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Over the next few weeks we are going to run a series of comparisons between different Anti-Virus Software.  In these comparison post’s we’re going to show you the main features that the two products provide and then tell you which we think is better through our rating system. Our ratings are worked out by the amount of ticks the product has.  Further points are awarded for faster download, simpler/better installation and cheaper price.  This time it is Norton’s 360 v3.0 vs AVG’s Award Winning Internet Security v8.5.

Feature
Download Time	Average	Fast
Installation	Quick but slightly tedious (you have to register for a second time.)  Doesn’t help you set up the general running of the software.	Takes an average length of time.  Quite extensive and helps you set up the basic features of the software.
Antivirus Technology
Identity Protection (Including Phishing Protection, Checks Links, Keeps you details safe whilst shopping online, etc)
Antispyware
Backup Software
Automated Virus Updater
Protects against Viruses, Bots, Spyware, Rootkits, Worms, Trojan Horses, etc.
Online Storage Available?
Helps Secure and Monitor Networks
Download and Instant Messenger Screening
Firewall Protection
RRP	1 Year: £59.99 2 Years: £109.99	1 Year: £39.14 2 Years: £58.71
Available to Download from Brandstar?
Overall Rating	9 out of 14	12 out of 14

So to conclude, from our investigations and playing around with the two software’s, we can announce that we think AVG Internet Security is the better software of the two. It may not have any backup software within the package but it works out cheaper to get AVG and then buy yourself a decent back up tool and external hard drive.

Next time we’ll be comparing AVG Internet Security with McAfee Total Protection.

Here at PCToolbox we are always being asked which products are worthwhile buying and which aren’t, so we are going to start doing posts with our Top Three Items from a product range, this time round its Portable Hard Drives.  Portable (External) Hard Drives are beccoming increasingly a necessity in the average household as nobody wants to risk loosing their music, photos or documents.  Here are our top three:

1. WD Elements – A very small, reliable and stylish portable hard drive from Western Digital.  Western Digital are one of the best in their market and the hard drive works out to be extremely good value for money.
2. Freecom – Slightly more expensive but it is a network attached storage device, so multiple machines can easily access the drive over the network and backup.  Perfect for small businesses or home networks.
3. WD MyBook – Yes another from Western Digital!  WD MyBook isn’t quite as small as the elements drive but you get twice as much space for your money, and it is still portable and stylish.  We have found these drives to be very reliable!

Do you have any you can recommend too?

Last months poll was asking who backed up and the results were interesting! Most people that voted do apparently backup up, but almost as many people have said they don’t! And then half as many say they sometimes backup. Let’s be honest, sometimes means…we think about it but never get round to doing it!

Having a computer break down is bad enough but loosing irreplaceable data is devastating for anyone, photos that can’t be recreated or business data that if lost could cripple the business.

With so many backup tools out there and portable hard drives now available for around £50 for 250 GB there is no real excuse!

Browse our backup posts here, and watch out later this month for a post of our top 3 backup external drives.

Together we can save you’re data!

SyncToy 2.0 is a free software download from Microsoft.  It is a Backup Tool and very very simple to use.  Click to Download SyncToy 2.0.  The download itself is fairly small so doesn’t take long to download on the typical Internet connection.  The installation process is again straightforward and isn’t very time consuming.  The software is extremely user friendly and couldn’t be any simpler to use.  In fact, it’s so simple my Nan who learnt to change a battery 4 years ago would be able to use it!

The key element to the software is pairing folders, e.g., folder A and folder B.  With the folder pairings you can choose one of three processes:

• Sync – Where any changes made in folder A are copied to folder B.  And any changes made in folder B are copied to folder A.
• Echo – Where changes made in folder A are copied in folder B, but any changes made in folder B won’t be copied to folder A.
• Contribute – Very similar to Echo.  Where changes made in folder A are copied in folder B, but any changes made in folder B won’t be copied to folder A.  However, you cannot delete in either folder.

SyncToy is a great little application which I am very impressed with.  Have you used it before?  What do you think of it?  Any questions?

See Also:
SyncBackSE
Backup Tools – Two Worth Looking At
Cobain Backup 9

A few weeks back we reviewed SyncBackSE and we thought maybe some of you might prefer free backup software, which is where Cobain Backup 9 comes in.  Cobain Backup 9 is a software designed to backup the files etc on your computer, and can be downloaded for free!  The download is small so it doesn’t take very long and the installation process is very simple and quick.

Creating tasks for the tool to do couldn’t really be much simpler.  You select add task from the task menu.  Then you have the option to do many things, for example:

• Name the task (E.g. My Documents Backup)
• Select what you would like to be backed up (including particular files as well as folders and drives)
• Select where you would like the files backed up to
• Select when you would like the files to be backed up and how often
• Encrypt or Compress the backup

Cobain Backup 9 also allows you to clone tasks.  This means that you copy all the characteristics of a task to make a second task of the exact same nature.  Then you can edit the task to adapt it to your demands.  For instance, if you want to create a very similar task to one which has already been created, simply clone it and then edit it.  A great tool.

In our opinion Cobain Backup 9 is a great tool, it’s not necessarily up to the standard of Second Backup, but Cobain Backup 9 is free!

Any questions?

SyncBackSE is a backup tool from a company called 2BrightSparks.  The program has free for a 30 day trial and then costs £21.68 if you decide you like it and want to buy.  The download for the 30 day free trial is well worthwhile in my opinion because you get a real feel of what the product is like and a better idea of whether you think its worth purchasing the product or not.

The program is easy and quick to install, however it does become a little confusing when it comes to initially configuring profiles and getting to grips with the tools.  The tutorials, on the product website, are for version 4, which isn’t really much help if you’re using version 5 which is the latest edition.  Despite the tutorials being for version 4, they do give you a rough idea of how to perform basic tasks using the program.

The program allows you to backup, synchronize, mirror and group.  Backup means to copy your files to another area (e.g. an external hard drive, FTP server).  Synchronizing allows you to keep files in one folder the same as the files in another specified folder.  Synchronizing is ideal for transferring files from one machine to another or between a computer and a server.  Mirroring means that files from one area are copied directly to specified another area.  Finally, grouping means that you can perform various backup, synchronizing and mirroring tasks at one time.

Once you’ve got used to it, SyncBackSE is a very good program and well worth considering if you’re looking for a backup tool.  For more information visit their website.

Windows Home Server 2008 – Want to share files, photos and videos with other members in your family, easily backup all the machines in your home, then it is worth checking out.

Gone is the time that families have just the one computer and networking is crucial for sharing the internet connection, printers, etc. But what about shring files and photos togather? Well Windows Home Server 2008 makes that much easier and at the same time you can use it as a backup server for all the machines in your home. Takes the requirement off you to remember to backup to CD every friday!

Take a look at the Microsoft Site for more information about Windows Home Server, and what it can do for you!

Over the coming months we will be posting more about Windows Home Server, so keep an eye out here at PCToolbox.

In today’s digital age it is vital to have a backup of your important stuff, whether that be photos, letters, databases, emails, spreadsheets, etc it needs to be stored elsewhere. This isn’t about normal backup though, want that then check here. This is about storing data online. Not quite so easy but it means you can access it anywhere with a internet connection and you can also share relevant bits with your friends.

I am talking about 123-Drive here, part of the Pipex network and named much like 123-Reg. 123-Drive allows you to upload 25GB of multimedia data like photos, music and videos and another 5GB for documents like letters and spreadsheets. That is the free allowance anyway, need more then you can if you pay for it

This is a quick tip, so I am stopping there, take a look at 123-Drive for yourself and sign up for free. A nice alternative to traditional backing up methods.

Store, Access, Share and Publish — All with 123-Drive

I am often asked what are the advantages of having a server for a small business. Which is a good question as it can be a heavy investment and often a wasted investment if it is not used to its full potential. So how could a small business use a server to its full potential without using features for the sake of it..?

It’s my opinion that using Small Business Server from Microsoft is the ideal operating system as it is packed with features the standard versions don’t come with, most importantly for small businesses it includes Exchange Server. More specifically the features that I think would be most useful to a small business are as follows…

• File Storage – store files centrally to ensure easy access for all users rather than emailing documents back and forth or using USB Pen Drives.
• Exchange Server – Have your server manage your company emails so sending internally is immediate, you can share each others calendars and access all this remotely from any machine with an internet connection so your team can always stay in touch.
• Remote Access – Allows employees to work from anywhere with an internet connection for ultimate productivity.
• With all data stored on the server you have only one backup to worry about – even with the best server in the world you still MUST backup!
• Share printers
• Enabling Faxing from and to the server with faxes being delivered to the email inbox of users

Servers can do much more, but in my opinion those are the things that are the biggest advantages to Small Businesses looking to improve their Computing capabilities.
Something to try on your own? Most definitely not. Get hold of your I.T. Company and ask them to do it for you.

For years I have not found a decent backup utility but over the last 20months I came across two, they are like London buses, you wait ages and none come and then there they are…all in a line

Memeo and SecondBackup are the utilities and I will look at them separately as they are both good in their own ways and suitable in different ways for different people.

Memeo – I came across this by accident when I ordered a Buffalo Drivestation it was on the disk that came with the external hard drive. It is very simple to install and setup and it runs in the background backing up as you go. So you are nearly always 100% backed up if the computer is on and the drive is connected. The utility also allows you to register an account with Memeo to backup to their online service, an excellent way of keeping data stored off-site. You don’t have to buy a Buffalo External hard drive to get the software, you can buy it direct from Memeo.

The software also has a very useful One-Step Data Restore utility with a shortcut created on your desktop when you create the backup profile.

It is not free but at the same time it is free and you can try it for 30 days before you commit to buying.

SecondBackup – I came across this program when I needed something a bit different from Memeo. SecondBackup allows you to create a backup profile which consists of a selection of files/folders that need to be backed up, the location, the backup start time and the frequency. It also allows multiple profiles so for example you could backup your photos every Monday to 1 external hard drive, and your music to another external hard drive on a Tuesday.

SecondBackup seems to work incredibly quickly and a feature that Memeo doesn’t have is that it can backup from an external network location. So one setup we have is the software installed on a Small Business 2003 server backup data from a shared folder on an old Novell server. Which works brilliantly!

As I said both programs backup in different ways, so it is very hard to say which one is best. But if I am honest I am leaning towards SecondBackup, however if Memeo worked for me and I was buying a Buffalo drive then I wouldn’t buy Memeo as well.

No excuses not to backup when these two programs make it so easy!