Application Locker is really useful for parents who want to restrict their children's use of your computer, or just to keep certain programs out of reach of other users. It's limited to locking .EXE files, so you can't use it to lock the control panel, which is a shame. However, things like Firefox and IE can easily be locked, restricting internet access.

There is no security on Application Locker, so anyone who opens it can unlock locked programs. However, if you install it with administrator rights on your PC, and set it to be only usable by an administrator, it will be effective.

As a way to flag to users that they shouldn't be using a certain application, this does the trick. It comes with a help PDF, although this is quite uninformative! To add an application to the lock list, you just need to paste in the .EXE filename, which is not difficult, but you can't search for applications to add.

For the security conscious, Application Locker is a simple way to keep certain programs out fo bounds.

Download AppLocker 1.3 in Softonic

The focus of this program is security. OpenVPN provides many options for controlling the security of the VPN client but it also provides options for protecting the security of the server itself. The big advantage is that it's a cross-platform app so it doesn't what matter which type of computer the users are using and it offers excellent stability and scalability for hundreds or even thousands of clients. Installation is also simple and it supports both dynamic IP addresses and NAT. The developers claim that they have worked hard to make it responsive in terms of both normal operation and error recovery. What I liked most is that if it drops the connection, within 5 minutes it will reconnect although this is rather too long for my liking. If you could reduce this to just a few seconds, it would be much more useful as no one wants to hang around 5 minutes for their VPN to connect again.

A simple and secure client that offers users across all platforms a free and powerful VPN solution.

Download OpenVPN 2.09 in Softonic

Download WinGuard Pro Free 7.7.0 in Softonic

Download Protect EXE 0.4 Beta in Softonic

Although it's far from a complete antivirus tool, DriveSentry does a very thorough job of preventing certain applications trying to access the Internet without your knowledge.

Instead, you have an easy-to-manage list of programs that are automatically granted permissions, which you can quickly add to at any time.

With an instant access System Tray icon thrown in for good measure, this is a great no-frills firewall app for those who want their system protection to be done in the background.

Download DriveSentry 3.1 in Softonic

If anyone tries to use that program, they’ll be prompted for the password, and if they don’t know it, will be unable to use the program.

You’ll also be able to set an overall administrator password so you can have access to programs regardless of the individual password set. Program Protector also has a log function, so you can see exactly what’s going on with your protection.

It’s worth bearing in mind that in the trial version, there is a button to bypass the protection (rendering the program useless), but obviously this doesn’t appear in the paid app.

Download Program Protector 4.4 in Softonic