|
If you prefer, you can read this issue
online at
http://techsupportalert.com/issues/al_current.htm
IN THIS FREE EDITION:
0. EDITORIAL: Six Intrusion Prevention Products Tested
1. TOP TECH SITES AND RESOURCES
1.1 Use Instant Messaging Without an IM Client
1.2 Help for Windows 98 Users
1.3 Top Tech Newsletter Ceases Publication
1.4 The Best BitTorrent Sites
1.5 Free File Conversion Site
1.6 Free Utilities for Techies
1.7 Fix for Internet Explorer 7 File Menu Location
1.8 Free Widgets Galore (SE Edition)
1.9 Free Mac Applications (SE Edition)
1.10 Great Freeware Site (SE Edition)
2. TOP FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE UTILITIES
2.1 A Really Fast Alternative to Add/Remove Programs
2.2 Firefox Extension Shows Website Location
2.3 New Free Tech Tool from Sysinternals
2.4 Free Goodies for Excel Users
2.5 Utility Permanently and Securely Deletes Files
2.6 Best Free XML Editor? (SE Edition)
2.7 Free Diagnostic Tool (SE Edition)
2.8 Free PIM Impresses (SE Edition)
3. SECURITY PATCHES, SERVICE RELEASES AND UPDATES
3.1 Microsoft Security News
3.2 Internet Explorer 7 Released
3.3 Firefox 2.0 Released
3.4 Office 2000 Users Read This
3.5 AVG Free Anti-virus to be Available from Microsoft
3.6 New AVG AV 7.5 Free, New AVG Rootkit Detector
3.7 Ewido Now Called AVG Anti-Spy
3.8 SpySweeper Now Available with Anti-virus Scanner
3.9 Patches Available for 0-Day Flaws
3.10 Some Light Hearted Relief from Security
4. OTHER USEFUL STUFF
4.1 A Cheaper Way to Buy Online
4.2 Open Source Software Listing
4.3 Your Own Seal of Approval
4.4 Screensavers with Street Cred
4.5 Useless Waste of Time Department
4.6 When Microsoft Buys Firefox (SE)
4.7 21st Century Thesaurus (SE Edition)
4.8 The Cheapest Way to Buy Books (SE Edition)
5. TIP OF THE MONTH
5.1 The Three Most Under-utilized Keyboard Shortcuts
6. FREEBIE OF THE MONTH
6.1 A Tray Clock Replacement with a Difference
6.2 Free Utility Logs Installation Changes (SE Edition)
7. MANAGING YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
0.0 EDITORIAL
I've
just finished reviewing six intrusion prevention products
(HIPS) and have been impressed with what I've seen.
These
products have come a long way in the last year or so.
Unlike their first generation predecessors they don't swamp you
with dozens of warning messages, most of which are false alarms
In
fact these latest products are relatively quiet. So quiet
that at times I wondered whether they were working.
But
they were working, that I can assure you. Indeed I was
generally impressed with just how well they worked. No, they
were not perfect in their detection, but no security product
is. However they did perform well enough to make me question my
previous ideas on the best way to layer computer security
defenses.
I'm
now wondering if a good broad spectrum signature scanner
such as NOD32 combined with one of the latest HIPS products may
provide a better balance of protection than using two or more
signature scanners.
It's
an idea I'm going to put to the test but at the moment it's
just that, an idea, so don't throw out your scanners just yet :>)
The
six HIPS products I tested included five new generation HIPS
and Process Guard, a top performing first generation product
that I included to provide a comparison.
Although
all six qualify as HIPS, they work in quite different
ways.
Prevx1
is a kind of specialized signature scanner that uses a
centralized user-driven database to check its CRC style
signatures.
DefenseWall
can be best described as a Sandbox like GreenBorder
but working under a different conceptual model.
Blink
uses a system firewall, application firewall, behavioral
analysis and some other tricks to provide a genuine multivalent
solution. Think of it as a HIPS with a firewall rather than a
Firewall with a HIPS and you'll get the general idea.
Cyberhawk
uses adaptive behavioral analysis based on local rules
but is periodically updated through feedback from the Cyberhawk
Secure Community.
Online
Armor also uses behavioral analysis but combines this
with white listing and black listing.
Process
Guard's central role is to protect key processes and
challenge new processes. It has some basic white listing but
like other earlier generation HIPS, it relies a lot on user
input for guidance.
So
how do they perform? The correct answer is "well, but
differently."
Explaining
that cryptic answer takes far more space than I have
available here, so check out my full web report and all will be
revealed. No I'm not teasing. Certain subjects require time and
space for proper treatment and this is one of them. You can
read the full report here:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/security_HIPS.htm
See
you next month.
Gizmo
Ian "Gizmo" Richards
editor@techsupportalert.com
PS
This month I'm giving away six free copies of the the top
rated Anti virus NOD32 plus lots of Google GMail invites. For
details, see below.
Support
Alert is not produced by a giant publishing empire, it's
the work of one man, working alone, namely me.
Support
Alert relies on paid subscriptions to survive. If you
feel that you've benefited from reading this newsletter perhaps
you would like to consider donating by subscribing to the
premium "Supporters' Edition" of this newsletter.
The
Premium SE Edition contains almost twice the number of great
tech sites, free utilities, tips and other content as the
free edition. It's also ad-free.
You'll
also get immediate access to the archive of all past
issues of the Premium Supporters' Edition of the newsletter
where you can catch up on the hundreds of great utilities you
missed in the free edition. The SE Edition is a great deal
and at $10 per year it's a bargain.
This
month I'm giving away to new subscribers, six free copies
of the the top rated Anti virus NOD32.
NOD32
is a brilliant program for protecting your PC yet it only
consumes a modest amount of your computing resources. That's why
I use it on my key work computers. At $39 it's good value but
it's even better value when you can get it for free.
The
six copies I'm giving away will be allocated at random but
your chances of scoring one are actually quite good. So if you
have been thinking of subscribing, now's the time.
I'm
also giving away invites to Google Gmail to new
SE subscribers. Last month everyone who wanted one got one and
I expect the same to happen this month. Just email me at
editor@techsupportalert.com after subscribing to the Premium SE
Edition and I'll send your invitation.
Even
if you don't win anything you'll still get my special
report "Gizmo's Desert Island Utilities" which outlines the
software I use myself, including many free products.
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE
PREMIUM SE EDITION
12
months subscription to the Supporters' Edition costs $10
which can be made by check or credit card using either ClickBank
or PayPal or simply send cash.
Use
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1.0 TOP TECH SITES AND RESOURCES
1.1 Use Instant Messaging Without an IM Client
I
don't use IM at all and don't even have an IM client installed
on my PC. On the very rare occasions I do need to send a message
I use a free web service from meebo.com [1]. They support a wide
range of systems including Yahoo, Messenger, Jabber, AIM, ICQ,
MS and more. It also comes in handy for IM users trying to
contact friends on incompatible networks.
http://www18.meebo.com
1.2 Help for Windows 98 Users
Just
because Microsoft has abandoned its support for Windows 98,
it doesn't mean everyone has to. This classic Windows 98 site is
still being updated and is a mandatory visit for all Win98
users. The resources offered are quite amazing, including a
downloadable unofficial Windows 98 Service Pack 2, a tutorial
teaching how to incorporate ME enhancements into Win98 and much
more. The site layout will give you eye strain but that's a
small price to pay for the great tips and utilities.
http://www.mdgx.com/
1.3 Top Tech Newsletter Ceases Publication
Fred
Langa's tech newsletter "The LangaList" will merge with
Windows Secrets Newsletter in November. Fred's 140,000
subscribers will be moved over to the combined publication which
will have a total subscription of around 250,000. Fred will
still be around; in fact he will be Editor of the combined
publication. The LangaList was one of the few remaining truly
personal newsletters and will be sorely missed. Its demise
supports the publishing adage that the practical limit for a one
man newsletter is between 100 - 150,000 subscribers. After that,
the administrative load is more than one person can bear. I know
the truth of this; with 120,000 free edition subscribers I'm
really feeling the strain.
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2006/2006-10-30.htm#1
1.4 The Best BitTorrent Sites
Here's
a brief review of the ten most popular torrent sites. I
was quite surprised which site has the most torrents linked.
Thanks to JW for the find.
http://comparebt.blogspot.com/
1.5 Free File Conversion Site
Subscriber
Charles G Koenig writes "Gizmo I found this file
conversion site and it's a winner. You should take a look." Well
I did Charles and it is very good. It handles five image
formats, 14 document formats, 11 video and nine audio. Just
point to a file on your PC, select the output format and the
file is uploaded to the Zamar server and you then get an email
with a link to the converted document. It's free but do read
the terms of service. There's nothing threatening in it but you
should be aware of such things before uploading any of your
files to a third party site.
http://www.zamzar.com/
1.6 Free Utilities for Techies
This
site offers a number of small specialized utilities. My
favorites were the utility that prevents automatic reboots after
Windows updates and the remote reboot program. There's also a
whole set of programs that allow Sysadmins to disable USB, CD
and floppy drives on user's machines. Note: the free stuff is
at the bottom of the page. Thanks to Joe S, for this one.
http://www.intelliadmin.com/downloads.htm
1.7 Fix for Internet Explorer 7 File Menu Location
Anyone
who has installed IE7 will have noticed that standard top
application menu bar (File, Edit, View etc) is no longer
visible. You can easily turn it on but it shows on the second
toolbar line over to the right hand side of the screen rather
than in its familiar position at the top. You can either get
used to it or alternatively apply this registry patch that
restores it to its traditional position.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16040352
**
These items appear only in the Premium SE Edition **
Got
some great tech sites to suggest? Send them to:
editor@techsupportalert.com
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2.0 TOP FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE UTILITIES
2.1 A Really Fast Alternative to Add/Remove Programs
Anyone
who has uninstalled a program using the Windows Add or
Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel knows how
agonizingly slow it is to load. Safarp is a free Open Source
replacement that loads in a flash. Not only does it load
quicker, it also offers more options including the ability to
search for a program and remove defunct entries. Safarp can be
run as a stand alone program or installed and integrated into
the Control Panel. Free Open Source, Windows 2000 and later,
133KB.
http://wistinga.online.fr/safarp/
2.2 Firefox Extension Shows Website Location
A
subscriber recently wrote asking me if I knew the name of a
useful Firefox extension he had mislaid that shows the location
of a website on a Google map. I hadn't heard of it but after a
bit of Googling I came up with Shazou, a free extension that
shows the geo-location of any site with just a click on an icon
in the Firefox status bar. It's not only for the curious
minded, it's an excellent security tool that allows you to check
that a website is located where you expect it to be. For
example, if what appears to be your banking site is located in
Romania, then you clearly have a problem. Unless that is, you
are a Romanian :>) Note that this product only shows the
location of the web server on which the site is hosted. It's
quite possible for a scam site run by Eastern European criminals
to be hosted in an apparently trustworthy location such as San
Francisco.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2993/
2.3 New Free Tech Tool from Sysinternals
When
Microsoft bought Sysinternals, many feared for the worst.
So far these fears have proved unfounded. Indeed the recent move
to the Microsoft TechNet site [1] has if anything, improved the
availability of Sysinternal's utilities. The only loss so far
has been the withdrawal of source code in line with Microsoft's
long standing policy on such matters.
New
on the TechNet site is Process Monitor v1.01 [2], "a system
monitoring tool that not only replaces Regmon and Filemon by
including file system and registry monitoring, but adds process,
thread, and DLL monitoring as well as advanced filtering, event
information, and basic data mining capabilities."
I've
only played around with this for an hour or so but can say
its one of the most powerful diagnostic utilities I've seen.
However, the sheer quantity of information produced and the
essentially low level technical nature of that information means
this utility will only be of value to hard core techies. They,
however, will find this product invaluable. Like most
Sysinternals tools, it requires no installation. Freeware, Win2K-
SP4, WinXP-SP2 and 64 bit, Server 2K-SP3, Vista, 913KB.
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx
[2]
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/processesandthreads/processmonitor.mspx
2.4 Free Goodies for Excel Users
Subscriber
Mark Kealiher writes "Giz, I've found a utility that
may save some of your readers a lot of time when using MS Excel.
I work with many text files that I import into Excel for editing
reasons. Often I find myself needing to combine columns, find
and delete duplicates, etc. I haven't had the time yet to learn
complex formulas and macros and don't want to. The free Excel
add-in tool at this website [1] automates a lot of the
operations I need." Nice find Mark. I note that its
functionality extends well beyond text manipulation and includes
worksheet comparison, unit conversion and more. I think most
serious Excel users would find something of value here. You
should also check out the ASAP [2] utilities I mentioned in
issue #121. This freebie provides over 300 individual functions
and enhancements for Excel.
[1] http://www.excel-extools.com Freeware, Excel 97-2003, 609KB
[2] http://www.asap-utilities.com/ Freeware, Excel 97-2003, 1.1MB.
2.5 Utility Permanently and Securely Deletes Files
Most
users are aware than deleted files are not really deleted
from their hard drive but are simply flagged as deleted. That
means they can be easily recovered IF another newer file hasn't
been written over the top of them. This is a good thing when
you've accidentally deleted a file but a bad thing in terms of
security and privacy. Indeed most folks would be shocked if they
knew what could be recovered from the "unused" space their hard
drives. Your security can be greatly improved by using a special
utility to overwrite deleted files and unused hard drive space.
Such utilities usually overwrite the space many times using
carefully selected data pattern standards such as Gutmann and
NISPOM, the DoD standard just to make sure the data can't be
recovered. The freeware program Eraser [1], is a good example of
such a program. Some users run it regularly to permanently erase
the unused disk space on their drives but it's overkill if you
just want to permanently remove a single "sensitive" file. For
that task you might want to look at SuperShredder [2], a free
utility from AnalogX. It allows you to delete a file by simply
dragging and dropping it into the application or by using the
right click context menu. It's fast, secure and highly
configurable. Just the thing for a particular file you want to
remove with a high degree of certainty. Be aware though that no
overwriting tool can ever provide 100% security. It's really
hard to remove absolutely all data traces from magnetic media
and folks armed with laboratory style forensic tools like those
used by the FBI may still have a small chance of recovering data
even if overwritten many times. If you really want to hide
something from the law, you'll probably need to take a hammer to
your disk drive. However, Eraser and SuperShredder will provide
a level of security that will meet most normal requirements.
[1] http://www.heidi.ie/eraser/ Free GNU license, all Windows versions, 2.4MB
[2]
http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/shred.htm
Freeware, Windows 98 and later,156KB
**
These items appear only in the Premium SE Edition **
Got
some top utilities to suggest? Send them to
editor@techsupportalert.com
3.0 SECURITY PATCHES, SERVICE RELEASES AND UPDATES
3.1 Microsoft Security News
This
month we again saw 0-day exploits for Microsoft products
circulating on the web. The first [1], a critical flaw in
Internet Explorer XML Core Services, allowed attackers to
execute remote code in the target PC. All versions of IE
including IE7 were affected. The second [2] involving a problem
with the WMI Object Broker ActiveX Control in Microsoft Visual
Studio 2005, could allow an attacker to take complete control of
a machine.
Patch
Tuesday Nov 14 yielded six patches five of which were
rated as "Critical." These included yet another Internet
Explorer cumulative patch plus fixes for various problems in
Microsoft Agent and Workstation Service. A fourth "Critical"
update fixed the XML Core services flaw mentioned above while
the fifth covered a problem in version 6 of the Macromedia Flash
Player distributed with some versions of Windows.
Full
details of the November updates can be found here [3]. All
the updates are distributed automatically by the Microsoft
Update Service. If you have any doubts that you have received
the updates, visit the Update Service [4] now.
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/927892.mspx
[2]
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/927709.mspx
[3]
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-nov.mspx
[4] http://update.microsoft.com (Requires IE5 or later)
3.2 Internet Explorer 7 Released
Well
it's finally arrived and let me tell you folks, it has been
worth the wait. Microsoft has done a great job with IE7 and I
can't think of any reason why home users with Windows XP SP2
wouldn't want to install it. Users of early operating systems
won't have to make a decision; it's for XP SP2 and Vista only.
Sure
IE7 doesn't set new standards for browsers or advance the
state of the art but compared to IE6, it is a remarkable leap
forward.
IE7
is currently available as a 15.1MB manual download [1] and
will be progressively distributed to all non-corporate users in
the coming months via the Windows Update service. Well, more
accurately all Windows XP SP2 users will be first asked if they
want it, even those who have set their Windows to download and
install automatically.
The
first thing that strikes you about IE7 is the new toolbar
arrangement. Esthetically it's a success. Functionally it's a
mixed bag. The whole toolbar setup has been changed to fit in
with the Vista standard so rather than have the familiar
application menu at the top (File, Edit, View etc) there is a
navigation bar.
In
fact the application menu doesn't show at all, though you can
turn it on. Even then it shows awkwardly on the second line and
can't be moved. There is a patch available to move it back to
the top line. See item 1.7 for details.
That's
the bad news. Well not quite; IE7 still isn't 100%
standards compliant. Almost everything else is good news.
At
the top of the list is the improved security. ActiveX is now
opt-in and can be easily enabled or disabled through the
information bar. Add-ons can also be more securely and more
easily managed and there's an excellent phishing filter built-
in, plus better notification about the security of sites being
visited through the security status bar. And this is just a
short list of the enhancements. Suffice to say IE7 is way safer
than IE6.
It's
not only safer, it's better. At last there is tabbed
browsing. It's a good implementation too, with moveable tabs,
individual tab closing, the ability to save groups of tabs as a
session plus lots of configurable settings.
There's
also an RSS reader, a choice of search engines, improved
CSS support, better AJAX compatibility and a whole lot more.
If
you want additional features, there are heaps of add-ons
available. Nowhere near as many as Firefox but enough to allow
most users to heavily customize their browsing experience.
It
also loads fast; way faster than Firefox though browsing
speed itself feels little different from Firefox.
So
is it time to give up Firefox?
No
way. First, my Firefox extensions offer me a functionality
I'm not prepared to give up. Second, IE will remain the focus
for future security attacks. Sure it is now safer and more
resistant to attack, but that won't stop the bad guys. IE7 will
be broken and it will be broken often. That, I can assure you.
Worse
still, when it is broken, Microsoft will be slow fixing
the flaws. This too, I can assure you :>)
PostScript:
Security firm Secunia has advised that Internet
Explorer 7 is vulnerable to a browser window injection
vulnerability that plagued earlier versions of IE. On November 6
Microsoft advised of a separate critical 0-day flaw in XML Core
Services that affects all IE versions including IE7 ;>)
[1] http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/downloads/default.mspx
3.3 Firefox 2.0 Released
Just
days after the release of IE7, Firefox V2 was officially
launched.
While
IE7 represents a major upgrade of IE6, Firefox V2 is by
comparison a much smaller upgrade of V1.5. In fact my wife
didn't even notice she was using a new version!
Had
she looked a little more closely she would have seen the
user interface had been prettied up with sleeker, classier icons
and a more logical menu layout. No big deal but definitely a
step forward.
The
most important changes however, are the addition of anti-
phishing protection to warn users of suspicious sites, easier
subscription to RSS feeds, better tab management including close
buttons on each tab, enhanced web search with auto-complete,
inbuilt spell check for web forms, persistent sessions that
allow you to restart where you left off, integrated management
of extensions and themes ("add-ons") and a new Windows installer
that is less problem prone. You can find the full change list
here [1]
Many
of these capabilities were already available in V1.5
through extensions. Indeed the tab management available through
the Tab Mix Plus extension offered more with V1.5 than is
standard in V2. That's why I've installed it for use with V2 as
well.
Certain
problem areas remain. It still loads too slowly, it
still uses too much memory and it needs an integrated RSS reader.
That
said it's still a safer, more configurable browser than IE7
and will remain my browser of choice.
Firefox
2 will be automatically downloaded to Firefox V1.5 users
via the automatic update service. Alternatively you can download
it from here [2]. Before installing, check that any extensions
you have that are of critical importance are supported by 2.0.
Otherwise wait until the extensions are updated before you
install the new version of Firefox.
Firefox
V1.5 will remain supported until April 24, 2007. Indeed
a new version 1.5.0.8 [3] with a number of security enhancements
has just been released.
[1] http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/2.0/releasenotes/
[2] http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ 5.6MB
[3]
http://releases.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/1.5.0.8/win32/en-US/
3.4 Office 2000 Users Read This
Subscriber
Doug de Hart recently wrote asking did I know what
why the many patches for Microsoft Office being distributed via
the Microsoft Update service were not installing on his machine.
It made no sense to me but Doug finally discovered the answer
[1]: Offices Updates are not distributed to users of Office 2000
and earlier. You have to go to the Office Update site [2] to
download the updates manually. I suggest you do it now and make
sure you have the installation CD handy.
[1]
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2006/06/12_security_patches_plug_micro.html
[2]
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/default.aspx
3.5 AVG Free Anti-virus to be Available from
Microsoft
Grisoft
has announced [1] that "Microsoft is making AVG Anti-
Virus 7.5 and AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition available via Windows
Security Center as a Windows Vista security solution. The
solutions are available in the latest release of the Windows
Vista beta program and will be available in the commercial
release." Will the next step be for Microsoft to buy the
remainder of GriSoft that's not already owned by Intel? An
interesting prospect but pure speculation.
[1]
http://sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=28035&hilite=
3.6 New AVG AV 7.5 Free, New AVG Rootkit Detector
A
number of worried AVG AV Free users have written to tell me
that they have received an email saying AVG AV Free V7.1 will be
discontinued on the 15th of January. Quite so, but what the
letter doesn't make clear is the reason it is being discontinued
is that it has been replaced by a new free version 7.5. Full
details here [1]. There's more news from Grisoft; they have
released a new anti-rootkit scanner as a free beta. I gave it a
quick spin and it gave me the impression of a me-too exercise
rather than an advancement in the state of the art. Final
judgment will have to wait full testing. Features include
selectable quick and full scan modes, optional scanning of NTFS
alternate data streams and removal capabilities. It is available
at the Grisoft Beta site [3], providing you register, or from
many download sites including MajorGeeks [2]. Free Beta, Windows
2K and later, 1MB.
[1] http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
[2] http://beta.grisoft.cz
[3]
http://www.majorgeeks.com/AVG_Anti-Rootkit_d5249.html
3.7 Ewido Now Renamed to AVG Anti-Spy
In
yet another Grisoft development, the company has renamed and
purportedly upgraded the Ewido scanner they recently acquired,
to "AVG Anti-Spy V7.5. It's part of the process of re-
positioning it from an anti-trojan to an anti-spyware product.
The free-for-private-use version will remain so, and I notice
the trial period for the paid version has been extended from 14
to 30 days. The free and paid versions are in fact, the same.
At the end of the trial period a number of features, including
the real-time monitor, automatic updates and self protection
from termination are automatically disabled. Ewido/AVG Anti-Spy
remains my top choice as an on-demand spyware and anti-trojan
scanner to backup your primary anti-virus and anti-spyware
programs. In this role, the free version is all that is needed.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/lng/us/tpl/v5
3.8 SpySweeper Now Available with Anti-virus Scanner
WebRoot
has now added optional anti-virus scanning capabilities
to V5.2 of their class-leading anti-spyware product, Spyware
Sweeper, using technology licensed from anti-virus vendor
Sophos. The initial feedback I've had from subscribers has been
negative: the anti-virus scan is poorly integrated and there is
a real performance hit on your PC. At this stage I suggest you
stick with the core SpySweeper product, which is excellent, and
take a pass on the AV capability.
http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/spysweeperwithantivirus/
3.9 Patches Available for 0-Day Flaws
Subscriber
Phill-J writes "Gizmo, I expect you've come across
these guys already, but just in case you haven't, they're
creating patches for unpatched Microsoft vulnerabilities
including patches for windows products that are no longer
supported by MS." Thanks Phill for that. I can see this service
being of real value to those with mission critical applications.
I must however admit to being very cautious about applying third
party patches when even Microsoft's own patches can cause
problems.
http://isotf.org/zert/
3.10 Some Light Hearted Relief from Security
Subscriber
Briard has written an amusing account of the problems
he encountered trying to restore the performance of his PC. It's
funny, tragic and bound to resonate with many users.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/cleaning-windows.htm"
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PC Magazine: - "Webroot's Spy Sweeper is
the most powerful antispyware tool we've seen yet. Its Comprehensive Removal
Technology attempts to remove spyware completely in a single pass, and its
behavior-based Active Shields prevent the installation of new threats on the
cleaned system. Fancy names aside, our testing shows that the utility really
works."
If you use Ad-aware or
SpyBot you will be surprised just how more effectively SpySweeper detects and
protects your PC from Adware, Spyware, Trojans and other malicious products.
It's also one of the few anti-spyware programs that can reliably detect
rootkits. Try the free evaluation copy of the new Version
5.2 and see for yourself.
http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/spysweeper/index.html?acode=af1&rc=1132
The Best Remote Access
Software
Our reviewer had given this product category away as "too slow, tool clumsy and
too unreliable" but after reviewing this product he's changed his mind; "at long
last a remote access solution that actually works! Quite frankly we agree with
him, it's an impressive product. Read the full review here:
http://www.pcsupportadvisor.com/best_remote_access_software.htm
The Best Drive Imaging
Program
In this race there are really only two runners worth considering. In this review
we do an in-depth comparison of the top contenders but in the end, one product
is the clear winner.
http://techsupportalert.com/drive-imaging-reviews.htm
The Best Free Kids Craft
Projects
Keep your children engaged and amused with healthy, creative arts and craft
activities that won't cost you a cent. Free weekly newsletter packed with easy
kids craft projects.
http://kidscraftweekly.com/
------------- end of sponsored links --------------------------
4.0 OTHER USEFUL STUFF
4.1 A Cheaper Way to Buy Online
Regular
contributor JW writes "Gizmo, RetailMeNot comes from the
BugMeNot folks but instead of people sharing login information,
they share coupon codes" Sounds good JW. Every time I buy
something online and have nothing to enter into the coupon code
box I feel like I'm paying more than someone else.
http://www.retailmenot.com
4.2 Open Source Software Listing
It's
hard to keep track of all the Open Source software that's
now available. At this site you can quickly check out some of
the best projects. In fact I found the next item there.
http://open-source.onestop.net/
4.3 Your Own Seal of Approval
"Welcome
to the Official Seal Generator. Enter some text, choose
a border and an emblem, pick your colors, and click the 'Go'
button. An Official Seal will be generated for you. Collect 'em,
trade 'em, put 'em on your website, or e-mail 'em to your
friends."
http://www.says-it.com/seal/index.php
4.4 Screensavers with Street Cred
Let's
face it; I'm just not a screensaver/theme sort of dude.
That's the reason I've only ever recommended two screensavers in
the entire time I've edited this newsletter. Yes, only two but
they were great, so I'm going to mention them again. The first
from issue #109 was the Karalon screensaver that displays in
real-time inbound/outbound packets, running processes, TCP/UDP
socket status and more. It's non-time-limited shareware but if
you shell out $19.95 for registration you get a smoother login.
The second, from issue #116, is Toby Newman's Blue Screen of
Death screensaver that "pretends to cause a crash, 're-boots',
and installs Linux in disgust! Then watch who logs in ;)" It's
freeware. OK before you write, I know about Sysinternal's BSOD
screensaver [3]. It's cool too though I do prefer Toby's
[1]
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4227 1.8MB
[2] http://www.asktoby.com/#bsod 236KB, requires Flash
[3]
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/BlueScreen.html (47KB)
4.5 Useless Waste of Time Department
This
time-wasting site recommended by subscriber Callie Jordan
is really quite engaging. You'll need a fast broadband
connection though. Callie writes "You probably already saw the
3D kitchens site [1] from Ikea last year. Now they have one for
closets [2]. This one is better than a game to play. There are
five different closet styles and each one has 3 objects to put
away. OK Gizmo, I know I really should be doing something a
little more constructive :>)" Then again Callie maybe not. In
fact I suggest you try playing a real game. Try this charming
little Flash game called Kitty Cannon [3].
[1] http://www.ikea.com/ms/sv_SE/kampanj/fy06_dromkok/dromkok.html
[2] http://www.kominigarderoben.se/
[3] http://www.addictinggames.com/kittencannon.html
**
These items appear only in the Premium SE Edition **
5.0 TIP OF THE MONTH
5.1 The Three Most Under-utilized Keyboard Shortcuts
I
was standing behind my wife the other day quietly watching her
use her computer to write an email. The more I watched the
clearer it became just how much extra work she was creating for
herself by not using Windows keyboard shortcuts.
Most
average users know a few keyboard shortcuts such as ^C for
Copy, ^X for Cut, and ^V for Paste but here are three additional
shortcuts that many folks under-utilize. If you spend a few
moments learning them you'll find them incredibly useful (Note:
When I write ^C it means to press down the Ctrl key and while
holding it down, press the C key. You then release both together)
The
first is ^A. This selects (highlights) everything in the
current window or field. So for example you want to copy this
entire newsletter into a Word document, hit ^A to select
everything then ^C to copy it to the clipboard. Open your Word
document and then type ^V to insert it. It's much quicker than
using a mouse to do the same thing. Try ^A now, it should select
the whole newsletter. Click anywhere to remove the highlighting.
^A
is also really useful when you want to delete the contents of
a form field or dialog box. Just hit ^A then Delete. I use it a
lot to clear the address box in my browser.
The
second handy shortcut is ^Home. This takes you to the top of
a document or web page. Similarly ^End takes you to the bottom.
It's much faster than scrolling. Try it now.
The
third shortcut is probably the most useful of all. It
involves using the Shift key when selecting long lists or text
passages.
Let's
say you want to select a section of this newsletter
covering several paragraphs. The way most users would do this
would be to left mouse click at the start, hold the mouse button
down and then move the mouse curser to the end of the text to be
selected.
That's
fine but if the text covers more than one screen it can
get tricky. Here's a much better way.
First,
left click at the start of the text and release the mouse
button. Then scroll down to the end of the text and left click
again while holding down Shift key. All the text in between will
be selected.
Try
it now on this newsletter. Neat eh?
The
same technique works well when selecting items on a list.
Incidentally,
if you want to select or deselect individual items
that aren't consecutive, you can do that by using the Ctrl key
when left clicking. But hey, that's a fourth shortcut and I said
I was only going to give you three :>) If you really want more,
there's a complete list here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449
6.0 FREEBIE OF THE MONTH
6.1 A Tray Clock Replacement with a Difference
Sounds
boring doesn't it? But you are wrong; this is one hot
little utility.
TClock
Lite [1] is a vastly improved replacement for the
standard Windows tray clock. It provides all the benefits of the
original clock as well as many enhancements and a number of
useful additional features. Furthermore it achieves this with a
tiny footprint and doesn't even require installation. Here's
what it offers:
*
complete control over the format of the tray clock including
the ability to customize the color, font, size, position on the
taskbar and to choose from a wide array of display formats
including the display of the current date.
*
multiple customizable timers with audio and/or visual
notification.
*
multiple alarms that can be set for specific durations or time
and date.
*
time synchronization based on an NTP server of your choice
*
direct access to the task manager and taskbar properties.
*
the ability to customize your Start button and Start Menu.
*
customizable actions when the mouse is clicked on the clock
including the ability to run a program, minimize all Windows,
show the desktop, shut down Windows and more.
Given
the tiny size of the program, the power of this program is
most impressive. Less impressive is the help file which is brief
and not particularly helpful. However the program is so well
laid-out and simple to use that it's not really an issue.
Note
that you might get a warning from your security software
that TClock is potential spyware. It's not. It's just picking up
the fact that it modifies explorer.exe to display the clock.
I've
used TClock now for over a month and it has proven to be
trouble-free, convenient, informative and useful. It has so many
positives and so few negatives that I can recommend it with
confidence. Freeware, Windows 95 and later, 373KB (including
source code)
NOTE
FROM GIZMO: Many thanks to "oers k" for this review and to
subscriber Travis Carden for the original TClock Lite
suggestion. Me, I use a commercial utility called 12Ghosts
Showtime. It's a good product but TClock does much the same
thing for free. I bought 12Ghosts a year ago as it was the only
tray clock that I could find that could show time and date in
the same space that the Windows tray clock takes to show the
time alone. However Travis showed me a way of doing this with
TClock Lite. Here is his TClock format code. Try it, it's
great. "ddd dd\nhh:nn tt" or alternatively "hh:nn tt
\nmm/dd/yy". If you want to see how these settings look I've put
them on a page on my website [2]
[1] http://homepage1.nifty.com/kazubon/tclocklight/index.html
[2] http://www.techsupportalert.com/tclock.htm
**
Bonus Freebie in the Premium SE Edition **
6.2 Free Utility Logs Installation Changes
Ever
installed a program and the installation has failed? Ever
tried to uninstall a utility only to find the program wasn't
completely removed? If so, you need this free program that
monitors and records the registry and file changes made when you
install software.
I
got quite excited when I heard about about it as this kind of
product is normally commercial software not freeware.
On
investigation I discovered that this program was itself
expensive shareware but as development had now ceased the
product was being offered "as-is" for free.
It
works by taking snapshots of your system at two different
points of time and then doing a comparison to identify changes
...
Full
details in the Premium SE Edition of this newsletter.
GET THE PREMIUM "SE"
EDITION NOW
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missing out on all this extra information! Subscribe now to
the premium "SE" Edition of this newsletter and immediately
receive the current issue containing nearly double the
information contained in this free edition. Get twice as many
great web sites, get twice as many top utilities and great
freebies. It's also ad-free.
You'll
also get immediate access to the archive of all past
issues of the Premium Supporters' Edition of the newsletter
where you can catch up on the hundreds of great utilities you
missed in the free edition. The SE Edition is a great deal
and at $10 per year it's a bargain.
Use
this link to subscribe online now:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/se-edition.htm
This
month I'm giving away to new subscribers, six free copies
of the the top rated anti virus NOD32.
NOD32
is a brilliant program for protecting your PC yet it only
consumes a modest amount of your computing resources. That's why
I use it on my key work computers. At $39 it's good value but
it's even better value when you can get it for free.
The
six copies I'm giving away will be allocated at random but
your chances of scoring one are actually quite good. So if you
have been thinking of subscribing, now's the time.
I'm
also giving away invites to Google Gmail to new
SE subscribers. Last month everyone who wanted one got one and
I expect the same to happen this month. Just email me at
editor@techsupportalert.com after subscribing to the Premium SE
Edition and I'll send your invitation.
Even
if you don't win anything you'll still get my special
report "Gizmo's Desert Island Utilities" which outlines the
software I use myself, including many free products.
Use
the link below to subscribe now:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/se-edition.htm
7.0 MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
Support Alert is a free newsletter. If you liked this issue why not email it to a friend. Anyone can subscribe by signing up online at
http://www.techsupportalert.com/al_subscribe.htm
Back Issues
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The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm
The Extended List of the Latest Freebies
http://www.techsupportalert.com/more/extended.htm
For lots more free IT newsletters see
http://www.TechNewsletters.com/infobase.asp?TPubId=79
Thanks to subscriber
Neal Dwire for proofreading this issue.
You can contact this newsletter by snail mail at:
Support Alert
PO Box 243
Comstock Park, MI 49321-0243 USA
Support Alert is a registered online serial publication ISSN 1448-7020. Content of this newsletter is (c) Copyright TechSupportAlert.com, 2006
See you next issue
Gizmo
Ian Richards
editor@techsupportalert.com
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