Nero BurnLite 10 Free

Nero Lts. has release a free Nero BurnLite 10 which is successor of 9. I am not very much impressed. It looks like they just wanna show that they are too generous to offer their product. It felt like written ICE CREAM on a paper.

I have few issues with it. Let me tell you what I feel:

Huge Installation Package: The installation package is 31.2MB huge. Why so big installation package? Is it only to have a pretty interface? My view is the interface  is not pretty or attractive or following any Usability and Accessiblity guidelines.

Forcefully Ask Toolbar Installation: It forcefully installed Ask Toolbar. Even you do not want to install the toolbar but it will be installed. You can uninstall Ask Toolbar later on. But why we are forced to install it. Is Nero going to be bank-crrupt that they need Ask Toolbar Search Click money badly?

Misleading Interface: First when you see interface, you think: O lots of functions. But all these are fake. Eacy and every function, which you will see, will lead you to upgrade. You will get just two functions: Burn Data and Copy Disk. Why the hell we should use Nero BurnLite 10 if many freeware are better than it. For example, CDBurnerXP, the best freeware out there on Internet to replace any shareware. One more shame for a big company.

Faulty Burning Function: I tried to burn 300MB of data at low speed. After burning 70%, it stopped telling me that disk is unaccessable. CDBurnerXP burnt the whole data and there was no error.

Very Limited Functions: As I have already told you that you would get just two functions: Burn Data and Copy Disk.

No Help File Available: I wanted to read help file but there is no help file, which could tell about its functions, installed. There is one Help folder in installation directory but it has no sensible relation with Nero BurnLite 10. A link from software took me to main page but not to any online help file.

Huge Free Space Consumer: It took 69MB on full installation. Considering the functions available, what Nero BurnLite 10 will do with 69MB of diskspace.

Burden On Computer Resources: During burning 300MB of data, my computer was crawling like snail. I was almost unable to open Firefox. It took more than 7 seconds to load Firefox and it opened just in 4 seconds when CDBurnerXP was doing its burning function.

No Disk Image Support: There is no disk image burning support. This means you can not burn any type of disk image not even most famous and standard ISO Disk Image. 

There is a better freeware CDBurnerXP. You can download  Nero BurnLite 10 Free from here:

http://www.nero.com/eng/downloads-nbl-free.php

CDBurnerXP can be downloaded free of cost.

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Diagnose and Solve PC Problems Anywhere, Anytime with Iobit Toolbox

I have a collection of utility software which I store in my USB drive and when someone’s PC needs it, I will install and run them for diagnostic purposes. I have no problems whatsoever with taking time to install software, but I think that a better solution would be to have a set of portable tools in one single utility software which would do the job without requiring an install or leaving traces behind a user’s PC.

Here’s Iobit Toolbox: one of the recommended solution for PC technicians and geeks out there. At approximately 15MB in size, it houses over 20 dedicated tools that help technicians and geeks with common diagnostics such as system maintenance, obtain system information, optimize PC performance and repair PC problems. It is free, and it is portable! Although it features lots of settings that can be done with the built-in Control Panel, it is nevertheless, a working piece of portable utility bundle.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this software is that it allows user to customize its logo and title. Iobit has included with the software, a tutorial teaching users how to change the toolbox’s title and logos to suit the user. Also, it allows user to run tools independently, meaning to say that you don’t have to access the main GUI to run each different tools you wanted, which is very convenient.

Iobit Toolbox runs on Windows XP, Vista and 7. It runs on 32-bit PCs, but I’m not sure if it runs on 64-bit. If someone tested this tool on a 64-bit computer and it is working, do make a comment for others to refer to.

Download Iobit Toolbox v1 HERE

 

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Riding The New Immunet Protect: Is It A Worthy Security Program?

You have probably heard of Immunet for the first time during last year. I last covered that Immunet Protect is a workable and innovative security software that uses cloud community protection, but it is not enough to make a majority of people stick to it, particularly as it has its own buggy problem, limited functionality and questionable effectiveness as all new programs faced.


Immunet recently arrived at its v2 release, where developers gave the security software a major overhaul in every area possible. It is still a freeware, but now there is a Plus version available for those who want Immunet's own in-house traditional antivirus engine. Which is good in a sense that users equipped with the Plus version are protected by Immunet when they are offline. For free users, they will enjoy the cloud community & heuristic-based engine, but no antivirus engine. Immunet is also capable of running alongside any antivirus program even with their own antivirus engine onboard.


I download & tested Immunet Protect to see if it is worth the use. Here are some of the goods about the software:


1. The New GUI Interface

For v2, Immunet uses a more user friendly interface, particularly the main GUI & the '?' description pop-ups. I love Immunet's effort of trying to educate the user on what particular function of the software does, as well as their effort of making navigation easier for users as they add more features to the product. It is also quite attractive in terms of GUI background and color blendings.


2. Enhanced Protection Features for free


The cloud community scanning feature (codename SPERO) is one of Immunet's core features and for v2, they enhanced its functionality. Although users will require to log in (or create an Immunet account if they log in for the first time) to use the feature, the benefits are rewarding. Users can now invite friends to join their cloud network as well as being provided with a visual map as to who is protecting the users through cloud community detection. Community stats are also updated in real-time more frequently than before. 

To compliment SPERO, Immunet formally introduces another scan engine codename ETHOS, a heuristic-based engine. Unlike SPERO, ETHOS runs regardless of whether the user is connected to a network or not. Of course, it works at best with network connection on, but now, users can rest assure that Immunet is protecting them to a certain degree when they are offline.


3. 24/7 Tech Support


Immunet Protect is being given so much tech support attention for a freeware; both free & Pro version users can enjoy full-time support service when they ran into a problem. Although i have no idea whether it works as advertised, it is definitely one good incentive to use the software.


There is also some area about the software that needs improvement:


1. Buggy GUI


Although i praise the beautiful & easy to navigate GUI previously, there's no deny that it is slightly buggy. Running the main GUI will result in a delay and a momentary white patch before the GUI loads completely. Similarly, other sub-GUI also has the same bug.


2. The Adware-like upgrade prompt 

Sometimes, when running the main GUI, you will notice an upgrade prompt popping out from the right side of the GUI. Although i am not objecting Immunet trying to get users to upgrade to the Plus version, i think there should be other better ways to do that; it makes me feel as though i'm using a security software that came bundled with malware or spyware or similar. It is also notoriously difficult to close the prompt, as the close button does not always show on the prompt.


3. Ask.com toolbar is bundled with the installation package

While this is not necessarily a bad thing, the problem comes with the user. Some users will get turn off by the Ask.com toolbar (considered an adware by some) that is installed. While there is an option for users to not install it during setup, how many amateur and novice users will take notice of that? As far as i'm concerned, the ask.com thingy has led to some negative PR on sites like download.com. I also had no idea why would Immunet affiliate themselves with something like that...




Immunet is up on my PC for nearly 4 days already and as far as i know, it is a pretty decent security software, having use minimal PC resources and even beating the likes of Panda Cloud Antivirus in terms of pure startup speed. With further bug fix and improvement, Immunet Protect rocks as a freeware security tool. Despite that, it will take Immunet a long time to build up a densely populated cloud community, which seriously degrades its effectiveness and for this reason, I don't think it is the right moment to recommend it to friends and families yet.


Download Immunet Protect HERE.


Visit the Official Website to learn more.

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Complete System TuneUp is A Free Utility That Beats The Hell Out Of Paid-For Utility Software!

 Computers are a handful when it comes to maintenance: there's just so much that needs to be aware of; cleaning junk files, delete useless registry keys, check for Windows updates, defragmenting...and it's only going to get worse if you are only the avarage kind of users (To Hell with PC maintenance!). There are software available that tunes up a system, including TuneUp Utilities and Advanced SystemCare: Problem is, very few of them is free and even if they are, they might be huge in size and massive in installation. Not to mention some of them might did more damages to your PC even better than malwares did (with this comment, iolo System Mechanic immediately come to mind...terrible experience i once had...)!

So what's a free, all-in-one tuneup software that is completely free and light to install and use? For now, Complete System TuneUp is the best answer.

Complete System TuneUp is a free tuneup utility designed with the average users in mind. It is safe and easy to use, provides all-round tools and best of all, it is available for Windows XP, Vista and 7 free of charge! While major software companies offer similar tuneup features with charges applied, Complete System TuneUp is all for free! 

The one advantage of using this free software is obvious from its GUI: users can access any Windows settings that can provide some tuneup jobs, so it is pretty handy to advanced users as well.

Performance-wise, it is pretty stable and does not require much space for installation. The installer size itself does not even exceed 1MB. Remind me if i'm wrong, but even CCleaner, which installer is always pretty lightweight, has already gone over the 1MB marker and yet offers limited tuneup options!


So what are you waiting for? Grab Complete System TuneUp from its Official Website now and start using it! No more bloated paid-for tuneup utilities that eats up precious disk space or cost you lots while offering poor tuneup features!

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A Review of TheWorld Browser v3.1

TechGeek is as kind as to send me a link to TheWorld browser, a relatively unknown browser if compared to the other leading browsers like IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. I heard of this browser before, but never did really test it, nor did I realize that it has released their latest 3rd version to public (the previous version I know is v2). So here am I, writing a review on it.

Is it another Internet Explorer?



The simple answer is no.

There are detailed narration of TheWorld Browser on their official website so I’m not going to list down everything here, but do take some of these important notes about TheWorld Browser v3. It is essentially a browser utilizing the same browsing engine as Internet Explorer, which we called it Trident. In contrast with IE however, it is designed to be lightweight, full-featured and highly customizable with add-ons and plugins. So in other words, it may use the same web rendering engine and some popular features, but you can expect it to be BETTER than IE.

How is its features compared to IE, then?

Installation is fast and simple. When the browser is launched, it brings us to the homepage. Although the GUI layout does not have frames, it is simple and easily navigational and the color is pleasing to the eye. I immediately notice some interesting difference. Firstly the browser’s toolbar is located on the right side of the minimize/maximize button, with an additional button where users can retract the toolbar menu. Pretty cool, actually.

Another extra feature TheWorld Browser had on the table is a tiny yet useful scrolling tool, located just at the right of the tab area. For people who open multiple tabbed windows for browsing, this can come in handy.

Unlike IE, TheWorld Browser can be customized much easier. Like Firefox and most recently Chrome, the browser has its own dedicated plugin and addon website where users can easily browse and install the plugins they want. Its library is much lesser than those of Firefox but still, it’s pretty impressive considering that IE didn’t even have such a library.

TheWorld Browser also has its own download manager, which is also configurable.  In fact, I can see that some of the options are not available on other browsers, which makes it really unique.

If the above features are what TheWorld Browser has and IE doesn’t have, then take a look at some of the features that TheWorld browser already shared with IE. Both have InPrivate browsing (heck, even the name’s the same!), both has jumplist for Windows Superbar and both share the same Internet Settings Options. Whatever IE’s got, TheWorld browser got too!

I wonder if anyone would immediately dump IE after this feature review…

Is it fast and performs well?

To judge its overall experience together with resources usage, I pulled out the old faithful: Windows Task Manager and do a little homework. Here’s TheWorld Browser’s performance in idle mode (when browser is minimized/in the background):

It runs in two separate processes, just as what you would’ve expect IE to, but in comparison to IE, its resources usage during idle is more lighter.

How about when it is active and running in foreground? Here’s its resources usage when I started browsing:

Still a pretty normal performance. There’s almost no impact at all.

Then how about when it is loading pages? Here’s its resources usage when I started loading a page: 

It is pretty harsh on CPU; CPU usage spiked up to 50 cycles which turns me off slightly; memory also spiked up to 40000K on one of the processes, which I believe is GUI or network-related process.

Although TheWorld browser can be quite CPU-hungry, I still think this performance is worthy of praise; well, I’m a Firefox fan and I’ve seen Firefox performing a lot worse than that, particularly the memory leak issue. IE performed even worse than that! I would say TheWorld browser is still slightly slower than Firefox in terms of browsing speed, but it is a way ahead of IE (even with the same rendering engine). 

Is it stable?

I did not encounter any unusual issue when using TheWorld, but it doesn’t mean that it is hang-proof. I spammed the toolbar-minimizer button while a page was loading and guess what, it actually hangs on me!

Although it recovered to normal after waiting a while, I would say TheWord browser may still need to get some bugs and performance issue sorted out…

Conclusion:

There are many alternative, less-popular browsers I would recommend to people, notably the latest Maxthon v3 Beta and Flock, but TheWorld browser is yet another good alternative I would suggest, especially those wanting to replace IE in particular. TheWorld browser runs on Windows 2000 onwards, making it a pretty compatible browser. If there is a five-star rating on this browser, I’d probably give it a four.

Visit TheWorld Browser v3 Official Site. 

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Three Ways to Delete Stalled Print Jobs That Refuses To Be Cancelled

One of the most common annoyances for home PC users is down to their printers refusing to cancel any print jobs immediately when ordered to. Well, it’s a no-brainer that printers of modern days are just as unreliable and unstable as back in the days when they are just going mainstream (it’s beyond wonder why are we still stuck with the same technology for more than a decade...). 

But then Windows also has to be blamed for this fiasco. You see, when users create a print job, the files to be printed will first be spooled before sending to the Windows Temp folder awaiting calls from the hardware printer. So if the Temp files are being used by Windows, it is virtually impossible for users to delete anything...well, unless if you restart your machine. Curse you, Windows!

Therefore, to overcome the limitations of both printers and Windows, there are three options for cancelling print jobs without waiting for ages. The first is by the creation of a Windows Batch File, while the second is through specifically-designed software capable of overcoming the limitations. The third option is well...manual cancellation, which is of course for geeks and nerds with too much brain cells and time at hand.

1.    Delete Print Jobs Immediately via Windows Batch File

A Windows Service called Print Spooler is important to the spooling of files before and as they get to be printed. Therefore, stopping and restarting the service will allow Windows to immediately delete the print jobs. Under such theory, the batch file’s scripts will have to contain this:

@net stop spooler
@del %windir%\system32\spool\printers\*.* /q /f
@net start spooler

Simply open Notepad, copy and paste this 3-line script into it, and save it in any file name you like; without forgetting to add the all-important .bat file extension at the end of the file name. For example, you can save it under the name of ‘RefreshPrintSpooler.bat’ (without quotation). 

However, do note that this batch file will delete ALL print jobs, including functioning print jobs, so this method is less feasible on a print server; you’ll delete all print jobs in queue by executing this batch file regardless of them being working or stalled!

2.    Delete Print Jobs with Stalled Printer Repair, a free software from FantasticFreeware

Adam Pash of Lifehacker post this freeware up in case any users wanted the least geeky way to solve this problem: Delete Print Jobs is a utility that does the same job as the batch file above – only that it will only find and delete print jobs that are confirm stalled.

 Stalled Printer Repaired works on Windows 2000, XP and Vista, but Windows 7 should be able to run it as well.

Download Stalled Printer Repair here.



3.    Manually cancel print jobs and restarting the Printer Spooler Services.

This is a manual process of fixing stalled print jobs and is essentially a non-scripted version of the first method shown previously. Because of different printers and different Windows version, the steps below are optimized to suit all Windows version and on all types of printers:

1.    Make sure all working print jobs are complete and that no new print jobs are being submitted.
2.    Open Windows Task Manager and on the Processes tab, locate spoolersv.exe and kill it.
3.    Open the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\SPOOL\PRINTERS in My Computer.
4.    Delete all files located in this folder. Files in the Printers are named xxxx.spl, xxxx.shd where xxxx is a hexadecimal number. Files with .shd and .spl extensions are printer files.
5.    Open the ‘Run…’ console and type in ‘services.msc’
6.    Find a Windows Service called ‘Print Spooler’ and start the service. Your printer is now functioning properly again.

Regardless of which method you like to use, you can be assured that the stalled printer job handling is officially a thing of the past!

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The New Avira Antivir v10: New Look, New Performance & Still Free!!!

Avira is popular in the antivirus industry thanks in no small part to its lightweight performance, high detection rate and free-for-use version, dubbed 'Personal Edition' in the market. After months of beta testing for the Avira Premium Security Suite v10, it is finally released - and a remarkable release too.


The new Avira antivirus spots a slicker and enhanced interface, new set of features, optimized performance and it is still free. I downloaded a copy of it and evaluated it immediately even though i have Avast! installed on my PC (though it is not advisable, i realized that the latest version of both Avira and Avast! worked pretty well together!).

New GUI, New Feel:

Avira's previous interface looks simple but dull-looking compared to other free antivirus like Avast!, Rising and Microsoft Security Essentials. One improvement user will immediately spot on this latest release is its overall looks. Avira have designed a new desktop icon that reflects on Windows 7's Superbar too; it tweaked its interface a little to give it a slicker look and added interactive & glossy, colored icons to its main GUI.

New Set of Features:


Avira PE added a few interesting detection categories in its protection module which can be noticed on Avira's Protection Settings Panel and also during the installation setup. With such new features, you can expect Avira to do an even more thorough protection of your machine - even if it is free.

The above screenshot says it all: Avira has added three extra protection categories to the free version of Avira Antivir which includes backdoor clients, double-extension files and programs with domain violation characteristics. From the new category's looks, it seems like Avira is starting to pay importance to eliminating the sources of malwares: which are those supposedly legitimate programs that in fact, can allow malwares to sneak into a user's computer. If we assume that it also means real-time exploit protection, then Avira is really becoming more powerful as it was in detection.

New Performance:


Avira's complete scan used to be quite slow, especially during the first-ever go; it has become a thing of the past though. My PC has both Windows Vista and Windows 7 installed in different partitions on which previous scans with the older Avira would take at least half-an-hour or more, depending on the idle state of the PC. I did a complete scan of both partitions and the new Avira took only around twenty minutes or so, which is impressive.

The new Avira is possibly also good at rooting out rogue orphan files which refuses to go away. My complete scan found no virus, but instead detected one orphan file which i recognized as a remnant of a failed F-Secure Utilities Pack beta uninstallation. Avira alleged it was a system file which contains unwanted behaviors and since i don't need the file anyway, i let Avira clean it.


It Is Still Free:

Like Avast! and AVG often stressed, users can depend on free antivirus for protection and Avira also supports the statement. Avira PE v10 is still free for use, and will automatically prompt for free license update once the expiration occurs. Even though it is annoying that Avira simply refuse to remove the advertisement that often popped up after a database update, it caused little problems as i can manually remove it or with specifically-designed Avira ad-remover.


If you haven't try your hands on Avira Antivir Personal Edition yet, this is the day to do so. For experienced users, it is advisable to upgrade to this latest release: it is worth the effort - and what more can i say when it is now even better and still free to all?


Download Avira Antivir PE now.


To remove the Avira ads, you can do it manually (instructions for all contemporary versions of Windows included) OR download and run this removal tool.

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Ninite and FreeApp Automatically Take Care Of Your Important Installations While You're Slacking...Literally!

A true PC technician's busiest encounter would be to reformat/reinstall a user's Windows when their old Windows failed due to corrupted system files, severe virus infections or maybe they just want to get thing freshen up. We are talking about a full reinstallation of the Windows partition, reinstallation of the software that have been formatted away and the updating of Windows with multiple security patches; that full process could take a really long time, especially the updating and software-installation part. Surely we wouldn't want to spend more time searching for and download all the latest inportant software manually?


Fortunately, there are solutions to this problem, and freeware program Ninite is one of them. Well, in case you are searching for a free alternative to Ninite, then FreeApp will suit you just fine too!
 

Any simple search of Ninite on the internet will bring up many results, so i will discuss about FreeApp in this post. Like Ninite, FreeApp lets users choose the programs they like, prompt FreeApp for a single installer, and when the installer is done downloading, users can just run the installer and take a break away from his or her PC as the installation works away...without user interaction at all!

If you take careful notice, you'll realized that both Ninite and FreeApp offers an almost similar range of software, but then there are difference in the two of them; . Firstly, Ninite have an additional category that focused on developer-friendly software which common users will have no need for. Ninite also have a no-nonsense way of going about downloading and installing the software. However, FreeApp gave a wider range of control to users, giving user the option to choose the installation path they want (for example, if users install software in D drive). FreeApp will also automatically skip installed software and proceed to install those that have not yet been installed, whereas Ninite, seemingly blind towards installed software, will continue to install on top of existing software, which does seem a bit weird...

In short, both tools are great utilities that will shorten your effort of having to find and download the latest software for installation. 


Try Ninite here. (Note that you can give suggestions on which software can be added to Ninite's existing list)


Try FreeApp here (Note that FreeApp is still in beta stage and more features and software choice might be added in the future)

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DesktopOK Allows You To Customize Icons' Layouts Without Hassle!

Anyone know about Desktop Icon Toy? To put it simply, it is a desktop icon manager capable of arranging your desktop icon layout, inject some animation in it and edit the icon's text, such as making it disappear completely or using a different color scheme. All is well for this software...except for the pitiful fact that it is not a freeware...

GUI of DesktopOK. Try out the 'Punch the Icons' feature: It is pretty cool!

DesktopOK is the perfect alternative to Desktop Icon Toy...and it's free, by the way! It is developed oy by the same author, Nenad Hrg who also developed Q-Dir, a lightweight files & folders manager. As with all stuffs developed by Nenad, DesktopOK is light as feather, is portable (no installations required), have a small file size and offers an exciting list of features; some of which Desktop Icon Toy also have.

What makes DesktopOK different from Desktop Icon Toy, though, is that it can run in the background and take "snapshots" of your desktop icons according to a user-defined schedule, for example every few hour or so or even before shutdown occurs. Incredibly, it can also be configured to take these snapshots only if it detects a change on the icon layout. DesktopOK is compatible with all modern OS (by that i mean from Windows 95 all the way up until Windows 7!) and is available for 32-bit as well as natively for 64bit systems.

Here are a simple list of features for DesktopOK:

•   Save your favorite icon locations for each screen resolution. 
•   Each user can then have his own arrangement.
•   Minimises to tray area for easy access.
•   Launch at Windows startup.
•   Autosave
•   Portable

So if you're a desktop customization geek and would like to mess with your icons' layout, do give DesktopOK a try. I'm not saying that Desktop Icon Toy is not good, but when you have DesktopOK which is portable, compatible with all OS and is absolutely FREE, who would even bother looking at Desktop Icon Toy in the first place? (LOLX)

Download DesktopOK HERE or the unicode version HERE. Note that in Windows XP & 2000, the unicode version is always better and more stable.

Visit Nenad Hrg's official website for more info

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Tizer Rootkit Razor, Another Great Antirootkit Free For Personal Use

I've come across few independant antirootkits in the market nowadays; most antirootkit module are incorporated into so-called internet security. For example, the antirootkit module of famous antirootkit GMER, is actually integrated into Avast!. Even though there are some free antirootkit such as Panda Antirootkit, Sophos Antirootkit and Blacklight from F-Secure, few of them are full-featured and compatible with all versions of Windows.  The only antirootkit that works substantially is UnHackMe, also a freeware (with paid upgrades available) despite it slowing the boot process significantly.

Tizer Rootkit Razor is not necessarily a new kid on the block, but since the company is quite low-profile, very few users really do know this antirootkit. Nevertheless, the company has one of the more impressive independent antirootkit i ever came across. Here are some of the goods about this antirootkit:

1. Rootkit Razor's GUI is dead simple

The antirootkit's layouts are simple to navigate and are all functional; People who asks for simplicity and nothing too fanciful about GUI design will be attracted to this program; Well, it's supposed to be designed to do what it does anyway: find and terminate rootkits!

2. Rootkit Razor is feature-packed

Most antirootkit only revolves around the basics: processes, registry and services. Not for Rootkit Razor, though. This little baby has all sorts of scanning features: processes, registry, kernel modules, services, files and folders, network ports...pretty complete set that i've seen. Even though the website doesn't state this benefit, Rootkit Razor actually does not require a services process to run, and therefore, can be executed in Windows Safe Mode, where services process are usually prevented from running.

3. Rootkit Razor is highly compatible with modern OS

The previous chart image should explain everything: Rootkit Razor integrates seamlessly with contemporary versions of Windows spanning from XP to 7: and it really does; i've installed Rootkit Razor on all versions of OS; none of them had any installation errors or running errors. Uninstallation of Rootkit Razor also works fine, though there are some registry leftovers that will require the aid of registry tools to clean it up.

4. Rootkit Razor is moderately lightweight

Okay, so antirootkits are supposed to be easy on PC resources, since they are just simpler programs designed to do specific tasks (eliminating rootkits). Rootkit Razor are not exactly light on resources when active, but when idle, they are pretty easy on resources. Maximum CPU cycles used on smart scan hits 45 out of 100 and memory of up to 5000K is utilized. On idle, CPU drops down to 0 CPU cycles, though the memory sometimes stays at 5000K or even higher or lower after a scan.

There are also some bads as well:

1. No Real Time Protection or Boot-time Scan?

Perhaps i've been biased, but after using UnHackMe Antirootkit, it has become a must of mine that good antirootkits are supposed to have real-time bootwatch modules, or at least a scheduled boot-time scan. Rootkit Razor can only be functional when Windows is fully logon into desktop mode.

2. No User Interface for Novices?

Not all PC users are computer-savvy, so why no summarized interface, like what F-Secure did with Blacklight (the one-click module)? I love how Rootkit Razor presents all its features which suits an advanced PC user like me, but i'll bet that begginers will be turned off by the advanced knowledge of PC required to work with Rootkit Razor - if any beginners took interest in this antirootkit in the first place. The image above says it all: manually searching for rootkits in the registry? That's not going to attract much novice...

3. Not supporting x64 bit OS?

I do not have this tool tested on x64 bit OS, but from general feedbacks and comments i could get around the web, Rootkit Razor does NOT support x64 bit operating system. Soon and very soon, 32-bit OS will extinct with the launch of Windows 8 and 64-bit and 128-bit OS will be the mainstream architecture of modern OS. Are the developers aware of this upcoming trend or not? 


Still, Rootkit Razor is a decent antirootkit that you can keep with your 32-bit PC and periodically executes it to scan for rootkits. If you are an advanced user who are IT-knowledgeable and have experience working with the likes of advanced-level antirootkits such as GMER and TrendMicro HijackThis, then Rootkit Razor's the tool for you.

Download Tizer Rootkit Razor here.

Visit Tizer Rootkit Razor's Main Page here.

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Easily Backup Your PC With COMODO Time Machine

Windows only:



COMODO is always known more of its Firewall than of anything else, but that apparently doesn't stop them from developing other security tools, notably the Internet Security, Antispam and System Cleaner. However, more recently COMODO began looking at the backup and system restore department. Which leads them to create Time Machine, a system restore aka system rollback utility which acts as a powerful replacement for Microsoft's inbuilt System Restore function.

 
As its name implies, COMODO Time Machine deals with restoring a PC to a previous state. However, unlike the System Restore of Windows, Time Machine gives users personal control over what and when a system is to be backup and restore. It works by creating snapshots of the entire system and allows you to switch between these snapshots with a simple reboot of the computer. It also comes with the ability to take snapshots based on scheduled time. Most interestingly however, Time Machine allows snapshots to be mounted in different partitions. This incredible feature allows user to recover files without having to reset the entire system.


Time Machine is protected locally with a Username-Password access routine, meaning that users will not be able to access COMODO Time Machine and its settings unless they know the username and password.

As snapshots accumulates and eventually stuffs up disk space, users can always reset the 'baseline', meaning that Time Machine will take the current snapshot of the PC, delete all the other existing snapshot, and boot into the new base snapshot.

Below are a detailed list of the features of Time Machine:

• Easy to use - even beginners can quickly create system snapshots with a few mouse clicks
• Provides instant and comprehensive system recovery after virus or spyware infections
• Instantly reclaim your machine after devastating system crashes
• Rollback the changes to ALL your documents - not just changes to system files and the registry
• Boot-up console allows you to rollback even when your system will not boot to Windows
• Test new software and network configurations in the knowledge that you can quickly switch back if problems develop
• Completely remove unwanted software installations without the need to uninstall or clean the registry
• Flexible restore options allow you to mount and browse snapshots to recover individual files or folders
• Right click on any file or folder to synchronize it with a snapshot version
• Schedule regular system snapshots to ensure highly relevant restore points
• Network administrators have another way to quickly fix user or software problems
• Libraries, Internet cafes and other publicly shared networks can schedule a total system restore at the end of each session

COMODO Time Machine is freeware, so users can use if for free on any PC, if they decide to replace System Restore completely. In fact, i think it actually outperforms the built-in System Restore completely.

Time Machine works with Windows 7, Vista, XP and Windows Server 2003 & 2008. Both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows are supported.

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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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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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Windows 7 USB/DVD Installation Tool Is Back & Still Free!

Windows 7 only: 

I thought some of you might be unfamiliar with this tool or what it does, so i'll give a simple description here: Windows 7 USB/DVD Installation Tool is a utility software developed by Microsoft for users to create a bootable USB or DVD of Windows 7. All users need is an .iso file of the Windows 7 installation files, and this little tool will guide you all the way without being too technically confusing. Cool, isn't it? 

For those of you who bothered about this little tool last time round, you might remember that the Windows 7 USB/DVD Installation tool was forced to be pulled off by Microsoft - not because it is not working or it is buggy or flawed, but because of some legal nuisance on which they didn't purposely committed. You see, Microsoft used open-source code in making this tool but didn't label it so and yet marked it as a closed-source software! Talking about accidental carelessness in the first place...LOLX

However, Microsoft had promised that the tool will make its comeback when everything's settled and they kept their promise: this little useful tool for reinstalling or backing up your Windows 7 is now back for good, officially open-source and currently hosted on CodePlex! So, users who would like to grab a copy of this tool, you can now properly download it at the CodePlex site. 

Download Windows 7 USB/DVD Installation Tool now by visiting the CodePlex site.

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Guardian Password Manager, a brand new Password Manager Software from Davide Vitelaru

Having your username and passwords leaked to others is already a bad thing to happen, but to have your own username and password forgotten, that was just downright embarrassing. That's why having a password manager is quite the important stuffs for users who frequently register for websites, have lots of accounts and are either very forgetful or being too varied with their passwords.



I've been using a password manager called Password Memory which serve me well with its database-like management, but i found another similar tool which works just as well. It is called Guardian Password Manager, developed by an independent developer called Davide Vitelaru.

With Guardian Password Manager: you can store all your passwords, so you won't have to remember them all. In case security is your problem, and you do not one anyone to break into you accounts, Guardian also has a password generator that can create you a completely customizable random password, so that nobody can hack into your accounts unless he has your Guardian Password Manager account's password.

Guardian Password Manager is also equipped with a backup and backup restoration module, where users can backup their password database to a specific location and restore it when necessary. This feature is quite the necessary tool for users who frequently reformat their computer or need to transfer their password database to another computer.

Overall, Guardian Password Manager is simple & easy to use, is stable and working and as a GUI fan, i think its interface is also well-designed and very updated-looking. Guardian Password Manager works on Windows XP, Vista and 7 and can be used for both personal and commercial purposes.

Download Davide Vitelaru's Guardian Password Manager now.

For tutorials on how to use Guardian Password Manager, you can refer to this Online Help File, which is also accessible from the main GUI of the software itself.

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