Software License Giveaway: TuneUp Utilities 2010

Folks, I am pleased to announce my latest software license giveaway drawing.

The folks at TuneUp Utilities have generously donated five licenses to me, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank them for that. So I am going to do a random drawing¹ contest from folks who “enter” by posting a comment (below) or by sending an e-mail. The drawing will be held next week, and the winners announced Friday, so act now.

TuneUp Utilities is a program for optimizing your computer and improving its performance. I have been testing it for a while now. Below, I will give you my impressions and some screenshots, but first…

CNet’s Seth Rosenblatt (see, Tech Paul’s Friend of the Internet Surfer Award for December) says:

“To call TuneUp Utilities 2009 useful would drastically understate the situation. The app provides users with a powerful, well-designed utility that accesses the entire Windows maintenance tool set and more in a fast, organized, and easy-to-use series of connected modules…

The system-analyzing wizard, with its thorough reporting and upgrade suggestions, is worth the program price alone. Between the guts of steel and the stylish, logically arranged interface, TuneUp Utilities suits all users–from complete beginners who will appreciate the one-click optimization to more daring users who will experiment with all the settings.”

Publisher’s description
From TuneUp Distribution :

“TuneUp Utilities Version 2010. Enjoy Your PC: fast, stable, customized. Have more fun with your computer without all the hassles thanks to your new PC assistant. Work faster and get a better gaming experience. Now compatible with Windows 7.”

Here is a “slideshow” of screenshots of TuneUp Utilities.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As you can see, TuneUp Utilities is in the System Tray, as it is always running, and thus always performing those tasks (such as defrag) which keep a system “tuned up”. I found it safe. And I found it easy enough for beginners and that it also had neat goodies (tweaks) for the Power User too. As you may have noticed, it found a security issues, and offered a 1-click fix. But instead of reinventing the wheel, I will refer you to Bill Mullins’ comprehensive review, TuneUp Utilities 2010 – Is It Worth The Money?

How to enter? To enter the drawing, simply click on “comment”, and enter a name and valid e-mail (so I can send you the key) in the form. Actually commenting is optional. And, I shouldn’t have to say this, but multiple entries will result in disqualification.
The license can be used on up to three PC’s.

Again, I thank the folks at TuneUp Utilities for making this giveaway possible. A 30-day free trial of TuneUp Utilities can be downloaded here. Try it out yourself. (And then leave a comment. You may just win an activation key..)

¹ All entrants will be placed into Random.org’s “randomizer”, and the top 5 results will be the winners.

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

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Quick Reco – Re: Online Virus Scans

infoniac.com

I have written many articles regarding the epidemic that is “cybercrime”, and done my best to keep my readers informed about current scams, hacker techniques (like “social engineering” and “phishing“), as well as malware (Spyware, Trojans, worms, viruses, keyloggers, etc.) and provided you with advice and How To’s for staying safer online.
(i.e., I have told you that malware has evolved into military-grade instruments.)

One item I have mentioned several times is the use of a free “online virus scanner” to help detect and remove malware that has managed to sneak past your current defenses (and don’t kid yourself, there are plenty of types that are capable of this trick). There are many such scanners out there, and some of them are fakes designed to trick you into thinking you’re infected — I suggest you avoid those!

Internet Security writer Bill Mullins recently published what I think is the perfect summary and analysis of the “good” online virus scanners, and their uses. I highly recommend you visit (and bookmark) Think You’re Infected? Find Out – Run An Online Scanner From Your Browser and learn about these very important (free) tools.

Related: To read my other articles on malware, and how to deal with it, click here.

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

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First-ever Tech Paul’s Friend Of The Internet Surfer Award

There is a Tech Website that most people do not know about (though, it is approaching 1.5 million ‘hits’). It isn’t “famous”, or “hot”, like some Tech Websites. But it should be, because at it’s very core is a man who is looking out for us — the “average folk”.

Day in and day out, this man (whom I call “the hardest working man in the blog business”) provides free expert-caliber advice for keeping safe on an increasingly dangerous Internet. He has earned my first-ever Tech Paul’s Annual Friend Of The Internet Surfer Award.

“Mr. Mullins,
Please allow me to say that this article exemplifies why I am a big fan of what you do here on Tech Thoughts.

Not only does it educate folks to a very real danger they face while on the Internet, but it gives them the ‘know how’ to deal with the situations they will encounter (or, have encountered).

And so, I would like to bestow upon you the first-ever Tech Paul’s Friend Of The Internet Surfer Award… which I just now made up.

I have said it before and I will say it again: it is my humble opinion that your site should be required reading before one can earn their Surfer’s License (an idea that is actually gaining some traction).

The answers and advice you provide is absolutely A Number One Top Drawer, and you deserve several awards, frankly.

Friend Of The Internet Surfer

Folks, here is the article that triggered what I should have done a long time ago: Avoid Worms – Instant Messaging Tips. Please click the link, and “discover” this great website for yourself!

[Note to artists: anyone out there care to design said award? I cannot draw a stick man… (You can “sign” it, of course!)]

Hmmm…. What about this symbol?

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

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I Answer A Common Question

Is antivirus “X” better than antivirus “Y”?

Both in my “real job” as a Support & Repair Tech, and as a World Renown Tech Blogger (Ahem), I am frequently asked about various programs folks can use to prevent computer infections, or clean up an infection up after “my teenage son/grandson downloaded something.” ¹

If I had a nickel for each of the times I have been asked “is antivirus “X” better than antivirus “Y”? ” and/or “which anti-spyware do you use, Paul?” it would have added up to a pretty nice pile of nickels.
Like.. maybe.. oh.. twenty gazillion dollars worth.

Yes. I get asked a lot. But I don’t mind and I don’t charge a nickel. Because there’s an organized, criminal enterprise bent on using the Internet to turn our PC’s into spam “bots” in a “botnet”, steal our personal information (“identities”), and are always hoping to hit the jackpot by recording a bank login and/or credit card number.

[Fact: Online crime is bigger than the global drugs trade. The Internet shadow economy is worth over $105 billion/year.  No country, no person, no business and no government is immune from Cybercrime.]

I hate repeating myself, so I refer the askers to Top 10 things you should do to your computer and Basic Steps For Protecting Your PC. But they come back with, “yeah, yeah, yeah, but I want your private and personal recommendations.”

So.. always give the same baseline answer — if you connect a Windows computer to the Internet you should have:
1) a firewall turned on (just one).
2) an up-to-date antivirus (just one).
3) One up-to-date anti-spyware with “active shielding” (heuristics)
4) One “passive”, up-to-date, anti-spyware that you run once a week to catch what the other one misses.
5) A healthy stock of “paranoid common sense”. (No. You did not just win the Irish E-mail Lottery.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I want your private and personal recommendations.

Well, folks, Okay. I will tell you about a tool I use that I haven’t mentioned here before. It is an anti-malware scanner that I use on the job, and on several of my own machines. And I install it on the PC’s of my friends and family. And, I’ll tell you why — it’s simple and it’s effective.

Typically, I install the free version to use as a “passive” scanner. On the job, I use it as one of my “go to” detect-and-remove tools. And to my clients and friends, and since prevention is better, I reco’ that they purchase the Professional version so they can have the real-time (“active”) protection and auto-scheduling — set it and forget it. (Another reason I do this is because this tool “plays very nicely with others”.)
This has been true for years.

The program I’m about to name will be (um.. should be) familiar to my geekier readers, but many folks have never heard of it — it’s called SUPERAntiSpyware (aka “SAS”). I  am not going to run through it’s details here (this post is already lengthy) but instead refer you to this Bill Mullins article, SUPERAntiSpyware Professional – The Name Says It All!

I also want to say that I admire the people behind SAS, and they get a big tip of my geek hat. They are hard working and generous and they know their stuff. Their motto is “Remove ALL the Spyware, NOT just the easy ones” and I like that attitude!

Tip of the day: The good folks there at SAS have generously donated five Professional licenses to me, “lifetime” licenses no less, to award to my readers. I sincerely thank them for that. So I am going to do a random drawing from folks who “enter” by posting a comment (below). The drawing will be held early next week, so act now.
Simply click on “comment”, and enter a name and valid e-mail in the form. Actually commenting is optional. And, I shouldn’t have to say this, but multiple entries will result in disqualification.

Today’s free download: Why not get a jump on the game and download a trial version of SUPERAntiSpyware Professional today.. you just might get an “activation” as a winner. And if not, you can either purchase (if you do, I advise getting the lifetime upgrade) or it will revert to the free version. Check it out here.

¹ I use quotes, because, well, that sounds a bit like “the dog ate my homework” to a tech.

[update: The contest ends today (Sept. 10th) at 12 noon, Pacific. Winners will be posted at 5pm.]

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

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Two items of (possible) interest..

Loyal friends and true of this site have seen me mention a certain other Tech website quite frequently. Bill Mullins posts (in addition to his top-drawer articles, and sometimes articles submitted by Guest Authors) a daily feature he calls “Daily Net News” which is sort of a ’round up’ of news items, other items of interest, terrific downloads, and a section called “off topic”.

I visit his site each and every day, and I make sure to at least scan all the items in his Net News. I am fairly well informed and ‘keep my finger on the pulse’, but I always find something I hadn’t seen elsewhere (or, otherwise didn’t know about).

I invite you to take a look at two items that caught my fancy, and I think you – Dear Reader – might like/find interesting too.
First, click here (it will open a new window) and scroll down to the link titled, “The Top 10 Things We’re Glad The Recession Killed“.
(It is supposed to be humorous, but durned if it isn’t spot-on)

And then click here and scroll (and you will have to scroll a bit, as there are many entries in each Daily Net News) until you come to the entry titled, “60 Selected Best Famous Quotes II“.

Of course, you’re welcome to click on any other item that catches your interest… and, I’m perfectly willing to wager a shiny new copper penny you will find several!

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

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Two Quick Announcements

* Regular readers will know that I frequently mention (and recommend) the Web Of Trust (WOT) web browser extension (a toolbar for IE, and a plug-in for Firefox) as a free, simple to use and understand, dangerous website alerting tool.

After installation, WOT examines URL’s (website addresses) and inserts a green, yellow, or red symbol next to them, to rate their danger level. It integrates into your search results, as well as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail.

Today I received a notice from them that I had been part of a small group awarded special recognition for helping to spread word of this free security enhancer.. which has now been downloaded over 3 million times.
You’re quite welcome, folks at WOT. The Internet is a dangerous place (even the “safe and sane” sites get hacked) and I very much appreciate what you do.

Kind of a nice way to start my day..
For more on the award, click here. And to download this great plug-in, click here.

* And, regular readers will also recognize the name Bill Mullins. He is a highly regarded Internet Security blogger and the author of Tech Thoughts (The first website posted to my Blogroll). I often mention his articles.. and I highly recommend him to you.

Some while ago, I had the honor and privilege of being Mr. Mullins’ first Guest Author. I am pleased to announce that he now has devoted a newly created page on his site just for Guest Writers. This is a great opportunity for those of you who write tech-oriented articles, and would like to gain the exposure of appearing on a popular site.

Although there is currently only a few submissions, I expect this to develop into a wonderful “reading room” rather quickly.
http://billmullins.wordpress.com/guest-writers/

[note: no, I don’t know how to go about making your submission. I believe you’ll find his contact info on his About page.]

Part 3 is coming soon.. just have to figure it out and write it..

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

A Noteworthy Achievement

Folks, I can tell you you that being an Internationally Renown 6 days-a-week Tech Blogger is a challenging, difficult, and often unrewarding endeavor. Coming up with fresh topics, properly doing your research, writing and rewriting, etc. is time consuming, and it’s work.
On an ad-free site, such as this one, there is no (read $0.00) financial reward.

So why do people blog? Or, maybe a better question is, why does the number of blogs double every six months? Can you earn a living blogging?
(an absolutely wonderful in-depth article looking at these questions can be found here, http://alexiskold.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/who-is-blogging-and-why/ {yes, it’s a bit dated, but still accurate.})

The fact is: something like 90% of all blogs fail (or, “go inactive”) within just a few months. Or sooner.

One thing that that keeps me going is the support I’ve received from fellow bloggers.. and another is stats.
(https://techpaul.wordpress.com/2008/03/29/nobody-reads-me-on-saturdays/)

My Website statistics show me all kinds of interesting things about you, the “site visitor” — the most important one (to me, anyway) is how many of you are there?
If I went to all this work and trouble, wrote 400 How-To’s, and only six people read them (total)… well, even a dim bulb like me would figure out that I could spend my time more wisely.

Which brings me to today’s title:
There are some rewards to being a member of the Tech Blogger community, and one closest to my heart is the support I’ve received and friendships I have made since starting Tech–for Everyone.

And so I would like to point your attention to a man whose Tech Blog was the very first one I put on my “Blogroll”, and ask you indulge me while I acknowledge what to me is a remarkable achievement.

Bill Mullins launched his Website, titled, Bill Mullins’ Weblog – Tech Thoughts — Security and System Tools and Tips. Software Reviews, News, Views, Downloads and Links on January 1st of this year. It has not quite reached its first ‘birthday’.

Since I discovered his site, I have referred my readers to several of his articles, and generally recommended it every chance I had– but most especially when he would share his security expertise with his readers, and/or warn of a new cyber-crime threat.
I consider his site an invaluable resource, and wish every web surfer would read it (and follow his advice).

Today, when I looked at his site, I noticed that his StatCounter showed over 500,000 visits. Wow! Remember when I said 90%+ fail within weeks? Well, there’s also another factor… most blog viewers land on a handful of “popular sites”.. and bloggers like me get the crumbs.
500,000 readers in less than a year is remarkable!

So I invite you to join me in congratulating Mr. Mullins on a job well-done, and suggest to you that you click here and take a look-see at his site if you haven’t done so yet.

PS– No. Mr. Mullins did not pay me to write this (and is probable unaware that I have). Remember? $0.00?

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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