I know, the end has come. Dr. Bill is recommending a Microsoft security product! Yes, it has come to that. I used AVG for years, but they recently started “dunning me” on their free version to buy the full version. Over and over again! Man. Anyway, I started looking around, researching and such, and guess what? M$’s own FREE security, anti-virus, and anti-spyware system is actually good! M$ bought Giant Software some time back… and this has led to MSE – Microsoft Security Essentials … Again, I gotta admit… a recent good product, totally free, and it updates regularly. So… maybe M$ is coming around!

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This one is cool! I like it, not only because it is free, even with free support, but the free version ALSO automatically updates! Usually with free versions you have to discipline yourself to do the updates! Rock on!

Spyware Terminator

“Free Spyware Removal

Spyware Terminator will scan your computer for known threats and report findings in a manner that is easy to read and interpret. Every entry is given a rating and a classification, which makes it very easy to decide if a detected item should be removed. Unlike some free software titles, Spyware Terminator will remove all threats for free.

Free Automatic Updates

Spyware Terminator offers the ability to download and install updates automatically. Users are free to dictate how often Spyware Terminator checks for updates and how they are applied.

Free Scheduled Scans

Spyware Terminator gives users the ability to schedule spyware scans on a regular basis to ensure computer integrity. Scans can be scheduled on either a daily or a weekly basis at any hour of the day.

Free AntiVirus Integration

Spyware Terminator has included the popular award winning open-source antivirus, Clam AntiVirus (ClamAV), for optional integration to achieve a higher level of security. ClamAV can be integrated into spyware scans, updates and the real-time protection.

Free Support

Not only is the Spyware Terminator free, but support is included for free as well. Support is provided through e-mail and our public forum. Our highly qualified support team responds to all issues in a timely manner.

Free for Personal & Commercial Use

Spyware Terminator is licensed for free for both home and business use.”

The fact that it integrates with Clam AV (an Open Source Anti-Virus) also endears me to this great product!

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Wow. Again…. wow! This one rocks! Every so often I run across a free (for personal use) program that just changes the paradigm… this one does! (For me anyway!) It allows you to set up your FTP connection to be a local drive letter on your system. Now, at first that doesn;t sound so interesting… but this makes it look like it is truly local, file attributes, dates, file size amounts, etc., etc. Dewd! Imagine using a “local” PC backup program to back up your FTP site! Oh yeah!

Check this one out fer sure!

NetDrive – the Network Drive for Windows

“With NetDrive, managing your remote FTP and WebDAV servers will be as easy as any old file folders on your PC. Once you mount the local drive, you don’t need to run an application or an FTP client interface but a simple drag-and-drop in your Windows Explorer will be sufficient to transfer and manage files.”

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This week’s entry to our “Hall of Fame” – Peppermint Linux… a distro billed as the “cloud client”… it looks REALLY promising!

Peppermint Linux

“Peppermint was designed for enhanced mobility, efficiency and ease of use. While other operating systems are taking 10 minutes to load, you are already connected, communicating and getting things done. And, unlike other operating systems, Peppermint is ready to use out of the box. Why spend hours tinkering and tweaking? Install Peppermint and get going!!

Built for Speed

Peppermint OS was designed to be easy on your processor and system resources so you can get going and get things done…

Lightweight

Peppermint OS is under 512MB and easy to run as a Live CD or USB. Loads and Shuts down in Seconds…

User Friendly

Step-by-step installation, Works out of the box, Easy to Navigate with Automatic Updates….”

Peppermint Linux boots in 25 seconds… even on a older system! I like that in a OS! So, try it… it is free as in speech!

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Free backup software? You have to be kidding! Nope! Check it out… free and nice features!

Paragon DB Express

“Non-commercial use only – NEW 10.1 Edition – Total PC Protection for Serious Users!
Take complete control of your PC’s safety. Based on solid commercial backup and recovery software from Paragon, the new Backup & Recovery 10.1 Free Edition will give you a rich set of features that you can trust.
Smart people backup; Backup & Recovery is smart backup.”

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From the folks at Piriform that gave us the great CCleaner… now, there is Speccy! It reports the details of the hardware in your system. Very nice! Especially useful if you are looking for drivers, say, if you wanted to move to Windows 7!

Piriform Speccy

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This is a VERY handy little utility… particularly, if, like me, you are a Citrix XenApp admin. It allows you to pull the icon out of an executable and save it as a .ico file. Very cool!

IconExtract from Nirsoft!

Try it… it is free, and works great!

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So, you want a free image backup utility before you do the inevitable upgrade to Windows 7? Well, here you go!

Macrium Reflect Free

Macrium Reflect disk imaging software is a good basic program that can easily help you back up your files and folders, as well as entire disks. It can also create restore disks and can save at a variety of compression levels.

We liked that this software can save to any type of CD or DVD and it supports an array of drives including IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB and FireWire. It also supports many common file types including all types of NTFS and several FAT types.

Macrium Reflect Standout Features:

* Integrated VBScript generator
* Windowless recovery options
* XML Backup definitions

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Ever needed to resize a live disk volume? I did recently… and you know me… I gotta find a free way to do it! So, another GSotW! EASEUS Partition Master! This program rocks! There is a free home version, and a very reasonably priced Pro and/or Server Version if you need 64 bit support!

EASEUS Partition Master!

Check this one out! “EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition is a FREE disk partitioning utility for extending system partition, better disk space management, settling low disk space problem under Windows 2000/XP/Vista (for 32bit Only.) What’s more, the freeware works perfectly with hardware RAID and laptops like HP, Dell, etc. Your data is completely protected during all operations. Why not free download this free magic partition software and enjoy it like the commercial partition program? If your computer is running 64 bit Windows systems, please check Professional or Server editions.”

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This is AWESOME!!!! I mean, really, it may be one of the best GSoTW’s ever! This shows EVERYTHING about your system!

SIW Software Utility

“SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensive manner.

The system information is divided into few major categories:

* Software Information: Operating System, Installed Software and Hotfixes, Processes, Services, Users, Open Files, System Uptime, Installed Codecs, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers / CD Key), Secrets (Password Recovery).
* [tag]Hardware Information: Motherboard, Sensors, BIOS, CPU, chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, Memory, Video Card, Monitor, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Printers.
* Network Information[/tag]: Network Cards, Network Shares, currently active Network Connections, Open Ports.
* Network Tools: MAC Address Changer, Neighborhood Scan, Ping, Trace, Statistics
* Miscellaneous Tools: Eureka! (Reveal lost passwords hidden behind asterisks), Monitor Test, Shutdown / Restart.
* Real-time monitors: CPU, Memory, Page File usage and Network Traffic.

SIW is a standalone utility that does not require installation (Portable Freeware) – one less installed program on your PC as well the fact that you can run the program directly from an USB flash drive, from a floppy, from a network drive or from a domain login script.”

This is a MUST HAVE for the geek!

Technorati Tags: SIW, System Information for Windows, Software Information, Network Tools, USB flash drive

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