Software to use or purchase

I know there are thousands of great software programs out there for us to use on our computer. Below is a list of programs that I found very useful. I use them daily and in many cases don't think they charge enough for it. That means I was glad to pay their price, and some. I have also provided a link to their site. I don't get a kick back, just providing you this information to help you, not them. I have not had the chance to post my recommended, user friendly instructions for all of them yet, but I am working on it. Contact me if you need help or have any questions. (NOTE: You may have to disable your pop-up blocker to visit the links I have provided).

• Ad-Aware: Internet ad-ware remover (helps speed up your computer). They actually have a FREE version of this great software. If your computer is slowing down, there is a good chance that spy-ware, internet tracking software and ad-ware has attacked your computer and is loading all their garbage on your computer to follow your tracks. If you have pop-up ads when you connect to the internet, there is a GOOD chance that you have ad-ware bogging down your machine. Don't buy a new computer, get the monkey off your back (clean up the system you currently have) and keep the one you have. I took one of my customers machine that they could not hardly get to start up, checked it, and it had 972 files identified with this software. The software deleted all but 2 or 3 of them and they were thrilled with the performance of their computer again. Forget the free version, buy the $26.95 version today.
• Adobe Acrobat Professional: It is better to give than to receive. I really like this software. This software enables you to create PDF (Portable Document Format) files. We all know that Adobe has the free acrobat reader that almost every computer in the world has installed on it. But we all dislike the fact that we can not change / edit the documents. And very few of us even dreamed about creating them. The use is simple, we are all tired of sending people files that they can not open because they do not have the software or version we creating the file in. If you are able to convert the file to a PDF format you don't have to worry about them being able to open your file. Another benefit is that the file size will be drastically reduced so the file will e-mail faster. A good example of this: I have a 18 MB file that I converted to a PDF and the PDF file size is 218 KB (18,000,000 vs 218,000). That is about 1.2 % of the original size with no quality loss. Think of the time and hard drive space you can save. The kicker is that this version of PDF software allows you to edit PDF's.
• CutePDF: Wow! This company has a PDF printer that you can download and use for free. You heard me right. You can go to their website, download their FREE software and make your own PDF's as easy as you can print a page to your current printer. You document will look and print just as good as my $400 PDF creator.
• deskPDF: Another PDF creating software that has better features and they will let you download and use theirs for FREE as well. The software cost only $19.95 and it has several nice features. The only drawback on the free version is that they put a tag on the bottom of all your PDF's once you have used it a few times (5 or so).
• Graphic Workshop: This software is used to manage photos. It also has many editing functions and it is easy to use. For some basic instructions click here.
• PC-cillin Anti-Virus: This is the virus software that I have used for several years. It updates itself all the time and will let you know before downloading the update (that is a good way of letting you know it is doing it's job). The new version has several functions that are useful. It has real time virus protection, e-mail scanning for viruses, it has spy ware detector & removal, e-mail anti-spam tool, firewall, and much more. There are two ways to get a discount on the software that I am aware of:
  1. Go to their site, at the top of the screen click on US & Canada, click on personal, then download a trail version. I was told that they offer you a price break when the trail version gets close to expiring (like 30 day trail).
  2. Go to the site, click on personal, click house call and have their site scan 1 file for you (or what every you want them to scan). Once you do that it will activate a short virus quiz. Once you take the short quiz they will offer you 20% off.
  I will post user friendly instructions later.
• SuperVoice: This is a phone / fax software that has many nice features. I use the basic version, SuperVoice 2.6 and it has several voice mail boxes, and a fax program that is out of this world. I leave it on to receive faxes and when a fax comes into my computer it e-mails the fax to me, then calls my cell phone to let me know that the fax has come in and that it e-mail the fax to my e-mail address. (Can you get your secretary to do that?). The voice mails have a lot of options as well.
• ToonTown: This is a Disney, real time, on-line gaming software that is SAFE & fun for kids of all ages. We actually have 3 separate accounts and often all play at the same time. You need a decent computer with a middle of the road graphic card to play (at least 64 MB of graphic ram).

That is all of my list for now. If you have a specific need or software question contact me. You can also go to www.DownLoad.com and search their site for software. Most of the good companies post their software there for you to see and try.