IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 6/20/2013

Cookie-blocking browser plugin Ghostery feeds data to the ad industry
The popular browser add-on called Ghostery blocks tracking code on websites, improving page load speeds and narrowing a user’s footprint on the web. It’s often touted as an essential part of the online privacy toolkit, and made the list in our recent guest blog about internet privacy. ...







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Pirate Bay co-founder can be extradited to Denmark to face hacking charges
A Swedish district court has ruled that Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg can be extradited to Denmark to face charges that he was involved in one of the country’s largest hacking attacks. What’s more, Warg must remain in custody until he can be transferred and will have restrictions placed...







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Kickstarter campaign details nifty credit card-sized iPhone stand
The iPhone’s meteoric rise in the smartphone industry has helped more than just Apple earn a pretty penny; in fact, there are entire businesses devoted to designing and manufacturing accessories for the popular handset.







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Always-on voice controlled smartphones to appear in 2014
Citing multiple sources, GottaBeMobile reports that LG has plans to release a smartphone with always-on voice activation as soon as next year. Reportedly, smartphones armed with the technology will respond only to the owner's voice and may require just a simple "hello" to begin processing voice input. ...







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Adobe Creative Cloud apps now available; Photoshop CC includes new features
In line with their move towards a subscription-only application offering, Adobe has unveiled the new suite of apps it announced in May. Available immediately, Creative Cloud members can download the new applications via the Adobe Application Manager.







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Tuesday Tech deals: Lumia 520 unlocked $179, Refurbished Lenovo IdeaTab 7" Tablet $77, more
eXpansys offers the Unlocked Nokia Lumia 520 Windows Phone 8 Smartphone in Cyan (pictured), White, Yellow, Red, or Black for $189. Coupon code "LUMIA10" drops it to $179. With free shipping, that's $10 under last week's mention and the lowest total price we've seen for this phone.







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Internet access just as important as food and sleep, study finds
Most of us would agree that Internet access plays a significant role in our day-to-day lives but is it really more important than food or sleep? That apparently appears to be the case based on a recent study released by U.K. broadband provider TP-Link.







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Microsoft Surface RT drops to $199... for schools and colleges
Microsoft’s Surface RT tablet hasn’t exactly been a smashing retail hit but the tablet is about to get a much needed shot in the arm thanks to a limited-time offer for schools and colleges. Under the program, which will run between June 24 and August 31, the ARM-based slate will...







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AT&T unleashes solar-powered phone chargers into New York parks
Mobile users know the feeling all too well; the desperation that accompanies the last few minutes of a fleeting charge on their smartphone. With capabilities such as music, games, and internet browsing all stemming from a single handheld device, battery life can go from full to nada in just a...







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Intel confirms a smartwatch is in the pipeline
Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner recently confirmed rumors that the chip maker is indeed working on a smartwatch. The admission came during the Bloomberg Next Big Thing conference where the executive said the watch was part of the company’s exploration into novel display devices.







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Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 headed to AT&T on June 21, priced at $399
AT&T has announced that it is bringing one of Samsung's high-end tablets, the Galaxy Note 8.0, to its customers on June 21. The wireless carrier will be selling the device for $399 with a two-year contract. Although first released in the U.S. as a Wi-Fi only tablet, AT&T's version will...







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Tea Party Republicans and 'liberal weenies' alike celebrate Texas email privacy law
Texas is now the first state to require a warrant for all email surveillance and data collection. Governor Rick Perry signed the new privacy bill into law on June 14, which took effect immediately. Texans now enjoy more electronic privacy for their inboxes than any other state.







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Huawei Ascend P6 smartphone is the thinnest in the world at 6.18mm
Huawei Technologies’ latest smartphone is now official following numerous leaks leading up to the company’s launch event in London. The Ascend P6 is now the thinnest in the world at 6.18 millimeters and carries a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, another first. For comparison, the iPhone 5 measures 7.6 millimeters thick and...







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Sony Xperia Z arriving on T-Mobile in the "coming weeks"
At CES 2013, Sony showed off a high-end, water-resistant Android smartphone called the Xperia Z. Since then, things have remained quiet regarding when the handset would make its way to U.S. shores. But now we've finally received word that T-Mobile will start selling the phone in the "coming weeks." ...







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Skype launches video-messaging service on Android, Blackberry and iOS devices
With the popularity of mobile chat services such as WhatsApp for text and Snapchat for pictures, Skype has wisely cornered the video-messaging market. Following an extensive beta testing phase that kicked off in February, the company has now officially launched the full version of the application.







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China reclaims world's fastest supercomputer title
The United States no longer plays home to the world’s fastest supercomputer. That title is now owned by China’s Tianhe-2 (also known as the Milky Way-2) supercomputer which recently produced 33.86 petaflops per second in Linpack according to the Top 500 Supercomputer Sites.







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Oculus Rift secures $16 million in Series A round of funding
The Oculus Rift is one step closer to a commercial launch as the company just announced their first round of funding to the tune of $16 million. Along with the announcement comes news that two investors have now joined the company’s board of directors - Santo Politi of Spark Capital...







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Gunpoint Review

Gunpoint may be a stealth game, but Conway (the main player character) isn't some Sam Fisher-wannabe, crouching in the shadows and garroting unsuspecting guards. His methods are a bit flashier, and a hell of a lot of fun. Players line up his leap by holding down the left mouse button, sort of like taking aim in Tanks or Worms. Release, and sproiiing!







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Computer Tips & Tricks Everyone Should Know

Many hardcore computer users might think themselves above learning new tricks, but there's always new things to learn that will help improve your skills. Our bet: you will find at least one useful thing here that you didn't know before.







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AMD A10-6800K and A4-4000 Richland APU Review

Last year Trinity picked up where Llano left off, providing an affordable package with enough processing speed for most users with powerful GPU performance (for integrated graphics). Now, little over 6 months down the road, AMD is updating their product lineup with Richland, a minor refresh that focuses on clock speed improvements and better power management.







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Prison Architect: One of 2013's Most Interesting PC Games

Prison Architect is like SimPrison made by people who seem to be damn near fearless about making video games about uncomfortable topics. Indie studio Introversion's developers served up some fascinating answers to our questions about the possibilities of a game about building and running a prison.







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Intel Haswell Makes Its Debut: Core i7-4770K Review

So what is Haswell exactly? It is Intel's 4th generation Core architecture which will see a major refresh of the entire Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 product lineup in 2013. Today we'll be checking out the new HD 4600 Graphics which comes as part of the high-end Core i7-4770K desktop processor.







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Gainward GeForce GTX 770 Phantom Review

Much like a GTX 680 on steroids, the GeForce GTX 770 features the fastest GDDR5 memory we have ever seen at 7GHz. Memory at that clock rate is good for a peak bandwidth of 224GB/s, 16% more than the GTX 680. Therefore, technically if you could overclock a GTX 680 well enough you could create a GTX 770.







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A Stroll Down Memory Lane: Best 3dfx Glide Games

Having a specialized API could be arguably said was both the highlight and the downfall for 3dfx. The Glide API when used in conjunction with Voodoo hardware optimized the overall gaming experience and for the few short years that Glide reigned supreme, several games based its 3d implementation in this proprietary API.







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AMD A4-5000 Review: Kabini, the mainstream APU

AMD are releasing their first Kabini based processors today with the launch of the A6-5200 and the A4-5000. Kabini will be AMD's first, and also the first ever, quad-core x86-based SoC. With the Kabini platform AMD is aiming to compete in the subnotebook, ultra-thin and small form factor markets.







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Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Review

The new GeForce GTX 780 is based on a similar, albeit slightly cut down version of the Titan GPU, managing to keep many of the features that make the $1,000 graphics card great, such as the 384-bit memory bus.







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OCZ Vertex 450 SSD Review

Meet the Vertex 450, OCZ's latest addition to the Vertex SSD series based on a slightly modified version of the Barefoot 3 controller that is designed to be more cost effective. So how does the new Vertex drive fare against the best SSDs in the market including OCZ's own?







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Xbox One: Entertainment Hub First, Gaming Console Second -- But Could It Disrupt TV?

Tech companies have been trying for years to get broadcast behemoths to change their ways and there's been a good bit of progress. But it's not enough. Technology is simply outpacing the traditional broadcast model. Something's gotta give. Could the Xbox One be the catalyst for change that we've all been hoping for?







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Metro: Last Light Performance, Benchmarked

Metro: Last Light follows its predecessor roots by using a heavily customized version of the 4A Engine. Boasting one of the most graphically advanced engines and visuals today, our focus will be on benchmarking almost 30 graphics cards and CPU performance.







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Building a Thin Mini-ITX PC: Small and Silent Performance

The Thin Mini-ITX form factor allows for seriously compact computers. Our PC build goal: extremely compact, powerful, and near silent operation, as in no-moving-parts silent.







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Metro: Last Light Review

At the heart of Metro: Last Light is the return of the mysterious "Dark Ones," some freaky-looking humanoid beings who possess psychic powers and terrify the human denizens of the Metro. Last Light assumes that players got the "bad ending" in Metro 2033 and took the option to blast the entire population of Dark Ones into oblivion. The subsequent discovery of a single surviving Dark One sets the plot of Last Light in motion.







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TechSpot PC Buying Guide

The TechSpot PC Buying Guide provides you with an in-depth list of today's best hardware, spanning four unique and yet typical budgets. Whether you are a first time builder seeking guidance or a seasoned enthusiast, we've got you covered.







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Gigabyte U2442F Ultrabook Review

Without question the Gigabyte U2442F is cutting edge stuff when it comes to ultrabook performance. Armed with a 3rd-Gen Core i7 processor, plenty of memory, and a quality SSD, the U2442F is as capable as a high-end desktop.







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8 Free to Play Games That Are Too Good to Be True

The gaming world is making a dramatic shift towards free to play games. Of course, full price retail titles still make up for a majority of releases on the PC and most other platforms, but playing a quality game without cracking your wallet open is a completely viable option nowadays.







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Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review

'The game is stupid,' Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon creative director Dean Evans proudly proclaimed during a recent press event — not foolish pride, but pride in foolishness. The story unfolds through a series of 2D cutscenes that wouldn't be out-of-place in an NES-era adventure (well, except for the foul language and... other things). And when those scenes end, it's into a day-glo nightmare from the early days of MTV.







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Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review

If the Galaxy S III was Samsung's crowning achievement, the Galaxy S 4 is the first defense of the throne. Arriving on the heels of one rival's flagship, the Galaxy S 4 will prove whether Samsung is continuing its trend of advancement or becoming just as predictable as the old guard that it mocked. So naturally we must ask: just how good is the Samsung Galaxy S 4?







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AMD Radeon HD 7990 Review

Although it's been over a year since AMD launched the Radeon HD 7970, we are just getting an official dual-GPU version. The Radeon HD 7990 takes a pair of 7970 GPUs with overclocked cores and memory, packing 8.2 TFLOPS computer power, 6GB GDDR5 and an upgraded PEX bridge to connect the two GPUs.







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Sapphire Edge VS8 Mini PC Review

The idea of shrinking hardware hasn't been overlooked by manufacturers as several are now feature space-saving designs based on mobile hardware. Such is the case with Sapphire's new Edge VS8 mini-PC powered by AMD's A8 APU.







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GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost & SLI Performance Review

At $170, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost sits between the Radeon HD 7790 and the 7850. In terms of performance, we actually expect the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost to be a lot faster than the GTX 650 Ti, even when it's based on the same GK106 architecture.







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LG Lucid 2 Smartphone Review

The Lucid 2 sports 4G LTE, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, plenty of software additions courtesy of LG, and a favorable price for someone looking for a new Android smartphone. You may be surprised to learn how tall the Lucid 2 can stand against the rest of the mid-range pack.







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Light Alloy 4.7.0
Light Alloy - is a compact multimedia player. It supports all popular multimedia formats. It is very easy in use but at the same time has lots of configuration settings. Player is optimized for quick launch and minimum load of the system resources.




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FileZilla 3.7.1
FileZilla is a fast FTP and SFTP client for Windows with a lot of features.




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Multi Commander 3.2
Multi Commander is a multi-tabbed file manager that is an alternative to the standard Windows Explorer. It uses the very popular and efficient dual-panel layout.




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ArsClip 4.10
ArsClip is a freeware utility for the windows clipboard. ArsClip monitors the clipboard and keeps track of the entries.




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PDF-XChange Viewer 2.5.211
The PDF-XChange Viewer is smaller, faster and more feature rich than any other FREE PDF Reader/ PDF Viewer/ PDF Editor available.




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Bandizip 3.06
Bandizip is 100% free Archiver for home and office.




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Google Chrome for Windows 27.0.1453.116
Chrome combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.




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Google Chrome for Mac 27.0.1453.116
Chrome combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier.




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EZ CD Audio Converter 1.2.2
EZ CD Audio Converter is a complete audio suite that features CD ripping, audio converting, and disc burning.




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Speccy 1.21.491
Speccy is an advanced System Information tool for your PC.




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Tweak-SSD 1.0.20
Everything you need to optimize your SSD drive on Windows 7 or 8.




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WinSnap 4.0.8
Windows Snapshot Maker (shortly WinSnap) is a small enhancement utility for taking and editing screenshots.




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MediaPortal 1.4.0
Free open source media center software, ideal for turning your PC into a very advanced multi media center, or Home Theater PC (HTPC).




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Camtasia Studio 8.1.0
More than a simple screen recorder, Camtasia gives you the tools you need to truly customize and edit your videos.




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XP Codec Pack 2.5.4
Complete codec pack which helps you to play all major audio and video formats.




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AIDA64 Extreme Edition 3.00.2514 Beta
System information, system diagnostics and benchmarking solution for enthusiasts users.




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System Cleaner 7.3.4.300
Keep your PC running faster, cleaner, and error-free with System Cleaner full set of 7 powerful tools.




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PRTG - Free Network Monitor 13.2.3.2284
PRTG Network Monitor is the powerful network monitoring solution from Paessler AG.




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RetroUI - Windows 8 Start Menu 3.2
RetroUI allows you to see the Taskbar and Start button while the Windows 8 Start screen and when Apps are running.




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phpMyAdmin 4.0.4
phpMyAdmin is a free software tool written in PHP, intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the World Wide Web.




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Zortam Mp3 Media Studio 15.90
All-in-one Mp3 application and organizer.




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Dropbox 2.2.6
Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.




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MacMaintenance 3.3.1
MacMaintenance is a very easy to use application designed to help you keep your Mac clean and adjust certain system settings.




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Snapchat 2.1.0
Snapchat is the fastest way to share a moment with friends.




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Parallels Desktop for Mac 8.0.18494
Create multiple virtual machines on any Intel-based Mac.




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AMD Mobility Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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AMD Mobility Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows XP 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows XP 64-bit



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AMD Catalyst Display Driver 12.4 for Windows XP
Driver Date: 4/25/2012 OS Support: Windows XP



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Realtek 10/100M Fast Ethernet PCI Express Driver 7.053 for Windows 7
Driver Date: 3/22/2012 OS Support: Windows 7



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Realtek 10/100/100M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Driver 5.719 for Windows XP
Driver Date: 3/22/2012 OS Support: Windows 2000/XP



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Realtek Wireless LAN ICs IEEE 802.11b/g/n RTL8188SU Driver 1086.48
Driver Date: 4/19/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Realtek Wireless LAN ICs IEEE 802.11b/g/n RTL8192SU Driver 1086.48
Driver Date: 4/19/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Realtek Wireless LAN ICs IEEE 802.11b/g/n RTL8191SU Driver 1086.48
Driver Date: 4/19/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Cisco Linksys E1500 Firmware 1.0.04
Driver Date: 3/28/2012 OS Support: Windows XP/Vista/7



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows 7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows XP 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows XP 64-bit



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Nvidia GeForce Notebook Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows 7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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Nvidia GeForce Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows XP 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows XP



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Nvidia GeForce Notebook Graphics Driver 301.24 Beta for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/10/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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Cisco Linksys E2500 Firmware 1.0.04
Driver Date: 4/9/2012 OS Support: Windows (all)



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Realtek PCIe FE GBE Family Controller Series Driver 6.250 for Windows Vista
Driver Date: 4/3/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista



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Realtek PCIe FE GBE Family Controller Series Driver 7.053 for Windows 7
Driver Date: 4/3/2012 OS Support: Windows 7



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Realtek PCIe FE GBE Family Controller Series Driver 5.794 for Windows 2000/XP
Driver Date: 4/3/2012 OS Support: Windows 2000/XP



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Realtek HD ALC 880 Audio CODECs R2.68 for Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Driver Date: 4/2/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7 64-bit



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Realtek HD ALC 880 Audio CODECs R2.68 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit
Driver Date: 4/2/2012 OS Support: Windows Vista / 7



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Realtek HD ALC 880 Audio CODECs R2.68 for Windows 2000/XP (32/64 bits)
Driver Date: 4/2/2012 OS Support: Windows 2000/XP



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