| Dear Friends, Welcome to Issue #527 of InfoAve Free Edition! Thank you very much for subscribing to our free InfoAve Newsletter. If you need to change your subscription or you wish to unsubscribe from our newsletter and break our hearts, click "Manage my subscription" at the very bottom of this newsletter. Thank you for very much for your support.
Cloudeight Direct Computer Care While EB's away on vacation -- I've decided to extend this offer through Monday March 5, 2012. I just don't have time to change all those pages! I hope you take advantage of this deal; as soon as EB returns, our 3-Key Repair Pack will be history! Our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care service introductory period is ending soon. We are going to be changing some of our pricing and we'll be discontinuing our special 3-Repair Keys for $99.95 offer soon. Our other pricing will be changing too based on the service required. We wanted to let you all know that we'll be offering our current pricing until March 5, 2012. If you order by March 5, 2012 -- either online or by mail order, you'll be getting a great deal. Our service keys never expire, so you can get them now and keep them until you need them. And we all know that sooner or later our computers are going to start having problems. So now's the time to save a lot of money on any computer services you may need -- from diagnosing and fixing Windows problems - to setting up a wireless network for you - to safeguarding by creating an image-based backup (the only kind that really works when you really need it to work) - to cleaning up your computer and optimizing it -- and more. We can do almost anything you need done and we guarantee our work - you're either satisfied or we'll refund your money. Compare our Prices and Experience! We'd like to show you how our current prices compare to a leading computer repair service. And remember - Geek Squad "technicians" get two-weeks of training, but we've been helping people with their computers for over 12 years.  *Our computer tune up is a full tune up - we do much more than Geek Squad does - when we tune up your computer. We offer many more computer services too! If you have a problem with your computer - we can fix it! . Get more information and lock-in our current pricing by getting your Cloudeight Direct Computer Care service keys right now. The three-pack is a great deal - it works out to less than $34 per repair session. You can't beat our service or our prices -- anywhere. Customer Comments about our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care service A comment from Enis
I purchased your Direct Computer Care , three sessions. Today I used the first session, I just wanted to tweak my PC and get some help to locate any issues that I thought might be slowing down my PC. Fortunately, there were no major issues. However, the time the technician spent going over things and explaining things was so valuable to me. I learned a lot just following on line when he took over my PC.
This is program is well worth every penny and more!! I recommend it highly. At least if there is a problem that can not be fixed you know what the problem is and that in itself is well worth the cost !! And, the Direct Computer Tech is not going to try and give you a snow job because he has nothing to gain, they are not in the parts business!
I have no doubt I will use the other two "keys" eventually so, money well spent at twice the price !!
Thanks for the 'tweak', it was great.
Sincerely, Enis B. Thanks so much, Enis . It was a pleasure helping you with your computer problems. I'm glad we were able to help you. We appreciate your support. Thank you for using Cloudeight Direct Computer Care. TC & EB ---------------------- A comment from Roxanne.
What an awesome way to start the morning with Darcy & later TC. It was great having my computer fixed while I was in my pjs & drinking coffee. Didn't have to take all the cables out & then try to remember where they go. Didn't have to drive someplace for them to do it & then sit & wait for them to work on it or call me to come & pick it up.
I sat there & watched them go to work. They were really informative as they went along & the logged in on time! I had a very hard issue to fix so Darcy had TC help out. They spent over 2 hrs with me getting the computer to work correctly. I would not hesitate to use them again & everyone else should use them too. This was the BEST experience with computer techs I have ever had!!!!! They are just the nicest funniest people to deal with. No one should hesitate to use Cloud Eights services. I plan on getting me a few more key codes for the future because they are the only ones I can trust with my computers now. It was so nice to meet Darcy & TC & you did a SUPER GREAT job!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Roxanne- thanks so much for using our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care service. We're glad we've been able to help computer problems. I don't know how funny EB -- but TC's a hoot. Thanks again for your kind words and your support. TC & EB
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Cheryl wants to know how hackers who accessed her web mail account are still using her address book
I recently changed my email password (again) because hackers are invading it and sending out messages to everyone in my address book, but it is STILL happening. My question is - messages are even being sent to addresses that I actually deleted from my address book quite some time ago. Can you explain this??
Our answer
Just because you deleted your address book doesn't mean whoever broke into your account didn't save a copy of it. Anyone who is going to "hack" someone's email account is certainly going to keep a copy of the addresses in the address book. If you subsequently deleted addresses from your address book, it won't affect the copy the thieves kept. It's very likely the first thing they did when they broke into your mail account was save a copy of your address book. They did this before you realized your account was compromised.
It's easy to blame hackers for everything -- but the number one reason people have the Web mail accounts compromised is because they use weak passwords. We can't emphasize to you strongly enough that you can no longer rely on simple passwords. The Web has changed so much information is stored in the cloud.
Most people still use simple passwords. They use passwords that are easy for them to remember - then compound the problem by using that same password for everything. Bad idea. Passwords that you can remember easily are also easy for "hackers" to guess. Some use password crackers that can crack a 6 or 7 character common word/number-combination password in less than a second. It's extremely important to change all of your passwords to 11 or more character/symbol/number combination, random passwords that cannot be cracked. If you had done this it is very unlikely you'd be in this predicament again.
The main reason people use simple passwords is because they have to remember them - they're afraid they're going to forget them. But if they used a program like Last Pass ( http://www.lastpass.com/ ) they wouldn't have to remember them. Last Pass will generate them and remember them and even fill in the login forms.
We're in a different era now. You can cannot relay on simple passwords. And if you use the same simple password for everything -- you're just asking for trouble. Now more than ever - everyone really needs to get a password manager, like LastPass and use it to not only store strong passwords -- but to generate them as well.
Eldad and many other Hotmail users correct us concerning Hotmail
Issue #436 [February 24, 2012] includes your answer about the difference is between a desktop email programs and Webmail. It's written there: "In the case of Hotmail, you can access your Hotmail accounts free but only with Windows Live Mail."
I wonder why - because ANY Windows Live account [*.hotmail, *.live, etc.] is POP-SMTP accessible by the servers pop3.live.com & smtp.live.com, where the username is the full e-mail address and the password is the same as (it is) with the Web access. I apply this method successfully with ANY e-mail client (OE, Thunderbird, Opera mail client), both on XP and Win7.
Our answer
We goofed. We don't use Hotmail - for a lot of reasons (which we won't go into here) so we're not experts on it. We were basing our statement on what was the case the last time we used Hotmail - which was apparently longer ago than we thought. We learned a lesson and that's good. It's always good to learn. What happened was --things changed and we didn't do our homework. And we made a mistake. We make mistakes - hopefully not too often though. We normally double-check our information. In this case we didn't -- and we stand corrected. You're correct -- you can now access Hotmail using POP/IMAP and send mail using SMTP using most email clients (this also includes Live.com addresses). Yahoo appears ready to join the free POP/IMAP/SMTP club. But they're not there yet. (Yes we verified that). If you have a non-U.S.A. Yahoo domain you can access your Hotmail account using POP/IMAP. And according to Mozilla (the developers of Thunderbird and Firefox) "They (Yahoo) have a free IMAP and SMTP server that officially only supports smartphones and Zimbra email clients. However, Thunderbird supports creating a Yahoo IMAP account." (See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_webmail_with_your_email_client ). We can all thank Gmail for the robust storage space and Webmail we all enjoy now. If it hadn't been for Gmail - Hotmail and others may have still been giving users a paltry 50MB of storage space and no POP/IMAP access. We've been testing GMX mail for the last month or so - and we're very impressed. We think the way they handle spam is excellent. Every so often -- if GMX isn't sure something is spam or not - they'll send you an email and tell you that you have new mail in your spam box - and show you the subject lines, from addresses, and senders' names. They let you decide if it is spam or not. So far everything they've said was spam - was spam. So far so good. GMX offers full free POP3/IMAP and SMTP - and it works on most all popular email clients and apps on Windows, Linux, Android and iOS. GMX also offers unlimited storage space. If you're interested in trying something new -- that works well - you might want to head on over to www.gmx.com and sign-up for a free email account.
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COMPUTER TIPS AND TRICKS
Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?
All computer users
It's a leap year. This year we had a leap day. A man-made day that gave us all an extra day this year. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere have to endure one extra day of winter. Those of you in the Southern Hemisphere get an extra day of summer in which to loll around. It's not fair. How did the Southern Hemisphere pull that off?
Anyway, this year is one of the years we'll all get an extra second. That's right. On June 30, 2012 the day will be one second longer to adjust for the Earth's slightly flagging rotation. In a few billion years the Earth will stop rotating because it will be eaten alive by the sun, which will then be a big red giant gobbling up all the rocky planets and bringing warmth and loving, red sunshine to Jupiter, Saturn and the planets beyond. Maybe someday someone will be reclining on the shore of a lake filled with liquid metallic hydrogen. Not you. Not me. But someone – a few billion years from now may be getting a tan on some tropical Saturnine beach.
What about this year of 2012? It's going to be interesting. Did the Mayan's really know what time it was? Did they really care? Their prophecy of doom has triggered a TV show called "Doomsday Packers" or something like that (not to be confused with the Green Bay Packers).
I don't know if the world will end on December 21, 2012 or not – I'm not counting on it. If you're counting on it, you can have a field day with your credit cards beginning the day after the December billing cycle begins. Live it up! Charge everything! You'll never have to pay the bill because the bill will never come. Enjoy.
Getting back to the leap second: Did you even know there were such things? There are – and this year is one of the years we all get not only an extra day but an extra second. Everyone will get an extra 24 hours and one second this year to celebrate whatever they wish. Right now, International Atomic Time (TAI), is the time standard. It is calculated using a weighted average of signals from atomic clocks, which are located in 70 laboratories around the world.
UTC (Universal Coordinated Time) is occasionally adjusted by adding a leap second to keep it accurate. The extra second is added because of fluctuations in the Earth's rotation. In the last 50 years a total of 34 leap seconds have been added; a 35th leap second is scheduled to be added on 30 June 2012. So if you're 50 years or older — by July 1, 2012 you'll have received a bonus of 35 seconds of additional time. Ask yourself? What did you do with it?
OK. Does anybody really know what time it is? Yes! Does anybody really care? Yes! We all care. Time is something we either have too much of or too little of; it's all relative to our lives. If you're stuck in some slimy prison in Moldova, time is passing slowly for you. If you're having the time of your life with the love of your life — time is racing by too quickly. If you're 90 and your time is running out — time is a cascade. If you're a child of ten — time is forever.
And whether you know it or not, our GPS systems could not function without super-accurate clocks. Aviation would be a mess. Satellite communications would be flaky and your favorite show wouldn't start at exactly 8PM. How about a TV Guide that listed show times as "about 8:00PM"?
So yes. Somebody really knows what time it is; and somebody really cares A LOT!.
I was surprised this morning when I discovered my computer's clock was running 11 seconds slow. It's coordinated (or Windows says it is) with an Internet Time Server. It's about time, then, that these Internet Time Servers served up the right time. I fixed my computer clock – I chose the U.S. Government's time-server. It was set at the default which is time.windows.com . But now I'm right on time thanks to the government. My tax dollars at work. Now, thanks to Uncle Sam, I won't be 11 seconds late for anything – thanks to my persnickedyness and the excessive taxes I pay to keep these government atomic clocks running.
Do you really want to know what time it is? Do you really care? If you don't, then read no further; if you do care, then read on.
What time is it?
http://www.time.is
http://www.time.gov/
Now...don't be late!
It's a Fact: Chrome Is the Only Browser That's Never Been Hacked
All computer users About 60% of you use Internet Explorer. And about 90% of you have heard about the new Google Privacy Policy. As we've said many times before — if you're worrying about tracking cookies, you really need to stop. Worrying about advertisers tracking you and trying to sell you something is distracting. Tracking cookies which try to gather information about your tastes, likes and dislikes, for the purpose of trying to get you to buy something, is not inherently dangerous; using a browser than can be exploited by criminals or hackers is.
So here's the question: What is more dangerous to your privacy: a.) Tracking cookies? Or b.) An browser which can be exploited and manipulated by criminals and hooligans who create Web sites to take advantage of known vulnerabilities in your Web browser? If you answered "b" — you're right. A toothpaste ad from DoubleClick might drop tracking cookies on your computer and you may see a lot of cosmetic-oriented ads, but the main purpose of tracking cookies isn't to find out who you are or install keyloggers or botnets or Trojans on your computer; the purpose of tracking cookies is to show you ads you're more likely to click on and buy something.
What's the main purpose of exploiting your browser? Not to sell you legitimate products or show you ads you're more likely to click on – the purpose of exploitation is almost always sinister. The miscreants who are devoted to exploiting your browser would love nothing more than to turn your computer into a spam-bot, or install a keylogger on your computer to record your key strokes (key strokes include keystrokes you make when you type in your home address, phone number, Social Security number, credit care numbers — and the like), or to control you computer to use in Denial of Service attacks against government sites or other site with whom the misanthropes have a gripe or two.
As we've said so many times — while the bloggers and tech writers are whipping up a frenzy over tracking cookies — there are much more sinister activities going on you should be concerned about. And that's why all the fuss over tracking-cookies is so dangerous: it distracts you from more important and vastly more dangerous things.
If you're not using Google Chrome — you're using an exploitable browser. That's not opinion, that' fact. Over the last six years, Google Chrome has offered money to any hacker who could exploit it. This year it's offering a cash prizes to anyone who can exploit Google Chrome. Have you seen Microsoft offering prize money and daring people to exploit Internet Explorer?
Anyway, I'm sure you're going to want more information about the Google Chrome challenge. No one's exploited Chrome over the last six years — and Google seems pretty sure no one will be able to exploit it this year either. Which browser should you use? Whichever one you want. But if you're one of those who worries about tracking cookies and you use Internet Explorer — maybe you should give it some thought.
"Google's Giving $60,000 to Whoever Can Exploit Chrome
While both Safari and IE collapsed under the pressure from hackers at last year's Pwn2Own contest, not one person was able to crack Chrome. This year, Google's sweetening the pot with a million dollars in prizes to successful exploiters.
In fact, Chrome is the only browser in the contest's six year history to not be exploited—like, at all. Therefore Google will hand out prizes of $60,000, $40,000, and $20,000 for contestants able to remotely commandeer a fully-patched browser running on Windows 7. Finding a "Full Chrome Exploit," obtaining user account persistence using only bugs in the browser itself will net the $60k prize. Using webkits, flash, or a driver-based exploit can only earn the lesser amounts… " (Read more here.)
Spring Cleaning
All versions of Windows
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we're less than 3 weeks away from the vernal equinox - or spring as we call it. For those of you in Australia, New Zealand and other locations in the Southern Hemisphere, you've had your spring and summer - it's our turn. This will be "Fall Cleaning" for you OK.
Spring is a good time to do some of the things you've forgotten to do all year. Things that won't make your computer a super-fast net machine, but things that will keep that old computer chugging merrily along until next spring. Here are our suggestions for things you should do when you do Spring Cleaning for your computer.
Before starting, make sure you have a few hours to do this. It's going to take some time, but you only have to this once each year, so set aside a rainy day to complete this project. It will pay dividends all year long.
1. Make a list of all programs installed on your computer. Belarc Advisor is a free program that will create a list of every program on your computer and give it to you in a nice, easy-to-read-list. You can get Belarc Advisor here: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Don't rely on Control Panel/Programs to show you a list of all programs on your computer. It will be missing some - maybe quite a few.
2. Take the list of programs and go through it and, if you find yourself asking yourself "what the heck is that?" quite often, you should uninstall that program. You'll be surprised how many programs you've downloaded and installed, but never used. Remove all the programs you don't use. If you have a program you rarely use, consider uninstalling it. You're going to be downloading and installing more programs between now and the next spring after this one - so clean out as many unnecessary or underused programs as you possibly can. It makes no sense to fill up your hard drive with programs you seldom or never us. It not only takes space on your drive, it adds unnecessary clutter to your Start Menu and Windows Registry.
Don't use Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs (XP) or Control Panel/Programs/Remove Program to uninstall programs. If you do, you'll least a lot of bits and pieces behind, not in the folder in which the program was installed, but in the Windows registry too. Why Microsoft doesn't offer a better uninstaller, we don't know. All Control Panel does in run the program's uninstaller. In most cases, this will leave a lot of debris behind. Use RevoUninstaller to remove programs from you computer. The free version is fine. Revo tries to upsell you to the pro version but we've found the freeware version works just fine for removing programs from your computer. You can download the free version from http://www.revouninstaller.com/start_freeware_download.html - when you click that link the download will start, and a page will open with another download button - but that download button is for a 30-day free trial of the Pro version which is not freeware. So don't click it unless you want to pay for it or uninstall it after 30 days.
After you've removed all the programs you don't use, it's time to run something you probably don't know you have, but which is actually quite good at what it does - removing junk from your computer. It's called Windows Disk Cleanup or cleanmgr for short. All you have to do to run it is press the Windows Key + the "R" key to bring up the Run dialog and type in cleanmgr.exe and click "OK" or press Enter. Disk Cleanup will start right away and it will start scan your computer and show you a list of files and junk that can be removed. You can safely removed the items which Windows has pre-checked, but there are other items which take up a lot of disk space that you can remove too - if you're sure you don't need them. A lot of these files are related to Windows Error Reporting and system crash "Dump" files. If you're not having problems with your computer or you don't ever look at your error logs, you can go ahead and delete them. They take up a lot of disk space.
If you're really gung-ho because you never knew these files were there, or didn't even know Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 had "Windows Disk Cleanup" you can watch a swell Microsoft-produced video about Disk Cleanup at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Delete-files-using-Disk-Cleanup .
After you've checked all the boxes you want checked, click "Clean up system files". Windows will appear to be cleaning your files, but instead will come back with another dialog that all offers a new tab at the top called "More Options". You can skip the top dialog "Programs and features" because that's going to take you back to Control Panel/Remove Programs - and you've already removed all the programs you dont use - right?
The second feature in "More Options" is called "System Restore and Shadow Copies. You want to be very careful here. Don't click "Clean up" in this section unless your computer is running well and you don't use Windows Backup to create image backups. If you do click the Clean up button in this section it will remove all your system restore points but the most current one - and older backup images too. So don't click this unless your computer is running well and you don't use Windows Backup. After you've made your choices, go ahead and click OK. Now all the items you checked in the first dialog and anything you've chose in the second dialog will be removed.
One last thing about Disk Cleanup. Many of you use other cleanup programs- Zappit, CCleaner, Captain Optimizer's cleaner, CleanUp! or other system cleaner. If you do you may be dismayed that Disk Cleanup finds so much more "junk". Well there's a reason for this - the "junk" that Disk Cleanup finds isn't all junk. It depends on how you use your computer and whether or not you need to keep error logs and dump files - most of you don't, but some of you might. Most cleaner programs aren't going to touch these kinds of files because they're not junk. One man's treasure is another man's garbage you know.
After you've done all of the above you have a leaner, less cluttered computer. But wait, there's more. Even though you've used Revo Uninstaller and you've used Windows Disk Cleanup, you still have three more steps to go. You're almost done though, so let's go ahead and finish our Spring Cleaning.
3. Run an online virus/spyware scanner just to be sure.
If you've been reading our newsletters for any length of time you've got good antispyware and a good antispyware program or two installed and you've kept them up to date. Still, it's always a good thing to double-check your computer just in case something sneaked through the cracks. It's not likely you'll turn up anything when you run an online virus/spyware scanner, but it won't hurt anything and when your computer gets a clean bill of health you can go grab a bottle of champagne or beer and toast your computer.
There are many free online malware scanners, here are a couple we have used:
Housecall
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
BitDefender QuickScan
http://quickscan.bitdefender.com/
If you don't like either of those two, just google "Free online malware scanners". You'll come up with a list, but please don't get too off-the-wall. Stay with names you recognize or at least have heard of somewhere.
4. Use Winpatrol to pare down those startup programs.
Programs that start with Windows run with Windows all the time. They're in the background sucking down system resources. And most of the time you don't need those things running. You don't need Adobe Reader running in the background. You don't need your printer software running in the background. You don't need your favorite chat program, browser, or image-editing program running in the background. Yet these kinds of things like to set themselves up to start with Windows -- just in case you might need them. But the truth is -- these programs will run when you need them anyway - so why do they need to be running in the background when you don't need them. You're right -- they don't.
WinPatrol is a great program that can help you learn more about your computer, and help you disable some of those startup programs you don't need starting with Windows. The free version of WinPatrol will suit you just fine for paring down your startups. If you want more information about the programs and services running on your computer, ante up and get WinPatrol Plus - it's sure worth it. One more thing. WinPatrol lets you "delay" start up programs. Sometimes there are programs you'd like to startup, but you don't need them the second your computer boots. Putting programs in the delayed startup list, prevents them from slowing down Windows boot, and still lets you access the program from your system tray shortly after your computer starts. You can adjust the delay for each program from a few seconds to a few minutes. Getting them out of the Windows boot process helps speed you Windows start time. So use the Delayed Start feature in WinPatrol to speed up your Windows boot time.
You can get the free version of WinPatrol at www.winpatrol.com . Tell Bill we sent you; he won't bite.
5. Do a registry scan and clean up and optimize your registry
Regardless of the registry cleaner/optimizer you prefer, now is a great time to run it. You've removed all the programs you don't use, you've dumped all the junk files and other files that may have been clogging up your computer - and wasting hard drive space - and doing all that may have left a few untidy or unnecessary things in your Windows registry. There's no better time to clean and optimize your registry than after a good, thorough spring cleaning like this one.
We recommend Registry Commander and we're offering it to you for $20.00 off. You can get all the details at http://thundercloud.net/sale/2011/commander/ . If you're using Registry Mechanic or another registry cleaner/optimizer that you've used with success, now's the time to run it. If you don't have one, you should get one (be careful, some of them can really mess up your computer) and run it once every couple of week - or whenever you do a lot software installing / uninstalling. If you run it frequently your computer will run faster and your computer will run faster longer.
There you go. You're done with your spring cleaning - now head outside and start getting the garden ready; it will be time to sow before you know. Aren't you glad we planted this spring cleaning idea in your head?
THIS WEEK'S FREEWARE PICK TrueCrypt
What is it? A heavy-duty, free file encryption tool
Operating Systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 32bit and 64bit
File size: 3.3MB Windows Executable (EXE)
EB has tons of files she doesn't want me to see. I don't know what they are, but I sure have some good guesses. Anyway, she's always looking for a why to keep her files hidden. Doesn't she realize that by being so secretive she only raises my suspicions? I guess not, because the years roll by she's being secretly storing thousands of "things" that she keeps hidden from me. You know what I think? I think she's storing the goods she's got on me in case I'm ever foolish enough to run for public office. I can see it now – "Thundercloud sleeps with stuff bunny rabbit". Yes knows things like this. She knows I like ketchup on chocolate and other stuff I don't want anyone to know. She knows more juicy stuff too, but you know this is a family publication.
Anyway, most of you don't know this, but I'm a songwriter too. And at least with songs, I don't have to worry about grammarians sending me nasty emails ripping apart my sloppy grammar. When I write songs, I'm entitled to use something known as poetic license. And I love to use it – a lot!
So I wrote this song for EB – because she keeps hiding stuff from me.
Prying Eyes
(sing to the tune of the Eagles' "Lyin' Eyes")
Girls who live in Michigan are sneaky
They cover up their misdeeds in some files
They run around and hide their dirty secrets
And then give you all those toothy smiles.
All those folders hidden behind her desktop
Labeled with nice names like church and ski
But she can't fool this guy who's from Ohio
No Michigander can fool me – no soirée! (I love spell-checkers)
She can't hide, from my prying eyes.
And her smile is a thin disguise.
I thought by now, she'd realize
She ain't gonna hide a thing from my prying eyes.
As you can see, by now, I'm quite talented. Next week, as a treat, I'm going to sing that song for all of you, while strumming my guitar. It will be a newsletter for you to remember, and one EB will want to forget.
Anyway, I've rambled long enough. And the smart ones among you have already skipped all of above, and are looking for the meat of this article. You still haven't found it have you? OK I get the hint.
This Cloudeight freeware pick can help you hide your files from prying eyes. If you're a TSA body-prober or run the body scanning machines, you'll really love this Cloudeight freeware pick. It will help you keep all those nasty purloined photos of odd-shaped people — the ones you groped at airports all over the country. If you're not a TSA agent (and hopefully, most of your aren't) you'll appreciate encrypting all your sensitive files. I like it because I can hide pictures of myself when I was 20 from myself. That way I don't have to be reminded of how old and wrinkly I've become. But hey, my mind is still as spunky as a 20-something's.
Today's freeware pick (starting over again, trying to stay on track here) is a free program that can encrypt a folder, a USB flash drive, or a whole disk partition so only you can see the contents of those folders, drives or partitions – as long as you remember your password that is. Why would you want to encrypt anything? I don't know. I give up? Why? Why? I don't know…but you know. You might have bank statements from a secret bank account you don't want your spouse to see. Maybe you were saving up against the advent of a quick getaway? Maybe your obsessed with Mickey Mouse (or worse, Minnie Mouse) and you'd be embarrassed if anyone saw your collection of 2 GB worth of Mickey Mouse photos – including 4 autographed photos of you and Mickey standing in front of the Magic Kingdom. How the heck do I know why you'd want to encrypt your files? That's between you and your files, not between you and me.
I'm done. Now I'm going to bring in the program's developer to give you some real information about his wonderful and increasingly popular freeware program. And without a another word:
"TrueCrypt is a software system for establishing and maintaining an on the fly encrypted volume (data storage device). On-the-fly encryption means that data is automatically encrypted or decrypted right before it is loaded or saved, without any user intervention. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read (decrypted) without using the correct password/keyfile(s) or correct encryption keys. Entire file system is encrypted (e.g., file names, folder names, contents of every file, free space, meta data, etc).
Files can be copied to and from a mounted TrueCrypt volume just like they are copied to/from any normal disk (such as simple drag-and-drop operations). Files are automatically being decrypted on the fly (in memory/RAM) while they are being read or copied from an encrypted TrueCrypt volume. Similarly, files that are being written or copied to the TrueCrypt volume are automatically being encrypted on the fly (right before they are written to the disk) in RAM. Note that this does not mean that the whole file that is to be encrypted/decrypted must be stored in RAM before it can be encrypted/decrypted. There are no extra memory (RAM) requirements for TrueCrypt. For an illustration of how this is accomplished, see the following paragraph.
Let's suppose that there is an .avi video file stored on a TrueCrypt volume (therefore, the video file is entirely encrypted). The user provides the correct password (and/or keyfile) and mounts (opens) the TrueCrypt volume. When the user double clicks the icon of the video file, the operating system launches the application associated with the file type – typically a media player. The media player then begins loading a small initial part of the video file from the TrueCrypt-encrypted volume to RAM (memory) in order to play it. While the part is being loaded, TrueCrypt is automatically decrypting it (in RAM). The decrypted part of the video (stored in RAM) is then played by the media player. While this part is being played, the media player begins loading next small part of the video file from the TrueCrypt-encrypted volume to RAM (memory) and the process repeats. This process is called on-the-fly encryption/decryption and it works for all file types, not only for video files.
Note that TrueCrypt never saves any decrypted data to a disk – it only stores them temporarily in RAM (memory). Even when the volume is mounted, data stored in the volume is still encrypted. When you restart Windows or turn off your computer, the volume will be dismounted and files stored in it will be inaccessible (and encrypted). Even when power supply is suddenly interrupted (without proper system shut down), files stored in the volume are inaccessible (and encrypted). To make them accessible again, you have to mount the volume (and provide the correct password and/or keyfile)…."
If that sounds like something you've been longing for or pining after, then you'll be eternally grateful for this week's freeware pick of the week "TrueCrypt". You can learn a lot more and/or download TrueCrypt from the TrueCrypt web site.
NOTE: We are not responsible for your use of this program. If you encrypt important files and forget your password, you're out of luck. Really. Use this program with care and keep you password burned in your brain. Or write it down on a piece of paper and stick it your sock drawer. If you are going to write down your password, don't write "Password for TrueCrypt" on the paper. Just write the password and put it somewhere safe. If anyone finds it, they won't have any clue what Abv83e66M12671p is. If someone asks, just tell them it's your car's registration number. See? I learned that bit of chicanery from the best, EB herself. Do you have a freeware program you love? Tell us about it!
This week's essay Little Miracles
I have never seen a crippled man walk, a blind man see, or anyone rise from the dead. I've not seen any terminally ill person instantly or magically healed. I've not seen anyone make a ball of fire appear from the sky. I've not witnessed any miracles that the word "miracles" normally conjures up.
I've seen miracles though, lots of them. Miracles are not just the ones we have heard of but will probably never see. They're everywhere, all around us, every day and we've all seen them. It just that sometimes we don't recognize them. There are little miracles all around us and they are every bit as much miracles as those incredibly fantastic miracles that most of us will probably never see.
If you look you will see little miracles everywhere.
Life, once buried under huge piles of snow, is now visible. The tiny, nascent shoots of crocuses, barely showing through the frozen mud, are little miracles. Frozen and buried for days and days under huge piles of snow, their little green leaves are a reminder of the miracle and the tenaciousness of life. These tiny green shoots are little miracles to me. Read the rest of this essay here.
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Wait! Don't reinstall Windows! Read this first! Until now, if you're computer had corrupted or damaged Windows system files, there was only one way to repair the damage: reinstall Windows. But that means if you don't have your files backed up (and you should, you know) - you're going to lose everything, not to mention all the personalization and settings changes you've made. It's a hassle to reinstall Windows; it means hours or days - or even weeks - trying to get your computer back to the way you want it. Try Reimage right now! But now you don't have to resort to reinstalling Windows - you can choose to use Reimage. Reimage keeps an huge inventory of Windows system files to replace or repair any missing or corrupted files on your Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 computer. And with a money-back guarantee, you've got nothing to lose but the aggravation of installing Windows. If your computer is at the point where you're seriously consider reinstalling Windows - stop. Try Reimage first. We think you'll be glad your did! Get more information and or try Reimage right now. Reimage can replace and repair critical Windows system files and save you from the hassle of reinstalling Windows. Try Reimage right now!
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Cloudeight Information Avenue Free Edition - Issue #527
March 3, 2012 Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We're always glad to hear from you! If you need to change your subscription address or wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter :( click "Manage my subscription" at the very bottom of this newsletter. 
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