March 30th, 2012 
Xoftspyse 
I had been using Windows Live One Care on a trial basis and liked it. However, when I tried to pay for it I couldn’t (it just kept sending me around in circles and back to the beginning again) so I tried downloading alternatives to secure and clean up my computer.
I am very ignorant of computers and compatible software etc, so I now have:-
RegCure
Advanced Registry Cleaner
CCleaner
Spybot Search and Destroy
XoftSpySE
Anti Virus Shield (AVS)
Comodo Firewall Pro
PC Booster
Avast (lurking in the background – but I’ve already asked a question about that).
I don’t appear to have anything that will back-up and save my work (One Care kept me advised and the instructions to save onto CD were easy to follow).
Is there any software I can download that will work as a back-up system and nothing else as I have made a real mess here and have more software than I know how to handle?
Thank you all for your help. You have taught me a lot and I am very grateful. I wish you could all have 10 points.
Chosen Answer:
Looks like you are going for total overkill!
You have far too many programs.
Keep CCleaner + AVG and the Firewall. The others are optional but I would get rid of them.
Windows XP SP2 has a free anti-spyware program called Windows Defender. It also has a free Firewall. Check Microsoft’s website for more details.
Windows does have a backup facility but it does not intsall by default for some reason. See the link below for more details.
by: Raymond W
on: 5th July 07
Posted in 
Tags: 
Norton Ghost is nice.
Get rid of all those “registry fixing” programs.
They’re garbage.
Hi
Try http://zdrive.wn.com/ & back up important files to CD & you could also get a USB external drive.
hope this helps
alloi
http://www.alloi.net/website-design.asp
Wow thats a lot of options.
All you really need is a decent antivirus program, a spyware killer such as ad-aware and the firewall software built into windows and you should be fairly well protected.
If all you want to do is back up files it is simply a case of burning it to CD which you can do from windows with no additional software required. If you want some more sophisticated burning then Nero or Roxio cant be beaten.
You could also buy a decent sized memory stick and copy the files onto that .. there are a number of different options out there and you need to make the decision based on usage, cost and appropriateness to you.
Looks like you are going for total overkill!
You have far too many programs.
Keep CCleaner + AVG and the Firewall. The others are optional but I would get rid of them.
Windows XP SP2 has a free anti-spyware program called Windows Defender. It also has a free Firewall. Check Microsoft’s website for more details.
Windows does have a backup facility but it does not intsall by default for some reason. See the link below for more details.
BLIMEY! With all that software, its a wonder that your computer is running at all. You have way too much going on with all this stuff. You just need one good anti-virus or spyware software and a firewall at the most.
To back-up your work, you can either burn your most important documents onto a CD, or alternatively, you can get a memory stick otherwise known as a USB stick. These things are great. You simply stick the memory stick into the USB section on the back of your computer and hey presto!
I would delete some of that software as well. All you need is a really good anti-virus software and a firewall.