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

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

CrossLoop is a popular free free program for doing remote computer repair.

Description: CrossLoop is a great way to perform screen sharing for computer training and remote desktop services for computer repair over the internet.

Compatibility: Windows XP, Vista and Apple OS X

Necessary Info: CrossLoop is a free software that MAY allow you to get free remote computer repair service. Some of the members do it for fun but others charge for their services. If your friend or neighbor is a computer guru, he will probably do it for free. Just tell him to get the free software. I have been using it for a number of months and I have to say that it really is great free software.

PROs:

• The CrossLoop software is extremely intuitive. The person receiving help gives the person providing help a 12 digit access code and they both click connect. Then after a few confirmations by the person receiving help and they are sharing their screen.
• The features are here and there are still more coming. You can easily transfer files from 1 PC to the other, chat with the other person, and it keeps track of how long your session was.
• The CrossLoop team is constantly working to make CrossLoop better and better. The updates are often on the server side and therefore you don’t have to upgrade your software every time there is a change. But when an upgrade is necessary, they will let you know.
• If you don’t have your own computer Guru, their Marketplace can point you to one that as the skills to solve your specific issue.

CONs:

• On occasion I have had the service become extremely slow and even crash. It is kind of like a cell phone, you are at the mercy of the service provider (the ISP, not CrossLoop) for your connection quality.

Rating:

Conclusion: I have used CrossLoop many times and I highly recommend it to everyone.

CrossLoop: Download free software HERE.

Thanks,
The Free Downloadable Software Fan

written by Tim \\ tags: Computer Repair, Free Software, OS X, Remote Desktop, Speed Up, Tech Support Software, Windows Repair Software, Windows XP

Daily Cup Of Tech’s DCoT Menu System is a computer repair kit on a flash drive.

Free Computer Repair Software

Description: The DCoT Menu System is a free menu system that enables you to use multiple free software applications. It was created to all you to carry them on your flash drive. It contains applications such as AutoRuns, TweakUI, CCleaner, Process Explorer and many more.

Compatibility: Many of these programs will work with Windows 2000, all will work with Windows XP and some will work with Windows Vista.

Necessary Info: This is a necessity for any computer tech and highly recommended for anyone who considers themselves a computer enthusiast. To use it, just follow these simple instructions.

1. Download it.
2. Unzip the files to a folder on your flash drive.
3. Click on the coffee-bean icon.
4. Choose which app to start with and click on it.

Included Programs: Active@ ISO Burner, AutoCompress, Brute Benchmark, CCleaner, CDmage, DriveImage XML, Double Killer, DTaskManager, encopy, Eraser, ERUNT, explore2fs, File Assassin, Filemon, Hash, HDDScan, ICE ECC, LC ISO Creator, LSASecretsView, NTREGOPT, Patcher, PMMon, ProcessExplorer, ProduKey, Regmon, Restoration, Roadkil’s CommTest, Roadkil’s Disk Image, Rootkit Revealer, SequoiaView, System Information for Windows, TweakUI, Universal Extract, Virtual CD Control Panel, What Changed?, Why Reboot?, WirelessKeyView.

PROs: With this portable software on your flash drive, you can speed up computers, free up extra hard drive space, burn CDs and DVDs, find rootkits, undelete files… The list goes on and on. I think you can see why I always keep this on my flash drive.

CONs: The software is out-dated. The last revision was done in 2006 but most of the programs are still as valid as they were 2 years ago…. Unless you have Vista. Then some of them  (Tweak UI) won’t work.

Rating:

Conclusion: Daily Cup Of Tech’s DCoT Menu System is a must-have software package because it combines a host of great portable computer repair utilities. If only it was updated more often (more than once), it would be perfect!

DCoT Menu System: Download free software HERE.

Thanks,
The Free Downloadable Software Fan

written by Tim \\ tags: 4 Thumbs-Up, Computer Repair, Portable, Speed Up, Tech Support Software, Windows Repair Software

If you or your company create free software you can get it reviewed here for free. I ask for nothing in return. I just want to provide people with honest reviews for good free software.

You can email me files or links. Please send all emails to Tim with a title of “Software to Review”. Please put this title on your email so I won’t delete it. Also include your contact info as well as web addresses for your software program and a direct link to download the software directly.

I will get back to you by the end of the next business day to confirm receipt of the email and give you an approximate date that you can expect to see your software reviewed on this blog. Dates given are not set in stone and will vary.

With very few exceptions, I only review Windows software. I will not review any Linux software as I don’t run any Linux systems. I currently will not review any Apple software, though it may be accepted later. I will change this page if and when I start accepting it.

Since I want to be good to my readers, every program and file will be scanned for viruses and spyware. If anything comes up, you will be notified and it will not be reviewed. End of story.

Thank you,
The Free Downloadable Software Fan

written by Tim \\ tags: Submit Software, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows XP