Cannot endorse AVG anti-virus anymore...too bad

I say too bad in regards to years ago when I would recommend a free anti-virus to friends, I would immediately say AVG.  However, I can no longer do so.  Besides the obvious, the handling of virus/malware, my number one criteria for any antivirus program is that it stays out of the way.  By this, I mean, I do not want constant reminders of what a great job it is doing and constant attempts to sell me something.  Over the past couple of years, AVG has failed miserably.  Anytime you have to spend time clicking off pop-up windows from your anti-virus for messages not related to an actual malware detection, you need to find another program.   Strangely, I do not even use AVG and I am still annoyed because of a toolbar that somehow got installed on my system.  It was easily removed (well not really, but I did get it off), but the fact that a company that is in the business of protecting your computer, resorts to drive-by downloads of their useless toolbar is the final straw.  How can you trust a company that employs the same tactics to get software on your computer that malware authors use?  The toolbar changed settings on multiple browsers and is a pain in the rear to deal with.  Now that I have vented, any suggestions on other free anti-virus programs that do not annoy?

A standing ovation for T-Mobile!

T-Mobile to offer free unlimited international data, texts

If you're a frequent international traveler, you're going to want to pay attention to Uncarrier 3.0.

T-Mobile's latest shake-up puts international roaming rates in its sights, with the carrier eliminating fees for data and text messages entirely in more than 100 countries. It will also simplify the calling rates, charging a fixed rate of 20 cents per minute.

New and existing T-Mobile customers who are on a post-paid plan are eligible for the new international plan, which kicks off on October 31. The company also introduced a $10 Stateside International Talk and Text plan for US customers calling out to other countries. The plan includes calls for 20 cents (or less, depending on the country) and free unlimited calls to landlines in 70 of those countries.  Read the whole article here.

Fix a corrupted Windows Installation

You may have experienced it at some point, Windows will not start or you will get a cryptic message telling you some weird file cannot be file or is........corrupted.  Well, you may be able to save the installation and headache.  Check out this article on how to fix a corrupted Windows installation.  No guarantee it will save it, but most times it can. 

How to reinstall your OS the right way

One of the most frequent "repairs" I perform is virus/malware removal.  Never let anyone tell you that they can remove malware without re-installing the operating system.   The only way you can be 100% sure that you removed malware is to backup, format the hard drive and re-install your operating system from a known good source.  To that end, it can be a pain in the butt, you can take the easy way out and let me do it or you can do it yourself.  For the daring, here are some of the things you need to do it properly...

You can do a clean start using just your old drive and a pile of DVDs for backup, but I recommend that you use this method and buy two new hard drives. You’ll use one as your new C: drive and the second to store your backups and images. (Consider the original drive as a backup of all your data up to this point.) Here’s our reasoning: First, an OS reinstall is the perfect time to make the jump to a new drive. Second, the performance benefits of your clean install will only be enhanced by using a newer, larger drive. The new 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda, for example, has an average read speed of 104MB/s. Your old 500GB drive probably tops out in the 50MB/s to 60MB/s range, depending on the generation of the drive.

You’ll also see significant performance benefits if you have a lot of data because a drive’s performance weakens as it approaches full capacity—so that 400GB of data on a 1.5TB drive or even a 1TB drive won’t impinge performance as it would on a 500GB drive. Finally, storage has become one of the most inexpensive components in a PC. So take our advice and spend the $200 on two new 1TB drives and save yourself some heartache.

If you choose to ignore this advice and reinstall the OS on your original drive, you must back up all your data to discs before proceeding. 

Check out the complete article from Maximum PC on the left under What's New

Microsoft is recycling email accounts, in case you haven't used yours lately..

If you've got a long-dormant Hotmail, Live, or Outlook.com account, you might consider checking in every so often. Microsoft is recycling old and unused accounts and if you've let yours languish for a while, you might have lost yours too. 

According to reports via PCWorld, Microsoft has been enacting a policy they've had in place for years. In fact, the Microsoft Services Agreement itself mentions that you should log in at a minimum of every 270 days, to "keep the Microsoft branded services portion of the services active," or else your data may be deleted, with your access revoked. 

The agreement does not mention the recycling of usernames, but the company has said that this is actually part of their policy. After your account goes inactive, it's set up for deletion. Then, after 360 days, it's made available again. This is causing some alarm amongst users concerned for breaches of their privacy, which is of course understandable -- but it appears the practice is just now being brought to life. 

It's in stark contrast to companies like Google, who upon deletion of email addresses will not allow that username to be put into circulation once more. Are you an Outlook, Hotmail, or Live user? What do you think about these practices?

Comparing your new phone purchase

So, you want to buy a new smartphone? Of course you do (unless you already have the Galaxy S4, the HTC One, or the iPhone 5S). For most of us, smartphones are at the center of our lives, and we rely on them to stay in touch with others, browse the web, snap photos whenever and wherever we want, easily find our way around with GPS, manage tasks, and even get some work done. But we also know that good smartphones are expensive, so one should consider lots of things before deciding which one to buy. Remember the TabletRocket web service we covered back in August? For those who missed out on it, the service basically allows you to compare various popular tablets in order to make the best buying decision. Geekaphone is the smartphone equivalent of TabletRocket – to some extent. The web service allows you to compare up to 5 smartphones side by side, showing you the differences in their specs and physical design to help you choose the right one.

Geekaphone sports a dead simple interface. Its home page houses many popular smartphones that are currently rocking the market such as the Moto X, Nexus 4, iPhone 5S, Galaxy S4, Note 3, LG G2, Lumia 1020, Moto X, HTC One etc. All you have to do is click on any two devices for a specs showdown. You can also alternatively type the name of the phone in case it isn’t already shown on the home page. To do that, type your desire models in VS. fields and hit Compare.