Thursday, April 28, 2005

Folder View

Folder View - Official Home

From PC World article: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,119982,00.asp

Sometimes you need a quick look at a folder but you don't want to deal with Windows Explorer. Folder View resides in your system tray, giving you superfast access to the folders you use most often. The tool is easily configurable, so you can remove unneeded folders and add new ones. Plus, if you are using Windows Explorer, you can right-click a file to copy or move it to a favorite folder. Free.

Friday, April 22, 2005

MZ-Tools - Productivity Tools for Visual Studio .NET, Visual Basic and VBA

MZ-Tools - Productivity Tools for Visual Studio .NET, Visual Basic and VBA

MZ-Tools is a family of add-ins, some of them freeware, which extend the Microsoft programming environments with new menus and toolbars to provide many productivity features.

MZ-Tools will allow you to enjoy the following benefits during the development of your applications:

* To write code faster: There are features that will allow you to insert exception handlers, snippets of code, etc. with a single mouse click, keyboard shortcut or expansion keyword, or to use assistants to create new procedures, message boxes, connection strings, etc.
* To locate code faster: With the enhanced Find feature of this add-on, all the results are shown in a hierarchical tree inside a dockable window that allows you to remove occurrences that are not of your interest and a lot of other enhancements. Other features allow you to locate the calls to a given procedure, to keep a list of favorite procedures that you use often, etc.
* To design forms faster: There are features that will allow you to apply default properties to a control when it is added to a form, to set the TabIndex property of all the controls of a form with one click (or even none), etc.
* To document your code faster: There are features that will allow you to insert headers (to a procedure, class or file) with a single mouse click or keyboard shortcut. These headers are customizable and allow the use of predefined variables (such as the procedure name) or user-defined variables. Furthermore, other features will generate documentation about your source code in XML and HTML formats.
* To ensure the quality of your code and applications: There are features that can add line numbers for error handlers, code reviews that can detect dead code, review the TabIndex or access keys of your controls, review forbidden or mandatory text, etc. Even better, in version 4.0 for Visual Studio .NET you can write your own review operations with very little effort.

And many more features (40+ in each toolset) that let you have a good time coding by eliminating the tedious tasks!

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Javacool SpywareBlaster

SpywareBlaster

Freeware for personal use.

"Javacool Spywareblaster, however, does some things that the others don't. Specifically, it disables malicious ActiveX controls before they're ever installed, effectively permanently banning them from the computer. It also has a restricted site list that it adds to the host file as 127.0.0.1, blocking ads, etc. Finally, it adds a list of tracking cookie sites to the "block cookies" lists in both IE and Mozilla-based browsers. On top of all this, it doesn't have to run 24/7 in the background, so it takes no resources. Just changes a few configuration items, which allows Windows to directly block the crap itself.

The fact that it's recommended by the Spybot S&D crew certainly doesn't hurt, either."

Spyware Removal Checklist

Spyware Removal Checklist

1. Boot into Safe Mode with Networking (some spyware can only be removed in Safe Mode).
2. Turn off System Restore in Windows XP/ME.
3. Open Add/Remove programs and remove any application that both you and the principal user do not recognize or deem to be spyware.
4. Install a licensed antivirus product; update and run it on the infected system. (i.e. AVG, NOD, etc.)
5. Install Spybot Search & Destroy. Update and run it on the infected system.
6. Install at least two licensed anti-spyware products such as Spy Sweeper, Microsoft Anti-Spyware, Pest Patrol and/or Ad-Aware. Update and run them on the infected system.
7. Launch HijackThis and click the 'Do a system scan and save a logfile' button. Copy and paste your HijackThis log into the textbox at this URL for analysis: http://www.hijackthis.de/index.php?%20langselect=english
8. Use HijackThis to remove anything in the Nasty category.
9. Reboot and run Spybot and commercial anti-spyware products until the system is clean. You may have to run more than one, but Spy Sweeper is my personal favorite.
10. Launch Internet Explorer and browse the Web to verify Winsock was not broken while removing spyware. If you cannot browse the Web, run the LSPfix utility and perform another Web test.
11. Turn on System Restore."

From Tech Republic forum posting at: http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=4&threadID=171181&messageID=1743368

BHODemon

SpywareInfo :· BHODemon

From TechRepublic article at: http://techrepublic.com.com/5102-10595-5635123.html

"To get rid of and prevent malicious Internet Explorer BHOs, I use BHODemon. While Windows XP Service Pack 2's Internet Explorer includes a similar offering under its Manage Add-ons feature, I prefer BHODemon. Not everyone uses Windows XP, and, more important, BHODemon prevents BHOs from installing and activating.

BHODemon displays whatever Spybot Search & Destroy doesn't remove, and you can choose which BHOs to enable or disable. After installation, BHODemon starts up automatically, preventing hostile BHOs from installing in real time and closing the door on adware and spyware code that might have piggybacked onto other software installations."

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

CounterSpy

CounterSpy

BestBuy in PC World's April 2005 "Spyware Stoppers" article: http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,119572,00.asp

"Posted the highest detection rate in our tests. Offers a wide range of real-time protection, including script blocking and preventing infections from the addition of Browser Helper Objects."