WinAdvice

Solution to “USB device not recognized” problem

2010-05-03T17:52:00.002+05:30

Recently my colleague approached me with a problem that his 2GB Pen Drive (Transcend JetFlash V30) is not getting recognized by his Windows XP PC. Whenever the pen drive is plugged into the PC, an error occurs: "USB Device not Recognized". Upon checking I found that all of his USB ports were okay, and the same pen drive was working fine with other PCs in our office.

This problem occurs due to any of the following reasons.

Virus infection
Device driver problem
Windows registry problem

It is always recommended to fully scan your PC with an updated antivirus software.

It may be the case that you need to re-install drivers for

Chipset
USB device
USB add-on card (if you are using one)

If virus-scanning of your PC and driver re-installation does not solve your problem, then chances are that problem lies with Windows registry. So follow step-by-step procedures.

Step 1: Disconnect USB device that is not being recognized.

Step 2: Remove Hidden Devices

Open a command prompt window.
Type set DEVMGR_SHOW_DETAILS=1 and press <enter> key.
Type set DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1 and press <enter> key.
Type start devmgmt.msc and press <enter> key.
Click View > Show hidden devices.
Click "+" to expand devices, Unknown devices and USB devices. If there are any devices and unknown devices (including grayed out devices)? If so, please right click it and click Uninstall them.

Step 3: Remove all oem*.inf files

Open a command prompt window
In the command line, execute following commands in that order.

cd \windows\inf
ren infcache.1 *.old
ren oem*.inf *.old
del C:\windows\setupapi.log
exit

Step 4: Remove all entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/.../Enum/USB that start with VID using Registry editor (Regedit.exe).

Warning: Do not remove VID entries pertaining to USB keyboard, mouse, scanners, and other USB devices which may be installed on your machine and working fine.

Launch Registry Editor (Regedit.exe)
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB
Delete all VID_.... entries for USB devices that you cannot identify.
If you are faced with permission denied problem, then right-click the key to be deleted, and then click Permissions. The VID_... Permissions window will open. With Everyone highlighted in the Group or User name section, select Full Control in the Permissions section. Click on Apply button, and then click on OK button.
Restart your PC.

Step 5: Reconnect the USB device that was not previously working. Windows should automatically reinstall the drivers.

If following the above-mentioned procedures does not solve your problem, then

Shutdown your PC.
Disconnect all cables including PS2, Serial, USB, Parallel, Power cables from your CPU unit. It will stop supply of even minor current supply to motherboard. This will help purge the motherboard cache.
Start your PC after 30 minutes.

Technorati Tags: USB device not recognized

Blat, the mass mailer

2010-04-12T22:51:00.001+05:30

Often you need to send large number of solicited emails to recipients on individual basis. Instead of sending emails one-by-one to every recipient, there are mass mailers which can save your valuable time. Blat v2.6.2 is one such Win32 console utility which is useful for sending large number of emails. It can also be used in scripts so that emails are send automatically. In order to use Blat you must have access to a SMTP server via TCP-IP protocol. Some of the features Blat offers are as follows.

Various profiles can be created.
Default settings can be stored in the registry.
Input can be provided from the disk file as well as from the console (STDIN).
Carbon Copy and Blind Carbon Copy are supported.
Binary and Text attachments are supported

blat262.full.zip file available for download contains program documentation and binaries. The program is very easy to use.

Technorati Tags: Blat,Mass mailer,Email

System Information for Windows

2010-04-12T22:50:00.001+05:30

System Information for Windows 2010 freeware version, aka, SIW by Gabriel Topala is very good tool to gather information about your Windows based machine. The SIW freeware version cannot be used for commercial purpose.

SIW classifies system information into Software, Hardware, and Network. In each of these categories, the information is further classified into number of sub-categories.

Software
- Operating System
- System Directories
- System Files
- Installed Programs
- Applications
- Security
- Licenses
- Accessibility
- Environment
- Regional Settings
- File Associations
- Running Processes
- Loaded DLLs
- Drivers
- NT Services
- NT Pipes
- Autorun
- Browser Helper Objects
- Scheduled Tasks
- Databases
- Audio and Video Codecs
- Shared DLLs
- ActiveX
- Shell Extensions
- Open Files
- Group and Users
- Protected Files
- Event Viewer
- Passwords
Hardware
- System Summary
- Motherboard
- BIOS
- CPU Info
- Memory
- Sensors
- Devices
- PCI
- System Slots
- Network Adapters
- Video
- Sound Device
- Storage Devices
- Logical Disks
- Ports
- Power Policy
- Battery
- Printers
- Resources
Network
- Network Information
- Neighborhood Scan
- Open Ports
- Shares
- RAS Connections
- Network
- Search Network Neighborhood

Macrium Reflect – Free disk imaging solution

2010-04-12T22:49:00.001+05:30

Macrium Reflect Free Edition from Paramount Software UK Ltd. is a tool which can be used to create an exact image of partitions on your hard disk for easy hard disk upgrade or complete/partial system recovery. The image can be used to restore the entire disk, partition or select files/folders in the event of system loss. Images can be stored on local or network drives, CD/DVD, and removable drives connected using USB/Firewire.

For example, if you want to create image of C: partition, then select it in the list of partitions.

Right click and select Create Image of ‘1 - <NO NAME> (C:)’

Select the backup destination, then click on Next button.

Click on Advanced button.

Select High as compression level to save disk space.

Click on File Size in the left pane and select Automatic. Click on OK button.

Check on Run this backup now and click on OK button.

This creates a disk partition image of C: partition.It is better to move this disk partition image on another disk/media and keep it at safe place.

In the event of catastrophe, the system can be recovered using the Reflect recovery CD, which is either a compact version of the Linux operating system or a BartPE CD prepared using PE-Builder*. It is highly recommended that you create the Reflect recovery CD immediately after installing the Macrium Reflect software.

* PE-Builder from Bart Lagerweij is a free software that is used to create BartPE CD which is a Windows live CD.

Technorati Tags: Macrium Reflect,Disk imaging,Disk cloning

EjectUSB

2010-03-24T11:49:00.001+05:30

EjectUSB by William Hedrick can be used to close all programs running from a specified removable drive or folder and then attempt ejection if a drive is specified. Extended functionality includes flushing the file cache, closing Explorer windows and removing registry entries and Recent Document shortcuts referencing the specified drive or folder. EjectUSB reads its settings from EjectUSB.ini which resides in the same folder as EjectUSB.exe. If EjectUSB.ini does not exist, EjectUSB will run with default settings.

Once launched EjectUSB sits in System Tray and can be used to eject USB media. It supports following 6 command line arguments:

drive letter or folder path
/eject
/force
/ini
/nobat
/settings

Technorati Tags: EjectUSB

HJSplit – Free file splitting program for Windows

2010-03-24T11:36:00.001+05:30

HJSplit 2.4 is a file splitting program for Windows XP, Vista, 2000, NT, 95, 98, ME. HJSplit is able to split files of any type and any size. It can be used freely for commercial and non commercial purpose.

Click on Split button and select Input File and Output location. Select split file size and click on Start button. HJSplit splits input file into multiple files and stores these in selected output folder. Click on Close button once finished.

Click on Join button on main screen. Select first part of split file (file extension .001) and select output folder. Click on Start button and HJSplit joins all parts to create original file. Click on Close button once finished.

HJSplit can also be used to compare 2 files. Select File 1 and File 2 and click on Start button to start comparison. Click on Close button once finished.

HJSplit can also be used to calculate checksum of a file. Select file and click on Start button. The calculated checksum value is shown under file path.

Technorati Tags: HJSplit,File split,File join,File compare,File checksum

USB Safeguard – Portable application for data protection

2010-03-21T19:23:00.001+05:30

USB Safeguard is a portable tool to encrypt and protect data with a password on your removable pen drive using the AES 256 bits encryption algorithm (Rijndael). This is helpful in securing your data in case drive is lost or stolen. Download a copy of this tool and store it on your removable drive.

Set your password and confirm by pressing OK button. You can also use Windows On-Screen Keyboard to type password by clicking small keyboard icon left to OK button.

Clicking on button shows follows menu.

Click on first entry to set your contact details in case your drive is lost or stolen.

USB Safeguard offers you to store your password in a file.

Now drag & drop files/folders of your removable drive that you want to protect.

Click on Encrypt button to protect files/folders dropped inside the file box or click on Encrypt All button to protect everything on your removable drive.

After successful encryption of the data, you can erase the original files/folders using standard data erasure algorithms.

Click OK button to continue.

To access your protected file, launch USB Safeguard from removable drive. Type your password and select which files/folders you want to decrypt. You can also erase encrypted files/folders along with decryption.

Technorati Tags: USB Safeguard,USB protection,Portable app

7 tools for USB protection

2010-03-21T16:15:00.001+05:30

1. Arpantech iKill

2. Net Studio USB FireWall

3. Netwrix USB Blocker

4. Thumbscrew USB Write Blocker

When launched it placed an icon in System Tray and allows you to make USB read only or writeable.

5. USB Disk Security

6. Panda Research USB Vaccine

7. USB WriteProtector

Technorati Tags: Arpantech iKill,Net Studio USB FireWall,Netwrix USB Blocker,Thumbscrew USB Write Blocker,USB Disk Security,Panda Research USB Vaccine,USB WriteProtector

Proxy+ – A freeware proxy server for Windows

2010-03-14T11:47:00.001+05:30

Proxy+ from FORTECH Ltd. is an application level proxy server, that connects your LAN to Internet. The main Proxy+ features are:

support of HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, Gopher, RealAudio (and other) protocols
disc cache which saves bandwidth on the Internet connection
mail server with many options
POP3 downloader which allows to download multiple POP3 boxes from the Internet.

It supports restriction rule sets you can apply to POP3 boxes or messages in the boxes. 3 users is for free (freeware application). If you want a version for more users you have to order a registration key.

Proxy+ can be configured through web interface - http://x.x.x.x:4400 where x.x.x.x is the name or IP address of the computer running Proxy+. Proxy+ allows you to configure security settings to restrict access to limited number of clients.

Although single page help file installed along with Proxy+ is enough, you can also access Knowledge base articles at following URL:

http://www.proxyplus.net/kb/searchkb.php

Technorati Tags: Proxy+,Freeware,Proxy Server,HTTP,HTTPS,POP3,FTP,Gopher,RealAudio

Freeware USB Firewall

2010-03-10T19:44:00.001+05:30

Net Studio USB FireWall 1.1.3 detects automatically all files which try to launch itself when an USB device is inserted.

When launched, USB FireWall resides in System Tray and monitors USB devices for autorun applications.

Technorati Tags: Net Studio,USB Firewall

Technitium MAC Address Changer

2010-03-10T18:26:00.001+05:30

Technitium MAC Address Changer (TMAC) by Shreyas Zare is a freeware network setting manipulation tool for Windows. You can use is to

change MAC address of an Network Interface Card
enable/disable a network connection
add/remove an IP address
add/remove a gateway
add/remove a DNS server IP address
enable/disable DHCP on a network connection
release IP and renew lease for selected connection
set interface metric
create/modify/delete a configuration preset
configure Internet Explore HTTP proxy settings

TMAC also provides command line interface for above-listed operations. The command line syntax is as follows.

tmac -n network_connection_name [-m mac_address / -nm mac_address / -r / -nr ] [-h] [-i ip_address_1[,ip_address_2...] :subnet_mask_1[,subnet_mask_2...]] [-g gateway_1[,gateway_2...] :metric_1[,metric_2...]] [-d dns_server_1[,dns_server_2...]] [-pxy http_proxy_server_address:port] [-p preset_name] [-s] [-re] [-di] [-rn] [-rl] [-sv] [-ro] [-nta] [-nst] [-f preset_file]

OPTION DETAILS-

-n Specifies name of the network connection/adapter (NIC). Name may be complete or partial or just a part of it.

-m Specifies a MAC address. Blank MAC address implies original MAC address of the NIC.

-nm Specifies a non-persistent MAC address. Blank MAC address implies original MAC address of the NIC.

-r Specifies to use a random MAC address from manufacturers list.

-nr Specifies to use a non-persistent random MAC address from manufacturers list.

-h Enables DHCP and removes previous IP addresses and Gateways.

-rl Releases DHCP server assigned IP address.

-Rn Renews IP address lease from DHCP server.

-i Changes IP address. IP address list is comma separated, subnet masks list is comma separated. Both IP addresses and subnet masks lists are separated using a colon ':'

-g Changes Gateway address. Gateway addresses list is comma separated, metrics list is comma separated. Both Gateway addresses and metric lists separated using a colon ':'

-d Changes DNS server address. DNS server address list is comma separated.

-pxy Sets Internet Explorer HTTP proxy server. If server address is blank, proxy settings are disabled.

-s Silent mode. Do not show any message window.

-re Restarts network connection/adapter.

-di Disable network connection/adapter.

-p Specifies name of a preset saved earlier to be used. Preset name may be complete or partial or just a part of it. This parameter over powers all other network settings.

-sv Loads short vendor list which makes TMAC load faster. This parameter over powers all other parameters.

-ro Resets the original MAC address info saved in registry by TMAC. Use this only if original MAC address saved is wrong. This parameter over powers all other parameters.

-nta Disable system tray animated icon.

-nst Disable system tray icon.

-f Specify preset file to load.

-help Displays help message.

Technorati Tags: Technitium,MAC Address Changer

Disk space analysis with Disk Space Fan

2010-03-10T18:15:00.001+05:30

Disk Space Fan is a freeware disk space analysis tool for Windows, which displays disk space allocation in Ringschart. The Ringschart is composed of a set of nested rings around a central circle.

The central circle symbolizes the root folder. Each ring represents a level in the directory. Each subfolder or file is represented by a sector of the ring. Its angle being proportional to the size of the folder's contents, and painted with a different color to ease visualization. Files are painted in light gray color. Folder or file which is smaller than 1/180 of the size of root folder will be ignored.

The chart displays five levels. In case a folder in that last fifth level contains even more subfolders, this situation is pointed by presenting a curve close to the edge of that folder's ring sector. When the mouse pointer hovers on one of the folders in the graphic, it is highlighted and a tooltip appears with information about its name and size.

Technorati Tags: Disk Space Fan,disk space analysis

Xenu Link Sleuth – Freeware spider

2010-03-10T18:05:00.001+05:30

Xenu's Link Sleuth is a freeware that is used to check Web sites for broken links. Link verification is done on "normal" links, images, frames, plug-ins, backgrounds, local image maps, style sheets, scripts and java applets. It displays a continuously updated list of URLs which you can sort by different criteria. A report can be produced on following parameters.

Broken links, ordered by links
Broken links, ordered by page
Broken local links
Redirected URLs
FTP and gopher URLs
Valid text URLs
Site Map
Statistics
Orphan files

Technorati Tags: Xenu Link Sleuth,Web spider,link checker

Great freeware from 2BrightSparks

2010-02-14T19:07:00.001+05:30

2BrightSparks presents a number of useful freeware tools.

SyncBack Freeware V3.2.20.0
You can use SyncBack to easily backup and synchronize your files to: the same drive; a different drive or medium (CDRW, CompactFlash, etc); an FTP server; a Network; or a Zip archive.
InfoHesive Freeware Viewer V 2.3.0.0
You can use this freeware to read InfoHesive Help Files and eBooks with annotations.
EncryptOnClick Freeware
EncryptOnClick is very simple to use and features military grade 256-bit AES encryption.
DeleteOnClick Freeware
Even if you delete a file or folder using Windows without moving it to Recycle Bin (Trash), the data you have deleted is not actually removed from your computer. Instead, Windows makes the space occupied by the file available for writing. DeleteOnClick completely deletes files in one click rather than sending the file to the recycle bin.
HashOnClick Freeware
HashOnClick ensures that your files haven't been tampered with. It quickly provides information to compare hash values side by side to establish the data in one file exactly matches (or not) the data in another.
PatchOnClick Freeware
PatchOnClick allows you to send and receive updates to large files without having to send or receive the whole file each time.

2BrightSparks also offers enhanced commercial versions of these software.

Technorati Tags: 2BrightSparks,SyncBack,backup,synchronize,InfoHesive,ebook reader,EncryptOnClick,DeleteOnClick,HashOnClick,PatchOnClick

TightVNC – Free remote control software

2010-01-27T17:56:00.001+05:30

TightVNC is a free, cross-platform, open source remote desktop software application that uses and extends features offered by VNC’s (Virtual Networking Computing) RFB protocol. All VNC packages works on client-server model, where in a VNC client machine connects to a machine running VNC server and displays full or part of VNC server desktop on client machine.

TightVNC setup is straight forward. Below screen shots shows step-by-step installation.

To launch TightVNC server, click on Start > Programs > TightVNC > Launch TightVNC Server. Click on Unblock button in the Windows Security Alert dialog box to allow TightVNC to accept network connections.

TightVNC Server user properties window has 5 tabs: Server, Hooks, Display, Query, and Administration. The Server tab has options for setting up passwords, input handling, display or port numbers, response to client-disconnection, etc.

TightVNC server provides administration and viewing facility to VNC client(s) connected with it. It is recommended that you setup different passwords for administration and viewing purpose. Default string of asterisk shown in password box is actually of blank passwords. If you don’t setup passwords for TightVNC Server, in its default settings, TightVNC Server will refuse client connections, because running a VNC server without setting a password is a security risk, and TightVNC displays following warning in this regard.

The default port numbers for access through VNC client and HTTP client are 5900 and 5800 respectively. It is recommended that you set your own port numbers to make TightVNC configuration more secure.

The Hooks tab has options for polling modes and mirror driver.

A mirror driver boosts screen update performance. It is recommended that you install DemoForge Mirage Driver for TightVNC. DFMirage is a video driver mirroring technology for the Windows NT OS family. Display mirroring technology is widely employed by remote desktop applications such as: NetMeeting, PC Anywhere, VNC, Webex, etc. Mirroring is a technically superior method than screen grabbing, because it allows the capture of only the minimally updated regions and retrieves the data directly, bypassing the intermediate copy.

The Display tab allows you to setup sharing area. In general Full Desktop is selected for remote administration purpose.

At a definite time interval TightVNC Server can query the console on incoming client connection and take default action to either refuse or accept even without authentication (recommended only if you are sure that machine will be accessed by the most trusted clients only).

TightVNC’s tight encoding is a combination of JPEG compression and other types of encoding.It improves application performance and suitable for low bandwidth connections. TightVNC can be used with other client and server implementations of VNC; however, tight encoding is not supported by most other implementations, so to gain full advantage of TightVNC, it is necessary to use TightVNC at both ends.

Among notable enhancements are file transfers, support for Windows DFMirage mirror driver to detect screen updates, zoom ability and automatic SSH tunneling on Unix.

TightVNC Group also offers TightVNC Portable Edition where TightVNC Server and Viewer are run from a USB flash drive and all settings, connection history and passwords are kept in USB drive.

Technorati Tags: TightVNC,VNC,Virtual Network Computing,Remote control,Remote desktop,Open source,Tight encoding,JPEG compression,Free,TightVNC Portable Edition,DemoForge,Mirror display driver,DFMirage

Cropper – Simple screen capture utility

2010-01-27T17:50:00.001+05:30

Cropper 1.91.1.89 by Brian Scott is a freeware screen capture utility which is fast and able to output images to a variety of formats like -

BMP: Large files but no compression artifacts.
Clipboard: The image is placed on the clipboard and can be pasted into any application that accepts images.
JPEG: Cropper can save JPEG files in varying quality settings from 10 to 100. 10 being the lowest quality and smallest file size. 100 being the highest quality and largest file size.
PNG: Smaller files with lossless compression, good for most image formats except full color photographic.
Printer: Presents a print dialog that allows you to send the image straight to the printer.

Cropper has following keyboard shortcuts for easier operations.

Arrow keys: Nudge the main form one pixel.
Alt+Arrow keys: Resize the main form one pixel.
Alt+[ or ]: Resize the thumbnail indicator one pixel.
+Ctrl: Changes the amount of resizes and nudges listed above to ten pixels.
[ or ] or Mouse Wheel: Resize the main form twenty pixels while keeping the crosshairs centered.
Right-Click: Context menu on the main form.
Double-Click or Enter or S: Take a screen shot of the area under the Cropper window or start/stop a recording plug-in.
Tab: Cycle form colors.
Shift+Tab: Cycle form sizes.
Esc: Hide the main form.
F8: Show the main form.
PrintScreen: Take a screen shot of the entire desktop or start/stop a recording plug-in.
Alt+PrintScreen: Take a screen shot of the current active window or start/stop a recording plug-in.
Ctrl+Alt+PrintScreen: Take a screen shot of the region below the mouse or start/stop a recording plug-in.

Although there are a number of screen capture tools in the market, Cropper is very simple to use and works great.

Technorati Tags: Cropper,Brian Scott,Freeware,Screen capture

RegASSASSIN – Freeware to remove locked registry keys

2010-01-27T17:49:00.001+05:30

RegASSASSIN v1.03 from Malwarebytes is able to remove stubborn locked registry keys from your Windows PC. It uses advanced techniques to unlock permissions and then removes the registry key.

When executed first time, RegASSASSIN displays license agreement.

Click on I Agree button to continue. Now either type full path of the registry key or launch Windows Registry Editor (regedit.exe) and navigate to the registry key you want to remove, right click and copy key name, then paste it into the text box.

In the above screen shot, I have deliberately scrubbed the registry key name to avoid the Click on Delete button to get rid off registry key.

Technorati Tags: RegASSASSIN,Malwarebytes,Windows registry,remove registry keys

Pocket Killbox – Process & File remover

2009-12-21T12:07:00.002+05:30

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

2009-12-16T19:39:00.002+05:30

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.

Choose a server
Install the software
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

2009-12-16T19:32:00.002+05:30

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

2009-12-15T00:27:00.002+05:30

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:

Process manager
Hosts file manager
Tool to delete a file on reboot
Tools to delete an NT service
Tool to scan for alternate data stream
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

2009-12-15T00:15:00.002+05:30

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

2009-12-15T00:14:00.002+05:30

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

2009-12-15T00:02:00.003+05:30

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

Open Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.
Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
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

What’s new in Internet Explorer 8

2009-12-14T23:36:00.005+05:30

Microsoft has launched new version of its trendy web browser - Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8) with some nice features. A brief introduction of this new offering is as follows.

Easier search for text and other information on a webpage. Now find text box appears on the tab row instead of as a separate dialog box.
IE 8 allows you to reopen the closed tabs or browsing session that has been closed.

Accelerators to find more information about certain words. Accelerators can be used to know more about the text you select on a webpage to perform tasks like searching for a dictionary definition, etc. IE 8 is pre-configured with a selection of Accelerators which can be added or removed as per your choice. Some of the Accelerators included with IE 8 are -

Name	Address	Category
Blog with Windows Live	live.com	Blog
Blogger	blogger.com	Blog
Define with Google Dictionary	google.com	Define
E-mail with Windows Live	live.com	Email
Gmail	google.com	Email
Google Finance	google.com	Finance
Google Maps	google.com	Map
Map with Live Search	live.com	Map
Translate with Live Search	live.com	Translate

Phishing Filter has been replaced by SmartScreen Filter. SmartScreen Filter helps protect your computer from fraudulent and phishing websites, and malware distribution websites. During your web browsing, SmartScreen Filter transmits web addresses of your visiting sites in encrypted format over HTTPS to the Microsoft SmartScreen service, in the background. No personal, identifiable information is sent to the Microsoft. These web addresses are then compared against lists of known phishing and malware sites and SmartScreen Filter is informed accordingly. If SmartScreen Filter discovers a bad website, IE 8 displays a blocking webpage and the Address bar will appear in red. You can either choose to bypass the blocked website or you can continue to the blocked website at your own risk.
InPrivate Browsing which enables web surfing without leaving any trace in IE 8. During InPrivate Browsing, Internet Explorer stores information like cookies and temporary Internet files in the cache and discards it at the end of your InPrivate Browsing session. When InPrivate Browsing is turned on, you will the following indicator.
Favorites bar in place of Links toolbar that was in previous versions of Internet Explorer.
1. You can drag web addresses from the Address bar to the Favorites bar.
2. You can drag links from web pages you are viewing.
3. You can use the Favorites bar to monitor RSS feeds you've subscribed to.
4. You can use the Favorites bar to store your collection of Web Slices. A Web Slice is a specific portion of a webpage that you can add to your Favorites bar.
Developer Tools which help you to diagnose and resolve HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and JavaScript related problems. The Developer Tools include a built-in debugger, a code rendering engine and an editor.
Caret Browsing which allows you to use HOME, END, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, and the arrow keys on your keyboard for web page navigation without using mouse.
IE 8 gives you better control over search provider settings. Whenever a program such as an add-on or toolbar tries to request a change to your default search provider, IE 8 prompts you to accept or reject the request.
IE 8 offers Compatibility View of websites, so that websites designed for earlier versions of Internet Explorer display correctly in IE 8 as though these were being viewed in earlier IE versions.
Suggested Sites which is an online service designed to suggest other websites you might be interested in based on the websites you visit most. When you turn on Suggested Sites, your web browsing history is sent to the Microsoft, where it is saved and compared to a frequently updated list of related websites. You can choose to stop IE 8 from sending your web browsing history to Microsoft at any time. You can also delete individual entries from your history at any time.

Technorati Tags: Internet Explorer 8, Windows Internet Explorer 8, IE, IE 8, Web browser, Accelerator, SmartScreen Filter, Phishing Filter, InPrivate Browsing, Favorites bar, Developer Tools, Caret Browsing, Suggested Sites

EASEUS Partition Master

2009-12-12T14:47:00.002+05:30

EASEUS Partition Master from CHENGDU YIWO Tech Development Co., Ltd. is very good partition management software with easy user-interface to accomplish following main functions for x86 based computers:

Resize/ Move partitions
Create partitions
Delete specified partitions or delete all partitions
Label partitions
Format partitions
Check partitions
Partition scheme
Create bootable disks
Copy partition
Copy disk
Copy dynamic volume
Convert partition
Explore partition

EASEUS Partition Master supports following flavours of Microsoft Windows.

Windows 2000 Professional SP4
Windows 2000 Server SP4
Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4
Windows XP Home
Windows XP Professional
Windows XP x64 Professional
Windows Server 2003 Standard
Windows Server 2003 Enterprise
Windows Server 2003 x64 Standard
Windows Server 2003 x64 Enterprise
Windows Vista
Windows Vista x64
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 x64

EASEUS Partition Master supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS file systems. It supports IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB removable hard disk, and Firewire hard disk of any size between 2 GB to 2 TB, with maximum 32 disks at the same time.

However, EASEUS Partition Master has its limitations. It is not designed to work on removable media and the company do not guarantee to resolve problems you encounter when partitioning removable media. Further, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista use basic disks and dynamic disks and you cannot perform EASEUS Partition Master operations on dynamic disks.

Technorati Tags: EASEUS Partition Master, disk partitioning, create partition, delete partition, format partition, convert partition, copy disk, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS

PDFCreator – Open source freeware for PDF file creation

2009-12-12T14:41:00.002+05:30

PDFCreator is an open source application that can create Portable Document Format (PDF) files from just about any program that prints using windows printers. With PDFCreator you can

Create PDF's like printing using Windows printers.
Create documents in PDF, Postscript (PS), Encapsulated Postscript (EPS), and variety of graphic file formats.
Combine multiple documents into single PDF.
Protect PDF files with password and up to 128 bit encryption.
Automatically save PDF documents with current settings.

Download a copy of PDFCreator setup from its project site and install it on your Windows machine. Setup is quite simple and is illustrated in following screen shots.

Take note of above screen shot, there are two different types of installations you can use when you install PDFCreator.

Standard Installation: A standard installation sets up a standard printer for PDFCreator and allows that computer to create PDF documents, images, and Postscript files.
Server Installation: A server installation sets up a network printer for PDFCreator and allows computers on your network to create PDF documents, images, and Postscript files remotely. If you use a server installation on a terminal server, make sure that you do not install PDFCreator in application mode.

Both types of installations are straight-forward and it depends entirely upon your requirement whether you need a PDF printer for your local machine or for your network users. With server installation of PDFCreator, you can use Auto-Save Mode to automatically save documents to a specified directory with UNC-pathnames and/or filename tokens. So, When using a server installation, you need to create a share for the printer with user access rights belonging to yourself. Also, make sure that at least one instance of PDFCreator is open. You can install PDFCreator as a service by using "instsrv.exe" and "srvany.exe" tools from Windows Resource Kit. If you do install PDFCreator as a service, make sure to use a user account with access rights writing in a Auto-Save directory. Settings can only be changed on the server. Users cannot change any settings in PDFCreator.

Following screen shot is of PDF Print Monitor when PDFCreator is installed as a server.

If first icon shown in toolbar has green ball, it means that PDFCreator Print Monitor is started. If it is red ball, it means Print Monitor is stopped. Press F2 key to start/stop the Print Monitor.

Click on Printer menu and select Options, then click on Auto-save link in left side of Options window.

In this Auto-save mode, following tokens are available to automatically assign names to PDF files.

<Author>
<Computername>
<ClientComputer>
<DateTime>
<Title>
<Username>
<Counter>
<REDMON_DOCNAME>
<REDMON_DOCNAME_FILE>
<REDMON_DOCNAME_PATH>
<REDMON_FILENAME>
<REDMON_JOB>
<REDMON_MACHINE>
<REDMON_PORT>
<REDMON_PRINTER>
<REDMON_SESSIONID>
<REDMON_USER>

Click on Formats drop-down menu in PDFCreator options window and you can configure file format settings for PDF, PNG, JPEG, BMP, PCX, TIFF, PS, EPS, TXT, PSD, PCL, Raw, and SVG file types.

There are five ways to create PDF in PDFCreator:

Printing
Drag and Drop
Document Adding
Command Line
Windows Explorer

Method 1: Printing

Open the document you wish to convert into a PDF in its default application and print the document to PDFCreator printer. You can provide additional information in the next window. Save your PDF file or click on Waiting button to create the PDF at a later time.

Method 2: Drag and Drop

Open the PDFCreator Print Monitor, click and drag the document or file you wish to create into a PDF into the Print Monitor.

Method 3: Document Adding

Open the PDFCreator Print Monitor, click the Document menu and select Add. In the file type box, select the document you wish to convert to PDF.

Method 4: Command Line

Execute following command at the command prompt:

PDFCreator.exe /PF"Full path of the document"

Make sure to type full path to PDFCreator.exe without any space between /PF and the path.

Method 5: Windows Explorer

Right click on any document in Windows Explorer and select Create PDF with PDFCreator.

You can create a single PDF file from multiple files waiting to be printed in PDF Print Monitor. Click on Document menu and select Combine or Combine all to do so.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

2009-12-12T14:38:00.002+05:30

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is a free program that allows you to create and run one or more virtual machines, each with its own operating system, on a single computer. This provides you with the flexibility to use different operating systems on one physical computer. The virtual machine emulates a standard x86-based computer, including every basic hardware component except the microprocessor. Each virtual machine functions like a separate physical computer.

Download a copy of Virtual PC 2007 from Microsoft site and install it on your x86-based computer. Launch Virtual PC from Start menu.

To create a virtual machine click on File -> New Virtual Machine Wizard.

Click on Next button.

Select name and path to save for virtual machine and click on Next button. Virtual PC 2007 can be used to create and run following types of virtual machines.

Windows 98
Windows NT Workstation
Windows 2000
Windows XP
OS/2
Windows Vista
Windows NT Server
Windows 2000 Server
Windows Server 2003

For this example, select Windows XP as virtual machine operating system. Click on Next button to continue.

Set 256 MB RAM for this example Windows XP virtual machine, and click on Next button.

We need to have a virtual hard disk that will contain the guest operating system, application, and data files. This virtual hard disk is stored on computer’s physical hard disk like any other file.

If you don’t have an existing virtual hard disk then click on A new virtual hard disk and Next button.

Select name and location of the virtual hard disk and click on Next button.

Click on Finish button to complete the New Virtual Machine Wizard.

Click on Settings button to configure virtual machine. In the first screen, you can rename the virtual machine.

Click on Memory setting. Adjust 256 MB RAM for this example Windows XP virtual machine.

Click on CD/DVD Drive setting. Put check in the checkbox to attach optical drive to secondary IDE controller so that virtual machine can access CD or DVD.

Click on COM1 setting. There are 4 options to choose possible values from. You can select a serial port on the physical computer, a named pipe, or a text file to connect to COM1 port on the virtual machine.

Click on LPT1 setting. There are 2 options to choose from – None or Physical parallel port.

Click on Networking setting. You can set the number of network adapters you want to work with this virtual machine.

For this particular virtual machine, you have the choice to select from

Local only
Realtek Fast Ethernet NIC
Microsoft Loopback Adapter
Shared networking (NAT)

Click on Sound setting. Put check mark on Enable sound card if you want virtual machine to access sound card installed on physical computer.

Click on Hardware Virtualization setting. This setting is useful if your computer offers hardware assisted virtualization.

Click on Mouse setting to configure pointer integration. With pointer integration enabled, you can move the pointer between the virtual machine window and the host operating system. Otherwise the mouse pointer once clicked inside virtual machine window cannot be moved outside it without pressing a hotkey.

Click on Shared Folders setting. This setting allows access to folders located on the physical computer, and works only after Virtual Machine Additions have been installed.

Click on Display setting. The default setting is fine.

Click on Close setting.

Default setting to show messages on Save state, Shut down, and Turn off are recommended. Click on OK button to close settings window. At this point virtual machine is configured.

If we click on Start button, the virtual machine starts and searches for DHCP server for IP address and boots from network boot server, if you have one.

If you don’t have a network boot server, then either insert Windows XP setup CD into your CD drive or click on CD –> Capture ISO Image menu and provide address of Windows XP setup image stored on your physical hard disk. Click on Action –> Reset menu. The Windows XP installation is quite familiar, so skipping it.

If you want to run more than one flavour of Microsoft operating systems on a single computer, Virtual PC 2007 is a recommended option.

FastStone Capture – A lightweight screen capture and recording tool

2009-12-05T15:25:00.002+05:30

FastStone Capture for Windows from FastStone Soft is a full-featured lightweight software which allows easy capture and annotation of anything on the screen in variety of file formats (BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIFF and PDF).

It also allows you to record all screen activities into optimized video files. You can capture active window, window/object, rectangular region, freehand region, full screen, or scrolling window to built-in editor, file, clipboard, printer, email, Word/PowerPoint document or upload them to your website. Editing tools allows annotating, resizing, cropping, sharpening, watermarking, applying effects, etc. Other features include global hotkeys, automatic filename generation, support for multiple monitors, support for external file editors, screen color picker, a screen magnifier and a screen ruler.

Technorati Tags: FastStone Capture,FastStone Soft,Screen capture,Screen recording

Camtasia Studio – Unleash the power of screen recording

2009-12-05T15:24:00.003+05:30

Camtasia Studio from TechSmith Corporation is an excellent software which easily records your screen, PowerPoint presentations, Web camera video, and audio. You can produce professional quality video files of any resolution to meet your specific requirements - Web page, blogs, CD, or portable devices like iPod.

Using Camtasia Studio you can

Create a Flash file for your website
Output directly to iPod, iPhone, or iTunes format
Create video to burn CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
Import various types of media files into a project
Create sequence of media clips
Add effects to media files

Camtasia Studio has following 4 tools.

Camtasia Recorder, which records anything on your computer screen and allows you to draw on the screen and add effects while recording.
Camtasia MenuMaker, which combines documents, images, and media files into a single menu for Web or CD distribution. Use MenuMaker to deliver your recordings to your clients.
Camtasia Theater, which is used to group multiple Flash videos into a single video with DVD-like navigation.
Camtasia Player, which is a standalone video player for 32-bit Windows platform, i.e., it runs without needing any other file. It plays .avi files only and includes built-in support for the TechSmith Screen Capture Codec (TSCC).

In addition to screen recording, Camtasia Studio allows you to upload your files to screencast.com which is a place to upload, manage, and share your videos, presentations, and photos.

Technorati Tags: Camtasia, Camtasia Studio, TechSmith Corporation, techsmith.com, screen capture, screen recorder, screen recording, Camtasia Recorder, Camtasia MenuMaker, Camtasia Theater, Camtasia Player, Screen Capture Codec, TechSmith Screen Capture Codec, TSCC, screencast.com

COMODO Internet Security, a must have security program for your Windows PC

2009-11-30T18:20:00.003+05:30

Comodo Internet Security (CIS) from Comodo Security Solutions Inc. provides complete threat protection by combining

A powerful antivirus software that automatically detects and eliminates viruses, Worms and Trojan horses;
An enterprise class packet filtering firewall that constantly defends your computer from inbound and outbound internet attacks; and
A rule-based intrusion prevention system called Defense+ that protects your critical operating system files from malicious processes, internal attacks and blocks unknown malware.

When used individually, each of the above mentioned product delivers superior protection against its specific threat challenge. When used together as a full suite they provide a complete security system for your Windows PC.

Let’s download a copy of CIS setup from http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html and start CIS installation.

Click on OK button.

Click on Next button.

Go through the License Agreement and click on I accept button.

Choose the destination folder and click on Next button.

Enter your email address to receive product updates, PC security tips, and click on Next button.

Check on Install COMODO Antivirus, Install COMODO Firewall and click on Next button.

Choose your option to join or skip ThreatCast community, and click on Next button.

Check on Install COMODO Hopsurf Toolbar, if you want to integrate the COMODO recommended way to protect your favourite browser. Click on Next button.

COMODO Secure DNS is another recommended service that is provided free of cost. Click on Next button.

Click on Finish button to allow CIS setup activate product license.

Click on Finish button to restart the computer. After restarting the computer, CIS detects a new private network.

You may assign a name to this network. However, the CIS assigned name is OK. Click on OK button.

Open COMODO Internet Security Start menu subgroup and launch COMODO Internet Security.

CIS has a nice and user-friendly interface to work with. We have not updated the virus signature database, yet. But before that have a look at the functionality of the CIS. Click on the ANTIVIRUS button in top command bar.

Click on Scanner Settings button.

Set options for Real Time Scanning and click on Manual Scanning tab.

Set options for Manual Scanning and click on Scheduled Scanning tab.

Set options for Scheduled Scanning and click on Exclusions tab.

Click on OK button to close Virus Scanner Settings window. Click on FIREWALL button.

Click on Stealth Ports Wizard button. The wizard is used to create invisible ports for your network. You have 3 options to define stealth ports. You can define new trusted network, you can set CIS to alert you for every incoming connection on per-case basis or you can block all incoming connection to your computer.

Suppose we want to define trusted network. Click on Next button.

Select you network zone and click on Finish button.

Click on OK button. Now click on View Active Connections button. The Active Connections interface contains summary of all currently active connections on a per-application basis. This list is updated in real time whenever an application creates a new connection or drops an existing connection. You can view all the connected applications, source, destination, and total amount of traffic that has passed in and out of your system over each connection.

Click on Close button. Click on My Port Sets button. A number of standard ports are listed on functionality basis. You can add your application ports, edit or remove existing ports.

Once you are done defining your set of ports, click on Apply button. Click on My Network Zones button.

Click on Apply button to go back to Firewall management interface. Click on My Blocked Network Zones button.

By default there are no blocked network zones. You may add network zones, with which you want to avoid any packet interchange. Click on Cancel button. Click on DEFENSE+ button to see interface for host intrusion prevention system module.

Click on View Active Process List button.

This shows all processes running in your system with their hierarchy in process tree, process identifier, module developer's name, and user account name. Click on Close button. Then click on My Trusted Software Vendors button.

Click on Cancel button. Then click on My Protected Registry Keys button.

This displays all Windows Registry keys protected by CIS. You can add/edit/remove/group registry keys for better protection to suit your security requirements. Likewise clicking on My Protected COM Interfaces shows you which COM (Component Object Model) interfaces have been secured by CIS.

This was a general walkthrough of Comodo Internet Security installation and features. CIS is an industrial grade security product delivered free of cost. Highly recommended to be installed on your Windows PC.

Uninstalling antivirus software

2009-11-29T16:04:00.001+05:30

There are times when you have to decide uninstalling antivirus software from your PC, because you find that for whatever reason it has become corrupt and has lost desired functionality.

Following is the brief introduction to major software uninstall tools. These tools can require one or more restarts during cleaning process. So it is advised that you save all your work and close all other application before you continue.

Alwil Software Uninstall Utility (aswclear.exe)

You need to enter path to folder where selected product is installed. Click on Uninstall button and aswclear.exe will start product removal process. Apart from uninstalling avast! 4 Home/Professional, aswclear.exe can be used to remove following software from your machine.

avast! 4 Server Edition
BART CD Manager
avast! for Kerio
avast! PDA Edition
avast! 32
avast! Managed client
avast! Distributed Network Manager
avast! Windows Home Server Edition

avgremover.exe

avgremover.exe removes AVG from your computer.

BitDefender_Uninstall_Tool.exe

BitDefender_Uninstall_Tool.exe removes BitDefender v7.x, v8.x, v9.x, v10.x, BitDefender 2008, and BitDefender 2009.

Delnvc5.exe

Delnvc5.exe removes installation of Norman ASA antivirus products.

McAfee Cleanup utility (MCPR.exe)

MCPR.exe utility is used to remove instances of McAfee brand antivirus products like McAfee Personal Firewall, McAfee SpamKiller, McAfee Virus Scan etc.

Norton_Removal_Tool.exe and Norton_Removal_Tool_9x.exe

Symantec offers 2 tools to remove Norton antivirus products, in case you find it necessary to do so. Norton_Removal_Tool.exe works with Windows NT, 2000 and later versions of Microsoft Windows OS while Norton_Removal_Tool_9x.exe works with PCs running Windows 95 and 98.
Removing Panda antivirus

Panda Software International offers following 3 tools to remove its antivirus products.

UNINST_v1012.exe
Uninstaller.exe
UNINSTALLER_08.exe

Like all other major antivirus manufacturers, F-Secure offers a tool that is used to remove F-Secure Service Platform, F-Secure Anti-Virus and F-Secure Internet Security from workstations where executed upon.

Retrieving product keys using Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder

2009-11-29T15:59:00.002+05:30

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder v2.0.1 is a free software that retrieves your Product Key (cd key) used to install a number of software from your registry. Apart from Product Key of Microsoft Windows, this Keyfinder is able to retrieve serial number of following software.

@Stake L0pht CrackLC5
3D Mark 2001
ACDSee 3.1, and 9.x
Acronis True Image
Adobe Acrobat 6, 7, and 8.x
Adobe Photoshop 7
Advanced Direct Remailer (ADR =>2.20)
Advanced Direct Remailer (ADR <=2.18)
After Effects 7
Alcohol 120% 1.9.x
Anno 1701
AutoCAD 2000, 2002, 2004, LT 98, LT 2000, LT 2002, LT 2002i, LT 2004, and LT 2005, Mechanical 2000i
Axailis IconWorkshop 6.0
Battlefield 1942, 1942 Road To Rome, and 1942 Secret Weapons of WWII
Battlefield Vietnam
Beyond TV 4, and TV 4 Link
Beyond Media
BitComet Acceleration Patch
Black and White
Borland Delphi 6, and 7
Call of Duty 2
Chrome
Command and Conquer: Generals
Command and Conquer: Generals Zero Hour
Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun
Command and Conquer: Red Alert
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 Yuri's Revenge
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Company of Heroes
Counter-Strike (Retail)
Crysis
Cyberlink PowerDVD
Dell Service Tag
DVD Profiler
Elaborate Bytes Clone DVD
FIFA 2002, and 2003
Freedom Force
Futuremark 3DMark2001, 3DMark2003, 3DMark2005, and 3DMark2006
Futuremark PCMark2005
GetDataBack
GetDataBack for NTFS
GetRight
Global Operations
Gunman Chronicles
Half-Life
HDD State Inspector
Hidden & Dangerous 2
IGI 2: Covert Strike
Industry Giant 2
Internet Download Manager
James Bond 007 Nightfire
Legends of Might and Magic
LimeWire Acceleration Patch
MagicISO
mIRC
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Breakth
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Spearhe
Mindjet MindManager 7 Pro
Nascar Racing 2002 and 2003
Naturally Speaking 8
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit
Nero Burning Rom 5, 6, and 7
NewsBin Pro 5x
NHL 2002 and 2003
Norton Antivirus 2006
Norton PartitionMagic 8.x
NOX
O&O BlueCon 5
O&O CleverCache 6
O&O Defrag 8
O&O DiskImage 1
O&O DiskRecovery 3
O&O DriveLED 2
O&O SafeUnErase 2
O&O SafeErase 2
Padus DiscJuggler
Passware 8.x
PC Icon Editor
PowerQuest PartitionMagic
Pro Evolution Soccer 6
Quake 4
Ravenshield
ReplayConverter
Registy Mechanic
Roxio My DVD 8 Premier
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl
SecurDataStor v6
SecurDataStor v6 CD-Media
Shogun: Total War: Warlord Edition
Sims, The
Sims, The Living Large
Sims, The House Party
Sims, The 2 Family Fun Stuff
Sims, The 2 Glamour Life Stuff
Sims, The 2 Nightlife
Sims, The 2 Open for Business
Sims, The 2 Pets
Sims, The 2 Seasons
Sims, The 2 University
SimCity 4 Deluxe
Slysoft AnyDVD
Slysoft CloneCD
Smartversion
Soldiers Of Anarchy
Sonic Record Now!
Sony Vegas 6
Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory
Stardock
SuperCleaner
Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007
Tag&Rename
Techsmith Camtasia Studio 3.0, and 4.0
Techsmith SnagIt 7, 8.0, and 8.1
The Gladiators
TGTSoft StyleXP
TMPGEnc Plus 2.5
Tobit ClipIncPlayer 4
Trend Micro PC-cillin Antivirus 11, and 2007
TuneUP 2006, and 2007
Unreal Tournament 2003, and 2004
VMware Server, and Workstation 5.0
VSO BlindWrite 6
VSO ConvertX to DVD
Westwood Alarmstufe Rot 2
Westwood Alarmstufe Rot 2 Yuri's Revenge
Westwood Tiberian Sun
Winamp 5
WinImage
WinPatrol
Winzip
WS FTP
ZoneAlarm

Use of Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder is useful, so that you may find no problem if you lose product keys of above mentioned software and find it problematic to install these software at a later stage without a product key in hand.

7-Zip, the best free alternative to popular zip programs

2009-11-29T08:11:00.001+05:30

7-Zip 4.57 is free software developed by Igor Pavlov. You can use 7-Zip on any computer, including a computer in a commercial organization. You don't need to register or pay for 7-Zip.

The main features of 7-Zip are

Powerful file manager: The 7-Zip File Manager is a program for manipulating files and folders.
High compression ratio with high speed of operations: Compression and decompression performance of 7-zip is at par with any free/commercial tool available in the market.
Large number of supported archive formats: 7z, ZIP, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, RAR, CAB, ARJ, Z, CPIO, RPM, DEB, LZH, SPLIT (like 001, 002, …), CHM, ISO, COMPOUND (like msi, doc, xls, ppt), WIM, and NSIS (exe)
Command line support

7-Zip creates fully ZIP compatible archives, which can be decompressed by any ZIP compatible decompression utility. During compression 7-Zip can use one of the following ZIP compression methods:

0 - Store
8 - Deflate
9 - Deflate64
12 - BZip2

7-Zip v4.57 can extract any files from ZIP archive that were compressed with one of the following methods:

0 - Store
1 - Shrink
6 - Implode
8 - Deflate
9 - Deflate64
12 - BZip2

However, there is a limitation. 7-Zip v4.57 doesn't support Zip multivolume archives.

7z is a new archive format, providing following main features.

Open architecture: 7z has an open architecture, so it can support any new compression methods.
High compression ratio
Strong AES-256 encryption
Ability to use any compression, conversion or encryption method
Supports files with sizes up to 16000000000 GB
Unicode file names
Solid compression
Archive headers compression

Overall, 7-zip is a must have program on any Windows based computer.

Technorati Tags: 7-Zip,zip,unzip,solid compression,7z,gzip,bzip2,tar,rar,cab,arj,z,cpio,rpm,deb,lzh,split,chm,iso,deflate,deflate64,shrink,implode,AES-256

Windows command line - Using SC.exe to communicate with services

2009-10-02T17:56:00.002+05:30

SC is a command line program used for communicating with the NT Service controller and services. SC.exe retrieves and sets control information about services. It can be used to configure a specific service, retrieve current status of a service, as well as start/stop a service. Batch files can be created that call various sc.exe commands to various SC.exe commands for automating the startup/shutdown of services.

sc [ServerName] [command] [service name] option1 option2 ...

The option ServerName has the form "\\ServerName"

The simplest use of SC.exe is to query about installed services, drivers, type of services, or type of drivers. For this, command syntax is as follows.

SC [ServerName] query [ServiceName] [type= {driver|service}all}] [type= {own|share|interact|kernel|filesys|rec|adapt}] [state= {active|inactive|all}] [bufsize= BufferSize] [ri= ResumeIndex] [group= GroupName]

The parameters taken by query command are -

ServerName - Specifies the name of the remote server on which the service is located. The name must use the UNC format ("\\myserver"). If this parameter is not used, SC.exe assumes local machine.

ServiceName - Specifies the service name returned by the getkeyname operation. This query parameter is not used in conjunction with other query parameters (other than ServerName).

type= {driver|service|all} - Specifies what to enumerate. The default type is service.

type= {own|share|interact|kernel|filesys|rec|adapt} - Specifies the type of services or type of drivers to enumerate. This parameter needs little bit of explanation.

   own - The service runs in its own process. This is the default.
       share - The service runs as a shared process. It shares an executable file with other services.
      interact - The service can interact with the desktop, receiving input from users.
     kernel - Driver
       filesys - File system driver

state= {active|inactive|all} - Specifies the started state of the service for which to enumerate. The default state is active.

bufsize= BufferSize - Specifies the size (in bytes) of the enumeration buffer. The default size is 1024 bytes. You may need to increase buffer size when the display resulting from a query exceeds 1 Kb.

ri= ResumeIndex - Specifies the index number at which to begin or resume the enumeration. The default is 0.This parameter is used in conjunction with the bufsize= parameter.

group= GroupName - Specifies the service group to enumerate. The default is all groups.

Please note that a space between parameter and its value is required. For example state=inactive is wrong, it should be stat= inactive

For example, typing SC query messenger at the command prompt and hitting return key results in following display on screen.

SERVICE_NAME: messenger
       TYPE : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS
       STATE : 1 STOPPED
                (NOT_STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
       WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 1077 (0x435)
       SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
       CHECKPOINT : 0x0
       WAIT_HINT : 0x0

Apart from query command, used here, there are a lot other commands that can be used with SC.exe. A brief description of commands available with SC.exe on a Windows XP Pro machine is as follows. For more information type sc in Help and Support Center search text box in Windows XP Pro. Always remember to backup registry and create a System Restore point in Windows, before making any changes to your Windows box using SC.exe.

• boot - Indicates whether the last boot should be saved as the last-known-good configuration.
• config - Modifies the value of a service's entries in the registry and in the Service Control Manager's database.
• continue - Sends a CONTINUE control request to a service in order to resume a paused service.
• control - Sends a CONTROL B to a service.
• create - Creates a subkey and entries for the service in the registry and in the Service Control Manager's database.
• delete - Deletes a service subkey from the registry. If the service is running or if another process has an open handle to the service, then the service is marked for deletion.
• description - Sets the description string for a service.
• enumdepend - Lists the services that cannot run unless the specified service is running.
• failure - Specifies what action to take upon failure of the service.
• getdisplayname - Gets the display name associated with a particular service.
• getkeyname - Gets the key name associated with a particular service, using the display name as input.
• interrogate - Sends an INTERROGATE control request to a service.
• lock - Locks the Service Control Manager's database.
• pause - Sends a PAUSE control request to a service.
• qc - Queries the configuration information for a service.
• qdescription - Displays the description string of a service.
• qfailure - Displays the actions that will be performed if the specified service fails.
• queryex - Obtains and displays extended information about the specified service, driver, type of service, or type of driver.
• querylock - Queries and displays the lock status for the Service Control Manager's database.
• sdset - Sets a service's security descriptor.
• sdshow - Displays a service's security descriptor.
• start - Starts a service running.
• stop - Sends a STOP control request to a service.

Using Driver Magician to backup and restore device drivers

2009-09-29T09:50:00.002+05:30

Taking backup of device drivers installed on your Windows PC helps a lot in case any installed driver gets corrupt or you format your PC and find that driver CDs are either not available or not readable.

Driver Magician is a shareware program for device drivers backup, restoration and update in Windows. It identifies hardware items installed in the system, extracts associated drivers from the hard disk and backs them up to a location of your choice. Then when you format and reinstall/upgrade your operating system, you can restore all the "saved" drivers just as if you have used the original driver CDs.

Driver Magician has a built in driver database which it can update over the Internet. Moreover, it can back up and restore more items such as registry, My Documents and desktop.

Download a copy of Driver Magician setup from http://www.drivermagician.com/ and launch it.

Click on Next button.

Accept the license agreement and click on Next button.

Click on Next button.

Click on Install button.

Click on Finish button.

Click on Register Later button.

Click on Options button.

Select Back up drivers to a self-extractor (.EXE) in Driver Backup Options, then click on OK button. Now click on Select All button.

Click on Start Backup button and choose a location to save self-extractor (.EXE) file, the click on OK button.

In the above case, we have chosen My Documents folder to save the driver backup file. Driver Magician starts backing up installed drivers and after a few minutes informs us that

Open the My Documents folder and we find that a MyDrivers.exe file has been created. We can now copy this file to a pen driver or burn it on a CD. In case of reinstallation of operating system, we can just run MyDrivers.exe file and reboot PC. All device drivers will be installed.

Vaccinating from USB led attacks

2009-09-28T13:17:00.002+05:30

The most popular desktop OS, i.e., Microsoft Windows uses an autorun.inf file from removable drives in order to determine the action to perform when an external storage device, such as a USB drive or CD/DVD, is inserted into the system. The autorun.inf file is normally found in the root directory of removable media and contains, apart from other things, reference to a program which should be automatically run when the device is inserted.

This feature is widely misused by malware in order to spread by infecting as soon as a new drive is plugged into the system. The malware achieves this by copying the malicious program in the drive and changing the autorun.inf file so that Windows executes the malicious program immediately upon mounting of the infected drive. Latest example of such a malware is W32/Conficker worm which spreads through write-enabled network shares and USB drives.

Antivirus maker Panda Research has released a free tool known as Panda USB Vaccine v1.0.0.50a

Download Panda USB Vaccine from the Panda Research site and run setup.

Click on Next button.

Accept the agreement and click on Next button.

Click on Next button.

Configure USB Vaccine behavior by checking all check boxes. Then click on Next button.

Click on Finish button and launch Panda USB Vaccine.

Click on Vaccinate computer button.

The tool can be used via GUI or command line to vaccinate the host computer as well as USB drives plugged into the system. Following commands are available:

USBVaccine [+system|-system] [/resident [/hidetray] [/autovaccinate]][/experimentalntfs][/agreelicense][drive unit]

[drive unit]: Vaccinate drive unit
+system: Computer vaccination
-system: Remove computer vaccination
/resident: Start program hidden and prompt for vaccinating every new drive
/autovaccinate: Automatically vaccinates any new drive inserted when used with the /resident command
/hidetray: Hides tray icon when used with the /resident command
/experimentalntfs: Enables the vaccination of NTFS USB keys
/agreelicense: Use this parameter when you agree to the end user license agreement but want to avoid the agreement dialog being presented to the user

For example, to vaccinate the computer and automatically vaccinate any new drive plugged into the computer without showing a tray icon, use

USBVaccine.exe +system /resident /hidetray /autovaccinate

USB Vaccine has been tested under Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP SP1 to SP3, and Windows Vista SP0 and SP1.

MailPeek, an unusual e-mail client

2009-09-28T12:55:00.001+05:30

MailPeek is an very small e-mail client (only 124 KB in size) which allows you to logon to your e-mail server and check e-mails you want without having to download other emails first.

Download mailpeek.zip from http://www.mailpeek.de/, save it on your desktop, and unzip it to mailpeek folder. Open config.ini in Notepad and configure MailPeek. Following entries are found in config.ini.

[System]
Accounts=1
TimeOut=60
PeekTime=60
MailThreshold=5
StripUmlaut=1

[Font]
StyleEdit=Comic Sans MS
SizeEdit=21
StyleView=Comic Sans MS
SizeView=21

[Users]
Account1=My eMail Account

[Account1]
FullName=
Organization=
MailAddress=
ReplyAddress=
SMTPHost=
SMTPPort=
POP3Host=
POP3Port=
Authentication=
POP3Password=
POP3Account=

Entries under the System and Font headers are OK. You need to modify entries under Users and Account1 header. Account1 shows the first e-mail account. You can have multiple e-mail accounts to check with MailPeek, which may be configured by copying entire Account1 block and appending it immediately in the name of Account2, Account3, etc.

A fictitious Users and Account1 header looks likes as follows.

[Users]
Account1=Good Person

[Account1]
FullName=Good person
Organization=World Society
MailAddress=goodperson@worldsociety.com
ReplyAddress=goodperson@worldsociety.com
SMTPHost=mail.worldsociety.com
SMTPPort=25
POP3Host=pop.worldsociety.com
POP3Port=110
Authentication=AuthLoginMethod
POP3Password=password
POP3Account=goodperson

There are 4 possible values for Authentication under Account1 header. These are AuthLoginMethod or LoginPlainMethod or CramMD5Method or NoLoginMethod for no authentication. You should contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or System Administrator in your company to know exact data pertaining to your e-mail account.

When MailPeek starts first time, it asks you to set a password. MailPeek will remember this password and ask you to enter the same every time you run it. If you have not entered correct values for POP3Account and POP3Password in config.ini, MailPeek will ask you to enter these.

With Mail Peek, you can view the file size of messages before you download them, download mail and attachments, delete unwanted spam or useless messages, and save or print downloaded emails. Any attachments you download are automatically archived for later use, and the whole program is simple to set up and use.

Optimizing Windows Registry

2009-09-27T23:34:00.002+05:30

Registry is the core database of the Windows OS and it must be kept in good shape so that your PC performs well. Eusing Free Registry Cleaner 2.0 is an excellent freeware that serves this purpose. Grab a copy of this tool from http://www.eusing.com and install it.

Two things must be kept in mind before launching any registry optimization tool.

First: Always have complete backup of the registry, so that in case Windows fails to boot, you have the option to revert to previous state; and

Second: Always close all running programs, so that only the optimization tool is accessing the registry.

Now, launch Eusing Free Registry Cleaner. Following window appears on the screen.

If you have time to register the product, please do it now. If you intend to register the tool later, then click on Skip button. Before proceeding, please note that registry is a delicate database. Though, you may have been very comfortable working with the registry, it is highly recommended to have backup. Click on File menu and select Backup Full Registry to save a copy of registry.

After having full backup of registry, click on Scan registry issue button.

The program starts scanning the registry.

Now click on Repair registry issue button and close the program.

Once you have resolved all registry related issues with Eusing Free Registry Cleaner, it’s time to use Microsoft’s free tool – NT Registry Optimizer (NTREGOPT). Download it from Microsoft site, install it. When you launch the tool, following window appears on the screen.

Click on OK button to continue. NTREGOPT overcomes the registry fragmentation problem by reading registry hives, and then recreating the registry from scratch.

When optimization process is over, it notifies about it and seeks permission to reboot computer.

Click on Yes button to reboot your computer, so that optimized registry may come into effect. Registry optimization process of your Windows PC is complete.

Disinfecting your Windows PC using A-squared Free Command Line Scanner

2009-09-27T18:14:00.001+05:30

If you are worried that your Windows PC is infected with variety of viruses/worms then good news is that almost all antivirus companies offer limited edition of their popular antivirus products, so that users may not only get rid off malicious code but also have an idea of how premium versions of their products work.

One such free antivirus product is a-squared Command Line Scanner aka a2usb from Emsi Software GmbH. It detects and removes trojans, worms, viruses, dialers, spyware/adware, tracking cookies and spyware traces in the registry and on the hard disk

It’s is always a good idea to turn off System Restore feature in Windows, before starting scanning with any antivirus product, because it eliminates possibility of reverting to infected system state at any point of time in the future. For this right click on My Computer on desktop and click on Properties.

Click on System Restore tab and Turn off System Restore on all drives

Click on Apply and OK button. Now download a-squared Command Line Scanner, save it on your Windows desktop, and unzip to a2usb folder.

Run a2free tool. It asks whether you want to update the tool. As you have just downloaded it from the EMSI site, it is up-to-date. So click on No button.

Following is the main window of a2usb.

Click on Configuration button in left pane to open tabbed window to change a2usb configuration. Changes for general, update, logging, and permissions related settings can be made by clicking each tab shown in the following windows.

Once you have properly configured a2usb, click on Scan PC button in left pane, click on Deep Scan radio button then click on SCAN button.

After scanning is finished, check on all suspected registry traces and files then click on Delete selected objects.

Close the program and restart your PC in normal mode.

Using CCleaner for crap cleaning

2009-09-27T13:52:00.002+05:30

Piriform CCleaner is a useful application for crap cleaning in Windows PCs, i.e., removing temporary internet files, cookies, emptying recycle bin, memory dumps, windows log files, etc. as well as optimizing Windows Registry thereby increasing boosting PC performance. Let's take a look at CCleaner v2.18.878. Installation is very simple, so we skip it and go directly to using the application.

Just launch CCleaner.exe which is installed by default in "C:\Program Files\CCleaner\" folder. Following windows is displayed on your screen.

Click on Analyze button.

Click on Run Cleaner button. CCleaner cleans the crap left by Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, and System.

Now click on Applications in left pane.

Click on Analyze button.

Click on Run Cleaner button. CCleaner cleans the crap left by select applications.

Now click on Registry button in the extreme left pane.

Click on Scan for Issues button.

Click on Fix selected issues… button. CCleaner asks you to backup changes to registry. Please do so by clicking the Yes button.

Tell CCleaner where to save changes to be made to registry. Then click on Fix All Selected Issues button.

Click on OK button, below.

CCleaner fixes all registry related issues. Click on Close button.

CCleaner also offers you to safely uninstall installed applications. Click on Tools button in the extreme left pane and then click on Uninstall button. You can uninstall an application, rename and/or delete an uninstall entry.

Auto startup programs can also be either disabled or completely removed to save amount of booting time.

CCleaner can be configured by first clicking Options button then clicking Settings button.

More options can be set by clicking Advanced button.

Using Recuva for file recovery

2009-09-27T10:33:00.001+05:30

Piriform Recuva (http://www.recuva.com) is a file recovery tool for Windows platform. Let's take a look at Recuva v1.21.373. Installation is very simple, so there is no need to detail the installation process here.

Just launch Recuva.exe which is installed by default in "C:\Program Files\Recuva\" folder. Following window is displayed on your screen.

Configure Recuva by clicking Options button on the right side of Window.

In the General tab, there is nothing significant to set, right now. Open the Actions tab. Click to put check mark on Show files found in hidden system directories, and Deep Scan (increase scan time)

Click on OK button. Now select which drive you want to scan for file recovery purpose.

Recuva scans each selected drive in 2 stages. In the first stage it scans drive for deleted files.

During the second stage, it analyzes file contents of deleted files so found.

Recuva categorizes deleted files as Excellent, Good, Poor, Very poor, and Unrecoverable for recovery purpose. Preview, File information, and Header details are available for each deleted file so found.

Selected file, can be recovered by clicking Recover… button which is enabled in case file is not overwritten by any other cluster. A right click in file list pane gives further options to recover, securely delete, and change view mode.

A tree view looks like following screen shot.

Recuva is a good tool that helps users to recover accidently deleted files, and above all it’s FREE.

Technorati Tags: Piriform, Recuva, recuva.com, File recovery, Data recovery, Freeware

Using The Avenger to remove W32/Neeris worm

2009-09-27T06:10:00.004+05:30

If you are finding it very difficult to remove particular files, registry keys/value and/or other drivers which are protected by malware infecting your Windows PC, then The Avenger is the only savior you need.

The Avenger by Swandog46 is a fully-scriptable, kernel-level Windows driver designed to remove highly persistent files, registry keys/values, and other drivers protected by entrenched malware. It is fully compatible with 32-bit Windows Vista, XP, and 2000, and is run from a user account with administrator privileges.

How to use The Avenger:

The Avenger provides a GUI where in you input script for execution. There are 12 command directives currently that The Avenger recognizes. These are

1. Comment:
2. Files to delete:
3. Files to replace with dummy:
4. Files to move:
5. Folders to delete:
6. Registry keys to delete:
7. Registry keys to replace with dummy:
8. Registry values to delete:
9. Registry values to replace with dummy:
10. Programs to launch on reboot:
11. Drivers to delete:
12. Drivers to disable:

After each command directive, lines containing operands follow. The Avenger ignores blank lines and white spaces. Further, script commands are not executed in their order of writing. The Avenger executes the script commands in an order which best suites it. Complete documentation of The Avenger can be found at http://swandog46.geekstogo.com/avenger2/doc.html

Let us use The Avenger to manually remove W32/Neeris worm. W32/Neeris is a worm that spreads through instant messaging programs and removable drives. This worm is also known as Win32/IRCBot.KA, Worm.Win32.AutoRun.fla. It stores multiple copies of itself in the name of msmsgs.exe, netmon.exe, and vmwareservice.exe at various locations in your Windows PC, and creates a service named VMWareService.

So in order to disinfect your Windows PC from W32/Neeris worm, download The Avenger v2 and save it to your Windows desktop. Unzip it and run avenger.exe

Click on OK button.

Enter following script commands in above GUI.

Files to delete:
%ProgramFiles%\messenger\msmsgs.exe
%ProgramFiles%\Network Monitor\netmon.exe
%SystemRoot%\system\netmon.exe
%ProgramFiles%\vmwareservice.exe
%SystemRoot%\System\VMwareService.exe

Registry keys to delete:
HKLM\System\ControlSet001\Services\VMWareService
HKLM\System\ControlSet002\Services\VMWareService
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VMWareService

and check to select Automatically disable any rootkits found

Now click on Execute button. The Avenger confirms the execute command. Click on Yes button.

A warning message is displayed to alert user that that it is dangerous to edit ‘Services’ registry keys directly. Click on Yes button.

The Avenger informs that first step has completed and asks for your permission to reboot PC. Click on Yes button.

After your PC reboots, The Avenger displays log file in Notepad. This log file is stored in backup.zip in Avenger folder in your system drive. All actions it takes are stored in backup.zip file, which is password-protected with password "infected".

Wow! Your Windows desktop is now free from W32/Neeris worm.