Internet Monitoring Software free download and Reviews

1. Family Cyber Alert

Download Now (2.48MB)

Are you concerned about your children's online activities? Do you feel you should keep a closer eye on what they are doing in cyberspace? Concerned parents are using Family Cyber Alert, an all-in-one PC/Internet activity monitor, to keep a watchful eye on their family and monitor their PC/Internet activities. This parental control tool records everything your family members do online and offline, including e-mail, chat/instant messaging, Web sites, applications, file access, keystroke (keylogger), screen snapshots, and time and sequence.

2. Soft Activity Keylogger 3.8

Download Now (10.81MB)

Secretly record keystrokes, e-mail, chat and programs on your child's computer. Monitor how your computer has been used while you are away. Keep an eye on how your children use their computer online

3. Secunia Personal Software Inspector 0.9.0.1

Download Now (474.66K)

The Secunia PSI allows you to scan, detect, check, and secure the applications installed on your computer. Get an assessment of the applications installed on your computer are they insecure, end-of-life, or patched. The Secunia PSI enables you to secure your applications, and to quickly and easily upgrade to new and secure versions of applications installed on your computer. Providing a graphical presentation of your performance week by week. Version 0.9.0.1 includes unspecified updates.

4. IMMonitor AIM Spy 2.2.8

Download Now (1.24MB)

IMMonitor AIM Spy allow you to monitor, block or record AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) chat conversations remotely, Is your spouse, child, or friend hiding secrets from you, or you suspect they're engaged in dangerous conversations, If so IMMonitor AIM Spy is your best choice for anyone that needs this information quickly and secretly. It's easy to use and no additional program installation is needed on the monitoring target computers. Version 2.2.8 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes

5. Optenet Web Filter PC 9.6
Download Now (29.94MB)

Manage your family's Internet environment. Block pornography, drugs, violence and other Internet content children should not access. Manage the time each child spends online. Control what your kids download onto the family PC. Keep your family safe and secure. Rated more accurate than any other solution available.

Version 9.6 is compatible with Windows Vista and adds improvements in the traffic capturing mechanism.

6. Total Spy 2.7
Download Now (590.48K)

Total Spy is an all-in-one spy program that intercepts everything that is typed on keyboard, controls started applications, and active windows, visited URLs, scans Windows clipboard for changes, makes invisible screenshots from time to time, and writes this all to hidden folder on a hard drive. This program is absolutely invisible for everyone except you. You will only have to press the specified hot key to view the program. Version 2.7 is compatible with Windows Vista.

7. SurveilStar
Download now

SurveilStar is the powerful and easy-to-use PC monitoring, employee monitoring software that improves productivity. It records every detail of computer and Internet activities - emails, chats and instant messages, web sites visited, search history, program activities, document operations, printing, disc burning, movable devices, and many more. With SurveilStar, you can monitor everything they do on computers and the Internet, nothing hides from you.
The surveillance screen snapshot feature enables you to see exactly what the monitored targets do on their computers, like you are watching behind them.

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Refurbished Laptop Computers- Upgrade Or Purchase New?

From: http://www.wazzup.co.nz

It happens at least once in the life of every notebook computer-it slows down in performance, and just doesn?t have the get up and go that it used to. Like most people, you run your favorite antivirus program(s) to make sure that ?bugs? haven?t infected your system, and you even run spyware programs to make sure that spyware isn?t overloading your system resources. To take things a step further you clear out unnecessary items from your start menu, make bios adjustments and get rid of old programs you haven?t used in a while.

After all that, your laptop computer still runs slow and you realize - it?s time for an upgrade.

Once upon a time, laptop and notebook upgrades were considered ?technician only? activities because of the fact most notebook manufacturers have proprietary technologies in their systems. That is still true to some extent, but the main hardware components affecting system performance in most laptops are those that have become pretty much industry standard. These are:

1.) Hard Drive 2.) Memory 3.)Processor

These components can be easily replaced in most notebooks. The first thing to do however is to determine if the upgrade is worth the cost. Check prices online to see how much it will cost. If I pay $120 for a hard drive, $50 for memory and $150 for a new processor, it may not make sense to do all three upgrades, I may only want to choose 1 at first and then check system performance.

If my laptop wasn?t very expensive to begin with, I may want to consider just purchasing another one. If I can get a Refurbished Windows Vista HP laptop for $499.00, that may make more sense than upgrading components on an older system.

CNET.com offers an online course on how to upgrade a used notebook computer step by step. Check it out and determine which option is right for you.

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11 Ways To Keep Your Kids Safe Online

From: parental-control-software.com

The Internet is one of the greatest inventions in the history of mankind, but it still largely unregulated and, often times, quite dangerous to children who may not understand that there are bad people out there with computers. There are several steps you can take to ensure the safety of your children online, however. The following list is far from complete, but it is a good place to start if you have a young child and a computer in your home.
1. Install monitoring software
No home that has a computer and a child should be without monitoring software. These programs allow you to create restrictions on various users who access the Internet in your home. You, as the administrator, would simply set up an account for yourself and a second one for your child. You can have the software forbid access to adult sites or any other sites that you don’t approve of. These software programs can also restrict access to things like chat programs or any other program that accesses the Internet. No home should be without one if you are concerned about your child accessing the Internet.

2. Forbid Internet Usage When Not at Home
Since it is impossible for you to monitor the Internet usage of your children when they aren’t at home, it is important for you to make a rule forbidding web surfing when not at home or in a classroom environment. This can include surfing alone at a friend’s house or even using the computer at the library. It may seem a bit draconian at first, and you can always lessen the restrictions as your child grows into a teenager, but while they are young, it is important for tight rules to be in place to keep your kids safe online.

3. No Instant Messaging Software
One of the most common ways Internet predators access their victims is with instant messaging software like Yahoo, AIM or MSN. Teens love these programs because it allows them to stay connected to friends, but preteens really have no use for them. Forbid access to these programs until they reach a certain age. No preteen needs a social life that requires a program like this to be in use, anyway.

4. Ask Permission Before Visiting a New Site Alone
It is a good idea to create a list of acceptable websites your child can access. You can even set up the monitoring software you have to only allow access to those websites when your child is logged in. You can also have your child specifically request access to new sites, that way, you always know what groups of websites they are visiting at all times. Again, as your child grows older, you can lessen these restrictions somewhat and still keep your kids safe online.
5. Use the Internet With Your Kids
If your child has a report do to for school and they will need to access to numerous new websites that they haven’t visited before, it may be a good idea to simply surf the web together. This can be even more helpful if your child’s report has to do with a somewhat controversial topic like the Holocaust or breast cancer. The chances of your child stumbling upon material that they may not be ready to see is high, so surfing together can help answer any questions that might come up.

6. Closely monitor social networking sites
Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are all the rage now on the Internet and, often times, even preteens have their own pages. These sites can also be an easy place for children to be contacted by people wishing to do them hard. Thankfully, these websites have special settings specifically designed for underage users that turns off the chat feature and limits the number of people who can access their page. You could always forbid these sites altogether, but if you do choose to allow them, there are safeguards in place to help protect your kids. Either way, closely monitoring their page is always a good idea to keep your kids safe online.

7. Keep computer out in the open
While your teenage son or daughter may not like the idea, keeping your computer out in the open is always a good idea. This will automatically help to curtail any unauthorized usage, especially if your child thinks they are a budding hacker. You don’t have to sit over your child’s shoulder the entire time online, but by having the computer out in the open, you are taking away the temptation to surf places they aren’t supposed to.

8. Separate account for teenagers, fewer restrictions
As your kids grow up, they are going to have different online needs. The websites your teenage children want to look at are going to be quite different than the ones your preteen kids want to look at. Monitoring software allows for multiple accounts with different levels of restrictions for different people so don’t be afraid to let your teen have a bit more leniency. If you should happen to find adult content on your computer, take the opportunity to talk to your teen about sex and staying safe online.

9. Install functioning anti virus and firewall software
Since kids aren’t always aware of the threats that are posed online, you can help to keep them, and your computer, safe by always having anti virus software and a functioning firewall up and working at all times. There is no telling when your child may download a piece of rogue software or click on a suspicious pop up window. If your computer isn’t prepared, you could lose everything in seconds.

10. Time limits
Many parents have taken to setting time limits for the amount of television their kids can watch during a day or the amount of time spent playing video games. The same can be done for the computer, which will likely teach your child to budget their online time in a productive way instead of possibly looking for trouble. Time limits can be a great way to keep your kids safe online.

11. Education
Finally, the best way you can keep your child safe is with the right education. You don’t need to explain how sexual predators track down innocent kids to your 8 year old, but telling them to alert you if someone were to message them or that it is OK to alert you if they find a disturbing picture online is a great first step. By the time they are teens, they will likely know almost as much about the Internet as you do and the lessons can get a little more adult.

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Free Stuff: Orbit Downloader

Download free

Orbit claims to have come up with a quintessential download manager which is not only light and fast but can download virtually anything that is present on your screen. Here is what the techie dino has to say for it.

The Dino bats for orbit for the following reasons:

1. The Gamut

Orbit can download a wide variety of rich media. It supports HTTP/FTP/HTTPS/RTSP/MMS/RTMP protocols and is thus able to extract streaming audio, video, flash files and lots of other embedded items from a site.

2. The Grab++ tool

I found the Grab++ tool an amazing feature of Orbit downloader. It detects every downloadable media on an open website and lists them with details. One can select the items to download with the help of checkboxes present alongside.

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3. Browser Integration

Orbit integrates well with all browsers and allows to download the media from your browser window itself. In IE 7, it pops up a ‘get it’ option whenever you roll in to a media while in FireFox it places an icon near the downloadable media which can be clicked to begin the download.

4. Its light and fast

Speed is the keyword when it comes to computers and Internet. Orbit downloads at a decent speed using p2p and multi-source downloading technology. Also it has pretty low CPU usage and the installation too is quite light thus making it least taxing for your system.

5. Features

There are certain features that make the orbit downloader stand apart from most download managers.

Orbit enables you to scan the downloaded items using an anti-virus, can create batch downloads and can monitor your clipboard links.It also supports various file sharing sites like Rapidshare.

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The Cons of Orbit Downloader :

As for the cons of the software, do let me know if you find any. However, I would have loved to see the Grab++ window inside the main orbit window which would have saved me the hassle of switching windows.

Taken from reviewsaurus.com

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Batch File encryption and free download

Sometimes when you just finished your own batch file, you want everyone use your batch file. But, it becomes a problem when you can’t encrypt the command line in your batch file. Don’t worry guys, cause I have a cool tip to solve it and tell you where to download the software FREE! Cause I know you all love freebies.

  1. First, you have to download the software on http://abyssmedia.com/quickbfc/
  2. After you finished the download, install the software on your computer.
  3. Screenshot :

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4. After you done with the installation process, open the Quick Batch File Compiler.
5. Once you will see a window, just like the screenshot above.
6. To encrypt your batch file become exe file, click File on the toolbar and select Open (for shortcut, you can use Ctrl+O)
7. Locate where your batch file exist and click open.
8. Once you will see your batch file command line appear on the Source Tab.
9. If you sure about encrypt it become an exe file just click the Build Button on toolbar.

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10. Once you will see a pop-up window, and specify the location where you want to place your new exe file.

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Maximize your Processor speed

Today tip is very useful for those users who are still using computer with minimum processor speed. To increase the performance of slow computer, you can force your system to free up the idle tasks that are running in the background and sharing processor power. This end tasks method force the computer to devote its full processor resource to what you want it to do.

Follow the given steps to end the idle tasks:

  • To enable this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.
  • Click Start button and click on Run option.
  • In the Run box, type the command Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks command and press Ok button.

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  • Here system will take some time to end the background idle tasks.
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Top 10 Free Undelete Tools

Have you ever lost your important data or file saved on your computer? I know that pain. So, in this article I give you the best 10 undelete tool which you can download FREE!

  1. Undelete Plus.
    This one has a quite simple user interface. So it means, this software is easy to use. It can be operated in Windows 95, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista. You can download this software in http://www.undelete-plus.com
  2. Restoration
    This software is also easy to use. Even more, you don’t have to install this software to can be operated on your system. Download this software http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html
  3. PC Inspector File Recovery
    Although this tools is not user friendly (rather complicated), but this tools is quite powerful to recover your removed data. http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file_recovery/info.htm?language=1
  4. Recuva
    Has a simple appearance. It has advanced mode and basic mode, which you can switch anytime you want. It’s very easy to use it. You can download it on http://www.recuva.com/
  5. Handy Recovery
    Have you deleted important files that you need right now? Handy Recovery is the program that can recover them fast and easy. It can restore deleted files and data from formatted or corrupted partitions in various file systems: FAT, NTFS and others.
  6. Disk Internals Uneraser
    If you want a fast and easy uneraser then you came to the right place – DiskInternals Uneraser can recover all your precious files in a matter of seconds! No need to investigate the labyrinths of complicated software – a simple and intuitive interface of DiskInternals Uneraser will guide you through the recovery process, so you can restore any type of data from your hard-drive, memory cards, flash USB sticks, camera or other storage media.
  7. The Undelete Data Recovery Software
    The Undelete Data Recovery Software can recover all types of files. No matter what was the reason of data loss: hardware malfunction, power cutoff, virus attack, program failure or human fault – the Undelete Data Recovery Software can recover lost or accidentally deleted files. Give it a try!
  8. Free Undelete
    FreeUndelete is a freeware data recovery program for deleted files. In case of accidental deletion of files on a NTFS and FAT32 file systems FreeUndelete is the utility to help.
  9. File Rescue Plus
    File-Rescue Plus works on ALL Windows® (XP/2003/2000/NT/95/98/Me!) operating systems and offers several different methods for recovering deleted files. It can recover deleted files, photos and music from all types of media such as a hard disk.
  10. Final Recovery File Undelete Utility
    FinalRecovery is a powerful and convenient data recovery solution. It was developed to recover deleted files and folders from Hard Disks and Floppy Disks which were formatted in FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS file systems.

Source:detikinet.com and recovery-reviews.com

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How to Speed Up your Firefox

Open your Firefox browser and type about:config then press enter

  1. Once, you will be confirmed to tweak your firefox,

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2. Click the button I’ll be careful,….
3.In the filter bar type network.http.pipelining, the value field should be set true, you can do it by double-click it.

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4.Next, in the filter bar type network.http.pipelining.maxrequest . Double click this field and set its value to 8.

5. In the filter bar type network.http.proxy.pipelining . Double click this field to set the value field become true.

6. Right click on about:config window (for apple user ctrl+click) select new and then click Boolean

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7. Type content.interrupt.parsing in the New Boolean pop-up window and then click OK.

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8. Then, select true and click OK

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P.S: I got this tips from www.pctipsbox.com, I just tried it and it works like a charm

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IP Addres “What is it and How to Change it”

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address) is a row of binary numbers between 32 bit, until 128 bit. IP address is used as an identification address for each host computer in a network system.

How to see my IP Address?

It’s easy to see your IP Address of your computer. First, you need to click Windows and then go to run, type cmd. On cmd, type ipconfig and you will see your IP Address. Don’t forget to add ‘/all’ switch for more information about your IP Address.

"How do I change my IP address?"

Before trying any other methods to change your IP address, try turning off (or unplugging the power of) your Cable/DSL modem for five minutes. In many cases this will change your IP address. However, if that does not change your IP address, repeat the process for 8 hours (overnight works well) instead of 5 minutes. Hopefully this will result in an IP change.

If the above does not result in your IP address changing, please look through the below for the situation that best matches yours and attempt to change your IP address that way. Unfortunately you are not able to get your IP address to change in all cases, as it is ultimate determined by your ISP's DHCP configuration (when you've got a dynamically assigned IP address, that is.)

Windows - Computer connected directly to the modem

  1. Get to a command prompt. (START, run, cmd).
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  2. Type "ipconfig /release" (without the quotes, on the command line by itself).
  3. Type "ipconfig /renew" (without the quotes, on the command line by itself).

Windows (second option) - Computer connected directly to the modem

  1. Get to a command prompt. (START, run, cmd).
  2. Type "ipconfig /release" (without the quotes).
  3. Shut down computer.
  4. Turn off computer.
  5. Turn off all ethernet hubs/switches.
  6. Turn off cable/DSL modem.
  7. Leave off overnight.
  8. Turn everything back on.

Network with Router

  1. Log into the router's admin console. (Often http://192.168.1.1/)
  2. Release the IP address. (Method varies by router manufacturer)
  3. Turn off router, ethernet hubs/switches, and the cable/DSL modem.
  4. Leave off overnight.
  5. Turn everything back on.

If you are using a cable/DSL modem and a router, you may wish to connect your computer directly to the cable/DSL modem. Please note that this could significantly impact your system security. This allows your ISP's DHCP to issue you a new (hopefully changed) IP address based of the (hardware) MAC address of your computer's ethernet card.

If all the above has not worked to change your IP address and you have a router, check and see if there is a "Clone MAC Address" option. Using it should change your IP address; however, you'll only be able to do it once (in most cases).

These will not work in all cases. If all else fails contact your internet service provider (ISP) and ask them if they are able to change your IP address or how long your connection needs to be off for your IP address to change.

                                                Source : http://whatismyipaddress.com and other sites related to the topic

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How to Change Computer Password Using Command Prompt

Ever thought to be a hacker? Well this article will show you a little tips to change someone account’s password with a simple line of command. All you need to do are:

  1. Open Command Prompt, if you don’t know where is it, click Start- All Programs-Accessories-command prompt
  2. After you see a black window pop-up type ‘ Net User ‘
  3. You will see a little information about all accounts in your computer
  4. You should choose account you want to hack
  5. For example you want to hack account Jenny, you should type ’ Net User Jenny and press enter ‘.
  6. Now you are seeing full information about Jenny’s account
  7. For changing Jenny’s password, you should type ’ Net User Jenny * ‘ and it then show you how to change Jenny’s password
  8. If you can’t understand the command line, you just type ‘ Net User Jenny the new password ‘.
  9. Say it you want to change Jenny’s password to 123456, you should type ‘ Net User Jenny 123456 ‘
  10. Now, you successfully change Jenny’s password to 123456.
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Speed up your Internet Connection Speed

For you who have internet connection on your pc or laptop, it is annoying if your internet connection run too slow. By making a little change on your Windows XP system configuration, you are able to increase the connection speed of your internet.

So let’s make a little change on your system configuration:

  1. Click Start-Run
  2. Type gpedit.msc and then click OK

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  1. Take a look on the left pane, expand the administrative Templates folder, and then Network, and next QoS Packet Schedule folder
  2. On the right pane, double click on Limit reservable bandwith

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  1. Check the Enabled box and then change the Bandwith limit to 40%
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MacBook Air 1.86GHz Test Results

 

At a media event on October 14, Apple announced a top-to-bottom refresh of its portable Macs. Along with new unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros, the company also unveiled an updated MacBook Air that featured faster graphics and more storage.

The new US$2,499 top-of-the-line MacBook Air has arrived in the Macworld Lab, and our test results show that while the many under-the-hood improvements have helped to make Apple's ultraportable more competitive in terms of performance, it's still a product that you buy for its small size and light weight, not its speed.

The configuration we tested definitely offers better specs than the previous top-of-the-line MacBook Air. It's powered by a standard 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB of L2 cache, as opposed to the custom-built 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4MB of L2 cache used on the original high-end MacBook Air. The speed of the front-size bus has increased to 1066MHz, and the new MacBook Air models use faster DDR3 RAM as opposed to the slower DDR2 RAM found in the original Airs. In terms of storage, the new high-end Air uses a solid-state 128GB hard drive, twice the size of the SSD found in the original Air.

Both of the new MacBook Air models eschew the original Air's pokey Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics for the much more powerful, though still integrated, Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics system--the same graphics used in the new unibody MacBook Pro and MacBook models, albeit running at lower speeds in order to save power and reduce heat.

How do these internal updates translate in terms of real performance? It should come as no surprise that our overall system performance benchmark, Speedmark 5, found the 1.86GHz MacBook Air to be quite a bit faster across the board than the standard 1.6GHz MacBook Air from January of this year. The 1.86GHz Air turned in a 51 percent higher Speedmark score, with the most impressive individual results being the Quake 4 frames per second score and the Zip Archive test, which took nearly 10 minutes on the older Air and a less painful 6 minutes on the 1.86Ghz MacBook Air.

More telling were the new system's results compared to our build-to-order Air from earlier this year, the model that featured the optional 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor, but kept the standard 120GB Parallel ATA hard drive. The new high-end Air posted a 39 percent higher Speedmark 5 score than that old CTO Air. It was also 28 percent faster in our Photoshop tests and 22 percent faster in our Cinema 4D testing. Compressor, iMovie and iTunes were faster on the new system, but not by as big of a margin. Again, the biggest gains for the new Air were in our game frame rate tests. The new Air was able to display 24.8 frames per second in our Quake 4 tests, as opposed to the older CTO Air's 3.9 fps - that's more than a 6x improvement.

But the MacBook Air just can't match the speeds of other Mac laptops. In fact, the Core 2 Duo processor in the new low-end $999 white Mac Book runs 13 percent faster than the high-end MacBook Air. The Air was a little less than 3 percent slower in terms of Speedmark 5 scores. A closer look at the individual test scores shows that the Air's Speedmark score was helped tremendously by its Nvidia graphics, which helped it post an average Quake 4 frame rate of 24.8 versus the low-end MacBook (with Intel GMA X3100 graphics), which posted only a score of 7.6 fps. In other individual tests, the low-end MacBook was a clear winner in all but the Unzipping of a 2GB folder, which the solid state hard drive in the 1.86GHz MacBook Air helped the system to place the fastest time.

If you were to compare the top-of-the-line MacBook Air to the top of the new unibody MacBook line, a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo model with the Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics, you'd find a much bigger difference. The new high-end Air earned an 18 percent lower Speedmark 5 score, a 25 percent slower result in our Photoshop test suite, and a 71 percent slower time in our Compressor MPEG encode tests. Did I mention that the new 2.4GHz MacBook costs $100 less and has a built-in SuperDrive, built-in Ethernet, and a second USB port? The Air, on the other hand, weighs three pounds, versus 4.5 pounds for the MacBook.

We have the new low-end 1.6GHz MacBook Air on order, but it hasn't arrived in the Macworld Lab yet. When it gets here, we'll start testing and post results as soon as we can. And stay tuned for our full review of the new MacBook Air, coming soon.

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Understanding DDR and DDR2 Memory

Memory Primer

DDR and DDR2 memory modules dominate the current desktop PC memory landscape. What are they and why are they different from the other memory types? Let’s find out.

DDR and DDR2 go by the full names of DDR SDRAM and DDR2 SDRAM respectively. The word “SDRAM” stands for Synchronous DRAM, which is a variant of DRAM (Dynamic RAM), a memory type widely used in PCs several years ago.

“RAM” stands for Random Access Memory. RAM is utilized in computer systems as main memory for temporary data storage. Most contemporary RAM is volatile, i.e. the information is lost once power is cut off. DRAM and SRAM (Static RAM) are the most popular RAM types used in computers. DRAM memory cells require constant refreshing because they utilize both transistors and capacitors; the latter of which loses the values it stores as time elapses if refreshing is not performed. Unlike DRAM, only transistors are used in SRAM memory cells, with no capacitors involved. SRAM, therefore, does not require refreshing, resulting in much higher performance. SRAM is much more expensive than DRAM, however, and is not used in the same memory sizes as DRAM. SRAM is implemented primarily in CPU caches (i.e. the CPU L1/L2 cache).

Going back to SDRAM, this type of memory utilizes a synchronous interface. This means it waits for a clock pulse to transfer data, and thus it is in sync with the computer system bus and the processor. SDRAM transfers one bit (per data line) of data per clock cycle to greatly improve the performance of system memory over previous FP/EDO memory, for which data transfer was possible only every other cycle. Typical PC100 and PC133 SDRAM modules provide maximum bandwidths of 800MB/s and 1066MB/s respectively.

DDR Basics

Short for “Double Data Rate”, DDR technology doubles the bandwidth of SDRAM under optimal conditions. This is to say that twice as much data can be transferred between the memory and system during the same amount of time. This is because DDR SDRAM sends and receives data twice as often as common SDRAM.

How does it do this? SDRAM transfers data on every clock cycle (to be specific, on the rising edge of every clock cycle), while DDR transfers data on both the rising edge (clock signal bounces from LOW to HIGH) and the falling edge (clock signal bounces from HIGH to LOW) of a clock cycle. Therefore, two bits (per data line) are transferred every clock cycle. In order to do this, two bits are accessed from the memory array (where data is actually stored) for each data line on every clock cycle, this process is called the “2-bit prefetch”.

A DDR200 module provides a data bandwidth of 1.6GB/s - we also call this PC1600 memory. Likewise, DDR400 is also called PC3200 memory, because it provides 3.2GB/s bandwidth. You can double the bandwidth by using same-speed memory modules in dual channel mode if your system supports it: dual channel DDR400 is capable of delivering 6.4GB/s bandwidth.

DDR2 Introduction

As 2nd generation DDR, the most important improvement found in DDR2 memory is its transfer data rate or bandwidth. As in the case with DDR SDRAM vs. SDRAM, the bandwidth of DDR2 memory can double the DDR’s.

The DDR standard stops at DDR400 (of course, there are lots of DDR500 and even DDR600 products on market, but these are for overclockers), which provides 3.2GB/s bandwidth (single channel). The DDR2 standard starts from DDR2 400 and goes all the way up to DDR2 800 or even higher. DDR2 800 or PC2 6400 can provide 6.4GB/s bandwidth (single channel), twice as much as DDR400. Dual channel DDR2 800 will offer an unparallel 12.8GB/s bandwidth, which is a huge leap from the 6.4GB/s bandwidth of dual channel DDR400 memory.

Since DDR already transfers data on both the rising and falling edges of a clock cycle, how does DDR2 double the bandwidth yet again? The answer lies in the I/O buffer frequency, which is doubled with DDR2. The memory controller in our systems only deal with the I/O buffer on the memory chip. To double the data from the memory array to the I/O buffer, DDR2 utilizes a “4-bit prefetch” as opposed to the “2-bit prefetch” with DDR. This means that 4 bits of data are moved from the memory array to the I/O buffer per data line each core clock cycle.

The core clock cycle here refers to the cycle time of the memory array, and the frequency of the memory array is half that of the I/O buffer and 1/4 of the data rates. Take DDR2 800 for example: it has an 800MHz data rate, the I/O buffer works at 400MHz, and the core frequency of the memory array is only 200MHz. The core frequency remains the same as DDR400. However, the DDR400 I/O buffer operates at 200MHz. The time of “a core cycle” is therefore the same whether it is DDR400 or DDR2 800.

DDR2 chips may look different than DDR as well, because most DDR chips use the TSOP-II (Thin Small-Outline Package) form factor while DDR2 utilizes the FBGA (Fine Ball Grid Array) form factor, which is smaller in size than TSOP-II. FBGA chips also feature less electrical noise than TSOP-II, thus resulting in improved signal integrity at high operating frequencies.

Here is a quick reference of differences between DDR and DDR2.

DDR DDR2
Data Rate 200/266/333/400 MHz
or higher
400/533/667/800 MHz
or higher
Prefetch Size 2-bit 4-bit
CAS latency 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 3, 4, 5
Write Latency 1T Read Latency-1
Voltage 2.5V 1.8V
Package Type TSOP-II FGBA

Besides the enhanced bandwidth, DDR2 also uses less power than DDR by operating on 1.8V - a 28% reduction compared to DDR (2.5V). DDR2 has power saving features such as smaller page sizes and an active power down mode too. These power consumption advantages make DDR2 memory especially suitable for use in notebook computers.

DDR2 provides some other new features like OCT and OCD as well. We can find lots of resistors around the memory slots on a DDR-supporting motherboard, they are called termination resistors, which are used to eliminated excessive signal noise. You won’t find these resistors on motherboards utilizing DDR2 memory modules, since the termination resistors are built into each of the memory chips on the module, which is far closer to the source of the noise. This feature is called OCT or On-Die Termination, and it can reduce interference within the chip, thus guaranteeing the stability and reliability of DDR2 memory when working under high frequencies.

There are other features such as Posted CAS and Additive Latency, which work together to prevent data collisions and utilize the data bus more efficiently; and the Off-chip driver calibration (OCD), which increases signal integrity and system timing margin as well.

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View previously open folder after shutdown

Sometimes you want to access certain folders on your computer regularly, but if you have to always open those folder every time you turn on your computer, obviously it takes so much times. So, you can set them re-open automatically every time you turn on your computer. Here is the tip:

  1. Open My Computer
  2. Click Tools and then select Folder Option

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3. If you can’t find the Folder Option on the Tools menu, just read the article about Recover Folder Option.

4. If you have clicked it, select View Tabs.

5. Look at the Advanced Setting area, scroll down to bottom and then give checkpoint on the Restore previous folder windows at logon, and then click OK.

6. Now and forever when you log on or restart, your computer will open the previously opened folder for you, as the same location before.

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7. Now, when you turn on, restart or log on to your computer, your windows will automatically open the previously opened folder on your computer.

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Uninstall Windows Messenger

In this article I will show you how to uninstall Windows Messenger on your XP. Yes, for some people who already have MSN messenger on their XP apparently they don’t need 2 free messenger programs from Windows, because so far MSN messenger is better than Windows Messenger so I’ll show you how to uninstall Windows messenger that will save your drive space.

  1. First thing you need to do is go to drive C:, click twice on folder named Windows, and then click twice on ‘inf’ folder.
  2. After that, you need to find sysoc.inf , and click twice on it
  3. Now in this step you have to make some modification on the code. First you have to find this line on the component section.

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

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4. The next thing you have to do is delete the words ‘hide’. And it should now look like this:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,,7

5.After you have done it, save the file and close it.

6. For uninstalling your Windows Messenger, go to Contol Panel – Add or Remove Windows Components. On the list you should see “Windows Messenger” Check the box beside it and click next and follow the next instruction.

7.Finally, you have done with your job. The last thing you need to do is just restart your computer to see the result.

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Partitioning your Hard Drive

For people who have computers, surely they don’t want to have only a hard drive in their computers. Instead, they need some hard drive (commonly 2 or 3) in their computer, so they can group their private data, system files, or their other stuff. So, an ability to partition hard drive is needed in order to group your stuff in your computer.

Disk partitioning is the creation of separate divisions of a hard disk drive using partition editors. Once a disk is divided into several partitions, directories and files of different categories may be stored in different partitions. More partitions provide more control but too many become cumbersome. The way space management, access permissions and directory searching are implemented depends upon the type of file system installed on a partition. Careful consideration of the size of the partition is necessary as the ability to change the size depends on the file system installed on the partition.

Partitioning your Hard Drive in Windows XP & Windows 2000:

  1. Right click on My Computer, then click Manage
  2. Then, Windows will open up Manage Screen. On the left pane, select Disk Management
  3. Usually, Windows will open up wizard to help partition and format your new drive. If it does not, right click the new drive in the lower pane and select initialize drive.

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  1. Right click on the new drive and select new partition
  2. Then it will open up a wizard to help you partition your hard drive.
  3. In this step it will then prompt you how much drive space you want to allocate to the new partition.
  4. If you choose not to use the full space of your main hard drive for your new partition disk, you can make up additional partition in the same way up to 4 partition hard drive per disk.
  5. If you have done, you will be asked to name your partition. (C: , D: )
  6. After you named all of your partition, you have to format your new partition hard drive, which Windows will prompt to do automatically.
  7. If the formatting is complete, you have to reboot your computer to see the result.
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Before you buy laptop

At the moment, laptop is not a luxurious stuff for many people. Everyone owns laptop and everyone knows how to use it. Laptop is useful for the mobile person. But many people become hesitate when they are going to buy a laptop consider that laptop is not a low-priced stuff. Moreover, there are so many kinds of laptop offer different specs (specification) with different price also. Don’t worry, I tell you some tips which may guide you when you want to buy a new laptop. Here are 4 major tips you need to know before you buy laptop:

1. Consider between your budget and your purpose of buying laptop.

If your purpose of buying laptop is for gaming or designing, you have to choose the specification which offers high quality of VGA Cards, and also offers a high-speed memory.

For mobile person, you can focus on the battery, size of screen, and connectivity like: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IrDA, network card and modem.

2. Choose the longest time of warranty of laptop!

But you may consider with your budget.

3. Regardless of your purpose of buying new laptop, you should consider about the size of screen, weight of laptop, and the long-life of the battery.

If you often use your laptop on the road, you should choose a light laptop with a medium size of screen. It helps you feel comfort when you get used to travel somewhere.

You should also consider about the long-life of the battery. Mostly, laptop’s battery can last until 3 hours without being connected to adapter. If you want to economize the long-life of the battery, you may turn off the connectivity of your laptop like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

4. You should also consider about the selling-price of the laptop.

When you are going to buy a new laptop, you have to consider about its selling-price. I also recommend you not to buy a laptop which its spare parts are uneasy to find on the market.

I hope those tips will be helpful for you who are going to buy a new laptop. Thank you.

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Computer Virus

What is the definition of computer virus exactly? Well, a computer virus is a program, a block of executable codes, which attach itself to, overwrite or otherwise replace another program in order to reproduce itself without a knowledge of a PC user.

There are many different types of computer virus: Boot sector virus, file virus, direct action virus, Multi partition virus, Polymorphic virus, Stealth virus, and Macro virus.

1. Boot sector Virus

This type of virus is a common virus; duplicate itself by oppressing the boot sector. So that when the computer is booting, the virus will be automatically executed in the computer’s memory.

2. File Virus

Attacking files which are executed by an operating system. Usually this kind of virus attack file that have .com or .exe extension.

3. Direct action Virus

This kind of virus will enter the computer’s memory to execute other files, and then execute the other program in order to deceive the user.

4. Multi partition Virus

This type of virus is the combination between boot sector virus and file virus.

5. Polymorphic Virus

A kind of virus which is designed to deceive AV program, by changing its structure, after executing some command.

6. Stealth Virus

Controlling DOS level instructions by controlling the interrupt table.

7. Macro Virus

Written in a programming language from an application, so that virus has platform independent characteristic.



The difference between Computer Virus and other Computer program

1. The ability to get some important information from the user’s computer.

Virus is designed to infect many files or programs. For example, virus will infect all .txt or . htt files, so that virus will look for information about the existing files or program. After they done it, those important information will be hidden in other directories in order to deceive the user.

2. The ability to check program or file

When a virus is infecting a file, virus should be able to check whether a file has infected or not.

3. The ability duplicating itself

This is the first ability which has to be had by a computer virus.

4. Ability to manipulate

This ability is used to show messages, picture, deleting files, stealing files or data, etc.

5. The ability to hide itself

All of the virus’s activity must be invisible either for the user and for computer.

The structure of Virus:

1. The virus identity code

Every single virus has a unique identity that no other virus has. For example, virus A has X identity, and virus B has Y identity, so those virus is recognized by antivirus from the unique identity.

2. Virus Duplicating Code

A program can’t be mentioned as a computer virus if it can’t duplicate itself. So this is one of the main structures of computer virus.

3. Protection and defend code

This code is needed by virus to deceive antivirus program. It can be done in many ways: encrypting the virus file, invisible the virus’s process on computer, or showing a redirecting message to prevent the user to open the antivirus program.

4. Manipulating code

The function of this code is to delete files, execute certain applications in order to steal or send data to an e-mail.

Because of the extraordinary development of computer technology, the variant of computer virus is going to be a huge in amount. Therefore, protect your PC with the latest antivirus and keep it update periodically, and not to send malicious data to your lovely computer.

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Log In with multiple ID’s at the same time in Yahoo Messenger

If you have some Yahoo Messenger ID’s and you want to log in with those ID at the same time, don’t worry, you can sign in with multiple Yahoo Messenger ID’s at the same time by doing this tips:

  1. Click Start button, then click Run.
  2. Then type regedit and click OK
  3. Once, you will see Registry Editor Window.
  4. On the left pane, find HKEY CURRENT USER
  5. And then locate to Software/Yahoo/Pager/Test
  6. Next, on the right pane, right click and point to New, and then click DWORD Value

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7.Rename it with “Plural”

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    8.After you have renamed it, double click on it and then type 1 on the Value Type column.

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      9.The last thing to do is just restart your computer and just see the result.

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        Add New Item to Send To Menu

        When you right-click a file name or a thumbnail in Microsoft Windows XP, you see a shortcut menu for that file. One of the items on the menu is Send To, which enables you to quickly e-mail a file, copy it to your desktop, or copy it to a floppy disk.

        Sometimes what you really want to do is to save a copy of the file to a specific folder on your computer. If you have a folder where you frequently place files, you can add that folder’s name to the list of locations on the Send To menu. This can save you the time of opening another Windows Explorer window and copying the file from one folder to another.

        For example, you could create a My Pictures folder and then use the Send To menu to copy your best pictures to that folder.

        To add a folder to the Send To menu

        1. Click Start. Make note of your user name ("Administrator" in the example below) which is displayed at the top of the Start menu. Then, click My Computer.

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        1. In the My Computer window, click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options.

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        1. Click the View tab. Under Hidden filse and folders, click Show hidden filse and folders, and then click OK.

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        4. In the My Computer window, double-click Local Disk (C:), double-click Documents and Settings, double-click your user name, and then double-click SendTo.

        5. Click the File menu, click New, and then click Shortcut

        6. The Create Shortcut Wizard appears. Click the Browse button.

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        7. In the Browse For Folder dialog box, click the folder you want to add to your Send To menu, and then click OK.

        8. Click Next, click Finish

        9. Now when you right-click a file and click Send To, the destination you selected will be an option on the Send To menu. You can create shortcuts to local or network programs, files, folders, computers, or Internet addresses.

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        Let’s Make Folder Shortcut!

        Just like the title above, I will give you easy tips to make folder shortcut.

        Do you have a folder that you want to access it fast whenever you want? The only solution for it, is make a shortcut for that folder which known as folder shortcut. Here we go:

        1. Go to My Computer or Windows Explorer and find the folder you want to access quickly later.

        2. If you have found the folder you want to instant access, then right click on the folder, point to Send to and select Desktop

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        3. Now, go to desktop and right click on the sent folder, and select Properties

        4. Click Shortcut Tab and look for “Shortcut Key” row, on the empty box next to it you can type the shortcut to instant access your folder.

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        5. Click OK, and you only have to test your job.

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        Easy Tips to Speed up your computer

        1. Increase virtual memory

        Virtual memory is the space your computer uses when it's short of RAM (Random Access Memory), which is the memory used when running programs like Office Suites.

        And here are the steps to reset your virtual memory:

        · Open MyComputer on your desktop

        · On the left pane, click view system information, then windows will open up system properties dialog box.

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        · Click Advanced Tab

        · On the Performance Area, click Settings

        · Once, you will see performance option dialog box.

        · Click Advanced tab, and find the virtual memory area and click change

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        · Here, you can change the pagination file by changing the size of the Initial Size.

        2. Free Up Disk Space

        Freeing up your disk space may make a big effect on your computer. By doing this, you can improve your computer performance. You can free up disk space by using Disk Cleanup. Here’s the steps:

        · On taskbar, click start, point to all programs, accessories, System Tools, and click Disk Cleanup.

        · Choose one of your drive you want to clean.

        · Once, you will see Disk Cleanup Dialog box. Clear the check boxes to all files which you don’t want to delete, and then click OK

        · When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

        After the process complete, your computer may perform better.

        3. Turn off system restore

        Some professional says that having system restore on your compter, takes a lot of space of your drive. Therefore you should turn off system restore. To access system restore:

        · Click Start, point to Accesories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore.

        · Then you can edit the settings and turn off the system restore on your computer.]

        4. Regurally Defragmenting The Disk

        This action can speed up your computer. You can do this by accessing Disk Defragmenter. To access disk defragmenter and defragment your disk:

        · Click Start-all programs-accessories-system tools, click on disk defragmenter.

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        · Then, click the drive you want to defragment and click analyze (to estimate how long this proccess takes)

        · If you sure want to defragment that drives click the defragment buttons.

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