Data security is of highest importance, but encryption techniques like AES,DES are not fully secure and can be defeated using the right tools and hardware.Now you can encrypt data using images using PixelCrypt The pixel data of the images is used to encrypt your data. The combinations are endless and hard to break.

How to Encode :

• After installing, open the application.
• Mouse over the 2nd Image to start the encoding process,
• Select the file to be encoded and placed inside the encrypted package
• Select the image you want to use for encrypting
• select the destination, and find the encrypted package after the encryption.

How To Decode :

• Open PixelCrypt, select decode
• Browse and select the image to be used for decoding.
• Select the PixelCrypt (.cgp) to be decrypted.
• Choose the destination folder to extract the contents of the package.

NOTE : You need the same image to decode the package so remember the image used to encrypt.

System Requirements :

• Windows 2000 or better
• 800 MHz processor
• 128 MB of system memory
• .Net 2.0 Framework, Can be downloaded from here.

Both 32bit and 64bit systems are supported

PixelCryptor : HomePage ||  Download || Download Direct Link

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Partitioning drives can be a complicated process, if you are starting out on a new system.Using Parted Magic which is a Linux CD/USB/PXE using which you can partition drives, which provides Graphical User Interface for easily partitioning drives even for beginners.Parted Magic completely loads into the system memory and requires atleast 300 MB of RAM.

Parted Magic supports the following: ext2, ext3, ext4, fat16, fat32, hfs, hfs+, jfs, linux-swap, ntfs, reiserfs, reiser4, and xfs.It comes with useful programs like (e.g. Partition Image, TestDisk, fdisk, sfdisk, dd, ddrescue, etc.). Check out the complete list of programs here.

Here’s how to partition your HDD.

Boot Your System, using the PartedMagic Live CD.

This is the Desktop of Parted Magic.                           Partitioning Screen

You can also save the routine of moving/saving of the partition using the Save-Files via the Utilities menu.Here’s a tutorial on how to do it.

Check out the complete tutorial on how to partition using PartedMagic here.

Partedmagic :  HomePage ||   Download

Partedmagic also comes in a Mini Version called MiniPM (mini Parted Magic) which is a 15MB command line OS designed to run programs like Partimage over PXE on computers with very little RAM which includes programs like partimage, bash, lynx, parted, fdisk, sfdisk, cfdisk, ntfs-3g, e2fsprogs, ntfsprogs, vimfm, dosfstools, tar, gzip, bzip, gpm, udpcast, kbd, man, and a full busybox build.

CCleaner has become very popular in helping get rid temporary and junk data in our systems,But did you know that just erasing data, ie., just deleting them or even for the sake ” Shift+Del ” deleting can also be recovered using simple tools.

To do away with such problems CCleaner has 3 Secure types of file deletion methods other than the regular Fast Deleting.

1. 1 Pass Simple Overwrite.
2. DOD (Department Of Defense) 5220.22-M ( 3 Passes )
3. NSA 7 Passes

Passes means the number of times your data is overwritten with random alpha numeric values so that the recovery process gets even tougher.

Open CCleaner — > Click Options to The left and then the Settings Tab

Remember that the Secure File Deletion can get Slower as the number of passes increases.

Recently a user asked me if there was a way to enable preview of PSD ( Adobe PhotoShop ) in Windows Vista. After a bit of googling I found Preview Handler.This tool lets the user preview the psd file without opening the Photoshop Application.

Preview handler is the latest methodology in Microsoft Windows Vista™, which provide a rich, interactive, and read-only preview of a file without having to launch the associated application. The in-place interactive previews of the file are available in the Explorer windows, common dialogs, and search results. The core feature is integrated into Windows Vista Shell which allows developers to extend this functionality by writing managed code add-ins i.e. preview handlers for custom files.

Features :

• A "readonly" preview of the file will be shown in the preview pane.
• Image "Dimension" and "number of layers" in the PSD file will be shown in the "tooltip".
• Resolution, Color Depth, & Compression information of the file will be available to the user.

Preview Handler : HomePage

If you keeping traveling around and use Wi-Fi or LAN networks at different locations like Home,Office and Restaurants. It can be really annoying to keep changing the Network Settings often.

Net Profiles is a freeware which help you configure the Internet connection with a single mouse click, it allows you to switch in between the various network profiles you create through the application.

Net Profiles saves your network settings as profiles,switching between profiles lets you change between Networks.

Features :

System Requirements : Windows XP or Windows Vista, Microsoft .NET 2.0

Net Profiles : HomePage || Download || Direct Download Link || File Size : 488 kb

Tool 1. Fast Stone Capture - This is a portable app that can do more than just sceenshot capturing which can capture images and saves then in 8 formats.

Features :

Slimline sidebar file browser provides full shell operations.Screenshot Captor : HomePageTool 3 : Snippy : Simply click on the little Snippy icon in the taskbar notification area, and mark out the region of the screen that you want to copy.The cut-out image will now be in your clipboard, and you can paste it in another application.If you are cutting out a portion of an Internet Explorer window, the URL will also be copied to the clipboard.

Snippy — HomePage | Size : 84 KB

Widows OS Option –

Method 1 : If you are using Windows OS then pressing “Print Screen Button” will copy the image of the full screen into to clipboard which can be pasted ( Ctrl + V ) in MS Paint.

Method 2 : If you want to take the screenshot of only the active window then select the Active Window and then press “Alt+ Print Screen Button “

FireFox Plugins For taking Screenshots :

1. ScreenGarb — Plugin for taking screenshots of web pages
2. FireShot

Do share with us which tool you use to take screenshots for your posts and suggest a new tool that you feel can be part of this list.