Extra Web-Search Safety

AVG's LinkScanner component checks sites in your search results for browser-busting exploits. To add warnings for dangerous downloads, user complaints, and spam potential, bring SiteAdvisor into the mix. This free download from McAfee will add an icon that sits next to the one from AVG in your search results, along with a safety indicator for the currently viewed page.

The Cleanup Crew

Many all-in-one suites offer PC tune-up features that can clear out old junk in temp directories or eliminate Windows Registry clutter. To get the same features in your free suite (for Windows XP or Vista), download CCleaner.

When you install the gunk-busting utility, keep an eye out for a check box along the way that will not-so-helpfully offer to install the Yahoo toolbar. If you don't want the toolbar, deselect the box.

And when you use the program, remember that you might not want to jettison everything that CCleaner--or any other gunk remover--suggests clearing, such as your Firefox browsing history or the list of documents that you've recently opened in Windows Explorer. And whenever you use any Registry cleaner or optimizer, be sure to back up the Registry first in case something goes wrong (CCleaner offers to do it for you each time you use the Registry tool).

The Free Security Bonus

With this last tool, your roll-your-own suite will go beyond what even the best paid suite can provide. The free VirusTotal Uploader gives you a right-click option in Explorer to upload any suspect file no larger than 10MB to VirusTotal.com, where a whopping 35 different antivirus engines will scan it. No single antivirus application can catch everything, and for this reason VirusTotal provides a great (and easy-to-use) second line of defense.

If you get the go-ahead from all of the engines, you're almost certainly golden. If you see one or two generic-sounding alerts, the file is likely safe, as the warnings are probably false alarms. But if you receive, say, seven or more different warnings, and some of them identify a specific threat, watch out.