There are a number of ways in which a virus or malware infection can find its way onto a computer, and if USB drives are used to transport files from one machine to another, this represents a security risk that could be exploited by malicious software. Part of the problem arises from the fact that USB drives can be configure to autorun just like optical media, but this is something you can tackle with Bitdefender USB Immunizer.

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If you were unimpressed by the fairly unexciting appearance of Firefox 12 last week, then today does at least bring some browsing alternatives by way of the performance-optimised spinoff projects, Pale Moon 12 and Waterfox 12.

And although the lack of additions to the broader code base means they’re both essentially maintenance releases, there is still some interesting news here.

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Macs have been in the news more than normal recently as the Flashback Trojan proved that the platform is just as prone to viruses and malware as Windows and other operating systems.  It has long been – falsely, it might be added – that OSX is immune to malware and does not need any form of protection. The latest high profile infestation has highlighted the need for Mac security tools and, with almost uncanny timing, avast! Free Antivirus for Mac has exited beta and gone gold.

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You think your PC has been infected by something dangerous, but your regular antivirus package hasn’t raised any alerts. So what now?

This is a question we cover fairly often here. Only last week we reported on the latest version of Mandiant Redline, which will scan your system’s executables and highlight those most likely to be malware. Now, CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) Austria has come up with another small contribution in DensityScout; it’s not for PC novices, but if you’re an expert computer user then you could find the program very helpful indeed.

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The big new this week has been in the cloud, and there have been various developments in the world of online storage. After what seems like years of waiting, Google Drive 1.0 has finally been released, extending the idea of Docs and providing users with the opportunity to store any files they want online and keept them synched with their computers. There’s also a mobile version of the app available – Google Drive for Android 1.0.77 – that enables you to access your files on the move. Ubuntu One 2.0.3 has nothing whatsoever to do with the operating system of the same name, but provides you with 5GB of free space for storage and backups. Cloud storage stalwart Dropbox 1.4.0 has been updated and has finally become stable as well as adding batch uploading and importing of photo while Microsoft has released Microsoft SkyDrive 2012 v16.4 and Microsoft SkyDrive 2.0 iOS with reduced storage levels.

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Looking for a backup tool? There is plenty of choice for even the pickiest of software connoisseurs. Aside from the irritating aspect of having to actually get a backup job set up, one thing that puts many people off safeguarding their valuable data by backing it up is the cost of the necessary software.  Cobian Backup 11 is one of a number of free backup tools that are vying for users’ attention and it boasts an impressive array of features after leaving beta testing.

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It only takes a little damage to corrupt an AVI movie. Some tweaked bits here, maybe a few missing bytes there, and suddenly you may find the picture breaks up at one point, or maybe the video will no longer play at all.

DivXRepair could offer a simple solution, though. Just launch this compact portable tool, add your broken video, click the Repair button, and in theory at least that’s it. There’s no need to worry about keyframes or other technicalities – the program will scan your video, skip any bad frames, and try to save everything else in a “fixed” version of the movie (the original will remain untouched).

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Hot on the heels of its new service allowing users to share files by hyperlink, Dropbox has unveiled Dropbox 1.40 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The new release extends the photo and video uploading tools pioneered in Dropbox for Android, plus allows batch uploading and downloading of files.

The new features were previously available to those running Dropbox Experimental Edition, the beta version for those happy to trade stability for a sneek peak at the latest features.

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Social networking news is not limited to the latest acquisitions by the likes of Facebook; LinkedIn, the social network for professionals, is still generating headlines. The big news for iOS users is that the app has moved to version 5.0 and this latest version heralds, amongst other things, the arrival of the universal version of the app – so with LinkedIn 5.0, iPad users finally get an app that enables them to tae advantage of their Retina display.

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CyberLink make some great media software – PowerDirector is probably the best consumer video editor available today – but, unsurprisingly, for the most part it isn’t cheap. Equipping yourself with the company’s media player, media manager and video editor alone will cost you almost $170, for instance, and that’s before you’ve even thought about disc authoring, file format conversion and other desirable functions.

Fortunately CyberLink do offer a more cost-effective alternative in the shape of Media Suite 10. This bundles eleven CyberLink packages together, which makes them vastly cheaper: Media Suite 10 Ultra is $129.95 for the complete set, and if you opt for the Pro build instead (more on that later) then it can be yours for only $99.95.

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Following on from the release of Firefox 12 FINAL, Mozilla has updated its developmental branches to versions 13 (Beta), 14 (Aurora) and 15 (Nightly/UX) respectively. Those looking for major changes in version 12 will have been disappointed, but future builds promise a number of radical new features, including redesigned Home and New Tab pages, plus panel downloads manager and inline preferences screen.

Get a head’s up on what’s coming and discover which build is best for your personal needs with our essential guide to what’s coming up in the near future for Mozilla’s open-source, cross-platform browser.

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