Media Player - A media player is a program that allows you to view images and animation, listen to audio and watch video files on your computer. Media players may also include the capability to organize media files, convert them to different formats, connect to and purchase media from an online media store, download podcast and vodcast, burn audio CDs, and transfer media to portable media players. Windows includes windows media player. There other popular media players are iTunes, realplayer and rhapsody.

Example media player :

Disc Burning an Personal Computer Maintenance - Disc Burning software writes text, graphic, audio and video on a recordable or rewritable cd, dvd, or blu-ray disc. This software enables the home user easily to back up contents of their hard disk on an optical disc  and make duplicates of uncopyrighted music or movie. Disc burning software usually also includes photo editing, audio editing and video editing capabilities.

When you buy a recordable or rewritable disc, it typically includes burning software. You also can buy stand alone disc burning software for a cost of less than $100.

Personal Computer Maintenance, Operating system tyipically include a diagnostic utility that diagnoses computer problems but does not repair them. A personal computer maintance uyility identifies and fixes operating system problems, detects and repair disk problems and includes the capabilitiy of improving a computer's performance. Additionally, some personal computer maintance utilities continuously monitor a computer while you use it do identify and repair problems before they occur.

Internet Filters - Filters are programs that remove or block certain items from being displayed. Four widely used internet filters are web filters, anti spam, programs, phishing filters and pop up blockers.

Web Filters, web filtering software is a program that restricts access to certain material on the web. Some restrict access to specific web sites, other filter site that use certain wordd or phrases. Many businesses use web filtering software to limit employee's web access. Some schools, linraries and parents use this software to restricts access to minors. Windows 7 contains parental controls, which allow parents to record and control the types of content their childern can access on the internet.

Anti spam programs spam is an unsolicited e-mail message or newsgroup posting sent yo many recipients or newsgroup at once. The content of spam ranges from selling a product or service, to promoting a business opportunity, to advertising offensive material. An anti spam program is a filtering program that attempts to remove spam before it reaches your inbox. If your e-mail program does not filter spam, many anti spam programs are available at no cost on the web. Internet access providers often filter spam as a service for their subscribers.

Phising filters phising is a scam in which a perpetrator attempts to obtain your personal and financial information. A phishing filter is a program that warns or blocks you from potentially fraudulent or suspicious web sites. Some web browsers or suspicious web sites. Some web browsers include phishing filters.

Pop up blockers a pop uo ad is an internet advertisment that suddenly appeasrs in a new window in the foregrouns of a web page displayed in your browser. A pop up blocker is a filtering program that stops pop up ads from displaying on web pages. Many web browsers include a pop up blocker. You also can download pop up blockers from the web at no cost.

File compression a file compression utility shrinks the sized of a file. A compressed file takes up less storage space than the original file. Compressing files frees up room on the storage media and improves system performance. Attaching a compreesed file to an e-mail message, for example, reduces the time needed for file transmission. Uploading and downloading compressed files to and from the internet reduces the file transmission time.

Two types of commperssion are lossy and lossless. With lossy compression, because the quality of a file decreases slightly each time the file is compressed, you will be unable to restore the file to its exact orginal state. With audio and video files, small degradations in quality usually are not recognizable : thus, lossy compression often in used in these types of files. With lossless compression, by contrast, a comprossed file can be returned to its exact orginal state. Text files typically use lossless compression.

Comprossed files, some times called zipped files, usually have a .zip extension. When you receive or download a compreesed file, you must uncompress it. To uncompress, or unzip, a file, you restore it to its orginal form. Some operating systems such as windows include file compression and uncompression capabilities, Two popular stand alone file compression utilities are PKZIP and WINZip.

Antivirus Programs - The term, computer virus describes a potentially demaging computer program that affect, or infects, a computer negatively by altering the way the computer work without the user's knowledge or permision. Once the virus is a computer, it can spread throughtout and may demage your files and opearting system.

Computer viruses do not generate by chance. The programer of a virus, known as a virus author, intentionally writes viruses a challenge. Others write virus programs to cause destruction. Writing a virus program usually requires significant programing skills.

Some viruses are harmless pranks that simply freeze a computer temporarily or display sound or massages. The music bug virus, for example : instructs the computer to play a few chords of music. Other viruses destroy or corrupt data shared on the hard disk of the infected computer. If you notice any usual changes in your computer's performance, it may be infected with a virus.

Viruses are just one type of malicious software. Malware (short for malicious software) is software that acts without a user's knowledge and deliberately aalters the computer's operations. In addition to viruses, worm and trojan horses are melware.

A worm, such as sasser or klez, copies itself repeatedly for example : in memory over a network using up system resource and posibly shutting down the system. A trojan horse (named after the hreek myth) hides within or looks like a legitimate program such as a screen server. A certain condition or action usually trigers the trojan horse. Unlike a virus or worm, a trojan horse does not replicate itself to other computers. Currently more than one milion known threats to your computer exist.

To protect a computer from virus attacks, users should install an antivirus program and update it frequently. An antivirus program protect a computer against by identifying and removing any computer viruses found in memory, on stroge media, or on incoming files. Most antivirus programs also protect againts worms and trojan. When you purchase a new computer, it often includes antivirus software.

There more popular antivirus programs are Mcafee virus scan, Eset NOD 32, Norton anti virus, Avira,  Avast, Panda, Bitdefender, symantec, f-secure,  trend micro, most of which also contains spyware removers, internet filters and other utilities. As an alternative to purchasing these products on disc, both McAfee and Norton offer web based antivirus programs.

Adware Removers and Spyware - Adware is program that displays an online advertisment in a banner or pop up window on web pages, e-mail, or other internet services. Sometimes spyware is hidden in adware. A spyware remover is a program that detects and deletes spyware and other similiar programs. An adware remover is a program that detects and deletes adware. Most spyware and adware removers cost less than $50 some are available on the web at no cost. Some operating systems removers. Popular stand alone spyware and adware removers. Popular stand alone spyware and adware removers include ad adware spy sweeper, spy bot search and destroy and windows defender.

Spyware is a program placed on a computer without the user's knowledge that secrely collects information about the user often related to web browsing habits. Spyware can enter a computer as a virus or as a result of a user installing a new program. The spyware program communicates information it collect to an outside source while you are online.

Personal Firewall - A personal firewall is a utility that detects and protects a personal computer from unauthorized instrusions. Personal firewall constantly monitor all transmissions to and from a computer.

When connected to the internet you computer is vulnerable to attacks from hacker. A backer is someone who teries to access a computer or network illegally. Users with broadband internet connections such as throught DSL and cable internet service are even susceptible than those with dial up access because the internet connection always is on.

Operating systems often include a personal firewall. Windows automatically enables its buit in personal forewall called windows firewall upon installation of the operating system. If your operating system does not include a personal firewall or you want additional proctetion you can purchase a stand alone personal firewall utility or a hardware firewall which is a device such as a router that has a buit in firewall.

Utility Programs - A utility programs aslso called a utility, is a type of system software that allows a user to perform maintance type task, usually related to managing a computer, its devices, or its programs. Most operating system include several buit in utility programs. User often buy stand alone utilities, however, because they offer improvements over those included with the operating system.

Functions provided by utility programs include the following managing files, searching files, viewing imanges, uninstalling programs, cleaning up disk, defragmenting disks, backing up files and disk, setting up screen severs, removing spyware and adware, securing a computer from unaauthorsized access, procteting against viruses,  comperesing files, filtering internet content, playing media files, buring optical discs and maintaning a personal computer.

The following sections briefly discuss each of these utilities. Read innovative computing to find out about utility programs that can help you recover deleted files.