Software

The below should not be necessary for new T42 machines (mine was fine).

Attention IBM owners with a DLA version lower than 4.60 or a Record Now version lower than 7...

Many IBM machines use DLA (Drive Letter Access) and Record Now for our CDRW and/or DVD writers. My (new) machine has the correct versions so I do not need the update. But if you have DLA version lower than 4.60 or Record Now version 7, then you should use these updates so the CD/DVD will work well with McAfee Antivirus software. (Patch 1 is for DLA and patch 2 is for Record Now.)

Where: www.oit.duke.edu/site/software/notice_1.html

Firewall Programs

CRITICAL SOFTWARE

A firewall is needed on any public network, including Fuqua, so you will be protected from people trying to "hack" into your computer.

My preferences of firewalls are (in this order):

1. The one built into Windows XP with Service Pack 2. (See Windows XP built-in Firewall)
2. ZoneAlarm (listed below)
3. I might prefer other products before Kerio, but I've not studied them.
4. Kerio

A Few Details: Computers offer services to other computers (e.g. services to receive network packets, share resources, or receive time signals). Hackers can probe your computer to see what's available and try to gain control. A firewall prevents communication that starts from the outside your computer. If you initiate the communication (from within your computer) then it allows that.

At your home, if you have a router with a hardware firewall activated, you do not need a software firewall to be active in your computer (although it won't hurt). But at Fuqua and on any networks (or any networks without a firewall) I would advise using a software firewall.

(See my preferences in the section called A bit about Firewalls for my preferences.)

Zonealarm doesn't have the tremendous number of irritating pop-up windows that Kerio has. You can forget that it's running.

Where: www.zonelabs.com

Look for the link "Free Downloads and Trials" then "ZoneAlarm Free Download"

Duke recommends this. I do not because of the very irritating pop-up windows informing you of way too much that's going on, and asking questions that most won't know (and at times I don't know, even though I'm a self-proclaimed geek). See my recommendations.

My problem with this product is that it asks the user questions WAY too much. The questions are often too esoteric for average users, and sometimes too esoteric for me - a self-professed computer geek

Where: www.oit.duke.edu/site/software.html

Anti-Virus Programs

CRITICAL SOFTWARE

I won't even bother listing other programs. This works well and will be good for the entire time you are at Fuqua.

The school gives McAfee VirusScan to us free. While your machine may come with another fine package, I recommend switching to this package so you can use it uninterrupted for the two years that you will be here, AND so the support personnel will be more familiar with your setup (helpful if you need their support). Many of the anti-virus packages that come on computers are only good for 6 months to a year. Then you'll likely have to switch to McAfee anyway... why not do it now, to be sure you don't have to switch packages in the middle of a term.

Needed to detect viruses, worms, etc. that you might receive or download. I would recommend scheduling a scan on one night per week, and leaving your computer running for that night. (For example, schedule the computer to scan your system on Tuesday nights at 3 AM, and leave your machine running that night.)

Where: www.oit.duke.edu/site/software.html

Spyware and Adware Programs

CRITICAL SOFTWARE

I recommend using BOTH Ad-Aware and Spybot. They catch different problems.

Spyware and adware are types of software that get on your computer in sneaky ways, like a free program that you download, visits to certain web sites, etc. They can do many types of things. Usually, they are not very destructive DIRECTLY, but can transmit personal information, cause tons of irritating pop-up ads, slow your machine down and consume disk space. So you want a program to scan for this and delete it from your system as early as possible.

Gets rid of spyware and adware on your computer. Use with Spybot for best protection.

Where: www.lavasoftusa.com/

Gets rid of spyware and adware on your computer. Use with Ad-Aware for best protection.

Where: www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Thanks to Susan S. for this note on how to create an auto-run entry for Spybot: The task scheduler is accessible via the Control Panel. Start>Control Panel>Scheduled Tasks>Add Scheduled Task. This will bring up a wizard that will step you through the process. My command line for spybot in the task scheduler looks like this:

"C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SpybotSD.exe" /AUTOCHECK /AUTOFIX

I don't know much about this program, but we are supposed to be able to synchronize our calendars with this online version so we can all see each other's schedule and have the ability to more efficiently schedule a non-conflicting meeting.

Meeting Maker can be downloaded from: it.fuqua.duke.edu/index_day.html

I hear that these are not available for general download. But if you have access to this package and need to do web authoring, I recommend this package. Unfortunately, if you were to buy your own, their pricing over the last two years has been prohibitively expensive (for me anyway).

Web authoring tools. This is a great package that I have used for years. I'm using my personal version of this software as I write. Once the menu and layout are finished, the maintenance is very easy. (Case in point, adding this file was relatively easy.) If you are to do web work, take advantage of this. It will take a little time to orient yourself in this package, but it's worth the effort.

Where: it.fuqua.duke.edu/itupdates/update_fuqua_data.html

www.fuquaworld.duke.edu

www.mail.duke.edu

www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/email