By: Kris Bickell
Looking to buy a new computer?
Overwhelmed by all of the options available to you?
Stressed by the high cost of computers today?
For most people, buying a new computer does not have to be as
stressful as buying a new car. Nor does it have to be as
expensive. If you're like most people, and you have a limited
budget for buying a computer, then you need to try to get as
much computer for your money as possible.
Here are 3 simple ways anyone can save money when buying a new
computer:
1) Shop around for best deal.
Sounds pretty obvious. But many people don't realize they don't
need the fastest, most expensive computer with the most
"extras". In fact, if you are already using an older computer,
even the least expensive new computer will be a big upgrade. If
you don't know a lot about computers, you can learn a lot by
shopping around. Ask lots of questions, compare prices, compare
features, then find the best price. Shop at your local
electronics store, and look for the best deals online. You'll be
surprised at how much money you can save by shopping around!
2) Install your own "extras"
Many computers you will find in a store have a lot of extra
software already installed. While this is convenient, it is not
always the best way for you to save money. Also, while many of
these extras sound good, you don't always need them. You can
often find better deals by shopping around separately for your
own software extras (such as a word processor, anti-virus, popup
blocker, spyware removal, games, etc). And some of these you can
get for free. So before you buy the "fully loaded" computer, ask
yourself if you really need all the extras, then shop around to
see if you can buy a scaled down computer - and get the extras
yourself for much less!
3) Don't buy extended warranty
If you are not a computer "techie", the extended warranties
offered by the computer retailers often sound like a good idea.
After all, who wants to be bothered paying for service on a
computer after you buy it. But keep in mind that most computers
come with a warranty, and most computer problems will either
happen at the beginning (when you still have the warranty in
effect) or much later (when it might be cheaper to buy a new
computer). Technology changes very quickly these days. So
consider whether or not it's worth the inflated price of the
extended warranty. And, if you really feel you need the extended
warranty, then ask to purchase it at a lower price. Not all
retailers will negotiate on the warranty, but some will. And
whether you buy the extended warranty or not, make sure you back
up all your files periodically, just in case!
If you have an unlimited budget, consider yourself lucky. And if
you do business on the computer, make sure you get what you
need, while trying to keep the price down. At any price, buying
something that does not fit your needs is not a good deal.
Hope you find these tips helpful, and happy computer shopping!
About the author:
Kris Bickell is the owner of Hi-Speed-Internet.com, a helpful
site for consumers comparing high speed internet services. For
information on high speed DSL, Cable, and Wireless Internet,
visit: http://www.Hi-Speed-Internet.com, and sign up for the
free email course "5 Simple Ways To Increase Your Computer
Speed". © 2005 Hi-Speed-Internet.com
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Spyware versus Adware; the Difference Impacts Your Privacy
By: Sharron Senter
Many people use the terms Spyware and Adware interchangeably.
You shouldn't! There are important differences between the two.
True, both terms refer to the act of tracking your computer
activity, such as how long you visited a particular Web site.
However, the key difference is the intent behind how and why a
business collects your information. Adware is commonly
associated with pop-up advertisements used by businesses trying
to sell you something. However, Spyware, the more malicious of
the two, isn't trying to sell you, instead, it's trying to take
something from you -- your credit card and social security
numbers and bank account information. Some Spyware collects
information about you and, if placed in the wrong hands, could
be detrimental to your financial wellbeing and used to steal
your identity. Adware is usually something you can see. Whereas
Spyware often can't be seen, in fact, businesses behind Spyware
don't want you to know they're lurking. Therefore, you may have
a Spyware infection and not know it. One vicious Spyware is
keylogging, a tool that hangs about in the background, logging
your keystrokes, including account numbers and passwords you
type on your keyboard, and then sends the information to the
originating source.
Future of Spyware Spyware will only become more invasive with no
concern for your privacy, regardless of what you want or think.
Worse, no one piece of software will protect you from the above.
Why? One belief is that there are far more research dollars
being spent on developing Spyware than combating it, since the
information derived from the former is more lucrative.
Protecting Yourself There are two methods to protect yourself,
both are equally important.
1. Manage your computer usage behavior. If you download most
anything for free - movies, software, music, etc., then you can
anticipate being exposed to highly aggressive forms of Spyware.
2. Utilize anti-spyware software programs and a hardware
firewall. Both help to fend off Spyware. Lavasoft's Ad-Aware se
and Microsoft's AntiSpyware (Beta) programs are reputable.
About the author:
Sharron Senter is co-founder of http://www.VisitingGeeks.com -
an on site computer repair, security and networking company
serving north of Boston, Southern NH and Maine. Visiting Geeks'
technicians are crackerjacks at squashing viruses, popups and
securing and making computers perform faster. Learn more about
Sharron at http://www.SharronSenter.com None
Many people use the terms Spyware and Adware interchangeably.
You shouldn't! There are important differences between the two.
True, both terms refer to the act of tracking your computer
activity, such as how long you visited a particular Web site.
However, the key difference is the intent behind how and why a
business collects your information. Adware is commonly
associated with pop-up advertisements used by businesses trying
to sell you something. However, Spyware, the more malicious of
the two, isn't trying to sell you, instead, it's trying to take
something from you -- your credit card and social security
numbers and bank account information. Some Spyware collects
information about you and, if placed in the wrong hands, could
be detrimental to your financial wellbeing and used to steal
your identity. Adware is usually something you can see. Whereas
Spyware often can't be seen, in fact, businesses behind Spyware
don't want you to know they're lurking. Therefore, you may have
a Spyware infection and not know it. One vicious Spyware is
keylogging, a tool that hangs about in the background, logging
your keystrokes, including account numbers and passwords you
type on your keyboard, and then sends the information to the
originating source.
Future of Spyware Spyware will only become more invasive with no
concern for your privacy, regardless of what you want or think.
Worse, no one piece of software will protect you from the above.
Why? One belief is that there are far more research dollars
being spent on developing Spyware than combating it, since the
information derived from the former is more lucrative.
Protecting Yourself There are two methods to protect yourself,
both are equally important.
1. Manage your computer usage behavior. If you download most
anything for free - movies, software, music, etc., then you can
anticipate being exposed to highly aggressive forms of Spyware.
2. Utilize anti-spyware software programs and a hardware
firewall. Both help to fend off Spyware. Lavasoft's Ad-Aware se
and Microsoft's AntiSpyware (Beta) programs are reputable.
About the author:
Sharron Senter is co-founder of http://www.VisitingGeeks.com -
an on site computer repair, security and networking company
serving north of Boston, Southern NH and Maine. Visiting Geeks'
technicians are crackerjacks at squashing viruses, popups and
securing and making computers perform faster. Learn more about
Sharron at http://www.SharronSenter.com None
Friday, October 28, 2005
Use A Spyware Remover Now
By: Kenth Nasstrom
If you use the internet, "There is over 90% chance your computer
is infected with spyware" - Source CNN.
Just think about it. You probably have at least one, if not more
computers in your home. Most computers today have internet
access. And if you receive email from others and surf to a
couple of sites can you be almost completely sure you have some
kind of spyware installed in your computer.
How dangerous are spyware?
Let me give you a short list of things spyware can do,
* Spyware can run completely hidden on your computer * It can
slow down your computer a lot * It can spy on you and send
everything you type to someone else * It can record everything
you do, allowing someone to see it later * It can spy on you and
send account information, passwords, credit card numbers and
similar to a third party * It can "steal" files, pictures,
videos and more from your computer
Some spyware will do just a few things and others everything
from the list above, and more.
You must keep your computer clean from spyware or risk loosing
personal information, financial information and even your
private photos or family videos.
Run a spyware scanner regularly to clean out any spyware that
may have sneaked their way into your computer. Do note that
antivirus software (even the most expensive ones) have problems
to keep spyware out. So get a good anti spyware software and use
it!
No matter what the spyware's purpose really is, the bottom line
is that at the very least it will cause you countless hours of
problem solving and slow downs on your computer.
Scan your PC now to make sure it is clean. If you find anything,
avoid using any credit cards or visit your online bank until the
PC is cleaned with a top anti spyware software.
There are many different types of software that can harm,
cripple or just reside quietly inside your computer. Beside
virus, the most common types are Spyware, Adware, Malware,
Trojans, Backdoors, Bots and Dialers. They all have different
agendas but will to a degree change the way your computer
function and how well it works. This beside the obvious threath
the program itself impose.
About the author:
Kenth Nasstrom, Learn more about Spyware removers and see our
top three list at http://www.free-spyware-remover-reviews.com/
If you use the internet, "There is over 90% chance your computer
is infected with spyware" - Source CNN.
Just think about it. You probably have at least one, if not more
computers in your home. Most computers today have internet
access. And if you receive email from others and surf to a
couple of sites can you be almost completely sure you have some
kind of spyware installed in your computer.
How dangerous are spyware?
Let me give you a short list of things spyware can do,
* Spyware can run completely hidden on your computer * It can
slow down your computer a lot * It can spy on you and send
everything you type to someone else * It can record everything
you do, allowing someone to see it later * It can spy on you and
send account information, passwords, credit card numbers and
similar to a third party * It can "steal" files, pictures,
videos and more from your computer
Some spyware will do just a few things and others everything
from the list above, and more.
You must keep your computer clean from spyware or risk loosing
personal information, financial information and even your
private photos or family videos.
Run a spyware scanner regularly to clean out any spyware that
may have sneaked their way into your computer. Do note that
antivirus software (even the most expensive ones) have problems
to keep spyware out. So get a good anti spyware software and use
it!
No matter what the spyware's purpose really is, the bottom line
is that at the very least it will cause you countless hours of
problem solving and slow downs on your computer.
Scan your PC now to make sure it is clean. If you find anything,
avoid using any credit cards or visit your online bank until the
PC is cleaned with a top anti spyware software.
There are many different types of software that can harm,
cripple or just reside quietly inside your computer. Beside
virus, the most common types are Spyware, Adware, Malware,
Trojans, Backdoors, Bots and Dialers. They all have different
agendas but will to a degree change the way your computer
function and how well it works. This beside the obvious threath
the program itself impose.
About the author:
Kenth Nasstrom, Learn more about Spyware removers and see our
top three list at http://www.free-spyware-remover-reviews.com/
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Top 5 Reasons To Go Wireless
By: Ron King
Wireless networking is 1 of the greatest new computer
technologies in terms of convenience. If you're weighing the
pros and cons of wireless before taking the leap, here are 5 to
put in the "pro" column.
#1: No More Wires
Of all the reasons to switch your network to wireless, this is
perhaps the most important. Wires are inconvenient, expensive,
dangerous, and downright ugly.
No more wires across the floor improves the safety of your home,
since it's easy to trip over exposed wires.
The average Ethernet wire doesn't cost much per foot, but it
adds up quickly. To run wires between rooms or floors, you have
to knock holes in the walls, which might not even be an option
for renters.
Plus when you move you don't have the mess of disconnecting all
the wires only to re-connect them at the other end. Nor do you
have to examine every wire for damage if your internet
connection goes down.
#2: Internet Access For All
Wireless networking gives you a cheap, easy way to share 1
internet connection among multiple computers. You can add new
computers to your network simply by plugging in a wireless card
and switching them on -- they get an internet connection
immediately!
#3: Share Files And Printers
A wireless network gives you access to your files wherever you
are, and makes it easy to synchronize the data of a laptop and a
desktop computer. It's much easier to send files between
computers with a wireless network than by email, or CD.
Plus, with the printer connected, you can also write things
wherever you happen to be, press print, and go collect them from
a printer connected to another computer. Printers plugged into 1
of the network's computers are shared by all the computers
automatically.
#4: Always ON
Broadband revolutionized networking with internet connections
being continuously connected -- no need to dial in every time.
Wireless networking lets network connections be always-on, so
any of your computers can connect to the internet whenever you
want. Take laptops from room to room or out on the deck --
they'll have an internet connection. Plus, there's no need for
excessive password entry.
#5: Freedom!
With wireless networking, you can even take your computer
wherever the signal reaches. Going wireless is much like the
switching from the old fashioned wall-mounted telephone to a
cellular phone. The freedom is exhilarating.
About the author:
Visit
Wireless Internet to learn more. Ron King is a full-time
researcher, writer, and web developer. Copyright 2005 Ron King.
This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left
intact.
Wireless networking is 1 of the greatest new computer
technologies in terms of convenience. If you're weighing the
pros and cons of wireless before taking the leap, here are 5 to
put in the "pro" column.
#1: No More Wires
Of all the reasons to switch your network to wireless, this is
perhaps the most important. Wires are inconvenient, expensive,
dangerous, and downright ugly.
No more wires across the floor improves the safety of your home,
since it's easy to trip over exposed wires.
The average Ethernet wire doesn't cost much per foot, but it
adds up quickly. To run wires between rooms or floors, you have
to knock holes in the walls, which might not even be an option
for renters.
Plus when you move you don't have the mess of disconnecting all
the wires only to re-connect them at the other end. Nor do you
have to examine every wire for damage if your internet
connection goes down.
#2: Internet Access For All
Wireless networking gives you a cheap, easy way to share 1
internet connection among multiple computers. You can add new
computers to your network simply by plugging in a wireless card
and switching them on -- they get an internet connection
immediately!
#3: Share Files And Printers
A wireless network gives you access to your files wherever you
are, and makes it easy to synchronize the data of a laptop and a
desktop computer. It's much easier to send files between
computers with a wireless network than by email, or CD.
Plus, with the printer connected, you can also write things
wherever you happen to be, press print, and go collect them from
a printer connected to another computer. Printers plugged into 1
of the network's computers are shared by all the computers
automatically.
#4: Always ON
Broadband revolutionized networking with internet connections
being continuously connected -- no need to dial in every time.
Wireless networking lets network connections be always-on, so
any of your computers can connect to the internet whenever you
want. Take laptops from room to room or out on the deck --
they'll have an internet connection. Plus, there's no need for
excessive password entry.
#5: Freedom!
With wireless networking, you can even take your computer
wherever the signal reaches. Going wireless is much like the
switching from the old fashioned wall-mounted telephone to a
cellular phone. The freedom is exhilarating.
About the author:
Visit
Wireless Internet to learn more. Ron King is a full-time
researcher, writer, and web developer. Copyright 2005 Ron King.
This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left
intact.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Top 10 Ways to Protect Yourself from Online Identity Theft
By: Jim Faller
Identity theft is becoming a bigger problem as more and more
people are making the internet a bigger part of their lives.
People who are new to the online medium often fall prey to
'phishing' or other internet identity theft schemes. In many
cases the 'phishing party' uses your credit card to order goods
for them selves, in other cases they will apply for credit
cards, set up bank accounts, and take advantage of your good
credit rating. Correcting these issues involves a lot of time
energy and stress, so here are ten tips to help you from
becoming a victim of identity theft.
Use a disposable email account. Keep your business or personal
email account just for business or personal communication. If
you are going to be making purchases online, joining newsgroups,
or subscribing to mailing lists and ezines use a disposable
email account. There are many online free accounts such as
yahoo, hotmail or grail, and most of them can interface with
popular email clients like outlook or outlook express. Use one
of them for all of your shopping transactions.
Disguise your online identity. If your real name in Mary Smith
try to avoid using email accounts with name like
msmith@example.com when dealing with people you don't know and
trust. If you were born in 1972 don't chose
msmith1972@example.com as your email account.
Use different level passwords. Use one password for your
personal information, use another for your business accounts and
a third for your disposable email accounts or mailing lists you
sign up for. Don't use sequential passwords like password1 for
personal use password2 for business, and password 3 for
disposable accounts.
Use strong passwords. Don't use your birthdates, year you were
married, or your children's birthdates. Avoid choosing passwords
that consist entirely of letters or numbers. Also try to avoid
using passwords that are actual words. The best passwords are
mnemonic phrases like "my father ate three apples for
breakfast". Take the first letter of each word and convert the
number into numbers and you end up with "mfa3a4b".
Rotate your passwords. You should change your passwords every 6
to 12 months. If you suspect your passwords have been
compromised change them as a safety precaution.
Use only one credit card for all of your online purchases. If
any of your other credit cards have online transactions you know
they are fraudulent. If you see offline purchases for your
online credit card you also know they are fraudulent. Use credit
cards instead of debit cards. While many debit cards now offer
online purchase protection it's easier to dispute fraudulent
charges than to recover debit card funds that have already been
spent.
When you make purchases online make sure your transactions are
secure. In the address bar you should see "https" and not
"http". There should also be small lock icon in your browser. If
this is your first purchase from the company make sure the
issuing company is someone you have heard of like Verisign, or
Thawte.
Check a company's privacy policy. When you make your first
transaction make sure your check the privacy policy, look for
logos from consumer groups like Trust-E and the better business
bureau. Click the logos to make sure they are authentic.
Never open or fill out email requests for you to update you
account or credit card settings via email. These are 'phishing'
scams people use to try and secure your personal information.
Many of them are growing increasingly sophisticated and go to
great lengths to look exactly like the companies website using
their exact logo.
© Computers.6ln.com, All Rights Reserved.
About the author:
This article was written by Jim Faller of
http://computers.6ln.com a website with information about
viruses, spyware, adware, backups, data recovery and computer
security.
Identity theft is becoming a bigger problem as more and more
people are making the internet a bigger part of their lives.
People who are new to the online medium often fall prey to
'phishing' or other internet identity theft schemes. In many
cases the 'phishing party' uses your credit card to order goods
for them selves, in other cases they will apply for credit
cards, set up bank accounts, and take advantage of your good
credit rating. Correcting these issues involves a lot of time
energy and stress, so here are ten tips to help you from
becoming a victim of identity theft.
Use a disposable email account. Keep your business or personal
email account just for business or personal communication. If
you are going to be making purchases online, joining newsgroups,
or subscribing to mailing lists and ezines use a disposable
email account. There are many online free accounts such as
yahoo, hotmail or grail, and most of them can interface with
popular email clients like outlook or outlook express. Use one
of them for all of your shopping transactions.
Disguise your online identity. If your real name in Mary Smith
try to avoid using email accounts with name like
msmith@example.com when dealing with people you don't know and
trust. If you were born in 1972 don't chose
msmith1972@example.com as your email account.
Use different level passwords. Use one password for your
personal information, use another for your business accounts and
a third for your disposable email accounts or mailing lists you
sign up for. Don't use sequential passwords like password1 for
personal use password2 for business, and password 3 for
disposable accounts.
Use strong passwords. Don't use your birthdates, year you were
married, or your children's birthdates. Avoid choosing passwords
that consist entirely of letters or numbers. Also try to avoid
using passwords that are actual words. The best passwords are
mnemonic phrases like "my father ate three apples for
breakfast". Take the first letter of each word and convert the
number into numbers and you end up with "mfa3a4b".
Rotate your passwords. You should change your passwords every 6
to 12 months. If you suspect your passwords have been
compromised change them as a safety precaution.
Use only one credit card for all of your online purchases. If
any of your other credit cards have online transactions you know
they are fraudulent. If you see offline purchases for your
online credit card you also know they are fraudulent. Use credit
cards instead of debit cards. While many debit cards now offer
online purchase protection it's easier to dispute fraudulent
charges than to recover debit card funds that have already been
spent.
When you make purchases online make sure your transactions are
secure. In the address bar you should see "https" and not
"http". There should also be small lock icon in your browser. If
this is your first purchase from the company make sure the
issuing company is someone you have heard of like Verisign, or
Thawte.
Check a company's privacy policy. When you make your first
transaction make sure your check the privacy policy, look for
logos from consumer groups like Trust-E and the better business
bureau. Click the logos to make sure they are authentic.
Never open or fill out email requests for you to update you
account or credit card settings via email. These are 'phishing'
scams people use to try and secure your personal information.
Many of them are growing increasingly sophisticated and go to
great lengths to look exactly like the companies website using
their exact logo.
© Computers.6ln.com, All Rights Reserved.
About the author:
This article was written by Jim Faller of
http://computers.6ln.com a website with information about
viruses, spyware, adware, backups, data recovery and computer
security.
How To Choose A Good Web Host (When They All Look Alike)
By: John Pierce
Choosing a web host is never easy. There are just so many
unknowns when it comes to finding a host. It's hardly ever
possible to walk into a web host's office, look around, meet the
owners, and get a feel for whether or not you'd like to do
business with these people.
It's important, though, that you bend over backwards to
establish whether your prospective web host is a credible
provider - or a fly by night artist.
The webmaster industry is awash with horror stories about
signing up with a web hosting company, onlty to find out later
that this 'business' is run by a 14 year old who lives at home.
For the most part, you'll make your decision using whatever
information you can find online.
Start out with the website of the web host you are considering.
Is it professionally designed and written? Typo's and spelling
errors may signal that this is a company ran by kids or
amateurs.
Is the website easy to use? Is it designed with a view towards
helping people? Are help materials available online? This should
give you a flavor for whether the company is client oriented.
Where is the company located? Is there an address? Can you email
them?
Look at the Terms of Service. Does your prospective web host
clearly spell out what may be expected of them and what is
expected of you? Every deal is different, but both parties
should clearly know what the deal is.
Next, do a search for the company on Google. Are you finding any
negative statements? Try different searching techniques, like
typing the company name followed by the word "scam", or by the
words "poor support".
Now, try emailing their customer support department. Do you get
a fast reply? What about their sales department? Do they answer
enquiries quickly? Let's face it...if they won't pay any
attention to you when they're trying to get your business, how
much more will you be neglected after you sign up?
If you follow these simple suggestions, your chances of signing
up with an excellent web host increase substantially.
About the author:
John Pierce is the webmaster of cheapwebhostinginfo.com -
http://cheapwebhostinginfo.com - and the Customer Service
Manager for Gold Zero Web Hosting - http://goldzero.com
Choosing a web host is never easy. There are just so many
unknowns when it comes to finding a host. It's hardly ever
possible to walk into a web host's office, look around, meet the
owners, and get a feel for whether or not you'd like to do
business with these people.
It's important, though, that you bend over backwards to
establish whether your prospective web host is a credible
provider - or a fly by night artist.
The webmaster industry is awash with horror stories about
signing up with a web hosting company, onlty to find out later
that this 'business' is run by a 14 year old who lives at home.
For the most part, you'll make your decision using whatever
information you can find online.
Start out with the website of the web host you are considering.
Is it professionally designed and written? Typo's and spelling
errors may signal that this is a company ran by kids or
amateurs.
Is the website easy to use? Is it designed with a view towards
helping people? Are help materials available online? This should
give you a flavor for whether the company is client oriented.
Where is the company located? Is there an address? Can you email
them?
Look at the Terms of Service. Does your prospective web host
clearly spell out what may be expected of them and what is
expected of you? Every deal is different, but both parties
should clearly know what the deal is.
Next, do a search for the company on Google. Are you finding any
negative statements? Try different searching techniques, like
typing the company name followed by the word "scam", or by the
words "poor support".
Now, try emailing their customer support department. Do you get
a fast reply? What about their sales department? Do they answer
enquiries quickly? Let's face it...if they won't pay any
attention to you when they're trying to get your business, how
much more will you be neglected after you sign up?
If you follow these simple suggestions, your chances of signing
up with an excellent web host increase substantially.
About the author:
John Pierce is the webmaster of cheapwebhostinginfo.com -
http://cheapwebhostinginfo.com - and the Customer Service
Manager for Gold Zero Web Hosting - http://goldzero.com
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Adware And The Case Against Bundled Software
By: Joel Walsh
Bundling software applications together is a practice much
abused by purveyors of adware. The potential for sneaking
unwanted software into a bundle of desirable software is
obvious. The benefits of bundling software aren't so obvious.
Isn't it time to consider dumping the practice of bundling
software altogether?
Bundled Software: When Is It Not Adware?
If a user wants a piece of software, why can't he or she be
allowed to install it separately? If the bundled software were
essential to the functioning of the original software (excluding
generic functions such as install, un-uninstall, and
documentation), why wouldn't the developer build its functions
directly into the original software?
Sure, sometimes there's a software application that clearly
complements another application. But for users who do not want
the complementary software, having it just means a bloated
install file and a needlessly long installation process.
Does the chance that users will want the bundled software ever
outweigh the risk of the bundled software being installed
without the user noticing? In the case of adware, the technology
community is increasingly willing to put the burden of proof on
the adware bundlers:
* Cnet's download.com website recently removed any and all
software that comes bundled with another piece of software that
shows advertising, regardless of how well informed the user is
of the bundled software.
* Affiliate networks such as Commission Junction and Kolimbo
have either cautioned advertisers against accepting adware
distributors into their affiliate programs or kicked them out
altogether.
* Many technology law experts are saying that the click-wrap
license agreements that supposedly legitimate adware are not
proof of informed consent. Some experts even say that such
agreements amount to unconscionable contracts: the burden
imposed by adware is so great and the benefit offered so
negligible.
Adware and Bundled Software: A Modest Proposal
If the spam arms race is any indication, we may soon face even
more aggressive attempts to get adware on our computers. There
will be even more tortured arguments that bundled adware is
installed with users' informed consent. Why not head off any of
those arguments right now? Let's push for an industry standard
that reputable developers do not bundle software (with a few
highly specific exceptions such as documentation, installation,
and error reporting).
In the end, by getting rid of bundled software, what do we have
to lose except adware?
About the author:
Read more of Joel Walsh's articles on spyware and adware:
http://www.spyware-refuge.com
Bundling software applications together is a practice much
abused by purveyors of adware. The potential for sneaking
unwanted software into a bundle of desirable software is
obvious. The benefits of bundling software aren't so obvious.
Isn't it time to consider dumping the practice of bundling
software altogether?
Bundled Software: When Is It Not Adware?
If a user wants a piece of software, why can't he or she be
allowed to install it separately? If the bundled software were
essential to the functioning of the original software (excluding
generic functions such as install, un-uninstall, and
documentation), why wouldn't the developer build its functions
directly into the original software?
Sure, sometimes there's a software application that clearly
complements another application. But for users who do not want
the complementary software, having it just means a bloated
install file and a needlessly long installation process.
Does the chance that users will want the bundled software ever
outweigh the risk of the bundled software being installed
without the user noticing? In the case of adware, the technology
community is increasingly willing to put the burden of proof on
the adware bundlers:
* Cnet's download.com website recently removed any and all
software that comes bundled with another piece of software that
shows advertising, regardless of how well informed the user is
of the bundled software.
* Affiliate networks such as Commission Junction and Kolimbo
have either cautioned advertisers against accepting adware
distributors into their affiliate programs or kicked them out
altogether.
* Many technology law experts are saying that the click-wrap
license agreements that supposedly legitimate adware are not
proof of informed consent. Some experts even say that such
agreements amount to unconscionable contracts: the burden
imposed by adware is so great and the benefit offered so
negligible.
Adware and Bundled Software: A Modest Proposal
If the spam arms race is any indication, we may soon face even
more aggressive attempts to get adware on our computers. There
will be even more tortured arguments that bundled adware is
installed with users' informed consent. Why not head off any of
those arguments right now? Let's push for an industry standard
that reputable developers do not bundle software (with a few
highly specific exceptions such as documentation, installation,
and error reporting).
In the end, by getting rid of bundled software, what do we have
to lose except adware?
About the author:
Read more of Joel Walsh's articles on spyware and adware:
http://www.spyware-refuge.com
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Free Gadget and ultra cheap PC Offers.
By: Brad Eden
Copyright 2005 Brad Eden
You've probably seen the ads for "low cost" PC's - "PC's for
$199" - or even "free" computers. If you're in the market for a
personal computer, the you should know that "free" doesn't
always mean free. Very often, certain conditions and
restrictions found in the fine print of advertisements for
"free" or "low cost" PC's can turn a so-called deal into a big
ticket buy.
"Free" or "low-cost" PC offers often require "bundled" Internet
service contracts, which may last up to three years. In return
for signing up for Internet service, you can get as much as a
$400 rebate on the computer purchase. While some of these offers
can be good deals, many are not as affordable as they may seem.
Frequently, important details about the rebate and Internet
service offer are difficult to ferret out because they're left
out of the advertising or buried in the fine print.
Up-Front Costs To get a "low cost" PC, you may have to pay the
full cost of the computer up front - that is, the total price
without any rebates. If the PC is advertised for $199 after
rebates, you may have to pay $599, plus any sales tax and
shipping charges, and then send for the $400 rebate.
Usually, you have to apply for the rebate in writing, mail in
documentation of the sale and then wait - sometimes months -
until you receive your rebate check. Sometimes "instant" rebates
are offered and you can get your deduction immediately. But some
offers allow you to spend the rebate only on other merchandise
from the manufacturer or retailer, meaning you still have to pay
the full price for the computer.
Internet Access When you buy a "free" or "low cost" computer,
you often have to sign up for three years of Internet service at
$20-$30 a month - a total cost of up to $1,000 for three years.
Technology is changing at a dizzying pace. It's possible that
the three-year Internet service you lock in today could be out
of date in six months or a year. And if you'd like to cancel
your service, you'll likely have to pay a substantial penalty.
If you decide to cancel your Internet service for any reason,
chances are you'll have to pay back some or all of the rebate
you received; you also may have to pay a cancellation fee of $50
or more.
If you don't live in a major metropolitan area, you may have to
pay long distance telephone charges to access the Internet. Or
you also may be able to use a "toll-free" (800, 888 or 877)
number supplied by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), but you
may be charged five or six dollars an hour to use their
"toll-free" number. Whether you choose to use the ISP's
telephone number or pay long-distance charges, your phone calls
to access the Internet could add up to more than you'll save
through the rebate.
If the PC offer requires you to sign-up for Internet service,
ask the retailer and the ISP for the Internet access phone
numbers closest to you. Then check with your local phone company
to determine whether you have to pay long distance rates to use
those phone numbers. You may want to consider another offer if
the "deal" you're considering requires you to call long distance
or pay a fee to access the Internet.
Other Costs It's possible that the cost of a monitor or other
crucial system components may not be included in the PC offer
you're considering. The advertisements for the offer may not be
clear about what's included. If you have to buy a monitor, for
example, plan on spending at least an additional $150.
When considering a "free" or "low cost" PC offer, ask the
retailer about up-front costs, rebates, essential components,
Internet access costs, long-term commitments, cancellation
policies, local or long distance phone access and any other
important issues. Details will help you make the deal that's
right for you.
About the author:
Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14 years of
industry experience in real estate, marketing and technical
communication. He currently consults with IBM in CA. Brad owns &
operates a free traffic resource for entrepreneurs.
http://www.americanfreetraffic.com
Copyright 2005 Brad Eden
You've probably seen the ads for "low cost" PC's - "PC's for
$199" - or even "free" computers. If you're in the market for a
personal computer, the you should know that "free" doesn't
always mean free. Very often, certain conditions and
restrictions found in the fine print of advertisements for
"free" or "low cost" PC's can turn a so-called deal into a big
ticket buy.
"Free" or "low-cost" PC offers often require "bundled" Internet
service contracts, which may last up to three years. In return
for signing up for Internet service, you can get as much as a
$400 rebate on the computer purchase. While some of these offers
can be good deals, many are not as affordable as they may seem.
Frequently, important details about the rebate and Internet
service offer are difficult to ferret out because they're left
out of the advertising or buried in the fine print.
Up-Front Costs To get a "low cost" PC, you may have to pay the
full cost of the computer up front - that is, the total price
without any rebates. If the PC is advertised for $199 after
rebates, you may have to pay $599, plus any sales tax and
shipping charges, and then send for the $400 rebate.
Usually, you have to apply for the rebate in writing, mail in
documentation of the sale and then wait - sometimes months -
until you receive your rebate check. Sometimes "instant" rebates
are offered and you can get your deduction immediately. But some
offers allow you to spend the rebate only on other merchandise
from the manufacturer or retailer, meaning you still have to pay
the full price for the computer.
Internet Access When you buy a "free" or "low cost" computer,
you often have to sign up for three years of Internet service at
$20-$30 a month - a total cost of up to $1,000 for three years.
Technology is changing at a dizzying pace. It's possible that
the three-year Internet service you lock in today could be out
of date in six months or a year. And if you'd like to cancel
your service, you'll likely have to pay a substantial penalty.
If you decide to cancel your Internet service for any reason,
chances are you'll have to pay back some or all of the rebate
you received; you also may have to pay a cancellation fee of $50
or more.
If you don't live in a major metropolitan area, you may have to
pay long distance telephone charges to access the Internet. Or
you also may be able to use a "toll-free" (800, 888 or 877)
number supplied by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), but you
may be charged five or six dollars an hour to use their
"toll-free" number. Whether you choose to use the ISP's
telephone number or pay long-distance charges, your phone calls
to access the Internet could add up to more than you'll save
through the rebate.
If the PC offer requires you to sign-up for Internet service,
ask the retailer and the ISP for the Internet access phone
numbers closest to you. Then check with your local phone company
to determine whether you have to pay long distance rates to use
those phone numbers. You may want to consider another offer if
the "deal" you're considering requires you to call long distance
or pay a fee to access the Internet.
Other Costs It's possible that the cost of a monitor or other
crucial system components may not be included in the PC offer
you're considering. The advertisements for the offer may not be
clear about what's included. If you have to buy a monitor, for
example, plan on spending at least an additional $150.
When considering a "free" or "low cost" PC offer, ask the
retailer about up-front costs, rebates, essential components,
Internet access costs, long-term commitments, cancellation
policies, local or long distance phone access and any other
important issues. Details will help you make the deal that's
right for you.
About the author:
Brad Eden is a Entrepreneurial Sciences expert with 14 years of
industry experience in real estate, marketing and technical
communication. He currently consults with IBM in CA. Brad owns &
operates a free traffic resource for entrepreneurs.
http://www.americanfreetraffic.com
Friday, October 21, 2005
Finding a Good PC Remote Control Solution
By: Dino Sims
If you have to take care of computers for a living, or rely on
them for yourlivelihood you know what I'm talking about. Your
pager goes off, or a customer calls. It's a downed website that
requires you to hop in your carto fix it on some cold lonely
morning around 3am. Looking for good remote control software?
So was I. Here's what I found...
I was looking for some software that would let me remotely
administer myclient's mostly Windows servers and Windows based
PC's. I work withcomputers for a living. I'm often called on to
fix this or that thing. And a lotof times I can't get to a
remote site fast enough, so having a good way toadminister
systems remotely would allow me to make more money, as well as
havemore of a life!
The Remote Control Solution had to meetthe following
requirements:
1) Work from either Internet Explorer, Mozilla or Firefox 2)
Work from multiple Operating Systems like Windows, Linux, etc.
3) Easy to configure and setup 4) Good Performance 5) Good
Security Features 6) Low Bandwidth and Resource Requirements 7)
Reasonable cost
After reviewing a whole lot of remote control products, I
narrowed my choices down the following 4 contenders:
1) GoToMyPC 2) LogMeIn 3) VNC 4) PC Anywhere
You'll find my review and recommended choice for the following
categories.
1) Subscription based 2) One time cost 3) Low to No Cost
Subscription Based Solutions
My top two contenders in this category are: GoToMyPC and LogMeIn
Out of the two I've used GoToMyPC the most. I've only used
LogMeIn a short while.Both products are two-tiered and client
server based in operation.
1) Work from either IE, Mozilla or Firefox
GoToMyPC: N/A LogMeIn: Yes
While LogMeIn works with browsers, GoToMyPC takes a slightly
differentapproach. They load their own little application on
your PC that takes about 30 secondsor so to download. Both
worked great, I had no problems with performanceat all. Now if
you're using Linux, you'll probably favor GoToMyPCsince you can
use it with any Java enabled browser. While LogMeIn did work, it
was a little quirky and sometimes thescreen was garbled. I was
able to use it with Linux, but it was buggy.If you're using
Linux, GoToMyPC will be a better fit for you.My Linux setup was
Gentoo 2005 running KDE and using Firefox asmy browser. Another
thing to note is that GoToMyPC will work with your Windows based
PDA.
2) Work from multiple Operating Systems like Windows, Linux,
etc. (Covered above.)
3) Easy to configure and setup Both were a snap to configure.I
had both up and running in about 5 minutes or less.
4) Good Performance Other than the Linux issues withLogMeIn,
they were both good. However, it seemed to me thatGoToMyPC was a
little faster overall.
5) Good Security Features When I first looked at LogMeInthey did
not have robust security, However, they they're pretty muchon
par with GoToMyPC now. In this category they're fairly even.
6) Low Bandwidth and Resource Requirements
I've used both in Lan, Cable, DSL and dial-up situations
anduntil you use dial-up both are about the same. However, with
dial-up GoToMyPC has the performance edge.It could be that
they're using some borrowed technology from Citrix which is
their parent co. Citrix has a product calledMetaframe that I've
used in the past. It only needs 20Kbs of bandwidth.GoToMyPC has
been around longer so they've had more time to workout the bugs.
7) Reasonable cost
Without creating a table, and doingan apples-to-apples
comparison, I found both to be reasonablypriced. Both offer
volume and other discounts so depending on your situation one
could be alittle more or less than the other.
My pick in this category is GoToMyPC. It performed better inmore
situations for me than LogMeIn. You can try out GoToMyPCfor free
at: http://GoToMyPCAt3AM.Com
One Time Cost
I have to admit that I have a bias in this category. Most of the
One-Time-Cost products that I've used have just been a BIG
PAIN!They've required me to call people and reboot the PC's and
they don'toffer good security. So in this category there's only
one product that I'd recommend...If you really, really have to
use this on a single, standalone system.That's PC Anywhere by
Symantec. You can check it out at: http://www.symantec.com.
Low to No Cost
In this category we bring back LogMeIn to rumble with VNC.VNC is
an old product that I've used on Unix/Linux as well asWindows
for a long time. It works great for a free product.Especially in
a LAN environment. However, it has virtually no in-builtsecurity
when compared to a product like LogMeIn.While it performs well,
the screen paints are slower than LogMeIn,particularly when
you're on dial-up. LogMeIn, at the time of this writinghas a
free version of their product.
So, if you're looking for security and performance, and you're
workingwith Windows mostly, go with LogMeIn. If you work in
Unix/Linux and a needa solution that will let you access Windows
and Unix/Linux based systems,VNC is the way to go. I should also
note that there's a product called TightVNC that improveson VNC
performance and features that you may also want to check
out.I've not used this much but it's free and is compatible with
VNC as well.
Overall I prefer VNC and GoToMyPC. They offer me the best of
both worlds in terms of flexibility, security andperformance.
They're both reasonably priced - VNC is Free and GoToMyPC
ispretty reasonable. Especially when it's 3am and you don't have
to leavehome to fix that crashed system at your customer site.
Since I'm acomputer professional, I don't mind spending the
extra money for aproduct like GoToMyPC. Especially when it can
help me helpmy clients faster, and allow me to get more sleep.
;-)
Best Overall:GoToMyPC: http://GoToMyPCAt3AM.Com
Best Free:Log me in: http://www.logmein.com
Best for Linux/Unix:VNC: http://www.realvnc.com
Honorable mention goes GoToMyPC for working with Linux:
http://GoToMyPCAt3AM.Com
Happy Remote Computing! Dino Sims
P.S. If you're going to use GoToMyPC from Linux, make sure that
you're using GoToMyPC version 4.X or higher.
About the author:
Dino Sims is an Electronics Engineer and Computer Technology
Consultantfocusing on E-commerce, Networking, Security and Open
Source Solutions.He's been involved with computers since 1981
when he got his firstcomputer: a Radio Shack "trash80" TRS-80
Model-I with a WHOPPING 4Kof RAM! He can be reached at:
http://www.dinosims.com.
If you have to take care of computers for a living, or rely on
them for yourlivelihood you know what I'm talking about. Your
pager goes off, or a customer calls. It's a downed website that
requires you to hop in your carto fix it on some cold lonely
morning around 3am. Looking for good remote control software?
So was I. Here's what I found...
I was looking for some software that would let me remotely
administer myclient's mostly Windows servers and Windows based
PC's. I work withcomputers for a living. I'm often called on to
fix this or that thing. And a lotof times I can't get to a
remote site fast enough, so having a good way toadminister
systems remotely would allow me to make more money, as well as
havemore of a life!
The Remote Control Solution had to meetthe following
requirements:
1) Work from either Internet Explorer, Mozilla or Firefox 2)
Work from multiple Operating Systems like Windows, Linux, etc.
3) Easy to configure and setup 4) Good Performance 5) Good
Security Features 6) Low Bandwidth and Resource Requirements 7)
Reasonable cost
After reviewing a whole lot of remote control products, I
narrowed my choices down the following 4 contenders:
1) GoToMyPC 2) LogMeIn 3) VNC 4) PC Anywhere
You'll find my review and recommended choice for the following
categories.
1) Subscription based 2) One time cost 3) Low to No Cost
Subscription Based Solutions
My top two contenders in this category are: GoToMyPC and LogMeIn
Out of the two I've used GoToMyPC the most. I've only used
LogMeIn a short while.Both products are two-tiered and client
server based in operation.
1) Work from either IE, Mozilla or Firefox
GoToMyPC: N/A LogMeIn: Yes
While LogMeIn works with browsers, GoToMyPC takes a slightly
differentapproach. They load their own little application on
your PC that takes about 30 secondsor so to download. Both
worked great, I had no problems with performanceat all. Now if
you're using Linux, you'll probably favor GoToMyPCsince you can
use it with any Java enabled browser. While LogMeIn did work, it
was a little quirky and sometimes thescreen was garbled. I was
able to use it with Linux, but it was buggy.If you're using
Linux, GoToMyPC will be a better fit for you.My Linux setup was
Gentoo 2005 running KDE and using Firefox asmy browser. Another
thing to note is that GoToMyPC will work with your Windows based
PDA.
2) Work from multiple Operating Systems like Windows, Linux,
etc. (Covered above.)
3) Easy to configure and setup Both were a snap to configure.I
had both up and running in about 5 minutes or less.
4) Good Performance Other than the Linux issues withLogMeIn,
they were both good. However, it seemed to me thatGoToMyPC was a
little faster overall.
5) Good Security Features When I first looked at LogMeInthey did
not have robust security, However, they they're pretty muchon
par with GoToMyPC now. In this category they're fairly even.
6) Low Bandwidth and Resource Requirements
I've used both in Lan, Cable, DSL and dial-up situations
anduntil you use dial-up both are about the same. However, with
dial-up GoToMyPC has the performance edge.It could be that
they're using some borrowed technology from Citrix which is
their parent co. Citrix has a product calledMetaframe that I've
used in the past. It only needs 20Kbs of bandwidth.GoToMyPC has
been around longer so they've had more time to workout the bugs.
7) Reasonable cost
Without creating a table, and doingan apples-to-apples
comparison, I found both to be reasonablypriced. Both offer
volume and other discounts so depending on your situation one
could be alittle more or less than the other.
My pick in this category is GoToMyPC. It performed better inmore
situations for me than LogMeIn. You can try out GoToMyPCfor free
at: http://GoToMyPCAt3AM.Com
One Time Cost
I have to admit that I have a bias in this category. Most of the
One-Time-Cost products that I've used have just been a BIG
PAIN!They've required me to call people and reboot the PC's and
they don'toffer good security. So in this category there's only
one product that I'd recommend...If you really, really have to
use this on a single, standalone system.That's PC Anywhere by
Symantec. You can check it out at: http://www.symantec.com.
Low to No Cost
In this category we bring back LogMeIn to rumble with VNC.VNC is
an old product that I've used on Unix/Linux as well asWindows
for a long time. It works great for a free product.Especially in
a LAN environment. However, it has virtually no in-builtsecurity
when compared to a product like LogMeIn.While it performs well,
the screen paints are slower than LogMeIn,particularly when
you're on dial-up. LogMeIn, at the time of this writinghas a
free version of their product.
So, if you're looking for security and performance, and you're
workingwith Windows mostly, go with LogMeIn. If you work in
Unix/Linux and a needa solution that will let you access Windows
and Unix/Linux based systems,VNC is the way to go. I should also
note that there's a product called TightVNC that improveson VNC
performance and features that you may also want to check
out.I've not used this much but it's free and is compatible with
VNC as well.
Overall I prefer VNC and GoToMyPC. They offer me the best of
both worlds in terms of flexibility, security andperformance.
They're both reasonably priced - VNC is Free and GoToMyPC
ispretty reasonable. Especially when it's 3am and you don't have
to leavehome to fix that crashed system at your customer site.
Since I'm acomputer professional, I don't mind spending the
extra money for aproduct like GoToMyPC. Especially when it can
help me helpmy clients faster, and allow me to get more sleep.
;-)
Best Overall:GoToMyPC: http://GoToMyPCAt3AM.Com
Best Free:Log me in: http://www.logmein.com
Best for Linux/Unix:VNC: http://www.realvnc.com
Honorable mention goes GoToMyPC for working with Linux:
http://GoToMyPCAt3AM.Com
Happy Remote Computing! Dino Sims
P.S. If you're going to use GoToMyPC from Linux, make sure that
you're using GoToMyPC version 4.X or higher.
About the author:
Dino Sims is an Electronics Engineer and Computer Technology
Consultantfocusing on E-commerce, Networking, Security and Open
Source Solutions.He's been involved with computers since 1981
when he got his firstcomputer: a Radio Shack "trash80" TRS-80
Model-I with a WHOPPING 4Kof RAM! He can be reached at:
http://www.dinosims.com.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Online Backup: The Simple Value
By: Sandy Baker
There are many reasons to use online backup. The simple fact is
that your computer could get invaded or destroyed in minutes and
it can happen completely and suddenly as well. The fact is that
more and more people are falling victim to this type of
occurrence every day. What happens is that it leaves you without
all that you know and need and leaves you without any way of
fixing it. Online backup is the perfect solution though because
it allows you the ability to save whatever it is that you need
to without thought or worry about anything happening to it.
Online backup should be thought of as a file cabinet for all of
your important information. By using online databases to store
this information, you are safeguarding it from anything that may
happen to your computer's hard drive or memory. You can store
just about any type of information that you need to and it is
completely and utterly safe. Most information that is saved in
this manner is safeguarded from other people as well. You can
make sure of this by not providing your personal information nor
your username and password to retrieve it.
Why do you need online backup? Well, there are many reasons.
And, there are many things that you can store in there. For
example, you may find that there are business clients as well as
a number of corporations that store their information on their
computers. In these cases, a crash can be awful. In the case of
the personal ecommerce entrepreneur, important contact
information for clients as well the product lists and
availabilities are all necessary and yet they too can fall
victim to a crash if they are stored on the computer. Online
backup systems can help avoid all of this information loss as
well as much more.
About the author:
For more information please see
http://www.online-backup-help.co.uk
There are many reasons to use online backup. The simple fact is
that your computer could get invaded or destroyed in minutes and
it can happen completely and suddenly as well. The fact is that
more and more people are falling victim to this type of
occurrence every day. What happens is that it leaves you without
all that you know and need and leaves you without any way of
fixing it. Online backup is the perfect solution though because
it allows you the ability to save whatever it is that you need
to without thought or worry about anything happening to it.
Online backup should be thought of as a file cabinet for all of
your important information. By using online databases to store
this information, you are safeguarding it from anything that may
happen to your computer's hard drive or memory. You can store
just about any type of information that you need to and it is
completely and utterly safe. Most information that is saved in
this manner is safeguarded from other people as well. You can
make sure of this by not providing your personal information nor
your username and password to retrieve it.
Why do you need online backup? Well, there are many reasons.
And, there are many things that you can store in there. For
example, you may find that there are business clients as well as
a number of corporations that store their information on their
computers. In these cases, a crash can be awful. In the case of
the personal ecommerce entrepreneur, important contact
information for clients as well the product lists and
availabilities are all necessary and yet they too can fall
victim to a crash if they are stored on the computer. Online
backup systems can help avoid all of this information loss as
well as much more.
About the author:
For more information please see
http://www.online-backup-help.co.uk
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Registry Cleaners: Why do you need one?
By: Joseph Tierney
The registry is the place where your computer stores the
configuration information about your computer and your installed
programs so that your operating system can use them.
Maintaining the registry is an important step in keeping your
computer healthy. Registry problems can include slow
performance, computer crashing, and the annoyingh Microsoft
Windows error messages.
If any of these describes you as a computer user:
- Has old drivers on their system that have not been removed.
- Installs or uninstalls software very often.
- Have third party programs running such as Spyware and Adware
(you can't stop these from being installed)
- Remove software by deleting them from the Program Files folder.
- Installs or Uninstalls hardware.
Then you absolutely need to be repairing your Microsoft Windows
registry regularly! All of the above leave traces in your
registry that will only hurt your computer in the long run. If
you don't clean your computer to fix your registry than you are
going to be in a whole world of trouble.
Make sure that you backup your registry before you try to clean
or fix anything. Most registry cleaners have registry backup
automatically for you, but be sure to check them out. Remember,
don't try to edit anything in the registry yourself unless you
are very computer savvy.
Why do you need a registry cleaner? Registry cleaners are
important because it protects your PC from harmful processes. Is
your computer slowing down for no apparent reason? Are you
having errors that are not solved by your anti-virus or
anti-spyware program? Your PC might be affected by applications
that are running without your knowledge. Registry cleaners are a
must! Registry cleaners ensure that your registry is clean.
Some errors are just a quick registry fix, while others could be
more problematic.
If you keep your registry clean, free of viruses and spyware
your computer will last much longer. Spend the time or money now
for a registry cleaner to save you even more time or money later
down the road.
If you are short on cash then there is a free registry cleaner
available that I use exclusively. The program is called Error
Nuker and it is a free ware registry cleaner. Error Nuker works
on Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT4, and Windows
2000. Microsoft Windows does NOT come with a registry cleaner.
About the author:
Joseph Tierney is a surfer and 2005 high school graduate. To
learn more about Error Nuker and other free registry cleaners,
please visit Free
Registry Cleaner
The registry is the place where your computer stores the
configuration information about your computer and your installed
programs so that your operating system can use them.
Maintaining the registry is an important step in keeping your
computer healthy. Registry problems can include slow
performance, computer crashing, and the annoyingh Microsoft
Windows error messages.
If any of these describes you as a computer user:
- Has old drivers on their system that have not been removed.
- Installs or uninstalls software very often.
- Have third party programs running such as Spyware and Adware
(you can't stop these from being installed)
- Remove software by deleting them from the Program Files folder.
- Installs or Uninstalls hardware.
Then you absolutely need to be repairing your Microsoft Windows
registry regularly! All of the above leave traces in your
registry that will only hurt your computer in the long run. If
you don't clean your computer to fix your registry than you are
going to be in a whole world of trouble.
Make sure that you backup your registry before you try to clean
or fix anything. Most registry cleaners have registry backup
automatically for you, but be sure to check them out. Remember,
don't try to edit anything in the registry yourself unless you
are very computer savvy.
Why do you need a registry cleaner? Registry cleaners are
important because it protects your PC from harmful processes. Is
your computer slowing down for no apparent reason? Are you
having errors that are not solved by your anti-virus or
anti-spyware program? Your PC might be affected by applications
that are running without your knowledge. Registry cleaners are a
must! Registry cleaners ensure that your registry is clean.
Some errors are just a quick registry fix, while others could be
more problematic.
If you keep your registry clean, free of viruses and spyware
your computer will last much longer. Spend the time or money now
for a registry cleaner to save you even more time or money later
down the road.
If you are short on cash then there is a free registry cleaner
available that I use exclusively. The program is called Error
Nuker and it is a free ware registry cleaner. Error Nuker works
on Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT4, and Windows
2000. Microsoft Windows does NOT come with a registry cleaner.
About the author:
Joseph Tierney is a surfer and 2005 high school graduate. To
learn more about Error Nuker and other free registry cleaners,
please visit Free
Registry Cleaner
How to find Adware removal that is really free
How to find Adware removal that is really free and avoid the
pitfalls
By: Jason Frovich
Many of the Adware removal programs marketed as free will turn
out to have hidden costs when you read the fins print. Learn how
to avoid the pitfalls and find Adware removal that is really
free Really free adware removal programs can sometimes seem hard
to find. You click on a link that promise really free adware
removal programs, but end up on a site with programs that
eventually turn out to have a lot of strings attached. You might
only be able to try out the really free adware removal program
for a very short time, such as a few days, before you must
purchase an expensive version of the program. A few days is
usually not enough to find if you are comfortable with you
Adware removal program or not. Another disadvantage with this
system is that when you purchase an expensive Adware removal
program, you will most likely stick to that program even if the
program becomes out-dated or a better program is offered on the
market. In other cases, you can use the really free adware
removal program for as long as you wish, but it turns out to be
so basic that it offers very little protection from Adware. You
are then encouraged to buy a better, but pricey, version of the
program. Sometimes it is actually a really great free adware
removal program that you are offered, but the updates cost quite
a lot of money. Since all Adware removal programs need to be
updated frequently to stay modern, this can turn out to be very
costly in the end.
There are however examples of really free adware removal
programs that are available for download online, but you might
have to spend some time looking for them. Really free adware
removal programs are seldom available off-line, since it would
be too expensive to distribute them. Be vigilant when you choose
a website from which to download a really free adware removal
program, since there are a lot of dishonest sites offering fake
adware removal programs. When more and more computer users began
to protect their computers from adware with adware removal
programs, the deceitful companies that gain from the Adware
programs developed their own fake really free adware removal
programs.
These fake programs are promoted vigorously on the Internet, and
many computer users are lured into installing what they think is
a protective. If you spend some time online, you will probably
sooner or later stumble over a banner add that warns you about
the dangers of Adware, or claim that your computer is already
infested with Adware. You will be offered a great really free
adware removal program, and if click on the banner your will be
sent to a website. From this website you can download something
that looks like a very good and really free adware removal
program, but it is actually a fake. Your computer will not be
protected from Adware when you use this fake adware removal
program, and the fake adware removal program will probably also
install Adware, Spyware and other types of Malware in your
computer. You can minimize the risk of downloading a fake adware
removal program by only downloading really free adware removal
programs from trustworthy web pages with a good reputation.
About the author:
New forms of malicious Spyware and Adware are constantly created
and in order to protect your computer from infestations you must
choose a high-quality program and keep it updated.
Supportcave.com offer a selected number of the very best really
free adware removal programs available for immediate online
download
pitfalls
By: Jason Frovich
Many of the Adware removal programs marketed as free will turn
out to have hidden costs when you read the fins print. Learn how
to avoid the pitfalls and find Adware removal that is really
free Really free adware removal programs can sometimes seem hard
to find. You click on a link that promise really free adware
removal programs, but end up on a site with programs that
eventually turn out to have a lot of strings attached. You might
only be able to try out the really free adware removal program
for a very short time, such as a few days, before you must
purchase an expensive version of the program. A few days is
usually not enough to find if you are comfortable with you
Adware removal program or not. Another disadvantage with this
system is that when you purchase an expensive Adware removal
program, you will most likely stick to that program even if the
program becomes out-dated or a better program is offered on the
market. In other cases, you can use the really free adware
removal program for as long as you wish, but it turns out to be
so basic that it offers very little protection from Adware. You
are then encouraged to buy a better, but pricey, version of the
program. Sometimes it is actually a really great free adware
removal program that you are offered, but the updates cost quite
a lot of money. Since all Adware removal programs need to be
updated frequently to stay modern, this can turn out to be very
costly in the end.
There are however examples of really free adware removal
programs that are available for download online, but you might
have to spend some time looking for them. Really free adware
removal programs are seldom available off-line, since it would
be too expensive to distribute them. Be vigilant when you choose
a website from which to download a really free adware removal
program, since there are a lot of dishonest sites offering fake
adware removal programs. When more and more computer users began
to protect their computers from adware with adware removal
programs, the deceitful companies that gain from the Adware
programs developed their own fake really free adware removal
programs.
These fake programs are promoted vigorously on the Internet, and
many computer users are lured into installing what they think is
a protective. If you spend some time online, you will probably
sooner or later stumble over a banner add that warns you about
the dangers of Adware, or claim that your computer is already
infested with Adware. You will be offered a great really free
adware removal program, and if click on the banner your will be
sent to a website. From this website you can download something
that looks like a very good and really free adware removal
program, but it is actually a fake. Your computer will not be
protected from Adware when you use this fake adware removal
program, and the fake adware removal program will probably also
install Adware, Spyware and other types of Malware in your
computer. You can minimize the risk of downloading a fake adware
removal program by only downloading really free adware removal
programs from trustworthy web pages with a good reputation.
About the author:
New forms of malicious Spyware and Adware are constantly created
and in order to protect your computer from infestations you must
choose a high-quality program and keep it updated.
Supportcave.com offer a selected number of the very best really
free adware removal programs available for immediate online
download
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Mobile Computing: Taking It With Us
By: Leon Chaddock
For the holidays this year, more people will be getting mobile
computing options than ever before in history. With so many
various ways of staying connected through computers, people
don't seem get enough. This is great news for all those out
there that love new technology as it is the force behind many
companies and their drive to have the best of the latest and
greatest and of course the public's favorite mobile computing
device.
We rush here to there. We have less time it seems than people
did years ago. The fact is that, we just burn more of it and
demand more from it. But when you can take some of that time and
turn it into a profit, things can begin to look, well, up.
Mobile computing allows you to stay focused, no matter what you
do or when - on a variety of options and to a variety of
networks. Here are some of the ways that you can stay ahead of
the game.
Planning a power lunch but afraid to leave the office to miss
some important email? Well then don't worry, take a mobile
computing device with you. You can take your whole laptop if you
like, but you just do not have to. You can use your pocket PC or
even your mobile computing cell phone to do all the work for
you. Yes, nothing is easier.
Need to send a file and forgot to? You don't even need to call
the office and tell them that you messed up again. All you need
to do is to flip open that phone and begin a mobile computing
session that will get the job done in seconds.
There are so many ways that mobile computing fits into our
lives. In fact, there are so many ways and we use them so much
that we seem to forget what life is like without them. Mobile
computing is one of the most important, can't-live-without-it
services that we have today.
About the author:
For more information please see
http://www.mobile-computing-shack.co.uk
For the holidays this year, more people will be getting mobile
computing options than ever before in history. With so many
various ways of staying connected through computers, people
don't seem get enough. This is great news for all those out
there that love new technology as it is the force behind many
companies and their drive to have the best of the latest and
greatest and of course the public's favorite mobile computing
device.
We rush here to there. We have less time it seems than people
did years ago. The fact is that, we just burn more of it and
demand more from it. But when you can take some of that time and
turn it into a profit, things can begin to look, well, up.
Mobile computing allows you to stay focused, no matter what you
do or when - on a variety of options and to a variety of
networks. Here are some of the ways that you can stay ahead of
the game.
Planning a power lunch but afraid to leave the office to miss
some important email? Well then don't worry, take a mobile
computing device with you. You can take your whole laptop if you
like, but you just do not have to. You can use your pocket PC or
even your mobile computing cell phone to do all the work for
you. Yes, nothing is easier.
Need to send a file and forgot to? You don't even need to call
the office and tell them that you messed up again. All you need
to do is to flip open that phone and begin a mobile computing
session that will get the job done in seconds.
There are so many ways that mobile computing fits into our
lives. In fact, there are so many ways and we use them so much
that we seem to forget what life is like without them. Mobile
computing is one of the most important, can't-live-without-it
services that we have today.
About the author:
For more information please see
http://www.mobile-computing-shack.co.uk
Monday, October 17, 2005
The Hard Drive Buyers Guide
By: Steve Jones
As home computers become more advanced, and our uses for them
become more complex, the need for higher performance and
capacity hard drives increases. It is now possible to choose
hard drives with vastly different capacities and rotational
speeds, making things more confusing for the consumer.
Thankfully for consumers the hard drive market is extremely
competitive and the price at which a high capacity hard drive
can be bought is quite astounding. Now that broadband internet
is common place, with more and more people downloading music and
movies, the need for high specification hard drives has never
been greater.
When choosing a new hard drive it is important to consider What
you use your computer for. Thos who just use their home pc for
basic requirements such as word processing and surfing the
internet will not need to spend as much on their hard drive as
someone who may use music applications or lots of games. When
buying a hard drive also try and anticipate any future
requirements also.
Lets consider the following hard drive specifications:
1)Capacity
2)Rotational speed
3)Buffer size and transfer rates
In terms of capacity, hard drives can range from 30 - 300 GB. 40
GB hard drives are fairly standard these days. If all you will
be using your PC for is to run a few basic software applications
and games then this will provide you with plenty of space. But
as most people these days are generally also using their home
computer to store lots of music, videos and photos, I would
strongly recomend buying something between 60 - 120 GB capacity.
With hard drives being relatively cheap these days it is better
to buy something that will continue to provide storage in the
future, than go for a smaller option now and have to upgrade
sooner.
The second factor we really need to consider is the rotational
speed of the hard drives. This has become a big selling point
for manufacturers. The speed is measured in revolutions per
minute and you will find figures such as 5400RPM, 7200RPM,
10000RPM, 15000RPM quoted by the hard drive manufacturers. Hard
drives work by reading information from rotating magnetic
platters as they rotate, hence the faster the rotating speed,
the quicker the information is read. There is a down side to
faster rotating speeds though, and that is wear and tear. The
faster a hard drive spins the quicker it will wear out and it
will also be more vulnerable to crashes. Rotational speed is
really important, so if your going to be using your PC for music
or gaming then you need to buy a 7200RPM drive. If its just for
basic usage then a 5400RPM drive will suffice. Again as the
price difference between 7200RPM and 540RPM drives is minimal,
you may consider opting for the faster speed as this will not
need upgrading as soon.
The buffer size and transfer rates will not be of importance to
many people, and only need to be considerd by people building
dedicated games machines or for high end music applications. The
buffer is used as a temporary store for data and the larger the
buffer size the better your pc will operate. It is possible to
buy hard drives with a buffer size of 8MB. Its best to buy a
drive with as large a buffer as you can afford. The same is true
for transfer rates, buy the drive with the highest transfer rate
that you can afford.
This buyers guide should have covered all the points you need to
consider when purchasing your new hard drive, but if you want
more information then plenty is avaiable on the internet. For
further information please visit
http://www.officialharddrive.com
About the author:
Steve jones has worked with computers all his life and now
writes for www.officialharddrive.com
As home computers become more advanced, and our uses for them
become more complex, the need for higher performance and
capacity hard drives increases. It is now possible to choose
hard drives with vastly different capacities and rotational
speeds, making things more confusing for the consumer.
Thankfully for consumers the hard drive market is extremely
competitive and the price at which a high capacity hard drive
can be bought is quite astounding. Now that broadband internet
is common place, with more and more people downloading music and
movies, the need for high specification hard drives has never
been greater.
When choosing a new hard drive it is important to consider What
you use your computer for. Thos who just use their home pc for
basic requirements such as word processing and surfing the
internet will not need to spend as much on their hard drive as
someone who may use music applications or lots of games. When
buying a hard drive also try and anticipate any future
requirements also.
Lets consider the following hard drive specifications:
1)Capacity
2)Rotational speed
3)Buffer size and transfer rates
In terms of capacity, hard drives can range from 30 - 300 GB. 40
GB hard drives are fairly standard these days. If all you will
be using your PC for is to run a few basic software applications
and games then this will provide you with plenty of space. But
as most people these days are generally also using their home
computer to store lots of music, videos and photos, I would
strongly recomend buying something between 60 - 120 GB capacity.
With hard drives being relatively cheap these days it is better
to buy something that will continue to provide storage in the
future, than go for a smaller option now and have to upgrade
sooner.
The second factor we really need to consider is the rotational
speed of the hard drives. This has become a big selling point
for manufacturers. The speed is measured in revolutions per
minute and you will find figures such as 5400RPM, 7200RPM,
10000RPM, 15000RPM quoted by the hard drive manufacturers. Hard
drives work by reading information from rotating magnetic
platters as they rotate, hence the faster the rotating speed,
the quicker the information is read. There is a down side to
faster rotating speeds though, and that is wear and tear. The
faster a hard drive spins the quicker it will wear out and it
will also be more vulnerable to crashes. Rotational speed is
really important, so if your going to be using your PC for music
or gaming then you need to buy a 7200RPM drive. If its just for
basic usage then a 5400RPM drive will suffice. Again as the
price difference between 7200RPM and 540RPM drives is minimal,
you may consider opting for the faster speed as this will not
need upgrading as soon.
The buffer size and transfer rates will not be of importance to
many people, and only need to be considerd by people building
dedicated games machines or for high end music applications. The
buffer is used as a temporary store for data and the larger the
buffer size the better your pc will operate. It is possible to
buy hard drives with a buffer size of 8MB. Its best to buy a
drive with as large a buffer as you can afford. The same is true
for transfer rates, buy the drive with the highest transfer rate
that you can afford.
This buyers guide should have covered all the points you need to
consider when purchasing your new hard drive, but if you want
more information then plenty is avaiable on the internet. For
further information please visit
http://www.officialharddrive.com
About the author:
Steve jones has worked with computers all his life and now
writes for www.officialharddrive.com
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Internet faxing: rising as the main stream of fax business
By: Claudia Walters
Yes, indeed conventional fax machines are dying, and will be out
of the business very soon. We are now living in a digital world
- emails, cell phones, instant messenger, GPRS systems are
everywhere, slipping themselves into everybody's life. Ask
yourself: When is the last time you post your mail through the
postman? And, when is the last time you click on that reply or
forward button to send out an email? Technology change, so does
our life quality.
Faxing services are quite similar with email. When first email
services were introduced, not much people get hooked on and they
still think the posts sent out thru their office boy are more
secure and reliable. But as soon as people find the convenience
of emails ...the heat just spreads out and affects every single
person's life.
Internet faxing, or sometimes known as online faxing, or efax or
fax to email or virtual fax, is a technology that enables you to
send out and receive faxes in email forms. Modern internet
services had made faxing easier and faster in a cheaper way
compare to conventional facsimile transmissions. "We are
eliminating the need for a fax machine," says Janice Kapner,
director of marketing and corporate communications at eFax. eFax
is one of the pioneer in internet fax business that offers a
free fax-to-e-mail service to more than one million subscribers.
By signing up with eFax services, you will get a real fax number
at which you can receive faxes, which are then forwarded to an
e-mail address of your choosing. You can as well send faxes out
to normal fax machine through the service. For more info about
internet faxing, visit this page: How Internet
faxing works. To download free eFax services from official
eFax site, Click here:
eFax official.
Internet faxing has caught the attention of both large and small
businesses. More than 14 billion pages had been sent over
IP-based networks in year 2002 and the number is keep on
increasing, yielding more than 20 billion pages sent at the
writing time of this article.
Why internet faxing service is growing this fast? Answer: the
cost. Internet faxing requires less cost compare to conventional
fax machine, which required user to buy fax machine, fax machine
toners, extra fax lines ...and the list goes on. With internet
faxing, you don't have to invest in equipment; you don't need to
pay for a dedicated fax line; you don't have to allocate extra
budget to maintain your fax machine.
Often, Internet faxing services require only a flat fee to use.
As for eFax, with subscription fees range from $0 to
$19.95/month; you can receive faxes up to 200 pages for free;
you can then send out faxes with a low price of $0.10/page; you
get a local or a toll-free number; you get additional services
such as voicemail-to-email services.
Further more, internet fax doesn't give you a 'busy' tone. You
can always receive faxes as it will just drop into your email
inbox. Faxes can be received even your PC is offline or the
phone line is being used- it's always on and you will never miss
a fax with internet fax. "The `always on' aspect of a Web-based
fax service means that numerous faxes can be received
simultaneously at the same number," says Leslie Morgan Nakajima,
director of corporate communications at Onebox.com.
Convenience is another plus point for internet faxing. With
internet faxing, your faxes become digital files automatically.
This in turns helps you manage your files easily. Just as other
files in your computer, you can now copy, forward, and organize
it in your PC hard disk - simple and clean. With most Internet
faxing services, your faxes become digital files that can be
copied, forwarded, and archived. There's no learning curve for
the service, one can just subscribe and start using it to
improve your daily job.
On the other hand, there are a few limitations to Internet fax:
You need online access and a scanner to fax paper documents.
That's why Dataquest's other numbers show traditional faxing
sticking around for years to come. However, the economy and
manageability of Internet faxing will allow an increasing number
of savvy home office workers to do without a fax machine.
About the author:
The author, Claudia Walters, experience online writter. View her
latest writting assignments on email fax technology at
www.MyInternetFax.biz. Learn how can you send fax via internet and
save up hundreds of traditional faxing expenses.
Yes, indeed conventional fax machines are dying, and will be out
of the business very soon. We are now living in a digital world
- emails, cell phones, instant messenger, GPRS systems are
everywhere, slipping themselves into everybody's life. Ask
yourself: When is the last time you post your mail through the
postman? And, when is the last time you click on that reply or
forward button to send out an email? Technology change, so does
our life quality.
Faxing services are quite similar with email. When first email
services were introduced, not much people get hooked on and they
still think the posts sent out thru their office boy are more
secure and reliable. But as soon as people find the convenience
of emails ...the heat just spreads out and affects every single
person's life.
Internet faxing, or sometimes known as online faxing, or efax or
fax to email or virtual fax, is a technology that enables you to
send out and receive faxes in email forms. Modern internet
services had made faxing easier and faster in a cheaper way
compare to conventional facsimile transmissions. "We are
eliminating the need for a fax machine," says Janice Kapner,
director of marketing and corporate communications at eFax. eFax
is one of the pioneer in internet fax business that offers a
free fax-to-e-mail service to more than one million subscribers.
By signing up with eFax services, you will get a real fax number
at which you can receive faxes, which are then forwarded to an
e-mail address of your choosing. You can as well send faxes out
to normal fax machine through the service. For more info about
internet faxing, visit this page: How Internet
faxing works. To download free eFax services from official
eFax site, Click here:
eFax official.
Internet faxing has caught the attention of both large and small
businesses. More than 14 billion pages had been sent over
IP-based networks in year 2002 and the number is keep on
increasing, yielding more than 20 billion pages sent at the
writing time of this article.
Why internet faxing service is growing this fast? Answer: the
cost. Internet faxing requires less cost compare to conventional
fax machine, which required user to buy fax machine, fax machine
toners, extra fax lines ...and the list goes on. With internet
faxing, you don't have to invest in equipment; you don't need to
pay for a dedicated fax line; you don't have to allocate extra
budget to maintain your fax machine.
Often, Internet faxing services require only a flat fee to use.
As for eFax, with subscription fees range from $0 to
$19.95/month; you can receive faxes up to 200 pages for free;
you can then send out faxes with a low price of $0.10/page; you
get a local or a toll-free number; you get additional services
such as voicemail-to-email services.
Further more, internet fax doesn't give you a 'busy' tone. You
can always receive faxes as it will just drop into your email
inbox. Faxes can be received even your PC is offline or the
phone line is being used- it's always on and you will never miss
a fax with internet fax. "The `always on' aspect of a Web-based
fax service means that numerous faxes can be received
simultaneously at the same number," says Leslie Morgan Nakajima,
director of corporate communications at Onebox.com.
Convenience is another plus point for internet faxing. With
internet faxing, your faxes become digital files automatically.
This in turns helps you manage your files easily. Just as other
files in your computer, you can now copy, forward, and organize
it in your PC hard disk - simple and clean. With most Internet
faxing services, your faxes become digital files that can be
copied, forwarded, and archived. There's no learning curve for
the service, one can just subscribe and start using it to
improve your daily job.
On the other hand, there are a few limitations to Internet fax:
You need online access and a scanner to fax paper documents.
That's why Dataquest's other numbers show traditional faxing
sticking around for years to come. However, the economy and
manageability of Internet faxing will allow an increasing number
of savvy home office workers to do without a fax machine.
About the author:
The author, Claudia Walters, experience online writter. View her
latest writting assignments on email fax technology at
www.MyInternetFax.biz. Learn how can you send fax via internet and
save up hundreds of traditional faxing expenses.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Four No-Name Multimedia Applications That Work Better Than
By: John Deprice
If you think that Adobe, Ulead or Corel make be best multimedia
products, think again. There are dozens of innovative indies who
develop excellent software for images and video and don't charge
you for the brand name.
A4 DVD Shrinker (DanDans Digital Media)
A4 DVD Shrinker is a tiny but fast DVD backup and shrinking
tool. Why do you need one? How about taking your DVD collection
and backing up several movies onto a single DVD, without
compromising the quality in a short time? A4 DVD Shrinker
shrinks all types of DVDs and fully backs them up to your hard
drive or burns them to DVDR discs and you get to keep all DVD
extra features, like interviews.
A4 DVD Shrinker is based on a proprietary DVD Engine and can
shrink all DVD contents like Menus, Movie, Audio, Subtitles and
Languages. It can also peel off CSS protection from commercial
DVDs automatically so that you can make your own DVD copies no
matter what copy protection is used on the original. The
built-in high speed DVD burner supports all type of DVDR discs (
R, RW, -R, -RW). You do not need third party drivers or burning
software installed either.
Paint Buster (SoftBusters)
Paint Buster is a compact and innovative image processing
program. It is quite simple for beginners yet powerful for
professionals. With Paint Buster you can resize, crop, rotate,
cut and paste and enhance your family photographs as well as
create images for the home web-page. The best thing, you don't
have to be a designer to do that.
Paint Buster gives you complete control of your images, on
pixel, color, palette and print level. With a click of a button,
you have a huge number of paint tools at your disposal. All with
anti-aliasing, transparency and texture capabilities. It
supports JPEG, GIF, TIF, PNG, BMP, ICO, PCX, and TGA formats.
This standard-issue image-editing application offers a solid set
of tools for tweaking your digital photos. Paint Buster's
interface echoes that of other applications in this class, with
various icons for brushes, pens, and drawing tools surrounding
the large image-preview window.
VirtualDJStudio 3.0 (Next Generation Software)
VirtualDJStudion 3.0 (VDJ3) is a virtual mixing console for DJs,
professional and aspiring. You can play multiple MP3 and Wav
files, with tempo/pitch control for beat-matching. Plus, easily
set a configurable number of 'lines', each of which has its own
MP3/WAV file player, volume control, pitch/tempo control, and
other options. The program includes a 10-band EQ, plugin
support, integrated File Navigator, and Playlist Editor.
VirtualDJStudio is not like all of the other DJ programs out
there. While other programs limit you to two players with a
Cross-Fader, Virtual DJ Studio provides you with an entire
studio. Also, it's more demanding and takes time to learn.
Super Bot (SparkleWare)
Super Bot can download files, folders, or entire websites with
as little as one click. The program uses HTML rewriting
technology, so copied sites look and feel like the online
versions.
Super Bot let's users browse at faster speeds, by loading files
directly from your hard drive not the server (offline browsing).
You can view websites without an Internet connection and archive
pictures, videos, sounds and other Net content on your computer.
Super Bot makes it easy to create functional and editable
mirrors of online sites as well as browse a website's internal
structure and organization. One good application for
Sparkleware's Super Bot is to sanitize children's browsing by
creating a "sandbox" of age-appropriate material. You can create
autorun CDs and DVDs of your favorite sites too.
Download Links:
A4DVDShrinker: http://www.deprice.com/a4dvdshrinker.htm
Paint Buster: http://www.deprice.com/paintbuster.htm
VirtualDJStudio: http://www.deprice.com/virtualdjstudio.htm
Super Bot: http://www.deprice.com/superbot.htm
About the author:
John Deprice owns and operates http://www.deprice.com
If you think that Adobe, Ulead or Corel make be best multimedia
products, think again. There are dozens of innovative indies who
develop excellent software for images and video and don't charge
you for the brand name.
A4 DVD Shrinker (DanDans Digital Media)
A4 DVD Shrinker is a tiny but fast DVD backup and shrinking
tool. Why do you need one? How about taking your DVD collection
and backing up several movies onto a single DVD, without
compromising the quality in a short time? A4 DVD Shrinker
shrinks all types of DVDs and fully backs them up to your hard
drive or burns them to DVDR discs and you get to keep all DVD
extra features, like interviews.
A4 DVD Shrinker is based on a proprietary DVD Engine and can
shrink all DVD contents like Menus, Movie, Audio, Subtitles and
Languages. It can also peel off CSS protection from commercial
DVDs automatically so that you can make your own DVD copies no
matter what copy protection is used on the original. The
built-in high speed DVD burner supports all type of DVDR discs (
R, RW, -R, -RW). You do not need third party drivers or burning
software installed either.
Paint Buster (SoftBusters)
Paint Buster is a compact and innovative image processing
program. It is quite simple for beginners yet powerful for
professionals. With Paint Buster you can resize, crop, rotate,
cut and paste and enhance your family photographs as well as
create images for the home web-page. The best thing, you don't
have to be a designer to do that.
Paint Buster gives you complete control of your images, on
pixel, color, palette and print level. With a click of a button,
you have a huge number of paint tools at your disposal. All with
anti-aliasing, transparency and texture capabilities. It
supports JPEG, GIF, TIF, PNG, BMP, ICO, PCX, and TGA formats.
This standard-issue image-editing application offers a solid set
of tools for tweaking your digital photos. Paint Buster's
interface echoes that of other applications in this class, with
various icons for brushes, pens, and drawing tools surrounding
the large image-preview window.
VirtualDJStudio 3.0 (Next Generation Software)
VirtualDJStudion 3.0 (VDJ3) is a virtual mixing console for DJs,
professional and aspiring. You can play multiple MP3 and Wav
files, with tempo/pitch control for beat-matching. Plus, easily
set a configurable number of 'lines', each of which has its own
MP3/WAV file player, volume control, pitch/tempo control, and
other options. The program includes a 10-band EQ, plugin
support, integrated File Navigator, and Playlist Editor.
VirtualDJStudio is not like all of the other DJ programs out
there. While other programs limit you to two players with a
Cross-Fader, Virtual DJ Studio provides you with an entire
studio. Also, it's more demanding and takes time to learn.
Super Bot (SparkleWare)
Super Bot can download files, folders, or entire websites with
as little as one click. The program uses HTML rewriting
technology, so copied sites look and feel like the online
versions.
Super Bot let's users browse at faster speeds, by loading files
directly from your hard drive not the server (offline browsing).
You can view websites without an Internet connection and archive
pictures, videos, sounds and other Net content on your computer.
Super Bot makes it easy to create functional and editable
mirrors of online sites as well as browse a website's internal
structure and organization. One good application for
Sparkleware's Super Bot is to sanitize children's browsing by
creating a "sandbox" of age-appropriate material. You can create
autorun CDs and DVDs of your favorite sites too.
Download Links:
A4DVDShrinker: http://www.deprice.com/a4dvdshrinker.htm
Paint Buster: http://www.deprice.com/paintbuster.htm
VirtualDJStudio: http://www.deprice.com/virtualdjstudio.htm
Super Bot: http://www.deprice.com/superbot.htm
About the author:
John Deprice owns and operates http://www.deprice.com
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Tidy Up Your Hard Drive
By: Joe Light
If you are like me before buying a product you will download and
try lots of demo versions to find the software that fits best
your needs. But with all this installing/unininstalling your
hard drive becomes fragmented, your registry cluttered with
unneeded information and your system performance degrades. Here
are some programs which could help bring thing back to normal.
Registry Washer
Registry Washer safely scan your entire Windows registry using
Registry Washer robust searching algorithm for errors, any
invalid entries and provides you with a list of all registry
errors found, you can then choose to selectively clean each item
or automatically repair them all. In addition with Registry
Washer tools you can easily search inside your Windows registry,
detect and manage Internet Explorer components installed on your
machine and manage your windows start-up items with Registry
Washer registry tools.
SpeedUpMyPC 2.0
Now, you can get a faster, cleaner, and safer PC within minutes
- without being a Windows expert! SpeedUpMyPC automatically
finds the best settings for your PC and carefully controls your
system resources to give you the best performance. Easy to use,
this award-winning utility has all the features you could ever
need to clean up your system, monitor resources, and improve
performance.
Smart PC
Smart PC makes your PC faster, error-free and more efficient!
By a few easy steps you can make your PC run faster, cleaner
and error-free with the help of a new system tool Smart PC. The
software fixes stubborn errors, cleans-up space-wasting junk and
debris making your PC more efficient and reliable. Special
features of the new software ensure your personal privacy while
surfing through the Web and protect your PC from information
theft.
And your benefits are:
Fix up your PC!
You can fix your computer by yourself. Use the software to
detect, diagnose and repair all types of PC problems. Regular
use of the software will keep your computer running smooth and
error-free without system failures
Clean up your PC!
Normal operation of your PC generates lots of junk files some
of which contain private information. The software easily
detects useless junk and safely removes it reclaiming valuable
disk space, ensuring personal privacy and security.
Optimize your PC!
Do you want to make your computer more powerful? The software
can drastically quicken Windows start-up time and the
performance of all applications.
Protect against Identity Theft
Operations you perform with your computer are recorded and may
be exposed to unauthorized disclosure without your knowledge.
The Ensure Personal Privacy tool helps you to maintain your
personal privacy while surfing through the Web and protect your
PC from information theft.
Smart PC has 3 operation modes: Quick, Normal and Full varying
from basic functionality to professional one. Smart PC allows
you to make undo of any repairs so that you can easily recover
any changes.
Are you ready to set up your computer on a proper mode in a
blink of an eye?
For More Information:
Smart PC
About the author:
Joe Light runs an online collection of optimizing and diagnostic
software at
www.lightsparkle.com.
If you are like me before buying a product you will download and
try lots of demo versions to find the software that fits best
your needs. But with all this installing/unininstalling your
hard drive becomes fragmented, your registry cluttered with
unneeded information and your system performance degrades. Here
are some programs which could help bring thing back to normal.
Registry Washer
Registry Washer safely scan your entire Windows registry using
Registry Washer robust searching algorithm for errors, any
invalid entries and provides you with a list of all registry
errors found, you can then choose to selectively clean each item
or automatically repair them all. In addition with Registry
Washer tools you can easily search inside your Windows registry,
detect and manage Internet Explorer components installed on your
machine and manage your windows start-up items with Registry
Washer registry tools.
SpeedUpMyPC 2.0
Now, you can get a faster, cleaner, and safer PC within minutes
- without being a Windows expert! SpeedUpMyPC automatically
finds the best settings for your PC and carefully controls your
system resources to give you the best performance. Easy to use,
this award-winning utility has all the features you could ever
need to clean up your system, monitor resources, and improve
performance.
Smart PC
Smart PC makes your PC faster, error-free and more efficient!
By a few easy steps you can make your PC run faster, cleaner
and error-free with the help of a new system tool Smart PC. The
software fixes stubborn errors, cleans-up space-wasting junk and
debris making your PC more efficient and reliable. Special
features of the new software ensure your personal privacy while
surfing through the Web and protect your PC from information
theft.
And your benefits are:
Fix up your PC!
You can fix your computer by yourself. Use the software to
detect, diagnose and repair all types of PC problems. Regular
use of the software will keep your computer running smooth and
error-free without system failures
Clean up your PC!
Normal operation of your PC generates lots of junk files some
of which contain private information. The software easily
detects useless junk and safely removes it reclaiming valuable
disk space, ensuring personal privacy and security.
Optimize your PC!
Do you want to make your computer more powerful? The software
can drastically quicken Windows start-up time and the
performance of all applications.
Protect against Identity Theft
Operations you perform with your computer are recorded and may
be exposed to unauthorized disclosure without your knowledge.
The Ensure Personal Privacy tool helps you to maintain your
personal privacy while surfing through the Web and protect your
PC from information theft.
Smart PC has 3 operation modes: Quick, Normal and Full varying
from basic functionality to professional one. Smart PC allows
you to make undo of any repairs so that you can easily recover
any changes.
Are you ready to set up your computer on a proper mode in a
blink of an eye?
For More Information:
Smart PC
About the author:
Joe Light runs an online collection of optimizing and diagnostic
software at
www.lightsparkle.com.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Broadband Feature Connections
By: Robert Michael
Broadband Features Available
The variety of Internet service providers available is growing
as the Internet makes its way into more homes in America. This
proliferation of ISP providers makes it difficult to decide
which ISP you should subscribe to. To make matters more
confusing, most offer a huge list of benefits to entice
customers away from their current ISP. What follows is some
information on the kind of features that should be available
with any good ISP.
Security is of uppermost concern. With new viruses invading the
Internet everyday, virus protection is a must. A virus blocker
is a critical feature for any ISP. Many offer a pop up blocker,
too, and this is also a good thing. The ads from pop up blockers
can be harmful to your computer in addition to being extremely
annoying. This is why ISPs are beginning to have features that
not only speed up customer's computer but also make their
Internet experience more enjoyable. A good ISP will also have
tools to protect your children while they are on the Internet by
providing parent-controlled blocks for blocking unwanted adult
material.
You will also want to have multiple e-mail accounts. This is so
common that most ISPs now offer between 5 and 10 e-mail accounts
to each subscriber. Now everyone in the family can have their
own email account. This way, parents don't have to scroll
through a long list of messages and forwards from their
children's friends, and the children don't have to skip over
their parent's business emails. This is definitely the best
solution for families. Finding an ISP with plenty of accounts
gives you the option of having family accounts, business
accounts and personal accounts.
If you have always dreamed of having your own web page, you may
be able to get one without any unwanted ads. This is due to the
fact that many ISPs now offer a free web space as part of their
standard package. This space may be more limited in size than
other free web spaces. A good ISP will often have templates and
special tools such as counters to help you create the perfect
web site. Since some ISPs will not allow you to use a free web
site for your business, it is important to check with them about
the parameters of free web site use.
Another important feature of your ISP should be the opportunity
to use it with multiple computers in your home. This service
could be free, but may cost you some kind of fee. However, the
freedom it provides is worth it. Parents can access things for
work online, while at the same time, your son is doing research
for a school assignment. The point is that whatever features are
important; you should be able to find an ISP that has them. The
key is doing your homework on the various ISPs. This is the best
way to find the features that you need at a price you can
afford.
About the author:
Robert Michael is the owner of Best Broadband Review which is a
great place to find Broadband Links, Resources and Articles. For
more information go to: http://www.bestbroadbandreview.co.uk
http://www.bestbroadbandreview.co.uk © Copyright 2005
Broadband Features Available
The variety of Internet service providers available is growing
as the Internet makes its way into more homes in America. This
proliferation of ISP providers makes it difficult to decide
which ISP you should subscribe to. To make matters more
confusing, most offer a huge list of benefits to entice
customers away from their current ISP. What follows is some
information on the kind of features that should be available
with any good ISP.
Security is of uppermost concern. With new viruses invading the
Internet everyday, virus protection is a must. A virus blocker
is a critical feature for any ISP. Many offer a pop up blocker,
too, and this is also a good thing. The ads from pop up blockers
can be harmful to your computer in addition to being extremely
annoying. This is why ISPs are beginning to have features that
not only speed up customer's computer but also make their
Internet experience more enjoyable. A good ISP will also have
tools to protect your children while they are on the Internet by
providing parent-controlled blocks for blocking unwanted adult
material.
You will also want to have multiple e-mail accounts. This is so
common that most ISPs now offer between 5 and 10 e-mail accounts
to each subscriber. Now everyone in the family can have their
own email account. This way, parents don't have to scroll
through a long list of messages and forwards from their
children's friends, and the children don't have to skip over
their parent's business emails. This is definitely the best
solution for families. Finding an ISP with plenty of accounts
gives you the option of having family accounts, business
accounts and personal accounts.
If you have always dreamed of having your own web page, you may
be able to get one without any unwanted ads. This is due to the
fact that many ISPs now offer a free web space as part of their
standard package. This space may be more limited in size than
other free web spaces. A good ISP will often have templates and
special tools such as counters to help you create the perfect
web site. Since some ISPs will not allow you to use a free web
site for your business, it is important to check with them about
the parameters of free web site use.
Another important feature of your ISP should be the opportunity
to use it with multiple computers in your home. This service
could be free, but may cost you some kind of fee. However, the
freedom it provides is worth it. Parents can access things for
work online, while at the same time, your son is doing research
for a school assignment. The point is that whatever features are
important; you should be able to find an ISP that has them. The
key is doing your homework on the various ISPs. This is the best
way to find the features that you need at a price you can
afford.
About the author:
Robert Michael is the owner of Best Broadband Review which is a
great place to find Broadband Links, Resources and Articles. For
more information go to: http://www.bestbroadbandreview.co.uk
http://www.bestbroadbandreview.co.uk © Copyright 2005
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Internet Monitoring, Safety And Security
By: Matthew Noel
Internet monitoring is a necessary part of having internet
service. Whether you allow your children to surf the web or if
you have the need to monitor employees, effective programs can
be used to help you to do this simply. There are many aspects
that can be monitored and the results can be delivered to you
privately. No one needs to know that you are using internet
monitoring technologies either.
There are many options when it comes to internet monitoring. No
matter what your need is in these products, you can expect to
use high tech gadgets and software. But, they are simplistic to
use. Many software programs that monitor internet usage will
tell you such things as how long the individual was online as
well as what websites they visited, who they chatted with in
instant messages, as well as anything that they input into the
web. Emails can be tracked as well as a number of other things.
Why should you use internet monitoring? If you are not sure your
employees are using their time on the job for job related tasks,
this can help you know for sure. If you are unsure of who your
spouse is chatting with at night, consider the use of these
monitoring solutions. Do you know if someone is stalking your
child as they play games on the web? If they use instant message
software, find out who they are talking to and what they are
saying. Internet monitoring is really a necessary part of
keeping people safe and your business under control. Effective
internet monitoring software products can be purchased and
installed quickly and discreetly. Be in the know.
There are also many information portals now devoted to the
subject and we recommend reading about it at one of these. Try
googling for "internet monitoring" and you will be surprised by
the abundance of information on the subject. Alternatively you
may try looking on Yahoo, MSN or even a decent directory site,
all are good sources of this information.
About the author:
for more information please see
http://www.internet-monitoring-help.co.uk
Internet monitoring is a necessary part of having internet
service. Whether you allow your children to surf the web or if
you have the need to monitor employees, effective programs can
be used to help you to do this simply. There are many aspects
that can be monitored and the results can be delivered to you
privately. No one needs to know that you are using internet
monitoring technologies either.
There are many options when it comes to internet monitoring. No
matter what your need is in these products, you can expect to
use high tech gadgets and software. But, they are simplistic to
use. Many software programs that monitor internet usage will
tell you such things as how long the individual was online as
well as what websites they visited, who they chatted with in
instant messages, as well as anything that they input into the
web. Emails can be tracked as well as a number of other things.
Why should you use internet monitoring? If you are not sure your
employees are using their time on the job for job related tasks,
this can help you know for sure. If you are unsure of who your
spouse is chatting with at night, consider the use of these
monitoring solutions. Do you know if someone is stalking your
child as they play games on the web? If they use instant message
software, find out who they are talking to and what they are
saying. Internet monitoring is really a necessary part of
keeping people safe and your business under control. Effective
internet monitoring software products can be purchased and
installed quickly and discreetly. Be in the know.
There are also many information portals now devoted to the
subject and we recommend reading about it at one of these. Try
googling for "internet monitoring" and you will be surprised by
the abundance of information on the subject. Alternatively you
may try looking on Yahoo, MSN or even a decent directory site,
all are good sources of this information.
About the author:
for more information please see
http://www.internet-monitoring-help.co.uk
Sunday, October 09, 2005
How to eliminate spyware, adware and pop-up ads for FREE!
By: Matt Marose
The following is a guide on how to remove spyware, adware, and
pop-up ads using FREE tools ready to download anytime.
Don't settle for advertisements that sell $30 software programs
that CLAIM to remove all these annoyances, when in reality all
they do is hog system resources and slow your computer down even
more.
Now, of course there are people out there who have their own
little utilities they use that are just "wonderful" for this
kind of operation, but the following tools I use, to this day,
to completely rid my computer of anything that would cause it to
slow down or rig it with pop-up ad crap all over the place. Also
included is information about a free anti-virus tool that can
get rid of viruses even commercial anti-virus programs can't
detect!
So, onto the good stuff.
The first program is called SpyBot Search and Destroy. It can be
downloaded at http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
You can also type in "SpyBot" at google.com and it'll come up as
the first link.
SpyBot is a great, FREE application used to get rid of spyware
and adware. When you first install it, it'll take you through a
wizard that'll set you up for first time use. This includes
downloading updated lists, backing up your system, and even
IMMUNIZATION of future malicious Internet Explorer scripts! Oh
yea, did I mention it has a tool called the "Hosts" feature? You
can do a google search on "hosts file" which will give you an
interesting tip on how to block ads. Not many people know about
this trick, and it's a shame, because it WORKS. Anyway, SpyBot
has an option that allows you to add a lists of marketing
servers to your hosts lists which automatically blocks them. Go
ahead and try it, the results will speak for themselves.
The next tool to download is Adaware (That's "ad-A-ware" NOT
"adware"). This can be downloaded at
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Once again, just type in "adaware" in google.com and click the
first link.
Adware is another program like SpyBot that gets rid of spyware,
adware, viruses, and all the small little annoyances that bury
themselves into your system files and cause all sorts of
trouble. Sometimes Adaware will catch things that NO OTHER
application will find. Just do an update and system scan as if
it were an anti-virus tool. You will be suprised at how many
things this tool will pick up.
After you've removed all that crap from your system, the next
step is to download a FREE anti-virus tool called AVG. This can
be downloaded at http://www.grisoft.com
...or type "AVG" in google.com and click the first link. (Gotta
love Google).
Just install, update, and do a system scan. This nifty little
anti-virus tool also can schedule updates and system scans. So,
be sure to configure that when you get the chance.
Another tool (well, more like an internet browser) that
eliminates viruses, adware, spyware and pop-up ads is called
FireFox. This can be downloaded at http://www.mozilla.org and
the link is right there on the front page. You can also find it
on google ;)
Well, that's about it. These tools are all free. There are
editions available that you have to pay for, but the free
versions will get the job done just fine. Gotta love FREE stuff
that WORKS, huh?
Matt Marose
Visit my blog for more articles and fun, interesting content!
http://marosenet.blogspot.com
About the author:
Visit my blog at http://marosenet.blogspot.co
m.
The following is a guide on how to remove spyware, adware, and
pop-up ads using FREE tools ready to download anytime.
Don't settle for advertisements that sell $30 software programs
that CLAIM to remove all these annoyances, when in reality all
they do is hog system resources and slow your computer down even
more.
Now, of course there are people out there who have their own
little utilities they use that are just "wonderful" for this
kind of operation, but the following tools I use, to this day,
to completely rid my computer of anything that would cause it to
slow down or rig it with pop-up ad crap all over the place. Also
included is information about a free anti-virus tool that can
get rid of viruses even commercial anti-virus programs can't
detect!
So, onto the good stuff.
The first program is called SpyBot Search and Destroy. It can be
downloaded at http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
You can also type in "SpyBot" at google.com and it'll come up as
the first link.
SpyBot is a great, FREE application used to get rid of spyware
and adware. When you first install it, it'll take you through a
wizard that'll set you up for first time use. This includes
downloading updated lists, backing up your system, and even
IMMUNIZATION of future malicious Internet Explorer scripts! Oh
yea, did I mention it has a tool called the "Hosts" feature? You
can do a google search on "hosts file" which will give you an
interesting tip on how to block ads. Not many people know about
this trick, and it's a shame, because it WORKS. Anyway, SpyBot
has an option that allows you to add a lists of marketing
servers to your hosts lists which automatically blocks them. Go
ahead and try it, the results will speak for themselves.
The next tool to download is Adaware (That's "ad-A-ware" NOT
"adware"). This can be downloaded at
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Once again, just type in "adaware" in google.com and click the
first link.
Adware is another program like SpyBot that gets rid of spyware,
adware, viruses, and all the small little annoyances that bury
themselves into your system files and cause all sorts of
trouble. Sometimes Adaware will catch things that NO OTHER
application will find. Just do an update and system scan as if
it were an anti-virus tool. You will be suprised at how many
things this tool will pick up.
After you've removed all that crap from your system, the next
step is to download a FREE anti-virus tool called AVG. This can
be downloaded at http://www.grisoft.com
...or type "AVG" in google.com and click the first link. (Gotta
love Google).
Just install, update, and do a system scan. This nifty little
anti-virus tool also can schedule updates and system scans. So,
be sure to configure that when you get the chance.
Another tool (well, more like an internet browser) that
eliminates viruses, adware, spyware and pop-up ads is called
FireFox. This can be downloaded at http://www.mozilla.org and
the link is right there on the front page. You can also find it
on google ;)
Well, that's about it. These tools are all free. There are
editions available that you have to pay for, but the free
versions will get the job done just fine. Gotta love FREE stuff
that WORKS, huh?
Matt Marose
Visit my blog for more articles and fun, interesting content!
http://marosenet.blogspot.com
About the author:
Visit my blog at http://marosenet.blogspot.co
m.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Adware: How to Beat the Sneakiest Software
By: Joel Walsh
Promoters of adware, software that shows advertising on a user's
computer, use some cunning tricks to get you to install their
software on your machine.
Here's what to look out for.
Adware is, by definition, something reasonable people don't
want on their computers. That's why malware can't just come out
and ask people to install it.
Often, the computer owner is completely unaware of it being
installed. But not always.
When adware doesn't want to sneak in through an open window, it
will try to trick you into letting it in through the front door.
Don't think you could be
tricked? Don't be so sure until you've checked out these most
common ways people have been tricked into allowing malware to be
installed on their machines.
Adware Installation Trick 1: Piggybacking
* How it works: malware may come bundled with a legitimate piece
of software the user actually wants, such as a game or emoticon.
The malware is
merely labeled "companion software," without any indication of
what it will do. * How to fight it: be very suspicious of any
software that comes bundled with other software. Don't installed
software that comes bundled with other
software unless you know everything that the bundled software
does. After all, if the bundled program has anything to do with
the program you actually want,
why couldn't the software developer just get both programs'
functionalities into a single piece of software? Software
developers are now very sensitive to
malware concerns and will provide a lengthy explanation of just
why the bundled software is necessary, in the cases when they
actually do need to use bundled
software.
Adware Installation Trick 2: Bait and Switch
* How it works: since people are getting more and more
suspicious of bundled software, the malware's developers may
simply label it as valuable
software, for instance, a browser plugin that supposedly
accelerates web browsing (but in reality only shows ads). * How
to fight it: again, a suspicious mind is useful in avoiding
malware. Ask yourself some questions: o What will this software
actually do? Malware often comes with very fuzzy claims
attached. Sure, it says it will improve your browsing
experience,
but how? Often, this improved browsing experience just means a
browsing experience with more advertising. o If the software is
so great, why is it being given away free? Most commonly,
software is only given out free in two cases: if it's OpenSource
(designed by a community of developers and not
proprietary--OpenSource software is always clearly labeled as
such); or simply a come-on for a fuller-featured
version of the software. If neither case is true, there's a real
chance the software is financed by adware.
Adware Installation Trick 3: Outright Lying
* How it works: malware may even be labeled as something else
entirely, such as a well-known piece of software or a crucial
component of the computer
operating system. * How to fight it: this is the trickiest
malware of all, and requires extreme caution. You don't want to
start deleting any of your program files,
much less your system registry entries, unless you're absolutely
sure it's malware. Plenty of overzealous parasite hunters have
shot their own machines to
bits this way. This is one case where you want to be using an
anti-spyware program, and preferably a second anti-spyware
program to provide a second
opinion.
Getting Rid of Adware
Adware is so tricky that trying to uninstall it by yourself
could be like a trip into the Matrix. Luckily, there are good
anti-spyware programs that tackle
adware as well--after all many adware programs are also spyware
since they monitor your internet usage. True, it may feel like
adding insult to injury to have to install more software to get
rid of software you never meant to install in the first place.
But
sometimes you just have to fight fire with fire.
About the author:
About the author: Joel Walsh has written a companion article on
stealth tactics used by adware:
http://www.spyware-refuge.com?%20virus%20protection
Promoters of adware, software that shows advertising on a user's
computer, use some cunning tricks to get you to install their
software on your machine.
Here's what to look out for.
Adware is, by definition, something reasonable people don't
want on their computers. That's why malware can't just come out
and ask people to install it.
Often, the computer owner is completely unaware of it being
installed. But not always.
When adware doesn't want to sneak in through an open window, it
will try to trick you into letting it in through the front door.
Don't think you could be
tricked? Don't be so sure until you've checked out these most
common ways people have been tricked into allowing malware to be
installed on their machines.
Adware Installation Trick 1: Piggybacking
* How it works: malware may come bundled with a legitimate piece
of software the user actually wants, such as a game or emoticon.
The malware is
merely labeled "companion software," without any indication of
what it will do. * How to fight it: be very suspicious of any
software that comes bundled with other software. Don't installed
software that comes bundled with other
software unless you know everything that the bundled software
does. After all, if the bundled program has anything to do with
the program you actually want,
why couldn't the software developer just get both programs'
functionalities into a single piece of software? Software
developers are now very sensitive to
malware concerns and will provide a lengthy explanation of just
why the bundled software is necessary, in the cases when they
actually do need to use bundled
software.
Adware Installation Trick 2: Bait and Switch
* How it works: since people are getting more and more
suspicious of bundled software, the malware's developers may
simply label it as valuable
software, for instance, a browser plugin that supposedly
accelerates web browsing (but in reality only shows ads). * How
to fight it: again, a suspicious mind is useful in avoiding
malware. Ask yourself some questions: o What will this software
actually do? Malware often comes with very fuzzy claims
attached. Sure, it says it will improve your browsing
experience,
but how? Often, this improved browsing experience just means a
browsing experience with more advertising. o If the software is
so great, why is it being given away free? Most commonly,
software is only given out free in two cases: if it's OpenSource
(designed by a community of developers and not
proprietary--OpenSource software is always clearly labeled as
such); or simply a come-on for a fuller-featured
version of the software. If neither case is true, there's a real
chance the software is financed by adware.
Adware Installation Trick 3: Outright Lying
* How it works: malware may even be labeled as something else
entirely, such as a well-known piece of software or a crucial
component of the computer
operating system. * How to fight it: this is the trickiest
malware of all, and requires extreme caution. You don't want to
start deleting any of your program files,
much less your system registry entries, unless you're absolutely
sure it's malware. Plenty of overzealous parasite hunters have
shot their own machines to
bits this way. This is one case where you want to be using an
anti-spyware program, and preferably a second anti-spyware
program to provide a second
opinion.
Getting Rid of Adware
Adware is so tricky that trying to uninstall it by yourself
could be like a trip into the Matrix. Luckily, there are good
anti-spyware programs that tackle
adware as well--after all many adware programs are also spyware
since they monitor your internet usage. True, it may feel like
adding insult to injury to have to install more software to get
rid of software you never meant to install in the first place.
But
sometimes you just have to fight fire with fire.
About the author:
About the author: Joel Walsh has written a companion article on
stealth tactics used by adware:
http://www.spyware-refuge.com?%20virus%20protection
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