others, but if you’re not careful, certain information you would like to remain private can be exposed. Here we take a look at locking down your profile, and how...

Brian Burgess Oct 20th, 2009

Help Keep Your PC Protected with Free Tools from Trend Micro

Finding and eliminating Spyware, Viruses, and other forms of Malware on your computer can sometimes seem like an endless battle. Today we take a look at some free tools from Trend Micro that you can add to your anti-malware a...

Brian Burgess Oct 14th, 2009

Securely Store Your Passwords with KeePass

There has been a lot of attention in the news lately about email passwords being compromised. Today we take a look at using KeePass to secure your passwords in an encrypted database so no one can get a hold of them....

Brian Burgess Oct 13th, 2009

Get a Robust Document Editor with PolyEdit Lite

Looking for a good stand alone document editor that is not light on features? Then you will want to take a good look at PolyEdit Lite which is a free word processor for Windows systems.

Akemi Iwaya Oct 9th, 2009

How To (Really) Completely Disable UAC on Windows 7

One of the best feature changes in Windows 7 is the greatly improved User Account Control system, with a slider to easily control how much the security feature annoys you. But what if you want to really disable UAC entirely?...

Lowell Heddings Oct 8th, 2009

Microsoft Security Essentials is a Free Antivirus Utility

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free utility that provides real-time protection to identify and eliminate harmful viruses and other malware from your PC. Today we’ll take a look at how it performs and the protection ...

Brian Burgess Sep 30th, 2009

Disable Program Compatibility Assistant in Windows 7 and Vista

If you’re an administrator and trying to get work done quickly, having the Program Compatibility Assistant popping up constantly can be annoying. Today we take a look at how to disable this feature if you are tired of seein...

Brian Burgess Sep 23rd, 2009

Block Those Irritating Facebook Quiz & Application Messages

You know how it goes… you finally signed up for Facebook after your friends and family kept bugging you, and now your Facebook Wall is just covered in idiotic quizzes, applications, and other random nonsense. You can&#8...

Lowell Heddings Sep 11th, 2009

Protect Your E-mail Accounts from Spam with Spamavert

Are you tired of websites always asking for your e-mail address and then bombarding you with high amounts of spam? Now you can get what you need and put an end to the harassment with Spamavert.

Akemi Iwaya Sep 1st, 2009

ThreatFire Provides Protection Against Malware and Zero-Day Attacks

A necessary security practice is having Antivirus and other Malware protection utilities installed on your Windows computer, but they need constant updating to be effective against the newest threats. Today we take a lo...

Brian Burgess Sep 1st, 2009

Own Your Domain Name & Aggregate All of Your Social Accounts with Chi.mp

Editor’s Note: Chi.mp is a free service, and we really like it, but this shouldn’t be considered an official How-To Geek endorsement.

Akemi Iwaya Aug 25th, 2009

Remove Gadgets and Screen Resolution on Windows 7 Desktop Context Menu

One of the first things you might notice in Windows 7 is the addition of the new Gadgets and Screen Resolution items to the context menu. The only problem is that you might not really want them there—so we’ll explain ...

Lowell Heddings Aug 19th, 2009

How To Manage UAC Notifications in Windows 7

One of the more annoying features of Windows Vista was UAC (User Account Control) popping up and asking permission for about everything. Now in Windows 7 it is a lot more manageable and today we take a look at how to ma...

Brian Burgess Aug 18th, 2009

Invite Another User to Troubleshoot Your Windows 7 Machine with Remote Assistance

During your excitement to try out Windows 7 you might get stuck and need the help of a friend or colleague. Here we will take a look at using Windows Remote Assistance to allow someone you trust to connect to your compu...

Brian Burgess Aug 13th, 2009

Remove Stubborn Malware with SuperAntiSpyware

During our series about how much of a problem Malware can be, we took a look at three of the top utilities that can eliminate it. However, we would be remiss if we didn’t cover another top trusted choice out there cal...

Brian Burgess Aug 10th, 2009

Shred Files Easily with Moo0 File Shredder

Needing a small but effective app for shredding files on your computer system? Now you can have small and effective with Moo0 File Shredder.

Akemi Iwaya Aug 6th, 2009

Remove Malware Quickly with Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

We shown you how careless downloading can infect you with spyware, how to clean it up with Spybot or Ad-Aware, and in the final part of our series we’ll illustrate how to use Malwarebytes to remove all that crapware from yo...

Akemi Iwaya Aug 6th, 2009

Remove Malware from an Infected System with Ad-Aware 2009

Earlier this week, we showed you just how much of a problem spyware really is, then we showed you how to clean it up with Spybot—and in today’s lesson we’ll show you how you could have cleaned up the mess with Ad-Aware ...

Akemi Iwaya Aug 5th, 2009

Exterminate Malware Efficiently with Spybot Search & Destroy

First we showed you how easily your computer can become infected with spyware, crapware, and other unwanted software—and today we’ll show you how to clean your system with Spybot Search & Destroy....

Akemi Iwaya Aug 4th, 2009

How Does Spyware, Malware or Crapware Get on My Computer?

Have you ever wondered how malware, spyware, scareware, crapware, or other undesirable software might get on a computer? First we’ll illustrate how easily your system can be infected, and then we’ll show you how t...

Akemi Iwaya Aug 3rd, 2009

Help Troubleshoot Your PC with ESET’s SysInspector

When your troubleshooting a computer it is always nice to have a systems diagnostic tool at the ready. Today we take a look at ESET’s SysInspector, which is an extremely detailed diagnostic tool for Windows that h...

Brian Burgess Jul 30th, 2009

Install Guest Additions to Windows and Linux VMs in VirtualBox

VirtualBox from Sun is a great free virtual machine that lets you run multiple operating systems on your PC. Today we take a look at installing the Guest Additions feature which provides enhanced performance of the gues...

Brian Burgess Jul 27th, 2009

Make Google Chrome & Iron Browser Start in Incognito Mode

Needing or wanting to use Incognito Mode every time you browse the internet, but tired of always having to manually switch over? Now you can start in Incognito Mode automatically every time you open your browser....

Akemi Iwaya Jul 23rd, 2009