I ran across this program and decided to try it out. Dr. Web Cureit is a stand-alone program that will scan your computer for bad stuff. If it finds something, it may give you a chance to fix the problem by hitting the "Cure", "Rename", "Move' or "Delete" buttons.
No installation is required on this small download. It's a simple EXE file so you just double click it to run. Downloading the entire program is the only way to update the malware signatures. That means you should always work from a freshly downloaded copy of this program. To remove Dr. Web Cureit, just delete the cureit.exe file.
The scans are fairly slow but Cureit doesn't seem to interfere with currently installed anti-virus.
One item most folks won't like is that it occasionally displays an advertisement about the paid programs they offer. These are not a problem and you can easily close them when they occur.
Dr. Web Cureit is a nice portable tool you can take with you on a CD or thumbdrive when you visit your friends or relatives who always have infections on their computers. I don't think you'll mind the advertisement if it actually helps you get rid of the nasties.
Quote from the website
Think you are infected? Then try Dr.Web CureIt! A FREE anti-malware utility.
Cure your computer of viruses, Trojans, spyware and other malicious programs with Dr.Web CureIt!, which uses the Dr.Web engine. There is no need for installation and therefore this is an ideal on-demand scanner as there is no conflict with your primary AV. The utility is always armed with the most up-to-date add-ons to the virus databases.
This program could be classified as AdWare because of an advertisement it displays.
It is still safe to use and does not make any system changes without permission.
One of the frequent contributors here, Bill Allin, commented that he is trying out the Ashampoo firewall. I got curious and decided to try it too.
This free firewall offers true two-way protection that not only prevents intrusions from the internet, but can also stop unknown programs on your PC from contacting the internet.
After downloading it from Download.com, I installed it and had no problems. It starts with a short configuration wizard that asks you to choose either an expert or easy mode. Even though I'm no expert, I decided to try the expert mode because it offers more protection from wi-fi connections if you are on the road with a laptop.
After running it awhile, I found that the firewall was not slowing my PC down. There were plenty of prompts at the beginning. Every time you start a program that wants to connect to the internet or your local network, it asks you to accept, deny or create a rule for the connection. I found this to be very simple to understand and after a day or two, the prompts have not been coming up except when I happen to try out new software.
There is only one drawback to this free offer that I can complain about. After installation the firewall tells you that you have a 10 day trial period before you have to register it. This may be confusing to some people. Even though you have to register this program, they don't ask you for any money. The registration requires that you give out your email address and any other information that you supply is optional. You will receive at least two emails during registration and it looks like they add you to a newsletter that they send out occasionally.
I can recommend this firewall despite the need to register it. I really like it so far.
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Quote from the website
Small and efficient instead of big and confusing
If you don’t have a degree in computer science, using a firewall program can be quite frustrating. In addition to all the confusing jargon, current firewalls are getting to be very big programs. Sometimes you have the feeling that you’re installing an entire office suite instead of a basic network tool.
The brand-new Ashampoo FireWall FREE is different. Its Configuration Assistant guides you through every step of the simple setup process. And Easy Mode makes using it a breeze – you don’t need any special technical knowledge and everything is explained clearly.
Ashampoo FireWall FREE is also amazingly compact. Even with its four additional security tools it’s a tiny program that uses very little memory and computer resources. You get the heavy-duty protection without heavyweight overload on your system.
This program can be classified as RegisterWare because it requires an email address.
Long ago and far far away, F-Prot anti-virus for DOS was well known and often recommended. For many years they have had a free version of their anti-virus program for DOS operating systems. To this day, F-Prot is still used on "rescue disks" of CDs, so that you can boot into DOS and scan a mal-functioning Windows computer.
I visited F-Prot recently to see if they had a free Windows A-V scanner and was sad to see this message listed on the DOS page.
We no longer offer F-PROT Antivirus for DOS. Please refer to F-PROT Antivirus for Windows or our products for other platforms for your needs.
I found that it's still offered at this page on SnapFiles, but I decided to snag a copy and keep it here just in case. You will find a download link below.
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Quote from Snapfiles.com:
F-Prot Antivirus for DOS is the classic command line scanner for the DOS operating system. Among features included in F-Prot Antivirus for DOS is an effective heuristic scanner to scan for new viruses and suspicious files. F-Prot Antivirus will scan inside compressed files, as well as in Word documents and Excel workbooks.
I'll host a copy here for awhile. As soon as my friend at Last Freeware Version nabs it, I'll take it down.
CC wrote me that he was trying out these two apps to compare against the Windows Vista Aero navigation tools such as Windows Flip and Taskbar Thumbnails.
Software comparison from CC:
For some reason the freeware sites have been pushing these two applications, so I decided to compare these two against the similar Aero features in Vista.
RocketDock and ThumbWin: They both do the same thing but ThumbWin is better looking and adjustable in many ways so ThumbWin it is. Tested on Vista OS. Dragging a thumbnail to any position is available.
ThumbWin uses low resources with 568KB used compared to Aero at 7.2MB. All the thumbnails pop up but on Aero's thumbnail you can only see one at a time.
Rocketdock's thumbnails are not movable and it uses 4000KB.
cc
Quote from a review at Cybernet News:
The best way to demonstrate the features of ThumbWin is with a video, so before you head on over and get it setup checkout what it really has to offer.
Update: (Thanks to CC for reminding me to check on Jarte again.)
Jarte is now at version 3.0 and also has a portable version. One thing I immediately noticed in this version is that there are three menu/button layout options. If you don't like all the buttons at the top of the page, choose the minimal layout and you simply get the standard menus that you see in most editors.
Review from Clif:
Back in February, Tom in Holland recommended that I take a look at this free word processsor. I typically use the word processor in OpenOffice. I love Open Office but it's a huge program and it takes quite a while to load. For small jobs I really don't need all the power or the wait. I'd been looking for something like Jarte and didn't know it. My only beef with the program is it's unusual interface. Once I'd gotten past that, I found it was very easy to use.
Tips:
I had to load the Office Converter Pack to handle some DOC files that contain images.
If you love mathematical equations, you may be able to use the TEXaide editor to paste equations into your documents.
To help you get used to the interface, there is a button called "Labels" that labels the buttons for you as shown below.
You can add WordWeb, a free English thesaurus and dictionary, and Jarte will use it.
It is hard to criticize this WordPad replacement because it does so much more than WordPad (or most other basic word processors) can do ...
Why use heavyweight word processors when you rarely use even 5% of their functions while programs like Jarte offer 99% of what people use, are much, much faster to load, and which don't take over your desktop.
I need to use a single "To Do" or "Task List" that I can view and update oneither machine so I trawled Google looking for a suitable "bridge". EPIM was the first choice as it was very close to MS Office and therefore quick to adapt to. However the USB "Portable Pro" version turned out to be a "trial" version which stopped working after 500 entries - so back to my google list! (later found out that there is a free unlimited version)
There are a number of very light-weight task-management applications that are very intuitive and easy to adopt. Bottom of my list was a program called Chaos Manager. The screen layout was different to the all the rest and I didn't feel comfortable, but I persevered and was rewarded for my efforts.
Contacts, divided by category plus a birthday reminder!
A Calculator
Setup - with 22 skins, very easy to configure.
The website www.chaosmanager.net has a forum and the designer/builder is happy to take on board suggestions for improvement.
First glance is deceiving - persevere and you will be rewarded!
Spend some time in "set-up" and review the documentation - it's all common sense. The only difference between this package and other To Do lists is screen presentation - it is different and therefore off-putting to the casual observer, but once you have tried a few features, everything just clicks into place!
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Quote from the website
As a computer is supposed to be a helpful tool I always wanted to organize some of my mess on the computer. I couldn't really find an organizer that I liked, the ones I tried was either too confusing with too many buttons/options or had an annoying layout etc. So I decided to make my own little simple and compact organizer which features an appointment/to-do manager (appointments will pop-up), a calendar, a phone/address-book (contacts), a notebook which supports multiple topic, sync via internet, email forwarding of appointments, print/import/export and much more. All is password protected and encrypted (optional). You can also customize your own skin and background for the application so it won't be too dull to look at (ships with a number of skins).
One of my co-workers loves to play with freebie utilities as much as I do. After I'd recommended a program to him, he wrote back with a tip about two nice magnifying apps. Both are good, but the Virtual Magnifying Glass is something I'll be keeping.
A tip from Allen H.
Thanks, Clif. I am always interested in new software utilities. I picked up (Dragnifier) a neat little magnifier program from Siemens (UGS). I've seen their instructors use this in a classroom to highlight a portion of a dialog box on the screen. This program does not require an installation.
While searching for Dragnifier, I also found VMG (Virtual Magnifying Glass). It works like Dragnifier, but has more options.
Quote from the website
Virtual Magnifying Glass is a free, open source, screen magnification tool for Windows and Linux. It is simple, customizable, and easy-to-use.
Gary at Internet Fixes continues to amaze me with hundreds and thousands of tips for your PC. Whatever your operating system, or how you use it, a visit to Gary's site will soon have you saying "So that's how you do this!".
I found a stellar article from freewaregenius that highlights 53 freebies as he reinstalls his Windows system. He says he intends to avoid using any paid programs on it. Be sure to bookmark fg's article so that you have it the next time you reload Windows.
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Quote from freewaregenius:
Reinstall Windows and outfit your system with all freeware programs
Description: I recently clean installed Windows XP on my laptop, and this meant that I had to re-install all the essential software that I use. It also presented an opportunity to write a posting about how you can outfit your computer with all the essential (and non-essential) software you need using strictly 100% freeware and/or open source titles.
I like your excellent newsletter. I am looking for some good sound cleaning software something like Wavclean (no longer available) do you know of any?
Sincerely
Walter
After a quick Google search, I found this great tip from Geeks.com. The best part about this tip is that it uses Audacity, which is one of the best free and open source audio editors.
Quote from the website
Cleaning Up Audio Files with Audacity
By Scott Nesbitt
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006
When you're dealing with audio files, there will be times when you run into a few problems. This is especially true with voice recordings and audio that was converted to a digital format from a cassette tape or a vinyl record.
One of the biggest problems is noise. This could be hissing or background noise like the sound of the wind or even someone inadvertently breathing into a microphone. No matter what the source is, that noise is distracting. While it's difficult to eliminate all of the noise from a digital audio recording, it is possible to clean up the file so that the noise isn't all that noticeable ...
New. XFDisk, is a free DOS FDISK replacement that offers more comfort and comes with a bootmanager that allows you to have more than one operating system installed on your hard disk: http://www.mecronome.de/xfdisk/index.php
COOLSITES is a list of safe, fun, useful, informative and just plain cool websites and programs that are FREE, FREE and FREE. All of the programs and websites I list are free. If I list anything that is so good but isn't free I will list the price with it.
Have you ever needed to post your email address in a forum or a guest book at a website because you want someone to write you back? Now you don't have to. Xinbox will give you a web link that lets people get in touch with you. That keeps those dreaded email spiders from seeing your email addy and dropping a ton of spam into your inbox.
XInbox.com is a unique free solution that does not let spam into your mailbox. The principle of its work is really simple and effective: you register your email address at XInbox.com, then you get a link to the spam protected contact form like this xinbox.com/support and you leave this link everywhere instead of your email address: on your site, in the signature of your messages, in forums, etc. Special software called spam spiders cannot harvest your email addresses from this forms, so it provides your mailbox with almost 100% protection against spam.
Newser does the reading for you. Our editors select the day's most important and most talked-about stories from the 100 top news sources, along with compelling pieces from less-known sites that might otherwise be overlooked.
In succinct, lively summaries, newser’s editors distill articles and opinion pieces, telling you what you need to know, what you want to know, and where to go for the best coverage.
You can't follow 100 news sources, but we can follow them for you. Think of us as a front page for the Internet.
Newser is the first online news service to fully leverage the Web and is creating the first major news brand native to that medium.
You need a free 2.8 GB Gmail account to access many of the cool features at Google. After more than two years in beta testing Gmail is open to the public. Just go to http://gmail.com and sign up for an account.
I think Gmail works best in the awesome Firefox browser. It's free, easy to use, and it's way more secure than Internet Explorer. My favorite thing to do is to customize Firefox so that it does much more than IE ever could. You can select new button controls for your toolbars, install extensions to add new features, or change the look of your browser with themes - the way Firefox looks and works is under your control.
Wow! Over 800 people and still growing! I invite all of you to record your locations on this map. You can include as little or as much information as you wish. I think you'll enjoy seeing yourself there.
Here's a small look at my frapper map.
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