M.A.S. Electronics' Blog

Although malware was once predicted to become extinct, it remains a constant threat. Thankfully, countless tools are available to help protect your PC against such security threats—including the popular (and free) anti-malware products on this list. 1: AVG AntiVirus Free AVG AntiVirus Free (Figure A) provides protection for your computer, your browser, and your mail client. Like many other free products, AVG AntiVirus Free tries to sell you a paid license, which includes an enhanced firewall, anti-spam protection, and a…

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Microsoft Edge, Windows 10’s new default web browser, doesn’t support ActiveX, DirectX filters, VML vector graphics, or VBScript. But upgrading to Windows 10 doesn’t mean your organization’s legacy web apps won’t work. To ensure that Windows 10 was compatible with older applications (such as those that require an ActiveX control), Microsoft included Internet Explorer 11 with the new operating system. However, before you can run ActiveX controls safely, you’ll need to tweak IE 11’s settings. Tweaking the settings To get…

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Most modern operating systems contain built-in tools for creating, deleting, or resizing partitions. But many users find that third-party tools make these types of tasks easier, since such tools might not have the same limitations as a native partition management utility. Here are several good partition managers, which won’t cost you a dime. 1: MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition As its name suggests, MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition (Figure A) is a free tool for creating and managing partitions. It…

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Microsoft has published detailed instructions on how to stop your computer from trying to upgrade itself to Windows 10. The walkthrough will allow IT admins both to opt out of the automatic upgrade to Windows 10 and disable the Get Windows 10 icon from showing on the taskbar. The guide, published here, details how to install and configure a Group Policy Object to block the upgrade options. The policy settings can be enabled by users running Windows 7, Windows 7…

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Sometimes when a Windows system becomes unresponsive, the Task Manager is often the go-to tool for figuring out the problem. But as helpful as the Task Manager can be for tracking down the offending process, a number of other tools are available that can provide even more insight into what’s going on. Here are 5 tools that will assist. 1: Microsoft Process Monitor Microsoft Process Monitor (Figure A) is part of the Windows Sysinternals collection, which encompasses numerous tools for…

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Dell SecureWorks published in November 2013 the results of a remarkable project taken on by its Counter Threat Unit (CTU) Director of Malware Research Joe Stewart and independent Network Security Analyst David Shear: The Underground Hacking Economy is Alive and Well. Their research uncovered an extensive and virile underground market for hackers and digital ne’er-do-wells. The duo listed available bad-guy tools, hacker services, and their associated costs. For example, the ever-popular US Fullz sold for $25 US. That may seem…

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There are a lot of ways to lose critical data — like hardware failure, an OS crash, a user error, or a malicious attack. If it happens to you, one of these tools may help you get that data back. 1: R-Studio Data Recovery Software R-Studio Data Recovery Software (Figure A) is a data recovery application for PCs. This application is different from many others in that it doesn’t just scan hard disks — it can also open disk images…

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All systems, be they desktops, laptops, smartphones, or tablets need a little cleaning now and then. Sometimes the cleaning is just a simple riding various caches or deleting unwanted files. Other times, the cleaning is deeper and more involved. No matter what the situation, you need the tools to be able to rid that system of what ails it. 1: CCleaner CCleaner has been my go-to tool for cleaning up various temporary files on Windows machines for a long time….

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Creating graphs is easy — grab your favorite spreadsheet program, enter some data, and use the chart wizard. What’s more difficult is creating those graphs to be published on the web based on dynamic data. Plenty of options are available to graph hard-entered data, but few are capable of dynamic generation. Take a look at five free web-based tools for creating different types of graphs from dynamic data. Each of these apps offers a vast number of options and lots…

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In what may be the largest compromise of IT security in history, Russian hackers have amassed more than 1.2 billion passwords and user names, creating what may become havoc among IT security professionals and IT security vendors, according to an article in The New York Times. However, the real question here is how the hackers were able to accomplish such a massive breach of security and what can be done to prevent it. The New York Times article said the…

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