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Predict hard disk failure with Acronis Drive Monitor
It is very hard to predict when a hard disk will fail, Acronis Drive Monitor is a free hard disk monitoring tool that will alert you before a hard disk crash. Acronis Drive Monitor will avoid data loss by monitoring the physical hard disk health using S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) readings and warning you before the drive fails.

A colour coded summary provides an overview of the disk’s health at a glance, in addition, when it detects a problem it will generate an onscreen alert or send and email depending on configuration.

This free hard disk monitoring tool will warn you if no back up software has been found in the computer, it is inevitable that all hard disks will fail one day, nothing lasts forever, everyone should have a back up solution put into place it is highly responsible to warn users about this, even if Acronis is trying to push its paid for back up software in the process.

Acronis Drive Monitor software

Acronis Drive Monitor main features
- Hard disk health monitoring in the background
- Monitoring of event logs for possible problems
- Email alerts in case of hard disk complications
- Weekly hard disk electromechanical status report
- Support for RAID hard drive configuration
This Acronis product integrates very well with the rest of the premium Acronis home and business software but you do not need to have any of those installed in order to use it, Acronis Drive Monitoring seems to have been released with the freemium market in mind, where people are given something for free with the hope that they will upgrade to a paid for product with more features.

This hard disk monitoring tool does an excellent job, is easy to use and it is on a par with paid for hard disk diagnostics software.

Visit Acronis Drive Monitor homepage
22 January, 2011
Automate software updates with Secunia Personal Software Inspector

This free PC computer security tool comes from one of the World’s leading providers of computer vulnerability assessment companies, Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) aka Secunia PSI.

After installing Secunia Personal Software Inspector it will scan your computer and provide you with a comprehensive list of all the software present checking if it can be updated to a newer more secure version, if possible, you will given direct links to patches and program updates.

Secunia Personal Software Inspector runs in the background by default, constantly monitoring new applications and updates, its advanced interface displays all kind of information about your installed software, if this overwhelms you, it is possible to switch to an easier to use simple interface only listing easy to upgrade software.

A “Secure Browsing” tab reports your browser version and plugins, ActiveX controls, Firefox addons installed in the browser, another tab called “End of Life” gives you quick access to Add/Remove Programs, the listed software’s folder, and online references, the whole process comes with complete instructions and explanations about how the software works giving you peace of mind.

Secunia Personal Software Inspector

Trojans and viruses routinely exploit old unpatched software, make sure to run this free home computer vulnerability scanner and combine it with a good antivirus and firewall, it should be enough for the average computer user to avoid getting hacked, it makes for a nice alternative to CNET techtracker.

Visit Secunia Personal Software Inspector

21 January, 2011
iSpy converts your computer webcam into surveillance CCTV
This free open source software will use your computer webcam and microphone for remote surveillance, you can use the built-in webserver on iSpy website to view captured media. If you need to monitor your home while you are away just leave your computer on and iSpy will stream live images to you of what is happening, including sound, if you wish so you can use your smartphone to monitor the live cam. All captured media is compressed to flash video.

iSpy webcam surveillance software

iSpy will detect movement and send you and alert via SMS or email when that happens if you want to,webcam movement detection areas can be customized to point towards an specific location such as the frontdoor.

iSpy latest supported features
- Add unlimited number of active floor plans
- Control PTZ enabled IP cameras
- Listen to and monitor remote microphones live over the network
- Pair video and audio sources for capturing movies with sound
- Upload to YouTube – auto upload captured content
Possible uses for iSpy are to watch over your family, pets, and business and set up a security system at your home when you go on holidays.

Premium surveillance cam alternatives to iSpy

If you need a premium alternative to iSpy, perhaps to secure your business, then check out VitaminD and GoToCamera. If you need a mobile phone applet that works the same like iSpy does, check out Spycam Lizard.

Visit iSpy homepage
20 January, 2011
GuizmOVPN an OpenVPN applet for the iPhone

GuizmOVPN is an OpenVPN GUI for the iPhone, it has designed to be easy to setup, configure and run, a background daemon runs the tunnel. GuizmOVPN is a premium paid for applet and it includes a 7 day trial period.

Unfortunately this applet can not be found at the official App Store and it requires a jailbroken iPhone, the reason why it can be found at the App Store is that GuizmOVPN needs to use a background process to keep the VPN tunnel active when the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is closed as well as running external commands to modify the network configuration.

GuizmoOVPN iPhone VPN applet

Note: Jailbreaking your iPhone is not condoned by Apple and it will invalidate your iPhone warranty.

Visit GuizmoOVPN homepage

12 January, 2011
4 location tracking software to stop laptop computer theft

How does antitheft laptop software works?

After installing the location tracking software it will automatically start whenever you boot your computer. In some cases when someone attempts to steal your laptop either the power cord or a USB flash drive will get disconnected from the laptop and this will trigger a loud siren. The alarm can only be stopped when you unlock the laptop by entering your password, you can normally configure the alarm sound and include a recorded voice with a theft warning.

Other anti mobile device theft software does not have an alarm and it will attempt to connect to the Internet and send out its location to a central server together with screenshots instead, the software will have learn the laptop location by using GPS if present or the IP the laptop is using, with these details the police should be able to get a search warrant for that location.

Whatever solution you choose to protect your computer from theft, remember that this is a last resort solution, security is comprised of a multi layered approach, you should not rely on location tracking software to protect your data, use it in conjunction with physical security and encryption.

Software to protect your laptop computer from theft

LAlarm: This free laptop antitheft software is free for personal use and only requires to buy a license for business use, LAlarm consist of five alarms: theft alarm, perimeter alarm, inattention alarm, disk alarm and battery alarm, users should be careful with the file destruction feature in case they accidentally trip the alarm as it will automatically destroy selected files after the configured conditions are met.

When the laptop is disconnected from the power outlet or removed from the table, LAlarm will emit your chosen loud alarm sound, you can download voice warnings to be played from LAlarm developer website.

LAlarm free laptop antitheft software

LoJack: Paid software able to locate a stolen laptop, lock your computer issuing a remote command with an optional customized message that will show on the screen for the person who has it, erasing the whole hard drive or selected files the next time the laptop connects to the monitoring centre and if you are certain that the laptop has been stolen LoJack will log everything needed to share that information with local law enforcement allowing them to locate the home where the computer IP came from.

LoJack antitheft laptop software

Prey: Open source antitheft software for PC, MAC, Linux and mobile phones. If you computer is stolen this laptop computer security software will use the nearest WiFi hotspot to triangulate its location, take a picture of the thief with your laptop’s webcam and lock down your PC.

This free laptop protection software is free but it has a premium plan with extra features for more demanding users and business use.

Prey laptop antitheft software

LockItTight: Free laptop protection software that can be installed in any computer or mobile device to track its location in case of theft, it can take screen captures using the mobile device webcam and log the keystrokes (in development), all of this data is sent to a central server.

Like all the other antitheft laptop software on this list, LockItTight survives on the fremium model, where they offer a premium version of their services with more features next to their free version.

LockItTight mobile device tracking software

10 January, 2011
Rohos Mini Drive free USB thumbdrive encryption without admin rights

You could use Truecrypt traveller mode to encrypt your data on a USB stick but in order to use Truecrypt on a computer you will need administration rights and this is not possible in public computers like Internet cafe and libraries. Rohos Mini Drive USB encryptrion doesn’t require administrative privileges to open your password protected USB thumbdrive partition on a guest PC.

Rohos Mini Drive uses on the fly encryption making sure no data is left unencrypted on the guest PC after you have finished viewing it, there is a secure virtual keyboard included to stop key-loggers capturing your password and data is encrypted using AES256 a well known secure algorithm approved by the US Department of Defense to encrypt secret information.

There is a feature called ‘Hide and Encrypt Folder’ that allows to encrypt profile folders of applications like Skype, Google Chrome and Firefox as well as regular PC folders. This feature locks applications data with a password and ciphers the content strong encryption, when your encrypted USB drive is not plugged in to PC the applications will be unable to start.

Rohos Mini Drive encrypted USB thumbdrive

This encryption software needs less than 1MB for stand alone installation and creates an encrypted .rdi file where to store your data, it includes Rohos Disk Browser to view and manage your encrypted files, this is very useful as it will help you to avoid using the guest computer Windows explorer and stop you from leaving temporary files behind.

The free version of Roho Mini Drive has a 2GB encrypted partition size limitation, you will need administration rights to preinstall Rohos Mini Drive on the USB flash drive first and after that this secure encrypted USB thumbdrive can be used anywhere without any admin privileges.

The company behind Rohos Mini Drive claims that there is no backdoor whatsoever, if you lose your password, that is it, that also means that nobody can force the company to decrypt data held in your USB thumb drive because they have no way of doing it.

Visit Rohos Mini Drive homepage

5 January, 2011
8 antivirus software for smartphone protection

AVG Mobilation: This free Android applet will identify and clean viruses, schedule antivirus scans, check Android applets for viruses before install, lock and wipe content, and locate stolen or lost mobile phones using GPS. There is also a paid for version with even more features.

Android mobile phone antivirus

Kaspersky Mobile Security: In addition to protect your mobile device from viruses it can locate your lost or stolen mobile phone, protect your privacy and encrypt your files and folders. Kaspersky Mobile security can also block or wipe your mobile phone remotely if its lost or stolen.

Kaspersky Mobile Security

ESET Mobile security: This mobile phone antivirus solution combines heuristics, antispam and firewall to protect you in real time from malware handcrafted for mobile phones. ESET Mobile security is available for Windows 7 and Symbian smartphones.

ESET Windows Mobile antivirus

Norton Mobile Security: This smartphone antivirus will protect you against annoying unwanted calls and messages as well as the usual mobile device loss and theft protection. It can lock your smartphone remotely if this has been stolen and the security software itself it is light, fast and easy to use.

Norton Mobile Security

Avira Android Security: Android security suite with location tracking, remote wipe and lock, owner notification when the phone is lost, whoever fins your smartphone only has to tap a button to contact you on another number, device administration that checks the battery and gives you hardware information about your smartphone.

Avira Android security suite

NQ Mobile Antivirus: Multiplatform mobile device antivirus that works in Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices, full protection against viruses, malware and trojans. It also protects your privacy.

NetQin smartphone antivirus

LookOut Mobile Security: Multiplatform mobile antivirus for Windows Mobile, Android and Blackberry. LookOut mobile antivirus free edition will protect you against viruses, malware and spyware as well as back up your contacts, a more advanced premium edition gives you remote mobile phone locking capabilities.

LookOut Mobile Security antivirus

BullGuard Mobile Security: Complete smartphone protection against viruses, spyware and digital fraud. BullGuard Mobile Security supports most mobile phone brands and includes GPS mobile device tracking in case of losing it.

BullGuard mobile antivirus

4 January, 2011