With a lot of content and music genre demand selection, the internet is providing an avenue for us to enjoy the tunes we love. A great example of this is a software program from UK called Last.FM
This is similar to the popular Pandora music player.

The difference between Last.fm and Pandora

The difference with Last.FM is its the social networking aspect. It’s like combining Pandora with the social networking abilities of Friendster. To use Last.FM, you need to download its software bundle first then install. Not unlike in Pandora that you just have to go to its website to start listening to music. So if you will be using Last.FM on a different location or PC, you always need to install the software program first.

Last.fm recommends songs

The most unique thing about Last.FM is that it could automatically recommend to you songs, artists, or genre when you are listening to music. This is done through analyzing the songs that you are playing most often, or the groups that you are associated with.

Audioscrobbler

This recommendation would not be possible if you are not running the Audioscrobbler plug-ins. When this option is turned on it will start collecting data about the selection of songs you are playing and post it on your profiles for others to see. It could also recommend to you groups or individuals who have the same musical preference as yours. Also with these features you could look into other peoples profile to see what they are inclined to listen too.
Now if you are a bit paranoid about the “Big Brother” effect then it is not for you. But looking at it on another perspective it could be useful for you as a music enthusiast. With the information and recommendation that it is feeding, you could discover new artists or genre that is close to your taste. Also come to think of it, the Audioscrobbler is not getting your credit card no., Social Security no., nor your bank details; so there is minimal cause for alarm.

Last.fm’s interface

The interface for the music is very well laid out. It is very appealing to the user and intuitive enough to be used by a beginner. It might lack the complexities of other music players but it negates this notion by its solid functionality. You will clearly see interfaces such as favorite stations, recommendations, loved tracks, recently played, or banned. This will be very useful when organizing the song that you want to listen to.
A little drawback about Last.FM is the inability to repeat a track. If you will click on the previous track that you liked only a 30-second sampler will be played. This is a minor hiccup and considering that it is still an FM radio station.

Download Last.fm

Software developers release patches or sometimes executable files that will automatically update a particular application. These updates are necessary to fix bugs that are found in the course of its usage. It might be that a new feature is being added to the existing program that will make it more compatible to the present operating system. Some of these programs have an auto- update feature built in to them. This usually will prompt the user to download a particular patch or batch file to start the application update. But most of the time this software does not have an auto-update feature built into it.

What happens is that you need to manually go into individual software website and manage the update yourself. But this manual exercise is very tedious, time consuming and is prone to errors. This is where the FileHippo Update tracker comes in. This is a very small utility program (about a 100KB) that will do the upgrade for you automatically and instantly.

Installing
Upon installing the FileHippo Update Tracker, it will scan your PC for files that are being used and those that might have been installed but is not used that often. When the scan is finished it will show you the list of programs that you have in your file directories. It will also show you the installed programs and then compare it with the version they have on FileHippo.com. This scan will be very quick and will usually last a couple of seconds (depends on the specification of the CPU you are using). It will present this in a tabular and user friendly interface and even displays the Beta update that was done with selected programs.

Also big download radio buttons are present for you to select which programs you will want to update first. This could be done individually or simultaneously depending on your preference. The downloading times will also be dependent on the size and the number of files you are updating. The only real problem is if FileHippo.com doesn’t have the necessary update files for your programs. But with the way things are running FileHippo.com has its work cut out, they are increasing their software data base on a regular basis.

FileHippo.com Update Checker is 100% Free
The best thing about all this is that FileHippo Update Tracker is absolutely free. You just need to download it on FileHippo.com; you don’t need that much time either because it will download for only about 3 seconds. Also FileHippo.com has a privacy policy that states that it is not downloading any personal information from your computer. It just only gathers software versions and other information necessary for it to update your files.

It is currently available for Windows 98, ME, 200, 2003, and XP.

Go to FileHippo.com to download the Update Checker

It all started from the utilitarian DOS then advancing to Windows into the new generation of OS we now call Vista. For computer geeks, tweaking the computers OS to squeeze in every amount of performance is quite easy. But to the uninitiated this could become a technological nightmare. But worry no more because the Thoosje Vista Tweaker is here.

Thoosje Vista Tweaker
The Thoosje Vista Tweaker is recognized as the first professional program that is able to tweak Vista performance; making it much faster and efficient. Most importantly it is free and could be downloaded off the internet from accredited download sites.

It boast of 60 Vista tweaks that could make your system run faster, more importantly, you could do this tweaking even though you don’t have any knowledge about system settings and registry. With the Thoosje Vista Tweaker, you could safely manage your PC’s basic Vista settings which includes; secure, network and file settings in the registry. It could also manage your start-up menu via the start-up manager. Your Internet browsing could also be improved by tweaking the Internet Explorer settings for downloads, security, and zone restrictions to name a few.

Most importantly it will boost your Vista equipped system by managing its boot process and enhancing application program performance. All this could be controlled by the highly interactive interface that it has.  The menu is quite logically arranged and very appealing to the senses. The degree of complication in using the program is unnoticeable since all the selection is easy to understand. There is also an option included where you could choose what to optimize first, be it the System UI, Internet Explorer, or General performance. However, if you feel like not going into all that trouble and detail, you could just perform the tweaks in one instance.

Download Thoosje Vista Tweaker

Download Thoosje Vista Tweaker from the publishers website, this ensures you have got the most recent version.

Then after installing, start the program from the shortcut it created in the desktop. It is important to make a backup before tweaking away with this software. Don’t worry it will ask you to make a backup before starting to tweak; this will be saved in an XML file.

Now if something went wrong, there is an easy restore function that will roll back your system to its original setting.
Overall this is a robust and well designed tweaker that will surely make some difference in the performance of your Vista based system.

Unlocker = adware?

Some review sites branded it as adware rather than a freeware (which is absolutely free). In the Unlocker’s case there is an option to download ebay shortcuts that will be embedded in your browser. Though this is completely optional and it is not required to run the Unlocker program.

What does Unlocker do?
If you have tried to delete some files before, you probably came across some files that are locked. Usually if you will try to delete these files you will get a windows error messages. These messages might look like or read like this;

“Cannot delete file: Access is denied”
“There has been a sharing violation”
“The source or destination file may be in use”
“The file is in use by another program or user”
“Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use”

If you encounter any of these error messages while deleting a file then the Unlocker utility is the answer to all your troubles. It is very simple to use and activate. After the installation procedure, just select the file or folder you want to delete. Put your cursor over the file or folder and right click on the mouse button. After right clicking, select on the drop down menu a selection named “Unlocker”. After you clicked this file or folder, a list of unlockers will be generated; that is if the file is locked and protected.

After this the files or folders will be unlocked and could now be deleted. The procedure is really that simple and easy. With this utility in hand your file system or folders will be cleaner and organized. Usually errors regarding locked files come out during uninstalling some programs in your PC or laptops. You will oftentimes see some file or two that the installer has failed to erase from your system.

As of now Unlocker 1.8.7 is now available to run only on Windows XP, Windows 2000/2003, and Vista. The author is still developing to make the version compatible to Windows XP 64 and Windows Vista 64.

During installation you could also opt to activate the Unlocker Assistant Option. What it does is it puts the Unlocker program in your system tray. Everytime you try to delete a locked file the Unlocker will automatically run. There is no need to right-click on the mouse to activate the program.

So give Unlocker 1.8.7 a try today and kiss your file deletion problems away.

Download the most recent version of Unlocker at the publishers official website

But there are viruses that have the malicious intent of creating havoc with your computer system. Oftentimes, this malicious virus causes havoc that could cause millions of dollar worth of damages (in terms of productivity and data corruption). The bad news is that these viruses are becoming more virulent as its creator gets more tech savvy. So we turn to the venerable anti-virus program to protect us from this mischievous software virus. There is a lot of anti-virus software that are available in the market. Companies like Norton and Symantec are specializing in the field of virus protection software. But we will discuss a popular, and more importantly, free anti-virus software; that is the AVG anti-virus free edition.

Grisoft

The AVG anti-virus software came from the company Grisoft. The name AVG came from the company’s first product which is named Anti Virus Guard. The AVG anti-virus free edition is currently available for Windows 98, ME, NT, 2003, XP as well as Vista. This anti-virus program is used by about 70 million users worldwide.

AVG 8.0

The newest AVG anti-virus, the AVG free 8.0, was released on April 24, 2008. Installing the program is easy and quite straightforward. The total size of the file is only 30 MB and running only 4 processes. This will be an advantage to people with older PC that have limited resources.

After set up, the AVG anti-virus will initiate the proper settings for your computer. Usually it will update its virus definition to the most updated version. The settings could also be tweaked using the User Interface Screen. The AVG anti-virus is not only for anti-virus protection; it is also bundled with an anti-spyware protection engine, E-mail scanner, LinkScanner, Search-Shield safe search protection and a Resident Shield.

Limitations

However there are some limitations for the AVG anti-virus free edition. It offers slow updates for virus definition. It just gives less protection as it offers only basic protection; it does not protect users from phishing, keyloggers, and malicious file downloads. It doesn’t have any email nor telephone support, users only have access to AVG self-help forums if you need support.

Also AVG free edition cannot be installed on server supported system nor can it be used for scanning network drives. But all this will be available if you get the AVG professional edition, although this version is not free.

However for the everyday user the AVG anti-virus free edition offers enough protection against viruses.

Download AVG Free

This tinny program will save up to 70% of your battery by disabling those nice, but greedy Vista features. Running in task bar with private workset of 5.5M and 0% CPU it will do all work for you, by enabling and disabling customizable features when power source changed or battery power fall under certain percent.

Vista Battery Saver is easy to use. You have three main options to save battery power:

• Enable or disable Windows Aero Interface
• Enable or disable Windows Sidebar
• Choose which power plan Vista should use when running on battery and on AC power.

If you choose to disable Aero in Vista Battery Saver, Aero will run when your computer is running on AC power, but as soon as your computer starts running on battery power it will disable Aero. Sane applies for the Sidebar. This way you save battery power and you can use Vista’s nice features when using AC power.

Vista Battery Saver will run in the system tray without interrupting your work, it uses about 5.5MB of your computers system memory, a small sacrifice for better battery performance!

Download Vista Battery Saver

What is KillBox?
KillBox is a tool to delete in-use files. If the file is running, KillBox will attempt to end the process (close the running file) and delete it. For more difficult files that have loaded .dll’s or are services, Delete on Reboot will use the native Windows function of deleting or replacing in-use files.

To run this utility simply extract the archive and run killbox.exe, type in or browse for the file/folder you want to delete and choose the type of deleting you want:

• Standard File Kill - this option will try to stop the file from running and then delete it
• Delete On Reboot - this option will delete the file before Windows has finished booting up
• Replace On Reboot - this option will replace the given file or folder with a file/folder you choose or with a dummy file

If you have problems deleting a file try ending the explorer shell while deleting

Download KillBox

CCleaner is a tool designed to reduce this effect by deleting files that you don’t need and removing invalid entries in the registry. After running CCleaner you can expect to have a faster and more reliable computer, you’ll even get more disc space!

CCleaner Review

Lets start with the developers description of CCleaner:

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

Sounds good, right? Lets have a closer look on what CCleaner actually cleans:

Temp files and similar from the following applications:

• Internet Explorer
• Recycle Bin
• Clipboard
• Windows Temporary files
• Windows Log files
• Recent Documents (on the Start Menu)
• Run history (on the Start Menu)
• Windows XP Search Assistant history
• Windows XP old Prefetch data
• Windows memory dumps after crashes
• Chkdsk file fragments

Temporary files and recent file lists for the following applications:

• Firefox
• Opera
• Safari
• Media Player
• eMule
• Kazaa
• Google Toolbar
• Netscape
• Microsoft Office
• Nero
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• WinRAR
• WinAce
• WinZip

and more…

You may also choose to clean:

• Menu Order cache
• Tray Notifications Cache
• Window Size and Location Cache
• User Assist history
• IIS Log Files
• Custom Folders

We do not recommend you choosing the last six them if you aren’t a advanced user
and know what you are doing.
What we think so far:

The list is long, but running CCleaner doesn’t take a lot of time. We have also experienced that we got more disc space to play with after deleting lots of temp files, if you have used your computer for
some time it isn’t unusual that CCleaner would delete several
gigabytes of crap. Remember to defrag your hard drive if this happens to you!
The registry cleaning:

CCleaner is designed from the ground to be safe and secure to use. It has
multiple levels of checks in place to ensure that it won’t delete any useful information or documents you may still need.

CCleaner is capable of cleaning the following entries from the registry:

• File Extensions
• ActiveX Controls
• ClassIDs
• ProgIDs
• Uninstallers
• Shared DLLs
• Fonts
• Help File references
• Application Paths
• Icons
• Invalid Shortcuts and more…

Our Conclusion:

We have been using CCleaner for several months now, and we think that CCleaner is getting better and better by every program update. Did we mention that CCleaner got a auto update function? There is a new CCleaner release every month so remember to update CCleaner!
Cleaner is fast in use as long as you choose just to delete files, but if you choose the safe file deletion it takes much longer time, but this is normal as the files are overwritten several times. For normal users we would recommend just using the normal deletions method, but if you want your temp files to really be deleted, then go ahead, use the secure file deletion.
The registry cleaner part of CCleaner is not the best registry cleaner out there, but it’s good enough for a normal Windows user. Remember that this piece of software is free! Available in 35 different languages.

Pros:

• Freeware
• Easy in use
• Fast
• Doesn’t delete needed files/entries

Cons:

• Not the best registry cleaner

Download CCleaner

Cleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization tool. That removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. The best part is that it’s fast! (normally taking less that a second to run) and Free.

Whats the difference between CCleaner and CCleaner Portable?

CCleaner portable is not dependent on regsvr32.exe or regedit.exe as the normal version of CCleaner is.

You can save your CCleaner settings in a INI file called ccleaner.ini. This file is created the first time you run Portable CCleaner. This makes it possible to customize what CCleaner Portable should clean.

Here is my ccleaner.ini:

[Options]
UpdateKey=05/30/2008 03:27:52 PM
(App)Hotfix Uninstallers=True
(App)Old Prefetch data=True
(App)Desktop Shortcuts=True
(App)Start Menu Shortcuts=True
WINDOW_MAX=1
WINDOW_LEFT=330
WINDOW_TOP=272
WINDOW_WIDTH=620
WINDOW_HEIGHT=450

After you have made a INI file you could burn CCleaner to a CD, if you are just going to put CCleaner Portable on an external hard drive or memory stick you can just place CCleaner Portable on it without making the INI file first.

Download Portable CCleaner

Recuva (pronounced “recover”) is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!

How does Recuva work?
When you first run Recuva you get a screen letting you choose what filetype(s) you would like to recover. I found this to be very practical because it makes Recuva only search for the needed files, and not all deleted files.

Then Recuva starts scanning for the filetype(s) you selected. Under is the result screen.

Now you will just have to select the files you would like to recover and let Recuva do its magic. Recuva does also include an auto updater so you will stay updated

Download Recuva