DRIVESHIELD OFFERS A DIFFERENT KIND OF PROTECTION
I recently read about an individual who got so disgusted with all
of the malware on his computer, he decided to throw it away and just
buy a new one. Granted this was a rather extreme reaction. And while
I feel his reaction was tantamount to throwing away a car because
the ashtrays were full, I also believe his frustration reflects how
so many of us feel when it comes to the daily assault on our
computers we have to face as we go online. All of us know about the
anti-virus software, the spam filters, the firewalls and the
multitude of other prevention products we load onto our computers in
an attempt to stave off all the bad stuff. There's a product with a
rather different and novel approach to the problem but it's a
solution that's not for everyone. Still, the more I think about it,
there are a number of situations where this could prove to be the
perfect solution to all of the cyber problems out there.
Smart Shield Home from Centurion Technologies uses a simple approach
to the problem. When you are finished for the day or whenever you
reboot your computer, Smart Shield Home puts everything back to the
exact way it was when you first started your computing day. Since
you began everything with a perfectly clean, non-infected hard
drive, it stands to reason that your next computing session will be
infection-free when you put it back the way it was.
To begin and before you install Smart Shield Home, you must be sure
your computer is free of anything bad. You can reformat your entire
hard drive and install whatever original applications you like or
need. Once applied and before you ever go online, you then install a
copy of Smart Shield Home. From that point on, Smart Shield Home
will know to return your computer to that original condition
whenever you reboot. The idea is that no matter where you go, what
you do or to whatever you may be exposed, it really doesn't make any
difference because when you reboot, your computer is returned to
it's original pristine condition.
Now while at first blush this may sound like the perfect solution to
everything, it really isn't. Most of us know that as we continue to
use our computers that things are constantly being changed, added
to, updated and modified and most of these things are changes we
want to occur. The Windows operating system is constantly making
changes, watching how we work so that certain components that aren't
being used are omitted in an effort to make things work faster. Home
applications can be adding things of which we may not be aware but
are necessary. Take the web browser for example. As you surf, you
add bookmarks, cookies are being added and changed to keep track of
where we went and associated passwords, etc. Then there's the
obvious changes like new word processing documents you create, new
email received and saved. Chances are you want them to be there the
next time you restart your computer.
So if a major part of using a computer is change, this may not be
right for you. Yet there are many scenarios where it's applicable.
For example, let's say you want to lend your computer to someone.
Installing Smart Shield Home is a perfect way to insure that
whatever they do while they use it won't effect you in any way
because when they bring it back, you'll know that the hard drive's
contents will be exactly the same way before you lent it to them.
In the educational environment where computer labs expose their PCs
to students doing whatever, Smart Shield Home puts them back at the
end of the day. The same can be said for public libraries, Internet
café's and other public venues that offer computers to be used. Many
retail outlets use Smart Shield Home so that at the end of the day
with customers banging on the keyboards, deleting things they
shouldn't delete and surfing to places they should surf, the
merchants know that in the morning, all will be exactly the same as
it was the day before.
Now Centurion realizes that not all of us want our computers to
forget everything and that's why you can use Smart Shield Home's
"Persistent Storage" feature. This lets you define specific folders
and areas such as your emails, My Favorites, Pictures, Documents and
other similar areas to be persistent. In other words, these areas
will not be forgotten when you reboot with Smart Shield Home in
place.
As I said, Smart Shield Home is not for everyone because its method
can be a bit extreme. But if you're fed up with all the cyber-junk,
and if you can see your way through to make it work to your
advantage, then this is one utility that should be in your arsenal
of products that fight the good fight. Smart Shield Home now works
with Windows 7 and sells for $59.99 per license.
www.centuriontech.com
| Craig Crossman is
a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and
technology. He also hosts the nation's longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on
computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio
Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern
time. Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com |
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