LimeWire is probably one of the most popular file sharing program that uses peer to peer (P2P) technology. It has 2 versions which is the free version and the paid version which claims to give optimized search results, turbo-charged downloads, connections to more sources and more reliable downloads. There are other alternatives such as Ares and FrostWire but I personally still prefer to use the latest LimeWire 5 PRO. If you can’t get the PRO version of LimeWire, then I’d suggest you to use FrostWire or Ares instead.

After extensive testing and bug fixing that took 3 months, the latest LimeWire 5 PRO is finally here! It comes with a new look which seemed easier to navigate around and also “sharing with friends” feature. If you have Gmail, Jabber or LiveJournal account, you can easily share your files to your friends in your contact list provided they too must be connected via LimeWire 5.


Other than that, it comes with advanced tools which you can view the connections and also tells you if you are behind a firewall. Another interesting feature is the Bitzi lookup where you can get more information about a file that you want to download so you can know whether it’s safe or not. Bitzi is the home of BitPedia digital media encyclopedia where volunteers share reports about any kind of digital file, with identifying metadata, commentary, and other ratings. The users of LimeWire 5 will also see less junk files so the chances of being infected by virus or trojans from P2P are greatly reduced.

I guess that’s about it for the new LimeWire 5 PRO. They did not mention anything about speed improvements but I believe it is already at its fastest.

For your information, you can still search for LimeWire 5 PRO direct download link using a simple “site” search string. Once you get in the LimeWire PRO download page, you can download the full LimeWire 5 PRO for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other systems. I’ve written about that nearly a year ago and I am sure a lot advanced computer users should know about this trick but don’t know why LimeWire is not doing anything about it.

The Unlocker by Cedrick ‘NITCH’ Collomb used to be one of my must have software on my computer because it is very helpful in releasing locked files so that I can move, delete or rename the file or folder. Other than it works on files and folders, The Unlocker can also unlock a drive letter which is very useful when when I am faced with the problem of unable to eject or safely remove my USB flash drive. However recently I found that The Unlocker is not as up to date with the current Windows operating system anymore. Don’t get me wrong, The Unlocker still works but it requires a reboot to delete a file that cannot be deleted instantly which is a waste of time.

Recently IObit has released an unlocker software called IObit Unlocker which seems to do the same thing as The Unlocker, but it is definitely smarter and coded to work with the latest Windows 7. Most of the time there are two ways to use these file unlocking software. You can either right click on the locked file and select the software from the context menu, or drag and drop the locked files to the software.


Here is a simple test why I say IObit Unlocker is better than The Unlocker or even FileASSASSIN. The file that I would like to delete is “avast5.ini” belongs to avast! Internet Security. An attempt to manually delete the file from Windows 7 and it reports “You require permission from Administrators to make changes to this file”. I am a local administrator of the computer and I can’t delete the file due to protection by avast!

I right click on avast5.ini file and select IObit Unlocker from the context menu. IObit Unlocker program appears and I select “Unlock & Delete” from the button and click OK for confirmation. IObit Unlocker reports that the avast5.ini file has been instantly unlocked and deleted successfully.

I restored the avast5.ini file to test with The Unlocker 1.9.1. I right clicked on avast5.ini and select Unlocker from the context menu. I select Delete from the drop down menu, clicked the OK button and it reports “The object could not be deleted. Do you want to perform the requested delete operation at next reboot?”. The Unlocker failed to “instantly” delete the file.

Finally I tried using the famous Malwarebytes FileASSASSIN to see if it can instantly delete the avast5.ini file without requiring a reboot. I drag the avast5.ini file to FileASSASIN, use the FileASSASSIN’s method of file processing and check all the boxes including delete file. Clicking the Execute button and it reports “The file could not be deleted!”.

The only thing you may want to take note of is the optional installation of their toolbar and other IObit software. During installation, the setup will prompt you to install IObit Toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox. You can either click Decline or Skip to avoid installing the IObit Toolbar (Most people make mistake by automatically clicking the “Accept” button during installation). Next, you will be prompted to download and install IObit Malware Fighter and Advanced SystemCare. Again, you can click the Skip button to avoid installing those software. If you didn’t know, The Unlocker also by default installs the Bing Bar to support its development unless you manually uncheck it from the “Choose Components” window.

Probably there are still people that will stay away from IObit’s software due to a previous issue with Malwarebytes because of their principles but I personally won’t push away a good software. If it is good, I’ll publish it on my blog and use it on my computer. If it is bad, you probably won’t even read it from here…

IObit Unlocker is free and works on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 on both 32bit and 64bit. It can also unlock drive letters, useful for USB flash drive. Would be really nice if they have a portable version of IObit Unlocker so that I can carry around with me on my USB flash drive.

[ Download IObit Unlocker ]

The latest version of Norton 360 4.0 is finally here. Norton 360, developed by Symantec, is marketed as an “all-in-one” security suite. The package includes a personal firewall, phishing protection, ability to detect and remove malware, file backup and PC maintenance capabilities. The previous Norton 360 v3 is based on Norton 2009 products and it’s no surprise that this latest Norton 360 v4 is based on Norton 2010.

Norton 360 v4 claims to come with a few new features such as Norton Insight, Norton Download Insight, SONAR 2 Behavioral Protection, Norton System Insight and Norton File Insight but honestly we’ve seen these features more than 5 months ago when Norton AV and IS 2010 was released. There are only 2 new features which are really new that is “Reputation service” and “Web-based Access to Backup Files”. The reputation service adds an additional layer of protection to detect viruses, Trojans, spyware, and other threats. Norton reputation service technology scrutinizes different attributes of files and applications in real-time to determine if they are safe. As for the Web-based Access to Backup Files feature, it allows you to retrieve and restore files that you backed up online anytime, anywhere, from virtually any computer with Internet access.


I ran a benchmark on Norton 360 v4 to compare against the previous Norton 360 v3 and it doesn’t seem to have much difference.

Application Launch Time
Norton 360 v3: 1.58582 seconds
Norton 360 v4: 1.09988 seconds

Boot Time Increase
Norton 360 v3: 53.885 seconds
Norton 360 v4: 54.259 seconds

Idle Memory Usage
Norton 360 v3: 3.7MB
Norton 360 v4: 16.8MB

Peak Memory Usage
Norton 360 v3: 99.7MB
Norton 360 v4: 105.6MB

Installation Size
Norton 360 v3: 79.1MB
Norton 360 v4: 138MB

Full Scan Time
Norton 360 v3: 361 seconds
Norton 360 v4: 390 seconds

Bifrost Trojan Crypted with Incognito Detection
Norton 360 v3: Runtime = NO, Scantime = NO
Norton 360 v4: Runtime = NO, Scantime = NO

One thing I don’t understand is why doesn’t Norton 360 v4 blocks the trojan on runtime when Norton Antivirus 2010 and Norton Internet Security 2010 able to successfully block it? Norton 360 v4 should be using the same NAV/NIS 2010 codebase for its antivirus and spyware detection unless I am wrong about it.

Since Norton products are subscription based, you can upgrade to v4 for free if you still have an active subscription. You cannot upgrade to v4 from LiveUpdate because you can only get small update patches and definition files. You will have to download the Norton 360 v4 setup file which is 138MB in size and just install over it. If you’re interested in trying out the latest Norton 360 v4, you can download the setup from the link below. After installation, it gives you a free 90 days subscription. Just for the record, this file was uploaded to the DigitalRiver’s server on 08 Feb 2010 22:42:00 GMT.

[ Download Norton 360 v4 ]

I believe you might have seen an image that says “Hotlink has been disabled for this domain.” that looks like the one on the left. This is very common in forums and on some websites. It is ImageShack’s way of making sure the same site is not using a huge amount of bandwidth. They monitor requests from the referrer log which is basically the header info sent whenever you request a image from site hosted on ImageShack. If they find same site using lots of bandwidth with large bandwidth consuming images, they will ban the whole domain.

I know it’s sometimes frustrating because it might be the image or picture that you’re looking for and you can’t see it! Don’t worry, here’s a guide on how to bypass this ban to view ImageShack hotlink image.


For Firefox browser
1. Type about:config in the address bar. Settings will appear.
2. Then type network.http.sendRefererHeader in the Filter bar.
3. Use your mouse to double click on the network.http.sendRefererHeader and change the value to 0.

Basically, network.http.sendRefererHeader controls the referrer header which enables webmasters to know from where the traffic to their site is coming from. By default this is enabled in firefox. Make sure you set it back to “2″ when you’re done viewing the banned ImageShack images because some websites will not work properly.

For Opera browser
1. Press F12 key.
2. Uncheck “Enable referrer logging”

Also, remember to check Enable referrer logging once you’ve viewed the banned images from ImageShack.

For Internet Explorer
Unfortunately, you can’t disable the referrer logging in Internet Explorer and you have to use third party tools to do it. My advice is, ditch Internet Explorer and start using Firefox.

One final tip, make sure you REFRESH or RELOAD the page in order for the banned images to appear. Otherwise you’ll still be seeing the cached image that says “Hotlink has been disabled for this domain”

Recently I found a bug on a WordPress plugin and reported the problem to the developer. However, they were not convinced that the problem is caused by the plugin even though I’ve submitted screenshots along with the description of the problem. So I had to use a screen recording software “SCREEN2EXE” to record a video when replicating the problem. After seeing the video, they finally admitted that it is caused by their script.

Instead of recording a video and uploading it to a server for the them to download, here’s another idea which I just thought of that can simplify the whole process. Why not create an online presentation from my computer where they can just easily connect to my PC and I show them how I replicate the problem?

There are many companies such as GoToMeeting and WebEx that is offering such service but they charge money. Here is Mikogo, a relatively new software that offers online meetings, screen sharing, remote control, file transfer, all these services for free!



Mikogo is a free online desktop sharing tool full of features to assist you in conducting the perfect online presentation. Take advantage of the opportunity to conduct presentations in true color quality across the world with up to 10 participants simultaneously, while still sitting at your desk! Mikogo is completely secure as they are using industry-leading 256-AES end-to-end encryption.

During a meeting, users are able to:

share each others’ screens

change presenters

access remote control

pause transmission

select only certain applications for sharing

transfer files

There are 2 different roles in an online meeting with Mikogo. The person who creates the online meeting and the people who will be joining the meeting. Here is how to create an online meeting with Mikogo.

The person who creates the meeting:
1. Download and install Mikogo.
2. Run Mikogo and at the tray bar, you will see a M icon. Right click on the M icon and select Create account. Enter your name, email address and click Continue. Now check your email to get your password.

3. Right click the M icon at the tray bar and select Start Meeting.
4. Enter your username, password, email and click OK. It will test connection and start meeting.
5. You’ll need to provide the Meeting ID to people who wants to join in the meeting.

The person who will be joining the meeting:
1. Download Mikogo Join Meeting tool. This tool is only meant to join meetings. It is smaller in size and requires no installation.
2. Enter Meeting ID, name and click Join Meeting.

That’s it! It is that simple! Did you notice that there is no router configuration needed? No port forwarding, no IP, and etc. It’s all automated. All you need is the Meeting ID.

Mikogo also has a Firefox add-on which allows you to start or join a meeting even easier. After installing the add-on, a M icon will appear at top right of the Firefox browser. Clicking the drop down button will give you the option to join or start a meeting.

If you wonder how Mikogo is able to provide their software and service for free, that’s because they have several subscription based screen sharing services (www.BeamYourScreen.com, www.Beam2Support.com, www.Beam2Present.com) and their technology is used by other desktop sharing and online collaboration providers.

Currently Mikogo is lacking of communication feature which is Chat or Voice. They do have Mikogo Skype Extras but I think there are more people using Windows Live Messenger than Skype. I am one of them that doesn’t use Skype 😛 Another improvement that I would suggest is the ability to detect whether the meeting will be through LAN or WAN. If a company that is on the same LAN would like to have a presentation, going through Internet will be quite slow.

Some people might want to compare other remote access software such as CrossLoop and TeamViewer with Mikogo but I don’t think it’s fair because those tools are used mainly for providing remote computer support. Mikogo is more for online presentation and online meetings.

[ Download Mikogo ]

KVM is a hardware switch that allows you to use share one keyboard, monitor and mouse on multiple computers depending on the amount of port available on the KVM switch. This is normally being used on server racks where all the servers on the racks are being managed with only one physical keyboard, monitor and mouse. Although KVM switches is able to save you a lot of space by not having multiple keyboards and mouse, but it still involves a lot of cables and can be quite messy if you don’t manage them properly. For normal home users, they would be better off with a software KVM such as Input Director or Synergy which I have covered before. It is pretty neat because all you need to do to switch between computer is just move your mouse pointer to the monitor of the computer that you wish to control.

To get Synergy and Input Director working, you may have to set up the configuration first. However today I found another similar software called ShareMouse where you only need to run the software on the computers that is connected via network and no setup is required to share your mouse and keyboard with multiple computers. It can’t get any easier than this.


ShareMouse is able to support up to 26 computers. Other than able to share keyboard and mouse, it also shares clipboard data (CTRL+C and CTRL+V), transfer files between computers and Mac OSX and Windows cross-platform support.

To get ShareMouse working, first of all the computers must be connected via local network. Then the computers will have to run ShareMouse and it will automatically connect to each other. Now all you need to do is simply move your mouse cursor to the monitor that you want to control.

Video demo of how ShareMouse works

You can access ShareMouse configuration by clicking on the ShareMouse icon located at notification area and select Settings. You can configure quickjump hotkey, panic hotkey, inactive monitor dimming, protected mode to securely prevent unauthorized access by other ShareMouse installations, network traffic encryption, and even changing the UDP port.

You can easily organize the layout of the monitor from the Monitor Manager. For example, if you want to go to the monitor on your left, logically you would move your mouse pointer to the left rather than right, top or bottom. If for some reason ShareMouse wrongly mapped the layout of the monitor, you can re-organize it from Monitor Manager.

The features that I really like about ShareMouse is it doesn’t require installation by downloading the portable edition, works immediately by running the software without any configuration, able to easily copy files between computers by clicking the files with your mouse and dragging them to the desired computer even though the Windows sharing permission has not been setup, and most importantly is FREE for personal home use.

[ Download ShareMouse ]

I wanted to post this tomorrow which is the first day of year 2009 but after thinking about it, we should always look forward and not look back. So, another year has gone by and time passes by really fast. When I think about what I’ve done this whole year, I’ve spent a lot of time in work as I have to juggle between my full time job and the commitment of posting something here everyday. Yes I find it tough sometimes but it is all worth it because I know that there are some articles which will help those in need. The giveaways is even better because those security software can help to protect user’s computer so they don’t need to spend extra money in buying software license or service their computer during recession.

Many of you has helped to spread this website to your friends and you’ll be amazed by the amount of visitors I get every day. I believe by sharing with others, you’ll get much more in return. Let’s check out the year 2008 web statistics.

Year 2007 Statistics @ raymond.cc
Visits: 8 million+
Pages: 19 million+
Hits: 375 million+
Alexa: 16000+
Google PR: 4
RSS Subscribers: 12000+

Year 2008 Statistics @ raymond.cc
Visits: 14 million+
Pages: 98 million+
Hits: 1 billion+
Alexa: 7200+
Google PR: 2
RSS Subscribers: 52000+
January and February statistics were not included in the year 2008 stats because it was hosted in another server and there is no way for me to import the webalizer data to awstats.. All numbers in the stats nearly doubled or more except Google PageRank dropped from 4 to 2. I noticed that sometime in the middle of the year, my Google PR went up to 5. I think the reason it dropped to 2 is because the forum was migrated from PunBB to vBulletin which caused thousands of links to become inaccessible. On December 2007, the average daily unique visitors was 36000+ and now has increased to a whopping 70000+!

I have to admit that somewhere at the end of the year I got out of track by writing articles “for” people. It’s not wrong to do that but my style has always been writing what I learned about computers and interesting finds on the web. That has always been the reason why this website ever existed. I will try to always remember my style of writing and hope that it’ll benefit everyone who is reading my posts.

I know it’s new year’s eve and probably most of you are getting ready or resting for tonight’s celebration. If you have the time, please leave a comment letting me know which article I posted in year 2008 that you like most or really helped you in some ways. If I ever been rude, childish or made anyone unhappy, I sincerely apologize for that. I’d also like to thank everyone who has helped to spread this website to others and forum members who diligently helped other users. Here’s wishing you all a very Happy New Year and I wish that year 2009 will be a better year for all of us! CHEERS!

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year, I hope you enjoy it with your family and friends, and may all your wishes come true for 2010 to bring prosperity and happiness to you. I have a few things lined up this year for this site which is to upgrade the site and forum design to a custom one that looks more professional. The X-Ray project is coming up really good. The coding of the prototype version is out and I am testing it out extensively to make sure it works well without bugs and also adding more features and options. The latest vBulletin v4.0 is also out and I guess the best time to upgrade it is when I change the blog theme so both section will look the same.

As for the daily post, I still don’t think I will be able to cope up with daily postings but I will try my very best. Reason is my time is pretty much stuck with my full time job and also I prefer to test stuff then write it based on experience. I do not want to post something blindly just because I need something to be posted at the blog by 3-4PM everyday.

Another thing is I have 30 genuine Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 license keys that is already activated but unused and I am giving them away. Actually this is supposed to be for Christmas but seeing that IDM has generously sponsored 30 license (the IDM license were sent to 30 winners on 29th December), so I had to delay this one until today. Same thing, leave a comment at the end of this article and I will pick the 30 winners via lucky draw tomorrow.

Thank you all for your continuous support. I appreciate any suggestions or comments on how can I improve this site.

Here are the 30 lucky winners for KAV 2010. You should be receiving an email from me shortly.

Capturing screenshots is something that I do nearly everyday because I always try my best to attach a screen shot so you could understand easier. The phrase “a picture tells a thousand words” is quite true. There are a lot of screen capture software, both freeware and shareware. Most of the freewares is only able to do basic screen capturing but if you want more advanced features such as auto scrolling, text capture, and etc, you’ll have to go for the shareware.

My favorite screen capturing software with basic image editing features has always been HyperSnap. I am sure you all know about Techsmith Snagit, a very popular screen capture software. I’ve tried it and somehow still prefer HyperSnap. It is easy to use and has advanced features as well.

Here’s another one called Solid Capture that worth checking it out. Not because it is a very popular screen capture software, but it is because Solid Capture normally cost $29.95 and there is an offer to get the unlock code to turn the trial version into fully licensed version for free!


Solid Capture is a screen capture toolkit that allows you to take snapshots of anything on your computer screen. These snapshots can then be saved as image files, used with an image editor, exported as text, converted to a PDF document, e-mailed to a friend or co-worker, pasted into a presentation, and more.

Specifically, Solid Capture allows you to capture the following:

Screen – Captures everything on your monitor (full screen). If you use dual monitors, you can capture both screens.
Window – Captures an entire window, multiple windows, or a component of a window such as a panel or toolbar. The window capture function also allows you to capture drop-down menus and sliding menus.
Rectangle – Draws a rectangle of any size around an area on your screen to capture anything within.
Color – Selects and copies any color on your screen to a palette.
Text – Extracts the text from a screen capture.

After you’ve captured what you want, you can choose what you want to do with it. The following are some of the options that Solid Capture offers:

Save to clipboard – Your screen capture can be saved to your clipboard. You can then paste it directly into a document, e-mail, or any program that allows you to paste.
Save to file – You can save your capture as an image file for future use.
Edit – Allows you to import your capture into your default editor for immediate editing.
Print – Allows you to format and send one or more captures to the printer.
E-mail – Lets you easily send captures via e-mail. You can embed your captures in a message, send captures as attachments, or create a PDF and send it as an e-mail attachment.
Create PDF – Allows you to create a PDF using one or more captures.
Copy Text – Copies text in a screen capture to your clipboard to be pasted into a document.
Edit Text – Exports text contained within an image to the text editor of your choice.

In short, Solid Capture not only gives you the ability to capture just about anything on your screen, but also allows you to easily work with your captures.

To get your free Solid Capture unlock code, please follow the simple steps below.
1. Go to this page http://www.soliddocuments.com/registercode.php?product=SolidCapture&appcode=SOFTFREE&locale=9
2. Enter your REAL email address, name and click Register.
3. Check your email and note down the User Name, User Email, Organization and Unlock Code.
4. Download the latest version of Solid Capture v3 and install.
5. Run Solid Capture and select “I already have an unlock code and would like to unlock Solid Capture.”. Enter the exact information and you now have a fully licensed Solid Capture screen capturing software.

Thanks again to ndkj!

There are so many websites and companies claims to offer the CHEAPEST domain names registration services.
Wonder where should you buy domain names from and which is really the cheapest?


I’d recommend Godaddy.com
Check out the low prices below.
Regular TLD Pricing

Country Code TLD Pricing

They accept Credit Card and Check. For people who doesn’t own credit card, no worries as they accept PayPal as well.

Some webhost offers free domain name when you host your domain on their servers.
From experience, I really wouldn’t want them to have control over everything.
For example, my domain raymond.cc was registered and hosted by the same company ExampleWebHost.
Then, I found a cheaper webhost and offers more webspace and bandwidth. It’s fine, I can still change the Name Servers and my domain will still work with the new webhost. However, when my domain name is about to expire, and ExampleWebHost charge a lot for renewal, you might consider looking for cheaper domain registrars. When you found one such as Godaddy.com, and wants to transfer your domain to GoDaddy, ExampleWebHost will give you lots of problems and will delay your transfer. You might even have a huge downtime!

DirectX is a component of Windows operating system that has been included since Windows 95 until today’s Windows 7. According to Wikipedia, Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Whether you think is important or not, Microsoft does not provide a way to uninstall DirectX nor you can update it from Windows Update. The only way to get the latest version is to download the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from Microsoft Download site.

I found out about a tool called DirectX Happy Uninstall 3 years ago but never really tested it. In my opinion, this tool could be very useful in fixing Windows computers with DirectX problem because it seems to be the “only” software that supports up to DirectX 11 and the latest Windows 7 operating system, including 64 bit (x64).


DirectX Happy Uninstall is a shareware that cost $19.95 but without a usage time limit. Meaning anyone can use the software to backup and restore DirectX from their computer but the 2 most important function Rollback and Install (force) is disabled. Only after entering the correct User ID and Registration Code will unlock all features.

I tried contacting the author of the software if they can provide a free test license but never got a reply. I had to choice but to buy the software license in order for me to test the Rollback and Force Install feature.

The backup and restore feature is very straightforward. Clicking the Start Backup button will start to scan and backup all DirectX files into a CAB file. As for the Restore button, it shows you the list of DirectX backups that you have made and can easily restore by clicking the Restore button again. You can also delete the backups from there.

The Rollback feature works by restoring all original DirectX files from the Windows installation disc to your Windows computer. This way it should logically fix any problems caused by corrupted DirectX files and etc. You will need to insert the Windows installation disc, select the “sources” directory and continue with the process. A reboot is required at the end of the rollback process to fully restore all DirectX files and registry entries. If you don’t have the Windows installation disc, you can download the official Windows 7 ISO from the link which is shared by ted in forum and then mount it to a free drive letter.

One problem that I experience after rolling back the DirectX using DirectX Happy Uninstall is the DirectX Diagnostic Tool (dxdiag) couldn’t run. After checking the file in C:\Windows\System32\ using Windows Explorer, the dxdiag.exe is only 6.04KB in size while normally it should be around 258KB. The dxdiag icon which is supposed to resemble a deformed radiation warning symbol has turned into a default Windows 7 empty EXE icon. Fortunately replacing a working dxdiag.exe file from another computer fixes this problem. If you are unable to obtain a working dxdiag.exe file, running the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer (dxwebsetup.exe) will also work.

DirectX Happy Uninstall does a pretty good job in restoring DirectX back to the original state but I find that it is a risk to purchase DirectX Happy Uninstall since you can’t really tell if you are definitely having a DirectX problem and there is no money back guarantee if DirectX Happy Uninstall doesn’t fix the problem.

[ Download DirectX Happy Uninstall ]

I’ve spent many hours, practically the whole day testing and writing my review on Avira few days ago. When I tried to save the article in WordPress draft, the page went blank (so coincidentally there was a downtime on this site) and I wasn’t able to retrieve what I wrote by clicking the back button. So the whole review was gone and I had to rewrite. It might be a little simple but the main points are all there.

I’ve been recommending Kaspersky to nearly everyone that I know if they are willing to fork out money to purchase an antivirus license. It’s pretty obvious that I am a big fan of Kaspersky because there are so many articles and tips on Kaspersky. However for some people that couldn’t afford to spend money on antivirus, I’d definitely recommend them to go for Avira AntiVir because based on so many antivirus test results, Avira mostly grab one of the top spots in detecting malwares. Trojan and cryptor programmers always face a headache to find a method to bypass Avira detection because every time they find a method bypass it, after a while Avira learns to detect it. So for the first time, here is my unbiased review on Avira AntiVir to share with you all on what I think about Avira.


I used Avira AntiVir Premium v9 for testing because I was able to easily get a genuine license valid for 3 months from this promotional page.

The difference between the Premium and Free version is the Premium version has extra features such as WebGuard, AntiDrive-By, RescueSystem, Enhanced email protection, and fast premium update servers but I think I can live without those extra features since there are replacements for them.

WebGuard = WoT
AntiDrive-By = Files are scanned anyway by the real time AnVir Guard when finished downloading
RescueSystem = Can be downloaded manually from Avira’s website
Enhanced Email Protection = Don’t need it if you are not using a POP3 email client
Fast Premium Update Servers = The personal update servers are also as fast as the premium servers

The Avira Premium installer (33MB) is considered small if compared to Kaspersky (50+MB), Norton (70+MB) and BitDefender(50+MB). After finished installing, the first thing I did was to update the program. Updating the virus definition and program the first time took merely 1 minute and 11 seconds because the update size was 8MB and I was downloading at 110+KBps.

Next I tested the scanning speed. A complete system scan took 5 minutes and 45 seconds to finish scanning 64398 files, 9744 directories and 195 archives.

When the scan has been completed, I ran a complete scan again for the second time and Avira also scans nearly the same amount of files and directories. A clean Windows 7 already takes 5 minutes to scan, I am sure that the scanning time will be increased by a lot if I scan my 1.5TB backup hard drive. Unlike Norton where it maintains a list of files that can be trusted which greatly reduce the scanning time.

During scanning, an avscan.exe process will launch and its memory usage kept increasing from 55mb to 67MB. However, the memory usage for avguard.exe drops to 16MB and finally goes down to only 1MB when the full system scan finishes. CPU usage is averagely around 30% but never goes above 50%.

As for the memory usage, only the real-time guard process (avguard.exe) and on-demand scanner process (avscan.exe) seems to be taking up quite a lot of memory. Avira is able to bring down the avguard.exe’s memory usage to 700K but of course when you start to use any programs again, the memory of the avguard.exe increases. As for avscan.exe, this process only runs when you start scanning any files and the memory usage surely goes more than 50MB.

I planted a total of 23 malwares on the computer, 22 of them are virus and 1 is a private version of trojan which is undetectable by most antivirus. Avira manage to detect all 23 malware as threats.

Avira is really good in terms of detection and the load that it puts on the computer is acceptable. To me, Kaspersky still takes the first place for “paid” antivirus and Avira takes the first place for “free” antivirus.

[ Avira AntiVir Premium | Avira AntiVir Personal ]