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Antivirus software can frequently be blamed for eating up computing resources and slowing down a computer. Most of the time that is the basis for arguments when we choose or recommend our favorite antivirus software (I recommend Avast.).

The problem of resource-hungry malware protection software is usually a result of the program itself or poor programming, but some of the time it can just be a problem of a poor configuration. That’s why it is always important to review the antivirus configuration if the defaults are not working for you. Microsoft offers a guide for improved configuration for Windows Server 2008, Server 2003, Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, making it relevant information for home users and IT professionals.

While looking around for a particular utility, I ended up on Google Code just dredging through all the projects they have online. As I went through, I kept opening tabs to more and more applications that sounded interesting. I found enough applications worth sharing that I decided to post one per day this week and highlight some hidden treasures of Google Code.

Day #4: SymLinker

SymLinker provides a GUI to simplify the use of the MKLINK command and symbolic links, hard links, and directory junctions. The MKLINK command is found in Vista, Server 2008, and assumedly Windows 7. Symbolic links are different from shortcuts and file copies. They also have different uses and serve different purposes. For a great explanation of these terms (what is a symbolic link?) and another utility to assist with these objects check out this Freeware Genius article on Link Shell Extension.

Symbolic Link Creator simply asks what type of link you want to make (symbolic link, hard link, or directory junction). It first asks where you want to store this link, what name you want to give it, and at what the link is supposed to be pointing. Click the Create Link button and you’re all set.

If you’re running Windows Server 2008, there’s a cool feature that you might not be taking advantage of yet. Microsoft’s answer to VMware’s success is it’s own hypervisor for virtual machines called Hyper-V. Hyper-V is included in Server 08, but you’ll want to run Windows Update before you install the role as there is a much improved version over the beta version that shipped with the OS.

Like most things with the trimmed down OS, features might be available but they’re not enabled by default. The first thing we’ll need to do is make use of the new terminology that Server 08 uses and we’ll install the role to enable Hyper-V in a short walk-through.

Very rarely is it a good idea to remove built-in security measures, but the Internet Explorer Enhanced Security provided with Server 2003 and Server 2008 is too annoying and interacts with the file system too much for my liking. This is particularly an annoyance if you use the Server OS’s as a workstation. You’ll end up getting warning messages like the following when you try to visit websites or even open files on the network.

This article will show you how to disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security for your computer. When you’re done you should be rid of the annoying pop-ups and actually be able to reach the websites you try to visit.