Lookeen – An Outlook Search Add-on That’s FAST!

Currently, there’s a BlackBerry commercial running here in Canada in which a young woman declares that she gets over 1,000 emails a day. I have to admit, that the 1,000+ emails that she purportedly receives daily, led me to do a little figuring. Truth in advertising and all that.

Assuming that each email takes one minute to read, that translates into 16+ hours devoted to just reading emails. Perhaps it takes less time than that but, even cutting the read time in half would result in a full 8 hour day devoted to just reading emails.

Riding this train of thought, led me to consider just how this young woman managed (assuming that what she claims is true), to handle the time constraints imposed by this massive volume of correspondence – assuming, that at least some of these emails would require an after the fact action plan.

How would she, for example, search for and find, relevant emails, attachments, appointments, tasks, notes and contacts in a rather extensive  email achieve? And, do so quickly and efficiently – no small task.

Coincidentally, at roughly the same time that I was putting myself through mental contortions in an attempt to break down the 1,000+ email claim, I was offered an opportunity to take Lookeen, an email search solution designed to integrate seamlessly into Microsoft Outlook, for a test ride.

Fast facts:

• Massive increase of E-Mail search speed
• Finds e-Mails, attachments, appointments, tasks, notes and contacts
• Supports Exchange Server, Public Folder and external PST-archives
• Integrated Desktop Search: Search in local and Network Files
• For enterprises: Central Indexing reduces Server and Network Traffic
• Over 500.000 installations worldwide
• Installation in a few clicks

Following an easy installation, the application launches into a brief tutorial as illustrated in the following self-explanatory screen captures.

Step one.

Step two.

Step three.

Step four.

Step five.

As shown in the following screen capture, you’ll note that Lookeen adds a simple, yet helpful, search box to Outlook.

Did I mention FAST?

In the following quick search, the application pulled up 697 related items in three tenths of a second.

In a more focused search, the application pulled up 79 related items in two tenths of a second.

In this brief overview, I’ve barely touched on the functionality of this super little Outlook add-on. You can also expect the following:

Lookeen will search everywhere in your Outlook data.

Have every email at your fingertips – no matter how much data you have!

The integrated real-time-indexing enables you to search your local emails (PST), Exchange Server, Public Folder, your complete desktop, and even network files, all while Lookeen is indexing your files.

Lookeen will find every mail – even in the largest of archives.

Execute parallel searches for e-mails, attachments, appointments, tasks, notes and contacts.

Integrated Desktop search enables you to search in documents and PDFs.

Install and manage Lookeen in your enterprise with group policies (Lookeen Business Edition) and use the Lookeen Shared Index feature to reduce server traffic (Lookeen Enterprise Edition).

You can download Lookeen and try it for free for 14 days.

Download at: Lookeen.

As for the young woman’s claim of 1,000 emails a day? Yeah, sure.  

A big “Thank You” to regular reader Lee Garber for taking the time to point me towards this application. Thanks Lee.

Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro – Steps Up The Defrag Process

You’ll get plenty of argument in the Tech community as to whether Hard Drive fragmentation is a symptom of poor PC health – or not. There’s not much fence-straddling on this issue.

Despite that, there is a slight leaning in the Tech community toward defragmentation being a positive maintenance process. Personally, I’ve always come down on the side of – it can’t hurt. Unless, that is, we’re dealing with SSD (Solid State Drive) drives.

Auslogics, the Australian developer of my all time favorite free Disk defragger (Auslogics Disk Defrag – free edition – over 10 Million downloads at CNET alone), have just upgraded Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro, which steps up the defragmentation process several notches.

Quick walkthrough:

The user interface continues to be new user friendly, but still includes plenty of options for the advanced user. You’ll notice in the following screen shot that the application has recognized drive C: as an SSD. 

I’m not going to defrag the SSD drive so, I’ve turned off SSD recognition in the “settings” panel. Defragging SSD drives is not recommended since there’s no discernable benefit and, it may impact long term drive health.  In fact, Windows 7 will disable disk defragmentation on an SSD.

I’ve focused instead on drive E: and drive F:, the data partition on this drive. As you can see in the following screen capture, Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro reports drive E: is in “Excellent” condition.

But not so – drive F:, the data partition. From a selection of various defragging options, I chose “Simple Defrag”.

In less than a minute, the job was finished. According to the application – defragging the partition brought the performance level up from 88%, to 100%. The time to completion is a long way from the hours such an operation consumed – back in the misty days when Hard Drives had just arrived on the computing scene.

Fast facts:

4 Optimization Algorithms – There are 4 disk optimization algorithms available for you to choose from.

Offline Defragmentation – The new Offline Defragmentation engine makes it possible to defragment important system files that are normally locked and can’t be moved while Windows is running. Offline Defragmentation is performed on system boot, before the operating system loads.

Free Space Consolidation – Use the Free Space Consolidation algorithm to greatly slow down the process of file fragmentation. This optimization method merges free space on your disk into a large contiguous block, which makes it possible for new files to be written without fragmentation.

Advanced Defrag Algorithms – Disk Defrag Pro has defrag algorithms specifically designed for VSS-enabled and SSD drives.

Comprehensive Reports – With new comprehensive reports in the Professional version, it is easy to track all of the operations performed by the program.

Resource Management – Disk Defrag Pro allows you to easily control the load on system resources produced by the defragmentation process. Restrict the use of system resources by the program when you are at your PC, or lift any restrictions to defrag your disks faster.

Single File or Folder Defragmentation – Sometimes it makes more sense to defragment frequently used files only, instead of defragmenting the entire drive. Disk Defrag Pro can save your time by defragmenting only the files you want.

List of Fragmented Files – Disk Defrag Pro lists all fragmented files after performing disk analysis. Selecting a file from the list will highlight its fragments’ location on the cluster map. You can find the most fragmented files and their paths by sorting through the list.

Defragmentation Wizard – With so many disk optimization algorithms and defrag options available, how do you choose the right one for your PC? Thanks to Defragmentation Wizard, it’s a matter of just a few simple clicks.

Advanced Scheduler – A wide range of scheduling options makes it easy to maintain your hard drive in a consistently good shape. You can set the program to run precisely at the specified time, or alternatively, use Auto Defragmentation mode.

Quick Tips:

Before you begin the defrag process, I suggest that you run a program such as CCleaner, which will empty your Recycle Bin, Temporary Internet Files folder, and other locations where clutter tends to accumulate on a PC.

As well, you should consider uninstalling any applications you no longer use. Revo Uninstaller is a free utility that will uninstall unneeded applications more thoroughly than the Windows native uninstaller.

These steps are not absolutely necessary but, they are a good practice.

System Requirements:  Windows 7, Vista, 2008, XP (32-bit & 64-bit)

Download a 30 day trial version at: Auslogics

Purchase $29. 95 USD.

Additional resources:

Compare Free vs. Pro

FAQ

Four Tips to Simplify Your Tax Time With Nitro PDF Professional

Did I ever mention that I love Nitro PDF software? Nitro PDF,  at every level (both the freeware version, and the professional version), has established an enviable reputation for excellence: applications are fast, lightweight, and incorporate customizable security controls, including the option to completely disable JavaScript – no small consideration for security conscious users.

I’m hardly alone in my assessment – so, I’ll throw in a couple of comments from readers following my last review of Nitro PDF Reader 2.0 – June 21, 2011.

It is really awesome. Nitro PDF Reader is the one of the best PDF readers in the market. I am quite excited about what ………

At work, I use Adobe but at home, I have been using Foxit. I just downloaded the new Nitro on your advice and as usual, your advice is spot on. I can now say I just switched my default from Foxit to Nitro.

To help ease the frustrating and time-consuming activities of tax-time, Nitro Software has put together four easy-to-follow tips to help streamline your tax filing.  If you find these tips useful – consider sharing them with others who could benefit.  

Future Proof Your Taxes – Tracking down copies of last year’s tax statements or this year’s lost W-2 can be frustrating, and time-consuming. Avoid the inevitable hours spent searching and create an archive of both physical and digital financial records that can be easily searched and opened by anyone using PDF/A – the digital archival standard.

Portable Document Format is lightweight, secure, and universally accepted – it can be opened by anyone from your accountant to the IRS. Future-proof your financials by creating PDF/A files, an entirely self-contained ISO standard designed to ensure long term support and acceptance, completely independent of the originating data or the system it was created on.

Convert almost any WindowsT file format to PDF – from spreadsheets to statements – and use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on scanned paper to create convenient, searchable PDF files that can be accessed for years to come.

Future proof your taxes and create PDF/A compliant archives from over 300 different file formats with Nitro PDF Professional (free 14 day trial).

Fill and Save Tax forms – Just about any government form can be downloaded as a PDF file, and businesses both big and small often utilize forms to gather information from their clients. Active PDF forms are designed to be filled easily and quickly, with many allowing you to submit the completed file with the click of a button.

Form functionality goes even further with the capability to process mathematical calculations automatically; no more time spent trying to work out 8.5% of box B divided by the sum of boxes A, C, and D, raised to the power of E=MC2.  Unfortunately the same can’t be said for paper forms, but you can avoid starting from scratch every time you make a mistake by scanning them to PDF and completing them electronically. Type text anywhere on the page, sign them digitally (if required) and even add them to your PDF/A archive for record-keeping.

Using the free Nitro PDF Reader you can fill in any PDF forms – print them, save them, export their data, and submit them to a web or email destination. Sitting on a stack of paper documentation you’ve been avoiding? Scan them as PDF files and free yourself from clutter today.

Safeguard Your Taxes – Financial information should always be considered highly sensitive and treated accordingly. Whether you need to email a document or use a web-based submission service, security controls form a powerful toolset to protect your information, and should always be on your checklist when preparing your taxes.

Safeguard your private financial data using military-grade 256-bit AES encryption to secure your PDF files with password protection and digital certificates, and specify usage permissions to manage how people interact with your documents and prevent individual activity such as copying, editing, or printing.

Nitro PDF Professional (trial) covers you for encrypting and decrypting tax documents, certifying and signing, managing the public keys of your trusted contacts, and password-protecting PDF files to control access and usage. The free Nitro PDF Reader allows you to add basic password security to PDF files you create.

Combine and Streamline Your Tax Documentation – Many people today receive a pay stub (or pay slip) in PDF format. Regardless of whether you’re paid weekly or monthly, that’s one serious paper trail, and an organizational nightmare come tax time. Simply combine all the pay stubs into one ‘master’ PDF file to avoid hours wasted by you or your accountant trying to work with 52 individual files.

Combining files in Nitro PDF Professional couldn’t be easier, and the resultant PDF comprising all your pay-stubs allows you and your accountant to easily scroll through the entire financial year within the one PDF document – no more piles of invoices, receipts, bank statements, or financial reports.

Interesting factoid: Though over 70% of the taxpaying American population uses e-filing to log their taxes, most people still supplement their electronic submission with hardcopy paper documents (e.g. W2s, pay-stubs, receipts).

Stress Test Your Computer With BurnInTest Evaluation Version

Back in computing’s “Stone Age” – off you went to a system builder – chose your components, and then – you waited 48 hours or more for delivery, while the vendor “burned-in” the system.  The purpose being; to avoid component failure at a later date.

To help you to stay clear of hardware failure (which could leave you hanging), it’s a good idea to stress test your system/s from time to time. Better to be aware of impending hardware failure now, than to face the consequences later.

BurnInTest (latest release December 12, 2011), is a terrific software tool for both Windows and Linux, which allows all the major hardware systems, and sub-systems of your computer to be simultaneously tested for stability, and reliability.

This menu driven application tests the CPU, RAM, disk drives, optical drives, sound cards, 2D graphics, 3D graphics, video playback, network connections and printers. This can all be done simultaneously, in approximately 15 minutes.

The version tested here, was the fully functional 30 day trial version, (no restrictions).

Test Screens:

The preference screen, as the following screen capture indicates, allows for considerably test customization. Far too many to go into in this short review.

You have the option of running selected tests as per the following screen capture…..

or, running a block of tests as per the following.

A main test screen, as well as additional screens for each system test and sub test, allows you to view detailed scans in progress.

The test midway point.

Test completion. You’ll notice in the following screen shot that an error is reported on the Optical disc portion of the test. This was a deliberate choice on my part (no disc inserted in the drive).

Since excessive heat is a hardware killer – in this test, I paid particular attention to the temperature of the graphics card. A graphics card under heavy load – and, this test suite lays on the graphic load – can run – hot – hot – hot!

Fast facts:

Assists in PC Troubleshooting and diagnostics.

Dramatically reduce your burn in times with multithreaded simultaneous testing of components.

Avoid costly downtime, system rebuilds and lost data.

Test the stability of a system after configuration changes or hardware upgrades (critical for over clocking).

Results can be saved to disk, printed, or exported as a graphical image.

System requirements:

Windows: Windows 2008 Server, Vista, Win 7, 2003 Server, XP, 2000. (32-bit and 64-bit platforms).

Linux: Linux kernel 2.6.9 or higher. X Window System X11R6. KDE 3.2 or higher. Open GL 1.2 or higher (for 3D graphics test plus working Open GL drivers for your video card). libusb library required

Download at: PassMark

Note: The download refers to the 30 day fully functional evaluation version.

More Freebies From Microsoft Research Labs

“We are excited to be developing technologies that weave software, hardware, and services into every aspect of our lives, thereby advancing toward the goal of making computers genuinely useful — We see a future in which computers interact with people the way we interact with each other, think ahead to anticipate and meet our needs, and support us as we make the most of our ideas, efforts, and intellect.”

Joulemeter

Joulemeter is a software tool that estimates the power consumption of your computer. It tracks computer resources, such as CPU utilization and screen brightness, and estimates power usage.

System Requirements: Windows 7

HD View 3.3

With HD View, you can view and interact with very large images on the Web. HD View supports smooth panning and zooming, as well as appropriate viewing perspectives as you zoom in and out. HD View also makes creating and hosting your own HD View images easy. HD View is available as a plug-in for Windows-based browsers, including Internet Explorer and Firefox.

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 (32-bit version).

Image Composite Editor (32 bit)

Microsoft Image Composite Editor is an advanced panoramic image stitcher. Given a set of overlapping photographs of a scene shot from a single camera location, the application creates a high-resolution panorama that seamlessly combines the original images.

The stitched panorama can be shared with friends and viewed in 3D by uploading it to the Photosynth web site. Or the panorama can be saved in a wide variety of image formats, from common formats like JPEG and TIFF to the multiresolution tiled format used by Silverlight’s Deep Zoom and by the HD View and HD View SL panorama viewers.

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7

Download 64 bit version here.

StickySorter

Ever found yourself lost in the eye of a brainstorm? Lots of great information, but it’s all over the place! Sticky Sorter is a Grassroots Project, developed by two Microsoft Employees, that you can use today to manage such challenges.

The inventors, Julie and Sumit, were looking for an easier way to capture, sift through, and organize hundreds of research observations traditionally done on physical sticky notes in an affinity diagramming exercise with researchers from around the world.

The result is StickySorter which met their complex needs, supports virtual collaboration, and is now available for you to use in managing your next brainstorm.

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 with .Net Framework 2.0.

Touchless

Touchless is an Office Labs Grassroots Project that started from an idea Mike Wasserman, a Microsoft Office Graphics developer, started during his college days to create multi-touch experience using a webcam. Through Office Labs sponsorship, Mike’s weekend hobby turned into an open-source prototype, currently available for download.

With just a webcam and color markers, you can get a taste of Touchless through the multi-touch demos provided. Play a pong-like game, rotate maps, control a snake, and draw with markers. If you’re someone technical, the Software Development Kit (SDK) is available for you to view, contribute to the code, or create your own multi-touch applications to help explore the possibilities.

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Webcam

Bonus – Not free, but free trials:

Songsmith

Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to match a singer’s voice. Just choose a musical style, sing into your PC’s microphone, and Songsmith will create backing music for you. Then share your songs with your friends and family, post your songs online, or create your own music videos.

System Requirements: Windows XP (SP2), Vista, Windows 7

AutoCollage 2008

Researchers from all disciplines and the Cambridge Innovation Development team worked together, building Digital Tapestry and AutoCollage research into a new product. Face detection, saliency filters, and other Microsoft research identifies interesting parts of pictures. Advanced object selection and blending technologies seamlessly combine these pieces into a beautiful new AutoCollage.

System Requirements: Windows XP (SP3), Vista, Windows 7

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FlashToMyPC – Access Your PC Remotely

Carrying computer files with you while you’re on the go is a breeze – USB devices, for example, are perfect for the job. File portability doesn’t stop there though. With a little planning, you can access your files through a Cloud based storage solution – SkyDrive, DropBox, Box.net – readily come to mind.

Here’s the kicker though – both of the above require that you plan ahead so that the required files are stored either on the USB device, or resident in the Cloud. Despite this plan ahead strategy, you may still run into one of those “uh, oh” moments. Robert Burns hit the nail on the head when he wrote (pardon the misquote) – “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray”.

If the file/s you need – then and there – are not on your USB device, or stored on a Cloud server, you’re probably looking at one of those “uh, oh” moments. Luckily, there are solutions to those almost inevitable – what am I going to do now times – that we’ve all experienced.

FlashToMyPC, developed by the folks at GigaTribe, which utilizes a good deal of the latter product’s technology, is a USB application which will allow you to access your entire hard drive from any Internet connected computer.

Here’s the lowdown:

Graphic courtesy of FlashToMyPC. Click on graphic to expand to original size.

Step by Step installation

Select the USB device to which you will install the application.

Once I had installed the application I took a quick look, using Windows Explorer, to ensure the executable installed correctly. Click on graphic to expand to original size.

Launching the executable (from the USB device), will bring up the following screen so that the second part of the install can be completed ……

the installation of FlashToMyPC on the selected machine.

Setup continues with the usual user name and password input requirements.

That’s it!

From now on, just insert your Flash drive into an Internet connected machine to access your own Hard Drive.

For the security conscious user (and, who isn’t theses days), the developer has built-in a number of hardcore security features, including

Only your USB Flash Drive can access your computer.

Your Flash drive is identified via a unique combination of hardware ID, software ID, username and password.

All data exchanged between your flash drive and your computer is encrypted (AES 256).

Transferred files are downloaded directly onto your USB Flash Drive, leaving no trace on the computer.

After 3 failed password attempts, your computer access is suspended for 24 hours.

If you’ve lost your USB flash drive, you can delete your computer’s access to it.

Deleting a Flash drive’s access link is easy.

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Win 7. According to the developer a Mac version

FlashToMyPC is not freeware but, you can download a 30 day free trial at the developer’s site. You may continue past the trial date, at an annual fee of $9.95 USD.

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Nitro PDF Software Advises – PDF Security Blunders You Need To Know

If you’re a serious PDF user, then it’s almost a given that you’re familiar with Nitro PDF Software. Nitro PDF Software is a leading PDF software vendor, and the company behind Nitro PDF Professional. And, for those of us who love free software, Nitro PDF offers the award-winning free Nitro PDF Reader – you can read my take on Nitro PDF Reader here.

If you’re looking for a free PDF creator, Nitro PDF Software has you covered here as well, with its free application –  PrimoPDF – which many consider (including me), to be the best free PDF creator available.

This past week, Nitro PDF Software published a list covering three major PDF security blunders, a recent public example of each, and additionally – the best practices computer users can take to ensure their own digital document security.

Security conscious users will find the following information especially useful.

From Nitro PDF Software (with permission):

Protection, Passwords, and Permissions to Safeguard Confidential Information

Problem & Example: In what might be the only example of a lax approach to document security resulting in the #1 spot on Amazon.com’s best seller list and a subsequent film deal, first-time author Adam Mansbach’s self-proclaimed “children’s book for adults”, Go the #### to Sleep, enjoyed unexpectedly positive consequences when a bootlegged PDF became a viral success story, according to Fast Company.

It’s fair to assume Adam is less than upset right now, but – unfortunately for the rest of us – more common outcomes for similar incidents tend to involve phrases like “identity theft” and “job dismissal.”

Solution: There are a number of ways to mitigate against the risks inherent with electronic distribution, the most simple being password protection – an effective way to reduce the chances of someone other than the intended recipient being able to view the document. Always provide the password separately to the document itself – ideally over the phone or in person – and try to think of something more challenging to guess than “password.”

Did you know you can also set permissions with PDF files? This enables you to specify what a user can actually do with your document. File permissions are an effective way to prevent manipulation or unauthorized sharing – allow or deny big-ticket items like printing or editing, and even block individual actions like copying text or images.

Flatten Documents to Maintain Authenticity and Prevent Manipulation

Problem & Example: The decision to release US President Barack Obama’s birth certificate only fanned the flames of debate when the PDF version made public contained a number of so-called “inconsistencies” – most visibly the presence of layered content, giving the impression the document had been digitally altered. A more realistic conclusion would be the use of optical character recognition (if the certificate had indeed been manipulated, it’s difficult to imagine such a rookie mistake would have been committed.) Read a full story at the National Review.

Solution: The majority of us will never be subject to this kind of public scrutiny, but there are best practices to follow when publishing final form documents that are relevant to almost anyone –layered content in PDF files often holds information relating to the text and images it displays, which often remains after the visual component has been deleted. “Live” text (such as form field data or annotations) is also more easily manipulated.

Certain industry bodies standardize and regulate document practices to safeguard against similar incidents – an example being the legal sector and its usage of the TIFF format, to preserve the integrity and authenticity of legally binding documents after publishing. Most desktop PDF solutions enable you to create image-based PDFs, ensuring that vector objects, text, annotations, and everything else that exists as an independent element is baked into the page as an image.

(Not) Deleting Confidential Information

Problem & Example: Whilst an effective way to redact (or permanently delete) information from physical paper, the “black marker” method happens to be rather ineffective with digital documents, as the British Navy discovered recently when they accidentally revealed information about the security of their nuclear submarines. IT security blog NakedSecurity explains it well, but the highly confidential document was “redacted” by applying a black background to the (black) text intended for removal, allowing anyone to simply copy and paste the text obscured by the black background.

Solution: As we mentioned before, PDF files have multiple layers – what looks like flat paper onscreen is three dimensional underneath. Redaction is a complex and powerful tool that (used properly) enables the complete removal of all content, and not just what you see rendered in front of you. You should never assume that simply deleting text or images guarantees complete removal, and anyone working with confidential documents should possess an understanding of their file structure and processes like redaction.

About Nitro PDF Software

Headquartered in San Francisco, Nitro PDF Software has operations spanning North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Competitively priced, Nitro PDF Professional provides users full control over PDF documents, including commenting, form-filling and authoring, digital signatures, text editing, one-click creation from Microsoft Office and more. Nitro PDF Software products have won multiple “Editors’ Choice” and “Product of the Year” awards and are used by millions of people worldwide, including a significant number of Fortune 500 organizations.

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Conseal Security Takes Portable Device Security To Another Level With Conseal USB

“This tape will self-destruct in five seconds!” – Mission Impossible.

Growing up in the 1960’s, I though that was just the coolest phrase – and the underlying technology, of course. As a way of keeping confidential  information out of the hands of the bad guys, what could be better than that? BOOOM!

Today, safeguarding confidential information is far more complex – and there are many more “bad guys”. Information, in a very real sense, is currency – and the need to protect it is every bit as real as if it were hard currency.

Unfortunately, protecting critical data in an age of extreme data portability (USB sticks, portable Hard Drives, memory cards …. ) against theft, or loss, is exasperated by the very nature of portable technology.

How hard is it to lose a USB key through theft or misadventure – easy (personally, I’ve lost two over the years).

How hard is it to lose a portable Hard Drive through theft or misadventure – easy.

How hard is it to lose a memory card through theft or misadventure – easy.

How hard is it recover any one of the storages devices mentioned? Hard. Hard. Hard.

While it’s true, that both password and encryption applications, offer some protection against unauthorized access should a portable storage device vanish, neither provides absolute protection. Both password cracking, and decrypting applications (and the computing resources necessary), are readily available to those with less than honorable intentions.

What’s needed then, is a technology that not only offers password protection and file encryption, but the ability to remotely destroy data on a non-recoverable device – if it becomes necessary.

I suspect that the Ministry of Defense in the UK, would have been delighted with this type of technology had it been available when, in 2008,  fifty eight Ministry of Defense unencrypted drives – which contained details of troop movements, locations, and travel accommodation, were “lost”.

Certainly, portable media device theft, or loss, is not restricted to organizations; it can just as easily happen at an individual level. For example, in the U.K., in 2008, – 9,000 USB drives were found by dry cleaners in various articles of clothing. It’s safe to say, that data loss and data leakages related to lost or stolen computer portable devices, are now commonplace.

Luckily, Conseal Security has just released a security safety system  that not only includes strong AES encryption, it allows protected devices to be remotely self-destructed, if they are lost or stolen. Moreover, as part of the package the ability to lock devices to specific networks, domains or specific computers, is included. A bonus feature includes a capacity to review all access attempts on a device.

Application setup, including creating an account which provides access to all of the programs features, is straightforward.

The initial account password will be emailed to you. The temporary account password in the screen capture shown below, has been changed.

Once logged in, you can proceed to manage the portable device attached to your machine.

In the following screen shot, you’ll notice I have logged in and entered a name for the attached device.

The USB drive I used for this test was quite small (512 MB), so the encryption and registration took less than two minutes.

As per the message box, no files were accessible on Drive F: (the original drive designation) – instead the files were on Drive G: (the newly concealed drive).

Following encryption of the drive’s contents you will have a number of options to choose from, including –

Access Control

You can set up rules to control where and when this device can be unlocked.

Alerting

You can set up alerts to email you when this device is used.

Self Destruct

You can securely delete the contents of this device if it has been lost or stolen. It will become a blank disk.

Unlocking the portable device is an uncomplicated process – as shown in the following screen captures.

A taskbar popup will notify you on successful completion of the “unlock” process, as illustrated in this screen capture.

Fast facts:

Remote self destruct – If your Consealed device is lost or stolen, you can remotely destroy the data it contains. Press a button on a website and the contents of your device will be securely wiped when next inserted.

Who’s accessed your data? – View a log of who attempts to unlocks your Consealed device, including who they are and what computer they used. The log shows all access attempts and contains sufficient information for law enforcement officials to uniquely identify the computer used.

Define who can access your data – Specify the computers or network domains which can unlock your Consealed device. Also specify what times of the day it can be unlocked. Rules can be changed even when the device is out of your hands.

Safe from password guessing attempts – Even fairly complex passwords can be guessed on average within 16 minutes. Conseal’s “Dual Locks” system completely secures your protected data against password guessing attempts. Consealed devices can only be unlocked with permission from a central server.

Warnings of attempted break-ins – Receive email warnings when someone tries to unlock your Consealed device, directly and uniquely identifying the user, where they are, and what computer they used.

Strong encryption – Your data is stored using super-strength 256-bit AES encryption (approved by governments to protect ‘Top Secret’ information).

Takeaway: A very impressive and elegant solution to a potentially disastrous occurrence at a cost that’s appropriate.

Conseal USB Licenses:

Home User – 1 year’s protection. Non-commercial use only. Up to 5 devices £19.95.

Corporate User – 10 devices £140 (for 1 year). 100 devices £99/month. 1000 devices £830/month. 10,000 devices £5950/month.

Conseal Security offers a full no-quibble 14 day money-back guarantee from date of purchase.

System requirements: Windows XP and above.

Devices: You can Conseal literally any USB storage device. This includes memory sticks, USB pen drives, external hard disks, SD / MMC / xD / CompactFlash cards. It also includes all Firewire, eSATA and USB3 devices. Conseal is completely device and manufacturer independent.

Further details, and a 15 day Trial download are available at the developer’s site – Conseal Security.

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Auslogics BoostSpeed 5 – A Powerful “One Stop” Optimization And Maintenance Suite

If you’re a regular visitor to this site you’re more likely than not, a high end power user. As such, you know that simple maintenance, practiced regularly, using the right tools, will keep a PC running smoothly for years.

Better yet, you’re proficient at putting together a toolbox of free system applications designed to correct performance issues that negatively impact your computing experience.

Typical computer users on the other hand, are much less likely to have the experience needed to identify the common problems that have impact on a computer’s speed and behavior, and then match the problems with the appropriate free software solution.

Drilling down through complicated operating system structures to get maximum performance from an operating system, is generally outside the range of a typical computer users skill set.

So, average users, for the most part, need an “all-in-one” performance-tuning application designed specifically for this market segment. Preferably, an application that’s comprehensive – yet, “one click” simple. Not an easy task for a product developer – many have tried, but few have really been successful.

Auslogics, well known, to we geeky types, for its free Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.1, is one of those companies that has successfully managed to work within the confines of a “one click” simple solution by developing Auslogics BoostSpeed 5.

Auslogics BoostSpeed 5 can uncover bundles of issues that can impact a computer’s performance and reliability, and then correct identified problems – often, with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Let’s take a walkthrough to look at  just some of the powerful features which are available in  Auslogics BoostSpeed 5. Clicking on any screenshot will increase the size to the original.

Installation is simple, following which you will have the opportunity to run BoostSpeed 5 for the first time. On application launch, you will be presented with the following screen.

Running a system scan, on day one of the test, pulled up the usual Registry errors, and gave me the opportunity to clean out junk files, broken shortcuts, and (most importantly for me), clean the Browser cache.

Day 2 System scan results: It’s easy to see from this second manual scan, that crud builds up on a PC very quickly.

Cutting back on crud accumulation is easy with BoostSpeed 5 though. Setting up an appropriate schedule to automatically handle cleanup and repair, is a snap with the built-in scheduler.

One of the features in the application that caught my attention was the security advice pulled up by the System Advisor. The focus here is on security holes that an average user would lack the background, or experience, to consider.

On the oft chance that the user makes an error while running a system applet – redemption is just a step away. The Rescue center can reverse changes in any of the applets shown in the following screen capture.

If you prefer not to go the automatic route, an abundance of applets are available to analyze and repair, maintain and improve, and configure the operating system, as the following screen capture shows.

Customizing Windows to get that “just you” look, couldn’t be easier. Virtually every Windows element can be customized.

Since personal privacy is a major issue for many users, the addition of a disk wipe utility (plus a shredder utility), is a bonus.

Manipulating Internet settings for best performance is generally a hit and miss operation – many applications which promise to boost performance simply don’t work.

BoostSpeed’s built-in Internet Optimizer did work – at least marginally. I suspect that a typical user might see a more robust difference than I did, since my connection was already heavily tweaked.

A user can chose to manually optimize the connection (not recommended), or preferably, sit back and have the applet do the heavy lifting.

Finally, all application functions can be accessed from the “right click” context menu, which is reachable from the Taskbar icon as shown in the following screen capture.

Fast facts:

System Scan

File Recovery

Disk Doctor

Disk Explorer

Disk Defrag

Registry Defrag

PC Disk Cleaner

Registry Cleaner

Internet Optimizer

Windows Tweak Manager

Track Eraser

Duplicate File Finder

File Shredder

Disk Wiper

Boot Time Startup Manager

Uninstall Manager

Service Manager

Task Manager

PC System Information

Task Manager Rescue Center

When I received an invitation to review Auslogics BoostSpeed 5, I wasn’t sure I could do it justice in a short review – the application’s features are so inclusive that it would take a small book to cover all the features, and the related benefits of each. It’s safe to say that this application provides virtually every tool and applet, that an average computer user should need.

If you’re an average user, disappointed with your computer’s performance, or you’re just tired of having to deal with reoccurring unexplained issues, you may find that Auslogics BoostSpeed 5 is worth its $49.95 purchase price.  If you’re not satisfied, Auslogics offers a full refund within 30 days of purchase.

BTW, a  single product license allows installation of the application on three personal PCs.

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Win 7  (32-bit & 64-bit).

Download a 15 day trial version at: the developer’s site – Auslogics.com

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Benchmark Your Computer’s Performance Capabilities With PerformanceTest

It’s hard to be in IT and avoid being asked for advice on computers – everything from operating systems – (should I be running Windows 7?); malware – (is the Internet really unsafe?); problems – (what’s wrong with my computer? It’s always…..); and maybe my favorite question – do I need a new computer?

If you’re into the “keeping up with the Joneses” rat race, and I must admit it’s hard not to be, given the conspicuous consumer society we live in, the easy answer to this last one is – yes.

But, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a way to really compare your system, and it’s performance capabilities, with the “Joneses”, or anyone else for that matter – and in the process, answer that nagging “do I need a new computer” question? Well, there is.

You can benchmark your machine using the evaluation version of PerformanceTest – a menu driven benchmarking tool made up of six test suites (twenty-eight standard benchmarking tests), with an additional seven advanced tests available.

Following completion of the benchmarking tests, you will have the opportunity to compare your system’s results against similarly equipped machines, and more.

The version tested here, was the fully functional 30 day trial version.

The user interface is made up of the familiar tabbed based system – simple and easy to follow.

The following screen capture illustrates partial completion of the 2D graphics test.

The following screen capture illustrates a partial view of the System Summary screen.

Following completion of the benchmarking tests, your machine will be assigned a performance rating which you can then use to compare your systems performance against similarly equipped machines. In fact, any machine.

A list of suggested baselines are illustrated in the following screen shot.

You are not restricted to only the suggested baselines. Additional, more specific baselines, are available by selected criteria.

The developer’s site offers a range of additional charts and graphs   CPUs, Video Cards, Hard Drives, etc.

Fast facts:

Find out if your PC is performing at its best.

Compare the performance of your machine to similar machines.

Measure the effect of configuration changes and upgrades.

Avoid paying big bucks for poor performance.

Make objective independent measurements on which to base your purchasing decision.

Since this application can be run directly from a USB drive you could use it to benchmark a new system you are considering purchasing – if the vendor was onboard with that. Sort of like kicking the tires on a new car.

System requirements: Windows XP, 2003 Server, Vista, 2008 Server and Windows 7. Available for both 32-bit and 64-bit platforms.

Download the 30 day evaluation version at: Passmark.com

Note: To continue using the application past the evaluation period it can be purchased from the developer’s site for US$24.00.

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