Change the Color of your Windows Vista/7 Navigation Button with Vista-7 Nav Button Colorizor

Users of Windows Vista and 7 will know this, that the navigation button available in Windows Explorer are predominantly or shall i say, all are in blue color. And believe it or not, some people may have a problem with blue. But then changing the color of the navigation button is no novice's task. Users will have to dig deep into the Windows settings and edit some system files. In other words, it is risky, troublesome and time-wasting. 

Thanks to a genius called vasanrulez lurking around at DeviantART, we now have a tool called Vista-7 Nav Button Colorizer freely available to us all. This little tool simplifies the effort of having to edit system files by providing a friendly GUI for users to adjust the color of their Windows' navigation button. It works on 32-bit version of Vista and 7 only, but then 64-bit support are soon to come.

There are some common drawbacks you can expect from a new tool such as this. Firstly, Vasanrulez has warned us that some antivirus may took the tool as a malware which obviously is just a false positive. Also, you can expect some bugs and stuffs, though fixes and additional features will be coming our way.


For now, it might not be an attractive tool to download yet, but i reckon when vasanrulez iron out most of the bugs aside from adding supports and features, Vista-7 Nav Button Colorizer will soon hit big time. Interested users may want to follow the development at vasanrulez's DeviartART site where he host the tool.

Visit Vista-7 Nav Button Colorizer at DeviantART.com.

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Enhance Windows's 7 Features For Free with Preme

We'll never get bored of custom enhancement if it provides some measures of usefulness aside from bringing beauties to your desktop. Windows 7 is an awesome OS with many decent features and eye-candies but then enough is just isn't enough. There are lots of tools that are developed to enhance the usability of Windows 7, but none had been quite as impressive as this:

Preme is a new freeware tool which enhances some of the existing features in Windows 7, adding extra hotkeys and functions. Some of the features of Preme are as described below:

• Touch the upper left corner of your desktop to see all your open Windows either in Flip 3D or Alt-Tab style
• Hold mouse button on the title bar area of window to keep your window on top of other windows
• Move mouse cursor to title bar area and scroll down mouse wheel to minimize the particular window
• Hover mouse cursor on the title bar are and then click the wheel to close the window
• Right-click on the taskbar button and the mouse cursor will point to Close window option
• Press ESC button twice to close the active item
• Move cursor to Start button area to open Start menu automatically

According to the official site, Preme does not require installation; all users need to do is to copy its files to the startup folder in order to load it, or delete its startup entry to remove it. It is also lightweight, utilizing about 2 MB RAM at maximum. Other than enhancing your PC, Preme does not modify Windows 7's original looks and feel, so it is a pretty safe tool to use.

Preme is still under development and thus, there will be bug fixes and more enhancements added in the future. For now, if you want to try out Preme, go ahead and download it at the official site.

*Note: If you like the software then please do give feedback, encouragement and/or donation to its developer. The developer work quite hard on this little tool!

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Microsoft Releases Silverlight 4 Beta Client For Facebook

For the first time ever...to both Windows and MacOS fans~


Remember Fishbowl for Facebook? Well, for those who didn't, it was a Facebook desktop client released by Microsoft during their annual PDC back in late 2009. Fishbowl is developed by UXLabs@Microsoft and is entirely powered by Microsoft Silverlight, providing an incredible browsing experience of the popular social networking site. Question is, Fishbowl is slightly slow and can be a bit hard to get used to.


Worry not, for Microsoft came up with another alternative - a better one! Microsoft released a Silverlight 4 Beta Client just for Facebook as of now. Like Fishbowl, it runs Facebook using a desktop application instead of the browser, but compared to Fishbowl, it is much faster and more complete in features! This new desktop client for Facebook spots a dark and sleek interface, starting off with the Home screen right down to the Photo-browsing page. Even the photo uploader is pretty neat and workable compared to Fishbowl.


I would ditch Fishbowl any day for such an improvement, but there are setbacks too. If there's anything...anything that this desktop client lack in features, it doesn't have the chat function which is available in the browser-based Facebook. Besides, since Silverlight 4 will required reinstallation once it is out of beta, so it may be a troublesome thing that novice users will have to worry about in the future.


Some additional screenshots for your viewing pleasure:

 

For those interested to use Facebook poweredby the latest Silverlight 4 Beta, you can get them from this website.

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Recent Beta Program Updates

I have been busy learning new stuffs in and out during my holidays, so i couldn't fulfill my promise as stated in my announcement area. Nevertheless, i felt it's time i pull myself away from all this learning and started posting something here.



Today i'll not be introducing software or promotions to you, but i'll instead, give you a brief update on some of the interesting beta programs i keep tabs on throughout my holiday periods:

1. Avast! Antivirus v5

This popular antivirus has just came out of beta on the 20th of January. The new v5 has a revamped interface design, more user-centric charts and options plus several new features and scan engine updates. It is incredibly light on PC resources as well. Not bad for a free antivirus, i must say!


2. Trend Titanium

Remember my previous post about Trend Micro Security Beta? Well, this is essentially a renamed version of the previous Trend Micro Security Beta program. Trend Titanium is released as renamed, recolored and optimized feature. Having said that, it still keeps its virtue of operating from the cloud, so it is extremely light on resources. The beta program is still going on at Trend Micro Beta Portal and will proceed all the way into March 2010.

3. Mozilla Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate (RC)

Firefox is pretty much the trendsetter in terms of add-on features and security standards for browsers, but in v3.6, due to release in the coming weeks, Firefox developers are more focused on performance and speed improvements. Personal testing revealed that v3.6 is indeed, more responsive and produces minimal crashes for a beta program, but then it's speed significantly trails behind those of Google Chromes and the latest Opera v10.5.


4. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta

Although the current Adobe Flash Player 10 works just fine with no reported vulnerabilities, the fact is that it is still slow...incredibly slow on graphic rendering. Imagine Youtube's hi-def videos going sluggish on your PC, or the Flash games on Facebook maxing out your CPU cycle, making your PC as slow as a snail! The latest beta version of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 bring GPU acceleration technology to your PC, or in other words, Adobe Flash Player now utilizes your PC's graphic cards in order to render high-definition flash videos and games, therefore reduce CPU stress! Bad news is, there are only some processors in the market that supports this new tech...


5. BitComet 2010 Beta

 BitComet's high times are over; people nowadays would rather recommend uTorrent or Vuze to manage downloads, but then to hardcore fans, BitComet serves them just fine. The new BitComet emphasizes on GUI improvements and  bug fixes, plus some minor network tweaks to improve overall experience.

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ASCOMP Backup Maker v6.001 [New Release], Synchredible v2.4 [Update], Secure Eraser v3.1 [Update] Free For Private Use

ASCOMP Software GmbH has a new release of  their main software product Backup Maker from v5.5 to v6.001 and this new release is also free for home users (Private Use) like the previous one. If you remember, In September 2009, I have already shared that ASCOMP Software GmbH is offering BackUp Maker v5.5, Synchredible v2.3, Secure Eraser v3.0 free for home users. They have also updated their other two main software: Synchredible v2.4 and Secure Eraser v3.1. These two software are also free for home users (Private use).

There is no difference between Standard Editions and Professional Editions except you are not allowed to use Standard Edition commercially. For commercial use, you need to buy same saftware.

You may be confused when visiting ASCOMP web site because of the contradiction in statements that at order page private users have to pay but at download page these software are shown as freeware. When you will install, you will see in main window Freeware for Private use. So, what is the difference between Private Use, Home Use and Personal Use? Whatever, these software are free for all these three uses.

Because of shortage of time, I was not able to review these software at all. So, if you would like, you can share your views.

Oh, I forgot to tell you once again that I might not be able to write articles as frequently as I have written in past era. You have noticed that I am already writing with delays. I am becoming more and more busy. I hope you will bear this delay with me.

Get Free:

Backup Maker v6.001:

Info:

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&page=desc&prog=backupmaker

Comparision: Standard and Professional Editions

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&page=func&prog=backupmaker

Download:

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&page=download&prog=backupmaker

Direct Download:

http://www.ascomp.net/backupmaker/bkmaker.exe

Operating Systems: 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/Win7

Synchredible v2.4:

Info:

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&page=desc&prog=synchredible

Comparision: Standard and Professional Editions

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&page=func&prog=synchredible

Download:

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&page=download&prog=synchredible

Direct Download:

http://www.ascomp.net/synchredible/synchred.exe

Operating Systems: 2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/Win7

Secure Eraser v3.1:

Info:

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&prog=secureeraser

Download:

http://www.ascomp.de/index.php?php=prog&page=download&prog=secureeraser

Direct Download:

http://www.ascomp.net/secureeraser/sEraser.exe

Operating Systems: 2000/XP/2003/Vista

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Get Free Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Compact [x86-x64] (Save $40)

Friends have used and confirmed that  Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition and they are satisfied. Now the time is to Get Free Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Compact Edition. Yes, it is not professional but a specialized edition from V3.co.uk. Both X86 and x64 are available.

Paragon Backup The term backup originates from the time when the best way to protect valuable information was to store it in form of archives on external media. It's become now a general notion to mean making duplications of data for protection purposes. and Recovery 10.0 provides support for the major file systems presented on the market today:

· Full read/write access to FAT16/FAT32 partitions.

· Full read/write access to NTFS (Basic and all five types of Dynamic Disks) under Windows 95/98/ME, Linux and PTS DOS. Compressed NTFS files are also supported.

· Full read/write access to Ext2FS/Ext3FS/Ext4FS partitions under all versions of Windows, DOS 5.0 and later.

· Limited read/write access to Apple HFS+ partitions.

Get Free:

1: open the following webpage into your browser and download your required version of Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Compact Edition.

x86 (32-bit)
Info

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/downloads/2256031/paragon-backup-recovery-compact

(URL copy n paste)

Download
http://store.v3.co.uk/?act=details&id=2794

x64 (64-bit)
Info

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/downloads/2256034/paragon-backup-recovery64

(URL copy n paste)

Download
http://store.v3.co.uk/?act=details&id=2798

2: During installation, you will be asked to enter serials. On the same installation window, you will see a button Get Free Serial. Press this button and a new webpage will open. Fill a short English form and submit it. Within 3 seconds you will get your serials. If the webpage does not open, open the following webaddress into your browser:

http://www.paragon-software.com/registration/brcompact.html

(URL copy n paste)

Use these serials to register your copy of Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Compact Edition and enjoy it.

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Get Free Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart Edition 8 (Save $30)

As promised, I am back now. I hope Christmas holidays are started all over the world and people are enjoying winter.

Website designing is an art. You can not just start designing without any purpose. You need to have some reason. If you have reason, you can create the best design in the world. Google can show you thousands of useless design along with hundreds of useful designs. You will also notice that website designs for a special purpose are always demanding money. Normally, you have to pay for such designs/layouts/templates.

Why should you pay? when you can create a website without paying a penny and just in 5 easy steps. Yes, I am talking about Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart Edition 8 which you can Get Free. Creating website with  Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart is so easy, it was never been before.  Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart Edition 8 is a complete visual program and you do not have to press a single key for coding. Imagine, the past time when you have to write hundreds of thousands lines of code to create websites.

Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart Edition 8 is not a full version. It is striped down version of  Incomedia WebSite X5 Evolution 8. It will be missing many features of Evolution but still worth of keeping with you if you do not have  Incomedia WebSite X5 Evolution 8.

WebSite X5 is designed to work like a wizard, visually guiding you through a series screens in which you can insert all the necessary information to create and publish a complete, functional and professional website. There are five basic steps guiding you the programme, taking you from a simple idea to a professional website:

1.	General Settings After selecting the project to work on and inserting some general information about your website such as Description and Keywords for the Search Engine indexing you should select the template for your website. You can select a template from one of the 28 (default limitation of Smart Edt. but you can add more later) models pre-installed in the programme or create your own. In addition to the basic template style you can also customise both the header and footer of your website.
2.	Plan Website The programme automatically adds a Home Page for your website, however all other pages must be added manually. In order to create your website you must first think about the information you would like to present and how - by undertaking this simple task you can start to create your Site Map. You can set up to 4 levels and an unlimited number of pages, simply use the buttons on the page to do so. The programme will automatically set the navigation menu based on the map you create. You can modify your site map at any time by simply choosing Step 2 "Plan Website" from the vertical menubar.
3.	Create Pages Creating the pages is a simple process, first you must think about what information you would like to present on the page and then you can use the tools on the page to create the basic grid. Once you have created your grid you can drag and drop objects from the Objects panel in to your grid; these include text, images, Flash™ animations, videos, sound, tables and much more. Each object can be customized and can be modified for you to insert links to both internal and external resources. The programme also has a built in graphic editor which allows you to fully customise images without the use of any external editors.
4.	Advanced Settings After the basic website is compiled you can customise the appearance such as menu, text and scroll bar styles. With the internal graphic editor you can create 3D buttons and enhance that look and feel of the page elements. In addition to the webpage style you can also add many extra features such as multi-language welcome pages, reserved areas, a blog and an e-commerce shopping cart.
5.	Export Once your website is finished you can upload the finished website to the Internet via the inbuilt FTP engine. Once you have uploaded your website to the Internet any updates or changes you make to your website can be easily uploaded - you can opt through the software to update only modified pages. As well as uploading to the Internet you can also export the entire website project file to a new location either on the same computer on which the project was created or to a new computer altogether.

Grab It:

This is a PC-Welt promo. Read the Grab It process carefully, you will get your own Genuine copy of  Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart Edition 8.

1: Download  Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart Edition 8 from the following link:
http://www.websitex5.com/download/v8/wsx5_sm_en.exe
(URL copy n paste)


2: Install it. After installation, you will be asked to register it. As you do not have Unlock Code, you need to press button Unlock and a web page will open into your default browser. See snap P1 for guidance. You will be asked to login or create new account at website.

3: After login/signing in or registering on webpage, on the very next page, you will be asked to enter the product code. Enter promo code E1IA-S9P0-H2C0 and press button Send. Product code will be sent to your email.

4: Check your email, you will have an email from WebSite X5 containing your Unlock code. Enter the Unlock code at the place shown in snap P1. Press button Next and Now you have registered version of  Incomedia WebSite X5 Smart Edition 8.

Enjoy it.

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Hitman Pro, the World's First Ever Multiple-Engine-Powered Cloud Virus Scanner

It's common knowledge that a system is best to have only one antivirus onboard...well, sort of, because there ARE some antivirus pairings that work well together, for example, Kaspersky with Microsoft Security Essentials. Problem is, sometimes malware still get pass your system undetected, even when you have two antivirus installed on your PC. You can always upload suspected files up to online scanning service such as VirusTotal.com, but then what if you don't know which file to suspect? Surely you can't upload everything one by one?

Hitman Pro, a cloud-based virus scanning software developed by SurfRight, has the closest answer to the problem above. Unlike Panda Cloud Antivirus or Immunet Protect, which are both independent cloud antivirus, Hitman Pro utilizes FIVE scanning engines as their in-the-cloud detection, where users can immediately scan their PC directly from the desktop. Like all cloud scanning technology, Hitman Pro is designed to be portable, light on system resources, requires minimum interaction and improved scanning time. Hitman Pro also works alongside any existing antivirus software without compatibility issues. The free version of Hitman Pro allows users to scan their PC for infection (with a free 30-day period removal), while the paid version allows users to scan for and remove infections from their PC.

The five scanning engines are publicly revealed as G DATA, Avira, ESET NOD32, Prevx CSI & A-Squared Antimalware, although one can argue that with this lineup, Hitman Pro is essentially utilizing 7 scanning engines, since GDATA uses the Bitdefender and Avast scanning engines, while A-Squared uses its own scanning engine together with Ikarus scanning engine. According to inside sources, Hitman Pro carefully chooses their scanning engines based on their distinctive advantages. G DATA and Avira is chosen for their proven high and accurate detection rate, while NOD32 is chosen for its famous ThreatSense heuristic scanning engine. Prevx is chosen for its HIPS detection and rootkit detection while A-Squared is chosen for its antispyware and common malware detection.

Hitman Pro scans fast and reliably, identifying the main key areas for scan based on collective intelligence from its five scanning engines. On its scan result page, it displays the amount of files scanned and the total time taken for scanning the files. It is also more configurable than Panda Cloud Antivirus, A-Squared MalAware and Immunet Protect in some areas, notably the option to scan the PC during every computer bootup.

The limitations of Hitman Pro, however, is that is is meant to be a scanning and removal tool instead of a monitoring tool. Therefore, it is recommended that users still have a real-time antivirus running on their desktop. If users decide to rely on Hitman Pro for detection, then they must frequently scan their PC for infections. Since the free version does not provide removal, Hitman Pro is also not a really good free virus scanner for novice users who does not have sufficient knowledge in manually removing malwares.

All in all, Hitman Pro is the best portable cloud virus scanner available for both novice and advanced users.
 
Hitman Pro is currently a v3.5 final release (Build 80), available in both 32-bit and 64-bit. Windows XP, Vista, 7 and all Server OS (2003 & 2008) are supported.

Download Hitman Pro v3.5 32-bit

Download Hitman Pro v3.5 64-bit

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