CNET Downloads  is your place to discover (safe, secure, and spyware free) free-to-try legal downloads. RAC Services recommends CNET Downloads because of their comprehensive catalog of downloads from games to security patches, screensavers, and mobile apps. In addition you will see CNET editor reviews and users opinions making it easy to find the right download.

Example System Tray Balloon Pop-up False Alerts

People that were scammed downloaded the rogue programs by choice after being tricked into believing it was legitimate. Web users fall prey to the scam when they click on links, pop-ups or flashing adverts warning them their computer was infected. The fake program then appears to run a virus check which tells the user their PC is infected and asks them to pay for it to be cleaned up.

But downloading the software can give criminals access to bank details and computer files. Symantec found 250 rogue programs were downloaded 43 million times in the 12 months to July 2009.

Analysts believe a small number of people run networks of more than 1,000 distributors whose earnings are linked to the number of machines they infect. The distributors, most of whom are in the United States, may not even realize they are acting illegally. The software may be developed in one country and then distributed in another so it is hard to track them down.

There are very few things the consumer can do. If you go to the site and try to get your money back, you will often find that it has been removed from the web or the contact information (if any) is not valid information. In so many cases with scams, there are hundreds, if not thousands of people that were infected. You can try and do a “search” by entering the website name and/or the software name. You may get lucky and find forum topics listed under your search that may contain valid contact information for you.

There are ways to spot a fake site. You should be protected from this type of malware if you keep your browser and anti-virus software up to date. If messages telling you that your PC has an infection pop up when you visit a website, simply close your browser down and use your existing anti-virus software to scan your PC.  Also, if you think a warning message on your PC is suspect, carefully check spelling and grammar — there could be a tell-tale mistake.

When you think a warning message or any pop-up is suspicious, we recommend that you run a full system scan using SuperAntiSpyware. It’s free to use and is a great addition to any anti-virus program.

Additional Information: Pop-Up Windows May Lead to Trouble [Safest way to close a pop-up ad]

Microsoft will patch 13 vulnerabilities this Tuesday. Eight are rated as “Critical” and the other five are marked “Important.”

TweakNow PowerPack is a fully-integrated suite of utilities that let you fine-tune every aspect of your computer’s operating system and Web browser. Computer manufacturers recommend that you run the built in system tools to maintain your operating system. Often times these tools are difficult to locate and that leads to neglect on regular maintenance. TweakNow PowerPack eliminates the hassle and confusion when it comes to performing regular maintenance on your computer. TweakNow PowerPack will do everything that the pre-installed manufacturers system tools will do, plus a whole lot more. Running the TweakNow PowerPack once a week will keep your computer clean, tuned and operating at it’s top performance.

The Registry Cleaner module provides you with a safe and simple way to clean Windows Registry. To keep your computer always at top performance, we recommend to clean your registry at least once a week. For Windows tweaking lovers, the suite provides more than 100 hidden Windows settings in the Windows Secret section. Using modules included in this section, you can easily customize your Windows like guru’s do. The Virtual Desktop module lets you run as many as four custom-designed desktop configurations simultaneously, allowing you to tailor your computer screen to your mood and your work requirements. Last but not least, the suite also gives you a complete picture of all aspects of your computer’s hardware, including detailed information about your motherboard, processor, video card, memory, hard disk and network.

This is a great tool that eliminates the need for multiple programs. TweakNow PowerPack puts all of the tools that you need to maintain your computers performance all in one easy to use program. The best part of TweakNow PowerPack is that it is 100% FREE.

Download TweakNow PowerPack Here

Important Tips:

• After downloading, close ALL running programs before proceeding with setup.

• Before running TweakNow PowerPack, it is recommended that you create a “System Restore” point.

• Read the “Help” section on the TweakNow PowerPack interface before running for the first time.

System Restore: Click  Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore

RAC Services does not receive any incentives, payments or rewards from TweakNow for our recommendation of their product(s)

If you enjoy jazzing up your photos LunaPic.com is a great site for you. At LunaPic.com there are many options that you can choose from to make your photos unique and fun. You are given a toolbar where you can edit photos or create something new on a blank canvas. LunaPic.com has many animation options as well, such as animated glitter, reflections, animated groovy color change, winking and more. Simply upload your photo or paste the url and apply the animations that interest you. It is great because you can add as many animations as you want.

LunaPic has great Touchup options, including removing acne, scars and any other blemishes. If you like what you create you can save it or send it to friends if you have an account. LunaPic is a free online service, creating an account is Free. You can save your photos in your own gallery that you can access when you sign in to your account. Have fun browsing the public gallery to get ideas for your own photos. You can also open up facebook, flickr and photobucket from your LunaPic’s account. Have fun making creative photos at LunaPic.com.

An Example of one of the things that you can do at LunaPic.com

Is your computer running slower then normal? Don’t worry just yet. No matter how new a computer is, the performance will decrease over time. The good news is that in most cases, you can easily increase the performance of your computer to “like new” speed. Below are some free programs along with a few simple steps to get your computer running smooth again.

Computers require regular maintenance. A lot of the maintenance tips and the factory installed system tools are often overlooked or ignored. There are a lot of factors that can slow down a computer. Spyware, Malware and Adware are probably the biggest culprits. The Anti-virus security software just isn’t enough these days. No matter how good an anti-virus program claims to be, it never hurts to run a second program that specializing in anti-spyware.

Problems with the Windows Registry are a common cause of Windows crashes and error messages. Registry problems can occur for many reasons, including references left behind after uninstallation; incorrect removal of software; missing or corrupt hardware drivers; or orphaned start-up programs. This will significantly increase the Registry size and slow down your computer, because Windows will need more time to load, search, and read data from the Registry.

Disk Fragmentation is another culprit in slow PC performance. As you add and remove programs, files and documents, the disk will get fragmentated and require a defragmentation in order to reorganize and optimize the disk.

A slow computer and browser can also be caused by the temporary files. As you work on the PC and browse online, the pages that you visit are stored in a temporary folder. As that folder gets bigger, it causes a noticeable reduction in performance.

The key is maintenance. Regular Maintenance will help your computer last longer, plus increase its performance.

If you are interested in using factory installed programs to maintain your computer, then please click here.

Below are four programs that RAC Services uses and recommends for maintaining a computer. All four programs are available in a free version. Upgrading to a full-version is optional. Honestly, the free versions work great, and you do not need the full-versions in order to see an improvement in your PC performance.

Click on the name of the program to read the details and download.

SuperAntiSpyware

Advanced System Care

Smart Defrag

Eusing Registry Cleaner

Once you have downloaded and installed the four programs above, proceed to the steps below.

First time steps and these steps should be performed once a month.

Step 1 – Open the SuperAntiSpyware. Click on “Scan Your Computer” then make sure that there is a green check mark in the box next to the “C:/”. Next, select “Perform Complete Scan”. (Run the “Complete Scan” once a month) A complete scan will take sometime to finish. You can continue working and let it scan in the background. Once the scan is complete, follow the on screen steps to remove the spyware.

Step 2 – Open the Advanced System Care. Click on the “Care” in the center of the screen. The Advanced System Care will automatically scan, detect and repair any problems. Once it is finished, close the program.

Step 3 – Run the Eusing Registry Cleaner. Click “Later” when asked to register. Next, click “scan” and once it has finished scanning, click “Remove”.

Step 4 – Run the Smart Defrag. Make sure there is a green check mark next to the “C:/”. Next, select “Optimize” in the drop down box. Then click “Start”.

Normal Maintenance:

The SuperAntiSpyware and Advanced System Care should be run weekly, ideally daily.

*the Smart Defrag will run automatically in the background when the PC is in Idol.

Remember to check for updates on a regular basis for these programs. Some of them allow you to select automatic updates.

CPU-Z is a great program that gathers information on some of the hardware and devices on a computer. CPU-Z will list the motherboard, processors and graphic interface along with other hardware that is on your system. This tool takes the guess work out of determining what replacement parts and model numbers that you need for your system.

CPU-Z is a freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system, including;

CPU

• Name and number.

• Core stepping and process.

• Package.

• Core voltage.

• Internal and external clocks, clock multiplier.

• Supported instructions sets

• Cache information.

Mainboard

• Vendor, model and revision.

• BIOS model and date.

• Chipset (northbridge and southbridge) and sensor.

• Graphic interface.

Memory

• Frequency and timings.

• Module(s) specification using SPD (Serial Presence Detect) : vendor, serial number, timings table.

System

• Windows and DirectX version.

CPU-Z is FREE and easily installs on most operating systems. Click Here To Download

Many forms of malware cause or masquerade as seemingly unrelated PC issues like Blue Screens of Death, issues with DLL files, and other serious Windows problems so it’s important to properly check your computer for malware when working to solve many problems.

Note: These are general steps to scan and remove malware from your PC and should apply to any Windows operating system.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Properly scanning your PC for viruses and other malware could take several minutes or longer

Here’s How:

1. Download and run the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool. This free, Microsoft provided malware removal tool won’t find everything, but it will check for “specific, prevalent malicious software” which is a good start.Note: You may already have the Malicious Software Removal Tool installed. If so, make sure you update it using Windows Update so it can scan for the latest malware.
2. Update your anti-virus and any anti-malware software installed on your computer.Before running a virus scan or malware scan, you need to make sure the virus definitions are up to date. These regular updates tell your anti-virus software how to find and remove the latest viruses from your PC.Important: Don’t have a virus scan program installed? Download one now! There are several free anti-virus programs available so there’s no excuse for not running one.
3. Run a complete virus scan on your entire computer. If you have a dedicated malware scanner that does more than look for viruses, run a full scan using that program too.Note: Don’t simply run the default system scan which may not include many important parts of your PC. Check that you’re scanning every part of every single hard drive and other connected storage device on your computer.Important: Make sure any virus scan includes the master boot record , boot sector, and any applications currently running in memory. These are particularly sensitive areas of your computer that can harbor the most dangerous malware.

DOWNLOAD Malicious Software Removal Tool

Audio converter for Windows or Mac OS X. Convert audio files from many different file formats to mp3, wav or wma. For example convert wav to mp3, mp3 to wav, wma to mp3 or many other formats. Even convert audio from DVDs. Just add the files you want to convert, select the output format, and then click convert.

Typical Applications

• Convert wav to mp3 files to save hard drive space.

• Convert mp3 to amr to load your own ringtones on your cell phone.

• To open or convert strange or audio file formats not supported by other audio software you use.

• Extract audio from video files (favorite sound bites) for your phone or other audio player.

• Convert multiple format audio files to mp3 for your iPod, PSP or phone.

• In professional audio studios to open formats not supported by your sound editor.

• As a command line plugin for other software to convert or compress audio files.

What file formats does Switch for Windows support ?

Switch can open files in the following formats for Windows:

NOTE
* copy protected files are not decoded
^ playlists

.wav (PCM, ADPCM+, aLaw, uLaw, and others)
.mp3 (MPEG Layer 3)
.mp2 (MPEG Layer 2)
.mpga (MPEG Audio)
.au
.aif/aiff
.gsm
.dct
.vox
.raw
.ogg
.flac
.amr
.wma*
.wmv*
.aac* (not aacPlus)
.m4a*
.mid (General MIDI only)
.act/rcd/rec (newer version of format not supported)
.rm / ra / ram
.dvf (Not all dvf recorders are supported)
.msv (Not all msv recorders are supported)
.dss (SP Mode only)
.sri
.shn
.cda
.avi
.mpg/mpeg
.m3u^
.pls^

Switch on a Windows computer can open most other formats which can be decoded by Windows Media Player.

Switch can also save files to the following formats in Windows:

.wav (PCM, ADPCM+, aLaw, uLaw, and others
.mp3
.au
.aif/aiff
.gsm
.vox
.raw
.ogg
.flac
.rss
.m3u^
.pls^
.wpl
.amr
.aac
.m4a
.wma

To download or read more information on this product is available HERE

SUPERAntiSpyware is the most thorough scanner on the market. Our Multi-Dimensional Scanning and Process Interrogation Technology will detect spyware that other products miss! SUPERAntiSpyware will remove ALL the Spyware, NOT just the easy ones!

Benefits and Features

• Quick, Complete and Custom Scanning of Hard Drives, Removable Drives, Memory, Registry, Individual Folders and More! Includes Trusting Items and Excluding Folders for complete customization of scanning!

• Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers and many other types of threats.

• Repair broken Internet Connections, Desktops, Registry Editing, Task Manager and more with our unique Repair System! Spyware application often disable system components to prevent removal – SUPERAntiSpyware resets and restores these items in seconds!

• Quarantine items detected and removed for complete protection. Items in the quarantine may be restored to your computer if desired.

• Detailed scan logs with complete information about detected and removed threats and their locations within your computer. Scan logs allow you to review scheduled scan results at anytime.

• Multi-Dimensional Scanning
  SUPERAntiSpyware is a next generation scanning system that goes beyond the typical rules based scanning methods. Our Multi-Dimensional Scanning system detects existing threats as well as threats of the future by analyzing threat characteristics in addition to code patterns.

• First Chance Prevention
  SUPERAntiSpyware examines over 50 critical points of your system each time your system starts up and shuts down to eliminate threats before they have a chance to infect and infiltrate your system.

• Process Interrogation Technology
  SUPERAntiSpyware features our unique Process Interrogation Technology (PIT) that allows threats to be detected no matter where they are hiding on your system. Many new types of threats utilize “Rootkits” or “Kernel Drivers” to hide themselves to avoid detection by standard anti-spyware applications. SUPERAntiSpyware’s Process Interrogation Technology locates even the toughest of threats.
• Works with: Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, Vista or Windows 2003

DOWNLOAD SUPERAntiSpyware