Comodo has released a free, handy tool called Comodo Programs Manager that offers some unique functions to keep your computer in good shape.

It can be used to completely remove failed and partially uninstalled programs, unwanted driver files, locked (in use) files, registry entries, Windows components like MSN Messenger, Windows updates, services, etc.

It has a built in malware scanner that can detect malicious (malware) setup files as soon as you begin to install a software.

It monitors new programs, drivers, services and Windows updates and checks whether or not they contain malicious code and inform you.

Moreover the backup function lets you create backups for applications, drivers and services before uninstalling them so you can be easily restored if uninstalled mistakenly.

More details and download available at developer’s page

The e-book Linux From Scratch gives you a simple to understand, step-by-step instruction for creating Linux system from scratch from an already installed Linux distribution, using nothing but the source code of software that you need.

This e-book has 318 pages and “users can dictate all aspects of their system, including directory layout, script setup, and security. The resulting system will be compiled completely from the source code, and the user will be able to specify where, why, and how programs are installed.”

The main benefit of this eBook is that it helps you fully customize the Linux systems to your own needs and allows more control over their system. Download the free eBook Linux From Scratch.

How to have App Tabs in Firefox? App Tabs looks very similar to ‘Pin Tab’ feature of Google Chrome and every tab can be converted to App Tabs by just right clicking on the tab and selecting the option ‘Make into App Tab’

Powered by the Gecko 2.0 page-rendering engine, this new release has several improvements over its previous version like better support for CSS3, faster JavaScript, improved scrolling and better startup times, etc.

You can download Firefox 4 (beta 2) from the official release page. But, if would like to test this beta 2 without affecting your existing Firefox install you can use the Firefox 4 Beta 2 Portable version.

However, if you want to uninstall a problem causing program in Safe Mode, normally you can’t without a registry tweak.
This is because, in safe mode Windows starts in a limited state, so the required Windows Installer service isn’t started so most programs can’t be uninstalled.

SafeMSI.exe is a tiny potable tool designed to uninstall programs very easily in safe mode. This utility will do a registry tweak and launch the Windows Installer service with a click.

If you want to uninstall a program in safe mode (You can enter into Safe Mode by pressing F8 key when the computer boots up), just run the tool SafeMSI.exe in Safe Mode, you don’t need to edit the risky registry by hand.

SafeMSI.exe is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7 and can be downloaded it free at source. [Via]

It may be useful if you have a notebooks, netbooks or cordless keyboards without such indicators (nowadays some new models have no such indicators).

This software allows you to see the current state of keyboard locks on small icon in the system tray or on the floating small window over your screen.

Keyboard indicator and Tray status indicator are two similar applications. Keyboard Leds works on all Windows platforms and can be downloaded free at source.

If InPrivate Filtering mode is enabled, it will block content providers from collecting information about sites you visit. As I told in my previous post, advertisers can collect your habit of surfing to direct ads for pages you visit.

InPrivate Filter Manager is a portable, tiny tool, which enables InPrivate Filtering mode automatically each time you run the Internet Explorer, thus allowing you to not worry about running InPrivate mode manually.

It also provides the ability to easily add filters to InPrivate Filtering – Small and large filter – to auto block items. However, there are no further details on what they actually block.

Using this application is quite simple. Download and run it. Select options and click the Apply button. That’s all.
It is advised to close the browser before applying the setting. A System Restore point can be created, to be able to restore the settings at a later time. (Via)

Bynamite is an add-on for Firefox and Google Chrome that offers a different approach to your privacy and control advertisement displayed on a webpage while you are surfing the internet.

Unlike applications like AdBlocker, Bynamite is not designed to completely block advertisement, but rather it ensures you only see ads that are suitable for you.

How Bynamite works? It collects information that advertisers collect from you and then allows you edit these info, you can add, remove or whatever you want.

In this way you can control advertisers know about you, and make the ads they serve more relevant to you (more details here).

Once you have installed the Gmote app on your Android phone and Gmote server app on your computer (Windows, Mac, and Linux), you can use your phone to control play, pause, rewind, volume controls, etc. on the computer at distance.

Its built-in file browser lets you view the files that are on your computer and select what you want to play from your phone. It can also stream music from your computer to your phone.

Another great feature of Gmote is, you can use it as a wireless keyboard and Touchpad for your computer, allowing you to control your computer at distance.

The Gmote mobile app supports any Android mobile phone, and the Gmote server app supports Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or higher and Linux . The Linux version requires VLC installed on your system.

Microsoft’s search engine Bing and its cool background images are popular among users. Bing screen saver contains 20 wonderful images and displays as a slide show when your computer is not in use.

Bing screen saver works on Windows 7, Windows Vista and windows XP with Service Pack (SP) 2 and can be downloaded (5.77Mb) free at source. (Via – MSDN blog)

Older and outdated browser plug-ins could lead to potential vulnerabilities and security holes and make a way to enter malware and other security threats into your system.

Because current browsers have no built-in mechanism for auto-updating plug-ins, we need to check it regularly by hand for a safer web experience.

The security company Qualys has developed a Browser Checking tool for Google Chrome, Internet explorer and Firefox, which is similar to Mozilla Plugin Check that scans your browser for installed plug-ins and lets you know if they need to be updated.

However, currently this service scans only a few plugins and browsers, but they are very critical to the system security. Following are the list:

- Windows OS support expiration
- Browser version (IE 6.0+, Firefox 3.0+, Chrome 4.0+)
- Adobe Flash Player
- Adobe Reader 5.x and above
- Adobe Shockwave Player
- Apple Quicktime
- Microsoft Silverlight
- Microsoft Windows Media Player
- Real Player
- Sun Java
- Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) plug-in for Mozilla browsers, etc

This tool will also help you fix the security issues discovered by the scan. Interested readers can try it for Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. [via]