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Freeing up disk space keeps Windows responsive and gives updates room to install. The original 2009 version of this guide recommended Auslogics BoostSpeed and CCleaner for the job. Today you rarely need either — Windows 10 and 11 ship with cleanup tools that are safer than third-party “boosters” and registry cleaners. Here is the modern workflow. Why cleanup Over time Windows accumulates files you can safely remove: Temporary files from apps and the system Browser caches and downloaded program files Windows Update leftovers, WinSxS component-store bloat, and orphaned installer patches The Recycle Bin Delivery Optimization cache and old restore points Apps and games you no longer use Tip: On modern browsers the cache is capped and self-managing, so the biggest wins are usually Windows Update leftovers (especially WinSxS and the Installer folder), the Downloads folder, and unused applications — not the browser cache. ...

A firewall is an application which controls network traffic to and from a computer, permitting or denying communications based on a security policy. A personal firewall differs from a conventional firewall in terms of scale. Personal firewalls are typically designed for use by end-users. As a result, a personal firewall will usually protect only the computer on which it is installed. Many personal firewalls are able to control network traffic by prompting the user each time a connection is attempted and adapting security policy accordingly. Personal firewalls may also provide some level of intrusion detection, allowing the software to terminate or block connectivity where it suspects an intrusion is being attempted. ...

There are good reasons to be suspicious of e-mail. Some e-mail messages might be phishing scams, some might carry viruses. Images in spam e-mail might turn out to be pornographic, or to include Web beacons, which can be adapted to secretly send a message back to the sender. Follow these guidelines to help protect yourself when suspicious mail shows up in your Inbox. 1. Do not respond — and don’t open junk mail If an e-mail looks suspicious, don’t risk your personal information by responding to it. Delete junk e-mail messages without opening them. Sometimes even opening spam can alert spammers or put an unprotected computer at risk. Don’t reply to e-mail unless you’re certain that the message comes from a legitimate source. This includes not responding to messages that offer an option to “Remove me from your list.” Do not “unsubscribe” unless the mail is from a known or trusted sender. Use the junk mail tools in your e-mail program. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and most providers let you mark messages as spam or phishing, which trains their filters and blocks the sender. 2. Approach links with caution Links in phishing e-mail messages often take you to phony sites that encourage you to transmit personal or financial information to con artists. Avoid clicking a link in an e-mail message unless you are sure of the real target address, or URL. ...

A few clues can help you spot fraudulent e-mail messages or links within them. What does a phishing e-mail look like? Phishing e-mail messages are designed to steal your identity. They ask for personal data, or direct you to Web sites or phone numbers to call where they ask you to provide personal data. Phishing e-mail messages take a number of forms: They might appear to come from your bank or financial institution, a company you regularly do business with, such as Microsoft, or from your social networking site. They might appear to be from someone you know. Spear phishing is a targeted form of phishing in which an e-mail message might look like it comes from your employer, or from a colleague who might send an e-mail message to everyone in the company, such as the head of human resources or IT. They might ask you to make a phone call. Phone phishing (vishing) scams direct you to call a customer support phone number. A person or an audio response unit waits to take your account number, personal identification number, password, or other valuable personal data. They might include official-looking logos and other identifying information taken directly from legitimate Web sites, and they might include convincing details about your personal information that scammers found on your social networking pages. They might include links to spoofed Web sites where you are asked to enter personal information. To make these messages look even more legitimate, scam artists may place a link that appears to go to the legitimate Web site, but actually takes you to a phony scam site or a pop-up window that looks exactly like the official site. ...

Phishing (pronounced “fishing”) is a type of online identity theft. It uses e-mail, text messages, and fraudulent Web sites that are designed to steal your personal data or information such as credit card numbers, passwords, account data, or other information. Con artists might send millions of fraudulent messages with links to fraudulent Web sites that appear to come from Web sites you trust, like your bank or credit card company, and request that you provide personal information. Criminals can use this information for many different types of fraud, such as to steal money from your account, to open new accounts in your name, or to obtain official documents using your identity. ...

In computer security, a sandbox is a security mechanism for separating running programs. It is often used to execute untested code, or untrusted programs from unverified third-parties, suppliers and untrusted users. I recommend Sandboxie for daily use on Windows — the open-source fork maintained by the Sandboxie-Plus community after the original project was discontinued. The sandbox typically provides a tightly-controlled set of resources for guest programs to run in, such as scratch space on disk and memory. Network access, the ability to inspect the host system or read from input devices are usually disallowed or heavily restricted. In this sense, sandboxes are a specific example of virtualization. ...

Spam is any kind of unwanted online communication. Common types of spam The most common form is unwanted e-mail. You can also get: Text message spam — sometimes called smishing Instant message spam — sometimes known as spim Social networking spam Harmless vs. dangerous spam Some spam is annoying but harmless. However, some spam is part of an identity theft scam or another kind of fraud. Identity theft spam is often called a phishing scam. ...

If you suspect that you’ve responded to a phishing scam with personal or financial information, take these steps to minimize any damage. Step 1: Report the incident Contact the following authorities: Your credit card company, if you have given your credit card information. The sooner an organization knows your account may have been compromised, the easier it will be for them to help protect you. The company that you believe was forged. Remember to contact the organization directly, not through the e-mail message you received. In the United States, report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov and file a fraud report at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. You can also report the phishing scam to the Anti-Phishing Working Group by forwarding the phishing e-mail message as an attachment to [email protected]. ...

After Adobe absorbed Macromedia, Dreamweaver remained the default tool for many small teams building corporate sites, portfolios, and internal portals. Dreamweaver CS4 adds better CSS tooling, Live View powered by WebKit, and closer ties to the Adobe stack — but the hard part is still the same: keeping sites maintainable after launch. What CS4 Improved Live View renders pages with a WebKit engine — closer to Safari and Chrome than the old Design view approximation Stronger CSS panel workflows for designers who do not want to hand-write every rule Better code hinting for PHP and JavaScript Integration hooks for Photoshop comps and Bridge asset management Spry framework widgets for menus and form validation — use sparingly Subversion integration for teams finally moving off shared folders Live View reduces “upload and pray” cycles. You still need to test in IE7 and Firefox 3 — WebKit is not the whole audience. ...

Johnny Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was a Grammy Award-winning American country singer-songwriter. Cash is widely considered to be one of the most influential American musicians of the 20th century. Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice, the “freight train” sound of his Tennessee Three backing band, his demeanor, and his dark clothing, which earned him the nickname “The Man in Black”. He traditionally started his concerts with the introduction “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”. ...

A hacker who posted candid photographs of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus on the internet was the subject of an FBI raid yesterday. 19-year-old Josh Holly, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, boasted that he had broken into the Disney teen queen’s email account and stolen photos - including, according to media reports, pictures of her baring her midriff in the shower, and “posing provactively” in her underwear and swimsuit. ...

If Sysinternals shows you what is running, OllyDbg shows you what a program is thinking — one x86 instruction at a time. In 2008 it is the standard debugger for 32-bit Windows binaries: unpack a crackme, trace a malware sample in a lab, or understand why an installer behaves oddly when the vendor will not answer support calls. OllyDbg 1.10 is the version most people use. It is freeware, debugger-only (no disassembler license debates), and extensible with plugins. ...

Korn, occasionally typeset as KoЯn or KoRn, is an American rock band from Bakersfield, California, and is often credited with popularizing the nu metal genre. Along with other bands at the time, they have also inspired many nu metal and alternative metal bands throughout the mid 1990s and early 2000s. The band’s catalogue consists of nine consecutive debuts in the top ten of the Billboard 200, including a compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol.1, and their untitled eighth album, released on July 31, 2007. To date, Korn has sold over 30 million albums worldwide, including 16.5 in the U.S., whilst earning six Grammy nominations—two of which they have won. ...

Google Chrome arrived yesterday as a Windows beta with a comic explaining multi-process tabs and a reputation for speed. Another browser is the last thing some people wanted. For web developers and security folks, it is a big signal: the rendering engine wars are back. Mac and Linux versions do not exist yet. This is a Windows-only beta — but the design choices are worth studying regardless of platform. What Is Different Separate processes per tab — one crash does not take down everything Sandboxing ambitions — harder for web content to touch the system V8 JavaScript engine — fast enough to change how web apps feel in the browser Minimal UI — the address bar doubles as search, fitting Google’s habits Incognito mode — private browsing without digging through menus Silent auto-update — patches ship without a user-facing version bump Chrome uses WebKit for rendering — the same engine family as Safari — with Google’s own V8 replacing JavaScriptCore for script execution. ...

Robert James Richie (born January 17, 1971 in Romeo, Michigan), known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American musician and actor. He has sold over 23 million albums since the release of his debut album Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast in 1990. Jive Records released him from his contract in 1991, and in 1992 he signed with Continuum Records. He released 1993’s The Polyfuze Method and the 1994 EP Fire It Up!. Continuum Records didn’t have the resources to push him and eventually went bankrupt. Kid Rock then started his own label in 1994 called Top Dog Records. After releasing demo tapes and working as a janitor to pay for studio fees, he released Early Mornin Stoned Pimp in 1996, which became a local smash hit. He held a special showcase concert, with only Atlantic Records showing up; they signed them to a record contract. ...