Computer prices may be coming down regularly, but a computer is still an expensive piece of kit to shell out for – and that’s before you price in the software. You can find yourself spending a lot of money on applications from spreadsheet design to word processing to just protecting your computer from hackers and viruses.
But the good news is that there’s no need to pay. There’s plenty of useful free software available that should be suitable for the needs of all but the most ardent of home computer users…
How to protect your computer for free
To protect your computer from hackers and viruses, you really need two pieces of software – anti-virus protection and a firewall. Most new computers come with a trial version of Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus. Once your trial has run out, this software costs from £20 a year.
But Grisoft’s AVG is completely free. This software provides “adequate” protection says Andrew Ferguson of Thinkbroadband.com in The Times. But in my experience it’s more than adequate. I’ve used it for several years and never had a virus get past it yet.
As for the firewall, if your computer came installed with Windows, there is an inbuilt firewall which “should be sufficient for most people,” says MoneySavingExpert.com, so just switch it on and adjust the settings and you can rest assured that your computer is protected.
If you do want better protection, then there are a number of free firewalls available. ZoneAlarm is completely free and offers an impressive level of protection from hackers. But be aware that as a result it frequently asks your permission for things, which can be annoying and a bit overwhelming if you aren’t sure whether the programs it is checking on are legitimately trying to access you computer or not.
Another option, Sunbelt Personal is “widely credited as being one of the least irritating firewall products,” says MoneySavingExpert.com. It’s not technically free – you have to download a 30-day trial. But at the end of the trial, all you lose is the pop-up blocker (and most internet browsers now have that feature). So you can carry on using the free firewall facility. It will ask you every so often to pay for the full version, but just ignore it.
So that’s your computer’s protection sorted out without you having to reach for your wallet. But what about your word-processing and photo-editing needs?
You don’t have to fork out for Microsoft Office
Most of us use Microsoft Office at work. It’s a great software package, but if you want to have the same thing at home then you have to fork out around £55 at the very least. A decent free alternative is OpenOffice. This package includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database, graphics editor and presentations program, just like Microsoft Office. It doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as Microsoft’s programs but “it’ll save you a packet and is a set-up that many will find more than sufficient,” says The Daily Telegraph.
There are also plenty of free photo-editing options available. If all you want to do is get rid of red eye and crop photos, then Windows’ and Mac’s own programs will do the job. But if you want something a little more advanced try Gimp. This is a free photo editing tool much like Photoshop.
Manage your finances at no extra cost
Finally, there’s a great way to monitor your online finances without having to purchase any software. First Direct offers an Internet Plus service to everyone. You don’t have to hold an account with them – just sign up on their website and you’ll get access.
This site allows you to view all the banking details for your various savings accounts, Isas, credit cards and loans in one place. When you first set it up you have to enter all your log-ons for these products. But once it has them, you simply log in to Internet Plus and it shows you up-to-the-minute balances for all your accounts and you can click through to any account from that page. It is completely secure, really useful and best of all it’s free.
A few other banks offer this service – Egg for one – so check whether yours does or just use First Direct.
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