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Here is a table comparing the latest AVG packages.  They are currently available from Brandstar with a 15% Discount!

Free Anti-Virus software doesn’t protect you, your files or your identity while:

• Shopping online
• Banking online
• Chatting to friends
• Downloading music, files and films

Feature	AVG Free	AVG Anti-Virus Pro 8.5	AVG Internet Security 8.5
RRP – 1 year	Free*	£29.35	£39.14
Brandstar Price		£25.52	£34.03
RRP – 2 year	Free*	£39.14	£57.81
BrandstarPrice		£34.03	£50.27
Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware protects against viruses, spyware, adware and identity-theft
Safe Search scans search results to ensure that pages are safe
Prevents Identity Theft helps prevent identity theft
Anti-Rootkit protection against hidden threats on your computer which can deliver malicious content onto your machine
Safe Downloads scans your downloads for any dangerous content
Safe Instant Messaging protection for your ICQ and MSN communication
Safe Surf real-time protection from poisoned web pages
Free Support free 24/7 Support from AVG
Anti-Spam catches e-mail threats including phishing, fraud and spam
Firewall stops hackers and viruses spread over the internet
System Tools assists the admin when finding problems
Download	Free	30 day trial	30 day trial
Buy at Brandstar		Buy at Brandstar	Buy at Brandstar

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?

One the Fifth Day Of Christmas my true love gave to me…..Anti-Virus Software from AVG.  Now, some of you may think that this is a boring present but if you want a practical present then this could be the one!  AVG is effective, strong and cheap anti-virus protection.  Prices start from Free!

Take a look!

Other AVG Posts:
-Training AVG Anti-Spam
-AVG 8.0 Free – Tutorial
-AVG Internet Security 8.0

Brandstar have recently released a brand new Software page!  The software page attempts to tackle the problem of not knowing which software is worth buying and downloading.  After all, there are so many options to choose from!  It covers a variety of both free and commercial products in the genres of Computer Security, Media, Office Applications and System Tools.

It’s worth checking out!

Acrobat.com is a brand spanking new site with some breakthrough and exciting features!  Acrobat.com is from Adobe and it provides a variety of online services such as; Word Processing, PDF Converting, File Sharing, Instant Messaging, Online Conferencing, File Managing and much more!  The five main features that Acrobat.com provides are:

• Buzzword
• Share
• ConnectNow
• Create PDF
• My Files

To use the website’s services you need to Create an Acrobat Account which is completely free!  To do this just go to the Acrobat Website then select the services you would like to use then click ‘Begin’ and then select ‘Sign Up’.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mail2Web.com is site which allows you to check your emails from many email providers for absolutely nothing!  You don’t even need to register for the basic service, all you simply do is put in your email address and password then you’re off!  It couldn’t be any simpler!  However, if you want to take full advantage of the services available you do need to register by filling out a very short online form.  Registration is free.

Pro’s

• Can be accessed from anywhere
• Easy to use
• Free

Con’s

• You have to register for full use
• Emails you send are not saved in sent items.  The way to get round this problem is to send a copy of the email to yourself in the CC or BCC

Do you use Mail2Web?

Sorry, running a bit late with this one. Flock – The Social Web Browser works with Windows, Mac AND Linux, so something for everyone here. It is specifically desiged to really integrate into the social networking sites like facebook and make your browsing experience “fast, convienent and fun!”

It is built on the Firefox technology and the current beta version is based on firefox 3. For those that use the web a lot for networking with people, shareing photos, using a web based email account then Flock is well worth considering.

Something I like is that Hotmail works better in Flock that it does in Firefox, so if you like your hotmail or live account but don’t like Internet Explorer then download Flock for free and see what you think

Let us know if you use it…what you think…etc

Windows Live SkyDrive is an online storage device. You can use it for:

• Storing Private/Password Protected files,
• Storing files to share with friends all round the globe
• Sharing files with anyone and everyone.

You can upload and store pretty much any file, however you have a limit of of 5GB of storage space. You can have all your files organised and ordered into online folders. One slightly annoying thing is that you cannot upload entire folders at one time from your PC to SkyDrive, you can only upload 5 individual files at one time.

It’s up to you how you use it!  Some ideas we came up with were:

• Sharing files when working as a group
• Backing up your important files!
• Securely sharing photos with family and loved ones throughout the world!

To be able to use this tool you need to have a Windows Live ID. If you don’t just sign up for one, its free!

Keeping track of your home accounts can be a bit of a pain, and no one really wants to spend their hard earned cash on software to help them keep track. Microsoft have recently released an accounting package called “Office Accounting 2008″ and as with all Microsoft stuff there are different versions! But the bottom of the range edition is free and is perfect for personal accounting and in some cases for small business accounting.

The free version of the software allows you to:

• Link the software with your online bank account
• Create estimates & invoices
• Track Customer Payments
• Create Quotes, Invoices and email them as PDF’s
• Share your Data with Outlook
• Track Expenses and Pay Bills
• And More…

Take a look at the website for more information: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/accountingexpress/