The core purpose of a password manager however is the secure storage of passwords. With password managers, users can select secure and unique passwords for their online and offline accounts, without fear of forgetting the password at a later time.

Users without password managers often select easy to remember passwords like qwerty, abc123 or password. The problem with those passwords is that they are also easy to guess. Complex passwords like qmBU2tTW3oAC0rRJ4h are hard to remember even when no special symbols are used. Imagine having to remember dozens of strong passwords for your online accounts.

Kaspersky Password Manager is a commercial program for the Windows operating system that leaves little to be desired in this regard.

Users on first run need to select a master password to protect the database from unauthorized access. They can furthermore select a different authorization method, using USB devices or Bluetooth devices, if they so desire.

Passwords can be imported from the web browsers Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox, the email client Thunderbird, AI Roboform and KeePass. Kaspersky Password Manager connects with Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer. This does not mean however that users with other browsers cannot use the password manager, as it is still possible to access the program’s functionality on the desktop. Only automatic sign ins and recognition of account creations is limited to those browsers.

You can select the supported browsers that you want to connect the password manager with. Connecting offers several advantages. The application will notice sign ups and sign ins on websites automatically, and offers to add them to the password database.

Accounts can also be added manually or by importing from other password managers. All user accounts that have been added to the program become then available for one-click selection. Chrome users for instance see a Kaspersky Password Manager icon in their address bar by default that displays a list of all web passwords for fast access.

It takes two clicks to log in to any service this way. The same option is offered by the program’s system tray icon. A right-click on the icon displays a context menu with options to log in to any service saved in the password manager.

Another interesting option is that Kaspersky keeps track of frequently used passwords. These accounts are displayed prominently in both context menus (in the browser and system tray) for direct access.

The right-click context menu links to the built-in password manager as well. Here it is possible to generate secure passwords according to specifications. You can for instance create a 20 character password with upper and lower case letters, numbers, and selected special symbols. Generate passwords are automatically copied to the clipboard.

Web addresses can be added to the list of ignored urls. This basically prevents the password manager from interacting with those websites.

The program ships with an option to create a portable version of the password manager. That’s ideal for users who want to access their passwords on the go.

The identity manager makes form filling on the Internet a pleasant experience. Instead of having to enter the same data over and over again, it allows to create identities that contain pre-filled information that can be automatically filled out when needed.

Verdict

Especially Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer users benefit from Kaspersky’s Password Manager as it integrates directly into those browsers. The program ships with everything one would expect from a password manager, from secure storage over password generation and identity management.

The program has no option to synchronize passwords over the Internet. One option to overcome this is to use a service such as Dropbox for that.

Giveaway

We have seven Kaspersky Password Manager licenses for this giveaway. Leave a comment telling us about your current password management setup.

Panda uses the same interface for all its security products. The main interface displays the system protection status, information about program updates and the modules that are currently up and running.

I have already reviewed the majority of security related features in the Panda Antivirus Pro review that is linked above. For this review, I’m going to take a closer look at the features that Internet Security 2012 offers on top of that.

When you look at the comparative chart over at the Panda Security website you will notice that Panda Internet Security 2012 offers six modules that the antivirus program does not include. This includes a backup and restoration option for disaster recovery, identity protection, parental controls, anti-spam protection and remote PC access.

Backups

A click on Automatic backup copy opens the backup configuration screen. Here you can create new backups, restore backups and save backups to CDs or DVDs.

A wizard walks you through the creation of new backups. Panda displays a list of data that it suggests to backup on the second screen of the wizard. This includes Office documents, contacts, Internet favorites and email. You can switch to folder backup mode instead to backup file folders on the system. There does not seem to be an option to combine the two though.

Once you have made the selection you are asked if you want to schedule backups or create an unscheduled copy. Backups can be saved on the local PC, network shares or at the online backup service Mozy, a cooperation partner of Panda Security. Panda Internet Security 2012 customers get 2 Gigabytes of storage space free of charge.

The backup module lacks advanced features like ftp server backups, password protection or encryption that one would expect from a backup service.

Parental Controls

Parental controls can be enabled for Windows accounts. Available are pre-configured filters for kids, teens and employees, and custom filters which offer the best flexibility. Pandora uses a content filtering system to allow or prevent access to various types of contents. Available for selection are for instance P2P, Instant Messaging and various types of websites. A whitelist and blacklist is available to allow or block access to specific websites, with the option to block access to all websites that are not on the list.

The parental controls module has been designed to complement parental controls in Windows. Users who know how can still circumvent protections, for instance by using a web proxy that is not blocked automatically.

Identity Protection

ID protection aims to block transfers of sensitive information over the Internet. This includes plain text passwords, credit card numbers and other information. Important information can be added to the Identity Protection module. This may include passwords, bank account numbers or the social security number.

Phishing protection has been integrated into the module as well. Panda’s identity protection module furthermore detects attempts to dial unauthorized numbers.

It does feel awkward to enter sensitive information into the program to protect them from being transmitted on the Internet. Especially so since there does not seem to be an option to password protect those information from local user access.

Anti-Spam protection

Panda’s anti-spam technology has been designed to protect users from spam messages. The program integrates into some but not all email clients available for Windows users. It does integrate with Outlook Express for instance and Mozilla Thunderbird.

Users can maintain a list of trusted senders so that the messages bypass the spam filter automatically.

Remote PC Access

Remote Access needs to be installed on at least two PCs before it can be used. It can then be used to connect to another PC running Remote PC Access over the Internet. Panda seems to have partnered up with Be Anywhere here. The remote access module can be used to access and manage the remote computer, to share and transfer files, and to create guest invites, which can be useful to allow tech support or friends to access your own computer temporarily.

Here is a short video demonstrating the Remote Access feature:

Download

You can download a 30-day trial of Panda Internet Security 2012 from the official Panda Security website.

Verdict

With Panda Internet Security 2012, users get all the features of Panda’s antivirus product plus the additional features listed above. Some of the modules are somewhat limited, which can be a issue for advanced users.

The program is ideal for users who want an all-in-one protection that includes disaster recovery options. Remote PC Access offers some interesting options, especially if you have friends or colleagues that have Panda installed as well. You could for instance ask your tech savvy friend to take a look at a particular problem on your PC using the technology.

Giveaway

We have ten Panda Internet Security 2012 licenses for this giveaway. Leave a comment below to take part in the drawing.

SEO PowerSuite is a collection of four tools that aid you in those tasks. The suite consists of the following four tools:

• Rank Tracker for tracking search engine rankings
• LinkAssistant for link management and campaigns
• SEO SpyGlass for backlink and competitor research
• WebSite Auditor for onpage optimizations of a web page

All tools are available separately or bundled in the SEO PowerSuite. Lets take a closer look at each individual tool.

Rank Tracker

Tracking ranks in search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo or Ask is one of the most important tasks of a webmaster as it is one of the ways to determine the success or failure of optimizations. It is also used as a way to monitor rankings to react immediately if big changes (usually drops) are noticed.

Rank Tracker is profile driven. Each profile consists of a domain name and up to five competing domain names that you want ranks tracked for.

All major and many minor search engines can be selected to be monitored. Most users will probably stick to the big three Google, Bing and Yahoo, but hundreds more are available for selection.

Rank Tracker keeps record of rankings over time, and displays them as a graph in the main interface. It does not end here though. Webmasters can not only monitor rankings but also the visits (pulled from Google, requires a Google Adwords account set up), KEI (an indicator of a keyword’s competitiveness) and Keyword suggestions (to get new keyword ideas).

The extensive options allow lots of customization. One of the most important ones is the ability to add proxy servers to the program. You may know that some search engines – like Google – display different rankings based on location (and several other factors). Proxies can also help to avoid being temporarily blocked from the search engines which can happen if you make to many requests in a set amount of time.

Search engine API keys can be added in the options as well which limits the maximum number of lookups you can do but makes sure on the other hand that you won’t be temporarily blocked.

A scheduler is available to run ranking checks automatically. Export options are available, which can be handy to process data in other applications or as a means to send reports to clients.

Seo SpyGlass

Seo SpyGlass has two main purposes. It can be used to find new pages that you could try and get backlinks from for your project, and to analyze a site’s backlink structure.

Regardless of the method, you end up with a list of backlinks that you can process further to retrieve data such as PR, Alexa traffic rank, IP address, anchor texts, or the link source (e.g. forums, directories or blogs), and the strength of each individual backlink. A competitors analysis furthermore reveals information about a site’s backlink profile. The information presented here can give you insight about link building strategies and the overall strength of the competitors site.

The program can be quite useful for a number of purposes. You can for instance sort the backlinks found by Pagerank or Alexa rank to find links with a lot of linking power (you still need to contact the site owners, register an account or do other things to get a backlink from the site pointing to yours).

You could also try and replicate your competitors link structure. Sites that link to your competitors website may also be willing to link to yours.

Website Auditor

Before you start looking at external means to improve your site’s ranking in the search engines, you may want to make sure that the site’s on-page factors are optimized as well. On-page factors like the title, headings, links or other HTML elements can have an impact on the rankings of a site in the search engines.

Website Auditor can analyze factors for a single page or multiple pages of the same domain. It first checks for available pages linked from the selected root domain before it offers to run the analysis for each page. Analysis includes checking for HTML and CSS validation errors, total links on the page, a page’s title, meta description and keywords, and a page’s PR. The program furthermore keeps tracks of broken links, monitors domain statistics (Alexa rank, DMOZ or Yahoo directory listing, Compete rank, Google Pagerank), Social Activity, overall PR distribution and link statistics (do follow, no follow).

Links are displayed in a table like structure which makes the data very accessible. Reports can be generated at anytime, which is useful if you do the analysis for a client.

Webpage reports can be generated which highlight missing page elements, errors or other factors that can influence a page’s ranking in the search engines.

Link Assistant

Keeping track of link building efforts can be a time consuming task. You can theoretically use an Excel spreadsheet for that, but that would mean updating it regularly. Plus, it is not really practicable for large link building projects.

Link Assistant helps you manage and track your link building campaigns. The tool can search for prospective link partners based on select factors. It tries to extract a contact email address from the pages to make emailing webmasters easier.

The program supports email templates that you can use or create to customize link proposal messages. A build in email client makes sure that you can handle everything from within the software.

It is usually a good idea to create a custom email address for use in the program to make sure that you catch only related emails in the application.

Verdict

All four tools ship with everything that one would need to get started. They all support proxies, can all be used to generate report for clients or your own, and come with an impressive feature set ideal for experience webmasters who want professional tools for the job.

Free limited versions of all tools are available as well. They usually limit the number of results that you can retrieve or manage.

Giveaway

We have two licenses for each tool to give away today. Please leave a comment below for a chance to win a license. You may add which tools you are most interested in.

HD Video Converter Factory Pro 3 is a profile driven video converter that can convert nearly any video format into another. The converter supports more than 150 different video formats and containers, including mkv, avi, flv, mp4, rm or mov.

All it takes to convert supported videos to an existing profile is the following. You use the Add button to load one or multiple videos into the program. All videos are listed then in the program interface with their file name, duration, size, estimated size and conversion profile.

A small player is attached to the window to preview videos

You then selected the output profile from a list of available profiles. The selection menu displays common video formats such as xvid avi or DVD video format as well as device specific profiles for Playstation, Xbox and smartphones running Android, iOS and more.

Most users should find a profile suitable for their situation. It can however happen that no suitable profile is found. Users who encounter this situation can create custom profiles to define their own parameters. Video settings that can be changed in this regard are the video resolution, bit rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, encoder and audio settings.

Users who select an existing profile can still make changes to it. It is for instance possible to reduce the video bit rate to save space or to change the aspect ratio.

The program saves all converted videos into its own program folder. This can be changed under output folder. Before you hit start to run the conversion, you may want to look under Files > Preferences to configure conversion thread priority (set to normal by default) and actions after the conversion has finished (like opening the output folder or shutting down the computer).

The progress of the current video conversion and the total progress are displayed on a second screen that is also playing a preview of the video. The total remaining time estimates the time left to complete all conversions.

The conversion itself is fast. It took for instance roughly five minutes to convert a standard tv show avi of 370 Megabytes into Vob format.

HD Video Converter Factory Pro users can furthermore use the program to merge videos. A click on merge opens a new window where you can select some or all of the videos that you have added to the program for merging.

Video files that you have selected to be merged are then shown in a folder structure in the main interface.

Another interesting option is the cropping option which can be used to remove black borders from videos.

The effects menu finally offers video modification options. You can use it to change a video’s brightness or contrast, add a mosaic effect to it or make it look like old film.

Verdict

HD Video Converter Factory Pro 3 is an easy to use video converter that can convert nearly any file into a different format. All it takes is a few clicks to get started. Advanced users have sufficient options at their disposal to customize video outputs.

Giveaway

Wonderfox Soft was nice enough to provide us with unlimited HD Video Converter Factory Pro 3 licenses. You can download the program on the giveaway site. There you also find the registration name and license code.

System tools like System Mechanic Professional can resolve most of the issues encountered semi-automatically.

When you first start System Mechanic Pro you are asked to run an analysis of the system. The program checks common problems and issues and displays its finding on the screen. The scan itself takes less than 30 seconds to complete and rates the PC’s health, security and overall status.

Options to repair all issues directly and to display the problems that have been found during scans are available in the main interface. The system tool lists problems and warnings on a summary page. Problems can be both security or health related, for instance that Windows Firewall is not running, that the computer has known security vulnerabilities or that the Internet connection is not optimized for maximum speed. Critical problems are highlighted in red and displayed at the top.

Actions to resolve the issues are directly displayed next to each listing. Problems can be resolved right away with the click of the button. It is alternatively possible to display additional information about a selected issue. It is for instance possible to display the list of security vulnerabilities on the screen.

Once you start fixing issues your overall system status may improve from its previous rating. System Mechanic Professional suggests to run a deep scan once the initial issues have been resolved or ignored by the user. A deep scan analysis takes longer to complete but finds additional problems that the quick scan may not have found.

Deep Scan among other things checks if the Registry is fragmented or if Solid State Drives have been optimized.

Toolbox

The toolbox lists all-in-one tools and individual tools. All-in-one tools are system tools that can accelerate, repair, cleanup or secure the PC with one click.

PC TotalCare runs all four scans at once.

Individual Tools

The individual tools group lists specialized tools, from optimizing the Windows startup to repairing shortcuts, recovering deleted files or monitoring the hard drive status.

Some of the tools are used by System Mechanic’s scans, while others are specialized tools that can only be started directly from here.

Increase Performance

• Memory Mechanic – Defragments the system memory
• CRUDD Remover – Detects and offers to remove redundant applications (e.g. CCleaner when System Mechanic is installed)
• EnergyBooster – Turn off background programs to free up system memory
• Startup Optimizer – Suggests start up items that may slow down system start
• NetBooster – Optimize the Internet settings to improve the Internet connections stability and performance
• Designated Drivers – Scan for outdated drivers and suggest updates
• Registry Compactor – Defragment and compact the Registry to speed up the start of the PC
• Program Accelerator – Speed up programs by re-aligning the data on the hard drive
• Drive Accelerator – Defragment hard drives
• SSD Accelerator – Improve the performance of Solid State Drives

Enhance Protection

• Security Optimizer – Scan for and fix Windows security vulnerabilities
• Registry Backup – Create a backup of the Windows Registry
• System Guard – A program that blocks malicious programs and processes from loading and interacting with the system

Clean Up System Clutter

• Clean PC Clutter – Scan for and remove temporary files on the system to free up disk space
• Junk File Finder – Find and delete obsolete and unneeded files

Repair Problems

• Registry Tuner – Repair Registry problems like obsolete data references
• Shortcut Repair – Repair broken shortcuts
• Drive Medic – Find and fix hard drive problems. Option to create a Drive Medic Emergency CD to boot from it when the operating system cannot be started
• System Troubleshooter – Disaster recovery when a drive becomes unstable

Ensure Personal Privacy

• Privacy Cleaner – Erases private data like cookies, chat transcripts or the search history
• Incinerator and Drive Scrubber – Full functionality of the Drive Scrubber program integrated in System Mechanic Professional.

Manage System Configuration

• Startup Manager – Configure Windows startup items to improve boot time
• Process Manager – Manage running processes on the system
• System Customizer – Customize Windows settings, apply tweaks
• NetTuner – Customize advanced Internet settings
• Duplicate File Inspector – Find and remove duplicate files on the system
• Advanced Uninstaller – Remove installed programs.

Recover Deleted Data

• Recover All Data on a drive or disk – Restores the entire contents of a drive, device or folder
• Recover Deleted Files – Searches a drive for deleted files with options to recover the findings
• Recover deleted pictures and movies – Specialized search for recoverable photos, images and videos
• Recover deleted songs and sounds
• Recover deleted email – Supports Outlook, Thunderbird, Netscape and other email programs

Perform Diagnostics

• DriveSense – Monitor the hard drive status
• Advanced System Information – Display system information like the installed hardware or software
• NetSpeed Analyzer – Benchmark the Internet connection
• System Change Tracker – Tracks changes that have been made to the system.

Several tasks can be automated to run regularly. This includes repairing Registry and hard drive errors, removing temporary files or backing up the Registry regularly.

Difference between System Mechanic Editions

System Mechanic Professional includes all features of System Mechanic. The software furthermore includes four iolo products that can be purchased separately. The products are Drive Scrubber, Search and Recover, System Shield and Online Backup.

Verdict

System Mechanic Professional ships with a lot of tools, of which most can be quite useful. Some tools could be improved though. The software uninstaller for instance is not checking the system for leftovers after the installation. It also feels strange that a Good system status after resolving all quick scan issues is often changed to a lower level after running a deep scan.

Especially the one-click repair options are handy for users who experience issues on their PC that they want to resolve without diving deeper into the issue.

Users who want to try the software find a trial version at the official download site.

Giveaway

We have 20 System Mechanic Professional licenses for this giveaway. Leave a comment below to take part in the drawing.

EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation 3.5 is a commercial backup solution for Windows operating systems. The program is the big brother of the free EaseUS Todo Backup solution which I have reviewed a few weeks ago. If you look at the feature comparison chart over at the Todo Backup homepage you’ll notice that the Workstation version offers some interesting features that the free version does not offer.

This includes a remote control feature for remote backup and recovery sessions, and creating and recovering system snapshots.

The program interface displays core features prominently on the Home tab. This includes system and file backup options, disk cloning and backup management.

The backup and recovery tabs display all related options. The option to create a disk and partition backup is displayed under backup next file backup and system backup. EaseUS recommends the create snapshots before software installations or as a recovery option when the system fails to boot.

Tools finally lists related applications that can be used to check the integrity of a previously created backup, mount backups to access files diretly, convert images to virtual disks or to create a bootable rescue disc to launch the backup software if the operating system is no longer loading properly.

System Snapshots

The snapshot feature needs to be enabled before it can be used. It creates virtual space on the main drive for snapshots

The recovery tab lists options to recover previously created backups. Here it is furthermore possible to recover the system to different hardware, which can be useful if you want to move the operation system to a new PC.

The Snapshot tab offers to create and restore system snapshots. This works similar to Window’s system restore feature. Snapshots need less storage space than full system backups. Due to their size, it is usually a lot faster to restore a snapshot than it would be to restore a full backup.

The first snapshot is automatically activated on first boot after the feature has been enabled in the software. It is from that moment on possible to create snapshots from the menu.

Previously created snapshots can be deleted at any time to make up room for instance.

Remote Control

The second feature that is not available in the free version of EaseUS Todo Backup is the remote control feature. It helps you manage multiple PCs from a single machine.

The remote control feature needs to be installed on the main system. Remote PCs also need to be running the program. You need to enter the computer’s IP address and log in with an existing user account to make use of the functionality. Please note that the user needs to have administrative privileges.

All program functionality becomes available once a remote session has been established. It is in particular possible to backup or recover files, disks and partitions, and the system.

Feature Overview

• File backups – Create backups of files. Supports incremental and differential backups.
• Disk and partition backups – Backup hard disks or partitions.
• System Backup – Creates a backup of the operating system.
• Schedule backups – Backups can be scheduled run regularly.
• Backup options – Include compression, password protection, image splitting, notifications, programs that can be run before or after an operation and offsite copies.
• Tools – Clone a partition or disk, mount images, check image integrity, wipe disks or partitions.
• Pre-OS Recovery – Displays a boot menu with options to launch the backup software before the OS starts.

EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. The program supports FAT and NTFS file systems, dynamic discs and hardware RAIDs.

Verdict

EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation is a powerful backup solution for the Windows operating system. Backups can be created with a few clicks. Advanced users find settings and options to customize backups to their liking.

The offsite copy option could however use more options than just backing up to ftp. Integration of cloud space providers, or even secure ftp connections would be welcome.

You find more information about EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation on the program page.

Giveaway

We have ten EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation 3.5 licenses for this give away. Please leave a comment below if you want to take part in the draw.

The core problem besides the fact that the information are stored without protection is that most users have them scattered around on the computer’s hard drive. Places to look first are the documents folder and email clients, but there are other locations where information may be stored.

Identity Finder has been designed to prevent identity theft by scanning a computer for personal information. The findings are then displayed in the program interface to alarm the user of their presence, and tools are offered to deal with the information.

You can start a basic scan right away, use the search wizard to customize the search or load the advanced interface which enables the program’s full feature set. Identity Finder can locate credit card numbers, passwords, bank account numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and a variety of other information during searches. One of the program’s strength is the ability to create custom keyword searchers for information (like a name for instance).

Identities for additional countries (Australia, Canada and United Kingdom) can be included in the search as well. The standard scan processes all files in My Documents, email mailboxes and web browsers locations. Advanced users can add the Registry to that and custom locations that they want included in the search.

The time it takes to finish an identity search on the computer depends largely on the selected locations, parameters of the search and the computer’s performance. Scans not only look at file names but also inside documents to find personal information. Advanced search options are listed in the settings. Here it is for instance possible to include mapped network drives and shadow files in the scan, or to ignore certain file types that you do not want included.

When it comes to email, Identity Finder will search Outlook, Exchange and Thunderbird mailboxes automatically. You can enable additional programs (Outlook Express and Windows Mail), files (Outlook PST files) and mailbox files in the program settings.

You can also locate exact identity information during scans. Identity Finder can be configured to scan for specific credit cards, bank account numbers or other values of importance.

Search results are displayed in list form afterwards. A results wizard can be used to walk through each result individually. Actions depend on the location and type of information. Identity Finder can suggested to securely delete information (for instance emails) or to secure the file type (for instance a Microsoft Office document) to protect the information from third parties. Securing items usually means adding password protection to prevent unauthorized access to the files.

Secured files are kept in their original location. An alternative is the quarantine option to secure and move the file to another location and shred the original file in the original location, and the scrub option to remove the information from the selected file.

Identity Finder ships with a set of security tools that further enhance the program. Tools available include a password vault to store passwords securely in the program, a file vault to store files securely, a file shredder to delete files permanently from the computer or a browser security module which for instance reminds Firefox users to set a master passwords if they have passwords saved in the browser.

Scheduling and logging options are available as well. Scans can be scheduled to run regularly using the built-in task scheduler. Professional users can make use of the program’s logging and report generation features.

Feature Overview

• Find Credit Card Numbers and Passwords, SSNs, Bank Accounts, DOBs, Phone #s, Driver Licenses, Personal Addresses, Canadian SINs, Australian TFNs, UK NINO and NHS #s, and more
• Create custom searches using keywords or regular expressions
• Search browsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer (Windows Only), files within the My Documents Folder, on local or removable drives, shadow volumes, previous file versions, emails and attachments, and the Registry
• Supports both common document file types such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe PDF, text, html, rtf, compressed files and all other file types
• Options to securely delete or password protect files, scrub information and to quarantine files are available
• Identity Finder integrates with Windows Explorer
• Results can be saved, printed or export as web page or CSV files

Verdict

Identity Finder Premium is an all-in-one program to find and secure personal information on a computer system. The ability to create custom search parameters, logging and reporting, along with multiple options to handle information that are found on the computer leave little to desire.

Interested users can download the free – limited – version of the program from the company website.

Giveaway

We have 14 Identity Finder Premium licenses for the giveaway. Leave a comment below to be included in the draw. Let us know what you would use the program for.

The clean looking interface displays the four core modules, and the PC health status in the footer area on the screen.

The program recommends to run the deep care module first to tune-up the PC right away. Deep Care basically is a set of optimizations the program performs, from defragmenting the Registry to fixing vulnerabilities and optimizing the system configuration.

Unlike other tool collections who do not give you a say in what to run and what not, Advanced SystemCare gives you the option to run all, only select or even none of the modules (which would not make a lot of sense).

Scans take anywhere from one or two minutes to ten or more, depending on the PC. Results are displayed for each scan individually, with options to display details for all issues that have been found. It is recommended to look at the details before running the optimization to avoid issues later on.

Here is a list of all Deep Care modules:

• Full Malware Removal – Scans the system for spyware and security threats.
• Deep Registry Fix – Scans the Registry for errors, broken links and other issues.
• Registry Defrag – Optimizes the Registry to speed up system start.
• System Optimization – Optimizes select system parameters to speed up the PC.
• Startup Optimization – Optimizes and delays startup items to speed up the start of the computer.
• Shortcut Fix – Fixes or removes broken and invalid shortcuts.
• Privacy Sweep – Deletes web browser, Windows and third party application history information from the PC. Supports Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Opera, as well as
• Junk Files Clean – Deletes temporary files that are not longer need to free up disk space.
• Security Defense – Offers to block known, malicious or unwanted websites, cookies and ActiveX-based spyware.
• Disc Scan – Scans the hard drives for disk errors and attempts to fix them.
• Vulnerability Fix – Checks for vulnerabilities, e.g. security patches that have not been installed – and prompts to install them.
• Disk Defragment – A defragmentation tool. Advanced SystemCare blocks the defragmentation tool from running on Solid State Drives, a fragmentation scan is however still performed on those drives.

Advanced SystemCare Pro 5 creates a backup before it performs the selected actions. It is therefor always possible to restore the system if issues are encountered afterwards.

The Quick Care module runs only some of the scans that Deep Scan offers. The optimizations are configured to run automatically when the system is idle and on log on. The parameters can be changed in the options, for instance to only run select modules automatically or none at all.

New users should look at the – extensive – program settings. Every Deep Care and Quick Care module comes with its own set of options. Privacy Sweep for instance displays additional objects that can be removed when the module is run. It is on the other hand also possible to exclude a browser or program for the cleanup.

Turbo Boost is the third module. Two modes are offered here: Work Mode boosts the computer for better work experience while game mode does the same for a better gaming experience. Advanced SystemCare Pro suggests to turn of system services, background applications and to switch to a basic theme when either mode is activated. It offers suggestions on what to deactivate, but gives the user the last word for all operations.

Even better, it only takes one click to restore the previous system state to leave work or game mode again.

Toolbox

The Toolbox is a collection of system tools divided into the five groups Clean, Optimize, Repair, Security and Control.

Some tools, like Privacy Sweeper or Registry Cleaner, feel like advanced versions of the tools used by the Quick and Deep Scan modules. But there are other tools available that are not used by those modules. This includes IOBit Uninstaller to remove programs and run a scan for leftovers, the File Shredder to permanently delete files on the system or Driver Manager to update, backup and restore system drivers.

Those tools add lots of value to the program. Tools like System Control offer a surprisingly large amount of options to the user. It may look like the average run of the mill tweaking tool on first glance, which changes once you click on one of the entries there. Firefox users can for instance modify the browsers tab width and close tab button position there.

Interested users can download the free version of Advanced SystemCare right away to test the program’s functionality. Keep in mind that the program tries to install the IOBit Toolbar during installation.

Verdict

Advanced SystemCare Pro 5 is an all-in-one stop for all system maintenance needs. It combines the functionality of popular one-purpose tools such as Revo Uninstaller or CCleaner in an easy to use program interface.

Explanations and recommendations are provided, and backups are created so that it is always possible to restore the system to a previous state if a tweak or optimization does not turn out as it it should have.

Giveaway

We have 20 Advanced SystemCare Pro 5 licenses that we would like to give away. Leave a comment below to take part in the draw. Winners will be announced on our Facebook and Google Plus pages.

And if you add other requirements like CD ripping and burning, music conversions, synchronization or sharing, you probably end up with less than a handful of tools that offer all of that to the user.

MediaMonkey 4 Gold is one of those programs. But music is just one of the things the program handles. The big new feature of the latest version of the product is video support. This basically means that can use many of the program’s management options for video files as well.

Installation, First Start

All users install the free version of MediaMonkey first. Gold users can enter the registration key in the program to enable the Gold features.

First thing that new users may want to do is to add their music collection to the program. This can be done with a click on the Insert key or the selection of File > Add/Rescan Files to the library. This opens a file browser where one or multiple folders can be selected. MediaMonkey can scan the selected folders once, or include them in the program’s folder monitoring feature to scan them continuously for new media. This adds new media automatically to the program’s database.

The options button loads the library preferences which define how files are added to the program library. Information are taken from file names and tags, with options to use file paths as well. MediaMonkey will furthermore scan the directories for artwork, ignore files shorter than 20 Kilobytes, remove unused attributes and generate thumbnails for videos. Additional options that need to be selected include analyzing files for duplicates, ignore files that are shorter than x seconds and removing unavailable items.

The file types button highlights the supported file types. Not all media files are automatically selected. Ogg video and RealMedia video files are for instance not included in the scan by default.

A click on ok starts the scan which may take a while depending on the performance of the PC, the amount of media files and the structure they are stored in.

It took less than five minutes to scan two large folders on a test system with thousands of video and music files. MediaMonkey offers to import data from programs like iTunes or Windows Media Player if they are detected on the system.

Working with the program

Once you have started to add media to the program you are ready to make use of the functionality offered. You can play media with a double-click on a file. Both music and video are played in the program interface.

MediaMonkey users with a less than perfectly organized media collection may want to use the program’s automatic tagging and organization features to bring order to their collection. All media files that cannot be identified properly are listed under unknown. It makes sense to start there to identify those tracks properly.

A click on Tools > Auto-Tag from Web scans the collection for music that is not properly tagged. MediaMonkey tries to match the music with albums, and displays the finding in its interface. Information are retrieved from Amazon.

Auto-organization of files can move and rename files to a new destination based on file tags. This can be useful to create a distinct structure that all media files follow.

Options are available to analyze the volume of selected music files and level it if necessary. Other options include converting media files into different formats, burning music to CD or creating virtual CDs. The virtual CD option can be used to create a mixed music CD easily or to have virtual copies of your music CDs on your computer.

Selected music can also be synced with mobile media players like Apple’s iPod, Iphone or Android phones. Plug-ins need to be downloaded and installed for some devices.

Advanced features

MediaMonkey 4 Gold supports the creation of multiple media collections which can be configured with their own distinct display modes and playback rules.

For example, a Classical Music collection can be configured to display a Conductor node and an Original Year column, and play with cross-fading disabled, whereas Contemporary Music wouldn’t.

Advanced playlist options leave little to desire. It takes a single click to create a playlist with the overall top 50 songs of a collection, to fill an audio CD with music, or a playlist with songs from a specific year, genre or composer. Custom playlists using any of the parameters shown below can be created in little time.

Another interesting option is the ability to right-click on files to find more of the same (by artist, genre, year, album or location).

Sometimes you may want to organize different types of media files differently. Classic music for instance by composer, videos by date or tv series by season. The auto organization rules, configurable in the options, allow you do configure specific organization rules for collections, genres and playlists.

MediaMonkey 4 Gold introduces additional new features, like a new portable mode to run the program from an USB device, secure ripping of CDs to improve the accuracy of the ripping, tabs to browse different parts of the music collection at the same time, automatic synchronization with mobile devices and a new sharing option to share via UPnP/DLNA with compatible devices such as Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s Playstation or compatible telvisions and media stations.

Verdict

MediaMonkey 4 has improved a lot in the last year. The addition of video support improves the capabilities of the software significantly. Not all video formats are supported right now, but the developers promised to add support for additional formats like mkv in future releases.

Even inexperienced users can setup the program in little time. Advanced users will love the new features that the devs have added. The initial configuration may take some time, but once setup correctly it saves the user a lot of time in the long run.

Interested users can download MediaMonkey 4 from the developer website.

Giveaway

We have 25 MediaMonkey 4 Gold licenses for this give away. You will be included in the draw if you leave a comment below. Please note that comments are only open for 24 hours before they are closed down. Winners are drawn afterwards and notified by email.

XYplorer Pro is a professional file manager for the Windows operating system that can be used in addition or as a replacement for Windows Explorer. A limited Home version is also available that retails for about half the price of the Pro version. Both versions come with free lifetime updates, and are offered as a portable and installed version.

Windows Explorer users should feel right at home when they start the program for the first time. The traditional two-paned interface displays folders on the left and the contents of the selected folder on the right. Unlike in Windows Explorer though, it is possible to customize the interface significantly to display more or less data on the screen.

A tap on F10 or a click on the Dual Pane button in the main toolbar adds another file browser to the system to make file operations and comparisons more comfortable.

XYplorer ships with many easy to access features that make life that much easier when it comes to day to day operations. Users will for instance notice the highlighting of some folders in the file manager. System files, junctions or encrypted files are color coded to improve identification. The same is done for several popular file types like executable files, web files or images. Advanced users can even go into the options and create their own folder and program groups that they want highlighted on the system. File type highlighting is disabled by default and can be activated with a click on the enable color filters button in the main interface.

When it comes to the application’s interface, everything is just a click away from being customized. Options are available to display an info pane to display everything there is to know about a file or folder in the open, a catalog with filtering and bookmarking options, multiple view modes to display files and folders in various formats, and tabs to display multiple locations and information next to each other.

The Info Pane displays information that are hidden in nested menus in Windows Explorer. It for instance displays all file properties and attributes, a preview and raw view, and version information. File properties can be edited right away with just a click of the mouse button.

File search is also displayed in the Info Pane which can be accessed directly if the pane is displayed, or with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-f. XYplorer supports Boolean and regular expression searches, filters (by size, date, file contents attribute) and options to search specific locations only.

Search results are displayed near instantly in one of the file browser panes. Files can be opened, modified, moved or deleted right in that pane. The file manager supports drag and drop operations, for instance from one file browser pane to the other to make copy and move operations more comfortable.

Catalogs, of which multiple can exist, act as favorites and file filters. The system is powerful, allowing users to run basic operations like opening a specific folder on the system to filtering a folder for specific file types or opening files with a selected program.

Another way to quickly find and work with files is the program’s tagging feature. Tagging buttons are not displayed in the toolbar by default but you can either add them by right-clicking on the toolbar and selecting the customize option or directly from the menu without making those customizations.

It still pays off to look at the customize toolbar menu as the menu offers dozens of buttons that are not displayed by default on the toolbar. This includes drive letters, the aforementioned tag buttons and even user defined buttons.

Advanced users find a large number of features at their disposal that improve the workflow further. Keyboard shortcuts, already available for many major program features, can be defined for more or less any program function. Shortcuts can for instance be added to user-defined commands, which work exactly as the catalog feature.

A scripting language is available for advanced operations. From saving last year’s doc files to a zip file, converting characters in text files or creating a formatted HTML document that lists all files of a directory. Examples are provided in the program’s help file and on the software’s homepage on the Internet.

The program’s configuration menu holds hundreds of configuration options that change the application’s functionality. From editing color filters and tags over fonts and templates to thumbnail dimensions and startup and exit behavior, it is all editable with just a click.

XYplorer’s list of features does not end here. Worth mentioning as part of the review are multi-level undo and redo options, queued file operations, a mini-tree view mode that displays only the folder structure of the currently selected folder and the flat view mode that displays all sub-folder contents in the file browser directly.

New users can take a look at some of the program’s core features on the tour index page. A 30-day trial version that is not limited in functionality is available for download at this page.

Verdict:

XYplorer Pro is a well thought out file manager for the Windows operating system. The standard version of the program, without any customizations done, is already that much better than Windows Explorer and many comparable file management tools. All major features and workflows are in reach and optimized for quick access.

The app begins to shine even more when you start to explore all under the hood options that it offers. From configuring keyboard shortcuts, the customizable tag and color highlighting system, and the portable version to XYplorer’s huge list of configuration options, scripting and the application’s speed and performance: it is what Windows Explorer should be but never will be.

The program does not come with an ftp client or native zip unpacking which some users may miss. The majority of users on the other hand will have specialized tools (like WinSCP or 7-zip) installed that offer a better functionality that any file manager could offer.

Giveaway

We have 19 XYplorer Pro lifetime licenses for this giveaway. Please leave a comment below to be included in the drawing. Let us know about the file management software that you are currently using.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 fills the space between Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2012, a security application concentrating solely on virus and malware protection, and Kaspersky Pure, Kaspersky’s flagship product that adds security related modules like backups on top of the all-in-one system protection offered by Internet Security.

The program comes with an official price tag of $59.95, but discounts at retailers drop that price to about $20 for a three user version.

The program installation went through without complications, only the forced restart at the end was unexpected. The first system start after installation took longer than usual, probably due to behind-the-scenes configurations of the program and system. Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome users will receive notifications on first run that browser add-ons were installed by Kaspersky. Firefox users for instance will see Kaspersky’s URL Advisor, Virtual Keyboard and Anti-Banner pop up in their browser (depending on the version used either activated automatically or on user request). And while it is possible to disable the add-ons, it is more complicated to remove the add-ons completely. This is done by first disabling Kaspersky’s Self Defense protection under Settings > Advanced Settings > Self-Defense, then pausing the program’s protection, before deleting the extension files in the Kaspersky program folder).

The main application interface, which you see on the screenshot above, highlights the current protection status. It is recommended to run an update of the program’s database right away, as this is not initiated automatically on first start. Please note that the first update may download more than one hundred Megabytes.

You should then run a full system scan after that initial update has been made. Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 offers four types of scans.

• Full Scan – This scans the entire computer, it is the recommended scan after installation and updating the database with the latest program files and virus definitions.
• Critical Areas Scan – A fast scan that looks at folders and files that are often targeted by attackers and malware.
• Vulnerability Scan – Scans the system for known vulnerabilities. This includes program versions that are out of date (e.g. Thunderbird, XNView, Internet Explorer or Firefox), known vulnerabilities in programs and system vulnerabilities. System vulnerabilities are either system settings that make the PC vulnerable or unpatched vulnerabilities (with patches available).

  Details and fixes are provided for every system vulnerability.

• Custom Scan – Drag or drop, or browser for, folders or files that you want scanned on the system.

All malware scanners make use of virus definition databases, heuristics and Kaspersky’s cloud protection technology. Everything’s easy to handle, system vulnerabilities can for instance be fixed with two clicks of the mouse.

But virus protection is just one of the features of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012. The two-way firewall protects the system from Internet and network attacks. Controls are available with a click on Settings and the selection of Firewall from the Protection Center list. The firewall, unlike the virtual keyboard for instance, is not linked directly from the main application interface. This can be a issue for inexperienced users who notice that some of their system programs are not working properly after installing the Kaspersky software.

Network rules and adapters are managed under firewall settings. Here it is possible to disconnect a network adapter or click on the settings button to configure network traffic rules. Access rules for running applications can be defined here in detail. An option to add programs to the list that are not running seems to be missing. Kaspersky divides applications into untrusted, high restricted, low restricted and trusted groups. Rule sets for each group can be configured individually in the settings.

All security modules can be disabled in the settings with just two clicks.

The settings are divided into four tabs, with the first displaying settings for all program modules. The remaining tabs offer settings to configure scans, updates and advanced program features and settings. Especially the advanced settings are worth taking a look at.

Advanced settings can be used to configure gaming profiles, threat logging, network monitoring or parental controls. It pays to look at those settings in detail to customize the protection further.

Parental controls can be configured selectively for all Windows accounts. Accounts cannot be created from the Kaspersky software though.

Controls allow parents to restrict computer, application and Internet based activities.

Available options include limiting computer and Internet usage to specific days and times of the day, blocking application access and website categories and which contacts can be interacted with on social networking sites and instant messengers. Reports are available that detail account activity.

The applications activity monitor displays a list of all processes currently running on the system. This is comparable to the Windows Task Manager, with the difference that application trust levels and popularity are displayed here as well. The trust level can be changed with a click here. Other options include terminating the process or configuring the process’ access rules in detail

The network monitor highlights all processes with network activity. Data is presented in realtime and as a history under the network traffic tab. Kaspersky highlights open system ports and blocked computers in the network monitor window.

The Safe Run feature is a virtualization or sandboxing option that the program ships with. All applications on the system can be started in a safe environment (via right-click and selection of Safe Run in Windows Explorer). There does not seem to be a way though to always run select applications in the sandboxed environment.

Other options include creating a rescue disk to detect and eliminate threats if the operating system fails to start up properly, a privacy cleaner to remove temporary data from the PC’s history and detailed reports for every security module.

Verdict

Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 is an all-in-one security solution for Windows operating systems. The software has minor usability issues. Options to uninstall browser add-ons are for instance missing. An option to add modules to the main application window would have been nice as well.

It would also have been nice if the program would have initiated the program update check automatically on first run before suggesting a full system scan to the user.

The sheer amount of settings and protection modules add to the complexity of the program. Though once configured properly everything will run along smoothly.

Giveaway

We have ten Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 licenses. Leave a comment below to take part in the drawing. A 30-day trial version of Internet Security 2012 can be downloaded from the Kaspersky website.

The installation of Sandboxie is fast and completes without the need to restart the system. The program runs a compatibility check at the end of installation and displays programs it can improve compatibility with in a list.

The main program interface has not changed since our first review of the program in 2008. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it is highly functional. The program ships with a single sandbox but provides options to create new ones. It is not really necessary to configure multiple sandboxes as multiple programs can run in one. It does have benefits though. Each sandbox comes with its own set of rules to configure. Running programs in different sandboxes makes sure that they are isolated from each other as well as from the system.

Sandboxie can run virtually any program in its own virtual space: from web browsers and email clients to Microsoft Office applications and Windows Explorer.

Running applications in sandboxes has implications. Data saved by sandboxed programs for instance is only saved temporarily in the virtual space. Sandboxie does however offer comfortable options to deal with data that needs to be written to the local system (like program updates or downloads).

Lets take a web browser as an example. If you run Internet Explorer in a sandbox you cannot download files to your system. The download works as intended but when you close IE the files get closed as well. Sandboxie ships with a recovery feature that can move files out of the sandbox so that they are stored permanently on the system. This is an automatic process.

Another option to move files out of the sandbox is the quick recovery option which becomes available in the right-click context menu in the main application interface (not automatic).

Both programs scan folders like downloads, favorites or documents on the computer. Additional folders can be added to the configuration, for instance to include different download locations on the PC.

Sandboxie furthermore offers pre-set options for popular applications like email readers, web browsers or download managers. Here it is for instance possible to allow Firefox to save browsing sessions, enable Outlook to access the mailbox or to improve the use of dozens of additional applications.

The developer has added comfortable options to his application to make the program more convenient to use. Immediate recovery is one of those options but there are others, including options to force run applications in a sandboxed environment, and to configure files, Registry keys or hardware that is directly accessible by applications running in a particular sandbox.

It only takes a couple of clicks to run programs in the sandbox. Right-click a sandbox in the main program window and select run sandboxed. A selection menu is displayed with options to run the web browser, email client, any program, any program from the start menu or Windows Explorer in the selected sandbox. Programs can also be started directly from Windows Explorer. A right-click on the application offers to run it in a sandbox. That’s useful especially for downloaded files.

Applications running in the sandbox can be identified by the [#] in the application title, and by moving the mouse cursor over the title which displays a highlighted border around the application window.

Sandboxie Tips

New users who install Sandboxie for the first time need to think about the programs that they want to run in the virtual environment. Programs with Internet or network access, and downloaded programs are two core candidates.

You can test a program’s compatibility by running and testing it in the sandbox. If the program behaves like it should, you could add it to the list of applications that are forced to run in the sandbox whenever they are started on the system. This prevents that you have to remember to launch that software in the sandbox all the time.

Some programs, like email clients or web browsers, need special access to folders on the system for some of their functionality. This can be configured in the sandbox settings. Firefox for instance needs access to data stored in its profile folder, Outlook to the email program’s mailbox and uTorrent to the temporary and complete download directories.

Creating multiple sandboxes has several positive effects. First, it protects applications from each other. Second, it allows the user to run different configuration sets as each sandbox comes with its own set of preferences. This way you could run a program with a different set of rules than others.

You can not only force programs but also all files of a specific folder to run in a sandboxed environment. That’s useful for download folders, optical drives or removable hard drives and other folders where file names may change regularly.

You sometimes may need to run programs normally, for instance when a program update is available. The disable forced program toggle disables sandboxing for selected programs for a limited amount of time. Firefox users could use the toggle to apply updates to the browser or browser add-ons for instance.

Another interesting application is to run program installers in their own sandbox. You can install and use the program normally as long as the sandbox is up. Once you are done testing you can just shut down the sandbox and everything goes back to the way it was before the installation. That’s very handy if you are testing a lot of programs.

The Help Topics on the Sandboxie website offer a getting started tutorial, usage tips and advanced topics.

Sandboxie Video Review

Verdict

Sandboxie adds a whole new layer of protection to the system that runs nearly unnoticed in the background. While it is possible to run the program without configuration changes, it only plays out its real strength when those changes are made. Tech savvy users will love the sheer number of configuration options. Inexperienced users on the other hand may run into troubles during the configuration stage. It is nothing that they cannot overcome though, it just may take them a bit longer before they have configured their system the same way an experienced user would have.

Giveaway

We have ten Sandboxie licenses for this giveaway. You can win one by leaving a comment below. Let us know what you like most about the program. You can download the latest version of Sandboxie from the developer website. The program is compatible with all recent and not so recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Revo Uninstaller is one of the most popular third party programs to clean up leftovers after program uninstallations in Windows. The program runs the default program uninstaller first, before it scans the system for leftovers to make sure that no traces remain on the PC.

The standard version is freeware. Revo Uninstaller Pro has all the features of the standard version plus several more that are especially suitable for tech savvy users and professional work environments.

The application displays a list of all installed programs on start up. The list is immediately available and divided into new programs at the top and all programs below that.

All functionality provided by the free version of the program is available in the pro version. The interface displays all program modules of Revo Uninstaller Free more or less in the same place. New options have been added to the interface. This includes a sidebar menu on the left linking to a set of related tools (which are also available in the free version but there only under Tools), additional options in the main menu bar and tabs to display multiple program modules at the same time.

The program uninstaller works nearly identical to that of the free program version. A few differences exist that are worth mentioning. It is first possible to configure and manage program groups in the pro version. You could move all important programs in a work group, or all Internet applications into the Internet group. This can be used to distinguish important apps from ones that can be removed from the system.

The pro version creates a system restore point and a full Registry backup before running the default program uninstaller and its cleanup module. The cleanup module benefits from advanced scanning algorithms that are not integrated in the free version.

What’s more? A forced uninstall feature is available to get rid of program remnants that are not listed (anymore) in the installed program list. That’s useful for instance if you have deleted a program directory accidentally, or when you want to remove partially installed or uninstalled programs.

Another interesting option that is only offered by the pro version of Revo Uninstaller is the ability to monitor program installations. This basically monitors all changes made to the system during program installation. Programs installed this way are listed under traced programs in Revo Uninstaller Pro. The monitoring makes sure that all traces of a program will be removed from the system during uninstallation.

Additional pro-only features include the ability to export or print the list of installed programs, a customizable user interface, visual themes support, command line program support and full 64-bit compatibility.

The program options display several interesting preferences. Registry keys, folders and files can for instance be excluded from being analyzed and included by the program during cleanup.

Verdict

Revo Uninstaller Pro tops the free version in many regards. Backups, full 64-bit support, real-time monitoring of program installations, and forced uninstallations are all features that extend the free version’s functionality. The developers could work on the reporting and log accessibility though. An option to create uninstallation reports would come in handy in business and professional environments.

In the end it all comes down whether you are satisfied with the functionality that the excellent free version offers, or if you need one or multiple of the features that the pro version adds on top of that.

Both the free version and a 30-day trial version of the professional program version can be downloaded from the developer website. A portable version is offered there as well.

Giveaway

We have 19 Revo Uninstaller Pro licenses to give away today. Please leave a comment in the next 24 hours to take part in the drawing. Winners will be announced on our Facebook and Google Plus pages.

The problem here is that this is not the case. The file itself remains on the drive, only file pointers are removed.. Experienced users could use file recovery software to get those files back easily. The chance of recovery drops with every writing activity on the hard drive the data is stored on though.

Using software to delete the file traces permanently is therefor essential if you want to give away your hard drive or computer, or if other users have access to it.

DriveScrubber 3 is a software for exactly that task. The program comes with three main modes of operation. It can wipe an entire hard disk, which basically deletes all data on the drive. This can be useful before the drive is sold, send in for repair or if the PC is handed out to someone else temporarily or permanently. It can also be handy if your PC has been infected or damaged by malicious software such as viruses.

Wiping the free space on the other hand deletes file traces on the drive’s free space only. This ensures that file recovery software running on the computer cannot recover deleted data on that drive.

The Desktop File Incinerator finally integrates into Windows Explorer to delete individual files or folders on the system. It basically is an advanced version of the recycle bin that deletes files securely so that they cannot be recovered. The Incinerator feature needs to be enabled in the program option.

Wiping free space of a drive

A click on the start button launches the process. A list of all hard drives is displayed on the screen. The program does not detect solid state drives or warns the user that the process is not effective on those drives. That’s something that the developers need to add to the program. For now, it is only possible to disable SSDs manually. A click on Analyze All displays a pie chart detailing the used space, unused free space and the unsafe deleted files.

Configuration options are displayed on the next screen. DriveScrubber users can run a normal or deep clean on the drive. A deep clean wipes all free space of the drive, a normal clean only locations where data has been stored in.

The advanced options display the wiping parameters. The program uses a DOD compliant technique for overwriting data. This can be changed to a custom pattern instead. The number of overwrite passes are customizable as well.

The default cleaning was very fast. It took only a few minutes to clean the free disk space of a 2 Terabyte drive. A test with the file recovery software Recuva afterwards confirmed that all data traces had been removed successfully by DriveScrubber.

DriveScrubber users can create a self booting CD (or floppy disk, no USB option) to run the program without having to boot into the operating system. That’s useful if you cannot access the OS anymore, or if you want to wipe all data before you hand the PC over to someone else.

Misc

DriveScrubber 3 is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft operating systems. It supports all connection methods, including SATA, USB, SCSI and RAID.

Verdict

I was skeptical at first, considering that free software like Eraser offers most of the functionality as well. Especially the performance of the wiping operation and the option to create a bootable disc to wipe drives directly make the program stand out.

The developers need to add SSD detection to the program, and options to create the bootable version on USB devices would be handy as well.

DriveScrubber regardless of that gets the thumbs up for its speed of operation.

Giveaway

We have been given twenty DriveScrubber licenses for this giveaway. Please leave a comment below for a chance to win a license.

RoboForm is a password manager for Windows, Mac OS X and various mobile operating systems like Android that makes life easier and more secure. The program integrates well with Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera. Users who work with different programs or browsers can still use the RoboForm interface to store and retrieve passwords manually.

Passwords and other data are stored in encrypted form by the application. A master password protects the data from being stolen or looked at. Once the master password is entered correctly, access to the program database is granted.

Installation

Users can select the browsers that they want RoboForm to integrate with. A toolbar is added to the selected browsers which offers fast access to saved logins, the password generator or form filling module.

The toolbar can be disabled without losing the program’s functionality in the browser.

First time users who have been using a different password manager before should start with the program’s import option to transfer their login data to their RoboForm password vault. It is possible to import passwords, bookmarks and other data from all supported web browsers and from popular password managers like Last Pass or KeePass.

Importing data from other programs saves time but it is not a necessary step to make use of RoboForm. You can alternatively add login data to the program manually.

RoboForm Editor

Roboform ships with an editor for organizing and managing logins, bookmarks, identities, contacts and notes.

The editor can be used to edit existing data, create folders to organize the data and to add identities, contacts and safe notes to the program. It feels strange that it is not possible to add login data directly to the editor. You can create new logins either in one of the supported web browsers (by logging in to the service that you want to save) or by right-clicking on the password manager’s system tray icon and selecting Logins > New from the context menu.

One interesting option provided by the RoboForm Editor is the ability to sign in into one or multiple web services from the editor window.

Using the password manager

Once you have set up the program you are ready to make use of it. Toolbar users have all options in reach with just a single click. Most users on the other hand may prefer not to have an additional toolbar displayed in their browser.

Part of the RoboForm functionality is also available via the right-click menu. Options to fill and save forms, to display the RoboForm toolbar and to customize the menu are displayed by default. The customize menu option offers to add or remove menu items.

The customization can be used to add links like the program’s password generator, the RoboForm Editor or a log off option to the context menu.

A right-click on a web page opens the context menu with all set options. It is for instance possible to select the Fill Forms option to fill out the username and password, and to optionally log in automatically on the site.

RoboForm will automatically recognize new sign ups and first time log ins on websites. The program display a prompt offering to save the login data. Users can force the saving of data by Alt-clicking on the login button. A similar option is available for text field form data which can be automatically saved with the shortcut Shift-Enter.

RoboForm shortcuts are automatically enabled in supported browsers (with an option to disable the feature in the preferences). This basically can be used to open menus directly in the browser. Alt-X for instance opens the login menu with options to create a new login, edit an existing login or log in to one of the existing web sites or services.

Shortcuts are available for all core functionality. Individual shortcuts can be edited or turned off in the RoboForm Options.

RoboForm Everywhere

RoboForm Everywhere offers to save passwords and data in the cloud. The benefit here is that it is easier to synchronize data between multiple computer systems. All it takes is to install RoboForm on all systems and to log in with the same account information.

Users can furthermore log in on the RoboForm website to access their login data online, even if the program itself is not installed on the computer system.

Misc

The developers have integrated many convenient features into RoboForm. Among those features is a profile switcher to manage different data sets more efficiently, a domain equivalences option which basically enables a log in on multiple domains, the option to change the encryption algorithm, backup and restoration options or the ability to configure a specific browser for logging in on the Internet (which does not have to be the default browser).

Free limited versions of RoboForm are offered as desktop applications or browser plugins.

Verdict

RoboForm Everywhere is a feature rich password and data manager that makes online life more secure and convenient at the same time.

I have encountered two issues with the program. RoboForm first installed the Firefox toolbar even though I disabled Firefox integration during installation. The latest version of Opera seems to be incompatible with RoboForm. A single icon is displayed in the Opera browser that in theory should display or hide the RoboForm toolbar in the browser. A click on that icon has no effect

Giveaway

We have ten RoboForm Everywhere licenses to give away. Leave a comment below for a chance to win one of the licenses. Please let us know how you are currently managing your online passwords.

WordWeb Pro is a desktop English thesaurus and dictionary that integrates into nearly every software on a computer system. The program runs in offline mode by default, but can connect to the Internet to provide additional information when an Internet connection is available.

You can bring up the main application interface to look up words or phrases right away, or use the the program’s hotkey (Ctrl and right-clicking after selecting a word or Ctrl-Alt-W) to send that word to the program interface. If you use the keyboard shortcut you also get options to replace the selected word or phrase in the browser with an alternative. The integration was tested successfully in the Firefox web browser, Thunderbird email client and Microsoft Word. It is likely that it will work in the majority of Windows programs as well.

And since it uses its own word databases that are available on the computer, results are almost displayed instantly.

WordWeb Pro displays the spelling and meanings of the word or phrase (separated into nouns, verbs and derived where appropriate). The nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs buttons on the right can be used to quickly jump between those groups in the interface.

The lower half of the screen displays word related information that may include synonyms, words that are similar, types or antonyms. The word interface for instance displays type of (e.g. computer programme, surface) and Types (CLI, GUI) when the word is looked up in WordWeb.

A double-click on any word listed in the interface looks up that word immediately in the program. You can use the back and forward buttons or the history pulldown menu to quickly open up a word again that you have already looked up.

Words, phrases or the entire text can be copied directly when they are displayed in the definition part of the interface, or copied using the copy button when they are displayed in the lower part.

Plus and minus buttons are sometimes displayed in the interface to display additional or less alternatives.

WordWeb Pro comes with an audio module that offers to pronounce the current word or phrase to the user. It is still an interesting feature, especially so for non-native speakers who have troubles pronouncing particular words.

When you connect the program to the Internet you extend its functionality to include information from Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wordweb Online in the program interface. A click on one of the tabs opens the word’s page on Wikipedia or Wiktionary directly in the program interface. This may be handy if additional information about a word or phrase are needed that the program cannot supply.

A bookmarking system is available to quickly jump to a word or phrase look up in the program.

The professional version of WordWeb comes with features that that free version does not offer. This includes 65,000 additional audio pronunciations (compared to 5000 of the free version), 5000 additional definitions, the ability to add custom web references and glossaries, integration of third party dictionaries, wildcard searches, full text definition search and the ability to find and solve anagrams.

Options

It is possible to change the hotkeys to look up words in third party applications. This is done via the Options > Hotkey menu. The program supports both a one-click look up and a traditional keyboard shortcut look up hotkey.

The program preferences can be used to change the English locale (you are asked during installation to pick one), to enable vulgar or offensive words under synonyms and suggestions or to make the program stay always on top in the operating system.

The program is offered as a free and pro version for Windows and a version for Apple’s iPhone. Interested users can download the free version from the developer website or purchase the pro version from this page.

Verdict

Wordweb Pro is a sophisticated English thesaurus and dictionary. The program’s easy to use, integrates well with all kinds of applications and shines thanks to its ability to integrate third party services in the interface.

Giveaway

We have ten Wordweb Pro licenses to give away. Leave a comment below for a chance to win one of those licenses. Please let us know how you look up words currently.

Alarm++ is a sophisticated reminder and scheduling software for the Windows operating system. The program is lightweight and does not use many system resources.

New alarms can be added with a right-click on the program’s system tray icon and the selection of New Alarm. A configuration window opens in which the new alarm can be configured in.

First thing you need to do here is to change the name of the alarm to a more descriptive one. You can then change the time and date for the first alarm, its offset, snooze time and if it should be ignored after the event has taken place.

Menus on the left lead to highly configurable options.

Repeat

Alarms can be repeated minutely, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly.

They can be configured to repeat forever, until a specific date, a set amount of times or never.

Advanced

Configure advanced alarm parameters like the days of the week, the weeks of the month or the months the alarm should be triggered in.

You could set the alarm to be triggered only on workdays, on weekends or during a specific month of the year. You can furthermore limit the alarm to times of the day, e.g. from 8 to 5 on workdays.

Media

Media can be added to each alarm. This can be the standard computer speaker beep in a set frequency or duration, or a media file (wav, mp3, wma) that can be played once or until the alarm event window is dismissed.

Speech

Use computer voices for speech reminders. Just enter the test, pick the installed voice and set the volume to configure this option.

An option to load a text document is missing.

Window

Handles the position of the alarm window on the computer. It is possible to hide the window to only get other types of alarms (e.g. sound).

The size and position of the window can be configured here, as well as animations, transparency and balloon tips.

Application

You can run applications whenever an alarm is triggered on the system. You could use it to play your favorite song on wake up, run your backup software, open your email client or web sites in the morning.

Applications can be started with or without arguments. It is even possible to load websites or documents right away. The default viewer will be used in this case.

Applications can be run automatically when the even is triggered, or when the user interacts with the alarm window.

Mail

Send emails to one or multiple recipients when the alarm triggers. You could use it to send email reminders about birthdays or important events to an email address that you can check while on the road.

Main application window, alarm window

All alarms are displayed in the main application window. Alarms are listed with their name, date time and when they are scheduled.

Templates are displayed on the left. You can click on any alarm or template in the list to edit it right away here. alarms can be sorted with a click on a column header.

The alarm window, if configured to display, looks the following way.

Snooze is a handy feature that can be used to delay the alarm for a set amount of time.

Verdict

Alarm++ is a feature complete alarm program for the Windows operating system that is leaving little to be desired. The software is simple to use yet highly configurable to give advanced users all the options they may require to configure alarms on their systems.

You can download and try Alarm++ at the developer website.

Giveaway

We have 10 Alarm++ licenses for this giveaway. Please leave a comment below for a chance to win one of those licenses. Tell us why you’d like to win the alarm program.

The program uses a modular approach giving the user the option to enable or disable modules during installation. The program interface has not changed that much over the years which becomes apparent if you look at previous reviews of the program here on Ghacks. But that is not necessarily a disadvantage as it worked and works quite well for the tasks it can be used for.

FastPictureViewer Pro has three core audiences. Professional photographers, imaging professionals and photo enthusiasts. Photographers often have to quickly sift through a folder of photos that they have taken, and FastPictureViewer allows them to do just that. The application can be used to facilitate the first review pass that usually consists of culling or rating. The program uses software decoders provided by camera manufacturers to always stay on top when it comes to image format support.

Additional features worth noting are intelligent preloading of images in memory for faster loading times, full color management and profiled monitor support, as well as plug and play tethered shooting (connecting the camera via USB to a computer or screen to display them in full screen automatically), Adobe XMP rating and Microsoft photo rating support, color-managed Raw previews and metadata support.

Speed and performance are important to all users, but especially so for imaging professionals. The program supports modern technologies such as multi-processing and multiple-cpu cores, hardware accelerated display adapters and advanced memory management. It sets new limits as far as image quantities and sizes go. FastPictureViewer Professional supports very large images, the developers have for instance tested it with a 466 Megapixel images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The program can be used to go through hundreds of thousands of images without noticeable drop in performance.

The bookmark feature allows imaging professionals to save folder specific image bookmarks, for instance to mark interesting images or to save the current review location to continue going through the images at a later point in time.

FastPictureViewer Professional’s support for XMP can be put to use to quickly add rating tags to images. This way images could receive accepted, undecided and rejected ratings with a single key stroke.

What’s New in 2011

When you look at the modifications that Axel implemented in the last year, you will notice some high caliber additions. FastPictureviewer Professional now features a View Filter which can be used to restrict viewing to images of a specific rating or tag (e.g. only five-star photos or photos marked as undecided).

The program’s GPS Metadata support has been improved. A photos GPS location can now be displayed on screen, and users have options to launch Google Maps, Bing Maps, Flickr or Panoramio. Photos can be sorted by GPS timestamps and GPS data can be used in the program’s batch file processing module.

The new IPTC Metadata Editor plugin adds support to write IPTC fields within files or external XMP sidecars.

Raw format support for new camera modiles have been added, as well as support for Photoshop PSD files and CGI formats.

Useful Links

Here is a selection of links that new users and prospect buyers may find useful.

• Supported image file formats
• FastPictureViewer Professional Download
• Getting started and tutorials

Verdict

I’m an enthusiast when it comes to photography. I recently bought a new Canon EOS DSLR and use FastPictureViewer to quickly go through the photos that I have taken. While I could do the same with other image viewers, they usually come with delays in opening new photos. I leave most of the features of the program to professionals though who will make good use of the features.

Continuous support by the program’s developer, Axel Rietschin, ensures that it stays cutting edge.

Giveaway

We have 20 FastPictureviewer Professional licenses to give away. Please leave a comment below to take part in the drawing. If you like, tell us a bit about why you’d like a license for the program.

Download managers today offer a lot more than the programs at the beginning days of the Internet. Internet Download Manager 6 has been designed to give Internet users full control over their Internet downloads. The application can be used to queue and schedule downloads, resume downloads if supported by the server, increase download speeds by segmenting downloads and a lot more.

Internet Download Manager supports all popular web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera. The program is compatible with all release channels of those browsers. The Firefox add-on that it installs is however only compatible with stable versions of the web browser (downloads are however captured in all editions of Firefox)

Whenever you initiate a download in a supported browser, you will see the following prompt come up.

The program assigns a category automatically for the download. You have options to create your own custom categories which helps with the management of completed downloads.

The download complete window is displayed in the end. This window displays several interesting options.

You can open the file itself or the containing folder. The small icon in the lower right corner can be used to drag and drop the file to another location or program in the operating system.

It is possible to bypass one or both prompts by making changes to the program’s preferences. You can stop and resume downloads at any time by right-clicking on one or multiple downloads in the queue and selecting the appropriate action from the context menu.

File urls can be added directly to the program without the use of a browser. The program supports single and batch downloads via menu or from the clipboard. Batch downloads can be used to download sequential files to the computer system.

Users who like drag and drop operations can enable a small drop target to drag and drop downloads to that target to initiate the downloads.

Download Monitoring

Internet Download Manager automatically recognizes file downloads when it is running. Downloads are on the other hand not limited to specific file types. The program captures programs, documents, music, videos and other file types that you click on to download. On top of that, it may also recognize files that are streamed to the computer. A test on the music blog HypeM for instance displayed download prompts for all mp3 files that the blog offered on its start page.

The download manager can also be used to download videos from popular video hosting services such as YouTube, Gametrailers or MySpace TV. A small video download link was displayed in Google Chrome. The integration did not work in my version of Firefox (that is Firefox Aurora). The reason for this is likely that the add-on that IDM offers to install during setup is not compatible with that particular browser version (check out how to download YouTube videos for lots of options).

Additional Features

Internet Download Manager ships with many under the hood features that may improve a user’s downloading experience significantly. Here is a short overview of some of those features:

• Speed Limiter: You can limit the download speed at any time, for instance when the bandwidth is needed for another operation. Download limits are configured under Connection in the options.
• Automatic Downloads: IDM will download certain file types automatically. You can configure the whitelist and a blacklist in the program options under File types.
• Virus Checking: You can integrate antivirus software with IDM to automatically check file downloads for malicious code.
• Site Logins: Some servers may require authorization for downloads. You can manage site logins to add, edit or remove usernames and passwords.
• Site Grabber: Download specific file types, e.g. image or audio files, a complete web page or all sites of a domain.
• Interface: The interface can be customized to move, remove or add buttons and interface elements.
• Scheduler: You can schedule downloads so that they are downloaded at selected times of the day.

Developer Feedback

Note that IDM takes over downloads unless

1. You hold download a special key (set in IDM Options->General->Keys…) while clicking on a link
2. The site is in the list of exceptions not to take over downloads automatically on IDM “Options -> File Types” tab
3. The integration to this browser is turned off in IDM Options->General tab
4. The file type doesn’t match any type in the list of file types in IDM Options -> File Types

you can use a special key like “Alt” key to play the file in a browser instead of downloading it with IDM. “Alt” key may be defined as a special key in Firefox, in this case you should select a different key in IDM options, General Tab, Keys… button.

If you hold down the ALT key while clicking on a download link in a browser, IDM will not take over the download and let the browser download the file. (you may change this keys in IDM options, General Tab, Keys… button)

Also IDM takes over a download from any browser if its type matches the list of types/extensions. You may edit the list of extensions in “IDMOptions->File Types”. You may remove any extension/type there.

Also you may add the site to the list of exceptions in Options->File Types tab

NOTE that We support Firefox from Beta releases. Thus IDM supports Firefox 8 and 9. Alpha and Aurora development stage of Mozilla does not allow us doing any integration. the changes they do everyday with Aurora interfaces are significant and if we do integration, it will just stop working in a day or two due to interface development/changes that Mozilla developers may make.

Also IDM can be used to download from file sharing sites like Rapidshare. it’s easy if you have a premium account, you will need to select links in a forum with mouse and click on “download with IDM” button that appears above the links

Verdict

Internet Download Manager is a feature rich download manager for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Compatibility with all popular browsers, the large feature set and options to automate downloads make it one of the top programs in its niche.

Giveaway

We have ten lifetime licenses for Internet Download Manager to give away. You can win a license by leaving a comment below. Please let us know why you’d like to win a license. Winners will receive the licenses after New Year.

With different security products available, consumers face the problem that they have to evaluate what type of protections their computer actually needs. Even worse, picking the wrong program can leave the computer open for attacks.

Most vendors produce a basic antivirus protection product that protects and removes malicious software from the computer. The programs usually are bare-bones otherwise with little or even no extra features or protections.

Panda Antivirus Pro 2012 Review

If you look at the feature set of Panda Antivirus Pro 2012 you will notice that it comes equipped with a set of tools usually not found in antivirus software. A quick look at the product page over at the Panda Security website reveals that it ships with a personal firewall, a browser sandbox and several other tools usually not found in antivirus products.

Adding a firewall to the product makes sense from a customer perspective considering that many install only one security product on their system. For Panda, it is a way to distinguish their product from other vendors.

Panda Antivirus Pro 2012 users can install the firewall during installation, or later in the program interface. The program furthermore warns during installation if incompatible software is found on the system. This was the case with a Microsoft Security Essentials installation on the test system.

The program opens up in a dark, functional theme that displays the most important status information right there. Users see if the protections are working correctly, the last time of update as well as scan and detection information. A click on a security module, like firewall, leads directly to the preferences of the selected module.

The main screen links to additional modules near the bottom of the screen. This includes built-in tools like network management or the virtual keyboard, and programs that need to be installed first like the sandboxing component Safe Browser or USB Vaccine.

Protection

It is difficulty to assess the efficiency of antivirus protection. While it is without doubt possible to assess a program’s handling of known threats, it becomes virtually impossible to see how it fares with unknown threats. Still test results can act as indicators of a program’s efficiency in this regard.

AV-Comparatives Retroperspective Test of May 2011 saw Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 (the program’s direct successor) complete the test in fifth place with an advanced certification rating (the second highest). Only two programs, Avira Antivir Premium 10 and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2011 received the highest rating of Advanced Plus.

AV-Test did not test Panda Antivirus Pro, only Panda Internet Security 2012. The program scored 15.5 out of 18 points, only topped by Bitdefender with a score of 16.5 out of 18.

Other reviewers, like Pc Mag’s Neil J. Rubenking came to the conclusion that Panda’s detection rate was better than its malware removal rate.

Reports

Reports are one of the strengths of Panda Antivirus Pro 2012. A click on the reports tab opens a menu with options to display event reports, and to display statistics and advanced statistics.

The event report is the program’s history log. Updates, malware detections and actions are displayed here in a table. Options to find, filter, print, export and delete entries are available. Panda users can use the information presented here to find out at first glance what happened security wise on their computer at a specific data and time.

The statistics and advanced statistics module display information about a certain time frame. Information include the program’s scanners but also network attacks blocked by the firewall.

Tips

First thing that new Panda users should do is to download Panda Safe CD from the official website. This is a recovery CD that the computer can be booted from when malware has damaged the system.

Another interesting find is that Panda Antivirus Pro 2012 can be installed and run in Safe Mode. Safe Mode is a bare bones mode of the operating system that prevents the majority of installed software and even some system components from being started with the operating system.

Safe Browser, included as a download link in the interface, is actually a standalone program that everyone can download and run. It consists of a version of the Firefox web browser running inside VirtualBox. The sandboxed environment ensures that attacks against the browser are blocked from reaching the operating system. The solution concentrates on one browser, products by other vendors allow the user to sandbox any program.

Warnings can be configured in the program preferences. Here you can enable or disable warnings for specific events.

Cpu load management can be enabled in the preferences as well. That’s especially interesting for slower systems that notice slow downs during scans. Enabling the option reduces the product’s cpu usage during scans.

Verdict

Panda Antivirus Pro 2012 ships with a lot of extras, like the aforementioned firewall component. Some components, Safe Browser and USB Vaccine, are standalone programs and not integrated into the product. More important than the module a security software ships with is how well it protects the operating system from threats and attacks. For Panda that ranged from top results to average results at best.

Giveaway

Panda Security has sponsored 10 Panda Antivirus Pro 2012 licenses. You can win a license by leaving a comment below. Please include your current security software setup in the comment.