System Surveillance Pro 5.5

Publisher's description of System Surveillance Pro

SSPro is an all-in-one computer monitoring solution. An essential tool for parents concerned with online activity and network administrators wishing to monitor their employee's computer usage. SSPro records keystrokes entered, programs run, websites visited, instant messages, or screenshots. Configure SSPro's email features to send logged data and screen snapshots offsite for remote viewing. SSPro's built-in pornographic keyword features allow users to block and/or be notified when objectionable content is encountered. Want to define your own keywords? No problem, SSPro allows for that too.
SSPro also includes website blocking, monitor scheduling, reports, usage limits, or multi-machine networked configurations. SSPro supports most programs including AIM, AOL, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, GoogleTalk, IE, Netscape and Firefox. Version 5.5 adds image storage, log file password protection, log file scheduling options, image expiration and pause feature when PC is idle.

Editor's review of System Surveillance Pro
This snooping utility provides almost all the features essential for monitoring a PC, but we were especially impressed with its stealthiness. System Surveillance Pro logs keystrokes, IM chats, applications used, and Web sites visited, and can capture screenshots at user-defined periodic intervals.
The interface makes it easy to locate any log file you need to access. System Surveillance Pro can block Web sites via URLs or detected keywords, and includes a scheduler in case you don't need to monitor PC usage at all times. Like most respectable spying applications, it will send you e-mail reports so you can keep an eye on your computer from a remote location. We doubt even the cleverest users will be able to detect the program while it's running or uninstall it.
To open its control panel, you must use the Start menu's Run command, and even if someone finds the application, they'll still need your password to disable it. The utility can't be stopped via the Task Manager, nor uninstalled through the Control Panel or the Program Files folder. Installation is very touchy, and all non-essential programs--even those running in the background--must be shut down for the installation to work. Also, the seven-day trial period is too short for our tastes, but since System Surveillance Pro provides effective protection against even savvy folks, we still think it's a good find.

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PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition 3.0.36

Publisher's description of PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition

PC Tools Firewall Plus Free Edition is a powerful personal free firewall for Microsoft Windows that protects your computer from hackers and intruders. Firewalls control the network traffic in and out of your PC by monitoring applications that connect to the network. Firewall Plus can stop Trojans, backdoors, and keyloggers from damaging your computer and stealing your private information. PC Tools Firewall Plus is advanced technology designed specially for people, not experts. Powerful prevention against attacks and known exploits is activated by default and advanced users can also easily create their own packet filtering rules to customize the network defenses. The program is recommended for use alongside of AntiSpyware and Antivirus software like AVG or Spyware Doctor to protect PC against Spyware, hackers, worms, and viruses.
Version 3.0.0.36 adds new smart Application Rules, Stealth Mode protection, and data validation using SPI.

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AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0.1

Publisher's description of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements. Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.
Version 8.0.1 adds integrated spyware protection and a new LinkScanner feature that gives users safety rankings for their Google, Yahoo, and MSN searches

Editor's review of AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

This antivirus program offers rock-solid protection. AVG Free provides the bare necessities, including a real-time shield to prevent infections, anti-virus and anti-malware wrapped up in one engine, and a link scanner for Web surfing with care.
By default, the application is set to search for new virus definitions daily, but you always can use the scheduling tool to change this. Should a virus create serious system problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode. The program doesn't tax your system when scanning or when running in the background and always proved effective in our tests. The new interface is much easier to navigate than in previous version, with tabbed navigation on the left assisting users in drilling down to the tools they need.
Though the free version of this program will suffice for average folks, those who demand more control should certainly consider AVG Anti-Virus Professional.

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Featured Freeware: XnView

XnView is a robust program, an image browser and viewer as well as a converter that can handle more than 400 formats from Camera RAW, JPG, GIF, TIFF, and other still images all the way through AVI, MOV, MPEG, and a multitude of movie formats. Metadata EXIF and IPTC formats are also supported, ensuring that you don't lose any location or shooting data. There are also tools for taking screenshots.
In addition, you'll find tools for capturing screenshots and creating basic slide shows, as well as a simple audio player. The utility for generating Web galleries has been known to be wonky, but XnView is recommended, especially for those digital photographers who need quick image conversion

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My Movies 2.44

My Movies for Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, or Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is the ultimate movie collection management and playback tool. With My Movies you are able to index your movies with automatically downloaded data from the My Movies Webservice, and then browse movies, actors, directors and much more. You can share your movie database to multiple clients, and configure each client to its own parental control limitation, and require pin number to view the full collection. My Movies is available in about 10 different languages. With My Movies you can experience your movie collection in a way you never thought possible, filtering your collection by genres, actors, directors, MPAA parental level and much more - you can even share your collection with friends by having your collection online either password protected or open. My Movies can even help you copy your DVD's to hard drive storage for easy playback.
Version 2.44 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

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Auslogics BoostSpeed 4.1.3

If your computer or Internet feels slower than usual, Auslogics might have a remedy--its award winning Auslogics BoostSpeed. Run the program on a weekly basis to clean up disks and the registry, fix errors, and tune up the one-size-fits-all Windows settings to your particular computer configuration. Not only will this improve Internet speed, it will reduce computer startup and shutdown time, and tweak Windows to its top performance.
Version 4.1.3 improves Track Eraser and Disk Wiper stability, improves Registry Cleaner compatibility, and adds Firefox support to Speed Optimizer.

Editor's review of Auslogics BoostSpeed

BoostSpeed is an effective all-encompassing utility suite, combining some of Auslogics' popular freeware titles such as Disk Defrag and Registry Defrag with services that they don't offer elsewhere. There's an uninstall manager, a startup manager for boot cycle customizations, RAM and browser optimizers, file shredder, DirectX diagnostic, Windows tweak manager, and several mini apps to manage Windows settings. It also comes with a rescue center that can back up any settings before you change them. No doubt, BoostSpeed gives you your money's worth, at least in terms of services provided. Upgrading also only costs $10, for those who own older versions.
Are they all worth paying for? That depends on what kind of user you are. Most, if not all, of these features are available as freeware from one vendor or another, and generally one in each category is top-notch or nearly so. Some of the lesser tools, like the tweaks manager and the security feature, didn't live up to our expectations. Tweaks focused on basic functions and wouldn't serve as a replacement for TweakUI, while the security feature merely let me know that we had up-to-date security apps installed. Still, the convenience of having all these tools located under one umbrella was hard to argue with, and even the tools that didn't impress did their jobs hitch-free.
Scan speeds for the features new to us included here were comparable with those in Disk Defrag. Users also got the convenience of optionally setting the program to run at startup and live in the system tray, making most of the program's functionality no more than a context-menu click away. The most useful tools are the Disk Defrag, the RAM optimizer, the Registry Optimizer--if you believe that "optimizing" the Registry is more than snake oil--the file shredder, and the performance monitor. The 15-day trial comes unfettered, allowing you to thoroughly judge if this is a program you want.

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Featured Freeware: Thunderbird

Mozilla's Thunderbird has come into its own with version 2 for Windows, Mac, and in a portable edition. Starring features and innovations that take aim at both Web e-mail clients and industry standards such as Microsoft's Outlook, open-source Thunderbird offers the best of both worlds.

Back and forward buttons, like the ones you have in your Web browser, let you jump through messages in the order that you viewed them. Keep your e-mails organized with tags, even across dozens of message folders. Configuration is as simple as entering your e-mail address and password. Search results can be saved, and Thunderbird has Firefox's extension capability, allowing for user-designed tweaks that greatly enhance the program, including Lightning, which provides calendaring features.

Even when weighed down by multiple folders and RSS feeds, the program loads fast, and the basic feature set remains intact: good junk mail filters, HTML support, multiple identities, and POP, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange server support. Security features include S/MIME, digital signing, message encryption, and a built-in phishing detector. Flexible, powerful, and lightweight, Thunderbird 2 is an appropriate companion application to Firefox in every way.

Firefox 3 release candidate goes public

The initial release candidate of Firefox 3 is ready for download.
It's a public preview of the new Firefox code, available in 45 languages, aimed at developers and early adopters to test out the new features. It has an extensive list of known bugs.
Among the major improvements are changes in the look and feel on the various operating systems, major security enhancements, and increased performance and stability. It is based on the Gecko 1.9 rendering engine, which includes 14,000 updates to the code.
On the performance front, the documentation states that applications such as Google Mail and Zoho Office run twice as fast in Firefox 3, compared to Firefox 2, and memory usage has been improved. In addition, bookmarks, history, cookies, and preferences are less susceptible to data loss.

ZoneAlarm Firewall (Windows 2000/XP) 7.0.362

ZoneAlarm is designed to protect your DSL- or cable-connected PC from hackers. This program includes four interlocking security services: a firewall, an application control, an Internet lock, and Zones. The firewall controls the door to your computer and allows only traffic you understand and initiate. The Internet lock blocks Internet traffic while your computer is unattended or while you're not using the Internet, and it can be activated automatically with your computer's screensaver or after a set period of inactivity. Zones monitor all activity on your computer and alert you when a new application attempts to access the Internet. Version 7.0.362 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Internet Download Manager 5.12 build 11

Internet Download Manager is a tool for increasing download speeds by up to 5 times, and for resuming, scheduling, and organizing downloads. The program will resume unfinished downloads due to network problems, or unexpected power outages. The program features a full-fledged site grabber that downloads files that are specified with filters, for example, all pictures from a Web site, different parts of web sites, or complete web sites for offline browsing. The program supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and MMS protocols, and has an adaptive download accelerator for MP3 audio and MPEG video files. Internet Download Manager can be used to download FLV videos from YouTube, Google Video, MySpaceTV, and other popular sites. It integrates into Opera, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Firefox, MSN, AOL, and into any application that uses FTP, or HTTP protocols. Internet Download Manager fully supports Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7.

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RoboForm 6.9

RoboForm makes logging into Web sites and filling forms faster, easier, and more secure. RoboForm memorizes and securely stores each user name and password the first time you log into a site, then automatically supplies them when you return. RoboForm's powerful Logins feature eliminates the manual steps of logging into any online account. With just one click RoboForm will navigate to a Web site, enter your username and password and click the submit button for you.
Completing long registration or checkout forms is also a breeze. Simply click on your RoboForm Identity and RoboForm fills-in the entire form for you. You no longer need to remember all your passwords. You remember one Master Password, and RoboForm remembers the rest. This allows you to use stronger passwords, making your online experience more secure. RoboForm uses strong AES encryption for complete data security. Version 6.9 improves integration with Windows Vista.

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McAfee Total Protection for Small Business

McAfee Total Protection for Small Business is a hassle-free security service that's quickly installed, centrally managed, and updated automatically. Total Protection solutions provide comprehensive security in a single service to protect against everything from viruses, spyware, spam, and phishing, to hackers and identity thieves. Total Protection simplifies security and provides always-on, always up-to-date protection across desktops, servers, and email.
With McAfee SecurityCenter, a single, web-based management console, small businesses can easily customize security policies and view infection reports. SecurityCenter also provides easy-to-read status reports to ensure the latest level of protection against viruses, spyware, hackers, and spam. And no additional equipment to purchase or technical security specialists to hire means low cost of ownership.

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AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

AVG Free Edition is the well-known antivirus protection tool. AVG Free is available free of charge to home users for the life of the product. Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy to use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements. Highlights include automatic update functionality, the AVG Resident Shield, which provides real-time protection as files are opened and programs are run, free Virus Database Updates for the lifetime of the product, and AVG Virus Vault for safe handling of infected files.
Version 8.0.1 adds integrated spyware protection and a new LinkScanner feature that gives users safety rankings for their Google, Yahoo, and MSN searches.

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Nero 8 Ultra Edition

The biggest asset to a digital media behemoth like Nero 8 is good organization. Nero 8's StartSmart interface offers clear categories for burning high-definition DVDs, exporting video, recovering data from damaged disks, editing MP3s, and designing CD covers, among other activities.

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