New Skype (5.1.0.122) Version Is Now Available To Download

Dear Readers,

Ok, everyone there has been a minor update to the new Skype out 2day and this would be version (5.1.0.122) for all of us that are keeping track. This new update seems to have a few minor bug fixes. Heres hoping this marks a period in Skype’s history where they have addressed dropped calls and other such matters.

—————————

Direct Link To Both Skype Download and Skype Change Log: http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/?c=101

—————————-

Till The Next Update,

Remy “Se7en”

Survey Savvy – Survey Site Review (Jan 2011)

Name: Survey Savvy

Link: https://www.surveysavvy.com/

Who Is Eligible To Participate: Pretty much anyone

Type of Award Or Payment: Sweepstakes / Cash / Prizes

Points or Cash Normally Earned Per Survey: $0.00 USD/CAD

Sign-Up Time: Medium length

How Many Survey Invitations Should You Expect Per Week: 0 – 5

How Long Does It Take To Collect A Reward Or Cash Out: Well honestly probably way longer then you’d ever want to wait…

Do They Spam You: Yes

Number of Survey I Have Received Over The Past 9 Years Since Joining: 100

Overall Rating: 0.5 out of 5 – This survey company has some major spamming issues. Even thou this company guarantees you between 1-3 US dollars per survey. You rarely if ever collect said promised money, that was stated in the survey invitation you received.

Extra Info: I have only received around 5 survey invitations since my last review way back in Oct 2010. I would highly recommend avoiding this site because you will be wasting both your time and your effort.

——————————————————————

Return To The Main Reviews Page

——————————————————————

Till The Next Review,

Remy “Se7en”

Blog Update #151 – This Week (CSW) Will Be Posting Our First 2011 Job Postings Opportunities

Dear Readers,

This week The Computer Savvy Weblog Team is happy to announce it first 2011 membership recruitment drive Q1. We will be re-adding the Jobs tab/page. As well as posting new job postings through out the week into possible early next week.

We will be doing the recruitment drive a little differently this years with actually full job description and other such information. And all will be available just a click away via our Jobs tab. By clicking on the job title you want to apply for.

As always the whole (CSW) team wishes the best of luck to all who apply…

—————————————

-Between Jan 24th 2011 – Jan 3oth 2011-

—————————————–

Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog Review

- AVG Free Anti-Virus Version (9.0.872) – Freeware Review

—————————————–

Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog Feature

- Scam Watch: Hotmail E-mail Account Scam Explained + Example

—————————————–

Last Weeks Top Computer Savvy Weblog News Post

- New Skype (5.1.0.104) Version Is Now Available To Download

—————————————–

Till The Next Blog Update,

Remy “Se7en”

Auslogics Disk Defrag (3.1.10.165) – Freeware Review

Name: Auslogics Disk Defrag

Version: (3.1.10.165)

AA. Cost: Free

BB. Is Auslogic Disk Defrag Worth It ?: Yes, 100%

1. Ease Of Use – Super simple there are basically 3 options Analyze , Defrag and Defrag & Optimize. And 1 hidden option “Check For Disk Errors”

1A. Interface - I would hazard a guess at saying that this is idiot proof. But every time I say that I get an e-mail a day or so later. Saying it screwed up their system or caused some conflict.

2. Quality Of Scan – Extremely accurate and a lot faster. Then pretty much any program free Disk Defrag program out there. Even faster then Smart Defrag.

2A. Speed Of Scan – Regular scan time for a 500 gig hard drive ranges any where from under 5mins to around 2hrs.

2B. Ease Of Reading The Final Report: Harder then you might expect.

3. Updating – When you check to see if there is an update. It will bring you to the Auslogic Disk Defrag website. Where if there is an update available. There will be a  highlight in blue. You then can click to download said new version and then download it.

4. Can You Run Other Programs During A Scan ? Yes

4A. Can You Run A Programs During An Update ? Yes

5. Is There A Progress Bar ? Yes

6. Can You Leave Auslogic Disk Defrag Running Without Issue ? Yes

7. Is There Adware Or Spyware Bundled With Auslogic Disk Defrag ? Yes, an optional Ask.cm toolbar

8. Is Auslogic Disk Defrag Stable ? Yes

I give Auslogics Disk Defrag an Overall Score of 4.5 out of 5 - Other then some issues with raided hard-drives and a hard to understand end of scan report read-outs. The rest of  Auslogic Disk Defrag is a must have for any PC user. And that goes double for all the Windows Vista users out there. That are miffed off about the terrible disk defrag program that is included with their copy of Windows Vista.

**The only downside I could see with Auslogic Disk Defrag. Was that it only can offers up whole number percentages such as 1% hard drive fragmentation. When other disk defragers can offer up more accurate to the last percentage point such as a read out of 1.5% overall disk fragmentation. Again a very minor stain on an other wise perfect carpet.

————————

Link to Download Auslogics Disk Defrag: http://download.cnet.com/Auslogics-Disk-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10567503.html?tag=mncol;1

————————

——————————————————————

Return To The Main Reviews Page

——————————————————————

Till The Next Review,

Remy “Se7en”

AVG Internet Security 2011 (10.0.1191) – Full Review

The Results Breakdown:

Passed – Did well in all of our tests

Acceptable – Could go ether way. But in most cases AVG passed

Failed – AVG did not work at all or only worked 1 out of 10 times we ran the test

Undetermined – Too soon to tell or lacking evidence to provide a solid answer

Not Tested – Has yet to be requested or there is some limitations to prevent accurate test results

————————–

Price: $54.99 USD

A. Installation AVG – Acceptable – Slower then AVG claims and we have a number of e-mails about blue and black screens of death.

B. Un-installing AVG – Acceptable – Way slower then most other anti-virus programs.

C. Stability Of AVG – Acceptable – We have had issues this time around with AVG stability. We also have a slew of e-mails echoing that fact.

——————–

DISCLAIMER: -This is just an e-mail excerpt. But it is unedited- Comments such as “AVG full Install is not very stable the bulk of times. But with this update (10.0.1191) version the % of failed attempts have drastically decreased.” “But I would not put my PC back in that type of danger again.”

The Computer Savvy Weblog Disclaimer: We have not experience any installation or un-installation issues in our own tests. With AVG Internet Security 2011 (10.0.1191).

——————-

D. Speed of Scan – Passed – Very quick on most computers and now you can decide how much memory you want to take up per scan.

E. Has AVG Free Been Compromised By Hackers Or Virus – Failed – We had 2 attacks hit our Firefox APPDATA file folders. Attacks occurred only on Vista / 32 bit computer tests.

F. Internet Browser Cookie Detection Rate And Removal Test – Failed - Terrible detection and removal tests. You are way better off with SUPERAntiSpyware or CCleaner.

G. Does AVG Free Do Automatic Updates By Itself Without Issue – Passed – Yes, no issues reported this time around

————————–

00. One Click Fix – Passed – I really like this idea. But I am not a fan of the idea that if I want to de-activated a service. Such as the Link Scanner that AVG should still show it as not being fully protected.

————————–

1. Anti-Virus Detection Rate Test -

1A. Windows XP -Passed –

1B. Windows Vista – Failed – Several Firefox APPDATA attacks that went un-noticed by all parts of AVG.

1C. Windows 7 – Passed –

————————–

2. Anti-Spyware – Failed – AVG seems to miss common and not so common spyware. You are much better off with SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot.

3. Anti-Spam - Acceptable - GMail has better spam mail protection for free. 

4. FireWall - Acceptable — There are way too many programs on the AVG Whitelist. I hardly even see a detection. There should be a promoted when installing or un-install a program not yet approved by you. And or when a program tries to connect to the Internet.

5. Link Scanner - Passed - Can be very very useful to some.

6. Safe Search - Passed - I love this option and it’s very very useful for all thous people. That want extra safe guards while surfing unknown sites.

7. AVG ToolBar - Failed - Not a fan of any toolbars. The AVG toolbar is way to hard to get ride of. It also seems to slow down most Internet browsers.

8. AVG SideBar Gadget – Passed – Love it and have it on both my Vista and Win 7 sidebars. But it is way to large.

9. Residential Shield Test – Acceptable – I find that AVIRA still seems to grab the virus a way before AVG does.

10. E-Mail Scanner - Not Tested - I already have e-mail protection from another program. + I find it is overly way more difficult then it needs to be. 

11. Update Manager – Passed – AVG seems to update alright.

12. Online Shield - Undetermined – Still not really sure how really effective this option is.

13. Anti-Root Kit – Passed - I love the separate Root Kit scanning option.

14. System Tools – Acceptable – Great idea but very poorly execution. Now the information is there but it is very very hard to decipher even for the more Computer Savvy of us.

15. PC Analyzer – Failed – If you don’t mind that you only can fix your errors for free once then great. But if you are like me and you probably feel this options is both somewhat misleading and out right bait to buy this extremely expensive add-on.

** On a side note I fully expected with the paid version of AVG Internet Security 2011. That the PC Analyzer would be an included as a usable option.

16. Identity Protection – Undetermined – I really love this whole Idea. But I am just really unsure how to test this feature properly. On the bright side of things Identify Protection seems to have plenty of informations to displays for you and overall seems very comprehensive. But I am just a little overwhelmed as how to use such information.

————————–

Overall Rating: 10 Passed, 7 Acceptable, 6 Failed, 2 Undetermined, 1 Not Tested (Total # of tests done 26)

————————–

My Final Verdict: I have lost my love for AVG it appears. There is also the fact that there are not many overwhelming differences that I can see between AVG Internet Security 2011 and AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011 (To get me to recommend the almost $60 USD price tag.But I still highly recommend it if you don’t already have another virus program or you have the older AVG paid program. I would highly recommend that you at least upgrade to the newer AVG 2011 (Regardless of what I said in the above review. You are indeed still better off with the AVG 2011 version. As compared to AVG 8.5 or 9.0).

If you still want to try AVG Internet Security 2011. Then I highly recommend the trailware version of AVG Internet Security 2011 first. Before you decide you want to buy it out right. That way you will know what you are getting into and won’t have any mis-conceptions of what AVG Internet Security 2011 does and does not do.

————————–

Here are 2 links to download the 30 day trailware  version of AVG Internet Security 2011:

1. http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download-free-trial (AVG Main Site)

2. http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Internet-Security-2011/3000-2239_4-10710160.html?tag=mncol;2

————————–

My Overall Score: 2.5/5

——————————————————————

Return To The Main Reviews Page

——————————————————————

Till The Next Review,

Kirbe

EPD 26: Fan Mail Friday’s (01/28/2011)

Dear Remy,

(Last Updated Jan 28th, 2011 @ 10:55 pm EST)

I’ve tried more then a few times to invite you to Facebook, LinkedIn and other such social networks. Why do you never accept my invites ? and or don’t have a profile that I can join ?

And will The Computer Savvy Weblog every have a dedicated fan or company page ?

Confused -CSW- Fanboy

—————————-

Reply: Well, “Confused CSW Fanboy”…….Well it is pretty simple I don’t use them and thus don’t have a profile. I’m not trying to be rude or say that “I don’t like you or others that invite me.” I really appreciate the invites and kind words. But this is just a choice I have made (Not to be part of Facebook or LinkedIn social networking sites.)

But if you want to invite other members of this blog/site by all means do so. Just check their profiles or e-mail them. I’m sure Danny or Mattyblog has a profile at least on Facebook.

Now will The Computer Savvy Weblog every have a dedicated fan or company page ?

Well if we do it won’t be run by me. We are sticking with Twitter , Digg and Technorati. We may add more social networking related features in the future. But a Facebook or LinkedIn company page or profile at this time. I have to say not at this time. But anything is possible I suppose.

—————————-

——————————————————————

Return To The Main Features Page

——————————————————————

Till Next Friday,

Remy “Se7en”

SpeedFan 4.43 Beta 10 – Available to Download @ Almico.com

Dear Readers,

I just went to see if there was a new SpeedFan available and what did you know there was one available. But unfortunately it is still in the beta stage. But if you are still interested you can download the beta release of SpeedFan right now @ the following Website Link: http://www.almico.com/sfbetaprogram.php

Till The Next Update,

Remy “Se7en”

AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011 Version (10.0.1191) – Freeware Review

The Results Breakdown:

Passed – Did well in all of our tests

Acceptable – Could go ether way. But in most cases AVG passed

Failed – AVG did not work at all or only worked 1 out of 10 times we ran the test

Undetermined – Too soon to tell or lacking evidence to provide a solid answer

Not Tested – Has yet to be requested or there is some limitations to prevent accurate test results

————————–

A. Stability Of Program – Passed – No issues with stability at all.

B. Has AVG Free Been Compromised By Hackers Or Virus – Passed – No issues reported to us thus far

C. Speed of Scan – Passed – Very quick on most computers. And now you have the option to choose how much Memory/Ram you want each scheduled scan to take up.

D. Does AVG Free Do Automatic Updates By Itself Without Any Issue – Passed – Yes, but there seems to be on occasion to be issues with hanging and or stalling out, when manually updating your AVG.

E. Internet Browser Cookie Detection Rate And Removal Test – Failed - You are way better off with something like SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot. AVG Internet cookie detection rate is terrible even with the option actived and checked off. But it does seem to be getting a little better with each update.

————————–

1. Anti-Virus Detection Rate Test:

1A. Windows XP – Passed

1B. Windows Vista – Passed

1C. Windows 7 – Passed

————————–

2. Anti-Spyware – Failed – AVG still seems to miss very common and not so common spyware/adware. You are much better off with SUPERAntiSpyware or Spybot as your adware, spyware, malware protection.

3. One Click Fix – Passed – I really like this idea. But I am not a fan, of the idea fact that if I want to de-activated a service. Such as the Link Scanner, that AVG should still show as not being fully protected. But that just might be me.

4. Link Scanner - Passed - Not a fan. But it can be very very useful to some.

5. Safe Search - Passed - I love this option and find it very very useful for all thous people that are unsure about certain websites.

6. AVG ToolBar – Failed - This toolbar causes browser crashes of Firefox and other such Internet browsers on a regular bases. And it is really hard to un-install. We also noticed it caused some strange behavior when dealing with WordPress.

7. AVG SideBar Gadget – Failed – I don’t really see the point of it and it is super bulky. (Taking up way to much space) And + I already have my side bar full of way more useful widgets/gadgets.

8. Residential Shield Test – Acceptable – I still find AVIRA and AVAST seems to grab the virus way before AVG free does. But there is indeed some major overall improvements here.

9. E-Mail Scanner - Acceptable - I already have e-mail protection from another program. + I find it is way more difficult to set-up then it needs to be. 

10. Update Manager – Passed – No issues here at all. And it even update faster then past AVG versions, such as 8.5 and 9.0.

11. Anti-RootKit – Acceptable – Not sure about the full system scan RootKit Integration. But the separate Root Kit Scanner is pretty good.

12. PC Analyzer – Massive Epic Fail - If you don’t mind that you only can fix your errors for free once then great. But if you are like me and you probably feel this options is both somewhat misleading and out right bait to buy this extremely expensive add-on.

13. Identity Protection – Undetermined - I really love this whole Idea. But I am just really unsure how to test this feature properly. On the bright side of things Identify Protection seems to have plenty of informations to displays for you and overall seems very comprehensive. But I am just a little overwhelmed as how to use such information.

————————–

Overall Rating: 11 Passed, 3 Acceptable, 5 Failed, 1 Undetermined, 0 Not tested (Total # of tests done 20)

————————–

My Final Verdict: I’m loving the new AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011. AVG even seems to have fixed some of their remaining issues. But I still want to say I highly recommend upgrading to AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011. I would say at least give it a go and see if you like it. If you don’t you can always switch to AVIRA or AVAST.

————————–

Here are 2 links to download AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011:

1. http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download.prd-afh#tba1 (AVG Main Site)

2. http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-2011/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?tag=contentMain;contentAux

————————–

My Overall Score: 3/5

——————————————————————

Return To The Main Reviews Page

——————————————————————

Till The Next Review,

Danny

AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011 (10.0.1204) Official Change Log From The AVG Free Forum

Dear Readers,

Here Is The Official Change Log For AVG Free Anti-Virus 2011 (10.0.1204). Straight From The AVG Free Forum……

Program Update AVG 2011 Free 10.0.1202 ………………. January 26, 2011

Fixes & Improvements

- Update: Improved reporting procedure

——————————–

Till The Next Update,

Remy “Se7en”

New Mozilla FireFox 4.0 Beta 10 Is Now Available To Download

Dear Readers,

It appears that Mozilla FireFox has a new 4.0 Beta 10 version available to download in a ton of different languages to suit you taste and background.

** I personally have not downloaded this new beta version as of yet. But a few of our members plan too.

So I can’t say I would recommend it because it is still in the Beta stage. But if you do give it a whirl by all means let us know what you think and I’ll post it..

Here is the link to the FireFox 4.0 Beta 10 download: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Till The Next Update,

Remy “Se7en”