Laptop Tracker Software For Quick Heal Users - English Version

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VGA to RCA Cable_Connector

The length of this HDMI to VGA is 5ft and there will non be any problem in connecting through two devices. There is golden plate in the HDMI to VGA adapter and it make the high-speed data transfer. If you want to do a presentation on a big screen for hundreds of people then you will need special adapter to convert the video and audio from a small twist to a big screen and the HDMI to VGA is one of the best employed adapter which has ability to show more clear images with high resolution of video quality. Some connectors have the trouble of hardness and in that case it becomes very hard to wrap the cable but this HDMI to VGA adapter has got moderate softness that one can easy fold it while putt inside the bag or while adjusting the wire in a small space if there is extra while connecting.

You power have faced the problem of slow video or cutting video or even auto-pausing effects while transferring the video on a big screen through a connector because those are non that much efficient but ‘HDMI to VGA and 3 RCA Audio Video AV Adapter Cable‘ has extremely high working performance and there will non be any deceleration or cutting video or auto-pausing problems. This can be the best thing to entertain with the family members; you can use this HDMI to VGA connector in connecting the high-definition DVD player and the projector and finally enjoying the high quality display effect on a big screen with your family. The materials used in making this HDMI to VGA adapter is of high quality and so it is durable for long time, there will non be any problem at all during its usage time.

The design and coloration of HDMI to VGA and 3 RCA Audio Video AV Adapter Cable is amazing and this is why attraction is also an extra feature included in this cable. HDMI toVGA cable is portable and can be put inside your bag; you can take it out whenever its use is required. The reasonable price is another nice aspect of this HDMI to VGA cable. If you are provision on having this amazing fellow then it is guaranteed that you will get lots of features just spending little money. You will get money-back policy while ordering the product from Dinodirect.com, returning can be done if you are not slaked with the product.

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Which type of woman...

Which type of woman do you like?

1. HARD-DISK Woman: She remembers everything you say and do, FOREVER.

2. WINDOWS Woman: Everyone knows that she can't do anything right, but you can't live without her.

3. EXCEL Woman: They say she can do a lot of things but you mostly use her for only your basic needs.

4. SCREENSAVER Woman: She is good for nothing functional, but at least she is exciting, colorful, and lots of fun.

5. INTERNET Woman: Difficult to access and hard to keep running.

6. SERVER Woman: Claims to be available to you, but Always busy when you need her.

7. MULTIMEDIA Woman: She has a way of making horrible things look very beautiful.

8. CD-ROM Woman: She always has you on the move, going faster and faster.

9. E-MAIL Woman: Out of Every ten things she says, eight are plain nonsense.

10. VIRUS Woman: Also known as “WIFE”; when you are least expecting her, she shows up, installs herself, and starts gobbling up all your resources. If you try to uninstall her, you will lose almost every thing. If you don't try to uninstall her, you will still have nothing.

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How to install android OS on PC

Recently, we’ve been hard at work improving Android Market to give you new ways to find great applications and games, purchase books, and rent movies. Today, we’re releasing a new version of Android Market which makes all of these available on phones (Android 2.2 and higher).

In the U.S., you’ll be able to rent thousands of movies, starting at $1.99, right from Android Market on your phone. With the Videos app, available in Android Market, there’s no more waiting for downloads, syncing, or worrying about storage space. Simply sign into Android Market with your Google account, and you can rent movies from anywhere – the web, or your Android phone or tablet – and start watching instantly. You can also download movies to your device so they’re available for viewing when you don’t have an internet connection.

Also in the U.S., you can now purchase books from Android Market on your phone. Like movie rentals, books are linked to your Google account, so they’re instantly available across all of your devices – computer, phone, or tablet – without the need for wires or downloads.

You’ll be delighted to find we’ve overhauled Android Market to make it faster, easier, and more fun to discover great apps, movies, and books. We’ve created more space to feature some of the most interesting content of the week on the home page. We’ve added more top charts, with newer, more relevant items, and we’ve made it easy to swipe through these charts as you browse the store. We’ve also introduced new collections of great content, like staff picks and Editors’ Choice apps.

The new Android Market will be rolling out in the coming weeks to Android 2.2 and higher phones around the world. You don’t need to do anything - the update is automatic on supported phones. If you’re in the U.S., you’ll also be able to download the Videos app, rent movies, and buy books once you receive the new Android Market.

Your phone is about to get a lot more interesting! Enjoy the new Android Market.

How to Install Android on Local Desktop Computer

First of all open this link and Download Android V 0.3 download here:

 http://code.google.com/p/live-android/downloads/list as per Above Video.

Posted by Paul Montoy-Wilson, Product Manager

 

Sanket Barot

http://jmdcomputerindia.com

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China renews operating license of Google

China said that it has renewed Google's license to operate in the world's largest online market, after the US company last year moved its Chinese search engine overseas in protest over censorship.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology named Google's China website operator, Beijing Guxiang Information Technology Co. Ltd., as one of 137 firms whose licenses were renewed following adjustments in their operations.
The ministry had ordered the adjustments after some firms had changed shareholding structures without official permission, provided services beyond their approved business range or had lax information security controls.
The ministry, which posted the license renewals on its website, did not specify the kind of changes individual companies had to make.
Google spokeswoman for China Marsha Wang confirmed to AFP that the company had been granted the license renewal.
"We have passed the 2011 annual assessment (of the license)," she said.
This means Google's Internet content provider license in China has been extended for one more year, she said.
Google said in March last year it would no longer bow to government censors and effectively shut down its Chinese search engine, re-routing mainland users to its uncensored site in Hong Kong.
Google has maintained that such an approach complied with Chinese law.

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Protect your Data, Passwords

It’s hard to remember multiple passwords and keep sensitive information secure in this digital age. Whether you use a Mac, PC or smartphone, various free tools can help you with this by securing all passwords with a master password, encrypting data and securely wiping any sensitive info explain Karan Bajaj & Hitesh Raj Bhagat

EXCLUSIVELY FOR MAC OSX
Encrypt This
Simply drag and drop the files/folders you want to protect onto the application’s icon. It will then ask you to set a password for accessing the files and then create a protected disk image of your content.
Get it from www.nathansheldon.com

Pastor
One of the simplest password managers for MAC, Pastor requires a master password to be set to access all the stored passwords and serial numbers. It even comes with a password generator.
Get it from www.mehlau.net

Password Vault Lite
This app stores all your passwords online and safeguards them with a master password. It can also run from a USB drive and features an auto-lock timer that locks the program after some inactivity.
Get it from www.lavasoftware.com

TXTCrypt
As the name suggests, TXTcrypt works for text and not for files. Simply type in any text (mails/notes), protect it with a password and share it with anyone. The receiver needs the password and TXTcrypt to decrypt and read it.
Get it from www.txtcrypt.com

EXCLUSIVELY FOR WINDOWS PCs
AxCrypt
An open-source encryption solution, AxCrypt integrates with Windows Explorer to give you encryption options with a simple right click. The developers also offer portable versions (to use on flash drives).
Get it from www.axantum.com/axcrypt

Crypt4Free
Crypt4Free is a small package that allows easy encryption and schredding (secure deletion) of files on your Windows system. It also compresses encrypted files to reduce size while sending.
Get it from www.aeppro.com

MyPadlock
MyPadlock locks down all your passwords using 128-bit AES encryption — all you need to remember is one master password in order to access all the passwords you have stored inside. Data is stored locally.
Get it from www.mypadlock.com

Zero Footprint Crypt
Equally suited to both beginners and experts, Zero Footprint Crypt works just like a file explorer (with the same tree-style/hierarchy structure). After encryption, you can also use it to securely wipe the original file from the drive.

Get it from www.goo.gl/k4oE4 Available across multiple platforms KeePass
Perhaps the most popular cross-platform password safe, KeePass is easy to use, totally free (open source) and uses the most secure encryption algorithms around.
www.keepass.info

Lastpass
LastPass not only stores all passwords and login data, it also stays synced across browsers, giving you access to your passwords wherever you are.
www.lastpass.com Password Dragon Written using Java, Password Dragon is a password manager that works on Linux and can even be stored on and launched from a USB flash drive.
www.passworddragon.com

TrueCrypt
TrueCrypt creates a virtual encrypted disk on the machine — you can add, copy, paste files into the drive and it encrypts onthe-fly. It can also be used to encrypt external drives.
www.truecrypt.org

Apps for Android
File Locker
File Locker comes with its own file browser. You can batch select and encrypt/decrypt files irrespective of size. It also allows you to open documents from within the app and notifies you if a file is left unlocked by mistake. The interface can be configured to either display all files, only locked files or only unlocked files.

Pocket
Pocket allows you to save login information for websites, bank accounts and so on under various categories. The application requires a master password to view the data stored inside and allows you to copy text while keeping it masked. This way no one can read your login credentials even if the app is left running.

Apps for iOS
Enlume
With Enlume Password Manager, you can store your passwords and other information in a categorised way. If you categorise the information you store, it also becomes easy to search. The data is then protected by a master password—if the password is incorrectly entered too many times, it locks down the app for 24 hours.

TheVault
The Vault is a password manager for iOS devices that keeps your login credentials secure. Apart from passwords, it can also store screenshots and photos as well. All the information is stored on the device itself and it also allows importing of data from other password storing applications as well.

Apps for BlackBerry
iLocker Lite
iLocker offers enhanced security by allowing you to lock any application with a password. It can be set to lock an application after the phone is locked, immediately and even at a scheduled time. This way, not only are all your applications protected, even the content inside the application is kept safe from prying eyes.

Password Manager
Password Manager Secret Server stores important passwords in an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to organise and access. You can create a favorite list of passwords or securely share a password with any one you want. A nice touch is that it shows you which password was recently accessed or modified within the app.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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7 hot dual-SIM phones in India

If it wasn't for India, there hardly would have been a market for dual-SIM mobile phones.

Today, the landscape is dominated less by local upstarts, and more by companies like Nokia, Samsung and Motorola who figure in your list of options.

If you're like most prepaid users in India, a dual-SIM phone makes sense as you get the best call rates across states when travelling. Here are seven affordable dual-SIM phones that we would recommend.

Motorola EX115

Motorola EX115 is another dual-SIM QWERTY phone, albeit a few months older. The smartphone has a 3 megapixel camera, video camcorder, large colour display and an expandable memory of up to 32GB with micro-SD card. Motorola EX115 is specially tailored for social messaging. The handset comes pre-loaded with Gmail, Facebook, Myspace and YouTube mobile apps. It offers talk time of up to 200 mins and standby time of up to 250 hours. The Motorola EX115 has a colourful 5.8 cm (2.3 inch) QVGA display and dimensions of 61 mm in width, 109 mm in length, and 12.35 mm in height.

Price (best buy): Rs 4,990

Spice Mi-270This is an Android 2.2 FroYo based, dual-SIM smartphone from Spice Mobile. It features a 7cm touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPRS/EDGE and GPS connectivity. It's also the cheapest Android phone,

Price: Rs 5,700

The Samsung Corby II S3850

This is obviously the successor to the original Samsung Corby. This one includes a capacitive touchscreen along with a 2 megapixel camera, FM Radio and social networking integration. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi and GPRS/EDGE connectivity.

Price: Rs 5,600

Motorola EX128

Motorola EX128 is another dual-SIM touchscreen phone. The smartphone has a 3 megapixel camera, videocamcorder, large colour display and an expandable memory of up to 8GB with micro-SD card. Motorola EX128 comes pre-loaded with stereo FM, games, java apps, media player etc. It offers talk time of up to 200 mins and standby time of up to 250 hours. The Motorola EX128 has a colourful 3.2 inch WQVGA display and dimensions of 57mm in width, 107mm in length, and 12.8mm in height.

Price (best buy): Rs 5,990

Videocon V1855This is a dual-SIM phone with an 8 megapixel camera which is supported by flash, face detection and smile detection. It has no WiFi connectivity, but includes GPRS/EDGE capabilities. It comes pre-loaded with social networking and messaging clients.

Price: Rs 6,000

Samsung Ch@t 332This device has a full QWERTY four-row keypad and sports a 2.2-inch display. It also includes a 1.3 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities. This dual-SIM phone supports up to 8GB microSD card.

Price: Rs 3949

The Nokia X1-01

This is a phone especially built for music lovers and has a speaker vent at the back. It runs on Series 30 mobile OS and includes a 1.8-inch 16k color screen, dedicated music keys and supports up to 16GB microSD cards.

Price: Rs 2,200 

 

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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What’s new @ Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail...

All major free email services have added several new features. Hitesh Raj Bhagat & Karan Bajaj tell you how to make the most of it.

Unlimited storage on Yahoo Mail

Yahoo Mail offers unlimited storage for users. No more worrying about how many heavy attachments have been sent to you. With Yahoo, you can send free text messages to cell phones. Simply enter the phone number or choose a contact from your list and type out the SMS. The recipient can reply to the SMS to send a message back. 

It offers the option to view mail, SMS or Chats as a conversation for easy reading and reference. You can attach up to 25MB in a mail, however, Yahoo has tied up with Yousendit.com to send files up to 2GB in a mail.

Attachments are stored on Yousendit servers and can be downloaded for 30days.  You also get 1GB online cloud storage with Yahoo as they have a tie up with ZumoDrive. A quick sign-up is required first time to integrate ZumoDrive with Yahoo Mail. After that, you can upload, download from within the mail window itself.

In terms of social networking, there is integrated Facebook chat as well as a tie up with Sobees.  Sobees allows access to Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Myspace. You can view the feeds from various networks and update status on multiple networks in one go. There are a variety of layout options available as per your choice. Yahoo Mail also has a stationery feature, which allows mails to be created with various custom backgrounds to give it a funkier look. Another tie-up with Fontself allows you to send mail in various fonts. An integrated notepad allows you to save notes to yourself, and sort them into folders for later use.

Gmail-The best there is, with many new features

Gmail’s 7GB+ storage is constantly expanding. Plus, you can purchase an additional 20GB of space for only $4.99. Gmail’s built in audio/video chat is used by many – plus it can save all chat history. Numerous experimental 'labs' features are available to all users. Many useful features like ‘undo sending’, custom keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures can easily be enabled from the labs menu. Completely integrates with  Google Docs, Google Calendar, Picasa, Google+, Google Buzz.

Gmail’s activity tracker lets you track which IP address has accessed your account, to look out for suspicious activity (such as access from another country).  For additional security of your account, Gmail offers free twostep authentication — with a password sent via sms. You can download any Google account data as a .zip file (for backup) or to free up used space in the ‘data liberation’ section.

Gmail’s contact manager has powerful editing features - it also automatically gets synced to any Android device (when you sign in with your Google account).  Advanced email filters, mail sorting features (priority inbox, labels, stars, markers) make it easy to manage emails. You can pull email from any account, but also ‘send as’ from another account.

GMX-Gives you 50MB attachments with each mail

GMX offers unlimited storage, 50MB attachments on each email and an uncluttered interface with a preview pane. You can add widgets to the home page (daily comic strips, Facebook, Twitter, Google Maps, games and so on). These are visible as soon as you sign in. 

The built in mail collector feature can pull in email from various accounts — to read all your mail within GMX itself. Before you decide to go with GMX, you can check for available usernames on the homepage itself — without going through any of the sign up process. GMX includes built in file storage — an additional 2GB of storage for any files.

It essentially works like a virtual drive in which you can create folders, share folders with others and download contents as zip files. Once you sign in, you get access to the GMX forum, where you can post your questions about GMX or read guides and get support on various features. You can open email in tabs within the same browser tab/window. This allows you to read/compose multiple emails at the same time. It integrates with Facebook to allow wall posting and sharing of photos.

Free Pop3/IMAP access is offered, so that you can access mail offline using any email program.  The user labs feature lets you suggest new features and improvements in the platform. Once you’re a part of the community, you can activate experimental features for your account and give feedback. GMX claims to only use clean energy to power data centers.

Hotmail-Integrates with SkyDrive with 25GB free space

Hotmail storage expands as per your need. In theory, this is unlimited storage that keeps growing as you store more mails in your inbox. You can group mails from the same sender in a conversation view. This way if there are multiple emails being sent to and fro, it is easier to follow up and read.  You can connect with Facebook, Myspace and Linkedin to view feeds on the home page of Windows Live.

However, if you have set Hotmail to go directly to your inbox, you will have to go back to ‘Home View’ to view the connected feeds.  Hotmail Plus allows you to create as many different email ids as required with the same username by just adding a “+” sign and some text after that. The mails are delivered to your inbox and can be easily sorted due to the plus mail address.

So, if you want mails from a subscription site, simply register on the site using username+offers @ hotmail . com and it can be set to go to a specified folder.  There is an easy way to view mail with attachments using the Quick Views menu. You can view only the mails that have photos or the mails that have office documents or the ones that have been flagged.  Sweep functionality allows you to quickly move all mails from a specific sender to any folder of your choice. Simply select a mail received and use the sweep function.

Mail.com-Connects with Facebook for updates, photo sharing

Mail.com offers multiple domain names - you can choose from mail. com, email. com, doctor. com, techie. com and many more for your email ID. You can view emails in tabs, which allows you to read or compose multiple emails at a time. Mail.com offers unlimited storage and 50MB attachment size. Create upto 10 alias email addresses within Mail.com — email for each alias will be delivered directly to your inbox. 

A handy organiser is included, accessed from the menu on top — you can add tasks, events, send email invitations, move tasks around by dragging and dropping. Personalise with various themes, change orientation of preview windows for easy reading.  All the usual features like custom signatures, a vacation auto responder and custom email filters are easily accessible. You can enable a few experimental features like audio alerts for new mail and feedback mode, to help improve the service.

Mail.com offers easy online instructions to configure email with various email clients.  There is complete Facebook integration — you can read/write on walls or share photos to Facebook. You only need to sign in once and allow Mail.com access to your Facebook account. Free and direct customer service is available in case you get stuck with any of the features.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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The Golden words are not Repeated

Love your job but don't love your Company,

Because you may not know when your company stops loving you.

- Dr. ABDUL KALAM

What is the Secret of SUCCESS? "RIGHT DECISIONS"

How do you make Right Decisions? "EXPERIENCE"

How do you get Experience? "WRONG DECISIONS!"

- Dr. ABDUL KALAM

Without your involvement you can't succeed.

With your involvement you can't fail.

- Dr. ABDUL KALAM

You are not responsible for what people think about you.

But you are responsible for what you give them to think about you.

- STANLEY FERRARD

A man is lucky if he is the first love of a Woman.

A woman is lucky if she is the last love of a man.

- CHARLES DICKENS

Write your Sad times in Sand, Write your Good times in Stone.

- GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

 

Behind every successful man, there is an untold pain in his heart.

- BILL JACOBS

It's better to lose your Ego to the one you Love,

than to lose the one you LOVE because of EGO!

- JOHN KEATS

Don't make promise when you are in JOY.

Don't reply when you are SAD.

Don't take decisions when you are ANGRYЕЕ.

Think twice, Act wise.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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Customer complaint - good one !!!

Customer complaint : - Good one!!!

Caller : - Hi, our printer is not working.

Customer Service : - What is wrong with it?

Caller : - Mouse is jammed...

Customer Service : - Mouse? Printers don't have a mouse you fool..!

Caller : - Mmmmm? Oh really? I will send a picture.

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Moral : - Customer is always right listen him thoroughly and believe what he is saying.

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The Famous Failed People - LUCK REALLY MATTERS

LUCK REALLY MATTERS

Bill Gates: Gates didn't seem like a shoe-in for success after dropping out of  Harvard and starting a failed first business with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen called Traf-O-Data. While this early idea didn't work, Gates' later work did, creating the global empire that is Microsoft.

Walt Disney: Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked.

Albert Einstein: Most of us take Einstein's name as synonymous with genius, but he didn't always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics.

Charles Darwin: In his early years, Darwin gave up on having a medical career and was often chastised by his father for being lazy and too dreamy. Darwin himself wrote, "I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." Perhaps they judged too soon, as Darwin today is well-known for his scientific studies.

Winston Churchill: This Nobel Prize-winning, twice-elected Prime Minster of the United Kingdom wasn't always as well regarded as he is today. Churchill struggled in school and failed the sixth grade. After school he faced many years of political failures, as he was defeated in every election for public office until he finally became the Prime Minister at the ripe old age of 62.

Abraham Lincoln: While today he is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of the nation, Lincoln's life wasn't so easy. In his youth he went to war a captain and returned a private (if you're not familiar with military ranks, just know that private is as low as it goes.) Lincoln didn't stop failing there, however. He started numerous failed business and was defeated in numerous elections he made for public office.

 

Oprah Winfrey: Most people know Oprah as one of the most iconic faces on TV as well as one of the richest and most successful women in the world. Oprah faced a hard road to get to that position, however, enduring a rough and often abusive childhood as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was "unfit for tv."

Charlie Chaplin: It's hard to imagine film without the iconic Charlie Chaplin, but his act was initially rejected by Hollywood studio chiefs because they felt it was a little too nonsensical to ever sell.

J. K. Rowling: Rowling may be rolling in a lot of Harry Potter dough today, but  before she published the series of novels she was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel. Rowling went from depending on welfare to survive to being one of the richest women in the world in a span of only five years through her hard work and determination.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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How to remove new folder.exe virus from pendrive

If you are using pen drive for data transfer at school, college or at your office you must have come across this virus. This virus creates an exe file in your USB drive with the name New Folder.exe. Here are some symptoms of this virus.

• Task manager is disabled.
• Registry Editor is disabled.
• Folder options not working.
• Taking too much time for accessing pen drive.
• Uses half of your computers processing power.

You can easily remove this virus from your computer by using Smart Virus Remover tool. It is a small 550 Kb file. Just download the file from the link given at the end of this article. Run this downloaded exe by double clicking on it. Then click on “Delete Autorun.inf file”.

After that click on” Remove virus from USB”. The virus will be removed from your pen drive. To restore your task manager, registry editor and other things which were disabled by virus – click on “Restore Default Windows Settings”.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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How to clean up the junk on your PC

MUNICH: It's a familiar problem for anyone with an older computer: a PC may run lightning-fast and smooth when it's new, but over time it starts coughing up unusual error messages and unidentifiable icons appear on the taskbar.

If the computer also starts getting slower at the same time as well, then it's time for a spring cleaning.

'When any computer is used under normal circumstances, a certain volume of garbage data is automatically produced,' says Harald Goerl, a professor for operating systems and computer architecture at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, Germany. Goerl nevertheless sees no need for routine clean-ups. 'You only need to do this if you can really feel that the speed has been impaired,' he says.

The primary culprit for PC slowdowns is software that is installed and then removed again. That's because many programs actually leave behind digital traces after uninstallation. The most common collection spot where junk data collects is the Windows Registry file. It's a database of information about all installed applications.
Many programs 'forget' to delete their entry in the registry when being removed. That continues expanding the database, which means the computer has to search longer to find a specific entry. 'You can compare it with a telephone book,' Goerl says. 'The thicker it is, the longer it takes to browse through.'

You can get help in cleaning up those clogged registry files with free programs such as CCleaner, Wise Cleaner, and Advanced System Care. They search through the registry automatically looking for unnecessary entries, washing away the junk.

Linux and Apple users are actually no better off in this respect, Goerl says. 'Deleted programs leave traces behind in Linux and Mac OS, too. Because there's no central registry, though, cleaning up can actually be more difficult in some cases,' he says.

Programs that are not properly removed under Windows can create other problems as well. 'When some programs are being uninstalled, they also delete libraries still needed for other programs,' explains Joachim Geiler, dean of academic affairs at the IT working group at the Mittweida University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

Libraries are files with information that multiple programs need to be able to access. If they are deleted by accident, then applications may stop functioning, either partially or completely. This problem can generally be fixed by reinstalling the affected program.

Reinstalling the operating system is generally only needed in exception cases, says Goerl. 'Only in cases involving serious security problems should you have to reinstall the OS,' he says. 'If numerous files have been infected with tough-to-remove viruses, then reinstalling the operating system is probably the only remedy.'

The best recommendation for boosting speed that you suspect has been degraded as a result of application detritus: clean up your hard drive. 'At least 10 per cent of a hard drive's capacity should always be free,' says Joachim Geiler.

Otherwise files have to be split up across multiple sectors of traditional hard drives, and this results in data that is scattered in fragments throughout the hard drive, leading to slower access. The Windows defragmentation utility is needed to bring the files back to a contiguous state.

If you don't push your hard drive to its capacity all the time, then defragmentation need only be a seldom-used tool. 'Routine defragmentation used to be a common thing. Modern file systems like FAT32 create the files intelligently from the start, meaning users don't typically have to get involved,' says Geiler. The exception is for users who frequently work with especially large files, such as those used for video editing.

A clean hard drive is important beyond just the speed of the computer. It also makes work more relaxing. 'It's all about being able to find important files fast when you need them,' explains Joerg Schieb, who authored a book on keeping computers clean and running fast. For this reason he recommends routine cleanups every three months or so.

There are programs to help clean up, too. 'Lay users in particular may be better served by those programs,' Schieb says. Applications like TuneUp Utilities, Twin 7 2.0 from Data Becker, or PC Check & Tuning 2011 from Magix cost between 30 and 40 dollars and offer a number of cleanup options.

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U.S. shuts down massive cyber theft ring

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities claimed one of their biggest victories against cyber crime as they shut down a ring they said used malicious software to take control of more than 2 million PCs around the world, and may have led to theft of more than $100 million.

A computer virus, dubbed Coreflood, infected more than 2 million PCs, enslaving them into a "botnet" that grabbed banking credentials and other sensitive data its masters used to steal funds via fraudulent banking and wire transactions, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

The government shuttered that botnet, which had operated for a decade, by seizing hard drives used to run it after a federal court in Connecticut gave the go-ahead.

"This was big money stolen on a large scale by foreign criminals. The FBI wanted to stop it and they did an incredibly good job at it," said Alan Paller, director of research at the SAN Institute, a nonprofit group that helps fight cyber crime.

The vast majority of the infected machines were in the United States, but the criminal gang was likely overseas.

"We're pretty sure a Russian crime group was behind it," said Paller.

Paller and other security experts said it was hard to know how much money the gang stole. It could easily be tens of millions of dollars and could go above $100 million, said Dave Marcus, McAfee Labs research and communications director.

A civil complaint against 13 unnamed foreign nationals was also filed by the U.S. district attorney in Connecticut. It accused them of wire and bank fraud. The Justice Department said it had an ongoing criminal investigation.

The malicious Coreflood software was used to infect computers with keylogging software that stole user names, passwords, financial data and other information, the Justice Department said.

"The seizure of the Coreflood servers and Internet domain names is expected to prevent criminals from using Coreflood or computers infected by Coreflood for their nefarious purposes," U.S. Attorney David Fein said in a statement.

In March, law enforcement raids on servers used by a Rustock botnet were shut down after legal action against them by Microsoft Corp. Authorities severed the Rustock IP addresses, effectively disabling the botnet.

Rustock had been one of the biggest producers of spam e-mail, with some tech security experts estimating they produced half the spam that fills people's junk mail bins.

A botnet is essentially one or more servers that spread malicious software and use the software to send spam or to steal personal information or data that can be used to empty a victim's bank account.

U.S. government programmers shut down the Core flood botnet on Tuesday. They also instructed the computers enslaved in the botnet to stop sending stolen data and to shut down. A similar tactic was used in a Dutch case, but it was the first time U.S. authorities had used this method to shut down a botnet, according to court documents.

Victims of the botnet included a real estate company in Michigan that lost $115,771, a South Carolina law firm that lost $78,421 and a Tennessee defense contractor that lost $241,866, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

The government plans to work with Internet service providers around the country to identify other victims.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz and Jim Finkle; editing by Gary Hill and Andre Grenon)

 

JMDComputerIndia.com

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Cyber attack hits WordPress.com, 18 million blogs compromised

Automatic, the company that owns the Word Press.com blogging platform that powers more than 18 million blogs, announced this morning that its servers had been broken into and source code, among other things, could have been exposed.

 

Word Press founder Matt Mullenweg writes 'Tough note to communicate today: Automatic had a low-level (root) break-in to several of our servers, and potentially anything on those servers could have been revealed.'

According to Mullenweg, the break-in was limited but proprietary information could have been accessed:

We have been diligently reviewing logs and records about the break-in to determine the extent of the information exposed, and re-securing avenues used to gain access. We presume our source code was exposed and copied. While much of our code is Open Source, there are sensitive bits of our and our partners' code. Beyond that, however, it appears information disclosed was limited.

Update: According to Automatic, this break-in 'affects most of Automatic's services Root level access potentially allows access to everything on the servers."

Tech Crunch's Alexia Tsosis argues that Mullenweg is downplaying the severity of the incident, pointing out that "Word Press.com VIP customers are all on 'code red' and in the process of changing all the passwords/API keys they've left in the source code." Tech Crunch, among other big blogs, is a WordPress VIP customer.

"While Automatic is down playing the leak, site source code includes API keys and Twitter and Face book passwords," writes Tsosis.

Mullenweg says that the investigation is ongoing and that they have "taken comprehensive steps to prevent an incident like this from occurring again."

Mullenweg also suggests that users should use strong passwords, different passwords for each site and, "If you have used the same password on different sites, switch it to something more secure." In other words - change your passwords, folks.

- JMDComputerIndia.com

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