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Useful Free Antivirus Products

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // technology

Lets start off with this simple question ( I hope it’ simple ) .. What is the first software that you install (or) should be installing when you buy yourself a new Desktop PC or a Laptop ? Any guesses ?? For the people who guessed the stuff other than the antivirus , sorry guys , you were wrong ( and cheers to those who guessed antivirus ).Yes, ANTIVRUS is the first software that you should be installing when you purchase a new PC. It’s a fact that every netizen accepts and knows; we, our data and our machines are not anymore safe on the internet. The internet today is filled with scum which comprises of Viruses,Trojans,Worms,Rootkits .. and the list which can steal your bank account details, personal data, pictures goes on .That’s not it. The so-called malware can slow down your PC, track your activities on the internet, cause your PC to shutdown intermittently, send u to a phishing site instead of your bank site, use your computer as a bot for DDOS attacks .. etc . For the ppl who are fascinated by numbers, the total losses due to malware in the US alone for the year 2007 was a whopping 7 Billion dollars ( that’s a B not an M ). So, how do you protect yourself from all these threats and browse peacefully ? The answer again is Antivirus.
I think that intro should be good enough to push you all to have an antivirus product installed on your PC if you haven’t done it yet. But, the other factor which prevents you from installing a good antivirus product is the cost incurred to get one. A good antivirus like Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky .. etc cost you an arm and a leg ( approx 2000/- per year for 1 PC ) and we don’t even bother to try them out. So, practically we either use our PC’s without an antivirus or use a pirated version of the afore mentioned ones (which need new keygens or new cracks every day/week for them to work continuously).Today I wish to end that terrible ordeal of yours which you might have probably gone through each day/week/month. Here is the list of the VERY GOOD antivirus softwares which you can use without any hassles and not even a paisa out of your pocket as they are completely FREE!! .Amazed???. Then let’s get started. One last point before we get started, these are free doesn’t mean they are less powerful than the paid ones. Check out their ratings and performance at www.av-comparatives.org ,which is an independent organization which tests the antivirus products twice a year and publishes the results.
To understand the jargon associated with the malware you can refer this site .
(www.malwarecity.com/site/Main/listDictionary/)

Here we go with our list

1) Microsoft Security Essentials: Yeah, you have read that right. The same company which provides the OS which runs on most of your computers has come up with an antivirus to protect your PC’s and the best thing about it other than its free is that it’s damn good in performance as well. I use this on my personal PC. This product has a very good malware detection rate and a high performance as well, which means this is not going to bog down your system’s resources. It has a very clean GUI with no nonsense stuff . You can download the installer from Microsoft’s site
(www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/) .The home screen looks as shown below.
Once installed correctly , the application automatically downloads the latest antivirus signatures and updates the database. Then it performs a quick scan of the system. The application receives signature updates from Microsoft every day and you can manually update the database by clicking the update link as shown in the picture below.
PROS – It’s by Microsoft, Very good malware detection, Less usage of resources, simple and clean to manage
CONS – Your system has to pass the WGA ( Windows Genuine Advantage ) check which this performs before installing the antivirus.

2) Avast! Free Antivirus :

The most popular and the oldest free antivirus. This antivirus has been with the computers ( and viruses ) since a decade and a half and even now has not lost it’s juice. The latest version from them is them is 5.0 and it brings numerous improvements to the malware detection engine like new behavioral shield, heuristics engine ..etc to name a few. It also sports a much elegant interface as compared to the music player interface of the older versions. The newer version is much lighter on resources and faster. It has a real-time shield to protect your computer against drive-by-downloads and other similar attacks which occur while you are online.
You can download the latest version of Avast from here. (www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download).
It also features a Game/Silent Mode which doesn’t pop-up any alerts when you are running games or full screen applications, a graph plot for the statistics of various avast! components.

You can download avast here. (www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download)
PROS – Lighter & faster than old versions, veteran in this business, new elegant GUI.
CONS – Less detection rate than other products, a couple of false alerts and is slower compared to other products.

3) AVIRA Antivir :

If you haven’t heard of this before , then chances are high that you will be absolutely stunned by this product’s performance, both in detection rates and performance. This awesome free antivirus always gets a A+ rating from the AV-comparitives both in performance and malware protection. This has actually helped me to restore my system when there was a conficker worm attack and none of the other AV’s could be used. The scanning speed is top notch and has very few false positives. The protection is also very good with a real-time shield against threats .If you need a very good free anti-virus other than Microsoft’s then this is the ONE for your needs. You can download Avira here

(www.free-av.de/en/trialpay_download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html )

PROS – very light on resources, very fast scanning speed,A+ rating on almost all the AV tests
CONS – Have to bear with an annoying pop-up every time it updates it’s AV signatures.

4) AVG Free Antivirus :

This product is a very well known one especially with the users using free antivirus solutions. The latest version 9.0 scans the system 50% faster than the older versions. It’s good at what it should be doing – malware detection, but it slows down the boot time of the system considerably. Once in action it doesn’t cause any inconvenience to the user in terms of system performance though. This version features a a link scanner and e-mail scanner in addition to the antivirus and antimalware engines. It has a clean GUI and configuration is almost straight forward through the console. The real-time shields also do their job perfectly. The AVG 9.0 free version can me downloaded here

( free.avg.com/us-en/download?prd=afg )

PROS – neat GUI, good detection rates
CONS – Slows down the boot-time

5)ClamWin :

This antivirus product is different from all the others mentioned above, it’s open-source and is distributed under the GPL. The disadvantage with this product is that this doesn’t have the real-time shield which the others provide.
It’s good at scanning the drives at pre-scheduled times or On-demand scan and the detection rates are pretty good. So, this is the one you can consider if you don’t spend too much of your time online and have very less system resources.
The clamwin can be downloaded here from the SourceForge site.
(sourceforge.net/projects/clamwin)
PROS – less usage of system resources, open-source
CONS – No real-time shield.

Just select the one best suited-for your needs and have a happy and safe-surfing.

Nokia 5233 : Is Nokia Trying to kill Samsung as well?

// January 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

The First thing that comes into your mind when you see the picture, in the 5800. But, your Wrong!
Nokia has suddenly shocked everyone by getting into the low-priced market. With the 5800 and N97 scoring 5/5, Nokia shook the touch market as well. However, due to the high price tag, it was out of the reach of common man. Taking advantage of this, Samsung launched the Corby series, at a very low-price. Now it seems like Nokia is back in action

Nokia 5233 is the twin brother of Nokia 5230 but lacking 3G. This phone is a cheap alternative to Nokia 5800 XpressMusic which boasts of 3G,Wi-Fi and 3.2 MP Camera. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is now availble at Rs. 13750 with 8 GB microSDHC card and Connectivity Cable. Both the accessories are not available with Nokia 5230 and 5233.

Key Features

2 megapixel camera

3.2 inch full touchscreen

Media Bar for one-touch access to all your songs.

33 hours music play back.

10 songs free of your choice from over 30,00,00 songs at the Nokia Music Store.

Standard 3.5 mm AV connectors.

Up to 16 GB expandable memory.

2G and A-GPS

Innovative Contacts bar on the homescreen for easy access to up to 20 close friends and their emails, phone calls, photos or social media updates.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ – HD Redefined!

// January 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

Sony Ericsson is all set to launch another killer phone. Sony Ericsson’s latest offering Vivaz™ makes it easy to catch life in high quality video and upload that self expression onto the web to share with the world.
Sony Ericsson Vivaz™ is coming to market in the first quarter of 2010 with HD video capabilities.

Frankly speaking, this is the first time im impressed by a Sony Erricson Gadget!

Key Features

* High quality HD video

* 3.2 inch widescreen

* 8.1 megapixel camera

IPL 3 : The Complete Players List

// January 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Sports

The IPL has released its final list of 66 overseas players who will be involved in the IPL auction on Tuesday. The list is a mix of rising stars such as Kieron Pollard and Eoin Morgan, and ICL returnees like Shane Bond and Damien Martyn in addition to Pakistan players returning to the IPL-fold. The list includes players from all eight Test-playing nations other than India, with 11 players from Pakistan, Australia and South Africa; nine from Sri Lanka; eight from England and West Indies; four from New Zealand and one each from Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Canada and Holland.
Initially, 97 players had registered for the IPL auction and once the franchises had gone through the names, the list was pruned to 66.
Here is the complete list:

Australia: Brad Haddin, Philip Hughes, Doug Bollinger, Ashley Noffke, Adam Voges, Luke Pomersbach, Clint McKay, Graham Manou, Ben Laughlin, Jason Krejza, Damien Martyn
England: Tim Bresnan, Eoin Morgan, Robert Key, Anthony McGrath, Monty Panesar, Mark Ramprakash, Graeme Swann, Jonathon Trott
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Imran Nazir, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Aamer, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir
South Africa: Zander de Bruyn, Wayne Parnell, Tyron Henderson, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Rory Kleinveldt, Yusuf Abdulla, Vernon Philander, Johan van der Wath, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van Vyk, Justin Kemp
Sri Lanka: Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Zoysa, Upul Tharanga, Thissara Perera, Thilina Kandamby, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Chamara Welegedara, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Chamara Silva
West Indies: Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Daren Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Wavell Hinds, Kemar Roach, Sulieman Benn
New Zealand: Grant Elliott, Lou Vincent, Shane Bond, Nathan McCullum
Zimbabwe: Murray Goodwin
Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan
Canada: Rizwan Cheema
Netherlands: Ryan ten Doeschate

Google Nexus : Is it the iPhone Killer?

// January 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones

The all new offering from google, Nexus is promising. Considering its features, and the boost in demand for android phones in the market, Nexus is going to be one hard shell for apple to crack. The unlocked version may cost you $530

Here is a quick look into the specs of the phone :

Michael Schumacher will return to F1 in 2010

// December 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Sports

Mercedes GP has confirmed Michael Schumacher as its driver for next season, in a deal he said was three years long and believed to be worth €7 million (US$10 million).

The much-anticipated move will reunite Schumacher, who turns 41 in January, with team principal Ross Brawn, with whom he has secured all seven of his world championships. He will be part of an all-German team with 24-year-old Nico Rosberg, who agreed a deal with Mercedes last month.

This is a certain dissapointment to all ferrari fans.

Ferrari to begin selling in India by 2010

// December 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // Cars, Sports, Uncategorized

Click to view more of the Ferrari Magic India Discovery in hi-res

As the pair of specially-prepared Ferrari 612 Scagliettis make their way across the subcontinent in the Magic India Discovery tour, news has emerged that Ferrari plans to enter the growing market there by 2010. The reports emanate from India’s Economic Times, which quoted tour coordinator Gabriele Lalli as saying that Maranello was preparing a sales and marketing network in the country with an eye towards opening there in 2010.

Currently there are a few dozen Ferraris in India (aside from the promotional 612s) that were purchased from Ferrari’s dealership in Singapore. Sponsoring the Magic India Discovery is Tata, whose close relationship with Ferrari’s parent company Fiat may come into play as the Prancing Horse gallops towards India.

Pic Of the month : My Pug(Iris) Closing its Eyes

// November 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Iris

Office 10 Mobile Beta Launched

// November 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Mobile Phones, technology

If you are a proud owner of a windows mobile phone, you can now download Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 on your handset. Microsoft announced the beta release of Office Mobile 2010 and it will be disabled on April 5th, 2010.By installing this application, you can use Microsoft Office 2010 tools everyday at work, home, or school, to the screen of your Windows phone with rich interfaces especially designed for small devices.

Key Features:

• View and edit your Microsoft® Office® documents with confidence.
• Stay connected to work from anywhere with SharePoint Workspace Mobile.
• Stay connected to work from anywhere with SharePoint Workspace Mobile.
• Use PowerPoint Mobile as a presentation aid.

You can download Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 Beta from Windows Marketplace for Mobile or sign in to Windows Marketplace for Mobile from your phone .

If you are not a windows mobile phone user you can try public beta of Microsoft Office 2010.

Nokia N97 Mini – Best Handset

// November 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // technology

Best Mobile Game
Gameloft for ‘Hero of Sparta’
Best Mobile Music Service
Singapore Telecom Mobile for ‘SingTel AMPed’
Best Mobile TV or Video Service
Telegent Systems for ‘Telegent Free-to-Air Mobile TV – TLG1120 Mobile TV Receiver’
Best Mobile Advertising or Marketing
Smart Communications and Unilever – AXE for ‘AXE on Phone’
Best Mobile Enterprise Application Product or Service
Orascom Telecom Bangladesh for ‘Banglalink Jigyasha’
Best Mobile Internet Service
Geodesic for ‘Mundu IM’
Best Mobile Money Service
Smart Communications for ‘Smart Money’s expanded mobile-based security feature for online purchases’
Mobile Money for the Unbanked Award
Smart Communications for ‘Smart Islands Activation Program (IAP)’
The Green Mobile Award
Grameenphone and Huawei for ‘Building a Greener Mobile Network’