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Foxit PDF Reader is a light weight PDF viewer and reasonably faster than Adobe PDF Reader . Many people (me also) have already switched to that. Recently I learn it that the latest version comes bundled with Ask Toolbar and forcibly ( without our permission ) install it on our system. I verified this and even unchecking the toolbar option does not prevent the installation. Uninstalling the Foxit Reader (adware?) will not help you to uninstall the toolbar; you can only disable it from the browser. So, beware while installing this new version (v.3.0).

Microsoft research lab has announced that they are working on a new browser codenamed ‘ Gazelle ’ - a secure web browser constructed as a multi-principal OS. This new browser would offer more security and speed than its competitors such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera and even Internet Explorer. It is interesting to know that this new browser considers each and every parts of a website like iframe, subframe, etc as some of these are commonly used for inserting malicious code on a site. Gazelle is still in prototype and those who like to know more about this project, a PDF document is available for download from Microsoft research lab. [ via ]

Because of strong integration with the system, uninstalling an anti-virus program using Windows Add/Removal program is often insufficient, you can’t uninstall them completely or in some cases they don’t even uninstall. However, most antivirus developers has also developed special tool for completely removing their product. Here is a free tool for removing failed or damaged Nod32 antivirus software . From my experience Nod32 is not that much problematic. After performed a normal uninstall, you can perform a manual clean-up as described here . But it required registry tweaking and is suitable for advanced users only. However, if you have any problems when uninstalling or installing Nod32 product here is a free tool from Nod32 Netherlands ., just download Nod32 Removal tool(176Kb, v.1.0.0.2) and run the program, select ‘yes’ to finish the job. Note that the program interface language is Dutch. [ via ]

Nowadays malware are takes advanced technologies to hide their presence from virus scanners . For example, being well masked, they dodge firewalls and virus scanners, they use hidden ADS to infect a computer (ADS - Alternate Data Stream - is a good method to hide data which is attached to a regular file or directory. So, it is a great place for malware to hide), etc. This type of malware is known as Rootkit (programs, including viruses, spyware, and Trojans), which enable administrator-level access to a computer or a network system. This dangerous programs monitors traffic and keystrokes and make a backdoor into the system for the hacker's use. Rootkits are often hiding their presence from virus scanners, so, only a scanner specialized in this type of malware can help. Here is a good program, Radix Anti-rootkit that uses sophisticated methodologies and removes pests and manipulated drivers, system files and processes from your system. How to use it? Download Radix Anti-rootk...

The VIPRE PC Rescue Program is designed to disinfect a computer so infected that a user cannot run programs easily. This is a command-line utility, packaged into a self-extracting executable file, once extracted it will perform a quick scan including Rootkit scan. The user can start the program either by opening it via windows or from the command line and there are 4 command line options available; Enabling the program to perform a boot scan during the next start-up, Perform a deep scan, Log the events, and Disabling the Rootkit. How to use it? Presently you can perform the scanning either from your hard drive or from a USB stick (VIPRE PC Rescue CD will be available shortly). Download the program (68Mb including virus signature) from SunbeltSoftware and extract the ‘ sbresue’exe , it will extracted in to a folder (for example C:\SBRESCUE ) and open a command line window and perform a quick scan automatically. After the initial scan you can perform additional scan by navigating to ...

Uninstalling antivirus software like Norton is not an easy job. By just using Windows add-remove program or other third party utility, you can’t uninstall them completely, they leftover some files or registry entries on your system or in some cases they don’t even uninstall. This causes problems when reinstalling them or in some cases causes to system crash. If you have experienced any problems when uninstalling or installing Norton products such as Norton antivirus and Internet Security 2003 to 2009, Norton 360, Norton System Works 12.0, Norton Ghost, etc, here is a free tool called Norton Removal Tool (v.2009) which allows you to completely remove failed installation or a damaged Norton product. Using this product is very simple , no configuration or any thing is required. Just download (2.92Mb) it and run the exe. Click next to proceed, it will scan and remove all problems automatically. [If you have any problems with the above link when downloading, just copy the link locatio...

There must have numerous instances when you have accidentally deleted an important file - a photo, document or mp3 music which are unrecoverable from your hard disk , USB flash drive or Memory card . And of course there are lots of file recovery software are available, free or paid for recovering deleted files. I have tested many free file recovery software, but from my experience, found that none of them can give a significant result, only recovered a few. But DiskDigger is entirely different from them. DiskDigger gives a significant result; it recovered many files from my computer that are deleted years back. DiskDigger is a tiny application (605Kb) that can recover files from any type of media that your computer can read. This includes USB flash drives, memory cards (SD, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, etc), and of course your hard drive. The types of files that it recovers include photos, videos, music, documents, and other formats. The program doesn’t require installation, just unz...

The e-book ‘Linux 101 Hacks’ , written by Ramesh Natarajan gives practical examples to build a strong foundation in Linux . There are total of 101 hacks described in this book, all are explained with appropriate Linux command examples that are easy to follow. All these 101 tips are described in 12 chapters (e.g. Essential Linux commands, Cd command, Archive and Compression, SSH Client command, System administrations tasks, etc) and are quite useful, brief and well written. To get this e-book for free, just visit at http://www.thegeekstuff.com/linux-101-hacks-free-ebook/ and follow the instructions.

Microsoft Press book is offering a free e-book ‘Windows Vista Resources kit’ on their 25th anniversary celebration. Written by Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup and Jerry Honeycutt, this e-book delivers complete information you need to administer Windows Vista . Some of the main topics covered in this e-book are exploit new Group Policy features, administer disks, file systems, file sharing, search, and Internet Explorer, Manage IPsec, IPv6, remote connectivity, etc To get this e-book (PDF 44.8Mb), simply sign up for the Microsoft Press Book Connection Newsletter, register, and download. Download Windows Vista Resources kit [ via ]

QuickScan is a new service from BitDefender (beta) that combines intelligent local scanning and in-the-cloud scanning to create an advanced online tool which detects running malware very fast, usually in less than 30 seconds. With the award wining BitDefender anti-malware technology it can detect hidden threats (rootkits) and keyloggers from your computer and is quite useful when you want to find out quickly if your computer is infected. For instance, you can use this service before logging into any sensitive online account, before shopping or banking or before starting online games. Unlike other online virus scanners, with BitDefender Quickscan there is nothing to install or update (scanner requires the download of a small ActiveX control) and work with Internet Explorer and Firefox (To run in Firefox you need to install IE Tab )

Microsoft has made available Windows 7 themes, desktop wallpapers, desktop gadget and slideshow gadget for download via its official Windows 7 site . Microsoft is currently offering 15 themes for download (‘A theme is a desktop background plus glass color, sounds, icons, and more to help you personalize your computer”) such as Butterfly, Maple Leaves , Hana Highway, etc and 13 desktop background such as River in Bavaria, Purple Flowers , etc. Sideshow gadgets includes Office Outlook gadget , Feed Viewer , Picture Viewer , etc and is a mini-programs that run on a Windows SideShow-compatible device and update the device with information from the computer. There are some Desktop Gadget that you can add to your Windows desktop can also download such as Blogger Buddy , Traffic by Live search Maps , etc [ via ].

If you are a Gmail user and want to access them on your desktop, here is a special program, GeeMail which has everything required to access Gmail - you don’t need to configure POP and IMAP settings like traditional email clients. Moreover, even if you are offline you can compose and send your email. It automatically sends your mail, when it finds an active Internet connection. GeeMail is a cross platform application that works on Windows, Mac and Linux . Its interface is looks like the original Gmail, so just work the way you do in Gmail, right down to the keyboard shortcuts. Although not all the features of Google's popular web mail, GeeMail is an interesting alternative for those who do not have Internet connection always and need to constantly work with received messages. Requirements: Adobe air run time[ via ]

What tool you are using for resizing images when uploading them to your blog or web gallery (without compromising the quality)? There are several such tools, but a few keep the quality of an image as high as possible when resizing it. Saving images for website, email and other media (to ensure a proper webpage loading) with the best compression ratio and quality is a difficult task if you don’t have a right tool. RIOT (Radical Image Optimization Tool) [free] might be a right tool for this, which reduces any image (JPG, PNG, and GIF) considerably, without any significant quality loss. The program is simple to use, just download (1.14Mb, v.0.21) and install it. Select any image by clicking ‘Open’ button. Input any size (in percentage) or drag the ‘Quality’ slider to an acceptable level (you can view it in preview pane) and save the image. There are some other options are also available with this tool such as rotating, re-sampling image, removing metadata (EXIF), etc, this further enhan...

The idea behind the Microsoft Fix it Solution Center is to automate the steps in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles and Windows Error Reporting (WER) solutions so you can click a button and have the issue resolved. For example, when you connect a new USB device to your Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, if your computer failed to detect this new device, you can use this solution center to browse and fix the problem. Most of these fixes require editing the registry. Some users may find it bit difficult, but by carefully following the instructions and backing up the registry before modifying, you can easily solve most your computer problems. More details about Microsoft Fix it Solution Centre [ via ]

Blueman is a complete Bluetooth device manager for Gnome desktop. It is designed to provide simple and effective means for controlling BlueZ API and simplifying Bluetooth tasks such as connecting to 3G, EDGE and GPRS via dial-up , connecting to or creating bluetooth networks, connecting to input devices, connecting to audio devices and sending, receiving and browsing files via OBEX In addition, Blueman is tightly integrated with the Gnome environment and Network Manager 0.7, so any Dial- up or Network connections will be made available (via HAL) to Network Manager. More details and download from: http://www.blueman-project.org/downloads.html [ via ]

Malwarebytes Anti-malware is a security programs for combating newest malware threats (malware is the collective term to describe malicious programs such as viruses, Trojans, spyware, adware, etc). It is considered to be one of the best in this category and the new version (v.1.34.) comes with some added features such as better detection techniques for the real-time protection module (available in paid version only), directories now counted as items scanned, disinfection for certain USB spread infections like Conficker, etc. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware new version (1.34) incorporates the following additions and improvements: Removing registry keys with corrupt permissions, Removal of drivers now improved, Improved memory usage, Certain types of freezing during full scan, Improved full scan times significantly, Better detection techniques for the real-time protection module, Directories now counted as items scanned, Disinfection for certain USB spread infections (Conficker). More ...

If your computer is not able to run the Vista version of Movie Maker , you can download and install the old Windows Movie Maker 2.6 on your Vista machine. It is useful, mainly because no other such a good freeware movie maker is available(?) for creating small movies at home ( Pinnacle Video Spin is a free Movie maker, but required 64/128Mb graphic card). When opening Movie maker on Vista, if you get an error message "Windows Movie Maker cannot start because your video card does not support the required level of hardware acceleration or hardware acceleration is not available", just download version 2.6 and install it. Check your movie maker, if you get the above mentioned message, download Windows Movie Maker 2.6 and install it.

Androsa FileProtector is a professional freeware security program (Ver 1.4.3 is now available for download) that can protect important files with a password by using different algorithms in a simple and effective way. It encrypts files by using most advanced algorithms of cryptography such as Rijndael (AES) - 256 bit / 192 bit / 128 bit, TripleDES 192 bit and DES 64 bit . With Androsa FileProtector you can password protect any files such as video, image, documents or folders that contain data. After installation, select files or folders by right clicking on it and select an encrypting method (e.g. AES 256) and enter a password to encrypt. You can also drag and drop files in to Androsa FileProtector window to encrypt it. The program supports Windows 2000, XP and Vista and required Microsoft .net framework 2 for XP and Windows 2000. Download latest version from programs home page.

While working with files and folders on your computer, You have probably seen one or more system messages like Access denied , the file is in use by another program or user, Cannot delete file : It is being used by another person or program, Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use, etc. There are several reasons for this like virus infection. In such situations File & Folder Unlocker gives us great help. File & Folder Unlocker is a powerful, easy-to-use system utility that gives complete control over the locked files and folders on your computer. With this program you can unlock file or folder objects that are locked, search for files that are open or locked, find which process has a file or folder open, lists all files & folders held open by a specific process, lists all files & folders held open by all processes and lists all files & folders held open by remote (network) users. File & Folder Unlocker i...

Why use digital signature on documents? For verifying the ownership of the file (authentication), for verifying that the document has not been altered (integrity) and for restricting re-production of the documents - you have a warranty that your important files (contracts, reports, plans, etc) comes from the right person, and that it hasn't been modified. For applying digital signature on files you can use eParapher . This is an end user security software that digitally sign files and manage keystores content's. It supports almost all file types. PDF, PDF/A, CMS and XML eParapher supports all operating systems – Mac OS X 10.4 or later, Windows 32bit and Linux x86, x86_64 and required Java runtime (JRE 1.5 minimum) installed on your system. More information and download from http://maven.eparapher.com/index.html

There are numerous antivirus applications available but only a few have proved their reliability. Kaspersky antivirus is one such application. Kaspersky antivirus 2009 (KAV2009) is the latest version which is designed to address the challenges in the security software space; Kaspersky has entirely rebuilt its award- winning anti-malware security engine and now boasts of powerful detection and scanning speeds. Kaspersky Anti-Virus protects your computer against known and unknown threats, and against unwanted data. It combines traditional signature scanning of bad applications (blacklisting) with an extensive database of more than 400 million known good applications (white listing). Kaspersky India offers a free six month trial license to its latest antivirus KAV 2009 as a promotion. Any one, who likes to get this offer, visit at Kasperskyindia site and register your personal details. It will take few days to get download link and license key in your inbox. [ Via ]

Over a period of time a computer gets filled with unwanted files such as temporary files, empty folders, duplicates, cookies , etc that hog a substantial amount of disk space. It deteriorates computer’s performance and results in low disk space warning. If you want to remove these junks very easily and quickly, SBMAV Disk Cleaner 2009 might be a good option. SBMAV Disk Cleaner 2009 is a tiny (just 900Kb), powerful tool for cleaning cobwebs of useless information clogging your system. SBMAV Disk Cleaner Lite (free edition) searches for and deletes temporary files and folders created by Windows and other applications, as well as searches for invalid links to documents that have long since been deleted. System Requirement: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME/XP/Vista

TimeEdition is a simple and efficient desktop program for recording your work times. Work times can be allocated to customers, projects and tasks . You describe projects that consist of one or more tasks with timeEdition and manage your hourly rate for each of these tasks. In this way you keep an eye not only on your hours worked, but also on the turnover accrued. Using the integrated export interfaces, you can transfer your times, for example, to your invoice generator. This platform independent program ( Windows and Mac ) is targeted at all users in a computer workplace who value detailed documentation of their working hours, whether they use it for customer billing or for monitoring the duration of individual projects. It simplifies the work involved in entering your time data, while at the same time ensuring that incorrect time data cannot be input. One of the main functions of timeEdition is its close links to popular calendar applications. It works with Apple's iCal, Micr...

The developer of original Grand Theft Auto game, Rockstar North and Rockstar Games has now offering their popular classic games GTA1, GTA2 and Wild Metal absolutely free of charge. This classic version of Grand Theft Auto is modified from its original version to enable support for modern PC's and current Windows platforms. In 1997, Rockstar North and Rockstar Games released the original Grand Theft Auto (GTA1) on an unsuspecting public. The groundbreaking non-linear urban crime game shook up a complacent game industry with its irreverent game play, humor and style- and a phenomenon was born. GTA2 is expanded on the top-down, open-ended crime world game play formula with a host of new features including the advent of multiple rival gangs – seven, to be exact, including the Yakuza, Scientists, Looneys, Rednecks, Zaibatsu, the Russian Mob and Hare Krishnas. Wild Metal (1999) is a 3D strategic vehicular combat game set in a distant land, in which you command armed roving vehicl...

Express Burn is a versatile, tiny and free burning software for Windows that allows you to create Audio CDs, video DVDs, data DVDs, data HD DVDs and Blu-ray disks (ISO) containing any type of file. With this program we can record data, audio and video discs quickly and easily by dragging the files you want onto the icon and clicking Burn CD. It support most of the audio and video formats such as .WAV, .MP3, .OGG, .WMA, .AAC, mpeg, AVI, WMV, etc and can be written multi-session to add tracks at a later time. The program is just 388Kb in size and requires only a few system resources. Features of Express Burn: Writes a variety of different audio file formats as tracks on the Audio CD Audio CD's can be written multi-session to add tracks at a later time. The audio files are automatically converted to the required format for the Audio CD. ASPI and SPTI writing are supported which allows writing on all versions of Windows. Optionally the CD burning features of Windows Media Player un...

BitDefender Antivirus Scanner for Unices is a versatile on-demand scanner built for Linux and FreeBSD systems. It uses BitDefender architecture-independent scanning engines. These are specialized data analysis routines and malware signature definitions, since many viruses can be identified based on a distinctive code pattern. To identify unknown viruses, the engines can perform a heuristic analysis, searching for several features characterizing viruses. It is a highly customizable application and capable of script and extension-based integration with various applications such as file managers and mail clients. It consists of both command line (bdscan) and graphical user interface scanner (bdgui), which offers better integration with desktop environments Licensing: A free license is available for home or personal computer. In case you want to use BitDefender Antivirus for Unices for business purposes, a registration key must be purchased. Supports: Linux, FreeBSD, Linux Kernel: 2.4...

YourCleaner is a free, tiny application (633Kb, V1.4) for optimizing and cleaning Windows Vista and XP operating systems. With tools such as FileCleaner, Registry Optimizer and AutoRun controller , Your Cleaner makes Windows run faster and free-up some hard disk space. It removes unused and unnecessary files from the computer and fixes most of the registry problems. Your Cleaner has very intuitive interface and has some additional functions (you can add or remove additional file extensions, for example .temp, .bak or additional files and folders for deleting.) that enhances its usage. Moreover, there is an option to select whole or individual drives for scanning and can be back up registry files for restoring, if anything went wrong. Your Cleaner completely removes traces of your online activities like temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, Auto complete Form, Saved Passwords, Saved URLs in address bar of all major browsers such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Opera, Fire...

If you want to protect your personal data from curious eyes, you need to hide and encrypt it on your USB memory stick , local hard drive or any removable media like ipod. In this way nobody can view it without your permission. Here is a free, reliable application, SafeHouse Explorer which hides, locks and encrypts any documents, spreadsheets, photos, videos and anything else. It uses super strong 128-bit advanced encryption technology which ensures total protection of your data. Moreover unlike other similar product, you can create unlimited number of private storage vaults as large as 2,000 GB each. SafeHouse Explorer works with Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003, 2008 and 64-bit XP/Vista/Server and very easy to use. You can drag and drop file on to SafeHouse Explorer window for encrypting it (After creating a private storage vault). Your files are completely invisible until you enter your password. After you enter your secret password, you access your files using SafeHou...

MyLastSearch is a free small utility that allows us to know the latest search queries made with the most popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN . After running the program it will show a table with enough information such as Search Text, Search Engine, Search Time, Web Browser, and the search URL. MyLastSearch doesn't require any installation, unzip and simply copy the executable file (MyLastSearch.exe) to any folder, and run it. It will automatically scans the cache and history files of Web browsers (IE, Firefox and Opera) and shows the results.

Did you miss anything in January 2009 on Jkwebtalks? Here is a list with the popular articles posted during the past month. 1. Titan Backup for Free : An easy-to-use and complete solution, designed for secure backups of all your important files 2. Download E-book Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference for free : This E-book explains the essentials of day-to-day Ubuntu administration in a very simple manner. 3. Find out how virus infects your computer? : Simple program for checking your computer security against viruses, spyware and hackers. 4. Internet Explorer 8 RC1 for download : IE8 new version with many security features such as InPrivate Browsing, Smart Screen, InPrivate Filtering, etc 5. Remove hidden data from your MS Office 2003 / XP documents : Official add-on for Microsoft Office 2003 and XP for removing meta data (hidden personal information) 6. Discover hidden objects from your computer : ESET SysInspector is free, portable tool for inspecting your compute...

In recent times rogue internet security programs are circulating over the internet and poses security and financial threat to the users. Recently Lavasoft discovered a new fake anti-spyware software called XP Police Antivirus . Once installed on a computer it will continuously alert on infections and ask the user to purchase a registered version to remove the infections from the computer which don’t exist. Screen shot of XP Police Anti-virus: Be careful about such fake programs before downloading and installing from internet.

Working on a computer for hours creates many problems like eyestrain , light sensitivity problems, etc. One of the recommended solutions for such problems is taking a short rest break from the computer monitor every hour. Eyes Relax is one such free tool that reminds you about rest-time and save your eyesight. This is an ideal tool for people who sit long hours in front of a computer monitor. You can customize the duration of your work time and length of breaks (in minutes). During the break time you may exercise your eyes - look away or look at distant objects, etc. You can also password protect the program from disabling the ‘break’- useful for protecting children who plays video games much too long time, forcing them to take breaks. Previously I posted a topic on one such tool EyeDefender that can also consider here. Eyes Relax can be downloaded from here or here . The program is straightforward and very easy to use. Required Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 for Windows XP. Sup...

CintaNotes is a small and portable, very easy to use personal note manager that lets you quickly jot down and tag any piece of information that you come across while reading documents or surfing the internet - just select the text and press Ctrl+F12. Working with Windows Vista and XP , CintaNotes doesn’t clutter your workspace with sticky notes ; all notes are neatly organized in an easily navigable list. This application might be a good assistant in the daily task of collecting pieces of useful information, like your own thoughts and ideas, article excerpts, blog postings, famous people quotes, research data, curious facts, Wikipedia entries, etc, etc. Retrieving information is also quite easy, just open CintaNotes and type any text, only notes which contain the text you type will remain in the list. You can also search by title or by typing URL the note was taken from or by date, etc. Unlike browser-based tools like Google Notebook or Firefox plug-ins, it doesn’t require a web ...

A highly secure, strong password is a must for keeping your account safe from hackers. Here is a free online tool from PC Tools that allows you to create highly secure random passwords. Because of an optional combination of lower and upper case letters, numbers and punctuation symbols they are highly secure and extremely difficult to crack or guess. There is also an offline password generator that you can download free from PC Tools, which allows you to securely and easily create passwords locally on your own PC. You can check the quality and strength of a password. By entering your password in the checker it will run a series of tests on the password to indicate how strong it is, and therefore how easy it may be to guess or crack. The associated Password Revealer reveals saved password that you have entered in web-forms but may have subsequently forgotten or lost. Works with Internet Explorer.