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Ok, so just in case you haven't figured it out by now, we're
very big proponents of free software. Why pay for something
that you have to buy every single year when something that
usually works A LOT better and faster is available and it's
FREE?
While it's true you can't
get a free (legitimate) version of Windows, or of Microsoft
Office, there are free alternatives to quite a few programs.
But "that's another show."
What I'm talking about
here is things like all the "free" virus scanners or the
"free" registry cleaners or the free spyware scanners. Those
are the most prevalent ones that come to mind. Sure, they're
completely free to download, they're completely free to
install, and even completely free to scan your system to
tell you what's wrong.....but when it comes to actually
fixing all these huge "critical" problems it's found on your
computer, that's a whole 'nother story! They want to charge
you sometimes fifty bucks or more!! First they "scare" you
into thinking your system is on the verge of completely
crashing, and then they tell you that "oh, sure, I can fix
it, but only if you pay me a bunch of money to do it."
I mean, don't get me
wrong. I have no problem with companies charging for their
software that they spend thousands of dollars
perfecting...sometimes millions. I get it. The problem I
have is how they tout their program to be "free" but when it
comes to being any kind of useful, THEN comes the big
charge. It's just a crappy sales tactic if you ask me. Very
deceptive. And because of that, I don't bother. I don't care
if their software is proven to be the absolute "best" in its
category... if they use deceptive tactics to push their
software, I will never recommend it. AMD processors have
done that for years--but that too is another show.
So who am I referring to?
Well, there's a lot of on-line scanners that do it,
antivirus programs, but mostly registry cleaners such as
DoubleMySpeed.com, MyCleanPC.com, FinallyFast.com,
FastAtLast.com and CleanPCNow.com just to name a few, and A
LOT of spyware scanners.
So if you want to know if
there is a truly free alternative to a specific program, the
first place I'd go to is some place like
http://www.download.com and make sure you set the
filter to look for "free" software and not "free to try."
Yes, you may still get a few "free to try" programs if you
set the "free" filter, but it's a good place to start.
Back to the rest of the useful
information
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