Ministry Friendly Software... Pt. 5 PORN, VIRUSES & THE GARAGE

In this final installment of my ministry friendly software series, I'm going to introduce you to the fundamental free software that everyone needs to use. Have you ever needed to transfer a large file to someone else or even make sure you have it backed up somewhere safe? Have you ever had a virus or spyware on your computer? Have you ever regretted using your computer for something other than ministry... if you know what I mean? That's what we're going to cover today.

First off, you need to safeguard your computer, your family, and yourself from the wiles of internet wasteland by installing something to keep your fingers from typing certain words. A lot of people recommend CovenantEyes, which is a great program for blocking images and sending reports to accountability partners (those are people who are in charge of making sure you don't do what you said you wouldn't do) but the major hindrance is cost. If you're a poor youth pastor making just enough each month to pay the rent and read your Bible, a monthly fee just doesn't fit. I agree it's a worthy investment, but if you can live with the trade-offs there is a worthwhile option out there that I've been using X3Watch which offers a pro version, but the free version still monitors your browsing activity and sends a report to an accountability partner. It's really hard to find it on the website, so I'm going to cheat and just give you the direct download link right here.... X3Watch Free
But before I move on from this topic, I want to give each and every one of you permission to ask your spouse about their sexual activity. Don't wait for permission and don't assume you don't need to ask. Ask regularly in love, and not accusation or anger, and be open to working around issues. You'll have to find the right way to do it in your marriage, but if you keep the communication open and two-way it will go a lot further than just getting a list of websites every couple weeks. Remember, be proactive, not reactive. Have something installed on your computer to keep everyone accountable, and keep communication open so when something comes along that causes trouble your marriage doesn't go to crisis level 28 and you can handle it firmly, effectively, and holistically.

Next on the list is storage. You have a beater computer that barely runs and it could die any day? Or you've had bad luck with external hard drives? Go online! Dropbox gives you 2GB of free storage which is great for important documents like last year's TurboTax information, the Word document with all the family's passwords in it, or a few important photos. Zumo Drive is pretty much the same deal, and so is 4Shared. Between all of these and free photo storage on Flickr or Photobucket, you shouldn't have to worry as much about your computer crashing. And if you have less worry on your shoulders about your computer then you can carry a little more confidence and spend a little more time worrying about people.

Now let's talk about the down and dirty.... all those viruses you seem to attract. Have you ever opened a webpage that was flashing red lights and saying all your files were being deleted because you downloaded a virus? Or have you had weird things happen that even your nerdy grandchild didn't understand? Both of those are prime threats to your computer's stability. But if you have anti-virus software installed you won't have to sweat it. I've tried all the noteworthy anti-virus programs. McAfee, Norton, Symantec have been tremendous disappointments and I've actually considered them to be viruses in themselves for how much they slow down my computer. I was coming up on the time to renew my McAfee when I discovered an article in Consumer Reports about free antivirus being able to sometimes outperform their paid competitors. So I gave a bunch of those a test run and found out that Avast Free AV is incredibly well-suited to the task of protecting your computer. If you're using Symantec or McAfee I highly recommend using Revo Uninstaller to get rid of all traces of it so you can make the switch. After that, be sure to disable Windows Defender so that you only have one antivirus program running. This way they don't fight each other and slow down your computer.

Lastly, you need to keep your computer clean and running efficiently, so you need to learn to defragment your computer. Your computer tends to spread bits and pieces of things everywhere like a 7 year-old playing with Legos, so it can focus on the task at hand. Later on, however, this slows it down as it has to navigate all this clutter. So defragmenting comes in and sorts all the blocks and puts them in the best configuration to improve your computer's performance. But forget about the built-in Windows defragmenter. It's weak sauce compared to Auslogics Disk Defragmenter, which is awesome sauce and works better and faster. Everyday before I leave my office I set it to run "Defrag and Optimize" along with setting it to shut down the computer when it's done. That's done wonders at keeping an old and weak computer able to handle heavy tasks like Photoshop, audio editing, web design, and Outlook.

Remember, keep it running cheaply, efficiently, and safely. I hope this series has been helpful, and I encourage you to continue making decisions that free you from the prison of PC problem solving and allow you to grow your ability to minister to people in the name of Christ as your computer becomes a tool rather than a burden.