Some worked miracles, others trashed my machine. I have tried all of the major Virus programs as well. The few listed below are worth many times their price.The beauty of shareware is that you can "Try before you buy".

If your machine is running slow or freezing up, this set of steps works miracles:

1: BACK UP your machine. Save you Favorites, your Email and your personal documents to another drive or CD.

2: Download Tuneup Utilities and run it according to the instructions on the tutorials page. Tutorial

3. Download O&O Defragmentor and run it according to instructions on the tutorial page.

4. Download Spyware Killer Pro for the best. Cnet 5 Star Product - PC Magazines #1 Rating.

5. About Norton Utilities. On machines below 1.2 gigahertz with less than 512 megs of RAM, Norton Utilities will affect the speed of your machine. It also has SEVERAL full time connections to the internet. Every virus repair I did this year for was running Norton at the time. Granted, they weren't updating often enough, but a program that does it automatically works better for many people. So...

6. For Virus Protection I prefer PCcillan which has a 60% smaller affect on your processor and RAM, and has kept my 4 machines clean for years. It's way less expensive, and does a better job. Free online scans, good tech support, automatic updates...like that.*

*I have done contract virus repair at companies such as Bechtel and Bank of America, as well as for city governments. My strong advice is to protect yourself by taking the above suggestions to heart.

SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION -
Do it right - yourself! Webposition software has been the industry leader for years, with good reason. It is this years winner on the Marketing Excellence award. It not only does the job, more importantly it educates you. Proper search engine optimization is THE most important task you will do on the web. What if you built a site, and nobody came?

MOVE YOUR PROGRAMS TO ANOTHER MACHINE! -
Even when a disk is lost or bad, or you can't find the serial number. Or when you get a new computer. It is usually a huge hastle to set it all up again.This program is solid gold. It transfers settings, programs, favorites, EVERYTHING! They are not complicated, but I warn you to FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS. LISTEN TO ALOHA BOB, for he knows of what he speaks. PC Relocator

What is shareware?
Shareware is a marketing method, not a type of software or even strictly just a distribution method. When software is marketed through normal retail channels, you are forced to pay for the product before you've even seen it. The shareware marketing method lets you try a program before you buy it. Since you've tried the program, you know whether it will meet your needs before you pay for it. A shareware program is just like a program you find in major stores, catalogs, and other places where software is purchased; except you get to use it, on your own computer, before paying for it.

Why do authors use shareware to distribute their programs?
Basically, it's efficient. Costs are generally less than for software sold through traditional channels. Lower operating costs mean shareware authors can concentrate on writing great programs, while often charging users less. Shareware also allows authors to retain complete control. Microsoft and Netscape are just two software companies that have recognized benefits of "try-before-you-buy" distribution.

Why pay for software I already have?
Basically, for the same reason you should pay for any program: because it is the honest thing to do. Shareware is commercial software, fully protected by copyright laws. Like other business owners, shareware authors expect to earn money for making their software available. In addition, by paying you may then be entitled to additional functions, removal of time limiting or limits on use, removal of so-called "nag" screens, and other things as defined in the documentation provided by the program's author. It can be the most effective type of computer help and fix the majority of computer problems, so pay your bill.

I bought a CD, a book, or a magazine that contained the program--didn't I already pay for the program?
No. Shareware vendors and other publishers distribute shareware evaluation versions of programs. They charge a small fee for the costs of disk duplication and advertising, plus a small profit, or they include the costs in the price of the book or magazine. The money paid to these companies does not go to authors. The authors deserve to be paid when their work solves your computer problems, just like a technician that comes to your office would.

What if I don't like the evaluation version?
That's simple: just stop using it and remove it from your computer system. Many shareware authors even provide a simple "uninstall" feature that makes this easy. You've lost nothing but the small cost of obtaining the evaluation version and the time involved in the evaluation.

What about viruses in software?
The shareware industry has an excellent track record providing products that have been checked thoroughly for viruses. Shareware authors, webmasters and other system operators carefully scan programs for viruses before offering them to consumers, so a shareware program will often have more checks made on it than regular commercial software. In recent years, very few shareware websites host files; most are linking to the shareware files back on the web sites of the authors, so you're getting files directly from the source. The few sites that do their own hosting are nearly all quite large, and scan their collections regularly and carefully. When in doubt, download directly from the authors' web sites. Download.com and CNET have done a great job of inspecting the shareware for spyware, and informing you when software contains any.