My choice of the best utilities:

1. Common sense (free) look in the mirror

2. Zonealarm Firewall (free) www.zonealarm.com

3. Avast AV (free)  www.avast.com

4. Spyware/malware www.webroot.com (subscription) or www.lavasoft.com (free) or sybot search and destroy 1.4 free.

If you don't download garbage, don't open unknown attachments, always be suspicious.  With common sense and those 3 freebies, that should be all you need.

Another good place is to check reviews of stuff you're interested in at www.epinions.com because the reviews are written by people who actually use the products, not professional reviewers.





Patrick Macaspac <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Hi All,
>
>  My friend ask me to help him upgrade his WIN 2K machine to WIN XP. We are planning to add up some RAM and also additional hard drive. But I guess the real score here is, do you guys have a list of useful utilities that we can use for regular maintenance and recovery in case of infection / instabilities. I would also like to hear from you which among the "BEST" is realy the best anti-virus program (NORTON, TREND MICRO, MCAFFE, PANDA). I usually don't rely much on reviews of tech magazines, but I would like to hear from you all.
>
>  Thanks in advance.
>
>  Patrick
>
>
>


__________________________________________________________________
Switch to Netscape Internet Service.
As low as $9.95 a month -- Sign up today at http://isp.netscape.com/register

Netscape. Just the Net You Need.

New! Netscape Toolbar for Internet Explorer
Search from anywhere on the Web and block those annoying pop-ups.
Download now at http://channels.netscape.com/ns/search/install.jsp

                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                       Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>