License Giveaway Winners Announced

I’m sure many of you are eager to see who the lucky 10 winners are. Sorry about the delay, but today was kind of special here at T4E… (click here, and see why.)

NOD32 License Giveaway Winners Announced

The folks at Eset have generously donated ten licenses for NOD32 Antivirus 4 to me, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank them for that.

You might not have heard of Eset or NOD32, but it has quietly been around, and winning awards, since the early 90′s (the days of DOS). For the last year, I have been using it as my primary anti-malware defense on my principle machine and I have not been disappointed. This Internet security tool passed my every test and I recommend it; and I do so to folks of any skill level.

“As far as reputations go, ESET’s NOD32 is practically unimpeachable. Version 4 of the popular and effective antivirus and antispyware builds on that rep, emphasizing its community-sourced ThreatSense for preventing attacks before they occur, a slick interface, and some of the highest independently-tested detection rates married to low rates of false positives. “ — CNET editor Seth Rosenblatt.

A 30-day, fully-functional free trial of NOD32 can be downloaded here, Free 30-day trial. Try it out yourself. (And then leave a comment. You may just win one of these valuable prizes!) Again, I thank Kimbal, and the folks at Eset for making this giveaway possible.

Without further ado: Congratulations to..

(These licenses were provided by Kimbal Binder, Network Security Manager at Rain Networks. Those of you who are in IT may want to click here and visit the IT Security Resource Center, and learn more about Eset in the enterprise (trials available). Please direct questions to Kimbal at Kimbalb(at)rainnetworks(dot)com.)

Winners have been sent an e-mail containing their license keys. (You may need to check your Junk folder.)

My thanks to Kimbal, Eset, and all who participated in this contest.

TGIF!

Copyright 2007-2010 © Tech Paul. All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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Software License Giveaway Drawing

A Chance To Win A Powerful Prize

Q: Folks, do you want have an reliable tool to Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware and Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers, Parasites, Rootkits, Rogue Security Products and many other types of threats?
A: Yes.

Well, folks, Okay. I will tell you about a program I use that I have mentioned here before. It is an anti-malware scanner that I use on the job, on several of my own machines, recommend to clients, and install on the PC’s of my friends and family. I’ll tell you why — it’s simple and it’s effective. Since it “plays well” with most other security programs, it makes a great additional layer of protection to your existing antivirus/security solution.

Q: Folks, would you like to win a lifetime license for such a program?
A: The good folks there at SUPERAntiSpyware (known in the biz as “SAS”) have generously donated five Professional licenses to me – “lifetime” licenses no less – to award to my readers. I sincerely thank them for that.

The Professional Edition includes Real-Time Protection and scheduling and is one of the few programs I regularly reco getting the ‘for pay’ version. (An ounce of Prevention is worth 20 pounds of Cure, when it comes to malware!)

* Real-Time Blocking of threats! Prevent potentially harmful software from installing or re-installing.
* First Chance Prevention examines over 50 critical points of your system each time your system starts up and shuts down to eliminate threats before they have a chance to infect and infiltrate your system.
* Schedule either Quick, Complete or Custom Scans Daily or Weekly to ensure your computer is free from harmful software.
(So those of you already running the free edition should still enter.. IMHO.)

So I am announcing my latest software license giveaway contest. I will draw names from folks who “enter” by posting a comment (below). The drawing will conclude at midnight on Thursday, May 13, so act now.

Simply click on “comment” and enter a name and valid e-mail in the form (so I can send you the key). Actually commenting is optional. And, I shouldn’t have to say this but, multiple entries in this contest will result in disqualification. The five winners will be announced Friday.

For those who would simply like to learn more about this great security program, the SAS website is here.
To read what I have said about SAS:

• People Make The Difference
• I Answer A Common Question

Also, I refer you to this Bill Mullins article, SUPERAntiSpyware Professional – The Name Says It All!

Thanks again to SUPERAntiSpyware, and good luck to those who enter!

Copyright 2007-2010 © Tech Paul. All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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Time Travel Fights Infection

The Windows’ System Restore tool (see, My favorite Life Saver flavor? System Restore) gives us the ability to try to undo unhappy changes by reverting our computers’ system files to an earlier (pre-damage) point in time. This can, and often does, “save our bacon”

This cool ability to go back in time – and undo bad changes – has many people believing that they can undo a malware infection by simply going back to a time point before the infection happened.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!

But the idea is a good one.

Many people are trying to create just such a type of anti-malware “system restore” – and virtualization technology seems to be the way this might be accomplished. The idea being, by running a virtual machine, if/when you get attacked and infected, it’s only the fake (“virtual”) machine that’s infected — your real machine is safe. This concept is the current wave of thinking, and development trend. It’s somewhat new.
But let’s face it: modern malware is military grade, and our current antivirus technologies are woefully behind the curve. Some new method of defense is needed.

Aside from going fully virtual, there are currently three main “virtual time machines” available to us consumers, and by great good fortune, two of my favorite tech writers each reviewed one this week, and I have been testing the third.

* Please see, Download Shadow Defender – Virtualized Intrusion Prevention
“Shadow Defender is an intrusion prevention system that is non-intrusive, and after initial setup, requires a minimum of user intervention – perfect for the average user.

Simply put, Shadow Defender, when active, creates a virtual environment on your computer by redirecting all changes to your system to an unused location on your Hard Drive.”

* Please see, Comodo Time Machine – A Powerful System Restore Utility
“If you are looking for an utility that will literally save your PC’s butt, then Comodo Time Machine may be the answer you are looking for. What this innovative utility does is take snapshots of your PC and archives those snapshots so that if you experience a computer problem (like a malware or virus attack), you simply revert back in time to one of the snapshots you had previously taken.”

I have been experimenting with  the third such program, Returnil.
“Returnil virtualization technology clones a computer’s System Partition and boots the PC into this system rather than native Windows, allowing you run your applications in a completely isolated and secure environment. All activity is then performed within the virtual environment, ensuring that the operating system itself cannot be compromised by viruses, other malicious software, bad installations or user error. A simple reboot is all that is required to return the PC to its original state.”

About Returnil, I will say this: if you are interested in this program, download – and read – the User Manual. It is absolutely essential. [update: review, Download Free Returnil Virtual System 2010 Home]

About these programs in general, I will offer my humble opinion — I don’t think they are the silver bullet we’re looking for; are not quite ready for Prime Time; and are no substitute for a full backup (kept elsewhere, such as on an external drive or DVD’s). But I do think they may very well be the best defense currently available to us, and I certainly think you should be aware of them .. so why not click the links provided above and read these excellent reviews.

[note: System Restore is limited to only system files. A more “robust” answer is needed for your personal files – such as a true backup program/system, and/or Shadow Copy (see, Enable ShadowCopy On Home Editions / XP), and/or a “snapshot” backup program like Norton’s GoBack.]

Copyright 2007-2010 © Tech Paul. All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.

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The REAL News From Microsoft

Once again, the mainstream media has things all wrong. From reading the news, one would get the impression that the Big News out of Seattle is two items:
* Microsoft has opened a store
* Windows 7 is now officially released

While those two items are interesting, I admit, they aren’t the really important ones. The mainstream media always misses the really important things it seems to me.

The really important news from Microsoft is:
Microsoft has released a Top-Tier anti-malware program and made it available to everyone – FREE. Lifetime.

It is called Security Essentials, and it is a free alternative to One Care.

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

Yes. It will run just dandy on your brand new Windows 7.

This release from Microsoft has Industry experts saying that the “antivirus game has changed.” And nobody’s laughing.
For once, the winners are us — the average folk.

When your anti-malware license expires, I can recommend that you consider this alternative.

Microsoft, you get a big tip of my Geek hat!

Today’s free download: Microsoft Security Essentials
Proven antivirus protection for free.

[a brief aside: I understand that a few of you have been downloading Win7. I welcome folks (who have) to leave a comment describing their first impressions.]

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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People Make The Difference

Just before this holiday weekend, I wrote a piece titled, I Answer A Common Question and it did rather well – for a pre-holiday Friday. In it I answered one of my most frequently asked questions: “which anti-spyware do you use, Paul?”

Well folks, humor me and let me come at this another way – and let me ask you this:

What would you think of a software company that:
1) Responded promptly and courteously to your enquiries, and 2) followed up that enquiry with one of their own – “did that get answered to your satisfaction?”

Would you consider that a “plus” or a “minus”?
It’s a “plus” in my book.

What would you think of a software company that also:
3) Strives to be highly regarded and respected in its area {and. in fact, is} and, 4) Is always working at constantly improving their product, issuing no-cost updates several times a month, or more?

Would you consider that a “plus” or a “minus”?
It’s a “plus” in my book.

What would you think of a software company that also:
5) Placed your computer’ security ahead of anything else and, 6) by doing so is making the Internet a safer place?

Would you consider that a “plus” or a “minus”?
It’s a “plus” in my book.

What would you think of a software company that also:
7) Is generous {Generous, as in “I’m encouraged to offer reduced license fees or to donate licenses to schools, churches, and non-profit organizations to make sure they are protected. In the past year alone we’ve donated thousands of licenses to those in need. For example, we work closely with the Red Cross regarding spyware protection and assist with fundraising, and we recently provided licenses and lent technical support to a reseller partner for an African goodwill mission to fix computers in schools and hospitals.”} and, 8) offered a “same strength” version of their product completely free?

Would you consider that a “plus” or a “minus”?
It’s a “plus” in my book.

[update: see also, SUPERAntiSpyware Announces Educational License Special
“SUPERAntiSpyware.com helps schools during difficult  economic times with FREE lifetime updates on educational licenses in addition to discounted student versions.”]

So, just before the holiday weekend, I wrote a piece titled, I Answer A Common Question and in it I answered one of my main FAQ’s: “which anti-spyware do you use, Paul?” (see? I did remember the topic.)

Short version: I would use a product from a company which has the “plusses” just like the plusses mentioned above, wouldn’t you? In fact, I do.

So why not click on the blue text (above) and read which one I’m referring to. (Because, I saw the numbers; and I think you may have missed it.)

Bonus Hint: read carefully – and be rewarded.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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