It’s light, it’s effective, it also contains a support plugin which connects you live, 24/7 with the support team via chat and email. I’ve been using it for some time now, it really “pays off”.

Perhaps you should give it a try, it supports Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express(Windows Mail in Vista) and Thunderbird and it beautifully integrates in each of these clients. Uses various tools and methods to stop spam (heuristics, word analysis and more)

Download HERE and enjoy!

This time, another stealth update that “pimps” your computer with Windows Desktop Search. It happens on all MS update configurations, basically the user isn’t asked for confirmation. The utility uses the (in)famous indexing feature and goes through almost all files on your HDD for faster searches in the future. Of course, lots of people started to throw rocks at MS, marking 2 big concerns: 1 - the procedure is not moral, users should have full control of their PC behavior and files shouldn’t get on their HDDs without confirmation and 2 - computers cripple/slow down after the Windows Desktop Search is installed and running.

I totally agree with no. 1. This force-down-your-throat update procedure shouldn’t even been considered by MS. And given the fact that there are already tons of accusations regarding the policies of the software giant, caution is advised. I don’t know if this “move” is defined in their licence agreements as being accepted or not, but still, it sucks. Luckily I only use manual updates and…I already have Windows Desktop Search installed. This brings me to the second point - the computer slow downs.

Lots of PC users and network administrators complained about the indexing feature, that start immediately after install and makes the computers almost unusable. Leaving the productivity aspects aside (I agree it sucks to have 1000+ computers suddenly crippled by an un-requested update…), I like the MS tool. I’ve been using it for many months on both my desktop (XP) and my laptop (XP->Vista). What people don’t know is that right clicking on the search box in the taskbar shows a menu which has a magic option “Index only when computer is idle”. I used that in the beginning and after a day or two the utility indexed all files, without getting on my nerves. And only after that came the best part: every search for information I perform with Windows utilities is almost real time. Most useful when searching my 9000+ inbox in Outlook (yes, the utility also comes with Office 2007) - usually it took me from 20 seconds to 1 minute to perform a search and if I used wrong keywords, I had to wait again for a new search. Well, with everything indexed it takes about…3 seconds. quite a difference. Same with the computer files - very fast. So blame, but I like Windows Desktop Search and I strongly recommend it, but only if it’s YOUR CHOICE…and stop whining about the indexing slowing down the computer, it goes away in a fair amount of time.

All Windows power users have encountered at some point during their "Windows Experience" a moment when everything crashes and a full format and reinstallation is necessary.

Today I am going to describe a procedure that should spare you the time lost for a full Windows installation and customization.

The solution I use is OS snapshot creation in various configuration phases. There are many applications available for this kind of tasks, but most of them use the "restore point technology", instead of brute data saving, they can be ran from Windows interface with all the eye candy graphics. However, I prefer a more "basic" method, meaning using a DOS command prompt and a small utility to save all data from the system partition into an image file. What I use and how do I do it:

1. partition a HDD in at least 2 partitions. One of them should be dedicated exclusively to Windows and basic Program Files. If the space is enough, I also use a 2GB partition for swap file, avoiding its fragmentation (ideal scenario: place the swap partition on another HDD for increased efficiency).

2. install Windows > Service Pack 2 > Antivirus/Firewall > connect network cable > update Windows and security software > install the "can’t live without" programs. no unnecessary software at this point, only the must-haves.

3. get Hiren Boot CD 8.8 or any other bootable enviroment which contains Ghost v11 for DOS.

4. - run Ghost 11 from a Dos command prompt and execute some simple steps (in Hiren’s Boot CD menu you can press  2-[enter] -2 -[enter] - 7-[enter] ).

    - I recommend using the keyboard arrows for navigation in Ghost, although Hiren provides a weird mouse support too.

    - steps for creating a HDD image are : Local > Partition > To Image > choose your system partition> choose where to save the image file> choose compression(fast/medium/high) > Save > confirm.

    - considering the PC components, a snapshot can be created in 5 to 15 minutes. I would recommend choosing the "Fast" compression option, it will speed things a lot on both creation and restore operation. I also recommend saving the image files (extension .GHO ) on another HDD for safety.

    - to restore a HDD image created as described above, the steps are obvious: get a bootable disk, run Ghost 11 and navigate through the menu like this : Local > Partition > FROM Image > choose the partition on which the image will be deployed > confirm.

    - that’s it. I believe it takes a lot less than installing the operating system again.

NOTES & OBSERVATIONS:

1. DO NOT make experiments with image creation/deployment unless you have lots of free time to repair the eventual damage. the images are not compatible with other computer configurations and they might produce errors if installed on a different partition than the original one.

2. the method is compatible with all Windows OS and I am pretty sure it can snapshot a Linux partition too, because the software saves the brute data, no matter the format.

3. the image size depends on the data size from the target partition.

4. images save/load faster if operated from a different HDD.

5. save you images in a location where you don’t go too often. I recommend saving on external drive/DVD.

6. take care of your computer, avoid loading images once a week

Advantages:

-extremely simple method, no special requirements.

-fast interface, just use arrows and [Enter]

-fast save and deploy

-compatible with all OS, it saves the data from the target no matter the format.

-support automated command line parameters

-the result is identical to a normal Windows installation, but using only 25% of the time.

Disadvantages:

-runs in DOS command prompt. I don’t mind, I wasn’t born with Vista Aero in front of my eyes :), but some people might miss a more graphical interface.

-requires boot CD/Floppy

-images may take a lot of HDD space.

-the image format is unknown to other programs, data cannot be extracted from snapshots without deploying them.

-does not have "update" features, meaning that if you want to add something to the image, you’ll have to deploy it, install/modify your stuff and then save the image again.

I personally have 3 images : a clean Windows XP SP2, a Windows + the must-have programs and a third image fully updated and customized for my needs. you can use this kind of system or develop one of your own.

Good luck!