In This Issue...

Newbies Nook - Information, Tips, and Instruction for Computer Users

Forum Favorites - Popular Questions and Threads from the Forum

Security Corner - How to Recognize and Avoid Email Scams - Part 1

Carol's Corner Office - Microsoft Office and OpenOffice How-To's and Tips

Dave's Recommended Software - Our Picks of the Best Software Available

Firefox - World's Most Insecure Browser?

Freeware Focus - A Spotlight on Freeware programs.

Useful Websites - Useful Websites Found on the Net and Recommended by Readers

The Lighter Side - Funny, Interesting, and Thought Provoking Items Found During Our Travels Across the Internet

Windows 7 has reached Release Candidate status, meaning it is feature set complete. The Release Candidate build will be available to beta tester on May 5th. Any changes from this point forward are given serious consideration before they are implemented. If it isn't a dire security need or bug fix it won't be changed! If you've been waiting to check out Windows 7 now is the time. Product Keys can be obtained from Microsoft, but you will need to find an 'alternative source' to download. Some keywords to look for (if you are searching your 'alternative sources') are Windows 7 RC Build 7100 and Build 6.1.7100.0.winmain_win7rc. If you do choose to download the Release Candidate from anywhere but Microsoft please check the MD5 hash (if you don't know what this is you probably don't need to download this). The MD5 values are as follows: 64bit - 98341AF35655137966E382C4FEAA282D and 32bit - 8867C13330F56A93944BCD46DCD73590. As always, this is not a final version - DO NOT install unless you are comfortable using Beta software!

Windows 7: A first look - part 2

As we return for part 2 of our first look at Windows 7 (Part 1 available here) let us take one more quick look at the start menu...

One nice change, though it offers no practical advantages over previous versions of Windows, is a a brighter highlighting of the Start Orb which draws more attention when moused over. It isn't ground breaking, but is a nice touch.

(click the image for a larger view)

More important than a bright and shiny button is the change noticed when searches are performed from the Start Menu dialog box. The Start Menu changes so the focus is on the results of the search. The entire Start Menu displays search results, which should be easier to read and allow display of the full text on longer results.

When things go bad

Windows 7 offers some much improved troubleshooting options. We've all experience times when Windows just doesn't want to work. Usually accompanied by a black screen and options including "Start Windows Normally". issues. Windows 7 actually will attempt to diagnose and repair such a problem, which is a pleasant surprise.

A very nice touch. Microsoft has gone much further though and added a new Troubleshooting applet to the control panel. The new applet helps diagnose and provide useful recommendations for common computer problems including; issues with programs, sound, networking, display, and performance among others.

(click the image for a larger view)

Pretty neat, huh? Well it gets better! Clicking 'View All' in the upper left displays all Troubleshooting tools and should cover most user problems. Microsoft can update these and hopefully will based upon user feedback.

(click the image for a larger view)

I will tell you that the stability of Windows 7 has been wonderful. Many considered Windows 7 ready for release after using the Beta, and I must say that I agree. Hopefully these tools will get little use.

Another new addition to the Control Panel is Devices and Printers, which is commonly referred to as Device Stage. As more manufacturers incorporate the awareness of Windows 7 into their products this will be a great place for users to interact with those devices. A current list of supported devices can be found here.

Device Stage will offer a convenient place to adjust settings, view manuals, update firmware, and perform other device specific functions. Devices that are Windows 7 Aware will display a picture of the device and offer device specific options. This adds to the user friendliness of Windows.

User Account Control

User Account Control (UAC) was added to Windows Vista to improve security by requiring user intervention before changes could be made to key areas, thereby allowing users to operate in a safer limited user account. Definitely a good (though misunderstood) decision, but many lauded the implementation. Microsoft has refined what many called "an overbearing solution" by not prompting for common administrative tasks, thereby reducing the overall number of prompts the average user will see(by default). Further reductions have been accomplished by streamlining processes that generated two prompts.

In addition to the above refinements users can easily adjust UAC to one of 4 levels. The 3rd level is the default and where I would recommend you leave it, unless you have a specific need to change it.

Level 4 - Always notify me when:

• Programs try to install software or make changes to my computer
• I make changes to Windows settings

Level 3 - Default - Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer

• Don't notify me when I make changes to Windows settings

Level 2 - Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer (do not dim my desktop)

• Don't notify me when I make changes to Windows settings

Level 1 - Never notify me when:

• Programs try to install software or make changes to my computer
• I make changes to Windows settings

In the next issue I'll cover upgrade paths, versions, and which features are included in each version so stay tuned!

The Daves Computer Tips Forum needs your help (OK I need your help)! The forum has almost 400 members and over 2500 total posts. We desperately need your participation for the forum to thrive! The forum is not only a great place to get and give computer advice, but a wonderful place to meet like minded individuals from around the world!

I would like to introduce the NEW Newsletter discussion forum - a place to openly discuss recent newsletter topics. TwoSpirit was the first jump in with a comment on Ken's recent NoScript how-to article.

Should you install IE8? - Ozbloke wants your opinion.

Seahome receives an error message when executing downloaded .exe files. Are you curious what may cause this?

How would you disable onboard sound and graphics? Care to share your ideas?

An interesting look into the corporate computing mindset. Why are they still using XP?

How to use Ccleaner - Come share your thoughts and read what others are doing.

Come join us in the forum. Join. Jump in. Ask. Help. Learn. Chat.

How to Recognize and Avoid Email Scams - Part 1

I've written on this subject several times, but the message bears repeating. Email is the main source of all virus and Trojan horse infections on the Internet. This was true in 1996 when email was not nearly as widespread as it is today and it's still true in 2009. While email provides us a convenient and powerful communications tool, it also provides cyber-criminals with an easy means for luring potential victims. The scams these criminals attempt run the gamut of old-fashioned bait-and-switch operations to phishing schemes using a combination of email and bogus web sites to trick victims into divulging sensitive information. To protect yourself from these scams, you must understand what they are, what they look like, how they work, and what you can do to avoid them.

Email Scams are Profitable

UCE--Unsolicited Commercial Email, or “spam”--is the starting point for many email scams. Before email came along a scammer had to contact each potential victim individually by mail, fax, telephone, or direct personal contact. These methods would often require a significant investment in time and money. To improve the chances of contacting susceptible victims, the scammer might have had to do advance research on the “marks” he or she targeted.

Email has changed the game for scammers. The convenience and anonymity of email, along with the capability it provides for easily contacting thousands of people at once, enables scammers to work in volume. The economics of scale work in the criminals' favor. In short, it's cheap to scam people and it doesn't take much to make a profit at it. Scammers only need to fool a small percentage of the millions of people they email for their ruse to pay off. Think about it: If you send out a million emails (most of the time, scammers send out many more than this) and one in 10,000 persons is duped, you'll get 100 responses. If your scam nets $50 for each of those, that's a cool $5,000. Not bad for a few minutes' work.

Examples of Email Scams

The FTC has a list of the 12 most common email scams posted on their site (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/07/dozen.shtm). Among those listed are these:

• Business Opportunity Scams
• Making Money By Sending Bulk E-Mailings
• Chain Letters
• Work-At-Home Schemes
• Health And Diet Scams
• Easy Money
• Get Something Free
• Investment Opportunities

Anyone who has an unsecured email account has seen one or more of these at one time or another. I get one every day from “Oprah Winfrey”--”Lose 20 pounds in 20 minutes [exaggeration] with Amazing Acai berries in your beer! [more exaggeration].” Most people don't fall for them, but most scammers are much more subtle.

Next issue, we'll explore email scams, Trojan horse emails, phishing, and more in much greater detail. For now, US-CERT recommends that everyone:

• Filter spam
• Don’t trust unsolicited email
• Treat email attachments with caution
• Don’t click links in email messages
• Install antivirus software and keep it up to date
• Install a personal firewall and keep it up to date
• Configure your email client for security

See you next time!

Ken Harthun is the Security Editor for Daves Computer Tips. He also writes about security issues for IT Knowledge Exchange and blogs on general Geek things at Ask the Geek. You can read more about Ken here.

Spring has finally sprung and I hope you are all filled with the joy and wonder of the new season. Everything is new and blooming around my place and the peepers are performing a beautiful symphony every night for our listening pleasure.

I hope wherever you hail from, you are also experiencing the wonders of the Spring season!

On with the article now!

Create Bulleted Lists in MS Excel

I remember a time when I had "Googled" how to create a bulleted list in MS Excel and was very disappointed when all I found was articles telling me that it couldn't be done. Perhaps you have searched as well and been dead-ended in the same manner.

Well, I found out how to do it and now I will clue you in as well. It's actually pretty cool.

Note: this tip only applies to text entries in your spreadsheet. Follow the steps below to learn how:

1. Select the cells in which you would like to add bullets.
2. Click on Format | Cells.
3. Click the Number tab.
4. Select Custom from the Category box.
5. Click in the Type field and clear any existing format.
6. Depress your ALT key and simultaneously key in 0149, then release the ALT key.
7. Still in the field, depress your space bar once or twice (more if you prefer).
8. While still in the field, key in @.

9. Click OK.

Now, any text that you key into those cells with the custom format will have a bullet applied to it.

Next time, I will tell you how to create a bulleted list in a cell.

Until then, take care of YOU!

Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.

Anti-spyware and Anti-malware

Webroot SpySweeper - Daves Computer Tips Seal of Approval Winner! See the test results HERE. Spysweeper provides the best protection of the seven anti-spyware programs tested! Great detection and removal rates with a small real-time protection memory footprint. This is the one you want! SpySweeper includes the ASK toolbar. Be sure to uncheck this option during installation. Free 14 day trial.

CounterSpy - Runner-up in my Anti-Spyware test. Not only does CounterSpy scan and remove spyware, it also uses real time protection. Real-time protection prevents spyware infection. Free 15 day trial. Winner of Computer Shopper Magazine's Best Buy Award!

Antivirus and Firewall

ESET Smart Security - New from the maker's of NOD32. Antivirus, Antispyware, Antispam, and Firewall all wrapped into one effective, swift, and low resource package. It is what I use to protect each of my computers!

Kaspersky Antivirus - Kaspersky is my second choice for antivirus software. A good program that is very close in performance to NOD32. Free trial.

Online Armor Firewall - You shouldn't be on the internet without a software firewall that offers inbound and outbound protection. Online Armor is the Best of the Best for those needing a firewall. Online Armor's easy to navigate interface and the protection level can't be beat!

Audio and Video

Acoustica Audio Converter Pro - This program converts audio formats and bitrates. Perfect for those with portable audio players or large music collections. 30 day trial.

Adobe Premier Elements 8 - Elements is the home version of Adobe Premiere, the best professional video editing suite today. Premier Elements costs 1/6th the price of the professional version, but is very capable of making videos that will impress everyone.

DVDFab is my favorite DVD software. I tried over 30 different programs before settling on DVDFab. It offers every function of the other programs and more! Copy, burn, shrink, convert for mobile devices, or convert for streaming. Almost all of the other programs I've tried did not function as advertised, were extremely slow, or did not have features that worked as advertised. DVDFab works, and works as advertised! It's easy to use, has a pleasant user interface, and it updated often.

Computer Hardware

Crucial Memory - Memory (RAM) is the upgrade that gives any computer the best bang for the buck. If you want to speed things up with more memory, why not purchase it from the leading source of quality RAM memory. Great selection, good prices, excellent support, and a lifetime warranty! A real winner!

CyberGuys - The place to get those hard to find cables and accessories for your computer!

HP Computers - My current pick for new laptops and desktops. In the current market I don't think you can beat HP's combination of price and performance. Their laptop line is very cost effective and the design is absolutely beautiful!

Newegg - Newegg.com is known for great service and awesome pricing on computers, upgrades, and electronics. If you're looking for computers, computer parts, or electronics you owe it to yourself to start here! Great Products. Great Prices. Great Customer Service!

Computer Maintenance

Diskeeper 2010 - My current favorite defrag program. As files are written and erased from the hard drive they begin to leave "spaces" behind. When the drive is written to again files are broken up to fill in these spaces. This causes the drive to go to several different locations to read an entire file, which slows performance greatly. Diskeeper has several advanced features such as; automatic defrag, scheduled defrag, and the ability to defrag the MFT (Master File Table) and paging file. 30 day trial.

Registry Mechanic - A very thorough and efficient registry cleaner and defragmenter. A definite must to maintain peak performance and stabile operation. 30 day trial.

Computer Utility

Acronis True Image 2010 - Do you value the data on your computer? Do you value your time? How much time will you spend recovering data and returning your computer to its original state after a hardware failure or software glitch? True Image is my #1 choice in backup tools. Whether you choose file or image based backups (you should use both!) True Image will perform better than any other application I've used. Disk images created with True Image are generally 10-20% smaller than those from comparable programs. If your time and files are as important to you as mine are to me this is a must have.

Acronis Disk Director - My favorite tool to partition, format, and resize hard drives.

Roboform - This program is the next best thing since sliced bread in my book! This program integrates into Internet Explorer and firefox. It generates very secure passwords at the click of a button. How do I remember these complex passwords? Roboform allows you to save passwords and personal data in an encrypted format. A master password (yes only one password to remember!) allows access. Roboform in IE and FireFox works like a super powered bookmark. You click the site you want to go to and Roboform opens the site, enters your username and password for the site (if required) and as if by magic clicks the submit button. If you shop online Roboform can enter your personal information and credit card information, which is also stored in a secure encrypted file, in one click. A real time saver with great security thrown in to boot! 30 day trial.

WinRar - What is commonly called a zip utility, similar to the more widely known WinZip. WinRar is faster and works with more formats for about 1/2 the price of WinZip. 30 day trial.

Desktop Utility

LogonStudio - Change the screen that appears when you log into Windows (where you enter your password). Hundreds of skins available online. It's free.

CursorFX Plus - Change the cursors on your computer, add interesting effects. Hundreds of cursor packs are available online for free.

IconPackager 5 - Icon Packager puts you in control to change every icon with the click of a button. Tired of the plain icons built into Windows? There are hundreds of Icon Packs available online for free, which will add a truly personal feel to your computer.

WindowBlinds 7 - WindowBlinds changes the look and feel of Windows. By changing the appearance of the task bar, start menu, and any other window or program you open. It adds transparency, shadows, alpha blending, and animations. Hundreds of themes are available online for free.

Internet and Email

1&1 hosting - If you want to start your own website, blog, photo gallery, or have a personalized email address then 1&1 is for you. 1&1 can not be beat for reliability, features, support, and price. 90 day guarantee.

Google Gmail - The best internet based email (webmail) available. Each mailbox has a 6.5GB limit. The interface is superb, and the spam filter is top notch. You will never need to delete an email again! It has a great search function and a feature called thread view, which makes finding emails easy. A webmail account offers several advantages including not being required to change your email address if you change service providers. Gmail requires an invitation from a current member. If you are interested shoot me an email and I'll send you an invite.

Microsoft Outlook 2007 - Outlook is the current email client of choice for corporate America. I get well over 200 emails a day. Outlook has a few features I really need such as a plug in for automatic backups, office sounds which offers me some audible feedback, and the ability to change headers. I've used Mozilla Thunderbird and liked it a lot. With the amount of mail I go through I really need the features of Outlook. If you aren't a heavy user, or don't need the features I do then Thunderbird is a great alternative.

Firefox 3 - An amazing, free, web browser. If you aren't using it you should be! Highly customizable through addins called extensions. There are thousands of extensions which can allow FireFox to do just about anything you can imagine. More importantly, Firefox is not subject to ActiveX, which is a large part of Internet Explorer, AOL, and MSN. No ActiveX means much less chance of getting spyware! Firefox also conforms to web standards more closely than Internet Explorer, which means you will see what the authors intended, not Microsoft.

Mozilla Thunderbird - A great free email client, from the same folks that brought us FireFox. Easy to use and highly customizable through extensions.

Photo and Picture

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 - Photoshop Elements is the home version of Adobe Photoshop. If you are serious about digital photos you will find Photoshop Elements a great program to have at your disposal. Elements provides all the functionality most will need at 1/6th the price of the full Photoshop version.

Picasa - A great (FREE) way to organize, edit, and share your digital photos.

Secunia lists Firefox as most insecure browser!

Each year noted security company Secunia, providers of Personal Security Inspector and other services, prepares a report detailing vulnerabilities found in the prior year. This report is a great way for them to publicize their services and provide a comparison of year to year, browser to browser, and OS to OS vulnerability statistics. Needless to say, this report is well read among computer professionals and geeks in general!

The most recent annual report, released February 25th, is the standard fare and passed without much fanfare. Until mid March...

What's the big deal?

Somewhere along the line someone who isn't familiar with the workings of the Mozilla (Firefox authors) organization, or looking to stir up controversy, read the report. The report shows that Firefox was found to contain 3 times more vulnerabilities than the other major browsers (IE, Chrome, and Opera). This news took off like wildfire and spread across most tech blogs and websites. Each reporting the incredibly damning news that "Firefox is the worst browser!"

Here is what these articles are referencing from page 11 of the Secunia report:

Here is a quote from the report:

31 vulnerabilities were reported for Internet Explorer (IE 5.x, 6.x, and 7), including those publicly disclosed prior to vendor patch as well as those included in Microsoft Security Bulletins.
Safari and Opera each had 32 and 30 vulnerabilities, whereas 115 vulnerabilities were registered for Firefox in 2008.

Looks like an open and shut case, doesn't it? Send Firefox to the gallows! OK, let's not be too quick to judge!

A deeper look into reporting methods

Firefox is open source software from Mozilla. Mozilla is not a for profit company. Their only motivation is to provide great software, whereas Microsoft's motivation is money. Keep this in the back of your mind as you read the following paragraphs.

What Secunia failed to note in their report, and whomever started this internet firestorm obviously didn't know, is the differences in the way each browser author reports vulnerabilities. To better understand this you need to know that vulnerabilities generally fall into three different categories:

1. Vulnerabilities that are discovered by internal testing within the company or organization
2. Vulnerabilities that are discovered by external sources (various 'white hat' security researchers) who advise the software author privately of the problem
3. Vulnerabilities that are discovered by external sources who use the security hole for mischief and spread the code to others, or security holes discovered and made public to make a name for themselves in their 'circle of friends'

As you can see the first two types present no danger to a user as the security hole is not public - they are known only to the software authors and do not have active exploits. Because these aren't know to the public it becomes a 'secret' which a company could keep to themselves. Whereas the third type are public and could be used to exploit your system.

Here is the big difference between the top 4 browsers - Mozilla reports ALL vulnerabilities found in Firefox! IE, Chrome, and Opera keep the first two types (the private ones) to themselves while reporting the third type (the ones already public). Doesn't seem like a level playing field does it?

Let's assume that half the Firefox vulnerabilities listed by Secunia fall into the private (#1 and #2 above) and the remaining 50% are public (#3 above), and I'm being generous with the numbers. That still leaves Firefox with 57 security holes compared to 31 for Internet Explorer. (Sarcasm Alert!) I'm scared to death! Not really. Have a look below...

Back to reality

The reality is no matter how many vulnerabilities are found in each of the browsers - Mozilla fixes them much more quickly than Microsoft, even on their worst day! Microsoft has vulnerabilities that are unpatched after 1 year!

The report uses the term "Window of exposure". In this case it appears that Microsoft's windows (pun intended) are larger than Mozilla's by a large margin! This sure adds some perspective, doesn't it?

Internet Explorer and ActiveX

If you've followed Daves Computer Tips for any length of time I'm sure you have heard Ken or I suggest using Firefox as your primary browser. One of the main reasons behind our recommendation is ActiveX. Microsoft dreamed up ActiveX as a way to create dynamic websites and add other functionality to the bland and lifeless internet of the mid 90's. ActiveX is, in its simplest form, a program that a website can install on your computer without your knowledge (depending on Internet Explorer version and settings). The issues here are three fold: what is this 'program' going to do on my computer, does the foundation of this software program have any vulnerabilities, and/or does the ActiveX 'program' itself have vulnerabilities? Each of these, in turn, open their own 'can of worms'.

There are good uses for the functionality of ActiveX, but nothing that can not be accomplished in a safer manner using alternative web standard methods. Fortunately ActiveX is only supported in Internet Explorer. Unfortunately Microsoft can't seem to let ActiveX go the way of the Dodo bird. As a result they are open to a considerable number of additional security issues.

As you can see in the screen shot to the right, using Internet Explorer as your primary browser opens you up to at least an additional 366 possible vulnerabilities!

Using Secunia's (over-inflated for Firefox) numbers and some simple math to compare browser specific vulnerabilities...

• Firefox -                 116 Total(115 + 1)
• Internet Explorer - 397 Total(31 + 366)

The big picture

Firefox is safer than Internet Explorer. Firefox is more customizable than Internet Explorer. Firefox is more standards compliant than Internet Explorer, though IE has made great strides with IE8. Remember that Mozilla, that makers of Firefox, are much more open about security issues and bugs. This is an openness you will never find from a company like Apple or Microsoft!

Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Many blogs attract readers by sensationalizing topics such as this, which is definitely the case here. When you come across topics that seem incorrect of inflammatory please take a few moments and look into the details and back story on the subject before forming a conclusion!

Portable Applications (free of course!)

Most technicians use USB Flash Drives to store useful diagnostic/cleaning/maintenance tools and utilities but what about the average home user - are you getting the most out of your USB Flash Drive? Did you know, for instance, that the widely used CCleaner has a portable version? With that in mind I thought a closer look at portable applications might be in order…besides which, I just love ‘em!

Portable applications (or portable apps) are computer programs that can be stored on and run from a portable storage device without necessitating installation onto the host computer. Portable storage devices include; MP3 Players, external hard drives, floppy discs and, of course, flash drives.

What are the advantages of portable applications? Apart from the obvious, that the device on which they reside can be moved from computer to computer they; save valuable hard drive space, do not create any registry entries or store files on the host machine so no uninstall is necessary, removal is simply a matter of deleting any associated files from the portable device.

There are all kinds of portable applications available; browsers, media players, email clients, security products, office components and lots of lovely tools and utilities. I don’t keep programs which I am using on a day to day basis on flash drive, I prefer those installed on my machine but I do have a nice assortment of useful tools and utilities stored.

Portable applications will generally download in a zip package which can then be unpacked to the flash drive or, download directly to the flash drive and unpack or, as I do, download to the computer (saves changing the download manager settings) and then move the file onto the flash drive and unpack.

Where do we get these wonderful applications? There are quite a few sites dedicated to listings of the available free portable applications, here is a link to one of the better ones: http://www.app-stick.com/.

Then there are the suites, or collections of applications gathered together into one download. I am not a huge fan of these because they often include applications which I don’t really want; I prefer to pick and choose for myself. Here is a link to one of the better suites: http://portableapps.com/.

In this case, as usual, ‘Google is your friend’ and any search criteria containing the keywords ‘portable applications’ will bring up lots of hits.

Some time ago I happened upon a collection of free tools which I particularly like. They are published by a comparative newcomer, Ss-Tools and, as such, are relatively unknown. Although it is a collection, each is a separate download and dedicated to just one task. All are available in installable or portable versions and include a secure data eraser, disk cleaner, registry cleaner, uninstall manager and startup manager.

I have used them extensively and found them all to be; quick, simple, efficient and very easy to use. More details and download links can be accessed from here: http://www.ss-tools.com/.

Click on the ‘Download Portable’ link on the left of the page for portable versions.

In many cases, provided portable alternatives are available, there is just no need to install programs which are used on a casual or irregular basis. Cleanup, maintenance and tuning tools in particular fall into this category and, fortunately, most of the popular offerings are available in portable versions. The most notable and annoying exceptions are the more reputable malware scanner/removers, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (free), SuperAntiSpyware (free), etc. Seeing as how they are purely on demand scanners and only needed when they are needed, so to speak, I can see absolutely no need nor reason to have them installed. Yet, the publishers insist on distributing installable versions only, no portable versions... very perplexing.

To help give you some ideas and get you started here are the main free portable apps I have on flash drive:

• Ewido Antispyware Micro Scanner – scan for infected files.
• All five products from Ss-Tools.
• Revo Uninstaller - Arguably the best free uninstaller.
• CCleaner – nuff said.
• 7-Zip Portable – Very good file archiver.
• PeaZip Portable – Another good file archiver.
• JKDefrag – Defrag and optimize the hard drive.
• JKDefrag GUI – A graphical user interface for use with JKDefrag.
• SIW (System Information for Windows) - Gathers detailed information about system properties and settings.
• NTRegOPT – Registry optimizer.
• Quicksys RegDefrag (portable version) – Registry defragger/optimizer.
• Magical Jelly Bean (keyfinder) - Retrieve Microsoft Product Keys! Works on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008, Office XP, Office 2003, and Office 2007 family of products.
• Everything (Beta) – Super fast search utility.

Happy Downloading!

New Freeware Programs

Comodo System Cleaner – Recently there has been been a proliferation of new ‘cleaners’ released, most I have chosen to ignore but I thought this one merited a closer look. The blurb on the official web site suggests it operates somewhat along the same lines as Advanced SystemCare... this from the site:

Comodo System Cleaner is a powerful suite of utilities and tools that allows you to make your Windows XP or Vista computer faster, more efficient and more secure.

• Take control by customizing virtually every aspect of Windows XP or Vista behavior with just a few mouse clicks
• Optimize system performance, disk space and overall stability with built in Registry Cleaner and Disk Cleaner tools
• Gain complete visibility and control over your computer's hardware, software, processes and performance with powerful diagnostics tools
• Ensure complete on-line and off-line privacy by clearing the history, cache and temp files of Internet browsers, Instant Messengers and Windows applications
• 100% Safe Cleaning - Unique 'Registry Protection' and 'Safe Delete' features automatically roll back your system if important files were deleted in error

Panda USB and AutoRun Vaccine – This terrific little security application allows for users to;

1. Vaccinate their PCs in order to disable AutoRun completely so that no program from any USB/CD/DVD drive (regardless of whether they have been previously vaccinated or not) can auto-execute.
2. Vaccinate individual USB drives to disable AUTORUN.INF file in order to prevent malware infections from spreading automatically.

Please read through all the site information carefully (including comments section) before downloading and using this tool. It is still under development and currently missing a couple of features which are mooted for future versions.

Convert for Windows – This one is not new but was recommended by one of our forum members, ‘grafix’. I had a look and was impressed, will convert just about anything to anything... this from the site:

Convert is a free and easy to use unit conversion program that will convert the most popular units of distance, temperature, volume, time, speed, mass, power, density, pressure, energy and many others, including the ability to create custom conversions!

Ashampoo has recently offered up older versions of two of their commercial products for free:

Ashampoo Photo Optimizer – Not one for the enthusiast, simplicity and ease of use is the emphasis here…..for those of us who struggle with complicated photo editors, this one does it all with just one click….this from the site:

• Photo optimization with just a click of the mouse
• Fully automatic improvement of contrast, brightness, color intensity, sharpness
• Picture preview
• Possibility to undo the picture optimization at any time
• The untouched original remains as a backup
• Batch processing of all pictures in one folder is possible
• Turn picture to right or left

Ashampoo Magical Snap– Screenshot capture and editing tool. I realize everyone has a favorite, but this one does include some pretty neat features:

• Smooth graphical drop shadows
• Capture mouse pointer with special effects
• Add text (using all available fonts and colors)
• Draw arrows (choice of styles and colors)
• Draw shapes (rectangle, ellipse, transparent, opaque)
• Felt pen drawing tool
• Spotlight effect (focus attention on one area)
• Highlight area (make an area stand out)
• Apply shape effects (e.g. torn paper edge)

Jim Hillier is the Freeware Editor at Daves Computer Tips. A computer user with over 25 years of experience, his love of freeware is expressed through his Freeware Focus column in each issue of the Daves Computer Tips Newsletter. You can join Jim at the Daves Computer Tips Forum for other discussions on Freeware. You can read more about Jim here.

Social Engineering - A quick course where you will learn how social engineering impacts your online world and provide insight into why your company may not allow you to do certain things on their computers.

IP Spoofing lesson - Learn how IP spoofing happens in an easy to understand presentation.

How's my driving - An interesting way to keep track of your teen's driving. $22 per year and a sticker on the car - I wonder how well it works...

ClicheSite.com - Looking for that perfect cliche to spice up a report or impress the grandkids?

H1N1 (Swine Flu) - Everything you could ever want to know about the H1N1 flu, and then some!

Mall water fountain - This amazing water fountain is found in a mall in Canal city, Japan. ~ Thanks Herbert

Sharkbreak - Having a stressful day? Interesting onscreen aquarium. Choose the scene and fish, then move your mouse around ~ Thanks Jim

If only all online stores were like this! - A Rube Goldberg type display of an online shopping site. Very entertaining! ~ Thanks Ken

An interesting video of life in the International Space Station. If you enjoyed that and would like to see more watch A Tour the International Space Station Part 1 and Part 2. ~ Thanks Larry