Opera on step ahead? The battle rages on and though Internet Explorer is no longer a player of any importance on Windows based systems. If you want the latest features and gadgets the warriors are Mozilla Firefox & Opera. But if you simply want stability and full compatibility: Buy an Apple and install Mozilla Camino ;-)

Some anti-spyware companies use confusing ads and show that they are less effective than free competitors.
Read more in the december 2004 article in PC World written by Andrew Brandt

 Aluria spyware Eliminator

The well known Spyware fighter has created a hurricane inside Anti Spyware World. Not only by creating a Spyware SAFE Certification Program that checks websites for Spyware and offers a certificate to prove that they are “good guys”. Now they also created a howling among other spyware fighters by taking over WhenU, and turning it into a non-agressive adware company. That feels like creating a controversy. Is it more than brilliant PR?
Read more...

 CW Shredder sold...

CoolWebSearch has been sold! Not the end of CW Shredder though. www.merijn.org sold it’s tool to www.intermute.com and finally gets hard credits for years of aid to internet users allover the world. Still free available...

 Is Apple an alternative for PC?

Longtime PC adept Nondisputandum visited the Apple Expo in Paris, France (september 4th). Buying a Mac! Never? Read more...

 Rogue / suspect soft & sites

Before installing anti-spyware soft,.. check first if it is not added to the list of rogue or suspect products & websites:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti- spyware.htm#products

 Adware Report

The author of Adware Report responds to an article of Nondisputandum. The website www.adwarereport.com offers an overvieuw of the best scoring spyware & malware detectors. Nondisputandum critisizes the rather less nuanced promotion of Spy Sweeper and the subjective quotings of great soft like Ad Aware & Spybot. Read more...

 Ad Aware against Spyhunter

<Nondisputandum>
Is it ethical that Ad Aware includes it's competitor SpyHunter in it's database? </Nondisputandum>
<AdAware>
Why SpyHunter has been added to Ad-aware's database While some may claim adding SpyHunter to Ad-aware’s database is an attempt to defame a competitor,...
</AdAware>
Read more...

 Pentium stops GHz race

The new Intell processors will no longer be marked by their GHz. Check it out: Intel.com/products/processor_number

 After Spam comes ‘Spim’

Sickin’-up with lads of spam in our mailboxes,... finally some better filters exist. Be aware, here comes the Instant Messaging Spam aka Spim! While they intercept your message,.. your backdoor could be wide open. Good for the anti-spam/spim industry... sough... And if you thought that GMail was an alternative.. think again ;-)

 Skype Internet phone

Does the Kazaa free phone tool Skype contain spyware? They say not,... but it does boost your bandwidth while you make a phone call. Read more...

 Browser hijacking

Protect your homepage with a simple tool named ‘Start Page Guard’, that blocks the start page. Download it!

 Voice over IP

New technology does not always go along with new security measures. Phoning home with use of the IP in stead of a phone number is not really the most discrete way. Read more at securityfocus.

 Mail: Do not clic that link

Source: Lavasoft / The Eye
Think it is okay to click that link if you can see a URL in the Status bar, Address bar, and/or Title bar of the Outlook Express and/or Internet Explorer windows?
Malicious users can create links to a deceptive  (spoofed) website...
Read more...

Microsoft and Computer Associates eTrust EZ Armor team up to offer free antivirus and firewall protection. This might be an alternative if you really are a Microsoft mouse... You won’t see me using this. My slightly developped paranoia says that there must be a angle ‘cos Microsoft is no charity. Besides,... they just incorporated a firewall in SP2,... and now this...
The eTrust website ( )
Microsoft Partner Pack ( )
The angle is 12 months free subscription,... and than it’s pay-(back-)time.

CA also acquisitioned spyware fighter Pestpatrol. (08/04)
Seems like Microsoft is allying with experts to plaster-up it’s breeches.

One advice: Don’t!
Google has a great tool to search the internet but don’t let it put it’s eye inside your computer. And if you do,... do it behind a fine-tuned firewall that checks outgoing communication (no not XP’s SE wannabe firewall) & for paranoiac reasons, install a registry monitor like Spybot’s TeaTimer. Why? Basic security, nothing more. Desktop Search sniffels in & stores your files from Outlook mail, AOL instant Messenger, chatsessions and IE visited webpages. Desktop Search has it’s own cache that stores & bulks on your HD. It makes it a piece of cake for other users to find your personal information - if you share your PC. It would be hazardous to send out a confidential document ‘cos it would be found long after you’ve emptied the Outlook trash bin. Besides,... it’s nothing New. Copernic has it and soon Microsoft and Apple will offer it.
This one,... I will let pass by,... like GMail.

www.microsoft.com/*.*/default.aspx. Microsoft advices you to use their firewall & install other improvements.
Nondisputandum’s advice:
It is ok to download SP2 as long as you do not feel safe using the firewall. Disable the firewall and pick a better alternative.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads allows you to download all the updates & patches needed to keep Windows & other Microsoft progs running. You will find a lot to download there,... a lot.

Netscape (AOL) has finally come up with a new Mozilla clone. Find downloads & alternatives on the ‘more free tools’ page. Nondisputandum chooses Mozilla Firefox. A good replacement for Internet Explorer.

Ad-Aware has a new version available named Second Edition. It contains many new improvements and they still have a free personal version. More information - download

Keep Windows auto-updated and have it download and install patches and hotfixes.
Configuration screen > System > auto updates. You better have highspeed... and confidence in Microsoft. Myself, I do not follow this advice ;-)

Thinking that you are 100% safe against e.mail passing viruses? Try this battery of tests to find out... and just don’t be scared if having a virus and malware protection is simply not enough... Among these is the Eicar test fake virus... so your antivirus should detect this fake virus. www.gfi.com/ emailsecuritytest.

See who is tracking you on the internet. Download the Bugnosis toolbar. From the author: Bugnosis operates by analyzing the Web pages that you visit while surfing. When it discovers a Web bug, it alerts you with a sound ("uh-oh!") and pops up a window containing details about the Web bug. It also makes visible the Web bugs hidden on the page, so you can see where they are placed. By revealing Web bugs, Bugnosis makes it possible for ordinary Web users to "watch the watchers."

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extentions (MIME) allow you to send more than simple ASCII text. But some implementations are not ‘watertight’. Worms like Klez & Nimda abuse it to spread... others use it for ‘wiretapping’. Learn more about backdoors & bugs at microsoft.com/technet/security

So you want to place a link to your mailbox on your website! That’s cool but do remember that rather sooner than later a spybot will detect it and the spamming begins... never to end!
Read more... (download rtf)

Pick the relevant banner

Antivirus & Firewall

Anti Spyware

Anti Spam

Registry & System Cleaner

http://www.bigfix.com (4.5/5)
Install the Bigfix tool, run it and see what you need to download to update your software, download patches,... with a simple click. A must have!

http://www.computercops.biz (4/5)
Information, downloads,...

Read more on the Basic Advice page.

microsoft.com/technet/security (/)* informs about Microsoft internet insecurity & what they hope to do about it...
Nondisputandum says: * If Microsoft made trustworthy software, this page & part of my website would not have to to exist.

securityfocus.com (4/5) offers loads of daily updated information.

Habaneronetworks.com (4/5)
A starter website that resumes interesting newsfeeds and publishes imho rather objective information about various security topics. It’s worth your visit.

Read more on the Basic Advice page.

www.fraud.org (4/5)

www.ifccfbi.gov (4/5)

www.haxial.com/fraud/mikeaba.html (4/5)
Some enjoy making a fool of fraudeurs. Read how an American site fooled with a Nigerian fraudeur.