Carol’s Vault » Privacy

ZoneAlarm ForceField freeware

Carol — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 20:33:06 +0000

ZoneAlarm ForceField was designed to help you surf safer and without a trace.

No web history and no information is shared anymore with other users, so nothing will be stored on your computer anymore.

With numerous protection layers, Forcefield will shield your computer from the Internet against phishing, spyware and other treats.

Forcefield features and advantages :

Browse anywhere without a care
Surf safely on any PC – even public ones
Secure online transactions
Bank and shop security
Private browser
Dangerous download detector
Dodge all evil, uninvited downloads
Walk away from any machine without a trace
Advance anti-phishing, anti-keylogger and anti-screengrabber technology.

Be aware that Forcefield is in beta.

If you do decide to install it before the final version arrives, don’t forget to make a restore point.

Platform Windows XP, Windows Vista

Freeware

Anti-Spam Filters for Windows, Linux and Mac

Carol — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:39:13 +0000

If you need a spam filter for your e-mail account, then you can pick one from the following links:

31 Bayesian Spam Filters for Windows

8 Bayesian Spam Filters for Linux

12 Bayesian Spam Filters for Mac

Top 10 Free Spam Filters for Windows

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Freebies, Freeware, Linux & OpenSource, Privacy, Security, Tech Blogs, Technology, Windows, Anti-Spam filters, Bayes Filters, Bayesian Filters

Best Firefox extensions – my selection (update)

Carol — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 08:50:27 +0000

Update - More extensions

Part 3 – Update January 30

Cooliris Previews 2.1 – A simple and powerful way of navigating through Google search results and Google image searches!
FaviconizeTab 0.9.7.2 – The width of the specified tab becomes small up to the size of favicon.
McAfee SiteAdvisor 26.1 – A McAfee SiteAdvisor Firefox Extension for safe searching and browsing
PermaTabs 1.4.0 – Create permanent tabs that don’t close, and stick around between sessions
SEOpen 0.8 – Provides some basic tools to help with search engine optimization.
Tab Effect 1.1 – Tab Effect

Part 2

Adblock Plus – block unwanted adds
Answers – search the web,find definitions
blueorganizer – personalize and organize and more…
Clipmarks – saveto your faves. only small parts of a web page that interest you
Colorful Tabs – enhance your tab browsing
Compact Menu – organize your menu options on the menu bar
DictionarySearch – search definitions
Dr.Web anti-virus link checker – check links for viruses
Google Toolbar for Firefox
Greasemonkey – install scripts
Jeteye – bookmarking tool
MR Tech Local Install – manage extensions
Nightly Tester Tools – make extensions compatible
NoScript – extra protection for your Firefox
Search Engine Ordering – order/remove search engines
SearchStatus – see how other web sites are doing in search engines
SecurePassword Generator- generate secure passwords for your accounts
StumbleUpon – stumble through the web with this cool tool

Part 1

Adblock – block adds
Adblock Filterset.G Updater blocks adds/set up filters
AJAX Yahoo! Mail [Viamatic WebMail++] 0.6
All Customized Links 1.1 - add unlimitted customized URLs to your right-click menu
All-In-One Sidebar 0.6.4 - switch between sidebars, view downloads, extensions,
Clear Private Data… (Add-Ons) 0.2 - clear your tracks
coComment! for Firefox 0.9 - add your comments to your cocomment account
del.icio.us Complete 0.6.3.2 - easy and fast access to your del.icio.us bookmarks
DownThemAll! – download manager
Gmail Manager 0.4.3.6 - access your mail
Hyperwords(tm) 1.3.3 - searches, references, email, blogging, translation,etc
Make Link - make links codes for forums,blogs…
Performancing – blog from Firefox
Stealther 0.95 - surf without a trace
SwitchProxy Tool 1.4 - switch between proxy (to be used with Tor)
Tab Mix Plus 0.3.0.5 - make your tab browsing even better
VideoDownloader – download videos
Web Developer 1.0.2 -no description nedded
Yahoo Toolbar

Delete your files securely on right click

Carol — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:21:49 +0000

Apparently I am on the right click menu this period.

You know that when you delete a file by sending it to the Recycle Bin, the file isn’t actually deleted.

So if you are one of those who want to keep things clean and secure, you might want to get rid off the files by deleting them in a secure way.

I’ve got two freeware for you that can do that from the right click menu.

First one is DeleteOnClick – download the program and install it…and that’s it. All you have to do is to right click on the file you want to be gone and gone will be.

Second one is one of the RegToy utilities. When you install RegToy, you’ll be able to add Secure delete to the right click menu

Personally, I like deleting with this one because I have more options and I can rename the files before deleting them for a better result.

Pimp that Windows part 2 – Freeware your pc

Carol — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:17:32 +0000

Freeware your Windows in 13 steps

Disclaimer : While i know that most of these freeware are safe and stable because i installed and tested them,i will not be responsable if something goes wrong with your installations.Some of them are buggy and some are beta.

If by any chance you do get in troubles with one of the installations,you can always leave a comment and I or someone else will help you fix it.

Read first the entry and download the freeware needed.Make a new folder into My Documents and download there to avoid clutter and find them easily.You can find Pimp that Windows Part 1 here.

Note: Most of the apps listed here are linking to FileHippo.com, a trustable downloading source.

Let’s start with the essentials.We only need freeware and we will only use freeware.

1)Start by securing your Windows

A freeware antivirus-choose from :

Avg 7.5

( I recommend Comodo or Avast Home)

A freeware firewall -choose from :

(I recommend Comodo Firewall or Zonealarm Free)

A freeware antispyware (i recommend more than 1)- choose from :

Comodo Antispam

Lavasoft Ad-Aware

Avg Antispyware (becomes freeware after 30 days)

Windows Defender

Spybot

(I recommend Lavasoft with Avg or Spybot with Windows Defender)

A prevention freeware

– Spyware Blaster .Don’t even think about leaving this one out.

Beware of the rogue antispyware software!

Quick note : I’ve tested Comodo antivirus together with Comodo firewall and the antivirus was hanging.Remove it if it causes troubles and replace it with another one.

2) Compress/Decompress

Now we need a compression freeware such as 7Zip or Zip Genious. They both open all type of archive formats.

3) Pick a browser

Choose from : Firefox ,Avant ,Opera ,Maxthon (fast,secure and reliable) or install them all.It’s all up to you.

4) Pick an e-mail client

Choose from : Thunderbird (Recommended) ,Pegasus Mail , Incredimail (fat in graphics),Eudora or just use Outlook.

5)Pick an antispam for your e-mail client

Choose from : Spamihilator, SpamBayes ,Comodo AntiSpam ,K9

6) Check your system information

Let’s move to the next step now and have a look to the device information with SandraLite ,CpuZ or Everest Home Edition.To monitor your pc’s voltage and tempetarure use SpeedFan.

If you would like to see some deep information about your computer such as software and your licence keys,your missing patches and your systems vulnerability,then i recommend Belarc.

7)Style it your Windows

Our next step is to get rid off the classic look of your Windows and to do so,please follow this link to Pimp that Windows part one -Looks and Easy access.You’ll find there everything you need to transform your desktop from a boring one to a fancy one.

Communication

No need to go deep into this one. Pick your favorite from : MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, Skype.

Need more? Go here.

9) Video/Audio Tools

I don’t know what you would prefer so i provide you with a link to some of the best video/audio players,music files organizers and sound editors.

While we are here,let’s pick up some burning tools as well.

10)Image tools

Some of the best image and graphics editors at the moment are GIMP or Gimpshop,Paint.NET, Blender,Inkscape.Of course,there are others,but i am only giving you now the best ones.

To view your images ,use FastStone Image Viewer or use Picasa (it organizes your images as well).

To take a screenshot use Fast Stone Capture

11)Desktop and related utilities

Time to take care of those office stuff and let’s start by installing OpenOffice.org .We all know by now what is for so let’s go on with a PDF Creator then a Notepad++ followed by a desktop publishing freeware PagePlus SE.

When you are done with we’ll go over to Html/css/php editors and we’ll have the following : Nvu editor -see some screenshots here,then if you are into php you’d want to have PhpDesigner 2006 and TopStyle Lite for your css needs.

To publish entries to your blog,choose between Qumana and Windows Live Writer.

Transfer your files with FileZilla or SmartFtp.

To catch up with the news,use the GreatNews (rss) Reader

I will skip over the Desktop search and file sharing.But if you want to install any of them,head over to Filehippo and pick your file sharing or here for desktop search freeware (scroll down the page).

12)Maintenance

Let’s move to the next step and take care of the maintenance. You’ll only need few tools here.By the moment we are done with installing everything,we’ll need to defragment and put all the files next to each other,check for some reg keys and some other important tasks.

There’s no need to install 20 apps in order to keep our system clean and runnung smooth.

We need 3 instead from which 2 are multifunctional.

Advanced WindowsCare – will take care of the errors on your pc,clean it,prevents security threats and so on.What can i say? It’s a great one.

RegToy -Now that’s a tweaker.It has lots of features that tweaks your system from startup to shut down.Some of the included features are :cleaning junk files and registry,cleaning ram,rename,encrypt and split files,uninstal manager…etc.

This one is a beauty.

Iobit SmartDefragmenter – This tool does your job.Just set it to defragment and that’s it.If you don’t want it,then just use the Windows defragmenter.

Extra:

CCleaner – this is just an addition and it is not really necessary to install it because the Advanced Windows Care and RegToy will take care of the same things.Anyway,install it if you want.

13)Back it up

Time to back up to make sure we haven’t done all this work for nothing.

Go and grab Comodo BackUp or just use the original backup app incorporated into your Windows.

After you’re done with all the installations,clean the junk files,do a quick scan and when you are done,secure your files by backing them up.

That’s all for now.You are done!

IE and Firefox fake login flaw

Carol — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 21:47:10 +0000

The latest versions of both Firefox and Internet Explorer are vulnerable to an unpatched flaw that allows hackers to snaffle users’ login credentials via automated phishing attacks.

The information disclosure bug affects the password manager in Firefox 2.0 and its equivalent in IE7. Firefox’s Password Manager, for example, fails to properly check URLs before filling in saved user credentials into web forms.

Read the rest.

Technorati tags: security, privacy, firefox, IE, news, blogging, tech blogs

The Top 10 Worst Spam Offenders

Carol — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 14:39:40 +0000

It’s like the FBI’s most wanted list for spam

Spamhaus, an international non-profit organization whose mission is to track the Internet’s Spam Gangs, has released list of the top 10 spam offenders of the year.

Of all Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the world, Verizon Business is the number one offender on the list with almost triple the number of current known spam issues as its competitor SBC Communications.

Given that the most spammy ISPs are American, then it should come as no surprise that the United States leads all other countries with 1,983 current known spam issues. The next country in line is China with 304 known issues.

The worst spammers, however, are a different geographic picture, with the top (dis)honor going to Alex Blood of the Ukraine. Out of the top 10 spammers list, more than half were from Eastern Europe. The U.S. made the list twice at spots third and tenth.

Here is the Top 10 list.

Read the rest of the article.

Advanced WindowsCare V2 Personal – a 8 in 1 freeware

Carol — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:28:26 +0000

Advanced WindowsCare v2 is out (probably for a little while,but I didn’t keep up with it).

I am using it since version 1 and I am very happy with it.

What does it do?

• Removes Spyware and Adware
• Prevents Security Threats
• Privacy Protection
• Fixes Registry Errors and Optimizes the Windows Services for you
• Cleans Temporary Files
• Cleans Startup
• Repairs Windows
• Speeds up System

You can go here for more info or to download it.

Technorati tags: windows, windowscare, blogging, freebies, freeware, today’s freeware, privacy protection, fix registry errors, repair windows, speedup windows

British the most spied-on people in western world

Carol — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 10:36:25 +0000

BRITISH people are now more spied upon by their political leaders than any other population in the free world, according to an official report.

The linkage of databases and surveillance systems mean people are now having their movements tracked, habits profiled and photograph taken hundreds of times a day. The findings, in a report compiled on behalf of Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, raised concerns that Britain is “waking up in a surveillance society”.

Thomas said: “Many of these schemes are public sector driven, and the individual has no choice over whether or not to take part. People are being scrutinized and having their lives tracked, and are not even aware of it.

“They don’t know, for instance, that a record is kept of every Internet site they visit. They don’t realize that when identity cards come in, there will be a record of their movements and every time they have engaged with any public service.”

Read the rest of the article

And if you want to know something even more scarier than that,then go to Daily Mail and reat this.

Technorati tags: privacy, security, UK, intrusions, life, blogging

Today’s freeware – Safe Xp

Carol — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 08:49:14 +0000

Safe XP allows users to quickly tweak various security and privacy related settings in XP. The options include Media Player settings, Services settings (error reporting, time synch, remote registry etc.), as well as and option to remove items from the Start menu, network security settings and more.

Safe XP improves your system performance and makes Windows to run faster, more secure and reliable! It is suitable for beginners and experts!

Download Safe Xp

Technorati tags: windows, xp pro, security, privacy, teweaking, blogs, blogging, performance, blogroll, geeks, freeware, freebies, software