Windows Worms Doors Cleaner - Most of the worms, in particular the most famous, use known vulnerabilities in Windows services which are enabled by default. Most users should be able to safely disable many of these services.The download link is underneath the picture of the program. Take the time to read his page.

The DCOMbobulator - Allows any Windows user to easily verify the effectiveness of Microsoft's critical DCOM patch. Confirmed reports have demonstrated that the patch is not always effective in eliminating DCOM's remote exploit vulnerability. But more importantly, since DCOM is a virtually unused and unneeded facility, the DCOMbobulator allows any Windows user to easily disable DCOM for significantly greater security.

Firewalls

Zone Alarm Firewall Program - Basic firewall protection - Free version is limited, can upgrade to full version if you pay...

Tiny Personal Firewall Program - FREE - Tiny Personal Firewall 5.0 fully supports simultaneous multi-user environment such as Windows XP or Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 Servers. Multiple users may be assigned with different rules for the same applications when logged in simultaneously.

Sygate Personal Firewall Program - Protects against Trojans, spyware, worms and other known & unknown threats. Easy-to-use PC firewall and still FREE for personal / home use.

Adware and Spyware Scanners - Free Removal Software / Tools
It is recommended to download, install, and run both of the following:

Adaware - Lavasoft has provided you, the end user, with a powerful utility that will scan, detect and remove Spyware / Adware / Malware/ Scumware files from your system. Detects and Removes Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Browser Hijackers and Dialers. FREE download here

Spybot - Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Scans, detects & removes Spyware, Adware, Trojans, Dialers and Hijackers. FREE download here

Browser Hijacker Removal

Hijackthis! - FREE Browser hijacker Remover - Detects and Removes Browser hijackers. Use this program if your Browser's Homepage, Search page, or other settings have been changed, and you cannot reset it.

SpywareGuard - SpywareBlaster catch and block spyware before it is executed (EXE and CAB files supported) with signature-based scanning for known spyware and heuristic/generic detection capabilities to catch new mutated spyware

Antivirus

Grisoft's AVG Anti-virus Program - New - AVG Free edition is now available for all single home and non-commercial end users Worldwide! Here, you can get your free copy of the AVG Anti-Virus System - AVG Free Edition and you will be able to use it without any limitations for life of the product. You can download free Updates to get the latest program virus databases.

AntiVir Personal Edition Anti-virus Program - The private and individual use of the AntiVir Personal Edition is completely free of charge! The AntiVir Personal Edition offers effective Antivirus protection against computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single PC-workstation. In order to make possible an easy operation, the AntiVir Personal Edition is developed to the essential points.

Freeware avast! 4 Home Edition - Home edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed for home usage. Our company offers Home Edition free of charge, since in our opinion, it is possible to avoid global virus spreading by efficient prevention. However, many user are not able or do not want to pay for antivirus software. New version of avast! antivirus kernel features outstanding detection abilities, together with high performance. You can expect 100% detection of In-the-Wild viruses (the ones what are really spreading amongst people) and very good detection of Trojan horses, all that with only a minimum number of false alarms.

avast! Virus Cleaner - free virus & worm removal tool - avast! Virus Cleaner is a free tool that will help you remove selected worm infections from your computer. If, despite all the security measures you take, your computer gets infected by a virus or worm, it is necessary to disinfect your system somehow. While for some viruses the only 100% realiable method of disinfection is restoring your system from backups, for many common infections this is not really necessary and the virus/worm can be removed quite easily. avast! Virus Cleaner is able to stop viruses that are active in memory, it will disinfect your files, remove virus registry & startup items, and even delete the virus working files.

VCatch Anti-virus Program - VCatch is a new, free Antivirus tool, developed to protect your computer from web viruses. VCatch is a virus protection software. When VCatch is active it will check all the files sent or downloaded to your computer via Email and Web applications. In the event that VCatch detects that a file is suspected to be a virus, the software automatically deletes the file and notifies you.

Trend Micro's Sysclean stand-alone Virus cleaner - For Non-Users of Trend Micro Products please download the Trend Micro Sysclean Package. For the Trend Micro Sysclean Package to be effective, you must download and place the latest pattern file in the same folder as the Trend Micro Sysclean Package.

Trojan Scanners

GFI - Free on-line Trojan scanner
Scan your system for trojans using this free online trojan scanner. Anti trojan software will allow you to scan and stop trojans from entering your machine.

Anti-Trojan - Has Free on-line Trojan scanner - Anti-Trojan 5.5 is a powerful trojan scanner and remover which detects more than 10000 different types of trojan horses.

Sygate - Free online Firewall / Security scan - The accuracy of the S.O.S. test depends on correctly retrieving your computer’s IP address. If S.O.S. does not correctly retrieve your IP address the scan results will not be correct. This is because your IP address can be masked or hidden if you are connecting through a firewall or a proxy server.

Free On-line Virus Scanners

BitDefender - Free Online Virus scanner - BitDefender Scan Online is a free, fully functional antivirus product, with a web-based interface and featuring all required elements for remotely antivirus scanning and cleaning: it scans system's memory, all files, folders and drives' boot sector, providing the user with the option to automatically clean the infected files.

Trend Micro's HouseCall - Free Online Virus scanner - HouseCall can only detect viruses already on your system at the time of your visit. Protecting your system against computer viruses typically requires two steps. First a scan of your existing system (which HouseCall does), then a continuous scan of all file activity (or real-time protection) which is done through the installation of antivirus software.

RAVAN - Free Online Virus scanner - Welcome to RAV AntiVirus Online Virus Scan! You can scan and clean your PC of viruses and other malwares here; free of charge! To permanently protect your computer of viruses, Trojans or worms, you may want to consider testing or acquiring a RAV AntiVirus commercial product. All RAV AntiVirus products are also available as fully functional evaluation versions.

Panda ActiveScan - Free Online Virus scanner - Now, ridding your computer of viruses is even easier, with the new Panda ActiveScan * You don't need to install any programs, just connect to the Internet and simply click whenever you want to clean your computer. * It scans, disinfects and eliminates viruses from all parts of your system, hard disks, compressed files and all your e-mail. * It incorporates a powerful heuristic system capable of detecting new or unknown viruses. * It is updated at least once a day, so each scan will be able to detect even the latest viruses.

Google Listing of free Scan sites

Links of Interest

Programs

Total Commander is a Shareware file manager for Windows® 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP, and Windows® 3.1 - Two file windows side by side shows all files on all drives. Also works with zipped / compressed files.

OpenOffice - FREE - OpenOffice.org 1.1 gives you everything you'd expect in office software. You can create dynamic documents, analyse data, design eye-catching presentations, produce dramatic illustrations, and open up your databases. You can publish your work in Portable Document Format (.pdf), and release your graphics in Flash (.swf) format - without needing any additional software. Can open, modify, and save as, Microsoft Office files. Very large file download - over 60 meg, but definitely worth downloading!

Browsers / Email Programs

Mozilla - FREE Open-Source Internet Browser and Email program combined - Does not contain the Virus / Security / Pop-up problems commonly associated with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Java, Active X, and Flash supported, if you install the plugins.

Mozilla Firebird - FREE Open-Source Internet Browser program simular to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but does not have the Virus / Security / Pop-up problems associated with Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Java, Active X, and Flash supported, if you install the plugins.

Mozilla Thunderbird - FREE Open-Source Email program simular to Microsoft's Outlook Express, but does not have the Virus and Security problems associated with Microsoft's Outlook Express.

Internet Explorer - Click on "Downloads" and follow the link for the latest version.

Netscape - Based on the Mozilla Internet Browser, Click on "Downloads" and follow the link for the latest version.

Pegasus Mail - Has powerful and intuitive mail-filtering rules, a new Outlook-style three-pane interface, and fewer Security problems than Microsoft's Outlook Express. Limited free version, you must pay for full version.

Misc. Links

Microsoft Windows Update - If you are running Microsoft Windows XP, 2000, etc., You should definitely be sure to install ALL critical updates, checking Microsoft;s Update site at least twice a month.

Microsoft Downloads

Internet Bandwidth / Speed Test - How fast are you surfing the Web? 100's of links to internet Bandwidth / Speed Test servers around the world! Use to tweak or diagnose your internet connection problem.

Process Explorer - FREE - Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded. The Process Explorer display consists of two sub-windows. The top always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you’ll see the handles that the process selected in the top window has opened; if Process Explorer is in DLL mode you’ll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded. Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.

PrcView - FREE - PrcView is a process viewer utility that displays detailed information about processes running under Windows. For each process it displays memory, threads and module usage. For each DLL it shows full path and version information. Has many features to help you keep a close eye on whats running on your computer! Can help you track down a virus, trojan, adware, or spyware problem. Allows you to instantly stop almost any running process.

TCPView - FREE - TCPView is a Windows program that will show you detailed listings of all TCP and UDP endpoints on your system, including the local and remote addresses and state of TCP connections. On Windows NT, 2000 and XP TCPView also reports the name of the process that owns the endpoint. TCPView provides a more informative and conveniently presented subset of the Netstat program that ships with Windows.

Netstat Viewer - FREE - Netstat Viewer is a handy GUI replacement for the command line application "netstat".

Port explorer - FREE - Monitors open ports.

Essential NetTools - Essential NetTools is a toolkit useful in diagnosing networks and monitoring your computer's network connections. It's an easy-to-use and powerful replacement for such Windows utilities as nbtstat, NetWatcher, and netstat. The program offers a lot of advanced features. Essential NetTools is a set of network tools useful in diagnosing networks and monitoring your computer's network connections. It's a Swiss Army knife for everyone interested in a set of powerful network tools for everyday use. 30 day free trial, $29.00 single user license.

Karen's Power Tools - Karen Kenworthy's web site. Karen is the author of the popular Power Tools, free programs that make life with Windows a lot easier.