Now they have given me one free copy of RS Audials Complete to give away to one lucky reader so here are the details. Each item listed will result in 1 entry to the contest.

• Update your twitter with this tweet “@easytechtalk is giving away FREE software, read about it here http://easytechtalk.com/2009/12/05/audials-software-giveaway/”
• Leave a comment below explaining what software you use to get music, make sure to use a valid email address!
  
• Write a post about this giveaway with a link back to this post and send me an email “dmirro (at) easytechtalk.com”  with a link to your post (if you have more than one blog, each separate blog post will be 1 entry)
• Sign up for my RSS feed using the email subscription box at the top of the site
• Follow me on Twitter

The giveaway will end at 12pm PST on Dec 31 which gives you plenty of time to enter. The winner will be notified by email.

Here is some more information about Audials Complete from their website:

* Download any music you like for free!
* remove DRM protection.
* podcasts, lyrics, album covers and ID3 tags.
* Create mobile ringtones by yourself.

RS Audials Complete can legally removes copy-protection from WMA and M4P audio files.

RS Audials Complete does not just deliver free MP3 music but also entertainment as podcatcher that delivers thousands of free international audio- and video podcasts from an integrated database which is always up to date.

RS Audials Complete automatically brings you the missing ID3-tags for your tracks, album covers and lyrics. Additionally, the Tagrunner editor offers the possibility of manual processing. Synchronization with mobile devices like Apple iPod, MP3-Player or multimedia player comes with Audials Complete as a “by default” function. Besides the Mini-Player, RS Audials complete gives you the ability to play all songs directly within your favorite media player.

Visit the RS Audials Complete homepage here.

UPDATE: The randomizer has spoken and the winner of the contest is MouthyGirl (@mouthygirl)Similar Posts:

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When you save files to your computer, it simply stores the data where ever it can at the moment as long as you have free space.  When the files are spread out out of order, it’s known as fragmentation.  It’s like throwing things in your room at random and leaving them lying around, sooner or later you’re not going to know where things are until you search for them.  That’s what your hard drive goes through when it isn’t defragmented often.  This clogs up your hard drive’s ability to find what you want and slows down the performance of your computer.

You can defrag your computer simply by using a defrag program.  Windows comes with a built in defrag utility program but I find that it doesn’t do a good enough job.  There are many programs out there that defrag your hard drive but the one I recommend is Auslogics’ Disk Defrag, it’s free and very efficient.

Now simply running a defrag program might work out for you but there are some things that you want to take into consideration before running a disk defrag program

First off, make sure you have at least 15% of your hard drive’s total space free.  This is very important to remember.  This ensures that the defrag program will have enough room to move all the data around.  Think about cleaning a room in your house, if you pile everything in the room and then try to clean it you won’t do a very good job.  But if you leave enough space to put things temporarily before moving them into their proper place, then you’ll do a much better job, and that’s why you want to have space available for the defrag program to do its work.

Secondly, you’ll want to avoid using any programs during the time that the defrag is taking place.  This will make sure that no program tries to place data on the hard drive while the defrag program is trying to move data around.  It will only cause more data to be fragmented and you’ll have to run the defrag program again.

The third thing to consider is how often to run a defrag program.  This depends on how often you save files and add new files or programs to your computer.  If you work on your computer everyday, then it might be a good idea to schedule a defrag every few days.  If you only use your computer to browse the internet and save pictures from trips you take, then you can safely defrag your computer a little less often, about once every few weeks.

So the next time you feel that your computer is running slow, take the time to run a defrag program and get your files back in order.Similar Posts:

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Limewire is a program that allows users to download music and other files and it is probably one of the most virus infected programs I’ve ever come across.  The viruses aren’t in the Limewire program itself but rather the files that are downloaded from other users of the program.  Limewire is what’s known as a P2P or peer to peer program.  This means that people upload and share their files for other people to download.  This is what makes the RIAA very angry because usually this means someone is pirating music or software.

Now I don’t condone piracy in any way. I’ve worked in the software industry and seen the sweat and tears that get put into a good product and when someone pirates it, the people that worked on it don’t get paid properly.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way there is a program that you can use to download music and files so that you can SAMPLE them.  If you like what you hear then you can go out and buy the program or cd or even download the song on iTunes.  Having a P2P program can be a great help when you’re in college or just looking for a specific file that you may be missing.  You can find anything you want with these programs and sometimes it works out that you find something so great that you wouldn’t have found in your normal daily routine.

The program in question is Frostwire.  Now I know it sounds like Limewire and I think that’s what they were going for when they names this program.  Frostwire is an open source program which means it is developed by the community, which 99% of the time means the program itself doesn’t contain spyware, adware, or viruses of any kind.

The good thing about Frostwire is that it is free to use and sets up within minutes.  The thing to beware of, as with any P2P program is what files you are actually downloading.  Make sure you check the file type of what you’re downloading and that it matches the type you’re looking for.  For example, if you are going to download a new song in mp3 format, make sure the file type is mp3 and not wma or any other type.

As I said before I DO NOT promote piracy in any way, but if you are going to download a song to hear if you like it or try a program out before you buy it, make sure you’re using a P2P program that isn’t loaded with virus infected files like Limwire.Similar Posts:

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I recently tried out a few of these anti-spyware programs (which will remain nameless) and I found some striking similarities between them all.  They all claim certain features that are only available if you pay for the upgraded version.

Now keep in mind the programs I sampled offer free versions that have the same features as the paid versions.

A lot of these programs claim that you can download them for free and it will clean your computer of any spyware that it finds traces of, but sometimes that’s not quite what they do.

So here is my list of 5 things that all of these programs should do if they claim that they are free and have the same features as the standard paid version.

1. If you’re going to remove all the known traces, then REMOVE them.
   I hate when a program says it will remove it all, so you scan you computer and wait until it finishes, only to find out that you have to pay for the “standard” version for it to actually remove the spyware from your computer.  There are plenty of software packages that do this already such as, Adaware, Spybot, and Spyware Doctor and these are all free to use.
2. Don’t tell me you’re up to date on the latest spyware traces if you’re not.
   There were times I would update and then run these programs side by side and they would all tell me different things on how many traces they found.  Now I can’t say it was just these programs I used that do this, many times I will run Adaware and Spybot only to get conflicting results.
3. Stop telling me that my tool bars are spyware.
   I ran several scans and a few programs told me that my StumbleUpon tool bar was malicious and needed to be removed.  Sometimes, yes there are tool bars that get installed and we didn’t want them to be, but they aren’t installed by Google, Alexa, or StumbleUpon.
4. If you have features like safe scan and deep search, then have them be on by default.
   If your software package is so efficient at scanning every nook and cranny of my hard drive then make sure it’s set up that way right out of the box.  I don’t want to search through the help guide to find out how to use your software to it’s fullest.
5. And finally, if I have to pay for the software to use it properly, then make it worth it.
   If these companies are going to go through all the trouble of hiding features that only paying customers get, they better be worth it.  Many times the paid versions are exactly the same as the free version with paltry features like scheduling and priority customer service.

So there you have it folks, some of you might consider this as a rant, but I’d like to think of it as a small step towards a larger complaint that will hopefully change the way these programs are designed and released to the masses.  What are your thoughts on this issue?  What programs (if any) do you use to clean spyware off of your computer?

• When should you run anti spyware / anti virus?
• Stop using Limewire
• Some helpful links to promote PC health
• Defrag your hard drive to speed up your computer
• Audials Software Giveaway!

• Some helpful links to promote PC health
• 5 things anti-spyware software should do but doesn’t
• Stop using Limewire
• Defrag your hard drive to speed up your computer
• Audials Software Giveaway!