Tuesday 30 September 2014

Phone Scams and Computer Repair: Know Your Facts to Protect Your Computer

Phone Scams and Computer Repair: Know Your Facts to Protect Your Computer
presented by technogeek.net.au
 
Imagine this – you are sitting at home minding your own business when you receive a phone call from an official sounding person telling you that your computer is seriously infected with viruses. They say they will help you out and eliminate the viruses if you will provide a credit card number.
An increasing number of computer users are receiving similar phone calls and some — afraid of potential data loss and device damage — are surrendering their bank account information in the hope this will protect their tech.
If you get such a call, we’re here to tell you — hang up. It’s a scam!
Technogeek are seeing a rise in phone scams targeting PC and Mac owners. Cybercriminals pretending to work for Microsoft, Geek Squad, or any other nationally-recognized tech company call their intended victims, claim they’ve scanned their computers remotely and found viruses on them. Relying on computer users’ fear of viruses, data loss and identity theft, they trick people into giving them actual access to the computer.
Once the scammer has access to the victim’s system, they will often show the user scary looking error messages on the machine, require immediate payment to cleanup the “dangerously infected” computer and install more “protection” software onto the system. Chances are they’ll take the opportunity to install other bits of malware to capture the victim’s online shopping or banking information.
 If your first instinct is not to trust cold calls about fixing your computer, you’re absolutely right. Scammers often use publicly available information (like your name and telephone number) to make initial contact, and can often make an educated guess about your PC’s operating system. They can sound very convincing (they are good at this), but don’t be taken in.
It’s important to understand that reputable tech companies (like Microsoft, Technogeek and other tech leaders) will not scan computers remotely without permission from the owner. They will not call computer users unless they are already working with them on a support issue.
Should you receive one of these telephone calls, here are a few tips to help protect yourself:
  • When in doubt, hang up the phone and call the company back at their publicly listed telephone number. You can usually find contact information on their web site.
  • Never provide a credit card or banking account information to someone on a cold call — even if they claim to be from a computer support company.
  • Never give remote access to your computer to any technician unless they can confirm they are a legitimate member of a computer support company with which you have an existing support agreement.
 If you’ve been a victimized by a phone scammer:
  • Contact your credit card or bank and speak with the fraud prevention team to have the charges reversed and the account protected from future charges.
  • Change your computer password, along with the password of any online accounts that may have been provided to the cybercriminal.
  • Update your security software and run a full scan on your computer, or use one of our tools.  You may also want to contact Technogeek Support to have the PC checked for malware.
Phone scams are successful because cybercriminals rely on computer users trusting an unknown person with access to their computers. Together, we can defeat these scams by simply hanging up when you receive an unrequested support call, regardless of who they say they are.

150 Best Windows Apps Of Year 2012

150 Best Windows Apps Of Year 2012
BestBest-Windows-Apps-Of-2012_-Windows-Apps-Of-2012_
2012 was a great year for tech as a whole, but there was something extra special for us Windows aficionados. That’s right, the long awaited Windows 8 launch, which resulted in a huge influx of applications for the platform. We covered a plethora of Windows applications in 2012, but if you didn’t get the time to go through them all, let us present you with a list of the top 150 free applications that we have cherry-picked from the countless we covered through the entire year, just like we did at the end of 2011. Read on!
1. Spotflux (Cross-platform VPN client that lets you encrypt internet traffic, access blocked websites and remove ads)
Spotflux-VPN-client-for-Windows
2. Google Drive (The official Windows client of Google’s cloud storage and document management service)
Google-Drive-Windows-client
3. Asus Multiframe Utility (Arrange and snap windows to 9 screen regions per monitor)
multiframe
4. OnlineVNC (Connect to a remote PC via TCP/IP protocol and control it using virtual network computing)
OnlineVNC 1
5. Blacksmith (Get Mac desktop spaces, launchpad and mission control in Windows)
Greenshot_2012-01-27_16-29-21
6. Moborobo (One of the most comprehensive Android and iOS device management tools yet)
Moborobo
7. Clover (Get Google Chrome-like tabbed interface in Windows’ native File Explorer)
Clover
8. Freemore Audio Video Suite (An awesome audio and video suite that amalgamates several handy editing and conversion utilities)
Freemore-Audio-Video-Suite-Windows
9. CrashPlan (Create scheduled data backups to local and remote PCs)
CrashPlan Backup
10. Multiplicity (Control up to 9 different computers with a single keyboard and mouse)
Stardock Multiplicity 2 2
11. Mission Control / Expose Clone W7 (Control opened windows the Mac OS X way)
Mission Control  Expose Clone W7
12. Desktop Slider (Create multiple workspaces and slide windows across the screen)
desktop slider options
13. KeyRocket (Suggests keyboard shortcuts that you can use for certain actions while you are working)
KeyRocket
14. Cloudfogger (Drag and drop files to auto-encrypt & upload to Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Drive and others)
Cloudfogger Drive X
15. Stoffi (If Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer were to marry, you’d probably get Stoffi)
Stoffi
16. Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition (Fast, robust, beautiful and reliable, Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition was the best antivirus app that came across our way in 2012)
Bitdefender Antivirus
17. Microsoft Research Cliplets (Create half-image, half-video animations called ‘cinegraphs’ and save them as GIF, MP4 and WMV)
Cliplets
18. Clickberry Interactive Creator (Add clickable/interactive elements to your videos and share them over Facebook)
Program Manager_2012-06-18_14-38-36
19. Cubby (Multi-platform cloud storage with a Windows client that lets you drag and drop folders to sync them between devices)
Cubby
20. BufferZone Pro (A Sandboxie-like software that lets you launch your favorite applications in a virtual environment)
Bufferzone
21. Dropboxifier (Use your Dropbox account to sync game data between different PCs)
Dropboxifier-by-DG-v0.1.84
22. DDownloads (Looking for an alternative to the ever-popular Ninite? Try DDownloads!)
DDownloads_Download
23. Save.Me (Probably the best clipboard manager for Windows this year)
Save.me 2.0.0
24. OPSWAT’s Security Score (A great Windows app that analyzes your system against security loopholes)
OPSWAT Security Score Beta Done
25. RecImgManager (Lets you backup and restore user applications and settings in Windows 8)
RecImg-Windows
26. GOM Audio (An app for audiophiles from the team behind one of the most popular media players out there)
GOM-Audio3
27. Paragon Go Virtual (Convert your PC into a guest virtual machine configured to run with VMware, Virtual Box, or Virtual PC)
paragon 1
28. Reboot-To (A free alternative to iReboot; lets you select what Windows installation your system will boot into next)
2012-11-29_15-44-004
29. KuaiZip (An file archiver and compressor that has the potential to dethrone 7-Zip)
KuaiZip
30. Norton Zone Cloud Sharing (Backup, share & sync data securely across Windows, Mac, Android, iOS & the web)
Norton-Zone-Cloud-Sharing-PC4
31. 7Conifier (Apply custom application icon packs with a single click)
7Conifier_Final
32. Free Viewer (A file editor and viewer that works with about 100 different file formats)
Free Viewer - Image Viewer Editor
33. CloudDeck (Fully functional, unofficial desktop client for SoundCloud)
CloudDeck.air
34. Wondershare vDownloader (Download Full HD 1080p videos from all the popular video streaming websites)
Wondershare vDownloader
35. InstallGuard (Not sure who’s filling up your precious HD space with unwanted apps? It’s time to block unauthorized software installations with InstallGuard.)
InstallGuard4_thumb
36. Ribbon Disabler (Disable the new Ribbon UI in Windows 8′s File Explorer and get the old interface back)
Ribbon Disabler
37. NetSpeedMonitor (Monitor upstream and downstream rate from the taskbar and maintain data transfer reports)
NetSpeedMonitor
38. Bitcasa (Offers 10GB free cloud storage space, and an unlimited plan for $10 a month)
Bitcasa
39. Amazon Cloud Drive (The Official Amazon desktop client for Windows & Mac)
Tour
40. Espera (A beautiful Modern UI-inspired music player with a ‘Party Mode’)
Espera
41. Sys Information (Don’t like Speccy all that much? Here’s another great system information tool that you can try.)
SysInformation dashboard
42. WiFi Protector (Protect your wireless internet connection with 256-bit encryption and hide your real IP address)
WifiProtector
43. Syncbox (Host your own personal cloud storage space using your local hard drive)
Syncbox server_control panel
44. EaseUS CleanGeniu (Elegant system optimizer from EaseUS that analyzes your PC’s health, finds duplicate files, cleans the registry and more)
CleanGenius-Main-Screen4_thumb
45. Fake Antivirus (Beware of cheap and fake antiviruses. Quickly detect them with this tool before you hurt your wallet.)
Fake-Antivirus-Remover_Launch3
46. Pokki For Windows 8 (Our favorite web apps aggregator comes to Windows 8; also restores the Start Orb.)

47. SnapPea (An Airdroid-like Android management application boasting an attractive design)
SnapPea
48. Voxeet (Conference calling app with a unique natural 3D perception feature that makes you feel like you’re sitting next to your contacts)
Voxeet conference
49. Smart PC Locker Pro (Automatically powers off your PC after invalid login attempts)
Smart PC Locker Pro v1.2 [www.novirusthanks.org]
50. Kuvva (Automatically changes desktop and Twitter backgrounds on a daily basis)
Kuvva-Windows
51. Folder Lock (Easily password-protect or hide files and folders through drag & drop)
Folder Lock Free
52. Feewhee (Use mouse scroll to resize windows and adjust their transparency)
Program Manager_2012-04-07_12-55-40
53. DestroyFlickr (Manage your Flickr account from your PC with this Adobe AIR-based desktop app)
DestroyFlickr Fullscreen
54. Network Sorcerer (Comprehensive client control utility for small networks)
network sorcer main
55. Perfect Effects 3 (Apply Instagram-like photo filters in layers on an entire image or specific parts of it)
Perfect Effects Free (Untitled.psd@129
56. WinPlusX (Get Windows 8 Win+X menu in Windows 7 and Vista)
Start_2012-04-11_16-22-54
57. QuickPlay (Borderless HD video player with support for up to 4K resolution)
Program Manager_2012-04-09_13-15-18
58. AntiScreensaver (Automatically disables the screensaver while specific programs are running)
Cyber-D's AntiScreensaver 2.01
59. Juicebox (Create HTML-based photo galleries and share them with your friends)
Customize
60. SearchMyFiles (Search files and folders using an extremely comprehensive set of filters)
Search Options
61. MetroTextual (Minimalistic, Modern UI-inspired text editor with syntax highlighting)
metrotextual-syntax-highlighting
62. Send to Kindle (Send documents to Kindle from Windows context menu)
Send to Kindle
63. FavBackup (Create user-style backups for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, IE and other browsers)
FavBackup 2.1.2
64. Visions (3D image viewer with customizable layouts and a built-in editor)
Visions
65. Familiar (Real-time photo sharing and syncing across PC, Mac, Android & iOS)
Familiar-Android-iOS-PC0
66. VarieDrop (Create resolution and size-based profiles for quickly resizing images; lets you resize a single image by all profiles at once)
VarieDrop
67. SubtitleDownloader (Auto-fetch subtitles on video file name basis)
Subtitles Downloaded
68. SmoothDraw (Digital painter with Adobe Photoshop-like layer support)
SmoothDraw 3.2.10 - CUsersTestDesktopTest.sddoc main
69. Quick PDF Tools (Merge, extract, convert & encrypt PDF files from Windows context menu)
QUick PDF Tools Main
70. Icon Generator Pro (Create HTML5/CS5 icons, logos and star badges)
Icon Generator Pro
71. myManga (Automatically downloads episodes for your favorite Manga series)
myManga.png Library
72. O&O AutoBackup (Automatically backup files to a USB drive when it is plugged in)
O&O AutoBackup
73. Elpis (Desktop client for Pandora radio)
Elpis  The Album Leaf  Blank Pages
74. PDFzen (Edit and manage PDF documents in a collaborative manner)
PDFzen
75. Name My TV Series (Cross-Platform tool to easily rename TV series episodes)
Name My TV Series - ©2010 Hans Luijten - www.tweaking4all.com
76. USB-AV (Offers malware protection for all connected USB drives)
USB AV for Windows Status
77. WinMend Folder Hidden (Set password to hide files and folders completely from the Explorer)
WinMend Folder Hidden 1.4.5.4
78. PlayClaw (Free alternative to Fraps; lets you take screenshots and record in-game video in user-specified frames per second)
quake3-2012-01-19-11-07-42
79. Midi Sheet Music (Convert music samples to sheet music)
Adele someone like you lyric.mid - Midi Sheet Music
80. SFunKey (Map Function keys to perform additional operations)
SFunKey - the Fn Key replacer by SIV
81. Lost Photos (Find images saved in your email inbox and directly share them with your friends over Facebook and Twitter)
Lost Photos Share
82. cacheCopy (Copy images based on their age, size and resolution)
cacheCopy
83. Autodelete (Delete files and folders by name and date filters)
Cyber-D's Autodelete 3.03
84. Care4Teen (Parental control tool that creates screencasts upon detection of inappropriate content)
Care4Teen Dashboard
85. Shadow Explorer (Access and export Windows shadow copies according to time filters)
ShadowExplorer
86. Z-VSSCopy (Create, access, delete and mount shadow copies on any Windows versions)
Z-VSScopy - Setup
87. ShiftN (Automatically adjust vertical line distortion in photographs of landscapes and buildings)
CUsersTestDesktopesb1 Corrected
88. Free Screenshot Capture (Screenshot tool jam-packed with several handy extra features)
Free Screenshot Capture
89. Mp3 Rename (Powerful, file renaming and rule-based music collection organization)
mp3 rename
90. gExplorer (A Google Docs management client for Windows)
gExplore_main
91. MediaPortal (HTPC app to play music, stream radio and record live TV)

92. HotKey Resolution Changer (Change monitor resolution using hotkeys)
Program Manager_2012-02-17_17-13-11
93. ClipboardZanager (Retain clipboard items even after system reboot)
Screenshot
94. Hulbee Desktop (Hard drive and internet search with word cloud support)
Hulbee Desktop
95. Sunrise Seven (Comprehensive Windows 7 tweaking and customization tool)
Version 1.2 build 60
96. Holdkey (Quickly type accented characters in any text field or program using a hotkey)
Mozilla Firefox_2012-03-06_14-11-58
97. SymMover (Move installed programs to other folders and disks without having to reinstall)
SymMover
98. Order In My Folder (Auto-sort files into folders using 8 different criteria)
Order in my Folder GUI  1.3
99. TweakNow PowerPack 2012 (An all-in-one PC maintenance suite that is definitely worth checking out)
TweakNow-PowerPack-2012-Windows-Cleaner
100. Image Resize Guide Lite (Lets you resize images without distorting the main subject with its unique Smart Resize Technology)
img19.jpg - Image Resize Guide Lite 3
101. Seam Carving GUI (Content-aware image resizing with removal of unwanted areas)
Marked
102. Close All (Quickly shutdown all running Windows applications with a hotkey)
CloseAll_2012-03-28_12-48-27
103. Snappy (Capture screenshots on time, mouse and keyboard events)
Snappy 1.5.4
104. ProxySwap (Quickly switch between proxy servers)
ProxySwap
105. IntelliAdmin (Enable Windows 7 Auto Login feature or bypass password entry at Login screen for a user-specified number of times)
IntelliAdmin
106. MComix (Drag & drop to read comics and view plain images with MComix)
[16  40]  SaturnKnight-KnightBeforeChristmas.rar
107. Jester (Text editor for comparing documents and creating songs parodies; suggests rhyming words)
Jester
108. Free Video to GIF Converter (Create GIFs from frames of videos)
Free Video to GIF Converter (www.video-gif-converter.com).png 2.png 3
109. PasteBin (Create, sort and manage text snippets)
PasteBin (64-bit)
110. Photo Basic 3 (Comprehensive image editing & archiving tool)
Welcome to the StudioLine Image Archive
111. Textaizer Pro (Convert images into text mosaic and ASCII art)
Textaizer Pro 4
112. Tiggit (Open-source indie game downloader and launcher)
Tiggit - The Indie Game Installer.png List
113. Geek Uninstaller (Portable uninstaller to completely wipe off all traces of an application from the computer)
Geek Uninstaller 1.0
114. Windows Tweaker (100+ tweaks for system utilities and UI components)
Windows Tweaker 4.0
115. Panorama Perfect (A simple but efficient panoramic photo creator)
Horizontal-Line-Correction
116. Media Preview (Enable thumbnail previews of unsupported video formats)
Media Preview Configuration
117. SyncWrite (Portable syntax editor with support for tree structure)
SynWrite Windows
118. Rumshot (Take screenshots and create themed previews with them)
RumShot
119. AutoUP (Scans for and downloads Windows system and application updates)
AutoUP
120. Eassos Recovery (A powerful file recovery software that can recover even lost partitions)
Eassos Recovery
121. Firewall App Blocker (Lets you easily add applications to the Windows Firewall block list via drag and drop)
Firewall-App-Blocker-v1.2-Beta4
122. WinLock (Lock any application window and minimize it to system tray)
2012-11-21-12_41_01-Program-Manager
123. RawTherapee (A powerful and feature-rich RAW image processing software)
RawTherapee
124. MultiWall (Set different wallpapers on your multi monitor luxury, or span one across all of them)
MultiWall-23
125. sRemote (Allows you to remotely execute commands and control your PC via Gmail account)
sRemote
126. DXPurge (Auto-Removes those .DS_Store files while transferring data from OS X to Windows)
Before14
127. WinMend File Splitter (A powerful file splitter that lets you merge files without requiring the application itself)
WinMend File Splitter
128. WinOwnership (An extremely easy way to gain full control of system files)
Undo4
129. Inesoft Cash Organizer (A superb financial management software with cloud support)
Inesoft-Cash-Organizer-Local-or-Clou[1]
130. File Secure Free (A handsome security tool with an extra topping of file backup, shredding and encryption features)
File-Backup4
131. Advanced PDF Utilities (A huge collection of PDF tools within one package)
Advanced PDF Utilities Free
132. Toolwiz BSafe (Powerful data encryption tool that lets you create encrypted file containers and mount them as virtual drives)
Toolwiz BSafe
133. John’s Background Switcher (Arguably one of the most comprehensive wallpaper customization tools for Windows)
John's Background Switcher
134. PicBackMan (One of the best software to backup images from multiple social networks to a number of cloud services including Dropbox and SkyDrive)
Program Manager_2012-06-16_12-26-22
135. Desktop Modify (Rearrange desktop icons into a wide-array of presets and shapes)
Desktop-Modify-rectangle
136. Taskbar Thumbnails Tuner (Tweak taskbar thumbnail previews in Windows 8)
Taskbar Thumbnails Tuner 1.0.0.0
137. AnyMenu (Add custom shortcuts for files and applications, and access them with the middle mouse button)
Anymenu-Main4
138. Mosaizer Pro (Photo-to-mosaic converting application with several customization options and patterns to choose from)
Mosaizer-Pro_Post-Process4
139. Windows + R Alias Manager (Create custom Run aliases for frequently used applications and files)
Win R Alias Manager Edited
140.Crystal Anti-Exploit Protection (Protect your system against unintended downloads)
Crystal AEP Main
141. DesktopSaver (An open source application that allows users to save the location of desktop icons)
DesktopSaver Options
142. SyncLib (Easily synchronize and share photos, music and videos across different platforms)
SyncLib
143. Instagrille (An app for Pokki that lets you browse and download Instagram photos on your desktop)
Instagrille_Nearby
144. NexusFont (The best font manager we’ve come across this year)
NexusFont
145. Wise Program Uninstaller (Robust application uninstaller that’s several times better than Windows’ native Add/Remove program)
wise 1
146. CarotDAV (Manage multiple cloud services from one window)
CarotDAV - Waqas - Dropbox
147. RunAlyzer (System startup manager designed to collect all the programs and their registry keys under one hood)
RunAlyzer Main
148. Rainlendar (A light, well-designed to-do list manager and calendar app for Windows)
Rainlendar
149. Toolbar Cleaner (Remove unwanted toolbars from Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome)
Toolbar-Cleaner4_thumb
150. NexusFile (Dual pane file manager with FTP & archive extraction support)
NexusFile
That’s it for our 2012 compilation of best Windows applications. Did you find any new apps here that you liked? We’d love it if you mentioned your favorite ones in the comments section below.
Don’t forget to share this post with your friends, and do stick around; we have compilations for other platforms coming up next. Happy New Year!

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