Windows Repair and Tech Support Software

Sarah Scrafford at Web Design Schools Guide has posted “Top 20 iPhone Apps for Entrepreneurs”. If you have an iPhone you really owe it to yourself to check this out. There are many useful utilities that actually make me wish I had an iPhone instead of a BlackBerry. =)

Patricia Turner at Online University Reviews has posted “Top 20 iPhone Games You’ve Never Heard Of”. Some of them appear that they aren’t quite out yet but they sound fun none the less. And to all you Nine Inch Nails fans out there with an iPhone… There is a game here for you. Enjoy!

Marcelo Emmerich of byte things has posted that he has released a new version of Grazer. Since the post doesn’t say much about Grazer, I will assume that Grazer fans already know what it is.

Free Software Lounge has posted “TVersity Streaming Media Server for Windows”. TVersity can handle almost any media format and streaming protocol whether it is coming from your home network or the Internet including live and on-demand Internet streams. Sounds like Fun!

Mad Kane at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog has posted “Life-Saving, Spam-Fighting WordPress Plugin” which I think all of us that use WordPress could definitely use! I will check this one out as soon as I am done with this post!

The Guru at Satellite TV Guru just posted “Netflix 2 Week Free Trial” which (obviously) tells you how to get a free 2 week trial of Netflix. But the software angle here is that you can watch movies and TV shows online for Free. This is a Trial so please understand that the service will charge you after your 2 weeks have expired.

Fiona King of Masters in Criminal Justice just posted a list that is right up my alley. Her post is on the “100 Best Open Source Security Tools” and it includes monitoring, antivirus, firewall, encryption, remote access and networking tools. Check it out!

written by Tim \\ tags: Free Software

Ok, this post isn’t really about how to get spyware. Its about how not to get spyware.

While doing my tests of Spyware Blockers I have noticed something. Most of them want you to download or install something. If you avoid just this one step, you will be MUCH safer online. If you are asked to install an ActiveX plugin, download a file to do a “Virus Scan” or get the latest “Java” release, just say “No”. If you agree, you will almost certainly be infected.

Spyware creators prey on people that don’t understand this simple fact… “Downloading browser plugins puts your computer at risk.” Of course there are many safe ones such as Adobe Flash, Sun’s Java and Microsoft ActiveX but you have to be certain that you are getting your software from the original manufacturer. If you aren’t, there is a high possibility that you are installing spyware.

Thanks,
The Free Downloadable Software Fan

written by Tim \\ tags: AntiSpyware, Spyware Blockers

I just want to let you, my readers, know that for the next couple weeks (maybe longer), I will not be posting as much as I have been. I have decided to do a series of posts that require a good amount of testing.

I am going to test a series of Spyware Blockers to see which Spyware Blocker program really blocks the most spyware. These must be Real-Time spyware blocking programs. Simple removal tools are NOT being tested here.

I am going to test freeware applications but I am also going to test paid and commercial spyware blocking packages in this test because I really want to see which one is the best and see how much spyware the freeware blockers are able to block in comparison to the commercial programs. I especially want to see if the freeware and commercial versions of the same program fare differently!

Methodology: To test these spyware blockers, I am going to use my test Windows Vista PC (fully patched) in an Administrator’s login with UAC and Windows Defender turned off. I will use Microsoft Internet Explorer and it will be set to accept all cookies as well as pop-ups the security tab will be as low as I can go (medium). I will create a complete system backup so that I can refresh it to the same settings after each test. I am then going to install a single spyware blocking program and search around the web for spyware. I am then going to use a series of spyware removal programs to see what I was infected with. By comparing which programs found which spyware on my system, I will be able to see which blockers fared best. I am going to do this with as many spyware blocking programs as I can find. I am going to use the same websites in the same order to get infected and I am going to use the same spyware removal programs in the same order to see how infected my computer becomes.

Programs: I am going to test Spybot S&D with TeaTimer, Avira AntiVir Premium, AVG, MalwareBytes Anti Malware Professional, SuperAntiSpyware Professional, Spyware Terminator, and PC Tools Spyware Doctor, Windows Defender. I will add more to this list as I think of them or become aware of them.

Submission: If you have a real-time spyware blocker that is not yet on the list, please share it with me by leaving a comment HERE.

Once I have completed the test with each software I will post a short review (with screenshots). When I have concluded my tests, I will put together a monster post to compare the PROs and CONs of each program.

I can’t wait to see the results!

Thanks,
Tim, the Free Downloadable Software Fan

written by Tim \\ tags: AntiSpyware, Spyware Blockers

This article is a small part of the entire article which can be found at Reason Not to Use Warez.

“Warez” refers primarily to copyrighted works traded in violation of copyright law. The term generally refers to illegal releases by organized groups, as opposed to peer-to-peer file sharing between friends or large groups of people with similar interest using a darknet. It usually does not refer to commercial for-profit software counterfeiting. This term was initially coined by members of the various computer underground circles, but has since become commonplace among Internet users and the mass media.
People opposed to warez typically argue that the motivating factors given by cracking groups are not authentic. (source: wikipedia). Below are highly recommended reasons not to pirate or download warez:

• High price is not an excuse to copyright infringement
• Harm is larger than benefits
• Illegality
• Morality
• Professional pride
• Similarity between copyright infringement and digital property theft
• Logical fallacy of the victimless crime argument
• Perpetuation of Overpriced Software
• Security
• False Reputations

This article is a small part of the entire article which can be found at Reason Not to Use Warez.

Thanks,
The Free Downloadable Software Fan

written by Tim \\ tags: Reasons Not to Use Warez

Piriform’s CCleaner (short for Crap Cleaner, literally.) cleans up your hard drive as well as your registry and keeps your PC clean.

Description: After achieving over 200 million downloads, you would have to think a software is pretty darn good, right? I have used it on many computers and I’ve never had it crash, freeze, or act unreliably. With the features that it has and how well it functions, I have to say that CCleaner is worthy of the highest honor I can give it on this site. To see how many that is though, you’ll have to read (or skip) to the bottom of the post.

Compatibility: Windows 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP and XP 64, 2003, Vista 32 and 64

Necessary Info: CCleaner cleans the junk out of your different programs including:

• Internet Explorer - Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.
• Firefox - Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history.
• Opera - Temporary files, URL history, cookies.
• Windows - Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.
• Registry cleaner - Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more… also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.
• Third-party applications - Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, MS Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more…

PROs: It cleans all the junk listed above and does it for free.

CONs: I haven’t yet figured out which check-box prevents the software from removing my commonly used Start Menu Items. I should probably be more diligent in my search but up till now, I haven’t been. This is pretty minor!

Rating:

CCleaner: Download free software HERE.

Thanks,
The Free Downloadable Software Fan

written by Tim \\ tags: Computer Repair, Registry, Speed Up, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows XP