antivirus software

Q My netbook battery doesn't last very long -- are there any ways to get more than a few hours of power between charges?

A Netbook battery life can range anywhere from less than two hours to almost seven, depending on the model and what the computer is doing. For example, watching videos with the screen brightness turned all the way up will usually drain the battery much more quickly than typing a report in a word-processing program.

Conventional wisdom calls for IT managers to wait for the first service pack before installing a new Windows operating system. But since Windows 7 builds on all the security improvements Vista made over Windows XP, there may be a temptation to ignore the rule.

That could be a problem because Windows 7 is far from secure, security firm Sophos says. In a company blog, Chester Wisniewski wrote that Windows 7 is highly vulnerable to the latest viruses.

Shares of Symantec Corp. soared Thursday after the antivirus software maker reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded investors' expectations amid signs that stabilization in its business has begun to take hold.

Shares of Symantec, based in Cupertino, Calif., rose $1.46, or 9.3 percent, to $17.19 in morning trading.

Analysts latched onto the theme of improving business trends, with several increasing their profit and revenue estimates for the third quarter, 2010 and 2011.

Windows 7 is out, and that means a massive search for "Windows 7 compatible" software is on. While Microsoft's new operating system has received widespread praise for its efforts to remain compatible with the majority of existing applications, incompatibilities do exist, especially in the areas of system security and system maintenance. Will the tools you've relied upon for years for your Windows XP or Vista systems have trouble under Windows 7? Read on for some answers.

Thousands of Hotmail usernames and passwords were posted on pastebin.com, Microsoft has confirmed. The post by an anonymous user has since been taken down.

Microsoft said its internal data for Windows Live Hotmail was not breached and the user credentials were likely obtained through a phishing scheme. According to Neowin.net, the list of usernames and passwords appeared to be mostly based in Europe and included hotmail.com, msn.com and live.com accounts.

Antivirus software cuts two ways. It's great at blocking known viruses, but it can sometimes misfire, mistakenly flagging clean files as malicious. That sends a computer into a tailspin trying to clean up stuff that's supposed to be on there.

The problem can crash a computer, and fixing it can be a bear.

An example emerged this week when users of antivirus software made by Islandia, N.Y.-based CA Inc. watched as their machines warned of an infection and started quarantining files that turned out to be legitimate.

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it plans to release a beta test of its free computer security program next week and is on track to launch a finished product in the fall.

The program, Microsoft Security Essentials, is designed to find and kill malicious software that can steal passwords and other personal information or turn PCs into spam distribution hubs.

Once the PC security software is installed, Microsoft said it will download updated lists of identified malware daily, but will keep a low profile unless it detects dangerous software.

In these tough times we all need as many tips as we can get to save a few dollars.

The cost of buying a new desktop or laptop box is just the start. The price can double when you have to add in the software costs of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint), antivirus, and image editing software such as Adobe Acrobat.

Below are only a few free software options that are available to be downloaded from the Internet.

Office Applications

[Kaspersky Labs representative Gun Suk Ling discusses computer threats and ways to contain them.]

Computer viruses and worms can get inside the machines and stay there for long periods without you or your anti-virus program realizing their presence. Once they start stealing critical data such as banking account log-ins and passwords, they become a problem.

It's up to users to take care of their computer's well-being, Gun said.

It's the second annual Data Privacy Day. The United States, Canada and 27 European countries worked Wednesday to drive awareness and generate discussion about data-privacy practices and rights.

In conjunction with the event, Microsoft commissioned focus-group research to determine which privacy issues are most important to consumers. The Harris Interactive survey highlights the most common forms of online fraud attacks and consumers' awareness of how to avoid them.