Windows Xp

Sunbelt Personal Firewall Now Does Vista!

July 11, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

Sunbelt Software released a new version of their Sunbelt Personal Firewall, which is my choice for my compute and my family’s computers, on July 7th. The new version supports Windows Vista, which Sunbelt has been promising.

Why do I use the Sunbelt Personal Firewall and not just the Windows XP firewall? The Windows XP Firewall would only stops attempts by other computers to access my computer. The Sunbelt Personal Firewall is a two-way firewall to control inbound and outbound communications. That way, I can control programs that want to "call home" or otherwise access other computers.

Why would I use the Sunbelt Personal Firewall and not the Windows Vista firewall? Microsoft finally woke up and made the Windows Vista firewall a two-wa firewall. However, I expect that it, like the firewalls from some of SPF’s competitors, allows Microsoft’s products to freely communicate with the Internet. I like the Advanced installation setting of SPF because it does not pre-authorize any programs.

For those who want free software, Sunbelt Personal Firewall has a free license for home non-business computers. Of course, like many of its competitors, the paid version has more features than the free version. Either way, the program you download is the same — it’s a fully-functional trial for 30-days.

After 30 days, you can purchase a license for the paid version. If you don’t purchase a license, or after your license expires if you don’t renew it, if you qualify, you can use the free license for the reduced-function free version. The web site clearly shows which functions are included with the paid license that are not available with the free version.

I have the "paid version" on my Windows computers and my family’s computers.

The 1-year license pricing options are: $19.95 for one license, $24.96 for two computers, $29.94 for 3 computers, or $39.95 for the 1-year Unlimited Home Site License (which lets you put it on all your home non-business computers. They have similar discounts for 2- and 3-year options, too.

Download the full-function 30-day trial of Sunbelt Personal Firewall

Or, read my review of Sunbelt Personal Firewall

A Look Inside Secunia Software Inspector

June 22, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

I’ve found a great tool that examines my computer to make sure that it has the latest updates of the most common software packages — not all the updates, but the security updates for the versions I’m runninng.

It’s called Secunia Software Inspector, from the Danish security firm Secunia (www.secunia.com).

Secunia offers three versions of its software inspectors:

* Secunia Software Inspector — scan on-line (free)
* Secunia PSI — download version for personal use (free)
* Secunia Network Software Inspector — the full-featured product.

Quoting Secunia’s FAQ:

# What’s the difference between the Secunia PSI and the Secunia Software Inspector (the online version)?

The Secunia Software Inspector identifies about 40 of the most common applications, while the Secunia PSI can identify over 4,200.

Contine reading A Look Inside Secunia Software Inspector

Filed Under: Admin Control, Data Security, Free Software, Resources, Reviews, System Security, System Stability, Vista, Windows Xp

Using the free Google Photo Screensaver

May 26, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

The Google Screensaver is one of the amazing free applications that is part of Google’s free Google Pack software package.

The Google Screensaver is optional as part of Google Pack, but it’s one component that you should not miss. With it, you can have a screensaver that uses your own photos that you’ve accumulated and edited in Google Picasa, from Picasa Web Albums, from your own photos from folders on your computer that you specify (so you can use some photos as screensaver images, but not others), and from photo feeds (which defaults to “Default Google Photo Feed.”)

You can control how often the picture changes. You can also control the type of transition from one image to the next. The Visual Effect lets you choose Pan and Zoom, Collage, Wipe and Cross-Fade.

You can access the control panel for Google Screensaver in either of two ways:

Continue reading Using the free Google Photo Screensaver

Filed Under: Free Software, Software, Tips & Tricks, Vista, Windows Xp

Passwords, Password Lists and Keeping Passwords Secure

April 21, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

I’m often asked about how I handle passwords for all the different sites that require passwords.

The questioner’s eyes get pretty big when I mention that I use random mixtures of letters and numbers for my passwords, and even bigger when I say that I use a different password on every site.

The immediate question is “How can you keep track of them all?”

The answer is one of the reasons that I use a PDA, a Personal Digital Assistant. In my case, it is the PalmOS v4 based Sony Clié SJ-33, which I’ve used for a couple years.

Continue reading Passwords, Password Lists and Keeping Passwords Secure to learn more about password management…

Filed Under: Data Security, Network Security, Privacy, Security Updates, Storage, System Security, Tips & Tricks, Vista, Windows Xp

Data Backup versus System Backup

March 28, 2008 By terry Leave a Comment

If you’ve been using computers for any length of time, you’ve had the problem.

Maybe you haven’t had a hard drive fail, yet, but you’ve managed to delete or overwrite one of your data files with a changed version — and immediately said “Oh, NO!”

Most people have the problem and have no way to recover a copy of their older version. But you can, if you make a habit of backing up your data.

Karen’s Replicator ( www.karenware.com ) is a great program that I use for making backup copies of my data files. With Replicator, I can schedule backups of any modified files as often as I like. I can back up to a different directory on my hard drive, to a different hard drive (internal or external) or even to a directory on a shared drive across my home network.

By scheduling a daily backup of my data files, I know that…

Continue reading Data Backup versus System Backup

Filed Under: Admin Control, Backup, Data Security, Security Updates, Storage, Tips & Tricks, Vista, Windows Xp

Windows Registry Repair for Vista

November 22, 2007 By terry Leave a Comment

I’ve had reasons to do some Windows Registry repairs a few times. Fortunately, I found Optimize 2.0 and bought a license.

It’s come in handy for routine maintenance and cleanup of my registry, and optimizes my computer and Internet connection, too.

Read my Optimize 2.0 Review – Five Months Later Review –
or download Optimize 2.0 now to try the trial scan!

Filed Under: Admin Control, Software, System Stability, Tips & Tricks, Windows Xp

Screen-Printing From Your Computer Screen

November 2, 2007 By terry Leave a Comment

Once upon a time, there was a simple, text-based operating system called DOS. Most people don’t realize, but DOS was the term was for the Apple 2 series of computers.

Then, along came the IBM PC and the “Microsoft DOS” (MS-DOS) disk operating sytem that many of us came to know and love.

One of the really neat features of MS-DOS was really part of its keyboard facilities — IBM had put a “Prnt Scrn” key on the keyboard, and MS-DOS knew what to do with that.

Just press Prnt Scrn, and you got a dump of the monitor screen’s contents to the printer. Oh, by the way, printers in those days were also text handlers. To print an “E,” the program sent the 8-bit value that meant E to the printer, and the built-in smarts on the printer knew how to print the E.

Continue reading Screen-Printing From Your Computer Screen

Filed Under: Graphics, Hardware, Tips & Tricks, Vista, Windows Xp