How To Securely Delete Files

When you delete a file in Windows, only the reference to the file is removed from the file system table. The file still exists on disk until other data overwrites it, leaving it vulnerable to recovery.

There are many tools available out there that allow you to securely delete files so they cannot be recovered. This article provides a summary of some of the free tools available out there, many of which are portable, allowing you to securely delete files you may temporarily save to public computers.

Eraser

Eraser makes it very easy to securely delete files, folders, or both. It overwrites the files being deleted with random data. There are several options for the number of times the files being deleted are overwritten with random data, including two versions of the US DoD 5220.22-M standard (3-pass and 7-pass) and the Gutmann method, which overwrites the file with random data 35 times.

You can immediately delete files and folders using the On-Demand interface or schedule files and folders to be securely deleted at a specific time using the Scheduler.

Eraser comes in a version you can install, which also allows you to add an option to the Windows Explorer context menu to securely erase files within Explorer. You can also download a portable version of Eraser you can take with you on a USB flash drive to delete files you save on other computers.

Download the installable version of Eraser from eraser.heidi.ie or the portable version fromPortableApps.com.

Freeraser

Freeraser is a free, portable tool that allows you to securely delete files using drag-and-drop. You can select to delete your files using a Fast method of filling the space with random data with one pass, using a Forced method that utilizes the DoD 5220.22M, 3-pass standard, or using the Ultimate, or Gutmann, method, deleting files by overwriting them with random data 35 times. Right-clicking on the Freeraser trash can displays a menu allowing you to manually select a file for deletion and to change the options for the program.

Download Freeraser from pendriveapps.com.

Blank And Secure

Blank And Secure is another portable drag-and-drop secure file deletion tool. Simply, drag-and-drop files or folders to be deleted onto the middle box on the Blank And Secure window. You can specify how many times the files are to be overwritten by zeros by clicking the Overwrite X times button and selecting an option. The deletion operation can be delayed up to 9 seconds using the Delete Delay X sec. button.

Download Blank And Secure from pendriveapps.com.

DP Shredder

DP Shredder is a portable, small program that allows you to securely delete files or directories and to overwrite the free space on a hard drive so files that were deleted previously without using secure methods cannot be recovered. You can easily select the method for deletion, which includes two US DoD-approved methods and the Gutmann method, and how many times (Rounds) the method will be applied.

Download DP Shredder from portablefreeware.com.

SDelete

SDelete is a command line tool allowing you to overwrite the free space on your hard disk so any previously deleted data becomes unrecoverable. It is portable and can be run from a USB flash drive in a command prompt window. To get help with how to use the command, type “sdelete” (without the quotes) at the command prompt and press Enter.

Download SDelete from technet.microsoft.com.

CCleaner

CCleaner is a program that removes unused, temporary files from your system, cleans up your internet history and cookies, contains a tool for cleaning the registry, and even allows you to clean up files from applications installed on your computer. The latest version offers a tool for wiping the free space on your hard drive. You can wipe the free space on a hard drive or the entire drive, securely deleting all data on the drive. There are four options for specifying how many times the data will be overwritten.

Download the installable version or the portable version of CCleaner from piriform.com.

A program for secure deletion of files is a useful addition to your software toolbox, especially if you use different computers, some of which may be public machines

Source: How-To Geek

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How To Make Your Own Search Engine for free

Hey, Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Today i bring us a cool tutorial that allows you create your own search engine for free. To do this just follow the following short steps..

First, click here to go to Goglogo.
Now click on Google logo maker, you'll be taken to a page where you'll be asked to type in a name. Type your name or your website name to create a your own Search Engine & click on Create my Search page now. Now your Search Engine is ready for use.

Happy Holidays.

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How To Play PS2 Games on Your Computer Easily

First of all, if you want to know about why you should test/play your PS2 games on PC, here are a few good reasons:

PCSX2 lets you play games in very high resolution because of the advanced graphics plugins that it uses, compared to the low resolution of the PS2 console.
You can save your PS2 games at ANYTIME you want without needing any ingame checkpoint, by using save-states. Thats a very big advantage for games that won’t let you save your game unless you reach a checkpoint or the end of a level.
You can take high-resolution screenshots of games while playing on your PC and you can even record videos of your gameplay if you want to show off to your friends.  There are alot more reasons but by now I guess you will be interested in giving PCSX2 a try anyway, so back to the topic.
The guide:

First of all, you’ll be needing to download PCSX2 (quite obvious  ). After installing it, you’ll be needing a PS2 bios file (which is normally named like SCPH-XXXX.bin), this file basically contains all the information about how a PS2 plays a game. PCSX2 needs this file to play games on your PC. download it from here. After you’ve got the BIOS file (SCPH-XXXX.bin), put it in /bios directory of PCSX2s folder.


Now its time to launch PCSX2 and configure it. So run the emulator.

Tekken4, a PS2 game, running on PCSX2 in Windows Vista

Now click on Config from the menu, and choose Configuration

Now you’ll see the configuration window. If your PS2 bios file is in the correct location, you should be able to see it in the BIOS combo list as shown in the screenshot below.

PCSX2, a PS2 emulator for Windows and Linux

In the next step, make sure the gsdx video plugin is selected in the Graphics drop down menu.

This plugin is the most compatible one. PCSX2 will probably crash if you have an old video card and you try using ZeroGS graphics plugin

Now make sure PEOPs CDVD plugin is selected in the cdvdrom drop down menu. Also, after selecting the peops plugin, click on the configure button below it and choose the drive letter that corresponds to your cd/dvd rom drive. Normally it’ll be the first drive letter you’ll see in the list

Don't forget to configure this cdvdrom plugin and select the correct drive letter that corresponds to your cd/dvd drive

Press OK so that all the settings get saved. Now you’re set to play the game of your choice , just insert any of your PS2 game to your CD / DVD rom drive and click on File Run CDVD.

PCSX2 will start emulating/playing your game now. Just to show you the power of PCSX2, here are some snapshots of Tekken4 running on my PC with PCSX2.

Click here to download PCSX2

Author: AceKYD.
AceKYD is a student at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Owner and founder, KYD Evolution. Add as Friend on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, Add To Google+

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All To Know About Computer Viruses

Just what exactly is a virus? What kind is in your computer? How did it get there? How is it spreading and wreaking such havoc? And why is it bothering with your computer anyway?
Viruses are pieces of programming code that make copies of themselves, or replicate, inside your computer without asking your explicit written permission to do so. Forget getting your permission down on paper. Viruses don’t bother to seek your permission at all! Very invasive.
In comparison, there are pieces of code that might replicate inside your computer, say something your IT guy thinks you need. But the code spreads, perhaps throughout your office network, with your consent (or at least your IT guy’s consent). These types of replicating code are called agents, said Jimmy Kuo, a research fellow with McAfee AVERT, a research arm of anti-virus software-maker McAfee Inc.
In this article, though, we’re not talking about the good guys, or the agents. We’ll be talking about the bad guys, the viruses.
A long, long time ago in computer years, like five, most viruses were comprised of a similar breed. They entered your computer perhaps through an email attachment or a floppy disk (remember those?). Then they attached themselves to one of your files, say your Microsoft Word program.
When you opened your Microsoft Word program, the virus replicated and attached itself to other files. These could be other random files on your hard drive, the files furthest away from your Microsoft Word program, or other files, depending on how the virus writer wanted the virus to behave.
This virus code could contain hundreds or thousands of instructions. When it replicates it inserts those instructions, into the files it infects, said Carey Nachenberg, Chief Architect at Symantec Research Labs, an arm of anti-virus software-maker Symantec. Corp.
Because so many other types of viruses exist now, the kind just described is called a classic virus. Classic viruses still exist but they’re not quite as prevalent as they used to be. (Perhaps we could put classic viruses on the shelf with Hemingway and Dickens.)
These days, in the modern era, viruses are known to spread through vulnerabilities in web browsers, files shared over the internet, emails themselves, and computer networks.
As far as web browsers are concerned, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer takes most of the heat for spreading viruses because it’s used by more people for web surfing than any other browser.
Nevertheless, “Any web browser potentially has vulnerabilities," Nachenberg said.
For instance, let’s say you go to a website in IE you have every reason to think is safe, Nachenberg said.
But unfortunately it isn’t. It has virus code hidden in its background that IE isn’t protecting you from. While you’re looking at the site, the virus is downloaded onto your computer, he said. That’s one way of catching a nasty virus.
During the past two years, another prevalent way to catch a virus has been through downloads computer users share with one another, mostly on music sharing sites, Kuo said. On Limewire or Kazaa, for instance, teenagers or other music enthusiasts might think they’re downloading that latest Justin Timberlake song, when in reality they’re downloading a virus straight into their computer. It’s easy for a virus writer to put a download with a virus on one of these sites because everyone’s sharing with everyone else anyway.
Here’s one you might not have thought of. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express to send and receive email, do you have a preview pane below your list of emails that shows the contents of the email you have highlighted? If so, you may be putting yourself at risk.
Some viruses, though a small percentage according to Nachenberg, are inserted straight into emails themselves.
Forget opening the attachment. All you have to do is view the email to potentially get a virus, Kuo added. For instance, have you ever opened or viewed an email that states it’s “loading"? Well, once everything is “loaded," a virus in the email might just load onto your computer.
So if I were you, I’d click on View on the toolbar in your Outlook or Outlook Express and close the preview pane. (You have to click on View and then Layout in Outlook Express.)
On a network at work? You could get a virus that way. Worms are viruses that come into your computer via networks, Kuo said. They travel from machine to machine and, unlike, the classic viruses, they attack the machine itself rather than individual files.
Worms sit in your working memory, or RAM, Nachenberg said.
OK, so we’ve talked about how the viruses get into a computer. How do they cause so much damage once they’re there?
Let’s say you’ve caught a classic virus, one that replicates and attacks various files on your computer. Let’s go back to the example of the virus that initially infects your Microsoft Word program.
Well, it might eventually cause that program to crash, Nachenberg said. It also might cause damage to your computer as it looks for new targets to infect.
This process of infecting targets and looking for new ones could eventually use up your computer’s ability to function, he said.
Often the destruction a virus causes is pegged to a certain event or date and time, called a trigger. For instance, a virus could be programmed to lay dormant until January 28. When that date rolls around, though, it may be programmed to do something as innocuous but annoying as splash popups on your screen, or something as severe as reformat your computer’s hard drive, Nachenberg said.
There are other potential reasons, though, for a virus to cause your computer to be acting slow or in weird ways. And that leads us to a new segment – the reason virus writers would want to waste their time creating viruses in the first place.
The majority of viruses are still written by teenagers looking for some notoriety, Nachenberg said. But a growing segment of the virus-writing population has other intentions in mind.
For these other intentions, we first need to explain the “backdoor" concept.
The sole purpose of some viruses is to create a vulnerability in your computer. Once it creates this hole of sorts, or backdoor, it signals home to mama or dada virus writer (kind of like in E.T.). Once the virus writer receives the signal, they can use and abuse your computer to their own likings.
Trojans are sometimes used to open backdoors. In fact that is usually their sole purpose, Kuo said.
Trojans are pieces of code you might download onto your computer, say, from a newsgroup. As in the Trojan War they are named after, they are usually disguised as innocuous pieces of code. But Trojans aren’t considered viruses because they don’t replicate.
Now back to the real viruses. Let’s say we have Joe Shmo virus writer. He sends out a virus that ends up infecting a thousand machines. But he doesn’t want the feds on his case. So he instructs the viruses on the various machines to send their signals, not of course to his computer, but to a place that can’t be traced. Hotmail email happens to be an example of one such place, Kuo said.
OK, so the virus writers now control these computers. What will they use them for?
One use is to send spam. Once that backdoor is open, they bounce spam off of those computers and send it to other machines, Nachenberg said.
That’s right. Some spam you have in your email right now may have been originally sent to other innocent computers before it came to yours so that it could remain in disguise. If the authorities could track down the original senders of spam, they could crack down on spam itself. Spam senders don’t want that.
Ever heard of phishing emails? Those are the ones that purport to be from your internet service provider or bank. They typically request some information from you, like your credit card number. The problem is, they’re NOT from your internet service provider or your bank. They’re from evil people after your credit card number! Well, these emails are often sent the same way spam is sent, by sending them via innocent computers.
Of course makers of anti-virus software use a variety of methods to combat the onslaught of viruses. Norton, for instance, uses signature scanning, Nachenberg said.
Signature scanning is similar to the process of looking for DNA fingerprints, he said. Norton examines programming code to find what viruses are made of. It adds those bad instructions it finds to its large database of other bad code. Then it uses this vast database to seek out and match the code in it with similar code in your computer. When it finds such virus code, it lets you know!

Source: Street Directory

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How To Play Gameboy Games On PC

Seasons Greetings!!! Its the holidays again and we'll surely be searching for fun stuffs to do. One of these fun stuffs is Playing games.... It sure is on top of my list.

In this tutorial, i will be showing us how to play Gameboy advance games on our computers. Just follow the following steps:

STEP 1: You'll need an emulator... not just anyone but a gameboy emulator. You can download VisualBoyAdvance or any other Gameboy emulator of your choice.

Click Here to Download Visual Boy Advance

 Typically the download is a .zip file, which requires you to extract the files before running the emulator, rather than an installation program.

STEP 2:  If you have any gameboy game you wish to play e.g Yu-gi-oh. Use a search engine to search for the Game Boy game title you want to play followed by "roms". Download the ROM. Although the actual ROM file's name will end in .gb, .gbc, or .gba, depending on which Game Boy model the game is for, it may be contained in a .zip or .rar file and need to be extracted. Download the .gba format for Gameboy advance.

STEP 3: Open your emulator, navigate to the location of the downloaded .gba file and run. Thats all.

Merry Christmas people!!!!

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Windows 8 Review

Ever since the release of Windows 8, i have constantly been surfing the internet for a very good review of Windows 8 and i just came across one and i feel the need to share it with you guys. As some of us are still contemplating upgrading to Windows... i''ll say this is a must read. Check out the post here http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/windows-8-review/

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Trick To Find Serial Or Crack Of Any Software

This is a simple but useful trick that I usually use to find CD keys, keygens or cracks with Google.


HOW DOES THIS WORK?

Quite simple really, "94FBR" is part of an Office 2000 Pro CD key that is widely distributed as it bypasses the activation requirements of Office 2K Pro. By searching for the product name and 94FBR, you guarantee two things:


1) The pages that are returned are pages dealing specifically with the product you're wanting a serial for.
2) Because 94FBR is part of a serial number, and only part of a serial number, you guarantee that any page being returned is a serial number or crack list page.

Step 1:- If you’re looking for a serial number for Nero (for example) go to www.google.com and type "Nero 94FBR" and it'll bring up various websites where you can get either cracks, serials, or keygen of the particular software you need. This works great in Google.
“You can also use some serial number providing sites like www.smartserials.com , serials.ws aside others.

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How to Mobilize Your Blog: Plugin Vs Web Platform

As everyone knows these days, it is extremely important to have a mobile friendly website. Large amounts of online traffic are migrating to mobile platforms, and you do not want to be left behind. Knowing that you need to go mobile, the biggest decision is how to do it – with a plugin or with a web platform. Each have their advantages and disadvantages, so read on for a few more details on each, to help you decide how to take your blog on the go.

Mobile Plugins
Mobile plugins are generally offered through your web host, or, you can seek out a third party. It essentially offers you the opportunity to install a plugin on your website that automatically converts it to a more mobile-friendly format when someone navigates to your site on a mobile device. Plugins are extremely easy to use, and do not require any kind of knowledge of computer code and programming. Plugins save you time and money, as there are many free downloadable plugins floating around on the Internet. And, of course, you do not need to spend the time to redesign your website. Once the plugin is installed, any mobile visitor is automatically sent to a reformatted page.

Of course, when using a plugin you lose the control available for those who custom design their mobile sites. Depending on what your blog offers, that might not be a problem – if you have a rather basic design that just needs a slight reformatting for mobile, it might not be worth your time to do a custom redesign of your whole website. But, for others, you might want more control over the final look of your mobile edition. And those are the people who will want to use a web platform to design their mobile sites.

Web Platform
Web platform offers a lot of advantages not available to those using a plugin. The obvious one, of course, is customization. This means that you have the ability to customize each and every aspect of your mobile site, whereas a plugin will just apply your web content to a standard template. This customization will allow you to ensure that the mobile version of your site is the best possible format for your viewers and customers, and allows you to ensure that your look, style, and brand identity carry over fluidly from your main site.

The drawbacks to custom design are the time and expense involved. If you do not know how to do it yourself, you will need to hire a professional, and even if you can, it will take quite a bit of time. Plugs and web platform both have their benefits and drawbacks, so spend some time considering your needs and resources before determining a path! Check out TradeStable mobile to get an inspiration. Good luck!

Author - Mary Johnson. Mary is a freelance writer specializing in tech-related articles. With a background in journalism, she has been in collaboration with many blogs across the Web. Currently Mary is working for TradeStable.com.ng. Follow on Twitter @MaryJohnson083

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HOW TO DOWNLOAD FREE STUFFS ONLINE

What do you do most online? What are the favorite things you love to do online. I can bet that we all love to download. Be it apps, videos, tutorials, movies and whatever we need at one time or the other. Unfortunately, not everything on the internet is up for free download. So how do we go about this?

There are many websites on the Internet called free file hosting and sharing websites. They allow people to upload and download files. Some are for free with premium opportunities while some require paid subscription. Some of these websites include Mediafire.com, Rapidshare.com, Hulkshare.com and Putlocker.com. There are many more websites like these for you to get more free files to download. Just visit them and search for any file you want. Another cool one is Piratebay, but you can only download using torrents.

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The New 2go Version 3.5.1

Yet another version of the wave-making mobile application, 2go Version 3.5.1 has been released. This newer version contains various updates. And is in a way, different from the previous versions.

Firstly, to download 2go, visit 2go.co.za on your mobile phone. Unlike other previous editions where you have to first input your phone number and password before you can download, you dont have to do this now. All you need to do is click on download. Upon opening, you select your country, input your phone number, username and password.


SOME VISIBLE UPDATES
Some   of the visible updates seen in this new update compared to other versions is:

• Away colors remain the same (yellow), but online color has been changed to white. offline to dark gray. I personally do not really like this choice of colors as the white online colors is the same as that of the group name.
• The in-app links have been changed to a button-like object.
• You still get to use your styles from previous versions

Do you notice any other change? Please tell us by posting in the comment section below. Thank you

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How to activate the second processor in a dual core laptop

First of all, Left-click on the "Start" button in the lower lefthand of the screen. There is a search box in your Start menu, near the bottom. The search bar looks just like the search bar in your browser. Type "Run" in that text box and then press "Enter". This brings up a command line interface that allows you to access some of the deeper functions of the Windows operating system. Type "msconfig" in the text entry area and then press "Enter" again. Left-click on the boot tab at the top of the menu, then left-click on the "Advanced Options" button.
Locate the "Number of Processors" box in the menu. Left-click on the empty box to check it and then turn the number from "1" to "2" in the menu next to it. Your second processor is now activated but cannot be "seen" by the computer, and used, until you restart the computer.
Restart your computer to allow for the new hardware to be "seen" by the computer. The boot time should even speed up as the two processors will be able to process all the initial startup routines twice as quickly.

Author - gameKYD, web developer and software solutions expert. Follow on Twitter, Facebook and contact on E-Mail

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Customize Your Windows Desktop With Fences

Customization........ One of the lovely, cool, geeky things that i as well as many other people out there love. Today i bring to us another one of the many software on the internet today that makes customization of Windows pretty easy and fascinating.

Fences....

Fences is a software that allows the computer user to categorize the icons on his desktop into various categories which might include, folders, shortcuts, programs, absolutely anything and anyhow. The user has full control over this layout and can choose to change or remove it at any point in time.

Download Fences Now

 

 Do you know of any other cool customization software???? Share it with us by dropping your comments

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IDM FireFox Extension

IDM Firefox extension automatically integrates into your firefox browser at the time of installing the IDM software. Although some of us install cracks which allows us to constantly stay glued to a particular old version of the fast download accelerator. Using the latest version of Mozilla Firefox with an old version of IDM does not support integration between the two applications. So therefore, you have to download and install a compatible extension which enables the easy integration of IDM into whatever version of Firefox you are using.
IDM Extension allows you to be able to download Youtube videos with minimal stress.
Click here to find out how to Download youtube videos with IDM

Download IDM Extensions Here now.

To find out how to manually install firefox extensions from a file click here

If you follow all these steps sequencially, you may certainly have installed IDM CC Add-On for all your firefox browsers 12,13,14,15,16,17 . Now just restart your Firefox browser. You are done.

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BatteryBar Pro v3.5.4 Full version With Crack

BatteryBar Pro v3.5.4 Full Version is a software which serves to monitor the battery capacity on a notebook or laptop computer.

FEATURES: 
- It shows your current Battery percent.
- Your Battery Capacity.
- Your Battery Wear and many more other features that allows you to monitor your battery status, and battery life.

Download Now

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How To ByPass The Metro Interface In Windows 8

Hey guys.. As we all know, Microsoft has implemented a new style of the start screen.. The Metro Interface. Although i love this great interface, some of us might still feel the need of bypassing this interface and heading straight into the desktop.
This method is not disabling Metro nor the interface enhancements that go along with
it. A tap on the Windows-key for instance brings you right back to the Metro interface. To automatically switch to the desktop during start of the system you need to complete the following steps:

STEP 1: Create a new plain text document on your desktop or another location. You can do so with
a right-click and the selection of New > Text Document from the context menu. Add the following contents to the new document and save it afterwards:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=Explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

STEP 2: Rename the text document to metro.scf. Make sure the .txt extension gets removed in the process. You can verify that by comparing the icon before and after the renaming: it should be different after you have renamed it. Now it is time to add the file as a Task to the Task Scheduler.

STEP 3: The easiest way to open the Windows Task Scheduler is to press the Windows-key to
get into Metro (how ironic), enter schedule, switch to the settings filter on the right, and select the scheduler from the results listing. Select Task Scheduler Library in the new window, right-click in the task listing, and pick the create new task option from the context menu. Enter a name for the task, e.g. Metro, and switch to the triggers tab.
STEP 4: Click on the add button here and select at log on, in the begin the task menu at the top of the new window. Switch to the actions tab afterwards, select browse, and then the metro.scf file that you have created previously. When you restart Windows 8 now, the operating system should automatically bypass the Metro interface.

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