Update: The giveaway is over. Congratulations MIT THAKKAR, you’ve been chosen as the winner by the list randomizer on random.org. Please check your email for instructions to claim the prize.

It had been more than four months since VIPRE Antivirus software took charge of my PC’s security. By right, I should have more to say since my initial review in May, but that’s not the case here. In fact, I have not interacted with the program since, other than updating the software, and that’s only for once.

These are my test results back then:

• Quick scan – Two risk was detected in the 8 minutes quick scan
• Deep scan — CPU and memory usage did not spike, PC responsiveness unaffected. Total scan time is slightly over 4 hours, with archives scanning on (off by default)

The antivirus is now running on autopilot, scanning for malicious programs everyday exactly as scheduled. And just like from day one, my work flow is not affected by the scans. No slowdown whatsoever. The popup balloon is the only clue I have when a scan is started. That’s exactly how I wanted an antivirus to behave (it drives me nuts seeing people paying dearly for a bloated antivirus).

 Win a free copy of VIPRE antivirus

If you’d also like to give VIPRE antivirus a spin, without paying a dime, you have the chance now. On October 8th, a SheepTech reader will walk away with a free copy of VIPRE antivirus worth $29.95, courtesy of GFI.

All you have to do is to submit a comment below, optionally telling us why you want to give VIPRE antivirus a try. Good luck.

©2011 SheepTech

Grab a free copy VIPRE Antivirus, Worth $29.95

One of the main criteria I look for when choosing an antivirus is speed (if you have no concern about speed and lightness, you haven’t try McAfee yet. It’s.. nasty) . Protection comes second. The way I see it, no point having a top notch antivirus in detecting the bad guys, but have the antivirus itself bogs your machine down.

VIPRE Antivirus software prides itself for being a “high-performance antivirus software that doesn’t slow down your PC like older, traditional security products.” The antivirus maker also claims that protection will not be compromised, with the software offering world-class protection.

While I cannot verify the protection effectiveness (I don’t even know where to get an infected file for testing purpose to begin with), I will comment on the performance — speed and usability wise.

Installation

The usual software installation routine. Click “Next” several times, read the user agreement, and lastly, reboot. VIPRE setup wizard will start by its own after rebooting, in which you can optionally setup the email protection if you’re using a desktop email client.

When that is done, VIPRE will start downloading its virus definition for the first time. It will take a couple of minutes here.

Quick Scan

Two risk was detected in the 8 minutes quick scan — tracking cookies and HotSpot Shield. The former labeled as cookie with low risk, while the latter as adware with moderate risk. VIPRE offers to remove the cookies and quarantine HotSpot Shield, which I won’t be doing obviously.

A glance on Windows Task Manager shows that the antivirus is using zero to 4%of CPU and 6MB of memory. Very, very decent.

Deep Scan

CPU and memory usage is relatively unchanged here. I’m drafting this post as VIPRE is deep scanning in the background, with 18 tabs opened on Chrome and iTunes playing. The PC is just as responsive as ever.

Total scan time is slightly over 4 hours, with archives scanning on (off by default). Pausing and resuming will only work in the same session. Once you turn your computer off, it won’t pick up where it left and you’ll need to start all over again.

There is also no option to stop the scan and clean whatever risks that are being detected. Either you cancel the scan completely or allow the scan to finish.

Tools

VIPRE antivirus comes with three additional tools on top of, well, being an antivirus — namely Secure File Eraser, History Cleaner and PC Explorer. The first tool is used to securely delete files, leaving no trace behind. Think of it like a shredding machine.

The History Cleaner on the other hand, list and remove histories on all possible applications, not only on browsers. It even suggested that I delete “my” ICQ chat history. I don’t even remember installing ICQ. Who still uses that anyway?

The last tool is used to access hidden computer settings, like Startup Applications and Running Processes. You can’t do much here other than selecting trusted applications and  ”Add to Always Allow”. You won’t be able to customize your Startup Applications here.

Conclusion

I have spent barely two hours poking around VIPRE, there is only so much I can comment about. I have not noticed any PC slow down yet, so I guess it’s not just a marketing pitch when they say “Finally Antivirus Software That Won’t Slow Down Your PC!” tagline.

I’ve ditched Avira for VIPRE for further testing, now that I’m offered a 1-year free subscription for reviewing.

VIPRE antivirus is selling at $29.95 for one PC, $39.95 for two and $49.95 for three or more PCs. There’s a 30-days free trial if you’d like to take it for a spin.

©2011 SheepTech

First Impression on VIPRE Antivirus

A copy of Chrometa used to be cost $99, but you can now get yourself a license key for free by just providing your email address (the key will be sent to your email). The license key will only work on the desktop version though, the web app version starts from $19 to $99.

Link: Request License Key | Download Chrometa 2.0

©2011 SheepTech

Chrometa Time Tracking Software Goes Free

TweetDeck, a popular Twitter client, is now supporting tweets that are longer than 140 characters natively through Deck.ly. A long tweet sent from TweetDeck can be viewed in full length on another TweetDeck client.

If the tweet is viewed on other platforms, on the web for example, the long tweet will be truncated and a Deck.ly link will be attached at the end of the tweet. The Deck.ly link will bring you to TweetDeck’s website and the tweet will be displayed in full length.

Now you must be wondering, what happens if everyone starts writing essays using TweetDeck? It will flood your Twitter stream, no? Apparently, long tweets will only be displayed up to a certain height or length, depending which platform you are on. Clicking the “Read more” link will expand the text inline in the client itself.

Here’s a demo Deck.ly link displaying my tweet in full length.

To start using Deck.ly, simply write more than 140 characters on TweetDeck (desktop, Android or Chrome) and tweet away.

©2011 SheepTech

TweetDeck Now Supports Long Tweets Natively

(Mac only) One of the pitch Google used to get more users to use its range of services is “everything is in the cloud“. Your data will be stored online safe and secure despite having your computer harmed in some of the most common workplace disaster (or not so common, as shown in this video).

There is one problem though. Once you have permanently deleted a file from the cloud, it’s gone for good. There is nothing you can do about it. No software can bring back the file. On the other hand, it’s very possible to recover deleted files on your local hard drive.

Disk Drill Mac Data Recovery does exactly that. It is a new software for data recovery and protection on Mac OS X 10.5+ (older versions are not supported). Currently still in beta, Disk Drill has the ability to recover files on any mountable drive, in any file system they are formatted in (HFS/HFS+, FAT, NTFS, etc).

In another words, Disk Drill will not only work on your Mac’s hard drive, but also other portable memories like USB drives, memory cards and even gadgets with internal storage like the iPhone and MP3 players.

When not used for data recovery, Disk Drill will run in the background to protect disks and partitions against data losses with Recovery Vault. Whenever you delete a file, Recovery Vault will remember its properties like file name and location.

If you later decide that you want that particular file back, you can recover it with all its properties intact.

Without Recovery Vault, your files can still be recovered, but there’s a risk of losing essential information like file names.

Since I don’t have a Mac, I couldn’t review this piece of software personally, but according to this forum post, someone succeeded in recovering all the files (he thinks) in his 6 months dead hard drive with a 15 hours deep scan.

Contribute in Beta Program, Free Lifetime License

Quoted from the forum:

Hey guys!
As you know Disk Drill is free while it is beta. Once it goes stable we’ll gladly supply free lifetime licenses to everyone who contributed with bugs, ideas, comments, pingbacks, blog posts and any sort of feedback.

Sounds like a deal to me.

©2011 SheepTech

Disk Drill: Free Mac Data Recovery Software

Whether you hate the new profile layout or just grew bored with the overall Facebook interface, F!acedeck might just be the refresher you need.

The dark and blue themed Silverlight Facebook client features an interface similar to that of Windows Phone 7′s UI, which spells sleekness and awesomeness.

News Feed

Full feed

You can choose to view your news feed in full feed, grid, or photo feed (obviously, photos only).

In the full feed view (screenshot above), your news feed will be displayed alongside with some recently uploaded photos by your friends. You can comment and like statuses as usual, but not like comments.

In grid view, the news feed is displayed side by side horizontally. Clicking on the arrow on any item will give you the option to comment or like. The number of comments and likes of an item won’t be readily available in this view, unlike in the full feed view.

Grid

Photo Viewing

Photo viewing experience in F!acedeck is enjoyable. Photos look more beautiful with a dark background, and you can browse photos in an album easily with the thumbnails on the left. On the right, you can read comments left by others, or add one yourself.

Instead of showing a stupid square when you hover over someone’s name tagged in the photo, F!acedeck will highlight the person in a spotlight style while dimming the remaining. You can also tag your friends on a photo the same way you do it on Facebook.

The only downside is that you cannot like the photos.

Other features

• Facebook Chat
• Events
• Inbox (messages)
• Notifications

Demo

F!acedeck is supported on both Windows and Mac, as long as Silverlight is installed.

[Download F!acedeck]

©2011 SheepTech

F!acedeck: Sleeker Way to Use Facebook

Say I want to watch a YouTube video. I would have to summon the iTunes window just to pause the song, then switch back to my web browser to play the video. If I were using foobar2000, I would just need to hit the hotkey to pause the song while I’m still on my web browser, making things faster and less tedious.

You can however compensate the missing feature by using one of these third party utility.

HKTunes

You can do nothing extra with this small utility other than assigning global hotkeys for iTunes. The user interface is definitely not the best, but considering this is a one time job, it doesn’t really matter much.

Instead of typing your desired hotkey, you were to select it from a list of keys.

I’m using HKTunes on my PC, for I wouldn’t want to install other heavier alternatives just to add such simple functionality. It uses just slightly under 4MB of memory.

You have to keep HKTunes opened the whole time you want your hotkeys to work. Pressing your hotkeys will do nothing if the program is closed.

[HKTunes]

iTunes Global Hotkeys Plugin (ighp)

Unlike HKTunes, there is no need to start another program just for the hotkeys to work. ighp is an iTunes plugin, meaning it’ll be part of iTunes and will work outright whenever iTunes is on.

Download the files, place them in iTunes plugin folder (C:\Program Files\iTunes\Plug-ins), launch iTunes, press Ctrl+Shift+P, configure the keys and off you go.

I would have use ighp if it works. Too bad, iTunes will not launch with the plugin installed on my PC. Your milestone might vary though, I’d suggest giving this a try before concluding.

[ighp]

iTunesControl

You can do much more with iTunesControl than just assigning the usual playback global hotkeys—like searching songs from playlist (another feature I miss from foobar2000), song name display and sleep timer.

iTunesControl is still actively supported and developed. In fact, the latest version was released less than a month ago, so you won’t have to worry that it will stop working when you update to a newer version of iTunes.

[iTunesControl]

iTuner

iTuner is another utility that adds several extra functionality to improve your iTunes experience. You can view all its features here, which of course includes global hotkey customization.

[iTuner]

©2011 SheepTech

Setting Global Hotkey on iTunes

Probably not. The cloud is only reliable to a point where the company decides to sunset it. The fact that Flickr is owned by Yahoo! doesn’t help. They would probably not sunset one of their most valuable asset, but no one can say for sure.

You can never go wrong keeping a copy of all your Flickr photos offline, especially with the generous storage PCs come with these days.

Downloadr

We will be using Downloadr for this purpose. It’s a Windows-only photo downloader, completely free, and capable of downloading both public and private photos (after you have authorize it to do so).

Download Downloadr

How to backup

1. The first step is to authenticate Downloadr on your Flickr account. That would give permission to Downloadr to backup your private photos.

To do so, go to Extras > Authenticate.

2. Your browser will now fetch the Flickr account link page. There will be two “Next” button. Click the right one.

3. Go to Extras > Settings, check the “Try to get all photos” box.

4. Enter your Flickr username (your display username, not the one on your URL) and click “Search“. Doing this will fetch all photos from your Flickr account. If it doesn’t, click on the “Search more” button.

If you only wish to backup part of your Flickr photos, you can filter the result by date range, tags, fulltext, place, only Creative Commons or only Geotagged.

5. Once all your photos are fetched, hit Ctrl-A to select them all. All your photos will be highlighted after you have done so.

6. Click on the “Download selected” button.

There is no way to pause and resume your photo download. Keep your PC and connection on until the download is complete to avoid any interruption.

Otherwise you would have to manually repeat the steps above up to step 4, then manually select the remaining photos that are yet to be downloaded.

©2011 SheepTech

How-To: Backup Photos from Flickr to PC

InPaint is a software that does exactly that, with minimal effort on your part. Simply crop the object you want to remove from a photo and click the Run button. InPaint will use its surrounding background to fill in the hole left by the removed object.

I’ve used a small giraffe photo as a demo:

It obviously will not work on photos with complicated background. InPaint normally cost $40 a pop, which is pretty steep for a software with just one functionality.

You can however get a copy of InPaint 2.4 for free by subscribing Software-Butler’s newsletter. After subscribing, you will receive a license key to activate your InPaint.

[Download InPaint 2.4]

©2011 SheepTech

InPaint: Automagically Remove Object from Photos (free)

Returnil System Safe Pro is an antivirus famed for its system restore feature. With it, you can be assured that everything will be fine no matter how harmful the websites you are visiting or the new software you are installing, because everything can be rolled back by just a reboot.

You can learn more about Returnil on PCMag.

A 1-year subscription of Returnil System Safe Pro would normally cost $39.95, but it’s going free this Christmas. Just fill in your particulars in this product giveaway page and you will be on your way.

Merry Christmas

©2011 SheepTech

Free: Returnil System Safe Pro for 1 Year