Go4Masti

Cracking Zip Password Files

2008-02-03T23:09:00.000-08:00

Cracking Zip Password Files

Tut On Cracking Zip Password Files..
What is FZC? FZC is a program that cracks zip files (zip is a method of compressing multiple files into one smaller file) that are password-protected (which means you're gonna need a password to open the zip file and extract files out of it). You can get it anywhere - just use a search engine such as altavista.com.
FZC uses multiple methods of cracking - bruteforce (guessing passwords systematically until the program gets it) or wordlist attacks (otherwise known as dictionary attacks. Instead of just guessing passwords systematically, the program takes passwords out of a "wordlist", which is a text file that contains possible passwords. You can get lots of wordlists at www.theargon.com.).
FZC can be used in order to achieve two different goals: you can either use it to recover a lost zip password which you used to remember but somehow forgot, or to crack zip passwords which you're not supposed to have. So like every tool, this one can be used for good and for evil.
The first thing I want to say is that reading this tutorial... is the easy way to learn how to use this program, but after reading this part of how to use the FZC you should go and check the texts that come with that program and read them all. You are also going to see the phrase "check name.txt" often in this text. These files should be in FZC's directory. They contain more information about FZC.
FZC is a good password recovery tool, because it's very fast and also support resuming so you don't have to keep the computer turned on until you get the password, like it used to be some years ago with older cracking programs. You would probably always get the password unless the password is longer than 32 chars (a char is a character, which can be anything - a number, a lowercase or undercase letter or a symbol such as ! or &) because 32 chars is the maximum value that FZC will accept, but it doesn't really matter, because in order to bruteforce a password with 32 chars you'll need to be at least immortal..heehhe.. to see the time that FZC takes with bruteforce just open the Bforce.txt file, which contains such information.
FZC supports brute-force attacks, as well as wordlist attacks. While brute-force attacks don't require you to have anything, wordlist attacks require you to have wordlists, which you can get from www.theargon.com. There are wordlists in various languages, various topics or just miscellaneous wordlists. The bigger the wordlist is, the more chances you have to crack the password.
Now that you have a good wordlist, just get FZC working on the locked zip file, grab a drink, lie down and wait... and wait... and wait...and have good thoughts like "In wordlist mode I'm gonna get the password in minutes" or something like this... you start doing all this and remember "Hey this guy started with all this bullshit and didn't say how I can start a wordlist attack!..." So please wait just a little more, read this tutorial 'till the end and you can do all this "bullshit".

We need to keep in mind that are some people might choose some really weird passwords (for example: 'e8t7@$^%*gfh), which are harder to crack and are certainly impossible to crack (unless you have some weird wordlist). If you have a bad luck and you got such a file, having a 200MB list won't help you anymore. Instead, you'll have to use a different type of attack. If you are a person that gives up at the first sign of failure, stop being like that or you won't get anywhere. What you need to do in such a situation is to put aside your sweet xxx MB's list and start using the Brute Force attack.
If you have some sort of a really fast and new computer and you're afraid that you won't be able to use your computer's power to the fullest because the zip cracker doesn't support this kind of technology, it's your lucky day! FZC has multiple settings for all sorts of hardware, and will automatically select the best method.

Now that we've gone through all the theoretical stuff, let's get to the actual commands.

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Bruteforce
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The command line you'll need to use for using brute force is:

fzc -mb -nzFile.zip -lChr Lenght -cType of chars

Now if you read the bforce.txt that comes with fzc you'll find the description of how works Chr Lenght and the Type of chars, but hey, I'm gonna explain this too. Why not, right?... (but remember look at the bforce.txt too)

For Chr Lenght you can use 4 kind of switches...

-> You can use range -> 4-6 :it would brute force from 4 Chr passwors to 6 chr passwords
-> You can use just one lenght -> 5 :it would just brute force using passwords with 5 chars
-> You can use also the all number -> 0 :it would start brute forcing from passwords with lenght 0 to lenght 32, even if you are crazy i don't think that you would do this.... if you are thinking in doing this get a live...
-> You can use the + sign with a number -> 3+ :in this case it would brute force from passwords with lenght 3 to passwords with 32 chars of lenght, almost like the last option...

For the Type of chars we have 5 switches they are:

-> a for using lowercase letters
-> A for using uppercase letters
-> ! for using simbols (check the Bforce.txt if you want to see what simbols)
-> s for using space
-> 1 for using numbers

Example:
If you want to find a password with lowercase and numbers by brute force you would just do something like:

fzc -mb -nzTest.zip -l4-7 -ca1

This would try all combinations from passwords with 4 chars of lenght till 7 chars, but just using numbers and lowercase.

*****
hint
*****

You should never start the first brute force attack to a file using all the chars switches, first just try lowercase, then uppercase, then uppercase with number then lowercase with numbers, just do like this because you can get lucky and find the password much faster, if this doesn't work just prepare your brain and start with a brute force that would take a lot of time. With a combination like lowercase, uppercase, special chars and numbers.

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Wordlis
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Like I said in the bottom and like you should be thinking now, the wordlist is the most powerfull mode in this program. Using this mode, you can choose between 3 modes, where each one do some changes to the text that is in the wordlist, I'm not going to say what each mode does to the words, for knowing that just check the file wlist.txt, the only thing I'm going to tell you is that the best mode to get passwords is mode 3, but it takes longer time too.
To start a wordlist attak you'll do something like.

fzc -mwMode number -nzFile.zip -nwWordlist

Where:

Mode number is 1, 2 or 3 just check wlist.txt to see the changes in each mode.
File.zip is the filename and Wordlist is the name of the wordlist that you want to use. Remember that if the file or the wordlist isn't in the same directory of FZC you'll need to give the all path.

You can add other switches to that line like -fLine where you define in which line will FZC start reading, and the -lChar Length where it will just be read the words in that char length, the switche works like in bruteforce mode.
So if you something like

fzc -mw1 -nztest.zip -nwMywordlist.txt -f50 -l9+

FZC would just start reading at line 50 and would just read with length >= to 9.

Example:

If you want to crack a file called myfile.zip using the "theargonlistserver1.txt" wordlist, selecting mode 3, and you wanted FZC to start reading at line 50 you would do:

fzc -mw3 -nzmyfile.zip -nwtheargonlistserver1.txt -f50

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Resuming
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other good feature in FZC is that FZC supports resuming. If you need to shutdown your computer and FZC is running you just need to press the ESC key, and fzc will stop. Now if you are using a brute force attack the current status will be saved in a file called resume.fzc but if you are using a wordlist it will say to you in what line it ended (you can find the line in the file fzc.log too).
To resume the bruteforce attack you just need to do:

fzc -mr

And the bruteforce attack will start from the place where it stopped when you pressed the ESC key.
But if you want to resume a wordlist attack you'll need to start a new wordlist attack, saying where it's gonna start. So if you ended the attack to the file.zip in line 100 using wordlist.txt in mode 3 to resume you'll type

fzc -mw3 -nzfile.zip -nwwordlist.txt -f100

Doing this FZC would start in line 100, since the others 99 lines where already checked in an earlier FZC session.

Well, it looks like I covered most of what you need to know. I certainly hope it helped you... don't forget to read the files that come with the program

Configuring ZoneAlarm Pro Security Settings, A ZoneAlarm Pro Tutorial

2008-02-03T23:07:00.000-08:00

Configuring ZoneAlarm Security Settings
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If you're running ZoneAlarm Pro you will probably have considered that most of the "advanced" settings might as well be in Chinese for all the use they are. User friendly they are not!

If you are not on a LAN (connected to another computer in a network) you can use this guide to give your firewall some real muscle and a new lease of life:

Launch ZoneAlarm Pro and click to highlight the "Firewall" tab on the left hand side . In the pane that appears on the right hand side in the section "Internet Zone Security" set the slider control to "High" Then click the "Custom" button in the same section.

The next settings page is divided into two sections with tabs Internet Zone and Trusted Zone at the top of the page. Under the Internet Zone tab there is a list of settings that can be accessed by scrolling. At the top is the high security settings and the only thing that should check from there is "allow broadcast/multicast". The rest should be unchecked.

Scroll down until you get to the medium security settings area. Check all the boxes in this section until you get to "Block Incomming UDP Ports". When you check that you will be asked to supply a list of ports, and in the field at the bottom of the page enter 1-65535

Then go back to the list and check the box alongside "Block Outgoing UDP Ports" and at the bottom of the page enter 1-19, 22-79, 82-7999, 8082-65535

Repeat this proceedure for the following settings
"Block Incomming TCP Ports": 1-65535
"Block Outgoing TCP Ports": 1-19, 22-79, 82-7999, 8082-65535
Then click "Apply", "Ok" at the bottom of the page.

Back in the right hand "Firewall" pane go next to the yellow "Trusted Zone Security" section and set it to "high" with the slider. Click "Custom" and repeat the above proceedure this time choosing the Trusted Zone tab at the top of the settings page.

These settings will stop all incoming packets @ports 1-65535 and also block all pings, trojans etc... this will also stop all spyware or applications from phoning home from your drive without your knowledge!

Check For Dos, Check to see if you are infected.

2008-02-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

When you first turn on you computer (BEFORE DIALING INTO YOUR ISP),
open a MS-DOS Prompt window (start/programs MS-DOS Prompt).
Then type netstat -arn and press the Enter key.
Your screen should display the following (without the dotted lines
which I added for clarification).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Active Routes:

Network Address Netmask Gateway Address Interface Metric
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 0.0.0.0 1

Route Table

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you see anything else, there might be a problem (more on that later).
Now dial into your ISP, once you are connected;
go back to the MS-DOS Prompt and run the same command as before
netstat -arn, this time it will look similar to the following (without
dotted lines).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Active Routes:

Network Address Netmask Gateway Address Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 216.1.104.70 216.1.104.70 1
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
216.1.104.0 255.255.255.0 216.1.104.70 216.1.104.70 1
216.1.104.70 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 1
216.1.104.255 255.255.255.255 216.1.104.70 216.1.104.70 1
224.0.0.0 224.0.0.0 216.1.104.70 216.1.104.70 1
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 216.1.104.70 216.1.104.70 1

Route Table

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
TCP 0.0.0.0:0 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 216.1.104.70:137 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 216.1.104.70:138 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 216.1.104.70:139 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
UDP 216.1.104.70:137 *:*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What you are seeing in the first section (Active Routes) under the heading of
Network Address are some additional lines. The only ones that should be there
are ones belonging to your ISP (more on that later). In the second section
(Route Table) under Local Address you are seeing the IP address that your ISP
assigned you (in this example 216.1.104.70).

The numbers are divided into four dot notations, the first three should be
the same for both sets, while in this case the .70 is the unique number
assigned for THIS session. Next time you dial in that number will more than
likely be different.

To make sure that the first three notation are as they should be, we will run
one more command from the MS-DOS window.
From the MS-DOS Prompt type tracert /www.yourispwebsite.com or .net
or whatever it ends in. Following is an example of the output you should see.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tracing route to /www.motion.net [207.239.117.112]over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 128 ms 2084 ms 102 ms chat-port.motion.net [216.1.104.4]
2 115 ms 188 ms 117 ms chat-core.motion.net [216.1.104.1]
3 108 ms 116 ms 119 ms www.motion.net [207.239.117.112]
Trace complete.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You will see that on lines with the 1 and 2 the first three notations of the
address match with what we saw above, which is a good thing. If it does not,
then some further investigation is needed.

If everything matches like above, you can almost breath easier. Another thing
which should you should check is programs launched during startup. To find
these, Click start/programs/startup, look at what shows up. You should be
able to recognize everything there, if not, once again more investigation is
needed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now just because everything reported out like we expected (and demonstrated
above) we still are not out of the woods. How is this so, you ask? Do you use
Netmeeting? Do you get on IRC (Internet Relay Chat)? Or any other program
that makes use of the Internet. Have you every recieved an email with an
attachment that ended in .exe? The list goes on and on, basically anything
that you run could have become infected with a trojan. What this means, is
the program appears to do what you expect, but also does just a little more.
This little more could be blasting ebay.com or one of the other sites that
CNNlive was talking about.

What can you do? Well some anti-virus software will detect some trojans.
Another (tedious) thing is to start each of these "extra" Internet programs
one at a time and go through the last two steps above, looking at the routes
and connection the program uses. However, the tricky part will be figuring
out where to tracert to in order to find out if the addresses you see in
step 2 are "safe" or not. I should forewarn you, that running tracert after
tracert, after tracert might be considered "improper" by your ISP. The steps
outlined above may not work exactly as I have stated depending upon your ISP,
but with a true ISP it should work. Finally, this advise comes with NO
warranty and by following my "hints' you implicitly release me from ANY and
ALL liability which you may incur.

Other options

Display protocol statistics and current TCP/IP network connections.
Netstat [-a] [-e] [-n] [-s] [-p proto] [-r] [intervals]

-a.. Display all connections and listening ports.
-e.. Display Ethernet statistics. This may be combined with the -s option.
-n.. Diplays address and port numbers in the numerical form.
-p proto..Shows connections for the protocol specified by proto; proto may be
TCP or UDP. If used with the -s option to display per-protocol statistics,
proto may be TCP, UDP, of IP.
-r.. Display the routing table.
-s.. Display per-protocol statistics. By default, statistics are shown for TCP
UDP and IP; the -p option may be used to specify a subset of the default
interval..Redisplay selected statistics, pausing intervals seconds between each
display. If omitted. netstat will print the current configuration information
once

Change Your Ip In Less Then 1 Minute

2008-02-03T23:03:00.000-08:00

How To: Change Your Ip In Less Then 1 Minute

1. Click on "Start" in the bottom left hand corner of screen
2. Click on "Run"
3. Type in "command" and hit ok

You should now be at an MSDOS prompt screen.

4. Type "ipconfig /release" just like that, and hit "enter"
5. Type "exit" and leave the prompt
6. Right-click on "Network Places" or "My Network Places" on your desktop.
7. Click on "properties"

You should now be on a screen with something titled "Local Area Connection", or something close to that, and, if you have a network hooked up, all of your other networks.

8. Right click on "Local Area Connection" and click "properties"
9. Double-click on the "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" from the list under the "General" tab
10. Click on "Use the following IP address" under the "General" tab
11. Create an IP address (It doesn't matter what it is. I just type 1 and 2 until i fill the area up).
12. Press "Tab" and it should automatically fill in the "Subnet Mask" section with default numbers.
13. Hit the "Ok" button here
14. Hit the "Ok" button again

You should now be back to the "Local Area Connection" screen.

15. Right-click back on "Local Area Connection" and go to properties again.
16. Go back to the "TCP/IP" settings
17. This time, select "Obtain an IP address automatically"
tongue.gif 18. Hit "Ok"
19. Hit "Ok" again
20. You now have a new IP address

With a little practice, you can easily get this process down to 15 seconds.

P.S:
This only changes your dynamic IP address, not your ISP/IP address. If you plan on hacking a website with this trick be extremely careful, because if they try a little, they can trace it back

Change Text on XP Start Button

2008-02-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

Step 1 - Modify Explorer.exe File

In order to make the changes, the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows needs to be edited. Since explorer.exe is a binary file it requires a special editor. For purposes of this article I have used Resource Hacker. Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems.

get this from h**p://delphi.icm.edu.pl/ftp/tools/ResHack.zip

The first step is to make a backup copy of the file explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer. Place it in a folder somewhere on your hard drive where it will be safe. Start Resource Hacker and open explorer.exe located at C:\Windows\explorer.exe.

The category we are going to be using is "String Table". Expand it by clicking the plus sign then navigate down to and expand string 37 followed by highlighting 1033. If you are using the Classic Layout rather than the XP Layout, use number 38. The right hand pane will display the stringtable. We’re going to modify item 578, currently showing the word “start” just as it displays on the current Start button.

There is no magic here. Just double click on the word “start” so that it’s highlighted, making sure the quotation marks are not part of the highlight. They need to remain in place, surrounding the new text that you’ll type. Go ahead and type your new entry. In my case I used Click Me!

You’ll notice that after the new text string has been entered the Compile Script button that was grayed out is now active. I won’t get into what’s involved in compiling a script, but suffice it to say it’s going to make this exercise worthwhile. Click Compile Script and then save the altered file using the Save As command on the File Menu. Do not use the Save command – Make sure to use the Save As command and choose a name for the file. Save the newly named file to C:\Windows.

Step 2 – Modify the Registry

!!!make a backup of your registry before making changes!!!

Now that the modified explorer.exe has been created it’s necessary to modify the registry so the file will be recognized when the user logs on to the system. If you don’t know how to access the registry I’m not sure this article is for you, but just in case it’s a temporary memory lapse, go to Start (soon to be something else) Run and type regedit in the Open field. Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon

In the right pane, double click the "Shell" entry to open the Edit String dialog box. In Value data: line, enter the name that was used to save the modified explorer.exe file. Click OK.

Close Registry Editor and either log off the system and log back in, or reboot the entire system if that’s your preference. If all went as planned you should see your new Start button with the revised text.

cannot use my password to get back into Windows XP

2008-02-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

Because of the security features built into Windows XP, it is virtually impossible to get back into the system without the password.
You have several options to try and get around this problem.

If you have access to another user account with administrator rights, you can use that account to change the password
of the account that is locked out. You can also use the default Administrator account that is built into Windows XP.

First you need to boot the system into Safe Mode.
1.Restart your system.
2.When you see the blue Dell globe or screen, press the ( F8 ) key about 3 times a second.
3.You should get the Windows startup menu. Use the (Up or Down) arrow keys to highlight (SafeMode)
4.Press (Enter) on (Safe Mode), then press (Enter) on (Windows XP).
5.The system should boot to Safe Mode.

Once you are at the Account Log on Screen, click on the icon
for the user account with administrator rights, or click on the icon
for the administrators account.
Note: For Home the Administrator account isn't normally shown & in Safe Mode you have to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys twice to show.
For PRO you can do this in normal mode

When the system has booted to the desktop, use the following steps to change the accounts password.
1.Click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools.
2.Click Computer Management.
3.Double click Local Users and Groups, double click the folder Users.
4.Right click on the account name that is locked out, and click on Set Password.
5.You may get a warning message about changing the password, simply click proceed.
6.Leave the New Password box blank, also leave the Confirm Password box blank.
7.Click OK, and OK again.
8.Then close all Windows, reboot the system and try to log in.

There are also applications that can recover the password for you.
The following companies provide these applications at a cost.
iOpus® Password Recovery XP here.
LostPassword.com, here.
Asterisk Password Recovery XP v1.89 here.
Windows XP / 2000 / NT Key here.

If the above information does not help in recovering the password, the only option left is to
format the hard drive then reinstall Windows and the system software.

Beep Codes Error Codes

2008-02-03T07:33:00.002-08:00

After repeated requests for beep codes i have decided to post them here maybe they could be pinned

Standard Original IBM POST Error Codes
Code Description

1 short beep System is OK
2 short beeps POST Error - error code shown on screen No beep Power supply or system board problem Continuous beep Power supply, system board, or keyboard problem Repeating short beeps Power supply or system board problem
1 long, 1 short beep System board problem
1 long, 2 short beeps Display adapter problem (MDA, CGA)
1 long, 3 short beeps Display adapter problem (EGA)
3 long beeps 3270 keyboard card
IBM POST Diagnostic Code Descriptions
Code Description
100 - 199 System Board
200 - 299 Memory
300 - 399 Keyboard
400 - 499 Monochrome Display
500 - 599 Colour/Graphics Display
600 - 699 Floppy-disk drive and/or Adapter
700 - 799 Math Coprocessor
900 - 999 Parallel Printer Port
1000 - 1099 Alternate Printer Adapter
1100 - 1299 Asynchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1300 - 1399 Game Port
1400 - 1499 Colour/Graphics Printer
1500 - 1599 Synchronous Communication Device, Adapter, or Port
1700 - 1799 Hard Drive and/or Adapter
1800 - 1899 Expansion Unit (XT)
2000 - 2199 Bisynchronous Communication Adapter
2400 - 2599 EGA system-board Video (MCA)
3000 - 3199 LAN Adapter
4800 - 4999 Internal Modem
7000 - 7099 Phoenix BIOS Chips
7300 - 7399 3.5" Disk Drive
8900 - 8999 MIDI Adapter
11200 - 11299 SCSI Adapter
21000 - 21099 SCSI Fixed Disk and Controller
21500 - 21599 SCSI CD-ROM System

AMI BIOS Beep Codes
Code Description

1 Short Beep System OK
2 Short Beeps Parity error in the first 64 KB of memory
3 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB
4 Short Beeps Memory failure in the first 64 KB Operational of memory
or Timer 1 on the motherboard is not functioning
5 Short Beeps The CPU on the motherboard generated an error
6 Short Beeps The keyboard controller may be bad. The BIOS cannot switch to protected mode
7 Short Beeps The CPU generated an exception interrupt
8 Short Beeps The system video adapter is either missing, or its memory is faulty
9 Short Beeps The ROM checksum value does not match the value encoded in the BIOS
10 Short Beeps The shutdown register for CMOS RAM failed
11 Short Beeps The external cache is faulty
1 Long, 3 Short Beeps Memory Problems
1 Long, 8 Short Beeps Video Card Problems

Phoenix BIOS Beep Codes
Note - Phoenix BIOS emits three sets of beeps, separated by a brief pause.

Code Description
1-1-3 CMOS read/write failure
1-1-4 ROM BIOS checksum error
1-2-1 Programmable interval timer failure
1-2-2 DMA initialisation failure
1-2-3 DMA page register read/write failure
1-3-1 RAM refresh verification failure
1-3-3 First 64k RAM chip or data line failure
1-3-4 First 64k RAM odd/even logic failure
1-4-1 Address line failure first 64k RAM
1-4-2 Parity failure first 64k RAM
2-_-_ Faulty Memory
3-1-_ Faulty Motherboard
3-2-4 Keyboard controller Test failure
3-3-4 Screen initialisation failure
3-4-1 Screen retrace test failure
3-4-2 Search for video ROM in progress
4-2-1 Timer tick interrupt in progress or failure
4-2-2 Shutdown test in progress or failure
4-2-3 Gate A20 failure
4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode
4-3-1 RAM test in progress or failure>ffffh
4-3-2 Faulty Motherboard
4-3-3 Interval timer channel 2 test or failure
4-3-4 Time of Day clock test failure
4-4-1 Serial port test or failure
4-4-2 Parallel port test or failure
4-4-3 Math coprocessor test or failure
Low 1-1-2 System Board select failure
Low 1-1-3 Extended CMOS RAM failure

Beep Code Manual

2008-02-03T07:33:00.001-08:00

Beep Code Manual, Better Than Gold Techies, American Megatrends Int. & Phoenix

(I'm IT, I use these codes to trouble shoot hardware issues at my job. Enjoy) cold.gif

BIOS Beep Codes

When a computer is first turned on, or rebooted, its BIOS performs a power-on self test (POST) to test the system's hardware, checking to make sure that all of the system's hardware components are working properly. Under normal circumstances, the POST will display an error message; however, if the BIOS detects an error before it can access the video card, or if there is a problem with the video card, it will produce a series of beeps, and the pattern of the beeps indicates what kind of problem the BIOS has detected.
Because there are many brands of BIOS, there are no standard beep codes for every BIOS.

The two most-used brands are AMI (American Megatrends International) and Phoenix.

Below are listed the beep codes for AMI systems, and here are the beep codes for Phoenix systems.

AMI Beep Codes

Beep Code Meaning
1 beep DRAM refresh failure. There is a problem in the system memory or the motherboard.
2 beeps Memory parity error. The parity circuit is not working properly.
3 beeps Base 64K RAM failure. There is a problem with the first 64K of system memory.
4 beeps System timer not operational. There is problem with the timer(s) that control functions on the motherboard.
5 beeps Processor failure. The system CPU has failed.
6 beeps Gate A20/keyboard controller failure. The keyboard IC controller has failed, preventing gate A20 from switching the processor to protect mode.
7 beeps Virtual mode exception error.
8 beeps Video memory error. The BIOS cannot write to the frame buffer memory on the video card.
9 beeps ROM checksum error. The BIOS ROM chip on the motherboard is likely faulty.
10 beeps CMOS checksum error. Something on the motherboard is causing an error when trying to interact with the CMOS.
11 beeps Bad cache memory. An error in the level 2 cache memory.
1 long beep, 2 short Failure in the video system.
1 long beep, 3 short A failure has been detected in memory above 64K.
1 long beep, 8 short Display test failure.
Continuous beeping A problem with the memory or video.
BIOS Beep Codes

Phoenix Beep Codes

Phoenix uses sequences of beeps to indicate problems. The "-" between each number below indicates a pause between each beep sequence. For example, 1-2-3 indicates one beep, followed by a pause and two beeps, followed by a pause and three beeps. Phoenix version before 4.x use 3-beep codes, while Phoenix versions starting with 4.x use 4-beep codes. Click here for AMI BIOS beep codes.
4-Beep Codes
Beep Code Meaning
1-1-1-3 Faulty CPU/motherboard. Verify real mode.
1-1-2-1 Faulty CPU/motherboard.
1-1-2-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-1-3-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components. Initialize chipset registers with initial POST values.
1-1-3-2 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-1-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components. Initialize CPU registers.
1-1-3-2
1-1-3-3
1-1-3-4 Failure in the first 64K of memory.
1-1-4-1 Level 2 cache error.
1-1-4-3 I/O port error.
1-2-1-1 Power management error.
1-2-1-2
1-2-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-2-2-1 Keyboard controller failure.
1-2-2-3 BIOS ROM error.
1-2-3-1 System timer error.
1-2-3-3 DMA error.
1-2-4-1 IRQ controller error.
1-3-1-1 DRAM refresh error.
1-3-1-3 A20 gate failure.
1-3-2-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
1-3-3-1 Extended memory error.
1-3-3-3
1-3-4-1
1-3-4-3 Error in first 1MB of system memory.
1-4-1-3
1-4-2-4 CPU error.
1-4-3-1
2-1-4-1 BIOS ROM shadow error.
1-4-3-2
1-4-3-3 Level 2 cache error.
1-4-4-1
1-4-4-2
2-1-1-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
2-1-1-3
2-1-2-1 IRQ failure.
2-1-2-3 BIOS ROM error.
2-1-2-4
2-1-3-2 I/O port failure.
2-1-3-1
2-1-3-3 Video system failure.
2-1-1-3
2-1-2-1 IRQ failure.
2-1-2-3 BIOS ROM error.
2-1-2-4 I/O port failure.
2-1-4-3
2-2-1-1 Video card failure.
2-2-1-3
2-2-2-1
2-2-2-3 Keyboard controller failure.
2-2-3-1 IRQ error.
2-2-4-1 Error in first 1MB of system memory.
2-3-1-1
2-3-3-3 Extended memory failure.
2-3-2-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
2-3-2-3
2-3-3-1 Level 2 cache error.
2-3-4-1
2-3-4-3 Motherboard or video card failure.
2-3-4-1
2-3-4-3
2-4-1-1 Motherboard or video card failure.
2-4-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
2-4-2-1 RTC error.
2-4-2-3 Keyboard controller error.
2-4-4-1 IRQ error.
3-1-1-1
3-1-1-3
3-1-2-1
3-1-2-3 I/O port error.
3-1-3-1
3-1-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-1-4-1
3-2-1-1
3-2-1-2 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.
3-2-1-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-2-2-1 Keyboard controller error.
3-2-2-3
3-2-3-1
3-2-4-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-2-4-3 IRQ error.
3-3-1-1 RTC error.
3-3-1-3 Key lock error.
3-3-3-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
3-3-3-3
3-3-4-1
3-3-4-3
3-4-1-1
3-4-1-3
3-4-2-1
3-4-2-3
3-4-3-1
3-4-4-1
3-4-4-4 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
4-1-1-1 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.
4-2-1-1
4-2-1-3
4-2-2-1 IRQ failure.
4-2-2-3
4-2-3-1
4-2-3-3
4-2-4-1 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
4-2-4-3 Keyboard controller error.
4-3-1-3
4-3-1-4
4-3-2-1
4-3-2-2
4-3-3-1
4-3-4-1
4-3-4-3 Faulty motherboard or one of its components.
4-3-3-2
4-3-3-4 IRQ failure.
4-3-3-3
4-3-4-2 Floppy drive or hard drive failure.
3-Beep Codes
Beep Code Meaning
1-1-2 Faulty CPU/motherboard.
1-1-3 Faulty motherboard/CMOS read-write failure.
1-1-4 Faulty BIOS/BIOS ROM checksum error.
1-2-1 System timer not operational. There is a problem with the timer(s) that control functions on the motherboard.
1-2-2
1-2-3 Faulty motherboard/DMA failure.
1-3-1 Memory refresh failure.
1-3-2
1-3-3
1-3-4 Failure in the first 64K of memory.
1-4-1 Address line failure.
1-4-2 Parity RAM failure.
1-4-3 Timer failure.
1-4-4 NMI port failure.
2-_-_ Any combination of beeps after 2 indicates a failure in the first 64K of memory.
3-1-1 Master DMA failure.
3-1-2 Slave DMA failure.
3-1-3
3-1-4 Interrupt controller failure.
3-2-4 Keyboard controller failure.
3-3-1
3-3-2 CMOS error.
3-3-4 Video card failure.
3-4-1 Video card failure.
4-2-1 Timer failure.
4-2-2 CMOS shutdown failure.
4-2-3 Gate A20 failure.
4-2-4 Unexpected interrupt in protected mode.
4-3-1 RAM test failure.
4-3-3 Timer failure.
4-3-4 Time of day clock failure.
4-4-1 Serial port failure.
4-4-2 Parallel port failure.
4-4-3 Math coprocessor.

Automatic Windows Installation, No keypress required!

2008-02-03T07:31:00.001-08:00

An unattended Windows XP/2003 install can install all your software and settings along with Windows, and without you having to click a button or press a key,completely automated. Learn how over here:

CODE

http://unattended.msfn.org

Accessing The Entire Internet On Your 3 Phone, U8110, E616 etc.

2008-02-03T07:27:00.000-08:00

If you have a phone thats with the provider 3 theres a simple trick to allow you to access the entire internet on its browser without having to go through 3 services and only what they want to allow you access to view.

Simply do the following.

Menu - 9 (for settings) - 5 (for access points) - Edit the 3 Services
Change the APN (down the bottom) from 3services to 3netaccess
Restart the phone
And you can now access the entire internet through your phones browser.

Remember you'll have to change it back if you want to access 3 services.
Changing it in the browser doesn't seem to work.

I have tried this on my U8110 and it worked perfectly

Things to note:

* Remember that you are charged for all downloads (.4c per kb on most plans) so if your cautious about your phone bill id advise staying away from sites with loads of pictures.
* Also, some people have had trouble where they have accessed a site with too much information on it and the phone has either froze or reset. The phone is not harmed by this but its advisable you dont go to large sites on it for this or the above reason. If your phone freezes and you cant turn it off simply take the battery out and put it back in.

23 Ways To Speed WinXP, Not only Defrag

2008-02-03T07:26:00.000-08:00

Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.

Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

2008-02-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

A Basic Guide to the Internet

2008-02-03T07:20:00.000-08:00

The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No one knows exactly how many computers are connected to the Internet. It is certain, however, that these number in the millions.

No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.

All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user's local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.

An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, shopping opportunities, breaking news, and much more.

The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET

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WORLD WIDE WEB
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface. Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in this document.

The World Wide Web provides a single interface for accessing all these protocols. This creates a convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in these protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gathers together these protocols into a single system. Because of this feature, and because of the Web's ability to work with multimedia and advanced programming languages, the Web is the fastest-growing component of the Internet.

The operation of the Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval. HyperText is a document containing words that connect to other documents. These words are called links and are selectable by the user. A single hypertext document can contain links to many documents. In the context of the Web, words or graphics may serve as links to other documents, images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection is programmed by the creator of the source document. Overall, the Web contains a complex virtual web of connections among a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.

Producing hypertext for the Web is accomplished by creating documents with a language called HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within the text to accomplish document formatting, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and the creation of hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML is an evolving language, with new tags being added as each upgrade of the language is developed and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, coordinates the efforts of standardizing HTML. The W3C now calls the language XHTML and considers it to be an application of the XML language standard.

The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containing links to documents and resources throughout the Internet.

The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and the automatic "push" of information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the Web. A growing amount of information on the Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is therefore not a fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.

For more complete information about the World Wide Web, see Understanding The World Wide Web.

E-MAIL
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds.

A powerful aspect of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person's e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments.MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by the recipient with the appropriate e-mail program. Many e-mail programs, including Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer the ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.

TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer. In this case, type the port number after the Internet address. Example: telnet nri.reston.va.us 185.

Telnet is available on the World Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any other link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make the connection. A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.

With the increasing popularity of the Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on the Internet.

FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.

If your computer is directly connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.

FTP transfers can be performed on the World Wide Web without the need for special software. In this case, the Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are using FTP. You can also retrieve FTP files via search engines such as FtpFind, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know FTP program commands.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs. Probably the most common program is the listserv.

A great variety of topics are covered by listservs, many of them academic in nature. When you subscribe to a listserv, messages from other subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listserv by sending an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout the world. This program handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listserv discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.

Majordomo and Listproc are two other programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribing to and managing your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.

USENET NEWS
Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and e-mail discussion groups is the fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users must connect to these computers to read or download the messages posted to these groups. This is distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in the electronic mailboxes of each list member.

Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control their own sites, and decide which (if any) newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into the system.

There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are academic in nature, numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as Usenet newsgroups.

The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, the Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also available as standalone products.

FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postings to Usenet newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.

RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.

FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users.

Links to indexes of all three of these information resources are available on the University Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into the "chat room" to exchange comments and information about the topics addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms. For example, America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also taking place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.

A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messenging. With instant messenging, a user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online's Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are other commonly-used chat programs.

Other types of real-time communication are addressed in the tutorial Understanding the World Wide Web.

MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE
MUD stands for Multi User Dimension. MUDs, and their variations listed above, are multi-user virtual reality games based on simulated worlds. Traditionally text based, graphical MUDs now exist. There are MUDs of all kinds on the Internet, and many can be joined free of charge. For more information, read one of the FAQs devoted to MUDs available at the FAQ site at

How to find a remote IP

2008-02-03T07:11:00.000-08:00

How to find a remote IP

Method 1

To view someone's IP# when they send you hotmail email do this:
1) Click "Options" on the upper right side of the page.
2) On the left side of the page, Click "Mail"
3) Click "Mail Display Settings"
4) Under "Message Headers" select "Full" or "Advanced"
5) Click ok

Method 2
reg a dydns account and install the ip pointer, so each time you ping the host name you regestored

for example:
you regestor the host name myhost.dydns.com, then you keep a little software running on the target host. The little software will keep update your IP to dydns.com server.

so at your pc just start cmd, and ping myhost.dydns.com, it will give you the most updated ip address.

Method 3
neverender, what doesn't work for you? Simply type in nc -vvv -l -p 80 on your box, which will set it to listen in verbose mode on port 80. Then give them a link to your IP address (for example: 111.111.111.11) and tell them to type it in their browser. The browser should resolve the address as well as append port 80 automatically. Just make sure that your friend is not very computer literate.

Method 4
Just download a very simple server such as this one and install it on your comp. Then run it and give your ip to the person you want and tell them to connect to it through a browser. Your server will log their connection and you will get their IP.

link:http://www.download.com/Abyss-Web-Server/3000-2165-10283992.html?tag=lst-0-6

Other Ways
-www.imchaos.com and make a "spy poll" to put in ur profile, this will tell u the IP of anybody who answers ur poll
-originalicons.com there is a page for doin it (i dont like it, but it works)
-or irc

Here is a more detailed tutorial about using NetCat.

http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2003/05/29/netcat.html

Windows users can download NetCat from here:

http://www.atstake.com/research/tools/network_utilities/

How to Analyze Network Traffic with ethereal

2008-02-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

If you want to see what is coming in and out of your computer or if you have a ubuntu computer as a router and want to analyze data coming in and out of your network there is a very simple way to do it. A program called ethereal can analyze all sorts of connections to and from your computer.

To get it, open the terminal and write (without quotes) "sudo apt-get install ethereal" and answer "Y" to all the questions it asks.

Once installed you will want to run it as root by pressing alt+F2. Type "gksudo ethereal". It will ask for your password and then once open it will look like this.

To start capturing, press capture and press interfaces. You will be presented with the window shown below. Either press capture on an interface to begin immediate capture or press prepare to set more advanced options.

Once you begin capturing there will be another window that looks like the one shown below. Once you are done capturing, press stop and it will analyze the data.

Once analyzed you will be presented with a screen the looks like the one shown below.

This will contain all the data captured on the selected interface before you pressed stop.

Setup Your Computer to be a Router

2008-02-03T05:27:00.000-08:00

If you have two network cards or some other means of connecting to the internet and a network card in your ubuntu computer, it can be a very powerfull router. You can set up basic NAT, do port forwarding, set up a proxy, and even do packet prioritization so your downloads dont interfere with gaming! This howto will cover setting up Webmin which will be used to configure masquerading, DHCP, and DNS servers. It also lets you configure port forwarding. QoS (packet prioritization) will be covered in a later guide. This guide is made using kubuntu to show that it will work with any version of ubuntu.

Webmin
Webmin is a web based computer management tool. It is similar to the web interface that you get from routers you buy at stores, but allows you to control most of the computer.
To install webmin, you must first go to its website at www.webmin.com and download the latest version in the top right. Download the tar.gz version into your user folder.

Once the download is complete extract it to a folder for example \usr\webmin. I extracted it into my user folder in this tutorial because this is just a live CD so it doesn't really matter. You may delete the tar.gz file after you extract it as it is no longer needed.
Before you install it you will want the package "libnet-ssleay-perl". So open the terminal and run "sudo apt-get install libnet-ssleay-perl". Now navigate to the directory the folder is (For me it would be "cd /home/ubuntu/webmin-1.280") and then run the command "sudo sh setup.sh".

Config file directory [/etc/webmin]:
# Leave as default, or change as you wish

Log file directory [/var/webmin]:
# Leave as default, or change as you wish

Full path to perl (default /usr/bin/perl):
# Leave as default, or change as you wish

Web server port (default 10000):
# Leave as default or change it to what ever port you want.

Login name (default admin):
# Leave as default, or change as you wish

Login password:
# Choose a password, it will not display anything while you type

Password again:
# Self explanatory

Use SSL (y/n):
# Of course 'y'

Start Webmin at boot time (y/n):
# Once agian... 'y'

It will not finnish up the installation and you will be able to login by using localhost:port or routerip:port like http://localhost:10000

Masquerading
Masquerading is also known as NAT. To enable it, login to Webmin, go to the networking section, and click on firewall. It will ask you to configure it now. press "Do network address translation on external interface:" and choose the external interface (the one that is connected to the internet) and click on "Enable firewall at boot time?" then click on "Setup Firewall".

Now you must add rules to your firewall to allow traffic coming from the internal network, loopback, and traffic related to an outgoing connection (so that you may recieve a response to your requests).
To allow traffic from the internal network, under "Incoming packets (INPUT)" press add rule. Give the rule a comment (name) like internal network and press the button by the "Accept" in green writing. Then down to "Incoming interface" put equals and put your internal interface, in the picture below it is eth0. Scroll down and press create.

Now do the same but put lo as incoming interface.

Now you must create another rule for existing connection. Put a comment and press accept. For incoming interface put equals and put your external interface (eth1 for me). Scroll down to "Connection States" and put equals and select both "Existing connection (ESTABLISHED)" and "Related to existing (RELATED)" and press create.

Now you must drop external connections that do not meet any of the other rules, so set the default action of "Incoming packets (INPUT)" to drop and press the button.

Scroll down to the bottom and press apply configuration.

Now go to the System section and click "Bootup and Shutdown". Click "Create a new bootup and shutdown action". Make the name "webmin-ipt" without quotes, make the description whatever you please, and for bootup commands, put "/bin/echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward" and make a new line and put "/sbin/iptables-restore /etc/webmin/firewall/iptables.save" then press create. Find the bootup command you just created in the list and click it then press Start Now.

Configure DHCP
In webmin, go to servers and press DHCP Server and click Module Config.
Replace (without quotes)
DHCP server config file with "/etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf"
DHCP server executable with "/usr/sbin/dhcpd3"
Command to start DHCP server with "/etc/init.d/dhcp3-server start"
Command to apply configuration with "/etc/init.d/dhcp3-server restart"
Command to stop DHCP server with "/etc/init.d/dhcp3-server stop"
Path to DHCP server PID file with "/var/run/dhcp3-server/dhcpd.pid"
DHCP server lease file with "/var/lib/dhcp3/dhcpd.leases"
and press save.

Now press "Add a new subnet" and put a description of this subnet. For network address, make it the same as the internal address but with 0 at the end, for example my internal NIC is 192.168.1.1 so I will put 192.168.1.0 for network address. For address ranges put the range of addrseses for your DHCP server to assign. For netmask put the same as your subnet, most are 255.255.255.0 and press create.

Once created, press the new icon that was just created with the network address you choose under it and scroll down to the bottom and click "Edit Client Options". Fill in Subnet mask with your subnet, default routers and dns servers with your internal IP and broadcast address with the internal ip but 255 at the end (for example my internal ip is 192.168.1.1 so I will put 192.168.1.255 for broadcast) and press save then press start server.

Your computer will now be a DHCP server, router, and DNS server. To do port forwarding, go to the firewall settings in webmin and go to the Network Address Translation (nat) IPTable. From there you can add rules to Packets before routing (PREROUTING).

Gmail phishing email

2008-02-03T04:58:00.000-08:00

First phishing email I receive about the Gmail account and it's quite interesting how the sender managed to trick the Gmail spam filters and also make it look very official:

Your account has been randomly flagged in our system as a part of our routine security measures. This is a must to ensure that only you have acces and use of your Google account and to ensure a safe Gmail experience. We require all flagged accounts to verify their information on file with us.
This is the right link for edit account page
After you verify your information, your account shall be returned to good standing and you will continue to have full use of your account. Please note that if you don't verify your ownership of account in 2 x 24 hours we will block/ susspend your Google account.
Thanks,
The Gmail Team

If it wouldn't have been for that "susspend" typo and the fact that the "edit account" link was a "uk-google.com/account" fake page, this might have been the perfect phishing email. Of course that "edit account" link now shows a parked domain so this means it was brought down very fast (but still some people might have falled for it). Anyway, below is the screenshot of the email, ironically how the ads on the right hand all are related to "scams", maybe the ad delivery filter is more powerful than the spam filter gmail uses.

Never ever click a link inside such an email regarding your account for the XYZ bank or your ebay/paypal/amazon account, instead go and type the official url you already know in your address bar and login on the official page to see if you're informed about any changes/problems with your account. This is safer.

New Year

2007-12-31T23:38:00.000-08:00

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New Year 6 New Year 7

New Year 7

2007-12-31T00:23:00.000-08:00

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New Year 6 New Year 7

New Year 6

2007-12-31T00:17:00.001-08:00

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New Year 6 New Year 7

New Year 5

2007-12-31T00:11:00.000-08:00

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New Year 6 New Year 7

New Year 4

2007-12-31T00:04:00.000-08:00

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New Year 6 New Year 7

New Year 3

2007-12-30T23:58:00.000-08:00

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New Year 6 New Year 7

New Year 2

2007-12-30T23:53:00.000-08:00

New Year 1 New Year 2 New Year 3 New Year 4 New Year 5
New Year 6 New Year 7

Good Morning 4

2007-12-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

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Good Morning 3

2007-12-22T08:55:00.001-08:00

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Good Morning 2

2007-12-22T08:51:00.001-08:00

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Good Morning

2007-12-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

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Flower 5

2007-12-21T06:56:00.001-08:00

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Flower 1 Flower 2 Flower 3 Flower 4 Flower 5

Flower 4

2007-12-21T06:50:00.001-08:00

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Flower 1 Flower 2 Flower 3 Flower 4 Flower 5

Flower 3

2007-12-21T06:44:00.001-08:00

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Flower 2

2007-12-21T06:31:00.000-08:00

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Flower

2007-12-21T06:20:00.000-08:00

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Butterfly 9

2007-12-21T05:27:00.001-08:00

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Butterfly 8

2007-12-21T02:43:00.000-08:00

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Butterfly 7

2007-12-21T02:34:00.000-08:00

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Butterfly 6

2007-12-21T02:29:00.001-08:00

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Butterfly 5

2007-12-21T02:23:00.001-08:00

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Butterfly 1 Butterfly 2 Butterfly 3 Butterfly 4 Butterfly 5
Butterfly 6 Butterfly 7 Butterfly 8 Butterfly 9

Butterfly 4

2007-12-21T02:17:00.001-08:00

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Butterfly 6 Butterfly 7 Butterfly 8 Butterfly 9

Butterfly 3

2007-12-21T02:10:00.001-08:00

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Butterfly 1 Butterfly 2 Butterfly 3 Butterfly 4 Butterfly 5
Butterfly 6 Butterfly 7 Butterfly 8 Butterfly 9

Butterfly 2

2007-12-21T02:03:00.000-08:00

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Butterfly 1 Butterfly 2 Butterfly 3 Butterfly 4 Butterfly 5
Butterfly 6 Butterfly 7 Butterfly 8 Butterfly 9

Butterfly 1

2007-12-21T01:46:00.000-08:00

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Butterfly 6 Butterfly 7 Butterfly 8 Butterfly 9

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How to save YouTube Videos ?

2007-12-20T01:22:00.000-08:00

YouTube the world's popular video broadcasting service has many users than most of the popular websites.Most of my readers ask me on how to save a video from You tube.Here by Im giving some tool which help you in saving you tube videos

YouTubeX - Just copy the youtube video link and paste it in the box with submit button named get video and you can download the video.
SaveTube - A site similar to above one for downloading youtube video.
Video Downloader - One of the popular Firefox extensions that allows you to download videos to your computer from YouTube and most video sites.You get file saved in format get_video.Rename it to some extension which you player supports.
KeepVid -This one helps you to download videos from most of the sites like youtube.
TubeSock - TubeSock 2.0 downloads YouTube or DailyMotion videos from the web and saves them to your video iPod, Mac, or PlayStation Portable. TubeSock knows how to convert the video using the codecs and bitrates best for each device. It can even add the video to iTunes for you.
VideoDL - It's a quick AJAX application that allows you to download online video into your computer. It supports top 3 video sites - YouTube, Google Video, and Break.com.
Download YouTube via bookmarklets - A collection of Greasemonkey scripts and bookmarklets to do the job.supports YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe, Myspace, Break.com, Putfile, Dailymotion, Sevenload, MyVideo.de and Clipfish.de.
Youtube-dl - is a small command-line program to download videos from YouTube.com. It requires the Python interpreter, version 2.4 or later.
YouTube Downloader - enter url and download YouTube videos.
Youtube Grabber - is a free tool that downloads FLV files from youtube.
GooTube FLV Retriever - enter the video page URL, download the youtube video.
Capture Youtube and Google videos - save them as AVI files encoded in the MPEG4 format, using only one command.
YouRipper - a freeware software which enables you to download videos from the YouTube and Google Video
Save YouTube Videos - paste the youtube video url and download the video.
Kyootoob - is a youtube downloader and optionally a converter.
Orbit downloader : A download manager which can download media files like flash from youtube and all
Kiss Youtube - Before the youtube video link , just add a Kiss to download it.
Convertmovies - This site will allow you to save the video in different formats like Mp3 , Mov , MP4 ....
Convert Tube : It lets you download your youtube videos and even gives you the option of downloading in your favourite formats like mpeg . .wmv ...

How to remove RAVMON Virus from your PC ? Show hidden files and folders not working ? Computer shuts down automatically ?

2007-12-20T01:17:00.000-08:00

Is your right click context menu showing some Chinese scripts ? Is your show hidden files and folders not working ? Is your command prompt , Registry Editor and task manager disabled ??

If all these things are happening to your Computer , the reason is that it has got infected by a virus named " RAVMON " .What can this Virus do ??

Disables task manager , Registry Editor and Command prompt .
Right click menu shows some Chinese scripts as shown in the figure.
Computer shutdown automatically and slogs a lot.
Folder Options disappear
Show hidden files and folders Option won't work.

With all these things not working , I can understand what can go with you !! I saw this thing on my friends PC . Then only I decided to write the solution for this.So how are you going to remove this ?

One of my friend has developed a solution to kill this Virus.Download it and remove the Virus.

Download the RAVMON virus removal Tool
Note : Wait for the page to load and then click start download

One you download the tool , you can see the menu as shown in the figure.Click on the three of them.and press OK.If you are not infected with RAVMON then the tool automatically shows the error message.So download it and enjoy using your PC.

How to host files on Blogger ? Free File hosting for Blogger users

2007-12-20T01:14:00.000-08:00

Hosted your blog on Blogger ? You might be wondering where to host your files !! Does Blogger provides any facility for its users to host their files ? If Blogger does , what are the limits ? Many questions might be circulating in your mind . At Technova , Ill try to answer your questions associated with this .

Blogger doesn't support uploading of files except images to its server . You can host your images on the Blogger Server . Image files can only be uploaded through your blog posts. To achieve this , Login to Dashboard and click on " New Post ". Blogger post Editor will open. In the top frame of the Post Editor , you can find a bluish icon which displays Add image when you hover the mouse over it. Clicking on it opens the upload image dialogue Box . Using this dialogue box ,you can upload your image files to Blogger server and you can use them later in other posts .

What are the limits for Image hosting in Blogger ?

If you are posting pictures through Blogger, Picasa to a your free Blogger blog, there is a total limit of 300 MB. If you are posting them to an FTP-published blog, then you are limited to the amount of space available on your server.If you are posting pictures through Blogger Mobile there is a limit of 250K per picture.

So where can I upload my files in other formats using my Google Account ?

Google has one more service called "Google pages " . You can create 5 different websites in Google pages with each site having free 100 MB web space to host files. To upload create a Google space account and click on Upload in bottom frame of sidebar.You can access your files by getting the link after uploading it .

You can also host your files by creating a Google Group of your own. You can upload 100 MB of total files here also. Click on " Files " after clicking on Manage Group. Then click on Upload File button. Here you can upload image, PDF, Mp3 , WAV, Doc, Txt and any other files . You can also upload image files to other freehosts like Flickr, Photobucket, Imagehosting etc. After uploading the files , keep your mouse cursor over the filename and right-click and choose Copy Link Location. This copies the location/URL/link of your file at the free host. Then paste it into this code in your blog and use it . I hope this solves your problem .

Friends , If you know any other services that lets users hot their files for unlimited time , Let us know by posting a comment .

How to add RAID drivers and Service Pack 2 to your original Windows CD!???:Slipstreaming XP

2007-12-20T00:54:00.000-08:00

slipstreaming—the mystical art of creating an up-to-the-minute Windows XP setup CD with all the latest patches preinstalled.I’ll help you add RAID or Serial ATA controller drivers to your CD so you won’t need a floppy drive (or the F6 key) to install Windows.

Things you need:

Windows XP setup CD
Internet connection
CD burner
ISO Buster (www.isobuster.com)
Nero 6 or 7

step1:

First download the standalone version of windows XP service pack2.Go to download.microsoft.com and look under the Windows XP section or simply run Windows Update from Internet Explorer.While you’re at it, download the latest drivers for your RAID or Serial ATA controller. If you add them to your install CD, you won’t need to use an old-fashioned floppy drive to install Windows. For an add-in RAID or SATA card, look for the drivers on the web site of your controller chip’s manufacture.

Step2
Our next objective is to extract Service Pack 2 to a folder so we can update our existing Windows setup files. Open the command prompt by clicking Start, Run, and typing cmd.exe. Use the cd (change directory) command to navigate to the folder where you just saved the SP2 executable in the previous step. (The syntax for cd is cd , so if you saved the SP2 executable to, say, C:\Downloads, you would type cd C:\Downloads to go there.) Extract the SP2 files by typing xpSP2 –x, where xpSP2 is the name of the SP2 executable you downloaded. When prompted for a destination to extract the files to, enter C:\xpSP2.Once the files have been extracted, insert your Windows XP setup CD into an optical drive and copy its entire contents to a different folder on your hard drive. For the sake of simplicity, use C:\xpsetupcd as the folder. Now, return to the command prompt and type the following command: C:\xpSP2\i386\update\update /s:C:\xpsetupcd. This will update your existing Windows setup files with the new code contained in Service Pack 2. A message box will pop up to notify you when the process is complete.

step3:
Open the folder to which you copied your Windows XP CD (C:\xpsetupcd) and create a subfolder called $OEM$. Then, create a subfolder of $OEM$ called $1 and a subfolder of $1 called drivers. The resulting path should be C:\xpsetupcd\$OEM$\$1\drivers. This is where Windows Setup will look for drivers that aren’t contained in its standard driver library. For organizational purposes, make a subfolder within drivers named for the type of driver it will contain—for instance, create a RAID folder for RAID drivers or an SATA folder for Serial ATA drivers. You can use any name, as long as it has fewer than eight characters.

With the aforementioned folder structure in place, copy the Windows XP RAID/SATA drivers directly into the folder you created above (we used C:\xpsetupcd\$OEM$\$1\drivers\RAID). If your drivers came in a self-extracting executable rather than a zip file, you may be able to extract its contents manually by opening it in a program like WinRAR. (Alternately, you can run the self-extracting executable, then dig around in your system’s TEMP directory—usually C:/documents and settings/YourUsername/LocalSettings/Temp until you find the right directory). Finally, locate the SYS file for your RAID/SATA controller from among the files you just extracted; it should be named after your specific controller (e.g. fasttx2k.sys for a Promise FastTrak TX2 RAID controller). The drivers for different operating systems may be split into distinct folders, so make sure you find the SYS file that’s intended for Windows XP. Once you find the SYS file, copy it to the i386 folder of your Windows CD (C:\xpsetupcd\i386).

step4:

Now that we’ve added our RAID/SATA driver files to the mix, we need to tell Windows Setup about the existence of these drivers and how to use them. But unless you happen to have this information memorized—and if you do, this might be a good time to turn off your computer and spend some time in the real world—you’ll need to look it up in your driver’s INF file. This file is usually found in the same place as the SYS file you located in the previous step and will probably have the same name, albeit with an INF extension. Open the INF file in Notepad and copy the PCI identifier string, which is a series of characters beginning with PCI\VEN—for instance, PCI\VEN_105A&DEV_3376. There may be other text on the same line as the identifier string; if this is the case, start at the first occurrence of PCI\VEN and copy the text up to but not including the last period (or the end of the line, whichever comes first).

Next, open TXTSETUP.SIF (situated in C:\xpsetupcd\i386) and paste your PCI identifier string under the [HardwareIdsDatabase] section of that file. At the end of the string, add an equal-sign followed by the driver name in quotes. In the case of our Promise RAID controller, the resulting line is: PCI\VEN_105A&DEV_3376 = “fasttx2k”. Note: If your driver’s INF file contains multiple PCI identifier strings, copy all of them into TXTSETUP.SIF.

Now scroll down to the [SourceDisksFiles] section of TXTSETUP.SIF and add the following text:

driver_filename.sys = 1,,,,,,_x,4,1
where driver_filename.sys is the name of your RAID /SATA driver’s SYS file. Note that you should include the .sys here. Then, under the
[SCSI.Load] section, enter:
driver_filename = driver_filename.sys,4
Once again, driver_filename is the name of your driver’s SYS file. Note the lack of a .sys suffix on the left side of the equal-sign.

Finally, in the [SCSI] section of the file, add the following:
driver_filename = “RAID/SATA Device Name”

You can enter whatever you want for “RAID/SATA Device Name,” but we recommend using a meaningful description (such as the name of
your RAID/SATA controller). Finally, save and close TXTSETUP.SIF.

step5:

You’re almost there. In this step, we’ll make a file called WINNT.SIF in the i386 folder of our Windows setup files (C:\xpsetupcd\i386). This file can be used to create an unattended installation routine—a subject beyond the scope of this how-to—but we’ll simply use it to point Windows to the drivers we’ve slipstreamed. Create WINNT.SIF and enter the following:

[Data]
AutoPartition=0
MsDosInitiated=”0”
UnattendedInstall=”Yes”

[Unattended]
UnattendMode=ProvideDefault
OemPreinstall=Yes
OemSkipEula=Yes
NoWaitAfterTextMode=1
NoWaitAfterGUIMode=1

WaitForReboot=”No”
TargetPath=\WINDOWS
DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
OemPnPDriversPath=

[GuiUnattended]
OEMSkipWelcome = 1

[UserData]
ProductKey=
FullName=”“
OrgName=”“

You’ll need to customize the OemPnPDriversPath line by entering the path to the INF file for your RAID/SATA driver (for instance if your drivers are in C:\xpsetupcd\i386\$OEM$\$1\drivers\RAID use: OemPnPDriversPath=drivers\RAID\FastTrack\WinXP).

There are a few other fields you may want to customize before you close WINNT.SIF. Type your product key, name, and company name in the ProductKey, FullName, and OrgName fields respectively to avoid having to enter them during setup. And if you’d like to install Windows to a folder other than C:\WINDOWS, edit the TargetPath field as needed.

WINNT.SIF is a powerful file that allows you to customize and automate many parts of the Windows installation process.

Step 6 – Prepare your bootable CD and burn it

Our next task is to extract the boot image from our original Windows XP disc so we can use it to make our slipstreamed CD bootable as well. With your original XP setup CD inserted, launch ISO Buster and select “Bootable CD” from the left pane. In the right pane, right-click Microsoft Corporation.img and choose “Extract Microsoft Corporation.img.” Extract this file to the folder where you copied your XP setup files (C:\xpsetupcd).

Fire up Nero Burning ROM (or EZ CD Creator, or any other CD burning app) and go to the New Compilation window (click “Close Wizard” if Nero’s wizard comes up). Select “CD-ROM (Boot)” from the left pane and open the Boot tab. For “Source of boot image data” choose “Image file” and use the Microsoft Corporation.img file you just extracted. Check to enable expert settings, and set “Kind of emulation” to “No emulation” and “Number of loaded sectors” to 4. (These instructions will vary if you use another application, of course.)

Next, head over to the ISO tab and set “File/Directory name length” to “ISO Level 2.” Ensure that “Format” is set to “Mode 1” and “Character Set” to “ISO 9660,” and make certain all four checkboxes on this tab are checked (“Joliet,” “Allow pathdepth of more than 8 directories,” “Allow more than 255 characters in path,” and “Do not add the ‘;1’ ISO file version extension”). Finally, click the Label tab and set the “Volume Label” field to the value used by your original Windows XP CD—this is the name that appears next to your CD-ROM drive in My Computer when your XP CD is inserted.

At this point, we’re almost ready to rock. Click the “New” button to open the Nero File Browser, and then locate the folder where you copied your Windows XP CD. Open the folder and add its entire contents to your CD image. When you’re all set, mash the “Burn” button and bask in the glory of your shiny new slipstreamed Windows XP CD, replete with RAID/SATA drivers and Service Pack 2!

Make your slipstreamed Windows CD bootable by extracting the boot image from your original Windows CD and feeding it to Nero
source:http://maximumpc.com/2005/01/how_to_slipstre.html

How to remove autoplay option from Right click menu of hard disk drive ?

2007-12-20T00:40:00.000-08:00

Most of my friends on my network always has this problem.Yesterday this problem even creeped into my PC.So,I did some search about this thing and found the solution.This problem is named as "Hacked by Godzilla Virus " by the people.It creates a auto play option on the right click menu of your hard disk drives making you unable to open them by double clicking.However you can open them by rightclick -->Open or Explore.It changes the text of Internet Explorer title bar to "Hacked by Godzilla".Now here is the solution :

v Go to any folder.In that on the top menu go to Tools--> Folder Options , which will be beside File,Edit,View,Favourites.

v A window pops up after you click on folder options.In that window go to View tab and select the option Show hidden files and folders.Now uncheck the option Hide protected Operating system files.Click Ok

v Now Open your drives (By right click and select Explore. Don't double click!) Delete autorun.inf and MS32DLL.dll.vbs or MS32DLL.dll (use Shift+Delete as it deletes files forever.) in all drives include Handy Drive and Floppy disk.

v Open folder C:\WINDOWS to delete MS32DLL.dll.vbs or MS32DLL.dll (Use Shift+Delete )

v Go to start --> Run --> Regedit and the Registry editor will open

v Now navigate in the left pane as follows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> Software --> Microsoft --> Windows --> Current Version --> Run .Now delete the entry MS32DLL (Use Delete key on keyboard)

v Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER --> Software --> Microsoft --> Internet Explorer --> Main and delete the entry Window Title “Hacked by Godzilla”

v Now open the group policy editor by typing gpedit.msc in Start --> run and pressing enter.

v Go to User Configuration --> Administrative Templates --> System . Double Click on entry Turn Off Autoplay then Turn Off Autoplay Properties will display.Do as follows:

o Select Enabled

o Select All drives

o Click OK

v Now go to start --> Run and type msconfig there and press Enter.A system configuration utility dialogue will open.

v Go to startup tab in it and uncheck MS32DLLNow click Ok and when the system configuration utility asks for restart ,click on exit without restart.

v Now go to Tools --> Folder Options on the top menu of some folder again and select the Do not show Hidden files and check Hide operating system files.

v Go to your recyclable bin and empty it to prevent any possiblity of MS322DLL.dll.vbs lying there.

v Now restart your PC once and you can now open your hard disk drives by double clicking on them.

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2007-12-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

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The Orkut virus - Infostealer.Orcu

2007-12-19T09:18:00.001-08:00

Orkut has become a major social networking portal . It is so cool and so addictive ... But there are hidden dangers everywhere . . .
Recently u might have noticed that the hyperlinking feature has been modified . . . That was done to prevent phishing ( hackers stealing ur data - Just use the google search on my sidebar to read up on it )

A recent virus attack was by Infostealer.Orcu

Here is how the scrap will look like.
“Opa, tudo bom? Eu criei um vídeo com uma seleção de minhas fotos
novas, clica aí pra ver - h t t p :// y e p . i t / ? i k s t t v -
Estão
bem legais!!! “

What should you do?
Simply delete the scrap! As simple as that..

How does it spread?

It spreads through infected contacts. An orkut account gets infected
once you click on the link. The Trojan posts a message in your all your
friend's scrapbook area of the Orkut system. The message text is chosen
by the attacker and can be a random sentence written in Brazilian
Portuguese, such as the following:

Message example 1:
Opa, tudo bom? Eu criei um video com uma selecao de minhas fotos novas,
clica ai pra ver - ( suspicious link ) - Esta bem legais!!!

Message example 2:
Oi... tudo bom? Como o orkut limita a quantidade de fotos que podem ser
publicadas na minha conta, eu criei um slide com algumas fotos minhas,
pra ver e so clicar clicar no link!!! ( suspicious link ) - Sei que vai
gostar

If anyone click on the link, it redirects u to the virus URL & asks u to download an .exe file , which is a
copy of Infostealer.Orcu.

When Inforstealer.Orcu runs on a computer, it infects the computer u use and uses your orkut account to scrap everyone in your friends list with the malicious scrap, starting from the first name that comes when u view freinds (at that particular time - the list order changes after some time )

The message is in Portuguese and means :

Opa, all good one? I created a video with an collection of my photos new,click for to see there -( suspicious link ) - I am well legal!

Name of the Trojan:
Infostealer.Orcu

Norton’s Description:
Infostealer.Orcu is a Trojan horse that attempts
to steal confidential information, such as bank and Paypal accounts. It
may arrive as a message spammed across the Orkut network.

Systems Affected:
Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me,
Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP

Don't click on any strange links in ur scrapbook ... especially if it asks u to download or run some file

Remove the spyware from your system

2007-12-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

Windows Vista users

Windows Vista comes out with the default free installation of WindowsDefender - which has its own active antispyware protection. The only missing thing is an antivirus solution. So here is what you can do:

1. Download and install a free antivirus program such as AVG anti virus from here: http://free.grisoft.com/

2. The other way is to completely uninstall the integrated WindowsDefender and install the new version of SpywareTeminator - it has resident shield and combined with ClamAV for the viruses.

This way you've achieved a full protection on your system.

Laptop users

Here is how to restore your infected laptop proper functioning:

1. Download SpywareTerminator from other computer - free utility from www.spywareterminator.com

2. Copy the application on a USB stick drive/CD and transfer it to the infected laptop.

3. Install and Run the SpywareTerminator. Press Scan-> Full Spyware Scan-> Start Scan Now. Wait a few minutes depending on the hard drive occupied space. Next check all the results found and press Remove Infections.

4. At this point your internet connection should be restored and functioning so go to http://downloads.ewido.net/ewido_micro.exe

and download the application.

Run the online avg/ewido scanner and again remove any threads found.

5. Right click on SpywareTerminator taskbar icon 1) Check for updates - to download the latest program definitions 2) Check on the HIPS(host intrusion prevention system) to enable further protection of all files. HIPS may require to do a full scan.

Remark: If during the cleaning process computer suddenly stops or restarts, then you'll have to restart windows in safe mode and repeat the scanning.

Congratulations, by now your laptop should be cleaned and ready for use.

Uninstalling AntiVirus products

If you experience frequent problems with the antivirus software sometimes you should completely uninstall them and then going for a fresh installation. Any application service left consumes pc’s memory. So here is how to do the proper clean up.

If you want to completely remove them go to command prompt: Start->Run->cmd

and then type:

net stop service_name

sc delete service_nameNote: when service_name consists of more than one word embrace it with quotes " "

Disable only: Open up Start->Run->services.msc and find the desired one. Click stop and then disable.

How to find service_name – just find the software name in the services.msc list and look at its properties (Right Click). Then under the tab General you’ll see the "Service name"

List of specific antivirus software services:

Application : Service name

A-squared Free: a2free

AVG Email scanner, Alert Manager Server & update: AVGEMS, Avg7Alrt, Avg7UpdSvc

Avira AvtiVir PersonalEdition Classic Guard & scheduler: AntivirService, AntivirScheduler

AVAST: aswUpdSw, avast! Antivirus, avast! Mail Scanner, avast! Web Scanner

SpywareTerminator Realtime Shield& ClamAV: sp_clamsrv, sp_rssrv

Symantec: SymAppCore, Symantec Core LC, ccEvtMgr, ISPwdSvc, CLTNetSnService, ccSetMgr

WindowsDefender: WinDefend

More information:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2138042,00.asp

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136205/article.html

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2705,1639157,00.asp

MUAHAH/ ORKUT VIRUS

2007-12-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

Any site that becomes successful faces a lot of problem. Same is the story with orkut. You all might be knowing about Muhaha virus aka Orkut virus aka I hate FireFox virus. This not only effects orkut but also FireFox and some variants of their virus also effects You tube.

Let' look at this virus in detail.So that if you become a victim you can protect your self.

All that this virus does is stores it self in C:\heap41a. It is generally name PowerPoint.exe or firefox.exe.This virus prevents you from typing orkut in your address bar even if you type "http://go4masti.blogspot.com/" no the site wont open.

Now lets' see how to save your comp if you have been infected from this virus.

Go to task manager. Go to process tab stop all process with the name "SVCHOST.EXE" and has your Username in the Username field. If you find any process with the name "SVCHOST.EXE" but Username as System/ Network Service. then don't delete them or else your system will get shutdown. Only stop those process with user Username.

NOW go to C:\heap41a and delete all the contents. Restart your comp. Everything will work fine.

For some of you programmers here is the code of the virus. The code is 99% correct expect that a character has been removed at several places(same character has been removed ) so that you don't start spread this virus.(this wont effect your understanding of the code at all)

ifwinactive ahk_class IFrame
{
ControlGetText,ed,edit1,ahk_class IFrame
ifinstring,ed,orkut
{
winclose ahk_class IEFrame
soundplay,C:\heap41a\2.mp3
msgbox,262160,ORKUT IS BANNED you fool`??`r`r MUHAHAHA!!,30
return
}

ControlGetText,ed,edit2,ahk_class IFrame
ifinstring,ed,orkut
{
winclose ahk_class IFrame
soundplay,C:\heap41a\2.mp3
msgbox,262160,ORKUT IS BANNED you fool`??`r`r MUHAHAHA!!,30
return
}

ControlGetText,ed,edit2,ahk_class IFrame
ifinstring,ed,orkut
{
winclose ahk_class IFrame
soundplay,C:\heap41a\2.mp3
msgbox,262160,ORKUT IS BANNED you fool`??`r`r MUHAHAHA!!,30
return
}

ControlGetText,ed,edit4,ahk_class IEFrame
ifinstring,ed,orkut
{.......}
}

The ...... are to be filled appropriately. This just stops orkut

w32.USB Worm

2007-12-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

w32.USB Worm
It is spreading through Pen,USB,Thump disk thats why the name

It shows messages like

"I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE..."

"USE INTERNET EXPLORER U DOPE"

"Orkut is banned you fool, The administrators didnt write this program guess who did?? MUHAHAHA!!" with title ORKUT IS BANNED

To Remove

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and go to the processes tab

2. Look for svchost.exe under the image name. There will be many but look for the ones which have your username under the username

3. Press DEL to kill these files. It will give you a warning, Press Yes

4. Repeat for more svchost.exe files with your username and repeat. Do not kill svchost.exe with system, local service or network service!

5. Now open My Computer

6. In the address bar, type C:\heap41a and press enter. It is a hidden folder, and is not visible by default.

7. Delete all the files here

9. Now go to Start --> Run and type Regedit

10. Go to the menu Edit --> Find

11. Type "heap41a" here and press enter. You will get something like this "[winlogon] C:\heap41a\svchost.exe C:\heap(some number)\std.txt"

12. Select that and Press DEL. It will ask "Are you sure you wanna delete this value", click Yes

13. Now close the registry editor.

Now the virus is gone. But be sure to delete the autorun.inf file and any folder whose name ends with .exe in the pen drive.

Some reported that after this fix they were not able to see their Hidden folders and files if you have that issue try the folowing

1. Go to REGEDIT

2.[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

3. set the DWORD "NoFolderOptions" to 0 or just delete it..

Try the following links also

1. http://www.freewebs.com/mgsujith/worm/remove.html

2. http://www.jeba.in/posts/w32usbworm-lets-remove-this-worm-manually/

3. http://mgharish.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-dnt-hate-mozilla-orkut-is-banned.html

Orkut Virus

2007-12-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

A new worm that attempts to steal online banking credentials is propagating on Google's social-networking Web site.

The worm, dubbed MW.Orc, primarily targets Brazilian users of Google's Orkut Web site. It uses a message in Portuguese to entice people to click on a file that is disguised as a JPEG image, FaceTime Security Labs said in a statement.

The initial file, called "minhasfotos.exe," creates two additional files on a user's system, "winlogon_.jpg" and "wzip32.exe," . When the user, after the initial compromise, clicks on the "My Computer" icon in Windows , an e-mail with his or her personal data is sent to the anonymous attacker.

Additionally, the compromised computer may be added to a network of hijacked PCs, known as a botnet. The pest also tries to propagate by placing a malicious link on the profiles of people in the Orkut user's network.

Google confirmed the worm. "We are aware of this issue and will have a temporary fix in place within the hour," a company representative said in an e-mailed statement. "We are working on a more permanent solution for users to guard against these malicious efforts."

For their protection, Orkut users, just as users of all online services and applications, should always be careful when opening or clicking on anything suspicious, the Google representative said.

Never bother to click on any links that sounds really unfamiliar to you even if it comes from your closest friend.

Here is how the scrap will look like.
“Opa, tudo bom? Eu criei um vídeo com uma seleção de minhas fotos novas, clica aí pra ver - h t t p :// y e p . i t / ? i k s t t v - Estão bem legais!!! “

What should you do?

Simply delete the scrap! As simple as that..

How does it spread?

It spreads through infected contacts. An orkut account gets infected once you click on the link. The Trojan posts a message in your friend's scrapbook area of the Orkut system. The message text is chosen by the attacker and can be a random sentence written in Brazilian Portuguese, such as the following:

Message example 1:
Opa, tudo bom? Eu criei um video com uma selecao de minhas fotos novas, clica ai pra ver - [MALICIOUS_LINK] - Esta bem legais!!!

Message example 2:
Oi... tudo bom? Como o orkut limita a quantidade de fotos que podem ser publicadas na minha conta, eu criei um slide com algumas fotos minhas, pra ver e so clicar clicar no link!!! [MALICIOUS_LINK] - Sei que vai gostar

If users click on the link, a malicious file is downloaded, which is a copy of Infostealer.Orcu.

When Inforstealer.Orcu is executed, it performs a series of actions and infects your system.

What does this scrap in Portuguese mean anyway? I tried using a translator and this is what I got…
Opa, all good one? I created a video with an election of my photos new, clica pra to see there - h t t p :// y e p . i t / ? i k s t t v - I am well legal!

Name of the Trojan: Infostealer.Orcut

Norton’s Description: Infostealer.Orcu is a Trojan horse that attempts to steal confidential information, such as bank and Paypal accounts. It may arrive as a message spammed across the Orkut network.

Systems Affected: Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP

Hackers are trying to steal Orkut users' bank account information by inserting an automated information theft worm, according to security researchers. The worm, known as MW.Orc, is propagating through Orkut when users launch an executable file disguised as a JPEG.

Google has a temporary fix in place and encourages Orkut users not to open suspicious files.

"We are aware of this issue and have a temporary fix in place. We are working on a more permanent solution for users to guard against these malicious efforts," said a representative from Google in a response emailed to Google Watch.

Virus affects Mozilla & Orkut

2007-12-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

The browser war between Internet Explorer (IE) and Mozilla has taken a new turn with a new Virus pitching in to help IE. The W32.USBWorm known popularly as the 'I Hate Mozilla Virus' prevents users from opening Mozilla and also prevents them from accessing sites like Orkut and Youtube.

Everytime the user opens Mozilla, the Virus pops up with a message, "Use IE, You Dope. I don't hate Mozilla but use IE or else...." and closes the browser window. When the user tries to get into Orkut or Youtube again the villainous pop-up splash the message, â€˜Orkut is banned, Orkut is banned you fool.

The administrators didn't write this program guess who did?" and it plays a sound, supposedly a devil's laugh. The worm then closes the web page window.

While this might seem funny, some of the users who are addicted to Mozilla and Orkut find it really frustrating. Unfortunately, none of the anti virus programmes including Nortan, McAfee and AVG has been able to detect the Virus. The worm spreads via thumbdrives, data cards and storage discs, using the computer's Autorun feature.

Daijiworld.com gives a Simple Solution to remove the Virus

- Open Task Manager by holding Ctrl + Alt + Del and click on the process tab.

- Ignore the warning messages and stop the SVC.Host for the system's user name.

- Navigate to C:/Heap41a and delete the contents of the folder. Smile.

The best precaution is to avoid transferring data from internet centres using flash drives.

Animation

2007-12-17T01:58:00.000-08:00

<br /><a href="http://go4masti.blogspot.com" target="_blank"></a><br />

Angel 16

2007-12-17T01:53:00.000-08:00