More Than Just A Glossary

My current website is in basic form at this time due to time constraints. I'm a full-time student but I software test for many companies, some for many years now. All the software below is highly recommended, offers exceptional value for money and should be in your arsenal of applications.

I'm in the process of creating a massive project which has taken around three years and hundreds of hours of writing, composing and research. Many long days, late nights and sacrifices have been made to give this to you for free for personal use only. The manual is called "More Than Just A Glossary: Information Techcnology Defined!" and comprises 186 pages and 182,000 words.

I'm in the final stages of proof-reading my manual, so I hope it will be available in the next week or two.

Please note that although you purchase software from me as an authorised seller, in every other way you are a customer of the software company you have purchased from. In doing so you gain a 20% discount.

Ace Utilities
The crème de la crème Windows Registry Cleaner & Registry Compactor

Ace Utilities (AU) retails at $29.95 but with a 20% discount, the total is only $23.95, a saving of $6. In addition, as an AU registered customer you are entitled to a first-class and robust Windows Registry compactor program absolutely free. Exclusive of an AU purchase, Windows Registry Compactor would normally retail at $14.95.

For an investment of $23.95 (includes the 20% discount) you will receive products worth a total of $44.90.
Please note that AU will run on all 32-bit operating system, i.e., Windows 98 through to Vista 32-bit. For the time being it would be wise to run Vista in 32-bit mode only.

To use AU on the 64-bit version of Vista, a customer with an AU 32-bit operating system license will be entitled to purchase the dedicated AU 64-bit version at a 50% discount. Therefore, instead $14.95 it retails at $11.95 (including the 20% discount).

Ace Utilities (AU) is a sound and robust program designed to provide IT professionals and end users alike the capability of detecting and safely removing invalid Windows registry entries either automatically (for inexperienced users) or manually from within a 32-bit protected Windows environment.

The continually referenced Windows registration database, or Registry for short - consisting of hive keys, subkeys, and values, and the various registry data types - plays a vital role as the system’s central relational hierarchical binary (text format for non-Windows NT family operating systems) database of parameters for Microsoft Windows 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

The registry contains most of the information that Windows continually needs and references during operation, such as profiles for each user, the applications installed on the computer and the types of documents that each can create, property sheet settings for folders and application icons, what hardware exists on the system, and which ports are being used. Although the registry is common to Windows platforms, there are some differences among them. The registry is analogous to the human Central Nervous System; not only is it extremely important to the workings of Windows but minimal user attention via AU will improve application responsiveness, startup and shutdown speeds, and avoid registry corruption.

Although the registry is complex, with care, it can remain in good health with the help of AU. Moreover, with AU’s additional cleanup tools incorporated a system can remain junk free, releasing space for more productive use, indirectly removing viruses, Trojans, worms, and malware.

After removing invalid registry information using AU the entry is made into a blank entry or cell. The Registry still occupies the same amount of space that it occupied before the clean up. Therefore over time, the Registry ends up with many blank cells and continues to grow in size. Acelogix's Windows Defragmenter & Compactor (WDC) removes these blank cells by writing the information to a file and rebuilding it from the top down, making the Registry compact and fighting fit once again.

With the use of AU and WDC the Registry and your operating system will remain problem free.

Please note that Ace Utilities (32-bit) is compatible with non-Windows NT family operating systems and Windows NT family operating systems, i.e., Windows 98 (and SE), Windows Millennium (ME), Windows 2000, Windows XP (Home and Professional), Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Vista (all versions). Ace Utilities (64-bit) is compatible with Windows XP Professional 64-bit only at this time.

I’ve created a movie of the settings that give maximum cleaning power but with maximum safety in mind.
Please email me with any questions

Ace Configuration Settings will give you maximum efficiency but maximum safety in mind.

Once an Ace Utilities license has been purchased, insert your code: Menu > Enter Registration Key...

Genie Backup Manager
The crème de la crème backup, open file backup and recovery solution

Genie Back Manager (GBM) comes in three versions: Home, Professional and Server. GBM is a reliable and robust backup solution. It is ideal for the single licensed inexperienced user yet has the power and flexibility to suite multiple licenses within small business and enterprises over LANs and for use in DAS, NAS and SAN backup and resource sharing scenarios. Genie-soft have develope their own open file backup program that complements their GBM programs, called File Access Manager (FAM) - a Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 shadow-copy aware application that can receive freeze and thaw notifications to ensure that backup copies of data files are internally consistent. FAM is used to backup online/in use files and is now bundled free with each purchase of GBM Home and Professional. Note: FAM comes integrated within GBM Server V7.

Backup, the process whereby a coherent copy of data is created, and restoration implementations have always been driven by five key criteria: time, speed, size, certainty, and cost. How long does it take to complete a backup operation, and how long must data be retained? How long does it take to restore lost data? How much data must be backed up? How certain are you that backup operations have succeeded and data can actually be restored? Finally, how much does it cost? Storage industry experts have identified backup and recovery as a major area of concern for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and distributive enterprises.

For a long time, before the World Wide Web began to affect business operations, large companies would perform backups nightly. Smaller companies would often back up data once a week or even less; end users sporadically.

Historically, server applications were run during regular business hours only and so backups (also referred to as a cold backup) were carried out in the early hours when the applications could be stopped or brought offline without causing problems. As Web-based operations and a new breed of enterprise-level applications have emerged the traditional backup scenario has begun to break down rapidly. As companies stay "open for business 24/7" they generate more data, yet the backup window shrinks. Although information is growing at a geometric rate, data still has to be managed while applications are often accessing files spread across multiple volumes making point-in-time backups difficult or unfeasible using traditional approaches. If files are open/in use, a backup program cannot gain access to these files. New backup and restoration implementations are now available to overcome these problems.

The purpose of backing up business-critical data is to enable an accurate restore when data loss occurs. Backups have to run as quickly as possible in order to protect the multiple gigabytes of data that reside on typical networks of servers, desktops, and notebooks. A reliable backup strategy must be built on business-class backup software that is easy to use and understand, creates reliable backups and allows accurate restores/recovery from disaster. Backup software needs to provide complete protection for all computers, applications, settings and so forth. In addition, backup software needs to utilise automated backup technology, allowing small and midsize businesses to protect data without requiring extensive IT resources or unnecessary expenditures to train employees in complicated backup and restore procedures.

End users, network and system administrators are becoming acutely aware that their current backup software solutions are failing at the very thing they were purchased to do: backing up the most critical and valuable data.

The reason for this backup failure is that the most important files created, files changing regularly and in use by business-critical applications performing important functions on this data, cannot be interrupted. Even if a backup program can access an open file it still runs the risk of creating an inconsistent backup. Open file backups (also referred to as hot or dynamic backups) can be a major limitation of many business-critical applications that are typically performing functions continuously. It is also problematic for desktop and notebook computers too.

For this reason most backup programs skip open files altogether. This is a serious data backup problem as this tends to be the most business-critical data that needs to be backed up.

It has been estimated by a leading data recovery company that approximately 300,000 hard disk drives are sent to data recovery companies worldwide each year. About one half to three-quarters have some issue with reading. This might be sporadic reading, a high number of errors, excessive retries, and so forth. About one third to one half are completely unreadable. That is, they are not recognised by the host, do not spin up, and do not send back any data, ect. It is estimated that approximately 260 million new hard disk drives were shipped in 2003. Data recovery is difficult now, and is getting even more so due to the way hard disk drive are hypertunned making part replacements less successful.

The cost of data recovery ranges from US$500 to US$2,500, depending on the filesystem (servers, RAID arrays (multi-hard disk drive storage subsystem), and UNIX are more expensive), the type of repair, the time required, the type of data to retrieve (text is easier to recover than a corrupted databases), and the probability of success and therefore payment costs. Some extreme cases, including, those requiring onsite support, can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Worldwide, it is estimated that the market for data recovery in 2005 was over US$100 million.

To conclude: Backup operations have evolved in terms of both user requirements and the technology used to accomplish backups. Usage requirements have dictated that backups be made more frequently, yet without disrupting application access to data. Backup operations evolved from stand-alone backups to backup operations happening across a LAN to backup operations happening in a SAN environment.

To avoid unnecessary costs for recovery data, to avoid only partial data recovery success, to avoid the disruption and possible heartache of losing business-critical data or photographs of precious moments, it makes absolute sense to purchase a sound backup solution. GBM with FAM is ideal and the price is very reasonable too.

Please note that Genie Backup Manager Home and Professional are compatible with Windows NT family operating systems only, i.e., Windows 2000, Windows XP (Home and Professional), and Vista (all versions). Genie Backup Manager Server is compatible with Windows Server 2000, and Windows Server 2003.

The Cleaner Professional (TC) is a highly respected trojan detector and cleaner. The database is one of the most extensive and researched ones available. The database can detect and clean over 65,000 trojans and all family variants. Although TC’s principal function is trojan detection and cleaning the developer has included the detection and cleaning of some of the most malicious and protracted to clean malware infections.

Unlike other vendors, TC’s database does not include every variant of the same family as a new trojan database count; in doing so inflating the database number. For example if a trojan has a family of 20+ variants the database will continue to count this as a single database trojan count. This will even be the case if the trojan variants increase to 40 for example. Be rest assured, TC is a “must have” program.

A Trojan horse (shortened to trojan) is a program that contains or installs a malicious program. Trojans may appear to be useful or interesting programs (or at the very least harmless) to an unsuspecting user, yet are actually harmful when executed.

There are two common types of trojan. The first type is an otherwise useful program that has been corrupted by a cracker inserting malicious code that executes while the program is in use. The second type, also known as a trojan gimme, takes advantage of curiosity to deliver malware. Trojan gimmes can arrive as an email attachment promising anything from a "cool" screensaver program called waterfalls.scr or sexychicks.scr, a weather reporting program, a game, image file, a joke in the form of a PowerPoint file, an important anti-virus or system upgrade, or a link to a must see website that is in fact trojan infected which when run will allow access to the user's computer remotely.

Trojan programs cannot operate autonomously, in contrast to some other types of malware, like viruses or worms. Trojan programs depend on the co-operating of the intended victim to carry out the desired objective/actions. As such, if trojans replicate and even distribute themselves, each new victim must run the program/trojan. Therefore their virulence is of a different nature, depending on successful implementation of social engineering concepts rather than flaws in a computer system's security design or configuration. Social engineering can be defined as a collection of techniques used to manipulate people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.

Please note that The Cleaner Professional V4 is compatible with non-Windows NT family operating systems and Windows NT family operating systems, i.e., Windows 98SE, Windows Millennium (ME), Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, and Windows XP (Home and Professional).

The forthcoming The Cleaner Professional V5 is compatible with non-Windows NT family operating systems and Windows NT family operating systems, i.e., Windows 95, Windows 98 (and SE), Windows Millennium (ME), Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP (Home and Professional), Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Vista (all versions).

Types of Trojan horse payloads:
Trojan horse payloads are almost always designed to do various harmful things, but could be harmless. They are broken down in classification based on how they breach systems and the damage they cause. The seven main types of trojan payloads are:

Erasing or overwriting data on a computer.
Encrypting files in a cryptoviral extortion attack. (The victim’s data is encrypted and an email ransom note requests funds so that the data is deciphered.)
Corrupting files in a subtle way
Uploading and downloading files. (Using a victim’s machine unknowingly to distribute illegal software.)
Allowing remote access to the victim's computer. This is called a RAT (remote administration tool). (Many trojans and backdoors now have remote administration capabilities allowing an attacker to control the victim's computer. From this point on data corruption or encryption, using the exploited system for criminal activities, e.g., porn server, illegal program distribution server, part of a botnet to infiltrate financial institutions and so forth, accessing credit card and financial details and passwords to financial accounts are all possible.)
Spreading other malware, such as viruses. In this case the trojan is called a 'dropper' or 'vector'
Setting up networks of zombie computers (or zombie). (A compromised system under the dominion of the attacker and one of many in a botnet in order to launch Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, send spam or carry out other types of criminal activity already mentioned.)
Spying on the user of a computer and covertly reporting data like browsing habits to other people using a keylogger program. (A keylogger can implement screenshots, screen captures or screen dumps or keyboard and mouse inputs of private information, e.g., passwords and credit card numbers as the user types the password to financial accounts the keys are captured and sent to the attacker to infiltrate the account and steal funds.)
Phish for bank or other account details. (Used for criminal activities, using social engineering. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an electronic communication such as via email or instant message. The link within the email directs the victim to their financial bank’s website where they are required to access and update their private information. In fact, the link directs the victim unknowingly to a copy of the real financial website. The details are simply captured and used to steal funds.)
Installing a backdoor on a computer system. (A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication or securing remote access to a computer, while attempting to remain hidden from casual inspection. From this point on any number of fraudulent and criminal activities are possible.)
Opening and closing CD-ROM tray or similar joke events such as making obnoxious noises, moving desktop icons around and so forth.
Harvest email addresses and use them for spamming.
Restarts the computer whenever the infected program is started.

ActiveSmart – The best hard disk drive monitoring software

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology), pioneered by Compaq in an effort to improve reliability, is an industry standard for advance reporting of imminent hard disk drive failure. When this feature is enabled in the BIOS and a S.M.A.R.T.-compliant hard disk drive is installed, detected problems can be reported. This enables the user to replace a faulty hard disk drive before it fails, that may otherwise have resulted in data lose.

Manufacturers that have supported one or more S.M.A.R.T. attributes (technological leading indicators) e.g., monitoring hard disk drive performance, faulty sectors, recalibration, cyclic redundancy check (often abbreviated CRC) errors, spin-up time, the heads, distance between the heads and platters, temperature, characteristics of the media, and motor and servomechanisms besides many others include: Samsung, Seagate, IBM (Hitachi), Fujitsu, Maxtor (Seagate), and Western Digital. When using ActiveSMART, if a safety threshold for that attribute and hard disk drive is exceeded a warning is given via a pop-up message and/or email notification.

ActiveSMART can extend the ability to monitor ATA, SATA and SCSI hard disk drive conditions through the S.M.A.R.T. interface and predict when a failure is likely to occur by logging deviations in attribute values. ActiveSMART also possesses the capability to distinguish between gradual degradation over time and serious problems or immanent failure.

Using ActiveSMART can help to flag possible problems. The alternative is expensive data recovery ranging from US$500 to US$2,500. Worldwide, it is estimated that the market for data recovery in 2005 was over US$100 million. The cost of ActiveSMART gives peace of mind.

For pricing of ActiveSMART that monitors the following, SCSI, ATA & Serial AT (SATA) hard disk drives please email me

Authorised reseller on all software listed
“All “must-have” software”

SITE UNDER COMPLETE RECONSTRUCTION

NOTICE: My new site will be going live in 2008 with more software, more discounts, and volume licensing available.

I will be away until 8th May. All codes will be sent within 3 days on my return.

Discount coupon: MORE-PKQ7

ActiveSmart – The best hard disk drive monitoring software

Authorised reseller on all software listed “All “must-have” software”

SITE UNDER COMPLETE RECONSTRUCTION

NOTICE: My new site will be going live in 2008 with more software, more discounts, and volume licensing available.

I will be away until 8th May. All codes will be sent within 3 days on my return.

Discount coupon: MORE-PKQ7

ActiveSmart – The best hard disk drive monitoring software

Authorised reseller on all software listed
“All “must-have” software”