Wednesday, November 30, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


AVIRA Free Anti-Virus 2012 (12.0.0.861) – Freeware Review

Posted: 29 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

The Rating Scale Breakdown:

  • 0  – 0.5 – Abysmal
  • 1.0 – 1.5 – Terrible
  • 2.0 – 2.5 – Poor
  • 3.0 – 3.5 – Average
  • 4.0 – 4.5 – Great
  • 5.0 – Excellent
  • Undetermined – Too soon to tell or lacking evidence to provide a solid answer
  • Not Tested – Has yet to be requested or there is some limitations to prevent accurate test results

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Price: Free

A. Installation AVG5.0 "Excellent" – A very easy 2-3 click install.

B. Un-installing AVG4.5 "Great" – Very easy to un-install. But you will require a reboot. To completely remove AVIRA from your system.

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C. Stability Of Program4.0 "Great"There is a minor glitch with regards to the AVIRA pop-up ad on the lower right hand corner of your screen. Not being able to be close or remind me later. Also been known to lag out some computers.

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D. Has AVIRA Free Been Compromised By Hackers Or Virus5.0 "Excellent" – No issues reported thus far

E. Speed of Scan3.5 "Average" – Pretty slow when you compare it to most other freeware anti-virus software out there.

F. Does AVIRA Free Do Automatic Updates By Itself Without Any Issue4.0 "Great" – Yes. But often it seems that doing a manual product update will yield newer versions earlier then. You are normally prompted.

G. Internet Browser Cookie Detection Rate And Removal Test1.5 "Terrible" - You are way better off with something like SUPERAntiSpyware or CCleaner that is more dedicated to removal of Internet cookies. AVIRA's Internet cookie detection rate is terrible even with the option active and checked off.

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1. Anti-Virus Detection Rate Test:

1A. Windows XP4.5 "Great"

1B. Windows Vista4.5 "Great"

1C. Windows 7 - 4.5 "Great"

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2. Anti-Spyware1.5 "Terrible" – AVIRA still seems to miss very common and not so common spyware/adware. You are much better off with SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot as your adware, spyware, malware protection.

3. AVIRA WebGurad3.0 "Average" – Not a fan. But it can be very very useful to some.

4. AVIRA Security ToolBar2.0 "Poor" – This toolbar can cause crashes on a number of Internet browsers. We also noticed it caused some strange behavior when dealing with certain websites.

5. Root Kit Detection Rate4.0 "Great" – Even thou AVIRA does not have a dedicated Root Kit scanner like the new AVG 2012 does. It still has a rather good detection rate overall.

6. AVIRA SupportNot Tested - With only a free rather complex forum to use. This has to be one of the easier parts of AVG to rate SADLY.

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My Overall Score: 55.5/75

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74.4 % = B -

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My Final Verdict -PART 1- Avira Free lacks many of the features of it's direct competition. For me just having a 3 main feature line up (Main residential shield, web gurad and link scanner AKA toolbar) is no longer good enough for an Anti-Virus going into 2012. Regardless if you factor in its free.

My Final Verdict -PART 2- Normally I would highly recommend AVIRA Free. And don't get me wrong, I still do for people that want a less complicated anti-virus or just want a really simple overall user interface.

But for me to recommend this over AVG 2012 or even AVAST Free. Is hard for me to do. For one AVG 2012 has way more features and no ad/nag screen to deal with. Then there is AVAST. Where if you don't mind lag on older systems it comes packed with something like 12 or so different shields and or filters. To cover your whole PC with more protection then you can shake a stick at (And it is free as well).

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Here are 2 links to download AVIRA Free Anti-Virus:

1. http://www.avira.com/en/for-home (AVIRA's Main Site)

2. Download link not available at this time for this version (Via Download.com/Cnet)

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Return To The Main Reviews Page

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Till The Next Review,

Kirbe



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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


Blog Update #193.5 – The Remy “Se7en” Edition

Posted: 29 Nov 2011 03:45 AM PST

Dear Readers,

As this title suggests this blog update is all about our Editor In-Chief, Remy "Se7en". Unfortunately we will be experiencing a delay with some of our content this week by  posted to (CSW) – The Computer Savvy Weblog throughout this week. This is due to Remy "Se7en" taking severe internet issues, as he is being cut off on a fifteen minute rotation. This is due to his modem/router giving up the dust and dying on him. He has contacted his ISP (Internet Service Provider), who have told him that he won't receive a new modem/router for at least 3-5 days.

But we will try our best to answer your comments/e-mails. (though you should expect a delay). We apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thanks again for your understanding.

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Look Forward To Bringing You More Updates ASAP.

Matt Stanyon (On Behalf of Remy "Se7en")



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What Does The Short Form “SEO” Stand For ?

Posted: 28 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

SEO or Search Engine Optimization – is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.

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Return To The Main Features Page

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Source: Wikipedia



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Monday, November 28, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


LightSpeed Consumer Panel – Survey Site Review (Nov 2011)

Posted: 27 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

Name: LightSpeed Consumer Panel

Link: http://us.lightspeedpanel.com/US/public/index.us -American Site Link-

Link: http://ca.lightspeedpanel.com/CA/public/index.ca -Canadian Site Link-

Who Is Eligible To Participate: US and Canadian residents only

Type Of Award Or Payment: Sweepstakes / Points (Cash or Prizes) / Paypal Money

Points Or Cash Normally Earned Per Survey: 0 – 1000 points

Sign-Up Time: Really Short

How Many Survey Invitations Should You Expect Per Week: 0 – 20

How Long Does It Take To Collect A Reward Or Cash Out: Less then a year

Do They Spam You: No

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 – This survey company has kept on raising the number of LightSpeed points (An average of 300 points each 8 to 12 months). That you will need to cash in for their rewards.

1. First off LightSpeed has raised its overall number of surveys invites quite a bit @ least via the Canadian branch of their site.

2. The second thing I wanted to give LightSpeed Survey Panel major credit for. Is that I got my PayPal payout in less then 48 hours and that was for the max $40 dollar CAD payout.

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Return To The Main Reviews Page

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Till The Next Post,

Remy "Se7en"



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Sunday, November 27, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


Blog Update #193 – This Week (CSW) Will Be Kicking Off Our “Internship And CO-OP” Drive

Posted: 26 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

Dear Readers,

This Week (CSW) Will Be Posting A Brand New Page / Tab Called "Internships And CO-OP's". Where all who wish to apply for this coming (Jan 2012) as well as future positions as ether a co-op student or an intern for The Computer Savvy Weblog. You'll be able to find all the information you will need to apply. Along with descriptions of what you'll need and what the job will entail. As well as what we will need from you and your school to be able to achieve one of 6 positions. We are offering.

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-Between Nov 21st 2011 – Nov 28th 2011-

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Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog News Post

- New Spybot – Search & Destroy Definition Update Available (2011-11-16)

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Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog Feature

- Scam Watch: JustAnswer.com Is It A Scam ? Or Is It Just A Really Bad Investment ?

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Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog Review

- SpeedFan (4.45) – Freeware Review

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Till The Next Blog Update,

Danny



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Saturday, November 26, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


AutoFill Forms (0.9.8.3) – Mozilla FireFox Add-on Review

Posted: 25 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

AutoFill Forms (0.9.8.3)

A. Ease Of Use: 4/5 – Getting better with every update. But it takes some getting use to. And short cuts could be way easier to use.

B. Security: (Very Un-secure) – If you don't mind giving all your basic information away. To whom ever is on your computer and decides to load up FireFox. Then you have no problem. This type of information is really easy to get anyways from Google or from your local phone book.

C. Usefulness: 4/5 – Very very useful if you are tired of always filling out the same online forms over and over again. AutoFill will fill in most online forms with a touch of the pencil icon. But there are still sometimes errors that occur once in a while. But they are by no  means a deal breaker.

D. FireFox Slow Down: None

E. Computer Slow Down: None

F. What Type Of User Would I Recommend To Use This Add-on: Any FireFox user could benefit from this add-on.

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Download Link: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/autofill-forms/

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Return To The Main Reviews Page

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Till The Next Review,

Danny



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Friday, November 25, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


EPD 69: Fan Mail Friday’s (11/25/2011)

Posted: 24 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

To Whom It May Concern,

I've been an on and off fan of (CSW) for almost 2 years now. So anyways I was wondering. How do you guys come up with your review scores ?

Sent In By Candace & Sharpie

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How do you guys come up with your review scores ?

Reply:  Well we actually have a few ways of figuring out our overall review scores.

Method #1. A 1st persons preceptive of the item in question. (Meaning only testing done by that one member determines the overall score.)

Method #2. The teams overall perspective. (Meaning every member runs their own tests and that factors into the overall score.)

Method #3. A membership / readership perspective. (Meaning both (CSW's) membership and (CSW's) readership runes their own tests. And reports back to us and that determines the overall score.)

* We use Method #1 for smaller software such as FireFox add-ons, Some common Freeware such as Auslogic Disk Defrag. We also use this method for paidware. Were only 1 of our membership has the full or paid version of the software. Such as AVG Internet Security 2011 or 2012.

** We use Method #2 for larger more complex software such as AVG, AVIRA, SUPERAntiSpyware ect. We also use this method with a lot of our Vs. Review features.

**** We use Method #3 for survey reviews, some site reviews. As well as some of our more complex features.

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Return To The Main Features Page

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Till Next Friday,

Danny



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Mozilla FireFox (9.0) Beta Build Is Now Available To Download

Posted: 24 Nov 2011 12:07 PM PST

Dear Readers,

It appears that Mozilla FireFox has a new (9.0) Beta build. Which is now available to download in a ton of different languages to suit you taste and background.

** I personally have not downloaded this new beta build as of yet. But a few of our members may.

So I can't say I would recommend it because it is still in the very very early Beta stages. But if you do give it a whirl by all means let us know what you think and I'll post it..

Here is the link to the FireFox (9.0) Beta build download: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Till The Next FireFox Update,

William



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Blog Update #192.5 – Follow My Private Danny_DNA_ Twitter Account And I’ll Follow You Right Back

Posted: 24 Nov 2011 12:00 PM PST

Dear Readers,

As the title suggests. If you follow my private Danny_DNA_ Twitter account. I'll follow you right back.

If you are interested in doing so here is the link: http://twitter.com/#!/Danny_DNA_

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PS: I do all the hiring @ The Computer Savvy Weblog. Just Saying…..So that maybe something you may want to keep in mind. When you are deciding if you want to follow me or not.

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Look Forward To Seeing You There,

Danny



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Thursday, November 24, 2011

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog

smartdollars The Computer Savvy Weblog


SUPERAntiSpyware (5.0.1136) Free Edition Vs. SUPERAntiSpyware (5.0.1136) Professional Edition – Side By Side Review

Posted: 23 Nov 2011 09:15 PM PST

Dear Readers,

A lot of people have been asking me to compare SUPERAntiSpyware Free to SUPERAntiSpyware Pro (Paid Version).

- Size Of Initial Download

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: 12 MB - http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html 

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: 12 MB - http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html (TrailWare Version Link)

- Ease Of Use

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Very easy to use

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Very easy to use

- Is It Reliable ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes, very much so.

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes, very much so.

- How Long Does It Take To Scan ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: About 30 min – 1hrs 15mins -For Complete scan- (Average)

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: About 30 min – 1hrs 15mins -For Complete scan- (Average)

- Does It Have A Progress Bar Or % Done ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: No progress bar or % done

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: No progress bar or % doneprogress bar with % done

- Does It Have An Active Residential Shield ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: No

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes

- How Good Is The Residential Shield ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Not applicable

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: It's there but I have never had a detection.

- Does It Have A Browser Cookie Scanner ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Excellent. Not many programs other then CCleaner can do better.

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Excellent. Not many programs other then CCleaner can do better.

- How Good Is The Cookie Detection Rate ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Not that good. Again the option needs to be checked off in "Advanced Settings" to activate

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Not that good. Again the option needs to be checked off in "Advanced Settings" to activate

- Does It Have A P2P File Scanner ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: No

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: No

- How Easy Is It To Get And To Read The Reports Or Results ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: A lot of information is packed into the reports. But I woudl be hard pressed to understand it all myself.

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: A lot of information is packed into the reports. But I woudl be hard pressed to understand it all myself.

- How Stable Is It?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: No stability issues reported thous far. And I doubt there will be in the near future

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: No stability issues reported thous far. And I doubt there will be in the near future

- How Often Does It Update ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Once every 8hrs (Excluding weekends). But you most manually update SUPERAntiSpyware yourself.

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Once every 8hrs (Excluding weekends). And it is done automatically without need for human intervention.

- Ability To Catch Viruses That Other Programs Don't Catch

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Better then Spybot and generally overall it clobbers its other competition.

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Better then Spybot and generally overall it clobbers its other competition.

- Can I Do Other Things While Running A Scan ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes, But for best scan results do not leave any Internet browser open. Also you may see some slow down on older computers.

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes, But for best scan results do not leave any Internet browser open. Also you may see some slow down on older computers.

- Can I Run Programs While Updating ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes

- Does SUPERAntiSpyware Take Up A Lot Of Resources ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes, at times (It is highly recommended that you run the full system scan during your computers downtime)

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes, at times (It is highly recommended that you run the full system scan during your computers downtime)

- Does It Have Ads In It ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes, a small ad within the definition update box offering you discounts to upgrade to the full version. (Barely noticeable to most)

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: No

Is There A Limit Number Of Day Like 30, 60, or 90 Day ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: No such limit

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes,

- Will SUPERAntiSpyware Run On Window's 7 ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes

- Will SUPERAntiSpyware Run On Vista ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes

- Will SUPERAntiSpyware Run On Windows XP ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes

- Will SUPERAntiSpyware Run On Windows 2000 ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes

- Will SUPERAntiSpyware Run On Windows 98 ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: No

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: No

- Is There Good Tech Support ?

SUPERAntiSpyware -Free Edition-: Yes

SUPERAntiSpyware -Professional Edition-: Yes, but more comprehensive then the Freeware version. But that is to be expected.

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Return To The Main Features Page

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Till The Next Update,

Remy "Se7en"



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New Spybot – Search & Destroy Definition Update Available (2011-11-23)

Posted: 23 Nov 2011 12:08 PM PST

Dear Readers,

Hello and welcome to my post that will be continuing to following all of the Spybot – Search & Destroy weekly definition updates.

Here is the full list of updates:

2011-11-23

Malware

- Fraud.Sysguard

- Win32.FraudLoad.edt

- Win32.Kazy.pld

- Win32.Renos

Trojans

- Win32.Buzus

- Win32.Genome.cudo

- Win32.MessengerPlus

- Win32.Muollo

- Win32.NrgBot.rtk

- Win32.OnLineGames.down

- Win32.Slenfbot.A

- Win32.Smadow

- Win32.ZBot

Total: 2479971 fingerprints in 778467 rules for 6394 products.3

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To see the full list in it's original glory. Please use the following link: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html

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If you would like to download Spybot – Search & Destroy please use the following link: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

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Till The Next Spybot Update,

William



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