Drivers.com

follow us:

facebook twitter

Top 5 free Antivirus tools for your computer

By on

There is a common misconception that free Antivirus tools are not good enough to protect your system and only a premium antivirus program can provide complete protection. The efficacy of an Antivirus tool can be judged by the virus definition updates the developer provides.  Your computer is most likely to become infected if your antivirus developer does not provide timely updates for new viruses that appear on the Internet. Paid Antivirus tools may provide additional features to the free tools but, for the most part, many free tools will provide you with adequate protection. Here we look at the top 5 free Antivirus Tools – if you are looking for the additional feature provided by a paid tool then there is a link for this at the end of the post.

Avast Antivirus Software

It is one of the best free antivirus you can install on your computer. It has a very simple user interface which allows you to select different types of protective shields for your computer. The antivirus also includes browser security and malware protection. The browser security features ensures the malice add-ons and annoying tool bars are removed and your browser is safe for surfing the internet. One of the primary reason to select Avast Antivirus is the developer provides regular virus definition updates that ensures your computer is protected from old and new virus threats.

Panda Antivirus Software

Panda Antivirus is effective and also easy to use. Lab results show it has the best score in detecting viruses and malware. It also has the lowest number of false positives. The antivirus tool does not use too much system resources and its virus detection mechanism springs into action when the suspicious executable file is launched. The success rate of blocking malware during launch is extremely high which means its gives the best protection to your computer from threats. The Panda antivirus tool also has a malware blocking system which ensures you are issued a warning when you try to download a malicious file.

AVG Antivirus Software

AVG antivirus software is one of the more popular free antivirus programs available. This tool offers one of the best protection mechanisms to keep your system safe and free from malicious programs. The program has an easy to use interface allowing you to decide the components you need and don’t need. AVG is also known to provide very timely virus definitions that protect your system from new threats.

Bitdefender Antivirus Software

Bitdefender Antivirus is one of the lightest and fastest free antivirus tools available. While it is common to see Ads in free versions of antivirus programs, Bitdefender antivirus is an exception as it is Ad free. The antivirus tool scans processes in real time and counters any threats before it affects your system. If any threat cannot be removed in normal boot mode, the antivirus boots the system in Rescue mode and cleans all virus infections and restores clean copies of system files.

Comodo Antivirus Software

Comodo Antivirus is a free and reliable protection tool for your computer. Aside from protecting your computer from malware and viruses, it also improves performance and efficiency of the system by a minimal use of system resources. Comodo antivirus is known to have cloud based scanning that is faster than normal antivirus scanning processes.

One of the advantages of using free antivirus programs is it doesn’t cost anything to try them. If it doesn’t suit your security purpose, you can remove it and install another antivirus program. The majority of the free antivirus programs have all essential components that are required to protect your computer from viruses and malware.

Windows 8 Tips: Top 5 Tips and Tweaks to Improve Windows 8 experience

By on

There is a lot new in the Windows 8 user environment. The biggest change is the missing Start button that existed in all older Windows Operating Systems. There are several new changes which are not so popular with many users. If you are unhappy with this new Windows user interface, then the tips and tweaks given below will give get you back to a somewhat more familiar environment.

Windows 8 Booting to Desktop

When you start your Windows 8 PC/laptop, it boots to the Start screen. If you want to bypass the Start screen and boot to the desktop then you need to make changes in the configuration by following the steps set out below.

  1. Go to the Start Screen
  2. Type taskbar
  3. Select “Taskbar and Navigation”
  4. Select “Navigation” tab
  5. Check the following boxes – When I sign in or close all apps on a screen and go to the desktop instead of Start
  6. Click Apply
  7. Click OK

Make program access easier in Windows 8

Windows 8 allows you to pin your favourite programs to the taskbar so that you don’t have to minimize the application to access the Program shortcut on the Desktop. It also does away with the need to go to the Start screen to launch your favourite application. Follow the steps set out below to pin a Program to the Taskbar.

When you are using the application on the desktop, simply right-click the application icon on the Taskbar and choose “Pin this program to taskbar”

Useful keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can minimise the amount of effort and time when finding important and commonly-used Functions and Menus in Windows 8.

  • Windows Key + S – Open Charms search bar
  • Windows Key + F – Search files
  • Windows Key + down arrow– close the app
  • Windows Key + X – open start button options
  • Windows Key + Home – Minimize all apps except active desktop window

Login automatically

If you are a single user on your Windows 8 PC, it can be quite frustrating an unnecessary to enter your password every time your system starts. You can disable this security measure with the following tweak.

  1. Hold down the Windows key
  2. Press R
  3. type ‘netplwiz’ and press Enter to launch User account dialog
  4. Clear the checkmark for “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer”
  5. Click Ok
  6. Enter your username and password of the account in which you login
  7. Now the system will directly boot to Start Screen

Using Task Manager to tweak performance

Windows 8 Task Manager gives you an inside look that allows you to view application, processes, and startup entries that are negatively affecting the performance of your system. Different tabs in the Task Manager provide you with important information such as:

  • Processes Tab – gives you graphical use of resources such as RAM, processing power and load on the system in real time
  • App history tab – gives you information about resources used by every app. You can easily discover resource hungry apps through viewing the information in this Tab.
  • Startup Tab – gives you information about apps that are launched automatically when the system boots. You can disable/delete unwanted startup entries through this Tab and reduce the startup time of your PC.

Windows 8 Tips: 5 Top Secrets of Windows 8

By on

Windows 8 is not only about touch-screen friendly features and a new user interface. It brings lot of other new features to the Windows user environment. Many users who complain about the less user friendly interface of Windows 8 probably don’t know the hidden secrets of Windows 8 that can help improve their user experience.

Windows 8 Tips: Hidden Features of Windows 8

Windows 8 Tip 1: Tweaking the number of Rows and Columns on Start Screen

By default, the Windows Start screen displays the number of tile rows on the display as per screen resolution. The following table will give you an idea of the number of tile rows as per resolution and maximum permitted by the system.

Screen Resolution Default Max Permitted
1024 x 768 4 4
1280 x 960 5 6
1280 x 1024 5 6
1600 x 900 5 5
1920 x 1200 6 7
2560 x 1920 6 10

(Note: If your screen resolution is not mentioned in the table, it only means the default and the maximum tile rows permitted are the same)

For all screen resolutions, the minimum number of tile rows is 1.  If you are not happy with the number of tile rows on the Start Screen, you can reduce or increase the number by a small registry hack (as always, back-up your registry before making any changes).

  1. Press Win + R
  2. In the empty field of the Run dialog box, type regedit.exe
  3. In User Account Control (UAC) prompt, click Yes.
  4. Navigate to following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionImmersiveShellGrid

  1. In the right hand pane, double-click “Layout_MaximumRowCount”
  2. In Edit DWORD 32-bit value dialog, specify the number of tile rows you want. (Note: Use the table as a guide to specify the maximum tile rows you want on the Start Screen)
  3. Click OK
  4. Exit Registry editor.
  5. Restart the system to let changes take effect

Windows 8 Tip 2: Take Faster Screenshots

Unlike older Windows versions, you don’t have to perform two steps to save a screenshot.  In Windows 8, you just need to press Win +PrintScreen and the screenshot is saved in PNG format in your Pictures folder.

Windows 8 Tip 3: Creating App groups and naming them

If you are not happy with the Apps Group shown on the Start Screen, you can create app groups and name them as per your preference.

  1. On the Start Screen, right-click the App tiles that you want to group together
  2. Drag them to an open space; this action will create a new group
  3. Name the group

Windows 8 Tip 4: Customizing apps in search bar

When you search for Apps in the search bar, you get a long list of apps that meet the search criteria. However, in many cases you will see numerous unwanted apps populating the search results. Windows 8 gives you the option to remove the apps that you do not want to see in search results.

  1. From Desktop, Press Win + I
  2. Select Change PC Settings
  3. Select Search. You will see the apps that appear in search results.
  4. Turn off the app that you do not want to see in search results

Windows 8 Tip 5: Enable Super Fast Startup

  1. In the search bar, type “Power options”
  2. click “Choose what the power buttons do”
  3. Click Change Settings
  4. Check the option “Turn on fast start-up”