Affordable Protection

Information on your computer can be lost in a variety of ways; your keyboard is used as a piano by your children, your cat decides to use it as a mattress, lightning strikes, or a virus interferes. Backing up the contents of your hard drive is, therefore, imperative. Regularly backing up your files and storing them in a separate location means that if your computer crashes, you will likely be able to recover most, if not all, of your information.

A backup can be performed using a USB drive, CD, or DVD; but it would be so much more convenient to be able to create an exact copy of your hard disk. That is, a backup of all your files, programs, and user settings. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, Acronis may be worth checking out.

Acronis True Image 10.0 is a disk-imaging utility software. It enables the user to copy their entire hard drive (including data and operating system files, personalized settings,etc), onto another disk or disk partition. Acronis is also functional and user-friendly. It utilises wizards to easily instruct the user in how to back up and restore their computer. Highlighted features include:

• Secure Zone – allows data to be saved to a special hidden partition located on the hard drive. This effectively eliminates the need to purchase an additional hard drive.


• PC Cloning – allows the user to upgrade to a new system disk without having to reinstall the operating system and applications, or configure user settings.


• Acronis Snap Restore - Incredibly quick restoration of the PC from an image. The user can begin working again while the system is still being restored.

It is possible to test-drive this product for free, and, if you're unhappy with it, Acronis will provide a 30-day money back guarantee. Once you have decided to purchase the product, it can be downloaded for $49.99. With Acronis True Image Home 10.0, you can feel safe in the knowledge that important information such as your personal documents and family pictures are fully protected.

Bust Spam

Spam. Nobody likes, wants or needs it. No, we're not referring to the canned meat, but to the unsolicited, annoying, and often inappropriate messages that inundate our email by the dozen. Most email providers utilise some form of spam filtering, however they never appear to do a great job of discriminating between emails that are welcome, and those that are decidedly not. It therefore becomes more and more important to rely on some form of additional spam filtering product. One such filtering system aimed at Outlook and Outlook Express users has had very positive reviews based on its excellent detection, and low rate of false positives - that is to say, you receive those emails that you wish to receive, and the spam ends up where it belongs.

This system is known as Cloudmark Desktop, (previously called SpamNet and SafetyBar). It utilises a unique community-based filtering process. Users report new spam, which results in the spammer being placed on a blacklist within minutes. From then on, other members will not receive that particular spam. Cloudmark similarly applies this process to phishing email scams.

The interesting part of this process is the manner in which Cloudmark creates a digital reputation model of reporting spam. Users begin with a neutral reputation, which increases if they are among the first to identify spam. On the other hand, a user's reputation decreases when they falsely report spam. This results in an automated, highly scalable system that is very resistant to tampering.

Another advantage of the software is that it is easy to use; it installs quickly and efficiently, and does not depend upon the user to configure its settings. Cloudmark blocks more than 98% of spam from reaching inboxes, and this is reflected in its popularity; there are over one million users worldwide.

The cost of the program is $39.95 for a one-year subscription, which is renewable each year. For those interested in test driving the product, a free 15-day trial period for both Outlook and Outlook Express is available.