When talking about privacy and security the one thing that Windows clearly lacks is the facility to hide a folder of your choice from everyone else. The hide attribute is hardly of any use as anyone can use folder options to show the hidden files. In such a case a third party software like hide folder can come to your aid.
The software is a freeware although any monetary contribution is greatly appreciated by the developers. While running it for the first time it would prompt you to enter a password which later can be reset and that becomes the only key for your locked folders. The folders to be hidden can be selected from within the software using the ‘Add’ button.
The software also prompts you to backup the folder hiding information when you hide it for safety purposes in case of an error occurring on your system. Remember though that what is backed up is not the folder data but only the information generated by the software. A backup option for the folder too would have a been an added asset though.
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Many people carry the notion that Free anti-virus softwares can’t match the dexterity of licensed ones. To some extent even I thought the same and therefore decided to test a few of these free guards and pit them against the paid ones. The first of the series, Alwil’s Avast Antivirus Home Edition is here for you.
Prima Facie, you will be struck by its slick looks. The media player like looks is quite refreshing. It comprises of almost every functionality offered by its commercial counterparts and being being free, is a users delight.
PROS
1. Good scanning speed
Waiting hours for a full system scan to complete is something I totally hate. In that respect Avast pleased me with its decent scanning speed while carrying a full system scan which is about 20% faster than one of its commercial counterparts that I’ve previously used.
2. Skin-able Interface
Looks do matter! You don’t have to see the same banal interface every time you turn it on. With an option to start with a random interface in every session and a myriad of skins available online, it treats you with some excellent interfaces.
3. Low Memory Consumption
While running in the background its resident scanner consumes less than 15 MB of memory and thus puts no load on the system performance at all.
4. Offers Boot Time Scanning
CONS
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To take a deeper plunge into the details of your computer hardware, you need a utility like the one reviewed here or this one.
Crystal CPUID collects all sorts of information about your system from all nooks and corners of your computer and presents you a comprehensive chart.
Advantages
1. A comprehensive and In depth Information provider
Crystal CPUID conjures an exhaustive and detailed list of information like motherboard, processor, memory, BIOS, chipset, OS, cache etc. While the amount of information may be overwhelming for some, to some they may just be the goose they were chasing.
2.Advanced Features
Consists of certain advanced features like multiplier management, MSR Editor, Transmeta information etc.
3. It is portable and light
It comes as an executable file and the whole package consisting of some auxiliary files and readme etc occupies a meager 553 KB. Also, while it gathers all the information in a fraction of a second and without causing any effect on the performance at all.
Limitations
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A very simple and straightforward disk Benchmarking tool, Crystal DiskMark helps you assess the performance of your hard drive.
It has two parameters on which it evaluates the performance of your hard drive – Sequential read/write test and Random read/write test. For this, the options that you get include selecting the number of tests, size of data to test with and the drive to test. The software is an executable file and doesn’t need any installation and just like all tools of its ilk, this one too is a mini-sized tool.
The interface is minimal which is good but the use of a few more words on its window naming the different figures that appear could have made it even better.
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A couple of days back I had my laptop running on AC supply while I was listening to some of my favorite songs lying on my bed. And suddenly I dozed off only to wake up seven hours later and still finding my over 4 GB song-list being played. That’s when I started searching for a shutdown scheduler and came across this truly useful software called PowerOff.
Positives of PowerOff :
1. PowerOff is a simple shutdown scheduler which offers you a wide spectrum of actions to be chosen from. The count goes up to 11.
2. It also has the facility to alert you by running a particular program, issue a warning message or force close an application at the scheduled time. The scheduled time can be immediate, a particularly mentioned time or the moment when a process stops.
3. One can also control a remote computer if connected, in a similar way.
4. The interface is simple and all options are present in a single compact window.
5. You can also enable or disable the canceling of the scheduled activity.
6. To add to its merits, it is a standalone application and occupies less than 200 KB.
Negatives of PowerOff :
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When talking about privacy and security the one thing that Windows clearly lacks is the facility to hide a folder of your choice from everyone else. The hide attribute is hardly of any use as anyone can use folder options to show the hidden files. In such a case a third party software like hide folder can come to your aid.
