The Great Indian 'Antivirus' Mystery !!

Protecting your computer from viruses is important! One nasty virus could expose your financial information or stop your computer from working at all. What you need is the best Antivirus software possible on your computer.  

Today, most of us encounter threat attacks in the form of Virus, Worm, Trojan, Spyware, Malware, Rootkit (I will brief about these in my later blog) which eventually end-up formatting our PC, the question which remains in our mind "Did I select a wrong Antivirus program? or Which Antivirus program is good? or What to choose, a free Antivirus program or a paid one?"

Restricting our discussion to home users category to which many of us belong, we will see what are the parameters while selecting a Antivirus program? And, finally conquering the myth of paid v/s free Antiviurs program.

Let's begin...

First of all, erase the myth from your mind that only paid Antivirus programs are good. A free Antivirus program is as good as a paid one, and luckily, some of the best Antivirus programs are completely free!  

Before selecting any of the Antivirus program, we must first understand that every Antivirus program while offering bundle of features take heavy toll on our system's performance, i.e. slowing it down, consuming more battery (if system is portable one), etc. 

So, if your system and your wallet can afford such programs, you can surely go for a full-featured Antivirus program, which is obviously a professional version of the program for which license of the same is to be purchased, by paying the necessary fee.

Here is the list of top three (in my opinion) paid Antivirus program which offer your system comprehensive protection against any possible threat, on line and off-line:

1. BitDefender Antivirus  
2. Kaspersky Antivirus
3. Webroot Antivius

What about the free ones?

So why are some of the very best Antivirus programs free? Many popular Antivirus companies offer free versions of their programs for home users while offering versions with more advanced features as an upgrade option for professional and business users.

As a home user, we belong to the category of users who want a free Antivirus program offering real-time protection from viruses. Now let's come straight to the point, below is the list of 3 Antivirus progams (in random order) with brief description, which I have personally used for more than a year, and find really promising. You can go for the same, if you feel like.

1. AVG Anti-Virus Free

Anti-Virus Free from AVG is the best free antivirus software available. AVG Anti-Virus Free is a full-fledged antivirus and antispyware tool, includes an email scanner, link scanner, scheduled scanning options, automatic updates, and more. There is no need to pay for an Antivirus program when the best free Antivirus software in the world is just a download away.

AVG Anti-Virus Free works on Windows 7/Vista/XP. The huge number of premium features, frequency of updating, and install-it-and-forget-it aspect of AVG's Anti-Virus Free really do make it the best of the best free Antivirus programs available today!

2. avast! Free Antivirus

AVAST Software's avast! Free Antivirus most certainly deserves to be on any list of the best free antivirus programs. avast! Free Antivirus has fully functioning antivirus and antispyware engines protecting your PC from threats from the Internet, your files, emails, and even instant messages.

One big reason I included avast! Free Antivirus as a best free antivirus program is because of its "heuristics engine" which can detect previously unknown viruses and other malware. It also works fine with Windows 7/Vista/XP.

3. Microsoft Security Essentials

Security Essentials from Microsoft is definitely one of the best free antivirus programs available and also the one I'm using right now! Microsoft is relatively new to the antivirus game but don't let that scare you - Security Essentials is a fantastic antivirus program that protects you from all sorts of malware, updates automatically, and is incredibly easy to use. 

Two of the biggest reasons I added Microsoft Security Essentials to this list of the best free antivirus software is because it's directly from Microsoft and also because it's very easy to see if you're computer is secure from threats: if the icon next to your clock is green, you're in good; if it's red, something is wrong. Microsoft Security Essentials supports Windows 7/Vista/XP.

So, the next time when the enemy is at your gate, that too in a friends gate-up, go for perfect spectacle of Antivirus program to see through...

Follow the links to download: 

1. AVG Antivirus Free
2. avast! Free Antivirus 
3. Microsoft Security Essentials
   

A million dollar question?

Recently one of my blog readers asked me a very interesting question! The question was: What is 'winsxs' folder and why does it take 2 GB to 15 GB space on C: drive? How to free up this space?

Well, let me tell you very honestly that it was not a easy question to take! But I went through a lot of R&D for that, and now ready to answer it. Let us hope, I justify my stand.

ABCD of 'winsxs' 

So, first of all, for many of us who don't know what we have talked till now, let us understand the ABCD of question itself. 'winsxs' stands for Windows Side By Side. 'winsxs' folder is located at C:\Windows\winsxs; and occupies very large disk space! Note that the size of 'winsxs' folder in Windows XP is around 20-25 MB, and has a whopping size in Windows Vista/7.

winsxs: The reason of existence

• The primary reason why 'winsxs' is there is that it is system folder, which means Windows need it to avoid compatibility issues while running different applications. 
• It stores multiple copies of DLL's (Dynamic-link library) in order to let multiple applications run in Windows. 

So, if you ever noticed that, using Windows Vista/7 sometimes we face problem in running certain applications (say VCD Cutter), which otherwise working fine with Windows XP. If you dig inside the folder you will notice that there are lot of files having same name. These are actually different versions of the same files which are being stored; as different programs may require different versions.

winsxs: The space discrimination  

As mentioned earlier, Windows stores the old DLL's and library components in the 'winsxs' folder. And, if you have upgraded form earlier version of Windows to newer one, now a newer version of this file is a part of the OS, but a particular application requires a particular older version for running, then the older version from the 'winsxs' folder will be used, leaving the newer version in its present place, for other applications which may require it. 

So, if you have many applications installed, you can expect to have a jumbo sized 'winsxs' folder. And, 'winsxs' being a system folder, you cannot delete this directory or move it elsewhere. Also it is not advisable to delete anything here, because such a step could probably make your applications un-workable or even break your system! 

winsxs: Too hot to handle!

The safest way to handle it is by simply uninstalling applications which you don't require. However, this will not serve the prime cause, as many applications still leave behind their files here, since they may be shared between other applications. 

But, if you treat yourself as a hardcore system-man, and are in a mood to experiment, go for any of the following methods:

1. Use vsp1cln.exe to clean up after Windows Vista SP1
   This method does seem to work in removing the redundant files left over after installing Windows Vista SP1. And, thankfully, Microsoft provides the Windows Vista SP1 Files Removal Tool (vsp1cln.exe), which does just that. The tool is automatically installed as part of the SP1 upgrade, and you can find it at (using run command) \%windir%\system32\vsp1cln.exe.  "Just make sure you’re sticking with SP1 before running the tool, as you can’t remove SP1 afterwards".  
2. Use compcln.exe to clean up after Windows SP2
   Just like cleaning up after SP1, you can use the Service Pack Clean-up tool (compcln.exe) to remove the files left over after installing Windows Vista SP2. 'compcln.exe' is an improved version of the earlier 'vsp1cln.exe' tool. It is installed as part of the SP2 upgrade, and you’ll find it at \%windir%\system32\compcln.exe.

And, the final words... 

To many of us it may seem to be bit technical (which obviously it is ), even then let us enjoy it!! :)

This blog post is open for anyone who does not agree with the analysis given here and/or feel like adding something to the post.

Microsoft Windows: Finding the (un)hidden ones!

Continuing with the previous blog post of tweaking Windows operating system, this time we will look at one of the must know features of Windows which helps us in accomplishing our day-to-day tasks in much easier way!

On various occasions our keyboard (Desktop/Laptop) behaves abnormally, i.e. we type something and it display something else. A quick-fix solution to this problem is restart your computer, and most often than not the problem get resolved! And in cases where it does not happen, here is the other of getting ahead with our work till keyboard return to its normal behaviour, by using Virtual/On-Screen Keyboard.

Follow the path to activate it:

• For Windows XP users: Click Start>All Programs>Accessories>Accessibility>On-Screen Keyboard

• For Windows Vista/7 users: Click Start>All Programs>Accessories>Ease of Access>On-Screen Keyboard

Using this particular feature of Windows is recommended whenever you are entering passwords either on personal computer or shared computers' (public places) or at any banking terminal or involved in any other kind of online transactions, as use of Virtual/On-Screen Keyboard saves us from phishing attacks and malware attacks. 

So let us work in safer environment! 

My first blog. Removing Recycle Bin icon from Desktop.

After having blogger account for a long-long time, finally I found something to write about.

I thought why not start with writing on something to which I associate most, i.e. technology, computers, etc. So, my first blog post is about tweaking your operating system (Microsoft Windows obviously) and Desktop in particular. 

Many a time we think about cleaning (icon free) our Desktop, and we successfully do it by removing all the icons except 'Recycle Bin icon'. Windows 7/Vista/XP provides us option of Show desktop icons, enabling/disabling this option will clean/unclean your desktop. Most of us know this. Well, what if someone wants to completely remove (recovery is possible). So here is the way.

Irrespective of whichever version of Windows operating system you are using Click Start, go to Run command, now type gpedit.msc (command may not work if you are using a pirated version or illegal product key), and press Enter.

Now following window will pop-up. 

In the left panel under User Configuration select Administrative Template.

Now in the right panel corresponding to Administrative Template, double-click on Desktop option.

Now from the visible list double-click on Remove Recycle Bin icon from desktop.

From the new pop-up window click on Enabled, then click on Apply and OK.

Now close the remaining window and return to your Desktop, hit F5 (refreshing the desktop) and you are done with job. Repeat the process and select Disabled from above window to recover Recycle Bin icon on you Desktop.

Hope you will find this blog post interesting. Suggestions are welcome.