Faster Copying Large File with TeraCopy

Previously, I had no idea if the process of copying files (and folders) in the windows can be accelerated with the software. Earlier I thought that it only depends on hardware specifications (Notebook, CPU, RAM etc). But when I found free software TeraCopy, what I know so far proved wrong.

With TeraCopy, the process of copying data between hard drives in particular, from the CD / DVD to the hard drive to hard drive or flash is increase significantly.

TeraCopy is a relatively small program, useful in increasing the speed when moving or copying files, especially from one media to another media.

Some features of TeraCopy are:

Copy files faster. From several tests, copying files with TeraCopy is much faster than regular file copy. The difference can reach 20% faster. This is because the techniques used copy is different from windows.

Pause and resume copying. If you copy a file with windows, you can not stop the copying process and then resume after some time

Error recovery. If there are errors in the file copy process, TeraCopy will try to read the file several times. If not successful, the file can be ignored (skip) and the transfer process still continues.

Displaying more informative list of files, and can save the information to a text file.

Shell Integration. Once installed automatically change the copy process from windows to TeraCopy, so that we can work as usual (this feature can be in non-switch)

Unicode support. Besides supporting Windows 32-bit, it also supports 64-bit such as Windows 7.

Copy process continues despite the file can not copy.
 

Some Test Comparison

Here are some tests I did to find the differences between the process of copying files + folders when using TeraCopy and  with windows.

Flash Disk to Hardisk
The following test is done by copying the data from the flash to the hard drive (393 files, 34 folders, a total of about 1 GB). Test of repeated 3-4 times.

Windows : average 53 seconds.
TeraCopy : average 41 seconds

Copy in one Hardisk
Here’s a copy test data from different drives in one hard drive (the drive here from H: to drive C:).The number of files with 10 pieces each approximately 200 MB (total about 2.1 GB)
Windows: 1 minute 33 seconds
TeraCopy: 1 minute 14 seconds

16,274 copies of files, 92 folders (total size about 38 MB). Size average files 2 KB (varies about 1 KB to 50 KB)
Windows: 1 minute 18 seconds.
TeraCopy: 1 minute 18 seconds.

1 copy files with sizes of about 700 MB
Windows: 27 seconds
With TeraCopy: 19 seconds

2765 copy files with a total of about 1:25 GB
Windows 1 minute 48 seconds
With TeraCopy 1 minute 38 seconds

Hardisk to Flashdisk
391 files, a total of 1 GB of data
Windows : 3 minutes 45 seconds
TeraCopy : 3 minutes 51 seconds

From several tests above, generally copying process with TeraCopy is faster compared with the innate windows process. Exceptions occur when copying large data consisted of a small sizes, there’s no significant time differences. In addition, copy the data to Flashdisk is slower, this is because Flashdisk has low power compared to writing a hard disk, so the techniques used are not much helpful to increase the speed.

After TeraCopy installed, when you copy or move files, this operation will be replaced with TeraCopy as picture above. To restore the normal copy of the windows, but not uninstalling TeraCopy, you can set preference in TeraCopy menu. Just click TeraCopy icon, then select Preferences and then remove the option "Use TeraCopy as the default copy handler" and click OK.

2010 Antivirus Performance test result

In the beginning of 2010, I am again serving an antivirus test result by Raymond, where yesterday he execute several antivirus performance test ( speed and memory use). This test consist of 106 antivirus products, which range from free product, premium to internet security.

For the complete result, you can check Raymond blog. This is a resume of popular free antivirus comparation. Raymond use Windows XP SP3.

Raymond test using several criteria as follow:

• Application Launch Time, running firefox browser 10 times, then calculate the average running time. 
• Boot time Increase, Calculating how long time addition booting time with antivirus installed. 
• Idle Memory Usage, Use of memory when idle. 
• Peak Memory Usage, Use of maximum memory usage. 
• Installation Size
• Detection, using one encripted virus sample to avoid detection. 
• Full Scan Time, computer scan time ( with the data samples 13.32 GB)

This graphs shows free antivirus test by Raymond. For detection test, only Spyware Terminator which able to detect and block encripted virus sample.

Launch Application Time

Boot Time Increase

Idle Memory Usage

Peak Memory Usage

Installation Size

Full Scan Time

Examining the result above, it’s rather difficult to conclude what is the best free antivirus performance, because there’s no one antivirus that powerful in all categories tested. Actually, Avast 5 has a relatively good result, and compared with it’s 4.8 version, lighter. But for full scan, this antivirus looks more slower than other free antivirus. So,  decide yourself what antivirus suit your need……

What is The Fastest Browser today?

After Firefox 3.6 Released, another web browsers such as Google Chrome and Opera is  released their improved version too. Of course, this is advantage condition for users, because they can choose web browser which fit their need, fastest, stablest, and lightest…

LifeHacker recently test that web browsers performance. How is the result?

The test result shows that there’s no single browser which powerful in all criteria. But above all, Google Chrome (my favorite browser) shows the highest score. Congratulation!.

Boot-up dan Warm loading; Winner : Opera !

This test to know the speed of browser opening. Loading time with cold start (run after computer power button pushed) and warm start (restarting without turning the computer off). (graph: shorter, better)

Tab Loading; Winner: Google Chrome (stable)!

This test done by opening 9 web browser tab simultanously and count on how fast its respond. (graph: shorter, better)

Javascript; Winner: Opera 10.5 Pre-Alpha

Test to see how fast a javascript code being executed  (graph: longer, better)

DOM/CSS; Winner: Chrome (Dev)!

CSS now is something that cannot be separated from a website. In this test, Google Chrome is most superior from other web browser (graph: longer, better)

Memory Usage, without Feature addition; Winner : Firefox 3.6!

If your computer memory is limited, firefox can be your answer. Firefox proven to be most memory friendly, although they need almost 100 MB. Google Chrome 4 (Stable), is the best in memory consumption!.  (graph: shorter, better)

Memory Usage with extension; Winner : Firefox 3.6

With the addition of Extension, Firefox 3.6 still show the smallest memory consumption.

Final Result

With all tests above, final score for each browser is as follows (excluding test with memory extension). Maximum score : 35.

* Google Chrome 4.0.302.3 (dev): 25
* Google Chrome 4.0.249.78 (stable): 24
* Firefox 3.6: 20
* Firefox 3.5.4: 21
* Opera 10.5 Pre-Alpha: 25
* Opera 10.01: 15
* Safari 4.0.4: 19

Although Google Chrome is not powerful in all criteria, but it’s score is highest. You should consider Firefox if your memory is limited. But now, I think, memory is not a problem anymore.

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP Tweaking

PowerToys add fun and functionality to the Windows experience. What are they? PowerToys are additional programs that developers work on after a product has been released.

Note: We take great care to ensure that PowerToys work as they should, but they are not part of Windows and are not supported by Microsoft. For this reason, Microsoft Technical Support is unable to answer questions about PowerToys. PowerToys are for Windows XP only and will not work with Windows Vista.

Important

•If you installed PowerToys prior to April 23, 2002, you must uninstall your old PowerToys before installing the versions available here.

•PowerToys only work with U.S. English regional settings.

Current PowerToy options:

Color Control Panel Applet

Professional-level photographers and designers know that getting consistent, accurate color from file to screen to print and beyond is a requirement for great results. This new tool helps you manage Windows color settings in one place. Download or learn more.

SyncToy

With new sources of files coming from every direction (such as digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops), SyncToy can help you copy, move, and synchronize different directories. Download or learn more.

RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer

Are you a serious photographer? Now you can organize and work with digital RAW files in Windows Explorer (much as you can with JPEG images). This tool provides thumbnails, previews, printing, and metadata display for RAW images. Download or learn more.

ClearType Tuner

This PowerToy lets you use ClearType technology to make it easier to read text on your screen, and installs in the Control Panel for easy access.

HTML Slide Show Wizard

This wizard helps you create an HTML slide show of your digital pictures, ready to place on your Web site.

Open Command Window Here

This PowerToy adds an "Open Command Window Here" context menu option on file system folders, giving you a quick way to open a command window (cmd.exe) pointing at the selected folder.

Alt-Tab Replacement

With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.

Tweak UI

This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.

Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003.

Power Calculator

With this PowerToy you can graph and evaluate functions as well as perform many different types of conversions.

Image Resizer

This PowerToy enables you to resize one or many image files with a right-click.

CD Slide Show Generator

With this PowerToy you can view images burned to a CD as a slide show. The Generator works downlevel on Windows 9x machines as well.

Virtual Desktop Manager

Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar with this PowerToy.

Taskbar Magnifier

Use this PowerToy to magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.

Webcam Timershot

This PowerToy lets you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate.

Note : Goto http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx for more information

Installing 2 Or More Antivirus in A Computer, is it needed?

Several people ask me about how if we install 2 or more antivirus in a computer?. Some of us maybe think that it’s more secure for our computer, and another may think it’s redundant.

what is the best option?. Are we need 2 or more antivirus in a computer?. Here’s some consideration for you.

Actually, it’s not recommended to install more than one antivirus software in a computer, except for local antivirus to clean manually. Antivirus software vendor usually prohibit installing more than one antivirus.

The Consideration

If you really want to install 2 antivirus in a computer, you should consider this things:

• Computer specification. Make sure that your CPU and Memory (RAM) is more than enough. You can check minimun requirement for each antivirus.
• If both antivirus detect the same virus in a file, it can be a problem. You should should take manual action to resolve the problem. See the explanation below.
• Sometimes, one antivirus is not suitable to be installed together another antivirus. You should check the documentation or help file for detail. 
• You should give one antivirus greater priority than other. 
• Read the manual and documentation of each antivirus

Some antivirus can run together.

Here’s some antivirus that can run together without arising serious problem, except, memory consumption, maybe. AVG Free edition 7.5 or 8.0 can run together with Avira 8.0 and Avira 8.0 Free edition. This can be add with Avast 4.8 Home Edition (Free) without any other additional problem, except that your computer run very slow (of course!).

Avira 8.0 Free Edition can run together with Rising Antivirus Free Edition. Also, Avira 8.0 Free Edition can run smoothly with Bit Defender 10 Free Edition, but Kaspersky 2009 cannot be installed when Avira Antivirus exist in a system, maybe another antivirus too. So, Kaspersky is an exclusive antivirus, I guess.

How if 2 Antivirus detect the same virus file?

When there are 2 or more and antivirus installed on the computer, it can and very likely to occur. And sometimes this can cause problems, because if an antivirus detect a virus, antivirus will lock the file, so that it can not be accessed, run or even be deleted manually.

Maybe it happened, when one antivirus will delete or put into quarantine, this operation failed because other antivirus lock the access file. If this happens, we can non-activate one antivirus first, and then retry delete or put into quarantine. Though, this may not be successful and antivirus still locked the file.

Still Want to keep 2 Antivirus installed?

If you want to keep install 2 or more antivirus, but then you worried about the crash, error, conflict, slow computers and so forth, you can then only activated one antivirus in a time.

Each antivirus usually have menus that work actively monitor the computer all the time, such as: Active guard, Real-time guard, Proactive defense, Resident shield, Resident Protection and so on. To prevent conflicts and reduce computer work, we can be simply enable or disable this feature for an antivirus only. While other antivirus turned off (not activated), they can only  used to scan manually if necessary.

Or we could also turn off the autorun feature or prevent the automatic anti-virus running under Windows, which can be arranged through a program like Autoruns. With this program, we can see what antivirus is running when windows start (boot). But with just autorun software, sometimes is not enough, because anti-virus can activate itself through service windows (can be checked in the menu Control Panel> Administrative Tools> Services)

Experience is also important

This also may be the considerations, the experience of others who previously installed 2 or more antivirus  in a single computer is important. If you or your friends  had used two or more antivirus, please give feedback / comment. Whether there is ever a problem or not, we  can share our experience  each other and getting benefits from this

Ultimate Windows Tweaker, Free Windows 7 / Vista Tweaking program

If you use Windows 7 or Windows Vista, and want to change some hidden setting in it, you can use a software call Ultimate Windows Tweaker. This portable free tool serve as optimizing and tweaking tool, which make your operating system faster, stable and saver in a few click.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker will detect automatically your operating system, whether it’s Windows 7 or Vista, and the interface will change based on the operating system.

The feature of this nice small program include:

System Information :
- Showing Operating System Information, Version and built number, system rating, Processor, RAM, computer description etc.

Personalization
- Windows Explorer, many options related to menus in Windows Explorer.
- Customize Start Menu, such as hide some menu items etc.
- Taskbar Appearance such as Disable Aero Peek preview, lock taskbar, disable windows preview (thumbnails), remove some icons etc.

User Account & UAC
- Change some menu in Welcome Screen
- Change text effect in Welcome Screen, as well as its background
- Some arrangement in User Account Control

System Performance
- Change Tooltip, showing actual value in milisecond.
- “Action Menu”
- Tweaking system performance, such as auto end non-responding applications, restart shell automatic, Unload DLL from memory, etc.
- Services Optimization, such as Disable Superfetch service, Windows Security Center, Windows Time service, Printer spooling, Tablet PC, Windows Update and Windows Aero user interface.

Security Settigs
- Administrative restriction, such as disable Registry editor, command prompt, Task manager, MMC snap-ins, WinKey Control, System Restore, change appearance and color, Control panel, auto play etc.
- Windows Explorer Restriction : Disable folder options, removing  tab security, CD burn feature and removing context menu from explorer.
- Windows Application Restriction, such as disable Windows media center, sound recorder, Windows Defender, sidebar, error reporting and windows mobility center.
- Windows Update Setting

Network Tweaks
- Many networking tweaks
- Bandwidth Optimization

Internet Explorer
- IE Reset to default setting
- General, such as changing windows title, download directory and else
- Many settings in Tab and Advanced configuration

Additional Tweaks
- Showing context menu for drive and folder, as well as drive and file folder
- Many other tweaks, like disable Hibernation, windows startup sound, pagefile, encryption and others.

Download
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-v2-a-tweak-ui-for-windows-7-vista(zip 139 KB, exe around 345 KB)

Note :

This Program cannot be run in Windows XP tweaking.

Download Free Ebooks on Windows 7

Windows 7 has been released sometimes ago, and customer looks like more satisfied than with Vista release. We can say that windows 7 is an enhancement of Windows Vista. If you are new with Windows 7, and has lack of references about this new release, Microsoft gives us free ebooks about this interesting Operating System.

Software developer or application in Windows 7 platform, should not miss this interesting ebooks. Some of this books consist only one or more chapters of book content, but it’s worth to read and to be a reference when needed.

Windows 7 Inside Out
Learning how to be an expert in Windows 7. This ebook gives tips, solution on many problems arise in Windows 7.

Chapter 21: Performing Routine Maintenance

• Download PDF file (4,203 KB)

• Download XPS file (1,261 KB)

Windows 7 Resource Kit
It’s an ebook sample which give an explanation on how to manage Windows 7, contribution from Microsoft Most Valued Professional and Windows 7 Team.

Chapter 23: Support Users and Remote Assistance

• Download PDF file (1,360 KB)

• Download XPS file (1,244 KB)

Chapter 29: Deploying IPv6

• Download PDF file (1,360 KB)

• Download XPS file (1,244 KB)

Windows 7 Step by Step
This ebook explain about using Windows 7, step by step. Chapter  1 : Explore Windows 7 dan Bab 2: Navigate Windows and Folders

Chapter 1: Explore Windows 7

• Download PDF file (1,870 KB)

• Download XPS file (2,610 KB)

Chapter 2: Navigate Windows and Folders

• Download PDF file (2,709 KB)

• Download XPS file (4,497 KB)

Deploying Windows® 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine.
If you want to develop applications under Windows 7, and want to know about Windows 7 System, you cannot miss this ebook. Written by many experts including Windows 7 Team.

• Download ( 6.5 MB)

Shopping Online for Christmas

It’s nearly Christmas day. I’m sure you and your family has set a very good plan to spend Christmas. I imagine a complete family gathering,  singing together, exchanging gift, and make a small but unforgettable party. Hmm..smell of delicious roasted turkey and fresh wine.. How awesome

To prepare that unforgettable night, you should prepare well. List items needed in that planned party. Accessories, Lamps, music, gifts etc. Everything must be well planned and executed.

Now, after you list all what you need, the next step is buy it. There’s a trend among busy people to buy online. There’s many advantages to buy online. Of course, it’s simpler, because you don’t need to leave your room to buy. Beside that, you can compare price, search the products in a flash, see the things you want to buy in detail, getting many information about that products, and getting another customer feedback about that product in the quickest way. That’s something you can’t access, especially when you have limited social network. 

Shopping online is easy and promising, but because buyer and seller never meet physically, you need to be very careful. You should choose a website that has great integrity and has long history in online selling.

I want to show you one of legitimate seller in internet which now has worldwide network. It’s ShopWiki. In ShopWiki, you can find almost anything you need. This is because they have 30,000 stores instead of the usual 1,000 stores that other shopping sites have. Wow. That’s pretty much. And look at the directory list of goods available here: Accessories, arts & crafts, babies & toddlers, books, movies, music, collectibles and memorabilia, computers and software, food & beverage, health & beauty, home & garden, electronics, automotive, clothing, jewelry & watches, pets, video games, kids, sports and recreation, office, toy & games, video games, wedding. Almost everything.

Take an example, you need a Fashionable Mobile Phone  for Christmas. There’s more than 100 products available. You can view complete specification, compare price, search in specific store etc. Blackberry for a gifts must be a great ideas.

It’s guaranteed that if you visit ShopWiki, you’ll have a new perspective on products you want to buy. So, why don’t you  visit ShopWiki?

PS: for now, shopWiki available in : US, Australia, France, Deutschland, Nederland, Espana, Ireland

Secure your folder with Free Hide Folders

If we have important data that not everyone can see it, especially if the computer is shared, privacy issues to be quite important. Although windows have been providing facilities to lock folder, but this function is still a lot of weaknesses (sometimes not enough)
To overcome this, we can use free software to hide files and folders, Hide Folders.

Hide Folders is a program with a simple look and very easy to use. We just need to add folders into hide list that appears in the Hide Folders windows. Once we activate Hide files and folders menu (icon) so it would "disappear" from view.

 

Although simple, Hide Folders is powerful enough. Folders that have been hidden can not be accessed, viewed in the search-box (search) or delete. Other users will not know the existence of this folder. And there is no limit to the number of folders on the Hide (hide).

The following are Hide Folders features:

• Securely hide folders with your confidential data
  Works on Windows XP and Windows Vista, supports NTFS,
• FAT32 and FAT file system.
  Password protection – folders can be unhid only after entering a password within the program.
• Hidden folders can not be uncovered by deinstalling the program.
• Unlimited number of folders can be hidden.
• Folders are hidden even in Windows safe mode.
• Fast and user-friendly skinned user interface.
• Intuitive for usage, no learning curve.

Not recommended to install on computers that already have similar programs (using the technique to hide a folder)
Hide Folders should be installed on the computer and can not run as portable application. But after the install we can move the application from the installation folder (eg C: \ Program Files \ HFolders) into a separate container such as Flashdisk to access our computers, not other people’s computers. However, to uninstall to return to their home folder (the original).

How To Use

• Click on Add Folder. The File Browser will show up.
  Navigate through File Browser to pick folder you want to hide. If you want to hide multiple folders repeat the operation for each folder you want to hide.
• Click on "Hide" button. Refresh file view if needed. Selected folders will be hidden.
• There is a check box next to each folder you selected. The "Hide" or "Unhide" operation will be executed on checked folders only. That is useful because you may have a larger number of hidden folders and you can hide/unhide number of them at the same time by checking the boxes on multiple folders.

Note:

If you forget your password or uninstalling the program, and we can not access data that is hidden, then we can open or access folders via a bootable CD like UBCD4Win, Ubuntu Linux or Windows operating system through another. Hard disk can also be opened on other computers to access the folder. So I think this application is secure.

Detailed information or direct Hide Folder Download (1.2 MB) 

WindMend Folder Hidden Review and How to

Now, we want to discuss the program to hide files and folders. We have a free program (freeware) who have hide files and folders capabilities, called WinMend Hidden Folders.

Here we will try to review the capabilities of this software on how safe the data is hidden.

Warning: Always remember your password when you use this kind of software. Because if you forget the password, it may be difficult to access the data again.

WindMend Hidden Folders program are free / freeware that can hide files and folders quickly both in the local partition or on removable drives such as Flash disks, and other External Hardisk.

Files / folders that are hidden will remain hidden even if the data accessed from other computers or from other operating systems in both the computer or from another computer. To access the data, you must provide the correct password.

More Features on WindMend Hidden Folders WinMend) are:

• Safety First, the technology used does not damage the files or data and still maintain the security and reliability.
  High-Speed Hiding and Unhiding, capable of processing data quickly (instant) data in any size up to GB (GigaByte).
• Support Removable Drives, able to hide missing something / folders in removable drives such as USB Flash Disk, External Hardisk and others. And this data is not visible on other computers.

How To Use

1. Download and Install the software from WindMend Website or here.

Click Hide Folder then navigate to the folder you want to hide then click OK.

The folder will remain hidden even if your folder option in Windows is set to Show Hidden files. The hidden folder will not be shown until you unhide it.  Hidden data can be displayed and unhidden only when the user enters the valid password.

To unhide the hidden folder, check the check box beside the folder you want to unhide then click on the Unhide button. To set it back to hidden select the folder then click the Set to Hide Button.

To hide a file, click Hide File(s) then navigate to the location of the file, click on the file and click open.

To unhide the file, check the check box beside the file then click the unhide button. Click the Set to hide button to hide again the file.

Note that upon your first log in to the program, you will be asked to enter and confirm your desired password. You will be using this password on the succeeding log in.  Based on WinMend’s documentation, this software is best for home use only – meaning it is not secured enough to secure more sensitive information like commercial and business data where more strict confidentiality is required.

Recommendation

Previously, I would recommend this program given the ability to hide data on removable drives, such as USB Flash. But after I tried, tested and analyzed, there was one weakness that I saw.

Indeed files / folders become invisible, but I saw the file / folder is hidden in the folder named Recycled. When we open this folder we will not see its contents. But this folder is deleted, it can be a disaster. The Recycled folder is not deleted, but the content will be deleted, so that our data hidden there also be deleted.

The same thing happen when we hide data on your hard drive. Actual data seems to be moved / stored in the RECYCLER folder, so when someone delete this folder, the data will be lost. Seeing this, if you still need this kind of software, you better use Hide Folders.

A-Z Computer and Data Security Threats

Computer and data security threat  can come from many sources, such as viruses, trojans, and others. One big security vendor, Sophos,  give a guide (pdf ebook) explain us for better know and be alert to the data and computer security. Threatsaurus, a guide from a to z for data security and computer.

Are you an IT professional, computer users in the office or simply Internet browser, this ebook is suitable for you.
This free PDF ebook Threatsaurus, the a to z of computer and data security threat, containing starting from A – Z matters related to computer security (a to z of threats), such as Adware, Autorun worms, Trojan Backdoor, until the term Botnet Zombies. Each term is described with clear and sometimes given concrete examples of previous events.

This ebook is comprised of 120 pages also contain an explanation of the security software (security software) such as Anti-spam, Antivirus, Firewall and others. Then the next chapter discusses tips for maintaining computer security / data (safety tips), such as how to:

• Avoiding viruses, trojans, worms and spyware
• Avoiding Hoax
• Securing data
• Avoid spam
• To be safe on the internet
• Choosing a secure password
• Safe buying online
• and other

Finally, this ebook explains a brief history of the development of virus (Virus Timeline), starting from 1949 until 2009 this year.

You can get this Ebook from sophos website. Sophos also provided a free program for data encryption and security programs (security) for a trial period. If you want to directly download their ebook, you can click on this Threatsaurus link, the az of computer and data security threat (PDF, 2.5 MB).

Investing in gold?

As we already know, for centuries gold has been confessed in its unique blend of near indestructibility, beauty, rarity and  its status as a universal currency. Empires and nations have sought to possess gold as a medium of international exchange, as a store of wealth and in order to increase and preserve power. Individuals have used gold as a store of wealth and as insurance against the fluctuations and depreciation of paper money and other macroeconomic and geopolitical risks. Perhaps no other market in the world has the universal appeal of the gold market.

Gold can be said to be the world’s most liquid investment trading throughout the world daily. The market never closes and, as a result, you can buy and sell Gold in any country at any time. It’s price relatively stable. Gold can form the cornerstone of a conservative or aggressive strategy because it tends to move in the opposite direction of paper investments.

Gold is the ultimate asset and the purest form of money. It is the oldest, most durable wealth-preserving asset on the planet.  Governments can’t devalue it.  It has no debts, no board of directors, no politicians or central bankers that can mess with its value.  That’s why gold has survived every economy history has ever witnessed, and preserved investors’ purchasing power over a span of some 5000 years.

for your investing security, diversification and risk management is key factor. You should not put all your investment in one type of asset. So a healthy portfolio should includes a wide range of assets including a variety of equities with exposures to different market sectors and regions; a variety of different countries bonds; a diversified property portfolio; a cash component and a 5-15% allocation to gold-related investments and gold bullion or gold coins.

Some exposure to gold should be included in all diversified portfolios. A good rule of thumb would be a minimum allocation of around 10% to gold and related gold-investments.

Gold bullion (gold in its physical form) is the ultimate safe haven asset and a great way, if not the best way, of ensuring wealth preservation and for passing wealth from one generation to the next. Once the solid base or core holding of gold bullion is achieved in a portfolio then other investments in gold such as mining stocks and mutual funds and other more speculative gold investments can be considered.

Gold is more accessible to the average person because an investor can easily purchase gold bullion, from a dealer or, in some cases, from a bank. However, with the advent of more advanced financial instruments, gold, along with other commodities, has become much easier to invest in without having to buy the physical metal. There are now exchange traded funds (ETF), that replicate the movements of the underlying commodity, giving investors direct exposure.

for a description on how valuable gold is, if you had purchased $25,000 of gold coin in the early 70’s and held on to it during the oil crisis, inflation, devaluation of the U.S. dollar, Savings and Loan scandal, recession, tech and internet bubble, cooked books, 911, and a real estate bubble you could sell that gold today for $524,999.00.

interested in gold investing?