I understand your frustration when you have accidentally deleted some important files from your computer, such as documents, family pictures, movie files etc. This has happened to all of us. If this is the case, do not panic. There is a good chance to recover your deleted files.

Let me discuss first some theory behind file recovery. A computer hard disk or any other storage device (USB drives, external disks etc) store each file on a specific area on their surface and then the operating system creates an “indexing table” which specifies the exact disk area where each file is stored. This is used in order for the computer to locate and retrieve the file whenever necessary. Now, when you delete a specific file, you actually delete the “index pointer” for that file and NOT the actual file contents. The operating system thinks that the file is removed but actually the file is still on the disk. Ofcourse, the operating system marks that file area as “empty” so that it can write another file later on if needed. If the operating system did not write other data on top of the deleted file disk area, then you can recover that deleted file.

There are file recovery software on the market today that are capable to scan your computer drive and find any deleted files that can be recovered. I will suggest two of them, one which is completely free and one which you can try out for free and then you can purchase if you find it useful. The first free software is Recuva and the other file recovery software that I recommend is Paretologic Data Recovery program. The later is a commercial tool (very good tool by the way) which you can download and try it for free. First try out the completely free Recuva tool and if it does not find the files you want to recover, then download the Paretologic Data Recovery tool and give it a try (free scanning).

I hope you find the precious lost files that you are looking for. Good luck!!

The new Release Spyware Doctor 2010 is Here

PC Tools Spyware Doctor 2010 is here-The best of the best just keeps getting better! Spyware Doctor and Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus already offer the most powerful antivirus and antispyware protection available. Now the new and improved features in the Spyware Doctor 2010 release will make this product even more compelling to Windows computer users wanting to have the best protection available for their system.

• NEW! Advanced detection intelligence delivers powerful protection using a diverse range of technologies to detect and block threats.
• NEW! Behavioral technology, powered by ThreatFire™ – next-generation technology to stop new threats faster than traditional signature based methods.
• NEW! Multi-layered browsing protection to protect against web-based attacks including phishing, rogueware scare tactics and drive-by downloads.
• IMPROVED! State Awareness Modes intuitively detects the state of the user’s PC when they’re playing games, watching movies, in presentation mode or using their laptop unplugged to automatically reduce impact and interruption.
• NEW! Support for Windows 7 – Spyware Doctor and Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus are fully certified as Windows 7 compatible.

Spyware Doctor and Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus also give the user the freedom to choose automated protection or an interactive and advanced approach.

• Install, set and forget with default settings that are automatically set for maximum protection, or;
• Tweak away with settings for each IntelliGuard™, history logs and more;
• Automated real-time protection, smart updates and scheduled scans all ensure maximum protection with no down time;
• Help whenever needed it with 24/7 customer support.

Spyware Doctor is a top-rated malware & spyware removal utility that detects, removes and protects your PC from thousands of potential spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, spybots and tracking threats.

It is especially effective against scareware rogue antivirus programs which after infecting your computer they demand money to remove themselves from the system.

The new ThreatFire detection technology, which is a TradeMark of PC Tools, uses an advanced behavioral based mechanism for identifying threats. This is a much better way of detecting malware and viruses since it is not strictly based on “virus signatures”, thus it is able to identify “zero-day” threats as well. Zero-Day threats refer to new emerging viruses and other malware that they appear on the Internet and conventional antivirus/antispyware programs (i.e signature based) are not able to detect them (until they update their signatures).

You can Download Spyware Doctor for Free and perform a scan to evaluate its capabilities. The Free download version is just for scanning. If you need also to clean any found viruses and spyware, then you must register the full software version. Download the program below from the official PC Tools Website.

All the devices and hardware components that you install on your computer have drivers. A Driver is a special piece of software code which is responsible to make a specific device or hardware component to operate properly and communicate with the computer operating system. Every once in a while these drivers get updated, either to synch them with new devices that might be attached to the computer themselves such as peripherals, or simply get them to run better. While most operating systems have automatic driver updating features, not everyone get updates especially those copies not certified by the software company. Windows, for example, does not update pirated operating systems.

So the option for the computer owner is to manually search and download the updates, get certified drivers, or buy a program that updates drivers automatically.  This last option is often the most preferable, because manual updating is time-consuming as well as highly prone to errors, some irreversible. Getting certified drivers means you have to pay for the license, and you sometimes get unwanted bothersome information from the manufacturer that clogs up the driver databank. Automatic updating gets the job done quickly and efficiently, and often worth more than the cost.

There are several top driver update tools available online: DriverCure, DriverChecker, DriverDetective, and DriverGenius. All of them promise perfect solutions to your driver update problems and instant updates from all over, but one software that surpasses all is DriverRobot.  It boasts of a number of advantages over the others that puts it ahead. Some of them are:

• Database of drivers for over 100,000 devices: obsolete, discontinued, in market, new. The biggest driver database.
• Automatic and constant search for new updated drivers released from manufacturers so database of drivers is never outdated
• Compatible with all Windows versions including 64-bit Vista and Windows 7
• Money-back guarantee for 60 days
• Updates installed in proprietary servers so updates are available although the device manufacturer’s website is down
• Usable even in new computers without drivers that are not online
• Complete old and new updates
• Full or repair backups available
• 24/7 service and technical support
• Most reliable hardware scan to detect all devices on the computer in order to update with the most proper drivers.

Some of the drivers DriverRobot can update automatically are drivers for sound cards, printers, routers, DVDs, AC97s, USBs, motherboards, Bluetooth, FireWire, Ethernet, Windows Vista,  Windows XP, wirelesses, chipsets, webcams, video cards, and so on.  Now if that is not a comprehensive coverage, none would be.

But definitely, DriverRobot is not a perfect software that can universally solve all of your computer problems, since all the problems cannot be foreseen. What it can do, however, is update your drivers and solve any device hardware problems discovered by the manufacturer; the rest may be solved by the technical support that you can reach anytime, all the time.  But by far, DriverRobot is still the best option you can take when it comes to updating computer drivers automatically.

Unless, of course, you love updating drivers manually, and would like to gamble on your computer crashing because of device conflicts and incorrect driver installation. The choice is still up to you. As always.