sensitive files

Spring Cleaning 2

Keeping your Mac properly tuned is important. Like an oil-change, you Mac needs some maintenance every now and then.

mu Spring Cleaning 2Mr. Clean

This utility locates empty folders, aliases and duplicate files, and trashes them (upon your request). This is a great way to shake out the dust from old backups and moved files.

mu Spring Cleaning 2Main Menu

Main Menu gives you menubar access to common actions like repairing permissions, updating prebindings and force-emptying the trash. Its home in the menubar serves as a great reminder to use it.

mu Spring Cleaning 2Yasu

This is another application that will save you some trips to the Terminal. From it you can run a bunch of OS X’s built-in command line utilities.

mu Spring Cleaning 2Monolingual

We’ve featured this utility before. Monolingual tosses all your unused languages from your system. This can free up a significant amount of space. It has been updated to work in Jaguar and Panther.

mu Spring Cleaning 2DS_Store Cleaner

Now you can ditch your DS_Store files before burning directories to CD or sharing them with PC users which might be confused by the not-so-invisible-anymore files.

mu Spring Cleaning 2Document Crusader

This interesting application will hide folders applications have created and use in your Documents folder. Once hidden, the applications can still use them, but you no longer have to look at them.

mu Spring Cleaning 2Home Tidying Up

Here’s another way to get your documents in order. This utility digs through your Home folder and lets you look at the contents by size and date. It also helps you find duplicates for disposal.

mu Spring Cleaning 2Permaburn

We’re deleting things left and right, but sometimes sensitive files should be really deleted. This simple free application deleted and overwrites your file three times to ensure it won’t come back to haunt you.

While we’re all about appearances here, this Power User Monday will help you tame your invisible files.

Before you go anywhere, you might want to check last year’s spring cleaning episode for more free utilities. If you’ve procrastinated too much, you might need to hit James’s Emergency Repairs tutorial from Power User Monday.

Of course, any time you’re altering your system and its files, you should use caution. Back up often, and read documentation! Have fun and clean the crap off your Mac!

Brian

mu Spring Cleaning 2Downloads provided by MacUpdate

Intego announces public beta of FileGuard X4, a new data protection program

fg general 20070724 040357 Intego announces public beta of FileGuard X4, a new data protection programIntego has announced the public beta release of its new FileGuard X4 data protection program. FileGuard X4 creates virtual safes that provide unbreakable protection for sensitive files. Users can create as many safes as they need for different types of files; send sensitive files to others with “no risk” and store safes on servers or external disks with “full security”.

FileGuard X4 is intended to meet the needs of mobile users who have sensitive files on their laptops, as well as home and business users who want to ensure that their confidential data is protected. Unlike Apple’s FileVault, which requires that users encrypt their entire home folder, FileGuard X4 lets users choose which files or folders they want to protect, and only the ones they want to protect. FileGuard X4′s virtual safes are easy-to-use, practical, and flexible, offering many options, such as permissions for shared access, simple drag-and-drop copying to and from safes, and unbreakable encryption.

As with any beta software, users of FileGuard X4 run the risk of discovering bugs in the application. Using software that is intended to envelope your data in an unbreakable, encrypted “safe” is especially dangerous as application may concievably malfunction in a way that prevents you from retrieving your files. Please backup you data before testing any beta software.

Features of FileGuard X4:

  • Store sensitive files in secure virtual safes
  • Industry-standard encryption makes safes unbreakable
  • Create as many safes as you need
  • Set a different password for each safe
  • Create safes by drag-and-drop, or from the Intego menu
  • Safes increase in capacity as you add more files
  • Change the size of a safe or compress it to save space
  • Open safes by a simple double-click in the Finder
  • Protect sensitive files on laptops in case of loss or theft
  • Protect files on portable media, such as iPods or USB key drives
  • Safes work like folders – drag files to and from your safes
  • Safe icons indicate their status (open or closed)
  • Use floating windows to access safes at all times
  • Send safes by e-mail, or store them on servers or external disks
  • Set read and write permissions for safes stored on shared volumes

FileGuard X4 requires Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or higher and 20 MB hard disk space.

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