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kaspersky 2010 auto key updater

2010-02-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

KAV & KIS 2010 auto key updater

download free iPhone wallpaper

2010-01-06T01:04:00.001-08:00

If you've been lucky enough to get your hands on an Iphone during the latest craze, the chances are you would like to find some free wallpaper for your Iphone. The iPod has been a runaway success, and Apple seem set to repeat that success with the Iphone.

Iphones are so simple to operate and customize, putting some new wallpaper on it is definitely something you will want to look into. If you are online, you'll soon find that the range and choice of what's available for your Iphone is simply amazing. The most popular choice for an Iphone wallpaper at the moment, is something celebrity related. These work very well, as you are now able to store photos on the Iphone and link them to the music, so that when you listen to Kanye West your get to see a picture of him or his latest album cover or whatever. Pretty cool huh?

It's possible to find Iphone wallpaper downloads in many different places, everywhere from the big name music retail store websites to small sites set up by independent designers and artists. This is very cool, because it means you can have something very original if you want to; you don't have to have the same wallpapers as everybody else.

The main thing you need to remember at all times when downloading or receiving any kinds of files from the internet is to only use websites that you can trust. Iphone wallpapers can be downloaded from many places free of charge, and completely legally, but the legal standpoint does not diminish the risk to your computer and Iphone. It's very important to keep your antivirus and security programs completely up to date, and when you download anything at all, use the antivirus to scan the file before you do anything with it. This is most often achieved through right clicking on the file and choosing the appropriate action from the menu.

No doubt that the Iphone is going to run and run with continued success-who wouldn't want to stuff their whole music collection onto their cellphone? So if you have one, or are getting one, don't forget you can make it more fun with some wallpaper downloads.

Download Free Iphone Theme

2010-01-06T01:03:00.003-08:00

The popularity of the Iphone means that you can download themes for it from many different sites-and also you can even download Iphone themes for other kinds of cellphones, and even websites if you are a wordpress user.

Your Iphone is one of the most advanced media devices the world has yet seen, with the ability to watch movies, listen to music, surf the web and of course make phone calls, it seems like Apple's research and design department put in some overtime on this one.

Even if you aren't an Apple or iPod fan, the Iphone is very hard not to like. Why wouldn't anyone want to have their entire music collection and full internet access on their cellphone? Sadly though, stocks of the Iphone are low due to the sheer popularity of it, so it means many of us will have to wait a while before we can own one. All is not lost though, as you are still able to download Iphone themes for your average Nokia and Motorola phones.

If you are lucky enough to obtain an Iphone, you can download something known as a “hack toolkit” which allows you to get into the firmware etc of the Iphone, and change it's theme around etc. You'll find that the themes are available at many different places around the net.

When you are looking for places to download themes from, the biggest problem is finding a site you can trust. While it can be dangerous to your computer and your Iphone, due to the nature of the files downloading a theme is generally much safer than downloading a new game or movie etc, especially if you are using a shady P2P site, as P2P sites are known for their lack of safety for users.

Having said that, it's very important to be careful and keep your antivirus updated, as shady hackers and users of torrent sites can use fake downloads as a way to make you download trojan software or other things that will open the backdoor of your computer system. This can cause endless problems, it can even ill your computer so it's really worth making sure your antivirus software can keep you safe.

If you are smart and use your common sense about what you download and where you download it from, downloading Iphone themes can safe and fun.

Download Free Iphone Songs

2010-01-06T01:03:00.001-08:00

As an Iphone owner, you may or may not know that you are able to download free songs from a few different places. You can't have failed to notice the popularity of the Iphone, even though it has only been with us a short while it looks set to be a runaway success, and for good reason-an Iphone can do everything the Ipod does but also give you internet access and a pretty handy cellphone.

In order to download any songs at all for your Iphone, you will need to first have some very basic hardware at your disposal. The main thing is a computer and internet connection, as at this time it's not possible to download anything directly to the Iphone from it's own internet connection. As far as specifications go, you will usually be okay with any computer as long as it's not older than say 5 or 6 years, and the internet connection is also not too demanding, though you will find that the faster your connection, the faster you can complete your downloads.

The main obstacle that stands in the way of people wanting to download free songs for their Iphone is not knowing where to get them from. You can obviously get the downloads directly from Itunes, which is fine if you want to pay out fortunes for your music collection, but most people don't know there are a few other less costly alternatives.

The first, and something that is not at all recommended, is using the torrent sites or peer to peer sites. Over the last few years many people have used sites like this for all their download needs. Unfortunately using these sites is illegal-people actually get arrested and go to jail for it. Aside from that there is also the huge risk of permanent computer damage. Sites like this are not regulated in any way, and so the users can upload anything they want. This makes them a haven for hackers and spammers, and they will often use sites like this to spread their viruses/malware through the internet. These reasons are why it's not recommended to use peer to peer sites as a place to get free Iphone music downloads.

Thankfully, there are a few alternatives to sites like these. A new kind of download site has emerged over the last year or so, and these sites are a lot safer to use than the peer to peer sites. The way it works is that the site will charge you a small fee to begin using their service, usually something like $50, and this will usually cover you for life-meaning you get unlimited free downloads for life, as soon as you become a member. This represents excellent value for money, as there are often a huge range of downloads other than music-you can get games, tv shows, movies, and obviously all the music you could want.

Hopefully this article will help you get everything you need to download free songs for your Iphone.

Download DVD To Iphone

2010-01-06T01:02:00.002-08:00

In order to download DVDs to your Iphone, you are going to need a computer, some special software, and the USB lead that came with your Iphone, to connect it to the computer. Transferring movies from your existing DVDs to your Iphone is not at all difficult, so read on to find out how it is done.

It's worth noting that the computer you use to transfer the movies from DVD to your Iphone doesn't have to be a super hi tech piece of kit-as long as it is able to handle the movie files themselves, which are quite large, it should be fine. It is worth noting though that you will need something that has a DVD drive and a hard drive that is able to store such large files. It's not necessary for the computer you use to be connected to the internet, but you will need a piece of software called a ripper. This basically works by pulling the movie files from your DVDs and storing them to the computer, doing no harm to the dvd itself.

In order to download the dvd to your Iphone, you will first need to make sure your ripping software is able to save the movies in MP4 format, which is the only format that will work on the Iphone. Ripping software is usually really easy to use, and as soon as you have done it a few times it will become something you can do without even thinking about it. If you are lucky enough to have a nice modern hard drive with lots of space, you will be able to download the movies in one effort, and then transfer them all at once, saving you a lot of time.

As soon as you have all the movies you want on your hard drive, you will need to hook the Iphone up to the computer using the USB lead and switch the pair of them on. After a few minutes they should be ready to go, and you can use the Itunes software to transfer the movies onto the Iphone. It's a very easy process, and again once you've gone through it a few times it should become second nature for you.

This article contains all you need to know to let you begin downloading music to your Iphone, so I hope you found it useful for your own endeavours-happy downloading!

Cell Phone or PDA?

2010-01-06T01:02:00.001-08:00

The term cell phone is becoming nondescriptive of today's portable devices. The units available lately do more than just make and receive phone calls. With the ever decreasing price of electronics, things such as cameras, GPS, calendars, and contact managers have become available even on the cheapest of models. There is such a fine line between the function of a cell phone and a Personal Digital Assistant, that maybe the term "cell phone" will fall by the wayside!

How to choose a cell phone? First of all, any communication outside the device will have to be paid for. Cell phone plans are a whole different topic. But, it is partlly related because some of the functions of these cell phones or PDAs require communication with the internet or other online service. Primarily, you want a device to talk on. A good place to start shopping is the many forums that are related to differeent models. Enter terms like "cell phone review" or "cell phone forum". Many times there are subforums related exclusively to a certain brand or model. If you browse through these forums, you will find many dislikes and likes of many different models. Although consider this- many people post their negative experiences far more than their postive ones in forums. So, keep that in mind that there are no perfect electronic devices. Notice features discussed such as holdability (is the device TOO small or big), sound clarity, reception, how easy to use the menus system of the cell phone. These are key factors. Your device might open your garage door for you. But if you despise using it all day becasue it is uncomfortable to hold or has bad reception, then do not go for it.

Once you have a list of a few models, consider the other functions of the cell phones and what you really need. DO you NEED a camera? Many are just toys. Some models today actually have 1.3 megapixel cameras in them- just like the first digital cameras. How about ringtone quality? Is that important? Some are just "FM synthesized" and give you your typical blleps and bloops arranged into a song. Other have full polyphonic instrumentsplaying the tones. Others play a section of a real song. Do you drive a lot? Some phones have what is called Bluetooth. This is a wireless protocall for connecting to other dvices that are close by. It is excellent for using in your car that has a Bluetooth receiver in it- you can have a handsfree setup with no wwires! Some cars are coming with this function already, but there are kits to add it to any car. Most exciting is the ability to accept memory cards and store MP3s and even movies! The screens are small, but with amazing quailty! Notice, these are just options that enhance the user experience- but sound quailty of the voice and reception far outweigh these options.

Do you have data needs? Some devices have either a Palm Pilot or Windows CE computer in them. These are great if you use these types of devices and want to carry one device. Maybe you are carrying a laptop soley for using somelike like the ACT! Contact manager. Well there is a Palm version of that so you can take all you ACT! data with you, without ther laptop. Maybe you need to be up to date on the latest news? These devices typically also have a small web browser in them, so you can connect to the internet. Granted, you cant get the same webcontent a real computer could due to the screen size, but you can still get the information you need, send an email, receive email, etc. The downside is the size and the cost. They typically are twice the size of a nice compact phone, and sell in the $350+ area. Also, keep in mind that these data services cost extra money. So, if you need these functins, you might start your quest by lookin for cell phone companies that have better priced, or unlimited online service along with your cell minutes. Then you might have to chose a phone from that company's linup.

If you spend the time thinking about what you need and attack the project the right way, you will end up with something you will wonder how you ever lived without. Today's cell phones and PDAs have become integrated heavily into or society. Enjoy your cell phone and use it responsibly! Some states have laws that you cannot hold a cell phone in your hand while driving, so you might want to consider the Bluetooth option or a car kit. Remember, turn your ringer down in the movies or other quiet public place!

Better Online Communication Makes Business Sense

2010-01-06T01:01:00.001-08:00

Many companies are now doing the majority or even all their business online and foregoing the “Brick and Mortar” storefront. It is easy to see why that trend has happened. For one thing, the cost of setting up such a business is relatively inexpensive and easy. There is no need to pay for the overhead of a physical building. Also, the cost of maintaining a Web site is minimal. Moreover, the Internet provides a convenient and efficient way of marketing products. As more and more people are spending time on the Internet, the market of online customers continues to grow.

But when businesses shift from face-to-face customers to anonymous online customers, there is a loss of personal connection and trust. All the online spamming and scamming hasn’t helped the matter at all. That has eroded the trust in E-commerce and the credibility of many companies. How are you gaining and maintaining customer trust? What are you doing as an online vendor to communicate to your customers?

In an online world, business just doesn’t stop after hours and on weekends. What are you doing to answer your customer’s questions? Here are a few things that you can do to improve communication with your customers:

1. Offer a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page and online product support information. This is an excellent way of answering basic questions that may otherwise flood your support email. For example, our voice-changing product, MorphVOX, has a FAQ on the common issues that customers may come across. We also have provided detailed online documentation on topics that users may want to explore more. This takes care of roughly 95% of the questions people may have.

2. Add a support email link on your Web site for issues that can’t be resolved by the Web support. At Screaming Bee, we try to answer our customer questions within one business day. More often, we’ll answer questions within an hour of receiving the email. I believe that we have gained many loyal customers because of our aggressive efforts to meet needs in a timely manner.

3. Provide a message board or forum for customers to voice their opinions, add comments, and interact with each other. Remember that people are social creatures and like to be heard. This also helps to build up a community of users that are empowered and have a say in the products and services that you provide.

4. Write a personal email to each customer. Have you followed up on your customers after they have made a purchase of your products or services? This is essential, not only from the perspective of getting feedback on how to improve your offerings, but more importantly, maintaining the trusting, long-term relationship with your customer. Send them an email within 3-4 weeks of the first purchase. In this way their experience with your products and services is fresh in their mind. Remember, a customer who is ignored is a customer who is lost.

Spending time and effort on better communication with your customers will pay off. Your company will rise and fall not on the customers you gain, but on the customers that you don’t lose. Loyal customers will be the ones that give you the best testimonials. They also provide you with the richest, organic, word-of-mouth marketing. Remember that every happy customer is a testament of your company’s success.

An Introduction to Internet TV

2010-01-06T01:00:00.002-08:00

You use the Internet and, of course, you watch television, but have you ever tried Internet television?

Most people are unaware of one of the more recent developments in interactive Internet use. This new technology brings all the benefits of the Internet and television together to create your own personalised viewing experience. In simple terms Internet television means that you can watch TV straight from your laptop or desktop PC.

Internet TV allows you to you maximize the use of your computer and your Internet connection. I expect you have probably thought that there must be more you could do with your personal computer or laptop. You know that typing the occasional letter, transferring your MP3 collection to your iPod or playing the odd game or two online is hardly making use of its full potential. Now you can explore a trusted method of entertainment with access to unlimited viewing and you don't even have to stop your usual computer activities.

If you are someone who can’t get enough of watching programs on television, think about how Internet television will open up new options for free viewing. You can catch up with current news stories, watch real time sports action, keep up to date with stock market movements or enjoy a little light comedy. You are provided with a wide variety of entertainment possibilities that continues to grow, gaining in popularity every day.

At the time of writing, FIFA World Cup 2006 is just around the corner and, for many, Internet TV will provide access to free live football streams. Viewers will be able to keep up with the latest action from all the international football games involving teams including Brazil, Argentina, France, England and many more. Japan's third largest TV broadcaster, Tokyo Broadcasting System, has recently announced plans to air World Cup programmes over the Internet and on mobile phones.

If you use the Internet for any kind of research (even if it's only helping the kids with their homework), you no longer have to view what you find in the usual format of text and pictures. Now you can see this information through streams of live or pre-recorded video enabling you to see details that simply wouldn't be visible in a series of pictures.

5 Features of Internet Television:

1. Stations are available internationally. Currently over 150 countries have Internet access so you can rest assured that your country has at least one Internet TV station you can watch.

2. No additional hardware is required. In the past, watching television on your computer would require the fitting of a PC TV card but this is no longer necessary. Improvements in the telecommunications industry have made broadband connections more widely available and cheaper than ever before allowing more and more people to view high quality streaming media on their computer.

3. Anyone with an Internet connection can watch. A minimum connection speed of 56K is recommended and watching at this speed should give you a reasonable picture. Higher connection speeds will improve the picture quality (dependant on the server capabilities) and the fastest connections can enable you to view programmes in DVD quality.

4. New channels are added all the time. Major players in the Internet industry have recently started showing significant interest in this rapidly expanding market. Google is developing Google TV and has signed up American channel UPN and is in talks with the BBC in the UK to provide content. AOL is launching IN2TV which will show thousands of hours of programmes from Warner Brothers across 6 different channels and Yahoo has plans to show Internet TV in Japan which could lead to a worldwide service if successful.

5. Personalize your experience. Normal televisions have fixed channels which depend on the local stations or the cable operators. Internet television gives you the opportunity to bookmark your favorite stations so you can get back to them quickly without having to flick through everything else available. There is usually the option of viewing in either full screen mode or in a smaller window enabling you to get on with other things on your computer while watching.

You too can enjoy all the benefits of Internet television. The world really is at your fingertips now you have discovered this new, hassle-free way of watching TV.

A Quick Guide to Spy Phone Software

2010-01-06T01:00:00.001-08:00

Spyphone is a 100% software based solution which users can download and convert any latest Nokia phone into a sophisticated spy device within a minute. Such device may have several spy features.

If you call a spy phone from a predefined number, it makes no visible or audible indication that it is in operation, and you can listen to any conversations or discussions in progress around the spy phone. Conversations within 5 to 10 metres of the spy phone are completely audible. The software can be activated or deactivated by sending a silent sms to the converted phone and works on GSM networks only.

Yet another interesting spy feature is called sms forwarding. Upon installation of the spy software on the target phone, it enables to receive duplicate copies of all incoming and outgoing text messages that will be forwarded directly to the predefined number.

The spyphone software controls the basic functions of the cell phone such as incoming call handling, backlight, log engine and installation logs. No hardware tweaking of any kind has to be made and that there are no special steps for customising the cell phone. The software is also invisible to the end user. Moreover, no parts of the software can be traced to be installed on the phone or logs of incoming calls.

What could you use the spy phone for? In truth, the list is endless. You might want to check up on someone periodically, listening out for out-of-place sounds, and even intercepting real time calls between 2 parties. It can be used for listening to conversations in the office whilst away on travel. You might also use it monitor your children, wife or husband.

You may come up with a question, how to protect myself from such spy? Here is the answer. At present such spy software can be installed on Symbian based smartphones only. Never leave your smartphone unattended. Do not give the phone to someone you do not know. If you suspect that spy software is installed on your phone, bring the phone immediately to the nearest service centre. The most popular spy phone models are: 3250, 5500, E50, E60, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E70, N73, N76, N77, N80, N91, N95, 7610, 6600, 6670, 6110, 6120, 6121.

'No Audio Device' Error

2010-01-06T00:58:00.000-08:00

If you have experienced a Windows "No Audio Device" error, it most likely means that your sound card is not installed properly. Even though other problems can cause this error, an improperly installed sound card is the most common reason. If the audio card isn't properly connected in the motherboard or you do not have an audio controller connected, you will get this error. Also, it is possible that the device you are trying to use is not compatible to the motherboard you are using.

Troubleshooting the most common error
Here are a few steps to take to solve the most common error, an improperly installed card:
You will first need to find your audio controlling device or controller. This controller is what gives you the ability to adjust the sound for everything. From your start menu, go to your control panel. Then, go to add hardware and search for the hardware yourself. Don't let the computer search for it automatically, because if it is improperly installed it may not be seen. Then, scroll down to sound devices and search for your audio controller. Check the properties of the device, and see if it is installed properly. If it isn't installed properly you will see a yellow highlighted question mark beside the device's name

• The best way to solve this problem is to uninstall your sound card and drivers. You will reboot, enter the bios, disable the onboard audio, game port, and midi. Then boot back into windows, go to add remove programs and make sure that any programs for the device was removed.

Next, you should reinstall the sound card and drivers. It is possible driver updates have been made since the sound card was manufactured and released, so it is a good idea to visit the manufacturer's site and see if there are driver updates. Once you do this, restart the computer again. The problem is (more than likely) the default device in audio properties is still the onboard, you can select the creative devices and it will probably work, but it will be better to disable the onboard all together.

Uninstalling and reinstalling the sound card will more than likely fix your problem.
Other troubleshooting tips
If you are still experiencing difficulties, try these other troubleshooting ideas.

• If you think your sound card may be 'dead', before buying a new one, I would recommend borrowing one that is fully functioning from a friend, if possible, and installing that one to see if the error is in the card itself.

• Try using a different PCi slot, that way windows may detect it as new instead of trying to reconfigure it on the slots its currently on. This can also help you to determine whether one of the slots are bad.

• If you have an onboard sound card but are trying to use a sound card you bought separately, ensure the onboard one is disabled.

Always ensure the sound card you purchase is compatible with your board. If it doesn’t say on the packaging, do a little research online prior to the purchase.

Compact Flash Memory and Data Recovery

2009-12-26T06:34:00.001-08:00

Flash memory gets its name due to its microchip arrangement in such a way, that its section of memory cells gets erased in a single action or "Flash".
Both NOR and NAND Flash memory were invented by Dr. Fujio Masuoka from Toshiba in 1984.The name 'Flash' was suggested because the erasure process of the memory contents reminds a flash of a camera, and it's name was coined to express how much faster it could be erased "in a flash". Dr. Masuoka presented the invention at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held in San Jose, California in 1984 and Intel recognizes the potentiality of the invention and introduced the first commercial NOR type flash chip in 1988, with long erase and write times.

Flash memory is a form of non-volatile memory that can be electrically erased and rewrite, which means that it does not need power to maintain the data stored in the chip. In addition, flash memory offers fast read access times and better shock resistance than hard disks. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory for applications such as storage on battery-powered devices.

Flash memory is advance from of EEPROM (Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) that allows multiple memory locations to be erased or written in one programming operation. Unlike an EPROM (Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory) an EEPROM can be programmed and erased multiple times electrically. Normal EEPROM only allows one location at a time to be erased or written, meaning that flash can operate at higher effective speeds when the systems using; it read and write to different locations at the same time.

Referring to the type of logic gate used in each storage cell, Flash memory is built in two varieties and named as, NOR flash and NAND flash.
Flash memory stores one bit of information in an array of transistors, called "cells", however recent flash memory devices referred as multi-level cell devices, can store more than 1 bit per cell depending on amount of electrons placed on the Floating Gate of a cell. NOR flash cell looks similar to semiconductor device like transistors, but it has two gates. First one is the control gate (CG) and the second one is a floating gate (FG) that is shield or insulated all around by an oxide layer. Because the FG is secluded by its shield oxide layer, electrons placed on it get trapped and data is stored within. On the other hand NAND Flash uses tunnel injection for writing and tunnel release for erasing.

NOR flash that was developed by Intel in 1988 with unique feature of long erase and write times and its endurance of erase cycles ranges from 10,000 to 100,000 makes it suitable for storage of program code that needs to be infrequently updated, like in digital camera and PDAs. Though, later cards demand moved towards the cheaper NAND flash; NOR-based flash is hitherto the source of all the removable media.

Followed in 1989 Samsung and Toshiba form NAND flash with higher density, lower cost per bit then NOR Flash with faster erase and write times, but it only allows sequence data access, not random like NOR Flash, which makes NAND Flash suitable for mass storage device such as memory cards. SmartMedia was first NAND-based removable media and numerous others are behind like MMC, Secure Digital, xD-Picture Cards and Memory Stick. Flash memory is frequently used to hold control code such as the basic input/output system (BIOS) in a computer. When BIOS needs to be changed (rewritten), the flash memory can be written to in block rather than byte sizes, making it simple to update.
On the other hand, flash memory is not practical to random access memory (RAM) as RAM needs to be addressable at the byte (not the block) level. Thus, it is used more as a hard drive than as a RAM. Because of this particular uniqueness, it is utilized with specifically-designed file systems which extend writes over the media and deal with the long erase times of NOR flash blocks. JFFS was the first file systems, outdated by JFFS2. Then YAFFS was released in 2003, dealing specifically with NAND flash, and JFFS2 was updated to support NAND flash too. Still, in practice most follows old FAT file system for compatibility purposes.

Although it can be read or write a byte at a time in a random access fashion, limitation of flash memory is, it must be erased a "block" at a time. Starting with a freshly erased block, any byte within that block can be programmed. However, once a byte has been programmed, it cannot be changed again until the entire block is erased. In other words, flash memory (specifically NOR flash) offers random-access read and programming operations, but cannot offer random-access rewrite or erase operations.

This effect is partially offset by some chip firmware or file system drivers by counting the writes and dynamically remapping the blocks in order to spread the write operations between the sectors, or by write verification and remapping to spare sectors in case of write failure.
Due to wear and tear on the insulating oxide layer around the charge storage mechanism, all types of flash memory erode after a certain number of erase functions ranging from 100,000 to 1,000,000, but it can be read an unlimited number of times. Flash Card is easily rewritable memory and overwrites without warning with a high probability of data being overwritten and hence lost.

In spite of all these clear advantages, worse may occur due to system failure, battery failure, accidental erasure, re-format, power surges, faulty electronics and corruption caused by hardware breakdown or software malfunctions; as a result your data could be lost and damaged.

Flash Memory Data Recovery is the process of restoring data from primary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Flash memory data recovery is a flash memory file recovery service that restores all corrupted and deleted photographs even if a memory card was re-formatted. This can be due to physical damage or logical damage to the storage device. Data even from damage flash memory can be recovered, and more than 90% of lost data can be restored.

Colocation Hosting

2009-12-26T06:33:00.002-08:00

What’s colocation hosting?

Colocation hosting wherein multiple customers locate network, server and storage gear and interconnects to a volley of telecommunications and various other network service provider thus minimizes the complexity and cost. Have a dedicated hosting right away and enjoy complete freedom.

Added features of dedicated hosting!

Data centers should be monitored 24-7. Your systems should be housed in a state-of-the-art data center, with redundant air cooling and filtering systems, designed to operate even in the event of a power failure. Data centers should be located and built to withstand natural disasters, and other emergencies. Don’t you want to safeguard your data centre too. Evaluate your business's power, cooling and security requirements and design a solution that meets your need and scales to allow you to adapt in the future. Appropriate to businesses both large and small, co-location is a highly flexible, cost-effective and best practice solution to ensuring your business' IT service uptime.

Be one among the world’s leading players or excel them with secure and well managed colocation. Colocation pricing queries can be dealt with our online professionals with just a click or a phone call. Have a single rack or a dedicated private suite, your servers and core systems need to be housed in a secure, well managed, and environmentally controlled environment. Sometimes the server is hosted with one and the other provides the Internet connectivity. Here, there are issues with cross-connection fees, which can complicate the matter. The host must be able to provide uninterrupted connectivity without any major hiccups.

Colocation hosting can offer reliable power with clean, uninterruptible power, through a combination of multiple power grids, generators, and best-of-breed maintenance practices. Colocation facilities manage their climate with two kinds of dedicated cooling systems, chillers and CRAC units. Chillers are systems of pipes which circulate chilled water throughout the server rooms. CRAC units (computer room air-conditioning units) are targets air conditioners which never shut off. Servers generate enough heat to overheat a several-thousand square foot room in only a few minutes; by continuously cycling, CRAC units prevent heat buildup in server rooms.

• Single rack to full private suite options
• Fully complemented value-added connectivity and managed service solutions
• Have high bandwidth on-net network connectivity to tier one carrier backbones for Internet access and private network connectivity
• Ensuring maximum security and uptime

Meet the requirements of your business! Get on to the online route and find a Colocation Hosting provider for your business.

Clean Room Data Recovery - What's Its Significance?

2009-12-26T06:33:00.001-08:00

Clean rooms are rooms that have been designed to reduce the level of particulates in the air like dust aand airborne microbes. Clean room construction employs filters extensively. Outside air is filtered to prevent dust entering the room. Filters and processes will be in place inside the room to remove internally generated contaminants during production and working areas are often further filtered locally such as laminar flow bench.

Staff would usually have to enter clean rooms through airlocks and wear protective gear while working inside the rooms.

There are different "classes" of clean rooms, with each class limiting permissible different numbers of particles per cubic meter, as well as the maximum sizes particles. Thus a Class 1 clean room is one where the number of particles should not exceed 1000 particles per cubic meter.

Clean rooms are used extensively in the pharmaceutical, semiconductor manufacturing and biotech industries. Data recovery centres typically use a Class 100 clean room that has an allowance of 100,000 particles per cubic meter (compared to 35 million particles per cubic meter in a normal room).

Why Use Clean Rooms for Data Recovery?

Clean rooms are used for data recovery to prevent dust, electro static discharges and such disturbances. These kinds of precautions become necessary because even microscopic dust particles can damage the image on the drive platters, and make data recovery difficult.

With each generation of disks, data is packed more and more densely on the disk platters. It is thus increasingly important that data recovery be attempted in exceptionally clean rooms.

Drive manufacturers usually specify that their product guarantee will become void if the drive is opened by anybody other than themselves, or their authorized agents. And typically, one of the conditions they impose on authorized agents is that the disks be opened in clean rooms meeting specified standards.

Thus clean rooms are necessary for data recovery on both performance and product warranty considerations.

Clean Room Data Recovery

Disk drives are opened only in clean rooms and kept there until the recovery is complete and the drive is closed. All devices are also protected against electro-static discharge, physical shocks, temperature fluctuations and electrical disturbances.

Staff wear special clothing while working in the rooms and particle density is constantly monitored using particle counters. A typical objective of clean room data recovery centers is to maintain Class 10 conditions during production.

Conclusion

Data storage media are getting packed with data more and more densely with each new generation of drives. It is thus extremely important to attempt data recovery in exceptionally dust free rooms.

These days, clean room data recovery uses Class 100 clean rooms where the number of particles is reduced by some 350 times compared to normally prevailing particle density.

Clean room data recovery centers actually aim to achieve even higher levels of dust free conditions during production operations. Even minute specks of dust on the drive platters can damage the image on the media, and make data recovery even more difficult, if not impossible.

Can USB Data Recovery Be Recovered?

2009-12-26T06:31:00.000-08:00

When you store important information on a USB device, you take the chance of losing that information. Losing data on a USB can be kind of a mystery, but there are companies out there that can help you get that data back. These companies use engineering that can recover your lost data over ninety six percent of the time. These companies can even recover data that has been stored on a damaged USB device. So when you find yourself in a situation where you have lost valuable information you should not assume that this data can not be retrieved.

There are some companies that specialize in repairing damaged USB memory devices. In the process of retrieving your data, companies can also repair your device. Types of the problems they can repair broken solders, loose plugs, and broken internal connections. Some of the devices that they can fix are USB ports, USB sticks, USB drives, USB thumb drive, and Flash memory devices. These companies use a type of recovery called a jump drive recovery. They can recover any files from any type of USB drive or memory stick. Sometimes the chips inside the devices will be damaged, but don't fret; there are some companies that can fix that problem too.

So the conclusion on USB data recovery is that just because information seems to have disappeared, doesn't mean that it is lost forever. There are companies that can find and retrieve lost data on a damaged or removed USB device. In the process of finding data, the problems that caused the data to go missing in the first place will be fixed. This is helpful because it insures that it won't happen again. There are programs out there that can help you retrieve your data by yourself, but the problem might be bigger than you know, so you should always seek professional help. There could be problems inside your device that prevent your device from working properly.

A Safer Way to Recover Damaged Partitions

2009-12-26T06:30:00.001-08:00

Repairing damaged partitions on is a risky business. Even if you use the best toolkit and are absolutely sure in what you are doing, you are still risking your files shall something go wrong. Changes made to the damaged partition are irreversible; it is just too easy to overwrite an important system structure that holds vital information about your disk, files and data. Bottom line: it's good to backup before performing data recovery. But is this really the best way to do it?

There is a different approach to do data recovery that is even safer. No need to backup and restore during the recovery. Instead of making a backup copy of corrupted data, you can simply take a binary snapshot of the partition being repaired, and attempt the recovery with different settings as many times as you need on this snapshot instead of the actual disk.

SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor by http://softambulance.com/ is one of a few data recovery tools that allow recovering a virtual image of a damaged hard drive instead of repairing the hard drive directly. The data recovery tool lets you create a binary image of the damaged hard drive, and works with the binary image instead of the real thing. The binary image is a big file stored on another hard disk, CD, DVD or other media. The technology is similar to making an .iso image of a CD or DVD disc, only SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor extends it to partitions or even entire disks.

The hard drive copy may be virtual, but any data you save from it is for real. SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor can recover your files, documents and other data from the binary image and put it on a healthy media. After that, you can attempt fixing the damaged system structures of the corrupted hard drivewithout taking any risk at all. Any modifications will be performed on the virtual image.

Don't rush the recovery. Don't take the risk of losing or corrupting your data. Create a virtual snapshot of the hard drive being repaired, and work on that snapshot instead of accessing the corrupted hard drive. This procedure keeps your original data safe, and ensures the highest level of safety during the recovery process.

SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor recovers files from damaged and corrupted disks and partitions and fixes damaged hard drives. The disk recovery product supports all 32-bit versions of Windows, and recovers FAT and NTFS formatted hard disks, memory cards, CD and DVD media, and USB flash drives. The evaluation version is available for free at http://softambulance.com/

Your Home Page Nevr Being Changed

2009-08-29T05:09:00.000-07:00

Your Home Page Nevr Being Changed

Some websites illegally modify your registry editor and set their website as default home page, for stop this,

1. Right-click on the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop and select "Properties".

2. In the "Target" box you will see "C:\Program Files\Internet

Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE".

3. Now by adding the URL of the site to the end of this it overrides any
Homepage setting in internet options:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" www.shareordie.com

Winxp Tips And Tricks, Winsock 2 repair

2009-08-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

Winxp Tips And Tricks, Winsock 2 repair

WinXP Tips & Trix - Winsock 2 Repair

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Repairing Damaged Winsock2

The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged show when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG...

And you get the following error message:

An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

Also Internet Explorer may give the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:

From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory

Winsock Test Method 1
Run netdiag /test:winsock

The end should say Winsock test ..... passed

Winsock Test Method 2

Run Msinfo32
Click on the + by Components
Click on the by Network
Click on Protocol
There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok
MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
RSVP UDP Service Provider
RSVP TCP Service Provider
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...

If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.
If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.
There should be no fewer than 10 sections.

To repair Winsock2

Run Regedit
Delete the following two registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2

Restart the computer
Go to Network Connections
Right click and select Properties
Click on the Install button
Select Protocol
Click on the Add button
Click on the Have Disk button
Browse to the \Windows\inf directory
Click on the Open button
Click on the OK button
Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Click on the OK button
Reboot

Yahoo + geocities Posts

2009-08-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

Like the BrTurbo links... there's a little bit to know what the links from Yahoo/Geocities do... or how they work...

Maybe this can be pinned here as the BrTurbo post thread is posted here as well !?

===================================
The Beginning :
You must use a downloading program like flashget. 150+ Kbps download speeds

There is a lot of people downloading from these servers so don't be surprised
if it's hard to get the files lickity split, it will take time, maybe up to 24hours or longer.
Error 503 (Service Temporarily Unavailable), 508 (Unused) or 999 (Not available)
will be a Normal Response

( Error 404 is the only response you DON'T want = File deleted )

The following are tips for downloading from Yahoo/Geocities, you will get
what you want quicker and easier by following them.

A few restrictions that I've figured out by downloading from the Y/G servers:
You Must only use 1 jet (split part) per file, each extra jet added acts like a
separate file and you will have to do the IP change more often (see below).

Example: file.zip with 8 jets or split parts seems like 8 separate files
to the server yet you've only downloaded 1 file (IP change range 10 to 15 files)
If you don't mind changing your IP every 5 minutes then use all the jets you want, LoL
but I recommend just leaving at 1 jet per file.

(MOST Important)
You MUST change the Referrer on every file so it is Blank, if it isn't set correctly
you will get a 403 (forbidden error)
(Tip from DarkKnightz)

_____________________________________________________________________
The next section in most cases won't need to be read, But if
you do have a problem come back and read the rest, LoL
_____________________________________________________________________

Your downloads will stop at times with a code 999, 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable
or 508 Unused, be patient it will restart but give it some time, But if it doesn't
restart after 10 or so retries try pausing the download for 5 to 15 minutes, or
move on to another file and come back to it later. Keep bouncing around because
sooner or later they will start.

Most times if you pause your downloads for 5 to 15 minutes, they will restart,
But this is a last resort (IP Change)
Before doing this make sure you gave the files plenty of retries (approximately
25 No starts) If No more of the files will start downloading and your getting a
503 Service Temporarily Unavailable, 508 Unused or 999 Not available,
all you need to do is change your IP number.

#1 by re-dialing (Dial-up)

OR

#2 disconnect your modem from the net (disconnect your modem in the setup interface)
for about 30 seconds, reconnect the modem and you'll have a new IP.
Unless you have a static IP, in which you'll have to use proxies like with BRTurbo
to evade the max bandwidth restriction.

Any files that continue to be a problem Re-check to make sure you have the proper
referrer set, if they're all OK then you may have to wait a few hours and start where
you left off.

If you have a static IP use a proxy like when you download from BRTurbo links.

Winxp System Response, reboot whitout rebooting

2009-08-29T05:06:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been using your computer and your system sudddenly stops responding in ways like it if you try to open something it just hangs? One time I tried deleting a folder and it said it was in use, but it really wasn't. If this ever happens to you, you can follow these simple steps to 'reboot' your computer without 'rebooting' it.

Press CRTL + ALT + DEL

Goto the 'processes' tab and click explorer.exe once and then click 'end process'.

Now, click File > New Task and type explorer.exe

Everything should be fine now! If the problem is major, I would recomend actually shutting down then starting up again.

WinXP Bootable CD

2009-08-29T05:05:00.002-07:00

How to create a bootable Windows XP SP1 CD (Nero):

Step 1

Create 3 folders - C:\WINXPSP1, C:\SP1106 and C:\XPBOOT

Step 2

Copy the entire Windows XP CD into folder C:\WINXPSP1

Step 3

You will have to download the SP1 Update, which is 133MB.
Rename the Service Pack file to XP-SP1.EXE
Extract the Service Pack from the Run Dialog using the command:
C:\XP-SP1.EXE -U -X:C:\SP1106

Step 4

Open Start/Run... and type the command:
C:\SP1106\update\update.exe -s:C:\WINXPSP1

Click OK

Folder C:\WINXPSP1 contains: Windows XP SP1

How to Create a Windows XP SP1 CD Bootable

Step 1

Download xpboot.zip
Code:
Code:
http://thro.port5.com/xpboot.zip

( no download manager !! )

Extract xpboot.zip file (xpboot.bin) in to the folder C:\XPBOOT

Step 2

Start Nero - Burning Rom.
Select File > New... from the menu.
1.) Select CD-ROM (Boot)
2.) Select Image file from Source of boot image data
3.) Set Kind of emulation: to No Emulation
4.) Set Load segment of sectors (hex!): to 07C0
5.) Set Number of loaded sectors: to 4
6.) Press the Browse... button

Step 3

Select All Files (*.*) from File of type:
Locate boot.bin in the folder C:\XPBOOT

Step 4

Click ISO tab
Set File-/Directory length to ISO Level 1 (Max. of 11 = 8 + 3 chars)
Set Format to Mode 1
Set Character Set to ISO 9660
Check all Relax ISO Restrictions

Step 5

Click Label Tab
Select ISO9660 from the drop down box.
Enter the Volume Label as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the System Identifier as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Volume Set as WB2PFRE_EN
Enter the Publisher as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Data Preparer as MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Enter the Application as WB2PFRE_EN

* For Windows XP Professional OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXPOEM_EN
* For Windows XP Home OEM substitute WB2PFRE_EN with WXHOEM_EN

Step 6

Click Burn tab
Check Write
Check Finalize CD (No further writing possible!)
Set Write Method to Disk-At-Once

Press New button

Step 7

Locate the folder C:\WINXPSP1
Select everything in the folder and drag it to the ISO compilation panel.
Click the Write CD Dialog button.

Press Write

You're done.

Yahoo Messeger, no ad's

2009-08-29T05:05:00.001-07:00

I went into the system registery and found out that Yahoo! moved the 'banner url' key to a slightly different location. Than what it used in version 5.5!

Yahoo! IM no longer uses 'YUrl', but uses 'View' instead. You gotta click on each key inside of 'View' and edit the 'banner url' string to anything you want... I simply cleared mine out completely and it works flawlessly!

Here is what you gotta do:

Run regedit
Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Yahoo -> Pager -> View

Inside the 'View' key there are a several other keys... go through each one and edit the 'banner url' string to your liking. It even works if the string is left blank (this causes it to look as if ads were never even implemented)!

Restart Yahoo! IM for the effect to take hold.

This is great for Yahoo! IM 5.6 users who don't want to be bothered with ads.

Winxp Applications Startup Time, Decrease your Applications startup time

2009-08-29T05:04:00.001-07:00

By default, Microsoft includes the /prefetch:1 switch to speed up it's Windows Media Player application start time. This switch can be used for other Windows applications and also many third party programs.

Example #1

You have AOL 8.0 installed on the computer. Complete the steps outlined bewlo to add the /prefetch:1 switch to AOL's Target path.

1. Right click on the AOL shortcut and select properties from the menu.

2. In the Target: Field add the /prefetch:1 switch to the very end of the path, like this: "C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe" /prefetch:1 and then click ok.

Now start AOL. It would load at least 50 times faster than ever before.

Example #2

1, Go to the Start button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools

2. Right click on System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the /prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.

Now System Restore will start immediately when executed.

Note: This switch will only work with some programs. Others will return a message saying the program in the target box is invalid. Just remove the switch

Winxp Application Defrag, faster access for used programs

2009-08-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

Application and Boot file Defrag

This type of defrag pushes all commonly used programs and boot files to the edge of the hard drive for faster access. Windows XP normally schedules this every three days when it is idle, however you can force it to do this by useing the b switch anytime

i.e defrag c: -b

WinXP 3 Tips

2009-08-29T04:59:00.000-07:00

Win XP Tip, Hidden Back-up utility

Insert your windows XP disc into your PC.

Click exit if your installation screen comes up.

Now go too your CD drive in *My Computer*. Right-click and select open.

Choose VALUE ADD\MSFT\NT BACK-UP FILE.

In the *files of type* drop down list be sure that *select all files* is on.

Click on the NTBACK-UP.msi file and click okay.

Click the finish button and now go over too the start button\ALL PROGRAMS\ACCESSORIES\SYSTEM TOOLS\ and there it is now.. BACK-UP FILES...

Great little tool that Microsoft never should have hidden.

Win XP Tip, Rename Multiple Files

A new, small, neat feature for winXP deals with renaming files. I personally have always wanted the OS to include a way to do a mass file renaming on a bunch of files. You can now rename multiple files at once in WinXP. Its real simple:

1. Select several files in Explorer, press F2 and rename one of those files to something else. All the selected files get renamed to the new file name (plus a number added to the end).

2. Thats it. Simple huh.

I would recommend that you only have the files you want to rename in the directory your working in. I would also recommend that until you get used to this neat little trick that you save copies of the files in a safe location while your getting the hang of it.

Ever wonder what's going on behind that splash screen? Well, now you can find out!

Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Startup and Recovery, Edit. Edit BOOT.INI. Add "/SOS" right after "/fastdetect" with a space between. The line will look something like this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /SOS
. Then you're finished. The first part, multi(0)..... may not be the same on your machine. Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch.

Winsock 2 Repair

2009-08-20T07:37:00.000-07:00

Winsock 2 Repair

WinXP Tips & Trix - Winsock 2 Repair

Repairing Damaged Winsock2

The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged show when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG...

And you get the following error message:

An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

Also Internet Explorer may give the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:

From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory

Winsock Test Method 1
Run netdiag /test:winsock

The end should say Winsock test ..... passed

Winsock Test Method 2

Run Msinfo32
Click on the + by Components
Click on the by Network
Click on Protocol
There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok
MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
RSVP UDP Service Provider
RSVP TCP Service Provider
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...

If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.
If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.
There should be no fewer than 10 sections.

To repair Winsock2

Run Regedit
Delete the following two registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2

Restart the computer
Go to Network Connections
Right click and select Properties
Click on the Install button
Select Protocol
Click on the Add button
Click on the Have Disk button
Browse to the \Windows\inf directory
Click on the Open button
Click on the OK button
Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Click on the OK button
Reboot

punk.gif

System File Checker For Windows Xp

2009-08-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

Scans and verifies the versions of all protected system files after you restart your computer. Syntax

sfc [/scannow] [/scanonce] [/scanboot] [/revert] [/purgecache] [/cachesize=x]

Parameters

/scannow
Scans all protected system files immediately.
/scanonce
Scans all protected system files once.
/scanboot
Scans all protected system files every time the computer is restarted.
/revert
Returns the scan to its default operation.
/purgecache
Purges the Windows File Protection file cache and scans all protected system files immediately.
/cachesize=x
Sets the size, in MB, of the Windows File Protection file cache.
/?
Displays help at the command prompt.

Remarks

* You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to run sfc.
* If sfc discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder, and then replaces the incorrect file.
* If the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache folder becomes corrupt or unusable, use sfc /scannow, sfc /scanonce, or sfc /scanboot to repair the contents of the Dllcache directory.

Formatting legend

Format Meaning
Italic Information that the user must supply
Bold Elements that the user must type exactly as shown
Ellipsis (...) Parameter that can be repeated several times in a command line
Between brackets ([]) Optional items
Between braces ({}); choices separated by pipe (|). Example: {even|odd} Set of choices from which the user must choose only one
Courier font Code or program output

Windows File Protection

Using File Signature Verification

Driver Signing for Windows

Command-line reference A-Z

Please note that this Command Line reference is to varify the integrity of the WindowsXP DLL's that were shipped with Windows XP. It will try to repair damaged DLL's by prompting for the Windows CD.

The Windows XP System File Protection which remains active in the background monitors these DLL's and if it detects an altered DLL will alert a user with a popup message asking for the Windows XP CD. This is so that it can revert the corrupt DLL back to its original state.

SFC checker in Windows XP can only be ran by an Administrator and is not ran in the same way as its previous incarnation from the Windows 98 OS.

WinRar Tutorial - Compression profiles, passwords and more

2009-08-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

WinRar Tutorial_Compression profiles, passwords and more

FIRST - Set Yer options correctly

Open WInRar

OPTIONS | SETTINGS | COMPRESSSION | CREATE DEFAULT

GENERAL | (ok now that we're there, here's what U do next)

But 1st -> realize that everything U set on the default profile will occur everytime U rar files. So if U only need a password occasionally, or other special settings, then create another profile for those purposes. U can change which profile U need to use when WinRar is open. The Default profile is used otherwise, such as when using WinRar from the context menus in explorer.

General tab:

Archive format RAR

Compression method BEST

size (enter in BYTES the size you want as the max single Rar file). I use 51,200,000 (50,000 KB x 1024). But chose yer max size as U wish.

Update method ADD AND REPLACE FILES

Archiving options: check > PUT RECOVERY RECORD

Archiving options: check > TEST ARCHIVED FILES.

Archiving options: check > DELETE FILES AFTER ARCHIVING ( unless U want yer HDD to fill up with the rars & the original files for some reason)

Archiving options: do NOT check > Put authenticy verification, as this can be a source of Error Messages being generated upon extraction.

Archiving options: check > Create SFX ONLY if U don't expect the person getting the filez to have WinRar. Otherwise leave it UNCHECKED.

Archiving options: do NOT check > Create Solid Archive. This can cause problems in certain cases.

Archiving options: do NOT check > Lock Arhive. This has NOTHING to do with a password.

Advanced tab:

Recovery Record -> U can leave it at 1%. Only set it higher if U expect the rar files to have a high risk of corruption. (very bad internet connections, or use on floppy disks, etc)

All else can be left alone. Don't bother with the Compression button.

Files Tab

File Paths -> STORE RELATIVE PATHS. (unless U have a specific folder U want the files to be extracted to. Such as c:\program files\No Name Appz\link catcher).

The rest leave alone

Backup Tab

No need to change anything.

Time Tab

Files to Process -> OF ANY TIME

Comment Tab

Whatever comment U enter there will be shown on the right hand pane when WinRar opens yer Rar files. Think of something fun, catchy,interesting. I always mention that the files have recovery record set, so if they are corrupted in transfer, the person knows to use REPAIR function.

Click OK, U have now created yer default profile.

==============================================

HOW TO CREATE a PASSWORDED PROFILE, which will NOT be the default:

open WInRar

Click the ADD Icon

ADVANCED | Push the SET PASSWORD Button

Check the SHOW PASSWORD box, so U can see what U typed and also copy/paste it to wherever U need it, such as on yer post. Now only one box will be open to enter the password. COPY/PASTE it to a txt file. I call mine WinRAR_Password.txt. Do this IMMEDIATELY afer entering it, before closing that window, or U may be very sorry later.

Enter the password. It is CASE SENSITIVE. If the password is 8 or more alpha-numeric characters, no one will be able to hack it. Unless they own a super-computer. Avoid using words that are found in dictionaries.

Check the encrypt file names box. That way, even if some nasty person obtains yer Rar file, they won't know what is in it, especially if the name U give the rar file is "Grandma_pix.rar" or whatever.

Back to GENERAL tab | PROFILES button | Save Current Settings to a New Profile

Enter the name of this profile. For example if the passwd is ht*p://www.superforum.com, U might name the profile Superforum. Only U will see this profile name. It does not go into the rar files made from it.

Do NOTHING more, do NOT set this as default profile.

Click OK | Click OK again.

Now U have a Passworded Profile.

================================================

HOW TO USE the PASSWORD PROFILE
Note -> Everything U set on the default profile will occur everytime U rar files. So when U need the password profile, follow these instructions. The Default profile is used otherwise, such as when using WinRar from the contest menus in explorer.

Open WinRar

Browse to the filez/folderz U want to Rar with Password.

Highlight all filez/folderz to be included.

Press the ADD button.

GENERAL tab | PROFILES button

Scoll down to the profile whcih has the password set. In my example Superforum

Click OK

The filez are Rar'd. U can check if U did all correctly by opening the rar filez, and seeing if a password is required.

Until U change back to DEFAULT profile in this same method, or close WinRar, all Rar'z U create after this will have a password.

================================================

HOW TO REPAIR A CORRUPTED RAR FILE:

With Win Explorer create a sub folder REPAIRED

Open WinRar, browse to the folder with the damaged Rar file(z). U can find which one is bad by selecting the 1st RAR file and using TEST button.

Select the damaged file, press REPAIR button.

In dialogue box, enter the path to the REPAIR subfolder, or browse to it.

As long as there is a RECOVERY record in that Rar, it will be repaired.

Copy all the NON-DAMAGED rars to your repair folder and rename the REPAIRED file back to it's original name.

Proceed with extraction in the REPAIR folder as normal.

===============================================

MISC TIPS:

If U select a folder to Rar, later when U extract it inside that folder, U end up with nested folders of same name. (We've all seen this often when extracting rars.

So Instead, go inside the folder, select all the filez & sub-folderz. Now U have a rar inside just one folder.

Note to w***z Groups, how about using WinRar Recovery option finally, and avoiding problems with corrupt DL's ?

Windows Xp Tweaks, A work in progress

2009-08-20T07:33:00.002-07:00

OK, every time I have to install, reinstall, or optimize someone elses XP setup I forget what I need to do, so I have to go throught dozens of magizines and find all the good useful tweaks that will speed up the computer and Windows.
So I made this tutoral and text file so I and everyone else can see and use on a floppy or thumb drive or something and carry it around, so you don't have to forget and can tweak the computer without downloading anything.

And if you have something to add, just post it and I'll add it to the text file and this post.

Services to turn off:
Alerter
Application Management
Automatic Updates
ClipBook
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Error Reporting Service
Fast User Switching Compatibility
Messenger
Portable Media Serial Number Service
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Task Scheduler
Telnet
TPC/IP NetBIOS Helper
Uninterruptible Power Supply

Change "Recycle Bin" size to 1%

Registry Hacks:

Auto Sort Start Menu
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder
Go to Edit/Permissions, click Advanced, clear the "Inherit From Parent" check box, click Copy from the dialog box, click OK and then clear the "Full Control" for your account and now Windows will autp sort the start menu, but you can still do it too

Disable User Tracking
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Add or Edit DWORD = NoInstrumentation, Value = 1
Disables Windows user tracking; better performance, much better privacy

Cache Thumbnails
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Add or Edit DWORD = DisableThumbnailCache, Value = 1
Disables thumbnails in Windows, saving hard drive space

Kill Chrashed Apps Quicker
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add or Edit Sring = HungAppTimeout, Value = 1000-5000
Cuts time for Windows to recongize a crashed application and allow you to kill it; default is 5000(for 5 seconds)

Faster Start Menu
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add or Edit Sring = MenuShowDelay, Value = 0 - 400
Changes the delay that for Windows to show a menu in the start menu; value is in ms

Network Intelligently
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Add or Edit String = DisableTaskOffload, Value = 1
Frees processor from doing network-card work

Browse the Network Faster
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace
Delete subkeys {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} and {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Speeds up network browsing of old Windows machines on the LAN by ignoring their scheduled tasks and printers

Remove Compression Option In Disk Cleanup
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Compress old files
Delete the Default Value Key and the next time you start Disk Cleanup, it will skip the compression analyisis

http://www.geocities.com/ubergamergeek/Windows_XP_Tweaks.txt

Windows XP Tweaks

2009-08-20T07:33:00.001-07:00

Services to turn off:
Alerter
Application Management
Automatic Updates
ClipBook
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Error Reporting Service
Fast User Switching Compatibility
Messenger
Portable Media Serial Number Service
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Task Scheduler
Telnet
TPC/IP NetBIOS Helper
Uninterruptible Power Supply

Change "Recycle Bin" size to 1%

Registry Hacks:

Auto Sort Start Menu
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder
Go to Edit/Permissions, click Advanced, clear the "Inherit From Parent" check box, click Copy from the dialog box, click OK and then clear the "Full Control" for your account and now Windows will autp sort the start menu, but you can still do it too

Disable User Tracking
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Add or Edit DWORD = NoInstrumentation, Value = 1
Disables Windows user tracking; better performance, much better privacy

Cache Thumbnails
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Add or Edit DWORD = DisableThumbnailCache, Value = 1
Disables thumbnails in Windows, saving hard drive space

Kill Chrashed Apps Quicker
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add or Edit Sring = HungAppTimeout, Value = 1000-5000
Cuts time for Windows to recongize a crashed application and allow you to kill it; default is 5000(for 5 seconds)

Faster Start Menu
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Add or Edit Sring = MenuShowDelay, Value = 0 - 400
Changes the delay that for Windows to show a menu in the start menu; value is in ms

Network Intelligently
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Add or Edit String = DisableTaskOffload, Value = 1
Frees processor from doing network-card work

Browse the Network Faster
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace
Delete subkeys {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} and {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Speeds up network browsing of old Windows machines on the LAN by ignoring their scheduled tasks and printers

Remove Compression Option In Disk Cleanup
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Compress old files
Delete the Default Value Key and the next time you start Disk Cleanup, it will skip the compression analyisis

Windows Xp Tips 'n' Tricks

2009-08-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

Windows Xp Tips 'n' Tricks, Windows XP Tips 'n' Tricks

Please note that some of these tips require you to use a Registry Editor (regedit.exe), which could render your system unusable. Thus, none of these tips are supported in any way: Use them at your own risk. Also note that most of these tips will require you to be logged on with Administrative rights.

Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini
============================

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882 335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:

Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:

Pid=51882OEM

How do I get the "Administrator" name on Welcome Screen?
========================================================

To get Admin account on the "Welcome Screen" as well as the other usernames, make sure that there are no accounts logged in.

Press "ctrl-alt-del" twice and you should be able to login as administrator!

finally worked for me after i found out that all accounts have to be logged out first

Fix Movie Inteferance in AVI files
==================================

If you have any AVI files that you saved in Windows 9x, which have interference when opened in Windows XP, there is an easy fix to get rid of the interference:

Open Windows Movie Maker.
Click View and then click Options.
Click in the box to remove the check mark beside Automatically create clips.

Now, import the movie file that has interference and drag it onto the timeline. Then save the movie, and during the rerendering, the interference will be removed.

Create a Password Reset Disk
============================

If you’re running Windows XP Professional as a local user in a workgroup environment, you can create a password reset disk to log onto your computer when you forget your password. To create the disk:

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click User Accounts.
Click your account name.
Under Related Tasks, click Prevent a forgotten password.

Follow the directions in the Forgotten Password Wizard to create a password reset disk.

Store the disk in a secure location, because anyone using it can access your local user account

Change Web Page Font Size on the Fly
====================================

If your mouse contains a wheel for scrolling, you can change font size on the fly when viewing a Web page. To do so:

Press and hold Ctrl. Scroll down (or towards yourself) to enlarge the font size. Scroll up (or away from yourself) to reduce the font size.

You might find it useful to reduce font size when printing a Web page, so that you can fit more content on the page.

WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown
=================================

WINXPCPS.REG (WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown)

This Registration (.REG) file clears the Page file when you power off the computer.
Restart Windows for these changes to take effect!
ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES!

Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management

and add the DWORD variable "ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001

You can also do this without reg hacking.
Go to Control panel Administartative tools, local security policy. then goto local policies ---> security options.
Then change the option for "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"

Group Policy for Windows XP
===========================

One of the most full featured Windows XP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following:

gpedit.msc

After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!

Forgetting What Your Files Are?
===============================

This procedure works under NTFS.

As times goes along you have a lot files on your computer. You are going to forget what they are. Well here is way to identify them as you scroll through Windows Explorer in the future.

This procedure works under NTFS.

1.. Open up a folder on your system that you want to keep track of the different files you might one to identify in the future.

2.. Under View make certain that you set it to the Details.

3.. Highlight the file you want to keep more information on. Right click the file and you will get a pop up menu. Click on properties.

4.. Click on the Summary Tab (make sure it says simple not advanced on the button in the box), You should now get the following fields,

Title,Subject, Author, Category, Keywords, Comments

You will see advanced also if you have changed it to simple, Here will be other fields you can fill in.

5.. Next you can fill in what ever field you want.

6.. After you finished click the apply button then OK.

7.. Next right click the bar above your files, under the address barand you should get a drop down menu. Here you can click the fields you want to display.

8.. You should now see a list with the new fields and any comments you have done.

9.. Now if you want to sort these just right click a blank spot and then you sort the information to your liking.

Temporarily Assign Yourself Administrative Permissions
======================================================

Many programs require you to have Administrative permissions to be able to install them. Here is an easy way to temporarily assign yourself Administrative permissions while you remain logged in as a normal user.

Hold down the Shift key as you right-click on the program’s setup file.

Click Run as.

Type in a username and password that have Administrative permissions.

This will also work on applications in the Start menu.

Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer
=======================================

Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don’t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screensaver.

To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer:

Right-click the desktop.
Point to New, and then click Shortcut.

The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following:
rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Click Next.

Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like.

Click Finish.

You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll).

To change the icon:

Right click the shortcut and then select Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button.

In the Look for icons in this file text box, type:
Shell32.dll.

Click OK.

Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK

You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.

Create a Shortcut to Start Remote Desktop
=========================================

Tip: You can add a shortcut to the desktop of your home computer to quickly start Remote Desktop and connect to your office computer.

To create a shortcut icon to start Remote Desktop

Click Start, point to More Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, and then click on Remote Desktop Connection.

Click Options.

Configure settings for the connection to your office computer.

Click Save As, and enter a name, such as Office Computer. Click Save.

Open the Remote Desktops folder.

Right-click on the file named Office Computer, and then click Create Shortcut.

Drag the shortcut onto the desktop of your home computer.

To start Remote Desktop and connect to your office computer, double-click on the shortcut

Instantly Activate a Screensaver
================================

Turn on a screensaver without having to wait by adding a shortcut to your desktop:

Click the Start button, and then click Search.
In the Search Companion window, click All file types.

In the file name box, type *.scr

In the Look in box, choose Local Hard Drives (C or the drive where you have system files stored on your computer.

Click Search.

You will see a list of screensavers in the results. Pick a screensaver you want. You can preview it by double-clicking it.

Right click on the file, choose Send To, and then click Desktop (create shortcut).

To activate the screensaver, double-click the icon on your desktop

Add a Map Drive Button to the Toolbar
=====================================

Do you want to quickly map a drive, but can’t find the toolbar button? If you map drives often, use one of these options to add a Map Drive button to the folder toolbar.

Option One (Long Term Fix)

Click Start, click My Computer, right-click the toolbar, then unlock the toolbars, if necessary.

Right-click the toolbar again, and then click Customize.

Under Available toolbar buttons, locate Map Drive, and drag it into the position you want on the right under Current toolbar buttons.

Click Close, click OK, and then click OK again.

You now have drive mapping buttons on your toolbar, so you can map drives from any folder window. To unmap drives, follow the above procedure, selecting Disconnect under Available toolbar buttons. To quickly map a drive, try this option.

Option Two (Quick Fix)

Click Start, and right-click My Computer.
Click Map Network Drive.

If you place your My Computer icon directly on the desktop, you can make this move in only two clicks!

Software not installing?
========================

If you have a piece of software that refuses to install because it says that you are not running Windows 2000 (such as the Win2K drivers for a Mustek scanner!!) you can simply edit HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/ProductName to say Microsoft Windows 2000 instead of XP and it will install. You may also have to edit the version number or build number, depending on how hard the program tries to verify that you are installing on the correct OS. I had to do this for my Mustek 600 CP scanner (compatibility mode didn''t help!!!) and it worked great, so I now have my scanner working with XP (and a tech at Mustek can now eat his words).

BTW, don''t forget to restore any changes you make after you get your software installed

You do this at your own risk.

Use your Windows Key
====================

The Windows logo key, located in the bottom row of most computer keyboards is a little-used treasure. Don''t ignore it. It is the shortcut anchor for the following commands:

Windows: Display the Start menu
Windows + D: Minimize or restore all windows
Windows + E: Display Windows Explorer
Windows + F: Display Search for files
Windows + Ctrl + F: Display Search for computer
Windows + F1: Display Help and Support Center
Windows + R: Display Run dialog box
Windows + break: Display System Properties dialog box
Windows + shift + M: Undo minimize all windows
Windows + L: Lock the workstation
Windows + U: Open Utility Manager
Windows + Q: Quick switching of users (Powertoys only)
Windows + Q: Hold Windows Key, then tap Q to scroll thru the different users on your pc

Change your cd key
==================

You don't need to re-install if you want to try the key out ... just do this:

1. Go to Activate Windows
2. Select the Telephone option
3. Click "Change Product Key"
4. Enter NOT ALLOWED ~ Zabref
5. Click "Update"

Now log off and log back in again. It should now show 60 days left, minus the number of days it had already counted down.

Note: If your crack de-activated REGWIZC.DLL and LICDLL.DLL, you are going to have to re-register them.

Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer
====================================================

One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the sh*ll
: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it.
Until now, that is.

Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders

You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer" will be gone.

You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.

Before: A cluttered mess with icons no one will ever use (especially that orpaned one). After: Simplicity itself, and the way it should be by default.

This tip For older XP builds
===================

Edit or remove the "Comments" link in window title bars

During the Windows XP beta, Microsoft has added a "Comments?" hyperlink to the title bar of each window in the system so that beta testers can more easily send in a problem report about the user interface. But for most of us, this isn't an issue, and the Comments link is simply a visual distraction. And for many programs that alter the title bar, the Comments link renders the Minimize, Maximize, and Close window buttons unusable, so it's actually a problem.
Let's get rid of it. Or, if you're into this kind of thing, you can edit it too.

Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following keys:
My Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ LameButtonEnabled
My Computer \ HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ LameButtonText

The first key determines whether the link appears at all; change its value to 0 to turn it off. The second key lets you have a little fun with the hyperlink; you can change the text to anything you'd like, such as "Paul Thurrott" or whatever.

Editing either value requires a restart before the changes take effect.

Before: An unnecessary hyperlink. Have some fun with it! Or just remove it entirely. It's up to you.

Rip high-quality MP3s in Windows Media Player 8
================================================

The relationship between Windows Media Player 8 and the MP3 audio format is widely misunderstood. Basically, WMP8 will be able to playback MP3 files, but encoding (or "ripping" CD audio into MP3 format will require an MP3 plug-in. So during the Windows XP beta, Microsoft is supplying a sample MP3 plug-in for testing purposes, but it's limited to 56 Kbps rips, which is pretty useless. However, if you have an externally installed MP3 codec, you can use WMP8 to rip at higher bit rates. But you'll have to edit the Registry to make this work.
Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ MediaPlayer \ Settings \ MP3Encoding

Here, you'll see sub-keys for LowRate and LowRateSample, which of course equates to the single 56 Kbps sample rate you see in WMP8. To get better sampling rates, try adding the following keys (Using New then DWORD value):

"LowRate" = DWORD value of 0000dac0
"MediumRate" = DWORD value of 0000fa00
"MediumHighRate" = DWORD value of 0001f400
"HighRate" = DWORD value of 0002ee00

Now, when you launch WMP8 and go into Tools, then Options, then Copy Music, you will have four encoding choices for MP3: 56 Kbps, 64 Kbps, 128 Kbps, and 192 Kbps. Note that you will not get higher bit rate encoding unless you have installed an MP3 codec separately; the version in Windows Media Player 8 is limited to 56 Kbps only.

Find the appropriate location in the Registry... ...add a few DWORD values... ...And then you'll be ripping CDs in higher-quality MP3 format!

Speed up the Start Menu
=======================

The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay

By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.

Speed up the Start Menu (Part two)
==================================

If your confounded by the slow speed of the Start Menu, even after using the tip above, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Advanced and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow . You will get much better overall performance.

Speed up Internet Explorer 6 Favorites
======================================

For some reason, the Favorites menu in IE 6 seems to slow down dramatically sometimes--I've noticed this happens when you install Tweak UI 1.33, for example, and when you use the preview tip to speed up the Start menu. But here's a fix for the problem that does work, though it's unclear why:
Just open a command line window (Start button -> Run -> cmd) and type sfc, then hit ENTER. This command line runs the System File Checker, which performs a number of services, all of which are completely unrelated to IE 6. But there you go: It works.

Do an unattended installation
=============================

The Windows XP Setup routine is much nicer than that in Windows 2000 or Windows Me, but it's still an hour-long process that forces you to sit in front of your computer for an hour, answering dialog boxes and typing in product keys. But Windows XP picks up one of the more useful features from Windows 2000, the ability to do an unattended installation, so you can simply prepare a script that will answer all those dialogs for you and let you spend some quality time with your family.
I've written about Windows 2000 unattended installations and the process is pretty much identical on Windows XP, so please read that article carefully before proceeding. And you need to be aware that this feature is designed for a standalone Windows XP system: If you want to dual-boot Windows XP with another OS, you're going to have to go through the interactive Setup just like everyone else: An unattended install will wipe out your hard drive and install only Windows XP, usually.

To perform an unattended installation, you just need to work with the Setup Manager, which is located on the Windows XP CD-ROM in D:\SupportTools\DEPLOY.CAB by default: Extract the contents of this file and you'll find a number of useful tools and help files; the one we're interested in is named setupmgr.exe. This is a very simple wizard application that will walk you through the process of creating an answer file called winnt.sif that can be used to guide Windows XP Setup through the unattended installation.

One final tip: There's one thing that Setup Manager doesn't add: Your product key. However, you can add this to the unattend.txt file manually. Simply open the file in Notepad and add the following line under the [UserData] section:

ProductID=RK7J8-2PGYQ-P47VV-V6PMB-F6XPQ

(This is a 60 day cd key)

Then, just copy winnt.sif to a floppy, put your Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD drive, and reboot: When the CD auto-boots, it will look for the unattend.txt file in A: automatically, and use it to answer the Setup questions if it's there.

Finally, please remember that this will wipe out your system! Back up first, and spend some time with the help files in DEPLOY.CAB before proceeding.

For Older builds or not using setupreg.hiv file
===============================================

Remove the Desktop version text

During the Windows XP beta, you will see text in the lower right corner of the screen that says Windows XP Professional, Evaluation Copy. Build 2462 or similar. A lot of people would like to remove this text for some reason, and while it's possible to do so, the cure is more damaging than the problem, in my opinion. So the following step will remove this text, but you'll lose a lot of the nice graphical effects that come in Windows XP, such as the see-through icon text.

To remove the desktop version text, open Display Properties (right-click the desktop, then choose Properties) and navigate to the Desktop page. Click Customize Desktop and then choose the Web page in the resulting dialog. On this page, check the option titled Lock desktop items. Click OK to close the dialog, and then OK to close Display Properties. The text disappears. But now the rest of your system is really ugly. You can reverse the process by unchecking Lock desktop items.

There's also a shortcut for this process: Just right-click the desktop and choose Arrange by then Lock Web Icons on the Desktop.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!
=======================================

As laptop users and other LCD owners are quickly realizing, Microsoft's ClearType technology in Windows XP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in Windows XP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon.

But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:

(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)

Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.

Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting
=========================================

If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger simply delete the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSMSGS

Display Hibernate Option on the Shut Down dialog
================================================

For some reason, Hibernate may not be available from the default Shut Down dialog. But you can enable it simply enough, by holding down the SHIFT key while the dialog is visible. Now you see it, now you don't!

Add album art to any music folder
=================================

One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, Windows XP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for Windows XP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well. Your music folders never looked so good!

Album cover art makes music folder thumbnails look better than ever!

Change the location of the My Music or My Pictures folders
==========================================================

In Windows 2000, Microsoft added the ability to right-click the My Documents folder and choose a new location for that folder in the sh*ll
. With Windows XP, Microsoft has elevated the My Music and My Pictures folders to the same "special sh*ll
folder" status of My Documents, but they never added a similar (and simple) method for changing those folder's locations. However, it is actually pretty easy to change the location of these folders, using the following method.

Open a My Computer window and navigate to the location where you'd like My Music (or My Pictures) to reside. Then, open the My Documents folder in a different window. Drag the My Music (or My Pictures) folder to the other window, and Windows XP will update all of the references to that folder to the new location, including the Start menu.

Or use Tweak UI

Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP
==========================================

To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open the sysoc.inf file. Under Windows XP Professional Edition RC1, this file will resemble the following by default:

[Version] Signature = "$Windows NT$"
DriverVer=06/26/2001,5.1.2505.0

[Components]
NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4
WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7
Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7
Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7
NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7
com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7
dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7
IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7
TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2
msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6
ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7
fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7
AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7
msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7
msnexplr=ocmsn.dll,OcEntry,msnmsn.inf,,7
smarttgs=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,msnsl.inf,,7
RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7
Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

[Global]
WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%
WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"

The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, relaunch Add/Remove Windows Components, and tweak the installed applications to your heart's content.

Cool, eh? There are even more new options now under "Accessories and Utilities" too.

Remove Windows Messenger
========================

It seems that a lot of people are interested in removing Windows Messenger for some reason, though I strongly recommend against this: In Windows XP, Windows Messenger will be the hub of your connection to the .NET world, and now that this feature is part of Windows, I think we're going to see a lot of .NET Passport-enabled Web sites appearing as well. But if you can't stand the little app, there are a couple of ways to get rid of it, and ensure that it doesn't pop up every time you boot into XP. The best way simply utilizes the previous tip:

If you'd like Windows Messenger to show up in the list of programs you can add and remove from Windows, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf (substituting the correct drive letter for your version of Windows) and open sysoc.inf (see the previous tip for more information about this file). You'll see a line that reads:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

Change this to the following and Windows Messenger will appear in Add or Remove Programs, then Add/Remove Windows Components, then , and you can remove it for good:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,7

Windows XP Startup and Performance Tweaks

2009-08-20T04:33:00.000-07:00

Windows XP Startup and Performance Tweaks

Windows XP is now the predominant consumer OS of both gamers and power users. Sure, many of us still dual-boot with Win9x, because it is faster for many games, but the joy of a true 32-bit operating system with full consumer support is too much for many of us to remain loyal to NT 4.0 or Windows 2000. Now that Windows XP has matured past its infancy and many (but by far not all) of the bugs have been shaken out of it, Ars Technica brings you the first in a series of tweak guides for this illustrious and yet somewhat finicky OS.

This first guide aims to cover two main areas of contention: the boot process (sans the system services, which are an entire guide of their own) and a mishmash of general computing tweaks. The boot tweaks will be comprised of not only system settings, but also several under-utilized applications that can dramatically reduce load time. The general performance tweaks are simply various tweaks that do not quite fit in with the theme of this article, but still have a significant effect on system startup performance (because most any tweaks that one performs should have some kind of effect on the startup time of the system).

Before we begin, several pieces of laundry need to be aired out. To begin with, if you have already tweaked the services on the computer in question, please return them to the default settings. One of the applications I am recommending requires that several systems be enabled that most power users frequently disable (e.g., Task Scheduler). Once you have completed the tweaks mentioned in this guide, feel free to return said services back to your preferred settings, as they only need to be enabled for a short time.

View

http://arstechnica.com/tweak/win2k/xp/sgp-tweaks-1.html

Windows XP Registry Tweaks

2009-08-20T04:21:00.000-07:00

Hacking Windows XP Registry

Structure of Windows XP Registry :

When you will open the Windows XP Registry , you will see it's divided into two panes. On the left side there are Five main
Keys as shown below. These can be expanded to several Sub-Keys, which further has many Sub-Keys.

+HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

+HKEY_CURRENT_USER

+HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

+HKEY_USERS

+HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

Before you try out the Tweaks, learn how to Backup and Restore Windows XP Registry.
Types of Registry Backups :
It?s very important that before you do editing you make a backup of the current registry. If you ignore this warning, it might prove deadly for you?so better listen to me J
Open your registry. Go to Start>Run , type regedit . When you invoke the Export function from File>Export, you are given a choice of different file types that can be saved :
Registration Files (*.reg)
Registry Hive Files (*.*)
Text Files (*.txt)
Win9x/NT 4 Registration Files (*.reg)
All Files

Each one of the different file types above plays an important role in how the data you export is saved. Choosing the wrong type can give you unexpected results. So let me explain you quickly these file types.

Registrations Files : The Registration Files option creates a .reg file. This is the most well known file format used for backing up the registry. The Registration File can be used in two ways. As a text file it can be read and edited using Notepad outside of Registry Editor. Once the changes have been made and saved, right clicking the file and using the [Merge] command adds the changed file back into the registry. If you make additions to the registry using regedit and then merge the previously saved Registration File, anything that you've added via regedit will not be removed, but changes you make to data using regedit that previously existed in the saved Registration File will be overwritten when it is merged

Registry Hive Files : Unlike the Registration Files option above, the Registry Hive Files option creates a binary image of the selected registry key. The image file is not editable via Notepad nor can you view its contents using a text editor. However, what the Registry Hive Files format does is create an image perfect view of the selected key and allow you to import it back into the registry to insure any problematic changes you made are eliminated.

Text Files : This option does just as the name suggests. It creates a text file containing the information in the selected key. It's most useful purpose is creating a record or snapshot of a key at a particular point in time that you can refer back to if necessary. It cannot be merged back into the registry like a Registration File.

Win9x/NT 4 Registration Files : This option creates a .reg file in the same manner used by the Registration Files option. It's used by previous Windows versions and serves no purpose in XP unless you want to merge a key from XP into a previous version of Windows.

Out of the give above choices , the safest method of backing up registry is to use Registry Hive Files option. No matter what ever you do or goes wrong in editing, importing the image of the key will eliminate all changes.

**Note-> I have included the exact name/value between [ ] brackets. [ & ] should be ignored, only the data inside them should be considered.

1. Customize Windows Media Player Title Bar

Change the title bar to read Windows Media Player provided by , so if I had entered text ?Abhishek Bhuyan? , it would read: Windows Media Player provided by Abhishek Bhuyan

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft
Create the Key [WindowsMediaPlayer]
Create String value named [TitleBar]

Data Type: REG_SZ // Value Name: TitleBar
Double click TitleBar and Enter the text to be displayed in the title bar.

Exit Registry / Reboot

2. Minimize Outlook 2002 to the System Tray

If you frequently access Outlook during the day it?s more convenient to have it minimized to the system tray rather than invoking it each time you need to send/receive e-mail. This tweak minimizes Outlook 2002 to the system tray:

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Preferences

Modify/Create Data Type DWORD named [MinToTray]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

3. Specify Default IE Download Directory

This tweak changes the default directory where downloads initiated in Internet Explorer are stored on the system.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [Download Directory]
Value Data: [Enter Path to Directory to be Assigned as Defualt for Downloads]

Exit Registry / Reboot

4. Force Use of Classic Start Menu

This tweak loads the Classic Start Menu and makes it impossible to change back to the Windows XP version

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Modify/Create the DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NoSimpleStartMenu]
Value Data: [0 = Default / 1 = Force Classic Start Menu]

Exit Registry / Reboot

5. Hide/Show Internet Explorer Desktop Icon

By default, Windows XP does not show the Internet Explorer icon on the Windows desktop. Using the registry tweak below allows you to control whether or not the Internet Explorer icon is displayed.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NoInternetIcon]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

6. Increase Menu Display Speed

When you click on the Start Menu there is some delay to display the contents , just for no reason. Effects are pretty though. The default speed can be adjusted with a quick registry entry.

The default value is 400. Set it to 0 and the delay is gone. If you are not able to adjust pick a number that suits your style and make the change.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Modify/Create String value of Data type REG_SZ Named [MenuShowDelay]

Value Data: [Default = 400 / Adjust to Preference]

Exit Registry / Reboot

7. Change the Location of Special Folders

This tweak allows changing the location of special folders on the system. Any of the folders listed in the registry key may be moved.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserShell Folders

Modify/Create String value of Data type REG_SZ Named [Various Folder Names]

Data Type: REG_SZ [String Value] // Value Name: Consult RegEdit for Folder Names

Value Data: [Move the folder to the new desired location using explorer, and then edit the matching folder in RegEdit to reflect the new folder location]

Exit Registry and Reboot

8. Faster Browsing in Windows Explorer on Network Computers

By default, a Windows XP machine connecting to a Windows 95/98/Me computer will search for scheduled tasks or enabled printers on the remote computer. Two sub-keys control this behavior. Deleting them will speed up browsing on the remote computer.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace

To Disable Scheduled Task Checking
Value Name: {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Delete the sub-key in the left pane of Registry Editor

To Disable Printer Checking
Value Name: {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Delete the sub-key in the left pane of Registry Editor

Exit Registry / Reboot

9. Add Administrator Account to Log In Screen

When Windows XP is first installed it requires you to enter at least one name of a user who will access the computer. Once you create this name the default Administrator account vanishes. To access it, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete twice at the Welcome screen to retrieve the standard Windows 2000 logon dialog. Log on as Administrator from this point. To log the Administrator off, click [Start] [Log Off] and [Log Off] when the [Log Off Windows] selection box appears. The Log On screen with the available users will be displayed.

To Make the Administrator Account Always Visible on the Login Screen use this Registry Tweak.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Administrator]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

10. Increase Internet Download Connections

Increase Simultaneous Internet Download Connections. Increases the number of allowed simultaneous connections to ten (10).

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server]
Setting for Value Data: [0000000a]

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [MaxConnectionsPerServer]
Setting for Value Data: [0000000a]

Exit Registry / Reboot

11. Connected Web Files and Folders

Connecting web files and folders allows a primary .htm or .html file to be moved in conjunction with files associated with the primary document. Once the primary document has been defined, create a sub-folder using the same name as the primary document but assign it a .files extension. Whenever the primary file is moved, the sub-folder will also move and remain as a sub-folder of the primary.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NoFileFolderConnection]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Enabled (Default) / 1 = Disabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

12. Hide/Show My Documents Folder on Desktop

By default, Windows XP does not show the My Documents folder on the Windows desktop. Using the registry tweak below allows you to control whether or not My Documents is displayed.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{450D8FBA-AD25-11D0-98A8-0800361B1103}\ShellFolder

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Attributes]
Setting for Value Data: [Default = 0xf0400174 / Hidden = 0xf0500174]

Exit Registry / Reboot

13. Create a Hidden User Account

This tweak allows an account that is normally displayed on the Welcome screen to be hidden from view. To log on using the account it's necessary to use the Log On To Windows dialog box similar to the one in Windows 2000 i.e. press CTRL+ALT+DEL twice.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Type Name of Account to be Hidden]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Account is Hidden / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

While the account is hidden on the Welcome screen, note that the account profile will be visible in C:\Documents and Settings or wherever user profiles are stored as well as in Local Users and Groups.

14. Create Legal Notice Logon Dialog Box

In situations where you need users to read a legal notice before logging on, this tweak will create the caption for the notice.

Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [LegalNoticeCaption]
Value Data for LegalNoticeCaption: [Type the Caption for the Dialog Box]

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [LegalNoticeText]
Value Data for LegalNoticeText: [Type the Data for the Legal Notice]

Exit Registry / Reboot

15. Manage Internet Explorer Error Reporting

This tweak removes the IE Error Reporting tool from appearing with the option to send browser debugging reports to Microsoft.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Note:- Create both values listed below and set according to the bold type for the tweak to function properly.

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [IEWatsonEnabled]
Value Data: [0 - Disabled / 1 - Enabled]

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [IEWatsonDisabled]
Value Data: [0 - Disabled / 1 - Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

16. Customize Logon and Security Dialog Title

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [Welcome]
Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

17. Customize Logon Box Message

This is the message displayed on the Classic Logon box, not the XP ?Welcome? logon screen

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [LogonPrompt]
Value Data: [Enter the text of the message]

Exit Registry / Reboot

18. Welcome Screen Logon Vs Classic Logon

This tweak specifies whether the Welcome screen or the Classic logon will be used to access Windows XP.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [LogonType]
Value Data: [0 - Classic Mode / 1 - Welcome Screen]

Exit Registry / Reboot

19. QoS (Quality Of Service) Bandwidth Reserve Setting

By default, Windows XP reserves 20% of the connection bandwidth for QoS traffic. This tweak allows the setting to be altered to a different percentage of connection bandwidth. If the system uses more than a single adapter for network connections, each adapter may be set individually by navigating to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Psched\Parameters\Adapters\{Adpater-ID} rather than HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Psched

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Psched

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NonBestEffortLimit]
Setting for Value Data: [Enter as a Percentage / Default Value = 20]

Exit Registry / Reboot

20. Enable/Disable Save Password in DUN

This tweak saves user passwords for Dial Up Networking so they do not have to be re-entered each session.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RasMan\Parameters

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [DisableSavePassword]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled (Passwords Saved) / 1 = Enabled (Passwords Not Saved)]

Exit Registry / Reboot

21. Change the Registered Organization/Owner of Windows XP

This tweak allows modification of the registered owner and organization of the Windows XP software.

Note:- This tweak has nothing to do with Windows Product Activation (WPA) and will not allow you to register illegal XP software.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [RegisteredOrganization] or [RegisteredOwner]
Setting for Value Data: [Modify the Values to Reflect Current Information]

Exit Registry / Reboot

22. Remove Links Folder in Favorites

The Links folder is part of Favorites whether it's being accessed through Internet Explorer or the Favorites menu in the Start Menu. This tweak will remove it from those locations.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar

Modify/Create String Value of Data type REG_SZ Named [LinksFolderName]
Value Data: [Set the String Value to a blank string]

Open Internet Explorer and manually delete the Links folder from Favorites Menu.
The Links folder will not be recreated.

Exit Registry / Reboot

23. Enable/Disable Active Window Tracking to Mouse Movements

When the mouse is moved over an open window it automatically sets the focus to that particular window. It does not bring the window to the foreground of the open windows.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [ActiveWindowTracking]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = ActiveWindowTracking Disabled / 1 = ActiveWindowTracking Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

24. Auto Disconnect for Internet Explorer

Use this edit to automatically disconnect from Internet Explorer after a specified length of time has elapsed. Use this trick on anyone whom you don?t like using your computer with net J

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Autodisconnect]
Value Data: [Enter a new disconnect time. Use Hexadecimal if you are unfamiliar with Binary]

Exit Registry / Reboot

25. Auto Reboot on System Crash

By default, when the Windows XP operating system crashes an automatic reboot of the system occurs. While this behavior can be convenient, the downside is the error message accompanying the crash is not visible. Often times this information can be a great help in troubleshooting the source of the crash. This behavior can be modified in two ways; via the registry or using the System Properties property sheet.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [AutoReboot]
Setting for Value Data: [0 = AutoReboot Disabled / 1 = AutoReboot Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

Open System Properties via Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System

[System Properties may also be opened using the WinKey+Pause key combination]

Select the Advanced tab and then click Settings in the Startup and Recovery section

In System Failure section, clear the checkbox next to Automatically Restart

Click OK and OK to exit

26. Modify Control Panel Categories

Even if you like the new style for Control Panel, you might at times wish you could shift some items around into a different category. It's possible.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Extended Properties\{305CA226-D286-468e-B848-2B2E8E697B74} 2

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [Choose one of the applets with .cpl extension]

Setting for Value Data: [Select the value from table below]

Other Control Panel Options 0
Appearance and Themes 1
Printers and Other Hardware 2
Network and Internet Connections 3
Sounds, Speed, and Audio Devices 4
Performance and Maintenance 5
Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options 6
Accessibility Options 7
Add or Remove Programs 8
User Accounts 9

Exit Registry / Reboot

To further customize the items that appear in the new Control Panel, do a search of your system for all files that end in .cpl extension. If they aren't already listed, you can add them with a new DWORD value and then assign them to a category of your choosing.

27. Enable/Disable Run Commands Specific to the Registry

This tweak controls the use of the Run command on the local machine

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\Explorer

Create a DWORD value of Data Type REG_DWORD for each Run function that will be disabled.

Modify/Create the Value Name [DisableLocalMachineRun]
Modify/Create the Value Name [DisableLocalMachineRunOnce]

Modify/Create the Value Name [DisableCurrentUserRun]
Modify/Create the Value Name [DisableCurrentUserRunOnce]

Setting for Value Data: [0 = Disabled / 1 = Enabled]

Exit Registry / Reboot

28. Enable/Disable System Properties Access from My Computer

This tweak removes access to System Properties via My Computer as well as via Control Panel.

[Start] [Run] [Regedit]

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Modify/Create DWORD Value of Data type REG_DWORD Named [NoPropertiesMyComputer]
Value Data: [0 - Display Properties / 1 - Hide Properties]

Exit Registry / Reboot

29. Uninstall Programs Manually

Just because Windows XP has the Add/Remove Programs feature it doesn't mean your application will appear in the list. Furthermore, even if it does appear, it's no guarantee that the uninstall feature will work. When you run across one of these situations the items listed below will help in getting rid of the application. Be aware that these steps may not remove everything associated with the application and can impact other applications on the computer. Have a backup or restore point and use caution.

Find the directory for the application and delete all the files in the directory. Delete the directory.

Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE and find the folder for the application. Delete the folder.

Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE and find the folder for the application. Delete the folder.

To remove the application entry from Add/Remove Programs (if present) open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and find the folder for the application. Delete the folder.

Some applications have Services attached to them. If this is the case, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services, locate and delete the service.

In Windows Explorer, navigate to the individual user settings and delete program references. Common places to check would be:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs and delete relevant entries.

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup and delete relevant entries.

C:\Documents and Settings\%YourUserID%\Start Menu\Programs and delete relevant entries.

[Do this for each User ID listed]

C:\Documents and Settings\%YourUserID%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup and delete relevant entries.

[Do this for each User ID listed]

If no entries were found in the previous step and the application launches automatically, navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows

and delete the entry.

30. Create a right-click command prompt option

You can right-click a folder to get a list of actions you can apply to it. Here?s a way to create an action on that right-click menu that opens a command prompt window with that folder as the current directory. In a text editor such as Notepad, type the following exactly:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\Cmd Here]

@=?Command &Prompt Here?

[HKEY_CLASSES-ROOT\Folder\shell\Cmd Here\command]

@=?cmd.exe /k pushd %L?

Save the file with any name you want, with a .reg extension. Then double-click the saved file and choose Yes to merge the file?s information into the Registry. You can delete the file. Right-click any folder and you?ll see the CommandPrompt Here option.

31. Adjusting System Restore values

The new System Restore feature in Windows XP automatically backs up a snapshot of your system, including your Registry, every 24 hours. It also saves restore points for 90 days. Neither of these values is directly editable in the System Restore program, but you can change them in the Registry. Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore

You?ll find an assortment of settings here. To change the interval between automatically created restore points, change the RPGlobalInterval setting. To change the number of days that a restore point is retained, change the RPLifeInterval setting.

System Restore time intervals are measured in seconds, not days, so you must convert the number of days you want into seconds. There are 86,400 seconds in a day, so multiply 86,400 by the number of days you want to determine the value. (There are 3,600 seconds in an hour, I hope you know)

32. Erase the swap file at shutdown

You might be concerned about someone browsing your users? swap files and gathering up little bits of their sensitive data. A remote possibility, to be sure, but it could happen. For that extra measure of security, go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Set the ClearPageFileAtShutdown DWORD to 1. This will make shutdowns take longer, because it overwrites everything in the swap file with zeroes. Don?t turn this feature on unless you have a serious security threat.

33. Delete the Files Stored on This Computer category in the My Computer window

In Windows XP, the My Computer window?s listing is broken down by categories: Hard Disk Drives, Devices with Removable Storage, and so on. One of these categories is Files Stored on This Computer, which appears at the top of the My Computer window. If a user doesn?t need it , you can get rid of it. To do so, go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\
NameSpace\Delegate Folders

Delete the {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c55595fe6b30ee} subkey to remove the category.

34. Change the desktop cleanup frequency

Through Display Properties (Desktop tab, Customize Desktop button, General tab), you can turn on and off a feature that runs the Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days. You don?t have an option to set a different interval there, but you can change the interval in the Registry. To do so, go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz

Change the Days Between Clean Up Value to some other number of days (in decimal format).

35. Sort menus alphabetically

When you install a new program for a user, it doesn?t find its place in the alphabetical Start menu hierarchy right away; it hangs out at the bottom for a little while. If your users employ the Classic Start menu, they can re-alphabetize it manually by right-clicking the taskbar and choosing Properties, clicking the Customize button next to the Classic Start Menu, and clicking the Sort button. With the Windows XP style of Start menu, however, you don?t have an equivalent button. To make Windows always alphabetize the list, remove the permissions from the Registry key that controls the sort order for the Start menu. To do so, go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder

Choose Edit | Permissions and click the Advanced button. Deselect the Inherit From Parent The Permission Entries That Apply To Child Objects check box and then click Copy when the Security dialog box pops up. Click OK and clear the Full Control entry for your account and all security groups you are a member of. Leave only Read permission.

36. Prevent programs from loading at startup

Remember back in the good old days of Windows 3.1 when you could open up the Win.ini file in a text editor and remove an item from the RUN= line to disable it from running at startup? With Windows 9x and above, the Win.ini file became less useful because 32-bit programs were set to run at startup from within the Registry instead.

One way to selectively disable programs from loading at startup is to use MSCONFIG (from the Run command) to deselect certain items. Another way to remove them is to edit the Registry directly. Consider the following locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

for applications that start up for all users

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

for applications that start up when the current user logs on

Remove the entry for a program by right-clicking it and selecting Delete to prevent it from loading.

37. Change categories in the Control Panel

Windows XP?s Control Panel is broken down by category in the default Category view, but the group to which an item belongs is not always obvious. If you disagree with Microsoft?s assignments, you can switch them around. To assign a different category to an item, go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Extended Properties\
{305CA226-D286-468e-B848-2B2E8E697B74} 2

Find the item you want to change and double-click it to bring up a dialog box. Change the item?s DWORD value to your preference. Use the Table given below as a guide (shown with decimal numbers, which is the way you should enter them).

DWORD value to set

Other Control Panel Options 0

Appearance and Themes 1

Printers and Other Hardware 2

Network and Internet Connections 3

Sounds, Speed, and Audio Devices 4

Performance and Maintenance 5

Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options 6

Accessibility Options 7

Add or Remove Programs 8

User Accounts 9

38. Grouping multiple open windows

Windows XP will group multiple open windows (IE windows for example) into one group on the task bar to keep the taskbar clear. This can be annoying at times - especially when comparing different web pages because you have to go back to the task bar, click on the group and then click on the page you want and then you only get one page because you have to click on each one separately. I think the default for this is 8 windows - any combination of apps or utilities open.

You can modify this behavior by adding this registry key at:

HKEY_CURRRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\

add a Dword value of type REG_DWORD named [TaskbarGroupSize]

modify "TaskbarGroupSize" entry to be the number of windows you want open before XP starts to group them on the task bar.

A value of 2 will cause the Taskbar buttons to always group

Another tweak is to disable or enable recent documents history. This can be done at:

HKEY_CURRRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\

this key should already be present - if it isn't you'll need to add it:

Add a Binary value of type REG_BINARY named [NoRecentDocsHistory]

modify it so that value reads 01 00 00 00

39. Disable Tips

To disable Ballon tips in Windows XP do this registry tweak

Go to : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Create a new DWORD value, name it EnableBalloonTips, and set it equal to 0. If EnableBalloonTips is already there and equal to 1, set it equal to 0. Quit the registry editor, log off, and log back on. Voila! Your computer will stop talking down to you.

40. Add/Remove optional features of Windows XP

To dramatically expand the list of applications you can remove from Windows XP after installation, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf and open the sysoc.inf file. {Opps , if you didn?t find the inf directory, you are right. It?s a hidden folder, so go to Tools>Folder Options> View , enable Show Hidden Files & Folders.}

[Version]

Signature = "$Windows NT$"

DriverVer=07/01/2001,5.1.2600.0

[Components]

NtComponents=ntoc.dll,NtOcSetupProc,,4

WBEM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wbemoc.inf,hide,7

Display=desk.cpl,DisplayOcSetupProc,,7

Fax=fxsocm.dll,FaxOcmSetupProc,fxsocm.inf,,7

NetOC=netoc.dll,NetOcSetupProc,netoc.inf,,7

iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,,7

com=comsetup.dll,OcEntry,comnt5.inf,hide,7

dtc=msdtcstp.dll,OcEntry,dtcnt5.inf,hide,7

IndexSrv_System = setupqry.dll,IndexSrv,setupqry.inf,,7

TerminalServer=TsOc.dll, HydraOc, TsOc.inf,hide,2

msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6

ims=imsinsnt.dll,OcEntry,ims.inf,,7

fp_extensions=fp40ext.dll,FrontPage4Extensions,fp40ext.inf,,7

AutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,au.inf,hide,7

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

RootAutoUpdate=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,rootau.inf,,7

IEAccess=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,ieaccess.inf,,7

Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7

AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,,7

CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7

MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7

AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7

Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7

MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7

ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

[Global]

WindowTitle=%WindowTitle%

WindowTitle.StandAlone="*"

The entries that include the text hide or HIDE will not show up in Add/Remove Windows Components by default. To fix this, do a global search and replace for ,hide and change each instance of this to , (a comma). Then, save the file, re launch Add/Remove Windows Components,

41. Remove Windows Messenger

It seems that a lot of people are interested in removing Windows Messenger for some reason, though I strongly recommend against this: In Windows XP, Windows Messenger will be the hub of your connection to the .NET world, and now that this feature is part of Windows, I think we're going to see a lot of .NET Passport-enabled Web sites appearing as well. But if you can't stand the little app, there are a couple of ways to get rid of it, and ensure that it doesn't pop up every time you boot into XP. The best way simply utilizes the previous tip:

If you'd like Windows Messenger to show up in the list of programs you can add and remove from Windows, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\inf and open sysoc.inf (see the previous tip for more information about this file). You'll see a line that reads:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,hide,7

Change this to the following and Windows Messenger will appear in Add or Remove Programs, then Add/Remove Windows Components, then , and you can remove it for good:

msmsgs=msgrocm.dll,OcEntry,msmsgs.inf,7

42. Rename multiple files ( it is not a Registry tweak though. I thought this to be really cool, so I have put it here)

A new, small, neat feature for Windows XP deals with renaming files. I personally have always wanted the OS to include a way to do a mass file renaming on a bunch of files. You can now rename multiple files at once .Its really simple:

Select several files in Explorer, press F2 and rename one of those files to something else. All the selected files get renamed to the new file name (plus a number added to the end). Simple J

I hope you enjoyed the above Registry tricks ! May be next time I?ll come up with more. That's all for now .
To know more tricks + topics on Hacking, Security, Programming.

Windows Xp - Speed Up Your Network and Internet Access

2009-08-20T04:20:00.001-07:00

Windows Xp: Speed Up Your, Speed Up Your Network and Internet Access

I have a dial up connection and it improve my speeds about 25% in surfing the internet. give it a try. Im IT , only do it if you feel comfortable with changing registry.

Increasing network browsing speed

Does your computer slow down when you browse your local area network and connect to other computers that are sharing data? One of the most common causes of this slowdown is a feature of Windows Explorer that looks for scheduled tasks on remote computers. This effort can take some time on some computers and can really slow down your browsing. The window with which you are browsing the network may appear to freeze momentarily, as the system is waiting for a response from the remote computer.

Windows XP: Speeding Disk Access

Although this problem is a complex one, the solution is very simple. Instead of having to wait for the remote scheduled tasks, which is useless information to anyone who is not a system administrator remotely configuring scheduled tasks, you can disable this feature.

In order to do this, you will have to change the System Registry and delete a reference to a key so that this feature will not be loaded. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open up the Registry Editor by clicking the Start Menu and selecting Run. Then type regedit in the text box and click the OK button.

2. Once the Registry Editor has loaded, expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key.

3. Next, expand Software and then Microsoft.

4. Locate Windows and expand that as well.

5. You will want to be editing the main system files, so expand CurrentVersion.

6. Because this feature is a feature of the Windows component known as Explorer, expand the Explorer key.

7. Next, you will want to modify the remote computer settings, so expand the RemoteComputer key and then expand the NameSpace key to show all of the features that are enabled when you browse to a remote computer.

8. In the NameSpace folder you will find two entries. One is "{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}" which tells Explorer to show printers shared on the remote machine. The other, "{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}," tells Explorer to show remote scheduled tasks. This is the one that you should delete. This can be done by right-clicking the name of the key and selecting Delete.

Tip:
If you have no use for viewing remote shared printers and are really only interested in shared files, consider deleting the printers key, "{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}", as well. This will also boost your browsing speed.

Once you have deleted the key, you just need to restart and the changes will be in effect. Now your network computer browsing will be without needless delays.

Windows Tweak, Hack Your Start Button

2009-08-20T04:19:00.001-07:00

Window's Tweak: Hack Your Start Button
written by Sarah Lane on Wednesday, July 21, 2004

I've gotten so many requests on how to change the Windows XP Start button, I'm going to teach you how to hack it to pieces manually.
Before you get started, you might want to print out this page for easy reference.

Change the Start text

1. First of all, make sure you download Resource Hacker. You'll need this puppy to edit resources inside your Windows shell.

2. Locate explorer.exe in your c:\Windows directory. Make a copy of the file in the same directory and rename it explorer.bak.

3. Now launch Resource Hacker. In the File menu, open explorer.exe. You'll now see a bunch of collapsed folders.

4. Expand the String Table folder and then find folder No. 37 (folder No. 38 if you're in Windows Classic mode).

5. Click on resource 1033 and locate the text that says "Start." This is your Start button, and now you've got control over what it says! Change the "Start" text to your text of choice. You don't have a character limit, but the text takes up valuable taskbar space, so don't make it too long.

6. Click on the button labeled Compile Script. This updates the settings for your Start button. But nothing will happen until you complete through step #20, so keep going!

Change your hover text

7. While you're here, why not also change the text that pops up when your mouse hovers over your Start button?

8. Right now it says "Click here to begin." Well, duh! We already know that's where to begin!

9. Open folder No. 34 and click on resource 1033.

10. Find the text that says "Click here to begin" and change it to something cooler. Might I suggest "Click here for a good time, baby."

11. Click on the Compile Script button to update this resource.

Customize your Start icon

12. For an added bonus, you can also change the Windows icon to the left of the text, too.

13. Collapse the String Table folder and expand the Bitmap folder at the top of your folder list.

14. Click on folder No. 143 and click on resource 1033. You should see that familiar Windows icon.

15. Go to the Action Menu and select "Replace bitmap." Select "Open file with new bitmap", and locate the replacement image on your machine. Note: The image must have a .bmp extension and a size of 25 pixels by 20 pixels. Then click the Replace button.

Here's the image I've been using instead of the Windows icon, in case you want to use it.

16. Now that you've made your changes, save the file in your Windows folder with another name, such as newstartbutton.exe. Don't name it Explorer.exe, because that file is already being used by your system. Close all open programs and restart your system.

17. Boot into Safe Mode With Command Prompt by pressing F8 on startup. Then choose Safe Mode in the command prompt.

18. Log on as administrator and enter your password.

19. When the command prompt comes up, make sure you're in the right directory by typing "cd c:\windows" (without the quotes).

20. Now type "copy c:\windows\newstartbutton.exe c:\windows\explorer.exe" (no quotes). Type "yes" (no quotes) to overwrite the existing file, then restart your system by typing "shutdown -r" (no quotes).

When Windows relaunches, you'll see your new Start button in all its glory!

WINDOWS TRUE HIDDEN FILES

2009-08-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

--ACRONYMS--
DOS = Disk Operating System, or MS-DOS
MSIE = Microsoft Internet Explorer
TIF = Temporary Internet Files (folder)
HD = Hard Drive
OS = Operating System
FYI = For Your Information

1)SEEING IS BELIEVING
No. Enabling Windows Explorer to "show all files" does not show the files in mention. No. DOS does not
list the files after receiving a proper directory listing from root. And yes. Microsoft intentionally
disabled the "Find" utility from searching through one of the folders.

Oh, but that's not all.

To see for yourself simply do as you would normally do to clear your browsing history. Go to Internet
Options under your Control Panel. Click on the [Clear History] and [Delete Files] buttons. (Make sure
to include all offline content.)

So, has your browsing history been cleared? One would think so.

These are the names and locations of the "really hidden files":

c:\windows\history\history.ie5\index.dat
c:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\index.dat
If you have upgraded MSIE several times, they might have alternative names of mm256.dat and
mm2048.dat, and may also be located here:

c:\windows\tempor~1\
c:\windows\history\
Not to mention the other alternative locations under:

c:\windows\profiles\%user%\...
c:\windows\application data\...
c:\windows\local settings\...
c:\windows\temp\...
c:\temp\...
(or as defined in your autoexec.bat.)

FYI, there are a couple other index.dat files that get hidden as well, but they are seemingly not very
important. See if you can find them.

2)IF YOU HAVE EVER USED MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER
1) Shut your computer down, and turn it back on.
2) While your computer is booting keep pressing the [F8] key until you are given an option screen.
3) Choose "Command Prompt Only" (This will take you to true DOS mode.) Windows ME users must use a boot
disk to get into real DOS mode.
4) When your computer is done booting, you will have a C:\> followed by a blinking cursor.
Type this in, hitting enter after each line. (Obviously, don't type the comments in parentheses.)

C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV (Loads smartdrive to speed things up.)
CD\
DELTREE/Y TEMP (This line removes temporary files.)
CD WINDOWS
DELTREE/Y COOKIES (This line removes cookies.)
DELTREE/Y TEMP (This removes temporary files.)
DELTREE/Y HISTORY (This line removes your browsing history.)
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1 (This line removes your internet cache.)

(If that last line doesn't work, then type this

CD\WINDOWS\APPLIC~1
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1

(If that didn't work, then type this

CD\WINDOWS\LOCALS~1
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1
If you have profiles turned on, then it is likely located under \windows\profiles\%user%\, while older
versions of MSIE keep them under \windows\content\.)

FYI, Windows re-creates the index.dat files automatically when you reboot your machine, so don't be
surprised when you see them again. They should at least be cleared of your browsing history.

3)CLEARING YOUR REGISTRY
It was once believed that the registry is the central database of Windows that stores and maintains the
OS configuration information. Well, this is wrong. Apparently, it also maintains a bunch of other
information that has absolutely nothing to do with the configuration. I won't get into the other
stuff, but for one, your typed URLs are stored in the registry.

HKEY_USERS/Default/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/TypedURLs/
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/TypedURLs/
These "Typed URLs" come from MSIE's autocomplete feature. It records all URLs that you've typed in manually
in order to save you some time filling out the address field.

4)SLACK FILES
As you may already know, deleting files only deletes the references to them. They are in fact still sitting
there on your HD and can still be recovered by a very motivated person.
Use window washer to delete slack files. /http://www.webroot.com/download/0506/reg3ww.exe

5)STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE THROUGH YOUR HIDDEN FILES
The most important files to be paying attention to are your "index.dat" files. These are database files
that reference your history, cache and cookies. The first thing you should know is that the index.dat files
is that they don't exist in less you know they do. They second thing you should know about them is that
some will *not* get cleared after deleting your history and cache.

To view these files, follow these steps:

In MSIE 5.x, you can skip this first step by opening MSIE and going to Tools > Internet Options > [Settings] > [View Files].
Now write down the names of your alphanumeric folders on a piece of paper. If you can't see any alphanumeric
folders then start with step 1 here:

1) First, drop to a DOS box and type this at prompt (in all lower-case). It will bring up Windows Explorer
under the correct directory.

c:\windows\explorer /e,c:\windows\tempor~1\content.ie5\
You see all those alphanumeric names listed under "content.ie5?" (left-hand side.) That's Microsoft's
idea of making this project as hard as possible. Actually, these are your alphanumeric folders that was
created to keep your cache. Write these names down on a piece of paper. (They should look something like
this: 6YQ2GSWF, QRM7KL3F, U7YHQKI4, 7YMZ516U, etc.) If you click on any of the alphanumeric folders then
nothing will be displayed. Not because there aren't any files here, but because Windows Explorer has lied
to you. If you want to view the contents of these alphanumeric folders you will have to do so in DOS.

2) Then you must restart in MS-DOS mode. (Start > Shutdown > Restart in MS-DOS mode. ME users use a
bootdisk.)

Note that you must restart to DOS because windows has locked down some of the files and they can only be
accessed in real DOS mode.

3) Type this in at prompt:

CD\WINDOWS\TEMPOR~1\CONTENT.IE5
CD %alphanumeric%
(replace the "%alphanumeric%" with the first name that you just wrote down.)

DIR/P
The cache files you are now looking at are directly responsible for the mysterious erosion of HD space
you may have been noticing.

5) Type this in:

CD\WINDOWS\TEMPOR~1\CONTENT.IE5
EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT
You will be brought to a blue screen with a bunch of binary.

6) Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLs. These are all the sites
that you've ever visited as well as a brief description of each. You'll notice it records everything
ou've searched for in a search engine in plain text, in addition to the URL.

7) When you get done searching around you can go to File > Exit. If you don't have mouse support in DOS
then use the [ALT] and arrow keys.

Next you'll probably want to erase these files by typing this:

C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV
CD\WINDOWS
DELTREE/Y TEMPOR~1
(replace "cd\windows" with the location of your TIF folder if different.)

9) Then check out the contents of your History folder by typing this:

CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY\HISTORY.IE5
EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT
You will be brought to a blue screen with more binary.

10) Press and hold the [Page Down] button until you start seeing lists of URLS again.

This is another database of the sites you've visited.

11) And if you're still with me, type this:

CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY
12) If you see any mmXXXX.dat files here then check them out (and delete them.) Then:

CD\WINDOWS\HISTORY\HISTORY.IE5
CD MSHIST~1
EDIT /75 INDEX.DAT
More URLs from your internet history. Note, there are probably other mshist~x folders here so you can
repeat these steps for every occurence if you please.

13) By now, you'll probably want to type in this:

CD\WINDOWS
DELTREE/Y HISTORY

6)HOW MICROSOFT DOES IT
How does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to DOS?

The only thing Microsoft had to do to make the folders/files invisible to a directory listing is to
set them +s[ystem]. That's it.

So how does Microsoft make these folders/files invisible to Windows Explorer?

The "desktop.ini" is a standard text file that can be added to any folder to customize certain aspects of
the folder's behavior. In these cases, Microsoft utilized the desktop.ini file to make these files
invisible. Invisible to Windows Explorer and even to the "Find: Files or Folders" utility. All that
Microsoft had to do was create a desktop.ini file with certain CLSID tags and the folders would disappear
like magic.

To show you exactly what's going on:

Found in the c:\windows\temporary internet files\desktop.ini and
the c:\windows\temporary internet files\content.ie5\desktop.ini is this text:

[.ShellClassInfo]
UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}
Found in the c:\windows\history\desktop.ini and the c:\windows\history\history.ie5\desktop.ini is this text:

[.ShellClassInfo]
UICLSID={7BD29E00-76C1-11CF-9DD0-00A0C9034933}
CLSID={FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}
The UICLSID line cloaks the folder in Windows Explorer. The CLSID line disables the "Find" utility
from searching through the folder.

To see for yourself, you can simply erase the desktop.ini files. You'll see that it will instantly give
Windows Explorer proper viewing functionality again, and the "Find" utility proper searching capabilities
again. Problem solved right? Actually, no. As it turns out, the desktop.ini files get reconstructed every
single time you restart your computer. Nice one, Slick.

Luckily there is a loophole which will keep Windows from hiding these folders. You can manually edit the
desktop.ini's and remove everything except for the "[.ShellClassInfo]" line. This will trick windows into
thinking they have still covered their tracks, and wininet won't think to reconstruct them.

Who's Seeding The Net With Spyware

2009-08-20T04:15:00.001-07:00

Who's Seeding the Net With Spyware?

Young surfers pick up paychecks for posting misleading pitches armed with invasive programs.

It's tough enough sometimes to figure out where you picked up that spyware, but have you ever wondered who planted that digital parasite?

It's likely a young man, maybe a college student, just making a few bucks spreading pop-up ads that contain a package unwelcome by many. And it's a growing cottage industry.

How It Works

Spyware follows your Internet surfing habits and serves up advertisements. You typically pick up spyware by clicking on links, which may not make it clear that you're downloading a "bonus" program when you read an ad or download a program you want.

The Federal Trade Commission defines spyware as "software that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge and which may send such information to another entity without the consumer's consent, or asserts control over a computer without the consumer's knowledge." The federal government and several states are considering antispyware laws, and Utah recently enacted one.

FTC and industry leaders have urged Congress to resist spyware legislation, instead pushing for the industry to adopt self-regulatory practices. They fear that proposed laws define the practice too vaguely, and would prohibit other marketing practices that benefit consumers. But some lawmakers worry that the tech industry will not regulate spyware aggressively enough to protect consumers.

Meanwhile, computer users continue to face the side effects of spyware on their systems: bogged-down Internet connections, identity theft, lost documents, system problems, and potential loss of privacy.

Who's Behind It

The people distributing the links for spyware downloads are paid about 15 cents every time an unsuspecting surfer clicks on their misleading bait.

"Friends signed me up one night, after we'd been drinking," says one twenty-something man, who plants spyware for pay. "They said it was an easy way to make some money."

"All I had to do was sign up and post fake ads, saying things like 'to see my picture click here.' Then when they clicked, it told them they had to download software to see the pictures."

But the user downloaded no pictures; instead, they got the greeting, "Come back later to see my photo." The ad is bogus, but the contamination of the computer is real.

He says open forums and other unregulated sites are the best places to post ads, because large numbers of people are likely to click on the phony links.

"You have to move around," he says, noting that if users complain, he'll be kicked off a site, or a section of a site. For example, he will just move to a different part of a classified advertisement site, he says. "It's really easy, so reposting your ad is not a big deal."

At 15 cents per hit, he got checks every two weeks for a few hundred dollars each.

"I could have made a lot more," he says, adding that he really isn't doing it anymore. "All I had to do was put more ads up and I would have doubled or tripled my profits."

What's the Risk?

The foot soldiers who spread spyware may also become victims of the companies behind the software.

Many companies paying individuals to spread spyware post a disclaimer on their own Web site. It often contains a clause telling readers that if they commit fraud the company has the right to pull their paycheck.

However, the new Utah Spyware Control Act and other privacy laws sometimes invoked to combat spyware consider posting spyware to be fraud.

The spyware spreaders may not be reading the disclaimer themselves. But they do understand the company is paying them to trick people into downloading software, the young man says.

Does he feel any remorse for contaminating the computers of naive users? "Look, they're perverts if they click on my ads," he says, noting that the ads imply pornographic pictures await. "I say some nasty stuff, so, no, I don't feel bad." Anyone online should have a spyware blocker, spam blocker, and a firewall anyway, he said. "If they don't, they're just stupid."

A Challenging Battle

Placing ads online can be a tempting and easy way to make money from home, notes Ray Everette-Church, chief privacy officer for antispam product vendor Turn Tide.

"It is very successful," Everette-Church says. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars a month is generated in this tiered structural referral." He is serving as an expert witness for the plaintiffs in an ongoing adware case arguing against pop-up ads.

Millions of Americans online haven't protected their PCs, and pursuing perpetrators of spyware is more complicated than in other criminal investigations, according to Mozelle Thompson, an FTC commissioner.

"It's hard to identify how many companies are engaged in dangerous spyware, or spyware in general," Thompson says. "The definition of spyware is too broad."

The surreptitious nature of spyware makes it more difficult to track who, where, and how the spyware is disseminated, Thompson told a House subcommittee at a recent hearing.

"Consumer complaints, for instance, are less likely to lead directly to targets than in other law enforcement investigations, because consumers often do not know that spyware has caused the problems or, even if they do, they may not know the source of the spyware," he said at the April hearing.

WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS

2009-08-20T04:14:00.002-07:00

WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS

To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name (ie charmap).

WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPS:
=========================================

1) Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters)

2) Disk Cleanup = cleanmgr.exe

3) Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard)

4) Dr Watson = drwtsn32.exe (Troubleshooting tool)

5) DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards)

6) Private character editor = eudcedit.exe (allows creation or modification of characters)

7) IExpress Wizard = iexpress.exe (Create self-extracting / self-installing package)

8) Microsoft Synchronization Manager = mobsync.exe (appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented).

9) Windows Media Player 5.1 = mplay32.exe (Retro version of Media Player, very basic).

10) ODBC Data Source Administrator = odbcad32.exe (something to do with databases)

11) Object Packager = packager.exe (to do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files).

12) System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only )

13) Program Manager = progman.exe (Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell).

14) Remote Access phone book = rasphone.exe (documentation is virtually non-existant).

15) Registry Editor = regedt32.exe [also regedit.exe] (for hacking the Windows Registry).

16) Network shared folder wizard = shrpubw.exe (creates shared folders on network).

17) File siganture verification tool = sigverif.exe

18) Volume Contro = sndvol32.exe (I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area).

19) System Configuration Editor = sysedit.exe (modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! ).

20) Syskey = syskey.exe (Secures XP Account database - use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications).

21) Microsoft Telnet Client = telnet.exe

22) Driver Verifier Manager = verifier.exe (seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented).

23) Windows for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available).

24) System configuration = msconfig.exe (can use to control starup programs)

25) gpedit.msc used to manage group policies, and permissions

Your Own Home Server - Introduction

2009-08-20T04:14:00.001-07:00

Your Own Home Server - Introduction

An Introduction

In this tutorial you will learn how to step up your own server. This server will be comprised of Apache 1.3.5, PHP 4.2.0, and MySQL 3.23.49. This tutorial will address the basic setup of a server on your own computer. This means the removal of hassles of dealing with the company that is running a remote web server. It will be easy to modify. You can add any thing you want to it, be it CGI/Perl, Zope, Roxen, etc, all by your self. You will have unlimited disk space, well at least as big as your hard drive is =) Now that you know the advantages, it is time that I tell you what i used, and what you will need.

What I used
* Windows 2000 - NOTE that if you are using 2k you WILL NEED Administrative Privileges. If you don't then get them somehow =) If you are on 95, 98, NT, XP, ME, I
* Apache 1.3.6 - I tried to use 2.0 but I could not get it work. I also feel that 1.3.6 is tried and true, so why mess with greatness.
* Mysql 3.23.49 - The newest version of MySQL when I set up my server. MySQL also the is the best PHP supported Database, and well love PHP don't we.
* PHP 4.2.1 - The latest and greatest PHP release. -nt

What you will need
* Apache 2 - Link: h**p://www.apache.org/dist/
* Mysql 3.23.49 - Link: h**p://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-3.23.html
* PHP 4.2.0 - Link: h**p://www.php.net/downloads.php
* Windows - This tutorial is ONLY written for new versions of Windows.

Once you have downloaded all the programs you are ready to continue.

1. Installing Apache

Installing Apache

The first step is to download Apache for Windows. Before you install it make sure that any other server software is removed. Remove it all via the control panel.On

Once you have clicked on the executable, a screen should com up that looks like this. Go ahead and click on next

user posted image

Of course you plan to abide be the license agreement, so click on I accept.... and click on next.

user posted image

You really don't need to read this, but if you want you can. Read it if you want feel informed. When you are ready click on next.

user posted image

Here is where the actual setup of Apache begins. For Network Domain put in localhost as for Server Name You want these both to be localhost because the server is running locally, on your computer. It doesn't matter what is in email field, just put in yours. No one will no it because it's just you.

user posted image

For the sake of this tutorial it is better to just leave it as it is because, later in the tutorial I will show you how to start the server with one click of the mouse, and for the sake of ease, it will be easier for you to follow along. You can change it if you want, but you will have to realize where to substitute it. For me the root drive is E: but for you will probably be C:

user posted image

Once you have all the jazz set up, it is time to install the server. If you are on w2k or XP be sure that you have Administrative permissions or you will get an error about half way through the install saving cannot access msvrt32.dll or something. If you get that error run it again when you have admin privileges. Once you are ready click on install.

user posted image

If all went well you just see a screen similar to this. Now it is time to test the install of apache. Click on Start > Program Files > Apache HTTP Server and look for start Start Apache in Console. Click it. Once it says Apache XXXXX running, press Windows Key + R and type -http://localhost/. If the install works you should see a page saying that it works. If all is set and done, continue to the next step.

user posted image
______________________________________________________________________
2. Installing PHP
Once you have clicked on the executable, a screen should come up that looks like this. Go ahead and click on next.

user posted image

Of course you plan to abide be the license agreement, so click on I accept.... and click on next.

user posted image

For this information, we will want the simple standard install. Chances are you if you are reading this tutorial, you will probably not even want to talk about advanced =)

user posted image

This is the mail setup, just enter localhost, and me@localhost.com. These are not important, because you, the admin, are the only person that will use the server, and you will be the one handling errors.

user posted image

We are going to want this install to work is Apache, so click on Apache, and move on.

user posted image

Once you have all the jazz set up, it is time to install the server. If you are on w2k or XP be sure that you have Administrative permission or you will get an error about half way through the install saving cannot access msvrt32.dll or something. If you get that error run it again when you have admin privileges. Once you are ready click on install.

user posted image

After the install is done you should get something that says you will have to manually configure apache to use php. Assuming you have a working Apache server installed, make sure that it is not running. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\conf\ open the httpd.conf file. Note that you can also get to the http.conf from the start menu. Start > Program File > Apache HTTP Server > Configure Apache Server > Edit the Apache httpd.conf Configuration File and the window will open up in notepad. Now hit Ctrl + End if you see something like what follows, you can skip this step. If you do not see that code, copy it. This code will only work if you used the default install folder when you installed php. If you did, copy that code and paste it into the end of the file. Select the code to right, and hit crtl + c , then go into the httpd.conf file and hit ctrl + v and save the file.

ScriptAlias /php/ "c:/php/"

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .phtml

Action application/x-httpd-php "/php/php.exe"

Now that we have php installed, it is time to test it. Open up notepad and type the code to the right. Save it as phpinfo.php. Remember to set it as all files in the drop down menu, or the file will be a text file. Save in the Directory: C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\htdocs. htdocs is the directory where all the files go. You can create endless dir's and browse them. For Example E:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\htdocs\mydir\myfile.php could be accessed as http://localhost/mydir/myfile.php. Once you have that file saved. You will need to start the Server. Click: Start > Program File > Apache HTTP Server >; and look for something like Start Apache in Console. After you have found it, launch it. You should get a window saying that Apache is running. Now go to Start > Run > and type in -http://localhost/phpinfo.php. If you don't see anything, php is not installed correctly. If php is installed correctly, you will see a few large tables, displaying php's configuration. Now Your are 1/2 done!
______________________________________________________________________
3. Installing MySQL
Once you have clicked on the executable, a screen should com up that looks like this. Go ahead and click on next.

user posted image

Of course you plan to abide be the license agreement, so click on I accept.... and click on next.

Just like before you should leave the default dir alone, so you will be able to follow along with me when I show you how to start and stop all the aspects of the server.

Stay with the typical installation. Just like before, if you don't have admin privileges, the install will be faulty. After you click next, the install will begin. After the install has finished, move on to the next step.

Now you have to set up the root account. The root account is the absolute admin of the system, the highest possible. Click on Start > Run and type cmd to open up the command prompt. You are going to have to navigate to where MySQL is installed. Type C: > Enter > cd mysql > Enter > cd bin > Enter. Now you have to tell setup the root settings. Type mysqladmin -uroot password InsertYourPasswordHere then hit enter.

To see an image of the screen, -h**p://www.webmasterstop.com/tutorials/images/doscreen1.gif

What is the point of having a database if you can't easily administer it! That is where phpMyAdmin comes into play. phpMyAdmin is a free piece of software written in php that makes the administration of a mysql or many other types of databases easy. You will want to download (h**p://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/phpmyadmin/phpMyAdmin-2.2.6-php.zip?downloadrelease_id=85832)the latest version. Save it in the htdocs folder. Once it is done downloading it, right click on it and select Extract > To Here. When it is done you should end up with a directory in the htdocs folder called phpMyAdmin-2.2.6 To make it easier to access, rename it to phpMyAdmin. After you have renamed it, click on it and look for a file called config.inc Open it. This is where you set the configuration of phpMyAdmin. When you open it up, it should look similar to the image to your side. On yours there should be a few things missing. The $cfgPmaAbsoulteUrl and $cfgservers[$i]['password']. You will need to fill those in between the quotes. for the $cfgPmaAbsoulteUrl enter -http://localhost/phpMyAdmin/ if you followed my instructions to the letter. If you did not rename it or extracted to a different directory, put that in there. For the $cfgservers[$i]['password'] enter the password you entered when you were setting MySQL in the set above. You can refer to the image for help. After you have put the right things in save the file.

To see an image of the screen, -h**p://www.webmasterstop.com/tutorials/images/phpmyadminscreen1.gif

Now we want to test the install of mysql, php, phpmyadmin, and apache all at once. Start apache in console like we did before. Now, you are going to need to start mysql. For myself I made a file that would start mysql for me. Open notepad and type: start c:\mysql\bin\mysqld-nt.exe --standalone and save that as Start MySQL.bat. Once you have saved it, click it. A window should open and then close. Mysql is now running on your computer. After mysql and apache are started go to run again and type -http://localhost/phpMyAdmin/index.php and if everything is installed correctly phpmyadmin should so up. You are almost done! Now we have the easy part =)

4. Finishing it all up

Wow! We mad it through the whole process. Now we want to simplify the whole process of controlling the server. I made a toolbar with all the things I needed. I made a new folder on my desktop and called it Server Folder and put all the stuff there. I made a new shortcut and gave it a value of -http://localhost/ made a shortcut to the PHP Documentation page. Another shortcut to my php editor, which is now unavailable. The phpMyAdmin shortcut is set to -http://localhost/phpMyAdmin/index.php. I made another shortcut htdocs. I moved the Start Apache in Console program that was in the start menu folder and moved it to the server folder. You can take the Start Mysql file you made in the last page and move it to the new folder. After you have put all the desired things into that folder, right click on a blank space in stat menu task bar (where the program boxes lie) and select Toolbars > New Toolbar and navigate to the folder. Voila!

Now all you have to do is click Start Apache in Console , Start Mysql, and Lauch browser biggrin.gif

Here You Are Guys

Where Is Winipcfg In Winxp

2009-08-20T04:13:00.001-07:00

If any body remembers or misses the old "winipcfg", which is missing from Windows XP, then there is a easy way to get this back from Microsoft.

Instead of using the command line to display or configure your ip with "ipconfig", you can download wntipcfg from Microsoft which gives you the same GUI as the old winipcfg.

Download:
CODE
http://microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/existing/wntipcfg-o.asp

Then follow these steps:

Install it (the default is c:\program files\resource kit\ )
Copy wntipcfg.exe to c:\windows
Rename it to winipcfg.exe
Now you can just click on run, then type in "winipcfg".

When Good Discs Go Bad

2009-08-20T04:12:00.001-07:00

Burning Questions

When Good Discs Go Bad

Ever wonder what makes a disc bad? Here's why they vary in quality, and why you should worry about the discs you've entrusted with your data.

Melissa J. Perenson, PC World
Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Burning CDs and DVDs is the easy part.

Knowing your data will be there when you go back to it days, months, or even years later--well, that's a bit harder. Not all discs are created equal, as Fred Byers, information technology specialist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, can attest.

Byers is part of a team heading up an independent study of DVD media quality. Based on the first wave of testing results, the situation is murky at best.

"We've found the quality varies, depending upon the type of dye used to make the write-once discs and [on the] the manufacturer," reports Byers. Even discs from the same manufacturer, with the same brand, can test differently, Byers adds. "But there was more of a significant difference when you compared discs between manufacturers," he explains.

DVD Media Quality: The First Tests

In the first phase of testing, completed late last year, NIST focused on the most popular media: write-once, single-layer DVD-R and +R discs. Rewritable discs will be tested in the second phase, slated to start this fall. An interesting footnote to the study's methodology: NIST uses media purchased off store shelves and via Web sites; and while researchers are tracking the media by brand, they are not tracking the specific factory source of the media tested. For example, a given manufacturer's discs could originate from different production lines, which could account for a variation in disc quality by the same manufacturer.

Hearing that there's a difference between the generic, unbranded 100-spindle value-pack of media purchased online and the branded offerings you might find on a Best Buy store shelf is not surprising. After all, as David Bunzel, president of the Optical Storage Technology Association, points out: "With a generic product, there's no consumer recourse. It's buyer beware."

If a disc isn't properly manufactured, the consequences can be dire. At best, the disc will fail immediately during the burn process; this is a best-case scenario because then you know from the start that the disc is faulty. At worst, you may get an abundance of errors during the burn process. These errors won't interrupt the burning process, and since write-once and rewritable DVD media have built-in error correction to compensate for scratches and other abnormalities on the disc (as do their CD cousins), any errors will be virtually invisible to you. You'll only know they're there if you use a disc diagnostics program, such as those offered by Ahead Software or Plextor. Nor will these errors affect the playback of the disc--initially.

Down the road, however, such invisible-to-the-eye errors can reduce the effectiveness of a DVD's built-in error correction so that if some other issue develops on your disc, such as a scratch, you could end up with an unreadable disc when you go back to it months or years later.

But what would cause such a wide disparity in media quality between branded discs from the same vendor?

"We don't know why it's different--it could be a different dye, it could be a different manufacturing process," notes Byers. "Manufacturers are constantly trying to improve their dye formulas--in theory improving the disc."

Nonetheless, at the same time, competitive forces are driving manufacturers to find ways to economize on production costs. And cost-cutting measures can result in discs that don't perform as well as those generated during an earlier production run, either in terms of failing outright or not burning at the maximum possible speed on a given DVD drive. "It varies over time, as the output changes," Byers says.

Brand Disparity

As for the disparity between brands that NIST found, the distinguishing factors come down to quality control and the dyes used in disc production. Declining to name names, Byers points out that "some manufacturers make their own discs, and some purchase them from someplace else--which opens you to variations in the manufacturing plant, or changes in the source [of that media]."

Vendors like Maxell and Verbatim manufacture discs on their own production lines, as do Asian manufacturers CMC Magnetics, RiData, Taiyo Yuden, and others; other name brands contract with a third-party manufacturer to produce discs to their own specs; and still others just buy third-party-produced media wholesale, without imposing their own set of quality controls on the media production.

The intricacies of disc production and quality control aren't the only variables that seem to affect media. More surprising is the number of discs that seem to have a propensity for specific hardware.

"One thing we've found in compatibility testing [of DVD-R and +R media] is that it's a relationship between a specific brand of media and the manufacturer of the hardware," observes Byers. "There was no one drive that played every single type of compatible media, and there was no one media brand that played perfectly in every drive."

And, he adds, sounding as frustrated as any consumer might, "You can't say there's a clear, delineated set of reasons as to why."

A Grading System?

One of the most common questions I hear is, "What's a good brand of media to buy?" DVD and CD media are so commonplace nowadays that it's easy to forget the complexities that go into producing them. And if anything in that production process is off, it could, in time, affect the integrity of the data you've burned to a disc.

"It's very tough to answer that kind of question, because there are so many variables," says Byers. "You don't get 100 percent yield when you manufacture these discs. We can talk about the materials that produce a good disc, but it also has to do with the manufacturing process. So, just to say the materials to look for doesn't necessarily relate to it being a better disc." The same is true vice versa.

So how can you know that the media you're using will last you for the duration, so those archived photos will still be there when you go back to a disc 20 years from now--or more?

For the moment, you can't. All DVD and CD vendors make vague claims about disc life expectancy being somewhere between 60 and 100 years--when the discs are treated with care and stored properly.

But NIST's Byers is seeking to change that. At an OSTA meeting in San Francisco this week, Byers is proposing an industry-wide grading system to indicate disc quality.

Byers is motivated by the desire to see a uniform mechanism in place to guide institutions and individuals who'll be storing data, music, videos, and images for long periods of time. "They need to be confident in their purchasing, so they can plan for their strategies in storing their information," Byers says. "Long-term storage has different meanings: For some, 30 years might be enough. For others, 50 or 75 years might be archive, or long-term, quality."

Longevity

Under Byers's proposal, a series of tests would be developed to determine whether a DVD would last for a given number of years. "If you were to purchase a disc in a store with a grade that indicates it has passed a test to last X number of years, it removes a lot of uncertainty for the consumer, and it can save some expense in premature migration [to a new storage technology], or loss of data because they waited too long [and the disc was no longer playable]," he says.

Although some archivists--both individual and professional--are concerned about whether today's digital storage mediums will be readable 50 or 100 years from now, Byers believes the bigger concern for users will be when to migrate their data to the next technology, "before the existing technology is obsolete."

The Disc Rot Myth

Media obsolescence isn't the only thing people fear after committing a personal library's worth of data to CDs and DVDs. But some worries--namely, fear of disc rot--are not fully warranted.

Like a bad seed, the myth of disc rot self-perpetuates, cropping up every now and again as a sudden and mortal threat to your copious collection of prerecorded and self-created discs.

The myth was once rooted in fact. It is true that back in the 1980s, with the first generation of prerecorded audio CDs, the edges of the discs were not always sealed properly, which allowed moisture to get into the disc. Replicated, prerecorded discs use aluminum for the reflective layer; when moisture came into contact with the aluminum on prerecorded discs, explains Byers, it in turn oxidized, causing the aluminum to become dull. "That's where the term 'rot' started," he says.

But that problem was quickly identified and overcome. "The manufacturers learned what was going on, so now the edges of discs are sealed with a lacquer," according to Byers. Though the problem is typically associated with CDs, Byers notes that the potential for interaction with oxygen is the same with both CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs.

The so-called rot issue does not apply to recordable discs. For one thing, recordable optical media do not use aluminum; instead, they use silver, and very rarely gold, or a silver-gold alloy, for the reflective layer. "If the silver comes into contact with sulfates [i.e., pollution, or high humidity], it could affect the silver, but the likelihood of that is less than the likelihood of moisture coming into contact with the aluminum on prerecorded discs," says Byers.

Enduring Myth

The term rot has persisted, however inaccurately, as a means of identifying a plethora of problems with optical discs. "If you get a faulty disc and see a problem that you can visually see, you call it rot, but it could be the way the disc was manufactured," says Byers. "Or if it was subjected to extreme moisture and that moisture came into contact with the aluminum, it could be that the reflectivity has changed. It's not really rot, it's oxidation of aluminum. It should be a rare event on a disc, unless it's defective."

Beyond the realm of defective discs, improper handling can cause otherwise good discs to go bad. Since there's little protection between the label side of a CD and the data layer itself, "scratches on the label side can scratch the metal, and that will ruin the data," says Byers. It's not an issue for DVDs, though, since the dye layer is sandwiched between two plastic layers.

Byers observed a similar problem occurring with press-on labels: "For long-term storage, we recommend not using press-on labels on CDs; when these start to dry up, they can peel the metal right up, damaging data."

Welcome to The king's meaning's of how to kick some-one's ASS!

2009-08-20T04:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to The king's meaning's
of how to kick some-one's ASS!
______________________________
This letter should not be read
by Minors! Or those Sick in the
Head!!!

Welcome back to another one of the King's addition of Violence. This a good
way to deffand your-self if you come to a situation and you must use
physical force. Now just follow these ruls when you fight and you might just
Win. but only if you know what to do!

1. If some jerky comes up to you and tells you to fuck right off you can do
one of two things. you can a insult him back or b hit him hard in the
gut.
2. If you done A in number one you can expact him to hit you. Look at his
hands the one you see moving back is the one that is going to hit you with
so look and when he puls it up move your hand up and block it. then with
your other free hand hit him on the jaw! (if you put a lot of power into it
you might even knock him out!) O
3. If you done B in number one and he does't hit you back and runswalks away
then you might get charged! but if he hits you back then grab his shirt
coler with your weak hand and with your powerful hand hit him non-stop
in the jaw,nose, or for-head (constant hiting in these areas may make him
k.o. (k.o.=knock out!) 0
4. Now let me tell you about weapons (scince the rest is based on weapons!)
anything can be a weapon when you fight! even a simple twig! how can a
twig be a weapon you ask Well if you are on the ground get up holding
the twig and stab him in the leg! (he wont kick your ass anymore! trust
me on that one!) well back to weapons! If your walking along the
side-walk and some one grabs you around the neck holding a knife and
threating to cut your neck grab his arm, lung the arm stright over your
sholder and pull it down (you will snap elbo the joint.)
5. If some one is holding a knife to you (must be a few inches from you) as
he blinks use your right hand to hit him right on the palm, as your
doing that, with your left hit him on the nuckles of the same hand
if you hit him hard enough you'll pop his hand off the socket!
as he is screaming grab his head pull it down towards your waste lift
your knee and slam it in his Face (the fucker will go down! then you can
call the cops or steel his money and WALK away! if you run some one will
call the cops on you. Only run if the cops are coming after you.!
6. THE BATTAL IN THE SCOOL YARD!
If the bully picks on you, you must kick his ass for the chicksguys
there. When he comes towards you he might whant something in your lunch-
box. But what he doesent know WILL hurt him!
Let your mom but HOT, REALLY HOT coffe in your thermiss as he grabs you
tell him you got some good Necter to offer him. as he looks throw the
coffe in his face as he grabs his face knee him in the balls.
he'll go down! If you relly hate him grab a hand full of sand and put
in his mouth. If he is k.o'ed kick him in the ribs!
when the cops come tell them it was Self Deffance! you'll get off scot-
free and you'll have all the chicksguys!! )
7. When on the street and some punk comes up to you and whants to fuck you
up hit him in the nose with all your might (I had fights with these ass
holes and they are relly hard! Its like there bones wont break I only
lost once to them and thats because I had a few jump me as he was
losing. If you dont have a lot experance run from them.)
well i will tell you what to do if you are experanced.
Grab any thing hard near by and SMACK the fuck'in guy in the head!
when the others rush you Kick,Smack,And hit anywhere., where ever you
land them is good! (hope you can take them!) 0
8. Well im tired of writing so if you whant more wait and call the bbs where
you got this at! Or in the next issue i'll include a form that you can send
money to so if every thing goes well I will put up a bbs and with all the
info on sports,fights,sex, and more fights you can be a major Stud like
the king & the Fly

So I hope all your problems have been
answerd and if not wait for Fighting2.txt!
HAPPY ASS-KIKING ) O 0

PS (from the fly)
The king is a good fighter dont take this as a joke! We spent a lot
of hard work on this (the fighting and all!) so if you get in a fight
and use this and lose dont blame us it's your fault becasue you might
not be expreanced enough! so be ready for a fight! (I know i am!)!

the king If you would like more please send $2.00 to
the KING
1688 hebert
Windsor Ontario, CAN
N8N 4G2

We Don't Need No Education, Online classes made easy

2009-08-20T04:09:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! PP here with my first post...

This won't be for everyone, but there are a few who would kill for it

And sorry for the drawn-out story, but you'll learn about the site from it!

If you ever take an online course, theres a good chance it will be through the following website:

http://www.thinkwell.com

Stinkwell (lol, I am trying not to use there name too much) produces a variety of textbooks delivered on CD-ROM and the Internet. They're huge in the online course industry. Students that take course using Stinkwell, use their website to do homework, chat with the class, take tests, yadda, yadda, yadda.

It really PMO (pissed me off) that I had to spend hours doing the homework that didn't really affect the final grade. They make thier homework very cheat proof I noticed. So, I started sniffing around to see, if maybe, someone had the answers posted on the internet. No luck though. cray.gif

I went on to complete my class, Advanced Biophysics BTW, with a not so perfect grade. As I was trying to steal some flash files from the website before my registration code expired, I made a nifty little discovery. They left their 'backdoor' open on another server where they host ALL of their publications.

Videos, printed textbooks, homework & TEST ANSWERS, all of the cool flash files I was looking for, Instructor manuals and more were all just sitting there. If only I would of known this a month before!

I'm sharing this in hopes that another generation can use it to their advantage. AND you better hurry. Stinkwell will for sure 'close the door' once they see all the traffic going in and out :)

Here is what I mean. Take the next URL where the the flash file points to. Shorten it up a little, and you can view the folder where all flash files are stored. Go up another level, and you'll be browsing the main folder.
Here's a neat Flash animation of the working of the human heart:

http://207.207.4.198/pub/flash/31/31.html

Use some common sense with this... surf anonymously and don't pass it on too far

HAVE FUN AND THANK P~PENGUIN AFTER YOUR NEXT CLASS!

For all those not going to be enrolled, go ahead and brush up on your Chemistry, Government, and Public Speaking skills. It won't hurt you to take a break from the certification manuals :)

And if they shut her down, I've got the important stuff backed-up.

Using Rapid Share, How to use them and skip the BS

2009-08-20T04:07:00.000-07:00

Using Rapid Share, How to use them and skip the BS

After you put up your download - or someone else along

go to the download page, click Free - on this next page where the timer comes one - view source

Go down the view source to the end - grab the gobbly gook looking text (I cant get to it right now cause I am locked out for an hour otherwise I would show an example - its obvious - near the bottom)

go to

CODE

http://sportsforum.ws/encode

paste it on the third line down (bottom line)

hit submit - second line down will now have an actuall link

You have requested the file phpscripts_01.rar (18627251 Bytes). This file has been downloaded 450 times already.
IMPORTANT: Download-accelerators
are only supported with a PREMIUM-Account!

ERROR: Please enable JavaScript.

%3C%68%32%3E%3C%66%6F%6E%74%20%63%6F%6C%6F%72%3D%22%23%43%43%30%30%30%30%22%3E%20%44%6F%77%6E%6C%6F%61%64%3A%3C%2F%66%6F%6E%74%3E%20%3C%61%20%68%72%65%66%3D%22%68%74%74%70%3A%2F%2F%64%6C%31%2E%72%61%70%69%64%73%68%61%72%65%2E%64%65%2F%66%69%6C%65%73%2F%33%36%34%33%33%32%2F%31%39%39%2F%70%68%70%73%63%72%69%70%74%73%5F%30%31%2E%72%61%72%22%3E%70%68%70%73%63%72%69%70%74%73%5F%30%31%2E%72%61%72%3C%2F%61%3E%3C%2F%68%32%3E'

You want just that part

------

It's quite simple, when you want to download something that's on rapidshare, do the following:

1. go to the rapidshare link and click 'free' (so not the premium thing)
2. on this page, there's a counter that counts down from a specific amount of time before it displays the download link, view the source of this page
3. at the end of the source, there's a line with lots of numbers and % symbols, copy this line
4. go to sportsforum.ws/encode and paste the line you copied, onto the line
5. click encode now
6. direct link is shown

Warez Definations

2009-08-20T04:06:00.000-07:00

Warez Definations

ISO:
A file that is created from an image of a CD. You can make an iso yourself with a program such as Adaptec Easy CD Creator, or you can burn an ISO file to a CD-R to create a copy of a CD.

Bin/cue files:
These are also used to create an image of a CD. Most people burn these with CdrWin or Fireburner. The .bin file contains all the data for the cd, the .cue file is just a small file in text format telling the software exactly how to burn the data onto the CD.

MP3:
Don't know what these are? What cave have you been you living in? This is a format used to compress music files. You can create your own by encoding .wav files ripped from audio CDs. There are many free players that will play mp3s for you (see the Winamp tutorial)

Ace files:
These are used to compress/archive data. Use WinAce to decompress them, or to make your own. The normal format for ace files is to have .ace, .c01, .c01, etc.

Rar files:
Another compression/archive format. This is most commonly used on iso or bin files in order to split them up into smaller files (15 MB is the norm). Winrar and many other utilities can decompress these. Rar files are usually in the format .rar, .r01, .r02, etc. But don't be surprised if you don't see a .rar file. Just open up winrar and point it to .r01. You also may see them packed as .001, .002, etc. (maybe with a .rar, maybe not)

Pub:
This is an FTP that has left on anonymous access. Many are owned by large companies, so they have a lot of bandwidth. This makes it possible for one person to send files there and many people can download them at once =) These are found by scanning ranges of ips (see the FTP tutorial). Just remember, like the name says, these are public. Just because you upload something there or make directories with your name does not make it 'your pub'. At the same time, realize that if you come across a pub with another person/groups stuff on it that it may be in use to build other pubs from - so don't ruin it for many people by deleting stuff you find there. For more on this, go read some posts on our Bulletin Board.

Proxy:
A system that is set up to forward packets... There are many different kinds, check out the proxy tutorial for more info. Basically, a proxy server helps cover up your tracks because you connect to remote computers through the proxy. Think of it as the condom of the Internet

SFV Files/ CRC Checks:
SFV files contain information about files that they accompany. You can preform a CRC check on the files using a program such as WinSFV. This compares the information in the SFV file to the file itself. If the information doesn't match, then the file was probably messed up in transfer somehow.. try downloading it again, from a different source if possible.

0-Day:
Latest software releases.

0-Sec:
Same as above, although the period of time between ripping a game or application and it appearing on a warez site is even shorter.

Ace File:
The first file in a series of compressed archives (the one you double click on to decompress all the files at once).

Active List:
Similar to a mailing list, but uses ICQ to send instant messages to subscribers.

Alpha:
Software receives this label when it is in the very early stages of development. Usually full of bugs, so don't touch it with a barge pole.

Anti-Leech:
A system which uses cgi scripts to prevent people stealing links and then taking the credit for uploading the files.

Appz:
Short for applications. For example Flash 5 or GoLie 5.5.

ASF File:
The worst quality movie file format (still pretty good though), much smaller in size than dat or mpg.

Banner Site:
Password and username restricted FTP site. To get the correct login details you must click on several banners.

Beta:
An acronym for Business Software Alliance, an organisation who are responsible for enforcing anti-piracy litigation. Similar groups in charge of controlling software "theft" include the SIIA, SPA and ELSPA.

BSOD:
Many people read about BSODs on bulletin boards and think that they're being insulted, but there is no need to get paranoid. It is actually an acronym for "Blue Screen Of Death". These can occur for a multitude of reasons (old Bill likes to keep us guessing!) and are the bane of PC user's lives.

Bulletin Board:
A virtual meeting place on the web similar to a chat room except that it isn't in real time. One person leaves a message then others come along, read it and add a reply. Each new discussion is called a new topic or thread and has it's own link. Whenever a new topic is created the older topics are pushed one place downwards in the list. When someone replies to an older topic it is brought back to the top of the list.

C?? File:
File extension that indicates that a file is part of an .ace or .rar series of compressed files.

Cgi Scripts:
These are referrers which are used in url’s. When you click on a link with a ?cgi reference you are directed to a sponsor’s website or an anti-leech protected file.

Cookie:
A tiny text file (usually less than 1kb), which is stored on your hard drive when you visit a web site. These are used to remember who you are so that you can access members only areas on the site without having to type in a password every time or to retain your personalised settings so that they are available the next time you visit.

Courier:
Someone who is involved in the logistics of delivering new releases directly from the release groups themselves to FTP sites.

Crack:
A tiny executable file that is used to transform a shareware program into the full version. Also used to remove any copy protection from the main executable of games (this will already have been done in "ripped" warez games).

CRC Error:
These can occur when you try to decompress a file that has become corrupt during the downloading process, usually as a result of too much resuming.

Credits:
The amount of data you are permitted to download from a ratio site. The more credits you have the more software you are allowed to download.

DAP:
A quick way of referring to "Download Accelerator Plus", a free download manager that claims to speed up file transfers by up to three hundred per cent. It works by making multiple connections to the same file and is paid for by revolving advertising banners.Also supports resume. **EDITOR'S PICK**

DAT File:
File format used for movies, identical in quality and size to mpg as far as I can tell.

DC:
The lazy way of referring to the Dreamcast, Sega's latest console incarnation.

Decompression:
Unpacking many files that have been stored in a single archive.

Distro:
A concise means of referring to a distribution FTP site. These are huge storage areas which act as a springboard for the transfer of new releases. Their whereabouts are never public disclosed to aid their survival rate. You can think of them as the initial source from which warez emanates.

Direct Downloads
Links to actual files rather than other warez sites or pages. These are usually gathered together from many different sites and put on one page for your convenience.

DivX:
Movies ripped from a DVD using the DivX video codecs. Can be played back using Media Player.

DIZ File:
Short for description. Very brief text file found in warez archives stating the title of the software, the number of files that makes up the set and the group who released it.

Download (or DL):
Copying files from a web server or FTP site to your computer using a modem.

Emulator:
An application that simulates another computer system or console using your PC.

FAQ:
Stands for Frequently Asked Questions.

FAW:
Abbreviation for "Files Anywhere", a popular, free web storage service.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP):
The method used to transfer files from one computer to another using a modem.

Flaming:
A general net term for "verbally" attacking someone. This can be done via email, bulletin board, chat room or any medium which involves communication across the web.

Freedrive:
Virtual hard drive storage area on the web. Free to join and anything and everything can be uploaded or downloaded.

Freeware:
Unrestricted software that is downloaded from the net and is completely free to use. Often paid for using advertising.

FTP Client / Browser:
A program used to access, upload and download data from FTP sites.

Fxp:
The art of transferring data from one Ftp site to another using the connection speed of the slower of the two computers.

Gamez:
Pretty self-explanatory this one.

Getright:
One of the best download managers available.

Gold:
A piece of software is said to have gone gold when the final version is complete and it is ready to ship to the public.

Gozilla:
Another excellent download manager.

Hacking:
Gaining access to a remote computer without the authorisation to do so. Usually for the purposes of stealing confidential information or the malicious destruction of data.

Hammering:
Repeatedly trying to access an FTP site using an FTP client or download manager.

HTTP:
Stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol". The method you use to view a web page. Always comes before the address of a website in your Url bar.

ICQ:
Derives from the term "I Seek You" and is used for real time chat and transferring files over the internet.

IP Address:
A series of numbers separated by dots used to identify your computer on the Internet.

IRC:
Stands for "Instant Relay Chat". Used for real time chat and transferring files over the Internet.

ISO:
An exact copy of an original CD, all the multimedia bits and pieces are uncut and therefore they are extremely large and awkward to download.

Java:
Html scripts used to add functionality to or bring web pages alive. These include animation (such as the title graphic on my main page), menus, chat rooms, buttons, pop ups and so on.

Key Generator:
A tiny executable program that is capable of creating a serial number from a specified username. These are specific to particular applications or utilities, so a serial number created with one key generator will only work for the program for which the key generator was developed.

Lamer:
An annoying and overused general derogatory term used to insult/put down anyone and everything.

Leeching:
Downloading files without giving anything back in return or copying other people’s links.

Mirror:
An exact copy of a web site that is stored on a different server. Using multiple locations for warez sites allows the site to be accessed using a different address if the main site is deleted.

Modchip:
Very common website sponsor found on warez sites. They don’t mind their banners being used on illegal software sites because their products are one of the “grey areas” of the law. Modchips are small pieces of electronic circuitry which allow copied games to be played on your Playstation. If a Playstation has been fitted with a Modchip it is said to have been "chipped".

MP3 File:
Compressed music file format. Average track size is between 3 and 4 meg compared to 40-ish meg in wav format.

MPG File:
The best quality and largest movie file format.

Multi Web Space Faker:
A tool used to create lots of free web space accounts simultaneously.

Name Zero:
An organisation that offers free website domain names. The main drawbacks are that you have to put up with a very bulky banner residing at the bottom of your page and the fact that you never actually own your chosen address.

NFO File:
Short for info or information. Basic text file containing all the important details relating to a particular release, such as number of files, release date, copy protection system, installation instructions etc.

Nuked:
A release is said to be nuked if it is completely unplayable. Usually when this happens another group re-releases the particular game, although fixes do sometimes follow on to rescue the game from trash can.

OEM:
An acronym for Original Equipment Manufacturer. OEM software products are repackaged versions of the full retail product. They are often re-branded to suit the needs of the particular vender and are much more reasonable priced because they lack excessive packaging and a hard copy of the manual.

OST:
Not strictly a warez term this one, but one that you are likely to come across while searching for MP3 music. It stands for original soundtrack (movie music).

Patch:
We all know games and applications aren't perfect. When they are released we would hope that they have been thoroughly tested for bugs and incompatibility problems, but you can guarantee that many of these will still slip through the quality control net. Once the program is released to the general public, the bug reports start to flood in. A patch is a downloadable executive file which takes these reports into account and attempts to incorporate all the fixes for these known problems. A patch can resolve incompatibility problems, prevent crashes or improve the performance of a piece of software.

Piracy:
The replication and distribution of videos or computer software.

Pop-ups:
Irritating browser windows that open automatically when you visit a warez site. Usually contain voting portals or porn sites.

Port:
A port is a term used when referring to FTP sites and is an essential extension of the address used to access them. If the port number of an FTP site isn't specified the default setting of 21 will automatically be used.

Pron:
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away someone posted a request for porn on a bulletin board, only, because of a typing error what he ended up asking for was "pron". Since then this has become a bit of a running joke and so it is now deliberately misspelled.

Proxy:
A third party server which acts as an anonymous go between whenever you request a web page or contact a remote server. The message from your computer is first sent through the proxy server before being relayed to the final destination so that it appears as though the request has come from the IP address of the proxy server rather than you. Used when you wish to maintain your privacy on the net or speed up your connection (much more detailed info on this subject in the "more tips" section).

Psx:
A quick way of referring to the Sony Playstation.

Pub:
A free for all FTP site where anonymous access is permitted.

Pub Scanner:
Someone who scours the net for anonymous access FTP sites which permit the creation and deletion of files. These are then exploited by uploading software for others to share.

Pub Stealer:
Someone who posts the IP address of a public FTP site which they themselves have not built. Some pub stealers justify this by claiming that the elitism of private FXP groups discriminates against those people who do not have access, yet others simply post other people's work to try to claim the credit for themselves. Either way though, pub stealers are despised by the FXP groups and praised by those who would otherwise not have access to them.

Rar File:
The first file in a series of compressed archives (the one you double click on to decompress all the files at once). Usually decompressed using a program called Winrar.

Release Groups:
A group of people who are involved in cracking and / or ripping software and then repackaging it into easily downloadable segments.

Ratio:
Two numbers separated by a semi-colon. Indicates how much data you must upload to an FTP site before you are permitted to download anything.

Reg File:
Tiny file that adds essential configuration details into the registry.

Resume:
The ability to stop and start downloading / uploading a file whenever you choose without having to start from the beginning again.

Rip:
Software that has had all the non-essential gubbins removed to reduce its size. Videos and music are always the first casualties.

Raped:
A release is branded with this term if it has been damaged beyond repair during the ripping process.

RM File:
Shorthand for Real Media, a file format used to encode video sequences, which can only be played back using the "Real Player". Video clips produced using this format are not of the highest quality, but do have the advantage of a small file size.

ROM:
Games which are designed for other platforms, but are played on the PC using an emulator.

Serial:
A valid username and password that is saved as a basic text file and is used to register a shareware program and therefore remove all the restrictions.

Shareware:
Try before you buy software downloaded from the net.

Spam:
Unsolicited junk e-mail. Supposedly stands for "Stupid Person's Annoying Message".

Sponsor:
To make some money webmasters can place adverts on their sites. Each time you click on these adverts or banners they get paid a few cents for bringing potential customers to the sponsors website.

Surfer Friendly (SF):
Surfer friendly sites supposedly have no blind links, pop-ups or porn banners. Don't be fooled by this label though as some sites will tell you fibs to get you to visit them.

Sys Op:
The person who has the responsibility for running the computer from which an FTP site has been established. When warez is uploaded to public FTP sites and then suddenly goes "Missing In Action" you can often lay the blame at the door of the Sys Op who has an obligation to make sure his/her server stays within the boundaries of the law (i.e. warez free).

Top List:
Chart which lists in rank order the best warez sites. Worked out on the basis of votes.

Trading:
Swapping warez, file for file via FTP, ICQ etc. Not usually approved of by the real warez community who believe that warez should be freely distributed. To put it simply, it is not the "warez way".

Trainer:
A small, executable program which sits in your taskbar while you play a game. Hotkeys are associated with cheat commands so that when they are pressed you are given extra ammo, weapons, lives or the ability to toggle between invincible/mortal modes etc etc.

Trojans:
Nasty virus like attachments which can be merged with executable files. These are tiny so are unlikely to arouse suspicion. When run they allow a hacker to access your computer and wreak havoc. Can occasionally be found in warez files.

UBB:
Shorthand for Ultimate Bulletin Board, currently the most popular script used for creating warez bulletin boards.

UBB Hacks:
This term falsely gives the impression that something destructive or malicious is involved, but when you hear people talking about a hack in the context of bulletin boards they are simply referring to code which helps to improve the functionality of a board. For example a "thread hack" would effect the way in which individual threads look and operate.

Undeletable Pub:
An anonymous access, public FTP site where the permission attributes are set to allow uploads and downloads, but do not permit deletion.

Unzip:
Unpacking or decompressing many files that have been stored in a single archive. Technically only used when talking about zip files.

Upload:
Copying files from your computer to a web server or FTP site using a modem.

URL:
Stands for "Uniform Resource Locator". The web site address you type into your browser.

Voting:
Members of the warez scene are very keen to reach the number one slot of top lists such as Voodoo, Top 60 etc. and will therefore encourage you to vote for their site to improve their position and get the credit they deserve (or not as the case may be!).
Warez:
Full version software that is uploaded to the internet and is available for free download.

Warez Board:
Bulletin board used by the warez community to share links and discuss anything related to warez.

Winace:
Another utility used for decompressing all the common archive formats. Not great in my opinion. See below for a better one.

Winrar:
Utility used for decompressing .rar files and much more.

Winzip:
An essential tool used to decompress warez files.

Zip:
A common compression format used to store warez .

Using Google for searching ebooks

2009-08-20T03:59:00.001-07:00

Using Google for searching ebooks

Google has some fantastic potential for you to find whatever you are after on the internet.

To search for a book / program / file perhaps try the following.

Go to Google's search page and use the following criteria in the search dialog

intitle:index.of? file extension Name of item

e.g. intitle:index.of? chm syngress

This will hopefully give you a listing of all websites that google has cached that contain references to files in CHM format that are published by SYNGRESS.

---------------
I use in Google

+("index of") +("/ebooks"|"/book") +(chm|pdf|zip|rar) +syngress

or

allinurl: +(rar|chm|zip|pdf|tgz) Syngress
Enjoy

XP Tweaking

2009-08-20T03:57:00.000-07:00

Win XP Tweaks

-----------
STARTUP
-----------

Windows Prefetcher
******************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters]

Under this key there is a setting called EnablePrefetcher, the default setting of which is 3. Increasing this number to 5 gives the prefetcher system more system resources to prefetch application data for faster load times. Depending on the number of boot processes you run on your computer, you may get benefits from settings up to 9. However, I do not have any substantive research data on settings above 5 so I cannot verify the benefits of a higher setting. This setting also may effect the loading times of your most frequently launched applications. This setting will not take effect until after you reboot your system.

Master File Table Zone Reservation
**********************************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ FileSystem]

Under this key there is a setting called NtfsMftZoneReservation, the default setting of which is 1. The range of this value is from 1 to 4. The default setting reserves one-eighth of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 2 reserves one-quarter of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 3 for NtfsMftZoneReservation reserves three-eighths of the volume for the MFT and setting it to 4 reserves half of the volume for the MFT. Most users will never exceed one-quarter of the volume. I recommend a setting of 2 for most users. This allows for a "moderate number of files" commensurate with the number of small files included in most computer games and applications. Reboot after applying this tweak.

Optimize Boot Files
*******************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Dfrg \ BootOptimizeFunction]

Under this key is a text value named Enable. A value of Y for this setting enables the boot files defragmenter. This setting defragments the boot files and may move the boot files to the beginning (fastest) part of the partition, but that last statement is unverified. Reboot after applying this tweak.

Optimizing Startup Programs [msconfig]
**************************************

MSConfig, similar to the application included in Win9x of the same name, allows the user to fine tune the applications that are launched at startup without forcing the user to delve deep into the registry. To disable some of the applications launched, load msconfig.exe from the run command line, and go to the Startup tab. From there, un-ticking the checkbox next to a startup item will stop it from launching. There are a few application that you will never want to disable (ctfmon comes to mind), but for the most part the best settings vary greatly from system to system.

As a good rule of thumb, though, it is unlikely that you will want to disable anything in the Windows directory (unless it's a third-party program that was incorrectly installed into the Windows directory), nor will you want to disable anything directly relating to your system hardware. The only exception to this is when you are dealing with software, which does not give you any added benefits (some OEM dealers load your system up with software you do not need). The nice part of msconfig is that it does not delete any of the settings, it simply disables them, and so you can go back and restart a startup application if you find that you need it. This optimization won't take effect until after a reboot.

Bootvis Application
*******************
The program was designed by Microsoft to enable Windows XP to cold boot in 30 seconds, return from hibernation in 20 seconds, and return from standby in 10 seconds. Bootvis has two extremely useful features. First, it can be used to optimize the boot process on your computer automatically. Second, it can be used to analyze the boot process for specific subsystems that are having difficulty loading. The first process specifically targets the prefetching subsystem, as well as the layout of boot files on the disk. When both of these systems are optimized, it can result in a significant reduction in the time it takes for the computer to boot.

Before attempting to use Bootvis to analyze or optimize the boot performance of your system, make sure that the task scheduler service has been enabled – the program requires the service to run properly. Also, close all open programs as well – using the software requires a reboot.

To use the software to optimize your system startup, first start with a full analysis of a fresh boot. Start Bootvis, go to the Tools menu, and select next boot. Set the Trace Repetition Settings to 2 repetitions, Start at 1, and Reboot automatically. Then set the trace into motion. The system will fully reboot twice, and then reopen bootvis and open the second trace file (should have _2 in the name). Analyze the graphs and make any changes that you think are necessary (this is a great tool for determining which startup programs you want to kill using msconfig). Once you have made your optimizations go to the Trace menu, and select the Optimize System item. This will cause the system to reboot and will then make some changes to the file structure on the hard drive (this includes a defragmentation of boot files and a shifting of their location to the fastest portion of the hard disk, as well as some other optimizations). After this is done, once again run a Trace analysis as above, except change the starting number to 3. Once the system has rebooted both times, compare the charts from the second trace to the charts for the fourth trace to show you the time improvement of the system's boot up.

The standard defragmenter included with Windows XP will not undo the boot optimizations performed by this application.

-----------------------------------
General Performance Tweaks
-----------------------------------

IRQ Priority Tweak
******************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl]

You will need to create a new DWORD: IRQ#Priority (where # is the number of the IRQ you want to prioritize) and give it a setting of 1. This setting gives the requisite IRQ channel priority over the other IRQs on a software level. This can be extremely important for functions and hardware subsystems that need real-time access to other parts of the system. There are several different subsystems that might benefit from this tweak. Generally, I recommend giving either the System CMOS or the video card priority. The System CMOS generally has an IRQ setting of 8, and giving it priority enhances the I/O performance of the system. Giving priority to the video card can increase frame rates and make AGP more effective.

You can give several IRQs priority, but I am not entirely certain how the system interacts when several IRQs are given priority – it may cause random instabilities in the system, although it is more likely that there's a parsing system built into Windows XP to handle such an occurrence. Either way, I would not recommend it.

QoS tweak
*********
QoS (Quality of Service) is a networking subsystem which is supposed to insure that the network runs properly. The problem with the system is that it eats up 20% of the total bandwidth of any networking service on the computer (including your internet connection). If you are running XP Professional, you can disable the bandwidth quota reserved for the system using the Group Policy Editor [gpedit.msc].

You can run the group policy editor from the Run command line. To find the setting, expand "Local Computer Policy" and go to "Administrative Templates" under "Computer Configuration." Then find the "Network" branch and select "QoS Packet Scheduler." In the right hand box, double click on the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth." From within the Settings tab, enable the setting and then go into the "Bandwidth Limit %" and set it to 0%. The reason for this is that if you disable this setting, the computer defaults to 20%. This is true even when you aren't using QoS.

Free Idle Tasks Tweak
*********************

This tweak will free up processing time from any idle processes and allow it to be used by the foreground application. It is useful particularly if you are running a game or other 3D application. Create a new shortcut to "Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks" and place it on your desktop. Double-click on it anytime you need all of your processing power, before opening the application.

Windows Indexing Services
Windows Indexing Services creates a searchable database that makes system searches for words and files progress much faster – however, it takes an enormous amount of hard drive space as well as a significant amount of extra CPU cycles to maintain the system. Most users will want to disable this service to release the resources for use by the system. To turn off indexing, open My Computer and right click on the drive on which you wish to disable the Indexing Service. Enter the drive's properties and under the general tab, untick the box for "Allow the Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching."

Priority Tweak
**************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl]

This setting effectively runs each instance of an application in its own process for significantly faster application performance and greater stability. This is extremely useful for users with stability problems, as it can isolate specific instances of a program so as not to bring down the entire application. And, it is particularly useful for users of Internet Explorer, for if a rogue web page crashes your browser window, it does not bring the other browser windows down with it. It has a similar effect on any software package where multiple instances might be running at once, such as Microsoft Word. The only problem is that this takes up significantly more memory, because such instances of a program cannot share information that is in active memory (many DLLs and such will have to be loaded into memory multiple times). Because of this, it is not recommended for anyone with less than 512 MB of RAM, unless they are running beta software (or have some other reason for needing the added stability).

There are two parts to this tweak. First is to optimize XP's priority control for the processes. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ PriorityControl and set the "Win32PrioritySeparation" DWORD to 38. Next, go into My Computer and under Tools, open the Folder Options menu. Select the View tab and check the "Launch folder windows in separate process" box. This setting actually forces each window into its own memory tread and gives it a separate process priority.

Powertweak application
**********************
xxx.powertweak.com

Powertweak is an application, which acts much like a driver for our chipsets. It optimizes the communication between the chipset and the CPU, and unlocks several "hidden" features of the chipset that can increase the speed of the system. Specifically, it tweaks the internal registers of the chipset and processor that the BIOS does not for better communication performance between subsystems. Supported CPUs and chipsets can see a significant increase in I/O bandwidth, increasing the speed of the entire system. Currently the application supports most popular CPUs and chipsets, although you will need to check the website for your specific processor/chipset combo – the programmer is working on integrating even more chipsets and CPUs into the software.

Offload Network Task Processing onto the Network Card
*****************************************************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ Tcpip \ Parameters]

Many newer network cards have the ability of taking some of the network processing load off of the processor and performing it right on the card (much like Hardware T&L on most new video cards). This can significantly lower the CPU processes needed to maintain a network connection, freeing up that processor time for other tasks. This does not work on all cards, and it can cause network connectivity problems on systems where the service is enabled but unsupported, so please check with your NIC manufacturer prior to enabling this tweak. Find the DWORD "DisableTaskOffload" and set the value to 0 (the default value is 1). If the key is not already available, create it.

Force XP to Unload DLLs
***********************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer]
"AlwaysUnloadDLL"=dword:00000001

XP has a bad habit of keeping dynamic link libraries that are no longer in use resident in memory. Not only do the DLLs use up precious memory space, but they also tend to cause stability problems in some systems. To force XP to unload any DLLs in memory when the application that called them is no longer in memory, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer and find the DWORD "AlwaysUnloadDLL". You may need to create this key. Set the value to 1 to force the operating system to unload DLLs.

Give 16-bit apps their own separate processes
*********************************************
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ WOW]
"DefaultSeparateVDM"="Yes"

By default, Windows XP will only open one 16-bit process and cram all 16-bit apps running on the system at a given time into that process. This simulates how MS-DOS based systems viewed systems and is necessary for some older applications that run together and share resources. However, most 16-bit applications work perfectly well by themselves and would benefit from the added performance and stability of their own dedicated resources. To force Windows XP to give each 16-bit application it's own resources, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ WOW and find the String "DefaultSeparateVDM". If it is not there, you may need to create it. Set the value of this to Yes to give each 16-bit application its own process, and No to have the 16-bit application all run in the same memory space.

Disable User Tracking
*********************
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer]
"NoInstrumentation"=dword:00000001

The user tracking system built into Windows XP is useless to 99% of users (there are very few uses for the information collected other than for a very nosy system admin), and it uses up precious resources to boot, so it makes sense to disable this "feature" of Windows XP. To do so, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer and find the DWORD "NoInstrumentation". You may need to create this key if it is not there. The default setting is 0, but setting it to 1 will disable most of the user tracking features of the system.

Thumbnail Cache
***************
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced]
"DisableThumbnailCache"=dword:00000001

Windows XP has a neat feature for graphic and video files that creates a "thumbnail" of the image or first frame of the video and makes it into an oversized icon for the file. There are two ways that Explorer can do this, it can create them fresh each time you access the folder or it can load them from a thumbnail cache. The thumbnail caches on systems with a large number of image and video files can become staggeringly large. To disable the Thumbnail Cache, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced and find the DWORD "DisableThumbnailCache". You may need to create this key. A setting of 1 is recommended for systems where the number of graphic and video files is large, and a setting of 0 is recommended for systems not concerned about hard drive space, as loading the files from the cache is significantly quicker than creating them from scratch each time a folder is accessed.

XP REPAIR INSTALL

2009-08-20T03:56:00.002-07:00

XP REPAIR INSTALL

1. Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the
boot order in the system BIOS. Check your system documentation
for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.

2. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the
options below This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

3. Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.

do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the
Recovery Console, press R", (you do not want to load Recovery
Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP
installation using the Recovery Console, press R".

4. Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing
Windows installations.

5. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and
press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options,
read this Warning!!

6. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot.
Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears.
Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your
applications and settings will remain intact.

Blaster worm warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet
when asked, enable the XP firewall
[ http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=283673 ]
before connecting to the internet. You can activate after the
firewall is enabled. Control Panel - Network Connections. Right click
the connection you use, Properties, and there is a check box on the
Advanced [ http://michaelstevenstech.com/xpfirewall1.jpg ] page.

7. Reapply updates or service packs applied since initial Windows XP
installation. Please note that a Repair Install from the Original
install XP CD will remove SP1/SP2 and service packs will need to be
reapplied.
Service Pack 2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-
4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en
An option I highly recommend is creating a Slipstreamed XP CD with SP2.
Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp

______________________________________________________________________

Warning!!
If the option to Repair Install is not available and you continue
with the install;you will delete your Windows folder and Documents
and Settings folder. All applications that place keys in the registry
will need to be re-installed. You should exit setup if the repair
option is not available and consider other options.

Try the link below if the repair option is not available.
Windows XP Crashed?
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot.htm
Here's Help.
A salvage mission into the depths of Windows XP, explained by a
non-geek

by Charlie White
http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot.htm

Related links
You May Lose Data or Program Settings After Reinstalling, Repairing,
or Upgrading Windows XP (Q312369)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q312369

System Restore "Restore Points" Are Missing or Deleted (Q301224)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q301224

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
(Q315341)
http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q315341

Warning!! If the Repair Option is not Available
What should I do? Most important do not ignore the information below!

If the option to Repair Install is NOT available and you continue
with the install; you will delete your Windows folder, Documents and
Settings folders. All Applications that place keys in the registry
will need to be re-installed.

You should exit setup if the repair option is not available and
consider other options. I have found if the Repair option is not
available, XP is usually not repairable and will require a Clean
install.http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
If you still have the ability to access the Windows XP installation,
backup all important files not restorable from other sources before
attempting any recovery console trouble shooting attempts.

Possible Fix by reconfiguring boot.ini using Recovery Console.
1.Boot with XP CD or 6 floppy boot disk set.
2. Press R to load the Recovery Console.
3. Type bootcfg.
4. This should fix any boot.ini errors causing setup not to see the
XP OS install.
5. Try the repair install.

One more suggestion from MVP Alex Nichol

"Reboot, this time taking the immediate R option, and if the CD
letter is say K: give these commands

COPY K:\i386\ntldr C:\
COPY K:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\

(two other files needed - just in case)

1. Type: ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\boot.ini DEL C:\boot.ini

2. Type: BootCfg /Rebuild

which will get rid of any damaged boot.ini, search the disk for
systems and make a new one. This might even result in a damaged
windows reappearing; but gives another chance of getting at the
repair"

Feedback on success or failure of the above fixes would be greatly
appreciated.

Feedback on success or failure of the above fix would be greatly
appreciated.
xpnews@michaelstevenstech.com

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
Publishing of this document without permission of the author is
forbidden.
4-29-2003
Revised 11-05-2004

Xp Auto Install

2009-08-20T03:56:00.001-07:00

Hello friends

May be this might be useful. I install 98 with backup/restore utility.

My way of auto installation of XP.
Then on second partition or the same partition XP without pagefile.sys.

Then i get a dual boot. So after booting into XP, Install all ur fav progies
n games. Test each of them, to make sure they work... etc etc... all
ur drivers also. Tweak ur xp.

make sure u unhide all files relates to win xp dir and progra files.

Then boot into 98 > goto backup utility of 98.

Select the folders used by XP, eg
my documents and settings
winxp (or windows- what ever name u gave to windows dir)
check all files in the root
program files folder
and like this all folders and files used by xp.

then start the backup process.

make sure u have ~ > 3gb of free space on the disk / partition
u r planning to save the image file.

Then when ur XP crashes or U crash it ... lol
then just boot into 98, goto restore option,
and click ok. Over write old files or new ones as u like.

It takes ~20min to install

Windows Xp including

Office Xp
Interdev
.net framework
winzip
winrar
tweaks
easy cleaner
adobe
gif animator
acdess 6
service pack1 , and now service pack 2b
lan settings
mcafee antivirus
zone alarm
cute ftp3 pro
Easy CD-DA Extractor 7
Eraser
Ahead
Links Organizer
Bulk Rename Utility
BitStrike Software
Mozilla Firefox
Microsoft Visual Studio
Opera
Onlinetimer
Nokia
Ulead Systems
UltraISO
Virtual CD v4
SlimBrowser
Yahoo!
Msn
Webroot
Spamihilator
inetpub

U can exclude any folder, u think is not needed at that time for reinstallation.

The whole task id completed in 20 minutes ... in the mean while
I make a nice cup of tea for myself and wait for XP to start

PS: dont forget to include boot.ini file.

Hope it will help.

User's Guide To Avoiding Virus Infections, Keeping an eye out for viruses

2009-08-20T03:55:00.000-07:00

User's guide to avoiding virus infections
Keeping an eye out for viruses

Computer viruses are everywhere! This guide will show you how to stay alert and how to avoid getting infections on your computer. Having an updated virus scanner is only a small part of this, there are many ways that you can prevent having viruses other than a virus scanner, as it will not always save you.

Types of viruses
There are many type of viruses. Typical viruses are simply programs or scripts that will do various damage to your computer, such as corrupting files, copying itself into files, slowly deleting all your hard drive etc. This depends on the virus. Most viruses also mail themselves to other people in the address book. This way they spread really fast and appear at others' inboxes as too many people still fall for these. Most viruses will try to convince you to open the attachment, but I have never got one that tricked me. In fact, I found myself emailing people just to make sure they really did send me something. It does not hurt to be safe.

Worms
Worms are different type of viruses, but the same idea, but they are usually designed to copy themselves a lot over a network and usually try to eat up as much bandwidth as possible by sending commands to servers to try to get in. The code red worm is a good example of this. This worm breaks in a security hole in Microsoft IIS (Internet Information Server) in which is a badly coded http server that, despite the security risks, a lot of people use it. When the worm successfully gets in, it will try to go into other servers from there. When IceTeks was run on a dedicated server at my house, there was about 10 or so attempts per day, but because we ran Apache, the attempts did not do anything but waste bandwidth and not much as I had it fixed a special way. Some worms such as the SQL slammer will simply send themselves over and over so many times that they will clog up networks, and sometimes all of the internet. Worms usually affect servers more than home users, but again, this depends on what worm it is. It is suspected that most worms are efforts from the RIAA to try to stop piracy, so they try to clog up networks that could contain files. Unfortunately, the RIAA have the authority to do these damages and even if caught, nothing can be done.

Trojans
Trojans are another type of virus. They are simply like a server in which enables hackers to get into and control the computer. A trojan such as Subseven can enable a hacker to do various things such as control the mouse, eject the cd-rom drive, delete/download/upload files and much more.

MBR virues
Boot sector viruses are another type, they are similar to file viruses, but instead they go in the boot sector and can cause serious damage when the computer is booted, some can easily format your drive simply by booting your computer. These are hard to remove.

Most viruses have various characteristics. For example, a worm can also be a trojan and also infect the boot sector. It all depends on how the virus is written and what it is designed to do. That's why there are not really strong structured categories, as they can easily mix one in the other.

Know the potentially dangerous files
Like any other files, viruses must be opened in order to do something. Most viruses come through e-mail as an attachment. Some will make it look like it's someone you know, and it will try to convince you to open an attachment. Never open attachments at any cost! Some viruses will infect files in programs, so opening a program will actually open the virus, maybe the same one, or another part of it.

All files have what is called an extension; This is the 3 last letters after the last period. For example, setup.exe has a file extension of .exe.

Extensions to watch out for are .exe .com .bat .scr .pif .vbs and others, but these are the most seen. .exe .com .bat .pif and .scr are valid extensions for executables. A virus writer will simply rename it to one of these and it will work the same way. .pif is a shortcut to an ms-dos program and will have the ms dos icon, but will still execute whatever code is in it, so an .exe can be renamed to .pif and be run the same way. .bat is a batch file, which can contain instructions to do various file activities, but again, a .exe can be renamed to .bat and it will execute it! .vbs is a visual basic script. For some reason, Microsoft provides this scripting language along with the scripting host to make it more convenient to design and write viruses quickly and easily, I've never seen another use for this scripting language other than for writing viruses. There are programs that are written with that language, but it is compiled into an exe. Exe is the usual extension for programs, you would not have a software CD install a bunch of vbs files all over!

Bottom line is, if you don't know what a file is just don't open it. Some viruses will sometimes be named a way as to mask the real file extension to make it look like a harmless file such as a image file. This is easily noticed, but can still be missed. Simply don't open unexpected files.

If you get something that appears like something legit, just ask the person it came from if they sent it. Most viruses use a friend's address to make it look like it comes from them. The virus does this by using the person's address when sending itself to the address book contacts.

Downloads
Email is not the only way to get viruses; P2P (file sharing programs such as kazaa, winmx, direct connect etc) is also another way to get viruses.

When downloading programs, the main thing to watch out for is the file size. If you are downloading a program that you expect to be rather large such as a game, don't grab a file that is 10KB, since it's most likely a virus. However, I've been caught with a virus even with large files, so file size is not the only thing to watch, as an exe is still valid even if junk is added at the end, so a 64KB virus will still function even if it is turned into 650MB.

Icons are something to look for too, fortunately, virus writers don't take time to put icons. If your download should be a setup file, you should see the icon of a setup file. If it's just the blank icon that typical plain or corrupted exes have, don't open it.

Another thing to do, which should be obvious, is to scan the file for viruses using updated virus definitions. But don't rely on only your virus scanner, as they are not perfect, and if the virus has not been reported to them yet, they won't know to create a definition for it!

Changing settings to stay safe
If you do open a virus, you want to avoid it going to all your friends. The simplest thing to do is to NOT use the windows address book. It is easy for viruses to get through and Microsoft is not doing anything about it. Just don't use it. Put them in spreadsheet or even better write them down somewhere. Don't use the address book.

Another "feature" to avoid is the auto preview. Some viruses can attempt to open themselves just by opening the email. There are security holes in Microsoft mail programs that allow this. In Microsoft Outlook, click on the view menu and remove auto preview. You need to do this for every folder, but the inbox is most important. In Outlook Express, click on the view menu and go to layout. In the dialog box, you will see a check box for show preview pane. Uncheck it and click ok.

Another thing you should change, especially if you download a lot, is the option that allows you to view the file extension. In Win98, go in any folder, click on view then folder options and choose the view tab and where it says hide file extension for known types, uncheck it. In win2k, it is the same process, but instead, go in the control panel and open the folder options icon.

Avoiding server worms
Some viruses, mostly worms, can exploit through servers and affect other servers from servers that have been infected. A good example is the SQL slammer. This was a worm that affected SQL servers run by Microsoft IIS and Microsoft SQL Server. Once the worm gets in, that particular server starts trying to find more exploitable driving internet connections to a halt in the process. Servers running Apache were unaffected by that, except for the many hits to try to get in. IceTeks received about 100 hits per day when it was run on a dedicated home server. Most hits came from major ISPs and other big websites that had no clue they were still affected.

The simple solution to avoid these types of viruses is to NOT use Microsoft based server software for your server, especially if it is a public server. The operating system is also crucial, but the actual server software is much more. Apache, which is free, is much more secure than Microsoft based server programs such as IIS. IIS may be easier to understand and administer, but it saves a lot of hassle to learn how to use Apache. IIS has a large number of vulnerabilities, such as the ability to gain access to cmd.exe and basically delete the whole drive by doing a ../ request in the address bar. These don't require viruses, but simply commands, but there are worms written to automatically make these commands. The code red does this.

Removing a virus
The best way to do this is to do a clean install. However, depending on how bad the virus is, a simple clean install won't remove it. So to be extra sure, you'll want to do a low level format. This is especially true of you got a boot sector virus, as even repartitioning and formatting won't quite remove it, but sometimes you can get away with an fdisk /mbr, but not all the time. here are various removal tools for viruses, it is good to use them and see if they work, but proceeding with the clean install is recommended. You never know if the virus is completely removed by deleting files you suspect are infected. Some viruses such as the Bugbear will close anti virus programs and other programs to make it hard and annoying to figure out what to do. A clean install is the best way to ensure that it's gone for good.

Viruses are out there, don't be one of the many infected ones! Stay alert and stay safe! Don't open unexpected files, regularly update your virus definitions and scan downloaded files!

I hope this article was useful for you!

Use Hotkeys To Switch Programs

2009-08-20T03:54:00.001-07:00

Use Hotkeys to Switch Programs

If you routinely use a specific set of programs, you can set up hotkeys that will launch or directly switch among them instead of cycling with Alt-Tab. Find a desktop or Start menu shortcut that launches a program and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, click in the Shortcut key box, and press the key combination you want to use. Be sure to choose key combinations that are not needed by any of your programs; for example, use Alt-Shift-1, Alt-Shift-2.

Untold Windows Tips

2009-08-20T03:53:00.000-07:00

Important Note: Before you read on, you need to keep one thing in mind. Whenever you make changes to the Windows Registry you need to Refresh it before the changes take place. Simply press F5 to refresh the registry and enable the changes. If this does not work Restart your system

****************

Exiting Windows the Cool and Quick Way

Normally it takes a hell lot of time just Shutting down Windows, you have to move your mouse to the Start Button, click on it, move it again over Shut Down, click, then move it over the necessary option and click, then move the cursor over the OK button and once again (you guessed it) click.This whole process can be shortened by creating shortcuts on the Desktop which will shut down Windows at the click of a button. Start by creating a new shortcut( right click and select New> Shortcut). Then in the command line box, type (without the quotes.)

'C:windowsrundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec'

This Shortcut on clicking will restart Windows immediately without any Warning. To create a Shortcut to Restarting Windows, type the following in the Command Line box:

'c:windowsrundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows'

This Shortcut on clicking will shut down Windows immediately without any Warning.

Ban Shutdowns : A trick to Play on Lamers

This is a neat trick you can play on that lamer that has a huge ego, in this section I teach you, how to disable the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. This trick involves editing the registry, so please make backups. Launch regedit.exe and go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

In the right pane look for the NoClose Key. If it is not already there then create it by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New > String Value.(Name it NoCloseKey ) Now once you see the NoCloseKey in the right pane, right click on it and select Modify. Then Type 1 in the Value Data Box.

Doing the above on a Win98 system disables the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. But on a Win95 machine if the value of NoCloseKey is set to 1 then click on the Start > Shut Down button displays the following error message:

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

You can enable the shut down option by changing the value of NoCloseKey to 0 or simply deleting the particular entry i.e. deleting NoCloseKey.

Instead of performing the above difficult to remember process, simply save the following with an extension of .reg and add it's contents to the registry by double clicking on it.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]

"NoClose"="1"

Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer

This is yet another trick you can play on your geek friend. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives. Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item. It's .reg file is as follows:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer]

"NoDrives"=dword:03ffffff

Take Over the Screen Saver

To activate and deactivate the screen saver whenever you want, goto the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionScreenSavers

Now add a new string value and name it Mouse Corners. Edit this new value to -Y-N. Press F5 to refresh the registry. Voila! Now you can activate your screensaver by simply placing the mouse cursor at the top right corner of the screen and if you take the mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen, the screensaver will deactivate.

Pop a banner each time Windows Boots

To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user is going to log on, go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWinLogon

Now create a new string Value in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create yet another new string value and name it: LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to display the company's private policy each time the user logs on to his NT box. It's .reg file would be:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWinlogon]

"LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."

Delete the Tips of the Day to save 5KB

Windows 95 had these tips of the day which appeared on a system running a newly installed Windows OS. These tips of the day are stored in the Windows Registry and consume 5K of space. For those of you who are really concerned about how much free space your hard disk has, I have the perfect trick.

To save 5K go to the following key in Regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerTips

Now simply delete these tricks by selecting and pressing the DEL key.

Change the Default Locations

To change the default drive or path where Windows will look for it's installation files, go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSetupSourcePath

Now you can edit as you wish.

Secure your Desktop Icons and Settings

You can save your desktop settings and secure it from your nerdy friend by playing with the registry. Simply launch the Registry Editor go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

In the right pane create a new DWORD Value named NoSaveSettings and modify it's value to 1. Refresh and restart for the settings to get saved.

CLSID Folders Explained

Don't you just hate those stubborn stupid icons that refuse to leave the desktop, like the Network Neighborhood icon. I am sure you want to know how you can delete them. You may say, that is really simple, simply right click on the concerned icon and select Delete. Well not exactly, you see when you right click on these special folders( see entire list below)neither the rename nor the delete option does not appear. To delete these folders, there are two methods, the first one is using the System Policy Editor(Poledit in the Windows installation CD)and the second is using the Registry.

Before we go on, you need to understand what CLSID values are. These folders, like the Control Panel, Inbox, The Microsoft Network, Dial Up Networking etc are system folders. Each system folder has a unique CLSID key or the Class ID which is a 16-byte value which identifies an individual object that points to a corresponding key in the registry.

To delete these system Folders from the desktop simply go to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerDesktopNamespace{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}

To delete an icon simply delete the 16 byte CLSID value within "NameSpace". The following are the CLSID values of the most commonly used icons:

My Briefcase:{85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}

Desktop: {00021400-0000-0000-C000-0000000000046}

Control Panel:{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

Dial-Up-Networking:{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}

Fonts: {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}

Inbox :{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

My Computer :{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

Network Neighborhood:{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}

Printers :{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B30309D}

Recycle Bin :{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

The Microsoft Network:{00028B00-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

History: {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}

Winzip :{E0D79300-84BE-11CE-9641-444553540000}

For example, to delete the Recycle Bin, first note down it's CLSID value, which is: 645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E. Now go to the Namespace key in the registry and delete the corresponding key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerDesktopNameSpace{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerDesktopNameSpace{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}

Sometimes, you may need to play a trick on your brother or friend, well this one teaches you how to hide all icons from the Desktop. Go to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

In the right pane create a new DWORD value by the name: NoDesktop and set its value to: 1. Reboot and you will find no icons on the desktop.

Till now you simply learnt how to delete the special system folders by deleting a registry key, but the hack would have been better if there was a way of adding the DELETE and RENAME option to the right click context menus of these special folders. You can actually change the right click context menu of any system folder and add any of the following options: RENAME, DELETE, CUT, COPY, PASTE and lots more.

This hack too requires you to know the CLSID value of the system folder whose menu you want to customize. In this section, I have taken up Recycle Bin as the folder whose context menu I am going to edit.

Firstly launch the registry editor and open the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}ShellFolder.

In Case you want to edit some other folder like say the FONTS folder, then you will open the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{CLSID VALUE HERE}ShellFolder.

In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes. Now consider the following options:
To add the Rename option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to

50 01 00 20
To add the Delete option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to

60 01 00 20

3. To add both the Rename & Delete options to the menu, change the value of Attributes to 70,01,00,20

4. Add Copy to the menu, change Attributes to 41 01 00 20

5. Add Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 42 01 00 20

6. Add Copy & Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 43 01 00 20

7. Add Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 44 01 00 20

8. Add Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 45 01 00 20

9. Add Cut & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 46 01 00 20

10.Add all Cut, Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 47 01 00 20

We want to add only the Rename option to the right click context menu of the Recycle Bin, so change the value of attributes to: 50 01 00 20. Press F5 to refresh and then after rebooting you will find that when you right click on the Recycle Bin a RENAME option pops up too.

To reset the default Windows options change the value of Attributes back to

40 01 00 20

The Registry File which one can create for the above process would be something like the below:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}Shell-Folder]

"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20

To access say the Modem Properties in the Control Panel Folder, the normal procedure is: Click on Start, Click on Settings> Control Panel and then wait for the Control Panel window to pop up and then ultimately click on the Modems icon.

Wouldn't it be lovely if you could shorten the process to: Click on Start> Control Panel>Modems. Yes you can add the Control Panel and also all other Special System Folders directly to the first level Start Menu. Firstly collect the CLSID value of the folder you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Control Panel hence the CLSID value is: 21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D

Now right click on the Start Button and select Open. Now create a new folder and name it: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

NOTE: Do not forget the period after the 'l' in Panel. Similarly all system folders can be added to the Start Menu.(accept My Briefcase, I think)

Deleting System Options from the Start menu

You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start menu by performing a simple registry hack. Again like always Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value. Name it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click the newly create DWORD to edit it's value and enter 1 as its value. This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also disable the default Shortcut key(F3 for Find.)

To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the DWORD to 0 or simply Delete the DWORD value.

Fed Up of the boring Old Yellow Folder Icons?[Drive Icons Included]

NOTE: This trick hasn't been tried on Win98.

You can easily change the boring yellow folder icons to your own personalized icons. Simply create a text file and copy the following lines into it:

[.ShellClassInfo]

ICONFILE=Drive:PathIcon_name.extension

Save this text file by the name, desktop.ini in the folder, whose icon you want to change. Now to prevent this file from getting deleted change it's attributes to Hidden and Read Only by using the ATTRIB command.

To change the icon of a drive, create a text file containing the following lines:

[Autorun]

ICON=Drive:PathIcon_name.extension

Save this file in the root of the drive whose icon you want to change and name it autorun.inf For Example, if you want to change the icon of a floppy, SAVE THE icon in a:icon_name.ico One can also create a kewl icon for the Hard Disk and create a text file [autorun.inf] and store it in "c:".

Securing NT

By default, NT 4.0 displays the last person who logged onto the system. This can be considered to be a security threat, especially in the case of those who choose their password to be same as their Username. To disable this bug which actually is a feature, go to the following key in the registry editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsNTCurrentVersionWinlogon

Click and select the ReportBookOK item and create a new string value called DontDisplayLastUserName. Modify it and set it's value to 1.

As a system administrator, you can ensure that the passwords chosen by the users are not too lame or too easy to guess. NT has this lovely utility called the User Manager which allows the administrator to set the age limit of the password which forces the users to change the password after a certain number of days. You can also set the minimum length of passwords and prevent users to use passwords which already have been used earlier and also enable account lockouts which will deactivate an account after a specified number of failed login attempts.

When you log on to Win NT, you should disable Password Caching, this ensures Single NT Domain login and also prevents secondary Windows Logon screen.

Simply copy the following lines to a plain text ASCII editor like: Notepad and save it with an extension, .reg

----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesNetwork]

"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001

----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------

To Enable Password Caching use the following .reg file:

--------------Enable.reg-----------------

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesNetwork]

"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000000

--------------Enable.reg-----------------

Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN MRU

The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes.

You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key:

HKEY_USERS.DefaultSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerRunMRU

You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerDoc Find Spec MRU

and delete.

Customizing the Right Click Context Menu of the Start Menu

When you right click on the start menu, only 3 options pop up: Open, Explore, and Find. You can add your own programs to this pop up menu( which comes up when we right click on it.) Open Regedit and go to the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDirectoryShell

Right click on the shell and create a new Sub Key (You can create a new SubKey by right clicking on the Shell Key and selecting New > Key.). Type in the name of the application you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Notepad to the Start Menu and hence I name this new sub key, Notepad. Now right click on the new registry key that you just created and create yet another new key named Command. Enter the full path of the application, in this case Notepad in the default value of Command in the right

pane. So I Modify the value of the default string value and enter the full pathname of Notepad:

c:wndowsnotepad.exe.

Now press F5 to refresh. Now if you right click on the Start Button you will find a new addition to the Pop Up Menu called Notepad. Clicking on it will launch Notepad.

We can not only add but also remove the existing options in this pop up box.

To delete the Find option, go to the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDirectoryShellFind

Delete Find. DO NOT delete Open else you will not be able to open any folders in the Start Menu like Programs, Accessories etc.

BMP Thumbnail As Icon

You can actually change the default BMP icon to a thumbnail version of the actual BMP file. To do this simply go to HKCUPaint.PictureDefault. In the right pane change the value of default to %1. Please note however that this will slow down the display rate in explorer if there are too many BMP thumbnails to display. You can use other icons too, simply enter the pathname.To restore back to the normal change the vale of default back to: C:Progra~1Access~1MSPAINT.EXE,1.

Customizing The Shortcut Arrow

All shortcuts have a tiny black arrow attached to it's icon to distinguish from normal files. This arrow can sometimes be pretty annoying and as a Hacker should know how to change each and everything, here goes another trick. Launch the Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionexplorerShell Icons.

Now, on the right pane is a list of icons ( we found out that on some systems, Windows 98 especially, the right pane is blank. Don't worry, just add the value as required ). Find the value 29. If it isn't there, just add it. The value of this string should be C:Windowssystemshell32.dll, 29 ( which means the 30th icon in shell32.dll - the first one begins with 0 ). Now, we need blank icon to do this. Just create one with white as the whole icon. Go here to learn how to create an icon. Once done just change the value to C:xxx.ico, 0 where "xxx" is the full path of the icon file and "0" is the icon in it.

Now for some fun. If the blank icon is a bit boring, change it again. You will find that under shell32.dll there is a gear icon, a shared folder ( the hand ) and much more. Experiment for yourself!

Use Perl to Get List or Services Running on your NT box

Use the following Perl Script to get a list of Services running on your NT system

--------------script.pl-----------------

#!c:perbinperl.exe

use Win32::Service;

my ($key, %service, %status, $part);

Win32::Service::GetServices(' ',%services);

foreach $key (sort keys %services) {

print "Print Namet: $key, $services{$key}n";

Win32::Service::GetStatus( ' ',$services{$key};

%status);

foreach $part (keys %status) {

print "t$part : $status{$part}n" if($part eq "CurrentState");

}

}

-------------script.pl-------------------

Internet Explorer Tricks and Tips

Resizable Full Screen Toolbar

The Full Screen option increases the viewable area and makes surfing more enjoyable but sometimes we need the Toolbar but also need to have extra viewing area. Now this hack teaches you how to change the size of the Internet Explorer toolbar. This registry hack is a bit complicated as it involves Binary values, so to make it simple, I have included the following registry file which will enable the resizable option of the Internet Explorer toolbar which was present in the beta version of IE.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerToolbar]

"Theater"=hex:0c,00,00,00,4c,00,00,00,74,00,00,00,18,00,00,00,1b,00,00,00,5c,

00,00,00,01,00,00,00,e0,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,05,00,00,00,22,00,00,00,26,00,

00,00,02,00,00,00,21,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,04,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,

00,03,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

*******************

HACKING TRUTH: Internet Explorer 5 displays the friendly version of HTTP errors like NOT FOUND etc . They are aimed at making things easier for newbies. If you would rather prefer to see the proper error pages for the web server you're using, go to Tools, Internet Options and select the Advanced tab. Then scroll down and uncheck the Show friendly http errors box.

*******************

Making the Internet Explorer & the Explorer Toolbars Fancy

The Internet Explorer toolbar looks pretty simple. Want to make it fancy and kewl? Why not add a background image to it. To do this kewl hack launch the Windows Registry Editor and go to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoft Internet ExplorerToolbar.

Now in the right pane create a new String Value and name it BackBitmap and modify it's value to the path of the Bitmap you want to dress it up with by rightclicking on it and choosing Modify. When you reboot the Internet Explorer and the Windows Explorer toolbars will have a new look.

Change Internet Explorer's Caption

Don't like the caption of Internet Explorer caption? Want to change it? Open the registry editor and go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain.

In the right pane create a new String Value names Window Title (Note the space between Window and Title). Right click on this newly created String Value and select Modify. Type in the new caption you want to be displayed. Restart for the settings to take place.

Now let's move on to some Outlook Express Tricks.

Colorful Background

Don't like the boring background colors of Outlook Express? To change it launch the Windows Registry Editor and scroll down to the

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet Mail And News key.

On the left pane, click on ColorCycle or select Edit and Modify in the menu. Now change the value to 1. Close and restart. Now, launch Outlook Express and whenever you open up a New Message, hold down ctrl-shift and tap the z key to scroll to change the background color. Repeat the keystroke to cycle through the colors.

Internet Explorer 5 Hidden Features

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 has several hidden features which can be controlled using the Windows Registry. Open your registry and scroll down to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftInternet ExplorerRestrictions

Create a new DWORD value named x(See complete list of values of x below) and modify it's value to 1 to enable it and to 0 to disable it.

NoBrowserClose : Disable the option of closing Internet Explorer.

NoBrowserContextMenu : Disable right-click context menu.

NoBrowserOptions : Disable the Tools / Internet Options menu.

NoBrowserSaveAs : Disable the ability to Save As.

NoFavorites : Disable the Favorites.

NoFileNew : Disable the File / New command.

NoFileOpen : Disable the File / Open command.

NoFindFiles : Disable the Find Files command.

NoSelectDownloadDir : Disable the option of selecting a download directory.

NoTheaterMode : Disable the Full Screen view option.

Hacking Secrets

Almost all system administrators make certain changes and make the system restricted. System Administrators can hide the RUN option, the FIND command, the entire Control Panel, drives in My Computer like D: A: etc. They can even restrict activities of a hacker my disabling or hiding, even the tiniest options or tools.

Most commonly these restrictions are imposed locally and are controlled by the Windows Registry. But sometimes the smart system administrators control the activities of the hacker by imposing restrictions remotely through the main server.

Poledit or Policy Editor is a small kewl tool which is being commonly used by system administrators to alter the settings of a system. This utility is not installed by default by Windows. You need to install in manually from the Windows 98 Installation Kit from the Resource Kit folder. user.dat file that we saw earlier.

The Policy Editor tool imposes restrictions on the user's system by editing the user.dat file which in turn means that it edits the Windows Registry to change the settings. It can be used to control or restrict access to each and every folder and option you could ever think of. It has the power to even restrict access to individual folders, files, the Control Panel, MS DOS, the drives available etc. Sometimes this software does make life really hard for a Hacker. So how can we remove the restrictions imposed by the Policy Editor? Well read ahead to learn more.

You see the Policy Editor is not the only way to restrict a user's activities. As we already know that the Policy Editor edits the Windows Registry(user.dat) file to impose such restrictions. So this in turn would mean that we can directly make changes to the Windows Registry using a .reg file or directly to remove or add restrictions.

Launch Regedit and go to the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies

Under this key, there will definitely be a key named explorer. Now under this explorer key we can create new DWORD values and modify it's value to 1 in order to impose the restriction. If you want to remove the Restriction, then you can simply delete the respective DWORD values or instead change their values to 0. The following is a list of DWORD values that can be created under the Explorer Key-:

NoDeletePrinter: Disables Deletion of already installed Printers

NoAddPrinter: Disables Addition of new Printers

NoRun : Disables or hides the Run Command

NoSetFolders: Removes Folders from the Settings option on Start Menu (Control Panel, Printers, Taskbar)

NoSetTaskbar: Removes Taskbar system folder from the Settings option on Start Menu

NoFind: Removes the Find Tool (Start >Find)

NoDrives: Hides and does not display any Drives in My Computer

NoNetHood: Hides or removes the Network Neighborhood icon from the desktop

NoDesktop: Hides all items including, file, folders and system folders from the Desktop

NoClose: Disables Shutdown and prevents the user from normally shutting down Windows.

NoSaveSettings: Means to say, 'Don't save settings on exit'

DisableRegistryTools: Disable Registry Editing Tools (If you disable this option, the Windows Registry Editor(regedit.exe) too

will not work.)

NoRecentDocsHistory: Removes Recent Document system folder from the Start Menu (IE 4 and above)

ClearRecentDocsOnExit: Clears the Recent Documents system folder on Exit.

Nolnternetlcon: Removes the Internet (system folder) icon from the Desktop

Under the same key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies you can create new subkeys other than the already existing Explorer key. Now create a new key and name it System. Under this new key, system we can create the following new DWORD values(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):

NODispCPL: Hides Control Panel

NoDispBackgroundPage: Hides Background page.

NoDispScrsavPage: Hides Screen Saver Page

NoDispAppearancePage: Hides Appearance Page

NoDispSettingsPage: Hides Settings Page

NoSecCPL: Disables Password Control Panel

NoPwdPage: Hides Password Change Page

NoAdminPaqe: Hides Remote Administration Page

NoProfilePage: Hides User Profiles Page

NoDevMgrPage: Hides Device Manager Page

NoConfigPage: Hides Hardware Profiles Page

NoFileSysPage: Hides File System Button

NoVirtMemPage: Hides Virtual Memory Button

Similarly, if we create a new subkey named Network, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):

NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides Network Security Page

NoNelSetup: Hides or disables the Network option in the Control Panel

NoNetSetupIDPage: Hides the Identification Page

NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides the Access Control Page

NoFileSharingControl: Disables File Sharing Controls

NoPrintSharing: Disables Print Sharing Controls

Similarly, if we create a new subkey named WinOldApp, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):

Disabled: Disable MS-DOS Prompt

NoRealMode: Disable Single-Mode MS-DOS.

So you see if you have access to the Windows Registry, then you can easily create new DWORD values and set heir value to 1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option. But Sometimes, access to the Windows Registry is blocked. So what do you do? Go to the Windows Directory and delete either user.dat or system.dat (These 2 files constitute the Windows Registry.) and reboot. As soon as Windows logs in, it will display a Warning Message informing you about an error in the Windows Registry. Simply ignore this Warning Message and Press CTRL+DEL+ALT to get out of this warning message.(Do not press OK) You will find that all restrictions have been removed.

The most kind of restriction found quite commonly is the Specific Folder Restriction, in which users are not allowed access to specific folders, the most common being the Windows folder, or sometimes even access to My Computer is blocked. In effect, you simply cannot seem to access the important kewl files which are needed by you to do remove restrictions. What do you? Well use the RUN command. (START >RUN). But unfortunately a system administrator who is intelligent enough to block access to specific folder, would definitely have blocked access to the RUN command. Again we are stuck.

Windows is supposed to be the most User Friendly Operating System on earth. (At least Microsoft Says so.)

It gives the User an option to do the same thing in various ways. You see the RUN command is only the most convenient option of launching applications, but not the only way. In Windows you can create shortcuts to almost anything from a file, folder to a Web URL. So say your system administrator has blocked access to the c:windowssystem folder and you need to access it. What do you do? Simply create a Shortcut to it. To do this right click anywhere on the desktop and select New > Shortcut. A new window titled Create Shortcut pops up. Type in the path of the restricted folder you wish to access, in this case c:windowssystem. Click Next, Enter the friendly name of the Shortcut and then click Finish. Now you can access the restricted folder by simply double clicking on the shortcut icon. Well that shows how protected and secure *ahem Windows *ahem is.

****************

HACKING TRUTH: Sometimes when you try to delete a file or a folder, Windows displays an error message saying that the file is protected. This simply means that the file is write protected, or in other words the R option is +. Get it? Anyway, you can stop Windows from displaying this error message and straightaway delete this file by changing its attributes to Non Read Only. This can be done by Right Clicking on the file, selecting Properties and then

unselecting the Read Only Option.

***************

There is yet another way of accessing restricted folders. Use see, DOS has a lovely command known as START. Its general syntax is:

START application_path

It does do what it seems to do, start applications. So in you have access to DOS then you can type in the START command to get access to the restricted folder. Now mostly access to DOS too would be blocked. So again you can use the shortcut trick to launch, c:command.com or c:windowscommand.com. (Command.com is the file which launches MS DOS).

Accessing Restricted Drives.

The problem with most system administrators is that they think that the users or Hackers too are stupid. Almost all system administrators use the Registry Trick (Explained Earlier) to hide all drives in My Computer. So in order to unhide or display all drives, simply delete that particular key.(Refer to beginning of Untold Secrets Section.)

Some systems have the floppy disk disabled through the BIOS. On those systems if the BIOS is protected, you may need to crack the BIOS password. (For that Refer to the Windows Hacking Chapter). Sometimes making drives readable (Removing R +) and then creating Shortcuts to them also helps us to get access to them.

Further Changing your Operating System's Looks by editing .htt files

If you have installed Windows Desktop Update and have the view as Web Page option enabled, you can customise the way the folder looks by selecting View > Customise this folder. Here you can change the background and other things about that particular folder. Well that is pretty lame, right? We hackers already know things as lame as that. Read on for some kewl stuff.

Well, you could also change the default that is stored in a Hidden HTML Template file (I think so..) which is nothing but a HTML document with a .htt extension. This .htt file is found at: %systemroot%webfolder.htt.

The %systemroot% stands for the drive in which Windows is Installed, which is normally C:

You can edit these .htt files almost just like you edit normal .HTM or .HTML files. Simply open them in an ASCII editor like Notepad. The following is a list of .htt files on your system which control various folders and which can be edited to customise the way various folders look.

controlp.htt Control Panel

printers.htt Printers

mycomp.htt My Computer

safemode.htt Safe Mode

All these files are found in the web folder in %systemfolder%. The folder.htt file has a line:

'Here's a good place to add a few lines of your own"

which is the place where you can add your own A HREF links. These links would then appear in the folder whose folder.htt file you edited. All this might sound really easy and simple, but you see these .htt files do not contain normal HTML code, instead they contain a mixture of HTML and web bots. Hence they can be difficult for newbies to understand.

Using Google As A Calculator, A Tutorial

2009-08-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

How to use the Google calculator:

Google’s calculator tries to understand the problem you are attempting to solve without requiring you to use special syntax. However, it may be helpful to know the most direct way to pose a question to get the best results. Listed below are a few suggestions for the most common type of expressions (and a few more esoteric ones).

Most operators come between the two numbers they combine, such as the plus sign in the expression 1+1.

Operator Function Example
+ addition 3+44
- subtraction 13-5
* multiplication 7*8
/ division 12/3
^ exponentiation (raise to a power of) 8^2
% modulo (finds the remainder after division) 8%7
choose X choose Y determines the number of ways of choosing a set of Y elements from a set of X elements 18 choose 4
th root of calculates the nth root of a number 5th root of 32
% of X % of Y computes X percent of Y 20% of 150

Some operators work on only one number and should come before that number. In these cases, it often helps to put the number in parentheses.

Operator Function Example
sqrt square root sqrt(9)
sin, cos, etc. trigonometric functions (numbers are assumed to be radians) sin(pi/3)
tan(45 degrees)
ln logarithm base e ln(17)
log logarithm base 10 log(1,000)

A few operators come after the number.

Operator Function Example
! factorial 5!

Other good things to know

You can force the calculator to try and evaluate an expression by putting an equals sign (=) after it. This only works if the expression is mathematically resolvable. For example, 1-800-555-1234= will return a result, but 1/0= will not.

Parentheses can be used to enclose the parts of your expression that you want evaluated first. For example, (1+2)*3 causes the addition to happen before the multiplication.

The in operator is used to specify what units you want used to express the answer. Put the word in followed by the name of a unit at the end of your expression. This works well for unit conversions such as: 5 kilometers in miles.

You can use hexadecimal, octal and binary numbers. Prefix hexadecimal numbers with 0x, octal numbers with 0o and binary numbers with 0b. For example: 0x7f + 0b10010101.

The calculator understands many different units, as well as many physical and mathematical constants. These can be used in your expression. Many of these constants and units have both long and short names. You can use either name in most cases. For example, km and kilometer both work, as do c and the speed of light.

Feel free to experiment with the calculator as not all of its capabilities are listed here. To get you started, we’ve included a few expressions linked to their results.

1 a.u./c
56*78
1.21 GW / 88 mph
e^(i pi)+1
100 miles in kilometers
sine(30 degrees)
G*(6e24 kg)/(4000 miles)^2
0x7d3 in roman numerals
0b1100101*0b1001

More info on:

http://www.google.co.in/help/calculator.html

Untold Windows Secrets

2009-08-20T03:46:00.000-07:00

______________________________________________________________________

Untold Windows Tips and Secrets By Ankit Fadia ankit@bol.net.in

_______________________________________________________________________

Welcome to another Hacking Truths Manual. This time I have a collection of Tips and Tricks which no body normally knows, the secrets which Microsoft is afraid to tell the people, the information which you will seldom find all gathered up and arranged in a single file. To fully reap this Manual you need to have a basic understanding of the Windows Registry, as almost all the Tricks and Tips involve this file.

****************

Important Note: Before you read on, you need to keep one thing in mind. Whenever you make changes to the Windows Registry you need to Refresh it before the changes take place. Simply press F5 to refresh the registry and enable the changes. If this does not work Restart your system

****************

Exiting Windows the Cool and Quick Way

Normally it takes a hell lot of time just Shutting down Windows, you have to move your mouse to the Start Button, click on it, move it again over Shut Down, click, then move it over the necessary option and click, then move the cursor over the OK button and once again (you guessed it) click.This whole process can be shortened by creating shortcuts on the Desktop which will shut down Windows at the click of a button. Start by creating a new shortcut( right click and select New> Shortcut). Then in the command line box, type (without the quotes.)

'C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindowsexec'

This Shortcut on clicking will restart Windows immediately without any Warning. To create a Shortcut to Restarting Windows, type the following in the Command Line box:

'c:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows'

This Shortcut on clicking will shut down Windows immediately without any Warning.

Ban Shutdowns : A trick to Play on Lamers

This is a neat trick you can play on that lamer that has a huge ego, in this section I teach you, how to disable the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. This trick involves editing the registry, so please make backups. Launch regedit.exe and go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane look for the NoClose Key. If it is not already there then create it by right clicking in the right pane and selecting New > String Value.(Name it NoCloseKey ) Now once you see the NoCloseKey in the right pane, right click on it and select Modify. Then Type 1 in the Value Data Box.

Doing the above on a Win98 system disables the Shut Down option in the Shut Down Dialog Box. But on a Win95 machine if the value of NoCloseKey is set to 1 then click on the Start > Shut Down button displays the following error message:

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.

You can enable the shut down option by changing the value of NoCloseKey to 0 or simply deleting the particular entry i.e. deleting NoCloseKey.

Instead of performing the above difficult to remember process, simply save the following with an extension of .reg and add it's contents to the registry by double clicking on it.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

"NoClose"="1"

Disabling Display of Drives in My Computer

This is yet another trick you can play on your geek friend. To disable the display of local or networked drives when you click My Computer go to :

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Now in the right pane create a new DWORD item and name it NoDrives. Now modify it's value and set it to 3FFFFFF (Hexadecimal) Now press F5 to refresh. When you click on My Computer, no drives will be shown. To enable display of drives in My Computer, simply delete this DWORD item. It's .reg file is as follows:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

"NoDrives"=dword:03ffffff

Take Over the Screen Saver

To activate and deactivate the screen saver whenever you want, goto the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ScreenSavers

Now add a new string value and name it Mouse Corners. Edit this new value to -Y-N. Press F5 to refresh the registry. Voila! Now you can activate your screensaver by simply placing the mouse cursor at the top right corner of the screen and if you take the mouse to the bottom left corner of the screen, the screensaver will deactivate.

Pop a banner each time Windows Boots

To pop a banner which can contain any message you want to display just before a user is going to log on, go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WinLogon

Now create a new string Value in the right pane named LegalNoticeCaption and enter the value that you want to see in the Menu Bar. Now create yet another new string value and name it: LegalNoticeText. Modify it and insert the message you want to display each time Windows boots. This can be effectively used to display the company's private policy each time the user logs on to his NT box. It's .reg file would be:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]

"LegalNoticeCaption"="Caption here."

Delete the Tips of the Day to save 5KB

Windows 95 had these tips of the day which appeared on a system running a newly installed Windows OS. These tips of the day are stored in the Windows Registry and consume 5K of space. For those of you who are really concerned about how much free space your hard disk has, I have the perfect trick.

To save 5K go to the following key in Regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Tips

Now simply delete these tricks by selecting and pressing the DEL key.

Change the Default Locations

To change the default drive or path where Windows will look for it's installation files, go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\SourcePath

Now you can edit as you wish.

Secure your Desktop Icons and Settings

You can save your desktop settings and secure it from your nerdy friend by playing with the registry. Simply launch the Registry Editor go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane create a new DWORD Value named NoSaveSettings and modify it's value to 1. Refresh and restart for the settings to get saved.

CLSID Folders Explained

Don't you just hate those stubborn stupid icons that refuse to leave the desktop, like the Network Neighborhood icon. I am sure you want to know how you can delete them. You may say, that is really simple, simply right click on the concerned icon and select Delete. Well not exactly, you see when you right click on these special folders( see entire list below)neither the rename nor the delete option does not appear. To delete these folders, there are two methods, the first one is using the System Policy Editor(Poledit in the Windows installation CD)and the second is using the Registry.

Before we go on, you need to understand what CLSID values are. These folders, like the Control Panel, Inbox, The Microsoft Network, Dial Up Networking etc are system folders. Each system folder has a unique CLSID key or the Class ID which is a 16-byte value which identifies an individual object that points to a corresponding key in the registry.

To delete these system Folders from the desktop simply go to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}

To delete an icon simply delete the 16 byte CLSID value within "NameSpace". The following are the CLSID values of the most commonly used icons:

My Briefcase:{85BBD920-42AO-1069-A2E4-08002B30309D}

Desktop: {00021400-0000-0000-C000-0000000000046}

Control Panel:{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

Dial-Up-Networking:{992CFFA0-F557-101A-88EC-00DD01CCC48}

Fonts: {BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948534}

Inbox :{00020D76-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

My Computer :{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}

Network Neighborhood:{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-O8002B30309D}

Printers :{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-O8002B30309D}

Recycle Bin :{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

The Microsoft Network:{00028B00-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

History: {FF393560-C2A7-11CF-BFF4-444553540000}

Winzip :{E0D79300-84BE-11CE-9641-444553540000}

For example, to delete the Recycle Bin, first note down it's CLSID value, which is: 645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E. Now go to the Namespace key in the registry and delete the corresponding key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}

Similarly to delete the History folder, delete the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{FBF23B42-E3F0-101B-8488-00AA003E56F8}

Sometimes, you may need to play a trick on your brother or friend, well this one teaches you how to hide all icons from the Desktop. Go to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

In the right pane create a new DWORD value by the name: NoDesktop and set its value to: 1. Reboot and you will find no icons on the desktop.

Till now you simply learnt how to delete the special system folders by deleting a registry key, but the hack would have been better if there was a way of adding the DELETE and RENAME option to the right click context menus of these special folders. You can actually change the right click context menu of any system folder and add any of the following options: RENAME, DELETE, CUT, COPY, PASTE and lots more.

This hack too requires you to know the CLSID value of the system folder whose menu you want to customize. In this section, I have taken up Recycle Bin as the folder whose context menu I am going to edit.

Firstly launch the registry editor and open the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder.

In Case you want to edit some other folder like say the FONTS folder, then you will open the following key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{CLSID VALUE HERE}\ShellFolder.

In the right pane there will be a DWORD value names attributes. Now consider the following options:

To add the Rename option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to
50 01 00 20

To add the Delete option to the menu, change the value of Attributes to
60 01 00 20

3. To add both the Rename & Delete options to the menu, change the value of Attributes to 70,01,00,20

4. Add Copy to the menu, change Attributes to 41 01 00 20

5. Add Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 42 01 00 20

6. Add Copy & Cut to the menu, change Attributes to 43 01 00 20

7. Add Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 44 01 00 20

8. Add Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 45 01 00 20

9. Add Cut & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 46 01 00 20

10.Add all Cut, Copy & Paste to the menu, change Attributes to 47 01 00 20

We want to add only the Rename option to the right click context menu of the Recycle Bin, so change the value of attributes to: 50 01 00 20. Press F5 to refresh and then after rebooting you will find that when you right click on the Recycle Bin a RENAME option pops up too.

To reset the default Windows options change the value of Attributes back to

40 01 00 20

The Registry File which one can create for the above process would be something like the below:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\Shell-Folder]

"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20

To access say the Modem Properties in the Control Panel Folder, the normal procedure is: Click on Start, Click on Settings> Control Panel and then wait for the Control Panel window to pop up and then ultimately click on the Modems icon.

Wouldn't it be lovely if you could shorten the process to: Click on Start> Control Panel>Modems. Yes you can add the Control Panel and also all other Special System Folders directly to the first level Start Menu. Firstly collect the CLSID value of the folder you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Control Panel hence the CLSID value is: 21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D

Now right click on the Start Button and select Open. Now create a new folder and name it: Control Panel.{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}

NOTE: Do not forget the period after the 'l' in Panel. Similarly all system folders can be added to the Start Menu.(accept My Briefcase, I think)

Deleting System Options from the Start menu

You can actually remove the Find and Run options from the start menu by performing a simple registry hack. Again like always Launch the registry editor and scroll down to the below key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Right-click on the right pane and select New, DWORD Value. Name it NoFind.(To remove the RUN option name it NoRun). Double-click the newly create DWORD to edit it's value and enter 1 as its value. This will disable the FIND option of the Start Menu and will also disable the default Shortcut key(F3 for Find.)

To restore the Run or find command modify the value of the DWORD to 0 or simply Delete the DWORD value.

Fed Up of the boring Old Yellow Folder Icons?[Drive Icons Included]

NOTE: This trick hasn't been tried on Win98.

You can easily change the boring yellow folder icons to your own personalized icons. Simply create a text file and copy the following lines into it:

[.ShellClassInfo]

ICONFILE=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension

Save this text file by the name, desktop.ini in the folder, whose icon you want to change. Now to prevent this file from getting deleted change it's attributes to Hidden and Read Only by using the ATTRIB command.

To change the icon of a drive, create a text file containing the following lines:

[Autorun]

ICON=Drive:\Path\Icon_name.extension

Save this file in the root of the drive whose icon you want to change and name it autorun.inf For Example, if you want to change the icon of a floppy, SAVE THE icon in a:\icon_name.ico One can also create a kewl icon for the Hard Disk and create a text file [autorun.inf] and store it in "c:\".

Securing NT

By default, NT 4.0 displays the last person who logged onto the system. This can be considered to be a security threat, especially in the case of those who choose their password to be same as their Username. To disable this bug which actually is a feature, go to the following key in the registry editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Click and select the ReportBookOK item and create a new string value called DontDisplayLastUserName. Modify it and set it's value to 1.

As a system administrator, you can ensure that the passwords chosen by the users are not too lame or too easy to guess. NT has this lovely utility called the User Manager which allows the administrator to set the age limit of the password which forces the users to change the password after a certain number of days. You can also set the minimum length of passwords and prevent users to use passwords which already have been used earlier and also enable account lockouts which will deactivate an account after a specified number of failed login attempts.

When you log on to Win NT, you should disable Password Caching, this ensures Single NT Domain login and also prevents secondary Windows Logon screen.

Simply copy the following lines to a plain text ASCII editor like: Notepad and save it with an extension, .reg

----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]

"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000001

----------------DISABLE.reg-----------------

To Enable Password Caching use the following .reg file:

--------------Enable.reg-----------------

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Network]

"DisablePwdCaching"=dword:00000000

--------------Enable.reg-----------------

Cleaning Recent Docs Menu and the RUN MRU

The Recent Docs menu can be easily disabled by editing the Registry. To do this go to the following Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Now in the right pane, create a new DWORD value by the name: NoRecentDocsMenu and set it's value to 1. Restart Explorer to save the changes.

You can also clear the RUN MRU history. All the listings are stored in the key:

HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

You can delete individual listings or the entire listing. To delete History of Find listings go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU

and delete.

Customizing the Right Click Context Menu of the Start Menu

When you right click on the start menu, only 3 options pop up: Open, Explore, and Find. You can add your own programs to this pop up menu( which comes up when we right click on it.) Open Regedit and go to the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell

Right click on the shell and create a new Sub Key (You can create a new SubKey by right clicking on the Shell Key and selecting New > Key.). Type in the name of the application you want to add to the start menu. I want to add Notepad to the Start Menu and hence I name this new sub key, Notepad. Now right click on the new registry key that you just created and create yet another new key named Command. Enter the full path of the application, in this case Notepad in the default value of Command in the right

pane. So I Modify the value of the default string value and enter the full pathname of Notepad:

c:\wndows\notepad.exe.

Now press F5 to refresh. Now if you right click on the Start Button you will find a new addition to the Pop Up Menu called Notepad. Clicking on it will launch Notepad.

We can not only add but also remove the existing options in this pop up box.

To delete the Find option, go to the following registry key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\Find

Delete Find. DO NOT delete Open else you will not be able to open any folders in the Start Menu like Programs, Accessories etc.

BMP Thumbnail As Icon

You can actually change the default BMP icon to a thumbnail version of the actual BMP file. To do this simply go to HKCU\Paint.Picture\Default. In the right pane change the value of default to %1. Please note however that this will slow down the display rate in explorer if there are too many BMP thumbnails to display. You can use other icons too, simply enter the pathname.To restore back to the normal change the vale of default back to: C:\Progra~1\Access~1\MSPAINT.EXE,1.

Customizing The Shortcut Arrow

All shortcuts have a tiny black arrow attached to it's icon to distinguish from normal files. This arrow can sometimes be pretty annoying and as a Hacker should know how to change each and everything, here goes another trick. Launch the Registry Editor and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Shell Icons.

Now, on the right pane is a list of icons ( we found out that on some systems, Windows 98 especially, the right pane is blank. Don't worry, just add the value as required ). Find the value 29. If it isn't there, just add it. The value of this string should be C:\Windows\system\shell32.dll, 29 ( which means the 30th icon in shell32.dll - the first one begins with 0 ). Now, we need blank icon to do this. Just create one with white as the whole icon. Go here to learn how to create an icon. Once done just change the value to C:\xxx.ico, 0 where "xxx" is the full path of the icon file and "0" is the icon in it.

Now for some fun. If the blank icon is a bit boring, change it again. You will find that under shell32.dll there is a gear icon, a shared folder ( the hand ) and much more. Experiment for yourself!

Use Perl to Get List or Services Running on your NT box

Use the following Perl Script to get a list of Services running on your NT system

--------------script.pl-----------------

#!c:\per\bin\perl.exe

use Win32::Service;

my ($key, %service, %status, $part);

Win32::Service::GetServices(' ',\%services);

foreach $key (sort keys %services) {

print "Print Name\t: $key, $services{$key}\n";

Win32::Service::GetStatus( ' ',$services{$key};

\%status);

foreach $part (keys %status) {

print "\t$part : $status{$part}\n" if($part eq "CurrentState");

}

}

-------------script.pl-------------------

Internet Explorer Tricks and Tips

Resizable Full Screen Toolbar

The Full Screen option increases the viewable area and makes surfing more enjoyable but sometimes we need the Toolbar but also need to have extra viewing area. Now this hack teaches you how to change the size of the Internet Explorer toolbar. This registry hack is a bit complicated as it involves Binary values, so to make it simple, I have included the following registry file which will enable the resizable option of the Internet Explorer toolbar which was present in the beta version of IE.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]

"Theater"=hex:0c,00,00,00,4c,00,00,00,74,00,00,00,18,00,00,00,1b,00,00,00,5c,\

00,00,00,01,00,00,00,e0,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,05,00,00,00,22,00,00,00,26,00,\

00,00,02,00,00,00,21,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,00,04,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,a0,0f,00,\

00,03,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

*******************

HACKING TRUTH: Internet Explorer 5 displays the friendly version of HTTP errors like NOT FOUND etc . They are aimed at making things easier for newbies. If you would rather prefer to see the proper error pages for the web server you're using, go to Tools, Internet Options and select the Advanced tab. Then scroll down and uncheck the Show friendly http errors box.

*******************

Making the Internet Explorer & the Explorer Toolbars Fancy

The Internet Explorer toolbar looks pretty simple. Want to make it fancy and kewl? Why not add a background image to it. To do this kewl hack launch the Windows Registry Editor and go to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Internet Explorer\Toolbar\.

Now in the right pane create a new String Value and name it BackBitmap and modify it's value to the path of the Bitmap you want to dress it up with by rightclicking on it and choosing Modify. When you reboot the Internet Explorer and the Windows Explorer toolbars will have a new look.

Change Internet Explorer's Caption

Don't like the caption of Internet Explorer caption? Want to change it? Open the registry editor and go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.

In the right pane create a new String Value names Window Title (Note the space between Window and Title). Right click on this newly created String Value and select Modify. Type in the new caption you want to be displayed. Restart for the settings to take place.

Now let's move on to some Outlook Express Tricks.

Colorful Background

Don't like the boring background colors of Outlook Express? To change it launch the Windows Registry Editor and scroll down to the

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Mail And News key.

On the left pane, click on ColorCycle or select Edit and Modify in the menu. Now change the value to 1. Close and restart. Now, launch Outlook Express and whenever you open up a New Message, hold down ctrl-shift and tap the z key to scroll to change the background color. Repeat the keystroke to cycle through the colors.

Internet Explorer 5 Hidden Features

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 has several hidden features which can be controlled using the Windows Registry. Open your registry and scroll down to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions

Create a new DWORD value named x(See complete list of values of x below) and modify it's value to 1 to enable it and to 0 to disable it.

NoBrowserClose : Disable the option of closing Internet Explorer.

NoBrowserContextMenu : Disable right-click context menu.

NoBrowserOptions : Disable the Tools / Internet Options menu.

NoBrowserSaveAs : Disable the ability to Save As.

NoFavorites : Disable the Favorites.

NoFileNew : Disable the File / New command.

NoFileOpen : Disable the File / Open command.

NoFindFiles : Disable the Find Files command.

NoSelectDownloadDir : Disable the option of selecting a download directory.

NoTheaterMode : Disable the Full Screen view option.

Hacking Secrets

Almost all system administrators make certain changes and make the system restricted. System Administrators can hide the RUN option, the FIND command, the entire Control Panel, drives in My Computer like D: A: etc. They can even restrict activities of a hacker my disabling or hiding, even the tiniest options or tools.

Most commonly these restrictions are imposed locally and are controlled by the Windows Registry. But sometimes the smart system administrators control the activities of the hacker by imposing restrictions remotely through the main server.

Poledit or Policy Editor is a small kewl tool which is being commonly used by system administrators to alter the settings of a system. This utility is not installed by default by Windows. You need to install in manually from the Windows 98 Installation Kit from the Resource Kit folder. user.dat file that we saw earlier.

The Policy Editor tool imposes restrictions on the user's system by editing the user.dat file which in turn means that it edits the Windows Registry to change the settings. It can be used to control or restrict access to each and every folder and option you could ever think of. It has the power to even restrict access to individual folders, files, the Control Panel, MS DOS, the drives available etc. Sometimes this software does make life really hard for a Hacker. So how can we remove the restrictions imposed by the Policy Editor? Well read ahead to learn more.

You see the Policy Editor is not the only way to restrict a user's activities. As we already know that the Policy Editor edits the Windows Registry(user.dat) file to impose such restrictions. So this in turn would mean that we can directly make changes to the Windows Registry using a .reg file or directly to remove or add restrictions.

Launch Regedit and go to the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies

Under this key, there will definitely be a key named explorer. Now under this explorer key we can create new DWORD values and modify it's value to 1 in order to impose the restriction. If you want to remove the Restriction, then you can simply delete the respective DWORD values or instead change their values to 0. The following is a list of DWORD values that can be created under the Explorer Key-:

NoDeletePrinter: Disables Deletion of already installed Printers

NoAddPrinter: Disables Addition of new Printers

NoRun : Disables or hides the Run Command

NoSetFolders: Removes Folders from the Settings option on Start Menu (Control Panel, Printers, Taskbar)

NoSetTaskbar: Removes Taskbar system folder from the Settings option on Start Menu

NoFind: Removes the Find Tool (Start >Find)

NoDrives: Hides and does not display any Drives in My Computer

NoNetHood: Hides or removes the Network Neighborhood icon from the desktop

NoDesktop: Hides all items including, file, folders and system folders from the Desktop

NoClose: Disables Shutdown and prevents the user from normally shutting down Windows.

NoSaveSettings: Means to say, 'Don't save settings on exit'

DisableRegistryTools: Disable Registry Editing Tools (If you disable this option, the Windows Registry Editor(regedit.exe) too

will not work.)

NoRecentDocsHistory: Removes Recent Document system folder from the Start Menu (IE 4 and above)

ClearRecentDocsOnExit: Clears the Recent Documents system folder on Exit.

Nolnternetlcon: Removes the Internet (system folder) icon from the Desktop

Under the same key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/CurrentVersion/Policies you can create new subkeys other than the already existing Explorer key. Now create a new key and name it System. Under this new key, system we can create the following new DWORD values(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):

NODispCPL: Hides Control Panel

NoDispBackgroundPage: Hides Background page.

NoDispScrsavPage: Hides Screen Saver Page

NoDispAppearancePage: Hides Appearance Page

NoDispSettingsPage: Hides Settings Page

NoSecCPL: Disables Password Control Panel

NoPwdPage: Hides Password Change Page

NoAdminPaqe: Hides Remote Administration Page

NoProfilePage: Hides User Profiles Page

NoDevMgrPage: Hides Device Manager Page

NoConfigPage: Hides Hardware Profiles Page

NoFileSysPage: Hides File System Button

NoVirtMemPage: Hides Virtual Memory Button

Similarly, if we create a new subkey named Network, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):

NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides Network Security Page

NoNelSetup: Hides or disables the Network option in the Control Panel

NoNetSetupIDPage: Hides the Identification Page

NoNetSetupSecurityPage: Hides the Access Control Page

NoFileSharingControl: Disables File Sharing Controls

NoPrintSharing: Disables Print Sharing Controls

Similarly, if we create a new subkey named WinOldApp, we can add the following DWORD values under it(1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option):

Disabled: Disable MS-DOS Prompt

NoRealMode: Disable Single-Mode MS-DOS.

So you see if you have access to the Windows Registry, then you can easily create new DWORD values and set heir value to 1 for enabling the particular option and 0 for disabling the particular option. But Sometimes, access to the Windows Registry is blocked. So what do you do? Go to the Windows Directory and delete either user.dat or system.dat (These 2 files constitute the Windows Registry.) and reboot. As soon as Windows logs in, it will display a Warning Message informing you about an error in the Windows Registry. Simply ignore this Warning Message and Press CTRL+DEL+ALT to get out of this warning message.(Do not press OK) You will find that all restrictions have been removed.

The most kind of restriction found quite commonly is the Specific Folder Restriction, in which users are not allowed access to specific folders, the most common being the Windows folder, or sometimes even access to My Computer is blocked. In effect, you simply cannot seem to access the important kewl files which are needed by you to do remove restrictions. What do you? Well use the RUN command. (START >RUN). But unfortunately a system administrator who is intelligent enough to block access to specific folder, would definitely have blocked access to the RUN command. Again we are stuck.

Windows is supposed to be the most User Friendly Operating System on earth. (At least Microsoft Says so.)

It gives the User an option to do the same thing in various ways. You see the RUN command is only the most convenient option of launching applications, but not the only way. In Windows you can create shortcuts to almost anything from a file, folder to a Web URL. So say your system administrator has blocked access to the c:\windows\system folder and you need to access it. What do you do? Simply create a Shortcut to it. To do this right click anywhere on the desktop and select New > Shortcut. A new window titled Create Shortcut pops up. Type in the path of the restricted folder you wish to access, in this case c:\windows\system. Click Next, Enter the friendly name of the Shortcut and then click Finish. Now you can access the restricted folder by simply double clicking on the shortcut icon. Well that shows how protected and secure *ahem Windows *ahem is.

****************

HACKING TRUTH: Sometimes when you try to delete a file or a folder, Windows displays an error message saying that the file is protected. This simply means that the file is write protected, or in other words the R option is +. Get it? Anyway, you can stop Windows from displaying this error message and straightaway delete this file by changing its attributes to Non Read Only. This can be done by Right Clicking on the file, selecting Properties and then

unselecting the Read Only Option.

***************

There is yet another way of accessing restricted folders. Use see, DOS has a lovely command known as START. Its general syntax is:

START application_path

It does do what it seems to do, start applications. So in you have access to DOS then you can type in the START command to get access to the restricted folder. Now mostly access to DOS too would be blocked. So again you can use the shortcut trick to launch, c:\command.com or c:\windows\command.com. (Command.com is the file which launches MS DOS).

Accessing Restricted Drives.

The problem with most system administrators is that they think that the users or Hackers too are stupid. Almost all system administrators use the Registry Trick (Explained Earlier) to hide all drives in My Computer. So in order to unhide or display all drives, simply delete that particular key.(Refer to beginning of Untold Secrets Section.)

Some systems have the floppy disk disabled through the BIOS. On those systems if the BIOS is protected, you may need to crack the BIOS password. (For that Refer to the Windows Hacking Chapter). Sometimes making drives readable (Removing R +) and then creating Shortcuts to them also helps us to get access to them.

Further Changing your Operating System's Looks by editing .htt files

If you have installed Windows Desktop Update and have the view as Web Page option enabled, you can customise the way the folder looks by selecting View > Customise this folder. Here you can change the background and other things about that particular folder. Well that is pretty lame, right? We hackers already know things as lame as that. Read on for some kewl stuff.

Well, you could also change the default that is stored in a Hidden HTML Template file (I think so..) which is nothing but a HTML document with a .htt extension. This .htt file is found at: %systemroot%\web\folder.htt.

The %systemroot% stands for the drive in which Windows is Installed, which is normally C:

You can edit these .htt files almost just like you edit normal .HTM or .HTML files. Simply open them in an ASCII editor like Notepad. The following is a list of .htt files on your system which control various folders and which can be edited to customise the way various folders look.

controlp.htt Control Panel

printers.htt Printers

mycomp.htt My Computer

safemode.htt Safe Mode

All these files are found in the web folder in %systemfolder%. The folder.htt file has a line:

'Here's a good place to add a few lines of your own"

which is the place where you can add your own A HREF links. These links would then appear in the folder whose folder.htt file you edited. All this might sound really easy and simple, but you see these .htt files do not contain normal HTML code, instead they contain a mixture of HTML and web bots. Hence they can be difficult for newbies to understand.

Well that's it for now, more tricks later, till then goodbye.

Ankit Fadia

ankit@bol.net.in

Get the Archive of Manuals [EVERYTHING YOU DREAMT OFF] written by Ankit Fadia

At his mailing list.

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What You Wanted To Know About Movie Jargon, But Were Afraid To Ask

2009-08-16T03:44:00.001-07:00

VCD Quality Terms & Jargon
CODE
All CREDITS go to http://www.vcdhelp.com/

CAM -
A cam is a theater rip usually done with a digital video camera. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this wont be possible, so the camera make shake. Also seating placement isn't always idle, and it might be filmed from an angle. If cropped properly, this is hard to tell unless there's text on the screen, but a lot of times these are left with triangular borders on the top and bottom of the screen. Sound is taken from the onboard microphone of the camera, and especially in comedies, laughter can often be heard during the film. Due to these factors picture and sound quality are usually quite poor, but sometimes we're lucky, and the theater will be fairly empty and a fairly clear signal will be heard.

TELESYNC (TS) -
A telesync is the same spec as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for hard of hearing people). A direct audio source does not ensure a good quality audio source, as a lot of background noise can interfere. A lot of the times a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving a better picture quality. Quality ranges drastically, check the sample before downloading the full release. A high percentage of Telesyncs are CAMs that have been mislabeled.

TELECINE (TC) -
A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment involved and cost telecines are fairly uncommon. Generally the film will be in correct aspect ratio, although 4:3 telecines have existed. A great example is the JURASSIC PARK 3 TC done last year. TC should not be confused with TimeCode , which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film.

SCREENER (SCR) -
A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a VHS tape, and is usually in a 4:3 (full screen) a/r, although letterboxed screeners are sometimes found. The main draw back is a "ticker" (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the tape contains any serial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent if done from a MASTER copy, to very poor if done on an old VHS recorder thru poor capture equipment on a copied tape. Most screeners are transferred to VCD, but a few attempts at SVCD have occurred, some looking better than others.

DVD-SCREENER (DVDscr) -
Same premise as a screener, but transferred off a DVD. Usually letterbox , but without the extras that a DVD retail would contain. The ticker is not usually in the black bars, and will disrupt the viewing. If the ripper has any skill, a DVDscr should be very good. Usually transferred to SVCD or DivX/XviD.

DVDRip -
A copy of the final released DVD. If possible this is released PRE retail (for example, Star Wars episode 2) again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD.

VHSRip -
Transferred off a retail VHS, mainly skating/sports videos and XXX releases.

TVRip -
TV episode that is either from Network (capped using digital cable/satellite boxes are preferable) or PRE-AIR from satellite feeds sending the program around to networks a few days earlier (do not contain "dogs" but sometimes have flickers etc) Some programs such as WWF Raw Is War contain extra parts, and the "dark matches" and camera/commentary tests are included on the rips. PDTV is capped from a digital TV PCI card, generally giving the best results, and groups tend to release in SVCD for these. VCD/SVCD/DivX/XviD rips are all supported by the TV scene.

WORKPRINT (WP) -
A workprint is a copy of the film that has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from the final print (Men In Black is missing all the aliens, and has actors in their places) and others can contain extra scenes (Jay and Silent Bob) . WPs can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained.

DivX Re-Enc -
A DivX re-enc is a film that has been taken from its original VCD source, and re-encoded into a small DivX file. Most commonly found on file sharers, these are usually labeled something like Film.Name.Group(1of2) etc. Common groups are SMR and TND. These aren't really worth downloading, unless you're that unsure about a film u only want a 200mb copy of it. Generally avoid.

Watermarks -
A lot of films come from Asian Silvers/PDVD (see below) and these are tagged by the people responsible. Usually with a letter/initials or a little logo, generally in one of the corners. Most famous are the "Z" "A" and "Globe" watermarks.

Asian Silvers / PDVD -
These are films put out by eastern bootleggers, and these are usually bought by some groups to put out as their own. Silvers are very cheap and easily available in a lot of countries, and its easy to put out a release, which is why there are so many in the scene at the moment, mainly from smaller groups who don't last more than a few releases. PDVDs are the same thing pressed onto a DVD. They have removable subtitles, and the quality is usually better than the silvers. These are ripped like a normal DVD, but usually released as VCD.

Formats

VCD -
VCD is an mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352x240 (NTCS). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74.

SVCD -
SVCD is an mpeg2 based (same as DVD) which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480x480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. To get a better SVCD encode using variable bit-rates, it is important to use multiple "passes". this takes a lot longer, but the results are far clearer.

XVCD/XSVCD -
These are basically VCD/SVCD that don't obey the "rules". They are both capable of much higher resolutions and bit-rates, but it all depends on the player to whether the disc can be played. X(S)VCD are total non-standards, and are usually for home-ripping by people who don't intend to release them.

DivX / XviD -
DivX is a format designed for multimedia platforms. It uses two codecs, one low motion, one high motion. most older films were encoded in low motion only, and they have problems with high motion too. A method known as SBC (Smart Bit-rate Control) was developed which switches codecs at the encoding stage, making a much better print. The format is Ana orphic and the bit-rate/resolution are interchangeable. Due to the higher processing power required, and the different codecs for playback, its unlikely we'll see a DVD player capable of play DivX for quite a while, if at all. There have been players in development which are supposedly capable, but nothing has ever arisen. The majority of PROPER DivX rips (not Re-Encs) are taken from DVDs, and generally up to 2hours in good quality is possible per disc. Various codecs exist, most popular being the original Divx3.11a and the new XviD codecs.

CVD -
CVD is a combination of VCD and SVCD formats, and is generally supported by a majority of DVD players. It supports MPEG2 bit-rates of SVCD, but uses a resolution of 352x480(ntsc) as the horizontal resolution is generally less important. Currently no groups release in CVD.

DVD-R -
Is the recordable DVD solution that seems to be the most popular (out of DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD+R). it holds 4.7gb of data per side, and double sided discs are available, so discs can hold nearly 10gb in some circumstances. SVCD mpeg2 images must be converted before they can be burnt to DVD-R and played successfully. DVD>DVDR copies are possible, but sometimes extras/languages have to be removed to stick within the available 4.7gb.

MiniDVD -
MiniDVD/cDVD is the same format as DVD but on a standard CDR/CDRW. Because of the high resolution/bit-rates, its only possible to fit about 18-21 mins of footage per disc, and the format is only compatible with a few players.

Misc Info

Regional Coding -
This was designed to stop people buying American DVDs and watching them earlier in other countries, or for older films where world distribution is handled by different companies. A lot of players can either be hacked with a chip, or via a remote to disable this.
1 USA, Canada
2 Europe, Middle East, Japan, South Africa
3 S.Korea, Taiwan, HK, ASEAN
4 Australia, NZ, Latin America
5 Ex-Soviets, Indian sub-continent, Africa
6 China
7 Reserved
8 International territory (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)

RCE -
RCE (Regional Coding Enhancement) was designed to overcome "Multiregion" players, but it had a lot of faults and was overcome. Very few titles are RCE encoded now, and it was very unpopular.

Macrovision -
Macrovision is the copy protection employed on most commercial DVDs. Its a system that will display lines and darken the images of copies that are made by sending the VHS signals it can't understand. Certain DVD players (for example the Dansai 852 from Tescos) have a secret menu where you can disable the macrovision, or a "video stabaliser" costs about 30UKP from Maplin
CODE
(www.maplin.co.uk)

NTSC/PAL -
NTSC and PAL are the two main standards used across the world. NTSC has a higher frame rate than pal (29fps compared to 25fps) but PAL has an increased resolution, and gives off a generally sharper picture. Playing NTSC discs on PAL systems seems a lot easier than vice-versa, which is good news for the Brits :) An RGB enabled scart lead will play an NTSC picture in full colour on most modern tv sets, but to record this to a VHS tape, you will need to convert it to PAL50 (not PAL60 as the majority of DVD players do.) This is either achieved by an expensive converter box (in the regions of £200+) an onboard converter (such as the Dansai 852 / certain Daewoos / Samsung 709 ) or using a World Standards VCR which can record in any format.

News Sites -
There are generally 2 news sites, and I'm allowed to be biased :) For Games/Apps/Console ::
CODE
www.isonews.com
is generally regarded as the best, but for VCD/SVCD/DivX/TV/XXX
CODE
www.vcdquality.com
displays screen grabs and allows feedback. **NOTICE** neither site offers movie downloads, and requesting movies/trades etc on the forums of either is NOT permitted.
There are generally 3 news sites for film release for p2p and they are:
CODE
nforce - VCD Help
http://www.vcdhelp.com/
http://www.vcdquality.com/
http://www.nforce.nl/

Release Files

RARset -
The movies are all supplied in RAR form, whether its v2 (rar>.rxx) or v3 (part01.rar > partxx.rar) form.

BIN/CUE -
VCD and SVCD films will extract to give a BIN/CUE. Load the .CUE into notepad and make sure the first line contains only a filename, and no path information. Then load the cue into Nero/CDRWin etc and this will burn the VCD/SVCD correctly. TV rips are released as MPEG. DivX files are just the plain DivX - .AVI

NFO -
An NFO file is supplied with each movie to promote the group, and give general iNFOrmation about the release, such as format, source, size, and any notes that may be of use. They are also used to recruit members and acquire hardware for the group.

SFV -
Also supplied for each disc is an SFV file. These are mainly used on site level to check each file has been uploaded correctly, but are also handy for people downloading to check they have all the files, and the CRC is correct. A program such as pdSFV or hkSFV is required to use these files.
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Usenet Information

Access -
To get onto newsgroups, you will need a news server. Most ISPs supply one, but this is usually of poor retention (the amount of time the files are on server for) and poor completition (the amount of files that make it there). For the best service, a premium news server should be paid for, and these will often have bandwidth restrictions in place.

Software -
You will need a newsreader to access the files in the binary newsgroups. There are many different readers, and its usually down to personal opinion which is best. Xnews / Forte Agent / BNR 1 / BNR 2 are amongst the popular choices. Outlook has the ability to read newsgroups, but its recommended to not use that.

Format -
Usenet posts are often the same as those listed on VCDQUALiTY (i.e., untouched group releases) but you have to check the filenames and the description to make sure you get what you think you are getting. Generally releases should come down in .RAR sets. Posts will usually take more than one day to be uploaded, and can be spread out as far as a week.

PAR files -
As well as the .rxx files, you will also see files listed as .pxx/.par . These are PARITY files. Parity files are common in usenet posts, as a lot of times, there will be at least one or two damaged files on some servers. A parity file can be used to replace ANY ONE file that is missing from the rar set. The more PAR files you have, the more files you can replace. You will need a program called SMARTPAR for this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scene Tags

PROPER -
Due to scene rules, whoever releases the first Telesync has won that race (for example). But if the quality of that release is fairly poor, if another group has another telesync (or the same source in higher quality) then the tag PROPER is added to the folder to avoid being duped. PROPER is the most subjective tag in the scene, and a lot of people will generally argue whether the PROPER is better than the original release. A lot of groups release PROPERS just out of desperation due to losing the race. A reason for the PROPER should always be included in the NFO.

SUBBED -
In the case of a VCD, if a release is subbed, it usually means it has hard encoded subtitles burnt throughout the movie. These are generally in malaysian/chinese/thai etc, and sometimes there are two different languages, which can take up quite a large amount of the screen. SVCD supports switch able subtitles, so some DVDRips are released with switch able subs. This will be mentioned in the NFO file if included.

UNSUBBED -
When a film has had a subbed release in the past, an Unsubbed release may be released

LIMITED -
A limited movie means it has had a limited theater run, generally opening in less than 250 theaters, generally smaller films (such as art house films) are released as limited.

INTERNAL -
An internal release is done for several reasons. Classic DVD groups do a lot of .INTERNAL. releases, as they wont be dupe'd on it. Also lower quality theater rips are done INTERNAL so not to lower the reputation of the group, or due to the amount of rips done already. An INTERNAL release is available as normal on the groups affiliate sites, but they can't be traded to other sites without request from the site ops. Some INTERNAL releases still trickle down to IRC/Newsgroups, it usually depends on the title and the popularity. Earlier in the year people referred to Centropy going "internal". This meant the group were only releasing the movies to their members and site ops. This is in a different context to the usual definition.

STV -
Straight To Video. Was never released in theaters, and therefore a lot of sites do not allow these.

ASPECT RATIO TAGS -
These are *WS* for widescreen (letterbox) and *FS* for Fullscreen.

RECODE -
A recode is a previously released version, usually filtered through TMPGenc to remove subtitles, fix color etc. Whilst they can look better, its not looked upon highly as groups are expected to obtain their own sources.

REPACK -
If a group releases a bad rip, they will release a Repack which will fix the problems.

NUKED -
A film can be nuked for various reasons. Individual sites will nuke for breaking their rules (such as "No Telesyncs") but if the film has something extremely wrong with it (no soundtrack for 20mins, CD2 is incorrect film/game etc) then a global nuke will occur, and people trading it across sites will lose their credits. Nuked films can still reach other sources such as p2p/usenet, but its a good idea to check why it was nuked first in case. If a group realise there is something wrong, they can request a nuke.

NUKE REASONS :: this is a list of common reasons a film can be nuked for (generally DVDRip)

** BAD A/R ** :: bad aspect ratio, ie people appear too fat/thin
** BAD IVTC ** :: bad inverse telecine. process of converting framerates was incorrect.
** INTERLACED ** :: black lines on movement as the field order is incorrect.

DUPE -
Dupe is quite simply, if something exists already, then theres no reason for it to exist again without proper reason.

What Should I Do With Image Files

2009-08-16T03:43:00.001-07:00

What Should I Do With Image Files?

What Should I Do With Image Files?

A Tutorial by pr0wn3r:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. What's a image file?
(>) A image file is a CD/DVD, but instead of insert it into your CD/DVD-Rom, you open it from inside your Hard Disk. So, it's a file that replaces a normal CD/DVD. Inside the image are the CD/DVD files like if it were a CD/DVD.

2. What are the image files extensions?
(>) There's many extensions, but the most common are:
(>) iSO (Generic image file)
(>) BiN/CUE (Generic BiN image file)
(>) NRG (An image created using Nero Burning ROM)
(>) iMG/CCD/SUB (An image created using CloneCD)
(>) MDF (An image created using MagicISO Maker)

There are many other images, but these are the most common.

3. How to open a image file?
(>) The most common way to open image files, is to use a virtual CD/DVD-Rom. It's like a normal CD/DVD-Rom, only that you mount the images directly from your computer, installing a simple program.

4. What program should i use to create images files?
(>) Usually a CD/DVD Burning software has that option, but personally i use UltraISO. It allow me to create an ISO, BiN/CUE, NRG and iMG/CCD/SUB image file.

5. What program should i use to mount the images?
(>) Daemon-Tools is the most powerful one to use, and the most simple too.

6. How to burn a image file?
(>) Some image files must be burned using a certain software in order to work fine, but usually a common CD/DVD burning software works fine. I use Nero Burning ROM to burn my images.

7. How to work with Daemon-Tools?
(>) 1. Install the software into your Hard Drive. After installing reboot (or not) your PC.
(>) 2. After 1. , open Daemon-Tools. It will appear in your startup bar.
(>) 3. Right click on it, go to Virtual CD/DVD-ROM » Set number of devices » 2 Drives. If you want to use more drives you can set it on. I personally use 2. It's your decision.
(>) 4. Right click on it, go to Virtual CD/DVD-ROM » Device x: [X:](....). Here you will mount your image. Just choose the image to open it (x means Device 1 or 2, etc.)([X:] the letter of your device).
(>) 5. Done, now your image is working like a CD.

8. How to burn with Nero Burning ROM?
(>) 1. Install Nero Burning ROM.
(>) 2. Open it, choose what is the storage type you gonna use to burn the image, or is a CD or a DVD.
(>) 3. Go to Copy and Backup » Burn Image to Disc.
(>) 4. Choose the image you want to burn.
(>) 5. Done, let it burn baby!

FiNAL NOTES:
(>) If you want to burn a BiN with Nero Burning ROM, you will have to have the CUE file. When you are going to open the image, if it's BiN, you open the CUE file. If you don't have the CUE and you don't want to download it, it's simple:
1. Open Daemon-Tools.
2. Mount your BiN file.
3. Open Nero Burning ROM.
4. Open it, choose what is the storage type you gonna use to burn the image, or is a CD or a DVD.
5. Go to Data » Make Data CD.
6. Now open the image you mounted through your virtual drive. Select all files, and drag the files into Nero Burning ROM window that is opened.
7. Done, let it burn.