Software blog

Deal Of The Week – G Data AntiVirus 2011

Stephen — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:21:13 +0000

This week’s Deal Of The Week is G Data’s AntiVirus 2011, your all-round solution for optimum virus protection, as well as against worms and digital spies without interrupting speed or workflow on your PC. Get your download copy this week from your Softwareload Shop for just £12.90. For more information about G Data AntiVirus 2011,

G Data AntiVirus 2011

G Data AntiVirus 2011 effectively protects your computer against Internet viruses, worms and digital spies without interrupting speed or workflow. The firewall guards your internet safety in the background while you surf, shop, chat, receive emails and manage your online banking. The improved security scan programme requires up to 80% less work storage than earlier versions, scanning and clearing up to 60 gigabytes of data per minute.

Safe Passage through the Internet

Using the most modern detection methods (behaviour blocking, heuristics and cloud security), AntiVirus 2011 automatically protects you against viruses, worms, rootkits, spyware, dialers, Trojan horses and backdoors attempting to invade your system and data.

Safety for Tomorrow

AntiVirus 2011 anticipates unknown danger. When an application is suspicious, the “suspect” is immediately analysed. If danger is apparent, the software removes the culprit right away. Thanks to hourly updates, brand new viruses are detected and blocked without delay.

New: Self-Learn Fingerprinting for Fast Detection

Routine scans are now aided by digital fingerprinting and white-listing, marking each piece of data with an individual ID. In further scans, only the data with altered markings need checking, streamlining the clearing process and keeping your PC optimally protected and running at high speed.

Double Scan Means Double Protection

Two independent scanners thoroughly search your computer for intruders. This two-track function noticeably improves detection, enabling the software to react quickly and effectively.

Product Features

NEW: Hourly virus updates
NEW: Cloud-Technology
NEW: “One-click” User Interface
NEW: Newest double scan technology
New and easy user surface: one-click and user–friendly
Improved technology: efficient fingerprinting and white-listing
Improved capacity: uses 80% less work storage than previous versions
Improved speed: scans up to 60 gigabytes of data per minute
Fast and reliable: continuous, thorough search and identification
Safe Internet passage: worry-free surfing, shopping, emails, banking, chatting
Optimum protection: against spyware, Trojan, rootkits
Modern ID safety: behaviour blocking, heuristics and cloud security
Double Scan function: raises effectiveness and saves time on dual and quad core PCs
Safe Files & Attachments: packed file, attachment and archives search is automatic
Hourly updates: automatically updated and optimised hourly
Suitable: for all PCs and notebooks

System requirements

Windows 7, Vista (32/64Bit), XP at least SP2 (32/64Bit)
Minimum 512MegaByte main memory
Internet connection

Last chance for great prizes and get £5 for taking part!

Stephen — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:02:20 +0000

Just a few days left to win one of 3 great prizes by completing the Softwareload survey and letting us know what you think about the portal! The Survey, which started a few weeks ago, has proved to be a big success, with lots of you telling us what you think is good and bad about the portal. As well as taking your advice to heart, we’re also getting ready to fork out the prizes, including a 3D mouse from Logitech, a 120 GB Lacie Mobile hard drive, and gift vouchers for Softwareload. ALSO, for those of you who enter the competition now, get £5 Softwareload voucher just for taking part!

Click HERE to enter the competition!

Help us help you and get some goodies in the process! All you have to do to participate is click here and fill out the survey and let us know what you really think about Softwareload. Up for grabs on completion is the chance to win either a LaCie Mobile Hard Drive (120GB USB) designed by Porsche, a Space Navigator 3D connection by Logitech, or a 20% off Softwarload Voucher, as well as an aditional £5 voucher extra for entries received in the next 7 days.

Symantec and Snoop Dogg team up

Stephen — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:43:22 +0000

Yes you did read that right! Snoop Dogg has teamed up with Virus protection gurus Symantec to “raise awareness” about online cybercrime threats and malicious software and how to best protect your PC and its data from intruders, viruses and the like. Wannabe rap stars have 2 minutes to prove their skills and spit a text about anti-cybercrime, record it on video and submit it at hackiswack.com. The prizes are substantial, the idea perhaps daft, but fun to watch, as the first 4 posted videos would lead to believe.“A panel of Norton representatives along with Snoop’s management will judge videos based on originality, creativity and how well they convey the anti-cybercrime message”. An obvious push for Symantec and the Norton team is hard to overlook, but for interested participants the prizes are certainly worth the minor dent in the pseudo gangster street cred. The website offers a quick run down of the most current and common threats affecting PCs worldwide (all of which are of course protected by using Symantecs palette of antivirus sofware!) offering budding rap superstars enough food for thought in putting together their upload masterpiece . The grand prize winner of the hackiswack rap contest will win the following:

* 2 tickets to see Snoop Dog in concert
* Opportunity to meet with Snoop’s management or agent
* A $1,000 travel stipend, awarded in the form of airline vouchers
* Hotel accommodations for two days and one night
* A super cool Toshiba laptop

My favourite so far has to be “Blocka Blocka” (a lot thought went into that title!!), bringing hardcore lines such as “circle circle dot dot yeah i got dat hack me bot, yeah i got these hackers all watched by the cyber cops”…priceless!

MS Fixit tool for over 100 apps

Stephen — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:49:21 +0000

Microsoft has released a Fixit tool enabling system admin users to protect their PCs against a wide range of critical vulnerabilities discovered in over 100 applications from various software manufacturers. The Fixit tool works in combination with the workaround provided by Microsoft tech support last week, enabling users to tweak settings responsible for application compatibility.
The vulerability allows malicious files to be executed on a users operating system by manipulating default behaviour in Windows when loading the dynamic link library files used by various homegrown and 3rd party applications running on it, hence the coined phrase “DLL hijacking“. Amongst the major names affected by the threat are Microsoft PowerPoint, Opera, Nvidia graphics hardware and Mozilla’s Firefox and Thunderbird.A complete list of all affected applications is yet to be published by Microsoft, nor for that fact from Mozilla either.

Users looking to download the latest Fixit tool and find out more detailed information about the threat can find it on Microsoft’s technet blog.

OpenOffice 3.3 beta release

Stephen — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:45:35 +0000

The latest release of OpenOffice is just around the corner and 3.3 beta already online, and we decided to have a closer look at what can/should be expected from OpenOffice 3.3. With the difference in layout between the open source’s Windows XP resembling interface and the development of both design and functionality of more modern competing popular office packages becoming increasingly evident, we had a look at the top potential changes to the pending full 3.3 release.

Ribbon facelift
The switch from XP to the 2007 ribbon was albeit a small step for Microsoft, but indeed a giant leap for mankind. rumour has it that OpenOffice plans to follow suit, although still missing in the current 3.3 beta download.

Thesaurus
For the avid writers amongst us the new right-click context menu is definitely a plus. The context menu includes a handy thesaurus for quick reference, cutting down on clicking through menu options etc.

FindBar
The latest 3.3 release also promises a new search-specific tool bar, facilitating swifter search results in larger documents in its Writer application.

3D slideshow transitions
Impress has also not been left out of the facelift, including new three-dimensional transitions, empowering your presentations all the more.

Calc tab colours
For frequent spreadsheet users needing a clearer overview of what’s going on in Calc, the addition of editable colour sheet tabs enables swifter navigation.

XHTML import
Users of OpenOffice’s HTML editor will appreciate the possibility to now work XHTML using the new import filter, pushing the software a bit closer to the 21st century.

….and lots more!

Further additions to the OpenOffice 3.3 repertoire include more fonts, templates, clipart, file filters etc. The addition of 3.x updates also allows users to search for the latest developments as they appear and hopefully aid OpenOffice in keeping up with the times, and the competition. More info about edits to the latest 3.3 version can be found here.

Deal Of The Week – Uniblue RegistryBooster 2010

Stephen — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:44:21 +0000

This week’s Deal Of The Week at your Softwareload Shop is the very popular Uniblue RegistryBooster 2010, the first choice in registry optimisation and error detection. Uniblue RegistryBooster cleans, repairs and optimises your PC system, freeing it from registry errors and fragmented entries. Advanced error-detection technology, comprehensive registry optimisation and swift registry error solutions are some of the few things Uniblue’s RegistryBooster has to offer. Get your download copy now for the massive sale price of £11.90 (£15 off the RRP!) at Softwareload today, and for more information,

Free your system from PC litter

Residual files, unused and undeleted drivers as well as corrupt or bad entries in registry settings quickly litter even new computers. This may lead to frequent application errors and messages, slow start-ups, poor or decreased performance and registry integrity, even system crashes or the inability to start Windows. RegistryBooter 2010 removes this litter and keeps your PC in optimum running order.

Cleans and boosts system performance

Uniblue RegistryBooster 2010 automatically cleans out unused, obsolete, corrupted and malicious registry entries, optimising your PC performance by locating and repairing registry problems, minimising crashes and application seizures. System stability and efficiency are enhanced through regular purging.

Protects against unwanted purging

With the Ignore-List feature, RegistryBooster 2010 allows you to specify the registry section and path you wish to be scanned and cleaned. This lets you avoid scanning and purging sections and data you feel cautious about.

Product Features

NEW – “Damage Level” feature, indicating Uniblue’s assessment of the potential damage caused by registry errors to a PC’s general stability and performance
NEW – Quicker back-up and restore procedure
Cleans and boosts system performance by automatically cleaning out unused, obsolete, corrupted and malicious registry entries
Optimises your PC by locating and repairing registry problems, minimising crashes and application seizures
Enhances system stability and efficiency through regular purging
Activity Log Display provides a detailed transcript of all actions performed on the registry.
Improved scanning engine enables scanning of more sections within the registry.
Ignore-List feature lets you specify registry section and path, allowing you to avoid scanning sections you feel cautious about.
Works with Windows 7, Vista and XP and is 32- and 64-bit compatible

System requirements

Windows XP, Vista, Windows / – 32- and 64-bit compatible
Recommended -Intel Pentium 4 1GHz or equivalent processor
512 MB RAM
Minimum 200 Megabyte free hard disk space
Graphics mode 1024×768 true colour
Internet Explorer 7

Firefox 4 Beta 4 – Panorama and Sync

Stephen — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:50:29 +0000

The two big words in the recently launched fourth beta release of Mozilla’s Firefox 4 are “Panorama” and “Sync”. Panorama, A.K.A Tab Candy, is slick picture device alloing users to simultaneously view all tabs open at one time and sort them into groups by simply dragging and dropping them. The other new addition, namely Sync, lets users keep track, manage and move their browsing history, passwords, bookmarks, awesome bar and so on from PC to PC (and to iPhone with Firefox Home), encoding all stored info, protecting it from the prying eyes of others looking to trace users’ footsteps.

It is worth a mention that this functionality has been around for quite a while as a separate add-on, going by the name of Xmarks. No doubt the team over at Mozilla wanted to keep in line and follow suit with competitor browsers Opera and Google, who also have similar solutions in the homepage view on starting a browser session.

Users wondering how the Sync funtion works can have a look in more detail on Mozilla’s Blog. Essentially, on dowloading the latest beta, Mozilla prompts you to sign up to a free sync account, as can be seen in the YouTube clip below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

As similar to Google’s Chrome betas, Firefox 4 also comes fully equipped with a feedback button, helping users to give their tuppence worth directly on what they’d like to see added, edited, removed etc. Get your copy of Firefox 4 Beta 4 and let us know what you think.

Google Voice vs Skype

Stephen — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:33:05 +0000

Google has announced its US initiation of Google Voice, with UK users surely not too far behind, depending on its success. Google Voice and the Video Chat platform offer Gmail users the chanced to call landlines, mobiles, send texts, leave and pick up voicemail from several numbers in box… basically everything Skype does. Google is enticing Us users away from Skype by offering free calls within the US and Canada, according to the official Gmail blog http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/, for the rest of the year.
So where’s the USP? why bother going to all that effort to change over from Skype to the Googlefied Skype for the same service and experience? Gmail contends “But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?”. Another tasty added feature is free text messaging from your Google ID number, as well as leaving written messages which can then be listened to on your Android, iPhone or Symbian device via the mobile app. Phone call prices are also rock bottom, as can be seen here.

For readers in the US, download Google Voice here. Here’s a quick info clip posted by Google on YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Data.gov.uk facelift and open data access

Stephen — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:45:18 +0000

The new beta version of HM Goverment’s central website for government data and general info point, data.gov.uk is up and running. Apart from receiving a hefty facelift, data.gov.uk opens up a completely fresh and user-friendly approach to open access data. The new design and structure of the data.gov.uk should now enable the public to keep track of resources and local data readily available to them, embodying Hm Goverment’s website slogan Transparency is at the heart of this Government. Data.gov.uk is home to national & local data for free re-use”.

Overall change in structure

As well as an updated sitemap and an improved search functionality when looking for datasets, the team responsible for the reshaping data.gov.uk have been beavering away to add (and continue to add) a host of new features, including downloadable applications,an idea section for building government data-based applications, a forum for dicussing data, its use and thereon based apps, Wiki navigation, linked data and resources, and even its own blog on latestd ata news and events.

Government Data based apps

Definitely a key highlight has to be the addition of applications created based on data and information received from data.gov.uk. With a growing list of 30+ (and counting) applications to choose from, users are already spoiled for choice. Personal favouties include the Postbox Finder, School Finder, and of course the London Traffic app. With a vast range of others, including quality of life atlas to finding nurseries in your area, the app section of Data.gov.uk really does has something for everyone. Users can easily add their own apps with the “Share Your App” button, providing HM’s watchdogs deem your app safe and suitable for the website post vetting.

Open Source in Gov blog

After signing up and logging into data.gov.uk, users have the opportunity to get their hands on some of the custom software (CKAN module for Drupal) for review, use and modification. The development team at data.gov.uk state that “We’re excited to see how developers and colleagues across the world put this work to good use in their own applications and projects”.

Info browsing made easy

Thanks to the addition of a search bar in the top right hand corner of the site, as well as a search wiki page for more fine-tuned info searching according to specific criterion, finding desired info has never been easier and more readily accessible. Have a look yourself here and give us your feedback in the comment box below.

Microsoft Windows Apps Attack – Security Advisory 2269637

Stephen — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:34:34 +0000

Microsoft has warned users of a vulnerability in Windows applications manufactured by out of house developers, which potentially enable intruders to inject malicious code straight into your PC. The attacks, also known as binary planting or DLL preoload attacks exploit the way in which programmes load associated libraries, which in combination with binary files stored in hacker-controlled directories, can swiftly relieve you of complete control of your PC.

The attack manages to bypass a lot of security limitations due to many applications ignoring best security practices and searching for the library based only on the file name, rather than the full directory path, meaning that if your PC is using a maliciously controlled directory, it is possible to load malicious files, as stated in Microsoft’s tech blog here.

Microsoft is still looking for possible remedy, although cannot address the problem directly, due to its thrid party nature. Microsoft none the less advises users to utlise a tool allowing users to selectively change the library loading behavior, either system-wide or for specific applications, and urges developers to be very cautious in future programming and be aware of such exploits, using fully qualified path names when loading libraries, removing current directories from search paths by using SetDLLDirectory, avoid using SearchPath to locate a library and not attempting to load libraries just to identify Windows versions.

The exact number of affected applications hasn’t been released, although rumour has it at least 200 apps have been identified as vulnerable. According to the tech blog:

“Microsoft is also conducting a thorough investigation into how this new vector may affect Microsoft products. As always, if we find this issue affects any of our products, we will address them appropriately.”