Everyone needs Cash Register Express and Restaurant Pro Express. I'm going to leave these off my list since most of you are already using our software. The list of 10 Computer Programs You Really Need contains computer software programs that small businesses, students, and casual users should have on their computers.

#1 is the program you have heard about before.

Norton Internet Security 2010 or equivalent should be installed on every computer you own.

Every computer needs some type of internet security system. That security system includes antivirus software, antispyware software and firewall software. The antivirus component prevents outsiders from maliciously destroying your computer. Antispyware prevents outsiders from popping up unwanted ads on your computer. Firewalls prevent outsiders from stealing your data. You need it.

Norton (form Symantec Corporation) offers what I believe to be the best and most effective internet security software. It's also considered to be the best by those experts that review security packages (PC Magazine, Pc World, and AV-Comparatives).

You can read the PC Magazine review  (PC Magazine Editor's Choice) at:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2349865,00.asp

You can read PC World's review at:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/324720/review/norton_antivirus_2010.html

You can read the AV-Comparatives review at:

http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Norton Antivirus has been around for a long time. It is the leader in antivirus software. It hasn't always been the best. Many owners of earlier versions of Norton Internet Security (NIS) hated the product because it was rather flakey and took up lots of resources on user computers. I did not endorse NIS until 2008. The 2009 version really excelled. The 2010 version is even better. If you hear bad reviews from other computer gurus, they are probably still angry about the older prior to 2008 versions of NIS.

So...if you believe the reviews, Norton Internet Security 2010 is the one to buy. If you prefer another product, go for it. Just make sure that you use some form of internet security on your computer.

Norton Internet Security 2010 sells for $69.95 (that's for a 1 year subscription good on 3 computers). You can purchase it at a discount at the link below ($39.93):

http://www.buy.com/prod/norton-internet-security-2010-3-pcs-1-year-protection/q/loc/105/211970497.html

Many of our readers like AVG. This is a very popular and FREE program available from AVG technologies.

#1...It's not really FREE. Although you can download it and install it on any business computer, you are breaking the license agreement which forbids you from using the FREE version within a business. However, you may use it in your home for FREE.

#2...According to the AV-Comparative tests, it is only 88% as effective as the competition. That 88% figure is only an estimate and admittedly may not be accurate for comparative purposes. However, according to AV-Comparatives, Norton Internet Security offers superior performance.

Read the reviews at:

http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2009/12/av-comparativesorg_torture-tes.php

In short, in my opinion, Norton Internet Security 2010 is the 1st product that you should be installing on your computer. See #2 next week.

To purchase Norton Internet Security, go to:

or click the Norton Internet Security box above or the icon below.

#2 is a completely FREE program.

SyncToy 2.1 is a FREE program distributed by Microsoft that synchronizes your files and folders between two computers, or you can synchronize your computer files with a flash drive or a USB drive.

At the end of the day, you can just press a single button and all important files that have been changed on your computer will automatically be sent to your flash drive or USB drive. Or, you can have all of your changed files automatically sent to another computer on your home or business network.

SyncToy 2.1 has lots of customizable options. You can send changed files from Computer A to Computer B, or from Computer B to Computer A, or just synchronize the newest file in either direction.

You can write a command list that will automatically synchronize specific files and folders and specific times as determined by a scheduler.

SyncToy 2.1 is a great FREE Microsoft program that I have been using for years. It works well. It takes up 0 resources when not running. It's a relatively small program that does not require too much memory when running.

The biggest problem with SyncToy is that it doesn't come with directions that a computer novice could understand. If you are a novice, you may want a more experienced computer person to set it up for you and get it working. Once installed and setup, you need only push a button on your computer screen and the synchronization will take place automatically.

Everyone has documents, spreadsheets, photos, music and other important files stored on their computers. One day, you will press the start button on your computer and nothing will happen. Your computer is dead. Your documents, spreadsheets, photos, music, and other important files are all gone.

As a computer owner, it is your job to make sure that your files are backed up.

I back up my files to an external USB hard drive each and every day. I just press my SyncToy desktop icon and my files are safe. I also synchronize all of my files with my laptop. That gives me two copies of all of my important files, all synchronized on a daily basis.

It's FREE. It's great. It's #2 on my list of programs you really need.

To read more about SyncToy 2.1 and download a FREE copy, go to:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52&displaylang=en

Acronis True Image Home 2010 is a backup and recovery program. It sells for $49.99 (suggested list price).

In my opinion, it is the best of all backup programs and is superior to Norton's Ghost.

There are two different types of items that you must backup on your computer.

#1...You need to backup your data files to an external hard drive, flash drive or other computer. Backing up your files is essential. If you lose your data files, you have no way they can ever be recovered. Your data files include your music, photos, spreadsheets, inventory data, and other documents that you created. Once this data is lost, it can't be recovered ever.

#2...You need to backup all your software programs (such as Microsoft Office and Cash Register Express) as well as Microsoft Windows to an external hard drive, flash drive or other computer. Unlike your data files, you can eventually restore your programs or Microsoft Windows by using your original CDs to reload the programs. Or, if you no longer have your program CDs, you can always buy new copies which could be rather costly.

Using Acronis True Image, you can create an image of your hard drive and copy it to an external USB hard drive. Should anything happen to your computer, your have a complete copy of your hard drive including all of your data files and programs (including Microsoft Windows).

Here's what I do to backup my data. I use SyncToy to backup my data files on a daily basic (see Computer Tips at http://news.pcamerica.com/ComputerTips.html if you missed that newsletter).

I use Acronis True Image to make a complete image backup of my computer on a monthly basis. Should my hard drive fail, I can easily recover all of my data from my external USB drive by restoring it through Acronis True Image.

After restoring my monthly image from my external USB drive, I then restore my daily data files.

It will take your computer anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to make an image of your hard drive.

Alternately, you can use Acronis True Image to constantly update all of your data and programs to an external USB drive. I'm not a fan of a continuous backup because should your computer be attacked by a virus, your backup would also contain that virus. I normally keep three months of a complete image backup of my external USB hard drive. Just in case something really bad happens to my computer (like a serious virus), I can go back in time and recover from an earlier image backup. Because I also backup my data files on a daily backup, I can easily restore these important files.

To read more about Acronis True Image go to:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

• 10 Computer Software Programs You Really Need (#5)

My #5 software program you really need is Malwarebytes.

 

It's FREE. I have no doubt that it is the best program for removing malware (viruses and spyware) on your computer. It is fast and uses little resources. When  you close down the program, it doesn't use any resources.

 

I spend a lot of time cleaning up computers that are infected with spyware or viruses. I normally spend about an hour trying to remove problems. If it takes longer than an hour, it could be time to reinstall Windows.

 

One of our readers recommended Malwarebytes. I gave it a try and it works. Malwarebytes has worked on about the last 20 computers that I've worked with. It found and got rid of all problems on those infected computers.

 

Here's the big question. If you are using Norton Internet Security or another anti-malware program, why should you need Malwarebytes? That's a great question.

 

Norton Internet Security and others normally stop most problems, but some malware programs are just too smart. You get a popup that tells you to click on an icon to remove a virus. You were fooled into installing a virus.

 

Malwarebytes will not prevent a problem from infecting your computer. It will clean off your computer once infected.

 

Even if you believe your computer is completely malware free, you can use Malwarebytes to find and clean any items that your present Internet Security program may have missed.

 

Remember, your Internet Security program is always running in the background. Malwarebytes only operates when you start it. It stops working when you close it. It uses absolutely no resources (RAM) when not being used.

 

I know most of the other free and not free antimalware programs. In my opinion, this is the best. It is also CNET's Editor's Choice and gets outstanding user reviews.

 

To download and find out more about Malwarebytes, go to:

 

http://www.malwarebytes.org/products.php

 

Mozy is my #6 of computer software programs you really need.

In my opinion, Mozy is the best of the companies that offer online backup of your data.

Here's the scenario you should be thinking about. You have lots of documents, photos, music, and other data on your computer. Your data is very important to you. Should your information be stolen or destroyed, you can't get it back.

You should be making daily backups of your data. Where do you keep those backups? Most people making backups keep them right next to their computers. Should something happen, it is likely that both your original data and backups will be gone.

Some people move their backups to another location. Perhaps you backup your computer and take your data on a portable USB drive to another location. Most people don't do that, but let's say you do. A flood, nuclear explosion, global warming, or other catastrophe may make this data unavailable.

OK. I may be exaggerating a little, but automatically storing your data at another location on a daily basis is an extremely important precaution in an emergency. Backing up your data to an external USB hard drive is a great idea but most of us do not transport that drive. Mozy is your solution.

Mozy is a software program that sends your data to an external computer. The external computer is a computer owned and retained by Mozy. Should your computer be lost or stolen, and should you not have a copy of your data on an external USB hard drive (or equivalent), you can recover all of your data from Mozy.

The cost is FREE for less than 2 GBs of data or $4.95 per month for unlimited data. You can also choose to pay $54.95 per year (that's $4.95 for 11 months plus 1 FREE month).

Your data is safe and automatically encrypted before it arrives at Mozy. Theoretically, no one can ever get hold of your data. I don't worry too much about having my data stolen. Most of my data are word documents and spreadsheets that no one wants to steal. I have thousands of photos that I backup that can never be replaced. I do have some spreadsheets that I would not like to share with others. My private spreadsheets are already encrypted and it is that encrypted information that gets sent to Mozy.

I'm just not worried about someone at Mozy getting hold of my data. In order to use it, a Mozy employee would have to be a genius and spend a hundred years or so to break the Mozy encryption and another hundred years to break my spreadsheet encryption. Yes. It's possible, but not likely.

The idea is that backing up your data to the Mozy computers is probably a smart thing. It's fairly inexpensive and the prudent thing to do. Mozy is owned by EMC Corporation (a Fortune 500 company).

Mozy has competitors. I believe that Mozy is the easiest and most efficient online backup system available. It's a good place to start especially since you can backup 2 GBs of data for free.

If you have questions about Mozy, go to their FAQ (frequently asked questions) at:

https://mozy.com/home/faq

To learn more about Mozy go to:

https://mozy.com/