Introduction:

With the majority of bank accounts, professional and other services now managed online, there is a much greater chance that you are going to have related documentation floating around on your PC.  Whilst the information is safe whilst it is in your hands, if you need to send sensitive information by email, or some other form of digital transfer, there is always a slight risk that it might be intercepted in some way (such as your email account being hacked) or that it might fall into the wrong hands in some other way.  The obvious answer to this is to password protect and encrypt sensitive information using a prearranged password so that the transfer is secure no matter the way it is transferred. Large Software have come up with a simple to use software that protects files and folders in just such instances.

Specifications:

• Password Protect any Important Files or Folders
• Drag and Drop Technology for Simple Locking Protection
• Share/Email Locked Files
• Simple Ease of Use
• Compact File Size
• Complements all Security Software

Review:

Large Software's docLock really is simple to use, providing a very simple interface with which to password protect anny file on your computer simply and efficiently.  The interface provides four very simple options: "Lock a file", "Unlock a file", "Manage Passwords" and "Secure delete a file".

Locking a file is as simple as selecting files or folders to lock and then choosing a password (using either a random one selected by the software or one you would like to use). So that you have a record of the password, it can be saved as an image and there is also the option to make it a portable locked file (allowing it to be opened on any PC not jist those with docLock installed) or a email friendly locked form (essentially a password protected zip file). Unlocking files and folders is as simple as the locking process requiring either a previously saved image, or the password if you remembered to write it down!

With the "manage password" option you can regularly change passwords on sensitive information in order to ensure ultimate security (useful if you use a shared computer or allow regular access to your PC by others) and the "Secure delete a file" function offers a quick file shredding service so that sensitive files are unrecoverable if the need arises.

Price:

£19 - available from Downloadbuyer.com. although until the end of march Computer Takeaway readers can get 50% off using the coupon code CT50OFF

Verdict:

4/5 - For the peace of mind it offers for users who need to store and regularly send sensitive documents and other files, Large Software is excellent value for money.  The software is well designed, very simple to use and powerful enough to ensure that confidential information stays confidential.

Article ID:

JEV3M9U9UBD4 

Introduction:

Keeping your system updated is essential for keeping any Windows PC in order to keep it in tip top shape, however most people overlook the simplest tasks such as defragmenting your hard drive.  Auslogics provide a number of system facilities that we liked and the latest product we were asked to review was Auslogics Disk Defrag Professional, a fully featured piece of software dedicated to (Yep, you guessed it!) defragmenting your hard disk aimed at business users (a free version with less features is available for free for home users).

Specifications:

• Defragments system files (MFT, pagefile, hiberfil, etc.)
• Offers a choice of 4 disk optimization algorithms
• Not only defrags, but prevents further fragmentation
• Uses special algorithms for SSD and VSS-enabled drives
• Shows detailed reports and performance charts

Review:

We were pleased to see that Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro follows a similar design principle to that we saw with Auslogics BoostSpeed 5 that we reviewed back in 2010 (here), with a very simple interface that descibes every option in detail. As would be expected, Disk Defrag is solely designed to maintain a system's hard drives, and it does this simply and efficiently. The software can cater for both standard hard drives as well as SSDs making sure that you get the best performance of each, but not at the cost of their lifetime (in the case of SSDs).  Drives can be defragmented simply at the click of a button, or advanced presets can be used to defrag specific files orfolders either manually or using a wizard interface.

The real benefit of Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro is the ability to tailor the defragmentation to specific profiles so that schedules can be set around your existing usage of the PC (desktop, business, internet use). Advanced options allow various defragmentation profiles to set so that files can be optimised to suit specific needs (startup time, hard drive zonage etc.). In practive we tried the software on both a internal SSD and an external standard HDD.  The software immediately recognised the SSD and adapted the defragmentation process to suit, both drives were defragmented quickly and the inbuilt reporting software provided a full log for both drives (each time the process is run, a report is held for each drive defragmented) detailing the results of the process.

In addition to defragmenting the hard drives the software will also schedule disk checks prior to defragmenting to ensure that any errors are not compounded by the defragmentation process. There is even an inbuilt resource monitor that monitors system processes in order to ensure that defragmentation isn't run during a system critical period (i.e. when your gaming or a laptop is about to run out of charge!)

Price:

£19.06 (converted from US dollars) - direct from Auslogics.

Verdict:

4.5/5 - Auslogics Disk Defrag Professional does exaclty what it says on the tin! It has a great interface and is therefore easy to use, and offers a great number of advanced feeatures that allow for far more customised defragmentation of your favourite PC.