Although many downloads look tempting, your PC can't use them all. This month, we look at a few programs that prevent download overload. We've found a browser shell with enough security features to avoid add-in madness, a font manager to keep those characters from slowing down your system, and a screen saver that may be the last one you'll ever need.

IE, Only Secure

Like it or not, Microsoft Internet Explorer is the required tool for many Web forays. Many Web sites won't work properly (or in some cases, at all) without IE. But every now and then some Trojan monstrosity like Scob rears its ugly head--and IE isn't exactly a Homeric hero when it comes to fighting security threats. Trouble is, it takes a small army of software to hold the line against browser hijackers, spyware, and aggressive advertisements.

Winferno Software's Secure IE 2004 lets you direct the troops from the Secure IE tabbed browser, which works as an add-in to Internet Explorer. In my informal tests, it was very easy to change the security settings in the Preview edition of Secure IE 2004. Not only did it allow me to block pop-ups, Flash animations, and ActiveX controls, it let me toggle the preferences on and off from a prominent taskbar (instead of some deeply buried menu).

The features PC World liked in an earlier version are still around, and the new version adds new ones, such as automatic updates, selective pop-up blocking, and blocking of Windows Messenger pop-ups.

Secure IE lets you add sticky notes to Web pages and save the pages to your hard disk in HTML, URL, and Zipped HTML formats. Although this may not sound like a security feature, it certainly couldn't hurt: If you don't have to go online just to look at a bookmarked Web page, that's one less opportunity for malware and hackers to drip sleaze onto your system.

You can download Secure IE 2004 for a free 15-day trial; $30 buys you the program and one year of automatic updates. The full Secure IE 2004 Deluxe Suite, which also includes Private IE 2004 (a browser history cleaner) and Internet speed booster Rapid IE 2004, costs $50 for the program and one year of updates.

Losing Your Fondness for Fonts?

The right font sets the mood for the occasion--but when your Lord of the Rings party is over, do you really need the Elvish font you downloaded for your invitations? Sure, it's fun to spell your name in Anglo-Saxon runes, but are you likely to write business letters with them? Whether or not you use these fonts once you've acquired them, Windows loads them--along with the ones that come with the OS--to keep them at the ready, and that preparedness can slow down your system.

If you're using Windows XP, FontFrenzy can be your friend. This freebie from Sound Doctrine tells you which fonts you've popped into your system since your Windows installation and helps you uninstall them. If you have a sneaking suspicion that those runes will come in handy sometime next year, you can take a snapshot of the fonts and restore them at a later date.

FontFrenzy's trial lasts 40 days. To continue using the program, you must register the software. It remains free, but the unusually charming nag screen goes away.

Next Stop: Jupiter

[Editor's Note: It was later discovered that the 3D Solar Traveler screen saver contains a program that plants spyware. Our staff privacy expert, Andrew Brandt, provides instructions for ridding your system of such pests. Also note that we removed the software from our Downloads library, so the link below is no longer active.]

Although few monitors require screen savers these days, many of the humans peering at the monitors could use a sanity saver. 3D Solar Traveler helps you regain your peace of mind as you sit back for a gorgeous, three-dimensional tour of the solar system. If your mind requires stimulation instead of soothing, you can customize your celestial experience with stardust, scientific information about the planets, and by traveling several different routes. I enjoyed the starry stroll with and without the mellow music provided, but I also liked the option to set an MP3 from my own collection as the soundtrack. Holst's The Planets,anyone?

Even the 15-day free trial version's floating nag icon can't spoil the beauty of space. A $15 fee registers the screen saver with maker 3Deep Space and banishes the nag screen. That'll hold me while I save up for a trip on the space shuttle.

PC World Senior Associate Editor Andrew Brandt, Senior Downloads Producer Max Green, and Online Indexer David Lake contributed to this story.

Comments on any of these files? Is PC World's downloads library missing out on your favorites? E-mail your thoughts to Laura Blackwell. Messages containing attached files will be deleted unread.