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McAfee lives and breaths utilities developed to protect the computer from the many dangers that are just waiting to pounce. The company has produced various titles that cover different aspects of computer protection. This range of products includes titles aimed at removing junk to free up disk space and speed up performance; provide virus protection; block the deluge of spam; and put up a barrier against hacking attacks.

McAfee QuickClean, version 5 being the current release, aim is to remove unwanted items that tend to accumulate on systems over the passage of time. It does seem that there is an unwritten law that decrees any action on a computer will attract debris despite precautions being taken. This debris often comes as the result of Internet excursions. It could be cached web page files, browser cookies or ActiveX controls. Also included could be unwanted email messages and those large attachments that some people take pleasure in sending to clog up mail boxes, plus history lists and left-overs from applications that have been removed.

See also: Anti virus/spam

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By setting QuickClean the task of targeting these items for removal, valuable disk space can be freed up and speed issues eased. QuickClean allows user control over the data to be removed and comes with various wizards to help set up tasks. Sensitive files can be completed wiped using a digital document shredder feature. QuickClean has been priced at £19.99.

One source of unwanted data is the massive amount of spam that is generated on a daily basis. Just taking a break for a few days can result in your mail box becoming filled up to such a degree that import messages can be rejected through the lack of space. McAfee SpamKiller sets out to block spam messages and will also attempt to stop further incursions from the same source happening.

SpamKiller integrates closely with Outlook Express to block spam by using filtering techniques. It can check for spelling variations and emails that are mainly made up of images instead of text or even using invisible text. The program features a white-list, with no limits on entries, whereby you can grant unhindered access to specific senders. In an effort to stop further spam from a particular source, SpamKiller can be requested to send an error message in response to spam indicating that the address is invalid. It can also be used to create reports that can be forwarded to the ISP host. SpamKiller is priced at £19.99.

VirusScan 9.0 is McAfee’s solution for providing protection from malicious attacks. Once installed the software will check all emails; any attachments; Internet downloads; Instant Messenger traffic; and media being inserted into a drive. It will also screen outgoing emails for malicious code. In McAfee’s lexicon, spyware is regarded as a virus and appropriate action will be taken to remove these intrusions. With one year of virus definition updates, VirusScan costs £34.99.

Completing this quartet of products is Personal Firewall Plus version 6.0. A set up Assistant leads the user through the necessary steps to create the firewall. The software will automatically check any request for Internet access by using a trusted database to decide whether it should be allowed or not.

Colour-coded alerts are used to advise the user of the severity of any potential threats. A Hacker Tracing feature will produce maps showing the source of attacks will details of originating IP addresses. Links are included to HackerWatch.org, a dedicated McAfee-managed anti-hacker database, so that hacker attacks can be reported to the appropriate authorities. The price of this product is £29.99.

All these titles require Windows 98 or later with 64MB of RAM and 40MB of hard disk space. Although I have not given a score to these titles, they are worth considering.

Http://www.mcafee.co.uk