SIRIUS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Computer and IT Services
Tools
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What follows is a list of tools that we frequently use when servicing our customers.  You can download them and install them yourself, or call us to help you install and configure these applications.

Anti-Virus
Using your computer everyday is something you can easily start to take for granted.  If you get a computer virus however, it can bring your computer to a stand-still, or worse, prevent your computer from booting (starting-up), or cause a catastrophic loss of data.  That's why it good to have an anti-virus application installed.  There are many to choose from, a couple of our favorites are AVG Anti-Virus and Avast Antivirus. Both have free versions that you can download. Download AVG here, and Avast here. Microsoft now has a product that is also free called Microsoft Security Essentials, download it here.  Note that if you are running Windows 8, 8.1, or 10, Microsoft Security Essentials is integrated into the OS, so technically no virus protection is necessary with these versions of Windows.

There are a variety of other malware tools out there.  Check 'em out by clicking on the links below:

Hijack This!
Ad-Aware
Spybot Search and Destroy
CW Shredder

Kidsafe Computing
If your children or grandchildren are using a computer in the home, it's a good idea to set limits for time and content, just like you do with TV.  We have found a good application to help you with controlling use of the computer.  You can block certain internet content or allow only specific sites to be visited.  You can also use it to limit the amount of time your kids spend on the computer automatically.  It will warn them when their time is about up, then automatically logoff their account when the time has expired.  Click here to download a trial copy.  It is a fairly complicated application to setup, so we do recommend hiring a professional for help if you are a novice Windows user.

Backup Software
To keep a current copy of your system in the event of a disk drive failure, we use Macrium Reflect backup software.  With it you can backup from your hard disk to DVDs/CDs, an internal disk drive, or a network disk drive.  You can create a CD that you boot from if your drive fails, and then restore your backup from a network drive.  It's one of the few inexpensive backup packages that allow you to restore from a network drive.  You can download an evaluation copy here.


Jeff McCormick
Sirius Technologies, Inc.
Carefree, AZ
602-571-5456
jeff@get-sirius.com