Winston's Attic

Fed slashes rates - Jan. 22, 2008

2008-01-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

Fed slashes rates - Jan. 22, 2008

Today, in response to growing concern that the United States' economy is heading towards a recession, the Federal Reserve lowered 2 key interest rates, the federal funds rate and the discount rate, both by three-quarters of a point. This is the first major cut made by the Federal Reserve for the year of 2008.

The interest rate cuts did manage to stave off a large drop in the U.S. Stock Market, where the Dow Jones Industrial dropped 400 points before the rate cuts were announced. The rate cuts will not be enough for the U.S. economy to recover. However, in combination with the propose tax rebate and other initiatives called by President George Bush to revitalize the economy might be enough to save it.

Netflix Now Offers Subscribers Unlimited Streaming of Movies and TV Shows

2008-01-14T20:55:00.000-05:00

Netflix Now Offers Subscribers Unlimited Streaming of Movies and TV Shows on Their PCs for Same Monthly Fee

Several months ago, Netflix started offering to their customers free their "Watch Now" service. With the "Watch Now" services, customers could watch streaming video on their PC's. The selection was limited to older and B-rated movies and T.V. shows. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful addition to Netflix online DVD rental service. At the time, customers received a limited number of hours for the streaming video service based on their online DVD rental plan they were enrolled in. For example, customers on Netflix's unlimited 3 DVD at a time plan, which costs $16.99, received 17 hours of free streaming video. That was then.

Now, Netflix is offering unlimited access to their video streaming service to all their customers enrolled in their unlimited DVD rental plan. Translation, customers can watch as many hours as they like for free. Customers belonging to Netflix's limited 1 DVD at a time with 2 DVD maximum per month plan are not eligible for this offer. The one thing which would make this offer even sweeter is if Netflix offer a greater selection of content. I expect Netflix to do so soon.

Free 6 Months Trial of Antivir Antivirus Premium Edition

2008-01-14T14:37:00.000-05:00

Try Avira's Antivir Personal Edition Antivirus Premium Free Through Dennis Publication Special

Antivir Antivirus Personal Edition, which is free for personal non-commercial use, is one of my favorite antivirus applications - AVG and Avast Antivirus are the other 2. Antivir has a powerful scanning engine which scans for viruses, worms,Trojan Horses and rootkits. It also scans outgoing e-mail but not incoming e-mail. In addition, the free edition does not scan for spyware or adware. These features are only found in the premium paid version. In addition, the paid version uses a dedicate server for updates while the free edition uses a shared server which downloads updates at a snail pace. I use a fast DSL broadband connection and downloading via the free edition feels like downloading using a 56kps dial up connection. And, as an additional annoyance, after every update, Antivir displays an obnoxious splash screen urging users to upgrade to the paid version.

Thankfully, there is a bit of good news. For a limited time, you can enjoy a free 6 months trial of the premium paid edition. And, all you have to do is fill out a subscription form, which require a name and a valid e-mail address - you don't even need to use your real name or e-mail address. Once you have filled out the form, Avira will send you an email with an activation code and instructions on how to install Antivir. Save the activation code on to your hard drive. Download the premium edition off of Avira's server and start the installation process. During this process, you will be asked to browse to the location of the activation code. That's it. Update the signature database and you are ready to run your first scan.

How to adjust disk space in Windows Vista:

2008-01-11T13:27:00.000-05:00

How to adjust disk space in Windows Vista

Did you know that Windows Vista, by default, allots an obscene 15% of a computer's hard drive space to System Restore. So, for example, if you have a 200GB hard drive then 30GB is devoted to system restore. Who needs a 30GB system restore? It seems Microsoft doesn't seem to have too much confidence in the stability of its latest operating system. You can change the amount of space that's system restore uses; however, it is far from easy to do so. You will need an account with Administrator privileges and use the command line utility "vssadmin." Read MVP website's howto tutorial on how to use vssadmin.

2008-01-07T19:44:00.000-05:00

Remove The Crapware Which Came With Your New Computer

Well, last week, I treated myself by buying a new laptop. For the most part, I am happy with my new Compaq Presario laptop. What I didn’t like was the collection of trialware, a.k.a. crapware, preinstalled on it. This isn’t a unique problem. Several computer vendors add trial software to their products. Why? For profit. Profit for them but not for you. What you can do is remove them. The first thing you can try is to see if the software program came with an uninstaller. In Windows XP and Vista, go to the Start Menu > All Programs > [Software Program] > Uninstall [Software Program]. If there isn’t an uninstaller, go to the Start Menu > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs…and find an entry for the software program you want to uninstall > [Remove] > [Restart]. If you don’t find an entry for the software program, all is not lost; you can try a standalone uninstaller program, like Total Uninstaller. Total Uninstaller scans the Windows Registry and files belonging to the software program and then removes them. It is by far the most elegant way to remove a software program. Other popular and effective software uninstallers include Tune-Up Utilities 2008, System Mechanic 7 and CCleaner. Nevertheless, there is a small chance that some stray registry keys and files will be left behind. You can use a registry cleaner to remove them but this isn’t absolutely needed. These stray registry keys rarely cause any problems.

2008-01-06T13:14:00.000-05:00

Sphinx Software’s Vista Firewall Control

Microsoft touts Windows Vista as its latest and most secure operating system. Starting with Windows XP SP2, Microsoft has included a firewall which, by default, is enabled. While Windows XP’s firewall only monitors inbound Internet traffic, Windows Vista’s firewall monitors both incoming and outgoing Internet traffic. Windows Vista’s firewall is enabled by default. Windows Vista’s firewall isn’t the most user friendly application. In fact, it is downright impossible to customize. It does not allow users to set rules for traffic. Thankfully, there is a handy utility that can help, namely, Vista Firewall Control (VFC).

There is both a free and paid version of VFC. With the free VFC program, users can choose what type(s) of connections applications can make. For example, users can allow applications to make both types of connections, only one type of connections or block both. In addition, users can choose to apply it only once or apply it all the time. VFC doesn’t have all the bells and whistles found in other paid firewall programs; however, if you want to keep Windows Vista’s firewall then VFC can give you more control over the it. For those who want the bells and whistles, there are several free firewalls which support Windows Vista, such as: Comodo Firewall Pro, PC Tools Firewall Plus and ZoneAlarm.

2008-01-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Great Online Savings and CD Offers

The last quarter of 2007 has been particular rough on the U.S. economy. Several banks have lowered their interest rates on their products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CD). For example, in the beginning of 2007, HSBC Bank offered their online savings account with an interest rage of 5.05%. After the mortgage market crash, the rate dropped to 4.50% and continued to fall to today's 4.25%. The Federal Treasury lowered interests rates but it did little to alleviate fears of a slowing economy. However, not all is lost. There are a number of decent investments.

Washington Mutual is still offering an online savings account with a 4.75% interest; however, you need to open a free checking account as well. The minimum deposit is $1.00. Washington Mutual is also offering an online 6 months CD with an interest rate of 5.10%. Minimum deposit is $1,000.

Countrywide Bank is also offering an online savings account with an interest rate of 5.25%; however, to get this rate there is a $10,000 minimum deposit. Countrywide Bank is also offering a 6 months CD with an interest rate of 5.45% with a minimum deposit of $10,000.

ING Direct is offering an online savings account with a more modest interest rate of 4.10%. There is a minimum deposit of $1.00. In addition, it is offering a 6 month CD with an interest rate of 4.70%.

2008-01-02T10:41:00.000-05:00

HSBC Bank Credit Card Anyone?

Well, the holidays are over and you are reeling from the small fortune you spent for holiday gifts. But, don’t panic. There is some good news on the horizon. HSBC Bank is offering a number of credit cards with a special 0% introductory APR for balance transfers and purchases for 12 months. In addition, during this introductory promotional period, there are no fees for balance transfers. And, of course, there are no annual fees. If you have outstanding balances on your current cards, why don’t you transfer them to a new HSBC credit card? You can avoid huge finance fees and, with the money, you save you can deposit it in to your interest bearing bank account(s). Personally, I calculate the total for my balance transfer then invest that amount in to a 1 year high-yield CD. At the end of the year, when the CD matures, I use the principle balance to pay off my HSBC credit card and I get to keep the interest. If these aren’t enough reasons to go ahead and apply for a HSBC credit card, here are some additional benefits:

Free online Bill Pay
Purchase Protection
Master RoadAssist® Roadside Service (1-800-MC-ASSIST)
MasterRental® Insurance Coverage
MasterCard Travel Assistance Services
24-hour toll-free assistance with lost or stolen cards, emergency card replacement and emergency cash advances

2008-01-01T11:08:00.000-05:00

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition

Threats to computer security have changed drastically in the past decade. While once the greatest threat to computers were viruses written by introverted teenagers seeking bragging rights, now, the greatest threat is spyware written by criminals for profit. For the most part, viruses are destructive. Spyware, by nature, seeks to steal information (e.g. user ids, passwords, account numbers…etc.). Optimally, any computer connected to the Internet should have a firewall, antivirus and anti spyware installed. That’s a lot of software but you don’t need to spend a ton of money to secure your computer. In fact, you don’t need to spend a dime. If you are looking for a good free anti spyware program, look no further. PC Tools offers a free version of its very popular and effective Spyware Doctor. Spyware Doctor has earned high honors from both PC World and PC Magazine.

While the commercial version of Spyware Doctor regularly sells for $29.95, Google Pack offers a starter edition of Spyware Doctor for free. The starter edition uses the same scanning engine as its big brother; however, it lacks a number of real time protection features. Specifically, the starter edition does not offer real time protection for web browsers, Windows processes, network connection and startup programs. In short, the starter edition does not monitor and block unwanted changes to browser settings, addition of new Windows processes, changes to network settings and addition of startup programs. However, it does offer real time protection for files. Still, even without these real time protection components, it does an outstanding job of detecting and removing both inactive and active spyware.

To download the starter edition, you have to go through Google Pack installer. On the main webpage, uncheck all items expect Spyware Doctor. Next, click [Download Google Pack]. When prompted, save the Google_Updater.exe file to your desktop or some other accessible location on your computer. When you are finish, double click the executable file to start the download process. Once you have successfully installed Spyware Doctor, you need to update its definitions. To do so, on the main menu, click [Smart Update]. The initial update can be long depending on your Internet connection. After the update, click [Start Scan] > select “Full Scan” > click [Scan Now]. Be sure to quarantine any suspicious files. Spyware Doctor, by default, will create a system restore prior to any removal. I highly recommend that you keep the default settings. To schedule a scan, click [Settings] > [Scheduled Tasks] > highlight a task and click [Edit] to edit a task or click [Add] to add a new task.

Of course, the starter edition’s main menu has a radio button to upgrade to the full commercial version. Still, I am happy that PC Tools didn’t make the upgrade button too conspicuous. For those who want additional protection to cover the areas which the starter edition lacks, I highly recommend Bill Studio’s Winpatrol. There is a free and paid version of Winpatrol. For most users, the free edition is just fine. Winpatrol will monitor any changes to browser settings, startup programs, Windows services, Windows processes and Hosts file. I use Winpatrol and I find it indispensible.

Optimizing Windows Vista

2007-12-29T18:45:00.000-05:00

Whether you upgraded from Windows XP to Windows Vista or purchased a computer with Windows Vista preinstalled, there’s a lot you can do to optimize Windows Vista. Optimization involves not only making Windows Vista work faster but more usable and safer. Optimizing Windows Vista isn’t too different from optimizing Windows XP. Before making again changes, it is best to create a system restore point. To create a restore point, Start Menu > in the Start Search box, type “system restore” (without the quotation marks) > click “System Restore” > the User Account Control (UAC) will appear, click [Continue] > click “Open System Protection” > select your local hard drive (e.g. Local Drive C: ) > click [Create] > type in a name for the restore point > click [Create].

Once you have created a system restore point, you are already to start optimizing Windows Vista. Here is how:

Restrict the number of startup programs: All programs use up RAM and CPU cycles. By limiting the number of startup programs, you have more RAM and CPU free. There are a number of ways to change the programs which load at startup. By far the easiest way is to use the Windows Vista’s System Configuration Utility. To access it, go to Start Menu > in the Start Search box, type “msconfig,” > from the search results, click “msconfig” > the UAC will appear, click [Continue] > a new dialog window will appear, click on the “Startup” tab > uncheck any program that doesn’t need to be loaded at startup > [Apply] > [O.K.] > Restart. It may be difficult to identify the startup program solely by its file name. Should you come across a program you don’t recognize, use the website Process Library to identify the program.

Remove junk files: You would be amazed that the number of temporary files, temporary Internet files, download files and log files which Windows Vista generates. Removing these useless files will free up hard drive space. Like the older versions of Windows operating system, Windows Vista has a built in disk cleanup utility called, of all things, Disk Cleanup. To start Disk Cleanup, go to Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Disk Cleanup gives you the option of cleaning files only from your user account or all users’ accounts. For now, just clean files from your account. Next, select the hard drive or partition where the files are located. Disk Cleanup allows you to select what files are to be deleted. At the very least, remove Download Files, Temporary Files and Temporary Internet Files. You can also include log files as well though some users might find the log files useful - to be honest, I have never found a need for them.

Defrag the hard drive: After cleaning your hard drive, it is time to defrag it. To start Windows Vista’s Disk Defragmenter, go to Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Be aware that it might take several minutes or hours to defrag your hard drive, depending on the size of the hard drive and the level of defragmentation.

Get rid of the eye-candy: Windows Vista comes loaded with special visual effects, such as: transparent windows, animation, fading, special icons, sliding menus and other eye pleasing but computer resource hogging effects. You can select which visual effects you want to keep or disable, right click the “My Computer” icon on your desktop > click “Advanced system settings” > the UAC will appear, click [Continue] > in the new Windows, click on the “ Advanced” tab > under “Performance,” click [Settings] > click on the “Visual Effect” tab > uncheck any visual effect you can live without > [Apply] > [O.K.]. Personally, I keep “show contents when dragging,” “show shadows under mouse pointer” and “smooth edges of screen fonts.”

Get rid of the sidebar: Windows Vista is the first Microsoft operating system to have a sidebar. The sidebar can be used to install several gadgets on the desktop. For example, by default, there is an analog clock and RSS gadget installed. To access the sidebar, go to Start Menu > in the Search box, type “sidebar” > in the search result click “Windows Sidebar Properties” > uncheck “Start Sidebar when Windows Starts.”

Optimize the size of the paging file: There are 2 types of memory that Windows Vista uses. The first is the physical memory, RAM, and the virtual memory, paging file. With the paging file, Windows Vista converts part of the hard drive, ROM, to act like RAM. The important thing to remember is that RAM works much faster than virtual memory. By default, Windows Vista sets the size of the paging file to 1.5x the amount of RAM. For the most part, this is size is fine. But, if the size of is too large, Windows Vista would use more virtual memory, which is slower, than is optimal. So, the goal is to a set an appropriate size for the paging file. In addition, since the paging file which is part of the hard drive, it can also become fragmented. Fragmentation can be minimized by setting a fixed size for the paging file. To change settings for the paging file, right click on the “My Computer” on the desktop > click “Advanced system settings” > the UAC will appear, click [Continue] > click the “Advanced” tab > under “Performance,” click [Settings] > click the “Advanced” tab > under “Virtual memory,” click [Change] > select the local drive (e.g. C: ) > select “Custom size” > for both “Initial size” and “Maximum size” enter the same number. If you have 1GB of RAM, set these values to 1024MB. If you have 2GB of RAM, see these values to 512MB. If you have more than 2GB of RAM, consider setting these values to “0” and not using any virtual memory. When you have enter the amount of virtual memory, click [Set] > [O.K.] > [Apply] > [O.K.] > Restart.

Optimize the size of the Recycle Bin: The size of the recycle bin is a percentage of the hard drive. If you have a 200GB hard drive then 12% of 200GB is 24GB. Who needs a 24GB recycle bin? Thankfully, Windows Vista allows users to adjust the size of the recycle bin, right click the “Recycle Bin” icon on the desktop > select “Properties” > select the hard drive > select “Custom size” > enter a reasonable size for the recycle bin (e.g. 250MB) > [Apply] > [O.K.].

Display the extension for all files: By default Windows Vista does not show file extensions. Why is it important to see file extension you ask? Well, you don’t want to accidentally open an executable file (e.g. .exe). Sadly, hackers create files which look like innocent text files but, in fact, they are program files. Users click on them and end up installing spyware or some other form of malware. However, you can have Windows Vista show file extensions, start Windows Explorer > from the menu bar, select “Tools” > Properties > Folder Options > select “View” tab > uncheck “Hide extension for known file types” > [Apply] > [O.K.].

Make Windows Vista Secure: Microsoft made Windows Vista to be the safest operating system it has ever created and they did a decent job. Windows Vista comes with a bi-directional firewall and Windows Defender, Microsoft’s anti spyware application. However, you will need an antivirus program. There are several decent free antivirus programs so you don’t have to spend a dime - which is a good thing since you had to spend your money on Windows Vista. The 3 most popular free antivirus programs are: Avast, AVG and Antivir. All 3 programs can be downloaded from Filehippo’s website. All 3 programs have their strengths and weaknesses. Antivir has the highest detection and removal rate of the 3 but does not scan incoming e-mail – it does however scan outgoing e-mail. Avast has a detection and removal rate but its unorthodox GUI is less than intuitive to use. Grisoft’s AVG has the lowest detection and removal rate of the 3 but its inituitive controls makes it easy to use. PC World Magazine has an excellent review of many popular free and not so free antivirus programs.

Increase the number of simultaneous connections that Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) uses to connect to the Internet: By default, IE 7 only creates 2 simultaneous connections to the Internet. However, if you have a broadband connection, you can increase the number of simultaneous connections to 10. Unfortunately, to increase the number of simultaneous connections, you need to edit the Windows Registry, which is no small matter. If you do decide to go ahead, create a system restore point prior to editing the registry. It will save you a lot of grief should something go wrong. To edit the Windows Registry, you need to start Vista’s registry editor, go to Start Menu > in the search box, enter “regedit” > in the results, click “regedit.exe.” At this point, refer to Microsoft’s support page to edit the registry. The webpage is for IE 5 and IE 6, however, they apply to Windows Vista as well. You can also refer to VistaWired’s tutorial as well. I am sure many people would say that, instead of editing IE 7 settings, switch to Firefox web browser. Well, I can’t deny that is a great idea.

Download details: Standalone Update Package for Windows XP Service Pack 3

2007-12-19T21:29:00.000-05:00

Download details: Standalone Update Package for Windows XP Service Pack 3

Today, Microsoft has released the first candidate of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. This was quite unexpected since many believed that even a release candidate would not be offered until after Windows Vista SP1 was released. I must emphasize that this is only a release candidate and not a final product. Nevertheless, there is great excitement over this third service pack for Windows XP. The computer gurus over at Devil Mountain Software have tested the preliminary SP3 and, based on their benchmark, they saw a 10% gain in performance compared to Windows XP SP2 (link).

BurnAware Free Burning Software

2007-12-11T21:25:00.000-05:00

BurnAware is a free alternative to Nero and Roxio burning software. BurnAware can burn data, audio, image and video files to almost any CD/DVD media. There is no shortage of free burning software – DeepBurner comes to mind – but BurnAware is the first free alternative that burns video files effortlessly. It is incredibly easy to use. There is a main menu where you select what type of media file you want to burn. Next, you browse to where the file is located on your hard drive or optical drive and BurnAware does the rest. BurnAware doesn’t have the advance features you would find in Nero and Roxio. However, the average user rarely uses these advance features anyway. So, if you are shopping for free burning software, you don’t need to look and further.

PC World - Microsoft Readies 7 Patches

2007-12-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

PC World - Microsoft Readies 7 Patches

Come next week's scheduled "Patch Tuesday," Microsoft will be releasing a total of 7 security patches. Of the seven patches, 3 are "critical" and the other 4 are "important." It is interesting to not that 5 of the patches affect Windows Vista, Microsoft's newest and supposedly securest operating system - I guess everything is relative. As usual, Microsoft has not disclosed details of the 7 patches. Sadly, once the patches are released, it is common now for hackers to use the details on the patches to create hacks to exploit them. Thereby threatening Windows users who do not patch their computers promptly.

Hackers Use Banner Ads on Major Sites to Hijack Your PC

2007-11-19T20:48:00.000-05:00

Hackers Use Banner Ads on Major Sites to Hijack Your PC

There is a new danger on the Internet. Banner ads on several legitimate websites have been "infected" with malware.

Wire writes "If you've seen any of the ads, you may have experienced something like this: You're on a legitimate site. Your browser window closes down. A new browser window comes up, redirecting you to an antivirus site, while a dialog box comes up telling you that your computer is infected and that your hard drive is being scanned. The malware tries to download software to your computer and scans your hard drive again."

PC World - Gmail Update Draws Gripes

2007-11-17T19:40:00.000-05:00

PC World - Gmail Update Draws Gripes

Earlier this month, Google has been slowly rolling out an upgrade to its popular e-mail client, Gmail 2.o. Sadly, many users are reporting problems with this latest version. The most common complaint is Gmail 2.0 works very slowly. Google is aware of the problems and are working hard to correct it. Many users, frustrated with the new upgrade, have returned to the old Gmail 1.0.

Wal-Mart fires warning shots over Black Friday sales price leaks

2007-10-24T16:19:00.000-05:00

Wal-Mart fires warning shots over Black Friday sales price leaks

Many of you are familiar with Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, which starts holiday shopping. Between Black Friday and Christmas, retailers make 50% of their sales for the year during this period. Typically, retailers slash prices to entice buyers to purchase items from their stores. However, sale prices are not revealed until Black Friday. Each year, certain individuals manage to get their hands on these sale prices and post them on various websites. Retailers frown upon the early release of their sales. Up until now, retailers rarely have pursue legal actions against those suspected of publishing their sales. However, this year, it looks like retailers have lost their patience over the matter and have made taken serious steps to penalize anyone who published their sales before companies' release date. Wal-Mart is leading the charge. Wal-Mart contends that their sales circulars are copy protected, which is a new twist. Read the full article for more details.

Removing Rogue Antispyware

2007-07-17T14:25:00.000-05:00

Malwarebytes.org

Unfortunately, not all advertised antispyware applications are legitimate security software. In fact, for some time now, there are scores of what are commonly called "Rouge Antispyware" programs. These programs advertise to remove spyware when, in truth, they add spyware to computers. Oftentimes, these programs install themselves without the user's knowledge or consent. Once installed, they display ominous messages warning the user that their computer has been infected with spyware and scare them to purchase their product to remove them. Sadly, the only spyware installed is the rogue antispyware program. Oftentimes, these programs are incredibly hard to remove, even genuine antispyware programs have a hard time remove all their files. Thankfully, there is a free utility, RougeRemover, which can remove a long list of rogue antispyware programs. If you find yourself in a position where your computer is possibly infected with rogue antispyware, try RougeRemove which is absolutely free and is the real deal. Here is the list of rogue antispyware programs which it can remove.

$100 Bonus for Opening Up Citibank Ultimate Savings Account

2007-07-09T18:02:00.000-05:00

$100 Bonus for Citibank Ultimate Savings Account

Direct saving accounts seem to be all the rage as of late. Direct accounts are those which are maintained by the customer using the Internet and ATM machines. There is no teller services and no statements by mail. It is a win win situation for both the banks and its customers. The bank saves money by providing less tellers for personal services which allows the banks to offer a higher interest rate. Citibank offers a 4.65% APR for its Ultimate Savings accounts. Now, as an added incentive, Citibank is offering a $100 signing bonus to all "New" account holders. There is no minimum opening balance! This offer ends on 8/31/2007. Customers will receive have $100 added to their accounts 90 days after the account has been opened. The account must be in good standing during this period. Who doesn't like free money?

Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life

2007-07-09T17:28:00.000-05:00

Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life

This is for all you laptop owners. Here are some tips on how to extend the life of your batter, both short-term and long-term. No one wants their laptop's battery to die after 2 hours and no one wants their battery to be unable to hold a full charge after only 1 year.

The 3 most power consuming components of a laptop are the display, hard drive and CD/DVD drive. Needless to say, the best way to conserve power is to reduce the power used by these 3 components. This collection of tips have some old as well as new tricks to do just that. The article touches on some ways to make sure your laptop continues to hold a charge many years after you brought it.

It is good to talk about topics on laptop batteries other than their danger of catching on fire.

Top 20 Temporary and Disposable Email Services

2007-05-28T17:43:00.000-05:00

Top 20 Temporary and Disposable Email Services

There are many instances when a disposable e-mail service comes in handy. For instance, a website requires you to register with your e-mail address in order to download a "free" software program. Or, if you want to search a website's database, you have to create a free account using your e-mail address as your user id. Whatever the case, there is always a potential abuse of e-mail address. The website can send you unwanted newsletters, ads or promos. Worse, the website can see your e-mail address to a third party - despite the fact their privacy policy forbids such a thing.

Disposable e-mail services create temporary e-mail address which works like ordinary e-mail address. However, they hide your real identity. Many of these disposable e-mail services offer a plethora of extra features. For example, some allow you to set the lifespan of e-mail address - 10 minutes to 10 days. Some forward received e-mail messages to your real e-mail address. Some even allow you to create a name for the e-mail address. For example, sleazycompany@mailinator.com.

The vast majority of these services are free. The article reviews a list of 20 disposable e-mail services. You don't need to use all of them. My personal favorite is Jetable, a French company. I like it because it allows me to set the lifespan of the e-mail address as well as forward any messages.

Remove Stubborn Files

2007-05-19T18:03:00.000-05:00

New software programs offer more features and speed. However, this growth is not without its share of problems. In fact, as software becomes more and more sophisticated, it becomes bloated and more cluttered. As a result software programs become harder to uninstall. Yes, it is true that most programs come with their own uninstaller. But, they still leave remnants of the program on the computer, such as orphan registry keys and .dll library files. It has become such a problem that several major software makers have developed their own special removal tools, including: McAfee, Nero and Symantec.

For example, a colleague of mine recently decided to switch from McAfee Antivirus to Symantec Norton Antivirus. He used McAfee regular uninstall program and not their Consumer Product Removal Tool (MCPRT). After uninstalling McAfee, he tried to install Norton Antivirus. But, Norton Antivirus refused to install because it detected the presence of another antivirus program. You guessed it. There was enough trace McAfee registry keys and files left behind to prevent Norton Antivirus from installing, which was to be expected since 2 antivirus programs installed on the same computer just doesn’t work. Running MCPRT would remove the trace elements but it would create another problem. MCPRT not only removes McAfee Antivirus but all McAfee products, including McAfee SpamKiller, McAfee SiteAdvisor and etc.

There are other problems such as the dreaded “can’t locate install.log.” In situations such as these you need is a dedicated uninstaller program. Many of uninstaller programs are bundled with utility suites, such as: TuneUp Utilities 2007 and Iolo’s System Mechanic 7. Others are standalone programs such as Your Uninstaller and Total Uninstall. All the programs I mentioned come with a free trial period so you can try them before deciding to purchase it.

BetaNews | Zango Sues Spyware Remover, Again

2007-05-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

BetaNews | Zango Sues Spyware Remover, Again

This is rich. Zango, previously known as 180Solutions, has filed suit against PC Tools, a well established security software maker. In particular, Zango accuses PC Tools' Spyware Doctor of falsely labeling its software as malicious. The suit asks for $35 Million USD as compensation. This is an old tactic used by Zango in the past to intimidate security software makers to delist their software products. In November 2005, Zango sued Zone Labs for falsely labeling their software as adware and/or spyware. But, by then, both the federal government and public were wary of Zango products and actions. Zango later dropped the lawsuit without any explanation.

In November 2006, the federal government charged Zango with deceptive tactics to install their software on personal computers without user's knowledge and approval. In addition, their software was designed to make it very difficult to remove. Zango settled out of court with the federal government and paid a fine of $3 million USD to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). After the settlement, top executives at Zango pledged to totally revamp their advertisement operation with promises to end distribution of what many considered adware. Well, true to form, this was another ruse and Zango is back to its old dirty tricks.

Unlimited storage, it’s coming! - Yodel Anecdotal

2007-05-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

Unlimited storage, it’s coming! - Yodel Anecdotal

Yahoo! announces unlimited storage space for Yahoo! Mail. This includes all free mail accounts. Yahoo! will be slowly rowing out the unlimited storage, so don't panic if you haven't gotten it yet.

BetaNews | Microsoft Preps 7 Security Bulletins

2007-05-04T11:47:00.000-05:00

BetaNews Microsoft Preps 7 Security Bulletins

Next week Tuesday, Microsoft plans to release 7 security patches. Microsoft will not release details about the patches until Tuesday; however, it is known that 1 of the patches will address a DNS vulnerbility in Windows 2000. Other patches will most likely include fixes for Microsoft Office and Windows XP.

TrendSecure | TrendProtect™ Overview

2007-05-03T11:44:00.000-05:00

TrendSecure TrendProtect™ Overview

Many of you might be familiar with Trend Micro, a leading security software company. Trend Micro Internet Security Suite is one of the most popular security software bundle. What you might not know is that Trend Micro has a number of free products which can protect Internet users. With phishing scam on the rise, there is an increasing need to identify fake websites. TrendProtect is a plugin for both the Internet Explorer and Firefox web browsers which identifies phish websites. In addition, the plugin also scans individual webpages for malicious content. For a more in-depth review of TrendProtect read PC Magazine's review article.