Thursday, 11 September 2014

360 Total Security Review And Free Download

I have been a faithful user of Kaspersky Lab products for many years and have been running one of the Kaspersky security products on all of my PCs. Every year, I purchase Kaspersky Internet Security license available for 3 PCs and install the latest available version to make sure that my PCs are protected by the best security software out there for Windows.
My Kaspersky license is about to expire, and hence, I have been trying out a couple of security products other than Kaspersky on my PC where I test third-party applications. This morning, I was going through AV-Test results and was surprised to know that 360 Total Security product has scored equally or better than many other popular antivirus or internet security products from very well-known developers. For those who haven’t heard about AV-Test, it’s an independent IT-security institute and tests security products on regular basis. 360 total security review and free download picture
As you can see, 360 Total Security has scored equally or better than paid security products. Yes, 360 Total Security is free! So, I decided to install 360 Total Security and use it for some time. To start with, 360 Total Security offers you multi-engine protection. That is, it includes five engines, including 360 Cloud, Avira, and Bitdefender to offer the best security and detection rate.
360 Total security picture1
Please note that when you install 360 Total Security, it installs only three engines: 360 Cloud, system repair engine, and QVMII AI engine. In short, it doesn’t install Bitdefender and Avira engines with default, and you need to manually install them later by switching to Virus Scan tab, hovering on Bitdefender and Avira icons, and finally, clicking on the switch.
It also includes a system cleaning utility to help you delete junk files and free up some disk space. In addition to that, the boot time monitoring tool displays boot up time and offers options to speed up the boot by removing unwanted programs from the startup. 360 total security review and free download picture2
The sandbox feature, as the name suggest, lets you run and test suspicious applications without affecting your system’s security. Even though, it doesn’t offer too many settings and options to tweak default settings, as long as it’s offering a good protection, I think that’s fine.
360 total security review and free download picture1
However, it turns out that 360 Total Security includes a Download Manager to download virus pattern update using P2P sharing. While testing it, I observed that the tool continuously uploads pattern updates using this P2P sharing and you might want to disable this if you are on a metered network by clicking on the menu button located upper right (next to minimize button) of the window and then checking the option labelled Do not upload after P2P upgrade.
Other thing what I have observed is that 360 Total Security doesn’t scan compressed files during full scan (scans compressed files during custom scan only) with default settings. You might want to configure it to scan compressed files during full disk scan for better security.
360 total security review and free download
Another worth mentioning thing about 360 Total Security is its setup file size. It’s just 25 MB (current version of the program) and is very small when compared to its competitors.
Overall, 360 Total Security looks like a good security product if the test result by AV-Test is anything to go by and the fact that it’s a free product. The user interface, as you can see, is very beautiful and easy to navigate. The only downside, in my opinion, is that it doesn’t include its own firewall system to support its other features but that should not stop you from giving it a tray, as the native Windows Firewall is pretty good.
For those who’re curious, Qihoo 360 had over 475 active internet users by the end of December 2013 and is a very popular security product developer in China.
Download 360 Total Security

Install And Manage Cursors In Windows With Cursor Commander

We here at IntoWindows love customizing Windows and free tools that allow us to customize Windows operating system. Back in the days of Windows XP, I used to customize almost every part of the OS with the help of resource editing tools.
Even though I have stopped installing third-party visual styles and transformation packs on my primary machine, I always install new customization tools on my other PCs and write about good customization utilities.
If you have been using Windows for a long time, you probably have observed that Microsoft hasn’t changed the default cursor since the release of Windows Vista. In short, both Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 include the same set of cursors introduced first with Vista. While the default set of cursors is elegant, users who love customizing Windows and users who are bored with default cursors might want to replace the default cursors with new ones.
Installing a third-party cursor in Windows isn’t as difficult as installing a new visual style. There is an option available under Mouse Properties to install new cursors or choose one of the tens of cursor schemes included in Windows. Even though Mouse Properties is good enough to change default cursors, there is a better program available now to install and manage new cursors.
Cursor Commander to customize cursors[5]

Cursor Commander

Cursor Commander is a new program from our friend at WinAero, the developer of many popular Windows customization and tweaking tools such as Windows 7 Personalization Panel, Startup Sound Changer, and Alt Tab Tuner.
With Cursor Commander, you can install new cursors with a click and share the new cursor schemes with your friends and family. Once you download and install (yes, it’s not portable) Cursor Commander, select a default cursor and then click on the browse button to browse to location of new cursor or browse to the cursor pack containing new cursors to quickly install them.

Download and install new cursors from web

The best thing about this free cursor customization tool is that it lets you download and install tens of new cursor schemes from the web. Simply click Get more cursors link to see tens of browser schemes.
Overall, Cursor Commander is a decent program to install and manage cursors. With that said, this is not the program if you don’t install new cursors very often as the default Mouse Properties in Windows is more than enough for most users to install new cursors.
The only downside is that it’s not portable, meaning that you need to install the program in order to use it. Cursor Commander is available for both Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 operating systems.
Download Cursor Commander

How To Remap Keyboard In Windows 7/8.1 Using SharpKeys

I own a mid-2013 MacBook Air. Most of the time I use my other Windows notebooks to get my work done. I power on my MacBook Air occasionally to install any available updates for both Windows 8.1 as well as Mac OS X (installed Windows 8.1 using BootCamp), and sometimes to learn a thing or two about OS X.
While Windows 8.1 runs smoothly on this Mac without any issues, there was one annoying thing that I managed to fix it a couple of days ago.
Whenever I start using Windows 8.1 on my MacBook Air, I start pressing the left Command key presuming it as Alt key. In other words, when I need to switch to Start screen, most of the time, I press the Alt key. As you know, on a keyboard designed for Windows, the Alt keys are located immediately on the left and right side of the spacebar. And on a Mac keyboard, Command keys are located next to Spacebar key.
Remap keyboard in Windows 7 and 8.1 using SharpKeys picture
The other issue with Mac keyboards is that there is no dedicated Print key to quickly take snapshots unlike Windows keyboards. When running Windows on Mac using Boot Camp, we need to use the Fn + Shift + F11 hotkey to take the snapshot of the full screen and use Fn + Shift + Alt + F11 to take snap of an active window, meaning taking snapshots of the full screen or active window isn’t as easy as on a keyboard designed for Windows.
To make using Windows easier on MacBook Air, I decided to remap the keyboard with the help of keyboard remapping software. After trying out a couple of tools out there, I found that SharpKeys is the best and easiest keyboard remapping software available for Windows.
First of all, of SharpKeys is a free software designed to remap the default keyboard layout with a few mouse clicks.

Using SharpKeys to remap your keyboard

Remapping the default keyboard layout with the help of SharpKeys is relatively easy. Follow the given below instructions to easily remap your keyboard using SharpKeys.
Step 1: Visit this page and download SharpKeys. Run the setup file and then follow on-screen instructions to get it installed.
Step 2: Run the software, click Add button. From the left column, select a key that you would like to map and then select a key from the right column that you want to use as the new key.
Remap keyboard in Windows 7 and 8.1 using SharpKeys
Remap keyboard in Windows 7 and 8.1 using SharpKeys picture1
For instance, if you want to use F8 on your keyboard as Print Screen key, select the F8 key in the left column first and then select PrtSc key on the right column.
Alternatively, you can click on the Type Key button to quickly select a key by pressing the same to avoid going through the long list of keys.
Once done, click OK button. Finally, click Write to Registry button and click OK button when you see the warning dialog.
Step 3: Restart your PC to remap selected keys. That’s it!
The downside is that it doesn’t detect the Function key. In other words, if there is a Function (fn) key on your keyboard, SharpKeys doesn’t detect i,t and you can’t remap it. Having said that, most of the keyboard remapping software out there for Windows don’t detect the Function (fn) key.
SharpKeys supports all recent versions of Windows, including Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. If in case, it’s not working on Windows 8/8.1, please run it using the compatibility mode.

Sticky Tiles: Best To-Do List App For Windows Start Screen

In most of my previous articles on Start screen, I have said that Start screen is the main attraction of Windows 8/8.1 and one of the many features introduced with Windows 8. The updated Start screen in Windows 8.1, without a doubt, offers more features and options when compared to the good old Start menu.
There are plenty of free apps out there to enhance the Start screen. One of them is Sticky Tiles. As the name suggests, it’s similar to the native Sticky Notes program in Windows but Sticky Tiles is designed for the Start screen. In other words, Sticky Tiles lets you add beautiful looking tiles with notes on your Start screen.
sticky tiles for Windos start screen

Sticky Tiles for Windows 8.1 Start screen

As you can see in the above picture, Sticky Tiles lets you add beautiful looking to-do lists to your Start screen. While creating a new to-do list, you can select a color for your tile from the available six different colors, size of the tile (small, medium or wide), and select type of the tile from the available two options. Ability to set titles for a notes is my personal favourite feature of this app.
sticky tiles for Windos start screen best to do list app
In addition to that, you can quickly edit a to-do list on the Start screen by clicking on the small pencil icon that appears bottom left on the tile. Clicking the pencil icon will launch the app where you can add or remove a note or change its default background color.
sticky tiles for Windos start screen best to do list
However, the current version of the app doesn’t support changing default font and font size.
Without a doubt, Sticky Tiles is the best free Sticky Notes app available for your Windows 8/8.1’s Start screen. If you love Sticky Notes program, you’re going to love Sticky Tiles as well. The only downside is that it doesn’t support the large tile size, meaning you need to select between small, medium, or wide tile sizes. If you’re looking for a good program with support for large tile size, check out To-Dos.

Chameleon 4: Change Window Color Based On Temperature, Battery Level, and Time Of The Day

As you likely know, we here at IntoWindows love customizing Windows operating system. Over the years, we have reviewed hundreds of quality applications that let you customize Windows in one or other way. You can go through our 25 free customization tools for Windows 7 and 15 free customization utilities for Windows 8 guides to check out some of the best free tools available for Windows.

Chameleon 4.0 Features

Chameleon 4.0 is a free utility designed to automatically change window color based on a few factors such as weather conditions, temperature, battery status of your laptop, or time of the day. In other words, it is capable of changing the taskbar and window color according to the time of the day, remaining battery percentage, and outside temperature.
Change window color based on time of the day, temparature, and battery level
In addition to those factors, you can configure the software to get color from the current wallpaper (already available in Windows 8/8.1), use the color from current screen, get the color from the current program’s icon (active program), or generate random color.
For instance, the tool automatically sets light-blue color as your window color when the outside temperature is 30 Fahrenheit and changes the color to red when the temperature increases to 90 Fahrenheit.
You can either go with pre-defined colors or customize the default set of colors by clicking on a color button. You can even save customized colors by creating a theme file out of it.
Please note that Chameleon 4 supports Vista or higher edition of Windows operating system only. So if you are on Windows XP, this is not the tool for you. Make sure that you have installed .Net Framework 4.0 before running this software.
When the tool is running, you can see a Chameleon icon in the system tray area of the taskbar. Double-click on the icon to open the Control Panel of Chameleon.
In order to change window color based on weather condition or temperature, you need to input your location name. To do so, open the Chameleon’s Control Panel by double-clicking on its icon in the tray, and then click on the small gear icon that appears upper-right of the window.
Change window color time of the day, temparature, and battery level
Overall Chameleon 4.0 is an excellent program to automatically change window color in Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8/8.1 operating systems. However, I strongly feel that this tool is more useful for Vista and Windows 7 users as Aero is present in these versions of Windows by default. That said, it’s possible to enable Aero in Windows 8/8.1 using third-party tools.

Chameleon 4.0 download page

Note that the developer of the program has completely re-written the program and the newest version is very low on system resources as well. For those of you wondering, it’s portable software and can be used without installing the same.
Download Chameleon 4.0