Pocket Killbox – Process & File remover

Pocket Killbox from Option^Explicit Software Solutions is a good Process & File Killer. The developer offers this nice utility as a freeware product and recommends: Use Killbox, When asking nicely doesn't work.

You can type full path of file/folder to delete or you can browse for its path by clicking button. Clicking button shows properties of chosen file/folder, and button informs Killbox to delete selected file/folder. Killbox offers you following 3 options for removing the file/folder.

• Standard File Kill
• Delete on Reboot
• Replace on Reboot

First 2 options are obvious; the 3rd option allows you to replace the selected file with a dummy file, if you don’t want to name the file replacing the file being deleted. In the following example, we want to replace C:\DeleteMe\garbage with C:\Clean\good file.

Clicking button inform you that changes will be made after reboot, and prompts you to reboot the computer.

If you are unsure about file name and location, Killbox offers you file search also. Press Ctrl-F key sequence or click on Tools > File Find. Now type something to search and press Enter key or click on button.

Killbox searches your computer hard disk and displays full path to the file/folder.

Before deleting file/folder, Killbox takes its backup in !KillBox folder in root of your hard disk.

Following options offers more control over file/folder deletion process.

• End Explorer Shell While Killing File
• Unregister .dll before Deleting

If you choose to end Explorer Shell (explorer.exe), you can start the same by clicking on Tools > Start Explorer Shell.

The Tools menu has also few other useful items.

• Delete Temp Files

  Allows you to delete temporary Internet files, temp files, cookies, Dr. Watson dumps, prefetch files, recent document list, history, Sun Java cache, etc. for user profiles found in the computer.

• Go to SessionManager

  Launches Registry Editor and open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager key
  

  Open Wininit.ini
  

  Hosts file

  Launches Notepad and opens %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file which contains mapping of IP addresses to corresponding host names

  
  

  Open Services

  Launches Services applet, i.e., %SystemRoot%\system32\services.msc

  
  

Clicking on Processes >> menu item expands Killbox GUI to show you list of running processes.

To end a running process, select checkbox before the executable name and click on End Task button.

Overall, Killbox is very useful in removing persistent file, and killing running processes.

Technorati Tags: Killbox,Process killer,End task,File remover,File delete,Freeware

Mouse and Keyboard sharing with Synergy

Synergy is an open source software, which allows you to easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitors.

Redirecting the mouse and keyboard is as simple as moving the mouse off the edge of your screen. Synergy also merges the clipboards of all the systems into one, allowing cut-and-paste between systems. Furthermore, it synchronizes screensavers so they all start and stop together and, if screen locking is enabled, only one screen requires a password to unlock them all. Machines running following operating systems and TCP/IP networking are supported.

• Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP
• Mac OS X 10.2 or higher
• Unix including Linux, Solaris, and other variants running X- Windows version 11 revision 4 or higher

Synergy unifies display of all the computers on your desktop to form a single virtual screen. You use the mouse and keyboard attached with only one of the computers while you use all of the computer monitors. Once you configure Synergy about how many screens you have and their relative positions, and move mouse off the edge of a screen, it jumps instantly to the neighboring screen. The keyboard input is fed to screen with mouse focus. Synergy can also handle multiple screens attached to the same computer.

Furthermore, it builds a single clipboard to make cut-copy-paste functions work across all the computers. It even converts newlines (CR-LF sequence) to each computer's native format so cut and paste between different operating systems works seamlessly.

Synergy also ensures that screensavers on all computers start/stop simultaneously.

Running Synergy is a 3 step process.

1. Choose a server
2. Install the software
3. Configure and start the server

Step 1 - Choose a server

The first step is to choose which keyboard and mouse you want to share. The computer with that keyboard and mouse is called the "primary screen" and it runs the Synergy server. All of the other computers are "secondary screens" and run the Synergy client.

Step 2 - Install the software

Second, you need to install the software on all the computers that will share the mouse and keyboard. 

Step 3 - Configure and start the server

Next, you need to configure Synergy with primary and secondary screens names, their relative positions, and other options. After installing Synergy on all the computers, click on Start > Programs > Synergy > Synergy on server computer, i.e., computer with keyboard and mouse attached with it.

Select Share this computer’s keyboard and mouse (server) option and click on Configure button.

Click on + button to add the server to the screens list and click on OK button. Use the + button to add other computers. Use controls under Links to connect screens together.

• Click on the server's name in the Screens list
• Choose the screen to the left of the server; use --- if there is no screen to the left of the server.
• Similarly choose the screens to the right, above and below the server.
• Repeat these steps for all the other screens.

Click OK to close the Screens & Links dialog.

Now click on Test button. It will start the server and you will see a console window with scrolling log messages informing you about Synergy's progress. If any error occurs you'll be intimated. Some errors are documented below.

Failed to open screen (X11 only)
	Hint: Check permission to open the X display
Address already in use
	Hint: Another program or another copy of Synergy is using the synergy port; stop the other program or choose a different port in the Advanced... dialog. In case you select different port, configure all clients accordingly.
Connection forcefully rejected
	Hint: Check Synergy is running on the server and no firewall is blocking the server or Synergy port.
Already connected
	Hint: Check that the Synergy client isn't already running.
Refused client
	Hint: Add the client to the server's configuration file.
Connection timed out
	Hint: Check that server-host-name is correct and no firewall is blocking the server or Synergy port.
Connection failed
	Hint: Check that server-host-name is correct.

Read the errors to determine the problem then correct them and click on Test button again. Once everything works fine, stop all the clients then the server. Then start the server and all the clients.

Synergy is a boon for those who work with multiple computers on their desktop.

Technorati Tags: Synergy, Keyboard sharing, Mouse sharing, sharing, open source, freeware, server, client

Easily transfer files and settings in Windows XP

The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (migwiz.exe) in Windows XP Professional helps you in moving your data files and personal settings from one computer to another, without manually configuring the new computer like you did with your old computer. Typically it is used to transfer following settings.

• Accessibility
• Command Prompt settings
• Display properties
• Internet Explorer security settings
• Internet Explorer settings
• Mouse and keyboard
• Network printer and drives
• Outlook Express
• Regional settings
• Sound and multimedia
• Taskbar options
• Windows Media Player

The wizard can also move specific files or entire folders, such as My Documents, My Pictures, and Favorites. However, passwords are not moved with program settings.

Suppose you want to move only settings from your old computer to the new computer. Start the wizard by clicking on Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. Alternately you can click on Start > Run, type migwiz and click OK.

Click on Next button to continue.

Select Old computer option, as this is the computer you want to transfer settings from.

As Windows Firewall is enabled on your computer, it gives a security alert that whether you want to keep blocking Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. Click on Unblock button to automatically add an exception in Windows Firewall.

Select Direct cable, if your old computer is connected with new computer with a serial cable, otherwise select Other option and browse for a removable drive, network drive. If any of these is not currently available, the you can also choose a folder on local hard disk, so that you can move saves settings later.

Select Settings only option. If you want to add/remove any setting, then select Let me select a custom list … Click on Next button.

Add/remove Settings/Folder/File/File Type and click on Next button. The wizard starts collecting data from your old computer and save it to your chosen folder.

Click Finish to complete collection phase. The wizard has now saved all selected settings to your chosen path. In this case, we had chosen C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents to save settings. The wizard has created USMT2.UNC folder and following files in this folder.

• IMG00001.DAT
• status

Move USMT2.UNC folder to any network/removable drive which can be accessed from your new computer. Go to your new computer and start the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

Click on Next button to continue.

Select New computer option and click on Next button.

Select I don’t need the Wizard Disk… option and click on Next button.

Select Other option and click on Browse button to choose the path where you have moved USMT2.UNC folder. Click on Next button to let wizard transfer settings to your new computer.

Click on Finish button to complete the transfer.

Click on Yes button to log off for the changes, you have made to the new computer, to take effect.

Technorati Tags: Files and Settings Transfer Wizard,Files and Settings,Windows XP,Files transfer,Settings transfer,migwiz.exe,USMT2.UNC

Trend Micro HijackThis – Hijack detection tool for Windows

HijackThis from Trend Micro is a free hijack detection tool that scans your Windows PC for Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), autorun programs, Windows Explorer context menu objects, hosts file etc. and generates a log file.

Scan results are displayed one line per entry. 

Each entry is preceded with a checkbox and a group code. HijackThis v2.0.2 defines different sections of hijacking possibilities into following groups.

R - Registry, StartPage/SearchPage changes
    R0 - Changed registry value
    R1 - Created registry value
    R2 - Created registry key
    R3 - Created extra registry value where only one should be
F - IniFiles, autoloading entries
    F0 - Changed inifile value
    F1 - Created inifile value
    F2 - Changed inifile value, mapped to Registry
    F3 - Created inifile value, mapped to Registry
N - Netscape/Mozilla StartPage/SearchPage changes
    N1 - Change in prefs.js of Netscape 4.x
    N2 - Change in prefs.js of Netscape 6
    N3 - Change in prefs.js of Netscape 7
    N4 - Change in prefs.js of Mozilla
O - Other, several sections which represent:
    O1 - Hijack of auto.search.msn.com with Hosts file
    O2 - Enumeration of existing MSIE BHO's
    O3 - Enumeration of existing MSIE toolbars
    O4 - Enumeration of suspicious autoloading Registry entries
    O5 - Blocking of loading Internet Options in Control Panel
    O6 - Disabling of 'Internet Options' Main tab with Policies
    O7 - Disabling of Regedit with Policies
    O8 - Extra MSIE context menu items
    O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitems and buttons
    O10 - Breaking of Internet access by New.Net or WebHancer
    O11 - Extra options in MSIE 'Advanced' settings tab
    O12 - MSIE plugins for file extensions or MIME types
    O13 - Hijack of default URL prefixes
    O14 - Changing of IERESET.INF
    O15 - Trusted Zone Autoadd
    O16 - Download Program Files item
    O17 - Domain hijack
    O18 - Enumeration of existing protocols and filters
    O19 - User stylesheet hijack
    O20 - AppInit_DLLs autorun Registry value, Winlogon Notify Registry keys
    O21 - ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad (SSODL) autorun Registry key
    O22 - SharedTaskScheduler autorun Registry key
    O23 - Enumeration of NT Services
    O24 - Enumeration of ActiveX Desktop Components

Detailed information about an entry can be obtained by selecting it from the list of found items or highlighting the relevant line, and clicking Info on selected item. You can select an entry and click on Fix checked button. Though HijackThis backups any changes made to the system and allows you to restore backup in case the things don’t work it is still advisable that before fixing any entry, make sure that you have taken backup of Windows registry. You can see the backups created by HijackThis by clicking the View the list of backups button in Main menu.

Apart from scanning of several kinds of hijacking possibilities, HijackThis also offers some useful tools. To access these tools click the Open the Misc Tools section button in Main menu.

There are following 6 useful tools:

1. Process manager
2. Hosts file manager
3. Tool to delete a file on reboot
4. Tools to delete an NT service
5. Tool to scan for alternate data stream
6. Uninstall manager

The Process manager lists all running process with their Process Identifier (PID) and full path to the corresponding file.

The hosts file which contains mapping of IP addresses to host names, is located in %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc folder in Windows XP. The Hosts file manager open the hosts file and allows you to delete IP address mapping or open hosts file for editing in Notepad.

Uninstall manager extends functionality of standard Add or Remove Program Control Panel applet. You can delete/edit uninstall entries, however restoration of deleted entry is not possible.

Technorati Tags: Trend Micro, HijackThis, Hijack detection, freeware, Browser Helper Object, BHO, autorun, Hosts file manager, Process manager, delete file on reboot, delete an NT service, ADS spy, Uninstall manager

ERUNT - The Emergency Recovery Utility NT

ERUNT is a freeware  written by Lars Hederer for Registry backup and restore for Windows NT/2000/2003/XP.

Windows 9x/Me had option to automatically create backups of the registry at startup, with Windows 95 always backing up the registry from the previous Windows session, and Windows 98/Me maintaining up to five registry copies from the last five days where Windows was running. Unfortunately, Windows NT and 2000 do not automatically backup the registry, and in Windows XP, full backup of registry cannot be taken without using System Restore program, which cannot even be used for a "restore" in case a corrupted registry prevent Windows from booting. Further, Registry hives cannot be copied to another location because they are all in use by the Windows.

ERUNT provides the easy solution. It offers:

• Backup of Windows NT/2000/2003/XP registry to a folder of your choice.
• System and current user registries selectable.
• Command line switches for automated registry backup and restoration.
• Restoration of registry in Windows 9x/Me/NT/2000/2003/XP and MS-DOS (all-in-one restore program) or the Windows Recovery Console.

Using ERUNT command line switches, you can perform an automated registry backup, without user interaction. The syntax for the ERUNT command line is as follows:

ERUNT DestinationFolder [sysreg] [curuser] [otherusers] [/noconfirmdelete] [/noprogresswindow]

Description of the command line switches is as follows:

DestinationFolder
	The name of the folder where the registry backup should be saved. All parameters except DestinationFolder are optional. If you specify a destination folder on the command line, ERUNT automatically runs in "silent" mode and with default backup options(system and current user registry).
sysreg
	Backup the system registry.
curuser
	Backup the current user registry.
otherusers
	Backup other open user registries.
/noconfirmdelete
	Automatically deletes the contents of the destination folder if it exists, without asking the user.
/noprogresswindow
	Hides the progress window during backup.

Technorati Tags: ERUNT, Emergency Recovery Utility NT, Lars Hederer, Registry backup, Registry restore

Make any Windows application Topmost

DeskPins from Elias Fotinis is a freeware to make any Windows application always on top, i.e., to keep it above all other windows. Once launched DeskPins stays in the system notification area (systray). Just grab a pin from the DeskPins icon and click on any window to make it topmost.

DeskPins offers following features.

• Unlimited number of pins.
• Wildcard-based automatic pin support.
• Global hotkeys.

You can enter pin mode in several ways:

• by clicking on the DeskPins icon in the systray.
• by right-clicking on the DeskPins icon in the systray and selecting "Enter pin mode" from the menu.
• via a hotkey; the default assignment is Ctrl-F11

Further, you can configure DeskPins to automatically pin certain windows as soon as they are created, by adding auto-pin rules. Every time a window is created, DeskPins will check auto-pin rules which consists of two parameters: a title and a class. Both parameters, explained below, support wild-card style (* and ?).

Title

The window title is displayed on its caption. When a rule is being created based on the window title, you should try to specify the part of the title that stays the same. Suppose, we create a rule for Notepad. The window's title will be "Untitled - Notepad" if no file is open, or "filename - Notepad" otherwise. So to cover both cases rule may for title may be like "* - Notepad", where the * wildcard represents any possible combination of characters.

Class

The window class can be used to easily identify windows. It is specified when a window is created and remains unchanged until it is closed. For example, all Notepad windows have the same class name of "Notepad". So, another way to identify these windows would be to specify their class name, without worrying about the title. However, it is recommended to specify both the class name and the window title.

Technorati Tags: DeskPins, Elias Fotinis, Topmost, Always on top, systray, Ctrl-F11, Auto pin, Auto pinning

Using Fax application in Windows XP

Fax application shipped with Windows XP Professional provides you with complete fax facilities from your computer. You can configure fax settings, send and receive faxes, track and monitor fax activity, and access archived faxes. Using Fax, you can choose to send and receive faxes with a local fax modem installed on your computer, or with a remote fax device connected to fax resources located on a network.

Fax is not installed by default during Windows XP Setup, so to install the Fax component

1. Open Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.
2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
3. In the Windows Components Wizard, select the Fax Services check box, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

The Fax application includes following components that are used to configure the fax devices and printers, send and receive faxes, and monitor fax activity:

• Fax Configuration Wizard, which is used to configure a local fax device and fax printer. The configuration settings can also be specified from the Printers and Faxes applet.
• Send Fax Wizard, which is used to send faxes, or print from any Windows-based application after configuring a local fax printer or connection with a remote fax printer.  The Send Fax Wizard is invoked every time you print using a fax printer.
• Fax Console, which is used to monitor fax activity - incoming and outgoing faxes. From Fax Console, you can also access Fax Monitor, a tool used to track the progress of faxes being sent and received. You can also send faxes directly from the Fax Console.
• Fax Cover Page Editor, which is used to create and edit cover pages to use when you send a fax.

To open Fax after installation, click on Start > Programs > Accessories > Communications > Fax > Fax Console. Since its the first time you are starting Fax Console, it starts the Fax Configuration Wizard, which configures your computer to send and receive faxes.

Click on Next button.

Enter sender information that will appear on fax cover pages and click on Next button.

Select the fax modem installed on your computer and select Enable Send and Enable Receive. Click on Next button.

Enter Transmitting Subscriber Identification (TSID) that is used to identify your computer to a fax recipient and click on Next button.

Enter Called Subscriber Identification (CSID) that is used to identify your computer to a fax sender and click on Next button.

Enter routing options for incoming faxes, i.e., options for fax printing and archival. Click on Next button.

Finally click on Finish button to complete Fax Configuration Wizard. Again click on Start > Programs > Accessories > Communications > Fax > Fax Console.

The right-hand panel has following information about sent/received faxes:

• Icon
• Start Time
• TSID
• Caller ID
• Pages
• Status
• Size
• CSID

If you want to know more details about the sent/received faxes, following information can also be added by View > Add/Remove columns.

• Fax Printer
• End Time
• Duration
• Device
• Routing Information
• Job ID

Click on File > Send a Fax to start Send Fax Wizard. Following screen shots shows how to create and send a fax.

To create a cover page, click on Tools > Personal Cover Pages. 

Click on New button. This starts Fax Cover Page Editor.

Fax application bundled with Windows XP relieves you from buying a expensive Facsimile machine. All you need a Fax enabled dial-up modem, and thankfully almost all dial-up modems available in the market offer Voice, Data, and Fax functionality.

Technorati Tags: Fax, Facsimile, Electronic Fax, Fax using Windows, Fax Console, Fax Configuration Wizard, Send Fax Wizard, Fax Cover Page Editor, Transmitting Subscriber Identification, TSID, Called Subscriber Identification, CSID, Fax Printer, Fax Modem